Chapter 55

“If you were to land in a wild area, what’s most important for survival?”

I think it’s water.

The human body can be weak yet strong. You can endure hunger for days, but if you don’t drink water, you’ll die quickly.

There’s a saying that you can survive three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. While willpower is crucial, everything becomes meaningless without water.

We do have potions we can use as a substitute for water, but we need to conserve them as much as possible.

“I’m glad we brought water. We can ration it out bit by bit,”

I said, relieved that among the supplies we had planned, there was indeed water.

Though we didn’t bring food, we could easily carry water in a small pouch. Most importantly, Grace is a magician.

She can create drinking water with magic. Just point at the air and say ‘water!’ and it starts dripping down.

At least, when it comes to drinking water, it seems I’m lucky. When I lived in the wilderness, there was a stream near my hideout.

Still, it’s best to drink a little bit at a time in case of emergencies. Each person was given a bottle of water, and I plan to do the same.

“The drinking water is fine, but… what about our meals?”

Lee Yeon-joo, who just took a sip of water, asked cautiously. Time was passing, and it was getting close to lunch.

Grace pondered for a moment at Yeon-joo’s question before she glanced over at me, seemingly planning to leave it to the expert.

‘Honestly, I could go a few days without eating.’

The human body is optimized for surviving without food. If it’s endurance, I have plenty.

I remember when I lived in the woods, I’d eat bugs or small animals to keep going. But even that became tough.

Eventually, I awakened my magic power and started hunting larger animals, but using magic consumes a lot of stamina, meaning I need to replenish those calories.

“…Sivar?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you perhaps find us something to eat?”

Grace asked cautiously. I thought about it for a moment.

I could easily throw them a few plump bugs and call it a day, but I knew they wouldn’t eat those.

So, it meant I would have to hunt animals and cook them over a fire. Emergency food would never fill us up.

‘There are certainly plenty of animals around.’

Just from the sounds nearby, I could tell there were several. They had come right into our safe zone and seemed at ease.

Considering I couldn’t feel the presence of other teams nearby, it confirmed there was no one else close by.

“Yeah?”

“Are you serious?”

After a brief pause, my response made Grace beam with happiness.

Being a magician, her magic use was rather taxing. As I mentioned before, using magic leads to the consumption of stamina.

“Bugs. Lots of them.”

“…?”

As I suggested they substitute the meal with bugs, Grace’s smiling face went stiff. Lee Yeon-joo turned pale.

Of course, I was joking. Upon reconsideration, while it suited me fine, bugs were merely disgusting to a civilized person.

It might be okay if cooked over a fire, but whether they’d actually eat them remained a question. Still, I had to give it a try.

I looked around and began gathering fallen branches.

Normally, I’d be looking for a cave or some hideout, but since we weren’t planning to stay here, it didn’t matter.

“…What are you doing?”

“Fire.”

“Fire? You’re going to make a fire?”

“Yeah.”

Grace had realized I was planning to make a fire and looked at me in fascination.

She could have just sat back and watched, but perhaps it was too obvious, so she started picking up branches to hand to me.

Meanwhile, Lee Yeon-joo stood still, staring blankly, unable to figure out what to do.

Of course, this was all an act. For her own reputation, she deliberately did nothing.

If she were her usual self, she’d be the most proactive. I could understand why now.

‘I wonder what her true face looks like when it’s finally revealed.’

Before long, I had a decent pile of branches and placed dry leaves on top.

Now it was time to light the fire. I could use Grace’s magic, but I needed to save as much magic power as I could.

Snap!

So, I lightly flicked my fingers to ignite a spark. The friction of my fingers was enough to produce heat.

It was the same principle as using flint. Given my body, such a thing was possible.

“…Sammaejinhwa?”

As the flames began to rise from the piled branches, Lee Yeon-joo muttered in surprise. That’s a familiar martial art name.

But I wasn’t using martial arts—I just sparked a flame like a brute with my own body.

“Yeon-joo? What did you just say? It sounded like the Language of the Eastern Empire.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just thought it was interesting to see Sivar start a fire like that…”

“Hmm. True, not everyone can create a spark with just a finger flick.”

While they were chatting, the flames from the sticks I’d lit flared up. Now that the fire was going, we just needed to find some food.

