Lacrima Outpost
Lacrima Outpost.
The base sat on a highland where the snow never melted, and extreme cold defined everything about it. Warm clothes were a given, and whenever you did anything at all, you had to bring Thermal Powder. Without it, heat was stripped from your body in an instant, and you slowly froze solid. They said even sweat would freeze. I didn't know exactly what kind of pain that was, but if intense activity ever made me sweat, I would find out soon enough what it meant for sweat itself to freeze. I wasn't a fool, so I had no desire to test it.
The cold wasn't the only problem. The high altitude played its part as well. Intense activity easily triggered altitude sickness. Move around like an idiot without thinking, and you'd collapse before you ever fought a monster. That was how much more difficult Lacrima was than any other region. The very absence of a Master Hunter hinted that the Association and the royal family had postponed the highland campaign for later.
They hadn't put it off simply because the place was hard to explore. That place was, quite literally, a field of corpses. People who dozed off during a rest without sprinkling Thermal Powder and froze to death right there. People who ignored altitude sickness, kept moving, then suddenly collapsed from exhaustion and were killed by monsters. Cases where a companion got injured right when Thermal Powder was running low, and the group had to leave them behind because everyone was at risk of freezing to death if they stayed. I knew all this because the main duty at Lacrima Outpost was corpse recovery.
The royal family and the Association were probably delaying the campaign so they could prepare thoroughly and keep more people from dying. But we couldn't wait forever. If no one else would do it, then I had no choice but to step up myself.
Three days later, I looked at Pina's outfit and asked,
"Not uncomfortable?"
"Better than freezing to death!"
Worried about the highland cold, Pina had layered her clothes so thickly it seemed excessive. Physical stamina would matter more than that, though. Unlike Pina, I wore a moderate number of layers. Even if I wanted more, I had no choice if I was going to put armor on top. It might be a little chilly, but sprinkling Thermal Powder would make it much better.
Still, I understood Pina's fussing. I wasn't particularly fond of cold weather either. Of all four seasons, the one I hated most was winter. It was just cold, and nothing good came of it. Especially in the military, winter had been the worst season of all. I still couldn't forget it—snow removal, of course, plus guard duty with hands and feet frozen solid, cold-weather training, and every other petty little problem on top of that. Day after day of gritting my teeth and enduring. Winter was something you couldn't like even if you tried. Heat was better, frankly. It varied from person to person, but at least for me, that was how it was.
Looking at how Pina had bundled herself up, she seemed similar to me. Still, seeing her all puffed up in her clothes was cute.
"Cute."
At my words, Pina flushed and bristled.
"I didn't dress up to be cute. This is survival gear, you know."
She put her hands on her hips as she spoke. No matter how I looked at it, that didn't seem like survival gear. Maybe the plan was to look so cute monsters wouldn't kill her. I see. I reached out toward the sulking Pina and grabbed her soft, squishy cheeks. My cold hands warmed as they touched her face. Pina asked with flustered eyes,
"W-what are you doing?"
"They feel like bread."
"Bread…"
Pina mulled over my words, then lifted her arms with a little hup of effort and flung off the hands holding her cheeks.
"Stop it and let's go already."
"Alright."
Feisty—but that was cute too. I wasn't the only one who thought so. Objectively speaking, Pina was on the cute side. I patted her back and walked ahead, loaded the luggage into the back of the cart, and climbed inside. Pina followed me up, plopped into a seat, and asked,
"But are you really okay going without getting your weapon?"
The weapon she meant was the greatsword Matillo was forging for me. It would be nice to have. But even without it, hunting wouldn't be a problem. What mattered more to us than weapons was time to adapt to the highlands quickly. Even for someone like me, if altitude sickness hit and my mind went blank for a moment, a monster could take me out.
