"Has he always been this… this confident?"
Rindo Kobayashi glanced at Yuki Yoshino and Alice Nakiri when she said it. She originally wanted to say arrogant, but that felt a little too rude, so she swapped it for confident.
"You get used to it. We were exactly like you at first. Honestly, even my grandpa is used to him now." Alice waved her hand.
She wasn't exaggerating—Senzaemon Nakiri had gotten strangely comfortable with Kael. Ever since his first visit to the Polar Star Dormitory, the old man dropped by from time to time.
And he always had a reason: checking on his granddaughter, of course. Since Alice lived at the dorm, a grandfather visiting wasn't strange at all.
You could even say Senzaemon had completely lowered himself just to get along better with Kael. Coming from someone like him, it was understandable—he always put his daughter and granddaughter first.
Over time, everyone got used to it. Senzaemon also accepted Kael's Poison Cuisine without complaint because it worked better than any Medicinal Cuisine.
He was still healthy, but age was age—his body wasn't what it used to be. Kael's dishes benefited him tremendously.
Just look at Fumio Daimido. She looked several years younger now compared to last year.
"You can even get used to something like that?" Rindo muttered her complaint under her breath and didn't continue.
"Hold on—something big is coming our way. Really big, and it's moving fast."
After trekking deep into the mountains for over an hour, Kael suddenly reacted. Whatever it was, it was far away, but its size and speed made it clear—it was headed straight for them.
"Everyone, ready your weapons. Kael, give us the direction."
Yuki Yoshino's father immediately told everyone to prepare.
"Eleven o'clock. I'll go check it out. Judging from the weight and sound, I'm guessing a brown bear. We can't let it get close."
As soon as he said it, Kael shot forward.
He absolutely couldn't let a bear reach the group. Even with guns, a brown bear's size and toughness meant that unless you hit a vital point, you'd only enrage it.
Kael, on the other hand, was safer fighting it alone. Even if one arrow couldn't kill it, he could kite it—no way a brown bear could catch up to him.
"Wait!"
Everyone reached out to stop him, but he had already vanished. None of them dared chase—no one had Kael's speed or reflexes.
And Yoshino's father understood Kael's intention. Even with guns, none of them would say they could reliably beat a huge predator like that.
Kael sprinted at full speed. He had already memorized the terrain, so he didn't worry about stepping into cracks or pits.
In no time, the approaching brown bear appeared before him.
"Wow. Seeing it up close really hits different."
A massive brown bear thundered toward him. Kael drew his heavy bow, aiming straight for its eye.
This bear was huge—2.3 meters long, weighing 563 kilos. An abnormally large specimen.
Most people would panic seeing something this big charging right at them. Kael didn't even flinch. Pure strength-wise, he wasn't stronger than the bear, but speed-wise, the bear had zero chance. And he had a weapon.
The arrow flew and struck the bear's right eye dead-on.
"It didn't pierce through? Fine—ten more."
The bear roared and charged again, even faster than before. Kael immediately knew the shot had hit a vital point but wasn't lethal.
He shot again, hitting the bear's remaining eye. The beast, now fully blind, let out a furious roar.
But it still charged at Kael. He knew why—brown bears had a sense of smell seven times stronger than dogs.
It was tracking him by scent.
Kael's arrows fired one after another, like a rapid-fire cannon. Since he couldn't kill it in one shot, he kept targeting its weak spots. When it roared, an arrow slipped straight down its throat.
As soon as the bear got close, Kael would step back, keeping just enough distance to continue kiting it.
He could've used the Seven-Star Knives—one slash with those, plus his speed and strength, and the bear wouldn't stand a chance.
But he didn't want to ruin the bear pelt, so arrows it was.
Each shot wasn't instantly fatal, but they were deadly enough. The bear was simply too tough.
After a few minutes, it finally collapsed from blood loss.
And it wasn't pretending. With Divine Senses, Kael immediately confirmed—it was dying for real.
A minute later, it finally stopped breathing. Kael retrieved his arrows and dragged the gigantic bear back toward the group.
"Man, this thing weighs more than all the boars combined."
Kael hauled the enormous carcass into view.
"Holy—no wonder it made so much noise."
