With most of the trading done and the contract for renting out camping space settled—apparently, they intended to spend the night here before leaving—I inspected the supplies I had bought.
I had nothing particular to say about the sugar, seasonings, clothes, and other things Erika had purchased.
Not like I know enough about any of that to judge it in the first place.
I did, however, let her know that I could refine as much salt as we wanted with the fabricator.
「This is refined salt.」
「It’s pure white, with no off flavors… Um, I think you could sell this too, you know?」
「Refined salt? I’d think anyone with a fabricator could make as much of this stuff as they wanted…」
「There are certainly some groups that can produce as much salt like this as they want, but if people know they can get it here too, I think some of them would buy it from you.」
「I see.」
Quite a few living things needed salt to survive. That included the majority of the races broadly classified as humanity, along with most mutant races based on the human race. There were exceptions, of course.
「Then I’ll make a few one-kilogram bags and take them over later.」
「I think that would be a good idea. That way, they’ll also know they don’t need to bring unnecessary cargo to Glen Farm.」
After taking a sip of water from her cup, Erika brought a plate piled high with those wild strawberries from the refrigerator in the prefab. She offered it to me with a 「Here you go,」 so I carefully picked up one of the clusters of tiny red beads—which was softer than I had expected—and brought it to my mouth.
「Yeah… These wild strawberries are sour.」
「They are. But they’re good for you, and they’re a little sweet too, aren’t they?」
「Yeah, a little. I’m not used to eating them, but I don’t dislike the taste.」
They were incredibly soft, yet had a distinctly bumpy texture, and tasted sour with just a little sweetness.
Come to think of it, I feel like I drank some juice with a refreshing flavor like this a long time ago. Can’t remember the details, unfortunately.
「Since you bought me some sugar, I’ll gather lots more tomorrow and make jam.」
「Jam?」
「Yes. If you add sugar to wild strawberries and slowly simmer them, they make really delicious jam. It’s nice spread on bread or crackers.」
As I spoke, I tossed a few berries into my mouth at once and chewed.
Sure, adding sugar to this would probably make it easier to eat, but wouldn’t cooking it get rid of that bumpy texture and that refreshing quality I can’t quite put into words? Still, Erika knows a hell of a lot more about handling fresh food than I do. If she says it’ll taste good, I’m sure she’s right. I’ll look forward to trying this jam of hers.
☆★☆
Erika said she needed to alter the clothes she had bought so she could wear them properly, so I took the rifle I had purchased for her and a box of ammunition outside to the silicon table, where I decided to strip it down and service it.
Fortunately, my technical data archive contained blueprints and maintenance manuals for this type of projectile gun, so the work itself looked straightforward enough. Part of the reason I had chosen this particular gun from all the weapons available was that I had some idea of its performance and how to use it.
I was following the manual, taking the rifle apart and checking the components for wear, when the antennae shorty came over.
「Need something?」
「I came to teach you how to handle that gun… But it looks like you already know.」
「Haven’t used them much, but I know a little.」
There was no need to tell her about the technical data archive, so I gave her a vague answer while putting the components back together and returning the rifle to working order. Some things, like its accuracy, would remain unknown until I actually fired it, but I had chosen the one with the least barrel warping and wear. At the very least, it probably wouldn’t be a complete dud.
「Hey, you came from space, right?」
「Yeah.」
「Why’d you go out of your way to come down to a planet like this?」
「You can see I’m building a farm.」
While giving her an offhand answer, I took five rounds from the box, loaded them into a stripper clip, and tried loading the rifle. Then I repeatedly worked the bolt to check that the rounds ejected properly.
Well, it doesn’t look like it’ll have an ejection failure right off the bat. This type of projectile gun ought to be pretty reliable anyway, so I doubt there’s much to worry about.
「I can see that. I’m asking why you’d go to all this trouble to build a farm.」
「I’ve got no reason to tell you that. If you want to know that badly, start by telling me something I might find interesting. Information isn’t free either. That’s common sense, isn’t it?」
「Guh… Sure, but this is just a little idle curiosity. We’re making conversation, aren’t we?」
「Are we now?」
I wouldn’t call digging into someone’s motives ‘a little idle curiosity.’
Knowing someone’s motives meant understanding part of what drove their actions. Used properly, that could become powerful information that let you steer those actions yourself. People who carelessly spilled important information like that in the name of ‘making conversation’ tended not to live very long. Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.
「Tell me about your race first. Then I’ll answer one of your questions. Not just anything, mind you. Something I can talk about.」
「About us? Oh, right. You’ve only just arrived on this planet, so you don’t know much about us or the planet itself. I see.」
See? Say the wrong thing, and you expose a weakness just like that. Well, I suppose doing so can earn you a little trust too.
「Then let me tell you about us. We’re called Formicans. We’re technically a human-based race, but our biology is pretty different. We’re born in a colony and work there until we reach adulthood. Once there are enough adults, we form small groups and set out in search of a new home. We’re one of those groups. We’re all sisters from the same generation.」
As she spoke, the antennae shorty proudly puffed out her chest, her antennae twitching away above her head.
Not much impact when there’s so little chest to puff out, though.
「…Did you just think something rude?」
「Nope.」
Maybe they’ve got a complex about being flat-chested. Better watch myself.
「Hmph. Whatever. Anyway, once a small group that’s left the original colony finds somewhere to settle, we build a new colony and breed there. Since we’re a human-based race, we can reproduce as long as we get seed from a male of another human-based race. The children are always our race, though.」
「I see.」
What a bizarre way to reproduce. I’m surprised they haven’t gone extinct.
Human-based mutant races that produced almost nothing but females weren’t all that unusual, though.
Apparently, they had been designed that way to keep them from ‘multiplying too much.’
I don’t get what goes through the heads of people who twist humanity into whatever suits them. Though I guess that’s a bit rich coming from someone who’s stayed alive by replacing eighty percent of his body with cybernetics.
「We’re born workers and warriors. We’re stronger than we look, and our senses are much sharper than those of ordinary humans. We work incredibly well with our sisters too. We’d be a real bargain as partners, you know?」
「Is that a sales pitch? To a farm that’s just getting started and only has one prefab? What are you—」
I was about to ask what she was plotting when my perimeter sensors picked up multiple contacts. Thirteen people from the north and eighteen from the east. They were approaching in a loose half circle around the farm—but…
「What’s wrong?」
「The sensors picked up several people approaching the farm. Probably an attack—or at least, I think it is.」
「What!?」