Chapter 59 Black and Blue

Orang and Saji once again trotted along behind the plump insect glaive user, heading toward what the latter called the "Chef Meow" establishment.

Judging simply by the name, it was clear that the aforementioned Chef Meow was a Felyne.

Felynes possessed a sense of smell and taste far more sensitive than that of humans, making them born chefs. In truth, many Felynes did indeed work in the culinary industry, and rumor had it that the chefs at the assembly hall tavern were all Felynes.

Many hunters had the habit of ordering a lavish spread of delicious food to replenish their nutrition before setting out on a hunt.

Some hunting felines even studied culinary arts alongside their hunting techniques, allowing them to freshly cook fine meals for hunters right in the field or at the campsite.

Consequently, these hearty feasts prepared in anticipation of a hunt were often referred to by hunters as "Felyne meals."

Compared to ordinary gourmet food intended merely to satisfy one's appetite, Felyne meals were quite particular.

Deliciousness and hunger-resistance were the basics, designed to provide hunters with the high caloric intake necessary for intense combat. More elaborate versions would incorporate special ingredients and medicinal herbs to further enhance a hunter's physical capabilities.

In some regions, due to local dietary habits, Felyne meals were replaced by specially formulated drinks or rice dumplings, which the vast majority of hunters denounced as heresy...

Of course, such things would not happen in Val Habar. According to the plump insect glaive user's introduction, Chef Meow himself was a master of Felyne cuisine.

Going for a grand feast at Chef Meow's establishment before setting out on a hunt had become a shared habit among many Val Habar hunters. In comparison, Val Habar's assembly hall tavern seemed somewhat lacking in presence.

By the time they reached Chef Meow's shop, the sky had already grown dark.

The tables and chairs placed outside the shop were completely occupied, and they had to wait for quite a while before a table of guests finally finished eating and departed.

Having gone without food for almost the entire day, Orang and Saji had already passed the peak of their hunger and instead felt somewhat less famished.

Leaving Orang and Saji behind to secure a table, the plump insect glaive user scampered over to the stove area, whispering and gesturing with the uniquely dressed Felyne chef.

Upon catching sight of the small pouch of spices in the insect glaive user's hand, the chef's expression noticeably turned serious.

Wiping away drool as he returned to the dining table, the plump insect glaive user chuckled, "All arranged! Chef Meow is going to take good care of us, so we just wait to enjoy the feast!"

"Um, I haven't had the chance to ask your name yet..."

Orang looked somewhat hesitant toward this overly familiar chubby fellow. Initially, they were just strangers chatting while standing in a queue, so naturally there was no need to inquire about each other's names.

However, now that they were sitting down to eat together, it felt rather inappropriate not to even know what the other person was called.

"Ah, my apologies! I've been rambling on and on about food and haven't introduced myself yet." The plump insect glaive user wiped his face. "My name is Jala, an insect glaive user as you can see. By the way, little brother, you two must be hunters as well, right?"

"Yes, my name is Orang, and I'm from Loc Lac." Orang proactively reached out and shook hands with him.

"And I'm Saji, meow," Saji also briefly stated its name. "Though how did Mr. Jala figure it out, meow? The boss and I shouldn't have mentioned anything about being hunters, meow, and we're just wearing ordinary clothes, meow."

"Your pace, your pace!" the chubby man named Jala laughed. "Ordinary people wouldn't find it so easy to keep up with my speed. After walking a short distance and remembering to slow down, I looked back and realized you hadn't fallen behind at all, so I made a rough guess."

"So that's how it is," Orang nodded slowly. "Speaking of this Chef Meow, he probably isn't a native of Val Habar, right?"

As he spoke, Orang glanced around the surroundings. "From the dishes and the cookware to his own attire, none of it looks like it belongs to a desert region?"

"That's right, Chef Meow comes from a very distant kingdom." Jala fanned himself with a broad, thick palm. "See that huge iron pot he has? He excels at a cooking method called 'stir-frying' using that iron pot, and he also loves cooking food with high-temperature steam. These culinary techniques are things I've only ever seen from him. Oh, and those steamed buns made using the vapor are super delicious! I can't wait anymore, I'm going to order two bamboo steamers first so we can line our stomachs!"

Jala dashed off again barely two minutes after sitting down, leaving Orang unable to help sighing inwardly: with this guy's nimble, energetic, and highly active personality, just how much did he have to eat to get as round as he was now?

"Hmm?"

