Chapter 27 – Piglets

We found 22 more green roots while we searched for the troublesome boar. Finally, after an hour and a half, my Presence Detection was now at level 3 and it helped me to discover a large beast hiding under large tree roots. We slowly approached the location. Peeking around the corner was the snout of a boar. It was smaller than the boar I found in the mountain, but its level wasn't far off.

Wild Boar (F) – Lv. 6

Thankfully, we already had a general plan in how to deal with the beast as it was already charging at our group. Midnight reacted instantly, jumping to its side. I jumped close to the beast and then activated a barrier. The barrier stopped the boar in its tracks while Midnight sliced down on the creature's neck with his newly acquired sword. With that single swing, Midnight's strength was more than adequate to decapitate the creature. Since my barrier held it in place, it became a very simple target. After letting the creature bleed out for a few minutes. I stored it in my Storage Vision. Now I had two boars in my Storage. I wondered how common bacon was in this world. Back on Earth, bacon became a hit because of good advertising. Traditionally, the fatty edges of a pig used to be discarded and wasted. That was until some savvy advertisers gave those pieces of meat a special name. Bacon became a staple in society. A BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato) was a very popular sandwich. Bacon was mixed with all sorts of dishes…eggs, hamburgers, rice dishes, pasta, and even wrapped on hotdogs. Would I be introducing an unhealthy habit to society? Or perhaps someone already realized it? I would have to investigate to find this out.

In the meantime, my group started to return to the city when we heard a high squealing sound. I looked back towards the tree roots and my heart dropped. Two tiny little boars walked out from the shelter. They seemed to understand that their mother was now gone. They were only about 8 inches long when their mother had been over 4 feet. Suddenly I felt more like a nasty predator rather than a protector of the community. The mother was stealing vegetables and feeding her children. We reacted by taking the beast's life. My conscience would need a bit more time to deal with that. I was much more comfortable in vanquishing angry goblins that were willing to kill us. Taking away a mother from its young…I was still at odds with that. Realistically speaking, I was fully aware that farmers were butchering grown pigs all the time and that this event was no different. No different other than the fact that I was now their butcher! I stared at the longing looks of the two cute little pigs. I looked at the group.

"Is there any way we could domesticate them? Perhaps we could find them a good farm to grow up in?"

I knew that leaving them here would likely just result in them dying from predators.

"Uh, I guess so? I know that the dwarves have a pig farm. Perhaps we should sell them there?"

My mind was at war with the idea. I was in no position to farm pigs. I was not going to stay in Malduhr forever and these pigs would end up getting quite large. Perhaps selling them would be the best choice. We returned to the old farmer's house. Before we showed him the corpse of the boar he waved us off.

"Don't you worry about proving anything. You have the two young in your hands there. No wonder that beast kept making a mess of my fields. Can I ask what your plan with those two piglets is?"

We explained our position and the fact that we would like them to be cared for. The farmer approved of our attitude.

"Instead of selling to the kingdom, why don't you have me care for them for a while?" Mr. Dhofit's suggestion seemed very generous.

"Are you willing to care for the piglets?"

"Why of course. A bit of grain to care for them will be nothing. Consider it as a second thank you for dealing with the menace. Although I have sympathy for the young, I wouldn't have allowed the grown boar to keep trouncing my fields and damaging my fence. It was too aggressive and dangerous. These piglets can still be domesticated. I have a small pen in the back that would suffice for looking after these little ones."

Twiiii!

We gratefully accepted Mr. Dhofit's offer. He seemed to know how we felt about the matter and he was willing to care for them until we wanted them back. What a kind old man! We thanked Mr. Dhofit after having him sign the Adventurer Guild's documents to confirm our completion of assignment. The sun was setting as we made it back to the city walls. The guards now seemed to recognize us this time and we didn't even need to show our badges to get inside.

The Adventurer's Guild was loud with conversation, drinking, and music. There was someone with a guitar-like instrument, strumming a regular tune. It was quite catchy. I was glad that this world seemed to have a good handle on entertainment and social progress. Humans, dwarves, and beastkin were sharing beer together in the crowd. I didn't see any elves this time but that was just because they were much rarer in the dwarven city. The smell of beer reminded me of the Genuine Funk Brewery and Valerie. My mind wandered to the citrus smells and Val's pleasant voice. I wished I could have seen her face just once. Nevertheless, there were many new faces for me to see in this world. It was better to focus on the future that I had rather than the past that I didn't have. If I kept my focus on how to improve myself and my friends, I wouldn't have time to worry about what could have been.

Twiiii!

Bliss seemed to identify that I was lost in thought so she brought me back to the present. What a helpful little flower! We approached the Rewards desk and handed in our two completed jobs. The couple of silver coins I was handed were quite meager compared to the coins we had absconded from Monte's carriage. Nevertheless, it was hard-earned coins, and it gave us experience as well. We decided to have a drink at the guild's bar. I was pleasantly surprised by the rich flavor and scent of the locally brewed beer. It turned out that life in this new world wasn't bad. Not bad at all!