Stranded on a Deserted Island with the School’s Number One Beauty, So I’ll Give It My Best Shot.

The wolf was sitting outside the fence. It seemed to have come alone, and there was no sign of its cub.
“Is it planning to attack us again!?” Iori’s face turned pale, but I shook my head, “No.”

“If that were it’s intention, it would have jumped over the fence to get to us.”

The wolf’s visit was for a different reason. We didn’t know what exactly, but it was certain that there was no hostility.

With a nervous heart, I approached the wolf.

“Hmm?”

As I got closer to the fence, I realized. There was an animal lying in front of the wolf.

“What could it be? That animal?”

Iori approached too.

“Is it a wild boar cub? … No, it’s different. It’s a badger.”

“It’s not moving.”

“It looks like it’s dead.”

At a glance, there were no visible wounds. Could it have been suffocated to death by the wolf’s bite?

“Woof.”

The wolf emitted a dog-like sound. There was no sense of intimidation, just a gentle and calm voice that even carried kindness.

And then, the wolf left the dead badger there and departed.

“Did it come to give us the badger as a present?”

“It seems like it.”

“Why would it do something like that…”

“Maybe it’s its way of apologizing for what happened at the river, in its own way.”

I couldn’t think of any other plausible explanation.

“So… what do we do? With this ‘gift’ we received?”

Iori spoke while looking at the badger.

“Since we received it, let’s treat it with respect and eat it.”

“Can badgers even be eaten?”

“I’m not sure…”

For now, I stepped out of the fence and collected the badger. I brought it back near the house.

“Still, I don’t see any obvious external injuries.”

I was impressed by the wolf’s hunting skills.

After thoroughly checking the body, it was time to start cooking.

“Let’s start by getting rid of the ticks.”

“Ticks?”

“It’s the fate of wild animals. We can’t say for sure on this island since there are no insects at all, but usually, wild animals are covered in ticks. You have to get rid of them.”

“I might not know the intricacies of butchering, but this should be correct.”

“I see! But how do we get rid of the ticks?”

“I know that one.”

I filled a pottery container with well water and placed it over the campfire.

“Boiling water!”

Although ticks are known for their resilience, there must be a limit to it. If we dunked them in boiling water, they should die.

“Here we go!”

Once the water in the pottery was boiling, I put the badger in it. It was already hot enough, and the steam and heat from the flames made it even more unbearable. We had to keep hydrated even during this task.

“That should do it.”

I boiled it for about 2 minutes. The next step was to take the badger out of the boiling water, but…

“It’s hot! Too hot! Can’t do it!”

Trying to grab it with my bare hands failed. I used a crowbar and a hammer from the toolbox to lift it out.

“Go for it, Masato-kun!”

Iori encouraged me, as she was in charge of clean up and cheering.

“With the ticks cleared now, let’s move on to skinning it.”

Easier said than done. I had no idea how to go about it.

“Sometimes you just have to try.”

I tried peeling it with my hands. Surprisingly, it came off quite easily.

“It seems like you can just use your hands for this.”

I peeled off the scalding skin with a gentle pulling motion.

“Masato-kun, you’re so skilled at this! You look like you’ve done this before!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

Whether due to the boiling water or some other reason, the skin peeled off amusingly easily. As a result, we managed to make the badger’s skin smooth and silky.

“It looks like a dog without its fur.”

Iori observed from the side.

“It does feel a bit strange.”

The badger is fine, but a dog is off-limits. Humans are a bundle of contradictions. While contemplating such thoughts, we moved on to the next step.

Now, it was time for the dissection. We flipped the badger over, used a cleaver to make a vertical incision, and cut from the chest area all the way to the anus. We made shallow cuts multiple times to avoid damaging the organs. The skin was thick and bouncy.

“It’s coming out!”

Finally, the organs were exposed. They were covered in squishy white goo. Perhaps it was a part similar to what you’d find in a butcher’s shop, sold as offal. I really had no idea.

