Reading settings
overlord_ Welcome the Birth of the King_chapter_0031
Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Cured Meat Soup, Heading to the Ogre Territory
2024-11-18 Author: Amnesty L
The moment one entered the village, the first impression was a sense of desolation.
The entire village was not large; all its houses, only about thirty in total, could be seen at a single glance.
A small portion of the ground was paved with gravel and was relatively clean, but most areas were overgrown with weeds.
Judging by the varying heights of these weeds in different areas, it seemed someone periodically cleared them.
All the houses were single-story, low-rise buildings. A few of the better ones appeared to be built from stone bricks, but their grayish-white walls suggested that even these superior houses had seen many years.
"Our village is quite small, but there are a few vacant houses. If you don't mind, you can rest in that house up ahead."
The thick, grayish-brown beard on the Village Chief's cheeks and chin trembled as he spoke.
"Thank you, Village Chief," Tang Zheng said gratefully, glancing at the house the Village Chief had indicated.
"Haha, it's a small matter. Our village hasn't had guests in a long time," the Village Chief let out a gentle chuckle.
As the two spoke, curious gazes and heads peeked out from the doorways and windows of the surrounding villagers' houses.
The entirety of Carne Village was not large, so any small commotion would naturally become known quickly.
Tang Zheng offered a simple thanks and, under the watch of many eyes, entered the vacant house.
Carne Village was actually very ordinary, with nothing to warrant Tang Zheng's particular attention.
If he had to mention something, it would only be the young girl named Enri.
She was the girl who, using an ordinary magic item, the Goblin General's Horn, had managed to summon an entire army.
Tang Zheng highly suspected that she possessed an innate ability similar to "extremely high goblin affinity."
For now, however, she was just an ordinary young girl.
*Creak!*
As he pushed open the wooden door, the connection to the frame let out an aged sound.
Tang Zheng walked into the vacant house. It was very empty, containing only a wooden bed, and the floor was covered in a thin layer of dust.
On the ceiling beams and in the four corners of the roof, tattered spiderwebs still lingered.
The wooden boards near the floor along the walls were slightly darker in color, likely due to dampness.
Tang Zheng hadn't expected excellent accommodation in such a poor border village. He had come to Carne Village simply because it was the closest settlement to the Great Forest of Tob.
Furthermore, since it was part of Forest Sage King Hamusuke's territory, it was surprisingly safe.
The journey from E-Rantel to Carne Village took about a day, meaning a round trip would take at least two days.
Although Tang Zheng had already replenished his supplies, he still needed to be prepared for unexpected situations that might force him to leave the forest early.
There was also the possibility of supplies running low from excessive consumption.
For these reasons, he naturally needed a dedicated place to rest and recuperate.
Carne Village was perfectly suitable.
"I should have prepared a [Clean] magic scroll," Tang Zheng remarked, shaking his head lightly as he observed the dust in the room and the spiderwebs on the beams.
Indeed.
Even after learning so much from the Rock Squad about the preparations adventurers make, there were still things he overlooked.
Tang Zheng had no choice but to clean the room himself, clearing out a tidy area.
Only then did he take a basketball-sized ceramic pot from his toolbox and place it on the ground. He then took out a piece of cured meat, broke it into small, uneven chunks, and put them inside before pouring in water from his waterskin.
"[Heat]."
Tang Zheng extended a finger and touched the ceramic pot.
In less than half a minute, the clear water in the pot began to boil, gradually turning into a meat soup that emitted a savory aroma.
"Putting other things aside, this spell is at least quite convenient for heating food," Tang Zheng mused, a faint smile on his face as he smelled the salty fragrance in the air.
A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and the simple meat soup was ready.
Tang Zheng took out a bowl and ladled himself a scoop, then began to eat with a piece of black bread.
Even after being boiled, the cured meat retained a strong salty flavor, but it was surprisingly good when paired with the hard, dry black bread.
Cured meat was one of the staple foods for adventurers in the wild. Because it was so heavily salted, it was almost impossible to eat directly.
It was often used to make meat soup or as a substitute for salt. For adventurers, who performed a lot of physical labor, it was an important way to replenish their salt intake.
The faint, salty aroma of the meat soup drifted out through the window.
It immediately caused a small stir in Carne Village.
Carne Village's main source of income was cultivating crops, primarily wheat, and gathering some herbs from the edge of the forest.
Hunting wild beasts?
For villagers who were, on average, only level 1, this was an extremely dangerous endeavor.
Tang Zheng remembered there was supposed to be a hunter in Carne Village with the basic [Ranger] class, but that person was at most level 2.
He glanced at his status panel.
