Within two days, Hanna had completely adjusted to her Golem horse, Mint. She was now seen galloping about with the limiters fully disengaged.
As for Jin, since he couldn't realistically provide one golem for every household, he had constructed five shared Golem horses for the village. Needless to say, while he had to venture out to mine for the missing materials, his personal Golem horse, Koma, allowed him to finish the task in a single day.
"Jin, this horse is incredible!"
"The best part is not having to feed it."
"No, it's the strength. This thing has the power of five ordinary horses!"
Whatever the reason, the Golem horses were a massive hit. For the record, their names were Ein, Zwei, Drei, Quatre, and Cinq. One, two, and three in German; then four and five in French.
He apparently had a fixation on names with exactly three characters, but as for Jin’s naming sense... perhaps it's better left unsaid.
＊ ＊ ＊
Rock and his companions returned. From their week-long hunt, they brought back a mountain of prey—quite literally. Of course, Gen was the one hauling the entire load.
"Welcome home, dear."
"Welcome back, Dad!"
"Welcome back. You aren't hurt, are you?"
"Yeah, I'm home. Mario, did you get a bit taller?"
"Don't be silly. You think he'd change that much in just a week?"
The families, reunited after seven days, were beaming with joy. Once the men set down their gear, they immediately headed for the hot springs to wash away the sweat and grime of the trail.
That night was a grand feast of meat. The village elders and key figures gathered at Rock’s house, where stories of the hunt flowed as freely as the drinks. Naturally, Jin was invited as well.
"Man, it wasn't even a hunt! We just went down to the valley floor and waited, and a whole herd of mountain deer practically walked right up to us. All we had to do was pick them off; it was easy as pie. Skinning them and hauling the guts was the only real work."
"Didn't any dangerous beasts come sniffing around?"
"Nah. A forest bear showed up once, but it just stuffed itself on the discarded innards and wandered back where it came from."
The meal was simple—grilled meat seasoned with nothing but salt—but the flavor of meat that had been aged for a week since the kill was exceptional.
"With this much, we can make enough jerky to last well through the winter."
"Why not try smoking some as well?" Jin suggested.
"Smoked meat? What's that?" Rock asked, tilting his head.
"Smoking is a process where you burn wood chips and let the smoke dry the meat while adding flavor."
"Ho, so that’s another technique from your homeland, Jin?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Sounds good to me! We've got plenty of meat, so let's give this 'smoking' thing a shot."
They decided to test it the very next morning. For the wood, they used query trees harvested from the forest. Jin had heard that these trees bloomed with white flowers in the spring, and thinking they might be similar to cherry trees, he chose them for the experiment.
The result was a resounding success.
In principle, smoking isn't a particularly difficult process. It simply involves burning wood to produce smoke rather than flames, then drying the meat through exposure to that heat and smoke. Since the meat had been rubbed with salt beforehand, the resulting flavor was perfect.
"Damn, this is tasty. Makes me want a drink."
"You drank plenty yesterday! No more!"
Amidst such cheerful banter, the majority of the meat was processed into smoked stores.
In the middle of the festivities, however, Rock alone had a clouded expression. Noticing this, Jin approached him.
"Rock, is something on your mind?"
"Oh, Jin. Yeah... I was just wondering why those mountain deer were so easy to catch."
"And did you reach a conclusion?"
"Yeah. I can think of a few possibilities."
Jin offered a bit of advice. "In times like this, it usually helps to talk it out. Explaining it to someone else often helps organize your thoughts."
"I see. Then I'll have you listen for a bit."
"Hey, what's going on?"
Jan, who had also been on the hunt, wandered over. With the two of them as his audience, Rock began to explain.
"The first reason they might move like that out of season is food."
"Right. If they run out of things to eat, they'll migrate to find more," Jan agreed, nodding.
"The second is being driven out by a predator. Like a pack of Rock Wolves."
"That makes sense. They would certainly flee from a natural enemy," Jin noted.
"Third. Mountain deer live in herds, but if a herd gets too large, the younger ones might split off to form a new group and find their own territory."
"But wait," Jan cut in, questioning the theory. "The prey we caught this time wasn't just young deer. There were plenty of older ones too."
"Exactly. So, while it could just be a fluke, the most likely scenario is that they were being chased by something."
"So you think the food theory is unlikely?"
When Jin asked, Rock nodded firmly. "Yeah. From what I saw, the snow hasn't hit the deep mountains where they live yet, and the greenery looks the same as any other year. I don't think it's a food shortage."
"Which means..."
It meant they were being driven toward the village by some sort of predator.
Rock leaned in closer. "We can handle mountain deer, but Rock Wolves are a nightmare. They're nocturnal, they're smart, and they attack in packs."
"Has a pack of Rock Wolves ever attacked this village before?" Jin asked.
Rock shook his head. "Not since I was born. But I heard a story that it happened once back in my grandfather's time."
"I see..." Jin crossed his arms, falling into thought.
"That's the problem," Rock said. "Since I can't say for sure, I wasn't sure if I should worry everyone by mentioning it."
"Big bro, why don't we just go on a scout then?" Jan suggested.
"A scout? Yeah, that’s an idea. We could head even deeper than we did last time and see what's happening. Jan, you actually say something useful once a year, don't you?"
"Sheesh, I can't tell if that's a compliment or not."
"In that case, we should probably bring this up with the Village Chief," Jin added. Rock nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you're right."
A meeting was held at the Village Chief's house that night, and the village decided to dispatch a scouting party. Jin's argument—that detecting a threat early allows for proper countermeasures—won them over.
Of course, the plan was only viable because of the Golem horses Jin had provided.
It was decided that Rock and Jan would head out on the mission. Their departure was set for two days later, allowing them time to familiarize themselves with the Golem horses' controls.
The next day was spent in training.
"W-Whoa!"
Someone would open the accelerator too wide, causing the Golem horse to rear up and throw them off.
"Gwah!"
Or they would be launched over the front after a sudden stop from a gallop.
Despite being covered in scratches and bruises by the end of it, both men mastered the operation of the Golem horses within a single day.
"Alright, we're heading out."
"Honey, you absolutely must not do anything reckless!"
"Be careful, Dad!"
In an atmosphere far more tense than the previous hunting trip, the two members of the scouting party mounted the Golem horses Ein and Zwei and set off toward the mountains.