Many Moons had passed since Albert had left the Ranch, time flowed differently here than in the Ranch, whenever he crossed worlds time would stop in his previous world. However what was interesting was that once he entered this world he could return to his previous one with ease, as if a connection had been made between this world and the previous one.
Ah, but those thoughts could be left for later, the pinberries had another interesting effect. They fermented a lot faster than other fruits, while some fruits would take even a whole month to ferment and become alcohol the pinberries took not even an entire week. That meant that when he had to store these berries he would have to keep them in kegs, and jars, he even had to place the berries in a makeshift fridge he made with the ice from a nearby island!
The berries grew very fast, that was a positive. The Bishaten really liked eating them and so did he, but the wine was the real deal. Its taste was surprisingly good and it was so good that even the Bishaten joined in with drinking it. The Night variety of the pinberries had a more subtle taste while the day variety had a very distinct taste, its taste was unique in a way that he could only refer to itself for its taste.
But what about the monsters? The Great Izumi and its pack were quite polite, a few skirmishes here and there though taught them to stay out of Albert's way when he is taking a look at a plant or a creature. The Arzuros honestly never acknowledged that Albert existed, its only care in the world was about its food and its cubs of which it had five. There were a few more monsters that had moved in, but a lot of those had been kicked out by the current ones, a lot of territorial disputes had been going on these past few days but none of them tried to invade Albert. Nonetheless, the food he was making lately included a lot of meat, way too much meat. The Bishaten had become somewhat like a cat that brought dead mice or birds to its owner, this time instead of rodent it was the dead carcass of a Bullfango or of a Gajau.
Albert sat on his makeshift wooden chair next to his new current home, the Temple. But suddenly he heard a large shout from a distance away. As he peered in the direction he could see... a person? dressed in a strange outfit trying to fight off the Izumis with a cat and a dog. The person was losing terribly, he was covered in scratches and could barely fight anymore, eventually, he just fainted from battle as he was being dragged away from the monster in the opposite direction by his pets.
"Hey! Over here!"-Albert
He yelled and grabbed their attention as he watched the dog run at him with its owner on its body at Olympic speeds.
"Leave him here, you can rest"-Albert
The cat and dog duo remained alert however, that would be common sense of course considering how the perpetrator of their owner's misfortune was just sitting there a few yards away.
Albert covered the man's wounds with a paste made from the green pinberries of the day patch, soon enough those wounds disappeared as the animal pals stood by and watched with amazement as their owner woke up just a few seconds later.
"*Gasp*"-???
"Stay in bed you still haven't been nursed back to health, there is still a lot of internal damage though"-Albert
"The izumis? Are my allies okay? are they alright?"-???
"They are okay don't worry, stay in bed and while we are at it why don't you tell me your name?"-Albert
"Sorry, sorry my name is Ohta Shig, I am a hunter and I have just started"-Ohta
"I am Albert, not from around here but leave the Izumis alone, would you? They usually mind their own business"-Albert
"That name does sound foreign... but why leave them alone? my assignment said that they destroyed a wagon containing a merchant's products"-Ohta
"Oh, that? It was another creature having a territorial dispute with the Great Izumi that lives around these parts. I think that monster had black fur, and it was very sneaky too"-Albert
"A Nargacuga?! That's a two-star monster! We have to report this to Chief Fugen!"-Ohta
"There is no Chief Fugen around here, you are in my home. I believe that it's a long way away from where you are from"-Albert
Accepting his fate Ohta slumped on the woven fiber mat and started sulking. While Ohta was sulking however Albert prepared a bottle of pinberry wine, a night variety. Ohta looked at the glowing liquid in intrigue as if questioning all that he had read on wild fruits, berries, and nuts in his theoretic training.
"Try it, it's pinberry wine. Tastes quite good if I do say so myself."-Albert
"...Alright..."-Ohta
Taking the bottle in his hands Ohta took a large swig of the wine as he immediately felt his body relax and his mind become clearer. He looked to his side and saw his partners were already passed out on the mat floor with bottles in their hands and paws.
"You relaxed now? Can you hear me clearly?"-Albert
"I think, yeah..."-Ohta
"Good, good... now that its quiet I just gotta tell you not to panic when the Bishaten comes"-Albert
"Excuse me when the wh-"-Ohta
*RAAGH*
"Ah there he is"-Albert
Albert went outside and disappeared from Ohta's sight for a few moments before coming back in and sighing.
"I told him not to take from the berries without my permission and yet he still did it anyway *sigh* well at least he left me some BullFango for food... Hey Ohta, pardon me but are you hungry?"-Albert
Ohta's stomach replied with a loud grumble as Albert nodded and went outside. Ohta rushed out from the mat and took a peak out from the temple shrine's door as he stared at Albert cooking.
Albert had already quickly taken apart the Bullfango and had stored some parts for later but he took a rather large chunk of meat and placed several spices and herbs he had found in the wilderness. Imagine his surprise when he found a bush of monk's pepper in the cracks of the mountain. Naturally, the piece of meat was grilled on the fire and then diced into large cubed chunks.
Albert then took a giant stone bowl and placed it over the fire, throwing in buckets of water at a time until it was steaming. Once it was steaming he added the Bullfango meat and also threw in a couple of wild crops he had found laying around, a few wild leaks, spring onions, and even some wasabi and ginger root. In the end, he also threw in some melted Gajau fat which made the stew's broth smell incredible.
"Ohta, wake up your companions and come get a bowl"-Albert
Ohta rushed to wake up his companions as Albert had prepared four regular-sized wooden bowls and three giant-sized stone bowls.
When Ohta got out he and his pals almost fainted from shock after seeing Albert sitting and eating peacefully with an Arzuros, a Great Izumi and its pack, and a Bishaten that looked larger than regular Bishaten.
"Come and get some before the whole meal is gone!"-Albert
Ohta and co. overpowered the urge to run away from these monsters and sat at the fire lit by Albert and enjoyed their dish which tasted really good. Its taste was rather meaty and spicy and while the meat chunks and veggies were quite soft and tender, the overpowering tastes of wasabi root and ginger ravaged their tastebuds.
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Petition to make Albert get a Monster Farm?
In all seriousness though how have you all been, I took a small break due to school but from now on I'll be posting regularly so here's to hoping for a good year!