An active hunter from Hokkaido was thrown into another world

Chapter 15 Hunter’s first job

“Smile, Saran, smile!”

“???”

“Smile, smile!”

“Hmm!”

Saran lightly slaps her own face with both hands.

“How’s this?”

A faint smile.

“…Fix it by the end of the day.”

“Okay…”

“So, have you become a hunter?”

The old man behind the counter greets with us with smile.

“Here you go.”

Handing over our card, he look delighted.

“We’re grateful to have more hunters. There aren’t many people willing to take up this kind of work anymore. It’s probably because the world has become too peaceful.”

A decline in the number of hunters. It’s the same in any world, isn’t it…

“Alright, here’s the hide from earlier”

I present the deer hide.

“Hmm, not bad. The tanning is well done too. I can buy this for one and a half gold coins.”

“Thank you.”

It’s all thanks to the hard work of everyone in the elven village.

“Now, if I were to sell the hat, what price are you offering?”

“I’d be willing to pay three coins for it! And if it becomes trendy, its value could go even higher.”

The raccoon fur is quite popular.

This could turn into a profitable business opportunity.

“Well, for today, I’ll stick with the deer hide.”

“Is that so? Bring more whenever you have them. If it’s fresh game, I’ll also buy the meat.”

“Thank you.”

I jot down the prices listed on the purchasing chart displayed on the wall.

Having the purchase prices for each animal clearly visible like this is a good idea.

With individual negotiations, some might be cheated into selling at lower prices, while others might receive favoritism, leading to disputes. Having it posted for everyone to see eliminates such troubles and ensures fairness.

The meat fetches a good price, but the fur doesn’t seem to be as valuable.

Deer hides are inexpensive, while fur from animals like foxes, martens, and rabbits commands higher prices.

Bones and antlers are not particularly valuable either. Although in the elven village, they were used for crafting buttons and such, the cost of processing would likely outweigh the benefits.

It seems that what holds value is fur with good texture that can adorn women’s fashion.

Salt is expensive, and considering the cost of traveling to the elven village, it’s apparent that the merchants who come and go here are engaged in legitimate business.

In Japan, wild animal fur has absolutely no value. There is zero demand for it.

Everyone can use synthetic fibers as substitutes. Nowadays, there are more women who find real fur creepy and choose not to wear it. Deer meat is also cheap. If you can sell a deer for 10,000 yen, that’s considered good. The whole “game meat boom” is just a lie. Personally, I think chicken, beef, and pork are much tastier. If deer meat were really that good, then livestock farmers would be running deer ranches.

Fuel for cars, bullets for guns—the more hunters do their job, the more they end up in the red.

Unless you think of it as volunteering, it’s hard to keep doing it.

Well, this is a disappointment. I need to develop a product that can become a specialty of the Elven village. Maybe start with raccoon fur hats. But the Elves aren’t interested in cash income… However, they do buy iron products like axes and knives from merchants, so they must want the money.

The question is whether our laid-back clan will accept the idea of creating high-value-added products…

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

“Ugh! It came in again!”

Huh? Oh, it’s a pigeon.

“Damn it! Damn it all!”

The old man angrily swings a long pole to drive away the pigeon, but it quickly hides in the rafters of the attic.

The droppings are quite a mess…

Behind the counter is a large warehouse, and it seems that the pigeons have taken up residence there.

Back when I was in Japan, there were quite a few requests for pigeon extermination. Pigeons are not classified as game birds. It is illegal to hunt them under the Wildlife Protection Act. The only pigeon that can be hunted is the Rock Dove.

However, there are cases where municipalities designate them as nuisance animals and carry out extermination.

Farms, cattle barns, grain warehouses—they breed in those places and cover everything in droppings. It’s a complete mess.

It’s troublesome when they settle in. Have you heard of messenger pigeons? Even from unfamiliar lands hundreds of kilometers away, if you release a pigeon, it will return to the pigeon coop and deliver letters.

Pigeons have an incredibly strong homing instinct, but that also means they are strongly attached to their nests. Once they choose a nesting spot, they nest multiple times a year and lay eggs repeatedly, resulting in a rapid increase in their population.

