Chapter 943 – [Planet of the Beasts]

A truck led by Otridge runs quickly and arrives at the village we planned to stay in today, but due to unexpected circumstances, we had no choice but to change our plans.

This is because the village we arrived in was horribly destroyed with only traces of it remaining.

“This… Is a disaster committed by an animal blessed by a spirit. I haven’t heard of it, and judging from the broken traces, it seems to have happened relatively recently.”

Charles ran and searched the village. As expected, it was a knight, so he was trying to figure out the situation and see if there were any survivors.

However, there were no survivors through his search and my feeling. Then he had to think of the worst.

“Dad, what happened here…?”

“Yeah, a bad animal came and ruined it.”

“Bad animal!!!!! You have to punish that guy!!!!!”

“How are you going to punish me?”

“Catch and eat… Ah, I said you shouldn’t eat animals that have eaten people, right? Ugh, then…”

“Eden think about it. It’s up to you to think about how to punish animals that harm people.”

The punishment for a person who commits a crime depends on the person’s values.

For example, some people think that criminals should be reformed, while others think that they should be put to death. Of course, the idea that if you commit a crime, you should be punished, is the same, but the way people punish each other is different.

In the first place, because thoughts are divided like that, people quarrel and fight. Human conflicts will not disappear even if humans become mental bodies, and will continue unless the Hive Mind is achieved.

“It’s not okay to catch and eat it…… But if you can’t kill it without thinking… Hmm… Ah!!! I remembered!!!!”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to kill it and use it as fertilizer”

“…………..”

“Every life is precious, so I can’t let animals that harm other people’s lives. But I think it’d be better to make them into fertilizers and grow other crops than to kill them pointlessly and throw them away.”

A child is pure, so Eden was also pure.

But pure doesn’t mean good. Sometimes the innocence of children is worse than their wickedness.

Eden’s judgment was quite right, but the words that he would kill animals that had killed people in the child’s mouth and use them as fertilizer felt a little creepy.

……..But it can’t be helped. This is the conclusion that Eden came up with on his own. In the end, even if you grow up and have a different set of values, it was impossible for others to change them as you like.

“Okay then let’s do that”

After busily walking around, Charles came back after grasping the situation. With his skills and insight as a knight, he was able to roughly grasp what had happened in this village and let us know about it.

“Probably, the animal that attacked this place was not one, but several. Judging from the destruction and damage, it must be an omnivore…… If it’s an animal like that in this week, it’s like a ward.”

“Wardber?”

“An animal that walks on four legs and has tusks.”

Perhaps what Charles is talking about is a wild boar.

Just a wild boar? You might think, but if you have a lot to eat, a wild boar is a creature that really grows fast. If it is a place with abundant vegetation like this place and it is larger, things the size of wild boars from movies about real monster wild boars might be roaming around.

Moreover, since there seemed to be not one or two of them, if there were dozens of them wandering around in groups……. It was no different from the wild boar parade in Princess Mononoke.

“Wardbur’s abnormal breeding…… It seems that those who ran out of food attacked the village thanks to that.”

“It seems that there are no survivors of the village, but it seems that there are people who escaped.”

“Yes, and there are probably not one or two villages like this. We have to rescue and help those refugees…”

Charles glanced at me.

Even a cat is a knight. He was a great guy who considered helping and saving others as chivalry. That’s why he can’t just look at this situation and move on.

Of course, Eden is the same. Our good Eden couldn’t turn a blind eye to someone who fell into this situation. I don’t know if I didn’t know, but while traveling this far, Eden learned the language perfectly and listened to everything Charles said.

“My kindergarten teacher said that we help each other when we are having a hard time!!!!!”

“Then I can’t help it”

“Thank you so much, you two!!!!”

First of all, the first thing to do is to deal with the village.

It was rather easy to count the good things in the village that was ruined by the raid of the wadbur. The village warehouse, which was used as a barn, was broken long ago, and all the food in it was stolen, and even the blood and bone fragments scattered horribly showed that there were no corpses left intact.

Boars, like pigs, are omnivores. They eat both grains and meat. If it had been a herbivore, the field would have been ruined, but since it was an omnivore, the situation was even more terrible.

“This village is difficult to rebuild, and there are no intact bodies left. So I think it’s better to burn them off before they rot and get sick.”

“Is that so?”

[Then I’ll have to use my strength]

“Risotto!!!!!”

[I said my name was Yessto?!?!]

He grumbled, but took off and flapped his wings toward the village.

