After a heated discussion, the trio decided to visit a small village a few hours south of their current location.
Apparently, it was called Nepa, and it was currently facing a starvation crisis.
Nevertheless, the Black Scabbards departed toward the village in hopes of finding someone strong and trustworthy enough to join their cause.
And so, after a few hours of traveling, they continued their journey on foot.
"Prīōra, how much longer until we get there already? The sun looks like it'll set within the next hour!" Kutcher warned her.
Suddenly, Prīōra came to a halt and gazed up at the sky.
Tuziku and Kutcher also stopped.
"I'm a man who believes that the night is meant for sleeping!" Kutcher argued.
"You sleep just as much during the day anyway," Tuziku mumbled.
"What was that?!" Kutcher snapped.
"Nothing!"
"Hmm, let's see... We're still a couple of hours away from Nepa," said Prīōra.
"At this rate... we'll end up having to travel through the night."
She turned toward Tuziku.
"What do you want us to do, Tuziku?"
Tuziku glanced at her, then at Kutcher, before making his decision.
"We can stop here and set up camp for the night," said Tuziku.
"Now that's more like it!" said Kutcher as he walked off and sat beside a rock.
Tuziku and Prīōra gazed at him with awkward expressions.
"What are you doing, Kutcher?" Prīōra asked.
Kutcher gazed at her with a look of confusion.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm claiming my spot to sleep tonight!" he said with a confident grin.
Suddenly, Prīōra burst out laughing.
"Are you a caveman or something?"
"That's not how you camp out at all."
Tuziku stepped forward.
"Kutcher, when you're camping, you need wood to set up a fire and meat from a wild animal for food!"
"Ohh! And you need tents to sleep in as well!" He wore a proud grin.
"I see..." Kutcher scratched his chin.
Prīōra chuckled.
"Tuziku, who taught you how to camp?" she asked.
"Well, I've never actually camped before. I only read about it in books that my father used to bring me whenever he returned from work in the land of Fuyu."
Tuziku let out a faint smile that lasted only a moment.
Prīōra sighed.
"Don't go making yourself depressed."
She placed a palm over her forehead before turning toward the guys.
"In any case, this is different from a planned outdoor camping trip!"
"We don't have any tools or equipment, so we have to improvise," she explained.
Suddenly, she turned and frantically observed their surroundings.
"This spot should do... Kutcher, you go hunting and see if you can get us some meat to cook!"
"Tuziku, can you get us some wood to make a shelter and start a fire?" she asked.
She turned and faced the guys again.
"Can you guys do that for me?"
Kutcher got up from beside the rock.
"Sure, I can do that... but what are you gonna do in the meantime?" he asked.
Prīōra glared at him passionately.
"If you must know, I plan on making us something comfortable to sleep on, as well as making preparations for dinner!" she replied with attitude.
"R—right. I'll go see if I can find something to hunt now," Kutcher replied nervously before walking off.
Tuziku approached her.
"Prīōra, I'd love to help you with gathering the wood... but there aren't exactly any trees as far as the eye can see," he explained.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you..." She raised a finger.
"If you check close to the mountains, you're sure to find at least one or two trees."
"They're rare, but they tend to grow near the base of most mountains or along their sides," she explained.
"I see..." Tuziku scratched his chin.
"See that mountain over there!" She pointed.
"There are a couple of trees at the base of that mountain. It's only a few minutes away."
Tuziku turned and gazed at the mountain.
"Alright then, I'll be back shortly!" he shouted before walking off.
"Now then, I should get started on my task before the guys return," Prīōra mumbled to herself.
...
Meanwhile, as we check on Kutcher and his progress so far...
As Kutcher wandered just a few feet away from their camping location, boredom had already begun to overwhelm him.
"Augh! This is such a pain!" he complained.
"Since we entered this land of rocks, I haven't seen a single wild animal, let alone something edible!" he vented.
He let out a huge sigh.
"Why didn't she just collect some food from old man Ryōkōjū before we left?"
"Damn that stupid Prīōra! If only she weren't so intimidating!"
Suddenly—
Kutcher came to an abrupt halt.
What happened next would determine whether he and his fellow crew members would go to bed with empty stomachs.
As he stood there completely frozen, a large elk and its calf slowly walked past him.
As he speechlessly admired his miraculous stroke of luck, he thought to himself:
I can't believe it!
It's an elk!
And its calf? So it's a mother...
But damn, she is one huge elk! I don't think we can eat all that meat in one sitting. And we can't keep it for too long, or else it'll start to rot!
He scratched his chin.
Do I take the calf then?
As he gazed at the innocent calf struggling to keep up with its fully grown mother, something deep within Kutcher stirred.
He felt a sense of sympathy toward the calf.
"I'm sorry about this, little one. But I'll have to take your mom away from you."
He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword and waited.
He waited until the elk and its calf had gotten a considerable distance away from him, far enough that they wouldn't be alarmed the moment he launched his attack.
Then, as soon as the distance was favorable—
Now!
SHLING!
Kutcher drew his blade and dashed toward the mother elk.
Then—
SWOOSH!
TAP...
One precise and powerful stroke of his blade completely severed the mother's head from its body.
THUD!
SPLSH!
Its massive body collapsed to the ground as blood gushed from the severed neck.
Yet, surprisingly, the calf didn't run.
It simply stood there.
Completely frozen.
Almost as though it couldn't understand what had just happened.
Its eyes remained fixed on its mother's lifeless body as blood continued to stain the ground beneath her.
Even when Kutcher approached to retrieve the remains of the elk, the calf didn't flinch.
It didn't run.
It didn't even seem capable of moving.
Kutcher thought to himself:
Poor little guy... He's too traumatized to even run.
I know exactly how you feel.
"I'm sorry I had to do this, but my friends and I need something to eat," Kutcher said, his expression filled with pity.
He grabbed the remains of the deceased elk and began dragging it back toward the location where they had decided to set up camp.
The calf remained behind, standing beside its mother's severed head.
CHAPTER 69 END