Everyone exhaled in relief when they saw Kael return, but they were stunned when they saw the size of the bear. Brown bears could reach 2.8 meters and over 800 kilos, but that was extremely rare.
Most bears they encountered were around two meters and a little over 300 kilos.
This one was far beyond that.
"Uncle Yoshino, can we take this back?"
Kael asked. He wasn't sure if bear hunting was allowed.
"Of course. Sometimes brown bears injure people around here, so they're allowed to be hunted. Don't worry."
Yoshino's father naturally understood what Kael was worried about.
"Wait—the gallbladder! We need to take it out quickly!"
Someone reminded them, and they immediately acted. Since the bear had just died, the gall had to be removed right away.
With everyone helping, the bear gall was extracted soon after.
"This one looks excellent. Keep it safe. Looks like today's hunt ends early."
With such a massive bear, they obviously couldn't continue hunting.
"The bear paws, the hide, and the gall go to me. Just save me about thirty kilos of meat and split the rest among everyone."
Kael didn't want to drag the entire bear home—it would be too much trouble. So he let everyone else divide the meat. He only needed a small share for the Polar Star Dormitory.
He planned to make a fur coat from the hide. As for the bear gall—he would use it in medicines.
Kaiyu's inheritance included many formulas for enhancing the Divine Senses, but most ingredients were extremely rare—like a fresh bear gall to boost eyesight. It wouldn't grant Divine Sight, but it could sharpen someone's vision to a level comparable to Rindo Kobayashi's ability to analyze ingredients at a glance—far beyond normal chefs.
Super Senses were nearly impossible to train after birth. Even Kaiyu couldn't guarantee giving someone all five Divine Senses.
The bear paws were a culinary treasure. Kael had never tasted them before he crossed worlds, but with Kaiyu's knowledge, he had many ways to cook them.
Everyone perked up at his words. Bear meat was valuable, and Kael had done most of the dangerous work anyway. They were more than happy to help process the animal.
And with Kael acting like a human radar that detected every danger ahead of time, today's hunt was far easier than usual.
On the way back, they fashioned a makeshift wooden sled to drag the bear. Even so, the rough mountain paths meant Kael had to help frequently.
It took more than twice as long as the trip in, but they eventually returned to camp.
Since it was still early, everyone spread out again to hunt. Sure enough, another group spotted a pack of wild boars and took them down together.
Rindo and the others watched the group hunting and were even more impressed by Kael. So many people working together still struggled and nearly got hurt—but Kael had taken down ten boars in seconds with just a bow.
The comparison was brutal.
After another day, they left the forest. The hunt wasn't long, but the results were better than any previous outing.
Kael didn't take all the boar meat home either—he prepared portions for friends and let everyone else split the rest.
"…Alice, when we get back, help me prepare these herbs." Kael said.
"Herbs? Didn't you just buy a batch recently? You used them already?"
Alice knew Kael bought medicinal ingredients often—he used the Nakiri family connections to acquire them, and the Nakiris were more than happy to help.
"This batch is for you." Kael replied.
"For me? What do you mean?" Alice blinked.
"The gall we got is excellent. With certain herbs, I can make a medicine that enhances eyesight."
"You've always been jealous of Erina Nakiri's God's Tongue, right? I can't boost your senses to that level, but I can make your vision much sharper than normal."
Alice and Yuki's eyes widened.
"Enhance vision? You can really do that?" Yuki asked, stunned.
"Others can't. I can. The problem is—we only have one bear gall, so only Alice can use it." Kael said.
He was choosing Alice partly out of gratitude—she had helped him with many things.
"You can actually make something like that? Send me the list. I'll have it prepared immediately." Alice said eagerly.
A medicine that enhanced senses—any chef would be excited.
Especially Alice, who grew up beside someone with the God's Tongue. No one understood more clearly how priceless enhanced senses were.
Kael sent her the list. He fully understood her excitement.
After resting at Yoshino's home for a day, they boarded the private car Alice arranged and headed back to Totsuki.
Traveling with the Nakiri heiress definitely had its perks—no tickets, no transfers, just a direct ride.
When they returned to the Polar Star Dormitory, Shun Ibusaki and the others still hadn't come back. Those guys would probably appear right before finals and then vanish again to focus on their curry dishes.