Chapter 170: Little by Little, Slowly (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 170: Little by Little, Slowly (5)
There were several issues I had to carry with me, and while I couldn't rank which was more important, there were certain things that had to take priority each day.
It had been about three weeks since I met Luche after waking up at dawn following a two-week stint in the ship's infirmary. So much had happened in the past week that it felt like a long time had passed, but in reality, it had only been a week since I returned to Seoul.
I had been given the address of the new headquarters in advance. After wondering who would be the easiest person to meet there, I contacted Theo.
He told me he’d be at the outdoor smoking area, so I should head there when I arrived. And so, on a Monday morning—the start of the work week—I headed toward the new headquarters.
My shoulders felt heavy on the way. On the day of the terror incident, feeling utterly exhausted, I had reported to my team leader, Luche, that I was seeing everyone from Team Hunter Killer.
Contrary to my expectation that she would nag me while looking over my condition, Luche had looked at me with eyes so cold they felt like they would freeze me on the spot. Her voice had been chillingly calm.
She was right to be cold; I had been thinking far too optimistically, and her reaction was only natural.
The problem was that Luche had returned to Seoul with the new team members the very day after I woke up on the ship. We had seen each other's faces, but we hadn't discussed my situation at all. Throughout the trip, I constantly agonized over how to start the conversation.
I figured the only reason Luche had welcomed me so warmly the moment I woke up from my two-week coma was that she considered it a relief I survived when other team members had died.
At that moment, I hadn't even thought about telling her I was dating my current girlfriends, and Luche didn't seem inclined to bring it up right then either.
Time had slipped away without us talking, leaving me stuck in a loop of worrying about what to say to her.
"Theo."
I confirmed the address and arrived at the new headquarters. The old one had been hidden among the many corporate buildings in a busy district of Seoul.
However, because that location had been exposed, they had moved. Unlike before, the new headquarters was tucked away in a rather remote area.
It was quite a distance from my house, so I figured I’d have to worry about the commute from now on. I approached Theo, who was smoking in the designated area in front of the building.
"You're here?"
"Have you been chain-smoking this whole time?"
It had taken me a good thirty minutes to get here. Theo had said he’d be smoking when I started my trip, and he was still at it when I arrived.
"You think I'm crazy? I had one earlier, and now I'm having another."
"Hurry up and finish."
I left Theo to his bench and took in the surrounding scenery beyond the smoking area. Being a remote spot, there were no tall buildings nearby, and I could see mountains in the distance behind the office building.
"The view is nice. But why did they move to such a secluded place?"
The scenery was great and the air was fresh for Seoul, but I couldn't understand moving somewhere with such poor public transport. I even wondered if a company with people constantly coming and going would stand out more in a place like this if something happened.
"How should I know? I just come here because they told me this is the HQ."
"Commuting is going to be a pain from now on."
I was only here today to check out the new place since I was still under orders to rest, but I sighed, already worrying about the extra time it would take to commute once I resumed duels and regular work.
"I'm already used to it."
Theo, who had been commuting regularly since returning to Seoul, spoke as if it were no problem. The tip of his cigarette glowed as it burned down.
"Is the construction finished?"
"Not yet. Probably needs a few more days."
They were performing internal renovations to set up the new unit's facilities, and the work was being done entirely by personnel belonging to the headquarters.
Since they had moved because their location was compromised, they couldn't hire a private contractor. Anything that could be handled by their own members was done on the spot, and for tasks requiring specialized knowledge, they requested additional personnel from the ship.
"Is it manageable?"
"What's so hard about it? Think about how many years of invasion experience we have."
One might wonder if soldiers could do renovations as well as professionals, but Spacetro was full of soldiers who had traveled to countless planets, and the Seoul Branch had many veterans.
Their ability to set up facilities already surpassed the level of so-called experts on a single planet. Theo, in particular, had been handling facility and maintenance work ever since he served as an engineer back on the ship.
He had been on the same team as Kruger and me in the past, but after coming to Earth, he had continued working on the ship. Since he held a maintenance post rather than a combat one, he hadn't been included in the initial deployment.
Kruger had been added to the list immediately when Team 3 was reorganized for combat roles. As for me, I had been on guard duty at the time, but the Team Leaders had singled me out, causing my post to be changed so I could be sent to Seoul.
I suspected the main reason Theo had switched to a combat role and joined Team 3 was the impact of Kruger and me being incapacitated.
"How's your body feeling?"
For a long time, it had been Theo's role to mediate and settle things whenever Kruger and I clashed.
Having lived in the same unit for so long, we had built strong bonds. The rage I felt when I saw the fallen Kruger was likely what Theo felt when he was told that Kruger and I were unconscious.
"I'll live. Honestly, I'd be fine even without the rest period. But you know Lady Esmeralda and Lady Angelica. They worry a lot if something happens."
"I don't know Lady Angelica that well. But Seira seemed really worried too. Hey, by the way, our Team Leader..."
"A!"
Just as Theo was about to bring up Luche while we were talking about the Team Leaders, I turned my head at the sound of a familiar voice calling me from a distance. Lady Angelica was standing at the entrance of the headquarters in a suit. The moment I spotted her, I offered a salute.
"Lady Angelica. Hello."
Lady Angelica approached with a smile, playfully returning the salute and looking at me with a bright expression.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. I was just thinking it's a relief to see you looking healthy. Also, saluting is forbidden outside."
Since there was no one else around, I had saluted out of habit. Even if we were in front of the headquarters, it was strictly forbidden. Lady Angelica admonished me, but there was no sense of intimidation in her gentle tone.
"My apologies. I'm feeling much better now. I've done plenty of rehabilitation as well."
