"Whoa, this is incredible..."
"Mn!"
Looking inside the warehouse Hasta had guided them to, Vihera murmured in genuine admiration.
Byune let out a sound of agreement, her eyes captivated by the sight before them—countless chunks of meat hanging from the ceiling.
The usually expressionless Byune now had a fierce light in her eyes.
...Granted, that fierce light stemmed not from curiosity, but from pure appetite.
"Ahaha. Well, things get pretty busy from late autumn to early winter every year. You could call this the culmination of all that effort."
Hasta smiled as he explained the scene inside the warehouse.
Having prepared this much meat was clearly a point of pride for him. Seeing the astonished faces of Vihera and Byune, he smiled happily, though he looked a little embarrassed.
It was likely the result of Hasta unleashing his full capabilities to obtain all these cuts.
Skinned, innards processed, and now needing nothing more than to be cut—numerous pieces of meat hung in exactly that state.
Among them, perhaps having been processed earlier, were cuts that had been salt-cured for preservation or prepared like ham.
"There's a lot of Orc meat here."
"Yes. I would have liked more Gamelion, but... I just didn't have the skill."
Hasta told them this, though several pieces of what appeared to be Gamelion meat still hung from the ceiling.
Even so, the predominance of Orc meat surely indicated which was easier to hunt and more abundant.
Besides Orc and Gamelion, there was meat from various other types of monsters as well.
With nearly a quarter of the warehouse filled with meat, one could easily imagine just how much there was in those curtains of flesh.
"No, with just this meat, you'll have winter covered with plenty to spare, right?"
Even a single Orc weighed close to a hundred kilograms.
Seeing such diverse meats hanging in those quantities—including Orcs—easily exceeded the amount the Full Belly Diner would serve over winter... no, rather, it seemed like there'd be a surplus.
But to Rei's words, Hasta just smiled and spoke.
"When spring comes around, if there's still meat left over, my father holds a Meat Festival."
"Meat Festival? What's with a name that stirs up curiosity like that?"
It wasn't just Rei who thought that; Byune was also staring at Hasta, clearly expecting an explanation.
Perhaps not expecting to be on the receiving end of such a gaze from Byune, Hasta was a little surprised... but still, speaking about the father he admired, he happily opened his mouth.
"It's an all-you-can-eat meat event. Well, of course it ends when the meat runs out."
"All-you-can-eat? ...That's quite extravagant."
Rei had been to all-you-can-eat restaurants back in Japan.
It was an all-you-can-eat yakiniku place, but the quality of the meat was by no means good, and the slices themselves were cut quite thin.
Conversely, one could say they probably couldn't have turned a profit on all-you-can-eat without resorting to such tactics.
Of course, that was just the one restaurant Rei knew of, and other establishments surely offered proper all-you-can-eat with solid dishes and meat... but unfortunately, that was the only all-you-can-eat restaurant Rei had ever been to.
Granted, whether due to poor management practices like that or not, it had gone under shortly before Rei came to Elgin.
(For an all-you-can-eat yakiniku place, by the end it had wound up with more single-item dishes than yakiniku...)
Rei harbored his complaints about it, but still, being young enough to be a middle or high schooler and thus a student who valued quantity over quality, the restaurant had enjoyed a certain degree of popularity among students like that. ...Rei included.
"Well, it's better to properly cook and serve it than to let it rot. It doubles as a promotion for the restaurant, too. ...If you'd like, why don't you and your group participate in this year's Meat Festival, Rei-san?"
"Are you sure that's okay?"
Rei knew exactly how much he could eat.
And it wasn't just him; Byune, contrary to her appearance, also packed away a substantial amount.
Wondering if it was really fine for people like them to participate, Rei asked—but Hasta nodded, indicating there was no problem.
"However, as for Set... I'm afraid I must apologize."
"I figured."
Rei nodded in acceptance toward Hasta, who sounded genuinely apologetic, acknowledging it couldn't be helped.
Considering Set's size and appetite, it wouldn't be surprising if Set alone devoured nearly all the prepared meat.
The Meat Festival was held as an inventory clearance and restaurant promotion, essentially run with no regard for profit; even so, having Set eat most of the meat would cause all sorts of problems.
(Well, in that case, if we held a Set petting event instead... hmm? Actually, wouldn't something like that gather even more people?)
True to its name, the Meat Festival would attract mostly men... specifically, young men with hearty appetites.
Of course, young women and older men would also show up, but their numbers wouldn't be all that high.
But a gathering to pet Set would draw people of all ages and genders in droves.
Having essentially become Gilm's idol and mascot character, Set possessed exactly that much drawing power.
Thinking about it, Hasta wondered if perhaps that might actually be the better option.
While it might reduce the restaurant's pure sales, as a promotional effort, having Set there would unquestionably yield far greater results.
"Please wait a moment. It might be fine to invite Set after all. ...However, I'll need to confirm this with my father, so could you give me a little time?"
"Hm? Well, it'd be helpful for me if Set could participate, but... are you sure it's really okay?"
"Yes, of course. It might even be possible to draw in more customers than the Meat Festival would."
Hasta's gaze turned toward the warehouse wall... or more precisely, toward Set, who was waiting on the other side.
From Hasta's reaction, Rei must have understood what he was getting at. Without expanding further on the matter, he shifted the conversation to the reason they had come to this warehouse in the first place.
"Be that as it may. I know we just got here, but I'd like to start dismantling the monster we hunted today. Is that alright with you?"
"Rei, I'll ask just to be sure, but we're only dismantling the Snow Salamander today, right? The Goblins can wait until later, right?"
