Chapter 8: Simp in Another World

It’s the last day of my trip and time to head back home, the only thing left to do is some deer hunting. I feel pretty comfortable flying now so the trip back is a leisurely time in the sky. I wasn’t lying when I told my father that deer make their home further in the forest towards the first range of mountains. But I don’t sense anything.

I increase my magic output and rapidly gain an understanding of the wider area. There’s a family of boar ahead of me, the east is mostly empty, but to my northwest there’s a herd of deer. They’re almost directly west from my family’s estate and about one kilometer from town.

I can’t be too loud or flashy so close to people, so I sneak up ahead of them and lie in wait.

It takes around half an hour for the herd to pass in front of me. With my magic hardened knife in hand, I create a magic layer between my feet and the ground then lunge at a large doe at the edge of the pack. I sink the blade between her eyes and into her brain, instant death. The herd scatters and leaves me with my spoils for processing.

I use water magic to make myself a drink and prepare my bags for processing the animal. I make the first cut into the skin of its belly-

“Hi there” a voice calls from behind me.

“OH shi- uh hi” I turn and reply.

It’s a girl, maybe 15 years old, and her little sister? Who’s likely my age. The elder girl has a wooden bow and the little sister has a water sack. Maybe they’re in the middle of a hunting lesson?

“Did you see where the rest of the deer went? My sister and I have been trying to get ahead of that herd for a few days, but we’re always a step behind..” the elder girl says. She’s pretty with red hair just past her shoulders and long slender legs.

“Sorry, but they scattered when I harvested this doe. Do you hunt these woods often?” I ask of the interesting duo.

“No not really, but our father is recovering from a fever so we were hoping to get enough meat for him to rest easy. Though we’re not very experienced hunters..” the older sister admits shyly.

Argh, a sob story? Do I care? Not really, but the older sister is cute and she doesn’t terrify me the way Sophie did..

“How about a trade? Help me with the cleaning and processing and you can keep half the meat. It’d be a pain to preserve and dry a deer this size by myself” I offer, simping in my second life.

Pathetic. But the elder girl perks up.

“Really? That’s so generous, we’ll lend a hand however we can!” she responds enthusiastically.

“That’s fine, you’ll just need to hold the legs in different positions while I make cuts. What are your names?” I ask.

“I’m Emilia and my little sister here is Claire” she says and motions to her similarly red haired sister.

“um hi mister I’m Claire” the girl squeaks.

“Emilia, Claire it’s nice to meet you. I’m umm.. Sio” I say unnaturally.

All black hunting clothes and long hair in a ponytail, I do not look like Alfred today.

“Nice to meet you, please put us to work” Emilia says with a determined expression.

“Right, Emilia can you hold its back leg in the air so I can get at the stomach easier. And Claire can you lay the cloth bags behind me out in front of the animal?” I start directing.

I’m technically coming up on 40 so it does feel a bit wrong to gawk at a 15-year-old. Puberty is going to be a weird time.

Having help is nice, it reminds me of hunting with my grandfather back in my last world. It makes me a little sad, better not think too much about it. I’ll explain the process of what I’m doing to the sisters.

“First I open the stomach of the animal with a very shallow cut. I don’t want to puncture the stomach or I’ll have to clean the meat carefully. Once the cavity is open, I reach behind the organs and slice through any tissue that connects them to the carcass" I explain while elbow deep in doe, "now I’m able to pull them out without causing too much of a mess. Do you want the heart and liver? They’re very nutritious, though the taste can be rougher..” I ask.

I’ve been privileged with food in both my lives, so organ meat doesn’t do it for me.

“We’ll take them! Father could use all the nutrition he can get” Emilia says happily and I nod.

“Right, they’re all yours, Claire you can put these in your bag to start” I say and hand the organ meet to the younger sister, “Emilia let’s pull the animal to the side, I’m going to use water magic and clean the inside of the animal before we continue”

Emilia helps me maneuver the doe away from our work area before I make a small water jet with my right hand and blow away any remaining unsavory bits from the inside. We roll the cleaned animal onto its stomach to drain for a minute. As we look up from the animal a large man walks into the clearing we’re using. He looks gruff with a scar down the center of his chin and long black hair with silver streaks in it.

“You there, did you kill that deer?” the man asks with a scowl.

“Uh- yes sir we did, we’re all out on a hunting trip and were tracking a herd of these animals” I respond politely.

“That’s a big animal for three little kids, how about we share?” he says with a shitty grin.

He does look like a bandit. I promised father I would run if I was in trouble, and it’d be easy enough to get another deer, but the girls would stay and fight. Can’t be helped.

“Emilia, Claire can you two close your eyes for a few seconds?” I ask without pulling my gaze from the man.

“What!? Why? He’s going to attack you and we won’t be able to help” Emilia says while trembling slightly and holding an arm out in front of her little sister.

