「As you can see, I haven’t even got a place to sleep ready yet. But you’re safe here for now. Sit down over there.」
「…Yes.」
I told her to sit on a supply crate that had been left beside the shuttle—the one containing ration packs—and took a medical kit out of the crate containing medical supplies. If her injuries had been immediately life-threatening, I would have administered an emergency nanomachine unit, but that wasn’t the case here. She would be getting some old-fashioned treatment. Either way, a medical scan comes first.
「Hold still while I scan you.」
「…? Yes.」
She tilted her head for a moment at my words, but obediently nodded anyway. I pointed the scanner I’d taken from the medical kit at her and checked her injuries and overall health.
「Multiple contusions all over your body, not just your face. Hold out your arm.」
「…Yes.」
I pressed the scanner against the arm she obediently offered and ran blood tests and the like.
Hmm? These readings are a little different from a normal human’s.
「You’re not an ordinary human, are you? Ah, that doesn’t change what I’m gonna do. Are there any medical or chemical contraindications I should know about? Anything different from a normal human? No? All right, then.」
Alien races with all sorts of appearances were nothing unusual these days, but quite a few had medical and chemical contraindications that differed wildly from those of humans. Some species would die just from drinking water.
I imported the scanner’s data and began treating her, with an overlay of her injuries projected onto my vision.
「Take your clothes off. All of ’em.」
「…Yes.」
With a bleak expression, she reached for her clothes and slowly undressed.
She’s probably resigned herself to me having my way with her too. Well, her own body is probably the only thing she has to offer in exchange for food and water. Can’t blame her for thinking that.
「Fuck’s sake, they really did a number on you. Guess scum like them don’t know how to treat a woman. This’ll sting a little, but bear with me.」
She stood there without a stitch on. Ugly bruises covered her pale, grimy skin… And besides her legs, there were other limbs growing from around her waist, covered in what looked like a sturdy carapace. They glowed an eerie pale green and ended in something like sickles with vicious-looking blades.
「Well, that’s a surprise. Can you move these limbs freely?」
「…Yes.」
Limbs growing from her waist, with bladed exoskeletons at their tips. It was a configuration often seen in biological weapons.
I’ve heard it originally came from some alien insect called a mantis or something, but who knows if that’s true. Still, that explains it. With limbs like these growing out of her waist, of course the scanner’s gonna give me readings different from a normal human’s.
「I see. Are they handy? When I ended up with this body, someone suggested adding extra limbs like these.」
I kept up the idle chatter as I wiped her body clean and slathered wound-treatment gel over the injured areas.
This is good stuff. Apply it to bruises or minor cuts, and they heal completely within a day. Not that it does much for me, with more than eighty percent of my body replaced with cybernetics.
I also applied gauze wherever I could. The gel could keep a few stray germs at bay on its own, but protecting the affected areas with gauze still helped them heal faster.
「I’ve never… thought of them as… handy.」
「Ah, if you’ve had ’em since you were born, I guess that’s just normal for you. Stupid question—whoops, sorry.」
「Nnh…!?」
I went ahead and applied the gel to some very private areas too.
Can’t be helped. Seems the bastards whose heads I blew off did ‘that’ to her as well. The scanner picks up that kind of information just like anything else. If I know something’s harming her health, I can’t exactly leave it untreated.
「…」
「This is just medical treatment. No need to resign yourself to anything. It’ll all heal up fine.」
The little emotion left on her face abruptly vanished, so I offered some reassurance.
Poor thing. She probably thinks I’m about to do the same thing those bastards did. But I like my sex consensual.
「A shot of combination antibiotics oughta take care of the rest… Ah, want one of these too?」
I injected her arm with a powerful drug effective against most pathogens and viruses, then held out a case of tablets.
「…?」
「It’s a drug that prevents what they call an unwanted pregnancy. Unless you’ve got some reason you can’t take that sort of thing, I’d recommend it.」
「…I’ll take it.」
「Just one.」
She nodded, took a tablet from the case, and swallowed it. When I offered her my canteen, she accepted it without protest and began drinking.
Why did I bring something like that along? Because this sort of thing happens all the time on battlefields. You won’t find those drugs in a soldier’s medical kit like mine, but the kits meant for medical relief work have ’em.
「I’d like to let you take a shower, but I haven’t even got a place to sleep ready yet. Sorry, but you’ll have to put up with this a little longer.」
Her clothes needed attention too, but they were practically rags.
Honestly, I can hardly recommend putting those back on, hygiene-wise…
Unfortunately, I hadn’t assembled the fabricator that could synthesize clothing yet, so I couldn’t do anything about that right away. With no other option, I had her put on one of my spare shirts. Thanks to the difference in our builds, it looked like a short dress on her.
Well, she’ll have to make do. Better than being stark naked.
「Now get some food in you and rest. Toilet’s over there. Know how to use it? Looks like you’ll manage. Good. I’ve gotta hurry up and get our sleeping quarters and everything else ready. Ah, eat slowly, all right? The scan didn’t show any problems with your stomach or intestines, though.」
I tore open a ration pack, pressed it into her hands, and decided to get back to work. The ration I’d given her came from some kingdom or other. It was something like bread, sweet and dense.
