"Good morning."
The day after he had slain the Gamelion and returned to Gilm, Rei arrived at the Full Belly Diner shortly after 9:00 AM, just as he had promised. Enedra greeted him with a warm smile the moment he stepped through the door.
"Ah, morning."
Rei returned the greeting while scanning the dining hall. The morning rush had already tapered off, leaving the place nearly empty. Only a few adventurers, likely coming off an all-night quest, sat slumped over their breakfast with weary expressions.
"Where’s Hasta?"
"He's over at the cottage we use for monster dismantling, getting things ready. Oh, speak of the devil..."
"Rei-san, good morning!"
Hasta bounded into the diner with an enthusiastic smile, looking remarkably energetic.
"Morning," Rei replied. He turned his gaze toward the kitchen. "I don't see Pops around?"
Hasta and Enedra shared a look, both breaking into awkward, wry smiles.
"That man... he's become completely obsessed with those 'udon' noodles," Enedra sighed. "He was up at the crack of dawn. As soon as he finished his prep work, he started experimenting with the recipe..."
Thwack! Thwack!
The rhythmic sound of something being slammed against a hard surface echoed from the kitchen.
"You can hear the result. Honestly," Enedra added.
"...Is he slamming the dough?" Rei asked.
"Yes. He said he’s trying to find a way to strengthen the 'koshi'—that chewiness you mentioned yesterday."
"I don't recall teaching him to slam it, though."
Rei certainly hadn't included any slamming in his explanation of the process. He had told Dishot that to bring out the proper firmness, one should put the dough in a bag and tread on it with bare feet.
"Well, I suppose he's trying to figure it out in his own way," Enedra said.
"That's for sure," Hasta added with a grimace. "What we had for breakfast was essentially failed udon."
His family’s morning meal had consisted of the dough scraps that wouldn't hold their shape, boiled and simmered in soup. It was more like suiton than actual noodles.
"It still tasted good, didn't it?" Enedra countered.
"Well, it was Father's soup, so of course it wasn't bad. Even Arka was happy eating it."
Listening to them, Rei realized he hadn't seen Hasta's sister Arka yet. Usually, she was the first to charge at Seto the moment the gryphon appeared. "Where is she, anyway?"
The question seemed to catch Enedra off guard. She blinked and turned to Hasta. "That's right, where is she? I thought she went with you to the dismantling shed?"
"She found Seto out front and..." Hasta murmured, looking slightly embarrassed.
"I think I get the picture," Rei said.
He didn't need to hear another word to know what was happening. She was likely clinging to Seto just as she had yesterday. Seto was practically an idol in the City of Gilm, and a huge portion of his fan club consisted of children. It was only natural that Arka would be overjoyed to have him right at her doorstep.
"Anyway, I should probably bring out the Gamelion. I’m leaving the dismantling to you as we agreed yesterday, right?"
"Ah, yes. We need you to supervise the udon, after all," Hasta replied.
"That's right," Enedra said, ushering them toward the door. "Good luck, you two. I’ll keep things moving with my husband in the kitchen."
Rei and Hasta stepped out of the Full Belly Diner. Predictably, they found Arka clinging to Seto’s neck, her face buried in his silk-like fur.
"Hey, Seto. Hasta and I are heading off to dismantle the Gamelion. What are you going to do?"
"Guruuu..."
Seto looked up at Rei, then back at Arka. Sensing the gryphon might leave, Arka tightened her grip on his neck. Had Seto been anything other than a powerful A-Rank monster, she might have actually choked him.
"Guruu," Seto chirped softly, deciding he wasn't going anywhere. He nuzzled his face against hers.
"Yay! Look, Big Brother! Seto-chan says he wants to stay with me! It's okay, right?"
"I suppose so," Hasta sighed. "Make sure you thank Rei-san."
"Yeah! Thanks, Rei-san!" Arka chirped, bowing her head as much as she could without letting go of the gryphon's neck.
Rei gave her a small nod. "Don't worry about it. Seto stays because he wants to. I wouldn't force him to stay if he didn't."
"I'm sorry for the trouble," Hasta apologized with a bow. Rei shook his head and gestured for him to lead the way.
"So, where is this dismantling shed? I assume it’s not too far if you're hauling meat back to the diner?"
"That's right. It's just a few minutes' walk."
"A few minutes?" Rei looked around. They were in the middle of a residential back street filled with small shops. He didn't see anything that looked like a butchery.
"You can't see it from the main path. This way," Hasta said, leading Rei toward the back of the Full Belly Diner.
