Meru Lisris is a Forest Elf from a large, indigent family. Her engagement is broken off because of her family's poverty, her own plain features, and her negligible magical power. She decides to leave her forest home for the Royal Capital to earn money. She faces rejection from employers who see her pointed ears and consider elves difficult. An old woman suggests the Royal Knights Order Enoch, which hires all races and pays well. Meru passes the examination, but she is not given the clerical post she anticipated. Because she knows herbs, she is assigned as a medic to the Enoch Second Expeditionary Force, a unit of only four members. She insists she cannot use recovery magic, but her assignment remains.The unit members look like bandits. Captain Crow Roodtink is an enormous, bearded man with a massive greatsword. Vice-Captain Berlly uses twin swords and is kind to Meru. Ulgas is a friendly young archer about Meru's age. Gal is a silent wolf beastman whose red fur is beautiful. Meru's first mission is to hunt monsters in a forest. The captain gives her a pot-like helmet and orders her to record kill counts. He flicks her long ears and calls her Wild Rabbit, which angers her. Despite her impression of them as bandits, they are formidable fighters: the captain cleaves monsters, Berlly dances through battle, Ulgas shoots accurately, and Gal impales monsters with ease. Meru prays for the dead.The hunt lasts until evening, so they camp. Meru is hungry, but the preserved rations—rock-hard bread, tough dried meat, and strong-tasting water—are nearly inedible. The captain suggests boiling the food to soften it. Inspired, Meru uses her helmet as a pot. She gathers herb garlic and pepper mushrooms from the forest. She adds the bread and dried meat, torn into pieces by the captain. Gal provides a leaf and branch, which Meru fashions into spoons. The resulting soup looks unappealing but tastes delicious, with a rich broth from the dried meat and spice from the mushrooms. The others enjoy it, and Meru offers a spoonful to the captain, who admits it is tasty.The next morning, Meru visits a lake with Berlly and finds rosemary, which she adds to the breakfast soup. The captain returns with headless wild birds he hunted. The other members are unenthusiastic because they ate such birds before and found them smelly. Meru learns they roasted the birds whole with feathers and innards. She corrects this: she submerges a bird in boiled water to loosen feathers easily, singes remaining ones, removes innards, washes it, stuffs the cavity with hard bread, rosemary, herb garlic, and pepper mushrooms, and roasts it on a spear provided by Gal. The skin becomes crispy and golden, and the meat is tender and flavorful. Everyone is amazed and admits they had been cooking the bird improperly. Meru is pleased that her knowledge proves valuable.Through these events, Meru begins to earn recognition for her skills despite being teased as Wild Rabbit. She adapts to the harsh expeditionary life, applying her forest knowledge to improve the unit's rations and create camaraderie. The captain shows unexpected kindness, and though she still dreams of a safer job, she takes pride in contributing to the group. The story marks her early days in the Enoch Second Expeditionary Force, a misfit finding her place among the bandit-like knights.
