Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, there are scenes of people in anime crying while eating because it tastes so good, people seem to like it--but it just reminds me of when I console a brokenhearted friend who was eating barbecued Marinated Chicken wings and sobbing. They always loved those chicken wings, but they do taste good--I’m getting a little hungry thinking about it.”

 

“Gramps, we got some food.”

“It’s not weeds today.”

 

The children, who ‘robbed’ us in the afternoon, came storming in while we are eating a gruel made from vegetables and wolf meat with the old people. I heard about these children from the old people, but since they didn’t know when they would return, we started without them.

 

“Ahh, it’s the people from earlier!”

“Did they come to get the food back?”

“They were waiting for us.”

 

The children anxiously hide behind the leader’s back.

Do these children not see the peaceful atmosphere here?

“We have lots of gruel, why don’t you eat with us?” I say with a smile.

 

“That’s right, you children eat too.”

“Hey now, quickly sit down, kids.”

 

The children were cautious when I invited them--but since the one the leader called ‘gramps’ and one of the other old people, called them; above all, they’re captivated with the food being presented to them, and before long they start eating with us.

 

“T-Tasty.”

“It’s not weeds?”

“Waa, something smells really nice.”

“There is boiled meat here.”

“You’re lying?”

“It’s true, it’s meat.”

“Really delicious--Uuuu.”

 

It’s good that you’re delighted, but please stop being moved to tears.

Pochi, who has finished the fastest, starts a war with two words, “Another please!”

With those words, the children’s tension is raised.

Probably not feeling the tension, the always expressionless Nana holds out her cup, asking for another serving of water with fruit juice dripped in, her eyes imploring.

“We still have a lot, so if you want another helping, you can ask,” I answer them as I pour Nana a glass of water, smiling as I deliberately, slooowly tilt the container of fruit juice--she stares between her cup and my hand, her eyes getting a little teary.

With a grin, I allow the few drops to fall in.

“Thank you, Master!” Nana enthusiastically thanks me, before taking small sips of her drink, her eyes showing happiness--though her face is still blank.

The children cheer at my words, their eating speed increases--when some of the boys choke on their food, the old people scold them, telling them to chew well, and not to rush.

Since it looks like the food may not actually be enough, I ask Lulu to go and boil twenty or so more potatoes.

Sitting and watching the people around me, I hear rustling sounds and look over to see Mia.

“Tek.” She speaks, a tiny frown curling down the corners of her mouth.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Humans--why?” She pauses, trying to put the words together, “Throwing away--children--elders?”

When I ask her in detail, she explains that the Elves cherish their children and elders; so this situation is very shocking for her.

 

“Have you asked Arisa?”

 

Mia raised one eyebrow, very slightly, at my words, “Nn.”

 

“What did she say?”

 

“I, don’t understand. Things like the rich and poor, or social structure.”

 

That’s like Arisa, trying to explain complex ideas to people of a fantasy world.

“Mia, races that produce a lot of children, not just humans, are--fundamentally a weak and selfish race; one that puts the good of themselves above others, even those of the same species. And if they are in a situation where not everyone can be saved, they sacrifice the young and the old, the weakest--so that the others can live.”

“--That so?” Mia looks at the old people, and the starved children, all eating so happily.

“If someone like Master were to become King, it would be really peaceful.” Lulu says while smiling, having approached sometime during the conversation.

But she’s overestimating me, if someone like me became king, it’s likely the country would collapse, or be invaded because of our weakness--peace--very quickly.

 

***

“Oh? I was wondering why she wore the hood during the meal, she is an Elf huh?” An old woman comes over here by herself--Mia quickly covers herself with her hood, even though it’s too late.

“She’s shy around people.”

“Is that so, young lady? I won’t tell others Sorry.” The old woman apologizes.

“Nn.” Mia nods--then runs and hides behind Lulu’s back.

“Did I get myself hated?”

“She’s just shy. Rather than that, is there anything wrong?”

“I don’t really want to only accept your kindness and eat, so I’m checking to see if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Well, we’ve just begun boiling more potatoes, we have enough hands.”

“I thought that you were just about to tidy up, is it fine? I don’t have anything to pay you back with, even after you treat us with this much.”

“It’s a simple whim of mine, please don’t mind it.”

The old woman looks lost for a moment, then, as if she decides on something, she continues her words, “Merchant, won’t you take those children as your slaves?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t support another nine slaves.” I say to the old woman, looking at the kids, who seem to be absorbed in eating their meals and laughing--except for the girl with the red hair, Totona, I think she was called. She is sitting near Liza and looking at her spear, there seems to be a fascination in her eyes.

“One or two of them is fine, please take them? If they’re left alone here, they would die from starvation sooner later--I don’t mind if it’s an old person like me who dies--but it’s painful to see the children pass away.”