It’s a nightmare for farmers and food industry workers who have to deal with the mess.

Rock doves are also known as flying rats. They spread disease-causing bacteria and are highly disliked by livestock farmers.

“Aren’t there people who can control pigeons?”

“There aren’t any!”

The old man gasps for breath as he holds his stick.

The hunters can’t hit them with bows, the wizards refuse to do anything drastic like setting buildings on fire, using arrows or bows in the city is not feasible, and nets don’t catch them. They keep coming back no matter what, and it’s not practical to spend a fortune hiring skilled hunters to deal with this.

Hmm… What should I do?

Well, I happen to be an expert in this matter.

In fact, the young members of the hunting association are always assigned this task.

I’ve done it countless times, whether I liked it or not.

“Do you want to do it?”

Saran looks at me and smiles.

Well… I guess so.

“It’s fine. Even if it doesn’t make money, there are people who need help, right?”

It’s comforting to hear those words.

I squat down behind the counter and take out the Diana M52 from my magic bag.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a tool for shooting down pigeons… well, it’s a magical device.”

“Is such a thing really available?”

“Well, please watch.”

The Diana M52 is a rare side lever spring rifle among air rifles. It has a long lever on the side, about half the length of the gun. Click-click-click-click… When you pull it back with a loud clack, the spring piston compresses and locks. The chamber opens and exposes itself, allowing you to push in a 4.5mm lead pellet.

By the way, pellets are referred to as “pellets” in air guns and are distinguished from conventional bullets.

After that, you simply push down the cocking safety lever while closing the side lever with a snap, and the gun is ready to fire. It’s much easier and more enjoyable to handle than pump-action air guns that require repeated pumping or pre-charged guns that require filling with 200 atmospheres of air like a bicycle pump.

It’s a single-shot gun, so it’s faster than a repeater that needs to load bullets into a magazine every five shots.

When you shoot down one bird, the other birds will fly away, so a single-shot gun is sufficient.

In Japan, air guns are limited to a magazine capacity of five shots. It’s interesting how they are modified to be imported with a five-shot capacity when overseas models have 10 or 12 rounds.

I aim steadily… With spring-powered air guns, regardless of the manufacturer, an automatic safety mechanism engages during cocking. So here, I release the safety lever and aim through the scope…

Just as its head appears…

Bang!

Conventional air guns make a loud bang, but one advantage of spring-powered air guns is that they produce a quieter sound. It’s about three times quieter than an airsoft gun.

Flapping its wings, it falls down.

It becomes limp and stops moving.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

Hahaha! You’re surprised, aren’t you?

First-time viewers are always amazed.

And they get incredibly excited.

You must really hold a grudge against pigeons, huh?

“Oh, do you have a bag?”

“I do! Use this one!”

I received a huge burlap sack.

“No, it doesn’t have to be this big…”

“Come here!”

“Huh?”

“Come on!”

I’m taken to another warehouse.

“Wow…”

Swoosh, swoosh.

There are so many of them. Around thirty, maybe…

The place is covered in droppings.

Saran comes along, carrying a burlap sack.

“Please, I’m begging you! Do it!”

“Understood.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thud.

Flap flap flap.

Thud.

Flap flap flap.

With each shot, the pigeons fall down, while others frantically fly away, only to land again and become the target once more.

“Close the door! Don’t let them escape!”

Sealing off the warehouse doors, executing a complete extermination plan indoors.

According to the Firearms and Control Law, firing shots indoors, except in designated shooting ranges, is strictly prohibited.

This kind of extermination can only be done in a different world. In Japan, we would use laser beams or airsoft guns to drive them out and then target the pigeons on the roof. Pre-charged air rifles can cause damage to roofs and walls. They are that powerful. So, in situations like this, a spring-powered air rifle, which is less powerful but still capable of shooting down pigeons and crows, becomes the star performer.

I can truly sense the experience and sense of the old man in his choice of tools.

Pigeon control is typically done at distances of 10-30 meters. No misses.

With the scope sighted in at 25 meters, you can aim dead center at any distance and rarely miss. The groupings are around 2 cm. It’s quite convenient.

In no time, more than thirty pigeons gather in the burlap sack held by Saran.

“There are still more! This way next!”

