"Hey, human. Can you not hear me?"
I slowly held out my half-eaten portion to him.
As soon as I did that, the wolf that was as big as a cow thrust its face into the wooden plate and ate all of it in one bite.
"This is not enough. Give me more."
"I-It's a Fenrir..." Werner whispered, face dripping with cold sweat.
'Is that such a dangerous monster that a party as seasoned as Iron Will can't move an inch? W-What should I do? Even though we're so close to Zeltoble...
"H-Hajime, do as it says," Werner told me, but there was none left. It seemed to be a monster that understood human language, so it may be that just as Werner said, following its wishes was the best way to get out of this unharmed.
"Uh, umm, I'll have to cook it, so would you be willing to wait?"
"That is fine. I will wait, so make it quickly."
I quickly cooked up some more red boar fried with ginger and handed it over to the Fenrir, or whatever it was.
Fenrir ate it with gusto, and kept asking for more; in the end, it ate seven or eight kilos of the red boar fried with ginger.
"*Burp* That was delicious. Nevertheless, to be able to satisfy me with so little meat... You are pretty good, human."
'So little meat, he says... even though he ate seven or eight kilos of it... How much does he even eat usually?'
"Yes, I will form a contract with you."
'......Huh? What's a contract?'
"Hey, are you listening? I said I'd become your familiar."
'Familiar, he says...' I think I've read web novels where they've done this sort of thing before, but does that mean I would be a tamer or something?
'Nowaynowaynowaynoway.
I mean, it's a monster that talks, yeah? I couldn't help thinking, it's strong enough to freeze the members of Iron Will, yeah? To be contracted with something that strong...isn't that bad?'
"Umm, ehh, I ref-"
"Hm?"
"No, you see, I refu-"
"Hahh?"
"......"
'This bastard, he's not gonna let me say no.'
"This cannot be true, but could it be that you are trying to refuse a contract with me, Fenrir? I do not think you would do something so outrageous, but what say you? Hm?"
'When Fenrir the monster that could speak human language said that, the members of Iron Will signaled to me with their eyes to hurry up and agree already.
Do I have to? Really? So "yes" is the only answer available here?' I thought, resigned.
I reluctantly replied with, "I understand," and Fenrir nodded, satisfied, with an "Mm."
"Come this way." At Fenrir's prompt, I had no choice but to get closer.
"Closer. Come right in front of mine eyes." Just as I was told, I stood right in front of Fenrir.
"Well then, I shall start the ritual of contract." Having said that, Fenrir put his forehead to mine. When our foreheads touched, my body lit up for a moment.
"With this, our contract is set. Mm? You have the Appraisal skill. Are you a summoned hero?"
'H-Heyyyyy!'
I instantly closed Fenrir's mouth.
"Mph-Mmmph, h-hey, what are you doing?!"
I whispered hurriedly, "Th-That's a secret."
"Ohh, is that so? Yes, I understand. Then, try confirming your status." It looked like Fenrir understood, so he said that in a whisper that only I could hear.
At Fenrir's prompt, I appraised myself.
"Status Open."
[Name]Hajime
[Age] 24
[Job/Class] Victim from Another World
[Level] 1
[HP] 100
[MP] 100
[Attack] 78
[Defense] 80
[Agility] 75
[Skills] Appraisal, Item Box, Familiars (Contracted Magic Beasts): Fenrir
[Unique Skill] Online Supermarket
Somehow, my Skills had increased. There was now a Familiars entry, and it said "Contracted Magic Beast Fenrir"...
"Mm, everything seems to be fine."
"Eh? You can see it too?"
"Who do you think I am? Even the defense beasts fear me, I would at least have something like Appraisal."
'Izzat so? Actually, what happens now that we have a contract?'
"Now then, with this I have become your Familiar. Because of this, as the master you have to look after me, your Familiar. Do you understand?"
'Do you understand, he says,' I thought, feeling a little miffed. 'But...huh? Is that right? By "take care of him," does he mean that Familiars are basically pets?'
"From now on, I look forward to three meals a day."
'......Hey. Three a day? That... could he possibly have been lured into a contract by food? Is that right?'
"Hey, you over there, I have already contracted with this one here. I will not attack you, so stop freezing up like that." Being addressed directly by the Fenrir, the members of Iron Will twitched.
