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What is the most essential thing for life?

Continuing the lineage and establishing a stable living environment are important, but…

The most crucial thing is… well, eating first, right?

Offspring? Sure, that’s necessary for maintaining a species, but without it, life doesn’t just end immediately.

Maintaining a living space? That definitely helps for living stably, but it’s not essential. There are creatures that move around without settling in one spot, after all.

In comparison… eating is directly related to sustaining life.

No matter how chaotic everything is, as long as eating is maintained… life can continue.

So…

“First up, the initial contest…”

“The first contest? Does that mean there’s a second one as well?”

Goma’s question. Hmm. I guess I need to explain that first.

“I plan to hold three contests, and whoever wins two first will be the winner. If we end it with just one round, I think the losing side won’t follow easily.”

Upon my words, Goma and Hwan nodded in agreement.

“Alright then, let’s return to the topic of securing food.”

“Securing food?”

At my words, Goma and Hwan, along with the chieftains they brought from each tribe, all asked in unison.

“Yes. Securing food. Considering your abilities, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Oh, but if you can’t manage, just let me know. I’ll change it to something else.”

Of course, I have to think of another challenge if that’s the case, which means I need to ponder for a bit. Even now, I haven’t decided on the last one.

“Y-yes! Securing food is my special skill!”

“I can hunt too.”

Goma and Hwan stepped forward, glaring at each other as if refusing to be outdone.

The chieftains of the two tribes seemed to have a lot on their minds seeing the two like that…

“I can’t lose to this foolish bear…!”

“I don’t want to lose to someone closer to a beast than a person!”

Since they were fired up, they couldn’t be interrupted, I suppose.

“Now, let’s make the rules simple. Let’s see…”

I surveyed the surroundings, then created a clean cloth to lay out beside the rock I’m sitting on.

“Based on this rock I’m sitting on, Goma will gather food on the left cloth, and Hwan on the right. The food they gather should be piled up here… Oh, and of course, they shouldn’t accept help from others and must gather food using their own abilities. And…”

I took out a watch from my pocket to check the current time and spoke.

“Since it’s around 6 PM now, let’s gather food for one day until this time tomorrow, then measure the weight to determine who has gathered more. However, if they mix in something that can’t be eaten, that will count as a foul.”

“6 PM?”

Ah, um. It seems they don’t really keep track of the current time. Most tend to measure time quite vaguely.

I created a small fireball at my fingertip, shot it up high into the sky, and exploded it like fireworks.

Brightly bursting flames against the slightly darkening sky. With this, even those far away should quickly realize.

“When this firework goes off, come right back here. Remember, anything gathered after the moment it explodes will not count.”

If they greedily try to gather as much as they can and end up late… well, then whatever they have will be excluded.

Time limits are essential after all.

At my words, Goma hesitantly raised a hand and asked.

“If it’s something edible, is anything okay?”

“Hmm. Only things without poison or any that would cause problems when eaten. That should be simple enough, right?”

I aimed to keep the rules as straightforward as possible.

“Can we gather food by any means necessary?”

“Sure. Hunting, foraging, fishing… but looting is off the table.”

I wanted to exclude looting since that might lead them to attack others to steal their collected food.

“Alright then… let’s get started!”

At my shout, Goma and Hwan dashed off in pursuit of gathering as much food as they could, heading somewhere.

Now then…

“Chieftains of the two tribes. Let’s have a conversation.”

I smiled at the chieftains.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The tiger beastman Hwan exploited his abilities to catch a large number of prey.

He brought back several heavy catches, like a deer with a broken neck and a smashed wild boar.

Backing those up in his designated spot, Hwan glanced at what Goma had collected.

“Most of them are fish…”

“The skill of smacking fish swimming in the water to scoop them up barehanded is quite impressive.”

He resembled a bear hunting salmon. Truly splendid, indeed.

Moreover, he snagged quite a few small animals as well.

But…

“If it continues like this, I’m going to win.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

There were plenty of fish, but the deer and boars weighed much more.

If it remains like this, Goma will lose.

“But I’m not letting my guard down.”

Having said that, Hwan set off once again to hunt.

Hmm. With such a gap, it might be reasonable to be a bit careless, I suppose.

Well, I’m just here to watch until the outcome is decided.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thus, the competition for securing food unfolded.

