The Art of the Hunt
The day after Chester told Monia that she had to catch the pig herself if she wanted to eat it. After a long discussion, they agreed that Monia would do the actual catching, but Chester would assist her within what he deemed a reasonable limit.
"On my first hunt, I cockily tried to do it all on my own, failed miserably, and had to get my father's help."
"What were you trying to catch?"
"A rabbit."
"Ah."
"I think I was about six years old when I tried to catch it."
Monia was astonished by how incredibly young he had been. What had she been doing at six years old? She couldn't really remember.
"What you're trying to catch now is faster than you, stronger than you, has better eyes, nose, and ears, and is highly sensitive. Above all, it's a veteran that has lived in the wild far longer than you have."
After saying this, Chester pointed a finger at Monia. "And you are the one trying to catch it."
Monia swallowed hard. She had confidently declared yesterday out of sheer greed that she would catch it, but hearing that she actually had to do it herself made her feel a fresh wave of nervousness.
"Now, knowing that your opponent is formidable, how should we go about hunting it?"
"Uh, a trap?"
"A trap. Good. Honestly, traps are the best. You get results without expending much energy. But can you make a pig trap?"
"N... no?"
Trapping was the only hunting method Monia knew. Even then, except for the fish trap, Chester had built all the other traps, so she didn't actually know how to make one properly.
It wasn't that Monia hadn't tried to make other traps. The figure-four trap was far too difficult for her to construct, and she lacked the physical strength to set up a spring-pole snare using a sapling. She could manage a simple trap by tying a bunch of small nooses to a log, but that would never work on a wild pig.
"Alright, then option two. When you can't use a trap, how should you hunt an animal?"
"A bow?"
"Correct. Human speed can't match a swift beast. So, you have to aim from a distance. No matter how crude the bow is, once you shoot, the arrow flies at a speed invisible to the eye and pierces the target."
Next, Chester picked up a sling. He placed a stone in the pouch, whirled it around, and released it. A sharp, whip-like crack echoed in Monia's ears as the stone flew and embedded itself deep into a tree trunk.
"There's also the sling, but this is even harder than a bow. It uses less energy and finding ammunition is easy since you can just pick up any stone nearby, but still."
Furthermore, a sling could be operated with one hand. Compared to a bow, which required both hands, it was much more versatile in various situations.
"Both the bow and the sling require skill. You can't even use a spear properly."
"Ugh! I-I caught one fish, though!"
"By closing your eyes and stabbing blindly, yes. It was pure luck."
"Urgh...!" Unable to refute him, Monia trembled with frustration.
"Anyway, so ranged weapons are out too. It would be nice if you could just shoot or throw wildly and get lucky, but we can't rely on that."
"Then what?"
"We use a catchpole."
Chester held up one of the nooses Monia had made. "Huh? But I thought traps were..."
"We're not using it as a trap; we're using it as an active hunting tool. From now on, you're going to make two things I teach you. You'll hunt the pig with those."
The two tools Chester chose had structures simple enough for Monia to make herself, yet effective enough even when crafted by her clumsy hands.
Monia waited, holding the two tools she had made in her hands. Far off, in a place invisible to her eyes, was the pig. She wondered if she should get a bit closer, but a few days ago, she had spotted a pig and tried to approach, only for it to bolt.
"Pigs have an excellent sense of smell, so it probably caught our scent and ran."
Thus, they abandoned the plan of both approaching and ambushing it together. And today, on the third time they had spotted a pig, they devised a different strategy. While Monia waited in ambush from a distance, Chester would herd the pig toward her, and she would make the kill.
W-when is it coming? Monia trembled, staring into the dense, empty forest.
Is it coming now?! ...Ah! Now?!
Anxious about when the pig would appear, Monia repeatedly raised and lowered her hunting tools, jumpy at every rustle.
As she waited, Monia recalled her days as the Duke's eldest daughter. Back then, if she wanted something, any ingredient from any region would be procured, and the finest chef from that region would prepare it in the most exquisite way. In that entire process, the only "hardship" Monia ever faced was waiting for the dish to be served. That was it.
And now, to eat what she wanted, she was about to hunt it with her own two hands.
—Squeeeeeeal!
Before long, the sharp squeal of a pig echoed from beyond. It was broad daylight, but the dense canopy of the lush forest blocked out the sun, casting the woods in shadow. Because the pig was brown, it blended perfectly with the decaying leaves blanketing the forest floor, making it incredibly hard to spot.
So, Monia widened her eyes. She strained her vision, channeling the same sharp focus she once used to spot millimeter-wide flaws in priceless artworks, and locked onto the pig. She caught its movement amidst the swirling leaves and kicked-up dirt. The pig. And Chester.
Huh?!
Chester was incredibly fast. He pursued the pig at a terrifying speed that seemed utterly unbelievable compared to how he usually moved when he was with her. The pig and Chester, who had been mere specks in the distance, grew larger in her field of vision in the blink of an eye.
...Couldn't Chester just catch it by himself? The thought naturally crossed her mind.
Chester leaped over exposed tree roots and lightly bounded off rocks, practically flying through the forest. There was not a single moment of hesitation in his movements. He tore through the cluttered, chaotic woods as if he were sprinting down a paved highway.
