Chapter 42: Ratchet

I was a sleeper. I had no memories. I had debts.

So I became a soldier.

A sniper. That was my branch.

And I became a Hound.

By luck or misfortune, I apparently had more than a little talent. With twelve subordinates and one dog in tow, I lived a reasonably pleasant life.

Lived.

Yes, past tense.

I lost. I was taken prisoner.

As a sniper who had been more than competent, I had inflicted a fair amount of damage on the enemy. So it was only natural that I was tormented and marked for death. It would be a lie to say I had been prepared from the start. Still, I did not feel like making a fuss.

I had killed enemies.

So it would be improper to complain about being killed by the enemy.

With that logic, retrospectively, I accepted being taken prisoner as if I were prepared to die.

Tooth.

It sounds ridiculous to ask mercy of a hostile alien species that, five hundred years after my time, is waging war against humanity on Earth.

The Leone clan that captured me—many of them had features that somehow called lions to mind. Perhaps I would be eaten alive.

Not in the erotic-manga sense. Not in that way.

I said that twice because it was important.

“—”

Suddenly, I yawned.

The treatment for my blown-off left leg, a batch of therapeutic nanomachines mixed by Sheep Unit, seemed to be taking effect.

The purple ampoule injected into my artificial spinal cord would look poisonous if you just stared at it, but apparently, it wasn’t.

Still, lying face down, I fought the heaviness drooping my eyelids.

The Tooth with four arms that had captured me had bundled me, the Monoz, and the Welsh Corgi Pembroke Thunderbolt puppy Rudolf into a single truck.

We were allowed treatment only if we stayed inside it.

Even though treatment had been permitted, I was still a prisoner.

Which meant, naturally, that I was in the enemy’s heartland, and it would be unwise to sleep carelessly.

The ragged mid-sized Monoz Sheep Unit approached abruptly. From the damage in the earlier battle, only two of my subordinates could move; Sheep was one of them and had been negotiating with the four-armed Tooth over various matters. It looked like those negotiations had finished. So Sheep had come to check on the patient—that is, me.

—Beep.

An electronic tone. I fumbled out my terminal and checked the message.

Report: Negotiations with the Leone clan complete → Conclusion: Prioritize treatment. They intend to hire us.

My eyelids fluttered.

This was a bit unexpected. Hard to believe at first. It might be a lie Sheep Unit cooked up to make me sleep. But if it wasn’t…

I bit the inside of my cheek until it stung. The pain cleared my head a little.

Move.

“Ox Unit, Sheep Unit, prioritize recovery first. I’ll manage being put off for now, so treat Rudo first, then treat yourselves. After that, treat Monkey Unit, he’s the one with high manufacturing ability, and then Rat Unit, the command hub. After that, follow Rat Unit’s orders.

“A sort of multiplying effect. Gather hands that can treat and finish the job. Fortunately, supplies other than gunpowder haven’t been taken. As usual. Use them up if you must. As for my missing left leg, we’ll decide later. For now, shave off the construction material stuck around the area and just close the wound. That is all. Sorry, but I’m going to sleep.”

—Beep. The confirmation came back. The two characters for “understood” wavered on the screen.

My sleepiness had reached its limit.

So I let go of consciousness.

***

“Sorry, but wake up.”

“…”

How long had passed?

A somewhat exasperated male voice shook my consciousness. I pushed my upper body up and opened my eyes.

“…”

My body sat up, but my eyes would not clear. They kept blinking and stinging. No tears came—terrible dry eyes. 

“Ugh…” I groaned in a low voice and rubbed my eyes. At last, a slow film of tears blurred into being, and my vision opened.

I looked around. My eyes met Rudo’s. The pup, apparently recovered, waddled over and stuck his nose right between my legs. Not helpful.

The Monoz repairs seemed to be going well. Once they’d been fixed to a point, they’d started repairing themselves. The nimble Sheep Unit and Monkey Unit had their mouths open, thin auxiliary arms extended into the complex structure of Dragon Unit, while the other Monoz were nearly finished.

—Beep.

Rat Unit’s rolling eye blinked and the terminal vibrated. Probably a repair-status report. I wanted to check it immediately, but I put it off.

Someone who hadn’t been there before I fell asleep was standing nearby. A four-armed figure.

He’d removed his powered exoskeleton and, though his face was closer to human, he was hairy and beastlike. Four hands and three eyes made him grotesque, but compared to others, there was still a lot that looked human.

