Episode 12: A Scene Before the Hunt
Morning.
After getting up, washing my face, and brushing my teeth… the doorbell rings.
I open the door to find…
“Ehehe, ehe, ehehe…! Gooood mooorning…!”
“Whoa, good morning.”
It’s a mysterious, tall, black-haired woman.
…No, not mysterious, I guess.
A tall, slender female samurai with a black hime-cut hairstyle and a menacing look…
The vice-captain of the Strider’s Clan, “Blue Comet”…
“Kaede, is that you?”
“Ehe, you pronounced my name correctly…!”
It’s Kaede-chan.
“What’s up, Kaede? So early in the morning… oh, wait, did you come looking for Shio?”
“Ehe, yes, that’s right…! Is Shio here…!”
Ah, I knew it.
Despite her appearance, Kaede is a really good kid, so she must be worried about Shio not returning to the clan’s rented lodging last night and came looking for her.
Blue Comet is a clan and mutual aid organization for women with troubled pasts, like Shio, who’s from a tribe, and Kaede, who’s a foreigner.
Kaede, being the earnest and good girl she is, must be genuinely worried about Shio.
“You’re such a good girl, good job, good job.”
She’s as tall as I am, even though she’s a woman, so it’s hard to pat her head, but I do it anyway.
“Ah, eh?! No, no, ehehe…!”
Hehe, when will this girl ever learn to pronounce this country’s language properly…? Hasn’t she been here for like, five years already?
…Well, whatever.
“Faaah… oh, it’s Kaede. Good morning.”
Oh, Shio’s up.
“Ah, Shio! You can’t do that…! When you’re going to stay out, you have to tell me…!”
“Ah, sorry, sorry! But I figured, I’m not going to stay out anywhere except with Dru, so it’s okay, right…?”
“You can’t do that…! I was worried…!”
“I said I’m sorry!”
Hmm, cute.
Even though Kaede has a menacing look, she’s still a beautiful woman.
Easy on the eyes in the morning!
…So, I wash my face and then it’s breakfast time.
I invited Kaede too, but she said, “I couldn’t possibly impose on you…!” and went home.
Well, I felt bad sending her back empty-handed, so I forced some homemade jam on her.
I get the feeling that Kaede, being the vice-captain, likes me, but the captain is slightly wary of me…
Well, I’ve slept with a few of the girls from Blue Comet, which is a mutual aid organization for troubled women, so it’s understandable that she’s cautious… yeah, I get it.
But hey, I’m treating them properly, and I’m making them take birth control pills, and if they wanted to have kids, I’d be okay with that, really.
I have more than enough money to support a few mistresses.
And if I didn’t have enough, I could just “invent” something else, and then I’d have all the money I could ever want…
I could probably get a peerage, or at least a knighthood for life as an honorary title, and I might even go for it, you know?
No, I hate troublesome things, but if it’s for the sake of the girls, I’d put in a little effort, of course.
Right now, I’ve got penicillin-like stuff, Viagra-like stuff, and, in the worst-case scenario, the “elixir” I made as a hobby.
Huh? Oh, this world is a fantasy world, but magic is a rare skill, so there’s no “healing magic that can cure any injury!” or “magic potions that can cure anything!” Nothing like that. I can do it, though.
Potions do exist, and they’re incredibly effective, but they’re also really expensive.
And there are hardly any medicines with multiple effects.
Even when it comes to healing wounds, there are various processes like “disinfection,” “stopping the bleeding,” “suturing,” and “natural healing,” right?
It’s difficult to combine all of those into one thing.
There are some that do combine them, but they’re not that effective for the price, and they go bad quickly…
That’s why adventurers mostly carry around hemostatic ointments rather than wound-healing potions.
There are even fewer potions that can cure cancer or the flu.
It’s the same with magic.
There is such a thing as healing magic, but it’s not a panacea; it doesn’t work on illnesses, and it generally can’t restore lost limbs. I can do it, though.
So, if I were to magically create a medicinal water that cures illnesses and injuries and present it to the bigwigs as an “elixir” or “panacea,” I could get all the money I could ever want…
…No, never mind.
I’ll think about that when the time comes.
Right now, it’s time for food.
For breakfast, I made a normal meal of bacon and fried eggs, salad, and toast.
It’s just that, but it seems to be a feast in this world, and Shio ate her fill from the morning.
Well, eggs are pretty expensive here…
They haven’t really improved the breeds of chickens, so they don’t lay eggs every day.
Eggs, being nutritious and delicious, are a luxury item.
Having four of them, not rotten, and cooked half-boiled on top of flavorful bacon with plenty of spices, is, according to Shio, “the taste of happiness.”
Alright, that’s enough about food.
Time to get ready and go hunting.
Preparation.
Shio is dressed as a tribal warrior… which is to say, a plant-dyed apron, a halter-neck bra, and sandals. On top of that, she wears a necklace made of magic beast fangs and a belt made by processing animal skulls and hides. Hanging from the belt are a knife and a small pouch…
And she would normally carry a giant sword as tall as she is, but…
“I don’t have any money…”
So, today she’s carrying throwing spears.
“Well, I used throwing spears when I was hunting with my tribe! It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine!”
Hmm, is that so?
And I’m getting ready too.
The weapons I use are basically a rod and a short sword.
The rod is a long staff, slightly shorter than my height, carved from a “Iron Trent,” a wooden magic beast. It’s called a wooden magic beast, but the material is like iron, so it’s basically an iron rod.
The short sword is a high-quality one sold in stores. It’s a steel sword. I prefer thick but short ones that are easy to handle.
For clothing, I wear boots with iron plates and easy-to-move tight pants. I wear a thick coat over a shirt, and leather armor to protect my shoulders, arms, waist, and chest.
I also have a waist pouch for carrying tools like traps for hunting, and a small backpack filled with food.
That should be it.
Is it about seven in the morning now?
Perfect timing.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Ooh!”