「Basically, I want information.」
「Information?」
Erika tilted her head, looking refreshed after her shower. I had slathered another layer of wound-treatment gel over her body afterward, too. I’d had her apply it to her private parts herself, of course.
Not that I’m disappointed or anything. Even when I put it on her earlier, I felt so damn sorry for her that lust never stood a chance. Didn’t even get a twitch.
「What kind of scumbags I killed and who they belonged to, what sort of organization this Cordia Church you belong to is and how much influence it has, information on the other factions around here… Anything about this planet and this area, really.」
It wasn’t as if I’d come here without doing any research on the planet, but I hadn’t gone so far as to look into every little local faction. That made gathering information from a local like Erika an urgent priority.
「Of course, I’ll tell you everything I can, but…」
「But?」
I prompted Erika to continue when she hesitated.
「Um, are you sure? About… the wife part.」
「…? Oh, I get it. Since I saved your life, you’re saying I could just make you mine. Is that it?」
Erika blushed a little and nodded.
I see. That expression and that little nod do hit the spot.
「I won’t say I don’t have any ulterior motives, but taking advantage of your situation to force you into it wouldn’t be fair. I want a wife I can love, and who’ll love me back. Not an outlet for my urges.」
「I… think I could come to love you.」
「I’d be happy if you did, but my own feelings haven’t caught up yet, and you can hardly say you’re in a normal state of mind right now, either, can you? Wait until you’ve recovered, both physically and mentally, before you make that kind of decision.」
「…All right.」
She must have felt as though I’d rejected her feelings. Erika puffed out her gauze-covered cheeks a little.
How cute is that? Still, there’s no rush, and this isn’t something we should rush. She might just be getting carried away because I’m the one who rescued her from that miserable situation.
「I’m flattered you’d even say that, you know?」
「…Really?」
「Really.」
「All right.」
Erika nodded and began wiping out the cooling macaroni and cheese on her plate.
Her words and behavior were a little unstable, or rather, it felt as though she was trying to maintain her balance by relying on me. Still, she had an appetite, and on the surface, at least, she seemed capable of making rational judgments.
Well, I’ll need to keep an eye on her. For today, I’ll let her get some proper rest. Tomorrow onward, I can have her tell me about things whenever I have time.
☆★☆
「Morning. Doesn’t look like you slept well.」
「Good… morning… I’m sorry, I…」
The next morning, I woke up and greeted Erika, who was sitting on the bed. To put it bluntly, she looked awful. There were dark circles under her eyes, and the skin around them was red. Nightmares had probably jolted her awake over and over, leaving her barely able to sleep.
Huh? My bed? Don’t have one. I put a mat on the floor and slept there. I can sleep anywhere.
「Don’t worry about it. Didn’t notice a thing. More importantly, spend today taking it easy. If staying cooped up in here makes you restless, you can go for a walk, but don’t wander too far. Got it?」
「Yes… Um…」
「Yeah, yeah, you’re sorry. You’re forgiven. Anyway, breakfast first. You did drink enough water while you were awake, right? You were on the verge of dehydration yesterday, you know?」
「I’m… fine.」
「You sure about that? I can tell if I scan you, you know? Beep beep beep beeeep.」
I shone the light built into my face at her, and Erika flustered, her hands fluttering in a panic.
You haven’t been drinking properly, have you?
「Even I don’t have a scanner in my face. It’s just a light… but it looks like I’ve caught a naughty girl anyway.」
「Ugh…」
「What am I gonna do with you? Here, this canteen’s yours. Though you don’t even need it. These quarters have a water collection and purification tank, so you can drink all you want and take as many showers as you like.」
I pressed the canteen into Erika’s hands and ruffled her hair a little roughly.
You’re a handful, aren’t you?
「Use as much water as you want. No need to hold back. Got it?」
「Yes.」
「Then let’s have breakfast. You must be hungry if you’ve been up all night.」
Now, which rations should we have today? Break out the good stuff? Nah, it’s too early for that. Let’s start with whatever I have the most of.
☆★☆
Despite the trouble that had cropped up almost as soon as I landed yesterday, today was another day of steadily getting my base established. It wouldn’t be surprising if contact with other factions, peaceful or otherwise, started increasing around now, so today’s goal was to set up surveillance and defenses.