He looks like an elf. Watching Chester, Monia was reminded of the forest-dwelling fairies from fairy tales.
Meanwhile, the pig had arrived right in front of Monia. Terrified by Chester's relentless pursuit, the beast seemed completely oblivious to Monia's presence, blindly charging forward.
Seeing the pig draw near, Monia readied herself. Her first hunting tool: the catchpole held in her right hand.
It was an incredibly simple tool made by tying a noose to a long wooden pole. Its entire usage consisted of swinging the pole toward the prey, slipping the loop over it, and pulling it tight. It was a versatile weapon that could snag fleeing prey, hinder their movement, and use the pole's length to keep the animal at a safe distance while beating it down.
—Squeak! The pig charged.
It's coming! It's coming! Now? It's now, right?!
Tracking the approaching pig, Monia measured the distance and swung the catchpole exactly as she had practiced over the past few days. She didn't swing it from top to bottom like a simple club. It was from bottom to top—scooping and snagging the prey with the loop, almost like casting a fishing line.
! I got it!
The moment the loop met the pig, a heavy, jarring sensation shot through her hands, and Monia realized she had successfully snagged it.
Immediately after— "Kyaah?!"
Overwhelmed by the momentum of the charging pig, Monia was startled by the sheer force transmitted through the pole and ended up letting go. She tumbled across the ground from the impact of losing her grip, then hurriedly lifted her head to check on the pig.
"Ah!"
The pig was running for its life, with the catchpole dragging from the noose tightened around its midsection. Scrambling to her feet, Monia desperately began to chase after the fleeing animal.
"Wait! Stop right there!"
Me, running?! I've never done this once in my entire life!
Monia was slow. Having never run a day in her life, there was no way she knew how to properly engage her running muscles, and to make matters worse, the forest floor was uneven and treacherous. However, her intense craving for pork made her desperate.
The noble lady, completely unconcerned that her fluttering hemline was exposing her pale legs, tensed her muscles and frantically pumped her arms and legs.
Fortunately, the catchpole was successfully slowing the pig down. As the beast tried to weave around the trees, the trailing pole and rope snagged on the trunks, hindering its escape. Even without that, the noose squeezing its torso was causing it immense discomfort.
Monia's desperate sprint and the obstruction of the catchpole. Thanks to those two factors, even a complete novice runner like her was able to keep pace with the pig. Above all, unlike Monia, who could simply leap over most obstacles, the pig had to constantly weave and dodge through the cluttered terrain.
No wonder Chester said he could have caught it easily by himself!
If even she could keep up, there was no way Chester would have missed. With that thought, Monia threw herself toward the swaying pole.
"Got you!"
After grabbing the catchpole and rolling across the dirt, Monia scrambled back up and yanked the pole with all her might. The noose tightened further, choking the pig. The startled beast thrashed wildly, but Monia held onto the pole with both hands, digging her heels in.
"Urgh! Hnngh!"
The catchpole proved its worth here. It allowed her to resist and hinder the captured animal's wild thrashing, gradually wearing it down.
Once the pig's resistance began to weaken, Monia reached for the second tool secured at her waist. The second hunting tool Chester had recommended for her: a club!
It was a tool so simple that even a child could use it, requiring no delicate craftsmanship or advanced technique to make or wield. Yet, from the ancient past to the distant future, though its form might change, the club remained an excellent, universally favored tool used across every era of human history.
There was no need to make it excessively heavy. Simply adding a decent weight to the end and swinging it to utilize centrifugal force was enough to compensate for Monia's lack of physical strength.
Ever since Chester told her to make a club, Monia had pondered over it endlessly. She knew her own limitations now. She knew that if she just made a standard club exactly as Chester described, she wouldn't be able to use it effectively. Forcing her brain—which had never had to think deeply about anything in her entire life—to work overtime, Monia had agonized over the design.
How could she make a club that she could actually use? Instead of just worrying, she decided to mimic Chester, who always cleverly adapted whatever materials were lying around.
What can I adapt to help me make a better club?
What Monia came up with was inspired by an axe. She fashioned a thin wooden handle that she could easily grip and swing, bored a hole through the end, and wedged a sharp stone inside. It was light enough for her weak muscles to swing effortlessly, and when swung with force—focusing the weight at the tip like an axe—the embedded stone would easily puncture the target.
The club Monia had designed and crafted through sheer trial and error was magnificent.
"Haaah! Take this! Die!" Swinging her magnificent club over and over, Monia finally brought the pig down.
"...I got it. I got it! I caught it, Chester!"
At first, Monia couldn't quite believe she had succeeded, but once she confirmed the pig had stopped moving, a wave of pure ecstasy washed over her.
"Yes! I did it!"
Monia let out a triumphant roar, mimicking what she had occasionally seen Chester do. It felt as if a refreshing breeze had swept through the deepest corners of her chest.
"Ahahaha!"
Laughter bubbled up from her liberated heart, and she stood over the pig, giggling hysterically until Chester arrived. She didn't care about dignity or poise; she just threw her head back and laughed with genuine, radiant joy.
If I leave her be, she might actually start dancing. Chester watched from his hiding spot, amusedly waiting to see just how far that girl would go.