At that very moment, a fire erupts from the ruins of the town. The fire, which happened so simultaneously that it is impossible to know where the ignition started, quickly erases the traces of the village.

If there is anything left of the body, even a funeral will be held, but if there is nothing left, the answer is to burn it. Anyway, valuable things and such things are all broken and ruined, so there is nothing that can be excavated.

And after a while, a village became ashes. Any traces of human habitation disappear completely as the ashes begin to blow away.

“It’s not like there’s only one town like this. So I’d better take a look around this area.”

“In addition to the refugee rescue, you mean?”

“Yes that’s right”

We wandered around the village and found another village. And likewise, I found about 3 more villages that were destroyed by Wardver.

Upon discovering such a town, Charles’ complexion hardened considerably. He recognized that things had gotten worse.

“It seems that all the villages around here have been razed to the ground by Wadber. If this happened, the surviving refugees…”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Looking at the village, the residents here are probably mostly Palets.

The five major races of this era are races that evolved from ordinary animals, but they were not far from the original race.

Katsido, who was a cat, has evolved to be able to digest grains for survival, but she does not use it as a staple food or prefer it. Then, instead of having an active metabolism like a rat, Palet will have to supplement the amount of calories.

Of course, starving for a day or two won’t kill you, but you won’t be able to survive a week on water alone. At least, it is said that even humans can survive for 3 weeks as long as there is water, but Palet…

“Find the refugees quickly and then get food…… No, the nearby village has become like this, so there is no place to get food in one day…”

“Even if we take an autridge, wouldn’t it take two or three days to get from here to a decent village?”

“Yes, so that’s the problem. Even if we take temporary measures with the food we have, we will eventually run out of food and die of starvation.”

Even if you go as quickly as possible, 2 days one way is 4 days round trip. Can they last that long after starving for several days?

But it’s still not something to worry about. Before that, the refugees had to be gathered.

I tried to check the location of the refugees by slightly expanding my senses, but this time I thought it would be better to leave it to Eden, so I gave up. You have to be able to solve these things on your own to make this trip worthwhile.

“Eden, we need to find survivors, but what should we do?”

“Uhh…. Just ask Mangmung and Risotto to find him!!!! Mangmung has a good nose and Risotto can fly!!!!”

“Yeah, well thought out”

It was a situation where I had already remembered the various smells of Mangmung while walking around the village. Furthermore, thanks to Elizabeth’s body, if she had a better sense of smell, she wouldn’t have to fly around and look around.

Eden ordered Mangmung to find survivors around him.

“Mungmungah!!!! Find other people around you!!!”

“Heh heh heh!!!!

The goblin put his nose on the ground and started tracking the others while sniffing. And at some point he runs out as if he has found a clue to the smell.

The speed was quite slow, so I ran with Eden and the kitten in my arms. Charles and Yesto were following each other on their own.

“Zuinnim!!! It’s this way!!! It’s here!!!!”

“Are you in the ground?”

“Yes!!!!!”

The place that Mangmungi found was a place that looked a little different from the surrounding land. Judging from the presence of the ground below, it seemed that he had dug a hole and hid in it.

“One of the ways Palet survives is to dig burrows and hide in them. Their digging skills are similar to those of Cuttsee, so they are also good at farming.”

“Do you want to stay alive?”

“I’ll have to look at it…… The person in there!!!! I’m Charles of the Flame Sword, a Knight of the Kingdom!!!! I’m here to help!!!!”

After waiting for a while, the entrance that had been blocked by dirt crackled open. And dozens of pallets carefully start coming out from inside.

“Hey, knight-nim?”

“Really!!!! The flame sword really came!!!!!”

“We are alive now!!!!!”

I’m not an expert enough to judge the rat’s appearance, but it was so skinny that other people could see it was starving. In particular, it seemed to be showing signs of dehydration.

Couldn’t even drink enough water… I can understand how scared he must have been if he was hiding in the ground and barely breathing.

People cannot move because of fear. Sadako crawls out of the TV, but despite its slow movements, humans can’t escape because it’s scary.

Even from a human perspective, the little bit of safety they gained was as important to them as they managed to escape after seeing their village destroyed and their neighbors, friends, and family members eaten by huge wild boars.

“For now, let’s try to rescue others besides these people.”

“I’m going to settle down here and make a camp. First of all, I have to feed this side.”

“Yes, please”

“What will Eden do?”

Then I asked Eden’s opinion. Will you follow Charles and rescue the others, or will you stay and take care of the starving pallets?

