Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 7 - Chapter 1.5

5

I mutter to myself as I dash through the endless woods.

“Okay, that thing isn’t just a giant lizard! It’s not killable! Heroes go down easier than that!”

Dragons are insane. Seriously bonkers.

They're tough as nails, gigantic, and intelligent.

I slashed at it with the R-Buzzsaw, but when I managed to wound it, the creature flew up into the air and attacked me with its fire breath.

That’s not a beast you fight mano a mano. It’s the sort of thing you take down in a group using heavy anti-aircraft weapons.

“...Shit, I’m lost.”

I somehow manage to lose the dragon by running deeper into the woods, but I don’t know which way leads to Hideout City.

There’s some sort of magnetic field here in these woods, and like the sea of trees near Mount Fuji, it’s messing with my compass.

It’s starting to get dark out. Am I gonna have to make camp out here?

Calm down, super veteran agent Six. You've done plenty of wilderness survival in the past.

There’s nothing to worry about. You’ve still got some Evil Points. You'll be fine!

...That’s what I try to convince myself of as I venture deeper and deeper into this forest thoroughly hostile to human life when I feel someone’s eyes upon me.

I reach down and unholster my pistol from my hip.

"...?"

I hear a silent voice from the bushes in front of me, and a familiar masked face appears.

“It’s Little Bashin!”

“...?!”

I was so unnerved at being stuck in the woods that I cling to her.

“Thank god you’re here! I got totally lost after being chased around by the dragon!”

Little Bashin is at a loss for how to deal with me clinging to her before she settles on gently patting my hair, as though she’s reassuring a small child.

Being soothed by a teenage girl in the middle of the woods probably seems really weird from an onlooker’s point of view.

“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I was scared, and I would’ve been fine on my own. But, you know, I need to hurry back to the hideout before my underlings get worried about me.”

“--!--!”

She nods as though she understands and continues patting my head.

Clearly, she doesn't understand in the slightest.

“Hey, what are you doing here anyway? And why do you have all these cuts and bruises? They treated you back at the hideout, didn’t they?”

"--,--!"

Based on what I can gather from her gestures, after having her wounds treated, she became worried about her village and snuck out of the treatment room.

Even if she’s from a warrior tribe, I’m not sure if I should let her go back to her village alone. Oh wait, I’ve got it!

“I need to ask you a favor. Can you lead me back to the hideout? I'll make sure you get a reward.”

Little Bashin nods and takes my hand, leading me as though helping a lost child.

My plan is to ask Little Bashin for a favor then get her to the safety of Hideout City, but I guess she’s at an age where she wants to act like the guardian.

“...Hey, hey, are you treating me like a kid because I was freaking out a little earlier? You don’t need to hold my hand or anything, I'm fine.”

“Raaaaaaa!”

“Grawk!”

Little Bashin suddenly throws her hand ax, and a squeal erupts from the bushes.

Diving into the bush, Little Bashin happily returns with a Deadly Hegg, its head bashed in.

"--!"

As Little Bashin raises both arms and lets out call of victory, I hold out my hand to her.

According to Alice, this forest, which is known as the Great Woods, takes up something like sixty percent of the continent.

It's hardly surprising, then, that the local tribes would develop their own, unique cultures in such a large place.

Though they pose a significant threat to us, these woods are as familiar to the Bashin tribe as their own backyard.

What I’m trying to say is...

“Help me, Little Bashin! There’s a bipedal rabbit after me! It’s creepy as hell!”

"RAAAAAAAAAAA! ”

We've wandered quite deep into woods, and we’re constantly being attacked by monsters.

But thanks to Little Bashin, the large horned rabbit that had been charging after me is soon filleted.

She skillfully butchers the rabbit with her ax. She seems to be in a good mood now. I guess she’s happy we've secured dinner.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I could’ve easily taken care of that mutant bunny on my own. I just let you handle it because it was so creepy. I’m actually pretty strong.”

She nods along to my explanation, wrapping the rabbit meat in a leaf, then rinsing off her hands with water from a little bamboo canteen.

Once clean, she holds out one of her small hands to me.

Having grown a bit more used to being led around by the hand by a child, I clasp her palm without hesitation.

“Whoa?! What was that for? Don’t yank me forward like that...”

My objection to suddenly being pulled wilts as I see a snake descending onto the spot I had occupied just a moment earlier.

She holds down the snake’s body with her foot and casually lops off its head with her ax.

“...Hey, are the Bashins really losing? Just how bad is the enemy you’re fighting?”

"...?"

