Chapter 22 - Owlbear (3)

Now that he had a name, all that remained was to bond with Roundfur. The honey had earned me a lot of affection, but a cub was still a cub. He couldn't tell right from wrong yet, and with his mother dead, I would have to look after him.

But that brought up the biggest problem of all.

'How am I supposed to raise him?'

I'd never owned a pet, even back home. I'd had enough trouble keeping my own head above water. What business did I have keeping pets? A dog or cat might have been manageable, since I'd seen how people cared for them, but not an owlbear. Aside from their enormous appetites and ferocious temperaments, I knew nothing about them.

'The important thing is to get him to recognize me as his owner...'

I watched Roundfur scamper around the cave. Perhaps because he was still a cub, he was brimming with curiosity.

SNIFF. SNIFF SNIFF.

He lingered for a long time where his mother had died. Judging by the way he sniffed around, he seemed to remember her scent. But the owlbear had already gone to America... no, to the auction house. Bids were still coming in steadily, so a hefty sum would be heading my way soon.

'That little guy is going to get that big?'

With a little exaggeration, the mother owlbear had been the size of a house. But look at Roundfur. The round little fellow was only as big as a medium-sized dog. His pale fur also suggested he was a newborn, just as the forum users had said.

"Kwaaack!"

"Oh, dear."

Which was why he was far too curious for his own good. Why would you eat the fasting pills in that sack? With his keen nose, he must have smelled their bitterness. What possessed him?

"Kwaaaack!"

RIP!

But even a cub had that same ferocious streak. One swipe of Roundfur's claws tore the sack open. I gasped as the fasting pills spilled out.

"Hey! Park Roundfur! You can't do that!"

"Kyoo, kyuu?"

"I don't care how bad it tastes! That's no excuse!"

While scolding Roundfur, I hurried to deal with the damage. I laid the torn sack on its side to stop any more pills from spilling out, then bought a suitably sized sack from the auction house and transferred them into it.

'Come to think of it, don't these things even eat rotting corpses?'

Just how awful did fasting pills taste for them all to react the same way? I was used to them, so I could manage, but apparently animals couldn't.

'First, I need to get him to think of this place as home...'

That raised a question. Why had the mother owlbear brought her cub here?

As territorial animals, they were extremely sensitive about their territory. In other words, they wouldn't normally encroach on another animal's turf. Even if she had been scouting, she wouldn't have brought a cub along, much less a newborn.

'Did something drive her out of her old territory?'

No. That probably wasn't it. The mother owlbear had been in peak condition when she encountered me. Besides, she hadn't immediately tried to tear me apart. She'd started by checking me out.

Was she simply... moving house? I wasn't sure. Finding their den would be the best way to check.

'That's not an option right now.'

Just look at that ball of fluff staring at me with those big round eyes. There he sat, plopped down on my straw-stuffed mat, gazing blankly up at me...

"Who's a good boy? Come here."

"Kyuu."

He was so cute I could barely stand it. How could anything be this adorable? I showered Roundfur with affection, scratching his chin and stroking his head. Yeah. How could I leave this little guy behind? Even if I went out, I couldn't leave the place unattended until he recognized it as home.

'So fixing up the house is my best option...'

It was a bit disappointing, but not a bad choice. The biggest problem, though, was still water. I could take care of my own hygiene, but he couldn't take care of his. Who knew where he might pick up some disease? Baths were essential.

'Washing him in the stream... would be difficult.'

Not because of the golden poison frogs, but because I had no idea where Roundfur might run off to. If he crossed to the far bank, that would be a disaster. If the terrain shifted just as he crossed, it would be an absolute catastrophe.

'Isn't there a better way?'

I looked at Roundfur staring vacantly back at me, then silently gathered him into my arms. All this fluffy fur, and I hadn't been able to name him Fluffy. I'm sorry, little guy. As though he understood my feelings, he nuzzled his face against me.

GRRRR.

Then a strange sound reached my ears. It certainly hadn't come from my stomach. I gently put Roundfur down and stared into his face.

"Kyuu..."

"Hungry?"

He licked his lips.

Don't look at me and lick your lips. You're making me nervous. Before Roundfur could go berserk, I hurried into the auction house. It sold all sorts of goods, so I could buy some suitable meat there too.

'They sell monster meat too?'

