Chapter 16 Hunter Society
After feeding Eleonora...
I made my rounds through every single pigsty, ensuring the feed had been properly distributed to all the pigs. Deciding to take a short breather, I headed straight for Mufasa, the farm’s guard dog stationed right next to the pens.
[Wait, you actually keep a dog on the farm? Is it for that classic scenario? You know, where bandits with swords show up shouting, ’Heh-heh! Hand over your pigs right now or we’ll kill the women and ravish the men!’ or something like that...]
’’Where are you going to find bandits in the 21st century? Actually... wait. I don’t know about before, but these days, it might actually be possible.’’
[Hehe, the world has changed quite a bit since you first awakened this ability, Master Breeder!]
This was a quiet rural area, so both the locals and I tended to forget, but the world had become a ’Hunter Society’ where a small number of Awakeners hunted monsters pouring out of dungeons that had cropped up across the globe.
If you looked at the news, it was all about which Hunter saved the world, or who prevented the apocalypse at the hands of an evil god.
It was a society where people were essentially living out their own fantasy novels, but perhaps as a side effect of such rapid change, the crime rate had spiked compared to ten years ago.
After all, where there are heroes, there are bound to be villains.
[Then why keep a dog? If it’s not to catch thieves.]
’’To chase away wild boars.’’
[Wild boars? You mean like that sow inside, or the actual kind with tusks growing up to their foreheads...?]
I wondered if the ’wild boar’ she was picturing and the one I was thinking of were even the same species.
’’There are plenty of reasons. Occasionally, wild boars or water deer come sniffing around the farm. Sometimes it’s because food is scarce, or sometimes they’re attracted by the scent of a female in heat.’’
Just as a child can be born between different human races, pigs will produce offspring regardless of the breed you cross them with. To use my father’s words, it’s called ’hybrid vigor.’
For example, the pink pigs we’re familiar with—Yorkshires or Landraces—are great at raising piglets and grow to a large size, so they’re primarily used as sows. However, the semen used to impregnate them usually doesn’t come from the same breed. It comes from a Duroc, an entirely different breed from the two I just mentioned.
[Why? Is it because when it comes to cocks, dark-skinned ones are... hehehe.]
Durocs are chocolate-colored pigs. Their defining trait is that their meat quality is far superior to the other breeds, but the downside is that they’re terrible at raising offspring. Even if they do, the piglets often fail to grow properly.
’’So, by crossbreeding them, you get the pigs that end up on our dinner tables today.’’
[Ah... so the offspring naturally grow large like the mother and get that juicy texture from the father... wait? How is that hybrid vigor? That just sounds like making them perfect for being eaten, ah...]
This is a pig farm, you brat.
Anyway, when a wild boar mates with a domestic pig, they obviously produce offspring. The problem is that you end up with a terrifying hybrid that combines the strengths of both.
A monstrous creature that retains the savage wildness of a boar while growing at the rapid rate of a domestic pig—the kind of nightmare you never want to see.
[Still, it would be quite a sight! While the Master Breeder is distracted, a wild boar slips into the sow pen and starts slamming his thick cock into your female pigs! Plap-plap-plap! And you’re just standing there laughing with the barrows, totally clueless!]
’’That sounds messed up when you put it that way!’’
What, am I supposed to just watch my sows get bred by a wild boar and jerk off like a loser?
The system message displayed an SD character getting bonked on the head with a loud thump while grinning. I rounded the corner, expecting my faithful guard dog, Mufasa, to appear...
—Woof! Woof!
—Grrrrhhh!
—Pant! Pant!
’’No matter how many times I see it, I just can’t get used to it.’’
[Well, it is only the first day. You aren’t even used to your own changes yet, so how could you expect a beast to be any different?]
’’Is that so?’’ I tilted my head and poured equal amounts of feed into three separate bowls. As I pushed them forward, Mufasa buried his heads into the bowls and began vacuuming up the feed.
’’But still, it’s not like my head split into three. I just can’t get used to the look of it.’’
Mufasa was a typical village mutt, the kind you see everywhere in the countryside. But in the short time I’d been away, he had sprouted two extra heads.
’’My father really doted on Mufasa... I’ll have to make up some excuse later about him dying or running away.’’
[Wow! You unfilial son! You’re just like those grandfathers who secretly eat the family pet and then laugh while telling their grandkids ’it ran away’!]