While his thoughts were drifting, a tall, slender figure walking down the oil-lamp-lit street caught his attention.

Wasn't that Mutti?

The other party's condition was clearly not very good; she was walking with a slight limp, one arm was in a sling, her forehead was bound in bandages, and her cheeks were somewhat swollen, making her look both pitiful and comical.

Her destination was also Chef Meow's food stall, and upon seeing from afar that all the seats were taken, a clearly visible look of disappointment washed over her bruised face.

Just as she was hesitating whether to endure the strange stares of others and stand around waiting for a bit, or simply find some other random stall to make do with, she heard someone calling her name.

"Hey! Mutti!" Orang stood up from the table and waved at her.

To his surprise, Mutti's first reaction upon seeing him wasn't to come over, but rather to cover her face with her hands and instinctively turn around as if trying to hide.

A question mark appeared over Orang's head.

Mutti wasn't the only one whose attention was drawn by his shout; Chef Meow, who was busy cooking, also raised his head, then shrieked, dropped the iron pot and ladle in his hands right then and there, and ran around the stove counter.

"Meow! How did you end up like this, meow?" Chef Meow ran up to Mutti, hopping around anxiously as if wanting to check her injuries.

Seeing more and more gazes focused on her, Mutti looked as though she was about to cry. "I'm fine, I'm really fine..."

"Why don't you come sit down first?" Orang pointed to the square table before them. "There's still a seat left."

With nowhere to hide, Mutti had no choice but to come over to their table and sit down.

"I'm going to get the medicine kit, meow!"

Mutti hurriedly reached out and grabbed Chef Meow's tail. "I really am fine, Uncle Meow. You should go back to what you were doing; the stuff on the stove is going to burn."

"Meow—!" Chef Meow shrieked again, threw a parting remark of "Little brother, help me take care of her, meow, I'll give you free extra dishes, meow!" over his shoulder, and scurried back to the stove.

Just then, Jala returned carrying two bamboo steamers. Catching sight of Mutti with her bruised and swollen face and lowered head sitting at the table, he turned to ask Orang, "Your friend? She looks pretty wretched."

Saji also looked at her curiously; how come it had no idea Orang had friends in Val Habar?

Facing their inquiries, Orang had no choice but to briefly explain, "During that encounter with the Barroth the other day, the longsword user who came to help was her."

As for why Mutti had turned into this current state, he already had some guesses in his mind.

There hadn't been enough time for her to make a round trip back to the city to take on other quests. She must have pursued that Barroth alone after parting ways with him.

If he guessed correctly, that Barroth had been her target all along, which would also explain why she happened to appear near that wetland area by such a coincidence.

But wasn't she a rank-2 hunter? How could she accept a quest to hunt the dangerous rank-3 Barroth?

Surely it couldn't be poaching...

Regardless, they had fought side by side, and even if she really had been poaching, Orang didn't intend to expose her directly in front of others.

Thus, he changed the phrasing of his question. "Were you attacked by that Barroth again afterward?"

The bruised and swollen Mutti looked frail and honest, but her mind was quite sharp, and she quickly understood Orang's intentions and concerns.

"I'm sorry!"

She stood up and bowed deeply, with the momentum of someone trying to smash the table with her forehead. "I didn't tell the truth back then. Actually, my hunter rank is 3, and that Barroth really was my quest target..."

Hearing this, Orang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't poaching, that was fine.

That made the situation clear as well. Mutti must have accepted the Barroth hunting quest first, but by the time she arrived at the hunting ground, it was already dark, so she rested at the camp for safety, intending to hunt after daybreak.

Disturbed at night by the roar of the Barroth and the sounds of battle, she had run over to investigate and, discovering that he was fighting the Barroth, joined the fray.

After driving the Barroth away together, the two had parted ways—he returned to his campsite to guard the caravan, while she continued to pursue the injured Barroth, and then crashed her car...

As for the fact that the other party was a rank-3 hunter, it didn't surprise him all that much. With that swordsmanship as a foundation, advancing to rank 3 was entirely normal.

As for why she had hidden her true hunter rank...

In the wild, was it really that strange to conceal things from a first-time acquaintance of the opposite sex?

Given their shared experience of cooperation previously, Orang wasn't surprised, but Jala at the side had his eyes wide open.

"Wait a minute, how old are you that you're already rank 3?!"

"Seventeen," Mutti mumbled softly, "but I'm just a half-baked rank 3, which is why I was embarrassed to say so..."