Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Midwinter Survival (2)
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Yuri dashed through the forest, recalling the one-eyed man's words.
[Survive for a month. Only those who cling to life with grim determination will shed the provisional label and become part of the 50th Cohort.]
Yuri focused on the words "survive" and "cling to life."
'Cling to life means the environment we'll face ahead is the worst possible.'
The one-eyed man had also called this place a "strainer to filter out the trash."
Providing food, water, and other necessities for survival one by one to weed people out?
He couldn't help but snort.
Besides, there wouldn't be a single provisional recruit without mana.
Mana was a miraculous power that multiplied survival capabilities several times over by itself.
Stamina that didn't tire easily.
Resistance to hunger and cold.
Plus athletic abilities several times that of an ordinary person.
In extreme situations, the uses of mana were endless.
'With mana, I could last a month on just ten days' worth of food and water.'
Providing survival gear to people with that kind of potential?
Could you really call that "surviving"?
'What kind of survival is that? It's just a camping trip in the woods.'
Yuri sneered.
Around the age of seven.
Yuri had wandered the continent for years with nothing but his bare hands and survived.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Heat and cold with changing seasons, harsh sunlight and torrential rain, blizzards.
Thirst and hunger, threats from wild beasts and venomous insects.
Even bandits lurking in every corner.
In this godforsaken world Yuri had experienced firsthand, "survival" was a word for when you were thrown into the harshest environments.
Handing out supplies and calling it a "survival" exercise was a luxury.
'Well, if it were some fancy academy full of young masters who've never gotten their hands dirty, they might slap the word "survival" on something like that.'
But was Cradle really that kind of place?
Locking the castle gates without warning, giving a half-assed rundown of the rules with no other explanation, and tossing them straight into the field?
Those rude bastards?
So Yuri was convinced there would be no survival tools prepared by Cradle anywhere in this forest.
Of course, there was the slim chance—one in ten thousand—that Cradle's style differed from his expectations.
'They might scare the hell out of us upfront but go soft later, so the odds of them providing survival gear aren't zero...'
But that was highly uncertain.
Yuri had no intention of wasting time wandering in search of survival supplies that might or might not even exist, betting on such shaky odds.
Instead, he planned to procure everything he needed for survival himself.
'Resources available in a winter forest are limited.'
That's why Yuri had plunged into the forest faster than anyone else.
A winter forest awaiting spring doesn't yield its treasures easily.
Even those who know the woods well have to struggle just to scrape by.
And even then, the haul isn't abundant.
'With over five hundred people tearing through the forest at once... it'll run dry fast.'
He had to move quicker and more diligently than the others, gathering what he needed.
Hoo—
Yuri, speeding through the forest, came to a sudden halt.
Breathing out a puff of white mist, he glanced back for a moment.
'I need to pick up the pace.'
He had to find a perfect shelter against rain, snow, and wind as quickly as possible and stockpile food.
Before the five hundred trailing behind fully entered the competition with him.
Suuup—
Yuri drew a deep breath.
Taat—
His figure shot forward, vanishing deep into the forest shortly after.
At that moment, Yuri made one mistake.
He had overestimated the provisional recruits.
Knowing what water to drink in the woods.
What to forage and eat.
Even how to start a fire.
The so-called "privileged brats" among the provisional recruits hadn't received education covering knowledge useful in this situation.
Even if they had learned it, applying that knowledge required accumulated real-world experience.
Experience they couldn't have gained, sheltered in their family estates with servants handling all the chores.
'Sure, they're Cradle material, so they must be different from the ones I know?'
...Yuri's assumption was flawed from the start.
* * *
Ten days into entering the forest.
Snow had been falling nonstop for the past three days, blanketing the world in white.
The blizzard finally let up after pouring relentlessly for those three days.
A girl staggered through snow piled nearly thigh-deep.
Scrub—scrub—.
Rattle, rattle—.
A single sword dangled pitifully from her waist, swaying with each step.
Finally unable to bear even that sway, the girl unfastened the sword and slumped against a nearby tree.
"Haa, haa...."
Nearly buried in the snow.
She blew warm breath onto her frozen hands.
A faint pain flickered in her eyes.
'If only I could make a fire... I could thaw out a little.'
Even circulating mana to fend off the cold wasn't easy to maintain indefinitely.
Whenever she paused the mana flow like this, the biting chill made her crave the warmth of a fire.
But she didn't know how to make one.
Or more precisely, she didn't know it "thoroughly" enough.
The books she'd read mentioned striking stones for sparks or using friction heat.
She'd tried recalling and attempting it, but she couldn't even produce smoke, let alone a spark.
It was then she truly appreciated the cozy fireplace that warmed her room.
And what she came to value wasn't just the fire's warmth.
Grrrrr—.
Her stomach growled, announcing its emptiness, and she grimaced.
A hoarse, cracked voice escaped her lips.
