The Stupid Cannon Fodder is Stunning Today

Chapter 3: Midsummer

This chapter is brought to you by Chimera by aeseaes. 

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The body he possessed was about to turn eight. It had been midsummer when Nine first woke up in this world. A year has almost gone by and he lived through several seasons. 

The seasons here were exactly as seasons were described in the history books. The interstellar era lacked seasonal changes since most civilizations have managed to maintain temperatures across large settlements. 

Summer was hot, but nothing compared to volcanic planets. Autumn felt colder and the woman who was now his mother made sure he wore a jacket when he went out to help the harvest. 

In the winter, Nine saw snow for the first time. 

All the villagers moved into a community hut and waited for spring. Children were occasionally outside to play in the snow, but the warm hearth in the center of the hut made many, including Nine, reluctant to go out. 

The food that was preserved during the harvest was rationed out and everyone had their own share. 

"Would you like to hold her?"

There was a tiny bundle wrapped in a blanket in the arms of a woman who often gave him milk and bread on his way to work. 

The creature made a noise and Nine flinched. 

The woman giggled and Nine looked at her with wide eyes. 

"Come on, now, Toby. Hold out your arms." 

Nine held out his arms and the creature was plopped into them. 

There was a face that looked a lot like a human, but small and wiggly like a worm. The creature opened its mouth and all he saw were pink gums. 

"... No teeth?" Nine asked, confused. 

The woman giggled again, and this time, the surrounding people who had been watching, joined her. 

"Not yet," she said with a smile. 

Nine was holding a baby. 

He had never seen a baby before. It was different, seeing children through the lenses of an adult. He grew up with friends and comrades, but never were they allowed to mingle with younger or older children. 

The baby felt fragile in his arms. Nine could snap it in two easily. How could a creature like this survive outside an incubation room? 

It suddenly made a shrieking noise and Nine nearly dropped it. 

His head snapped to the woman, the mother of the baby, in panic. 

The baby shrieked again, and Nine didn't know what to do. 

Instinctively, he made a rumbling noise in his chest, similar to the cats he saw wandering the farms. He found the sound particularly soothing when they approached him for food. 

Why there were cats in this village and not being utilized to their full potential for pest control, Nine didn't know. 

It did allow the job market to open up for children like him, though, and he was thinking of buying a gift for this body's mother.

 Perhaps a hairpin of some kind? He noticed she wore the same hair stick every day. 

The baby stopped shrieking when Nine made the noise. It blinked at him. Nine blinked back.

He did it again. 

The surrounding people made noises akin to screaming, but it wasn't in alarm or anything. Nine couldn't be bothered by it. The baby in his arms felt more like a bomb and was therefore the first thing he needed to take care of.