I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out my emergency snack. It was a grub I’d found hours ago in a rotten log.

Fortunately, it was intact and still alive.

“You’re not thinking of cooking that… eww…”

Just as Grace was speaking in a terrified voice, something started trampling through the bushes behind her.

With the crackling of the fire drowning it out, I could still hear it clearly.

“?”

Even Lee Yeon-joo, whose ears were sensitive, seemed puzzled and turned around.

She was reacting instinctively, completely ignoring anything else.

Regardless, Grace was horrified at the bug I held in my hand.

As much as I wanted to roast it and eat it, I figured that would be too much.

Suddenly!

“Grrrr!!”

Out of the underbrush charged a wild boar toward us.

As Malboro had mentioned, they’re one of the dangerous creatures in the woods along with snakes.

“AAAAAH!”

“W-What…?”

The sudden appearance of the boar startled both Lee Yeon-joo and Grace.

While Yeon-joo put on a show, Grace’s cute face was uniquely transformed by shock.

Even with that panic, her sharp eyes remained, making her expression even more intriguing.

“Grrrr! Grrrr!”

The boar rushed at us with its distinct grunts. More precisely, it was heading straight for me.

Typically, wild boars don’t attack first. Unless they’re startled or have a sudden encounter.

‘Is it because of me?’

It’s said that animals have a terrifying instinct. The boar likely perceived me as a threat and attacked first.

If it were a docile herbivore, it might have fled first, but a boar is a nasty predator. In the woods, no creature would dare mess with an enraged boar.

Crunch!

But it’s lunchtime. I had my doubts, but a generous lunch had come crawling right in.

I threw Ragnarok directly at the boar’s head as it charged. The axe sank cleanly into its forehead.

There was a roaring flame between the boar and me that I needed to protect, though I was fine. But if a fire broke out in the woods, that would be trouble.

Thud-thud-

As the axe embedded itself in the boar’s head, it dropped dead. Due to its momentum, it finally stopped just before Grace’s face.

Grace stared blankly at the boar, then turned away. Her complexion turned pale, and her eyes were wide.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but her mouth didn’t seem willing to cooperate. I guess that was expected—this was her first experience.

I stood up, leaving Grace in her panic.

Slide-

I pulled the Ragnarok out from the boar’s head.

Having thrown it with barely any force and still killing it shows how impressive its performance is. I’m sure I’ll use it again.

“Hmm.”

I looked over the boar. Some can be so large they could almost be a house.

But this one was smaller. It fell between juvenile and adult size.

Perhaps the Academy adjusted this on purpose for the safety of students.

“Are you… okay?”

“Y-Yeah? Oh, yes… I’m fine…”

Grace, taking Yeon-joo’s support, finally managed to stand up. Her legs trembled, clearly still shaken.

Meanwhile, I turned to face them after checking the boar, then pointed back at it.

“Lunch.”

“Huh?”

Grace’s eyes widened in astonishment at my words. Then, she turned to look at the dead boar behind me.

Still struggling to comprehend the situation, she blinked rapidly. I emphasized further.

“Lunch.”

“…Are you saying that boar is lunch?”

“Yep.”

Upon hearing my simple response, Grace stared back at the boar. The boar had its tongue hanging out, dead on the ground.

Her violet eyes began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck. Much better than bugs, but it was still a boar.

For a refined person, it’s unthinkable to consider such a meal. The very idea could easily ruin one’s appetite.

“We can eat it for sure. I’ve heard that wild boars are domesticated pigs in our culture.”

As Grace became deep in thought, Yeon-joo cautiously chimed in. She seemed hungry herself.

This size of a boar should satisfy them and could even be packed for food later. Smoked meat, hopefully.

“…Okay. But how do we butcher it?”

“Uh… isn’t it something Sivar could do?”

“Sivar lived in the wild, right? He probably has no concept of butchering?”

Maybe that’s a bit prejudiced. Even if it’s clunky, I’ve butchered before.

Upon hearing that, I took the boar and moved it elsewhere. Doing it here isn’t viable.

If it were normal, I’d fashion various tools to make it more comfortable, but this isn’t my old forest.

We just needed to last until 7 PM the next day.

Crunch!

First, let’s get the head off. I swung the axe down on the boar’s thick neck.

While I could have easily sliced it with my red magic, I recalled Rod’s advice.

