Ch 96 -- Fer Hunts Something Amazing
I was starting to worry as the sun set with no sign of Fer but then he suddenly returned, noisily bursting through the tree branches and startling me.
--Thump-- Fer casually dropped a big lizard that he was carrying in his mouth onto the ground in front of me.
"I was delayed." Fer not-apologised for his tardiness in a very Fer-like manner.
"...Uh Fer, whatâs with this big lizard thing?" I asked nervously, dreading the answer. It looked a bit like a Komodo dragon lizard I had seen on TV but bigger, from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail it must have been at least five metres long.
"I caught a sniff of something special and followed my nose." Fer said in a satisfied tone. "I came across something that would put up a fight against me at last."
Thatâs not what I asked, Fer, just what is this big lizard thing?
"That flock of Wyverns got my hopes up but they turned out to be a disappointment." Fer shrugged. "However after I tracked down this Earth Dragon, I finally got a little exercise."
...Fer, what did you just say? I wondered if my hearing was getting worse.
"Uh, Fer, what did you say?"
"Is your hearing getting worse? I said, because that flock of Wyverns were a disappointment I went off and got some real exercise with this Earth Dragon here."
"...A-, an Earth Dragon?" I stuttered.
"Yep. Thatâs it. Thatâs an Earth Dragon." Fer nudged the big lizard with his snout. "Right there."
I used Appraisal on the giant Komodo Dragon lizard thing lying on the ground.
[ Earth Dragon]
Thatâs all, there were no other stats because, well, Fer had killed it. Ummm...
"What, what did you...?" I stumbled to a halt, my brain locking up as I tried to deal with what Fer had just done.
"What? What did I do what?" Fer looked confused, as if he naturally hunted dragons every day, no biggie and why was I surprised?
"What?" I repeated myself. "An Earth Dragon, why did you hunt it?"
"Why not?" Fer shrugged. "Dragon meat tastes delicious, I told you before. Isnât that a good reason to hunt it?"
I thought hurriedly, trying to explain to a confused Fer. "No no no, itâs great that the meat is delicious, thatâs not a problem." I waved my hands. "If the Adventurerâs Guild couldnât purchase the Chimaera and Orthros you hunted earlier then do you think they could buy the materials from an Earth Dragon?"
Fer looked disappointed. "Nu, Dragonâs meat is really delicious." Stop drooling, Fer, weâre having a serious discussion here. He suddenly perked up.
"Hey, even if they wouldnât buy the materials, couldnât you get them to dismantle it anyway?" Oh, just dismantling? That might work... Smart thinking, Fer.
"Iâll talk to the Guild Master and Johan about it, see if they can dismantle it for us. However itâs a Dragon... I donât know if they can actually disassemble something like that."
"Hm, youâve got a point. I was looking forward to eating Dragonâs meat after a very long while. Weâll wait and see what happens..."
Iâll see what they say but itâs an Earth Dragon after all. Looks like theyâre in for another surprise. Haaa~.
Ferâs nose wrinkled as he sniffed. "Hey something smells good." Now the matter of the Earth Dragon was dealt with -- at least for now -- Fer had reverted to his usual gluttonous self. I deposited the giant body of the Earth Dragon in my Item Box to make some space to serve dinner.
"You want to eat dinner here?" Stupid question.
"Well, yeah." Predictable answer.
I started serving the beef bowl. Leaving the beef stew for later will make it taste better as the beef gets more tender. I put rice I had cooked beforehand into dishes and then piled plenty of meat on top. I woke Sui up.
"Sui, your dinnerâs ready."
"Oh? Dinner-"
"Yes, hereâs your dinner."
"Dinner-"
I gave a beef bowl (extra large portions) to Fer and Sui.
"Mumu, this is delicious."
"Really, the meat is soooo tasty~"
The way they were talking it was clear they both liked beef bowl so I decided it was my turn to eat and what Iâd like was to put some eggs on my beef bowl. When I opened Net Super and looked at the eggs on offer something special caught my eye. Oh yesssss... I bought hot spring eggs which had been soft-boiled in natural hot water. Soft-boiled eggs on a beef bowl are delicious. I broke them into the meat letting the runny yolk soak down into the rice below then stirred them in and popped some into my mouth.
"Yummy~"
Adding the soft-boiled eggs mellows the taste. Delicious. This calls for tea, doesnât it... I took a PET bottle of green tea I had bought earlier from my Item Box. Gulp gulp gulp... my mouth was refreshed, then back to the beef bowl. Yum yum.
"Hey, seconds here." Fer squinted suspiciously at my own bowl. "Hold on, whyâve you got eggs on yours? You trying to be sneaky? I want some too."
"Sui wants seconds too. Put egg on Suiâs-"
Yeah yeah. I made up two more beef bowls (extra large), got two more hot-spring eggs and broke them on top of the meat before handing the out the dishes to the two gluttons.
"Muuu, putting the egg on top is completely delicious."
"Sui also likes the way the eggs taste-"
So they both like beef bowls with runny soft-boiled eggs, devouring them greedily. Several servings later they finally declared they were satisfied.
"Fuu-, that was really tasty." Fer announced.
"It was really delicious-" Sui agreed.
"Well then, are we going back to the city now?" I enquired. We were all done here, I thought.
"Uh-huh."
"Yup."
I was going to get on Ferâs back for the trip back to town but...
"Fer?" I couldnât get on his back. Yuck.
"What?" He looked back over his shoulder at me.
"You- youâre dirty." I blurted out, staring at Ferâs matted hair.
"W- what?" Fer exclaimed.
Until now I hidnât really taken any notice but now Iâd had a bath and I was all clean myself I couldnât ignore it any longer. I poked at the clumped masses of dirty hair on his coat.
"See, all the hair here is filthy, itâs sticking together and matted. Youâve got to have noticed itâs in terrible condition, havenât you Fer?"
"Uh, well, thatâs not really-." Fer hesitated. "Look, I groom myself regularly..." He couldnât look me in the eye as he said that though.
"No no no, youâre do not doing it right." I declared. It was obvious he wasnât taking care of his coat properly at all.
"Ummm-"
"Right, Iâve decided, Iâm going to wash you tomorrow, Fer."
"Wh-" Fer whined.
"Are you scared of water? Is that what youâre telling me?" I pressed him.
"P- positively not." Fer declared, still unable to look me in the eye.
"Thatâs good then. Iâll give you a bath tomorrow, Fer. Iâve decided."
"Gwuuuh" Fer whined quietly, his muzzle pressed against the ground in submission. He really wasnât keen on the idea but I had to be firm, the condition of his coat was a disgrace. Iâd have to get some dog shampoo and a brush to wash and groom Fer properly. Could I buy dog shampoo from the Net Super?