Chapter 150: Isac: Mom... (Patreon)

"How much ammo do we have left in reserve?"

After the bandages were changed and the blanket pulled back over him, Isac asked about their ammunition reserves.

Before he'd blacked out, he only remembered firing a lot of shots — he had no idea exactly how many rounds they'd burned through, but between the two fights it had to be more than ten.

Before they'd set out, they'd only had a little over thirty rounds total to begin with — after those two fights, they were basically back to square one.

"We used up every round of 12-gauge buckshot this time. There are ten 12-gauge slugs left, and the Glock 17 has eight rounds in it — eighteen total," Hayasaka Ai answered. While she'd been going through the intel downstairs, she'd also taken inventory of their weapons and ammunition.

Eighteen rounds left, and more than half of those were the heavier-hitting slugs — better than Isac had expected.

"Actually, it's not that we're out of bullets — we just haven't found the right guns for them," Kaguya said wistfully.

After all, a town the size of Mountain Town couldn't possibly have only a measly dozen or so rounds of 12-gauge to its name.

They'd even found an entire crate of ammunition inside an unassuming-looking one-story house — twenty-four boxes packed inside, a full 120 brand-new .308 rifle rounds.

Add in the loose rounds scattered here and there around the house, and the rifle ammo alone came to a full 164 rounds.

And that wasn't even counting the revolver rounds — they hadn't bothered counting those carefully, but there were at least forty or fifty. Between the two, their total ammo reserve came out to somewhere north of two hundred rounds.

If each fight burned through about ten rounds on average, that would be enough to see them through more than twenty engagements.

The trouble was, they had all that ammunition and nothing to fire it from — they hadn't found guns chambered for any of it.

So no matter how much ammo they had stockpiled, if they couldn't fire it, it might as well not exist.

Only the rounds you could actually put downrange really counted as yours.

"All that ammo, and not a single gun to match it," Isac sighed. But he perked back up almost immediately. "Well, that settles our next goal, then — find a rifle and a revolver to match before the next Aurora Week."

Aurora Week came around roughly once every three months, and right now they were in the middle of summer — three months from now would put them into late autumn, when nighttime temperatures would drop even further.

So besides weapons, they'd also need to lay in some proper cold-weather clothing — piling on layer after layer wasn't enough on its own; mobility mattered just as much when fighting out in the wilderness.

They also needed to put together some body armor, to cut down on the damage from close-quarters fighting whenever an aurora creature got in their face.

If Isac had had even some crude wooden armor on him that day, his upper body wouldn't have ended up wrapped like a mummy.

"Besides guns, bows, crossbows, hunting knives — those can boost our fighting strength too," Kaguya said. She thought they should keep an open mind about it; guns were certainly the most efficient option, but other weapons weren't useless either, and if they genuinely couldn't find guns, these could serve as substitutes.

As the saying went — when surviving out in the wild, leaving yourself an extra fallback option never hurt.

Hayasaka Ai pulled over a chair for herself and sat down by the bed, then added, "Once we've got the gear, we also need to build up our own skills — close combat, weapon handling, that sort of thing. Isn't there an old Daxia saying that the blacksmith needs strong arms of his own?"

"Training in those skills really does need to move up the priority list," Isac agreed wholeheartedly.

Aside from Hayasaka Ai, everyone in the household — Isac included — was still stuck at a beginner's level with every weapon they had.

Take the knife, for instance — the most Isac had ever used his hunting knife for was skinning rabbits or cleaning fish he'd caught.

Using it against a wild animal was another matter entirely.

Put it this way: even if Isac had been holding that hunting knife when the aurora cougar tackled him, he probably wouldn't have come out any less hurt than he actually did.

Hayasaka Ai had seen this clearly, which was exactly why she'd brought up the need to build up their skills in this area.

And in particular, Yukinoshita Yukino needed the most work.

As a man, Isac could lean on his size and strength to make up some of the gap.

Kaguya, slender as she looked, actually carried a surprising amount of muscle, and her coordination across the board was excellent — combined with years of training in kendo, naginata, and kyudo, her combat ability really wasn't low at all.

She was, in effect, the survival squad's hidden powerhouse.

Yukinoshita Yukino, for her part, wasn't a poor athlete either, and she was skilled in her family's own style of Aikido — but her fatal weakness was that she came up short on both stamina and raw strength. Her real strengths leaned more toward the logistics side of things.

