"Hmm, so I’ve thought of a few places."
Marmotte pointed to several locations on the map.
The choices were not especially broad, but each location had its own characteristics.
"First, there’s this mountainous area nearby."
"You want us to dig a cave?"
Green Shark nodded.
Give her a pickaxe and she was practically a human excavator, so it was a reasonable choice.
"It would have a defensive advantage, for one. There’s only one approach, so there would be less to keep an eye on."
"Ooh."
During the last raid, while Green Shark was fighting them head-on, I had nearly been kidnapped.
If we concealed the entrance, they might not even be able to spot us in the first place.
"And we might discover additional mineral veins in the mountains too."
"But wouldn’t insects show up?"
"That is true, but..."
The issue was, just as Green Shark said, that if we caused vibrations in the mountain, its underground residents would come up to lodge a complaint.
The megaspiders of the Thorn Geneline were famous even in Middle Realm media.
Rejected.
"Next is this arid shrubland. There’s a road nearby."
"If there’s a road, plenty of people will be passing through."
She nodded.
There was a risk of being exposed to many people, but conversely, that also meant security would be more stable if something happened.
If things went well, we could even serve as something like a roadside rest stop.
"Uh, but there is one minor problem here too."
"A problem?"
"There’s a mechanoid outpost signal at some ruins nearby..."
"All right, what’s next?"
Like hell we were picking that one.
After several rounds of discussion, we ultimately chose a suitable hilly area.
A prime location with a temperate climate near the equator and no other minor factions nearby.
There was a winding forest around it, so accessibility was awful and the odds of traveling merchants coming by would be considerably lower. But we could trade with orbital traders, or go out trading ourselves if necessary, so we would manage somehow...
"On the other hand, there should be fewer raids too."
"That’s a relief."
It was the sort of inconvenient location that nobody would bother raiding unless we loudly announced to everyone that we had a treasure worth seventy thousand silver, like last time.
It was just right.
.
Then what was the last thing we needed to do before moving?
"It would be too much to carry all of this with us... right?"
"It won’t be easy."
There was such an enormous quantity of resources that even sturdy Green Shark could not readily nod in agreement.
Unlike Lumi, the traveling merchant, we had no muffalo to haul our cargo. Everything was a burden we would have to carry ourselves.
"First, let’s sort through it all one piece at a time."
Marmotte clapped her hands to get our attention.
Ever since earlier, she had been acting as though she were the leader of this settlement.
I was tempted to mischievously ask why exactly she was the leader, but if she was willing to take charge, was there any reason for me to make trouble?
Just meet things halfway. That was how I had lived in the Middle Realm too.
"How much we can take will depend on the distance we need to travel."
"Oh."
She was right. If we were crossing a truly long distance, we might have to make a vehicle like a car.
If it was nearby, a simple cart would be enough.
Still, if we were not going to keep wandering, it would have no use after we arrived.
"But we can’t leave this area anyway."
"Probably not..."
I looked again at the distances between the new settlement I had marked on the map and the other villages.
Somewhere in the gap between the Ratkin Kingdom, which was aggressively expanding its settlements, and the Inari Family, whose territory was patrolled by mechanoids.
By chance, the place where I had crashed was that very “somewhere.”
"The circumstances are similar for other small settlements besides ours."
Nomadic tribes, which were permanently on the move, had it a little easier, but if you wanted to settle down, you still had to mind your neighbors.
And the beauty of walking the line was that if one side attacked you, you could always flee to the other.
That was what a neutral zone was.
"Honestly, if it’s seventy thousand silver, the two sides could come to an agreement and split it between themselves..."
"Gasp."
"But you’re more precious than money."
Money could be earned, but there was only a limited supply of me.
It was not some philosophical statement. It was simply a fact.
If the sex ratio across the entire star system was completely wrecked, then naturally my value would rise. But even if there was money equivalent to that value, the two did not match up perfectly.
"Even if a sip of water in the desert is worth a thousand gold, you wouldn’t actually trade it for a thousand gold."
Green Shark said this while stroking her chin.
"What?"
"Pardon?"
