Befriending the Locals

Riding on the back of the large fox, we headed for the visible marker in the distance, the big red balloon. Beyond my notice, it seems that the entire family of foxes came along. The three little ones were riding on their mother's (presumably) back, as they couldn't match an adult's speed.

In under a minute, we had already reached the camp. I could already see the girls, who were already back, from quite a distance, and they all seemed visibly disturbed upon seeing a giant wolf beelining for their position.

When I saw them entering battle positions and even Toki preparing to cast spells with a bitter expression, I quickly moved to the head of the big fox and called. "HEY!"

I waved my left hand in a wide arc, making it as eye-catching as possible. Everyone quickly noticed me, but was rather confused upon seeing my situation. Well, who could imagine how I would end up riding on the back of a giant fox anyway?

A few seconds later, the fox stopped about fifty meters from the camp. I guess it could feel the girls' wariness and didn't want to provoke them any further. It lowered its body, letting me down gently, before moving a bit further and lying down with its family while keeping an eye in our direction.

"Ruin! What the hell is that... fluffy thing?!" As soon as I approached, Lily grabbed my arm, pulling at it excitedly, and asked while pointing at the foxes.

"Them? It's a long story..."

With that as a preface, I quickly reported what I encountered during my exploration. Everyone listened intently, their faces turning pale upon learning about the attack of the insectoids and about how the little fox almost died.

"... And so, right after protecting them, I was about to return. Then, this one let me ride on its back, sending me here."

Everyone went quiet right after hearing the story. Mina, with a hand on her chin, muttered her guess out loud. "Could it be that the insects are invaders to this world too? These foxes might be a part of the original creatures living on this planet and were hunted slowly by the insects. Those mountains of bones could be explained with that."

Her guess was extremely convincing. Maybe, since this planet was near extinction, they decided to conduct another invasion, and Earth just happened to be the one they invaded.

"So these fluffies came with Ruin because they thought he could be an ally?" Lily asked, tilting her head cutely with a finger against her cheeks.

"That could be the case." Mina nodded. "That was a nice move, creating friendly relations with the locals, Ruin," she added, raising a thumb in appreciation.

I can't really say I saved them on impulse and thought of some justification while fighting. "Anyway, Toki, can I share some of our food with them? By the looks of it, these foxes are extremely malnourished."

Although it couldn't be seen from their fluffy fur, their bodies were almost skin and bones. I felt my heart ache upon realizing this and decided to share food and water with them.

Toki simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "You're the boss. You decide what to do with our supplies."

I turned to look at everyone else, but they all didn't have any objections. They smiled while nodding their heads in approval.

Seeing that, I quickly took out a bunch of our food, particularly the meat ready for cooking, and set it down halfway between our position and the foxes. Together with it, I also set two drums worth of water, cutting off the top to expose the contents. After I finished setting it up, I moved back to the girls and motioned for the big fox to take the food and water we had prepared.

With careful steps, the foxes approached the food, smelling it cautiously. After they realized that it was food, they didn't hold back and started to devour everything before them. Of course, the two big wolves held back and let the small ones eat their fill first. It was a heartwarming scene, making us feel both senses of satisfaction and accomplishment.

I wanted to give them more, but among the supplies in my storage, nothing else could be eaten by them. I doubt they'd like vegetables and fruits, after all. Or maybe they will? They'd been living in this wasteland for a while, so they must be eating anything they could find just to survive.

Time passed while we were watching the foxes clear the food that we had prepared, even the water. It was now exactly an hour after the opening of the portal, so they would soon open it again.

"Still..." I looked around, looking for the other scouting team. "Where are they?"

I doubt they would be so unprofessional that they'd miss their gathering time. I felt disturbed by the fact that they hadn't returned in time. With that, two possibilities crossed my mind. One is that they encountered a similar situation to mine, so they were delayed. And the other...

"... Could they have died?" Toki muttered blandly, garnering the reprimanding stares of everyone else. "Hey, don't look at me like I'm a villain. I just muttered the most possible case."

It was the one with the highest probability; however, it was also the one we didn't want to imagine the most. Those scouts are all in their third class, around level 5. They were more than ten levels higher than us and still died in the hands of "something" located within an hour's distance from here.

The deaths of some random guys don't really weigh heavily on our consciences, but the idea of some powerful being able to kill their team off was sending chills down our spines. I turned to the foxes, thinking that whatever decimated the scout team could be on par with the two parents.

*VWUOOOOM!*

Suddenly, a bluish-white portal opened at the previous spot. I was worried about the portal's location upon reopening, but thankfully it stayed the same. Waving goodbye to the foxes, we entered the portal and returned to Earth for now.

What awaited us was an angry Major and other soldiers aiming their rifles at us, fingers already at the trigger. After everyone entered, and when nobody else followed, she reined in her anger and asked. "... What of the scout team?"

I simply shook my head, indicating that we don't have an idea what actually happened to them. The Major sighed, holding a hand on the temple of her head.

"Those idiots..." she whispered, her voice shaking a little. "Anyway, how about your team? Lieutenant Alice, have any reports to share?"

She was basically saying, "We'd overlook you disobeying orders, so tell us what you f*cking saw." QUEEN, who was quiet the entire time, quickly stepped forward, saluted, and relayed what she saw. After her, the girls detailed what they saw.

Basically, everyone didn't have much luck on their scouting trip. They didn't see anything worth mentioning other than a few ruined buildings buried under the red dust and soil. When it was my turn, the Major's eyes glowed with interest upon hearing my story.

"A conflict between foxes and insects..." From the insinuation in her voice, she probably got the same conclusion as what Mina talked about earlier.

After a bit of silence, she then waved her hand, letting the soldiers lower their weapons and also turning off the portal. "For bringing in useful information, we would overlook your group's transgression. Rest for now, as tomorrow we will begin setting up an advance base camp in the exit location of the portal."

The major turned around, walking down from the platform. The other soldiers dispersed, leaving only the technical team around, still busy doing things on their laptops.

"Ah, what should we do now?" Hailey asked, scratching her cheeks awkwardly.

I, for one, want to return to that wasteland. I want to provide more food for those foxes, after all. Still, I need to get more meat before that. "I'm going hunting for a while," I announced with a smile.

"Then I'll be coming with you!" QUEEN, or Marionne, raised her hand with a serious face. "I don't want to let you off alone in dangerous areas!"

"..."

I turned to look at her. Level-wise, she was still higher than me, but stat-wise, I was stronger. Still, there's nothing wrong with using extra hands while hunting. "Alright, let's go then."

I walked toward the camp's gate once more. With Marionne in tow, we managed to leave without much trouble... All of us.

"Wait, are you all coming with us too?"

I thought they would be staying in camp since they didn't raise their voice like Marionne did. Toki grinned teasingly, amused. "You thought we'd leave you two alone, without supervision? Were you planning to do something perhaps?"

"Hunting should be done in groups. The more, the merrier!" Lily cheered excitedly.

As a healer, she can't really hunt by herself yet, so taking the chance when it presents itself was basically her motto. Hailey simply waved her spear, as if words weren't needed to explain her case, while Mina literally kept her silence.

Seeing that everyone ended up going together, I couldn't help but sigh.