"I'm hungry...."
When was the last time she'd had a proper meal?
She couldn't even remember.
It had been ten days since she'd roamed the forest, convinced survival supplies were hidden somewhere.
Today too, she'd clung desperately to hope, trudging through the white snowfields, but the supplies she yearned for were nowhere to be seen, even when she scoured with fresh eyes.
'Did everyone else find theirs and I'm the only one who didn't? Am I just unlucky?'
Are there really survival supplies in this forest?
Such thoughts hammered at her, her head throbbing.
Grrrrrglgl—.
Irritated by the insistent demands for food, a snappish voice burst out.
"Damn it, what kind of forest is this?!"
It truly was an eerie woods.
Forests were supposed to have ecosystems.
If there were plants, there should be insects or herbivores eating them.
And predators preying on those insects and herbivores.
But in this bizarre forest, not a single four-legged beast could be spotted.
As if someone had deliberately wiped out all animal life.
'At least if there were deer, I wouldn't be this starving.'
But forget deer—not even a rabbit showed itself.
All that was visible were....
Quek—queek—.
Those weird birds making grotesque noises.
Quuuueeeek—.
Her nerves sharpened at the pig-squealing bird cries, and she grabbed a nearby stone before setting it down.
'...Forget it. No point wasting energy.'
How many stones had she thrown at those annoying, screeching birds just to eat one?
Each time, they'd mock her by dodging and soaring into the high sky.
Even if she caught one, she couldn't cook it without fire.
Grrrrrrrr—.
This time, a longer hunger pang made her look up at the tree she'd leaned against.
Snow-laden branches resembled pastries topped with white cream.
Unthinkingly, she muttered.
"...Should I eat that?"
Thirst could be quenched with snow.
In this freezing winter, the only chewable thing was pine needles or such.
She shook her head violently at her own words.
'N-No!'
Who was she?
The proud heir of the great Blanc family, Nelly Blanc.
Also, the self-proclaimed top epicurean whom even the family chefs feared.
For her to consider filling her belly with mere leaves just because of a little hunger!
What a humiliation.
"Haaa...."
Nelly's long sigh carried a torrent of emotions.
The joy of proudly receiving the Silver Dragon Badge and passing Cradle's exam.
The excitement of leaving home for Cradle.
The tension upon finally boarding the famous Black Ship and seeing her rivals.
The thrill of imagining herself triumphing over them to stand atop Cradle.
The despair from the reality she'd faced.
And above all, the agony of hunger tormenting her.
For a moment, a thought crossed her mind.
'...Giving up would be easier, right?'
The instant it did, she shook her head and scowled.
"What am I thinking?!"
The idea of quitting over mere hunger sent chills down her spine.
After just ten days of fasting?
"Kuh!"
Nelly stood up.
She wasn't so weak as to give up over this trial.
She could still hold out.
She just needed to find survival supplies—or something edible—before her mana and stamina bottomed out.
Hope still abounded.
"Let's move."
Crunch, crunch—.
As the young lady of a noble house trudged through the snow.
Grroooowl—.
A mighty hunger roar mingled with her footsteps.
And this situation wasn't unique to Nelly Blanc.
No, Nelly and a few others were actually in relatively better shape.
Among the 503 provisional recruits, 98% were pampered young masters and ladies.
They suffered in the harsh cold, their mental fortitude eroding day by day.
Only their lofty pride as nobles barely kept their reason intact.
And the longer they endured, the more they devolved into ragamuffins.
Just like the beggar-like figures they had scorned so much when Yuri first boarded the Black Ship.
* * *
The clearing near the castle gates.
Beside the bell dubbed the "Trash Filter," the one-eyed man asked.
"Not a single dropout yet?"
"That's correct."
"The 50th Cohort is holding up decently."
In previous cohorts, some weak-willed trash had rung the bell and quit after just three days.
No dropouts in ten days was worth calling "decent."
However....
"This is getting boring."
The one-eyed man's lips twitched.
Even with mana, they were still immature boys and girls.
For them, ten days was about when limits would hit.
'Yet no dropouts means they're stubbornly hanging on out of spite.'
They probably thought that even if they had to drop out, they couldn't be the first trash to do so.
In that case....
"What happens if someone sets a precedent?"
Grinning, the man gripped the bell's rope and shook it hard.
Dong—dong—dong—dong—.
The massive tolling echoed across the forest nooks and crannies.
'There, the first dropout has appeared. What now?'
Those hearing it would agonize.
Should I endure this pain longer?
Or just give up?
Can I really last another twenty days?
If I quit now, how will I face my family?
Others are quitting too, so it's okay for me to quit, right? It's not wrong, is it? And so on.
The provisional recruits would drive themselves mad with doubt and torment.
The bell's echoes rippled through the forest.
Dong—dong—.
Reaching even Yuri's ears.