Both Marmotte and I were startled by the unexpectedly learned words coming from her mouth.
Had she been stabbed somewhere bad? Did Neanderthals think with their stomachs?
"How do you know what a thousand gold is?"
"One thousand gold. Bigger than seven hundred silver. I know that much."
"Whew."
But when that very Green Shark-like explanation followed right after, Marmotte let out a sigh of relief.
.
Afterward, we began sorting the things we would take from the things we would give up.
"Let’s take all the components and equipment for now."
The electronics we had bought from Lumi and the gear stripped from the Maru Raiders were loaded first.
They could be used, took up little space, and were valuable.
"I’ll handle the food."
Next came the preserved foods.
We could forage or hunt during the journey, but considering Green Shark’s appetite, it was obvious that would not be enough.
We decided to dry meat and vegetables in advance. We could make soup or something with them.
"What should we do with the hides?"
"There are... rather a lot of them."
We still had the hides of all the animals that had filled Green Shark’s stomach.
We had handed a sizable quantity over to Lumi while buying components, but they had continued to pile up regardless.
The hides, which had been simply tanned after removing the fur and fat, could be used in place of cloth and had considerable trade value.
But they were heavy, and bulky too.
"We can easily get fresh lumber and iron."
Steel and wood were common on the surface, so as long as we refined and took any special minerals, it would not matter if we threw away the rest.
In fact, it would be better to leave them behind, but hides sat right in that awkward middle ground.
"...Let’s try to reuse as much as we can for now."
In the end, it fell to me to deal with them.
.
.
Take as much as possible while leaving only enough behind that it would not interfere with movement.
The truth that “moderately” was difficult applied even beyond the star system.
"First, a cart to carry the cargo..."
We had plenty of materials, so I could use them without restraint.
As an engineer, that was something to be grateful for, but the fact that I was the only one working was a dealbreaker.
I would use a wooden cart as the base to keep its weight down, but make the frame sturdy with steel.
"The lining..."
Of course, using bare wood would make it hard and uncomfortable.
There was only so much a suspension system could absorb. In the end, we needed plenty of cushioning material to absorb the shocks.
And we had hides to spare.
"Pick out as much of the stiff stuff as possible. Only use the soft ones."
They had not been treated with professional chemicals, so they lacked rigidity, but since I was not making armor to wear, that was actually better.
If I cut and attached the thick ones to the outside, then layered the thin ones on the inside...
.
About four days later, we had packed everything.
"Is this..."
"Could it be alive?"
"I didn’t make it that well."
Marmotte’s mouth fell open.
It was not because she was overwhelmed by the majesty of a cart that looked as though it might spring to life and move at any moment.
It was simply that while making it, I had suddenly been struck by inspiration....
"...I got carried away as I worked."
I had decorated the cart inside and out by haphazardly weaving together hides of various kinds and sizes.
At first, that had been all it was.
"I think it got bigger than you originally expected."
"Well, you know. If it rains, everything would get soaked..."
Then I had built walls and a roof to prepare for sudden changes in the weather.
At that point, it had already become closer to a wagon than a cart.
But as I kept building it, attaching layers of hide became surprisingly enjoyable.
"It kind of looks like a pack animal, doesn’t it?"
The Maru Raiders had covered themselves in hides and hidden in the grass, making them look exactly like a herd of animals.
This was much bigger, but fundamentally, it was the same idea.
From a distance, it would look like an animal with wheels instead of legs.
"If it really doesn’t work out, we can just use it while moving and dismantle it afterward..."
Once I had wrapped the entire exterior in hides, it was less a cart than a piece of leathercraft.
A hide transport machine wrapped in hides woven together with leather straps.
Its name was the Patchwork Muffalo.
"Well, I suppose it’s good that you seem to be adapting so well."
For some reason, Marmotte’s gaze on me turned rather cold.
"...It’s cool."
"Right?"
Fortunately, Green Shark’s sparkling eyes seemed to understand my burning artistic spirit.
-----
Today’s frontier average.
The artistic inspiration he finally finds is wasted on something strange.
The eccentric artist eats kibble again today.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register