Battle Royale (3): I Hate Hiking
I hate hiking.
Honestly, I never gave it much thought before, but now I despise it.
‘Ugh, shit. My back hurts like hell.’
Tossing and turning in bed would hurt less than this.
But I couldn’t let it show, so I deliberately picked up the pace even more.
‘Still, she’s keeping up better than I expected.’
She had been panting hard earlier, but after I grabbed her hand and pulled her along for a bit, she was now matching my stride perfectly. The ground had grown a little flatter too, which probably helped.
Anyway.
‘Why is this map so ridiculously wide…?’
In events on maps this size, things usually only got interesting around the middle stages. It looked like Principal Beatrice had prepared everything properly this time. There were also quite a few entertaining elements scattered about.
“Hup!”
Far ahead by the riverbank, I hurled both my sword and a wind blade at a pig-type monster lazily drinking water. Monster hunting success with zero damage taken.
A wilderness-loving YouTuber once said that if fish live in the water and wild animals drink from it, humans can too. Monsters count as wild animals, so the logic held.
“We’ll make camp here.”
“Haaah… we’re not climbing any higher?”
Elena asked, clutching her knees and panting.
“There’s no benefit to going higher. This spot near the water is better.”
I had visited a smaller map with a volcano before. The higher you climbed, the more water and flatter terrain there was—perfect for living. The only problem was the monster that monopolized the massive water hole. There was no need to shoulder that risk.
“Perfect. There’s a nice cave right here.”
Not far from the river stood a wide cave, spacious enough for two people to stretch out and sleep comfortably.
‘This will make an excellent base.’
There were some sharp rocks inside, but those could be cleared away.
“Elena, tidy up the inside of the cave. I’ll scout the surroundings.”
“Got it.”
Elena had arrived dressed in clothes far too fancy for a battle royale, yet now she didn’t seem to care about dirtying them at all as she diligently carried out my orders.
‘How strange.’
Elena wasn’t originally this meek and obedient. She used to be the type who would snap at you the moment you tried to help her—like a wild forest cat. So why was she listening to me so well now?
I pondered it for a moment.
‘…No answer comes to mind.’
Well, it was good that she obeyed. No need to overthink it.
With that thought, I headed back toward the stream from earlier.
What was most important in a battle royale?
Overwhelming force? True, but something else mattered more.
Farming.
‘This one’s edible, so…’
I drew the short dagger I had prepared at my waist and plunged it deep into the pig-type monster’s corpse. I gutted it cleanly, removed the innards, and dressed the meat.
“With this, food for today is taken care of.”
The top reason people dropped out of battle royale events was starvation. Most either didn’t know what was safe to eat or ended up hallucinating after munching on colorful mushrooms.
‘So the first priority is securing food.’
We had drinkable water and meat. I was now invincible.
When I returned to the cave with the butchered monster on my back, I saw Elena leaning against the wall. The climb must have exhausted her; she was resting her head against the stone, breathing softly in sleep.
“Lucky you.”
I had brought her along to handle the annoying chores. I considered waking her, but she looked so peaceful that I decided to let her rest.
Elena woke to a scent tickling the tip of her nose.
The smell of meat.
She hadn’t eaten a single meal since arriving on the island, so her reaction was only natural. Rubbing her still-heavy eyes, she crawled out of the cave on all fours.
“You’re finally awake.”
There stood Kiren, grilling meat skewered on a wooden stick over a campfire.
‘Finally awake?’
At his words, Elena hurriedly looked up at the sky. A breathtaking night sky dotted with stars like a painting filled her vision. Only then did she realize how deeply she had slept.
“…Sorry.”
With that, Elena sat down across from Kiren, hugging her knees, and buried her face against them.
‘I’m such an idiot.’
Why had she followed Kiren Montella? To help him and observe him so she could grow stronger. Yet here she was, stupidly falling asleep.
Elena kept her head lowered. Kiren glanced at her, then offered some of the grilled meat.
“Here, eat.”
“I’m fine.”
“Eat it. You won’t be able to do anything properly if you’re starving.”
“I’m not hungry.”
-Gurgle.
A brief silence followed. With her ears turning slightly red, Elena accepted the meat without lifting her face.
‘It’s my first time eating monster meat…’
After a moment’s hesitation, Elena took a bite.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Of course it is. I grilled it, after all.”
