"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry...!"
"No... it's fine, really. You don't need to apologize that much."
Rest and Yuri had returned to the village at the base of the southern mountain range—but they were being showered with apologies from Ribery, who had fled.
From what they heard, Ribery had seen the wyverns appear and immediately chosen to retreat, leaving Rest and the others behind and descending the mountain.
After that, when she saw that Rest never came down from the mountain, she apparently concluded he was dead.
The next day, it seemed a ceremony was to be held to mourn the humans who had died on the mountain.
"I mean... isn't that decision a bit too hasty? He didn't have to be declared dead so quickly."
As for running away... well, that was fine.
They had agreed beforehand that she could flee if things got dangerous.
He felt the decision to abandon her clients was a bit too quick, but... Mount Alpha was a wyvern nest. Without that level of alertness, you probably wouldn't survive.
The timing of the funeral was also early... were the people in this village just impatient?
"I'll return the guiding fee... I'm truly sorry."
"Really, it's fine... I'm not angry at all, so don't worry about it. More importantly, I want to transport the wyvern, so could you arrange a wagon for me?"
He waved off the thoroughly mortified Ribery and gave his instructions.
He and Yuri had carried the wyvern's remains this far, but doing so for the entire long journey back was out of the question.
Even if they could use magic to float and carry it, they'd draw unwanted attention from passersby.
"Of course... if you'd like, shall I butcher it as well? I'll do it for free as a service."
"There's no need for that..."
"If you're going to process it, the sooner the better. It seems like it's been frozen with magic, but 'dragon liver' goes bad quickly even so."
"'Dragon liver'...?"
It was an unfamiliar word. Rest tilted his head.
"'Dragon liver' is, quite literally, an organ found inside a dragon's body. It stores a tremendous amount of mana and is exceptionally delicious. Some say eating it can even extend your lifespan, but it deteriorates and spoils almost immediately. Strangely enough... even preserving it with salt or smoking doesn't prevent the decay."
"Oh... something like that actually exists?"
"Yes. Because it can't be stored, they say the privilege of eating dragon liver belongs only to those who slay the dragon."
"Rest, that sounds delicious! Since we've got the chance, let's have them keep it for us!"
Yuri cut in with an excited expression.
If that was the case, then he would ask Ribery to handle the butchering after all.
"Then, I'll take you up on that... In exchange, would you mind if we observed the butchering?"
"Of course. Please rest assured that I won't pilfer any of the materials."
Ribery called over several villagers and set to work on butchering the wyvern.
The villagers took up large cleavers and began methodically carving apart the wyvern with practiced efficiency.
"Right, right — cut the meat into manageable pieces. Pack the scales into those bags over there!"
"Don't waste the bones, either. There's nothing on a dragon's body that goes to waste!"
"Huh... this is actually pretty interesting."
While watching the butchering, Rest spoke with genuine curiosity.
Seeing such a large monster being dismantled was quite the spectacle. It was like watching a tuna butchering show.
The villagers' hands moved with the ease of long experience. They portioned the meat into sizes easy to carry and packed the frozen blood, organs, bones, and scales into jars and bags.
"This is the dragon liver. It's been a day since the hunt, so it has deteriorated slightly... but it still looks perfectly edible."
Before long, Ribery approached with a plate of organs and held it out to them.
It was raw sashimi, completely uncooked. Was this really safe to eat?
"There's no poison. Please, go ahead."
"Rest, it looks fine to me. There's no smell of poison."
Yuri picked up a piece and sniffed at it with a sharp inhale.
When it came to food, Yuri's discerning eye was the real deal. If she said something was edible, it was edible — and it was usually delicious.
(Even if it were poisonous, I know the healing magic to cure poison... so I guess I'll try it.)
"I'll have some."
Rest lifted the sashimi to his mouth.
The moment the vivid pink morsel of meat settled on his tongue... it dissolved apart in a tender, melting fashion.
"...!"
His heart thumped hard.
It wasn't a matter of delicious or not delicious. It was a sensation of surging vitality, as though blood was being pumped through his body with renewed force.
He had never eaten this before... but it felt as if he had swallowed suppon turtle meat and blood all at once — energy flooding into every fiber of his being.
"Whoa... this tastes like it's going to pump me full of energy! I feel like I could start running right now!"
"I've heard that dragon flesh and blood hold the power of eternal youth... after tasting this, I totally believe it."
"Oh? Rest, you're leaning forward a little — is something wrong?"
"..."
Please, just let it slide.
It was nothing more than the same kind of involuntary physical reaction as back during the worm meat incident.
"I'm still a minor here... give me a break."
If possible... this dish called dragon liver was one he would rather save for the dinner on the eve of his wedding night.
Rest had firmly resolved that tonight, he would absolutely sleep separately from Yuri.