He carried an iron pickaxe, striking the exposed ore vein on the rock bed repeatedly, and soon, several high-grade metal ores, along with broken stone, rolled down.
Gordon picked them up one by one, carefully examining their luster, and found that most of them were the common Iron Ore, but there were also a few good quality lark stone mixed in.
Good luck.
Gordon was very satisfied with this result. After happily collecting all of them, he hummed a tune and headed to the next collection point.
That was a pile of scattered Gu Tou at the root of a giant tree, with a large number of severely weathered beast Gu Tou stacked together, but if one searched carefully, it might be possible to find some usable bone materials.
Gordon currently had no demand for these bone materials, but he also learned from the Workshop Owner that most high-grade Great Swords belong to the "Bone Blade Derivation System."
For example, the Flame Sword of Rathalos that the Workshop Owner once mentioned.
Therefore, the stockpiling of bone materials must start now, collecting a little whenever there's an opportunity during each hunt, accumulating small amounts to avoid a shortage of materials when truly needed.
Struggling to carry various ores collected throughout the afternoon, as well as bone materials like beast Gu Tou and Dragon Gu Tou (small), Gordon returned to the Hunting Camp with a bountiful harvest.
After storing the materials in the storage box, he looked up at the sky; the sun was already setting in the west.
Recalling that Ted should still be collecting ingredients for tonight's delicious dinner, diligently fishing, while he himself was only focused on collecting materials for his own equipment, Gordon suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
Ahem, I'll collect something along the way to bring over.
Anyway, with that guy's fishing method, he probably wouldn't catch anything good. Even if I only bring a few Mushrooms, I won't lose!
That's what he thought, but on the way to the beach, Gordon still diligently collected ingredients.
After all, this was also for his own stomach. It wouldn't do to come to the bountiful Metabe Forest for a "vacation" and still have to miserably gnaw on portable rations, would it?
Speaking of which, there's really a lot of edible stuff in the dense forest.
Besides the most common Mushrooms, Gordon also collected various berries, wild vegetables, wild taro, and a Ling Deer that had bad luck and ran right into him.
Just these were enough for the two big eaters to have a good feast, but Gordon was still a bit unsatisfied.
Carrying and holding things, he ran to the beach and found a tall and lush coconut tree. He found climbing the tree too troublesome, so he swung his Burst Blade and cut down the tree in two or three strokes. He picked up a few ripe coconuts, planning to drink them as beverages later.
Hugging a large pile of ingredients, he puffed and panted his way to the fishing spot. Before he could even show off to Ted, Gordon was stunned by the giant tuna next to Ted, which was probably two meters long.
"G-Giant Tuna?"
Gordon threw the ingredients in his hand aside, scrambled onto the reef in a few steps, touched the still twitching, mirror-smooth body of the giant tuna, and said with a face full of disbelief, "This fish... you caught it?!"
"That's right!" Ted patted his chest, his face full of pride, "This Daddy caught it!"
Gordon's gaze couldn't help but glance at the fishing rod, which had been snapped in half by someone and thrown aside. He asked suspiciously, "You caught it with a fishing rod?"
Ted's expression visibly stiffened, "W-What does it matter how I caught it? This Daddy has his own special fishing techniques!"
Gordon blinked and immediately changed his question, "Oh, Brother Ted, you're amazing! You can catch such a big fish even when your fishing rod is broken. Those fishermen who go fishing with rods are really stupid.
Could it be, Brother Ted, that you're using the legendary 'No-Gear Fishing Method'? Teach this little brother!"
Ted's spirits indeed lifted. He patted the reef beside him and laughed loudly, "Fishing rods are useless. I fished for half a day and only caught a small fish the size of my palm. This Daddy didn't care for it, so I threw it back into the sea.
As a result, that little fish hadn't even had time to escape before it was swallowed by several fish that rushed over. I was angry, so I fired two shots into the sea. Hmm, not Dragonator, just two ordinary shots!
Guess what? A whole bunch of fish were stunned and floated to the surface, ha ha ha!"