“Um, one more bag, please.”

“Leave it to me!”

The corn storage warehouse is truly welcoming.

With every pigeon shot down, cheers and applause erupt from everyone at the scene.

How much trouble have they caused everyone? I understand, but still…

Upon hearing the commotion, Guild Master Bal arrives.

“What’s going on here?”

He looks surprised upon seeing my air rifle.

“Well, we call it a magical device, but it’s actually just a machine.”

“A machine?”

“Yes, well, please don’t ask too many questions.”

“…Well, not revealing your secrets is something every hunter does.”

Bang! Flap flap flap.

“Wow, you have impressive skills… To think those persistent pigeons can be dealt with so easily.”

As we continued, we were able to eliminate most of them.

“Let’s go outside. They’re likely on the rooftops.”

“Alright, leave it to me. I’ll thoroughly take care of them at this point!”

The elderly shopkeeper returned to the counter as he had work to attend to, but Guild Master Bal accompanied Saran, carrying bags with them.

Is it really okay to ask him to do such things?

And so, by dusk, we had shot down a total of eighty pigeons.

“I can’t give a fortune for pigeons, but would two large copper coins per bird suffice?”

Bal says apologetically.

“That’s fine.”

…It’s only 150 yen per bird. Still cheaper than the reward from the municipality.

I guess that’s how it goes.

It’s a profit of one gold coin and two silver coins. How disappointing.

“Also, this is your reward.”

I received two gold coins separately. When I think about it, even if Saran and I worked for a day, earning 20,000 yen per day is still quite disappointing. Being a hunter is a respectable skilled occupation, not just a part-time job.

“Come again tomorrow, until not a single bird remains!”

He requested it of us.

We couldn’t refuse.

“If there’s a good inn where we can stay as a couple, please let us know.”

“In that case, there’s the Badger Inn. It’s a common lodging for low-ranking hunters. You’ll find it just ahead, you can’t miss it.”

I felt a bit tired.

It’s a cheap inn… A double room with meals for one gold coin.

“Let’s do our best so we can sleep on a softer bed, Saran.”

“Yes, let’s give it our all!”

The walls seemed thin, so we ended up sleeping together, just cuddling… It feels nice to be embraced.

――――Author’s Note――――

※1. Scope

Typically, scopes used for hunting with real firearms are designed for rifles and have a fixed parallax focus from 100 yards to infinity. With the exception of some expensive models designed for precision shooting, they usually do not have a focus adjustment feature. When using such scopes directly on an air rifle, the high magnification can cause blurred images at a close range, making it difficult to aim. Therefore, it is recommended to use scopes specifically designed for air rifles, which have an adjustable objective (AO) for focusing.

Using scopes intended for real firearms in activities like survival games often results in the inability to achieve proper focus and constant blurriness. Thus, it is advisable to use scopes designed specifically for air rifles instead of those for real firearms.

※2. Grouping at 25m is approximately 2cm

Spring-powered air rifles are often considered to have inferior accuracy compared to recoilless pump-action or pre-charged pneumatic rifles. However, the accuracy can be significantly improved depending on the shooting technique. In the past, it was believed that tightly gripping the rifle would yield better accuracy. Nowadays, it is recommended to hold the rifle loosely without trying to suppress the recoil during firing. By allowing the rifle to move naturally with the recoil, and adjusting the aim accordingly, better results can be achieved on the target. The recoil of a spring-powered air rifle is not as strong as that of a firearm using gunpowder, and it is only at a level that a person can handle. Furthermore, since humans cannot consistently apply the same force while gripping, squeezing tightly would actually increase shot dispersion.

The English manual of RWS Diana also states, “Always hold the gun ‘loosely’.”

Specifically, the left hand should not grip the stock, but rather have the palm resting on it without applying any force, using what is called the “Artillery Hold.” Although there is no exact equivalent term in Japanese, it can be described as “砲兵撃ち” (“cannon artillery shooting”) since it resembles the way cannons are fired, where the barrel moves backward to absorb the recoil. It is believed that the name originated from this observation.

For those who want more detailed information, try searching for “Artillery hold” in international videos. There are many explanatory videos by gunsmiths and experienced shooters available.