“This?”
“A familiar presence. They’ll probably notice us soon, too.”
Rohan relaxed from his low stance and stood up comfortably.
Ichinose also loosened her grip.
With her eyes closed, she focused on her senses.
…I can tell exactly who it is.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t Noah.
The presence alone made that clear. If it were Noah, she would’ve sensed Rohan and Ichinose from a much farther distance.
Then who were the approaching students?
The answer was obvious.
Gilbert Carniette.
The heavy footsteps matching his height and the overwhelming aura he gave off made it easy for Ichinose to identify him.
The other person had to be the randomly assigned partner, which naturally led to Dick Wikitree.
A pair known to get along well with Rohan.
Since there was no need for caution in this encounter, Ichinose was relieved.
Rustle!
The bushes parted, revealing the students.
As expected, it was the pair they had anticipated. They greeted them accordingly.
“Welcome.”
“Nice to see you.”
Gilbert who was standing in front looked even healthier than he had back at the academy.
With a face full of smiles…. maybe life on a deserted island suited him.
“Oh! It really is Rohan and Yui Ichinose!”
“Ugh… yeah… nice to see you…”
The surprising part was the dark expression on Gilbert’s partner, Dick.
It naturally drew their eyes.
“What’s wrong with him? Is he sick?”
“He doesn’t look so well.”
When Rohan and Ichinose each threw out a comment,
Gilbert let out a sigh-laced voice and shook his head.
“He’s acting like that because he’s hungry. But even looking like that, he wouldn’t eat the food I brought back.”
“…The fact is, that stuff isn’t meant for human consumption. Even a countryside mutt wouldn’t eat it.”
Dick replied in a pale tone and drained voice.
Rohan could more or less picture what was going on, but he asked just in case.
“If you found food… was it from the supply drop?”
“We went there, but someone had already beat us to it. Everyone’s really fast on their feet.”
“Then what kind of food did you find?”
At that, Gilbert snorted sharply, as if to say, “Great question.”
With a shadowed face, he crossed his arms and began to explain.
“Even if he’s Dick Wickitree, he’s still my partner. When he said he was hungry, I put aside all hard feelings and went out of my way to find food.”
“So what did you end up with?”
“I caught three Gero Eyes.”
“Gero Eyes…”
A monster with a giant eyeball and tiny wings.
It was an F-rank pest that caused dizziness and nausea if you made eye contact with it.
“If it’s you, Rohan, you’d know how many nutrients are packed into that big eyeball. Even tuna eyeballs are rich in vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids.”
Ichinose, who was standing next to Rohan, shuddered at the mere thought.
“Yeah… well, if you grill or cook it properly, it should be fine. I’ve even seen actual eating videos.”
“Knew you’d understand! See? Now we’re getting somewhere!”
Gilbert shot a scolding glance at his partner, who was clutching his stomach in hunger.
But Dick stood firm.
“I’m never eating that. I’d rather give up my sticker…”
“You weakling! With that kind of mindset, you’ll never save the world!!!”
“How the hell am I supposed to save the world?”
Listening to the dizzying conversation, Ichinose once again felt lucky to have teamed up with Rohan.
To Rohan, however, it was just another exhausting routine.
He cut off the chatter and asked,
“So you’re out here looking for food right now?”
“No! We’re being chased!”
“What? By who?”
A confident voice. But words that didn’t match.
Rohan wondered if he had misheard and asked Gilbert again.
“We were being chased by Noah Frozenheart!”
“What are you talking about?”
“She said she was hungry, so I kindly offered her some food. But she got angry and started chasing us.”
“I thought I was going to die on the spot…”
As Gilbert and Dick continued recalling their narrow escape from the tiger, they mentioned how Noah who had nothing to eat could barely even run.
Ichinose, who had been quietly listening, suddenly raised her voice in surprise.
“That food you gave her… don’t tell me…!”
Gilbert gave the curious girl a firm nod.
He pulled a gray lump out of his inner pocket. Just looking at it gave off a squishy, unpleasant vibe.
“It’s roasted Gero Eye. I added pine tree inner bark to enhance the flavor.”
“You’re insane.”
Feeding her an eyeball was one thing….but why add tree bark to it?
Even though Noah usually ate just about anything, there was a good chance he took Gilbert’s food as an act of aggression.
“Haa…”
As Rohan let out a deep sigh, lost in all the what-ifs—
Dick who was still groaning from hunger seized the opportunity to turn on Gilbert.
“See? Even Rohan thinks that’s messed up.”
“Hmm… But pine bark has a bit of sweetness. It should have balanced the flavor. Maybe white tiger beastkin just don’t like vegetarian food? Perhaps I still have more to learn…”
“It’s not about species. That just isn’t something you feed people.”
