This time, it really had been an accident.
My mission was simply to scout the area indicated by the Ghoul Radar. Since the device only gave me a rough heading, I’d traveled toward a sector where stray pirates—the ones not affiliated with the Pirate Guild—were known to lurk.
First, I’d scouted.
I’d sent out a drone to survey the area. Even though I’d been told this planet was uninhabited, I found a mysterious settlement. I started wondering... had some bureaucrats appropriated this world for their private use?
Then, I lost the drone’s signal.
I had a bad feeling about it, so I decided to head down myself. I was in a winter-resort kind of mood, anyway. The planet had plenty of volcanoes, which usually meant hot springs. If we developed it a bit, it could’ve been a great tourist destination.
Well, my hunches aren't always right. I figured I'd just take it easy.
But as it turned out, this planet was dangerous.
I’d intended to breach the atmosphere in my transport aircraft, but I ran right into a Parcion Army battleship. It was a Parcion Army stealth ship, and it had appeared out of nowhere using Lepsitol's warp technology. It manifested right next to my transport aircraft.
It was a complete accident. Naturally, there was no way I could have predicted a warp jump. The collision from the side forced us off our planned entry path, and everyone had to bail out.
I descended using my thrusters.
"Ah, man... the battery is running low."
I suppose that was to be expected after flying that far. I swapped to the spare battery, but that was when things got weird. The output on the spare was weak, too.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!
The life support system in my combat suit was dead! It was broken... maybe the circuit board had fried. This was a problem. It was a full-blown blizzard, and my temperature control was shot. At this rate, I’d freeze to death.
My correspondence course... was a no-go. Was the correspondence course not reaching this planet? No, no, no—I’d set up the communication satellites in orbit myself. It should’ve been impossible for it not to work. Maybe the blizzard was full of electromagnetic waves, like an aurora, blocking the correspondence course?
I was in trouble.
I wandered through the storm. I switched to the thermal camera, but I couldn't see a thing. It was so cold... my head was starting to feel fuzzy. This was bad!
Then, I saw Zashiki-warashi-chan in the direction I was walking. My brain was a bit broken from the cold, so I just waved at her. As I walked toward her, she vanished.
I switched back to the thermal camera. Suddenly, I saw a heat signature. I ran toward it, tripped, and plunged headfirst into the snow. I refused to die like that! I forced myself up through sheer willpower.
Then I saw it: a mountain hut!
O-Oh! I was going to live!
To begin with, if my combat suit had been functional, I never would have been on the verge of freezing to death. I could have just pulled a tent out of my backpack and waited for the snow to stop.
The mountain hut wasn't locked. I stumbled into the cabin and spotted a fireplace. Yes! I grabbed some firewood from the storage area, added some fire starter, and lit it.
Was it ESP? No, it was a military fire starter. The metal rod type. When you scrape the magnesium rod with a striker, it creates sparks. The fire caught immediately.
Phew... I was saved!
Once my life was no longer in danger, my stomach began to growl. "I'm hungry..."
I pulled some potatoes out of my backpack and found some aluminum foil in the kitchen. I figured I’d just borrow a bit. Just a bit.
While I was relaxing and roasting the potatoes, the owner of the house returned. She was a woman of the Beast Race—a Wolf Beast Race woman, to be precise. She was large-framed and even taller than me, with striking odd-colored eyes. She looked a bit older than me and was quite a beauty. Tall women... they really are nice, aren't they?
Helga-san was carrying an old-model live-ammunition gun. Even if she shot at me, I could just dodge it, so there was no reason to be scared out of my wits. When I greeted her normally, she even lent me a change of clothes. She was the owner of the mountain hut and clearly a very kind person.
We talked while sharing the potatoes. She mentioned that some officials from the capital had arrived recently. But I remembered the ship that had warped in right next to my transport aircraft! It had been bearing the Parcion Army mark. The Parcion Army had already been annexed by the Chronos Army, and their emblems had been updated to Chronos colors.
That meant they were deserters. Or more likely, pirates.
When I told her that, she realized the village was in danger and agreed to take me there. I hopped on the back of her snowmobile, and we headed out.
"Leo-kun, priests of the Parcion Religion had also come to the village," she noted as we rode.
"The Parcion Religion... those guys again!"
Honestly, they did nothing but get in the way. Were they really stupid enough to fall so low that they’d work with pirates?
"Is the Parcion Religion hated then?" Helga-san asked.
"Well... their reputation is terrible throughout all of Parcion because they slacked off on funeral rites. Are you a follower, Helga-san?"
"No, they wouldn't even build a temple for this village. To be honest, I don't even know their teachings."
It was always like that. The rural areas were exactly where they should have been focusing their support. Graves are important!
"Ah... well, in that case, would another religion be okay? I'll make sure the maintenance of the cemetery, the burials, and the management of the graves are all handled properly."
"That would be wonderful! I would definitely ask that of you! If possible, I'd prefer cremation. On this planet, bodies just freeze."
"I can dispatch someone perfect for that. Understood."
Helga-san looked at me curiously. "...By any chance, Leo, you look young, but do you hold a fairly high rank?"
"No way—I'm still living a life where I get yelled at by non-commissioned officers," I laughed it off.
When we got near the village, I scouted with binoculars. There were soldiers at the entrance. In the center of the village... goddamn it. I handed the binoculars to Helga-san.
"Please look at the center of the village."
When Helga-san looked through the lenses, she let out a pained cry. "E-Everyone!"
The residents had been gathered in the center of the village. They were tied up with guns pointed at them.
"This is a looting. Hmm, I guess they took control because you were gone, Helga-san?"
"Why is that?"
"Because you have a gun."
"I should have gone back to the village..."
"No, if you had been there, you would have been the first one killed. That rifle is a single-shot, right? There's no way you could win against guys spraying military-grade bullets."
"B-But!"
"It'll be fine. I'll take care of it. I'm going to go stir things up, so Helga-san, please lead the residents and evacuate them to the mountain hut."
"A-Ah. Will you be alright?" She looked worried.
"Ahahaha. No problem at all. Besides, I really hate people who bully the weak."
I cracked my knuckles.
Now, let the hunt begin.