by Funa
“Two o’clock, three orcs, two hundred meters ahead. Target irrelevant. No mark!”
“Roger that, no mark!”
“One o’clock, four goblins, three hundred meters ahead!”
“Mavis, dispatch the threat!”
“On it!”
“Eleven o’clock, six kobolds, 150 meters ahead!”
“Pauline, get ’em with a water spell!”
“Okay!”
Following the directions of Mile (or rather, her radar), Reina issued commands, and one after the other, the Crimson Vow flew forth to repel the monsters, jumping right back into place after each attack as the men stared on silently. Occasionally even Mile and Reina took their turns, landing the girls a number of kills apiece.
The soldiers of the second squad watched them, mouths agape.
“C-Captain…” started one man.
“What is it?” the captain replied.
“Th-this is kind of relaxing, huh?”
“It sure is, huh?”
The men fell silent again.
Meanwhile, having been told that it wouldn’t hurt to take just a few of the orcs, jackalopes, deer, and boar, Mile busied herself sniping a selection of each and storing them away into her loot box. These were not for turning in to the Guild but for eating. There was no need to pay the inflated prices at the butcher’s shop when they could hunt their own meat, after all. The soldiers made sure to take down a few for their own meals that evening and the following morning as well.
Of course, they only took two or three all told. With only around fifty people to feed, they wouldn’t need much more than that, plus it would be difficult to carry home, and it would be bad form for a group of soldiers to go around masquerading as huntsmen. If they were to come back from battle hauling mountains of meat, the rumors would be absolutely scandalous.
Meat, shorn from the bone, comprises about 70 percent of a pig’s weight, and a further 70 percent of that is typically considered edible. In other words, roughly 49 kilograms of a 100 kilogram pig can be consumed as meat. And of course, an orc weighed considerably more than 100 kilograms, so taking down just one should have been plenty. That said, when butchered by a layman, there were a lot of parts that would become inedible, and since typically only the good portions would be used and the rest discarded, they would actually need about two or three to make up for the lost portions.
(Incidentally, the edible parts of a steer account for only 27 percent of its weight.)
On the soldiers’ request, Mile put away their kills in her storage as well. Without Mile there, they would have had to do all of their hunting right around the campsite, where the hunting conditions wouldn’t be as favorable once they had driven all the monsters back—yet again, her presence was a huge help.
After about two or three hours had passed since the initial encounter with the vanguard of approaching monsters, they were already through the worst of it. There were still some beasts on the route of their initial approach, but when they collided with the now-retreating front of monsters, most of them would get turned around naturally, swept up in the retreating wave. Thus, the number of monsters still crossing the border toward them was in rapid decline. From here, they would keep driving the monsters onward, meaning that, if their neighbors were going to keep pushing the same monsters forward, they would receive their just desserts. Of course, much more than this would mean an increased possibility of casualties, so while the soldiers remained on their guard, they couldn’t help but breath a collective sigh of relief at these developments.
“Captain, I was thinking it would be smart to have Mile and Pauline make rounds to some of the other squads. Might I ask your permission for them to do so?” Mavis queried.
The captain’s face brightened up, and he gave a great nod.
“Yes, please, if you would.”
Their squad had yet to take a single grave injury, but there were no such assurances for the others. Or rather, it was highly improbable that they would be in the same shape. After all, they did not have the members of the Crimson Vow at their disposal.
In truth, it was only natural to have their sole adept healer make rounds between all of the squads, an idea that the captain himself ought to agree to immediately. To fail to do so would be a lapse of judgment that would see him severely dressed down by the commander and the other captains after the fight.
It was a bit embarrassing that the likes of a rookie hunter was covering up for the captain’s own delay in coming to this conclusion, but given the guileless sincerity of Mavis’s manner, the captain felt not the slightest bit of shame in thanking her for her helpful words.
Of course, he assumed that Mile was being sent out as a guard for Pauline, the healer, though, in fact, that was not the case.
No one in the Crimson Vow would say it, but they all recognized the truth: Mile was stronger with a blade than Mavis, more skilled at combat magic than Reina, and more proficient at healing than Pauline. Really, this was only to be expected, since Mile was the one who had trained all of them into what they were today.
In circumstances like these, there was a possibility that some soldier or other would take an injury that left him on the brink of death. Pauline would never be able to address such a grave wound, so Mile was dispatched to assist her.
Since the squad to which they had been assigned was in the center of the forces, it only made sense for them to each go in a separate direction. Should it happen that there was someone too gravely injured on Pauline’s side, she could simply do her best to stabilize them until Mile arrived.
And so, Mile and Pauline split up, running.
***
“You all did wonderfully out there today. We didn’t lose a single man, and no one got injured enough to mess ’em up later. This is a truly momentous occasion. Obviously, I can’t permit you to drink, but you all have my leave to eat your fill. Just not so much that you can’t make the return trip tomorrow. From here on out, you’re free to do as you like, lookouts excepted. But first, let’s all work together to get that meat cooking!”
