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The man who rescued me from the depths of hell was a mercenary with no face. He was very sure of himself and, despite his intimidating appearance, surprisingly caring. But he was also a proper mercenary—though I was not sure that was the right way to put it—with ulterior motives of his own. He was a strange man who spoke openly and matter-of-factly about those motives without trying to hide them.
「Ah, wild strawberries…」
While exploring the area around his campsite with the knife he had given me, I found some wild strawberries with nicely ripened fruit.
They would be delicious just as they are, but I could also gather plenty and make jam. Does he have sugar or anything like that? I’ll have to ask Glen-san later.
「I shouldn’t pick too many…」
Wild strawberries don’t keep very long unless you make jam out of them, so I’ll only take enough for today. They have a rather simple flavor compared to the food Glen-san gave me, but will he like them? That sweet, dense bread was delicious, but compared to that… No, he said he came down from space, so perhaps food like this will be a novelty to him. Maybe I should take a little extra.
「I wonder if he’ll be pleased…」
Since he had no face, it was rather difficult to read his expression—or rather, his emotions. Having seen him mercilessly kill the men who had been taking me away, I knew he could not be an entirely kindhearted man.
But he had taken nothing from me. He could have taken everything, yet he had given to me instead. He had returned a fragment of what had been stolen and broken, and nearly everything I still had left.
「Glen-san…」
I gripped the hem of the shirt I had borrowed from him and murmured his name. He even made a point of keeping his distance unless he needed to hand me something or had some other reason to approach. He said he was a veteran mercenary, so perhaps he knew how to treat women in circumstances like mine.
「I should get back before I worry him.」
Besides, it isn’t very sensible to be walking around in nothing but this shirt.
Just as I was about to head back to Glen-san’s house, the four-legged machine that had been silently following me let out something like a warning tone.
「Can you hear me, Erika? It’s Glen.」
「Yes, Glen-san.」
Apparently, he could also speak through the machines he owned.
Could he perhaps see and hear through them, too? If so… I haven’t said anything strange, have I?
I suddenly began to worry.
「A pretty sizable group is heading this way. Get back to base immediately. We might end up in a fight.」
「Yes, understood. I’ll hurry back.」
「You do that. We’ve still got time before they enter the defensive perimeter, but there’s no telling what sort of equipment they’re carrying.」
That is certainly true, but surely they can’t be quite as dangerous as Glen-san…?
The thought crossed my mind, but I kept it to myself and hurried back to him. Having him see for himself would be the surest way to find out.
□■□ Find the original chapter at g.com.
After I called her back through the lightweight combat bot—a four-legged model that was good at traversing rough terrain—Erika returned to base right away. Well, I called it a base, but all we really had was a small prefab and a sturdy building housing the generator.
「You came straight back. Good girl.」
「I’m not a child… Um, I found some wild strawberries, so I picked a few.」
「Wild strawberries? Those little red lumps?」
The bag hanging from Erika’s shoulder was full of strange objects that looked like clusters of tiny red beads. Judging by the conversation, they were apparently some kind of food.
「They’re something you eat, then? There’s a refrigerator for storing food in the prefab, so put ’em in there. It’s a white, box-shaped machine about this big. And stay inside until I’m sure it’s safe.」
「Yes, understood. Please be careful.」
With that, Erika hurried off toward the prefab.
She really does listen. Though maybe that’s just what it takes to survive on this planet.
「Now, I’m curious about these wild strawberries, but…」
Dealing with the group approaching us took priority. They did not seem to have noticed the drone watching them from overhead so far.
Hmm.
「Another local group…?」
They were a group of humanoid life-forms—meaning two arms and two legs each—with appearances I had rarely seen elsewhere. What was more, there seemed to be two different kinds of humanoids in the group. Probably different races, rather than males and females of the same one.
Every member of one race was bigger than me, with what looked like curled horns growing out of their heads. They were not carrying much in the way of weapons, but they had large loads on their backs.
The other lot were small, and there were more of them than the curly-horned ones.
Are those antennae twitching on top of their heads? Looking closer, they’ve got… tails? Something like that, anyway. And they’re armed with the same kind of primitive projectile guns as the assholes who had Erika… Though their equipment looks more refined.
They kept a close watch on their surroundings and seemed to be acting as escorts for the big, curly-horned lot.
I brought one of the reconnaissance drones closer to the group. They did not seem to have any slaves with them, and their movements showed a reasonable degree of discipline. They looked a damn sight more open to reason than the assholes who had been dragging Erika around, so there was a good chance we could make peaceful contact.
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「Well then, shall we go take a look at whatever fell down over there?」
It was not the first time I had wanted to punch my employer in the face for blithely announcing something like that, but this one really took the cake. Not that I could have landed a punch even if I had tried. My employer was too tall for me to reach.
「I’m against it. The risk is too high.」
「But if it’s supplies or something dropped from orbit, we could make a tidy profit, you know?」
「We weren’t the only ones who saw it. What if someone else gets there first, and there are powerful weapons in whatever came down? They could burn the whole lot of us to a crisp.」 This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
There was no guarantee that supplies were what had fallen in the first place. Several containment units holding groups of autonomous combat machines that had gone out of control were in orbit around this planet. Sometimes, powerful combat machines were launched from those units and came raining down.
「It’ll be fiiine. If that happens, we can just turn tail and run.」
「And we’re the ones who’ll be sacrificed so you lot can get away.」
「That’s your job, isn’t it?」
Well, yes. That’s an annoyingly sound argument. Damn it, if I’d known this caravan wandered around wherever it pleased, I would’ve charged more.
I told my sisters we were changing course toward the landing site and adjusted our escort formation. I also told them to keep their antennae extended and remain especially vigilant. Our antennae could detect someone’s presence from quite a distance, as long as they were a person. They were almost useless against machines, though.
That’s why I don’t want to go anywhere near things that fall out of orbit.
The day after the caravan changed course, we were approaching what we believed to be the landing site. My antennae picked up faint traces of bloodshed some distance away from our route.
It’s been a little while. About a day, perhaps?
「Captain, there was a battle—or perhaps not, but there are signs of bloodshed.」
「Oh dear… Someone must have been awfully close by, then. How many people?」
「More than one or two, but fewer than ten. It wasn’t a caravan our size.」
「Hmm… What should we dooo? Oh, what’s that?」
My employer looked up at the sky, and I followed that gaze. Something was approaching us, blinking with white light.
「All units, prepare for antiair engagement! Hold your fire!」
I quickly pulled back the charging handle of my assault rifle to chamber the first round, then aimed at the light approaching through the air.
Ah, damn it! This definitely has something to do with combat machines! I wanted to avoid fighting those things. We almost always take losses!
「Can you hear me? Up ahead is—uh… Right, Glen Farm. Glen Farm. You’re a trading caravan, yeah? You’re welcome here if you come in peace, but if you’re thinking of looting the place, you’re in for a world of hurt. Trade, or a fight to the death? Which do you want?」
The hovering machine that had approached us from the sky spoke while flashing a white light.
Keeping my rifle trained on it, I looked up at my employer, who looked down at me in turn. We nodded to each other, and I removed the magazine from my assault rifle, pulled back the charging handle again, and caught the ejected round in midair. I instructed my sisters to do the same.
「Of those two, we would much prefer to trade. May we accept your invitation?」
「Understood. Follow this machine, then. You can keep your weapons, but leave ’em unloaded, all right? If you load them… Well, you get the idea.」
「But of course.」
My employer gave a pleasant smile that looked really suspicious, then cast a glance my way.
You don’t have to tell me. I don’t want any trouble either.