[Genius] LV 1 + [Sword Saint] LV 6 = Total Level 7
The leftover experience from killing the two Eight Fingers members, combined with the goblins and small magical beasts he had slain along the way, allowed Tang Zheng to gain another level.
His progress wasn't too slow.
Tang Zheng felt it shouldn't take more than a few days to max out his intermediate class, [Sword Saint]. After that, his main focus would be to level up [Genius].
Shalltear's and Zesshi Zetsumei's priest classes were both level 10.
Although Tang Zheng wasn't sure if this was the prerequisite priest level for the [Valkyrie] class, raising it to that level for the sake of consistency couldn't be a mistake.
The next day, June 2nd.
As soon as it was light, Tang Zheng packed up and left Carne Village.
Before leaving, he made a special trip to the Village Chief and paid five copper coins for the lodging fee.
The people of Carne Village were quite simple and honest; the Village Chief hadn't intended to accept the payment, but Tang Zheng insisted on pressing it into his hand.
He would likely return to Carne Village later, so building some goodwill in advance was a simple, strategic social interaction.
He could certainly afford five copper coins.
...
A unique jungle smell—a mixture of foliage, earth, and decay—wafted out from within the Great Forest of Tob.
*Rustle—*
Tang Zheng stepped on the thick layer of leaves and moss. Every step produced a rustling sound, as if the foliage underfoot was being crushed.
From deep within the jungle, the calls of various animals and birds could be heard from time to time.
Tang Zheng held his iron sword, advancing along the outer area toward the eastern part of the Great Forest of Tob.
Among the three great rulers of the forest, the strongest and most difficult to deal with was Forest Sage King Hamusuke. With Tang Zheng's current strength, he wouldn't even be able to escape an encounter.
One shouldn't be fooled by its cuteness in the anime; that was from the Bone King's perspective. In reality, Forest Sage King Hamusuke was a terrifying magical beast!
As for the other two great forest rulers:
The Western Demon Snake Naga was highly intelligent and also a magic caster, making it equally dangerous.
The only other one, the Ogre, was equally strong but had low intelligence, being the simple, single-minded type.
Most importantly, it belonged to the warrior class. Aside from its extremely strong regenerative abilities and physical attacks, it had no other offensive methods.
In an accidental encounter, the chance of escaping from the Ogre was clearly much higher than that of escaping the Western Demon Snake Naga or Forest Sage King Hamusuke.
Verdant, towering trees stood all around. Sunlight struggled to pierce through the dense canopy, dappling the ground in patches of light.
(end of chapter)
2024-11-18 Author: Amnesty L
The moment one entered the village, the first impression was a sense of desolation.
The entire village was not large; all its houses, only about thirty in total, could be seen at a single glance.
A small portion of the ground was paved with gravel and was relatively clean, but most areas were overgrown with weeds.
Judging by the varying heights of these weeds in different areas, it seemed someone periodically cleared them.
All the houses were single-story, low-rise buildings. A few of the better ones appeared to be built from stone bricks, but their grayish-white walls suggested that even these superior houses had seen many years.
"Our village is quite small, but there are a few vacant houses. If you don't mind, you can rest in that house up ahead."
The thick, grayish-brown beard on the Village Chief's cheeks and chin trembled as he spoke.
"Thank you, Village Chief," Tang Zheng said gratefully, glancing at the house the Village Chief had indicated.
"Haha, it's a small matter. Our village hasn't had guests in a long time," the Village Chief let out a gentle chuckle.
As the two spoke, curious gazes and heads peeked out from the doorways and windows of the surrounding villagers' houses.
The entirety of Carne Village was not large, so any small commotion would naturally become known quickly.
Tang Zheng offered a simple thanks and, under the watch of many eyes, entered the vacant house.
Carne Village was actually very ordinary, with nothing to warrant Tang Zheng's particular attention.
If he had to mention something, it would only be the young girl named Enri.
She was the girl who, using an ordinary magic item, the Goblin General's Horn, had managed to summon an entire army.
Tang Zheng highly suspected that she possessed an innate ability similar to "extremely high goblin affinity."
For now, however, she was just an ordinary young girl.
*Creak!*
As he pushed open the wooden door, the connection to the frame let out an aged sound.
Tang Zheng walked into the vacant house. It was very empty, containing only a wooden bed, and the floor was covered in a thin layer of dust.
On the ceiling beams and in the four corners of the roof, tattered spiderwebs still lingered.
The wooden boards near the floor along the walls were slightly darker in color, likely due to dampness.
Tang Zheng hadn't expected excellent accommodation in such a poor border village. He had come to Carne Village simply because it was the closest settlement to the Great Forest of Tob.
Furthermore, since it was part of Forest Sage King Hamusuke's territory, it was surprisingly safe.
The journey from E-Rantel to Carne Village took about a day, meaning a round trip would take at least two days.
