Chapter 11 — A Long Road Ahead
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 3
Roaming another world is not the romantic affair it is made out to be. Between the stirring tales of ruins, magic, giant beasts, and heroes, what one must face far more often are practical matters—camping out in the wild, and how to fill one's belly.
The flight had been all haste from the start. After the castle was breached and they had fought to the last beside the final few household guards, no one could possibly have found the time to pack a satchel stuffed with dry rations. And the place from which they had finally set out was the ancestral tomb—a spot that by no stretch of the imagination looked like it stored food...
So when Amber's stomach growled, everyone realized the pressing reality of the situation.
All around them was wasteland, so bare that not a blade of grass grew on it. On the far side of the slope lay the Cecil domain, now reduced to a sea of fire and ruins, but somewhat farther down this side of the hill stood a dense forest.
In this place—a medieval world touched by magic—a forest beyond the town walls was synonymous with danger. Where the light of civilization could not reach, there were nothing but wild beasts, bandits, and monsters. Yet the forest also meant something else: more food to be had.
And to reach the northern town of Tansang, they had no choice but to pass through that forest.
At the forest's edge the party found a flat, open patch to rest, and then began to divide up the work of finding food.
Gao Yang first glanced at that muddle-headed little maid. This girl called Betty truly lacked any presence, but her courage was considerable—she had not even cried when the dragon flew over. Of course, it was also possible she had been frightened witless and simply failed to react. Even now the girl was tightly clutching that frying pan, standing in place somewhat nervously; noticing Gao Yang's gaze, she shrank her neck a little.
"Betty, Heidi, Rebecca—you three stay here. Byron, you stay behind as guard," Gao Yang said. "The rest of you come hunting with me. Including you, Amber."
Betty had no fighting ability. As spellcasters, Heidi and Rebecca were a different matter, but neither was suited to chasing beasts through a forest, and they had drained a great deal of energy besides. Since the battle in the castle they had had no chance to meditate and recover, and for casters who needed a sound mental state to bring out their full strength, that was a fatal problem. Better that they stay and hold the camp; if they could replenish their mana quickly, the road ahead would be a bit safer.
The three loyal family soldiers naturally had no complaints about the arrangements, but Amber's eyes went wide. "Why do I have to go too? I'm tired as well!"
Gao Yang shot her a glare. "Feel your ears—you're at least half elf. You can't come hunt in the woods with me? And you call yourself the descendant of people who lived in trees?"
Amber pursed her lips, resentment written all over her. "That's racial prejudice, you know. Who told you elves have to hunt in forests? I studied stealth, not forestry..."
"You dug up my grave."
Amber: "...Fine."
Gao Yang led three soldiers and one half-elf who claimed she could not hunt off into the forest, leaving the ever-faithful knight Byron and the three ladies to watch over the temporary camp.
After expending what little magic she had left to lay down a few warning runes, Heidi sat wearily on a stone, while Rebecca took Betty on a circuit within the perimeter guarded by Sir Byron, then came back carrying a small bundle of dry branches she had gathered nearby.
After piling the branches on the ground, Rebecca stepped back two paces, raised her staff, and chanted the most basic fire-starting incantation. An unstable burst of fireball began to coalesce in the air.
Heidi stopped her before the fireball could explode. "Never mind—let me do it."