Rei followed, nodding to himself. It made sense. Even if it was for a business, most people wouldn't want a monster butchery displayed openly on a busy street.
After a short walk, they reached a building tucked away behind the diner. Hasta had called it a shed, but it looked more like a small warehouse. It wasn't exactly impressive; the structure was clearly built from scrap wood and repurposed materials, giving it a somewhat shabby appearance.
"Ahaha... My father pushed himself pretty hard to build this for me," Hasta explained. "He used leftover materials from the diner's renovation and scraps from parts of the building we had to tear down. Unfortunately... it just added to the family debt."
"I see," Rei said.
He finally understood why Hasta was so desperate for the Gamelion meat. It wasn't just about being a good son; he felt the weight of the debt his father had taken on to give him a place to work. He wanted to clear that burden as quickly as possible.
"Well, let's get to it. The entrance is over here."
Rei followed Hasta inside. There were massive double doors at the front, likely for bringing in large carcasses, though they weren't necessary today since the Gamelion was stored in Rei's Misty Ring.
"So this is your workshop," Rei remarked, looking around.
There were no floorboards, just firmly packed earth. A massive work table stood in the corner, holding a row of about ten blades of varying lengths, the largest being a dismantling cleaver the size of a man’s arm. Near the table sat a handcart for transporting the finished cuts of meat.
"Having someone as incredible as you staring so intently makes me feel a bit self-conscious," Hasta admitted.
"Really? I actually envy you for having a dedicated space like this."
Rei thought back to the times he had to strip materials in the woods near Gilm. Working in the field meant constantly worrying about the scent of blood drawing other monsters, or racing against the clock to finish before nightfall. Having a secure spot within the city walls was a massive advantage.
I have the gold, Rei thought. Maybe I should buy some land in Gilm and build something like this for myself? No, it’s not like I kill massive quantities of monsters every day. And it's not big enough to test new skills... but it would be convenient. Actually, borrowing this place might be the best option.
He turned to Hasta. "Hasta, you promised to help me with material stripping for ten monsters as thanks for the hunt, right?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. That was the deal."
"How about we change that? I don't need the help stripping. Instead, would you let me use this shed occasionally?"
"Eh? You want to use this place?"
"Yeah. A spot inside the city where I can work in peace is valuable. What do you think?"
Hasta hesitated for a moment. Before he had seen Rei fight, he hadn't thought stripping materials was much of a chore. But after witnessing Rei’s power, he realized how much of an outlier the man truly was. He had heard rumors about Rei bringing massive hauls to the Guild, but he had assumed they were collected over many days. Now he knew Rei could probably slay an entire forest's worth of monsters in a single afternoon.
The proposal was actually quite beneficial for Hasta, so he gave a tentative nod. "As long as I'm not already using it to process meat for the diner, then sure..."
"Then it's a deal," Rei said with satisfaction. He wouldn't need it often—only when he had more carcasses than he could handle alone. "Right, let's get the Gamelion out. Should I start with the normal one or the Rare Species? Or both?"
"Let's start with the normal one. Two at once would be a bit crowded."
"Understood."
Rei moved to a bloodstained patch of earth and activated the Misty Ring. He pulled out the Gamelion corpse in sections: the head he had severed, the tail Hasta had cut, and the massive torso.
"Thank you. I'll get started right away," Hasta said, his eyes sharpening as he looked at the haul. "You should head back to the diner and check on my father’s udon. If this works, it could be the last-ditch dish that saves our family business."
"I don't know if it's that dramatic... but I'll see what I can do. I'll leave the rest to you."
"You got it! I'll head back to the diner once I've processed this one."
As Rei walked away, Hasta turned to the Gamelion corpse. He grabbed a dismantling cleaver from the table and drove the blade into the hide.
While the Gamelion was alive, its fur was famously resistant to blades, but that property faded upon death. However, if a user funneled magic power into armor made from the hide, its defensive properties would return. Because Gamelions were only found during this season, the fur was a highly valuable rarity.
"Whoa! It’s definitely harder to work with when it's this big!"
Hasta grunted as he sliced open the belly, removing the internal organs and tossing them into a bucket. He moved with practiced precision, peeling back the hide without leaving a single nick.
His skill was far beyond Rei's. Though he had only recently become a D-Rank adventurer, he had been helping his father with butchery since he was a small child.
In less than ten minutes, the three-meter-long Gamelion had been completely skinned. All that remained was a massive lump of meat. Finally, he extracted the magic stone from the heart and began the long process of carving the meat from the bone.