Chapter 36: 119
Maki scratched her chin, considering the question before answering.
" I have to agree with Victor. I don’t think we can afford to play too cautiously given the caliber of competition we’re up against."
’I knew she’d come around.’
She had her own ambitions after all.
"But, we’ll have to make camp at the outermost edge of the city. Diving straight in would be akin to suicide."
She looked to me for comment, to which I replied.
"That’s fine with me."
Although going deeper would give us more protection from the Predator, we could easily run into our deaths if we did so carelessly.
Striking a balance between the two dangers was extremely important.
Lily could only sigh.
"I guess that’s fine with me too."
Maki shot her an easing smile.
"Come on, cheer up, Lily. There’s only Shamblers between us and the city right now. This might be our best chance to change hunting grounds."
Picking up on Maki’s attempt to lighten the mood, I added.
"We should probably rest and eat a bit before leaving. The road is rather long."
Luckily, we still had enough hours of sunlight left. At least that’s what my interface told me.
I couldn’t guess the current position of a sun that hid beyond the endless gray skies.
Either way, that seemed to finally settle the matter, as Lily began taking some rations out. She still looked a little gloomy though.
I began shuffling for my rations as well.
Given that there were only enough to last three days, we would eventually be forced to procure our own.
There were mainly two possible ways of doing that. Hunting for our own food, or stealing from other Cadets.
At first glance, taking food from other Cadets seemed like the smarter option. And to an extent it was. We’d be able to instantly double our food supplies. It was food that didn’t require cooking
either.
However, the method was far more trouble than it was worth.
We would have to actively start searching this massive city for possible targets, with only a measly pool of 117 Cadets scattered around its expanse to pick from.
Also, the possibility of getting three days’ worth of food was only true on paper.
After all, the Cadets would also be consuming their rations as the days went by. So by the third day, most would have already used up all their supplies.
Meaning the plan was only somewhat viable within the first three days. Even then, the returns would only continue depreciating with each passing day.
In the end, hunting was the only reliable option. Unless it was particularly poisonous, most monsters were considered edible to Hunters. Not exactly tasty, but they were certainly abundant.
Either way, I pushed such thoughts to the back of my mind.
’That’s a problem for future me and his taste buds to solve.’
It wasn’t long before my hand reached the ration pack. Pulling it out, I picked one of the packs labeled lunch.
Within the small box lay a piece of hardtack and an unlabeled metal can. I easily found a can opener lying in the bag.
Opening the can cautiously, I gave it a light sniff.
’Nothing.’
It had absolutely no smell.
’Surely, that can only mean good things.’
I took a spoonful of the gray, chunky, soup-like contents within the can.
’Ugh...’
It tasted like cold yogurt, mixed with grease, beans, nuts, tofu chunks, and a soup I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
All at once.
’Who the fuck created this shit?’
Still, I had to finish the damned thing. It was the only food source available now.
’I’ll be eating this for three more days...’
Before I could force another spoon down my throat, I felt a gaze on me.
It was Lily.
"What?"
The girl was looking at me while stuffing her face with the ration slop, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
She stopped at my question.
"Oh, it’s nothing, just... You don’t seem to like the food all that much."
I raised my brow.
"Am I supposed to like it?"
She laughed, clearing what little gloominess remained on her face.
"Of course not. But I thought you’d be used to taking things like this. You seem to be an orphan too."
’Did I act out of character as an orphan?’
I quickly came up with an excuse.
"Doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it,
especially after getting a taste of heaven in the academy. It tastes like shit in comparison."
That, she could agree on as well.
"This shouldn’t even be considered food compared to the stuff in the cafeteria. Have you tried the hamburger?"
I gave her a small smirk.
"First thing I tried."
A glint of approval appeared in her eyes at that.
’Crisis averted.’
Still, I was curious about something. The ration pack was military-grade stuff. A single can could technically serve as a full meal. Not every orphan could easily get their hands on it.
"How often did you eat this shit, to be able to keep shoving it down your throat?"
"Oh. My orphanage was located near the border of Sector 8. Military convoys usually dumped any excess rations and supplies on us when heading back to base."
She gave a wistful smile.
"We had truckloads of the stuff back there. It was practically all we ever ate."
’Sector 8, huh...’
Bastion had ten sectors in total.
Hokkaido, being the capital, was Sector 1. Honshu was Sector 2, with Shikoku and Kyushu grouped together to form Sector 3.
The other sectors were spread around the previous Russian, Chinese, and Korean mainlands.
More importantly, Sector 8 was approximately what used to be called North Korea. It was right next to Sector 9, Bastion’s Manchurian territory. A nigh-constant war zone.
Constant military convoys made sense, especially if her shelter was near the border.
Even the previous Victor had spoken about vehicles moving up north in his diary, and his shelter was close to New Seoul, located in Sector 7, formerly South Korea.
"Ptui..."
I turned to find Maki spitting out the spoonful of food she’d taken. Lily burst into laughter at the sight.
Maki wiped her mouth clean before
shooting her a glare.
"Come on, Maki. It can’t be that bad, right?"
"It is." "It is."
I found myself answering alongside Maki.
Eating so much of this rubbish must have utterly ruined this girl’s sense of taste.
Maki gave the can a suffering look before taking another spoonful. I did the same too.
’Best start getting used to this.’
Thankfully, the unpleasant meal session ended rather quickly.
I left the piece of hardtack untouched, since this was only a quick meal session. I wasn’t ready to start preparing it.
Maki and Lily were also done with their meals by then. Though Lily had already been done for a while now.
Although terrible, the meal was rather filling. Any trace of hunger I might have had was thoroughly wiped out.
I couldn’t say the same about the cold though. Although I’d only been out for a little over thirty minutes, I already felt chilly within my clothes. It’d only get worse, given the long walk we’d have to
make to get to the city.
I took out a heating patch from the bag, almost applying it, before I paused, glancing at the girls in the room.
"I’ll be right back."
I sighed before stepping into the hallway of the house. Maki had already cleared it, so there was little need for caution.
There, I unzipped the thick jacket before rolling up the thermal shirt underneath and slapping the heat patch onto it.
The relief was immediate, as the warmth spread through my chest, chipping away at the cold that had settled there.
Now I just had to pray my burden would play nice until we reached the city. It hadn’t caused much of an issue yet, but walking such a long distance was definitely going to stress-test that.
I zipped back up before stepping out. The moment I did, I was met with a question from Maki.
"How good are you with that crossbow of yours?"
I answered while moving toward my bag.
"Much better than I am with a spear, that’s for sure."
The girl gave me a knowing smile, before nodding.
"Then you’ll keep to the rear. Lily and I will be taking point."
Lily, still testing her grip on a pair battle axes, added.
"Just try not to hit us."
I struggled to keep my lips from twitching, as I replied coolly.
"Will do."
Slinging my bag across my back, I reapplied my scarf-mask and hood, before asking,
"How do we go about splitting the
bounties?"
Maki considered the question a bit before replying.
"We can take turns killing any weak
monsters we come across. If it can’t be settled by a single person, then the bounty will naturally be split based on contributions. How’s that?"
"Seems fine."
"No problems here either."
In truth, I couldn’t care less about the arrangement. I had bigger fish to fry, but it was best to settle matters like this early on. It’d stop us from stumbling over ourselves out there.
"Let’s move then."
Before we could, however, a notification popped in front of me.
[A cadet has been eliminated. Remaining participants - 119] .