The Butcher Shop in the Demon Realm - Chapter 2

It is said that this area lies at the very center of Ebildam, the capital of the Demon Realm, which occupies about one-third of the world.

My shop is located in the central district of the noble area, protected by a large wall, where the influential demons and their families live.

This is proof of the immense trust, credit, and achievements my master has built over time, and it is because of these important foundations that I have been entrusted with this second shop.

This shop has the belief that “only the person who will cook, serve, or consume the ingredients should come to buy them directly.”

This is the country of demons, home to a variety of different races.

The tastes of demons vary greatly, from those who like animal bones to those who crave human bl00d, and even those who enjoy the souls of living creatures, their tastes are far beyond anything imagined in human lands.

Because of this, there were no stores that provided ingredients tailored to the preferences of each species.

For example, not too long ago, when people thought of “meat dishes,” the only methods available were boiling or grilling.

Displeased with such a food culture, my master began researching methods like careful bl00d draining and nerve severing and started offering ingredients separated into parts according to the dish.

Of course, at first people didn’t accept it, thinking “There’s no need to do such a troublesome thing,” but as soon as we held a tasting event in front of the shop, the number of customers surged.

The concept of “properly draining the bl00d and using different cuts of meat for different dishes” slowly gained acceptance among demons, and they began to see it as making the meat even more delicious.

◆◆◆◆◆

Five years ago, before I came to this world, my name was Kande Sosuke, but now I go by Sosuke or Metzger. (TL Note: Metzger seems to be germen for the butcher.)

Just to clarify, I’m still a genuine human…

I could very well be the only human living in this country…

I still often think back to the day I ended up in this world.

On my way back from cram school, I was riding my bike on the bright city streets with the lights of the buildings shining, but suddenly, I found myself on a rough, unpaved road with no streetlights, surrounded by a deep forest.

I wandered through the forest for three days and nights.

Shivering with fear from the terrifying howls that echoed from afar, I eventually reached a small stream with muddy water flowing through it—and lost consciousness there.

I woke up five days later.

The one who saved me was an orc who had ventured into the mountains alone for hunting.

They were the first bipedal creature I had ever seen that wasn’t human.

A grotesque creature with the appearance of a crushed pig’s head, with tusks growing from it.

It was then that I realized for the first time that this wasn’t Japan… or even Earth.

However, that orc neither ate me nor killed me, and for some reason, took the time to teach me how to live in this world.

I called him my master, and I ended up learning from him how to live in this world.

–

“Has it already been five years since then…?”

I grabbed the head of the material stuffed in the burlap sack and forcefully dragged it out.

“Mmm—!!”

While the adventurer, a man with large eyes, was shaking his head furiously, tears streaming down his face, I searched for a way to remove the equipment he was wearing.

“Ugh, this is such a pain… Anyway, it looks like cheap junk, so I guess I’ll just cut it.”

I dragged the struggling prey to the bloodletting area, hooked its ankle with a rope, passed it through the ceiling pulley, suspending it upside down.

Since they sometimes suddenly lunge at me, I hook the rope tied around their wrists to a cord and fix it to the floor, then remove the gag from its mouth.

“Ugh! Phew, you! What are you doing? Help me! You’re human too, right!? Please, help me!”

Once its mouth was free, it began to squeal noisily. This was the same reaction from all the boars, pigs, mermaids, and humans I had butchered so far.

“First, I’ll strip it of its clothes… If it continues to feel scared, its meat will stiffen, and since it’s noisy, I’ll crush its brain.”

“Wait, what’s that… W-wait, please wait!!”

I ignored the prey’s words, grabbed two metal rods about 30 centimeters in length and as thick as my pinky, and quickly shoved them into the prey’s nose, twisting them to crush the brain.

“—Agh!! …G-gah… gah…”

I watched as the prey’s body trembled and its strength drained away, then began cutting off the equipment with my trusty knife.

Leather armor, jacket, pants, boots, socks, underwear.

I tossed everything into the trash, except for the expensive-looking necklace hanging from its neck, which I threw into a wooden box in the corner of the room.

And then, I began the dissection of the prey.

Chapter length 1932 characters.