Both are necessary. Saving more people and helping those who have already saved not deteriorate. Both are right and right.

But in the midst of that, what Eden chooses must have greater value.

“Mongmungi says to find someone else and I want to eat with my dad”

“Will you?”

Even as he spoke, Eden’s eyes were on the starving pallets.

Having compassion is good. It is proof that conscience is alive. And Eden didn’t seem to be able to leave a hungry person alone.

Anyway, we got out the cooking utensils. Fortunately, Eden eats a lot, so I bought a large pot and thanks to that, I was able to boil a lot at once, which saved me a lot of trouble.

Take out flour and dried meat from the ingredients and start cooking. Don’t forget to give an explanation to Eden, who helps you by your side.

“Eden, if you feed such hungry people suddenly something like meat, your stomach hurts. That’s why you should feed them something close to water.”

“Something like porridge?”

“Yes, you have to make something like soup with porridge. That way it will digest well and you won’t get sick.”

“I see”

In fact, to make these pallets healthy, the simplest thing is to give them a malnutrition remedy made by refining my breast milk in the past.

But that’s not in our hands now. Horizon has it, and the Horizon is parked in orbit of a satellite of this star, but bringing it with you isn’t worth the trip.

In the process of traveling, experience is accumulated by finding ways to overcome what is lacking in the process. It will come in handy later when Eden really drifts with nothing.

As a chef, I pursue delicious dishes, but if there is a malnourished patient in front of me, what is more important is nutrition and quick cooking time than taste. There is no time to make a separate fire, so place the Yesto under the pot and make a fire.

[Kuh, I can’t believe I’m being used to boil a pot…!!!!]

“Yumma, after all, that’s also to save those pallets. Any action that can save another life is noble.”

“Risotto is great!!!!!”

[…Well, then I guess I can endure this level of humiliation]

Boil the water directly over high heat, dissolve the flour, and add the meat and vegetables to it. There is no time to brew the broth, so I throw in cubes of chicken stock. For reference, this chicken stock is something I brought before departure.

In that way, a delicious soup was quickly completed. There are not many ingredients, but even this one is a delicacy enough for those who have been starving for a few days.

“Eat!!!! Oh, but it’s hot right now, so you have to eat slowly?”

“Thank you thank you!!!!!”

“I wonder if it’s been a few days since I’ve eaten… Thank you so much!!!!”

Even though it must be quite hot because it was a boiling soup, they started to eat it in a hurry as soon as they received it. Eden told me to eat slowly, but it’s hard to want someone to eat slowly when he gave something to eat in front of someone who had been starving for a few days.

Their tongue may burn a little, but that doesn’t matter. They say it’s delicious and eat the soup. And Eden smiled at them.

“Delicious? There are more, so tell me if you want more!!!!”

“Ha, one more plate please!!!!”

“Me too!!! Give me more too!!!!”

“Yeah, yea, here we are!!!!”

Eden smiles and distributes food to the pallets. No matter how much she starved, the amount that went into that little body was no joke, and her pot was emptied in no time.

“Dad!!!! I’m out of soup!!!!”

“I need to make more……But I wonder if I will be able to eat it”

Even the food we have is enough to eat for more than a month, including the dry amount that can be stored for a long time, but the speed of consumption increases when the person who eats exceeds the fever.

Besides, according to my hunch, Charles and Mangmungi, who rescued other refugees, are now coming this way. The other side has the same number as this one.

I think there will be not enough food as Charles was worried…….. Bitter, should I inevitably catch and feed the culprit who caused this situation?

But that’s kind of it. It’s natural to kill them, but what kind of guy wants to eat the meat of a guy who might have eaten his family or neighbors?

That’s a last resort They look like animals, but they are not animals, they are people. They have intelligence and can understand ethics.

If there wasn’t such a tendency, eating the wadbur had to be put last.

“Not enough to eat. Eden, what do you think should be done with this?”

“Uhh… I need more to eat.”

“Then where can I get it?”

Eden is a smart kid and can calculate that we can’t feed all the refugees with the food we have. If so, where did you have to think about the supplier?

There is also a way to make Yessto huge and fly to a nearby village to bring food. There was a way to catch and eat other animals around, and there was a way to peel off the bark and eat it.

There are many ways. It’s just that it’s important to think about it yourself and come to a conclusion.

“If you don’t have anything to eat, you can raise it!!!!”

“……?”

However, Eden chose an option I hadn’t thought of.

While traveling, Eden seemed to grow in ability as well.