Chapter 47 – Variable (2)

On the snowy plain turned into a mess by the unexpected brawl.

Gathered around where the house-sized snowfield wolf lay collapsed while spraying blood, the hunting party was clamoring with astonished eyes.

“What on earth is the size of this thing……?”

“It looked to be five meters tall when standing. It seems to be three or four times larger than the normal ones.”

“What kind of absurd thing is this……?”

To the point that the veteran hunters gaped in surprise, the size of the snowfield wolf that attacked the rear was truly massive.

When standing on all fours, it easily surpassed the height of an adult man, and if it stood on its hind legs, one had to tilt their head back to look up at it.

With nearly a hundred arrows stuck in its body, it had become a hedgehog.

Because its body was that massive, it did not die easily, and its skin was so thick that inflicting a fatal wound was not easy.

However, what brought the beast down were two arrows lodged deep in its eyes.

Both were shot by Jeremy Scott, who drove them in with archery that bordered on a divine skill.

“This is…… completely a monster, isn’t it?”

Someone muttered, and those words were not wrong.

A snowfield wolf was originally about half the height of an adult man, but this collapsed beast was several times that.

While everyone looked at this strange phenomenon with complicated eyes, Jeremy Scott narrowed his eyes and asked the hunting captain.

“Archer, have you ever seen something like this?”

“No. In my entire life living as a hunter, I swear I have never seen such a thing. Whatever the cause is, this is definitely a mutation.”

Even the eyes of Archer Fordham, who led the hunting party with fifty years of experience, were trembling.

It was clear evidence that even he, the oldest member, regarded the appearance of this mutant-like wolf as a bizarre phenomenon.

Archer Fordham continued, without taking his eyes off the mutant wolf.

“It’s not just big. Its behavior pattern is completely different.”

“What do you mean by different?”

“The reason snowfield wolves are tricky to hunt is that they are sensitive to human presence and run away easily. They avoid fights unless they have no choice. But this guy charged first. And alone, against fifty of us.”

Also, snowfield wolves live in packs due to their strong bond with their own kind.

Yet, perhaps because this one was a mutant, there was no pack traveling with it.

They searched the surroundings in preparation for a possible additional attack, but they did not find traces of other wolves, so for now, it could be assumed to live a solitary life.

“Is there no possibility that it attacked out of hunger? A beast would charge when cornered?”

“As much as wolves have strong organization, when they suffer from hunger, they attack humans instead of eating their own kind, but this guy cannot be the case.”

“What makes you so sure?”

At Archer’s strong confidence, Jeremy asked back in doubt.

It did not add up that he spoke as if he knew everything, despite having claimed it was the first mutant he had seen in his fifty-year career as a hunter.

“The first reason is that it did not flee even after perfectly grabbing Geriksen by the scruff of the neck, but threw him aside and continued the fight. The second reason is that its lower abdomen, where its stomach is located, is swollen. No matter how much of a mutant it is, the positions of its internal organs wouldn’t have changed, so I can tell what’s inside without even cutting it open.”

“So hunger was not the cause of its abnormal behavior…….”

At the words filled with the hunter’s experience, Jeremy had no choice but to nod.

However, if all of Archer’s words were correct, the situation became even more serious.

Because it meant wolves of a size that should be called monsters would charge at humans for no reason.

It meant that the hierarchy of hunter and prey was reversed.

The result of that chilling reversal of hierarchy lay over there.

The corpse of Geriksen, who had died with his neck pierced by large fangs, was exactly that.

“Retrieve Geriksen’s body. We are returning to the Ember immediately.”

Archer, who ordered the retrieval, muttered with a serious face.

“We used fifty people and two hundred arrows just to kill one. The fact that it lives a solitary life might be because it’s an early mutant.”

“……You believe they will live in packs as time passes.”

“Wolves are beasts with a more complex social structure than they look. Right now, there are few mutant individuals to form a pack, so it has no choice but to live a solitary life. This means that as time goes by, a powerful pack of mutants will eventually be formed.”

