Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gains

"Wahahaha! We're rich!"

"I swear, I feel like this happened before."

Leonard guffaws while Linda thinks back why the situation seems familiar. Among them, a pile of carcasses of the crystal stags lies dead upon the previous untrodden snow. Their crystal horns having been harvested carefully to not accidentally shatter or damage them. Leonard had already accidentally chipped off a piece when he roughly handled them. While the two were out hunting for crystal stags, Dianne went around the nearby area and blindly searched through the snow for any rune gemstones. Her hopes were high but they became dashed as she came back with none at all. In her bags were plenty of plants that were useful for those in the profession of alchemy.

"I wasn't able to find more rune gemstones but I did manage to gather some of the other things."

"You weren't able to find any huh?" Leonard feeling a bit down. "Guess it ain't that easy to find those things."

"Kind of doubted we would find anything else," Linda replied. "We wouldn't be that lucky."

After looking over their prizes, all three of them proceeded to harvest the carcasses of the crystal stags. With a knife, Leonard begins the process of skinning the crystal stags. After that, Linda took care of butchering and portioning the meat and some of the organs. She took the liver, heart, and intestines of the crystal stag. Though their meat had some gaminess, the crystal stags nevertheless taste quite delicious. With the unique environment of the dungeon, the crystal stags were able to live fairly stress-free lives and with the abundance of food, they grew quite fat. Their meat had beautiful marbling and if Evelyn were to take a look, she would be reminded of Wagyu or Kobe beef.

They put most of the meat into a separate wooden crate that they made with the wood found within the dungeon. To their initial surprise, Dianne found out that the pinewoods that are found sparsely in the dungeon are also quite rare. They were known as Frostwood Pines and the wood processed from them would often cool down its surroundings. They are popular building material for the wealthy merchants and nobles as they would make the summer heat more bearable. By putting the meat inside a crate made from Frostwood Pines, they would keep it from spoiling as easily. With the other portion of the meat, they brought out their cast iron skillet.

With tinder and wood, they got a campfire going. Placing a few stones around it, they position their cast iron skillet above the fire. Dicing up the meat that they set aside, they lightly salt it and placed it into the skillet. Dianne being the cook, she made sure to sear each side of the meat to heighten its flavor. Plating them onto three plates, they each eat the bite-sized piece of crystal stag.

Each with a smile on their faces as they chew the delectable piece of marbled meat. Even with just a dash of salt, it is quite literally the most delicious meal they have ever eaten.

"It's sooo delicious!" Linda exclaims. "It's so tender and tasty, I've never eaten anything like it!"

"Mmmm! Oh! Mmgh." Leonard responds, having difficulty with the amount of food inside his mouth.

"I agree, it's delicious!" Dianne nods. "This is also a nice discovery. After we wheel it back to the capital, we can get a better price for it."

"I would want it for myself instead," Leonard speaks after swallowing. "It would be a waste to sell it and not eat it for ourselves."

"Don't think we would be able to eat that much meat by ourselves." Linda turns to the wooden crates. "Plus we're still going to be here for the rest of the week. We're going to have more than what we can eat you know?"

"That's true, I guess." Leonard agrees. "But the problem is, how're we going to haul it back to the capital?"

"In just one day, we've already gotten this much. Just imagine at the end of the week."

They had rented a small wagon and horse to draw it to where the dungeon is at. They had expected to bring some things back in more quantities than last time. Now, it seems that the horse-drawn wagon is going to be insufficient for the trip back. Unless they limit themselves, they would be unable to bring everything back with them.

"You think she could help us?"

"You mean Evelyn? Maybe?"

"It won't hurt asking, so we can ask her when we see her again later in the week."

After their initial meeting, they gave out information as best as they could. Evelyn asked for rudimentary knowledge. It included history, culture, locations, cities and so forth. Everything she asked almost eighty percent of people around the area would be able to answer. After that, she wanted to see samples of literature and of their writing system. Seeing as she was illiterate, Dianne had taught her the basic letters along with sentence and grammar structure. After that, they promptly left her to her own devices and slowly explored the dungeon. They did not think to return until they had their fill of hunting and finding hidden treasures amongst the vast white that covered the ground.

"Alright, I guess it's time to turn in for the day."

Leonard brings out their equipment. Three heavily padded sleeping bags along with tent-pitching tools. With both Dianne and Linda's help, they were able to quickly prop up two tents.

"I'll keep the watch first, you guys can go to sleep."

"Alright then. We'll see you in a bit."

With Leonard on the duty of keeping watch, the two women went inside and laid down to sleep. They were quite exhausted from the whole activities from hunting, gathering and also from butchering the crystal stags. It was not long until two soft breathing could be heard from the inside of the women's tent.

"With them asleep, I'll cook myself up some more meat."

Leonard snickers to himself as he made his way towards the wooden crates. He takes out a portion and swiftly dicing it into small chunks. He then proceeds to crudely cook them. The time passes with him slowly cooking, savoring the tasty crystal stag meat, and watching the false night sky above.