Everyone raised a great cheer at the commander’s words.
Casualties: 0.
A number of men had gotten hurt, but thanks to the two healers, they were all fully recovered now. There had been a few in bad enough shape that it was unclear whether they would be able to withstand the return trip, but miraculously, even they had made a full recovery. To heal cuts and bruises was one thing, but Pauline and Mile had managed to erase even the most serious of injuries, ones that would have normally showed symptoms for many years—broken bones, ruptured organs, and deep cuts into tendons and arteries were cured without a trace. Truthfully, this was the sort of battle that normally would have seen one or two men D.O.A., and a few more forced to retire from the service, but in the end, their damages were a net zero.
Even healing magic had its limits. If too much time passed before the healing magic could be applied, and the natural healing process had already begun, the body would react accordingly, leaving the injured with wounds that could only heal in the natural manner. Under these circumstances, missing parts could not be restored. Certainly, no one had ever returned from death’s door to full health as a result of healing magic alone. The fact that magic could not heal old wounds was related to this.
But here, they had healers with magic the likes of which could only be expected from the high priest of a temple—two of them, no less!
Furthermore, both of them had chosen to participate in this dangerous job for the measly sum of one gold apiece, and since healing in battle was technically part of their hired duties, it had come for free.
It was unthinkable. Where else in the world did one find such charity?! Even a clergyman would never work for such meager recompense.
The soldiers were overwhelmed with thanks for their good fortune and for the hunters’ kindness.
After some time, everyone was treated to a nice barbecue.
Some of the grass had been cut aw
ay to minimize the risk of flames spreading, and a roaring bonfire was built up from fallen logs and branches. A little ways away, a pit was dug to discard the viscera, beside which the soldiers set to dealing with the orcs.
Naturally, these men had handled orcs before in the course of previous missions. However, they were still amateurs when it came to dissecting monsters and lacked any dedicated tools for cutting flesh or bone. As a result, it was a bit of an undertaking. While a short sword worked just fine in a battle, it was awkward for preparing food, and there were few soldiers who would risk chipping their beloved blade to chop through orc bones. And so, they all stood there looking at one another without even approaching the orcs.
“All right, I’ll handle this,” Mavis said.
There was a single flash of her blade, and the three orcs were freed of their heads and limbs, their bellies slit and their fat clipped away in a single breath before the sword went back in its scabbard.
“I’ll leave it to you all to remove the entrails and dispose of them, if you don’t mind.”
The men were speechless.
If the orcs had been up on their feet, it would have been one thing, but she had brought her blade down on the corpses laid out on the ground without a moment’s hesitation. Furthermore, she had not once stopped moving her blade, cleaving all the bones, the neck, and the limbs like she was cutting a hot knife through butter. Surely, an orc’s flesh and bones could not be so tender.
The motion had not appeared to be an especially careful one, yet somehow, there was not a single nick on the organs inside of the split bellies, not a shred of meat tainted by the contents of the creatures’ digestive tracts.
“She’s on a completely different level…”
Magic, they could accept. They were swordsmen and lancers, after all—not mages. When they watched a skilled mage work, at best, they might think to themselves, Wow, that’s cool.
This, however, was something they could judge.
All of them, in spite of their relatively mature ages, were no match for this woman of not even twenty years. Seeing the enormous gap between their skills and hers filled them with a deep sense of defeat. Today, they had won out against hordes of monsters…and lost to a group of young girls.
Still, none of them felt anger or ill will.
All they felt was regret—at their own weakness, at their own shortcomings.
“Damn it! Let’s eat! Gut those carcasses! Cut that meat!”
“Yeah!!!”
Today they had their very own meat, more than they could eat. They could eat their fill without paying a single copper!
Reinvigorated, the soldiers began cutting the meat and roasting it over the bonfire, just as, from elsewhere, a terribly delicious smell began wafting toward them. It was not just the smell of cooking meat. There was something indescribable, something mouthwatering.
And then they heard it, a cry like the voice of the Devil himself.
“Barbecued orc sauce, two half-silver a pop! Salt and pepper, just two half-silver! And refreshing, ice-cold lemonade, the perfect complement to that greasy orc fat, just three half-silver a cup!”
“Damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!” the soldiers roared.
And here they thought that today they would be able to eat to their heart’s content, without parting with a single coin…
“How are we supposed to pass that up?!?!”
“So there really was no point in us coming along at all, was there?” muttered Wulf, leader of the Devils’ Paradise, looking crestfallen.
“Yep. They’re strong and sturdy. A party of all young’uns, half of them girls not even of age…” Vegas, of the Fellowship of Flame, was right down in the dumps with him.
“S-still, it was worthwhile! We earned money without anyone getting hurt, got in some good practice, and improved the relations between hunters and locals,” said another of the party members.