That hadn't mattered much before, but now that every point toward earning enough survival points to get them home counted, every bit of combat strength in the squad mattered — and for Yukinoshita Yukino's own safety besides, she was definitely going to need some serious training.

Nobody expected her to go tearing tigers and leopards apart bare-handed, but at the very least, she ought to be able to take down a single gray wolf on her own.

"I'll leave the training to you, then, Hayasaka." Isac clearly knew exactly who the real MVP of the squad was.

Neither he nor Kaguya could hold a candle to Hayasaka Ai when it came to combat — she was the one with actual professional training.

In a fight to the death, the odds between Hayasaka Ai and Isac would break down about nine to one.

Yeah — and that nine-to-one held true no matter which kind of "fight to the death" you meant.

"Got it. I'll work up a training plan tailored to each of you based on where you're actually at — though fair warning, it might be rough."

Whenever things turned serious, Hayasaka Ai had a way of coming across as utterly dependable — maybe that was just the particular charm of a blonde maid.

Of course, late at night — especially alone with Isac — a rather different, more lush side of her charm tended to come out.

"Better to sweat plenty in training now than bleed on an aurora night later."

As he said it, Isac deliberately, painfully flexed his bandaged right arm, like he was offering himself up as the cautionary example.

Kaguya huffed and tucked the blanket back in around him. "Even if we're training, it's going to wait until you're actually healed. Until then, you can just lie there in bed and watch us train."

"That... actually doesn't sound half bad?" Isac's eyes lit up alarmingly. Truth be told, pretty girls working out ranked as his second-favorite thing to watch, right behind wilderness survival shows.

What could he say — the man just really loved sports.

Life is about staying active, don't you think?

Kaguya shot him a disdainful look. Did he really think she couldn't see through his little scheme?

Flat on his back in bed and still up to no good.

Wrong! It was precisely because he was flat on his back that he wasn't behaving.

He couldn't move right now, and he couldn't sleep around the clock either — he had to find something to pass the time.

Watching pretty girls work up a sweat indoors sounded like a perfectly good option to him.

Good to look at, a pleasure to watch, and he intended to watch plenty.

Besides, the master bedroom had plenty of space — just push the table and chairs to one side, and it'd be more than enough for basic early-stage training. It'd save on fuel too.

Grrrowl...

With the serious business settled, Isac's stomach chose that moment to voice its protest.

He'd been unconscious for a full day and night, and aside from a little water, he'd had essentially nothing to eat — his stomach was completely empty.

Right when he'd woken up, the pain had kept the hunger at bay for a while, but now that the bandages were changed and his brain had gotten used to the discomfort, the hunger came flooding back on its own.

Kaguya, it turned out, had already seen this coming — or rather, Yukinoshita Yukino had.

"There's some porridge Yukino made specially for you, warming on the stove — she put Maple Syrup in it. I'll go get it." Kaguya got up, and soon came back carrying a steaming bowl.

Isac was a patient now, and heavy, greasy food wasn't good for his recovery.

"Want me to feed you?" Kaguya asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her eyes.

Isac glanced down at his own immobilized body and nodded with what he made sure looked like reluctant resignation. "I'd appreciate that." He wasn't reluctant in the slightest.

"Hmm? That's all you've got?" Kaguya clearly wasn't satisfied. Was that really the attitude of someone asking for a favor?

Isac caught her meaning instantly and revised his phrasing on the spot. "Please, Mommy Kaguya."

"M-Mommy?" Kaguya froze, completely blindsided — she'd only wanted him to say something sweet, and at most had expected him to call her "big sister."

But that one word — "Mommy" — had short-circuited her completely.

And judging by the look on Isac's face, he almost seemed to be enjoying himself.

Great, just great — she'd meant to tease him, and somehow it had turned into a reward for him instead!

"What on earth are you even saying?" Kaguya demanded, flushing red.

Isac blinked, looking genuinely puzzled and a little wronged.

"Isn't that what you meant?"

"No, I— you—" Kaguya's words caught in her throat. She could hardly tell Isac that what she'd actually been fishing for was sweet talk.

Then again... did "Mommy" even count as sweet talk?