「Well, most of my job is just turning these things on and giving orders.」
「This is incredible technology… Wasn’t it expensive?」
Erika’s eyes widened as she took in the reconnaissance and farming drones, utility bots, sensors for the surveillance network, and the turrets and combat bots that would handle defense.
「Fairly. Spend close to thirty years fighting with your life on the line, and you can save up enough money for this much. Still wasn’t enough to retire in comfort in a safe planetary settlement, though.」
As I spoke, I continued activating more reconnaissance drones and utility bots. I wanted to activate and deploy the combat bots and turrets, too, but first I needed to build what was arguably the most important facility for turning this campsite into a proper base.
「Now, where should I put it?」
The trouble is, I can’t exactly bury it underground, what with maintenance, heat dissipation, and all the other hassles. I guess I’ll just have to make the walls thick enough that even if the area turns into a battlefield, a few stray shots won’t leave a dent.
Moving the thing once it’s installed won’t be easy, either… Well, building the permanent living quarters around it is probably the safest bet. If this thing blows, putting a little distance between us won’t make any difference anyway.
「What are you installing?」
「A generator. The most important facility we’ll have, since it’ll supply power to the whole settlement. I splurged a little on this one.」
「Splurged?」
「Yeah. I got my hands on a generator core from a military space destroyer. Had an old dwarf I know draw up plans to turn it into a generator for the settlement.」
The problem is, with the materials I can get ready right now, I can’t draw out even half its original output. Well, I can synthesize better materials and upgrade the generator as I go. Even with what’s available now, it’ll be a bit overpowered.
「Is that… safe to use?」
「Sure, sure. Perfectly safe and extremely clean. Unless something destroys the generator core in an instant, the safety systems will kick in and shut it down. If the core does get destroyed, though, everything within a radius of several kilometers will get blown away.」
「Doesn’t that mean it isn’t safe???」
I pretended not to hear Erika’s question and ordered the utility bots to build the generator and a sturdy building to house it.
I’d finished activating nearly all the bots and drones capable of construction and hauling, so I had some time on my hands. Still, there was plenty to do: check the reconnaissance drone feeds, use the footage from the drone overlooking the camp to plan the layout of the facilities, send mining bots to potential resource sites the reconnaissance drones had found, and inspect and maintain the weapons I’d brought along.
「Um, are you finished working for the day?」
Erika asked as I spread my weapons out on a silicon table I’d made with the fabricator and started servicing them. It might have looked like I was just killing time, but all sorts of data from the drones and bots were displayed in my field of vision. I was studying an overhead view of the surrounding area and issuing instructions as needed.
Well, she can’t see any of that, so how would she know? I oughta build a holo-display soon so we can share information.
「No, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’m giving the drones orders and checking the reconnaissance data.」
「I see… Do you have anything like a basket? I feel restless just sitting around…」
「A basket? What do you need one of those for?」
A basket’s one of those expensive decorative things woven from tough plant fibers, right? What on earth would she… Come to think of it, aren’t they everyday items that are fairly easy to make in places with plenty of plant resources?
「I thought I could gather something edible nearby… I’m sure there must be something.」
「Right, I get it. I don’t have a basket, but anything that does the same job should work, right?」
「Yes.」
Erika nodded, so I used carbon recovered from the grass and trees we’d cleared to set up camp to make her a sturdy shoulder bag with a frame.
It won’t stop bullets or offer any protection against lasers, but it’ll do for gathering things.
「Wait a minute while I get you an escort, just in case. You’ll need a knife for gathering, too, right? Take this.」
I handed her a brand-new combat knife in its sheath and started preparing to activate a fast, lightweight combat bot.
「Um… Are you sure?」
「About what?」
I tilted my head at her as she hesitantly accepted the knife.
「Are you sure you should entrust a blade like this to someone you’ve only just met?」
「Huh? Oh, you mean, should I be giving a knife that could be used as a weapon to someone when I don’t even know if I can trust them?」
Erika nodded solemnly.
I see.
「If you can kill me with that one knife, I’ll be impressed. If you manage it, everything here is yours, Erika. If you can, that is.」
「I wouldn’t do anything like that, but… You’re very confident, aren’t you?」
「I’m a well-known enough mercenary to have earned the name Glen the ‘Immortal,’ you know. If you want to kill me, you’d better bring a couple of platoons of fully armed mercenaries.」
If I’m fully armed too, that should make for a decent fight. I mean it.