Chapter 18 – The Tribe That Eats People
Jun immediately used his first skill. If they wanted to finish the raft as quickly as possible, the only thing they could count on was Jun's short-term unlimited strength.
After that, Jun seemed like he was controlled by something, cutting down trees quickly and efficiently with the iron knife.
"This is balsa wood!"
Jun realized that they had found a type of wood that was almost as good as bamboo for building boats.
Balsa wood, also called lightweight wood, looked sturdy but was very light and could float well, making it great for making rafts.
Most importantly, it was very easy to cut.
They thought it would take an hour to finish the raft, but thanks to Jun and Yukino, it was finished in about thirty minutes.
But they still weren't sure how stable the raft really was.
Fortunately, Jun was smart enough to not avoid this kind of math problem.
"Even though we don't have a lot of time, we can still guess how much it will float..."
Jun looked at the pile of stones near the boar's dead body.
"How do we measure that?" Yukino asked, confused. She didn't know how to calculate buoyancy.
"Granite is usually about three times as dense as water. Boar meat has about the same amount of water in it as water. We'll tie the raft to the riverbank, add big stones one by one, and then factor in our body weight. When the raft is about to sink, we measure the total amount of stone that was used.
Jun pointed at the big rocks on the ground.
"Then, multiply that amount by three. That's the amount of boar meat the raft can carry."
"Oh... I see..."
Yukino remembered the story of how Cao Chong weighed an elephant.
She nodded in admiration and helped Kato Jun calculate the raft's buoyancy.
_ _ _
"We can only carry about one-third of the boar meat..."
After measuring the raft, Jun realized it wasn't as buoyant as he'd hoped.
"We can only carry about one-third of the boar meat..."
After measuring the raft, Jun realized it wasn't as buoyant as he'd hoped.
"In that case, we'll take the neck, the front legs, the hind legs, a bit of tenderloin, and..."
Yukino was a skilled cook, so she knew exactly which pork cuts were the most delicious.
"Okay!"
More than half an hour had passed. The boar had been dead for some time, but Jun and Yukino hadn't skinned it right away. They were afraid that the smell of blood and guts would attract predators.
While building the raft, Jun had even covered the boar's bloody head with mud and sand to hide the smell.
"Okay, let's start cutting it up!"
Neither Jun nor Yukino had ever killed a boar before. They had never even seen someone do it.
Butchering a wild boar was hard on the body and took a lot of effort.
But that wasn't a problem for Jun, who could keep going without getting tired.
Even with just a long knife, it was enough to cut up the boar.
Yukino was in charge of the butchering process, and Jun did it.
First, the bloodletting and gut removal…
The smell was very strong!
Yukino had to pinch her nose, but the smell of blood still reached her, especially when the intestines were removed...
She was amazed at how Kato Jun could handle everything he went through.
Yukino looked at Jun's back and admired him a little.
Jun was losing his sanity, but with a sanity stat of 200, he could still complete the task.
Jun actually cut up the meat really fast.
His technique was rough, though, so many good cuts were damaged. But that wasn't the main concern.
After Jun removed all the cuts he wanted, his real goal was to get the boar's hide.
The boar was so big that its hide was very wide.
To make it easier to carry, Jun cut extra pieces into the hide along the belly and divided it into four large sections before peeling it off.
They finally moved the meat to the raft. They used a simple wooden frame made of roots and vines to carry it.
Yukino's plan had worked. They brought about 150 kilograms of meat. If they had to travel over land, they could only carry about 15 kilograms, and they'd have to stay alert for predators.
But traveling by river made everything much easier.
Of course, that was assuming there were no waterfalls and that the river really did lead to the ocean.
Kato Jun climbed aboard the raft with Yukino, holding the bamboo pole. They were sad to leave the huge pile of meat behind.
"Kato-kun... I think something else is coming..."
Yukino saw an uninvited guest coming to the boar's dead body.
It has striped fur, a curled tail, and a large body like a cat.
A leopard that lives in a forest.
"Good thing we didn't leave any later... that thing's almost the size of a tiger..."
Jun swallowed hard as he continued to guide the raft.
If they had left just a minute later, they might have ended up as the leopard's dinner.
The leopard ate the boar quickly, but it sometimes looked at Jun and Yukino.
"Everything in this place is huge."
Yukino held Jun's shirt tightly, her heart beating rapidly.
If Jun hadn't reacted so strongly earlier, they might have been hurt by that pig.
Now, Yukino was thankful they'd chosen the raft to escape the forest, since the leopard was so muscular and fierce.
"Don't worry. The river can hide a lot of smells. Also, these animals usually won't jump into the water to chase us."
Jun watched the leopard with its stripes. Then he looked back at the raft and continued to steer it downstream.
The water current wasn't too strong, but it was still much faster than walking.
"Wait! Kato-kun! Look over there—footprints! Human footprints!"
As they floated along, Yukino suddenly saw tracks on the riverbank and looked surprised.
The human footprints in the mud made both Yukino and Jun excited.
"Yes, those are definitely human footprints!"
After getting the raft ready, Jun jumped down to check them out.
He compared the size—about the same as his own feet, so likely a grown man's. The shape of the toes showed that the prints weren't from a baboon or a monkey.
They had to be human.
