093. A Proper Vacation (1)
093. A Proper Vacation (1)
The athletic meet concluded without incident.
I got a lot out of it.
First, I got an S-Rank weapon, and my marksmanship—practically a chronic condition—improved dramatically.......
On top of that, I had also learned about Alicia's secret preference—an olfactory fetish.
Well, now that her body, including her sensory organs, had been restored to normal, it didn't seem like her sense of smell was overwhelmingly sensitive or anything.
Nevertheless, she seemed to be conscious of it to some degree.
Because this girl had started occasionally sniffing when she talked to me.
Unconsciously, with an intensity so faint that she probably didn't even realize it herself.
"So...... (sniff...) It is anticipated that by tomorrow, additional training will no longer be necessary (inhale—). Regarding that, I would like to ask you one thing, (sniff...) do you have a moment?"
Like that.
"......Commander, are you listening to what I'm saying?"
"I'm listening."
"Then would you please give me an answer?"
"Oh, well... I agree with Alicia's opinion too."
"As I thought, you weren't listening."
I'm sorry.
That's because the sight of Alicia unconsciously flaring her nostrils was just too funny.
Of course, if I answered that, the conversation would veer off in a weird direction or I'd just get scolded.
Instead, how about answering like this.
"Sorry. Alicia looked particularly pretty today, so I lost focus."
"Ah, yes. Please just die."
Great. I didn't get scolded; I got despised instead.
In other words, I didn't suffer any loss. Because Alicia's light contempt for me was a passive trait.
Anyway, jokes aside.
"So what were you talking about?"
"I was saying that it seems there will be no need for more training starting tomorrow."
......Huh?
"What do you mean? No need for training?"
"Exactly what I said."
"Why?"
"Because the target values have already been reached."
Alicia answered and held out the PDA screen at the same time.
The screen displayed the various ability stats that Alicia had improved through training so far.
[5 Major Ability Stats Changed in the Last 90 Days]
- Strength: C/A+ → A+/A+
- Agility: B/S → S/S
- Endurance: C+/A → A/A
- Phase Sensitivity: B/A → S/S
- Sniping: A/S → S/S
[21 Detailed Ability Stats Changed in the Last 90 Days]
- Perseverance: C → S
- Concentration: B → S
......(Omitted)......
- Spatial Perception: B- → A
Just like this, all the combat-related stats that had withered away during her long office career had been cleanly restored.
"Then we can consider all conditions met."
"For the re-enactment experiment, I mean."
Body
→ After replacing the sensor unit, physically identical to the time when the accidental discharge occurred (Completed)
Equipment
→ Acquired the weapon used at the time as a reward from the athletic meet. Purchased the remaining gear with Krädel's budget, swallowing tears (Completed)
Ability Stats
→ Restored to original condition through training (Completed)
With this, all three conditions had been fully met.
So now, only the long-awaited re-enactment experiment remained.
Alicia promptly poured cold water on my confidence.
"No. The final condition, the tuning work for the Telescope, hasn't been finished yet."
"It's still not done?"
"That is correct."
Alicia gave a small nod and told me the exact figure.
She said it was about 87% complete.
"You said the tuning process progresses automatically just by living normally, right? Is there any way to speed it up a bit?"
"According to Sumire, staying physically close to the Commander can make it progress a little faster. However, at the current rate, the tuning will be complete in a week. Therefore, I do not believe additional measures are necessary."
I'm not so sure. Even an hour sooner would be better.
Krädel is one crisis after another. There's no guarantee we'll still be this intact a week from now.
With that in mind, I should stay close to Alicia without getting close enough to disgust her.
I had barely made up my mind when—
"For your reference, finishing the tuning work isn't everything. Aside from that, one other problem remains."
"What? What else is there?"
I just hoped it wasn't something like being unable to find the equipment settings—a problem so troublesome I couldn't even imagine how to solve it.
Alicia told me flatly while I was already starting to worry.
"The stat replication is not finished yet."
"Huh?"
What was she talking about now?
"Didn't you say it was all done a moment ago?"
"I have raised everything that needed raising. The problem is that there are still stats that need to be lowered."
......Ah.
Come to think of it, this girl's stats hadn't all decreased.
Some stats—mainly those related to calculation—had actually increased.
For instance, her 'Information Processing' jumped from its previous C-Rank to B+ Rank.
Additionally, her 'Computational Speed' also rose from C-Rank to B-Rank.
They had probably improved because she'd spent so long mastering brain-heavy work such as operator duties and paperwork.
Having those stats high wasn't a bad thing.
When it comes to stats, higher is always better.
Some simply have to be sacrificed for the sake of efficiency.
So the increase in her calculation-related stats was generally good news—but
even so, it was a problem in our current situation.
Our goal wasn't to max out every stat. Alicia and I needed to reproduce her exact stats from the time of the accidental discharge.
That meant any stat now higher than it had been back then needed to come back down.
......Truly regrettably.
"Why are you making such a disappointed face?"
"Because it actually is disappointing."
Alicia's body is for combat.
While it's easy to raise stats related to physical ability, it's difficult to raise stats like computational power.
To have managed to raise such a difficult stat, only to have to drop it. Failing to feel regret over that would be more reason to quit the commander's job.
"The Commander's personal feelings are irrelevant. More importantly, what I want to ask is whether it's possible to artificially lower ability stats in the first place."
......How typical of a T.