Orcs, goblins, gnolls, trolls, and more. I wasn't sure why anyone would list this stuff. Monster meat was apparently so tough and unappetizing that people only ate it in emergencies. They'd probably listed it because they didn't know what else to do with it. It was dirt cheap compared to the alternatives.

"Here you go."

SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF. SNIFF.

I bought some orc meat and set it in front of Roundfur. He sniffed it curiously, then took an enormous bite.

MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH.

"Is it good?"

MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH. CHOMP! CHOMP!

He certainly had an appetite. Being an owlbear, he apparently ate much like a bear. I set a bowl of water beside him and headed outside. It would take him a while to finish all that, so I planned to get back to my unfinished work.

THWACK! THWACK!

After some vigorous chopping, the tree had started to wobble slightly. The blows no longer sounded dull, but more like splitting firewood. I checked where the cave was, then gave the trunk a hard shove with my foot. The tree slowly tilted before toppling with a loud crack.

THUD!

The tree was so huge that simply falling made quite a racket. Surely that hadn't disturbed any other animals. At least the biggest threat, the owlbear, had already been shipped off to the auction house.

'Should I cut it into roughly three sections?'

I walked over to the fallen tree and sized it up by eye. At this size, it could easily make three or four wall sections. The problem was splitting and shaping this thick trunk.

'... Why did I do this?'

One hurdle after another. There was still so much left to do. I should have learned the internal energy cultivation method first, like I'd decided before. It felt as though I'd done something stupid out of sheer boredom and only made more work for myself.

I heaved a deep sigh and decided to start by trimming off the smaller branches. There were so many that I wouldn't have to worry about firewood for a while. Once I'd roughly stripped those away, I would cut up the trunk.

'My sword won't do it, will it? I'll need to buy a saw...'

Just thinking about all that sawing made me dizzy. But I couldn't give up now. Before buying a saw, I went inside the cave for a rest.

PURRR...

Inside, I found Roundfur asleep on the mat. He'd polished off every scrap of the monster meat I'd given him. Baby animals of any species tended to sleep all day. I watched Roundfur curled up into a ball, then silently opened the forum.

My Roundfur is sleeping

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Roundfur sleeping curled into a ball)

Isn't he seriously adorable?

└Ahh... this is healing my soul...

└More! Give us more!

└He really looks like a ball lol

└The more I look at him, the more I think Roundfur was the perfect name

└I really want to hug him just once

Most of the comments were glowing praise. Anyone whose heart didn't melt at this sight wasn't human. As I proudly read through the replies, one comment caught my eye.

└Passing Dwarf Is that emergency rations? Looks tasty.

└Wild Grylls Are you out of your fucking mind?

└Passing Dwarf I passed out after drinking yesterday and only just woke up. What's going on?

It was Passing Dwarf. Apparently the dwarf had only just woken up after drinking. How could anyone look at Roundfur and call him emergency rations? I thought this idiot was something else in more ways than one, but the rest of the forum was even worse.

└Roundfur isn't the emergency rations. Grylls is Roundfur's emergency rations lol

└Passing Dwarf Really? You've found yourself a master.

└So he's the butler lmaooo

└Lmao he'll eat you first when he gets hungry lol

└Wild Grylls You people are fucking insane, seriously

Right. That was the forum for you. I let out a hollow chuckle. Since Passing Dwarf happened to be here, I asked a question.

└Wild Grylls Hey, Dwarf. Could you get me a decent saw?

└Passing Dwarf A saw? Oh, did you chop down a tree?

└Wild Grylls Yeah, but the thought of sawing it up has my balls trembling.

└Passing Dwarf Saws are all pretty much the same unless they're adamantium. You're better off starting with an axe, then sawing.

└Wild Grylls That's too much work.

└Passing Dwarf What, did you expect it to be easy? That's a job for at least two people to begin with.

It sucked, but I had no comeback. Nothing was ever easy. My best bet was to learn the internal energy cultivation method from Heavenly Demon. If I could use mana, surely things would improve somehow. Until then, all I could do was put in some good old haaard wooork.

└Passing Dwarf Or sell the tree at the auction house and buy a fence or defensive wall. Wouldn't that solve it?

└Wild Grylls They don't have any.

└Passing Dwarf Why not?

Good question. Why didn't they? I'd searched, but found nothing. There were some fences, at least, but nothing in the style I wanted.