"Umm, everyone, this Fenrir over here understands speech, so I think it's okay, so..."
"Ohh, I had forgotten. We have been bound by contract, so you, give me a name."
"Ehhh don't ask me that all of a sudden. Hmmm, then, Blackie."
"You, are you making fun of me?"
He seemed to get mad after I said Blackie. 'Actually, I thought, now that it looks like he got lured in by food it seemed ridiculous to be afraid of him.'
"Hey, don't get mad at me. How about Koro, then?"
When I said that, the Fenrir got even angrier. 'What's up with this guy, he's being pretty selfish,' I thought exasperated.
"Well, since you're a Fenrir, how about Hati? In my world, Hati was a warg who chased the moon and eventually swallowed it during Ragnarok."
"Hm, Hati... I like that. Let us go with that."
What's with him, acting all important?
Like this, the Fenrir's name became Hati.
While that was happening, Iron Will finally started moving again. Among them, Werner, the fastest to recover, hesitatingly raised his voice.
"H-Hajime..."
"Ah, Werner, are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, but... T-To think that I would lay eyes on the legendary beast Fenrir..."
'Huh? Legendary? This guy who got lured in by food?'
"There remain legends of a sighting around 300 years ago, but I've never even heard of anyone contracting with that Fenrir."
Eeeeehhhhh...
"Well, there are only enough of us Fenrirs to count with your hands. From what I have heard, there was a Fenrir that formed a contract 700 years ago, but I have lived over 1000 years and this is the first contract I have formed."
''H-Huhhh, so he's lived over 1000 years,' I noted.
"I will be able to eat food this good. Compared to that, serving a human for several tens of years is no loss to me."
'Ahhh ahhhh ahhh, this guy actually said it, I thought more exasperated than anything. He just declared that he did it for the food. They say that he's a legendary beast, but is this guy really okay'
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
From then on, Hati the Fenrir became one of our traveling companions, and we had made enough progress to be arriving at Zeltoble soon.
I was in the middle, Rita was in front, Vincent was to my right and Ramon to my left, and behind me to the right and left were Franka and Werner respectively. Added to that usual formation, Hati followed us slowly.
Werner sighed while making a thoughtful face.
"What's wrong, Werner?"
"Well, we're almost at the border, so I was just wondering what to do." Hm? What does he mean?
"Nononono, Hajime. Like this, they'll definitely stop us." Vincent glanced furtively behind us as he said that.
'Ahh, because Hati is with us,' I realized.
"The border guards will come crawling out of the woodwork. Although I think they'll withdraw once they realize we don't mean any harm..."
"Werner, even before the question of 'if they'll withdraw or not,' the entirety of their army is still no match for a Fenrir."
"Well, what Ramon says is true."
"Eh, is that fairy tale of a Fenrir destroying an entire country something that actually happened?"
"Rita, that's not a fairy tale, it's historical fact."
'Ummm, have my ears gone bad? They're talking some nonsense about destroying a country. That's a joke, right?' I couldn't accept what I had just heard.
"Even if they acknowledge that it's contracted, there's no doubt that the entire country will move this time." Werner said while looking at me.
'Huh? Me? What now?'
"There's just no way that the country will leave you alone, now that you've contracted with a Fenrir, Hajime. As long as they capture you, Fenrir will definitely follow, after all."
'Eh? R-Ramon, is that true?' I couldn't help my shock, it would be extremely troublesome to have a country stepping into my business.
"There is no need to worry. If they mean any harm to either of us, all I have to do is fight them."
"Nonono. Th-That'd be bad. If the Great Fenrir-"
"Hati."
"...If F-Hati were to get serious, the entire country would disappear."
"If they mess with us, they deserve to disappear."
Nonono, F-Hati, isn't that a little too violent?
"If they do not want that to happen all they have to do is leave us alone. It is a very simple thing."
After Hati made his point, the members of Iron Will could only stare, open-mouthed.
"More importantly, is it not almost time for food?"
Hati's words marked the start of lunch.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The red boar meat that the members of Iron Will hunted was in trouble. No matter how much they say that it was okay to use, there had to be a limit.
Including Hati's portion of boar yesterday, and the meat I served him this morning because he kept going on about eating meat, we'd already gone through quite the amount.
"Hey, I request meat."
