Reflections
The clock on the wall read just past eight in the evening.
“Senior Jincheon, it’s about time to head out.”
“Ah, already?”
I glanced at my watch after hearing the gentle voice of my lovely junior and realized how late it had gotten.
“The older you get, the faster time flies. Before you know it, you blink and you’re an old man.”
“You’re still only in your early thirties, Senior… Don’t talk like some middle-aged uncle.”
“Heh heh, alright. I’ll watch my mouth. Anyway… the Isolation Team hasn’t sent any more messages, right? Looks like you won’t have to deal with that insane workload after all, Dahee.”
At those words, my junior’s face clouded over with gloom.
“…Yeah. Still… it seems we’ve really gotten on the higher-ups’ bad side. Both you and I got transferred from the HR Team to the Exploration Team…”
“Huh… Guess so. Our time in HR ends here, then. Can’t be helped. No matter how safe your ability makes you, ordering someone to become a breeding sow for anomalies is completely insane.”
“…”
At the word breeding sow, Dahee flinched, her body trembling faintly.
“…Thank you… for stopping them back then.”
I spoke softly to Dahee as she said those words.
“No matter what the higher-ups command, you don’t have to follow orders that are that deranged. And you don’t need to feel anxious. It’s been a while, but I used to be quite active in the Exploration Team myself…”
“But… you transferred to the HR Team because of the injury you got back then, didn’t you?”
“Haha, it’s fine. Even so, I can at least protect one person.”
I said it to reassure Dahee, who was clearly worried about what lay ahead.
Sacrificing myself for a woman I like? That’s no problem at all.
No matter what it takes, I’ll keep protecting Dahee from now on.
I smiled at her and thought that with all my heart.
Yes. At that time, I truly believed it.