So saying, Kiren bit into the opposite side from where she had eaten. Elena stared at him blankly. Then she finally voiced the question that had been circling in her mind.
“Why are you being so nice to me, Kiren?”
“What do you mean?”
“I said I’d follow you, but I haven’t done anything at all.”
She had promised not to become a burden. Instead, she had become exactly that—a burden, even luggage. The thought pricked at her like thorns.
But Kiren looked mildly surprised.
“I didn’t expect you to say something like that.”
“…But it’s true.”
“No. You’re wrong.”
Kiren began grilling a fresh piece of meat.
“From the start, I never expected anything from you, Elena.”
“…What?”
“A girl raised in a luxurious mansion, pampered and coddled—what could you possibly accomplish in the wild? I didn’t expect much.”
Elena looked a little hurt, but Kiren continued.
“Instead, your magic is exceptional. Among the first-years, your magical ability is likely the finest.”
‘He’s not including himself…’
“And.”
Kiren lifted the perfectly grilled new piece of meat.
“It was my choice to bring you along in the end. Therefore, if you blame yourself, you’re essentially doubting my own judgment.”
“…”
“So stop blaming yourself. Trust my decision and simply do what you can.”
“…Thank you.”
After that, Elena said nothing more. She quietly reflected on what she needed to do and what she was capable of doing.
Dawn.
After confirming Elena was snoring softly in her spot, I quietly slipped out of the cave. She had been following me around like a puppy earlier, making separate exploration impossible. Now that she was asleep, things were different.
‘That said, I was a bit surprised earlier.’
I hadn’t expected those words from Elena. Still, it was fortunate that this body’s silver tongue had snapped her out of it.
Anyway.
‘There’s definitely a hidden piece here.’
Growth was difficult at Tinesi Academy. Good items were hard to come by, and the only things one could usually do were raise favorability around campus and grind stats.
So how did one obtain decent items? The answer was events.
Martial tournaments, balls, training expeditions—because Tinesi Academy had money to burn, they hosted all kinds of events frequently. And nearly every event map contained hidden pieces. The larger the map and the more numerous and powerful the monsters, the better those hidden pieces became.
‘The map is wide. I’ve already confirmed there are some fairly strong monsters around.’
And since the status window functioned here, a hidden piece was almost guaranteed. To find it, I would need to climb.
“Up there…”
The mountain still towered dauntingly high. I began ascending slowly, careful not to be spotted, paying attention to every rustle of underbrush and snap of twigs beneath my feet.
How long had I been walking?
“Bingo. There was no way my choice was wrong.”
On the mountainside, I discovered something clearly artificial. It was a well-carved and sculpted stone door. Without hesitation, I pushed it open and stepped inside.
“The interior is cleaner than I expected.”
In truth, it was so dark I could see nothing. I wasn’t sure if a ruin like this would have an electric switch, but I ran my hand along the wall anyway.
-Click.
The moment something depressed, the torches mounted on the walls ignited one after another.
They had something like that after all.
“They really went all out decorating this place.”
Aside from the spiders that had taken up residence everywhere due to the lack of human visitors, everything was perfect. As I explored deeper, something appeared ahead.
A wriggling monster.
“A slime.”
I immediately drew a sword from my ring and gripped it tightly. In other worlds, slimes might possess physical immunity, magic immunity, or even the ability to transform into beautiful girls, but none of that existed at Tinesi Academy. They were simply soft, primitive life forms.
In other words—
“They die easily enough.”
A light swing of my blade made the slime burst with a pop. I dispatched the remaining two the same way.
‘Why did it have to be slimes?’
You couldn’t collect them without a container. Slime fluid was in high demand because of its many practical uses.
I poked one with my index finger. The viscosity was stronger than expected.
“…Let’s just leave it.”
Taking this into my mouth was out of the question no matter how I considered it. I slipped my hand back into my pocket and advanced slowly.
Before long, the second monster appeared.
…But.
“Another slime.”
This one was slightly larger than the last, and there were five of them now.
‘Still just slimes, though.’
This time I handled them effortlessly with wind blades. The way they popped would probably be a hit with kids if uploaded as a reel.
‘Maybe I should start a slime jelly business later.’
With that thought, I moved forward once again.