The boar Zozo had killed would be served for that day's lunch.
With this many people present, there were a fair number who knew their way around cooking.
...Of course, they didn't have proper cooking equipment on hand, so it came down to making a simple stew in a pot Rei pulled from his Misty Ring and grilling skewered meat over an open fire.
With a Magic Item oven, they might have managed a proper meal. But with only about an hour for the midday break, there was no time for anything that elaborate.
The person entrusted with the stew had wrapped up his work a little early to get started on the preparations.
"Rei, the butchering's done. Ideally, we'd have soaked it in a river or something."
Soaking the meat in a river would chill it and flush out the remaining blood. But it also dulled the flavor—a tradeoff that came down to personal preference.
Since there was no river in the Treant Forest, there was no need to make that choice this time.
"Got it. I'll hold onto the edible parts. Just bury the rest somewhere around here."
The adventurer nodded and dug a hole for the scraps—the inedible organs, along with portions of the hide, hooves, tail, and head.
The boar's hide and tusks had caught the interest of several people, who negotiated among themselves for them.
(What would they even use a boar hide for?)
When it came to hides, the obvious uses were clothing or armor. But the boar Zozo killed was an ordinary animal, not a monster. Impressive in size, sure, but still fundamentally inferior to Leather Armor crafted from monster hide.
Maybe they intended to use it as everyday wear? But if that were the case, ordinary cloth would do just fine.
(Or maybe cold-weather gear? ...It's still spring, though.)
That said, winter would eventually come, and cold-weather gear would be a necessity. Rei had no idea how warm a boar-hide garment would actually be, but the possibility was certainly there.
Not that it mattered for him—wearing the Dragon Robe, he had no need for such things.
"Zozo, you're the one who brought down that boar. Make sure you eat your fill at lunch."
Rei called out to Zozo, who was standing at his side.
Zozo probably hadn't understood the words themselves, but he seemed to sense the praise. He bowed deeply toward Rei.
Time passed as they exchanged those words, and noon drew near.
The adventurer who had finished his morning work early was using the ingredients Rei provided to make a hearty stew—soup, really—loaded with boar meat. An appetite-stimulating aroma drifted through the air.
From several stomachs, hungry rumbling echoed...
"Rei, it's a bit early, but let's break for lunch. With a smell this good, I'm starving."
One of the woodcutters called out to him.
If they worked for a merchant guild, meal times would be strictly set. But most of the people here were adventurers and woodcutters. Knights and soldiers were present too, with their discipline, but even they couldn't maintain a regular schedule once on a battlefield.
And so, Rei and the others surrendered to the temptation of boar cuisine and began their lunch break a little earlier than usual.
Not that it mattered—they had already finished their morning quota.
Even so, the Expansion Construction site demanded building materials as fast and as much as possible. The unvarnished truth was that they wanted the work done as quickly as could be managed.
The woodcutters understood this, but they were also worn down from consecutive days of labor.
The mental strain was especially heavy because, for some reason, Green People and Lizardmen kept teleporting into this particular stretch of the Treant Forest, again and again.
While felling trees, they had to stay alert, ready to act the moment something happened. They knew escorts were present, but if asked whether that let them feel completely safe, the answer was no.
The woodcutters knew that when the ones teleporting in were Green People, there was no problem. Those gentle beings even left a favorable impression, perhaps precisely in contrast to the Lizardmen.
But Lizardmen were a different story.
Some of the woodcutters had nearly been attacked by Lizardmen teleporting in right next to them.
As woodcutters, they had confidence in their strength—but that was the strength of ordinary daily life. A brawl was one thing. In a life-or-death fight against a Lizardman, they had no confidence they'd walk away alive.
Seeing Zozo under Rei's command—an existence that appeared to be either a High-ranking Species or Rare Species among Lizardmen—only reinforced that feeling.
Carrying that kind of stress day after day, they needed the occasional break from routine—something like today—to take the edge off.
The woodcutters probably sensed this instinctively, and Rei could read as much himself. So with Zozo having just downed a boar, he decided they'd have a slightly better meal than usual.
"Whoa, this is good. Was boar meat always this tasty? I thought it'd have more gaminess."
"That's thanks to the spices Rei provided. Like you said, boar meat normally has a strong gaminess. A better cook than me might be able to turn that into umami, but..."
The man who had prepared the dish said as much.
A few people figured he was just being modest, but there was no mistaking it—Rei's spices had elevated the dish a full notch.
The cook seemed to realize this too and opened his mouth to say something, but Rei shook his head and silently signaled him to keep quiet.
He'd brought out the spices for stress relief, but if word got out, they'd be asking him for ingredients and seasoning every day from tomorrow on.
That was the last thing he wanted.
"After eating food this good, we've gotta work hard this afternoon."
