Death sometimes came as swiftly as the wind.
Like a huge hammer falling onto one’s head, a blade piercing one’s heart, an arrow lodged in one’s throat, or a dagger thrust through a gap in one’s armor.
It did not present a warning notice, nor did it give one time to prepare oneself and exchange final farewells.
Life vanished that way. Like an arrow in flight.
But sometimes death came so slowly it was tedious.
Heat slowly burning one’s entire body, deadly poison that made even breathing painful, cold burrowing beneath one’s skin, thirst that seemed ready to tear and twist one’s throat apart.
And even hunger, which crushed one’s reason and blurred one’s vision.
We now stood before death.
“Get into position. Think that if we do not catch that thing, we will all die.”
The seven mercenaries, myself included, formed a circle to catch a single target.
Our prey was mocking us. There was no fear of death in its round eyes.
That creature had survived until the moment it stood before us. To it, the ordeal of humans must always have been an ordeal it could overcome.
“Close the encirclement. Take one step forward!”
I stared at the small prey. I did not take my eyes off it.
Its eyes began to dart busily. It was identifying an escape route and preparing to leap away at any moment.
It must not move before our own movement forced it to. To gain even one more chance, an attack capable of cutting off its breath had to come first.
“Fire.”
I murmured in a tiny voice, praying the prey would not realize this was the signal to begin.
At the same time, a small stone flew swiftly through the air.
“Hnngh!”
It was Niv’s throw, the mercenary who used a sling. But perhaps because the aftereffects of her poisoning remained, the stone lodged so far from the target that even calling it a shame would have been generous.
“It is moving!”
But the sudden stone was enough to exhaust the prey’s patience.
The prey moved. Its white legs began to move madly.
“Block it!”
It fled toward the smallest and weakest-looking human, Dana.
“Eek, eek!”
Startled, Dana stepped backward. It was a grave mistake.
“Where do you think you are going!”
“Hup!”
Iris’s spear barely grazed it. In that moment, Anna quickly ran over and blocked its path.
“Uh, uh!”
Realizing people had gathered in that direction, the prey turned with surprising speed. Toward me.
“How insolent!”
I kicked up dirt, blocking its vision.
Chasing that speed was meaningless. Unless one was a hunter as swift and agile as an elf, a human could not pursue ‘that beast’ through sheer acceleration.
But I could block its route. I had taken this position before that beast did.
That chance alone was not enough to catch it, but-
“H-here it goes……!”
A stone flew in. With a chilling thunk, the prey fell.
“D-did it…… hit? It hit……, right? Th-that is a relief…….”
Perhaps from too much tension, Niv sat down where she stood.
I approached the prey, grabbed its long ear, and lifted it up.
It was certainly dead. It had died instantly. The hunt had succeeded.
“Good work……. At least we can fill our stomachs a little today.”
The rabbit hunt had succeeded. Faint smiles spread across every mercenary’s lips.
***
Not long after we left the village, the food problem arose. Just as expected.
It was the inevitable result of our number of mouths rising to seven and our being unable to buy food in the previous village.
“Everyone, good work. You did well.”
I did not know whether I could call it fortunate, but we had plenty of firewood.
‘It is a shame we could not bring even a pot…….’
If we could have made a stew, we could have stretched the food and eaten enough to feel at least somewhat full.
But we had no such impressive cooking equipment, so we had no choice but to crudely roast the prey we had barely caught over the fire.
‘It was already a small rabbit, but after removing the parts we cannot eat, it looks even smaller.’
It was far too little for seven people to eat. But it was enough to divide death from life.
“Let us eat.”
The edible greens Ember had gathered were accompanied by the rabbit meat we had just hunted.
“At least we will not die. Fortunately.”
I turned my head and looked at the donkey leisurely grazing on grass.
Dana’s eyes widened.
“W-why are you looking at our Dangdang like that?”
“Dangdang?”
“Yes! I gave it a name!”
It seemed she had named the donkey without my knowing. It did have rather cute eyes, but I had not expected them to grow close so quickly.
“Do not get too attached. If today’s hunt had failed, either we would die or that donkey would have to die.”
“Th-that is…… It is pitiful.”
“When you work as a mercenary, there will be many times when you have to choose. Either you die, or some other ‘pitiful’ person dies.”
“Hnnngh…….”
“You too would think it better for a donkey to die than your sister.”
“That is true, but…….”
“Is the rabbit not pitiful too? It is cute. But what can we do? We have to kill it…….”
With her spirits low, she lowered her head. I forced myself to smile gently.
“I say that, but I only meant you should be prepared. I do not want to kill this donkey either.”
“Really? Captain, you like our Dangdang too!”
“Who will carry the luggage if it is gone?”