I feel sorry for the old woman--I want to refuse, but as I watch the girl who has now started talking to Liza, her eyes gleaming in excitement as Liza seems to be telling her stories; Liza is pantomiming stabbing with her spear, and glancing at me, her tail starting to wave slightly as her eyes meet mine.

The old woman looks over at Liza and the girl, she smiles slightly, “Totona has always loved stories of knights, and soldiers--of labyrinth explorers and Monster hunters.” Her smile is a mixture of doting and sadness.

Totona is apparently her granddaughter.

I see in her eyes the desire to fight, to not only live in poverty and then die.

I can’t help but sigh.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” The old woman looks at me, I can see a little hope in her eyes.

To calm my heart, I put aside the food.

“It’d be good if the children could grow their own vegetables, wouldn’t it?” Lulu suddenly asks the old woman.

“That’s right, it’d be nice if there’s a field where we could grow food.”

“Is the ground around here not good?”

“The sun’s exposure is good, but the soil is too brittle, so food doesn’t grow well.”

Mia has come back to my side, sitting and leaning against me, listening to Lulu and the old woman’s conversation--but she seems to think of something and pulls my sleeve.

“Hmm, what is it?” I was a little distracted in thoughts.

“Forest.”

“Yeah, it’s a forest, why?”

Mia rolls her eyes, “Humus.”

That’s right, the huge amount of leaves would be about right to make humus.

“Come to think of it, Arisa said something about that too.” Lulu suddenly looks over; apparently, their conversation had a lull and she happened to overhear.

“Is it about agricultural reform?” I ask her.

“Yes--but she also said that it caused an outbreak of a lot of insect Monsters.” Lulu shuddered, remembering the Monster swarm of the past.

“Insect Monsters?” Mia asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep, Arisa said that because she tried it, a large quantity were springing out of holes in the ground.”

“No, superstition.” Mia said.

“Is that so?” Lulu asked, now the sceptical one.

“Lia said so,”

Lia?

Isn’t she Mia’s mother?

“In other words, we could clear the forest and create farming land?” I asked Mia, trying to ignore the overly hopeful look on the old woman’s face--in case it got denied.

“Nn.” Mia nodded.

“That’s nice, if we could do that, then the we and the children would work hard to make a living out here,” The old woman’s voice alternated between hope and despair.

If we had heavy machinery, then clearing the land wouldn’t be hard at all--but, of course, we don’t have that. Even if we do clear the land, they would need about a year until the first crops are harvestable.

When I bring the growth time up to the old lady, she responds with, “well, there are crops that can be grown and harvested quickly, but out of them, only Gabo grows in this season. Gabo can also be harvested in about a month; although, anyone who isn’t in a noble’s manor are prohibited from growing them--getting the seeds would be impossible.”

Apparently, the old woman has experience in cultivating Gabo, since she was forced to work in a noble’s manor, “That thing can grow disgustingly quickly, that’s why it’s classified as a weed.”

They just need enough food for a month or so?

It must be because they are in front of me, but I am feeling the urge to help them--even though, at first, I was planning on ignoring them; or could having power be changing me?

I never did much interacting with people in these kinds of situations back on Earth--Though, if I had spare change, I would give it to someone if they were begging.

“Is there nothing we can do?”

“If there was such a method, we wouldn’t have gotten thrown out of the village.”

“I don’t mind any suggestions, even if they are absurd. Though I can’t just give you a month’s worth of food--I don’t have enough.”

The woman rolled her eyes at me, “Well, if we could hunt the Monsters called Spider Bears in the forest; we would only need around three or four of their bosses’ meat, smoke them and we could live leisurely until Spring.”

When I look on the map, I can see that the Spider Bear is a Monster that is living in various places in the forest--there are five of them with levels around 24 - 28, which must be the bosses the old woman mentions.

“Don’t seriously going, okay? I know that your slave girls are strong, but they won’t win against the Spider Bears inside the forest--when I was a child, there was a subjugation expedition with the knights, but no one came back.”

“When the little Elf lady here grows up, with the Forest Magic from the fairy tales, she could with ease through the large trees and help create farm land in the forest.”

“Muu.” Mia groans sulkily after being treated as a child.

“Uhh, well, even though Mia only looks to be in her mid-teens, she’s older than you are.”

“Really, is that so? Elves sure have a long life.”

Mia’s mood isn’t recovering very quickly, but when the old woman makes and blows a leaf flute to sooth her, she looks at it, interested. Since Mia also comes from the forest, she apparently has played with leaf flutes before--so her ability with them are much better than the old woman, even if they use the same kind of leaf.

Everyone gathered around Mia as she was absorbed in her playing, when she finishes, they go back to eating.