Strangely, though, there were only a few prints, and they seemed to have been deliberately hidden. Jun couldn't figure out where they were going.
Why would someone try to hide their actions?
Jun was puzzled and curious.
Could this be another castaway like them?
But walking barefoot through a forest full of thorns like this... whoever it was, they must be incredible.
Jun followed the estimated path for a few meters because he was unsatisfied that the prints just vanished.
Then he found something that made his skin crawl—a pile of bones.
"Get back, now!"
He shouted toward Yukino, who was still behind him.
"What? Why did this happen so suddenly?"
"Those weren't human footprints!"
Jun saw that Yukino was moving too slowly, so he picked her up and ran back to the raft as fast as he could.
"What is it, Kato Jun-kun?"
Yukino blushed a little because she was being carried, but she didn't resist and asked curiously.
"I think we just found traces of something we really didn't want to encounter."
Jun continued to guide the raft downstream, looking at the footprints in the water that were now far away.
"At the end of those tracks... was a huge pile of human bones..."
"Human bones? You mean..."
Yukino stopped talking. Her mind went blank.
"There were so many skulls piled up together... ugh..."
Even Jun, who had smelled the rotten smell of boar guts earlier, felt sick. The sight of maggot-covered skulls buzzing with green flies made him feel sick.
"Kato-kun! Are you okay?!"
Yukino panicked, patting Jun's back.
"This place... it's really dangerous..."
Jun took out a basic map and told Yukino to put a skull symbol on the spot.
"I'm afraid... we've just discovered a cannibal tribe that was only supposed to exist in legends..."
Jun grabbed his stomach and chest and was sitting half-collapsed on the raft, trying to catch his breath.
"A... a cannibal tribe!?"
Yukino's face went from hopeful to sad.
"Oh no... what if someone else stuck on the island got caught by them?"
Yukino opened her hand, showing a small, cute hair clip.
"I found this near the footprints..."
"Let me see it!"
Jun grabbed the hair clip from her hand.
"This... this is...!?"
His face showed shock and fear.
"That's Gin-chan's hair clip..."
This was a gift Jun had given Ginko a long time ago.
He never thought it would show up here.
"Gin-chan?"
Yukino looked confused.
"She's my junior in the world of shogi, so there's a good chance she also got stranded here like us."
Jun grabbed the hair clip firmly, his face going dark.
Could Gin-chan already be...
As memories of the skull pile returned, Jun felt sick again.
"Maybe she just dropped it there by accident..."
Yukino tried to cheer up Jun, who was quiet and sad.
"No..."
Jun slowly shook his head. He knew Ginko loved this hair clip more than anything—there was no way she'd give it up.
Unless something happened to her.
She never came back to get it.
Jun could only make one sad guess about those bones.
_ _ _
The river did lead to the ocean. Using the raft, they eventually reached the coast and paddled back toward the cave where they had stayed.
Though this forest expedition had been very rewarding, Jun didn't say a word after returning to the beach.
He sat quietly on the sand, holding the hair clip, looking out at the endless sea.
Memories of Sora Ginko—the stubborn girl who always learned from him, and her habit of nudging his foot when embarrassed—brought a glint of tears to Jun's eyes.
Ssssh, ssssh...
Yukino walked barefoot, stepping carefully across the wet sand.
The cool grains tickled her pale feet.
It felt cold and soothing, but her mood was just as gloomy as Jun's.
Still, she knew she had to encourage the young man who hadn't said a word since earlier.
"Kato-kun, dinner's ready. Grilled boar kidney—the one you mentioned back in the forest."
Her voice was still cold, but this time it sounded a little warmer.
"Mm..."
Jun slowly got up from the sand.
"Kato-kun..."
Yukino felt sad when she saw the sadness on his face.
She bit her bottom lip.
"Maybe it's not as bad as we think. After all, we're just making assumptions, so..."
Yukino tried to find the right words to make Jun feel better.
"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Yukinoshita..."
"You can just call me Yukino..."
She turned her face away slightly. Even though they'd grown closer, she was still shy about using first names.
"In the forest earlier, you called me by name without permission, so from now on..."
"Yukino..."
Jun wanted to hug the girl in front of him, but he didn't.
"I need more snake venom... and more arrows..."
"You're going to that place where there might be cannibals..."
Yukino immediately understood what Jun meant.
"Yes. I need to confirm that they exist. I need to do this not just for Gin-chan, but for our own survival, too."
The island was big, but who could say the cannibals wouldn't come to their camp one day?
"That's too dangerous, and—"
"Yes, it's very dangerous. That's why you have to stay here…"
Jun didn't want to put Yukino in danger.
"But the rescue team could arrive at any moment. You don't have to risk your life like this!"
Yukino started to panic. She didn't want to just sit there and watch Jun run into danger.
"It's too late. And there might not be any rescue team at all..."
Jun touched Yukino on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. I promise, no matter what happens, I'll come back alive!"
"No! If you really want to go, then I'm coming with you!"
Yukino wasn't a weak girl.
Also, she could use a bow and arrow.
"No way! If you keep insisting, I'll tie you up inside the cave!"
Yukino looked firmly at Jun, who looked back at her with the same determination.
The two of them looked at each other, and neither one was willing to give in.
This was the first time they'd ever argued since they arrived on the island.
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