Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 7 - Chapter 1.3

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Construction in Hideout City continues even as we wait for a response to Tillis’s diplomatic letter and emissary.

We send over samples of monsters from the forest and newly discovered resources, receiving supplies and materials of equal value in return.

Because we spare no expense and instantly spend the resources we’ve received, the population is booming from people flocking to Hideout City in search of food and job opportunities.

Now all we have to do is finish clearing the forest and begin working on agricultural and industrial districts.

Alice is currently figuring out how to deal with the hostile creatures like the alraunes that guard the forest, so it should only be a matter of time before we get to that stage of development.

...I ponder such things as I slack off while pretending to keep watch on the observation platform. Just then, I see a visitor approaching the city limits.

It's Little Bashin, a young girl bearing tribal markings and a hand ax. For some reason, Rose regards her as a rival.

“...! ...!”

When Little Bashin notices me on the observation platform, she waves enthusiastically.

She started coming to visit regularly ever since I gave her the ax, which I procured from Earth. Despite her primal appearance, she's quite reasonable at heart and very polite, so the people of Hideout City are happy to continue welcoming her as a visitor.

“Drown in a sea of hellfire... Sleep for all eternity! Crimson Breeeeath!”

“?!”

Suddenly, a gout of flame erupts toward the welcomed visitor.

Although she manages to avoid a direct hit, the flames ignite her clothing and Little Bashin rolls onto the ground to put out the fire.

“--!! --!!!”

“Did you think you could come into my territory and leave unscathed? It’s time to settle this once and for all— Ow!”

After hopping off the observation tower, I smack Rose upside the head.

“What was that for, Boss?! This girl’s an enemy of Kisaragi!”

“You’re the only one who thinks of her that way. Seriously, you gotta stop attacking Little Bashin every time she comes to play. We’re trying to build friendly relations with her tribe.”

The Bashin are rather civilized people despite their primitive appearances, but they’re extremely adept at fighting in the woods.

And since our woodlands combat expert, Tiger Man, is off doing who knows what, it’s a bad idea to make an enemy of them.

...After putting out her burning clothes, Little Bashin hops back onto her feet, ax in hand.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! !”

“What, you wanna fight?! Fine, let’s settle this!”

“Hey, stop that! You’re around the same age! Try to be friends!”

Little Bashin stares down Rose, seemingly ready to pounce, but then she slowly approaches with an almost pleading gesture and hands me a letter.

Since I can’t read the local language, I hand it to Rose.

“Umm... ‘To the Honored Members of the Kisaragi Corporations. Greetings. It is our hope that this letter, written in the days when the Deadplanters are emitting the sweet fragrances from their blossoms, finds you all in good health and fortune. We, the Bashin tribe, as a warrior clan that respects both martial prowess and honor, would like to express our heartfelt admiration of your company’s glorious record in battle, and your compassionate and honorable behavior in welcoming the refugees of the Demon Lord realms, your former enemies, into your arms.’”

Given the way the language sounds when spoken, I can’t help but wonder if that’s really what’s written in the letter...

“.. .Is that really what’s written there?”

“Um, the words are kind of hard for me to understand, but yeah, that’s what it says, Boss.”

Rose looks up at me a bit quizzically before she resumes reading.

‘“In addition to expressing our admiration, we wish to ask a favor of you, in spite of our knowledge that such a thing would be an imposition. It is our desire to discuss the terms under which we could send our children to your settlement to shelter among your people. While we are loath to go into specifics on such a personal matter, we have been in a long-standing feud with the Hiiragi tribe. However, they have recently acquired strange new, unnatural tools that allow them to command large monsters, including those that belong to the dragon family. Consequently, we find ourselves at a disadvantage. Our children, though young, are still members of the Bashin tribe, and we believe they would still be of great use to you in the woods. We understand that you have much business to attend to, but we would be gratified if you could be so kind as to respond to our missive. We have the honor of being your most humble, obedient servants.’”

Goddammit, they’re better letter writers than I am!

Upon closer inspection, I see that Little Bashin is covered in small cuts and bruises.

While a part of me wonders if they were the result of her little horseplay with Rose, the scratches look like claw marks from monsters.

I climb back to the top of the observation platform and yell into the loudspeaker.

“All hands on deck!”

The Combat Agents in the conference room voice their displeasure at the sudden summons.

“What now, Six? We’re busy as hell. We’re close to finishing up the apartments in the residential district today. Get on with whatever you want and let us get back to work.”

“We know you’re bored out of your tiny little mind, but we’ve got  work to do, dammit. We need to at least get shelter ready for the residents before winter..

“This planet doesn’t get much rain, so I don’t think there’ll be a lot of snow, but we still need to hurry.”

Seems my colleagues have been so busy with their construction work that they’ve forgotten who they’re supposed to be.

“Get a load of you guys! A bunch of henchmen learning the joys of honest work?! HAH! You’ve all gone softer than melted cheese! Do you even remember what your real jobs are?”

“W-w-we’re well aware of our real jobs! I admit, it was pretty fun to have the demons cheering us on, but we haven’t gone soft, dammit!”

“Considering we’ve always been sent to harass people, it’s nice to be appreciated for once! Anyway, if you’re gonna talk that much shit, you better have some combat work for us!”

“If that’s what you want, then I’ve got good news. There’s trouble,” says Alice.

Her unexpected words rouse the defanged Combat Agents.

“Oh, really? A combat mission?”

“Why didn’t you just say so?! Screw construction work!”

“We’ll show you we haven’t gone soft!”

Now that their Combat Agent instincts have kicked in, they’re dripping with an obnoxious amount of bravado.

“The Bashin Warrior tribe are losing their turf war, so they want us to at least go and offer their kids protection.”

The agents all sober up and put on their most serious expressions at Alice’s explanation.

“Despite appearances, the Bashins have always been good neighbors. I’ve got no complaints about going to secure their children, but... Our main job is to deploy as Combat Agents! You guys know what you gotta do!”

"Yep!” shout the agents, motivated at last.

Alice nods with satisfaction.

“That’s what I like to hear! Hiiragi agents are using strange devices to control dragons and giant monsters, but...Kisaragi is the strongest there is! Now’s the time to show them who we really are!”

'''''Uhh, yeah...'''''

Suddenly much less boisterous, my colleagues can only muster a ragged cheer.