Although Tang Zheng had already replenished his supplies, he still needed to be prepared for unexpected situations that might force him to leave the forest early.
There was also the possibility of supplies running low from excessive consumption.
For these reasons, he naturally needed a dedicated place to rest and recuperate.
Carne Village was perfectly suitable.
"I should have prepared a [Clean] magic scroll," Tang Zheng remarked, shaking his head lightly as he observed the dust in the room and the spiderwebs on the beams.
Indeed.
Even after learning so much from the Rock Squad about the preparations adventurers make, there were still things he overlooked.
Tang Zheng had no choice but to clean the room himself, clearing out a tidy area.
Only then did he take a basketball-sized ceramic pot from his toolbox and place it on the ground. He then took out a piece of cured meat, broke it into small, uneven chunks, and put them inside before pouring in water from his waterskin.
"[Heat]."
Tang Zheng extended a finger and touched the ceramic pot.
In less than half a minute, the clear water in the pot began to boil, gradually turning into a meat soup that emitted a savory aroma.
"Putting other things aside, this spell is at least quite convenient for heating food," Tang Zheng mused, a faint smile on his face as he smelled the salty fragrance in the air.
A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and the simple meat soup was ready.
Tang Zheng took out a bowl and ladled himself a scoop, then began to eat with a piece of black bread.
Even after being boiled, the cured meat retained a strong salty flavor, but it was surprisingly good when paired with the hard, dry black bread.
Cured meat was one of the staple foods for adventurers in the wild. Because it was so heavily salted, it was almost impossible to eat directly.
It was often used to make meat soup or as a substitute for salt. For adventurers, who performed a lot of physical labor, it was an important way to replenish their salt intake.
The faint, salty aroma of the meat soup drifted out through the window.
It immediately caused a small stir in Carne Village.
Carne Village's main source of income was cultivating crops, primarily wheat, and gathering some herbs from the edge of the forest.
Hunting wild beasts?
For villagers who were, on average, only level 1, this was an extremely dangerous endeavor.
Tang Zheng remembered there was supposed to be a hunter in Carne Village with the basic [Ranger] class, but that person was at most level 2.
He glanced at his status panel.
[Genius] LV 1 + [Sword Saint] LV 6 = Total Level 7
The leftover experience from killing the two Eight Fingers members, combined with the goblins and small magical beasts he had slain along the way, allowed Tang Zheng to gain another level.
His progress wasn't too slow.
Tang Zheng felt it shouldn't take more than a few days to max out his intermediate class, [Sword Saint]. After that, his main focus would be to level up [Genius].
Shalltear's and Zesshi Zetsumei's priest classes were both level 10.
Although Tang Zheng wasn't sure if this was the prerequisite priest level for the [Valkyrie] class, raising it to that level for the sake of consistency couldn't be a mistake.
The next day, June 2nd.
As soon as it was light, Tang Zheng packed up and left Carne Village.
Before leaving, he made a special trip to the Village Chief and paid five copper coins for the lodging fee.
The people of Carne Village were quite simple and honest; the Village Chief hadn't intended to accept the payment, but Tang Zheng insisted on pressing it into his hand.
He would likely return to Carne Village later, so building some goodwill in advance was a simple, strategic social interaction.
He could certainly afford five copper coins.
...
A unique jungle smell—a mixture of foliage, earth, and decay—wafted out from within the Great Forest of Tob.
*Rustle—*
Tang Zheng stepped on the thick layer of leaves and moss. Every step produced a rustling sound, as if the foliage underfoot was being crushed.
From deep within the jungle, the calls of various animals and birds could be heard from time to time.
Tang Zheng held his iron sword, advancing along the outer area toward the eastern part of the Great Forest of Tob.
Among the three great rulers of the forest, the strongest and most difficult to deal with was Forest Sage King Hamusuke. With Tang Zheng's current strength, he wouldn't even be able to escape an encounter.
One shouldn't be fooled by its cuteness in the anime; that was from the Bone King's perspective. In reality, Forest Sage King Hamusuke was a terrifying magical beast!
As for the other two great forest rulers:
The Western Demon Snake Naga was highly intelligent and also a magic caster, making it equally dangerous.
The only other one, the Ogre, was equally strong but had low intelligence, being the simple, single-minded type.
Most importantly, it belonged to the warrior class. Aside from its extremely strong regenerative abilities and physical attacks, it had no other offensive methods.
In an accidental encounter, the chance of escaping from the Ogre was clearly much higher than that of escaping the Western Demon Snake Naga or Forest Sage King Hamusuke.
Verdant, towering trees stood all around. Sunlight struggled to pierce through the dense canopy, dappling the ground in patches of light.
(end of chapter)
