novelraw Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Right after the Lion Tribe’s Horned Rabbit ranch was completed—
At the time when the Workers of the territory were in full swing harvesting wheat, beastmen from the north began visiting the Lion Tribe.
The first to arrive were the Cat Tribe—that is, feline beastmen.
‘Cat Tribe, huh? So, they’re cats. What kind of people are they?’
—Cats are agile and quick. Excellent hunters. Though, their physical strength tends to be somewhat lacking.
‘So they’re an agility-type, then?’
—The blessing granted to them by Lord Bestia is also agility and swiftness. So yes, calling them agility-type wouldn’t be wrong.
After hearing the explanation from that rabbit guy, I met with the Cat Tribe’s chieftain.
At my side were Yuria and Rudelrof, who were there to assist with the trade.
Since I didn’t know much about the beastmen’s circumstances, their help was invaluable.
‘Are those the ones?’
Cat Tribe members were unloading goods from their wagons.
Like most beastmen, they had cat ears and tails.
Those swaying feline tails kept catching my eyes.
—Come to think of it, humans have always been especially fond of cats. Even though the blessing of “cuteness” was granted to another tribe.
Honestly, I couldn’t help but feel a strange fondness toward them, just because they were the Cat Tribe.
Was this… the heart of a cat lover?
Even back on Earth, I’d liked cats quite a bit.
“Nice to meet you, I am Belladan, the chieftain of the Cat Tribe-nya.”
“Ah, right.”
“You’re the Guide of the Rabbit Tribe, nya? I thought you’d be the Bear Chieftain-nya.”
“Well… wait, is that how you normally talk?”
“When I talk like this, humans let their guard down-nya. Makes trading easier-nya.”
“…Really?”
The Cat Tribe, being a small tribe, survived through trade with humans.
Perhaps that’s why they seemed so used to dealing with humans—and to make them lower their guard, they used that peculiar speech pattern.
Of course, blurting that out right in front of me was… something else.
“There are probably certain beastmen who do the trading with humans. The prettiest females of the tribe, I’d bet.”
“Oh, really?”
“Beastmen have their own language, you know. They only talk like that when they’re using human speech. They must’ve learned it that way from the start.”
“That’s… quite something.”
According to Yuria, that was just how the Cat Tribe talked.
They’d learned human language with that peculiar tone, so it couldn’t be helped.
I guess you could call it an effort to negotiate on better terms?
A Cat Tribe woman—with cat ears and a tail—saying “nya~” and “nyang~” would probably have quite the effect, after all.
Still, it felt a bit wrong seeing a burly, forty-something chieftain talking like that.
“So, what did the Cat Tribe bring with them?”
“We brought what we used to trade with humans-nya.”
“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”
What the Cat Tribe used to trade with humans were monster by-products and heartstones.
Since hunting was their only real skill, those were the main things they could gather in their region.
To merchants from Levelium, they were decent enough goods.
The problem was, from our perspective, those items weren’t particularly valuable.
‘This is just like the old Johnson Territory. This could be a bit tricky.’
We also exported monster by-products, and with the discovery of the Mana Stone Mine, heartstones weren’t all that appealing either.
The Cat Tribe’s goods were all things we could easily obtain within the territory.
‘Still, I should accept them. It’s not like we started this trade just to make money.’
I decided to take them in anyway.
With trade with human merchants cut off, if even we refused to deal with the Cat Tribe, they’d be in real trouble.
And right now, maintaining good relations with the beastmen was important.
If it came to it, we could always send their goods south.
—You’re saying you’ll handle their leftovers?
‘It’s a win-win, isn’t it? Monster by-products can be used for a lot of things.’
After accepting the Cat Tribe’s proposal, I examined the items they’d brought.
They’d gathered materials humans often used—like hides and bones from mid-grade monsters.
As for heartstones, since they were refined into mana crystals, there was still decent demand for them.
We could probably just process them in the territory’s Alchemy Workshop without sending them elsewhere.
“Huh? Wait, is this troll heart and blood?”
“That’s right-nya.”
“How’d you even get this? It’s almost perfectly preserved!”
While inspecting the monster by-products, I stumbled upon something unexpected.
Troll blood and heart.
Those are useless if not collected immediately after the hunt—they rot quickly.
Since they’re key ingredients for potions, we handle them with great care ourselves.
But the Cat Tribe had brought theirs all the way here in perfect condition.
“It’s simple-nya. You just pack it tightly in here, seal it well, and it stays fresh for about a month-nya.”
“Whoa, really? That works?”
When I asked how, they said they had a special method.
By sealing it in a special container, they could keep it fresh for quite a long time.
“Metal Slime?”
“Oh, right. I think I heard about that too. Using Metal Slime skin helps preserve materials.”
“Seriously?”
In this world, slimes are surprisingly versatile monsters.
The most common use is treating their skin like rubber; and like the Lion Tribe, some even release live slimes to purify certain areas.
Of course, humans who rely on purification magic don’t usually need live slimes—but using their skin as a rubber substitute is a well-known practice.
“Metal Slimes live near mines, right?”
“They’re a slime variant, but unlike normal ones, their numbers are huge. Slimes multiply almost infinitely, after all.”
“So this is Metal Slime skin? Let’s see… it’s not just squishy—it’s quite firm. Feels like a mix of iron and rubber.”
Once the Metal Slime’s core is removed, its skin can be freely used. The Cat Tribe molded it like clay into bowl shapes, poured the troll blood inside, then sealed it with another layer of skin.
A light touch of aura finished the seal, making it perfectly airtight and preserving it for a long time.
