Base Camp for Bird Hunting
I’d come to the forest for the bird-hunting trip I’d promised Raina a while back.
The spot was up north in the Baroa Woods. Compared to the main path along the east, it was relatively quiet—a hidden gem, you could say.
How Raina managed to convince those Artemis guild members was a mystery, but we planned to do a proper hunt with an overnight camp. I didn’t care much for schedules, but was Raina really okay with this?
“If anything, before joining Artemis, I used to camp out and do all sorts of reckless stuff all the time. This ain’t nothin’ new, senpai.”
“Yeah, fair enough.”
For broke guild members, even staying at an inn was a hassle.
If you asked most people whether they’d rather share a drafty, cheap room or camp out, plenty wouldn’t be able to answer right away.
Personally, I’d always choose camping over sleeping in some filthy inn. Prickly sheets, tiny critters crawling on the ceiling, someone else’s snoring—nah, no way. I couldn’t take it.
“We’ll stay in the woods tonight and head back sometime tomorrow, I guess.”
“Hope we bag a lot before then, senpai!”
“Yeah.”
Springtime meant hunting permits were issued for a wide variety of monsters and animals.
The more you caught, the more money you made, so naturally, the woods were lively. Plus, the warmer air made camping out much easier.
“…Mongrel-senpai, that’s one hell of a load you’re carrying.”
“Really? This is pretty much my usual camping set.”
“Seriously? Now that I think about it, I’ve never camped with you before, huh?”
“Ah, yeah, guess not. First time, then. Well, I’ll cook you something good tonight, so look forward to it.”
“Yay!”
Since we’d be staying overnight, I’d brought a larger backpack than usual—my full camping kit. On top of that, I had a slightly oversized pot, so it was bulkier than normal.
Raina, on the other hand, was barely any different from her usual gear.
Her pack was a little bigger, and she was wearing her cloak over everything. Long cloaks were handy for lying or sitting on the bare ground at night. Not that I used mine much.
“First, let’s walk around and find a good base spot. Somewhere near a river would make things easier, senpai.”
“Got it. If we spot any game before then, I can take it down, right?”
I plucked at my bowstring, making a twang-twang sound. Fun.
“Yeah, sure. Hope we find somethin’ good, senpai.”
“What kinda birds are around this season? I never hunt birds, so I don’t really know. Marukko pigeons, maybe?”
“Ah, Marukko pigeons ain’t fat enough this early. Puffbirds with big mating plumage are way better targets right now, senpai.”
“Huh.”
Puffbirds—when mating season came around, they’d puff up their downy feathers all over, turning into these round, fuzzy-looking things. Their flashy appearance made them easy to spot.
I’d seen their corpses before, too, with those distinctive, tightly packed chest feathers that looked like dandelion fluff. That down caught fire real nice when used as tinder…
“Ah, speak of the devil… There’s one right there, senpai.”
“Oh!”
Following Raina’s finger, I looked up and saw a hilariously obvious bird.
A scraggly little thing with light brown feathers all puffed up, looking like a cross between a marimo moss ball and a wasp’s nest.
“Wanna take the shot, Mongrel-senpai?”
“Nah, you go ahead.”
“Practice makes perfect, senpai.”
“…Sorry in advance if I miss.”
“No worries, senpai. Movin’ targets are good trainin’.”
Under Raina’s coaxing, I hesitantly raised my bow. The tree was only about 12 meters away—hardly far at all.
“Gonna apologize now. Missed.”
“If you shoot expectin’ to miss, you’ll miss even the easy shots, senpai. Think back to winter trainin’… Yeah, like that—eyes level…”
Aiming for a bird perched on a branch was new to me, but I adjusted my stance with Raina’s advice and steadied my aim.
…Alright, I got this.
Time to blast those pretty feathers right off!
“Twang!”
“Aaand I missed.”
My arrow sailed clean past, embedding itself in the foliage a good meter away without even grazing the bird.
For something with such a dumb-looking face, the puffbird clearly had decent survival instincts—it took off immediately. For such a fluffy ball, it was surprisingly quick.
“Not bad, senpai. If your arrow lands near where you aimed, that’s progress.”
“Still wanted to hit it, damn it.”
“Just gotta keep practicin’, senpai.”
And now came the annoying part—retrieving the arrow that had flown off to who-knows-where. I was the type who hated this chore more than anything.
I kinda got why Raina insisted on coloring the fletching. Finding arrows in the woods was a pain in the ass.
“This spot’s close to water—might be good, senpai.”
“There’s an old fire pit too. Let’s make this our base.”
After walking for a while, we settled near the remains of a stone-built cooking pit around noon. A proper base camp.
Leaving the heavy gear here and setting up traps and monster deterrents would be enough for most situations.
There was always the risk of another guild member raiding our supplies, but we’d have to pray that didn’t happen. Not many people came out this far anyway…
“Wanna bag more birds while it’s still light, senpai.”
“…Three already on the way here? Damn, you really are Artemis’s rising star.”