“A mutant pack. The damage will be immense.”

Just as Archer said, this much manpower and resources were consumed to kill just one.

In the process, one fatality and five injuries of varying severity also occurred.

Even then, had it not been for Jeremy’s godlike archery, which simultaneously attacked and provided cover, the number of deaths would have doubled.

But what if such monster-like beasts began to roam in packs?

What if the mutants that became ‘them’ attacked the hunting party at the same time?

“It’s a disaster. If it comes to that, hunting will be a distant dream…….”

It meant that an ordinary number of people would not even dare to go out hunting.

That, in turn, meant that there would be a problem with food supply, and in a broader sense, it would also become a critical risk factor for exchange between Embers.

Perhaps not to mention the aid received from the Immortal Ember, all exchanges with other Embers might be cut off.

However, there was another, more important problem: even if they gathered enough people to go hunting, casualties would definitely occur.

For the Nameless Ember, where the population was small and labor was directly linked to the Ember’s productivity, it was truly a disaster.

“The existing wolves will disappear, and the mutants will increase. It will definitely happen.”

Archer, the hunter, was certain, and this time Jeremy, who was not a hunter, was also certain.

Since the rampage of the perpetual motion machine, Eternal Magic, various magical transformations and phenomena had been affecting not only nature but also living creatures.

Because everything living on this land was continuously exposed to mana, it was not strange for mutants to appear.

Additionally, since a mutant wolf had appeared, there was no rule saying that mutations would not appear in other beasts living on the snowy plains, such as snow leopards and snow bears. A completely new species might even be born.

“Monsters are being born. Does this mean the weather is no longer the only thing we have to overcome?”

Perhaps this ice age was facing a new phase.

Unfortunately, Archer and Jeremy’s predictions hit the mark exactly.

“……The hunt is concluded as of today. Everyone, take good care of your wounds and recover well.”

“Yes, Captain…….”

“Go ahead first. I will follow.”

Just one day into the hunting party’s expedition into the snowy plain, which usually took four days, Archer Fordham announced the end of the hunt.

On their way back to the Ember, they encountered three more mutant wolves and even a mutant snow bear, losing five more men in the process.

The only saving grace was that, thanks to the abnormally large size of the mutant individuals, they secured more than enough food in just one day of the expedition.

“Geriksen, Geriksen…… Sob!”

“What will Emma do? Losing her mother at a young age and now losing her only remaining father…… This is terrible.”

“Who would apply for the hunting party at this rate? If not for Jeremy, there would have been ten orphans today instead of five.”

There was not a single person who considered it good luck.

No matter if they achieved their target in a single day, six deaths and fourteen injuries were an unspeakable loss to the Ember, where every single person was crucial.

The face of Archer Fordham, the hunting captain who had to report this to the leadership, was distorted without mercy.

Mutants or not, since he was the one in charge of this expedition, he seemed to feel responsibility and guilt.

“The appearance of the mutants is not your fault. It was an act of God. You don’t need to feel guilty.”

Looking pityingly at the bodies torn to shreds, Jeremy Scott, who stood in silent tribute, comforted him.

In the bowed figure of Archer, he saw the overlapping faces of his subordinates who had suffered from guilt after losing comrades.

However, Archer’s reply, which sounded as if he were asking what nonsense he was talking about, was truly shocking.

“Guilt? What guilt?”

“……?”

“The snowy plain is a dangerous place, so death is natural. As you said, I didn’t make the mutants, so why should I feel guilty about their deaths? If there’s any fault, it lies in their own carelessness.”

“…….”

If so, why on earth was he wearing such a gloomy expression?

As Jeremy remained silent in shock at the response that went far beyond his expectations, Archer continued speaking.

“Reporting to the leader is not a difficult task, but six of the Ember’s workers, whom he has to lead and build up, died overnight. I am only worried about the future of our Ember…….”

Instead of being saddened by the deaths of his subordinates as a human and a superior, he was merely lamenting that the workers whom his master would lead had died, casting dark clouds over their future.