"Yeah. But if they want us to cut more trees, shouldn't we get more woodcutters out here? I mean, we all came to Gilm for work because Rei came to recruit us."
"They're already gathering more. Of course, they can't spare Rei, so they should be heading to Gilm by carriage now."
The knight interjected into the woodcutters' conversation.
"If Set were here, we could use the Set Basket to transport large numbers quickly. But right now, Set is the only one who can detect Green People or Lizardmen teleporting in, so we can't afford to do that."
His words carried real weight. No one argued.
The woodcutters knew more hands would make the work easier, but Rei and Set being absent would mean a real drop in safety. Which to prioritize was obvious.
"If that's the case, I guess we've just gotta accept it. Actually, why not just have Rei cut the trees?"
"Idiot. Then we'd be out of a job."
"Oh, well, you know... Rei cuts the trees, and we handle the branches and stuff."
The other woodcutters within earshot wore subtle expressions and started to say something, but ultimately closed their mouths without speaking.
They took pride in their profession. That arrangement didn't sit well with them.
...Though in purely practical terms, Rei could fell trees more cleanly than any of them.
There was no comparison between repeatedly hacking an axe into a trunk and a single flash of the Death Scythe. One cut was plainly cleaner.
The woodcutter who had trailed off probably wore that expression precisely because he understood this.
Still, what the first woodcutter had said wasn't wrong.
With Gilm's Expansion Construction in full swing, the magically treated lumber the alchemists produced was something they could never get enough of. If building materials were abundant, it wouldn't be a problem, but right now they burned through every plank the moment it arrived. Supply was barely keeping pace with demand.
And then the teleportation problem had hit, pushing supply hopelessly behind demand.
"For now, until the new woodcutters arrive in Gilm, we'll just have to make do. If it really comes down to it, I'll cut the trees myself."
"That'd be a lifesaver. But even when the new woodcutters arrive, they won't be useful right away. First they need to get used to the trees in the Treant Forest, and then to the Green People and Lizardmen teleporting in. Of course, we haven't gotten used to the latter ourselves yet."
Can't argue with that.
The other woodcutters eating their boar soup nearby laughed and murmured in agreement.
Even those who had been working the Treant Forest for some time were still on edge about the teleportation incidents. They didn't imagine newcomers would adapt quickly either.
(I think that depends on the person, though.)
Rei didn't say it aloud, but the thought crossed his mind as he chewed his boar meat.
Some woodcutters would adjust to the Treant Forest quickly. Others would struggle. And there might even be a few who, even when told that Green People and Lizardmen could teleport in at any moment, would simply focus on their work as woodcutters without it fazing them at all.
If possible, Rei hoped people like that would be the ones coming to Gilm. But skilled woodcutters with steady work where they lived weren't likely to uproot themselves for Gilm.
Then again, it wasn't impossible that some might come just for the chance to lay eyes on the famous city of Gilm—a starstruck impulse, but not unthinkable.
"Once the Green People learn the language, some of them will probably come to this Treant Forest. As long as Lizardmen might teleport in, they won't settle here permanently. But it wouldn't be strange for them to come along with us during the day and spend their time here growing plants."
"Yeah... makes sense."
Nearly everyone present now knew the Green People had the ability to grow plants. And given how valuable the Treant Forest's lumber was, that ability was undeniably useful.
...Of course, that would mean the Treant Forest would continue to exist here indefinitely.
But since it sat off the main road, it wasn't as though that inconvenienced anyone.
If anything, considering the boar on their plates, it wouldn't be strange for the area to become good hunting ground.
Though the possibility of monsters showing up couldn't be ruled out entirely.
"Hmm, no point thinking about hard stuff right now. We've got a rare meal in front of us—why don't we just enjoy the soup?"
At one adventurer's suggestion, everyone agreed that they should focus on the meal for now. They dug into the soup and the skewered meat that had been grilled alongside it.
"If we could eat like this every day, it'd give us something to look forward to on this job."
"Catching a boar this size every day is impossible. Oh, but we do see deer and the like fairly often."
"Huh? Deer? Out here?"
"They're out here. Foxes, raccoon dogs, rabbits too. Surprisingly, the animal population has really grown."
Rei nodded in agreement with what he overheard.
He'd seen animals on several occasions himself, and birds fairly often. Considering that until last year the Treant Forest hadn't had nearly so many, this was a genuine blessing.
Though it would become a problem if monsters started increasing in number, drawn by all that prey.
(The ideal would be for the Green People to settle here with the Lizardmen serving as their guards. The Green People don't need food, and the Lizardmen could probably sustain themselves on the growing animal population. ...Ah, but fish would be out of the question.)
Given how strongly Zozo had responded to fish, the absence of any river—and therefore any fish—in the Treant Forest was a real pity.
If there were a river with fish, the Lizardmen would likely have settled here gladly.