On the way back to the camp, I checked the habitat of the horned rabbits in the glossary, and as Milka had said, they usually stay where there is vegetation and salt for them to consume. Salt is good for their bodies and helps them stay healthy.
Since we didn't waste time hunting, we arrived with plenty of time before nightfall. The reason for this was simple; I wanted to see how good the rabbit horns were when used as a seasoning. After all, if I almost died because of it, I should at least try it for myself.
So, after arriving at the camp, I scraped the horn of a rabbit and also a rock of salt that I found in the cave.
"Although the rock is just ordinary salt, the horn is on a completely different level," I murmured.
There's no comparison between the two; the difference is abysmal. As Milka said, it's truly delicious. In fact, it's so tasty that if it weren't just salt, I would eat it plain.
Well, putting that aside, it's time to see this salt in action.
I began by melting some wild boar lard in a clay pot and then added the horn salt. The mixture gave the yellowish lard a pinkish-red color. The wild boar lard already had a delicious aroma, but it intensified even more after mixing the two.
Separating some venison meat, I cut some fillets, made small holes in them to allow the seasoning to penetrate better, and placed them in a pan. I also prepared some rabbit meat and added it to the pan with the venison. Finally, I took the freshly prepared mixture of salt and lard, poured it over the meat, and mixed well to incorporate the flavor.
As I prepared all of this with such aromatic ingredients, even Kurama, who doesn't bother me when I cook, was by my side. From the way he licked his muzzle, I didn't even need to use the connection between us to tell how eager he was.
Obviously, if well-behaved Kurama was like this, Rin wouldn't be an exception. I constantly scolded her and even threatened to leave her without food if she ate the raw meat.
The only one who was indifferent to the smell was Usagi. Well, as she is a herbivore, I didn't expect anything different.
After making sure Rin wouldn't steal the meat when I turned my back, I covered the pan and let it marinate while I prepared the fire.
After so many consecutive days of doing this, I was completely used to it, and everything was easy and fast. After putting some twigs and lighting them with the magic lighter, I just needed to add some thicker branches and let the flames do the rest.
Interestingly, this lighter is quite economical. Since I received it from Shadow-san, the magic stone that powers it is still the same.
Back to the fire, I dug a hole next to it, and after letting the flame die down, I shallowly buried the venison in a covered pan and threw the coals on top. Next to the fire, I put wooden skewers with the rabbit meat.
Showing that it was truly worth the effort of two strangers entering the forest just to obtain these rabbit horns, the meat emitted an incredibly delicious aroma. Even before it was ready, the smell made my mouth water.
Wait…
"Damn it!" I cursed.
I missed a great opportunity! I should have asked where the nearest town was.
As I lamented my mistake, the reddish rabbit meat was ready.
Since there was no point in grumbling, I drowned my sorrows in the meat.
This could easily be among the best meats I have ever eaten. Of course, I wasn't the only one devouring the meat eagerly, everyone was the same. Especially Rin, she was hardly chewing while eating all the way to the bones.
As today was a feast, I put more meat to roast.
Obviously, when I said everyone was eating, that did not include Usagi. As she doesn't eat meat, the feast I prepared for her was different.
This forest is rich in a huge variety of fruits, so I made a salad for her, including her favorite fruits, and the white bread she loves. Since I now know that her species likes salt, I added some horn salt flakes to the salad.
In the end, after so long without salted food, I couldn't resist and like Rin, I ate until my belly was round.
***
As night fell, we usually went to the cave to sleep, but tonight is different. I am too excited to rest.
"Rin, bring more firewood," I said as I looked at the weak flames of the fire.
Despite being lazy due to the full stomach, Rin still obeyed me and brought more firewood, which I immediately threw into the fire.
"Bring more," I requested again.
Seeing the amount I threw into the fire, she looked at me confused. I could feel that she was wondering why I needed more.
With a proud smile, I put my hand on her head and said, "Poor ignorant soul, there are two reasons for this."
"First, it is to have delicious meat for breakfast tomorrow," I explained.
Being of a simple personality, just by hearing that we would have delicious meat, Rin paid more attention to my words.
"And the second reason..."
Adding a bit of suspense, I slowly raised my hand with my palm facing upwards. Suddenly, I made the leather book I traded with Milka appear on my hand.
"It's this!" I proudly declared, puffing up my chest.
While holding my newly acquired treasure proudly, Rin seemed not to understand my actions.
"This is magic! Magic!" I declared.
Still not understanding, she tilted her head to the side in confusion.
Losing some of my enthusiasm, I gave up trying to explain and made her fetch more firewood to throw into the fire.
Sitting near the fire with Usagi sleeping on my lap, I used the fire's light and prepared to read the magic book.
Looking at the book's cover, I saw that its name was "Introduction to Magic". Even though the characters were something I had never seen, I managed to read it without problems thanks to the knowledge that Shadow-san put in my head.
Dazzled, I delved into the book's pages, reading and learning everything I could about magic.
***
After my morning exercise, I decided to go dig up the venison that I had buried under the hot coals of the fire the night before.
Speaking of last night, I was a bit disappointed with the content of the magic book. It was full of theories that I needed to read before getting to the practical part. But that was not enough to bring down my excitement, after all, it's magic.
Besides, considering what happened to me when I tried to learn on my own, I knew that this was a necessary step.
As soon as I took the clay pot from the ground and opened the lid, the delicious aroma of the meat permeated the air. In a fraction of a second, Rin and Kurama were already by my side with their stomachs rumbling with hunger.
Without wasting time, I served breakfast. To vary a bit, I put some meat in the bread. It was so tender that it crumbled at the touch of the wooden spoon.
As I smelled it up close, I took a big bite. After that bite, I couldn't stop until we had eaten everything.
The taste was incredibly rich and the meat was so tender that it melted in my mouth. Every time I bit into it, the juices flowed and tantalized my taste buds.
Definitely, this was the best meat I had ever eaten in my entire life. Unfortunately, I underestimated how good it would be and didn't make enough to satisfy our hunger.
Regrettable.
But that aside, I realized that from now on I need to strive to truly learn magic. With these thoughts in mind, we prepared to start our hunt. As there were no more goblins or wolves that I knew where they were, we needed to find a source of XP.
Going out to explore, we ventured into the dense forest in search of more prey.