Survival of the Fittest
The recommended daily intake for an adult under the law of the jungle is generally around 1 to 1.5 kg of food, including rice and side dishes. That's about 300 to 500 grams per meal—a figure that didn't even reach one two-hundredth of body weight.
Of course, that ratio wouldn't hold exactly, but even so, my shrunken size meant two grapes filled me up completely.
Glancing ahead, there were still hundreds of grapes left. Factoring in the other fruits, it was enough to live off for a few years without lifting a finger.
Of course, they'd all rot before then.
The shelf life of preserved fruits in the medieval era was about a month, right?
Well, there was no concrete proof this world was strictly medieval. Being a mass-produced game world and all, maybe they had some unheard-of preservation tech.
If that was the case, setting up a base here with that pile of preserved fruits didn't sound half bad.
...Still, not happening right now.
I shook off the idle thought and gripped a nearby silver fork with both hands. I was a bit worried about handling something twice my height, but...
This weight feels manageable.
Not quite ant-level—lifting twenty times my body weight—but my reduced size had boosted my relative strength. Surprisingly, it wasn't too heavy. If I kept the balance right, I could swing it around with ease.
Whoosh—whoosh. Poke!
After a few test thrusts to confirm smooth movement, I stood the fork's tines upright and speared a sugar-preserved peach slice that had tumbled from a jar.
Holding the fork with the peach fused to its tip out front like a bayonet, I flapped my wings cautiously, eyes scanning all four directions.
"Urp."
The moment I exited the carriage, the stench from the devoured corpses hit me. Not the best post-meal atmosphere.
Better get out of here fast.
Until now, the wolves' feeding frenzy had kept lesser beasts at bay. But under my command, the pack had diligently done their stretches and returned to nature.
Soon enough, scavenger animals would notice the top predator pack was gone. It was inevitable.
This clearing would soon become a battlefield of survival of the fittest. In that chaos, a fairy who could only fly had slim odds.
Even if a squirrel attacked now, I was confident I could handle it leisurely.
One day... no, to be safe, come back in three days.
By then, things should have settled. Recalling the jar of preserved fruits I'd stashed deep in the carriage, I accelerated my wingbeats.
As I flew, scanning my surroundings, my gaze naturally drifted to the scattered corpses.
Silver helmets, gambesons, jackchain protecting elbows and hands. The iron plates on their chests bore crests, suggesting they were knights from some order.
Most hadn't even drawn their swords from their scabbards. They'd been pierced through the crown or shoulder in one strike, dead before they could fight back.
I tilted my head up to the cliff above, where the carriage must have plummeted from. An impossibly sheer height for my eyes to take in at once.
The arrows impaling the knights looked driven straight down from above. Bloody rocks were scattered around the carriage too.
The carriage had been teetering along the cliff path when attacked from overhead.
Not simple bandits, then...?
If it was just robbery, they wouldn't have bothered rolling boulders to send the whole thing crashing down.
A disguised accident? Assassination? Or cutting enemy supply lines in war?
Hmm.
What good does figuring it out do me?
I'm no detective. No time to play Sherlock on a carriage murder mystery here.
Passing indifferently among the bodies, I eyed the glass jar I'd been trapped in. Despite the dire wolf hurling it roughly...
It lay on the ground intact, without a single crack. No idea how they made glass that tough.
...But one thing's clear.
If the carriage hadn't been pelted by righteous judgment from the sky, I'd be trapped inside, carted off to who-knows-where by now.
No way the ones who sealed me in unbreakable glass had good intentions.
Best case, a noble's exotic collectible. Worst, vivisected alive in some lab.
Avoid contact with humans at all costs.
Decision made, I readjusted my grip on the fork and pressed forward.
The forest was a tangled net of bushes and branches. If I'd spawned as a normal human, hacking through from the start would have been a nightmare.
Bzzz—
Flying through gaps made it a non-issue now. Except...
Rustle. Shh-rustle.
Dense foliage meant hidden predators too.
Hiss—. Hiss—.
I never let my guard down. At the slightest movement, I'd stop flapping, land, hide in the underbrush, fork aimed forward, scanning.
Slither—.
Soon, a snake's head emerged from the bushes—vibrant patterns and colors.
Thicker than my height. Big enough to swallow me whole in one gulp.
"Hup."
I tensed on the fork, ready to fly. Even prepared to toss my peach ration as a distraction and flee.
Luckily, it slithered past without spotting me.
Slither—.
Hundreds of meters long, it felt like. Probably not that much, but my size made it take ages to pass.
Slither.... "Phew—."
Only after it vanished did I exhale.
Glancing back, the clearing was out of sight now.
Time for a break...?
Repeated high tension had me on the verge of dry-heaving from stress. A wide rock perfect for resting appeared just in time.
I landed lightly, gripped the peach slice on my fork with both hands, and pulled it free. Then, a bite.
Crunch. Nom nom.
Sweetness flooded my mouth. The sugar syrup from preservation made it extra delicious.
Mid-lunch...
"Piuuuu—!" "...!"
A shrill cry pierced my eardrums. I flung the peach down and dove under nearby fallen leaves.
Peeking out...
Flap flap—.
From high above the treetops, a massive bird rocketed toward the clearing at insane speed.
Branches obscured details, but it looked ten times my size easy.
That was close.
Smaller than the wolves that shook me around, sure. But for me now, birds were way deadlier than wolves.
Flying high without cover? Suicide, even if I could fly.
...Stick to below the canopy.
No cover against raptors? What a nightmare.
Relieved as the wingbeats faded—biggest crisis of my life averted—I crawled out carefully.
"Dirty again."
Looking down at my dust-caked body. My once-pure white dress from rebirth was long since filthy and ragged from rolling around.
I rubbed at the red grape stain on the front. No dice.
Gazing at the threadbare dress, I sighed deeply. Honestly, might as well go naked at this point.
Maybe fashion leaves or something.
Size aside, I wasn't ditching my humanity.
Food, clothes, shelter—all lacking in this hardcor survival life. I moped a bit.
...Sugar fixes everything.
Shaking it off, I climbed the rock to reclaim my peach.
Scritch scritch.
But the wilds reminded me life ain't easy.
In that brief bird distraction, caterpillars from under the leaves had swarmed my dropped peach on the rock.
"...Tch."
Meant to last till breakfast tomorrow, but seeing those forearm-thick grubs fuzzily munching? No way I was eating that now.
.... Clap!
I slapped my cheeks lightly to shake the gloom.
At least I spotted tree fruits on the way.
Berry-like things resembling cherries or wild strawberries. Edible? Test on these bugs.
As I grabbed the fork by the rock...
A chill ran down my spine.
Sensing engulfing shadow, I rolled aside instinctively.
Slash!
By a hair's breadth. Sharp talons raked where I'd stood.
Hairs standing on end. Fighting the urge to collapse, I stared ahead.
Twice my height. Glossy black feathers.
"Caaaaw!"
The crow perched on the rock glared at my fork, its black eyes gleaming.