Try as much as possible to hide the red magic. I realized using it carelessly could cause unwanted troubles.

Crunch! Thud!

With just three swift axe strikes, the boar’s head separated from its body, and warm blood gushed out.

Now I just needed to hold it up to drain the blood. There were some logs nearby for this.

‘Ah, but I have nothing to tie it with.’

Now, that was a dilemma. I pondered how to secure it and turned to the others.

And what I found was an amusing sight.

“Ugh!”

“Are you alright?”

Grace apparently reached her limit and was emptying her stomach contents onto the ground.

Yeon-joo gently patted her back, looking worried. Regardless of the performance, Grace seemed to be in a serious state.

How could she collapse from just beheading the boar? I scratched my head, unable to understand.

We were planning on a guts party soon; how could she faint from this?

“What’s with you?”

This is what civilized people are like.

*****

While Sivar’s team was heading toward total chaos, other teams were surviving in their own ways.

Among them, if I had to pick the best team, it would be Kara’s team. They had a nice balance.

Kara, the princess of Tartar, had a personality far removed from authority, and the other team members obediently followed her orders.

“Aren’t you going to eat that? You’ll only suffer without food.”

“Even if it’s roasted, how can I eat a bug?!”

Of course, that didn’t solve the food problem. Unlike Kara, the team members refused to eat.

Given that the meal was bugs, their reaction was entirely justifiable, yet Kara couldn’t comprehend.

“No, it’s tasty! They eat pupae in the Eastern Empire, so why can’t you?”

“That’s your culture, not ours! Cultures are different, Kara!”

“That’s rather strange.”

Kara tossed a bug into her mouth, fully cleaned out, and roasted.

As a result, it didn’t taste disgusting at all; it just had a pleasant flavor that lingered in her mouth. It suited her taste just fine.

Tartar is a desert area, so they generally suffer from food shortages. This led to the unique development of their food culture.

They eat bugs, sure, but also rats and various beasts. Anything edible cooked over a fire.

‘Sivar probably ate whatever was handed to him.’

Kara moved, leaving behind the team members who gazed at her with disdain.

They likely considered her a savage. Now, she could just let that slide.

As long as she didn’t say it out loud. The moment they called her a savage, she would ditch any practicalities.

Rustle-

Just then, they heard rustling in the bushes in front of Kara. She and her team turned their attention toward it.

While her teammates seemed tense, Kara’s face remained unfazed. As if she already knew someone was coming.

“Oh! Found you! Over here, over here!”

A familiar face emerged from the foliage — Antonio, another survivor.

Kara regarded Antonio with a puzzled expression. He was on Luna’s team.

But why was there no suspicion and instead a warm greeting? In this exercise, all others except her team were rivals.

“…Sister.”

While Kara was processing this, Luna shyly stepped out, looking rather nervous.

Wondering if they had come to fight, Antonio spoke first.

“Princess Kara, just to be clear, we didn’t come to fight.”

“Then what is it?”

“We have a tempting proposal for you.”

“Hmm?”

Kara raised an eyebrow at the mention of a proposal. At the same time, she glanced at Luna.

Though she didn’t have a clue what their scheme was, judging by how Luna looked convinced, it must be something out of the ordinary.

Let’s hear them out. Kara nodded, pausing her weapon on her shoulder.

“What is it…”

Antonio explained, just like he did with Luna – a proposal to eliminate Sivar first.

They deemed it impossible to defeat him and considered the exercise itself unfair.

Thus, they suggested teaming up with other teams to make Sivar lose.

“…That doesn’t sound bad.”

“For sure. If he’s around, we won’t have a chance.”

It seemed Kara’s team was already swayed by Antonio’s words, nodding in agreement. It was pretty sure.

However, Kara’s reaction was as bland as ever. Seemingly uninterested.

“It’s an interesting proposal.”

“Right?”

“Yeah.”

Antonio thought he had her sold and appeared genuinely happy.

Luna, who had watched nervously, felt optimistic too. If Kara agreed, they’d have a solid ally…

“There are many ways to commit suicide, but this one’s quite novel.”

“…Huh?”

“Sister?”

Kara’s response was lengthy but very straightforward.

“It’d be easier to become friends with a tiger, you know?”

In short, she declined.

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