So That's Your Taste?

"So that's the kind of thing you're into?"

"Lieutenant! We're out of towels, could you— Eek!"

Hanna, just stepping out of the washroom, and Serafina at the door. I stood awkwardly between them, the two women's eyes meeting somewhere over my head.

Silence.

Out of habit, I pulled up Status Analysis.

Hmm….

It wasn't about to explode into full-blown jealousy, nor was she gearing up to lecture me about military discipline. Perhaps she'd already guessed the nature of my relationship with Hanna. Or maybe—since she was the one depending on me for treatment—it was something else entirely.

Or, just possibly, she was weighing the objective value of Hanna's Mana Sense ability.

Whatever the reason, the look in Serafina's eyes was complicated indeed. The analysis window itself had read subtle displeasure and comparison of physical allure, after all.

"I—I'm so sorry, Captain! I was only—!"

Hanna bowed at the waist, on the verge of tears. Serafina let out a short sigh and shook her head.

"Spare me the excuses, Sergeant. The Regimental Commander is looking for you as well. Get ready, quickly."

She snapped out the words coldly, then jerked her chin at me.

"And you—come out here first. …I need a word with you."

"……"

I obediently followed Serafina out into the corridor, where she leaned against the window frame. The amber glow of the gaslamps outside spilled across her silver hair, casting strange shadows over it.

I was nervous. Not battlefield nerves—something I'd never felt before, a different animal entirely.

"Sergeant Hanna is… a capable soldier."

She spoke first.

"She is. Her detection ability is the lifeline of our unit."

"Her ability, hm. Yes, ability matters."

She turned her head slowly and fixed her gaze on me. Her eyes felt unusually, pointedly cold.

"But what I just witnessed was a little too… primal, for a mere relationship between superior and subordinate."

Sarcasm, laced with venom. My heart lurched.

Whew….

I took a deep breath and let the skill wash over me. War, woman trouble—whatever the crisis, the only thing I could truly trust was my own skills.

Right. I could call this jealousy.

"…So that's your taste, Lieutenant Jäger? …Obedient, younger, cute, of course…."

Serafina murmured it with an uncharacteristic hint of unease.

"Did I… overstep my place, coming between the two of you?"

A dangerous question. Answer it wrong, and I might crack something in our relationship that could never be mended.

So instead of answering, I walked toward her—slowly, deliberately—and without a moment's hesitation, reached out and laid my hand over hers where it braced against the windowsill.

She flinched, shoulder jolting—but she didn't pull away.

Touch of Attunement.

Through the back of her hand, I felt her mana. Not frozen solid like before, but still unstable, its flow erratic.

Serafina's whole body went slack in an instant. The tension drained from her brow, and her lips parted just slightly.

"…Your pulse is racing, Captain."

While she instinctively surrendered herself to the sensation, I spoke.

"You were agitated by what you just saw. That's bad for your Mana Overload."

"Answer my question first— hah…."

When I attuned the faint mana currents along the pressure points of her wrist, she bit her lip and swallowed a moan.

"The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one who caused it all, saying that… how shameless can you… hah…."

Serafina kept firing off barbs even as her body yielded, inch by inch, to my touch. I allowed myself a small smile and slipped my right arm around her waist.

"Wh-where are you… nnnh…?!"

"A doctor has to be shameless if he wants to keep his patient alive."

Her whole body trembled.

"…Nnhh. Jäger… enough…."

While the hand at her waistline moved with lazy care, my fingers drifted, barely restrained, toward the lush curves above and below it. The feel of her—satisfying beyond all measure.

"You're not in good condition tonight, Captain."

"I—I know, so stop…"

"Say it properly. Serafina. Captain."

Her sapphire eyes had gone hazy and unfocused. Panting, she caught the front of my coat in a delicate pinch. She knew better than anyone that the choice had never been hers to make.

"……Please."

Her lips quivered.

"Treat me again tonight… Max. …I'll be waiting."

The words came out shaped like an order, but they were closer to a plea.

I nodded with satisfaction.

"Of course, Captain."

A moment later, the door to her room clicked open, and Serafina hastily pulled herself from my arms, smoothing down her disheveled uniform.

"All—all ready!"

Hanna popped out of the room. She must have sensed the strange current running between us, because she blinked and looked back and forth between the two of us.