She tilts her head quizzically as she skins the snake, then wraps its meat in a leaf.

The sun has completely set, and I chew on a piece of dried meat that Little Bashin gave me as she leads me through the woods.

Apparently, Little Bashin has good night vision, and she safely guides me through the dark woods.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to our relationship with the tribe in the future, but even though enhanced Combat Agents have good night vision, it’s probably best we avoid fighting them in the dark.

"--!"

“Oh, it’s that crazy flower that almost ate me earlier. Don't worry, I'm wise to it now.”

Little Bashin pulls me by the hand and points to a pretty flower about the size of a human head.

There’s something that looks like a gem embedded in the middle of each flower. When I tried to grab one earlier, the petals snapped shut like a bear trap.

Then I poked the gem with a little stick, and I discovered that the petals were as sharp as knives.

If Little Bashin hadn’t stopped me back then, I might have lost my hand to it.

“--!--!”

She’s probably trying to praise me for learning from my mistakes.

She stands on her tiptoes and pats my head again. Pretty sure any respect she had for me is gone.

After walking through the woods for a while, we arrive at a small spring.

Little Bashin uses gestures to tell me that we’re going to take a break.

“All right, this time leave it to me. I'll show you the power of science.”

Little Bashin tilts her head curiously as she gathers twigs to start a fire. It’s time for the fruits of civilization to shine.

When Alice, Viper, and I last went exploring in the woods, Viper was able to do just about everything.

But now that Viper isn’t here, I can show off the power of modern man by using lighters and rations and reestablish the pecking order...

"--!"

“...What is that. Little Bashin0 Why can you instantly light a fire?”

Little Bashin takes out a shiny red rock and hits it with her ax to easily start a flame.

Again?! The inhabitants of this planet have some next-level survival skills.

Little Bashin then starts sharpening some branches into skewers, impaling the rabbit and snake meat before shaking salt on them and putting them on the fire to cook.

She takes out a large, pot-shaped leaf, placing it on the fire and filling it with water from the spring.

The leaf appears to have high flame resistance, and the water inside eventually comes to a boil.

Little Bashin then refills her bamboo canteen with the boiling water before putting some wild grasses she picked on the way into the remaining water.

It’s probably the Bashin tribe’s equivalent to tea.

As a pleasant aroma rises from the water, she blows on it through her mask to cool the tea before offering the entire container to me...

“Shit, I've become a loser adult forced to rely on a kid. Fine, dammit. I'll drink the tea. I'll drink it, and I'm grateful, but...”

Little Bashin quizzically tilts her head at me. When I accept the tea, she then offers me one of the meat skewers.

First Alice and now Little Bashin. What is it with me being dependent on teenage girls...?

As we’re enjoying tea after our meal:

“...Ah, even I know what’s going on here. There’s several monsters in this bush.”

"--!"

Little Bashin stands up with her ax in hand and shelters me behind her back.

Four Deadly Heggs appear from the bush, realizing that they’ve been spotted.

Four of these things are a threat even to the warriors of the Bashin tribe, and Little Bashin backs away slowly, stopping when she runs into me.

She glances over her shoulder at me, then looks out at the monsters, determined to attack them. I grab her by the wrist to stop her.

“Don’t you know what I do for a living, Little Bashin? I'm a trained fighter.”

I smile reassuringly to Little Bashin as she looks up at me.

“This is thanks for guiding me this far. I'll help you this time.”

As I draw my pistol from my hip, Little Bashin nods repeatedly in my direction.

I run through the forest carrying Little Bashin as we’re chased by a horde of Deadly Heggs.

“Sorry, Little Bashin, I thought it was just those four! I could’ve handled them if there weren’t reinforcements!”

As I carry Little Bashin on my shoulder, she reaches over and lightly pats my head to show that she doesn’t mind that we’ve had to flee.

The first group of Deadly Heggs was evidently just a scouting party.

By the time I'd defeated those four, we'd been surrounded by even more of them.

I blinded them with a flash bang before picking up Little Bashin and making a break for it, but—

Despite the fact that my power armor enhances my physical abilities, it’s not enough to outrun these dog- shaped monsters.

As the black shadows grow closer, Little Bashin, still dangling from my shoulder, grips her hand ax.

"RAAAAAAA!”

She swings her weapon at a Deadly Hegg’s head as it leaps toward my back.

Little Bashin serves as monster repellent while I run toward the light that I see between the trees.

Once I reach that glow, I can expect support from my colleagues.

We eventually stumble out of the woods and look up at the light...

...to find Hideout City burning.