Gordon: "."
You're dynamiting fish!
"I just jumped down to scoop them up, and this big guy swam over. It was probably attracted by the bloody smell of those fish that were blown to bits.
Could I let it get away? After a struggle, I dragged it up!" Ted made a few punching gestures and then a forceful dragging motion, vividly illustrating his story.
Gordon's mouth twitched.
Looking back at the several huge fist-marks on the giant tuna's head, he had a lot to say but couldn't, so he tentatively asked, "Then, us?"
"Let's eat it now! Giant Tuna Sashimi!" Ted answered crisply, "Is that what it's called? That fresh way of eating from the West Continent?"
"Alright!" Gordon immediately stopped being conflicted.
Excitedly, he rummaged through the large pile of berries and wild vegetables he had brought, finally finding a wild vegetable with a spicy stem, whose smell was a bit like wasabi. Although not authentic, it should be usable.
Soy sauce was out of the question, so he had to use salt instead.
Ted, on the other hand, took the initiative to gut the fish. Without a delicate, sharp filleting knife, a skinning knife would suffice. He chopped here and there, and even wanted to borrow Gordon's Burst Blade for places where the Gu Tou was too hard, but the latter refused.
Blood and flesh flew everywhere. Ted's entire process of handling the giant tuna was enough to make any professional chef's blood pressure skyrocket.
The final result was a large pile of bright red meat chunks, about the size of a fist, placed on a banana leaf serving as a plate.
"Uh, isn't this cut a bit too big?" Although Gordon himself didn't know much about "sashimi," an exotic dish from the West Continent.
But he guessed it certainly wasn't something so crude.
"Big pieces taste better!" Ted waved his hand, explaining his terrible knife skills.
As if to prove his point, Ted was the first to grab a large piece of fatty fish belly with beautiful marble-like fat patterns, threw it into his large mouth, which could fit an entire apple, and then chewed vigorously.
After chewing for a while with a frown, he finally tilted his neck and struggled to swallow, Ted muttered, "It's slippery and slimy, no taste. It doesn't feel as good as cooked meat."
Gordon rolled his eyes and said, "Who eats sashimi like that? You're just simply eating raw fish meat. Sashimi should be eaten like this!"
Saying that, he followed the hearsay of "slice raw fish, add some wasabi paste, and dip in soy sauce." He cut the fist-sized fish chunks into palm-thick fish slices, or rather, fish steaks, carefully sprinkled on chopped raw vegetable stems, then added a small pinch of fine salt, and only then put it into his mouth.
Staring wide-eyed, Ted, observing Gordon's "exquisitely particular" way of eating, let out a long sigh of admiration: "Oh~! So that's how sashimi is eaten, This Daddy has learned!"
Chew chew chew chew
After also somewhat laboriously swallowing the fish, Gordon wiped his mouth and objectively commented, "A very exotic way of eating, the taste is very special."
Ted imitated him, swallowing a large fish steak, but was choked by the spiciness of the wild vegetable stem, causing him to sneeze. After a brief silence, he mumbled:
"I think it'd still taste better grilled."
"Hmm, I also think that this way of eating sashimi isn't suitable for us." Gordon stared at the fish chunks in front of him, crossed his arms and nodded, seemingly not intending to touch them again.
"Who's going to start the fire?"
"You go, make the bonfire big. I'll go skin and clean the Ling Deer. Later, we'll skewer it with Mushrooms, smear it with berries, and roast it all together! I also got a few coconuts for drinks, too bad I didn't bring ale..."
"Oh, no! How could I forget to bring alcohol!"
"These wild taro will be buried under the bonfire and baked for a while longer, otherwise they'll numb your mouth."
"No problem."
"..."
"..."
The sun set, and the sky gradually darkened.
On the coast of the Metabe Forest as night fell, the bonfire burned brightly.
Gordon and Ted lay on the warm sand, patting their bulging bellies, both sighing with heartfelt emotion.
"Giant Tuna is so delicious!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Kazenova223
If you guys wanna check it out.