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Vol 01 Chapter 06: Hunting and Foraging

Ten meters away from me, there was a wooden board standing upright. I glared at the board, pulled the bowstring back, aimed carefully, and released the arrow.

The arrow whizzed past the side of the board and disappeared into the sea of trees.

…

「Leader, you’re terrible at this. That’s the tenth time now.」

「S-Shut up! Can you do it then?!」

I pushed the bow into Ron-kun’s hands.

The bow is incredibly difficult to use. The string is so tight that it requires a lot of strength to pull. If you don’t exert enough force, your aim wavers.

It’s not that I’m terrible, it’s the bow that’s difficult!

Ron-kun drew the bow, took aim, and released the arrow. It buried itself in the ground just in front of the board.

「Ron-kun can’t do it either, huh? We can’t hunt like this. What are we going to do…?」

「Don’t say that with such a happy face! You’re being childish!」

「I’m a kid, you know?」

「Your mind is an adult’s, isn’t it?!」

He’s so noisy. The mind is influenced by the body!!

While Ron-kun and I were arguing, Gram-kun snatched the bow from us. He silently drew it back and released it. The arrow hit the board dead-on.

「No way!!」

「It’s strange that Gram can do it!」

「I… I don’t know what to say…」

It must be a fluke. That has to be it! It’s impossible for Gram-kun, who looks so frail and slow, to hit the target.

「Try it one more time.」

「O-Okay.」

Gram-kun nodded and took aim again. The arrow hit the board effortlessly.

It seems it wasn’t just a fluke…

「You easily drew a bowstring that even I find quite tough, and then you hit the board which I couldn’t even graze… Have you always been this athletic?」

「Eh? Y-Yeah… maybe…」

What do you mean by maybe? Be more confident!

「Teach me the trick.」

「Well… you don’t pull with the bow with your arms, but with your back.」

Pull with the back?

I asked Gram to show me step by step. Following his instructions, I learned to draw the bow easily. I didn’t hit the target, but that’s not a problem.

Well, let’s leave the hunting to Gram-kun.

「After three years, Griffon’s support will end. If we don’t do something, we won’t be able to eat meat. Our future meat dishes depend on your skills. Do your best!」

I patted Gram-kun’s shoulders while pushing all the hunting onto him. He nodded with a tense look.

「But we only have one bow, right? It’ll be tough for just Gram. Shouldn’t we get more?」

「Easy, easy, don’t rush. I’ve thought about that. First, take a look at this.」

「What’s this? A bag?」

「It’s a sling.」

Griffon caught rabbits for us, and I used their skins to make it. The design is simple, but it took some effort to make.

「This is how you use it.」

I put a stone in the sling and swung my arm widely. The stone flew quite a distance.

「With some training, we might be able to bring down birds. And it’s easy to make. I’ve already made three. If you help me, we can quickly prepare one for everyone.」

The children clamored to try it themselves.

Ah, it’s tough being popular.

◇

「Alright, I got one!! Look how big it is…」

I looked at Ron-kun’s feet. There lay five fish, each bigger than the one I just caught…

「What the heck!」

「Leader, you’re just really bad at this. Really bad.」

「Don’t say it twice!!」

My heart hurts.

「Since we only have two fishing rods, maybe someone other than the leader should use one.」

Gununu… He’s right, but… Fishing won’t fill our stomachs much anyway. It’s not that important. I’m not frustrated at all!

「No choice then, I’ll give mine to Soyon-chan. You two can have a lovely fishing date.」

「What! What are you talking about, Leader!? Soyon and I aren’t like that…」

Ron-kun’s face turned bright red.

Yes, I win.

I relished the feeling of superiority.

◇

「This herb is edible. Those berries can upset your stomach if eaten raw, but soaking them in water removes the toxins.」

「Amazing, Griffon-sama. Do you eat things other than meat?」

「Of course. Even I fancy eating grass sometimes.」

Impressive as always. So health-conscious. Now that I think about it, it makes sense since his upper body is that of a bird. Birds eat berries. But wait, he’s a bird of prey, so maybe it is odd. Come to think of it, does this guy classify as a mammal or a bird? Doesn’t really matter, I guess.

「Why are you asking such things? Weren’t you going to focus on agriculture?」

「Agriculture is sensitive to environmental changes. Besides, I’m not that knowledgeable about farming. There’s a chance of failure. So, this is insurance.」

The children were abandoned because of a famine. There’s no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen to our crops.

「I see. Well, do your best. I must return to my territory now. I’m sleepy.」

After saying so, Griffon flapped his wings, flying off swiftly.

「I should head back too.」

I was about to return to the village when I heard a shout.

That’s Roswald-kun’s voice!

I started running, gripping the handle of the iron sword I brought with me for self-defense.