“The inside is as white as the outside.”

“Could it be because of the subcutaneous fat?”

While talking, I tried to stick my hand into the badger’s body. However, I stopped just before doing so.

“What’s wrong? Masato-kun.”

“It’s a bit scary to stick my hand into its body with just bare hands.”

If I accidentally scratched myself on a bone, it could lead to complications. Blood might get inside from there.

“Did we have gloves or vinyl gloves?”

Iori rummaged through the toolbox and shook her head.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Should we rely on tools?”

Once again, I decided to use the crowbar. I made an incision near the breastbone and carefully removed the internal organs. Blood had pooled under various organs, so I let it flow into a disposal hole.

“Iori, can you tell which one is the liver?”

“I have no idea!”

“I don’t either.”

With that said, we decided to dispose of all the internal organs. We couldn’t distinguish between edible and inedible parts, so it was unavoidable.

“Since we’re unsure, let’s avoid eating the meat near the anus.”

The remaining parts were the meat around the back and chest area.

“This meat around here seems edible.”

I used the cleaver to carefully extract the meat that seemed edible. I used suitable tools like a monkey wrench or nipper for different parts.

“Done!”

We completed the dissection much more neatly than expected.

“Amazing, Masato-kun! It looks really good, doesn’t it?”

“Could it be that I have a talent for dissection!?”

Both Iori and I were elated.

“Leave the rest to me. You can take a break, Masato-kun!”

“Okay.”

Iori used the freshly made pottery to boil water. She submerged the tools we used for dissection in it and began cooking the meat.

While sterilizing the cleaver with boiling water, she cut the meat into small pieces, skewered them, and started grilling them over the campfire.

“Remarkable skill you have there.”

“I might not have the creative ideas like Masato-kun, but if it’s a known task, I won’t lose!”

I looked at her with a smile, drinking water as if the well was about to run dry.

“It’s done, Masato-kun! Let’s eat!”

“Alright.”

The badger skewers were ready. It had been a few hours since we had the fish. We had about two hours until sunset. It was like an early dinner.

“Let’s dig in!”

Both of us took a bite of the meat.

The next moment…

“It’s deliciouuuuus!”

“Mm-hmmmm!”

We were blown away.

“What is this?! It’s so delicious! Seriously!?”

“It’s sweet and delicious! Badger meat is this good!?”

The badger meat was shockingly delicious. The secret was in the fat. Unlike beef and such, badger meat was full of fat.

This fat was what made it so good. It wasn’t heavy on the stomach, and just as Iori had said, it was sweet.

“Why isn’t badger cuisine popular?”

Saying that, Iori smiled broadly as she savored the meat.

“There might be other issues than just taste. Maybe it’s expensive to produce.”

“I see.”

“Or maybe the badgers here are exceptionally tasty?”

“Could that really be a thing?”

“It’s very possible.”

I confidently asserted and explained the reason.

“The taste of meat depends on what the individual ate. These badgers here are definitely feasting on fruits. On the other hand, they probably haven’t eaten any insects at all, given that there are none here.”

“So the flavor of the fruits is infused into the meat!”

I nodded.

“It’s like farming fish with citrus fruits mixed into their feed, like ‘Fruit Fish.’ The possibility is that these badgers became delicious thanks to the power of fruits.”

Iori looked impressed and then smiled at me.

“As expected, Masato-kun, you’re quite knowledgeable!”

“Well, my last name is written in katakana, you know? It’s not just for show!”

I chuckled.

And so, the enjoyable mealtime came to an end. After cleaning up and doing various tasks, the sun quickly set. By that time, the smiles we had during our meal were gone.

“Masato-kun…”

“Yeah, unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”

We stood side by side in front of the house, gazing at the sinking sun. In the end, the rescue team didn’t arrive that day either.

The deadline we had set for ourselves was cruelly approaching.