"Um… is everything all right, you two? Your faces are a little red…"

"…It's warm in here, that's all."

Serafina coughed dryly and strode off down the corridor ahead of us.

"Let's go. The Regimental Commander is waiting."

Her footsteps as she led the way were a touch faster than usual.

The regiment's temporary command post, set up on the hotel's top floor.

Colonel Karl von Dietrich led the gathered senior officers, champagne glasses in hand, every face slick with satisfaction. Clearly their first day in the Imperial Capital had been a pleasant one.

"Ah, the stars of the hour finally arrive!"

The Colonel greeted us with theatrical flair. His gaze swept past me and landed on Serafina and Hanna, standing behind me.

"Hmm! And you'd be the Sergeant Hanna Meyer from the report? You've been through a great deal."

"S-Sergeant Hanna Meyer! Ready to serve!"

"At ease, at ease. This isn't the front line."

The Colonel nodded with evident satisfaction, then dropped his voice to a murmur meant only for Major Helga beside him.

"Major, make sure she's well looked after—especially that the classified details don't leak. And above all, don't let her go soft in the Capital's atmosphere."

"Understood. I'll take good care of her."

Major Helga caught on instantly and moved to Hanna's side. To any onlooker it would look like a senior officer looking after a promising soldier; in truth, it was airtight information control.

"You've had your hands full too, Captain Serafina. Go over there and pay your respects to the staff officers. Several of them are particularly interested in your mana-bullet abilities."

"Understood, Colonel."

Serafina and Hanna melted naturally into the crowd. The moment they did, the Colonel sidled up to me.

"So many eyes on you that the greetings ran late, eh? How's your room? I gave explicit instructions that you be given one with a good view."

"I'm deeply honored, sir. Compared to a sodden trench, it's heaven itself."

"Hahaha! As you should. You've earned it."

The Colonel clapped my shoulder with a pleased grin—then lowered his voice to a confidential murmur.

"You'll be… rather busy. Quite a few people want to see you privately."

"Me, sir?"

"Indeed. And this name, in particular, is one you'll find very hard to refuse."

From his breast pocket, the Colonel produced a gold-leafed envelope and held it out to me. A crimson sealing wax stamped dead center—and the crest pressed into it was one no soldier of the Empire could fail to recognize.

"…The Ducal House of Stahlberg."

"Yes. Duke Stahlberg himself—the head of the Imperial military—has invited you."

I smiled.

"There could be no greater honor."

And I meant it. The summit of the Imperial war machine, its sturdiest ladder, had just walked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right into my hands.

I glanced sideways. There stood Erika among the officers, stiff and sulky. That red hair, which usually grated on my nerves, seemed almost dazzling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tonight—but the instant her eyes met mine, she whipped her head away and fled the room.

Adorable.

Carefully tucking the gilded envelope into my inner pocket, I slipped out of the meeting room. As I walked the corridor toward the balcony, the cold night air, thick with the acrid smell of coal, brushed against my cheek.

And just as I expected, a familiar silhouette waited in a corner of the corridor.

She was feigning nonchalance, gazing out the window, but I saw her shoulders go rigid the moment my footsteps drew near.

"An invitation from House Stahlberg. What an honor."

When I waved the gilded envelope at her, Erika spun around.

"D-don't get the wrong idea! It's not like I invited you. Father read the battle reports and said, 'My, there's one interesting little rat among them'—that's all he did!"

Calling me a rat to my face. But her face, flushed beet-red, told me it was a transparent lie.

"An interesting little rat, was it…? The Supreme Commander has quite the way with words."

"F-Father's always been a soldier's soldier! And besides, the things you pulled in the Ashen Forest… they were kind of rat-like, weren't they!"

"Take it as a compliment. On a battlefield, it's better ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to live as a rat than die as a lion."

I murmured low enough that only she could hear.

"Don't worry. I won't humiliate you in front of His Grace the Duke. Quite the opposite—I'll make him proud that you're the one who brought me in."

"Wh-who said I brought you anywhere…! Ugh, you're insufferable!"

Erika shoved me away, face blazing scarlet. The push carried no real force behind it. She huffed and stamped off down the long corridor, fleeing like a soldier deserting a lost position.

Watching her red twin-tails dwindle into the distance, I smirked to myself.