While she didn't say it explicitly, what Marina—who had cut into the conversation—meant was crystal clear.
In other words, she was making absolutely sure: they were not dismantling the Goblins.
But Rei had never intended to dismantle the Goblins in the first place, either.
These Goblins had originally been prepared as insurance in case the meat ran out during his research—both to prevent them from becoming Undead and to provide material for his ongoing research into making Goblin meat edible.
"The Goblins...?"
At Marina's words, Hasta tensed slightly... and yet, with his cheeks faintly reddening, he turned to Rei.
From Hasta's perspective, Marina was the Guild Master and, at the same time, an incredibly attractive woman—hence his reaction.
Vihera was a beauty who could rival Marina, but for Hasta, Marina was apparently more to his taste.
Even so, the reason he somehow managed to speak at all was likely because the phrase "Goblin meat" had caught his attention.
Goblin meat was something that even novice adventurers who had just started out would eat only if the alternative was starving to death.
Why would Rei—who, according to Hasta's assumption, possessed deep expertise when it came to food—show interest in something like that?
It was only natural for the only son of the Full Belly Diner to harbor such doubts.
But Rei wasn't exactly keeping his research on Goblin meat a secret.
Because of that, he gave his answer readily.
"Right now, I'm doing a little research on how to make Goblin meat taste good."
"...Are you serious?"
It wasn't just the nature of the research itself; Hasta probably hadn't expected Rei to admit so casually that he was conducting such research in the first place.
Hasta directed a gaze of astonishment at Rei.
"I'm not sure which part you're asking about, but I'm serious about the research itself. Well, the person working on it with me is busy with various things right now, so the research is actually at a standstill."
"...I've heard that my father tried researching Goblin meat when I was young, too, but in the end he couldn't figure anything out and gave up, apparently."
"Dishot did? ...I see."
For the Hobbyist Shop Owner of the Full Belly Diner, who served cheap and delicious food, making Goblin meat tasty would mean a significant expansion of his menu.
But even Dishot had ultimately given up on researching Goblin meat.
Rei's expression turned slightly disappointed at that fact, but before he could say anything about it, Byune tugged on his Dragon Robe.
"Mn."
What she was trying to say, Rei understood immediately.
She was telling him to stop wasting time on pointless chatter and hurry up and start dismantling the Snow Salamander.
"You're right. Standing around talking won't get us anywhere. ...Hasta, we're going to start dismantling. What about you?"
"Hmm, let's see. The Snow Salamander is a monster I've never encountered before, so would it be alright if I watched?"
"Yeah, I don't mind. ...Right?"
As a tentative confirmation, Rei asked the other three with a glance.
None of the three showed any sign of objection.
Depending on the person, some adventurers treated monster dismantling as a proprietary technique and disliked showing it to others, but fortunately, no one like that was present here.
"Thank you. I'm sure I'll learn a lot."
With those words, Rei and the group moved to an area without the curtains of meat... a spot that still had a proper work table.
The curtains of meat had apparently been hung with that area in mind.
If, for some reason during winter, they ran low on meat, they could carry a slain monster in here and dismantle it.
"I'm bringing it out."
With those words, the Snow Salamander emerged from Rei's Misty Ring.
A body height of one meter, and nearly two meters in length including the tail.
It was a monster with a rather massive build for a lizard.
"So this is... a Snow Salamander. I've heard of them, but this is my first time seeing one intact like this."
"Hm? Then have you seen one that wasn't intact?"
"Ah, yes. A few years ago, I saw my father purchasing one from an adventurer. It had already been dismantled into cuts of meat by then. It tasted like a richer but cleaner version of mountain bird, and it was incredibly delicious."
"...Richer but cleaner? Well, whatever. We'll know once we dismantle this and try eating it. Alright, let's get started."
At Rei's words, Marina, Vihera, and even Byune took out their dismantling knives and plunged their blades into the Snow Salamander, which had been placed on the work table.
"Um, should I help?"
"No, it's fine. This is supposed to be party practice, after all. I want us to get used to dismantling at this headcount. ...More than anything, there isn't enough room."
"...Ahaha."
At Rei's words, Hasta laughed as if embarrassed.
The Snow Salamander was of considerable size, but even so, with four people dismantling it, the space became very cramped.
It was only because Byune was small that they could dismantle it without issue at this headcount; if they had another adult instead of Byune, it would have been quite difficult to move around.
Rather, one could say it was precisely because of this number that they were able to dismantle it so smoothly.
"First, shall we sever the head?"
"In that case, I'll start skinning it. Byune, please handle the internal organs."
"There are a few spots among the organs that can be sold as materials, so be careful with those."
"Mn."
Since Marina possessed the most knowledge about the Snow Salamander, they proceeded with the dismantling according to her instructions.
Severing the head, peeling the skin...
"Eh? Wait, is this okay?"
The one who let out a surprised voice was Vihera.
The reason was obvious the moment one looked at the Snow Salamander's meat.
After all, the meat was white... and not just white meat, but colored like fresh snow.
Seeing such meat, it was only natural for Vihera to be surprised.
...As a result, she got a few drops of blood splattered on her face.
"There's no problem. This is what Snow Salamander meat looks like."
"Yes. The meat I saw was white, too. ...Though I feel like it was a bit more clouded."
"Ah, that's a difference in freshness. As time passes after dismantling, the white—while still white—gradually becomes a clouded white."
Amidst the conversation between those who knew Snow Salamander meat, Rei and the group continued their dismantling.
After that, the dismantling was successfully completed in about an hour, and they headed to the Full Belly Diner for a celebration.