└Wild Grylls Why are you asking me? If there aren't any, there aren't any. Besides, wouldn't it be expensive?

└Passing Dwarf However expensive it is, it'd cost less than that log you chopped down. Don't you know how good timber from the Forest of Four Seasons is?

└Wild Grylls Of course I don't. I told you I'm from another world.

└Passing Dwarf Wasn't that just drunken bullshit?

└Wild Grylls You little shit lol

└Can't blame anyone for not believing it lmaoooo

└Lmaoooo

Seriously. Why wouldn't they... okay, fair enough. But that wasn't the only thing puzzling me.

└Wild Grylls Why are you only telling me this now instead of earlier?

└Passing Dwarf Figured you should suffer a little lol

└Wild Grylls You son of a bitch

└Passing Dwarf Sawing isn't the end of it. You have to dry out the moisture, plane it, all sorts of stuff lol

└Wild Grylls What happens if you don't dry it?

└Passing Dwarf Mold explosion!

└Wild Grylls Ugh, seriously...

└Looks like reality just hit him lol

└Hey, at least you learned something. Have a drink!

I really did want a drink. If I'd known this would happen, I'd have at least made a post first. As the dwarf suggested, listing the log at the auction house seemed like the better option.

'They make it look so easy in that blocky world.'

But that was because its protagonist was ridiculously capable. Give him the materials and he'd whip up anything from a sword to a pickaxe. That really was impressive.

Why had I been dropped into this hellish world without a single ability? All I could do was sigh, but thank goodness I at least had the forum.

'Should I ask the dwarf?'

Annoying as the dwarf was, nobody was better at this sort of thing. Nobody I knew, at least. After a little deliberation, I asked Passing Dwarf.

└Wild Grylls Then if I give you the log, could you make me a decent defensive wall?

└Passing Dwarf I told you, just buy one at the auction house. I saw a few earlier. Drying this thing alone will take weeks.

└Wild Grylls I'm asking because the auction house doesn't have what I want

└Passing Dwarf Fair enough. Fences, maybe, but I guess they wouldn't sell defensive walls. I'll find one for you.

└Wild Grylls You're not messing with me, right?

└Passing Dwarf I don't joke about this stuff.

Well, that was a relief.

└Passing Dwarf Except when I'm hammered lol

└Wild Grylls What's in your hand right now?

└Passing Dwarf Beer

└Wild Grylls You fucking...

└Passing Dwarf It's a soft drink to dwarves. Got a problem?

└That's a solid point though lmao

└A solid reason to punch him lmao

└Lmaoooo

└Lmaooo

My head was spinning. What kind of alcoholic was this? Still, the offer didn't seem like a joke, so I browsed the auction house. Sure enough, it didn't have the sort of defensive wall I wanted. Once you'd built one, that was that, so there wasn't much demand. Even people who needed one would probably chop down nearby trees and shape them rather than buy it outright.

'Let's list the log first.'

I registered the fallen log outside with the auction house. I had no idea how much it would fetch, but I hoped it was as valuable as the dwarf claimed. If it was, all these trees would be money in the bank.

'I guess I'll have to wait for the wall.'

The dwarf had said a listing would be up soon, so I could buy it then. Before that, I planned to tidy up the area around the cave bit by bit.

'Not that I'm settling down here for good...'

First, I marked the trees I needed to chop down. I'd dig the moat after installing the wall. Once I'd roughly marked the trees with my axe, I returned to the cave for a rest. Roundfur was still off in dreamland. Absolutely adorable. I smiled warmly and opened the forum.

A lot of comments had appeared while I was away. Among them, one from the familiar registered user All Hail the Sun stood out.

└All Hail the Sun Hey. Have you brushed Roundfur yet?

└Wild Grylls Why would I brush him?

└All Hail the Sun Animals with lots of fur need brushing. Or a bath. Try brushing him.

I wasn't sure what this was about, but I might as well do as he said. Apparently, he kept animals too. I bought a fine-toothed comb at the auction house and approached Roundfur. Then I carefully began combing his thick fur, taking care not to wake him.

"... What is this?"

I thought I understood why All Hail the Sun had brought it up. Something was wriggling between the teeth of the comb. It looked absolutely hideous.

"T-ticks?"

I desperately needed water.

Right now.