In Thesenia, the city they lived in, hunting mutants was not particularly easy. Rival organizations aside, flying over the sea to lure mutants and hook them up with harpoons was quite arduous.
"So you really came out."
"I have to come out if I'm going to make up for the things I broke."
But he had long been inured to rough work. Odysseus smiled crookedly at Captain Songha's question.
"Good. We move out."
Hunting Team 1, led by Captain Songha, boarded their respective equipment.
The four on luring duty took single-seat Air Bikes that went from zero to a hundred in under two seconds; the eight harpoon hands took two-seat Air Bikes; and the three on on-the-spot butchering and storage duty rode the twenty-seat Air Boat.
For reference, Odysseus was bound for the Air Boat. The reason was that both the luring squad's sleek streamlined Air Bikes and the harpoon squad's motorcycle-type Air Bikes were too dangerous.
"Uh, disappointed you can't ride an Air Bike, are you, sir?"
"Not particularly. And why the honorifics again? We're on the same team now."
"Then after what you put us through yesterday, you... no, fine. I'll speak plainly."
The Air Boat, by contrast, was in the form of a yacht with a proper railing. When Odysseus stared at the more unfamiliar shape of the Air Bikes, another member chuckled. "Embarrassed, are you. Anyone can see you're disappointed." However you looked at it, it was the attitude of teasing a small child.
"I said I'm not envious."
"No need to hold back like that. But keep the disappointment down. It's plain as day that no matter how used to expeditions you get, they will never put you on an Air Bike."
"I mean it, though... why won't they?"
"You're a magician. Driving precious manpower into the jaws of death would be insane."
Well... he already knew from Aran that the death rate among Air Bike riders was high. The difficulty of piloting aside, apparently keeping the body fixed to the Air Bike by leg strength alone was tremendously hard.
And after spearing a mutant on a harpoon one had to endure the mutant's violent thrashing as well, so it was certainly not a role suited to the boy. The luring squad, with the highest death rate, went without saying.
"That is a bit of a shame. I'd like to ride one at least once."
"Ask for a ride once we're back on the ground. It's a request from our precious Magician; the captain will turn a blind eye to the cost of the fuel."
"Will she?"
Odysseus picked out reactions and a manner of speech such as a young child might show and played along suitably, while his body leaned comfortably against the Air Boat's railing. The Air Boat's engine set to work with a rattle and his field of view rose slightly. It was the maximum altitude permitted when traveling over roads.
"First time flying and not a bit scared."
"Careful you don't fall backward. If you drop, that's a bruise at minimum."
He had done plenty of voyaging in his life. But he had never once imagined he would voyage aboard a ship that flew through the sky. It was a strange feeling.
'If only Penelope were here as well.'
Odysseus found himself gauging what it would have been like if his love were in this place.
Would she have been frightened, or fascinated? Or perhaps she would have smiled broadly. She was someone who had liked being swept up into his arms while pretending she did not.
"The wind is stronger than I expected."
"It gets stronger once we're out over the sea. Get away from the railing then."
"Yes."
He let such musings drift off on the wind and obediently followed the words of those younger than himself. Naturally, he might hold more ancient knowledge, but these people held more knowledge of the present world. He had to learn again from the beginning now.
"And never take the goggles off."
"I couldn't take them off to begin with. I can't see ahead without them."
"Huh, your eyes are bad?"
"Yes."
Sadly, this young body had eyes so thin the pupils could hardly be seen, and on top of that its eyesight was damn poor.
It was as though someone had plucked out dead Odysseus' eyeballs and set them in here. Things close by looked hazy and could not be made out, goddamn it.
"Once you've earned plenty of money later, go and get your vision corrected. And don't get fucked over like that son of a bitch, handing yourself to a quack to save money."
"Fuck, that wasn't by choice!"
"Hey, hey, eyes front. You know we're all finished if you get our precious Magician hurt?"
"Fucking son of a bitch, seriously."
The one on driving duty spouted thick curses while steering the Air Boat smoothly. Krrsh, krrsh. The next moment the headset hooked over his ear spat out a human voice along with the noise.
—This is Command. Move to Platform 4.
The Air Boat and Air Bikes belonging to Expedition Team: Freedom entered the airfield. The sight of airships landing and taking off in real time was like a scene out of myth. Odysseus' eyes gazed at the sea beyond the wall and the machines passing back and forth in between.
