"Where is it? It was definitely around here."
"You were so confident, and now how many laps have we made around this area?"
"How is it my fault that we can’t trace the transmission?"
A noisy group of beasts moved along.
Here and there, patterns showed through hair as white as fresh snow.
"Damn it. If I’d known it would be this hot, I wouldn’t have come."
"What are you talking about? You were the one who wanted to come."
The grumbling travelers were all women, each draped in animal pelts with different patterns.
They were the Maru Raiders, active along the deep northern mountain ridges.
Usually, they hunted mountain beasts or ancient knowledge, but to keep their organs intact, they occasionally hunted humans as a side business.
Even taciturn hunters needed money.
"If only I weren’t really a man..."
Then one of the group’s interpreters had come back delighted, claiming a “big score” had arrived, and every member of the raiding party had mobilized.
There were only six of them in total, but the smaller the group, the more efficiently the Maru could operate, so that was no issue.
Beep, beep, beep—
In this frontier system, waiting with a trap laid on an emergency rescue channel was like using a fish trap that caught fish all on its own.
If they did not feel like running around on foot themselves, all they had to do was follow prey that had taken the bait. A simple job.
It had been exactly a week since they began tracing the transmission. More than enough time to travel from the distant north to the central grasslands.
"Found it."
From the high plateau, the raiders spotted a building in the distance.
A satellite dish stood beside a radio tower rising high in the middle of the grassland. That was probably their destination.
"The voice definitely sounded young, too."
The Maru laughed loudly.
.
.
.
Crack
"....."
It was somewhat contradictory to chop firewood to keep the generator running, but it was important work.
Green Shark, who had stood two logs upright at once and was swinging an axe at them, pricked up her ears at a faint sound carried on the wind.
Sniff, sniff.
She was like a snow leopard stealthily moving through the snow, yet the metallic scent brimming with malice lurking within told her clearly that these were not welcome guests.
"So it was true."
For the past few days, Pola had been moving busily, as though something were chasing him.
All he had to do was grill the food properly, yet he insisted on helping with the hunting and started setting traps.
When she firmly refused firearms, he had even made her a bow, begging her to at least carry that when she went outside.
"Hmph."
Marmotte seemed to have caught on to something, but she had not explained it to Green Shark.
Green Shark had considered smacking her around a few times until she talked, but she was not curious enough to go that far.
"Come on, then."
It had been years since she left her tribe. Raids were familiar to her.
Feral dogs and packs of wolves that came every time she slept, raiders demanding she hand over everything she owned—including human meat—and slavers who wanted to capture her and put her to work.
A rat had joined her journey somewhere along the way, but only after meeting Pola had she been able to sleep deeply.
"Seventy thousand."
Seven times ten thousand—and then multiplied by one hundred more—was how expensive her treasure was.
And now raiders wanted to take it from her. The answer was obvious.
She picked up her dependable club and kicked open the door.
"Raiders."
.
.
.
Thump.
It felt as though my blood had turned cold.
Green Shark, who did not know how to open a door, casually announced the presence of raiders, and my heart began hammering.
"Really?"
Marmotte skillfully gathered up her revolver and a handful of ammunition, then followed Green Shark outside.
With just a little more time, I might have been able to install turrets, but since they were automatic turrets, we had not even developed bolt mechanisms yet. There had been no time for that.
"You stay here."
Green Shark tried to close the door with me still inside.
Was it because she did not want me to get hurt? Or perhaps she simply did not want her seventy-thousand-silver asset to be damaged.
"...."
Honestly, maybe all I had to do was pick the winning side.
If I waited obediently here and Green Shark and Marmotte won, the day would continue like any other.
Even if the raiders won, only my owner would change. My circumstances would not.
"No. I’m going too."
Then how would I be any different from a meat rack draped in skin?
Wasn’t that exactly what I had tried to escape because I was afraid of it?
Clutching the bolt-action rifle with trembling hands, I rose to my feet.
"Fine."
Green Shark did not particularly try to stop me from following.
Marmotte looked anxious, but after thinking deeply about something, she nodded.
.
Green Shark’s senses had detected the raiders, but we did not know who exactly they were.
Had they come after hijacking my rescue signal, or were they simply professional bandits wandering nearby?
"......"
Perhaps they did not realize we had noticed the raid. Even after coming close, they were still chatting and fooling around among themselves.
There were about six of them. Their hands held an array of weapons that were plainly not for self-defense: swords, axes, crossbows.
"My God, they’re Maru?"
"Maru?"
"They’re a race that lives in the north. I heard they never even set foot anywhere warm..."
Marmotte explained the white-haired raiders, wrapped in animal hides and patterned like leopards.
They were born hunters, with bodies suited to operating in bitterly cold regions.
Hunters, huh...
-Don’t worry. We’ll be coming to hunt you soon.
Raiders who lived in the frigid northern regions had come all the way to the grasslands.
It certainly seemed that they were the ones who had hijacked the rescue signal.
"Quiet."
Our whispers about the Maru’s traits stopped at Green Shark’s warning.
Sliiide.
Having finally reached the vicinity of the settlement, the raiders lowered their stances and approached stealthily.
When they reached the spot where Green Shark often came out to hunt—
Click.
Wham!
"Aaaagh!"
The trap we had set up last time struck an unlucky raider.
A rock and spikes, operating with a harsh clatter, slammed into the woman’s upper body. She collapsed to the ground with the sound of bones breaking.
She had barely avoided instant death, but the way she twitched faintly showed that this was not an injury recoverable with first aid.
"Damn it!"
The instant one of them fell, the remaining raiders scattered in every direction.
Apparently, their being born hunters was no exaggeration. The white heads that had been clearly visible moments ago vanished completely.
As they pulled the animal hides they wore over themselves, they blended naturally into the grass as though they had activated optical camouflage.
Five left.
.
I wanted nothing more than to surround the area with walls, funnel them into an entrance, and gun them down in a volley of fire—a kill zone—but...
Making guns, setting traps, cooking meals. There had been no time for it.
The raiders, reduced by one person, seemed more cautious than ever.
The fact that I could not even properly hear their breathing was proof enough.
Step... step...
If we ambushed them with a volley of fire now, we could probably reduce their numbers by another one or two.
Thud.
But Green Shark did not hide.
Like a predator driving away scoundrels who had entered its territory,
she simply walked forward, boldly presenting herself head-on.
"Tch, did she know already?"
A brief click of the tongue sounded from somewhere nearby.
The Neanderthal’s thick limbs and the animal hide draped over her shoulders gave off a natural intimidation.
Even the Maru did not dare rush her carelessly. They moved calmly, naturally encircling Green Shark.
Keeping a suitable distance—not too close and not too far—they tried to hunt her.
"Feral dogs are always the same."
As she said that, Green Shark slowly headed toward the raider who had been incapacitated by the trap.
The murderous aura around her intensified, but the raiders continued cautiously narrowing their encirclement, judging their spacing.
The trembling Maru stared with terrified eyes at Green Shark as she placed a foot on her neck.
Crunch—
"They only pounce after they see blood."
Had the sudden finishing blow caught them off guard?
The nearby grass shook violently.
Green Shark grinned, pulled an arrow from her quiver, and threw it just like that...?
Thuck.
That was not how you used that.
-----
Today’s frontier-system average.
Even a truly brutal raid will flee if you kill half of them.
Except mechanoids.
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