That was a surprise.
In all honesty, I’d assumed they, being far more knowledgeable about the dungeon than me, would be hardy, skilled survivalists in their own right. And I had reason to believe as much.
I’d visited the jungles of Brunei for training before and learned many things from the Dayak people who lived there. How to navigate in dense woodlands, which snakes had dangerous venom, which plants were safe to eat, and how utterly defenseless soldiers unaccustomed to the environment were. It was there where I learned never to belittle native groups or cultures I didn’t know anything about. That awareness helped me time and again in whatever nations missions took me to. It should have been the same even in another world like this.
However, these people were more “civilized” than I’d first assumed.
They’d lived in comfort, surrounded by their convenient tools and systems, but they were so used to the advancements of their world that if one were to toss them into a field (though the term field may have needed rethinking in this world), they would die quickly and pitifully.
It was entirely my mistake. I’d basically abandoned disaster victims from London or Tokyo in a refugee camp to sort it out for themselves. I shouldn’t have left the area until confirming that someone could make a fire.
I said, “Sorry—switch with me. Troach! Would you come over and help?”
Troach, who had been watching from behind a pillar, suddenly gave a jolt and stiffened.
The people who had been watching the attempts to start a fire looked up, confused.
“Troach? You mean Troach of the Complicated Past?”
“Wait, isn’t she that thief?”
“She was in the jail, last I heard. Didn’t realize she was ali—”
Before the unrest could grow, I loudly proclaimed, “I don’t know what your disagreements were in the past, but right now, we need as many people as we can get. As you can see, she’s already helped me bring aid to you all. Would you trust me with her? I’ll take responsibility—she won’t ever steal from you again.”
The people exchanged glances, seeming unsure.
“Would that be agreeable?” I pressed.
Potesara said, “Not like there’s any laws keeping her in jail anymore. If you’ll watch her, that’s fine with us…but I don’t know what the person she stole from would say.”
“Who was the victim?”
“The storyteller. Mizuho the Frequent Late-Nighter.”
I turned around to look at Troach, who was standing there awkwardly. “The home you burgled was Mizuho’s?”
“She had all sorts of rare items, so… You mean she’s still alive?”
“Yeah. Why not go give her an apology directly?”
“What? That would be really uncomfortable, but, well, I guess…”
I looked around, across the crowd, but couldn’t see Mizuho anywhere. “Mizuho? Where are you?”
“She’s sleeping over there. Must have been tired,” Potesara replied.
“Sleeping…?”
I had a bad feeling about this. I pushed through the crowd, and among the faces of the refugees tired and clumped together at the base of a pillar, I spotted Mizuho. She was sitting there by herself, her head hung deep.
“Mizuho?” I called out, shaking her shoulders. Even then, she gave no reply. Her head sagged limply to one side. My jacket, which I’d left with her, fell to the ground. A touch revealed that her body was as cold as ice.
Shit! She was in the final stage of hypothermia.
“Hey, is she all right?” someone inquired.
I turned back to Troach and instructed, “Open up all the bundles we brought and get every kind of blanket you can find.”
“Uh, right.”
I laid Mizuho down, then untied my own bundles and dumped all their contents out. The metal objects made loud, shrill clanks and jingles that carried far, and the refugees turned to us, wondering what was happening.
A blanket, a thick cape, a tablecloth, and a bedsheet. Unfolded, they were nowhere near as much as I would have liked, but it was better than nothing.
Potesara came walking over, his eyes widening at all the things that Troach and I had scattered about.
“What’s wrong, Taiga?”
“Mizuho is about to freeze to death. We need to warm her right now, but before that, we need to take her clothes off—she’s soaking wet. Could you round up all the men and have them back off for a bit?”
“Y-yeah, no problem.”
I didn’t know what gender norms were like in this world, but considering how easily Potesara agreed, my guess that a girl wouldn’t be comfortable being exposed to a bunch of men seemed correct. Getting something like that wrong now could’ve been trouble.