It was fortunate that he had sent the hunting party members ahead.

‘He is completely out of his mind.’

At that crazy answer, Jeremy even thought, ‘Do humans get mutations too?’

However, at that cult-like loyalty or blind faith toward Yann Casselos, Jeremy nodded as if impressed and spoke.

“Is that proposal from earlier still valid?”

“Which proposal? The one to join the hunting party?”

“Yes, that proposal. Seeing you care for the Ember to this extent makes me curious about what kind of leader Yann Casselos is. I would also like to join the leadership…….”

“A wise decision! I knew you would recognize Lord Yann’s greatness!”

It was a statement contrary to his true feelings.

Jeremy Scott liked this small and pure Ember, and he liked Eilen Vail even more.

The leadership and the magic engineering department. He had already decided whose side to stand on.

Therefore, his intention to join as vice-captain was to become an insider.

He asked the rejoicing Archer.

“Is it possible to hold concurrent posts?”

“Huh?”

“I’d like to hold the posts of vice-captain and tavern owner concurrently. Of course, it would be nice if my main duty is running the tavern.”

However, the tavern was a place where all sorts of news and secrets came and went.

Because it was a source of information where disarmed people drunk on alcohol and the night leaked secrets, he could not give up the tavern.

Particularly since the leadership members were regulars at the tavern, it was even more so for Jeremy, who would stand on the side of the magic engineering department.

“That’s…….”

Archer expressed difficulty.

Unless it was a truly special day, the tavern was open all year round, so holding concurrent jobs was impossible.

Furthermore, since the hunting party was the group responsible for the Ember’s food, the vice-captain was a position of heavy responsibility.

It was not a position where one could dare discuss holding concurrent posts.

Knowing that, Jeremy made a proposal.

“Instead, I will take charge of training the hunting party. I will pass down all of my archery and marksmanship skills.”

“……!”

Today, the hunting party witnessed Jeremy Scott’s tremendous marksmanship.

To the extent that more than ten hunting party members saved their lives thanks to it.

Since Archer had felt the desperate need for an expert like Jeremy in the fight against the mutants, there could be no proposal more attractive than this.

“Is it not possible? I heard you are Yann Casselos’s closest confidant, surely it wasn’t an empty rumor?”

However, Jeremy provoked him once more.

Since the vice-captain was a position that did not even exist, it was beyond Archer’s authority.

Creating a position and appointing someone to it required Yann Casselos’s approval.

In other words, it was something that touched his pride as the hunting captain and the leader’s closest confidant.

That was exactly what Jeremy was aiming for, and his intention hit the mark precisely.

Archer snorted and spoke.

“I will do it.”

“You will? Will Yann permit it?”

“Why wouldn’t he? We were in need of an administrator anyway since the hunting party members increased. A position is something that can be created as long as you attach a justification to it. And appointing a vice-captain is well within my authority. Lord Yann will respect my judgment.”

As he said, there was nothing that couldn’t be done if they attached a reason to it.

Moreover, with the mutations occurring, a training instructor like Jeremy was desperately needed.

Above all, since this hunting party was scheduled to transform into an army in five months, Jeremy Scott was a talent that had to be recruited.

That was the reason Archer Fordham could confidently declare that he would appoint Jeremy as vice-captain.

“I’ll get permission from the leader today.”

“Good. I trust you’ll pay me well.”

“Don’t worry about that part. In return, you must do your job well.”

It meant he had to well-train the hunting party, who were experienced as hunters but a ragtag bunch as soldiers.

“Take responsibility and train them into soldiers, so as not to cause trouble for Lord Yann Casselos.”

However, this was not what Jeremy wanted.

Because the people raised that way would ultimately become Yann Casselos’s guns.

However.

“Don’t worry. Making people submit to authority is my specialty.”

For the former general Jeremy Scott, a period of five months was more than enough time to turn the loyalty meant for Yann Casselos toward himself.