Stray cowbirds had wings, but they couldn’t fly. The most their wings allowed them to do was jump a bit better than other monsters.
You would be a fool to underestimate them, though. Their massive bodies could pin you down easily, and if you tried to keep your distance to protect yourself, they might charge at you with their horns.
If you wanted to slay one, you had to fight them from enough of a distance to prevent them from charging, or take care when you entered melee range not to let them pin you.
As I reminded myself of all of the info that Hester had given me, I crept up right behind the stray cowbird as it was grazing without a care in the world.
It hadn’t seemed to notice me yet, so it was completely defenseless.
I unsheathed my sword and, as I silently gave myself the cue, I swung at the monster.
I was aiming for its legs—specifically, its hind legs. I wanted to completely restrict its movement.
The cowbird noticed my attack before my sword made contact, but it was too late. I cut a deep slash into its left hind leg, and blood spurted out.
I immediately sheathed my sword and switched to the stone hammer I’d bought specifically to use against this monster.
Calling it a “hammer” might have been overselling it, though. It was a long, thin weapon—closer to a traditional war hammer than the big, beefy mallet you might imagine when you think of a hammer.
I’d heard that the quest reward plummeted if you killed the monster in a blood bath. Apparently, your best bet was to strike its head with a blunt weapon.
As the stray cowbird swayed unsteadily, its movements hindered by the slash I’d inflicted on its leg, I could tell that it was still readying a counterattack.
For a split second, I considered testing the effectiveness of the ghost grass and speckled shrooms by intentionally taking a hit... But when I remembered how much the hit from the Ducalursus in Patia Forest hurt, I quickly changed my mind. It was time to finish this thing.
I waited for the stray cowbird to come at me with a shaky charge, and prepared to strike my hammer down right between its eyes.
A harsh, metallic sound echoed as my hammer made contact. The stray cowbird began to seize. Then it fell to the ground.
I didn’t have time to revel in my quick takedown, though. I immediately hoisted the monster onto my back and took it to the nearest tree.
With the tools I’d brought with me, I hung the stray cowbird upside down and pierced its heart with a knife, draining it of blood.
As the blood was draining, I thought about what to do with the monster.
The quest commissioner had specifically asked for the cowbird’s tenderloin, tongue, and belly meat—that was all.
If I dissected the monster here and just brought back those parts, then I’d minimize the weight I had to carry into town...but there’d also be no chance of any bonuses like the quest listing mentioned.
On the other hand, if I could manage to bring the entire monster back, I could potentially get double the reward.
It hadn’t been too much of an effort to carry the thing to the tree from where I’d slain it, but when I considered the possibility that a monster might attack me on the road home, it felt like this could turn into a really unpleasant situation.
Thinking about the return trip made me kind of regret that I hadn’t brought Ralph and Hester along for extra manpower. But right now, money was the priority, so I decided to bring the whole monster back with me, no matter how much of a pain it might be.
Once all of the blood had drained from the stray cowbird, I cut open its stomach and removed the organs, careful not to damage the meat.
It felt like a waste to throw out all the organs, so I kept the liver for myself and just ate it raw. The rest of the organs, I buried.
And with that, I’d finished field dressing the cowbird’s body. After letting out a deep sigh, I slung the carcass over my back and began walking back to Realzahd.
The whole process of slaying a stray cowbird had taken about half a day.
It took a decent while longer to get back, especially since I decided to take a detour every time I felt a monster’s presence nearby, but in the end, I managed to bring the whole cowbird back safely.
I must have been quite the sight, covered in blood and carrying a cowbird on my back, but fortunately, it was so heavy that it wasn’t until sunset that I got back to the city, so it was too dark for anyone to get a good look at me.
I made it through security at the gate and headed straight for the butcher who had commissioned the quest.
“Welcome. Sorry, but you can’t come in this way. The entry’s— Whoa there! Th-That’s quite the beast you’re carrying!”
“I’m the adventurer who accepted your stray cowbird quest commission,” I explained. “I didn’t want to waste any of it, so I just brought the whole thing back with me. Can you let me in?”
“O-Oh, really? Boy, you sure gave me a scare! All I saw when I opened the door was a cow’s head and huge horns!”
The butcher invited me in, and I hung the stray cowbird on the hook that he pointed out to me. Looking at it hanging up there, I couldn’t help but be a little proud that I’d managed to wrangle a thing like that all by myself.
“Big fella, isn’t he?” said the butcher. “Here, take this to clean yourself off with.”
“Thanks.”
I accepted the damp towel and wiped as much of the stray cowbird’s blood off of me as I could. It had gotten quite sticky over the journey home.
That was a really tough job, I thought. My body feels so heavy now.
“Flawless work draining the blood. I see you removed the organs cleanly too. Thanks to your careful handling, this cowbird’s bound to stay pretty fresh. You know...I think this is probably the finest cowbird I’ve ever seen!”
“Wow, you really think so?”
“Well, sure! Not every day that someone brings one back whole, much less so perfectly gutted. In fact, I think you’re the only adventurer that’s ever done that.”
Is it really that big of a deal? I wondered.
To be fair, though, it certainly had been a commitment. After opening up the stomach and removing the organs, carrying the thing on my back like I had was bound to make anyone filthy.
Was I the only adventurer willing to do all of that to bring it back whole for the money?
“So, does that mean you’ll buy it for a handsome price?” I asked.
“Can’t blame you for wanting to cut straight to the chase. Wait just a sec while I carve it up a bit... Hey! Nathaniel! Grill up some meat for this adventurer here!”
“Are you sure? I’m not going to pay for that, you know.”
“Oh, that’s all right. Consider it part of your payment. Now then, I’ll give you a shout after I’ve carved up the beast and inspected it properly, so you just wait here and enjoy your snack.”
As I waited for the butcher to conduct his inspection, one of his staff gave me some grilled meat to snack on in the meantime.
It wasn’t just some cheap cut either; it was clearly the good stuff.
Wish I could see Ralph’s and Hester’s faces if I brought some of this back for them, I thought, just as I finished wolfing the whole thing down. By then, the butcher was calling me. He’d finished his inspection.
“Thanks. That was delicious.”
“Like I said, don’t sweat it. That was just thanks for bringing me such fine meat. Anyway, I’ve finished assessing the cowbird. How do you feel about a payment of five gold coins?”
“Five gold coins?! I don’t know if I can accept that. Wasn’t the maximum reward for this quest three?”
“It’s in fine condition, and it’s huge. I’m happy to pay five.”
“Well, if you’re sure, then I won’t say no.”
“Excellent! Sounds like we’ve got a deal! I’ll send your payment to the guild tomorrow, so you can collect it there. Just be sure to turn in the quest tomorrow, or you won’t get the money.”
“Right. Thanks. If you have another quest to commission in the future, then I hope we can work together again.”
“Likewise. As long as you don’t break the bank for me, I’ll keep buying from you.”
And just like that, I’d managed to get an extraordinary reward of five gold coins.
Considering that standard bronze quests came with a reward of roughly four silver coins, this quest had paid more than twelve times as much.
The whole process had been kind of involved, since I’d had to dispatch Hester to do some research first, but I’d been able to accomplish the actual hunting in only a day.
It seemed to me that doing non-location-specific quests like these might turn out to be way more efficient than the location-specific ones after all.
Raking in half a month’s worth of coin in a single day was enough to make me forget all about the stench of blood that clung to me. I headed back to the hotel in high spirits.