To Troach, I asked, “Could you take off her clothes?”
“What?! Are you sure?!”
“…Am I sure?”
“That’s…not what I meant. Are you sure you want me to do it?”
“There’s no time—hurry.”
“All right. All right,” Troach conceded, reaching for her own clothes and beginning to take them off.
I was baffled. “You don’t need to strip! Just Mizuho!”
“What?! Oh—oh!”
“Get a grip. She doesn’t have long to live like this.”
I spread out the blanket I had on hand and laid it in a spot where others wouldn’t see. After layering the bedsheet on top of it, I picked Mizuho up and put her down on it.
“After removing all her wet clothing, I need you to lie down with her. Roll up one—just one—of the other pieces of cloth to sit between you. Then put all the rest of it on top.”
“Okay…”
With Mizuho’s body in Troach’s hands, I went around the pillar and moved to a place where I couldn’t see them.
I could hear the sounds of wet clothing hitting the floor and cloth being dragged, after which, Troach eventually called out, “Taiga, I’m lying with her. What should I do now?”
“You don’t need to do anything. Just stay there.”
“…That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
I checked in on the two of them; their heads were next to each other on the makeshift bed. Troach, seeming concerned, looked back at me and asked, “Hey, are you sure I don’t need to strip?”
“What would that accomplish? Feel free if you get too hot, but your job is to warm Mizuho.”
There were stories about stripping down to use your body heat to warm a victim on the verge of dying from hypothermia, but it was actually better not to. Pressing your bare skin against someone whose body temperature had lowered would rob you of your own heat, and then both would perish.
The best course of action was to get into the same bed as the freezing person, keep a blanket or some such between you, and lie there. The heat coming from your body would get trapped in the bedding. There wasn’t any need for direct skin contact.
Dying together was a genuine possibility when it came to surviving with others. If one person could no longer move and you tried to help them, you could quickly both end up immobilized, and that would be it.
“I’m getting sleepy.”
“Then get some rest. I have other things to do, so I’ll leave Mizuho with you.”
“Are you for real?”
“If anything happens, call me immediately. Good night.”
Leaving the bed behind me, I gathered up several of the things Troach and I had strewed about. As I did, I quickly examined the refugees who had been watching from afar (all women, since the men had already been led away), searching for someone who looked trustworthy. For this, I had nothing to go on except my long years of observation and my gut.
Yes—you there.
I called out to a powerfully built woman of about thirty. “Excuse me! I’d like your help with something.”
“…You mean me?”
There were several who didn’t immediately look away when I met eyes with them. My decision was based on whose gazes were neither challenging nor covetous. This woman looked strong as well, giving her a sense of presence among the others.
With a dubious expression, she walked over to me. “I’m Taiga,” I began. “Would you tell me your name?”
“I’m Savakan, She Who Strikes While It’s Hot.”
Reflexively, I glanced at her hands. Her palms had deep callouses on them, and the ends of her hair were tightly curled.
“Judging by your title, I’d say you’re a smith. Am I wrong?”
“You’re correct. But not only have I lost my hammer and anvil, I also couldn’t even make a fire.” Savakan twisted her lips in a display of self-deprecation.
“Can’t help you with the first two, but we’ll get a fire going in a moment. In the meantime, I wanted to ask you to do something for me.”
“Why me?”
“Because you seem capable. Hear me out—Troach is over there right now warming Mizuho up. I prioritized Mizuho because she’s in imminent danger, but there must be others who have weakened as well. It’s cold here, and those with frailer constitutions will suffer—especially the children and elderly. Any wounded may be in a tight spot, too. I want you to recruit people and find anyone who isn’t doing well.”
“I can do that.”
“All right, thanks.”
Savakan returned to the other refugees and began asking around.
Good. That’s one piece of pending legislation someone else can handle. The next thing I had to do was get that fire going.