Though air inevitably gets in during the process—so it eventually spoils—the Cat Chieftain said it stays fresh for at least a month.
Being able to preserve troll blood for a whole month, when it normally loses potency in a day, was nothing short of amazing.
“This is really something. Let me try… ah, wait, this isn’t easy.”
I fiddled with the Metal Slime for a bit.
It was stiff, but when I applied some force, it molded together like clay.
However, if I tried to reattach a separated piece, I had to weld it back together using aura.
So I tried infusing aura once—and with a pop, it burst apart.
They seemed to be using a very precise amount of aura.
“Honestly, even we don’t handle this very well-nya.”
“Really?”
“We get help from the Mouse Tribe. They’re the only ones who can properly handle Metal Slime-nya.”
“I see.”
The Mouse Tribe, huh. I should remember that.
“Alright, we’ve received the goods. Let’s proceed with the trade.”
Setting aside the matter of the Metal Slime for now, I continued with the transaction.
We decided to accept all the monster by-products, while purchasing the troll blood and hearts at a high price.
The Cat Tribe had brought blood from ten slimes’ worth of trolls, and seven hearts — quite a large amount.
Dealing with trolls after the hunt was usually more troublesome than killing them, but these were neatly processed by-products, which made them especially valuable.
They were monsters we had to hunt for potion materials anyway, but selectively going after them was always a pain.
Naturally, I promised to continue buying troll by-products at high prices in the future.
“What we want are meat and salt-nya. And fabric… would furs also be possible-nya?”
“Meat and salt, sure, but fur?”
What the Cat Tribe wanted were meat, salt, and fur.
Meat and salt made perfect sense, but fur was a bit unexpected.
When I looked over at Yuria, she slowly nodded, as if she’d just remembered something.
“Right. The Cat Tribe’s village is farther north than here. Winters there are much colder.”
“Ah, so that’s why they want fur.”
“Winter is truly unbearable-nya.”
Well, even Johnson Territory had pretty harsh winters.
The farther north you went, the more brutal it must be.
Even in Rotsy, the air already felt different.
It was already summer, yet the night air was still cool.
‘Fur, huh. That’ll make a fine trade item for the northern beastmen.’
The people of Johnson Territory, who had always lived with shortages, had long made it a habit to stockpile supplies.
They were already storing hides and furs from the Horned Rabbits they hunted.
Those were meant to be used as winter gear, but we’d already stocked up far more than we’d ever need.
After all, the number of Horned Rabbits we butchered was increasing by the day.
We had such a surplus that it wouldn’t hurt to share some with the beastmen.
“This is wonderful-nya. We’ll come again next time-nya.”
“Sure.”
“When you fight those Imperial bastards, we’ll gladly lend a hand-nya. Call for us anytime-nya.”
Loaded with plenty of Horned Rabbit jerky, furs, and salt, the Cat Tribe’s chieftain seemed more than satisfied with this trade.
He repeatedly told me to summon them when fighting the Imperial bastards, then left Rotsy.
Judging by their excitement, they’d probably bring back even more trolls next time.
“Isn’t this a human potion-nya?”
“It’s a potion made from troll heart and blood. If you bring more trolls, we’ll trade these too.”
“T-that’s… wonderful-nya.”
The moment I handed him a few potion samples, his eyes completely changed.
In truth, as long as we had a good supply of troll blood and hearts, we could distribute plenty of potions to the beastmen too.
Since they didn’t have priests, potions would be highly coveted among them.
“Potions from Johnson Territory were classified as strategic goods. Lords paid huge sums to buy them. So this might be the first time the Cat Tribe’s seen potions of such quality.”
“Really?”
Right now, they might think of it as just a potion — but once they tried it, they’d be astonished.
At least when it came to potion quality, no other territory could match ours.
They might even end up unable to live without Johnson Territory potions.
After sending off the Cat Tribe, during our rest break, we began talking about which tribe might visit next.
“Who do you think will come next?”
“Probably the monkeys?”
“The Cat Tribe lives closest to Rotsy, and a bit farther north from their village lies the city of the Monkey Tribe. Since the cats were the first to visit, the next should be the monkeys.”
“Yeah?”
Rudelrof predicted that the Monkey Tribe would be our next guests due to proximity.
I nodded, thinking that sounded reasonable.
‘Monkey Tribe, huh.’
I wondered what kind of beastmen they’d be.
Hopefully, they’d be cooperative like the Cat Tribe.
—Monkeys are generally gentle-natured. They shouldn’t cause any problems.
‘Really? What are they good at?’
—They’re very dexterous with their hands. They enjoy crafting and making things.
‘Oh, so kind of like the engineers of the beastmen world?’
—Actually, they’re more famous for their alcohol.
‘Alcohol?’
—Didn’t your world have a saying about that? “Liquor brewed by monkeys.”
‘Ah, Hua-joo? But that’s just…’
Wasn’t Hua-joo basically a scam?
Well, maybe not exactly a scam.
If monkeys gathered fruits and they naturally fermented, that would technically be Hua-joo.
But the “legendary liquor” part was probably exaggerated.
‘So, the Monkey Tribe here actually brews liquor, huh?’
Well, alcohol is always a good thing.
If the Monkey Tribe brought alcohol, I’d gladly pay a fair price for it.
‘The wine I drank during the Lord’s Council was pretty good, too.’
I knew it was probably just my imagination, but still — hearing that monkeys’ evolved kin brewed alcohol made me oddly excited.
Knowing full well that high expectations only lead to disappointment, I tried to keep calm as I waited for the Monkey Tribe to arrive in Rotsy.