“I’d rather you not see this.. like I said I’m an experienced hunter despite my age. An old man with testicle burns on his chin won’t be an issue” I reply, goading the man into a fight.

Emilia looks down to comfort her sister and asks her to comply.

“If you’re that confident, Claire sweetie close your eyes..” she commands before closing her own.

My insult seems to have hit home as Mr. Bandit kicks off the ground to close the distance between us. I put a wall of magic in front of the girls and kick off of it to meet him half way. I aim to land a kick at the man’s chest and knock him backward.

The impact feels soft, like I’m kicking a bouncy ball. My foot caves the man’s chest in and crushes his heart before sending him flying backwards into the thickets.

“HAURK..thunk”

Shit shit shit, I meant to kick him hard, but he’s made of fucking Jell-O.

I jump into the thickets after him and use earth magic to open the ground beneath him. I create a two-meter-deep grave and fill it in instantly.

“YEA AND YOU KEEP RUNNING!” I yell and return to the clearing with Emilia and Claire. They open their eyes and find only me before them.

“You really made him run away? What’d you do? And why did we have to close our eyes?” Emilia asks bewildered.

“My father taught me never to expose ladies to violence” I respond in a polite tone before sighing, ”but if you must know, men are rather sensitive between the legs. A powerful kick can send the scariest bandit running..”

“Oh wow, that’s, kinda harsh..” she says.

“It is, but now we don’t have to split the meat into thirds” I reply with a smile.

It’s better this way, I don’t think people die violently in this country too often so that could’ve traumatized them. I always thought if I ever killed someone it would’ve been a home intruder tasting shotgun, kicking a guy to death wasn’t on my bingo card.

I turn to the girls and try clearing the odd mood in the air-

“Let’s finish processing, the water should’ve drained by now” I say.

I skin and part up the doe, asking Emilia and Claire to lend a hand on occasion. They seem impressed with my skill, but are more impressed with the magic infused knife. With a single stroke of the knife, I slice through the animal’s ribs and leave the girls’ jaws on the floor. The same happens when I remove the neck to use as a roast. In exchange for keeping the neck for a stew I give the girls the animal’s hide and tongue.

“Thank you very much for sharing with us Mister Sio, Claire, give your thanks as well” Emilia says after our respective bags are packed with meat.

“Yes sister, thanks Mister Sio!” Claire says with energy, “for the meat and for chasing away the scary guy..”

“I’m happy I could help, make something delicious for your father" I say, "oh, I keep travel spices with me, but I’ll be going to where they’re cheap soon so please take these” I add, simp energy flowing out of me in a greater quantity than my magic.

I pass a small slotted wooden container that’s lined with cloth. Inside is enough salt and pepper to rub every bit of meat they’ll be going home with. Along with some of the chopped leaves that smell like thyme and the outer casing of garlic crushed into a powder.

“Oh um if you’re sure? You could sell these around this area, aside from salt everything else is expensive unless you’re further north” Emilia says.

“That’s exactly where I’ll be going, so don’t worry about it” I answer with a smile.

A sucker for cute girls, just giving his things away. I don’t even wake up with boners yet.. I’m going to be hopeless in a few years. I wonder if there are brothels in this world? There’s also Sophie, but I think my dick would be afraid of her and retreat inside of my body.

I take my leave from the unexpected forest friends and make a small pool of water to use as a mirror. I cut my hair back to its regular length as best I can then return to the estate with my half of the doe.

***

I enter the estate and head for the kitchen area, but I run into my father and Shayna on the way-

“Son you’re back!" he shouts and turns to Shayna, "Shayna please inform my wife that Alfred is back” father adds, mother must’ve been driving him crazy.

“Yes, Count Pruss, right away” Shayna answers before scurrying away to find mother.

“Alfred, tell me all about it, how was the hunt? I see you have a full pack so I take it you were successful?” he asks.

“Yes father, I was able explore the area to my heart’s content. It took a few days, but I found a herd of deer and managed to harvest one” I answer calmly.

“That’s wonderful, was it a smaller animal? I suppose I’m comparing it to the monster of a boar you brought back before which may be unfair..” father says and places a hand to his chin.

“Oh no, it was a large doe, but I ran into some hunters further west and gave them a portion of the meat” I reply.

“That’s generous Alfred.. they didn’t threaten you, did they?” father shoots me a concerned look.

“Nothing like that father, they were sisters hunting on their own. The elder sister was rather beautiful, I was generous before I had time to process what was happening..” I answer in a rare moment of bare-hearted honestly between father and son.

Father leans down and slaps my back before belly laughing deeply.

“BAHAHAHA my boy you’re turning into a man. It reminds me of meeting your mother, it was an arranged interview put together by our parents, but I fell head over heels at the sight of her” father recounts blissfully.

Ugh, class society, they’ll find me a wife and sit me in my father’s office to rot for the next 50 years. I’ve made a lot of progress in my training, I need to shift my focus to escaping the hell of inheritance.