He was my captor now.

Had he come to nibble on me because he was a bit peckish? If so, I would have preferred he nibble me without waking me up.

“You—aren’t you a little too thick-skinned?”

He said it in a voice that sounded genuinely exasperated. Rude.

“I consider myself on the sensitive side,” I said.

“Is that so? In our culture, someone who can be taken prisoner and still sleep like a merry fool within a day is not described as ‘sensitive.’”

“Is that so. Incidentally, in our culture, someone who can’t sleep when they ought to is described as ‘weak.’”

I yawned as I spoke. Cultural exchange, it seemed. I let out a light laugh.

“I see. Indeed. My mistake, then. Sorry,” the four-armed said, and he genuinely sounded apologetic. He was surprisingly affable. Maybe Sheep Unit’s story had been true after all.

“I heard you intend to hire us. Is that serious?” I asked.

“Ah, so the talks went through? Right now my father, the clan chief, is hearing that proposal. That’s why I came here.”

I lowered my eyes in response to his watching gaze. I signaled him to continue.

“Can you kill a human?”

“If they’re the enemy.”

“I see. It’s that someone is refusing to pay us.”

“?”

“They asked us to attack your settlement—”

“Then they’re the enemy,” I answered immediately.

“Then—?”

“I will gladly kill them.”

I smiled.

“…”

The four-armed’s smile twitched when he saw mine. Rude.

“That’s the immediate task, but I want to keep you employed afterward.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I will kill you.”

Is that so? I do not want to die. I thought that. But I also do not want to live by doing tasks I cannot stomach, like killing people I do not want to kill. That was my stance with Shinzo before, and it remained my basic position. So—

“As long as I’m not given unreasonable orders, I’ll cooperate.”

“I am your employer, you know?”

“Then let’s pretend this conversation never happened.”

“I see. That is a shame.”

A pistol was tossed to me. I pressed it to my temple and pulled the trigger. Nothing.

I glanced at the four-armed. He looked surprised with his eyes wide. I did not need that reaction. I swung the cylinder out; the chamber was empty. There were no cartridges in my pockets. They had been taken.

That was a bit of a problem. That would have been the easiest way out. If possible, I would also rather not slit my wrists or hang myself.

“Excuse me, do you have any bullets—”

“I’m sorry for making you test it. Proud human warrior, please lend us your strength.”

His words cut me off, and he bowed his head. I scratched my head. Having a prospective employer bow to me felt awkward.

“I don’t have much pride left, so don’t worry about that. More importantly, tell me about the job.”

“Ah, yes. It’s simple. We want you to show your skill. Let your compatriots know you are someone who can kill humans.”

Hearing that made me sound like quite a monster. Still, if the targets are the ones behind the earlier raid, then I have no real objection.

“All right. Understood.” I accepted the task.

He said he would bring me the dossiers later, so I’d decide about my left leg in the meantime.

I pulled out my terminal to check Rat Unit’s report.

But the four-armed showed no sign of leaving yet. What was that about?

Holding the terminal in one hand, I tilted my head slightly and conveyed my question.

“I am Rikan of the Leone Clan, child of Chieftain Hiiro — the Four-Armed.”

One of his right hands was extended toward me. Ah, I see. So that’s how it is.

“Touji, Hound of Doggy House.”

I took his hand and answered with a handshake.

“So that’s what it is…”

Rikan let out a short laugh. What was that about?

I tilted my head again to wordlessly convey my question.

“A strong human, when he appears among us, is like the wind. And hounds… their troublesome persistence is famous.”

“I see.”

So that’s how it is. In that case—

“Should I avoid giving my name openly?”

“That would be wise. But let it be hinted. The Tooth respect strength.”

“I understand. Do you have a suggestion?”

I thought maybe shortening Super Elite Wanko into SEW would be good. But when I said that, I got a look questioning my sanity. Apparently not.

“Hmm… How about Ratchet?”

“Ratchet?”

What popped into my head first was the tool. But I quickly realized that wasn’t what he meant.

“Then perhaps I should call you Gabriel in return?”

“Haha! Not bad. Shall we make it a Wild Hunt then?”

“If the chance arises.”

We both laughed at that.

I had been a sleeper. I had no memories. I had debts. So I became a soldier. Then I became a hound. And five hundred years later, here I was—defeated, captured, hired on as a mercenary—

And I became the hound called Ratchet.