An enormous load was strapped onto the donkey’s back: Man-Eating Spider webbing.
“We did not buy that animal to use as food, so we should avoid eating it as long as we can.”
“I see…….”
Dana smiled brightly. Perhaps the other mercenaries had missed eating a proper meal as well, because they all smiled.
But the meal ended in an instant. The mercenaries realized once more how little meat they held in their hands.
Their stomachs were a little fuller, but not enough to feel happy.
Instead, the mercenaries felt uneasy that the yield of a hunt achieved through thorough planning and a little luck amounted to only this much.
“Captain, when will this life end?”
Jema asked a question I did not want to answer. Not because it was difficult to answer, but because it was too easy.
“When we reach the next village.”
“Hnnngh…….”
“Shall I answer a little more specifically? Even when we reach the next village, we have no money and no goods to sell there.”
My armor, helmet, and weapons were not for sale. Without them, I would have to risk my life in every battle to come.
“We will somehow take miscellaneous requests there to make a living……, and once we stabilize somewhat, we will be able to eat our fill.”
“Please tell us something more hopeful.”
“That is where luck comes in.”
I let out a deep sigh.
“If we are very lucky, we will get a merchant caravan escort request as soon as we arrive at the village. Then the caravan will handle the food problem, so at least we will not go hungry.”
“Um……. Is there no way to fill our stomachs before reaching the village?”
“We can defeat a brave pack of wild dogs, or a boar that attacks us.”
“What if nothing appears?”
“It would be better to assume there is nothing.”
If I hardened my heart, I could obtain food by robbing travelers or peddlers unfortunate enough to be wandering near us.
But that was a last resort. If, by bad luck, a survivor from a merchant caravan escaped, a wanted notice could be issued throughout the nearby territory over a single robbery.
The odds of being discovered immediately were lower than the odds of not being discovered, but after my mercenary company gained a reputation and grew larger, it could hold us back for a long time.
“Then…….”
“Get a hold of yourselves. If you have finished eating, let us begin the work. I do not think we can walk any farther today.”
“The sun is still up…… What has gotten into you? On other days, you told us to keep walking no matter how exhausted we were.”
“I told you to keep walking then because I thought you could walk farther. Not now.”
The mercenaries’ legs were shaking. I was fine, but the other mercenaries would not be able to walk farther today.
I brought out the spiderwebs loaded on the donkey’s back.
“These will be our lifeline, so weave them with care.”
The stickiness was gone, but the elasticity remained. If twisted and braided well, they could become good cord.
As long as time allowed, we had to make as many nets as possible.
The six mercenaries gathered close together and devoted themselves to their work. Ember, the woman with the severed arm, leisurely watched the field and kept watch over the surroundings.
‘The situation is not bad……, but it is difficult to call it good either.’
Hunger was one problem, but there were mountains of expenses ahead.
When we arrived at a village, I had to repair my armor, and we had to meet a priest with divine power to treat the mercenaries’ wounds as well.
For now, I had kept them under control to some extent with medicine that had healing effects, but that alone could not heal the mercenaries’ wounds completely.
I let out a deep sigh.
‘Will something happen that can make us money……. No, at least let something happen that will let us obtain food…….’
***
The march began again. The seven mercenaries walked and walked without saying a word.
It was tedious, but opening their mouths to speak consumed calories. They did not even have the energy for that.
‘Should I be glad none of the mercenaries are trying to desert?’
If this were the game, it would not have been strange for some mercenaries to desert by now. But my mercenary company was quiet.
They understood well that leaving my mercenary company in this situation would not make hunger disappear.
‘……Huh?’
After walking for a long while, I spotted a wagon.
“It looks like…… a merchant?”
But it was a cake in a picture. It would be better not even to look at it.
Merchants would never try to make a losing deal.
Even if I spent our scant money to buy food from a peddler just to ease our immediate hunger, all we would get would be a few thumb-sized pieces of jerky.
The moment I thought that, the wagon began rushing toward us.
“Everyone, prepare for battle.”
I could not tell whether they approached with hostility or goodwill.
But either way, we had to be ready. The mercenaries each took up their weapons.
Half-rotted wooden clubs. A spear, wooden spears made by sharpening the wooden handles of broken plows, daggers.
They were pathetic weapons, but they were still far better than fighting barehanded.
After we waited a moment, the wagon came close. The merchant inside looked at me.
“E-excuse me……, are you mercenaries?”
“We are.”
“I want to make a request! A bandit gang is chasing us! If you protect us, we will somehow reward you-”
“Do you have a lot of food?”
“Pardon?”
“Those bandit bastards, do they carry a lot of food?”
Hunger gnawed at one’s reason. I was no exception.
All my thoughts were fixed on ‘something edible.’