Watching the two bicker, Rohan finally made sense of the situation.
“These guys aren’t guests. They’re a disaster.”
Noah Frozenheart, the hungry tiger.
That mad duo dragged around a clear disaster called a tiger calamity.
“”…..…””
A silence fell over them. Rohan’s sharp glare pierced through it.
Gilbert raised his voice loudly to break the silence.
“Rohan. The next thing you’re going to say is… ‘It must be fate that we met here, so I’ll hide you.’ Right?”
“What are you talking about? Don’t drag me into this. Just go back.”
Rohan pushed Gilbert and Dick back the way they had come.
“Why not?! Take us in!”
“Ugh… How heartless!”
Dick’s situation was pitiable, but their escape route was wide open.
If they really couldn’t endure it, they could just fire a signal flare to summon an instructor or peel off their sticker.
“You think I’d take in sweaty nuisances? Can’t you see I’m spending some quiet time with Ichinose?”
“Wh-What are you talking about?!”
As Gilbert and Dick’s gazes settled in on her, Ichinose bounced in place while hugging her sword.
Rohan chuckled at the sight, then shared the location where he had caught the hornbird with the two of them.
By providing that bit of information, he was able to send the tiger-chased disaster duo on their way.
··
··
After sending off the visitors, Rohan and Ichinose returned to their shelter and sat down.
Rohan picked up a packet of ramen as the water in the mess tin boiled furiously.
But instead of adding the noodles or soup base, he continued his conversation with Ichinose.
“That was a storm. Still, knowing Noah’s nearby is a win, I guess.”
“Y-Yes, I suppose so…”
“Should we go look for her?”
Ichinose opened her eyes slightly and looked at Rohan.
He was the same as ever. No change in his expression. He was still speaking smoothly.
Somehow, that annoyed her.
Ichinose felt a sudden urge to pinch Rohan’s cheek and give it a good tug.
Was he hiding this mischievous side all along?
Recalling the earlier joke, staying stiff like that started to feel like a loss somehow.
Ichinose calmed the ripple in her heart and opened her mouth to speak.
“It’s fine. You said you’d eat and then sleep, right? I won’t allow my partner to give up rest just because of a personal connection.”
“Hmmm…”
“I was worried, sure, but I never planned to go running over the moment I heard news. I already gave her plenty of advice.”
Didn’t Noah have a partner named Corin too?
If Ichinose were to barge in purely out of familiarity, things could easily get uncomfortable.
“Then I’ll take that as a no. Should I make the ramen?”
At his second confirmation, Ichinose gave a small nod.
Only then did Rohan finally shake the noodles and soup base into the mess tin.
***
“Ughhh…”
Noah was fuming and glancing furiously around her.
That hellish astringent taste still lingered in her mouth.
If I catch them, they’re dead!
She had already decided what punishment she’d give Gilbert and Dick.
If only she’d had a bit more strength left in her body, she wouldn’t have let them escape.
The fact that hunger had taken control of her and caused her to lose them made her even angrier.
“Noah! C-Calm down! We’ve come too far already!”
Her partner Corin came running after her while panting.
Since she hadn’t been able to avoid the downpour on the first day either, she looked just as wrecked as Noah did.
Seeing her in such a pitiful state made Noah’s thirst for revenge waver. It reminded her that now wasn’t the time.
In the end, Noah Frozenheart came to a stop after having mindlessly chased after them.
“Argh!!! I have to catch those two…!”
She knew that letting emotions take over during a test would only be a disadvantage. She knew she had to let them go.
But with Noah’s personality, cold and calculated actions focused solely on logic weren’t as easy as they sounded.
“Let’s go back and wait for the supplies, okay? This time, they won’t be late.”
“I’m sorry… for running off without saying anything…”
Noah’s pure white tail and round ears drooped low.
“It’s okay. I’ve still got some water left, so let’s head back and rinse your mouth.”
“Okay…”
Corin, in fact, was only grateful that Noah had stopped here.
Wasn’t it practically a lifesaving act when Noah tasted the food first and asked what it was before they ate it?
“I’m hungry…”
Just as Noah sighed in resignation and began walking back with Corin—
She suddenly stopped in her tracks.
As Noah stood still and sniffed the air, Corin looked at her questioningly.
“What is it?”
“This smell…”
“Did you find something?”
“Mhmm. I think I found something.”
When she closed her eyes and focused on her sense of smell, she could definitely feel it. There was a scent riding on the wind.
Something out of place among the smells of nature.
Ramen!? Could this be the supply drop?
It was quite a distance away.
If she hadn’t been so hungry, she might have missed it.
“….…”
Drawn by the scent, Noah began to trudge forward.
She had started making her way toward the source.
Leave a Reply