Survival

“I don’t assume you have a knife?” Saga asked next, as if nothing happened at all.

I was still very curious about her previous words, but had the feeling she’d simply ignore any follow-up questions about the subject. Kai probably thought the same, for he only answered her direct question.

“I wish. At least then I’d have some way to protect myself in this stupid place,” he grumbled.

“Should we really be doing this, though?” I noted. “I only just considered this, but… since we found one wolf there’s bound to be others, right? They might get attracted by the scent of blood or something, I’m not sure how this works.”

As if on cue, a howl resounded from somewhere distant. I shuddered and Kai actually gulped.

“Shit,” he cussed. “What are we supposed to do?!”

I took a deep breath, trying not to lose my cool like him. “We do need some sort of plan. Hunting for meat and fur or whatever is fine and all, but in these kinds of situations isn’t our main priority finding some shelter?”

“Dammit,” complained Kai again. “Why can’t we just find those Three Idiots and get it over with already?”

Saga looked at him, her brows slightly furrowed. “Hah, I guess we should try and survey the area. So, Kai. Get up there.” She gestured toward a nearby tree. It was tall and had a thick, gnarled bark.

“…Huh? Me?”

Saga’s expression was completely serious, but was she thinking of what I was thinking? I actually snickered out loud.

“Hey! What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just recalling your expertly tree-climbing from before,” I said.

Some red actually appeared on Kai’s cheeks. I don’t think I ever saw him like that. “T-that was… I just panicked, and… well,” he coughed, “I suppose it’s true, we have a nerd and a girl here, so I’m clearly the fittest one for the job…”

“Just do it,” said Saga.

Kai made somewhat of a sour face but gave no reply, instead turning toward the tree. Giving us one final glance, he then actually proceeded to climb it, grabbing and stepping on various protrusions and before long also branches.

For all of his acting, he really was a good climber. Disregarding the fact this stupid jock called me a nerd, he probably really was the best for the job.

Saga, meanwhile, stuck her sword in the ground, perhaps growing tired of carrying it, and stood there poker-faced, scanning the surroundings. There was definitely something odd about this girl, but she also looked immensely beautiful like this. Without her glasses, her sapphire eyes looked even more hypnotizing. Plain as they were, it wasn’t like those glasses made her uglier before, far from it, but I felt like they somehow inhibited her.

My gaze and musings were cut off in the middle as I noticed Kai’s form climbing back down at the edge of my vision.

“Ow.” He fumbled at the end there and slipped, nearly falling. All parts of his exposed skin were covered by scratches and bruises now, some leaves were stuck in his hair and he looked so miserable my suppressed smile felt really inappropriate.

“Well?” asked Saga.

“This place is awful,” he breathed, rubbing his cheek. “It’s just trees and trees everywhere… and we’re surrounded by a huge mountain. I think I did see something interesting, though—smoke!”

“Smoke?” I repeated.

“Yes!” he said. “Don’t you see? It means there are people somewhere around here!”

“Hmm. Could be a forest fire or something.”

“No way! I’m telling you, there’s actual humans somewhere nearby.”

“It could also be a volcano.”

“Shut up already, C.”

Well, I was just teasing him—his words did make sense. If there really were three warriors and a witch out there, people had to live somewhere.

“What do you say?” I asked, turning to Saga. I still couldn’t tell why, but she seemed to be the one among us used to these kinds of situations the most, so I wanted her opinion.

“Hah, worth a try, I guess,” she said. Casting one final glance at the dead wolf, she just immediately started walking.

She really was fearless, wasn’t she? While Kai and I were fumbling a lot through our way in this new world, she alone remained calm and even ready for it.

…Could it be?

Was she the mastermind behind this?

I had no particular reason to suspect her, but her appearance was the only thing I’d not accounted for, so it somewhat stood out. I should at least keep this in mind.

Now with a better direction I mind we continued on our path, wary of meeting any other dangerous predators which we could hear all around us.

Once or twice we could hear close growls, but Saga pushed us into a bush and we waited for a minute or two until she deemed it safe to continue.

At other times we saw other creatures, such as deer or rabbits. All were slightly different from those that I knew from our original world. Saga had hunted some of the latter. Seeing the girl chase rabbits around and skewer them with her sword was both comical and horrifying at the same time.

It was a hard trek; as a certified “nerd” I found myself wheezing and panting quite fast and my legs were on fire. Kai for all of his complaining ended up fine, while Saga was Saga.

Time passed. The sun was slowly travelling over the horizon—it seemed to me that it was earlier in the day than back in our world, at least. Also, I started getting hungry and my wounds still hurt.

Kai nagged me all the way to teach him magic, but after multiple attempts and no progress whatsoever, he just gave up.

It was with a somber sort of mood that we chanced upon a new discovery.

“What the hell?” Kai said eloquently as we found someone lying on the ground.

Well… it had been someone. Now it was nothing more than a skeleton. A human one.

Even Saga frowned for a change. “So there really are people around here, huh.”

“Or were,” I pointed out helpfully.

It was probably my first time seeing a dead person—though the fact they were already just a pile of bones did make it better. It still stank like hell, though.

“How old is that thing, exactly?” I wondered after a short while of staring at it.

“Hah, probably relatively fresh. I guess the beasts stripped it from all its meat, and some bones are missing,” Saga said, pointing out several parts that weren’t covered by leaves and dirt. “And… hmm, what’s that?”

She used her sword to touch something lying in the foliage and push it out. The item now fell in front of us. It was what looked to be a wooden bow.

“Ah,” I said, slightly nodding. “The hunter became the hunted.”

Kai deadpanned me. “I bet you feel really clever, huh?” he spat. “Oh wait, there’s a quiver here, too.”

He was right. A small distance away there was also a half-buried wooden leather pouch with several arrows inside.

“This means I can finally do something!” Kai said suddenly and leaned to the ground.

Oh, right. While Kai looked like a stereotypical jock, he mostly competed in archery. It was apparently a family tradition or something.

“Hah, good for you.” It was hard to tell from Saga’s tone, but she might have been sarcastic.

“Since a certain someone,” he said, casting a side-glance at me, “won’t share the secrets of magic with me, I’ll have to find another way to fend for myself. …It’s better than nothing, at least.”

Hopefully this wasn’t going to end up with an arrow stuck in my back, though.

Outwardly I just said, “Hmm, that’s nice for you. A dead man’s bow, very sanitary.”

Kai actually twitched at that. “Err, it looks to be in a good condition… it’d be a waste to just leave it here.”

Meanwhile, Saga seemingly lost interest in this entirely as she went past the body and ahead.

“W-wait!” called Kai, hurrying to collect the quiver. “At least let me give it a shot or something!”

“Hah. Be careful of what you wish for,” she said, raising her sword aloft. “Can’t you hear that?”

Straining my ears, I saw, or rather heard, what she meant.

Screams were coming from somewhere nearby.