"Alright... we should be fine now that we've come this far."
"Yeah, thanks to Rest's magic!"
"It would have been impossible without Yuri's brute strength... no, really."
They had managed to escape to a spot sufficiently far from the wyvern nest.
Rest and Yuri, with a sense of accomplishment from completing their mission, praised each other's efforts.
It was already dark, and the diurnal wyverns couldn't chase them.
Rest and Yuri would have to spend the night on the mountain, but if they descended at sunrise, there should be no problem.
"Speaking of which... we only caught one. Shouldn't we have caught two or three more?"
"No... it's definitely enough."
Rest was taken aback by Yuri's words.
The wyvern was as big as an elephant and probably weighed five tons.
It was surprising that Yuri could drag something like that without magical assistance, but it was also astonishing that a creature of such weight could fly in the sky.
(Come to think of it... pteranodons had a wingspan of nearly ten meters, but their weight was supposedly the same as a human child. It was because they reduced weight to the limit that they could fly with such large bodies.)
Remembering what he had researched in his past life for a summer science project in middle school... Rest looked at the wyvern carcass again.
Since it could fly freely with such a large body and weight, lift from its wings alone wouldn't be enough. It was probably receiving assistance from mana.
(Perhaps... monsters also unconsciously use magic. If I were a scholar, I'd look into it properly.)
However, Rest had no interest in the mechanics of the wyvern's body.
If he researched and published it, it could be a great discovery, but more important than that was the meat.
"With this much, it's enough for the party. Let's not be greedy and take it back quickly."
Even if they could harvest thirty percent of its body weight in meat, it would still exceed a ton.
That should be more than enough for the main dish.
"Right, we're supposed to be serving other dishes too. I mustn't get too full just on wyvern."
Yuri nodded firmly, crossing her arms.
"Actually... this might be too much. Shouldn't we trim some off?"
"If you just wanted a taste, you should have said so... Well, a little is fine, I suppose."
Just then, a fragrant aroma wafted up from the spot that had been pierced by the sunbeam of [Amaterasu].
He took out a knife and sliced off some of the roasted meat.
After lightly sprinkling it with some salt he'd taken from his pack, he held it out to Yuri.
"Here, you can eat this."
"Well then, don't mind if I do... It's delicious!"
Yuri took a big bite of the wyvern meat... and immediately cried out in delight.
"Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. It's tender but with a nice texture, and the more you chew, the more the flavor oozes out... It's like eating roasted meat!"
"Well, it *is* roasted meat, you know."
"Here, Rest, you try some too! Open up!"
"...Ahh."
When he opened his mouth, Yuri fed him the piece of meat.
As he chewed it... well, she wasn't wrong. It was delicious.
Despite being seasoned with nothing but salt, it had a strangely robust and wild flavor. The fibers of the meat seemed to crackle and pop in his mouth, and the flavor seemed to change with every chew.
"This is amazing... Hey, Rest, can I have some more?"
"Knock it off... there's no end to it."
Rest stopped Yuri, who was drooling.
If left alone, she looked like she'd devour an entire wyvern.
"In that case, why don't we hunt a few more? It's fine, it's not like they're going extinct."
"I think they *would* go extinct... let's save that for another time."
It was a tempting suggestion, but Rest prioritized safety and rejected it.
Rest used magic to freeze the wyvern to prevent it from spoiling.
He stuffed some preserved jerky into the disappointed-looking Yuri's mouth, and they settled down for the night at their campsite.