Chapter 48: Hunter and Prey

Su Ya, who knows his own worth, does not consider himself a king.

He sees Mei Li as a greedy gambler and a ridiculous idea king, sees Lu Kan as a crafty swindler, and sees the Dagonite as a cowardly cavalryman.

Likewise, he also sees them as grasshoppers temporarily tied to the same rope as himself.

Or put another way, they are travel companions walking the same road for now, whom he must be wary and vigilant of.

But,

Su Ya, possessing observation skills beyond ordinary people, nevertheless cannot understand,

as the duration of contact lengthens, the way those few bird-people and that cavalry unit look at him gradually changes.

Because his innate habit of unconsciously scanning people from head to toe with overly sharp eyes since birth annoys others and triggers instinctive rejection,

Su Ya, who has been alone from childhood, sitting solitary in a corner observing the world, awkwardly trying to blend into the "collective" like a learner of Handan's gait,

He has never had friends,

nor does he understand the fact that feelings change according to a person's whims.

In his observation, the "world" is essentially a tide composed of countless static "labels."

And when the labels are torn away, the true, ever-changing human heart falls into his empty field of vision.

This leaves him feeling only bewildered.

#

9 a. m.,

in the makeshift camp.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Come on, eat."

Mei Li frowned in puzzlement, one hand on her hip, the other holding a spoon and clanging it against the big pot set before Su Ya.

The pot holds a huge piece of food resembling a beef leg, which has not undergone the fine processing like the smoked fish made earlier, and even has a sprinkle of rosemary placed on it.

This is boiled in a large pot of saltwater, the broth a yellow‑brown hue, gurgling with strange bubbles that give off green smoke, and this "beef leg" still carries blood, with the vessels beneath the skin and flesh throbbing oddly.

The sole redeeming point is that at least the leg hair has been shaved clean.

Su Ya lifted his head, glanced somewhat innocently at the three people before him, and said weakly:

"I think we should cook it a bit more?"

Hearing this, Mei Li drew out a long "Ha?" and, irritated, banged the pot and said:

"Ha? Do you think it looks bad? But this monster meat is just like that—even a regular campfire won't cook it through in a day."

"Besides, last night you even ate the dining table, and we had to work hard to stop you from eating horses, dirt, tents, armor, and weapons."

"We're already this hungry—just make do with it!"

"But."

"There's no 'but' about it—we spent the whole morning shaving off the leg hair, so you at least have to take a bite."

Su Ya stared at Lu Kan, the Dagonite, and Mei Li blocking the pot, gazing at them with the look of someone observing a lab rat,

for some reason, even though there is a large pot between them,

he inexplicably feels that these three are standing far too close, and their gazes toward him are becoming incomprehensible.

This makes him feel extremely awkward and ill‑at‑ease.

Moreover, the "Ha"‑like utterances spilling from Mei Li's mouth leave him feeling utterly at a loss,

"When did I eat the table? Sure, the table disappeared this morning, but you must have thrown it away—this kind of thing could never be on a human menu!"

"And is eating dirt, tents, armor, and weapons really that exaggerated?"

At this moment, Lu Kan, arms crossed, smiled and advised:

"Actually, this monster meat is delicious and packs extremely high calories; it's the top choice for high‑rank warriors to replenish energy. In the royal capital there's a famous dish called 'Honey Moss Roasted Black Dog Leg' made from this ingredient."

"It's just that, lacking auxiliary ingredients and high‑heat flames right now, we can't make it look nice, but the dish's fame actually comes from the ingredient's inherent freshness."

Having said that, Lu Kan pondered, then pointed to the dog‑leg as big as a calf in the pot and said:

"Moreover, this guy is your opponent tonight—a monster known as the 'Black Dog',

"Dagonite should have told you—we've run out of food, and from now on everything we eat must be hunted by ourselves."

"Just helping you prepare the ingredients has left the knights exhausted to the point of near collapse, unable to carry out any other tasks."

"So."

Having said that, Su Ya could only nod:

"I understand."

At this point, the Dagonite warned with some concern:

"Your Majesty, you don't need to overexert yourself; monster meat has extremely high calories—an ordinary professional‑rank knight only needs"

However, before he could finish speaking, Su Ya already dug in,

taking a big bite of meat, chewing it just a few times, the monster meat that even ordinary blades can't cut crumbled into fragments and was swallowed.

The Dagonite swallowed back the rest of that sentence—"only a piece of dried meat the size of a fingernail is needed to satisfy a day's requirement"—and stared blankly at Su Ya, somewhat dazed.

And then,

Su Ya felt a peculiar burst of savory flavor explode between his teeth and lips; immediately, the swallowed meat turned into a warm current that surged through his body and then truly settled into his stomach along the intestines.

An unprecedented sense of settled satisfaction arose, as if he were meant to eat this food all along.

The smoked fish, cheese, and hearty cabbage soup he had eaten before tasted like chewing wax to Su Ya—not only did they leave him hungrier the more he ate, but to barely fill his stomach he had to ingest large amounts just to fuel bodily activity, causing his brain to instinctively block out the sensation of "eating."

Because, for him, it was essentially no different from eating dirt.

But now,

Su Ya surprisingly began to enjoy the eating process, just as Lu Kan said—although the meat is a bit undercooked, affecting the texture, the ingredient itself is so fresh it's unbelievable!

Immediately after,

Unlike before, when after finishing a meal one still felt a little hungry yet had no desire to keep eating,

With an entire pot, the dog meat the size of a calf, together with the broth that resembled a witch's poison, poured into the stomach,

A peculiar force that surged back from the stomach instantly pierced the whole body like a sword drawn from its sheath, as if reclaiming a portion of power that should have always been one's own!

【Panel Update—】

【Muscle Strength breakthrough level raised to: E.】

【Magic Power raised to: F.】

Su Ya remembered this sensation, and the recipe in his mind quietly brought up a species called 'Black Hound', and instinctively began to look forward to the hunt tonight that Lu Kan had mentioned.

#

Under the stunned yet accustomed gazes of the entire Knight Order,

Su Ya finished his morning meal,

The party set out again, marching swiftly along the route that Dagonite and Lu Kan had scouted last night, striving to reach Pandeng Fortress before Sol City before the sun set.

And on the essential road to Pandeng Fortress lay a forest called Moor Bone Forest.

The Black Hound Su Ya was about to hunt roamed within that forest.

It is a powerful monster originally found in Yorkshire and northern England, its size as large as a calf, its fur deep black with green, eyes like red will‑o‑the‑wisps, feeding on the souls of passing travelers and merchants.

Due to the influence of magical tide, it has revived on a large scale in this era, gradually spreading across Britannia, and occasionally, when clusters gather, awakening even more terrifying beings among such monsters.

However,

Ahead of Su Ya's party, within Moor Bone Forest,

there was another group, summoned by Hector's message, hastily constructing a magic workshop, uninvited guests who had come to hunt Su Ya's cavalry unit.

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(End of chapter)