Eric slightly regretted not having studied more about weapons.
Dwarves, like beastmen, were not favored by magic. If only he could create gunpowder.
He vaguely remembered the formula for gunpowder was saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, but he couldn't recall the ratios at all. Oh well, he could just throw the problem to the Dwarves and let them research it themselves.
Coal was something every Dwarf household needed. He casually gathered some coal from the front of a few houses and placed it on a wooden plank to be dragged along on the way back.
He guessed the coal mine probably wasn't too far from their tribe, so he could go there directly to dig in the future.
After he was done, his stomach rumbled. He didn't know when dinnertime had passed.
Considering every Dwarf household had so much food stored in their basements, eating a little wouldn't be too outrageous, would it? Eric thought brazenly.
Unfortunately, all his tools were back at the tribe. The Dwarves' rice and flour were a bit coarse, perfectly meeting the whole grain standards required by young women on a diet.
He kind of missed the sieve Jessica had woven for him, Eric thought with regret. Their dinnerware was also relatively small, so he decisively made a stone basin for kneading dough.
Max went to a nearby area and hunted a curved-horn goat, butchering it into pieces according to Eric's custom.
What made Eric happier than finding gold was that in Joseph's tribe, besides pottery jars, there were also quite a few iron pots, and more spices than the Snow Wolf tribe had. He rendered the goat fat in an iron pot.
Using another pottery jar, he cooked a pot of thick, white goat soup. He then used warm water to knead a ball of dough, rolling it into thin flatbreads.
Goat soup would be more delicious with leavened bread, but for now, he had to make unleavened flatbread. He also found some peppercorns in the Dwarf's house and added a few to the goat soup.
Placing the thin flatbread into another heated iron pot, Eric added a little goat fat.
Waiting for the bread to puff up with large air bubbles, he used a wooden spatula to quickly flip it, cooked it for a moment longer, and then took it out. Soon, all the bread was cooked. The goat meat Max was grilling nearby was also ready.
They ate the goat soup with the bread, and also used the bread to wrap the grilled meat, enjoying a hot, late dinner.
The Snow Wolf people's vision was not significantly affected at night. Eric had assumed they would return after eating, but unexpectedly, Max transformed into a large snow wolf and lay down on the spot.
It seemed the past few days of travel had really been tiring. Eric didn't want to bother him and planned to take another walk around; he was quite curious about the runes on the Dwarves' weapons.
Just as he lifted his foot to leave, Max's large tail suddenly wrapped around him, almost causing him to trip. He looked quizzically at the lying Max, saw that his eyes were closed, and wondered, Has he fallen asleep? Is his tail sleepwalking?
He didn't think much of it and intended to step over the tail.
Before he could lift his leg, the strong, silver-white wolf tail in front of him suddenly lifted, wrapped around Eric's waist, and pulled him in front of Max's large head.
Eric jumped in surprise. He looked at the closed-eyed Max and couldn't help but lightly hit his large nose in annoyance.
"I'm not going far, I just want to look at the Dwarves' weapons," he explained, thinking Max was worried he would wander off.
Max slightly opened his eyes, a hint of a smile in them as he watched the little beast struggle helplessly to get out from under his tail.
"Do you like the Thomas tribe?" he asked in a low, serious voice.
The little beast looked up at him strangely, not knowing why he would suddenly ask such a thing.
His dark, limpid eyes were filled with bewilderment. "Of course I like it. Everyone treats me very well. Of course, Max is the best."
He said, trying to flatter him.
It was unclear if Max was satisfied with this answer. He said nothing, only retracting the tail coiled around Eric, using the motion to sweep him next to his paws, and then closed his eyes again.
Is he telling me to go to sleep early?
Eric guessed silently, puzzled. He'd look tomorrow then. Who told him to come with such a serious adult anyway?
The air in this other world was unpolluted. A bright moon hung high in the sky, its watery light spilling onto the ground, and the heavens were filled with twinkling stars.
He lay on his back on the large, fluffy tail, gazing at the stars, and drifted into a dream without realizing it.
After he fell asleep, Max opened his eyes, looked at him with a complex expression, and let out a soft sigh.
Early the next morning, Eric had completely forgotten about the runic weapons, consumed with excitement over the pile of coal. He thought about how much time he could save by dragging it back, and that he could even fire his own porcelain. The thought filled him with joy.
In the Du tribe, there were many pushcarts used for transporting ore, but unfortunately, they were too small.
I'll definitely have to ask Luban to make a big one for me when I get back, Eric thought.
For now, the wooden plank would have to do. He nailed a few more pieces of wood around the large plank to prevent the coal from falling off.
One end of a vine was tied to Max, the other was secured to the large wooden container, and the two of them started back to the tribe.
Because he really liked the iron pot, Eric carried one with him.