When I Realized I Was the Game’s Protagonist, I Decided to Dump Everything on the Dark Hero - V1 Chapter 04: What’s an Isekai Without This?

Chapter 04: What’s an Isekai Without This?

“Next in line! …Huh? Blanc?”

“Yo, good work out there.”

“You’ve been heading into the forest again?”

It had been about three months since I arrived in Ornell.

By now, the gate guards had completely memorized my face, thanks to my daily trips into the forest.

Well, not much I can do about that.

It’s not every day a kid goes in and out of the gates this often.

“Hey, so… I found this in the eastern forest, along with what looks like the owner’s corpse.”

“What!?”

“Where exactly!?”

“Right next to the big spring.”

The moment I handed over an adventurer’s tag I had found in the forest—and casually mentioned that the body was nearby—

The guards snapped to attention.

“Did you see anything else?”

“Hmm…”

“Any weapons? Any belongings?”

“Now that you mention it… Nope. Probably?”

“Then chances are he was taken out by bandits.”

Nope. That was me.

The guy was part of a bandit gang, so I interrogated him about his crew and their hideout, then took care of business.

I had originally planned to raid the base myself, but it turned out they had hostages.

And fighting while protecting people?

Yeah, not happening.

So I decided to leave it to the professionals this time.

“Hey you! Send a team to investigate the site! Search the area!”

“Yes, sir!”

“There could be more bandits nearby! Stay on high alert!”

Good luck, gentlemen.

I scattered some of the guy’s belongings along the way to their hideout, so they should find it in no time.

“You’re staying at Sunshine Pavilion, right?”

“Yeah.”

“If we need to ask you anything about this case, we’ll send someone over. When that happens, I’ll need your cooperation.”

“Got it.”

“Captain Abel, Blanc passes through here every day anyway. Couldn’t we just ask him then?”

“…Good point. Still, if anything urgent comes up, just keep it in mind.”

“Roger that.”

Huh. So this guy was a captain? 

Didn’t expect that—he looked pretty young.

Maybe he’s connected to some noble family or something?

“By the way, kid—you really go that far into the forest?”

“Yep. Lots of interesting things out there.”

“Man… at your age? That’s impressive.”

“Oh, right. Lately, we’ve noticed something strange about the monsters in the forest. Have you noticed anything?”

“Something strange?”

“Yeah. The number of large predators—wolves, big monsters—has dropped. Meanwhile, smaller creatures are increasing.”

“Huh…”

…Wait. Was that partially my fault?

I have been hunting down every monster that attacks me.

I usually ignore smaller ones—like rabbits or squirrels—but if a big one looks tasty, I take it down.

But come on, there’s no way my hunting alone could cause that much of a shift.

The forest is huge, after all.

“If you notice anything, let us know right away.”

“Okay.”

“And be careful out there, Blanc.”

“Will do. Thanks.”

After saying goodbye to the captain and his team, I headed back to the inn, my usual spot.

“I’m back!”

“Oh, Blanc, welcome home. I went ahead and cleaned your room for you.”

“Ah, thanks as always, ma’am!”

At first, I tried renting a place. But unfortunately, there weren’t any landlords willing to rent to a kid.

Which… made sense.

A child trying to live alone is pretty much a walking red flag.

Most people would think twice before renting to someone who was clearly hiding something.

And even inns had a “no long-term stays for unaccompanied minors” rule.

After checking every single inn in town, I finally found Sunshine Pavilion, the only place willing to take me in.

“Hey, old man! There was a massive cow-beast in the forest, so I hunted it down. Left it in the backyard.”

“Oh, Blanc, you’re a lifesaver—wait, that thing’s huge!?”

“Oh wow, it really is.”

“Is this… a Murder Bull?”

“Yep.”

A Murder Bull was a five-meter-long beast, essentially a giant cow.

Its charging attacks were incredibly powerful, using its razor-sharp horns as weapons.

But as long as you didn’t let it charge, it wasn’t all that scary.

I’d been selling my hunted beasts to the old man at the inn a few times a week.

Since I wasn’t old enough to use the Adventurer’s Guild, this was the next best thing.

Plus, it meant better meals for me.

For transporting the kills, I used a magic bag I had “borrowed” from a bandit hideout.

Because, let’s be honest—

No isekai is complete without an inventory cheat.

Apparently, it was a pretty rare item, too.

“Ahh… yeah, guess it was kinda big.”

“Nah, no problem. The lazy freeloaders upstairs can handle it.”

“Fair enough.”

“HEY, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHINGS!!! BLANC JUST GOT BACK! IF YOU WANT DINNER, GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND BUTCHER IT YOURSELVES!!”

At the old man’s shout, the inn’s residents (a.k.a. gluttons) came rushing downstairs at breakneck speed.

“Hey, kid, you’re back. So what’s today’s—holy crap, that thing’s huge!?”

“A Murder Bull, huh? This is gonna be a feast.”

“Blanc, you’re definitely stronger than me.”

“Alright, listen up! Tonight’s special is motsu stew! So chop it up fast!”

“Got it!”

“Leave it to us!”

Anyone who helped with the butchering got extra meat at dinner.

So naturally, these guys were dead serious about it.

Some of them had spent the whole day at the inn just waiting for this moment.

…Was that really okay?

“Hey, kid! I’ll teach you more about butchering today.”

“Thanks, as always!”

“Nah, we should be thanking you. Because of you, we eat like kings!”

“The inn’s menu has really expanded, huh?”

“I still remember when you first told us people actually eat tongues and organs… that was a shock.”

“And yet, once we tried it—damn, that stuff was delicious!”

“Yeah, that was a game-changer.”

In this world, even when people hunted monsters, they usually only took the essential parts—things like proof of kill, pelts, or a small amount of meat.

Since there wasn’t much carrying capacity, the more perishable parts—like organs or anything that didn’t sell—were left behind.

But thanks to my magic bag, I could bring back everything without worrying about spoilage.

And of course, a huge part of this was thanks to the old man’s cooking skills.

When I mentioned that there were other ways to prepare meat, he experimented until he could turn it into actual gourmet food.

Because of that, hunting had become way more rewarding.

Good food really does make a difference.

Oh yeah—

The bandit hideout?

The guards successfully raided and took it down.

The captives were rescued safely, and since I had helped uncover the base, I even got a cut of the reward money.

Hell yeah.