The Exiled First-born of the Noble house. Rising to the top with the Worthless Skill [Null Poison]

Chapter 38

Stray Cowbird hunt

The next day.

The first thing I did after waking up was confirm the condition of my side injury, and after making sure that it was fine, I left for the guild to accept a quest.

Stray Cowbirds must be in great demand, as the request board was filled with them today as well.

After getting the paperwork done at the reception, and buying another cheap old sword from the weapons shop, I left Realzard and headed out to look for the stray cowbird.

According to Esta’s info, stray cowbird are most commonly sighted in the wide open plains to the east.

This was called as the prime hunting spot but as per Esta, that’s not because you can find them in great numbers but more because the visibility around the area is nicer making the hunts easier.

And there’ll be many other ‘rivals’ also trying to hunt Stray cowbirds as well, so instead, I headed NOT to said eastern plains but to a different location that was suggested to me.

And that was…….a rocky area in the mountainous region all the way past the area I went goblin hunting in the northwest.

Very few people tend to come this way, thus there wasn’t a lot of detailed info in regards to sightings and subjugations but Esta had apparently found out that some only go to this place for their hunts instead.

While hunting the random goblins I ran into on my way, I finally reached the aforementioned rocky area that was at the end of the abandoned road.

From what I can tell there’s not a lot of monster presence in the area but, let’s just try and find some before I make any assumptions shall we?

While crossing across the pathless, poor footing rocky area, I searched around to see if I can sense any kind of monster here.

Only normal birds freely flying around could be seen, but after a while of searching………diagonally ahead of me, I saw a cow-like monster eating a little patch of grass that grown between the rocks.

Is that perhaps, the Stray Cowbird I have been looking for?

It’s too far away for me to ascertain but its appearance was very close to the features that were described to me.

Apparently they are very alert of their surroundings or so I’ve heard, so I slowly made my way towards it while hiding behind the rocks.

——No doubt, that’s a stray cowbird alright.

A cross between a cow and a bird, and though I haven’t tried it, it’s a commonly enjoyed delicacy among the people.

Though it has wings, it cannot fly albeit has the ability to make some big leaps.

But, if you underestimate it, it’ll crush you with its large body press attack and if you keep too much distance to avoid that, it’ll rush at you with the sharp horns on its head.

To defeat it, you either have to attack it from such a long range that it can’t get you even with its charge rush attack, or the more commonly used close combat approach while being wary of its body press.

While going through Esta’s info inside my head, I was able to position myself right behind where the stray cowbird was nonchalantly eating the grass.

It still hadn’t noticed me, and was completely defenceless.

I drew my sword, and gave a signal to myself internally and attacked.

My aim was——its legs.

To completely seal its movements, I targeted its hind legs and brought down my sword on it.

It ended up noticing me as I began my attack, but by that time it was already too late.

Blood sprayed in the air as my blade cut through its left hind leg.

I quickly sheathed my sword and switched to a stone hammer I had bought just to use against this cowbird.

And while I called it hammer, it wasn’t some giant weapon but a smaller sleeker weapon, closer to a Mace to be honest.

Slashing it about and killing it in a blood manner like that decreases the reward so it’s much more efficient to knock it unconscious with a strong blunt attack to its head, and then deal a killing blow cleanly afterwards.

Even with its leg slashed open and movement dulled, the cowbird, while staggering, still tried to prepare to attack me.

For a second, I considering just taking the hit to see how much effect the Reizen grass and genpei mushrooms have had on my body but, the pain I endured from the bear-like monster was still fresh in my head, and I quickly changed my mind and instead went straight for the kill.

Aiming for the moment it started to rush straight at me with its horns, I targeted its forehead and swiftly brought my hammer down.

A sound similar to metal stroking metal resounded in the area and the cowbird’s body convulsed and twitched as it crumbled to the ground.

Taking no breathers, I quickly picked up the cowbird on my shoulders and brought it close to a tree.

With the tools I brought, I hung its body upside-down  and pierced its chest with my sword cleanly to make it release all the blood.

While the blood poured out, I thought of how to handle the body.

The request was for, the fillet, tongue and the belly meat, portions only.

If I were to cut it down right now, it’ll make transporting the pieces back much more easier and luggage small but the reward will also be smaller.

On the other hand, if I carry the entire body, the reward should almost double the normal.

Having already carried a short distance to its tree, I know that its not heavy enough to give me much problem but…….considering I’ll probably get attacked by monsters on the way as well, it might be a bit troublesome.

While thinking of my way back, I regretted not asking Ralf and Esta to be my escorts a bit, and at the end came to the conclusion that since making money was the priority it was better to take the whole thing back.

With its blood drained, I cut open its belly and removed its innards to make sure it doesn’t spoil the meat.

It was a bit of a waste to just throw it all away so I kept the raw liver, and buried the rest in a hole in the ground.

And with that, basic processing was complete.

Taking a deep breath, I put the now cleaned body of the cowbird on my shoulders, and made my way back to Realzard.