Compared to wild beasts, monster meat might not necessarily be as delicious, but its nutritional value was definitely much higher than that of ordinary beasts.
Born with the ability to use magical energy to nourish their bodies and strengthen their physique, size, and even strength, monsters were generally considered a great supplement for humans, as long as their meat didn't carry any deadly poison.
As a result, monster meat was considered one of the finest ingredients in major cities and countries, with some even used as a material for refining magic potions that produced special effects on the human body, like enhancing physical strength, leading to the emergence of hunters who specialized in hunting monsters and selling their meat.
For this reason, the price of monster meat was quite high.
While the price depended on the species, a single pound of monster meat could easily sell for dozens of silver coins. A single pound could even fetch dozens of gold coins for rarer and more delicious monsters.
In the past, someone on the Akasha Continent once sold two pounds of dragon meat—not the meat of lesser dragons like wyverns or earth dragons, but the meat of legendary true dragons.
Ultimately, those two pounds of dragon meat sold for the astronomical price of 1,150 gold coins, making this event something that, even after many years, people still talked about from time to time.
Given this, it was easy to imagine the shock of the people present when Riezel hunted a boar-like monster larger than an elephant.
Gerald rushed over, babbling in confusion.
"Sir Riezel, is this the food you're going to use to help the refugees? Such precious monster meat? Really?"
Throwing out this question, Gerald was clearly in a state of chaos.
It couldn't be helped.
If Riezel were to sell the demon boar he hunted, given its size and meat quality, it could easily fetch thousands of gold coins.
While demon boar meat might not compare to dragon meat, this boar likely weighed tens of thousands of pounds. Even if it was sold for fifty silver coins per pound, it could easily go for 500,000 silver coins for 10,000 pounds, which would convert to 5,000 gold coins.
5,000 gold coins—many small nobles wouldn't even have that much wealth, yet Riezel was planning to use monster meat worth that much to help the refugees.
From Gerald's perspective, this seemed like an utter waste.
Regardless, Riezel didn't really care.
"Just use it."
Riezel did indeed have to consider the financial aspect, but when it came to the refugees, he didn't want to be concerned with such trivial matters.
Monster meat was inherently a great supplement with high nutritional value, so if these refugees ate monster meat, it might help replenish their weakened bodies from long periods of hunger, allowing them to last longer.
Because of this, Riezel had decided to hunt monsters to help the refugees instead of regular beasts.
Anyway, with his current abilities, he could just hunt another if he really wanted and had no reason to fear not being able to hunt more.
Nonetheless, this situation also gave him a bit of clarity.
'When I really need money, I'll just hunt monsters and sell them.'
With this method of earning money, as long as monsters still existed, Riezel wouldn't need to worry about finances in the Akasha Continent.
Understanding this, Riezel's heart was set.
In the end, Riezel had Lizbeth take the demon boar he had brought back and prepare it.
Since cooking required skill, and cooking a demon boar bigger than an elephant was quite a task, Riezel had been a little worried that Lizbeth, a princess, wouldn't be able to handle it, but to his surprise, she didn't hesitate, and immediately took it on without hesitation.
"When I was wandering with Grandma Mia in the past, I often roasted meat in the wilderness."
Lizbeth spoke casually while skillfully handling the demon boar.
She carefully plucked the demon boar's fur, cleaned it, and gutted it, all while Gerald watched in stunned silence.
Afterward, using a nearby log, she skewered its body and placed it over the fire Riezel had ignited with his magic—the entire process was so smooth that it showed no signs of rustiness from her years of sheltered princess life.
By the way, the knife Lizbeth used to handle the demon boar was also made by Riezel using Create Greater Item. Ordinary knives could hardly cut through the body of a monster, let alone such a large demon boar, so to properly handle ingredients like this, not only did the tools have to be of high quality, but the skills also had to be exceptional.
It was only natural since the demon boar that was currently being roasted could have charged into the fire a thousand times if it were still alive, and it wouldn't have been harmed. Ordinary flames couldn't possibly kill such a powerful monster, so there was no way it would cook that easily.
Even if it were cooked, the flesh of a monster like a demon boar, with bones tough as iron, couldn't possibly be chewed by ordinary humans.
Because of this, preparing monster meat required exceptional skill—not something just anyone could do.
Yet, Lizbeth handled it with such exquisite skill.
Even though the fire Riezel lit was just an ordinary and simple bonfire, Lizbeth somehow managed to cook the massive demon boar with it.
Riezel only saw Lizbeth sprinkle something like salt on the demon boar's body, then pull out a ceramic jar from somewhere, take out some sauce from it, and brush it onto the demon boar.
Before long, the demon boar was cooked.
Lizbeth's smooth handling and techniques made Riezel deeply suspect that this little princess must have grown up eating monster meat before she turned seven.
