Published: January 13, 2026
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“Alright, everyone, thank you so much for your hard work today! As a small token of appreciation, I went and managed to slay the Dark Tiger! We also took down the Rock Scorpion and the Hecaton Bear, so let’s eat our fill today and recharge our energy!”
With this announcement to kick off the barbecue festival, Dee and the others pulled in wagons loaded with large demonic beasts. Four wagons, each drawn by four horses, entered, and even the highly trained members of the knight order grew noisy from the sight.
“The Rock Scorpion…!?”
“No way, the Dark Tiger and the Hecaton Bear are dangerous demonic beasts that require over a thousand knights to take down, you know!?”
“But defeating that hard Rock Scorpion would be impossible without fire magicians, right?”
Such voices echoed everywhere. Though I didn’t count precisely, with thousands of people gathered, the population density really felt high.
Well, no matter how huge the fortress is, with this many people inside, a high population density is inevitable.
There are stories about fifty thousand people gathering in some dome at once — thinking about it now, it’s a staggering number.
As I pondered this, I looked around at everyone gathered.
In the front rows were nobles, magicians, and knight commanders. Behind them stood various squad leaders and other commanders, and further back, the regular soldiers formed a circle around the fire.
Since preparations took some time, many people wore expressions as if they were about to bite into raw meat at any moment.
“...Now, let the barbecue festival begin! Everyone, skewer the meat and grill it before eating!”
I raised a skewer already loaded with meat, and a thunderous cheer erupted, especially from the soldiers.
They clearly had reached their limit. Soldiers grabbed skewers and began grilling the meat eagerly. As the delicious smell of grilled meat filled the air, some even started biting into it directly.
“Oh, for seasonings, we have salt! Since we’re far from anywhere else, we couldn’t prepare much else, but please use salt to flavor your meat!”
After announcing about the seasonings, I also started eating. Bear meat is apparently a high-class game meat, and it was quite tasty. Actually, it was my first time eating it today, but it reminded me of pork with little fat. I wonder if it’s different from bear meat on Earth.
While I ate and thought about that, I noticed the nobles quickly swarming toward the scorpion meat.
“It’s been a while since we had Rock Scorpion. How do you find it, my lord?”
“Ah, embarrassingly, this is the first time I’ve even seen one.”
“Really? Well then… it’s quite a rare delicacy, so please enjoy.”
They were excited about the scorpion meat. It looked like shrimp or crab, so it was unusual as a mountain delicacy.
It’s interesting that a completely different type of demonic beast lives near Seato Village compared to what we catch here. We might have to investigate the sea-side demonic beasts as well.
“Lord Van! Have you tried the scorpion meat?”
Kamushin approached with sparkling eyes, clutching several freshly grilled skewers of Rock Scorpion meat.
It seemed he had grilled them to share with us. Til, Arte, and I exchanged glances and laughed.
“Thank you. I haven’t tried it yet.”
“May I have some as well?”
When Arte and I answered, an excited Kamushin lowered his stance and offered the skewers to us. I accepted happily, and as expected, it tasted similar to crab, which lifted my spirits.
We enjoyed the barbecue for a while, but suddenly urgent voices came from the Wolfsburg Mountains side.
“A d-demonic beast…! A herd of Horn Boars is descending the cliffs…! There are about fifty of them!”
A lookout on the castle wall shouted something as a messenger arrived with a pale face to report.