Women and kids like sweet things, after all.
It wasn’t to my taste, but I’d picked up a few to win people over.
Appealing to the stomach works wonders, one way or another.
「Also, this is yours. Do whatever you want with it.」
With that, I handed her the release key for the slave collar. I’d taken it from one of the men while going through their belongings.
This is what I was looking for. Everything else was a bonus. If this somehow gets her to fall for me, that’d be a hell of a payoff. Hahaha! Well, I’ll settle for her being grateful.
Huh? Am I approaching a woman who’s been dragged around and assaulted by bandits with ‘that’ sort of intention? Of course I am. She’s exhausted, filthy, and looking pretty worn down right now, but I reckon she’ll shine once she’s cleaned up. The bruises and dirt made a mess of her face, but her features looked pretty, and her figure’s not bad either. The fact that those bandits did whatever they wanted to her doesn’t bother me in the slightest. If we’re gonna get hung up on things like that, eighty percent of my body’s artificial, you know?
Well, whatever happens, I’ve gotta take care of her mind and body first. If she settles down here, great. If she wants to go back where she came from once she’s healed, that’s fine too. Even then, whatever organization or faction she belonged to will probably be grateful. What if they’ve been wiped out? Then she won’t have anywhere to go, so that works out too. She’ll end up staying here.
Even leaving that kind of relationship out of it, treating her kindly oughta get me a useful bit of information or two. A few nights’ lodging and a little trouble? Still a bargain.
☆★☆
I gave each drone and bot its orders as soon as I activated it, and put in plenty of work myself too. As a result, I managed to get the bare minimum of sleeping quarters ready, finish building an underground supply warehouse, and move everything I’d brought into it before sunset. I’d covered the shuttle with a camouflage sheet too, and hooked it up to supply power to the sleeping quarters. Thanks to that, we had light even after sundown, working air conditioning, and reasonably serviceable toilet and shower facilities, basic though they were.
「Problem is, I only planned on using this place myself, so with two of us, there’s not a scrap of privacy. Sorry, but you’ll have to put up with it for tonight.」
「Yes.」
Sitting on the bed, she answered in a clear voice and nodded. The slave collar was no longer around her neck. Apparently, she’d taken it off herself while I was working.
She’d then entrusted the collar to me. It was now sealed away at the back of the underground warehouse.
Huh? With a name like ‘slave collar’, how come she can take it off herself? Because I gave her the release key and told her to do whatever she wanted. Normally, whoever puts the collar on someone forbids them from removing it themselves, so even if the wearer gets hold of the release key, they can’t take it off.
「Well, we oughta at least introduce ourselves. Name’s Glen. A former mercenary who dropped out.」
「Former?」
「That’s right. Former. Got sick of shooting it out on some shitty battlefield practically every day. I was a veteran with close to thirty years in the business, but I took my earnings and retired. So now I’ve come down to this planet to start a farm and enjoy my second shot at life.」
I shrugged.
「The goal’s to find myself a wife and take it easy on a farm. Looking like this, I don’t exactly have women lining up. But here, if I’ve got a farm that earns enough to keep food on the table, maybe some girl’ll be willing to marry me, right?」
「I-I suppose… so?」
「I’m a former mercenary, and I can handle myself in a fight. A few bandits with lousy equipment, or even a few dozen? Pretty sure I could knock ’em around without breaking a sweat. If I can keep a woman safe and fed, then even with this whole no-face thing I’ve got going on, you know… I figure I’ve got a chance. Right?」
「Do you… think so? Perhaps…?」
She tilted her head, gauze still stuck to her cheek. Her reaction was starting to make me wonder if my plan had already run aground.
Nah, I’m sure it’s just my imagination. Let’s go with that.
「Anyway, that’s my story. Those bastards came up here right after I landed, so I gave ’em a warning, blew ’em away, and rescued you. And now here I am, having a meal and talking to you.」
I scooped up some of the macaroni and cheese on my plate with my fork and brought it to my mouth.
Yeah, not bad. Heating it on the induction cooker takes a little extra work, but a hot meal really hits the spot.
Some rations were self-heating and provided a hot meal that way, but they produced more waste, and the portions could be pretty small for how bulky the packs were. There were pros and cons. In that respect, packaged rations like these, which could be heated on an induction cooker, were a convenient way to get a decent hot meal.
Being able to eat ’em cold if I feel like it is another point in their favor.
I’d spent my whole life on battlefields, so I’d grown up on rations. Having eaten all sorts from all sorts of countries, I had a thing or two to say about them. Every ration I’d brought along this time was one I’d personally tried and found tasty.
Some of the stuff I’ve had barely qualified as food. Some didn’t even manage that… There were things you’d be better off throwing at the enemy. Seriously.
「I…」
「Yeah?」
She murmured while looking down at the macaroni and cheese on her plate, so I turned my attention to her.
「My name is Erika. I’m a pilgrim of the Cordia Church.」
「Erika, huh. Nice to meet you, Erika.」
「Yes, Glen-san. Thank you so much for saving me.」
With that, she bowed her head deeply to me.