1092: Butchering and Mock Battle
「Wow, Fran-san. I never knew you were so talented at butchering! This is a nice surprise.」
「You’re amazing too, Felmus.」
A few days passed since our encounter with the mountain dragon.
We were busy butchering it at the training site of the Adventurers Guild in Bulbora. However, dragons normally require a specialized facility to butcher properly.
After all, each scrap of flesh, scale fragment, and drop of blood was precious. A bottle of blood might not be worth an entire gold coin, it should be at least several silvers.
Moreover, mountain dragons are high-ranked dragons, making their materials even more valuable. The entire guild went into an uproar for the opportunity to get their hands on such treasures.
Well, I already ate the magic stone, and Eiworth and Felmus will almost definitely take their share for themselves. Even so, Gamudo and Diaz’s share will reach the guild’s distribution network. With so many high-rank dragon materials, this commotion will spread to other places too.
If Kranzel wasn’t in the middle of a war, they’d probably need several auctions to sell everything. Then the nobles would fight each other in bidding wars.
But our mountain dragon couldn’t even fit in the specialized facility. After all, it’s a 100-meter giant.
And without the proper facility, butchering it becomes much more difficult. Well, cutting everything up isn’t that hard, but it would waste a ton of blood.
So after a discussion with the others, we decided to cooperate and butcher the mountain dragon together.
Fran and Eiworth first set up wind and ice wards to catch any split blood.
Then we took a portion of the mountain dragon out of storage, roughly divided it into several pieces, then repeated the process for the next portion.
Cutting it up into 10 meter pieces wasn’t too difficult for high-rank adventurers if they put their minds to it. Only lasted about three minutes total. Fran then took out each piece and butchered them again inside the wards.
Fran and Felmus were in charge of this part. Our Butchering skill was maxed out, so of course, Fran handled this incredibly quickly. I also morphed into the optimal shape for each of her actions.
That said, Felmus was also quite impressive. His threads really were too versatile. They could divide up the flesh, split off the bones, and shave off scales, all at the same time.
I had been confident in our butchering skills, but he beat us out when it came to speed. As expected from a professional cook who is also a former Rank A adventurer.
Finally, Eiworth flash-froze the butchered materials, allowing Gamudo and Diaz to pack them into item boxes. Everyone continued their work in silence, and the gigantic mountain dragon was completely gone in less than two hours.
「Hoho! To think I would obtain so many high quality materials! !」
「Eiworth, the tongue’s quality has been degraded due to you applying poison on the head! I told you how badly I wanted that!」
「More importantly, Felmus, are you sure you want to give away all this meat?」
「Is it really okay for Ulmutt to take so much?」
About that, both Eiworth and Felmus had forfeited their share of the meat. Eiworth because he had no need for it, and Felmus because he only cared about cooking it.
Felmus’s statement was just because he’s a tsundere, but Eiworth really seemed to not care. Anyway, that meant most of the dragon meat was put toward a soup kitchen event. A lavish soup kitchen, indeed.
There were dozens of these huge meat cubes stacked on top of each other, which was quite the impressive sight. They look more like they came out of a science fiction meat processing factory than a fantasy world.
At any rate, this should be enough to hold the city together until the government can send support.
Fran wiped the sweat from her forehead after a job well done, then Gamudo approached us.
「Fran, how about a mock battle?」
「A mock battle with you, Gamudo?」
「Yeah, since you beat both Felmus and Diaz. I want a taste of your strength too.」
「Nn. Okay.」
「Oh, so you accept!」
The others showed no signs of stopping Gamudo. Diaz and Eiworth looked amused, and Felmus seemed more worried about Gamudo’s safety. However, Diaz did offer one word of advice.
「You two know we can’t get serious in a place like this. Take it easy, okay?」
「Of course!」
「Nn.」
The two only carried wooden practice weapons, so it can’t possibly get that bad, right…? I guess I can force them to stop if I have to.
The mock battle started unexpectedly quietly, though heated.
Neither side used any flashy techniques or magic, so it was purely a battle of weapon skills. It turned out like this not because they had forbidden such techniques in advance, but because they wanted to see what the other was capable of.
Fran went on the offense first, as Gamudo blocked skillfully with his shield and axe. Neither of them had gotten serious, yet…
Upon realizing the sturdiness of Gamudo’s defenses, Fran got heated up. She tried all sorts of strategies to break through his guard, all without using her skills.
Gamudo must have felt like he was treading on thin ice. Maybe he looked relaxed to Fran, but I could see him starting to get anxious. However, his pride as a veteran seems to have prevented him from using other skills.
The two continued their stubborn clash of only weapon skills. Although it appeared to be evenly matched, Gamudo gained a slight advantage. He didn’t need to move as much since he was defending most of the time, resulting in less fatigue.
Well, Gamudo’s mental fatigue was definitely rising, so who knows what might happen in a few minutes. Fran’s offense was getting sharper and more vicious as she grew over the course of the battle. Unfortunately, that’s as far as she managed to get.
Crack!
「Mrgh…」
「I guess your weapon couldn’t hold up.」
Fran’s wooden sword snapped apart. Despite being strengthened with her infused mana, there’s no way it could withstand the intense clash.
「Phew. A draw, then.」
「…Nn.」
Gamudo let out a deep breath, showing off his cracked shield. He may call it a draw, but…
（I lost.）
『Nah, I think it looked pretty even.』
（…I lost.）
It seems Fran really considered it her loss.
Gamudo, a veteran opponent with decades of experience, was not to be underestimated. He had a hidden strength that could not be enumerated in terms of stats. However, I think Fran should be proud of managing to do this well against him.
I mean, she kept up with a former Rank A without using her skills.
The old men smiled wryly after seeing Fran clench her fists in frustration. I guess everyone here knew Fran well.
『Let’s make sure we win the next one then.』
（Nn!）
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