However…
“The ones who made us hunters look good was a group of little ladies who came from somewhere else—not us. We were supposed to be saving them and making ourselves look good that way, but we were about as useful as air…”
The men fell silent.
“Well, c’mon. Let’s go get somethin’ to eat. Can’t work without a bit of meat in ya!”
“Y-yeah…”
Not a single one of the hunters was in high spirits.
***
While everyone but the lookouts slept, and silence fell over the camp, there was movement in the Crimson Vow’s tent.
“All right, I’ll be back.”
“Be careful out there. Of course, it’s you we’re talking about, so I guess there’s no point in worrying.”
“Ahaha, I’ll try my best!”
Mile slipped out from the tent and through the clearing, cloaked in an invisibility field and sound barrier. This time, she had made sure to tell her fellow party members what was going on beforehand, so she did not have to sneak out.
And then, Mile crossed over the barrier and invaded the neighboring country.
Of course, given that she was a hunter and not a soldier, it was a harmless act that could not properly be called an “invasion.” She was not acting as part of the military, and she had not received any orders from them.
As of now, Mile was merely a solitary hunter, going out in search of raw goods during her free time, outside of work duties. Yes, there was no problem with that at all.
She slipped through the forest at an inhuman speed, and soon, she came across an ogre.
“All right! Invisibility field, sound barrier, dismissed! Intimidation, full power!”
Normally, Mile’s magical power—or spirit or aura or what have you, her general presence, which monsters and wild animals would sense as “the smell of danger”—was something that she fully suppressed, but now she released it in full force.
In other words, all of the creatures in the surrounding region suddenly sensed that there was a dangerous life form approaching, a life form with half the power of an elder dragon, dripping with wanton bloodlust.
And with such a presence around, what do you suppose might happen?
KA-THUMP-KA-THUMP-KA-THUMP-KA-THUMP
Indeed, a stampede broke out.
Ahead of her, all of the monsters from this side of the border, which had been driven toward Marlane earlier in the day, along with all of the monsters (the dangerous, inedible ones) that had been driven out from Marlane, began rushing at full speed toward the outskirts of the forest on the neighboring country’s side. Meanwhile, behind her, all of the edible creatures prized by huntsmen began rushing at equal speed towards Marlane. Any useful prey that got caught up in the stampede, Mile carefully escorted out of the fray and sent back towards Marlane.
Mile then approached the tail end of the ranks of exiting “bad monsters” and drew in a deep breath, ready to release her powers of intimidation once more.
“Hee-hee-hoo… Hee-hee-hoo… No wait, that’s all wrong!”
Even when she was all alone, Mile never failed to play both sides of the comedy duo…whether or not she intended to.
“Okay, let’s try that again. All right, grnnnnnnnnhh… Er.”
That time was a bit dangerous.
It was important not to overstrain your muscles at times like this, Mile thought.
It had been two days prior that the army of the enemy nation had approached the border between the lands, chasing down the monsters. However, just like on the Marlane side, they had settled down for an orc barbecue after finishing their duties. Furthermore, though they still had a fair distance to travel the following day, they had decided to make camp while there was a decent amount of light outside.
Of course, there was a reason for this. The possibility of Marlane driving the monsters back their way sooner than predicted, and their having to stay behind to block them in order to protect the huntsmen, farmers, and crops of their kingdom from harm, left the soldiers hesitant to make a premature exit from the woods. Plus, if th
ey came back too early, people might think that they were running, which would hurt their reputation more than anything else.
That said, while both of those reasons were legitimate ones, their real motivation boiled down to something like, “We came all the way out here, so we may as well spend another night and enjoy a nice cookout.”
The soldiers took their time on the retreat, moving only during the daylight hours at a normal human walking pace.
Now, the large monsters stampeded forth in a panic, no longer trying to maintain a safe distance between themselves and the men who had chased them down on foot. Behind them came Mile, and…
They were on them in an instant.
***
The following morning, the two enemy platoons had packed up their camp and were just starting to head out, when they heard a cry from the guards who had been positioned to the rear.
“A swarm of monsters coming in quick from behind! There are ogres and goblins and kobolds and others—all being herded by a dire wolf or something, approaching at top speed! There are at least fifty of them!”
“Wh-what the hell?!”
By the guard’s report, there were “at least fifty,” but in truth, their number was closer to seventy or eighty, at minimum. If luck was not on their side, there might be even more. In fact, in the worst-case scenario, there were possibly hundreds, or even thousands. There might be enemies that they could not even see, hidden in the trees or otherwise out of the line of sight—though it was just as possible that they might be imagining enemies that were not there. All they could tell was that the monsters were approaching—fast.
I’m not sure we’re gonna make it back from this one…
Of course, one did not want to end up taking casualties when the goal was to harass one’s enemy. Therefore, the enemy nation had assembled an avalanche of force for this mission, with 100 men in total between the two platoons, the hired mercenaries, and the hunters, all under the leadership of one captain, the company leader. Each of the two platoons that had joined in were further attended by their own lieutenants.