Magic Scavenger Part 1 Chapter 1

 Chapter 1: Kanata's Hobby

The Karejasu Mercenary Company was a small but elite group. With its Leader included, only around ten of them actually fought as mercenaries on the battlefield and now fifteen battlefield-scavenger children had found shelter with the company as well. Based in the southern reaches of the Kingdom of Starrei, it had built up a reputation.

This particular war had started for a ridiculous reason: a petty squabble between villages that ballooned into a feud between their lords. The Karejasu Mercenary Company had been hired by one side to fight in it.

"Worse than some kids' squabble... Damn it all..."

In the campsite lit by the fire, Uval, captain of the Karejasu Mercenary Company, grumbled between swigs of liquor. As a mercenary, a third party to the dispute, this whole war struck him as genuinely pointless and not worth fighting at all.

It was a war between two small territories and he'd taken the job expecting one side to back down before long... but that prediction never panned out. Both sides just kept digging in their heels, dragging things out for nothing. By now, with the enemy lord bringing in a mage on top of everything, Uval couldn't help but feel just how absurd it had all become. His already-intimidating face grew even more severe.

"You're the one who took the job."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that... But who'd have thought a fight between two tiny territories would drag on like this?"

"Well... that part's true enough."

Sitting across from him, listening to him grumble, was the vice-captain, Guriare, a woman with beautiful orange hair. Even though she was a woman, she was a skilled swordmage, adept at handling magic while being able to command the company alongside Uval.

Glancing to the side, she could see their fellow mercenaries drinking and carrying on. Some had their arms slung over each other's shoulders, dancing merrily; others had already started arm-wrestling matches with bets riding on them. Honestly, Guriare herself was sick of it too but she supposed it was at least fortunate that no real complaints had surfaced among the ranks yet.

"They've even brought out a mage now... So what'll it be? Are we sending ours out too?"

"...If we don't send him out, we don't eat. Simple as that."

A little way off from the mercenaries getting rowdy over their drinks... Guriare turned her gaze toward the battlefield-scavenger children instead, gathered together comparing today's hauls. Among them, sitting around a fire and eating together, were Kanata and Roa.

"You never get tired of it, huh, Kanata... picking up nothing but that trash."

Roa said this while scooping up today's soup with a clumsy, misshapen spoon. Beside her, Kanata held up his fire-attribute pebble... the Rubbish, catching the light of the campfire.

"I-it's fine, isn't it? I already got enough loot to hand over to the boss, so..."

"No, I'm not saying it's not fine, just... it's such a waste. If you've got time to go hunting for that stuff, you could be scavenging more real loot instead, right? Then your own share would be bigger too."

The battlefield-scavenger children scavenged swords and valuables from the field on the company's behalf, handing them over as their quota in exchange for food, clothes, and a roof over their heads. A big enough haul could earn individual rewards too. For instance, the boy sitting across from Kanata, who must have done well today, was grinning over a bread ration and dried meat generous enough to fill his stomach. Kanata's portion, by contrast, was just one piece of bread and some soup, with no dried meat at all. It wasn't exactly a small amount but it wasn't enough either. It was a halfway, unsatisfying sort of portion.

"What are you talking about? I don't even have to hand this over to the boss. As far as my share goes, this is basically all mine already."

"What's that supposed to mean...? By that logic, the Rubbish disappears so fast so once it's gone your 'share' is zero, isn't it?"

"T-that's... uh... ngh..."

"Don't just give up already... Come up with a better excuse next time, would you..."

Even losing the argument to Roa, Kanata kept right on gazing at the Rubbish. Maybe because it was fire-attribute, it caught the firelight beautifully.

It looked just like a gemstone but it had none of a gemstone's actual worth. The Rubbish was nothing more than excess mana given shape, leftovers from a spell and given enough time it would dissolve back into the air and vanish.

It didn't even have a gem's delicate shine so it couldn't be passed off as one, which meant it wasn't even good for pulling some scam... And yet, for Kanata, it had a pull he couldn't quite quit. It was in a way like a hobby. Whether or not anyone else understood it, it held value for him.