Any animal’s face is vulnerable. A blow to the face should surprise it and make it flee. If it becomes enraged… I’ll make sure to at least save Roswald-kun. I already died once, this second life is only an extension.

As I ran, I could hear several voices carried by the wind.

「Hey, don’t move, you brat!」

「Stop it! There’s no point in kidnapping me! My parents abandoned me! They won’t give you any food!」

「Idiot! I know that. You’ve got a lot of iron swords, right?」

The assailants are people! Damn it, showing off those iron swords was a mistake.

But a person should be weaker than wolves or bears.

I felt slightly relieved.

The kendo I learned from the orphanage director might finally be put to good use.

Roswald-kun and the assailant came into view. Thankfully, Roswald-kun was safe. And there was only one man. Even better, I can approach him from behind, unnoticed.

I quickly pulled out the sling. From this position, the man’s back is covering Roswald-kun, there is no risk of hitting Roswald-kun, so I can throw without worry.

The stone I launched from the sling hit the man squarely in the head.

「Ouch!」

The man released Roswald-kun and clutched his head.

「Roswald-kun! Now’s your chance!」

I shouted, and Roswald-kun ran towards me.

We need to escape quickly.

◇

「Stop! You brats!」

This is bad, he’s catching up.

A child’s speed is no match for an adult’s. He was closing the distance rapidly.

「Roswald-kun, keep running! I’ll hold him off.」

「But…」

「Do it, now!」

I yelled, and Roswald-kun sprinted away.

That’s for the best.

「Oh, you’re letting your friend escape while you buy time? Touching. Now that I see you, you’ve got a pretty cute face.」

The man sneered, holding a thick wooden stick. It isn’t just any stick; a blow from it could be lethal.

「Let me ask you something. What’s your purpose?」

「To take your iron swords.」

「And after that?」

「To trade them for food. I don’t wanna do farm work. I’ll also get some slaves. But now that I’ve got you, plans might change.」

「Is that so? That’s a relief.」

「Relief?」

「It’s a relief that you’re an idiot and scum!」

I drew my iron sword and closed the distance to the man in a flash. He tried to defend with his wooden stick, but it was too slow. My sword slashed through the stick and into his flesh.

「Aaaaahhh!!」

「Die!!」

I raised my sword again and thrust it into his heart. Blood spurted out.

◇

「Thank god. I was lucky that he lowered his guard.」

In a fight, your physique is very important. Being taller gives the advantage of looking down on the opponent, and a larger body can exert more strength. Even considering the difference in sword skills and weapon quality, the gap in our combat abilities was significant. But he let his guard down.

In close quarters between amateurs, the advantage in combat abilities doesn’t matter much. The first to stab is the winner. It’s really dangerous to let your opponent close the distance in a fight to the death.

「I had no choice. If I had left him, he would have violated me. If we let him steal our swords, we would have lost our insurance in case the fields don’t work. Plus, if he knew our village’s location, more adults could have come. I needed to kill him here. I had no choice.」

I justified my actions to myself.

It was the right thing to do. There was no other way.

Then I looked down at the corpse. Suddenly, an intense nausea overwhelmed me.

I vomited. Everything in my stomach spilled out. It wasn’t out of sympathy for him. A scum like him deserved to die. It was just the unfamiliarity of the act that made me sick.

「Leader! Are you okay?!」

Ron-kun’s voice reached my ears. The children, armed with iron swords, were in front of me.

Roswald-kun also seemed fine.

「I’m okay. I’m fine.」

I managed to say, just before losing consciousness.

◇

I don’t know my parents’ faces.

My guardians were the teachers at the orphanage.

Sometimes, seeing children cry and scream for their parents, I felt a sense of loneliness. I never had the desire to meet mine.

Why did my parents abandon me?

Was it because they couldn’t afford to raise me? Or was my mother underage? Could it be that I was the result of a violation?

Either way, they must have made excuses to themselves, just like I did when I killed that man. In the end, like parents, like son.

◇

「Ugh… where am I?」

「!!! Almus has woken up!」

Tetra-chan’s loud voice reached my ears.

What’s with all the noise? Let me sleep a bit more.

The children approached me noisily.

「What’s the matter? Why the rush?」

「Leader, you’ve been asleep for three days.」

Three days? Why did I sleep for so long… Oh right, I killed a man. That must be why I fainted. Recalling it doesn’t bring the nausea back. Maybe the three days of rest helped my mind recover.

「Nii-san! Are you okay?」

Roswald-kun peered into my face.

Nii-san, huh… that has a nice ring to it.

「I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you.」

I patted Roswald-kun’s head.

Roswald-kun, in tears, jumped into my arms.

「I was worried! I thought you would die because of me… and then!!」

「Sorry about that. I was just tired from doing something I wasn’t used to. I can work again from today.」

I continued to stroke Roswald-kun’s head.

I wonder if, one day, they might call me ‘Dad’…