"Of course you'd want meat for lunch too. The red boar meat isn't mine, so if you want to eat meat that badly, go hunt some yourself."
"Hm? Is that so. I will get some meat right away. I'd almost forgotten. A vassal weapon chose you. You don't seem to have it yet. It's a bit far from here, so I'll take it, so wait awhile." Having said so, Hati ran off into the forest beside the road.
"W-What ?" I did not understand what he meant with the vassal weapon. It seems they did not hear him talking about the weapon.
"H-Hajime, it's okay if you want to use all of the red boar meat."
"No no, there's no way I can take advantage of you like that. If we let him, Hati really will eat all of the boar that everyone took so much trouble hunting. Also, we can't just coddle him like that. If he plans to travel with me from now on, he should at least take responsibility for the cost of his own food. I mean, I can't hunt, and if he wants to eat meat like this every time, I can't very well buy it, can I? If I tried that, I'd go bankrupt right away. Hahaha." §If he's really a legendary magic beast then he should at least be able to hunt his own food, I thought.§
"You're amazing, Hajime..." (Werner)
"Amazing. You're amazing, Hajime!" (Rita)
"You're great, Hajime. I really respect you for being able to order around that Fenrir." (Vincent)
"To order around a Fenrir that could destroy a country by itself, you must be a hero." (Franka)
"To think there would be a person that could tell a Fenrir what to do." (Ramon)
'Ehh, even if you say that... It might feel amazing if you say that Fenrirs are legendary magic beasts, but this guy, Hati, was lured into a contract by food...
To be lured in by food, honestly - that's something I can only think an idiot would do.'
It's scary though, so I wouldn't tell Hati that. While I was thinking that, Hati came back with a huge bird in his mouth.
"I-It's a Rockbird..." The members of Iron Will stared at Hati with the bird in his mouth with blank faces.
"By Rockbird, do you mean the bird that Hati hunted?"
"Yeah, it's a B-rank monster. It's about strong enough that even if we fought it with all our strength, we might not win." Oi, you hunted something that dangerous?
"I caught something. Hurry, make me something to eat, I brought that thing too."
'No, I mean, even if you tell me to make food, if you just plop a huge bird down in front of me... I didn't know how to butcher animals. There was no choice but to ask for help here.'
"Hati, you know I don't know how to butcher this? I have no choice but to ask these people for help, but is it okay to pay them with the non-meat materials from this rockbird?"
"As long as I am able to eat meat I have no problems with this."
"Now that that's settled, can I ask you guys to dismantle this?"
Just like that, I asked them, but the members of Iron will all shook their heads saying, "Nonono. It's too much to take all the materials just for dismantling a rockbird." 'Even if you tell me that,' I thought, 'I really just don't want to pay this guy's food bill out of my own pocket.'
"No no, thanks to Hati what's left of the red boar meat has decreased drastically, and Hati himself is okay with it so please take it." They kept saying, "It's too much," right until the end, but I somehow managed to convince them. It's something Hati hunted so it's free, after all.
Also, it seemed like there would be trouble entering Zeltoble like this, so collecting favors now should help me out in the long run.
With that settled, the rockbird was cleanly dismantled by Iron Will.
So, thinking that for a bird this would be just right, I used the teriyaki sauce that I bought with my skill and decided to make Rockbird Teriyaki.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
First, cook both sides of the rockbird well. Normally, it would be better to use kitchen paper to wipe up the extra fat, but this was a different world, and we were camping, so I just dumped it over to the side.
Now, add the teriyaki sauce. When the sauce starts to simmer, mix it well with the rockbird meat, and there, the teriyaki rockbird is finished.
For today, I'd decided to make the freeze-dried onion soup. This one had a lot more stuff in it, too. Also, just having instant consommé soup all the time would be boring.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
I served the finished meal to the members of Iron Will first.
"Hey, where is my share?"
"You eat a lot, Hati, so I'm serving everyone else first. I'll make it right away, so wait a bit."
"Mm, I see." From there, I cooked my heart out making teriyaki rockbird.
Hati seemed to really take to the teriyaki rockbird, so the entire bird outside of our portion ended up being eaten by him. The rockbird teriyaki was good, and I quite liked it, but next time I'd like to eat it in a calmer environment and really savor it.
"So what is that thing you brought?" I asked.