—Prepare for takeoff.
Captain Songha at the very front led the expedition team toward Platform 4. Since a reservation had been made, no one stopped them.
Without a single halt, every vehicle came to a stop on the airfield. It was an airfield whose sky was closed off by a transparent dome and whose front, facing out to sea, held a thick steel wall.
—All personnel, don masks.
"Hah, how many will we get today."
"I hope just one big bastard turns up."
Immediately after, when the signal came, every craft advanced toward the wall. CLANK. Part of the wall set in front lowered like a drawbridge and made an exit for them.
A lukewarm wind blew.
"Hey, little Magician. Got your mask on tight?"
"...Yes."
The contamination gnawing at the world was tremendously persistent and virulent, and wearing a gas mask did not solve all of it. At the same time, merely by breathing through a filter they could delay dying pickled in contamination by roughly ten to twenty years.
That was why they wore the masks without fail despite the stuffiness.
"And you remember where the weapons are?"
"Of course."
"Good. Lodge it firmly in your head. I doubt it will ever fall to you to use them, but you never know how things go."
"Yes."
Odysseus went over the two knives, one pistol, and one specially prepared weapon he carried as he watched the city receding. The island city growing steadily more distant called to mind a forest made of steel and concrete.
—Command to Hawk, Eagle, Owl. Prey detected. Beginning the lure.
"Good. We will comply."
The hunt, which could be called the flower of the expedition, began about thirty minutes after they left the city. The craft flying in formation moved in perfect order.
—Dropping bait.
The fastest moving among them was naturally the luring squad. One sleek, streamlined Air Bike descended until it nearly touched the surface of the water and opened the trunk at its rear. SPLOOSH! Red blood and entrails spread out in an instant.
SPLOOOOSH.
From there another of the luring squad dove into the sea. He came shooting back out before long, but that was all.
They splashed about on the surface until the prey responded. Considering that what they meant to hunt were mutants, that is, beasts transformed by contamination and raised to an extreme degree of danger, it was an exceedingly dangerous business.
"...I see why the luring squad's death rate is high."
"Right?"
But this era was a world where a life could be measured in money. Just as in that past, warriors had thrown their lives away for honor.
—This is Hawk. It's coming!
And their labor finally saw the light.
The instant the luring squad's Air Bike rose above the water by a hair, an enormous water beast appeared behind it. The gaping maw was, to anyone's eyes, poised to chew the Air Bike whole.
VROOM!
SNAP!
Unfortunately for it, the Air Bike's acceleration was a little faster. The shark mutant's mouth bit empty air, and the luring squad swiftly poured rounds into it.
—Fire!
BABABANG!
And the harpooners who had been standing by shot their spears at the mutant that had appeared. They were certainly not primitive thrown javelins. The developed world had put a fearsome thing called the harpoon gun on the market.
—Hold it!
—Which moron missed?!
—Fuck, sorry!
—Reload!
Harpoons were launched from every side, and a total of two lodged in the mutant's body. Half of four had struck, so the hit rate was good if you called it good and bad if you called it bad.
TATATANG.
The gunfire that followed pierced the mutant's torso and accelerated its bleeding further.
"We prepare as well."
"Yes."
While the harpooners who had struck first bore the mutant's violent thrashing and the luring squad drove in a few more bullets, those who had missed pulled their harpoon-gun triggers again. This time all of them hit.
KYAAARGH!
With a total of four harpoons lodged in it, the mutant's struggling gradually lessened. The Air Bikes that had been swaying along with the recoil of its thrashing likewise regained their calm one after another.
Those who had doggedly endured against falling slowly raised their altitude.
"Hah, a big one right from the start."
Around then the Air Boat moved sluggishly. Naturally it was not moving slowly on purpose. It was simply too big to be quick.
"This is Porter. Lowering the chain."
In any case, the moment the Air Boat positioned itself exactly above the mutant, the specially modified floor opened.
"Careful you don't fall through. There's no idiocy quite like falling through and dying at this stage."
"Yes."
"Hey! Hatch is open! Lower the chain!"
"Okay!"
After that the pulley above the opened deck moved. It seemed the one at the wheel had operated something. The weight connected to the pulley descended. On the underside of the weight hung several dozen strands of something like noodles.
"Don't stick your head out too far. You'll fall through."
"I was curious."