After Luche returned to the headquarters first, I had spent most of my time with Seira. I could have met Lady Esmeralda and Lady Angelica if necessary, but they were so busy on the ship that it was hard to find the time.
I had bumped into them once or twice by chance, but there was no time for a proper conversation. Shortly before I came to Seoul with Seira, Lady Esmeralda and Lady Angelica had already returned.
"I was very worried. You were badly hurt, A."
"Thank you for your concern. I heard you were deployed to the scene that day as well, Lady Angelica. I hope nothing happened to you?"
"I was fine. I'm sturdier than I look, you know."
Watching Lady Angelica ball her fists to show off her strength made me feel strangely at ease.
"But what brings you to the headquarters? Aren't you on leave right now?"
"That's right. I've been resting for a week since coming to Seoul, so I came by to see the new HQ and check on everyone."
"Worrying about others even while you're resting. You really are kind, A."
She laughed and reached up to pat my head. I didn't pull away; instead, I lowered my posture slightly so she wouldn't have to reach so high.
"By the way, Lady Angelica, where are you headed?"
"I just came out to take a short break. I didn't expect to see you, though. You should have told me you were coming."
"It's not like my visit is a big deal. I only planned to stay for a bit."
Chatting with Lady Angelica made me forget the tension I had been feeling about potentially running into Luche.
"Then I guess I'm lucky we met. I'm going to step out for a moment, so go ahead and catch up with the others."
"Yes, ma'am. Understood."
Lady Angelica lowered her hand and said her goodbyes before walking slowly away from the headquarters. She turned back once more to wave at me, and I waved back in response.
"You've always followed Lady Angelica around, haven't you?"
"I owe her a lot from the past. She's like a mentor to me."
"It's because you're so close that Seira used to get annoyed whenever you and Lady Angelica met."
"Are we back to that again?"
I retorted to Theo, who was once again bringing up the old rumor about Seira and me being a couple. Seeing that he had finished his cigarette, I started walking toward the entrance.
But after about three steps, I spotted a boy wearing a beanie peering around the entrance of the headquarters.
"Huh?"
I stopped in my tracks at the familiar sight. He spotted me as well and called out loudly.
"Senior!"
I already knew he would be at the headquarters, but encountering him made the reality of living in the same unit again sink in.
Silver hair peeking out from under the beanie. A height that was somewhat short for a male.
An aura that suggested he could start acting restless at any moment.
Above all, the way he addressed me made me feel like my old instincts were coming back to life.
In my entire life, only three people had ever called me "Senior." All of them were Bioroids I had trained, and this guy was one of them.
"Roy."
Roy—or Lloyd. He was the second Bioroid I had met, and he was the one I was in charge of training back when I was on the engineering team. He always had high energy and was so unpredictable that he had caused me a fair share of headaches.
"What are you doing at the headquarters?"
"What do you mean? I'm stationed here too, so I came to check it out."
It was a perfectly obvious answer, and Roy just nodded, saying, "Oh, right." Then he looked at Theo, who was walking toward the entrance with me.
"Senior. They're looking for you in the underground parking lot."
"Underground? Why me?"
"Something about a short circuit, I think."
Hearing that, Theo pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. Knowing roughly what his job entailed, I patted his shoulder in silent encouragement.
"Alright. I guess I can't show you around the HQ."
"Don't worry about it. Just go."
Theo muttered a curse under his breath and headed down toward the underground parking lot. Left alone with Roy, I looked at the beanie he was wearing.
"What's with that?"
"Oh, this?"
When I pointed at the beanie, Roy lifted it slightly to show me his ears. Bioroids are artificial lifeforms created to suit the environment of specific planets, and those who have completed all learning stages are called Kaijin.
Roy looked perfectly human on the outside, but he was a Kaijin with wolf ears on top of his head. He also had a tail near his backside, and when fighting, he could extend or retract sharp claws at will.
"It must be a pain for you to hide those. You have enough to worry about as it is; why did they deploy you to the field?"
"How should I know?"
There were countless Spacetro soldiers in branches all over Earth, but over the last 20 years, the number of Kaijin deployed had been extremely small. You could count the instances on one hand globally. Most Kaijin worked on the Spacetro ships.
The reason Spacetro didn't deploy them despite having so many was that most Kaijin possessed traits different from Earthlings.
Roy alone had wolf ears and a tail; if he walked around like that, he would inevitably stand out, which would lead to a leak of Spacetro intelligence.
Since they were conducting their activities to match Earth's environment, the deployment of Kaijin had been strictly limited for the past 20 years. Even considering how big the recent terror incident was, it was hard to understand why they were deploying Kaijin now.
Since Roy wouldn't know the reason for his own deployment, I didn't ask further, and we stepped inside the headquarters.
"When is the other guy coming?"
Roy immediately understood I was referring to a specific person and shrugged.
"Who knows? I think they said he hasn't entered Korea yet. You should ask the Team Leader for details."
The mention of the Team Leader made my shoulders slump as I thought about facing Luche again. Since I had already confessed everything to her, I figured it would be best to tell the truth if she asked.
I briefly wondered if I should have just kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't undo what was already done, so I quickly shook off the regret.
Unaware of my internal struggle, Roy suddenly burst out laughing and looked up at me.
"Senior. How does it feel to work under a junior you used to be in charge of?"
Roy asked with a mischievous grin, clearly finding something hilarious. I tilted my head in confusion.
"Huh?"
Seeing my complete lack of understanding, Roy faltered. It was the only reaction I could give.
Because, in truth, I had no idea what Roy was implying.
"Pardon?"
Roy looked at me, unable to hide his bewildered expression, and for a moment, we both just stood there in a daze, the conversation grinding to a halt.