Flask Story Time - 69
Greg walked toward the Goherb and looked up at the massive creature.
"Hmm... I wonder what this big boy eats," he wondered aloud.
"They eat meat. Almost always meat," Juro replied while standing beside him. He then turned toward Marc and Bell. "You two, go into the forest for a bit and prepare some stones and sticks. And if you find any creatures, make sure you capture one so that can be our food."
"Okay!" Marc exclaimed before heading into the forest with Bell.
…
"You really trust those kids." Greg said as he watched the two of them disappear into the forest.
"They're very talented," Juro replied casually.
Greg smiled. "They sure are."
Greg then returned to the topic of the Goherb. "Hmm, meat, you say... Considering its size, it must eat a lot, huh? I'll go check the wagon and see if there's any stored meat."
He walked behind the wagon and began rummaging through the supplies, searching for anything that might satisfy the Goherb's appetite.
"Ohoho, I found some!" Greg exclaimed as he pulled a metal box closer and opened it.
Inside were several pieces of meat packed alongside ice, including cow and chicken. Greg took out two large pieces of cow thigh meat, and Juro came over to help him carry them.
Greg gently patted the Goherb, catching its attention. The creature turned its head toward him, and Greg raised one of the pieces of cow meat in his hand.
The Goherb exhaled through its nose before opening its mouth and taking the meat.
It chewed a few times before swallowing it completely.
"Oh... that was fast," Greg muttered.
He offered the second piece, and once again, the Goherb devoured it in only a few bites.
"Aww... looks like those didn't feel like enough." Greg fidgeted with his mustache as he looked at the Goherb.
Juro chuckled. "Why not let it hunt for its own food? Let's just set it free. He'll return when he's satisfied."
The Goherb gave a low, reluctant growl as Juro looked at it.
"Grrmm..."
"Hmm... alright. If that's what Sir Juro is suggesting, then it should be fine," Greg replied.
After removing the ropes and belts, the Goherb was finally free to hunt for itself. But before it could wander any farther, Greg approached and gently patted its side.
"Be careful," he said softly.
The Goherb looked at him for a moment.
Then it turned its head forward and continued walking deeper into the forest.
..
Not long after, Marc and Bell returned. Bell was carrying a dead deer, while Marc had pulled up his shirt to form a makeshift pouch, carrying several sticks, stones, and berries they had found.
Marc smiled as he looked around.
"Oh, where did the big guy go?"
"He went to hunt for his own food," Juro replied.
Bell placed the deer down, and Marc carefully emptied the sticks, stones, and berries from his shirt. He then began preparing the fire.
Bell pulled out his dagger and started skinning the deer, carefully cutting away the meat. Greg, meanwhile, grabbed some chicken meat and a knife, wanting to contribute.
Bell glanced over at him.
"Ah, Mister Greg, isn't that meat one of your products? You don't need to use them."
Greg smiled as he slowly sliced the chicken meat.
"It's fine. Besides, you kids should eat a lot of meat so you can grow bigger and stronger, just like your teacher over there."
Bell sighed with a small smile and returned his attention to the deer.
As for Juro, he was simply stretching his arms when a voice called out from behind him.
"Teacher Juro! The fire is done!" Marc exclaimed.
Juro turned around and smiled before looking toward Bell and Greg. When he did, he saw the deer had already been completely cleaned and precisely cut into evenly sized chunks of meat.
"Ahaha... I can't tell if he's a mage or a chef," Juro thought to himself.
Greg was also caught by surprise at how quickly and accurately Bell had cut the meat, especially since he had been using a dagger instead of a proper blade or knife.
"Even in cutting skills, I got beaten by a kid. Ohoho..." Greg thought, amused by the realization.
Once both the chicken and deer meat had been cut, Marc quickly grabbed some spare sticks and handed them to Bell. Bell took each stick, pierced the pieces of meat through them, and planted the sticks into the ground with their tops angled toward the fire.
Marc and Greg also joined in, helping prepare the rest of the meat.
Meanwhile, Juro wandered around near the trees until he found a large rock. He placed his hand against it and incanted, "Taza."
The rock immediately shifted into several stone cups.
Juro returned to the camp carrying the cups in his hands and handed one to each of them.
"Oh boy... I don't think I have any fresh water in the wagon," Greg said, suddenly looking concerned.