'No wonder she's so strong...'
Riezel recalled their first encounter during the match at the Frenzel residence.
He had thought at the time that this delicate little princess had absurd arm strength, as when they fought, even though his strength was at about Level 7, he had barely blocked a single strike from her, making his arm numb.
Back then, Riezel had thought Lizbeth was like Mitsuri from the world of Demon Slayer—someone with a body naturally endowed with muscle density far beyond that of ordinary people.
However, now it seemed Lizbeth's extraordinary strength wasn't natural but more likely the result of years of eating monster meat in the wilderness, her body nourished by it, and that was what gave her such impressive arm strength.
As Riezel was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly had an idea.
'Even though it's not innate, Lizbeth could still have a body like Kanroji's...'
'What if... I teach her Love Breathing?'
'She should be able to learn Love Breathing, right?'
Love Breathing was a breathing style created by Love Hashira Kanroji Mitsuri—a derived breathing style from one of the five fundamental breathing styles, Flame Breathing.
It was gentle yet incredibly resilient, a flexible and versatile breathing style that combined offense and defense.
When Mitsuri used Love Breathing, her exceptional arm strength allowed her to block intense, barrage-like attacks with a special soft blade while standing still, and when moving, she could swiftly strike down her opponents with lightning speed.
If Lizbeth learned Love Breathing, with her arm strength, she could attack with unstoppable force and defend with the sturdiness of a wall, making it hard for anyone to overpower her.
'Should I give it a shot?'
Riezel was starting to feel a bit tempted, mainly because Lizbeth had casually mentioned something before they set out.
"I want to avoid using the War King Sword Style in front of outsiders as much as possible, or my identity is going to get exposed."
Since the War King Sword Style was an inherited swordsmanship of the royal family of Jinas, it was renowned even overseas, not just within their own country.
In other words, anyone familiar with it would recognize it instantly once it was used, which meant Lizbeth's identity as a princess of Jinas would no longer be a secret.
For this reason, to keep her identity hidden, Lizbeth definitely couldn't use the War King Sword Style whenever she wanted, especially in public. If someone recognized her as a member of the royal family, it would definitely cause unnecessary trouble.
If it weren't for this, a certain 'maid' wouldn't have held back during the War Festival, an important event, and would've gone all out.
Now, Lizbeth had similar concerns.
Unless her life was on the line, she probably wouldn't be willing to use the War King Sword Style. But without it, her strength would be seriously reduced, and whether she could even reach the strength of Level 5 was uncertain.
'I remember when we were at the Frenzel residence, Lizbeth fought against Ain and Ian without using the War King Sword Style, right?'
At that time, not only could Lizbeth not even defeat Ain and Ian, who had only become Sword Masters a year ago, but she was also actually at a disadvantage.
Even though Lizbeth became a Sword Master in a shorter time than Ain and Ian, with the assistance of the War King Sword Style, she could exert strength comparable to the highest threshold of Level 5, so her raw strength was greater than Ain's and Ian's.
Unfortunately, once Lizbeth stopped using the War King Sword Style, she couldn't even defeat Ain and Ian, showing just how much Special Swordsmanship could enhance a swordsman's abilities.
However, Lizbeth also told Riezel that the reason she had only recently become a Sword Master was that the royal family had a rule—one had to possess strength on par with a Sword Master without relying on the War King Sword Style to receive the Sword Master Medal and officially become a Sword Master.
Lizbeth didn't know exactly why the royal family had this rule, but Marilyn had once said something about it.
"Maybe it's to avoid suspicion."
What Marilyn said was understandable.
Becoming a Sword Master quickly by relying on a powerful inherited Special Swordsmanship, after all, would make a lot of swordsmen from humble backgrounds who didn't have any Special Swordsmanship inheritance feel resentful.
It was said that in the early days of Jinas's founding, the national government was rather unstable, so to avoid unnecessary trouble, the royal family had carefully established many rules, some of which had been preserved to this day, including the rule of possessing strength on par with a Sword Master without relying on the War King Sword Style.
As a result, whether it was Lizbeth, Marilyn, or even Sorren, all of them became Sword Masters without relying on the War King Sword Style.
However, since Lizbeth hadn't been a Sword Master for long, being weaker than Ain and Ian, who had already been Sword Masters for a year, was only natural without using the War King Sword Style.
Knowing this, Riezel wanted to help his little attendant become stronger.
Lizbeth, who had just finished roasting the demon boar, walked over to Riezel when he called her over.
"What's up, Master?"
Lizbeth jogged over with a bit of black ash on her face, but her expression was cheerful.
Needless to say, returning to wilderness life and roasting meat made this little princess feel nostalgic.
However, the next second, she panicked.
Why?
It was because of one sentence from Riezel.
"Lizbeth, have you ever been in love?"