In the game, if you mismanaged your stamina and it hit zero, it didn't just mean taking a short breather. Altitude sickness symptoms would set in, your vision would go white, and you'd completely lose consciousness. Then you'd have to take a monster's big attack patterns completely defenseless, unable to do anything about it. In the game you had to stay constantly careful, but in reality, I figured a certain amount of adaptation would be enough.
I advised Pina,
"The place we're going will be more dangerous than anywhere we've been so far."
"…Y-yes, I suppose so."
Pina gulped at my words. There weren't many things I needed to tell her. Whatever we did, we absolutely must not overdo it, and we always had to keep enough Thermal Powder on hand. Never forgetting those two things was what mattered.
"Otherwise, we die. You and me both."
Pina swallowed hard. I propped my elbows on my knees, rested my chin on my hands, and said,
"Once we get there, we'll start with adaptation."
"Adaptation…"
"Yeah. Our bodies need time to adjust to that region."
It wasn't just the environment we needed to adapt to. We needed time to adapt to how the people there lived—just like when we got used to the daily routine of the wasteland.
"And the general there is a bit of a strange guy."
"The general?"
"Apparently he plays a role similar to the prince's over there."
I spoke of the story in my memory as if someone else had told it to me.
"But unlike the prince, he doesn't particularly trust hunters. He treats them like dirt, actually."
"…Why would he do that?"
"How would I know?"
And the job that general assigned was corpse recovery. He kept giving hunters dirty work like that. In my opinion, he seemed to be trying to keep hunters from achieving any major accomplishments. In the end, it was a hunter who took down Neveumano, though. He'd probably keep being a villain who checked us the whole time we were in the highlands. That was what I thought.
"Princess, we've arrived."
Adelaide crushed the white snow under her boot heel.
Haa—.
When she exhaled a small breath, white vapor spread out. Adelaide pulled off the fur gloves on her hands and looked at her palms. She felt the sensation of freezing slowly starting from the extremities of her body.
"So this is Lacrima Outpost."
Having stepped down from the cart, Adelaide quietly surveyed the outpost. Her first impression was that everything was pure white. There was nowhere on this highland that wasn't white. Where it met the clouds floating above the horizon, the boundary between earth and sky was so blurred it was hard to tell them apart.
Adelaide spoke to the attendant standing beside her.
"It's cold. We should sprinkle some Thermal Powder."
"I'll take it out right away."
The attendant pulled a small pouch from their breast and scattered red powder from within it. Wherever it touched, it melted away with a soft hiss and radiated heat. The warmth covered her whole body and drove out the chill that had been seeping into her. Her hands, stiff from freezing, loosened again. Adelaide clenched and unclenched her hands repeatedly, then put her gloves back on.
Just then, a man in kingdom uniform approached the princess.
"Princess Adelaide, you've arrived!"
Adelaide looked at the man and nodded with an indifferent expression.
"Yes, General Gero. You've been working hard."
He was Gero, the general in overall command of Lacrima Outpost. Gero had a bushy mustache and beard, but in contrast, his hair was extremely neat. He laughed with a low chuckle and said,
"I never expected you would come all the way here in person."
"I heard the news of this land myself. Things are urgent, so I came directly."
Adelaide looked at Gero. To her, General Gero was not a particularly welcome person. Gero was one of Melchior's people—in other words, one of those who believed hunters should be organized under the kingdom's military.
"Nothing particular has happened yet. Though I hear a top-grade monster was recently subjugated in the wasteland."
"That's right."
"Prince Melchior accomplished a great deed, it seems."
Was he deliberately bringing that up to remind her of it and stick it to her? Adelaide didn't show it and smiled slightly.
"Indeed, my brother did accomplish something truly great. That's why I couldn't just sit still either. How could I let only my brother throw himself into danger? I too can offer this body of mine without sparing it for the sake of the country."
"Indeed, is that so. As expected of Your Highness."
Gero nodded. Adelaide quietly observed him.
"Let's not talk in a place like this. Shall we go into the command tent? There must be quite a few handover matters, no?"
