For Me

“It feels like the goat I just ate is going to come out of my mouth…”

“Don’t do that, it’s a waste.”

“Please worry about me…”

They arrived on the second floor. Running while holding Ravi in a princess carry, Ravi was so light that he almost bounced off, so they supported his thighs like holding a baby, placed Ravi’s chin on their shoulder, and ran excitedly.

“Whew… It’s the second floor. We fell into the forest.”

“Originally, most of the second floor is plains, so it’s rare to fall into the forest. We’re lucky.”

Anyway, it’s beneficial to fall into the forest since they only need to find and catch one dire wolf. Most of them live in the forest.

“By the way, Ravi, do you know how to fight?”

“A, a little. Really, just a little…”

“I thought you’d say you couldn’t at all. I’d like to see it once.”

“Please think I can’t at all… I’ve never actually done it…”

When they stopped by the appraisal center to place the thinly sliced bones, Ravi, who had roughly put on a robe, took out a thin, short wand from the inner pocket of the robe, giving off a Harry Potter-like vibe.

They said they only knew simple attack magic. But even that makes them a noble in the explorer industry. When asked to show an attack magic once, Ravi nodded with a very determined expression.

“Hiyaah! Mana Sling!”

As Ravi swung the hand holding the wand forward, a small orb of magic formed at the tip of the wand and shot forward. When the orb of magic, fired at quite a fast speed, hit the trunk of the thin, tall conifer on the second floor,

Bang!

It exploded with a loud noise. However, it only caused a bit of bark to fly off and the tree to wobble slightly.

‘I can’t even break a tree of this thickness in one go.’

But Ravi seemed to think it was a decent power. With a very proud expression, he asked confidently,

“How is it?! I’ve heard that I’m surprisingly good at offensive magic at the academy!”

“Yeah. It looks just perfect to become a direwolf’s lunch.”

“Heung.”

“Just kidding, it’s amazing. How many shots can you fire per minute?”

“About five times a day….”

Wait, aren’t wizards supposed to be nobles? What kind of useless wizard is this? Of course, Ravi is technically an appraiser who even set up an appraisal shop, but didn’t he say he was good at offensive magic?

The wizards I know are monsters who can turn the world into a sea of fire and raise icebergs from bare ground.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t met many wizards in this world yet. The power value of wizards seems to be low in this world.

“Well, I’ll take care of the direwolf. Just follow me, Ravi.”

“Understood..!”

With the direwolf’s future lunch, who didn’t seem to know much, by my side, I walked through the forest. Since it was the second floor, there was no sense of detection and it was quite deserted.

Originally, direwolves aren’t like Pokémon that suddenly jump out from some bushes. If you wander around places where they might be, you’re bound to see one or two.

“Ravi. What are you doing?”

“I heard that vigilance is essential..!”

“Hmm.”

“And you need to lower your voice..! Ewan, lower your voice too..!”

They think direwolves are some kind of dark templars. Surprisingly, they make a lot of noise when they move. They also make some barking and whining sounds. At night, their stealth abilities improve a bit due to the influence of magic.

You only lower your voice and stay alert if there’s something around. Given that my senses can easily detect anything within a 300-meter radius and I haven’t picked up anything, the probability of wolves being around here is close to zero.

Still, I don’t want to ruin Ravi’s first labyrinth walk, so I should play along.

“Alright. Let’s be quiet.”

“Yes..!”

In fact, if we’re looking for direwolves, Ravi chattering away here is more effective. Doesn’t Ravi look like an easy target? Direwolves don’t run away when they hear noise; they come after it.

After walking for about 30 minutes in a state of extreme focus and vigilance, Ravi’s complexion starts to change.

“Where are the wolves..?!”

If you focus all your energy on your senses like that, you’ll quickly become mentally and physically exhausted. This, in its own way, must have been a lesson for Ravi.

“Ravi. Actually, there are no wolves around here.”

“W-what do you mean..?”

“I can detect most living creatures within at least 300 meters. In fact, there hasn’t been a single wolf around us from 30 minutes ago until now.”

“Ugh.”

At those words, Ravi’s mouth dropped open, and he looked like his world had collapsed.

“Why didn’t you tell me..?”

“You seemed to be enjoying yourself. The labyrinth is fun, right?”

“…It’s not fun!”

Ravi, too tired to even protest, clenched his tiny fists and lightly punched my side.

“Wait. There’s a direwolf.”

“It’s not working anymore!?”

“Over there.”

In the direction I pointed with my finger, six direwolves were baring their teeth and growling at us.

“Eek?! R-real wolves! Living direwolves! A novice explorer’s nightmare!!”

“Yes. Yes….”