“Puffbirds are everywhere in spring, senpai.”
Even before setting up camp, Raina had already bagged three.
Hitting every shot was impressive enough, but her ability to spot prey was insane. She was just… hyper-aware of everything. Meanwhile, I was too distracted by spring plants to focus on the treetops.
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“…Uh, Mongrel-senpai, what’s with that tube…? Armor…?”
“Hm? Oh, this? It’s a chimney.”
“A chimney!?”
Sure, if you looked at this cylindrical metal thing, you might mistake it for part of plate armor.
But no—this was a quality camping tool I’d shelled out good money to have custom-made.
“See, there’s a smaller tube inside this one…”
“Oooh…”
“Flip it upside down, connect it the right way, and… boom, one long tube. Well, ‘long’ meaning about two meters.”
“Whoa, it fits. But chimneys are for houses, senpai. What’re you gonna do with this?”
Some campers used wood stoves.
The type where you attach a box-like combustion chamber to a long tube like this. You stuff wood inside, light it up, and smoke escapes through the chimney. No smoke in your face, and the chimney effect makes the fire burn better, keeping you warm.
Except I only brought the chimney. No stove box. Why?
Simple—that thing was a nightmare to carry. The tubes could be nested like matryoshka dolls, but the stove itself was way too bulky and heavy. At the very least, it couldn’t be hauled alongside a giant pot.
“We’ll use this for the stove part.”
“…Ah, the old fire pit?”
“Yep. Rearrange these stones into a rectangle… then set up and secure the chimney. After that, just slap this iron plate on top as a lid, and voilà—good to go.”
“Whoa.”
All I’d brought was the chimney and the stove’s top plate. The rest—rocks, dirt—I improvised each time. It wasn’t like we’d be staying for days, so I kept the gear minimal.
“Tonight, I’m making a killer soup with those puffbirds you bagged. I’ll practice with the bow too, but hunting’s your job.”
“Hell yeah! I’ll handle the huntin’, Mongrel-senpai can do the butchering! Gonna grab a few more nearby!”
“Got it. Oh, yell if you run into any nasty monsters. Solo archers are easy prey.”
“Roger!”
Not sure if she actually understood, but Raina dashed off, clearly excited.
…Well, this area was mostly birds. Maybe a goblin or two at worst. As long as she didn’t wander too far, it wasn’t too dangerous. Splitting tasks wasn’t a bad idea.
“Man, these birds are fluffy… The moment you pluck ‘em, it’s just poof—ah-choo!”
Puffbird down was light and soft as cotton. Plucking it sent clouds of fluff flying everywhere, tickling my nose.
But apparently, if you gathered enough of this stuff and stuffed it into thin leather, it made premium cushioning. Like down or feather bedding. According to Raina, a big enough haul could fetch a decent price. So I couldn’t just toss it. Burning it to ash would’ve been easier, but…
“Ugh, so much blood. Gross, gross.”
Butchering happened by the river.
Behead, gut, sort the organs, then weigh it down with stones in cold water.
The worst part was the feathers. Plucking them was exhausting.
Raina said it was easier to do while the bird was still alive, but no way. Mentally and visually, that was too much.
“Oh, a crater toad.”
“Ribbit.”
While cleaning off the blood, a small crater toad hopped over from the other side of the stream.
Completely unafraid of humans, it zeroed in on the puffbird carcass. Oh hell no—that’s our bird, you little—!
“Since I’m already dirty… how ‘bout I butcher you too? At least frogs don’t give me guilt trips.”
“R-Ribbit!?”
Whether it sensed the murderous vibes or not, the toad tensed up. Preparing to leap.
Crater toads relied on their sheer weight for stomps and kicks.
Against me? Not a threat. If anything, its refusal to run just made things easier.
Come at me. I’ll toss you right into the soup stock.
“Oh, here it—whoa!”
The toad jumped. That much was expected.
What wasn’t expected was it landing not on me, but right in front of me.
“Sploosh!?”
No stomp, but the belly-flop into the river sent a geyser of water straight at me. A splash attack—cheap, but effective.
“This is my only set of clothes, you little—!”
“Gurk!”
I lopped off the dumb toad’s head in one clean swing, but now I was soaked.
Damn thing pulled the one move I hated most.
“You little… I was gonna make good food outta you…!”
“Senpai! Mongrel-senpai! Just got another—whoa, why’re you all wet, senpai!?”
“Listen, Raina, this bastard—”
“…Pfft—HAHAHA!”
“Don’t laugh, dumbass! Gimme the bird! I’ll butcher it!”
“Here! Gonna grab another one, senpai!”
Raina handed me the fourth puffbird and sprinted off.
…Huh, still warm. The girl really was something else.
“Ugh, so much butchering left… Hope I don’t fall behind Raina’s pace…”
Not like we were competing, but the idea of my cooking speed losing to her hunting speed bugged me. So, like a sore loser, I sped up.
Hmm, maybe I was too eager to take down the Crater Toad.
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