Wild Gourmet: Chapter 9

“Sure thing.” Shou’s face contorted in a sudden, uncontrollable yawn. “But if you can wait a day or so for it, I’d appreciate it. I need sleep, and I have other repair orders to get to now that I have my class.”

“Sure. Get those levels in first. Should make it better anyway.” Brand clapped the smith on the shoulder. His hand came away black. “I’m not hunting today, but I should be back with some materials tomorrow. Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“At this point? Anything you can find.” The smith smiled. “And thanks again, Brand. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Brand thanked Shou again and very quickly discovered the downside to his new acquisitions. A combat knife was really only tested once you used it in combat, but he was firmly committed to skipping combat that day. That left cooking as the next closest relevant test, and even though it really couldn’t tell him the things he would learn from combat, it would still tell him something.

“Back so soon?”

Remm was glad to give Brand all the vegetables he could carry, as soon as Brand told him what he was going to use them for. As he saw other townsfolk waking up and getting moving in the distance, he staggered home under the weight of a pack full of potatoes, carrots, and greens.

Once there, he got to work. Using the side of his outside grill as a cutting board, he began to slice through the vegetables. It went easily. The new knife was much sharper than his kitchen knife had been at the end, though he wondered if he had been frog-boiled into accepting a dull instrument over his weeks of travel. Even so, he doubted his kitchen knife would be as good when he got it back.

It really drove home how poor the gear the army used had been at the end of the war. Simple steel tools were the best for some classes, but not most. Even with steel tools, the addition of some amount of monster materials made a big difference in their quality. At the end of the war, monster materials had been almost completely tapped, though, and when he had left the camp as a soldier class it had been with weapons that had so little going for them that he would have died if the other army wasn’t in the the exact same situation.

That was the system’s great compromise. Yes, it would allow monsters to roam the land, establishing dens and hunting humans. Yes, it took constant vigilance on the part of humans to keep their populations down, to keep their people safe, and to make the existence of monsters a net positive. But it was possible. Monster materials made things possible that would never have been attainable through purely non-system means.

Before the war, it had been much clearer that monsters were a boon for humanity. Now all bets were off. There had always been stories of ancient dragons living out in the wilds somewhere, growing older and stronger and waiting to strike. Now those same stories seemed closer to home, somehow. Right now, monsters were out there unbothered by human hunters, establishing themselves and growing. What that would mean for the town was still unclear.

As the remnant meat and vegetables cooked, Brand made no effort to alert the others to his impending supply of food. He figured he didn’t have to.

If it’s like the army, the smells will carry and they’ll come running.

The guess proved accurate. By the time the vegetables were beginning to soften and the flavors of the meat were spreading out through the pot, visitors began showing up.

“Is that for sharing?” Neil was the first there, leaning his spear against the wall and stepping forward, bowl held sheepishly in hand. “I don’t want to be rude, but…”

He was obviously starving. Brand got the feeling he had made it to town just in time to stop serious suffering in that sense, and scooped out a large portion into Neil’s bowl immediately with a smile. Neil got to serious work right away, eating the entire bowl in a matter of minutes. By the time he was done, the entire town was there, munching and taking second servings until half the pot was emptied.

Brand didn’t ration them. What was left would diminish slower now that their bellies were full, and he hoped the town would get a good, productive day out of the calories he provided.

“Brand.” Moira found a moment to speak to him just as the meal was finishing. People were thankful, but they also had work to do, and it hadn’t taken long for them to start returning to that labor. “I know you must be eager to get to hunting, but I wanted to talk to you first, if you can spare a minute.”

“It’s a day off of sorts for me.” Brand said. “To get my weapons, and to make this soup. I figured it was a good idea.”

“It is. Consolidation days are a time-honored tradition. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. Can you come to my place? I have chairs there.”

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Brand didn’t argue. If she was implying that his basement was not set up to entertain yet, he could only agree. He followed her through the town to the red shack, then through her door and to the table. Today, there were no maps spread out on the table. He sat as she sat, then waited for her to get settled and to get her words together.

“As you learned last night, I’m a mayor class now.” She seemed to be avoiding just how she had given him that information, and he was happy to play along. “And the de facto leader of this colony, for now. That gives me certain powers that I can use in conjunction with the townsfolk.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Analysis, mainly. Right now, I can take a look at everyone who lives in town, see their classes, and learn a few more details about how those classes work. Whether they like it or not, really. It’s just how the class works.”

“That’s helpful.”