Chapter 60: Specimen Making

They did not die when you shot them in the head.

They kept crawling even after their limbs were cut off.

So far, the only thing that worked was Rudo’s lightning strike. If that’s the case…

“The tent wasn’t so much ‘burned’ as it was ‘set on fire,’” I said.

As if to prove it, a Leone clansman hurled something human-sized into the blazing tent. It did not even let out a death cry; still, it wriggled out, seeking prey. It was so unreal it almost felt dreamlike rather than frightening.

I was about to throw down the sniper rifle when I noticed there were no large Monoz around. I slung the rifle onto my back. This opponent could not be killed by a sniper shot. That meant a pistol, which could fire repeatedly, was preferable to a rifle that takes time between shots.

…Well, to be blunt, I’m just not well-suited to firearms.

Given the firepower in my squad, the useful assets were Rudo and Dragon Unit, followed by Tiger Unit and Monkey Unit, which specialize in slashing, and, to some extent, Dog Unit. For the ‘pinning’ role, there was the crossbow.

Incidentally, Dragon Unit and Tiger Unit were staying behind, and the crossbow was also with Ox Unit, who was on guard duty.

From now on, at minimum, I’ll take Ox Unit with me wherever I go.

“Rat Unit, comms. Priority is rendezvous. We are not entering the town. Have them come to us.”

I issued the order while thinking it through.

—Beep.

A transmission popped on my terminal. It was from Dog Unit.

Tactical proposal: Propose formation for rendezvous unit. Members → myself, Monkey Unit, Rudolf.

I see. It would be better to clear a path from our side as well.

“Monkey Unit, Rudo, Dog Unit form A1. You suggested it, so you’re the leader, Dog Unit.”

Beep! It sounded, and then a small yelp.

The two machines and the dog took off at Rat Unit’s command.

While they ran, we did what we could here.

I had the children help. Using the remaining Monoz, we dug trenches and built barricades.

If our enemy were worm-people, then the barricades behind the trenches would be our defense.

Just then, one of them crawled up, so I tore off its limbs and let it try to crawl.

It hit the barricade, fell into the trench, and writhed. After watching for a while, I saw maggots crawl out from every opening—the wound, the nose, the mouth, the eyes. The eyeballs, pushed free, rolled grotesquely in the dirt. The flesh-worms that spilled out began to climb the barricade as if searching for prey.

“Rabbit Unit, building materials.”

There was no point watching this get worse. Before the maggots spread, we sealed things with construction supplies.

I knew it would be rough, but it was worse than I’d expected.

We hid a few fleeing people and Tooth.

One loudmouth among them kept shouting, “Why are we waiting here? Fight already!” 

I ignored him.

I’m not that strong. Going out without preparation is just suicide. Still, it felt wrong to sit idle. So, with Rabbit Unit and Snake Unit, we put together weapons that might work against the worm-people.

About fifteen minutes after sending out Dog Unit and the others, Ox Unit returned with the pillbox residents in tow.

Report the damage. 

“We locked down quickly, and thanks to the Monoz we saved ourselves, but the human village…”

“I see.”

Probably hopeless, I thought, swallowing the words. I accepted the report from Kouko-san and handed my hat and sniper rifle to Ox Unit, taking a head armor plate and the crossbow in exchange. As usual, I tried to link Rat Unit to the crossbow—no, to Rabbit Unit. Sorry, Rat Unit, but I’ll need you to stay behind.

Some of the bystanders I’d been ignoring started getting noisy.

Time to work.

“I’ll make Ox Unit, Tiger Unit, Rabbit Unit, and Monkey Unit A1. After cutting off their limbs, we’ll pin them to the ground.

“Rooster Unit, Dog Unit, Rudo, A2. Center on Rudo’s lightning strike; Rooster and Dog, provide follow-up. And Dog Unit, you’re the leader, this is your call. You folks are probably more efficient at this.

“Rat Unit, Dragon Unit, Snake Unit, Horse Unit, Sheep Unit, Boar Unit, C1. Hold this sector. Rat Unit, you’re the leader. Sheep Unit, make arrows. Boar Unit, handle regular transport since you can fight too.

