Success

Sosora, Kai, Lora, and Kavam returned not long after Nick was done with the dishes. The Ursa family brought another dead boar. It was a little smaller this time, but it would still be enough to feed them all. As promised, Sosora brought a pouch of sand and some tools for scraping and rubbing.

The main process was the same as yesterday. They strung up the boar and drained it of as much blood as possible before skinning it and cutting it up in a bunch of pieces, which were then minced.

It went a little smoother than yesterday.

Then came the intestinal cleaning section.

Sosora was amazed by Nick's water hose and could barely stop playing with it. Since that was the case, she got put in charge of cleaning the intestines. She dumped the sand into the intestines and blew it through them with the highest pressure on the hose several times before then rinsing several times.

After that, she rubbed and massaged the intestines' outsides with the sand and the tools she brought, removing any waste, blood, and whatever else they did not want to be part of the sausage.

However, her experience when making bows was a drawback. The innards weren't as sturdy and durable as what she was used to, so they ripped in several places. But a lot of it was still useful and seemed cleaner than yesterday, so no one blamed her.

She did a better job than any of them would have done, but she still felt apologetic about it.

After that little mishap, they continued as they had done yesterday. They mixed the minced meat with Nick's spices before gently stuffing it into the innards. Since Sosora had deft fingers, she got to tie up the ends.

Even before they started cooking the sausages, they were already looking a lot better than they did yesterday. Everyone was excited about it and could hardly wait for the first round.

For some reason, cooking the sausages seemed to take even longer than it did yesterday.

But the sausages weren't invincible, and they soon succumbed to the heat of the boiling water and frying pan.

Nick handed out the sausages to the others. They didn't even bother trying to use a fork and knife. They dug straight in and munched on the compact sausages.

They were far from perfect, and the taste was still a little behind store-bought ones. But they were much better than the first batch.

As soon as they were done with their first sausages, they all bowed their heads toward Sosora in gratitude.

It was thanks to her contribution that they managed to clean the intestines and improve the smell and taste. Naturally, Sosora brought some back with her when it was time for her to leave.

Based on the smile she had, Nick had a feeling that she was going to share them with Malak.

The Ursa family also left a pile behind for Nick to cherish when they left.

They had been more efficient than yesterday, but they had also ended up sitting down and talking and enjoying the sausages when they were done. Sunset wasn't far away again.

"Ah, damn. I forgot to ask them about both the kid and the scavenger," Nick facepalmed. He had wanted to ask the others, mainly Sosora, about the kid who had tried to kill him. Clearly, he wasn't doing very well in life and might need help. And the Ursa family seemed well acquainted with the local wildlife, so they might know something about a decent-sized animal coming around to pick up the scraps they left behind.

Nick sighed and looked around, only now realizing that there weren't any prints left behind by the scavenger. Sure, he and the others had walked all over the clearing since morning, but even before that, when he investigated the chaos, he hadn't seen anything.

'No way it's a ghost.' Nick shuddered and hurried inside, leaving a couple of sausages on a plate outside.

Feeding the local wildlife probably wasn't a good idea, but he was curious. It was his first time in the wild. Being so close to a wild animal was an alluring thought. He was happy that he wasn't as tired as yesterday. That meant he could stay up late and try to see the animal if it returned.

He had made sure to put out and cover the fire pit so that the animal wouldn't be tempted to walk over it again. He also put the pan and pot, both with residue from the cooking, next to the plate of sausages. He also made sure to remove any knives or other sharp or dangerous objects.

When he was done, darkness had already started creeping in on the clearing, so Nick headed inside, grabbed a chair, turned off the lights, and sat down by the window, peering out between the drawn curtains. The tentacle joined him after eating its dinner.

It had felt a little lonely during the day when it saw Nick interact and laugh with others while it stayed inside. But it knew he wasn't doing it because he didn't like spending time with it. He was just worried about what life would be like in the forest if his neighbors were too scared to get close to his house, and he was too scared to leave it.

Besides, at the end of the day, they would spend time together without anyone else.

It didn't take long for Nick to grow bored, though. Nothing at all was happening outside, and even if it was, he could barely see in the dark.

However, if he talked, the wild animal might hear and not come. It might also have moved on and wouldn't come anyway.

Nick was pretty sure that he had heard somewhere that some wild animals moved several miles every day and night when looking for food. The one who visited him last night might already be on the other side of the forest.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, but the moon and stars hung high in the sky, and he had already yawned more times than he could count. The tentacle softly kneading his shoulders didn't help.

He considered calling it a night. But just when he turned around, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.