How was I supposed to tell him that in just one day of me taking over, the farm’s guard dog had turned into a hound from hell?
Even his once-fluffy tail, which used to make everyone smile, was now a King Cobra. It flicked its tongue, snatching up and devouring any rats that dared to eye the farm’s feed.
’I’m sure even Heaven will agree that lying about a living dog being dead is a white lie in this case.’
[Is that so? Should I go ask...?]
While the message box muttered to itself, Mufasa finished cleaning his bowls and dunked each head into a large rubber basin, lapping up water.
’’Phew, now that the dog’s fed, I should go retrieve the bowl I gave to Eleonora...’’
[Hehe, but that sow is seriously stupid! It’s like her brain is made of muscle. She saw the bait dangled in front of her and just snapped it up!]
The message box giggled as it brought up the deal I’d made with Eleonora. Even I hadn’t expected it. I’d offered conditions that were suspiciously good, and yet she bit the hook without hesitation.
She must have looked down on me as some third-rate trainer—not that she’s entirely wrong—and let her guard down. She was so blinded by the sweetness of getting what she wanted that she didn’t doubt me for a second.
[But what would you have done if that sow refused to eat and chose to stay naked instead?]
’That would’ve been fine, too. My goal from the start is to train her by stripping away her human rights one by one. If she wants to be naked on her own, why would I complain?’
My ultimate goal was to turn that rigid Knight Commander into a sow that would spread her pussy for me anywhere, anytime, at my command. If she wanted to get used to being naked by herself, I wasn’t going to stop her.
Of course, she didn’t make that choice.
[Wow, you really are wicked. How did you hide such a nature all your life? Truly an insidious Breeder with a discarded cock!]
’Ahem! Shut up! You keep talking about my ’discarded cock,’ but I’m using it tomorrow, so stop making a fuss and be quiet. And don’t interfere with the training like you did earlier.’
The message box, which had been snickering, immediately displayed a character miming zipping its lips shut as I reached the pigsty where Eleonora was kept. I threw open the door.
’’Schlurrrrck, pwaah... Just you wait... Just you... wait...!’’
The moment the door opened, I caught sight of the female knight. Her head was buried in the dish at my feet, licking it ravenously.
Smack! Slurp!
Not content with just chewing and tearing at the food, Eleonora was now frantically lapping the plate clean.
’’Why... why is it so delicious...? These are clearly scraps... discarded scraps, so why...!’’
’’Because that’s your true nature.’’
’’Slurp— Hnh?!’’
She had been eating so mindlessly that her once-beautiful face was smeared with grease. Even with me standing right there, she kept her nose pressed to the plate. She looked exactly like a sow greedily gorging on slop.
’’Why so surprised? My leftovers... isn’t this exactly what pigs eat? Or did you want me to give you acorns soaked in dishwater instead?’’
’’You despicable man! You’ve done something to my body!’’
[A sow gratefully accepts the feed provided by her Master.]
This was the ’Pen Rule’ I had secretly set without Eleonora’s knowledge. I had already seen the physical effects today, like how it could restrain her body, but I hadn’t imagined it would be this powerful.
’’Was it that tasty? You’ve got it smeared all over your face. Personally, I’m thrilled to see you becoming such a faithful pig from day one.’’
’’To forcibly... draw out such... hunger and gluttony from me! What foul trickery did you use?! Restraining the limbs of a Grand Master is one thing, but to force such hunger! Hic!? It... it should be impossible!’’
She hurriedly interrogated me, but a small, undignified burp escaped her lips.
Embarrassed to have shown such a side of herself, Eleonora took several deep breaths and looked up at me.
’’I don’t know why you keep blaming others for just having the constitution of a pig.’’
’’What? Ha! Here we go again! Spouting more nonsense to drag my honor through the mud!’’
’’Is it? If you don’t have the constitution of a pig, then why did you eat all of this by yourself? You ate every bit of those ’scraps.’ I don’t know how they raise pigs where you’re from, but it’s not much different from how I do it.’’
’’That... that is because you... cast a vile curse on me!’’
’’A curse? So now it’s not magic, but a curse...’’
Was this like those martial arts tropes where they scream, ’That’s sorcery! He’s using demonic arts!’?
I crossed my arms and looked down at Eleonora, waiting to hear what other excuses she would vomit out.