Beast meat

"So, 100 copper coins equal 1 silver coin and 10 silver coins equal 1 gold coin."

Sheyken was holding the 9 silver coins in his hand.

"Before I died on Earth, an ounce of gold was around 2000 dollars if I am not mistaken. I have to say, this was not a bad deal. I wonder how long this amount will last me in this world. Should I trust the first person to show me kindness I this world though?..... Anyway, I still have the black snake that wanted a bite out of my neck and the plants that liked spanking my arse, not forgetting the mana crystal from that white tree. I have a good enough starter package for a journey. I should leave just like Ningal said I should. I am still not strong enough to be sure I can protect myself... so, if there is trouble I should avoid it. That village just has bad vibes. Since eating beast meat when young is good, I will kill and collect as many beasts as I can since this place is so close to the forest, then I will leave as soon as I can. I do not want Tenebris to find me... wait.... "

Sheyken was now in awe at himself.

"Why in the name of all that is GOOD, do I keep on thinking about Tenebris. Sheyken, you better be still sane because thinking about a creature that proposed to you and can kill you in so many different ways you still do not know yet is not healthy. KEEP IT TOGETHER MAN!"

He stood up looking at the sun and started walking to the village. He figured it was past afternoon already. When he looked over the hill, he saw that the village was bustling. Some were farming, others fishing from the river and the marketplace and streets were busy too.

'Looks like everyone is up and about now. Wonder how they will welcome me after what I saw in the morning. Now that I look at them, most of them don't look like they hate the world.'

He thought while going down the hill. He passed through the gates and went past the marketplace again. The woman he first met was now showing him a bright brown smile and was waving at him. He looked around and even though the people's faces looked unpleasing, they looked happy to see him. They moved out of his way while bowing slightly when he passed some of them.

'This is starting to freak me out. Can they just stay in one lane and be angry at the world all the time and not change now and then, it is confusing. Something must have happened.'

He was now almost at Ningal's meat shop and could not wait to get in. He knocked and waited for an answer from the inside to either get in or not this time around.

"Come in."

Ningal shouted. She had been waiting for him patiently ever since Dunnam and the other villages visit after Sheyken left. When Sheyken got inside, the smell coming from the kitchen instantly made him salivate. Ningal looked at him and could not help but think of what transpired that morning.

When she saw Dunnam, she instantly wanted to kill him. Only to stop because of the people around and the words he said.

"Come on now, you can not still be angry about something that happened five years ago. Besides, if you kill me you know what will happen to you. They are coming in 5 weeks to check on us... even though like Flosbris you are close to bonding, you are still an Initiate just like me and the others. So, if you want to die too, I offer you my neck."

Dunnam said while stepping closer and closer with his guards. Ningal was thinking hard about his offer. She had no problem about throwing her life away if it meant killing this man. She only calmed her anger after thinking about what she could lose after 5 years of hard work.

"What do you want?"

She finally asked. Dunnam smiled and stepped in front of his guards. He had been hiding behind them up until that point.

"We could count the number of times you have stepped outside during this past five years with my fingers, but suddenly you have a boy visiting you. All we want to know is who he is and what he wants."

Ningal stood there looking at him and the crowd while staying quiet. She was about to close the door but stopped when Dunnam said one word.

"Vitula!"

Dunnam screamed out. Ningal opened the door again and looked at him.

"What about him?"

"He is the only one you have been asking to get you suppliers and other things you need. We can make him stop. We are only asking about a stranger, why make things difficult for yourself for just one kid."

Once she heard the last words he said, her eyes were almost becoming bloody red from her anger. She stayed calm, weighed her options, and then answered.

"He is just passing through. He asked if he could hunt some monsters for me to make some money and then leave."

When they heard her words, all the villagers were jumping for joy. Dunnam could not help but smile too. Seeing them, Ningal could not help but feel disgusted.

"He is expensive though. He charges 3 silver coins per 1kg of meat."

The village's smiles vanished from their faces when they heard that. Dunnam was not worried since he was the acting head of the village and had the wealth that came with it, but with all that had happened in the past, he still needed to keep the villages happy. He turned around and addressed them.

"Now, now, do not worry, you can spend as much as you want. We can get our money back when they arrive after all. They are never interested in money, so we can get it back."

After those words, the villages were visibly relieved. Dunnam turned to Ningal thereafter.

"How can he come back from the Trial Forest? Does he have a compass?"

Ningal knew he would ask this question.

"I do not know but I had him talking about a spell he was taught by his father."

Dunnam was disappointed.

"Agna from the market said he looked like a noble, but that does not matter. If he is willing to go into the Trail Forest and sell use whatever he hunts, that is good for us. If you want me to give a good word when they come, you better make sure he does not leave. We are surely going to be praised when they find the gift we have for them. If he has a Blessing, you better tell me, OK!"

After those words and telling the crowd to treat Sheyken nicely, he went back to his house. The village people were as jubilant as ever. They haven't had anything to offer for a while.

Ningal saw Sheyken lifting up his nose and smiled.

'That will be enough to keep the people off his back for a while. If he got out of the woods by luck and does not have any compass or spell to traverse them, Then I should force him to leave here even though they would find him. Since he is lucky, He might get lucky and they might miss him.'

She thought.

"Ninga,l it sure smells nice in here. It reminds me of home."

Sheyken said.