Wait, this wasn't the time to be worrying about that — the room wasn't just her and Isac, after all. Hayasaka Ai was sitting right there watching!

Kaguya whipped her head around to look at Hayasaka Ai, only to find the other woman calmly scribbling away in a notebook with a pencil, expression perfectly composed, as if she hadn't heard a word of their exchange.

A truly professional maid could keep a straight face no matter how funny things got.

Kaguya knew perfectly well it was an act, but there was no way she was going to call her out on it — so she had no choice but to pretend Hayasaka Ai really hadn't heard anything.

"So... can we get started on the feeding? I don't think I can hold out much longer." Isac's eyes were locked on the bowl in Kaguya's hands; the smell drifting off it was working on his hunger something fierce, and he could barely keep the drool in his mouth.

"Hope you choke on it." For all the bite in Kaguya's voice, her hands were gentle as she fed him — she was even careful about the porridge being too hot, blowing on each spoonful before bringing it to his mouth.

Yep — Kaguya really was cut out to be his mother, all right.

Isac marveled to himself, entirely sincere about it.

Huh, wait — why "also"?

Oh, right. There was still Yukinoshita Yukino.

Yukinoshita Yukino might be asleep next door right now, but she'd made this bowl of porridge specially for Isac — so in a way, she was part of this too.

Before long, the whole steaming bowl of porridge had disappeared into Isac's stomach. Kaguya set the bowl and spoon aside and asked, concerned, "If you're not full, I can go open you a can of peaches."

"I'm full, I'm full."

The portion Yukinoshita Yukino had made for him had clearly been carefully measured out — once he'd finished it, Isac felt about eighty percent full.

He could use the Pinnacle Peaches to top himself off, but there wasn't really a need.

And for some reason, once he was full, his eyelids started growing heavy again — even though he'd just slept a full day and night.

Seeing him like this, Hayasaka Ai spoke up. "If you're feeling sleepy, don't fight it. Sleep helps the body heal itself."

She paused, then added, "Given that the pain in your body is probably a side effect of that low-tier physical enhancement, feeling drowsy right now is probably because sleep speeds up the enhancement process too."

Put that way, it actually made a fair bit of sense.

Isac found himself convinced. The moment he let his guard down, a tide of drowsiness swept over him; he closed his eyes, and before long his breathing had grown slow and heavy.

He'd clearly slipped into a deep sleep.

The fire in the fireplace was still burning. Kaguya got up to add a few more logs, then turned to go wash the bowl and spoon Isac had left behind.

But she found Hayasaka Ai had already beaten her to it, carrying the dishes downstairs — and since someone needed to stay with Isac, Kaguya sat back down in the chair by the bed.

She propped her chin on a pale, small hand, her deep red eyes fixed unblinking on Isac's peaceful sleeping face. Listening to his slow, steady breathing, the unease that had been sitting in her chest gradually settled.

He's okay. That's all that matters...

The next day, dawn hadn't yet broken outside — everything beyond the windows was still pitch dark. A strong wind was blowing, slipping through the gaps between the houses and moaning low as it went.

Isac woke because he needed to pee — porridge plus water made it pretty hard not to.

The chair by the bed had a new occupant. Yukinoshita Yukino sat there in a robe, her raven hair falling down her back like a silken waterfall, a book cradled in her hands, her body leaning slightly to one side. The firelight from the hearth behind her spilled across the pages and traced the lovely line of her profile.

Isac spent a moment just admiring the view before the pressure in his bladder became impossible to ignore, and he finally moved his left hand. It still hurt some, but compared to right after he'd woken up the first time, it was a world of improvement.

Hayasaka Ai had been right — sleep really did seem to speed up the enhancement process.

But before he could think about that, he had a more pressing biological problem to deal with.

With that thought, Isac struggled to sit up. The movement inevitably pulled at his wounds, and combined with the enhancement's side effects, the pain had him sucking in sharp breaths he couldn't stop.

"Hssss..." Hearing the sound, Yukinoshita Yukino immediately closed her book, her lovely eyes turning toward Isac with concern.

"You're awake. Tell me if you need anything — I'll get it for you."

"Uh, this one you probably can't get for me."

"Can't get it for you?" Yukinoshita Yukino blinked, then a look of understanding dawned on her face.

"You need the bathroom, right? Can you get up? If not, I've got a diaper ready for you..."