Marc simply smiled, leaving Greg a little confused.
Juro then pulled out the steel flask and showed it to Greg, demonstrating how it worked.
"Ohh! Ohohoh! Such an interesting flask. It's a magic item, correct?" Greg asked as he held the steel flask, examining it curiously.
Juro nodded. "Yes. It was given to me by the Dwelden Dwarves."
"Ooo, Dwelden Dwarves, you say? I heard their race is very well known for hoarding stuff."
Juro chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong."
Marc immediately became excited at the mention of dwarves. He leaned in, listening intently.
"Then, Teacher Juro! What happened? What's the story?" Marc asked excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling with curiosity.
Bell was intrigued as well, though he said nothing. He simply picked up the sticks of meat that had already finished cooking and handed them out to the others.
Juro laughed as he accepted his stick.
"So you all want some story time, huh?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Marc immediately exclaimed.
Greg chuckled as he took his own stick, clearly curious as well.
"Ohoho, I'm always a fan of stories!"
Bell simply began eating while listening.
Juro took a bite of the meat.
"Alright then."
"Mmmm... Alright, I got this steel flask from them because I helped them out in a dungeon," Juro said while chewing his food.
"Ooo, dungeon?! What kind of dungeon was it, Teacher Juro?" Marc asked.
"It was a dungeon filled with valuable mana crystals, and a big group of Dwelden Dwarves lived inside that dungeon. Since it had so many mana crystals, there were plenty of reasons for them to stay there," Juro replied.
"Ooo, I see..." Marc said, nodding in understanding.
Juro smiled before continuing.
"Actually, in case you kids don't know, the reason they're called 'Dwelden Dwarves' is because they were born inside a dungeon. There's actually no proof of whether the Dwelden Dwarves were created by dungeons, since their race has existed for a long time, even before the birth of The Greatest Mage. But they've kept their traditional way of living even today."
Juro paused for a moment before explaining further.
"A dungeon can only hold so many dwarves before it eventually becomes overpopulated. So Dwelden Dwarves have a tradition where, once their young ones grow up, they leave the dungeon as a group with other Dwelden Dwarves and one senior Dwelden Dwarf. They then travel around looking for a dungeon they can dwell in as their new home."
"Ooo, they have a very interesting history!" Marc exclaimed, happy to hear more.
Juro chuckled before continuing.
"Now, back to the topic. I was actually just planning on exploring a dungeon by myself at the time. I was bored, so I figured, why not?"
He took another bite of his meat before continuing.
"But when I went inside the dungeon, I could feel a lot of presences deeper inside. Out of curiosity, I went farther in. And what I found when I went deeper was something cruel."
Juro's casual smile faded slightly.
"It was a slaughter."
Marc stopped eating and listened more closely.
"Inside the dungeon, there was this huge open space farther below. When I looked down, I saw humans... or maybe I should say stupid thieves. From what I could see, there were a bunch of humans killing the Dwelden Dwarves and stealing their items and materials."
"But the Dwelden Dwarves didn't back down without a fight. They used their specialty, which is coordinating with one another, and managed to kill some of the humans. Unfortunately, the thieves weren't just thug-level criminals. There were serious swordsmen and mages among them."
Juro briefly looked down at his food.
"And from what I could tell, the Dwelden Dwarves had been ambushed somehow. They weren't prepared for it."
Marc's expression tightened.
"That's terrible! Why would they do that to the dwarves when they were only trying to live in their home?!"
"hoho... Humans are scarily cruel," Greg commented, his voice quieter than before.
Juro looked at Marc and gave him a brief smile before continuing.
"Didn't I say Dwelden Dwarves are known for being hoarders? Well, they don't just hoard useless stuff. They also hoard very valuable things."
"I heard that if there were ten dungeons with Dwelden Dwarves living in them, at least three or four of those ten dungeons would have some very rare material or valuable item that could either make you wealthy enough to own a mansion or extend your magical power."
He shrugged lightly.
"So naturally, there are people who grew greedy and decided to slaughter them for those treasures."
Marc looked down, his expression caught somewhere between frustration and sadness. For a moment, he remained quiet.
Then he suddenly lifted his head and turned toward Juro.
"Then! Teacher Juro! What did you do???"