"I am a hunter after all. I have to know my way around the kitchen. Come sit and I will get everything on to the table."

Sheyken set down and while he waited, looked around the shop that doubled down into a house. It was clean and tidy. Looking where the steps leading to the basement where, he saw a small pink ball but paid no heed to it as Ningal had come back with a whole roasted Umbrulpes. When she put it on the table he smelt the herbs and spices coming from the juicy meat he was looking at and at that very moment he turned to a glutton like he was at Grandma Tofufive again. While Sheyken could not wait to get started, Ningal came back with bread, some soap made from the head of the Shadow fox, and a bowl with salad. Sheyken was looking at everything like a kid in a candy store.

"I see you can not wait to dig in. Come on, you can have your feel."

Ningal did not have to finish her sentence. Sheyken had already a big juicy leg in his hands and started gorging on it. The first bite was like nothing he ever ate before. The meat tasted like fish, chicken, and beef at the same time while it melted in his mouth. It gave him a rush of sensation he never felt before. He kept on taking the next bite chasing it. It was like he was chasing his first high. Taking the bowl of soap and drinking it, it tested earthy, meaty, and refreshing. He thought he could drink it all day.

Ningal looking at the kid she thought to be a noble but eating like a caveman and could not help but laugh.

"I like the way you eat young man."

When Sheyken heard her, he came out of the high he was in but kept on eating, not daring to put the leg down in order to take some cutlery. He slowed down and looked at Ningal while he was eating. The woman was just beautiful.

"Wonder how Tenebris would be if she was a real human?"

Sheyken stopped his action when he thought that. Freezing while he was about to take another bite of the leg. Ningal was surprised.

"What is wrong?"

"Nothing, the food just tests too great, I just have to slow down and savor it."

Ningal smiled with satisfaction. She had not cooked for anyone like this for a while and was worried she had lost her touch.

'Something must clearly be wrong with me. Do I like otherworldly beings who are Undead now? Did I like them from the beginning? No.... Do I really swing that way? Zararloch must have rubbed some of his juju on me..... seriously."

Sheyken stopped thinking about it and started digging in again. Ningal waited for him to be done and as soon as he was full, she cleaned up the table and sat next to Sheyken. Sheyken took note that she did not touch any of the food.

"Why did you not eat with me?"

He asked.

"I was not hungry and honestly, watching you eat was entertaining. I can not let a dish like that go to waste so do not worry, it will be all bones by the end of the day. Something happened in the morning when you left that put me off."

She replied with a smile that was contagious to him as he could not help but smile too. Sheyken felt sorry for coursing such a wonderful lady trouble.

"I am sorry."

"No.... It was not because of you. Just that I saw someone that brought back bad memories."

"I see."

Seeing Sheyken visibly saddened, she hurried and moved on to the topic she wanted to discuss with him.

"Sheyken, The acting village head and some of the villagers came to me when you left and were asking about you. To protect you, I had to lie to them about some of the things we talked about. I am sorry about that."

'This lady is just too honest, it's scary.'

Sheyken thought.

"Before I continue, I have to ask, how did you make your way out of the woods?"

"I have a compass my father gave me."

Sheyken had prepared for that question. For a world that had such forests, he figured that the people who leave there must have some way of traversing it. If a Lich could have such a compass, he gambled that the humans of this world would also have one of their own.

"I see. Now let me warn you. Never let anyone here see that you have it. If someone asks you how you get out of the woods, tell them you have a spell."

Sheyken was happy with the warning but needed to understand why she was warning him.

"Ok, I will keep it a secret. Do you mind me asking why?"

"Ok, listen carefully now. This village is one of the closest ones to the Trial Forest and Benevolent woods. It is rare for the beasts to come out and attack the village and that is why the village had prospered for many years. We trained our children from a very early age to fight beasts and when they reach the age of 7, we would give them a compass that pointed to the village's direction and that helped them hunt the beastes in the forest without feeling lost, but it only worked if you do not go in too deep. For many years this is how we had grown and many children from our village would become strong individuals as they grew up but they would never come back here when they left."

'Looks like in this world you are put to fight for your life from a very young age. So, I am not an exception.'

Sheyken thought.

"6 years ago the compasses we use to find our way out of the forest all disappeared and no one would go hunt beasts anymore. That is one of the reasons I do not sell beast meat anymore."

"So, if anyone saw that I have one, they would try to take it from me."

"Yes.... Good that you catch on quick."

Ningal replied.

"Earlier you said you wanted to stay here for some weeks before you moved on, so when the villages asked me what you wanted here, I told them you wanted to hunt down beasts for me. You were already hunting some with your father so I thought while you were here, why not make some extra cash. To sweeten the deal, I even overcharged them. So what do you say?.... but let me be clear, I would rather you leave the village right now and never look back."

Sheyken wondered why she wanted him to leave again but answered her almost immediately when she finished talking.

"How much?"

Ningal, smiled at the boy who seemed to only have listened on the part about money.

"3 silver coins per 1kg."

"How much does it usually go for?"

"1 silver coin per 1kg. In the cities, it can even go for less depending on the beast but here, almost all the beasts are not that common. Since we are just a village, we do not categorize it and put just a standard price for all the beast meat when we sell to each other. After that, it is first come first serve."

Sheyken was already salivating.

"I was already going to hunt some beast while I was here. It would not hurt to make a killing while I'm at it."

They both laughed.