“Unfortunately, this battlefield isn’t to my liking. That’s a shame. But it’s work, so we have to do it. After all, it’s our employer who’s under attack. It’s a sad situation. All right then, let’s go. Still—order to win.”

***

The Black Heaven Knights numbered well over a hundred.

Most of them were non-combatants—Sleepers, they said.

In other words, they were an organization that had once acted to protect Sleepers.

The ones who contacted me while I was hospitalized were sleepers as well, and they’d been scouting me because I was a good hand.

They were good people.

But they were—past tense. Now they’re not. All of them have been reduced to worm-people.

I pull the trigger. A whine, then a dull thud follows a beat later.

I pinned the ragged, butchered corpse—torn apart by those ripper things—to the ground. It still writhed, but arrows driven into the earth weren’t coming loose easily. For a moment, its empty eyes looked this way, then maggots poured out, and it lunged for me.

Disgusting, but neutralized.

Having confirmed that, I headed for my home—the human village.

The Black Heaven Knights’ quarters were beside the village. My employer should be there.

I ran for about three minutes. A four-armed giant in a hardened exoskeleton was chewing through people with a pair of gatling guns—no, something’s off—he held heavy rotary barrels left and right, turning flesh to mince.

When he ran out of ammo, two worm-people charged like they’d been waiting for that opening. Rikan recoiled at the sight, so I stepped forward.

Running zombies are brutal.

I noted that as I moved.

“Hey, what are you going to do if I can’t eat hamburgers anymore?” I said.

“Huh? Oh, it’s Ratchet.” 

Running zombies are as single-minded as a lovesick maiden, making them easy to ambush. Tiger Unit and Monkey Unit made a dummy, so I made a specimen.

“Mm! That’s good,” Rikan said.

“We’ll have to dispose of it later, though.”

I held up the maggots spilling from the wound toward Rikan.

“If you can still eat a hamburger after seeing this, then my show will be fine for you, right?”

As he spoke, Rikan took something out of his pocket. It looked like an egg.

He hurled it at the specimen I had made. It shattered, and the same kind of maggots from before poured out, wrapping around the specimen to form a cocoon. The worms stopped spilling out.

“After that, I definitely can’t eat hamburgers anymore.”

“Then get used to seeing it. …Here come some party guests.”

I followed Rikan’s gaze. Sure enough, nine of them. That’s a tough number to accommodate at a small inn without reservations.

Rikan dropped the Gatling gun he’d been holding left and right. The heavy thud echoed, then a high metallic ring. Four curved blades appeared in four arms. Rikan’s body stepped back.

They looked like a carnivore leaping at its prey.

Then the result should be the same.

Tiger Unit and Monkey Unit were ready.

The party of nine was turned into nine specimens in no time.

Too easy.

“…Rikan, the culprit for this is probably Mache.”

“Likely so. What of it?”

“Do you plan to shop at the trading company she’s affiliated with from now on?”

“There’s no way I’d do that.”

Rikan made a disgusted sound. Well, fair enough.

“Okay, then from an outsider’s point of view, if you weren’t a victim this time but a third party who knows about the incident, would that change anything?”

“No. I still wouldn’t buy. Knowing their mercenaries at the counter ended up like this, I wouldn’t trust that company’s goods.”

“Why not?”

“Why? I can’t trust them, ah, that’s that.”

“Merchants understand the value of trust better than we do. If they’re willing to sell trust, it means the profit outweighs that. Next question: could this thing generate that kind of profit?”

I nodded toward the writhing worm-people as I spoke.

“No way. They’re consumables. Hard to kill, yes, but that’s it.”

“Then what’s the use of a hard-to-kill consumable?”

“A diversion?” she said.

“Probably.”

Silence.

We held a serious mood and froze for about five seconds.

Gunfire and screams continued around us.

“So, Ratchet? What should we do?” Rikan asked.

“We don’t even know the main target, and the diversion itself is a serious threat,” I said.

“So?”

“Keeping in mind that this could be a diversion, we have to act like we’ve been fooled by the diversion.”

“This doesn’t sound very satisfying.”

“This isn’t a manga. The moment we notice, the main target won’t automatically appear.”