"All finished now! This way we’ll be able to sleep comfortably tonight. It’s definitely not as good as a proper soft bed, but given where we are, this is pretty great — we’re lucky to have such a good spot in the middle of the forest," Harumiko said happily, looking at the place she had just arranged.
Once she was done preparing their sleeping place, she climbed back down to the ground and saw Hiroshi already busy searching nearby for their dinner.
"It looks like we’re going to eat well tonight. With his skills, I’m sure he’ll make us some delicious roasted meat. And it turns out that salt he bought earlier is really going to come in handy," she murmured softly with a smile.
Hiroshi was very skilled at surviving in the wild. His year?long travels had taught him a lot, and even before that, he had always enjoyed practising these kinds of skills in the mountains behind his home. He was confident in his ability to cook well.
"We’re definitely having roasted meat tonight — that way we’ll have plenty of energy and strength for tomorrow. If we eat poorly today, we’ll be weak tomorrow and won’t be able to travel at top speed," Hiroshi said while searching.
He looked around for prey. Rabbits, wild boar, and pheasants were common here, but so far, he hadn’t managed to catch anything.
"Finding food in this forest is harder than I thought... I’d better keep trying until I find something," he said, straightening up and glancing at the sky.
Harumiko wasn’t idle either. While Hiroshi hunted, she gathered dry branches and firewood nearby.
"Once he catches something, we can cook it straight away. That’s perfect — we’ll get to eat sooner this way," she said cheerfully while collecting wood.
Time passed, and soon they both had what they needed. Hiroshi caught two or three rabbits — small, but good enough for a tasty meal. Harumiko had gathered plenty of wood, more than enough to roast them properly.
"So it’s rabbit tonight. Seems like that’s all there is in this forest; maybe the other animals are still hiding and won’t come out until later. But rabbit meat is delicious. They’re cute creatures, but we have no choice right now — it’s this or go hungry," Hiroshi said softly, looking at his catch.
He walked back toward Harumiko carrying the rabbits.
"Just like you, Harumiko — you already gathered all the wood while I was hunting. Now we can start cooking right away. As soon as these are roasted, we can eat," he said, looking at the pile of wood with a grin.
"You’re back! Rabbits tonight, huh? It’s been ages since we had them. They really are cute... but out here, we don’t have much choice, do we?" she said, laughing.
Hiroshi nodded. He knew they were cute too, but in the wild, you ate what you could find.
"Thanks for gathering this wood while I was busy. Now all we need to do is clean the meat, and we can start roasting," he said warmly.
She nodded happily — she knew it was smart to share the work. She found a few strong branches, built a simple grill rack, and stacked wood underneath ready to light.
"All done! Now we just need to prepare the meat, roast it, and then dinner is served," she said, striking a spark and lighting the fire.
Hiroshi nodded, took out his knife, and quickly prepared the rabbits — skinning them, removing the innards, and cleaning them thoroughly by the nearby stream to wash away all blood and dirt.
Now there was nothing left but clean meat — ready and safe to eat.
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