In the anime, the Dolan Forest seemed to be just another average forest but boy I was wrong. It stretched beyond the horizon, vast, green, and bustling with life.
Birdsong echoed above the trees, and somewhere deep inside, something large roared like thunder.
Naturally, that's exactly where Tweety wanted to go.
"Why can't we explore, I don't know, maybe…a nice and safe part instead?" I asked, clutching my bag.
"Because the safe part is empty," Tweety said, wings flaring. "Prey goes around."
"That's… not comforting."
Still, I followed him. Mostly because arguing with a divine bird never ended well.
The deeper we went, the quieter it became. Shafts of sunlight cut through the leaves, scattering light like spilled gold. It would've been peaceful if not for Tweety vanishing every few minutes into the sky.
I'd look up, spot nothing but a shimmer of gold, then hear a sound that could only be described as "something very dead hitting the ground."
Moments later, a body would crash down nearby, a deer-like beast, perfectly pierced through the heart.
"Tweety!" I yelped, diving aside as another carcass slammed down beside me.
"A little warning next time!?"
"You asked for ingredients," Tweety said from above, his voice calm as ever. "I am delivering them, fresh."
"Yeah, directly onto my head!"
He ignored me.
I scrambled over to the fallen creature, a horned elk, its hide faintly shimmering with mana and quickly shoved the entire thing into my Item Box.
"Okay, okay, that's one. We're good, right?"
"No. The hunt continues."
"Continues!? Tweety, we've got enough meat for a month!"
"A week."
He soared back into the clouds before I could argue.
The next half hour was chaos.
Tweety would disappear, I'd hear a faint shriek, then…thud!...another monster dropped nearby. A wolfbeard. A tusked bear. A bird bigger than a car, I think that was cuckoo?
I was sweating, panting, and jamming bodies into my Item Box like a man stuffing leftovers into Tupperware.
"Slow down!" I shouted. "You're gonna break my inventory limit!"
"It's limitless, John," Tweety said casually, diving again.
A gust of wind followed his descent, and a two-horned boar landed so close it flattened a bush.
I flinched.
"Tweety, I think that one's still twitching!"
"Its just the muscle," he said.
I stared at the massive, groaning boar, my hands shaking.
"…Can't we just call this take-out?"
Tweety perched on a branch, preening his feathers like he hadn't just carpet-bombed the local wildlife.
"The flame rests today," he said proudly. "Only claw and precision."
"Yeah, precision… right into my nightmares."
Still, when the dust settled, we had enough meat to feed a village.
By the time we returned to Doland, the sky was orange and my back was screaming at me.
I collapsed on a bench outside the guild, panting.
"I swear… you hunt like it's a sport."
"It is a sport," Tweety said, looking quite pleased. "Survival of the fittest."
I groaned.
I opened my Item Box to peek inside, rows upon rows of glimmering carcasses stacked like some horrific supermarket sale.
"Guess dinner's sorted for the year," I muttered.
"A week," Tweety corrected again.
I stared at him.
"You're joking."
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
He didn't.
I sighed, slumping back.
"Fine. Next time, I'm buying a net. Or a helmet."
Tweety tilted his head, the evening light reflecting in his golden eyes.
"Perhaps both."
And somewhere, deep inside the forest, every remaining monster probably decided to take the night off.
If I didn't own an item box, I would probably drag the results of Tweety's hunting spree into town like leading a parade of disbelief.
Then people stopped. Stared. Whispered.
A regular adventurer with an ordinary familiar might've drawn polite curiosity.
But a scruffy guy in an apron hauling a mountain of Class A and B beasts behind a glowing bird? That was a spectacle. I absolutely hate attention.
By the time we reached the Adventurer Guild, the air greeted us. I didn't mind them.
"Excuse me, do adventure guilds process meat too?" I asked the receptionist.
"Yes," she replied, boringly. "Over there." he pointed behind my back and I walked towards him.
I pulled one monster and followed by five. The adventurers watching us become suspicious.
"Don't mind them," I said to Tweety.
"They should be in awe," Tweety replied calmly. "I hunted with restraint."
"Restraint!? You dropped a tusked bear from the sky!"
"A small one."
I didn't argue. I just wanted this meat processed before I passed out.
"Oh, that's a lot," the butcher said. "Follow me, young man."
The guild's butcher's hall smelled like iron, herbs, and mostly fresh blood. Behind the counter stood a burly man with a scar over one eye and arms the size of tree trunks. I just noticed, okay?
He looked up from his cutting board as I entered, pulled out some carcasses.
At first, he just frowned. Then his eyes widened like really widened.
"...By the gods," he muttered. "What in blazes…how many did you bring?"
I scratched the back of my head. "Uh, about twelve? Maybe fifteen? I stopped counting after the fourth boar."
The butcher blinked. "And you hunted these yourself?"
Before I could answer, Tweety fluttered onto the counter, glowing faintly.
"I hunted," Tweety said. "He cooks."
The butcher froze mid-motion. His gaze flicked from the divine bird to the pile of monsters, then back again.
"...Reminds me of a fella I met once," he said, scratching his chin. "Came through here with a Fenrir, a big silver one, and ate more meat than ten armies. He called himself Mukoda."
I nearly choked.
"Mukoda-san!?"
He nodded slowly.
"You know him?"
"I, uh…" I coughed awkwardly. "Let's just say I'm… familiar with his work."
"That man fed his beast like a king," the butcher said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Never thought I'd see the same madness twice. Owning a divine familiars probably requires a lot of food."
"You bet," I replied.
Tweety looked pleased.
"Ah, Fenrir. That glutton really still lives, then?"
The butcher blinked.
"You… know Fenrir?"
"Intimately," Tweety said with a smug flare of feathers.
I stepped in quickly.
"Anyway! Can you process all of this? Please?"
The butcher sighed, rubbing his forehead. "It'll take a full day, maybe more. But yeah, I can handle it. You'll need to come back tomorrow for the finished cuts."
"Perfect," I said in relief. "Uh, also… Do you buy beast parts? Like hides, tusks, organs and stuff I'll never use?"
He grinned.
"We sure do. The guild buys almost everything. And with this haul, you'll walk out a rich man, lad."
My eyes sparkled.
"Rich man? I like the sound of that."
While the butcher's apprentices started unloading the pile of beasts (with visible fear in their eyes), the man slid a form across the counter.
"Sign here, and we'll handle the sales. You'll get your total payout in coin tomorrow."
"Got it." I scribbled my name, trying not to look too desperate for money.
"And the pig," Tweety said firmly. "The two-headed one."
The butcher paused.
"You want me to process that one separately?"
"Completely," Tweety said, voice smooth and commanding. "It is mine."
I nodded quickly.
"He means that literally. Don't even glance at the leftovers unless you want trouble."
The butcher laughed, shaking his head.
"Aye, fine. The Phoenix gets his pig."
"Wise choice," Tweety said with a small nod.