Anyway, to answer the question of the empathy-zero logician Al-T-sha, of course stats can be lowered. There are various methods.
The easiest among them is replacing parts with inferior types.
Doing that lowers the upper limit of the ability stat, and the applied value naturally drops accordingly.
"Wouldn't that create a new problem where the parts composition differs from the time of the incident?"
"Right. So in our case, that simple method can't be applied."
Instead, it would be better to use a 'degrader'.
"......Degrader?"
"Literally a device that lowers ability stats."
The principle was extremely simple.
It blocked the circuits associated with specific ability stats to accelerate stat loss.
"Will the ability stat drop on its own just by equipping it?"
Basically, yes.
But strictly speaking, there was one condition attached.
Resting thoroughly while equipped.
"By resting thoroughly, you mean?"
"Literally resting."
Just lounging around, with both mind and heart completely empty, no thoughts at all.
If you maintained that state for about a day, the stats would drop on their own.
Compared to the effort required to raise stats, it was a simple process that could almost be called a free ride.
"......I see. Understood."
Alicia agreed.
Contrary to the words, her tone was somewhat sulky. There was a faint hint of hesitation in it.
Did she have some complaint or question?
Before I could ask further, Alicia made a request.
"Then please install the degrader. I'll report the results by phone tomorrow morning."
"Sure. Contact me right away if any issues arise."
"Yes."
And the next morning.
Just as scheduled, Alicia reported the resulting values via text.
Not only had none of the stats that needed lowering—'Information Processing', 'Computational Speed', 'Vocabulary'—gone down, but in the case of vocabulary, it had even gone up by one rank.
***
"What happened? Why didn't your stats drop?"
"I also came to ask you that, Commander......."
Alicia asked.
"Could you have set the device incorrectly?"
I wasn't sure.
For now, I was keeping that possibility in mind.
But in that case, the part where her stats had actually increased couldn't be explained.
As I had said yesterday, a degrader is just a device that severs the phase circuits associated with specific stats. It's structurally impossible for stats to rise just because the input values were entered incorrectly.
If it were possible to input values to make stats rise, I wouldn't have bothered with training in the first place.
In that sense, could it be that we had unintentionally pioneered a new frontier in biodroid growth? Could 'Han Si-hu, who strengthens biodroids with a click' be listed in science textbooks alongside 'Fleming, who created penicillin from mold that bloomed in a neglected petri dish'?
With some inner anticipation, I checked the degrader equipped on Alicia.
First of all, there was, unfortunately, no problem with the setting values Alicia had suspected.
It was properly set to lower Information Processing from B+ to C Rank, Computational Speed from B to C-Rank, and Vocabulary from B to B-.
On top of that, it was well connected physically to the circuits...... and the device's operating status was also good.
The attachment point, the neural connector on the back of Alicia's neck, was also normal.
No problem was visible in any other part either.
So, if she had just rested properly, her stats should have dropped considerably by now.
"Should we just observe for one more day? Given how high your stats are, it might have needed a warm-up period."
"Does that hypothesis hold up scientifically or superphasically?"
No. I just made that up on the spot.
Nevertheless, since there was still no other way, Alicia let out a deep sigh and answered.
"Well, it's not an urgent matter, so I'll do that. Then, should I spend today the same way as yesterday?"
"Yeah. Just rest thoroughly like you did yesterday."
"Understood. Then first... I should retrieve the laundry I hung out yesterday. And finish cleaning my room too."
Alicia answered nonchalantly.
The Q&A seemed about to conclude.
......Huh?
"What did you just say?"
"Excuse me?"
"What did you just say?"
"......As you ordered, I said I would spend today the same way as yesterday."
Alicia answered beside the point, looking as though she had no idea what was wrong.
"What I asked about was the next part. Didn't you say you had to retrieve the laundry you hung out yesterday?"
"I did."
"Saying that means you did laundry yesterday."
That wasn't the only strange part.
"And what is this talk about 'finishing cleaning your room'? Does that mean you cleaned your room yesterday and today?"
"I did it yesterday. The reason there was laundry to bring in at all was that, while cleaning my room, I noticed the bedding was dirty and washed it."
Alicia explained without a care.
There was even a strange sense of pride on her face.
Probably because she'd had such a productive day off.
Indeed, cleaning a room—bedding laundry included—was no small feat.
Sometimes cleaning a room is worse than combat.
That was exactly the problem.
"Then that means you didn't rest completely."
"......I didn't?"
Not at all.
Well, maybe if it had been just that one thing, it would have been okay.
But looking at her expression as she spoke, it didn't seem to have ended there.
"What else? Did you actually rest properly?"
"Yes. I rested thoroughly."
"Specifically? What did you do while resting?"
"I simply followed my weekend off-duty or holiday schedule as usual."
Hmm.......
"A holiday schedule? Why is there a schedule on a holiday?"
"Shouldn't there be one?"
Well. Do you really have to go that far?
But now wasn't the time to debate that.
"So what was it? By following that schedule, in what specific way did you rest?"
I asked.
Alicia answered without hesitation, as if she had a truly set routine.
"After cleaning, I took care of the facility repairs that had piled up. Then I bought the equipment Krädel needed. I also studied the manuals I don't normally have time for...... Ah, and of course I went running in the evening for physical training. Before bed, I read educational books and reviewed the next day's duties.
"In short, I completed the full proper holiday schedule."
I see.
Now I perfectly understood the cause of the problem.
This SSS-Rank routine addict didn't know what rest was.