"If you like pretty rocks so much, why not just go after actual gems?"

"How many soldiers out here even carry gems, though?"

"I mean, sure, but... you need a mage around to get Rubbish too so isn't it basically the same problem?"

"Heh... you don't get it, Roa. Everyone's after gems but nobody's after Rubbish, right? That makes this way easier to scavenge!"

"Doesn't that make you sad just saying it out loud? ...Well, if you're happy with it, I guess that's fine."

Had he won the argument, or had he thrown it on purpose? Kanata was still turning that mixed feeling over in his head when he sensed a presence looming above the two of them. He turned around to find Uval, the captain with a tankard in hand, peering down at them without either of them noticing him approach.

"Ha! Kanata, you little brat, still picking up that trash, are you?!"

"B-boss! I-it's fine, isn't it! I hand over my whole quota, no problem!"

"Yeah, it's fine, I ain't complaining. As long as you make quota, no gripes from me. Besides, if you handed over stuff that's worthless anyway, that'd just be a pain for us. Keep whatever you want."

It made for an unsettling picture: a hulking man looming over a kid who couldn't have been more than ten. Kanata's face tightened a little, like he didn't think much of Uval to begin with. The other battlefield-scavenger kids seemed to feel the same, falling quiet the moment Uval showed up. Even Roa, sitting right beside him, kept herself well-behaved so as not to draw his attention.

"What's so fun about staring at that thing, huh? It ain't like it's a gem or anything."

"B-but it's exciting, isn't it..."

"Huh?"

The reply came out sounding like a threat, and Kanata's shoulders gave a small flinch. Of course, Uval had no intention of threatening him. He was just asking a genuine question. But with a face that intimidating, even a question came across like a warning.

"R-Rubbish comes from the magic power mages use... so, y'know, when I look at it, it kinda feels like even someone like me can touch a little piece of magic, right here in this tiny lump... and that's fun...!"

"Hmmmn...?"

"I know someone like me can't ever study real magic. But... is it so wrong to dream a little, just from looking at this tiny lump? I-is that so bad?!"

Kanata braced himself for a knuckle to the head, even as he stood his ground and pushed back. Uval, meanwhile, listened and then tipped his tankard back, draining the liquor in one long pull.

"Ain't nothing wrong with it, I guess. Dreaming's free. Dreaming, that is. As long as you make quota, dream all you want, as far as I'm concerned."

"I'll make quota, I swear! I'll work hard for real!"

"Oh, obviously. If you weren't making quota, I'd have made you quit collecting that trash a long time ago. And it ain't just you, Kanata. Your clothes, your food, none of that's free... so work hard. As long as you do, I don't give a damn if you go collecting junk like Kanata here."

Uval's warning was aimed at every kid still riding high on a good haul today, not just Kanata. Squeezing a hand into the gap of a dented breastplate, wriggling under fallen rubble... work like that suited small bodies better, which was exactly why children made better battlefield scavengers. Making sure they all understood how they earned their keep, Uval's eyes settled on the Rubbish clenched in Kanata's fist.

"W-what, boss...? I-I'm not giving it to you!"

"Like I want it, idiot! Who else but you would even want that trash?! It'll be gone by tomorrow anyway!"

"Ugh! You reek!"

"That's the smell of an adult! Gyahahaha!!"

Uval breathed his liquor-soaked breath right in Kanata's face as the boy tried to hide the Rubbish so it couldn't be taken. Plenty of the kids weren't fond of their captain but on this one point, they all nodded along as if they actually agreed with him.

"I really think there's something romantic about it, though... mmph..."

Whether it was everyone's reaction that left him unsatisfied, Kanata puffed his cheeks out in a sulk and went right back to gazing at the Rubbish.

**Translator's Note:** 

カレジャス傭兵団 was translated as the Karejasu Mercenary Company as there is no indication that it is courageous though it sounds like it. The katakana is different from courageous so finger crossed it will be clarified in later chapters.