Odysseus poked his head out toward the hatch. He could see the shark mutant still writhing, apparently still alive. Captain Songha, who belonged to the luring squad, had already drawn near the mutant.
"What is the captain doing?"
"She's making sure of the kill. If that thing goes wild after it's been hauled up onto the boat, things get a bit awkward."
The member told him there had actually been a bastard who hauled one up thinking it was dead and was killed by its final thrash. It was an anecdote befitting a man with years in the job.
"She moves very... carefully."
"The fewer needless wounds the better. And with a bastard whose hide can be used, less damage means a better price."
"Ah, I see."
The mutant writhed intermittently in resistance, but Captain Songha circled round and round it without a moment's fluster. There was one truly dangerous moment, and she stabbed its gills instead, as though she had been waiting for it. Truly a practiced hand.
"How long did they say it's been since the captain founded the expedition team?"
"Uh... I've only been in a year, so I don't really know."
"It hasn't been ten years, has it? No, wait, weren't you an original member to begin with?"
Had Yul been an original member? Odysseus slowly traced back through the memories. The childhood ones were hazy and not at all certain, but it did seem to have been roughly so.
Because he had faint memories of Yun's words, 『The business of debts and grudges bothers me, but... since it was founded not long ago, the treatment shouldn't be bad.』, and of holding Yun's hand and working primitive magic before the captain's eyes.
"So it seems."
Yul had been about four or five then... considering he was twelve now, it seemed to be roughly seven or eight years. And seven or eight years was a level that could dare be called veteran in this trade, famous for its short lifespans.
"It was when I was little, so I couldn't remember well."
"That's fair. You're young even now; if it was earlier than this......."
—Kill confirmed. Haul it up.
"Ah, that's done."
The mutant's death came through the headset. The turn of the Air Boat's passengers, who had been relatively idle, had finally arrived.
SHRRRK!
The weight, which had stopped at a set altitude, descended further and bound the mutant. The thing like noodles was something for wrapping the mutant more effectively.
The tentacles, clinging to the mutant's body like magnets, held the carcass firmly in place.
"Is it properly secured?"
—It is properly secured. You may proceed.
"Received."
Immediately after, the mutant's corpse was hauled up through the installed pulley. The steel wires linking the Air Bikes to the harpoons had already been released, so there was nothing in the way.
The moment the mutant's carcass reached the upper surface of the Air Boat's deck, the floor closed again.
"Right, our work starts from here."
"Yes."
The carcass was freed from the noodle strands, and the blood that flowed out began to soak the deck. The salt smell of the sea and the reek of blood came through the gas mask into his nose.
"All right, the first thing we touch is the fins."
There had been no work until now, but not from here on. The member on butchering duty gripped his knife firmly and cut the fins first. He handled the parts sold as materials himself and left the rest to the boy.
Odysseus took the butchering knife and his hand moved nimbly.
"Oh, you cut clean, don't you? At this rate you'll learn fast."
"I'm glad it's not bad."
His own country, Ithake, had been an island nation too, so it was a natural enough assessment. And even apart from his homeland, having spent nearly ten years at sea after the war with Ilion... no, Troy, he could not help but grow confident at dressing fish.
"Next we have to cut the tail. I'll set the saw in first, so you pull each time I give the signal."
"Understood."
"Heh heh, it would have been nice if you were a psychokinetic."
"I think so too."
Psychokinesis was the name for one of the subfields of magic.
That magic, which moved objects by spreading magic power through the air, was simple only in principle; in practice the sheer viciousness of having to calculate every bit of it meant its users were few. It was demanding enough that magic of this line, too, was said to require inborn capacity.
"Still, I can do physical enhancement. I won't be short on strength."
"I should think so. If you couldn't even do physical enhancement, the captain would never have brought you along."
Sadly, Odysseus did not have the ability to carry out all those calculations by intuition alone. In place of that, as it were, he was more than confident in enhancement magic, which strengthened the body with magic power.
"Right, pull!"
In any case, using physical enhancement well, one could aim even at double the strength one could originally put out. Odysseus used that to cut off the shark's tail.
—Hawk reporting to Command! Multiple Air Bikes sighted on the horizon at two o'clock! They appear to be heading this way!
The anomaly occurred around the time he was gently stripping the scales and cutting out the head and gills.
A group with a steel-bar mark engraved on their craft appeared from the far side of the sea.