Whalebone and Tool Upgrades
 

 
“Oh, something interesting’s for sale here.”
 
One day, while walking through the market, I stumbled upon a rare material.
 
I’d heard it existed and was used in this world, but I never expected to find it here in the inland city of Legol. Surprise hit me before excitement.
 
“Hey, old-timer, is that whale baleen?”
 
“Ah, you know your stuff? Yeah, it is. Pretty rare, right?”
 
I’d only come to restock spider silk for fishing, but there it was—displayed prominently in a shop selling monster materials.
 
The glossy, amber-brown material looked like a wooden boomerang split … Read the rest

“The Trap Hunter”
 

The next morning, we began packing up as soon as dawn broke.
 
We bundled our gear, hauled the meat, and on the way back, took down any prey we stumbled across.
 
“Mongrel-san, what are you making?”
 
“A carrying pole. I cut a sturdy sapling, carved grooves at both ends, and added a notch in the middle to rest on my shoulder. Lets me hang loads from it. Adjust the groove positions, and you can balance uneven weights—handy stuff.”
 
“Ohhh, so that’s how it works!”
 
“Never seen one before?”
 
“Maybe in the city once or twice? Never … Read the rest

All-Men Camping Adventure

“Ahh, having Mongrel-san here really saved us. Usually when Gorilliana-san isn’t around, we end up throwing away most of the innards on the spot.”
 
“That’s such a waste. Crazy Boar tastes so good.”
 
“Even if my skills are powerful, that doesn’t mean I have the strength to carry all this stuff…”
 
Ulrika had taken down two Crazy Boars.
 
The first one was the mud-wallowing one we found initially, and the second was a smaller individual we discovered while he was practicing archery later.
 
For this smaller one, Ulrika didn’t even use his powerful shot skills to finish … Read the rest

Weak Spot Detection and Strong Shot
 

I got to see Ulrika’s archery skills firsthand.
 
On top of that, he offered to teach me a few things about the bow, which I really appreciated.
 
I’d already learned a lot from Raina, so my fundamentals were solid, but a second opinion never hurt. Besides, getting instruction from someone else might give me a fresh perspective. Not to mention, Ulrika seemed to have different skills from Raina—worth watching, for sure.
 
When you’re a solo adventurer, you rarely get the chance to study another person’s techniques up close. And archery was something I … Read the rest

The Return of the Bandaged Man
 

The mission was complete.
 
It wasn’t the kind of mission worth talking about, so the journey back was a simple, uneventful affair.
 
I went solo, finished it casually, and that was that.
 
Still, even I had to admit that taking down a Silver Wolf solo was pushing it a bit.
 
The recommended party size for that beast was five Silvers—meaning it was designed to be safely overwhelmed by a standard five-man Silver team. A one-on-one deathmatch wasn’t supposed to be feasible.
 
But well… I managed. Set up some … Read the rest

Spectacular Damage Rug Mat

The target is one Silver Wolf.
 
Location: a small hill near Morina Village.
 
If that was all there was to it, this would be just an ordinary Silver-rank mission, but when you consider that there’s also the matter of mocking some deluded noble mixed in, the real reward is effectively ten times what’s written.
 
Moreover, I can suppress my own promotion just by completing this mission carelessly—how delightful. The vice-captain really found me a great job.
 
Maybe I should ask if there are any more shit jobs like this one. Within the range where I can … Read the rest

A Worthwhile Terrible Job
 

 
They say “speak of the devil,” and sure enough, mentioning something ominous tends to make it happen. Thankfully, there’s no sign of war breaking out yet. Phew.
 
Not that I’d want some idiot casually starting a war right now, anyway.
 
Planting season leading straight into a full-scale invasion? What about the harvest labor? Even if it’s the kingdom’s doing, morale would plummet—so it’s practically unheard of. Not to say it never happens, but still.
 
In that sense, spring is peaceful.
 
With more people around, you hear about incidents in town—petty squabbles are a dime a … Read the rest

The Seed That Won’t Pop
 

I’m standing in the outdoor cooking area, staring into a small pot.
 
A low flame, a thin layer of oil. I scatter my intended ingredient inside and let it cook long and slow… but the unmistakable stench of failure already lingers in the air. Probably not just my imagination.
 
Still, like an idiot, I keep waiting—hoping for some miraculous turnaround—until the fire burns through the single log I tossed in. What a waste of time…
 
“Hey, ma, if you stir it that slow, it’s gonna burn.”
 
“Quit naggin’. If ya don’t like it, do … Read the rest

The Malicious Butterfly
 

 
A corner introducing the monsters lurking around Legol.
 
First up, the hall-of-fame regular: Crazy Boar.
 
In other words, wild boars. The same creatures that, when domesticated, become pigs.
 
Normally, they’re managed by livestock farmers, but every once in a while, a particularly vicious one will break through cages and fences with unexpected strength and return to the wild. Those are the ones called Crazy Boars—basically, they’re pretty much the equivalent of wild boars from my past life.
 
I’ve never fought a wild boar in my past life, so I can’t say for sure, but I imagine … Read the rest

Strong Mongrel

“I ain’t got no money…”
 
I mutter this while sitting at the guild table, looking up at the ceiling.
 
It’s nothing unusual, just a common sight.
 
“Well of course, if you buy something like that, you’re gonna run out of money,”
 
Barlgar replies with an exasperated tone from the seat across from me.
 
That might be a fair point. Looking at that thing sitting boldly on the table, anyone can tell it must’ve cost a fortune. Though I haven’t told anyone the price.
 
“Something like that… Hey Barlgar… For guild members, our bodies are our capital, right? If … Read the rest