“Alright! That’s enough! Anything not placed here won’t be counted!”

A large firework shot up into the dusky sky, and the faces of the two shifted between joy and despair.

Goma managed to stack fish and edible plants periodically, while Hwan repeatedly brought in large game before setting it down.

“Gah… I’m late…!”

“That was a close one. Huu.”

The stakes of their victory could only be settled at the very last moment.

Just before the final firework lit up the sky, Goma had piled a mountain of herbs onto his spot, while Hwan was still carrying a massive cow when time ran out.

If that cow had made it to Hwan’s spot, his win would have been guaranteed…

But for now, the situation was ambiguous.

Let’s weigh it first.

I carefully tied up the cloth spread on the ground and fashioned a long pole.

A long bar made of steel. I attached an unbreakable chain to its middle, aligning it precisely with the weights at the side.

I then began comparing the weights by hanging the bundles of food from both sides.

“By a hair’s breadth, Goma is the winner.”

The pole tilted ever so slightly towards Goma’s bundle.

“I did it! I won!”

“Ugh… I took too long to catch the last cow… If I had just captured it quicker…”

That cow really was impressive. If it had been included, Hwan would have won for sure.

But rules are rules. Unfortunately, the outcome has been determined.

At that moment.

“Wait a moment. There’s something concerning among what Goma brought.”

The chieftain of the tiger tribe raised his hand to speak.

“Among the plants Goma brought, there’s something inedible. A poisonous plant.”

“Poison?”

At that, I began to unpack Goma’s bundle to verify.

“Oh my, indeed. There are poisonous plants.”

Among the plants in the bundle, there was a significant amount of fern.

Ferns… Hmm. Indeed, ferns do contain harmful substances.

“Ah… It’s true, ferns have poison in them, but our tribe knows how to properly remove toxins before consuming them.”

“Yet when stating the rules, it was said to exclude anything that was poisonous or could cause issues, right? That should have been taken into account.”

After saying that, I removed the ferns and re-tied the bundle.

“According to the rules, it should be counted as a foul loss, but given that your tribe removes the poison to make it edible… let’s weigh it again after excluding these ferns.”

So, I measured the weight once more.

“Now, it’s a narrow victory for Hwan.”

Simply removing the ferns had flipped the win-loss situation.

“I won…!”

“Ugh… I lost…!”

In that moment, the joy and despair of victory intertwined.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“The next contest will be a eating contest. To be active, one must eat plenty!”

Eating a lot signifies that a person possesses a great deal, so it’s also a method to gauge wealth.

“Now that you’ve brought a significant amount of food, let’s cook lots of it and engage in an eating contest.”

“I won’t lose in eating!”

“I’m skilled at eating!”

“Oh, and any food you can’t finish is going to be shared with others.”

In other words, I’m planning to hold a grand feast.

“Others as well? While we’ve collected quite a bit of food, would there be enough for everyone to eat comfortably?”

“If it’s insufficient, I’ll add more, so don’t worry.”

“Should I help out as well?”

From behind me, Asterios, who had been quietly standing, spoke up, but I shook my head lightly.

“I’ll manage just fine alone, so don’t bother yourself.”

I planned to cook enough so that it would be fine for everyone.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thus began the eating contest.

“I can’t take it anymore…”

“I won!”

Just like a bear preparing for hibernation. Goma’s victory was a result of wildly gorging and growing plump.

Honestly, how does someone become this chubby in just a day? Even if it’s a bear preparing for hibernation! Even if it’s a bear beastman!!

The mysteries of the human body… truly astonishing.

“I may have made a bit too much… but, I suppose that’s alright.”

“Since the tribe’s people got to feast plenty, it’s actually a good thing.”

A plethora of meat, plenty of fish. Dishes made from those were abundant too.

The leftover food was all devoured by the tribe members, leaving no issues at all.

“With this, it’s one win and one loss. So… the final contest can only be resolved this way.”

For the final contest… well, it can’t be helped. I thought long and hard, but nothing came to mind except this.

It might be a bit unfair, though.

“For the last one… let’s decide victory and loss based on endurance.”

Let’s see, do we have sufficient mugwort and garlic? Ah, has garlic not reached here yet?

Well, even if not, it doesn’t matter. I can just make it myself.

 

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