They are indeed like a novice explorer’s nightmare. I almost died to one of them before my body became like this. Even though six direwolves are easy opponents now, I need to be cautious while protecting Ravi.

“Ravi. Just in case, stay right there.”

“What?! S-stay still?!”

“If you don’t want to get hurt, follow what I say.”

I left my pouch, gambeson, and other equipment in the inn room. All I have now is a broken sword blade in its sheath and a handle. Of course, I could just kick them and the direwolves would burst apart, but it’s better to preserve the corpses.

Besides, I left my metal greaves that protect my shins, so if I kick them wrong, my shins might hurt. I’m not a berserker who can just kick everything away.

I replaced the muscles in my legs with those of Ursus, and my arms with the muscles of a direwolf. If I used the muscles of the alpha, they might run away.

Of course, there was something I overlooked.

“No.”

Do direwolves fear Ursus too?

“You can’t run away..!”

I quickly closed the distance with the fleeing wolves and grabbed the hind leg of the nearest one.

Instinctively, I tried to smash its cervical vertebrae with a punch to the neck, but then I remembered I needed to preserve the esophagus.

“Huh, if not the neck, then where should I hit?”

Had I become a beast myself, I couldn’t tell where to strike effectively other than the neck.

“U-uh, maybe like the heart…?”

“Ah. I see.”

Come to think of it, the heart *is* a vital spot. I flipped my scabbard, extracted the broken blade, avoided the ribs, and stabbed the knife into the center of its chest. The creature made a deflating sound, and then died.

“Yoo-Eon was an incredibly strong explorer…!”

“It’s just one dire wolf. Don’t make such a fuss.”

“I guess….”

This time, the part I was trying to eat was in a really ambiguous location. The esophagus? How am I even supposed to identify that? Where do you even draw the line between the tongue and the esophagus? Where exactly is the meeting point of the palate and the esophagus?

“Maybe… wouldn’t it be okay to just collect the parts that Yoo-Eon thinks are necessary…?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you want to protect the palate, you can just tear off all of the wolf’s palate… Or, if you only need the esophagus, you can just take that…”

“Hmm, that makes sense.”

Since it’s hard to distinguish, I’ll just tear it all out.

*Crack-*

I grabbed the creature’s jaws with both hands and pulled them wide open. From the side, Lavi shrieked, covered her eyes and ears, and turned away.

“Lavi, why don’t you just look at the forest over there? Just don’t go too far.”

“O-okay.”

* * * * *

“Ugh, this tastes like absolute shit.”

I roughly tore off most of the beast’s lower jaw, starting from above the collarbone, and chewed it raw. And yeah, I definitely felt like I ate something that could be called an esophagus.

The problem was, I tore out the roof of its mouth and ate it, and I think I also ate some kind of snotty, goddamn filth.

“I can’t stomach this anymore.”

My stomach was churning, so I called it quits. I’d ripped out its windpipe, that cylindrical tube thing, and eaten that, so I figured that was enough. And then in the process, the esophagus, still connected to the stomach, came with it, so I roughly opened it up and looked inside.

“Did this b*stard just eat bird feathers, too?”

“I think it’ll probably throw them up….”

I roughly washed out the inside in the river and chewed and swallowed the stomach. Just in case.

“It is disappearing from the stomach, at least.”

“I see. Then let’s try to figure out what happens when the stomach itself is changed by the skill!”

After all, the starting point of all my abilities is my ‘stomach’. The organs of other living things that I chew and swallow go into my stomach, and then, because of the skill, disappear somewhere inside my stomach, and seem to be ‘stored’ so I can use them.

So what if I change my ‘stomach’ through the skill? If the skill isn’t triggered in a ‘other’ biological stomach that isn’t my own, that’d be a bit of a shame.

But, if the skill works even in a biologically ‘other’ stomach that’s been replaced through the skill?

“Then wouldn’t I just need to eat a fucking huge stomach?”

It feels like using the skill might become a little easier.

“The work is done, Ravi.”

“Good job. But… maybe you should wash the blood off your face a bit….”

I’ve washed most of it off, haven’t I?

* * * * *

“Something… tastes like absolute shit.”

I returned from the second floor to the ground level. Then I finished returning to the appraisal office from the guild.

Before eating the cut bones, I changed my esophagus to a dire wolf’s, but this goddamn dog smell keeps coming up from inside my mouth, and the taste left behind is awful.

“H-hurry up and eat! Stay strong!”

“Yes. I am eating.”

It is the femur of a sliced Ursus.

“Phew.. Ravi. Give me that, uh, gunflower thing.”

“What? Ah, understood!”

Everything is for a stronger me.