"…Yes, we should."
Gero stroked his beard. The princess had clearly come to this land so her standing wouldn't fall behind Melchior's. Could she really last long here? He didn't think a princess who had lived like a hothouse flower would be better than him. A general who commanded soldiers, and a princess who had only received etiquette education—which of the two would be better? In this situation, anyone could see it was the former. Gero was half-dismissing Adelaide.
"Please come in."
Gero lifted the flap of the command tent. Inside, maps of the area around Lacrima Outpost and various documents were neatly organized. The princess, seated in a chair in the middle, met the general's eyes and said,
"First, let's hear about the troop control situation."
"The troops, you say."
General Gero, sitting across from Adelaide, answered.
"The soldiers are currently clearing the surrounding environment. After all, this is still poorly surveyed land. Currently available forces are five knight squad leaders and forty-seven soldiers."
"…Is that so."
That meant three royal-side casualties. The princess nodded and asked something else.
"And the hunters?"
"The hunters are doing other work. Timber supply, resource gathering, and perimeter watch and corpse recovery…"
Hearing this, Adelaide tilted her head and asked,
"Hunters are doing that kind of work?"
"Yes, well, the knights and soldiers are handling things sufficiently. Especially since they prepared for fighting monsters like these. In practice, the military tactics have been effective against monsters, and it's also good training for the soldiers to gain real combat experience. Judging our forces sufficient, we've assigned other work to the hunters."
This bastard. Adelaide let out a short sigh.
"We'll need to change the roles immediately."
"At this point?"
"Don't you realize your words themselves are wrong? This isn't training. It's a real situation."
Adelaide continued coldly.
"For efficient progress, hunters should be the ones facing the monsters. Don't you think so as well?"
"Aren't the hunters people who came to help our royal family survey this land? I believe this matches their proper role. Surely you don't think the knights and soldiers are inferior?"
"…That's not it."
Adelaide clicked her tongue inwardly. Gero pushed his opinion further.
"And even if things were changed, hunters are hard to control and have no unity. They each just quietly scout the land on their own. How dangerous is that? I've heard that in the wasteland, quite a few hunters died while wandering around separately."
"Hmm…"
"If it were a Master Hunter, that would be one thing, but most of the hunters in Lacrima are mid-tier hunters. There are even non-combat hunters. Our combat power is superior. That's all the more reason the kingdom's army had to step forward."
Adelaide touched the corner of her mouth at Gero's words. Then, with an untimely smile, she asked,
"So a Master Hunter would be enough, then?"
Gero found Adelaide's meaningful smile suspicious.
"…Yes, well, if it were that level, I'd be fine with it too. They're veterans, after all."
Adelaide couldn't hold back her laughter and let out a small sound.
"Heh heh, is that so? Perfect timing—they should be arriving about now."
"Who, Your Highness?"
"The Master Hunter you want."
Gero's eyes went wide. Adelaide shrugged and said,
"I deliberately timed our departure to match their arrival date. Looks like I got here a bit earlier."
As the princess's words ended, someone shouted from outside the command tent.
"General! A Master Hunter has arrived from Antico!"
Adelaide's lips curled into a smirk.
"Yes, right on time."
Gero stared at Adelaide with a dumbfounded face. How on earth had she recruited a Master Hunter? They should each be surveying different lands. Adelaide smiled and said to him,
"General Gero, do you remember? The hunter who killed the Broken Horn Cespiratos."
Remember? Of course he did. That operation had originally been Melchior and Gero's. Adelaide and one hunter had snatched it away. Gero carefully asked,
"…Surely not that hunter?"
"That's right. They killed Disastro together with my brother and came back as a Master Hunter. Both Melchior and I are very fond of this hunter. You'll soon feel the same. Come, let's go out quickly. We should welcome the Master Hunter."
Adelaide raised one eyebrow in a wink and watched Gero's expression. His crumpled face was quite a sight to behold.