Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Darmosa
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‘That’s Darmosa.’
He’s not someone with such a distinctive look that you’d recognize him at a glance.
If anything, he has one of those common faces you see everywhere on the street.
If he weren’t wearing the Central Superhuman Unit commander’s uniform, I wouldn’t have recognized him either.
“Don’t just stand there staring. Come on in. You’re Leonard, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Surprisingly, he knew who I was.
Darmosa washed his hands and straightened his hair before continuing.
“I’m Darmosa. Well, being cadets here, you probably know my name already.”
“I do, sir.”
“Let’s take care of business first. We can talk after. I’ve got some killer snacks in my waiting room.”
He flashed a grin that made him seem incredibly approachable.
I quickly finished my business and followed him.
On the way, he chatted about this and that, and I realized just how talkative he was.
“You haven’t even seen our planet’s number one chef?”
“No time for that.”
“Cadets these days are really pitiful. You need at least some basic cultural life.”
He went on about popular TV shows lately.
Hit musicians.
Even the latest nonsense from the Human Union congressmen.
The topics were all over the place.
‘Yeah. Exactly like I imagined.’
If I had to describe Darmosa, he was like an ordinary guy who got famous for all the wrong reasons.
He’d been living life as it came, but he was so capable that he ended up buried in work.
After over a century of grueling labor, retirement had become his ultimate goal.
He was the type who’d quit on the spot and live a life of leisure if he could.
But that was impossible.
Because...
He was as smart as he was capable.
He understood all too well the precarious state of the Human Union, which could collapse without him holding it together both inside and out.
And yet, retire?
He couldn’t, because the disasters looming ahead were all too vivid in his mind.
‘But even he’ll hit his limit soon.’
I remembered the event from the original story that would accelerate the Human Union’s collapse.
To prepare for that, I needed to take care of Darmosa first.
“I wish I had time to live life on my own terms, too.”
“Right? It’s such a shame.”
Darmosa nodded in agreement.
By the way, what he hated most was having his leisure time stolen.
And yet, he’d come all this way for the medal ceremony.
The fact that he didn’t show any resentment toward me was probably because the frontline situation was so dire that he’d have had to step in personally if something happened on the Hurunshia planet.
“So, don’t you have any hobbies? You must get at least a little time to rest.”
“Oh, you mean that?”
I’m human, after all.
No matter how busy, I need to give my brain a break sometimes.
That’s how I picked up a hobby after becoming Lemon.
“Oh? These are super old. Pre-space era stuff, right?”
“Yeah. From Earth days. Early 2000s works.”
People gravitate toward what’s familiar.
Naturally, I started seeking out things from my own era.
Series of movies, comics, and novels I’d dropped midway.
Stuff I thought would never end—they were all finished when I looked them up.
They were so much fun.
Finding the materials wasn’t easy, though.
Now I’ve got the know-how to dig them up, but some were deleted and only survived as personal collections.
“Hey, this is fun. Where’d you find these?”
“Tough to find on your own. Here, share mine.”
“...For real? You’re a really good guy.”
If that’s all it takes to deplete his patience gauge, I’ll give him as much as he wants.
I handed over my entire collection with a smile.
Honestly, not sure if they’d vibe with future sensibilities, but I trusted in their classic status.
“If you find more, pass some my way? Uh, keep it secret from others... got it?”
“Of course. Ah! I’ll have to deliver them in person, right?”
“Yeah. Looks like we’ll meet again. Memory stick, please. Everywhere else has heavy censorship.”
Luckily, the champion of pop culture didn’t discriminate.
I managed to build enough rapport with him for future meetups.
“Whoa, time’s already this late.”
Chatting away like that, time flew by faster than I expected.
Our wavelengths matched perfectly, making conversation effortless.
Honestly, this felt like the most normal talk I’d had since becoming Lemon.
“That’s actually why I called you here.”
“What is it?”
“Uh...... Thanks for keeping me from spinning my wheels. I owe you.”
“Ah...”
“Too direct? I was gonna do the whole formal speech thing, but nah, can’t. Save that for show. I’m like this normally, so bear with me.”
“No, I prefer this. If you’re grateful, buy me a meal next time.”
“...What?”
Darmosa blinked.
Then he burst out laughing, a big belly laugh.
“Pfft! You cheeky punk.”
“Considering you took my whole collection, I’m definitely getting the short end here.”
“True. Yeah. Haha, this is gold.”
For some reason, he kept chuckling to himself.
“Come to Human Union Command HQ anytime. I’ll treat you to the world’s best chef.”
“Sounds like I won’t lose out then.”
“Pfhehe! Let’s go. Can’t keep the star waiting.”
I walked side by side with Darmosa toward the ceremony hall.
The auditorium was already in the middle of the principal’s speech to the attendees.
There were seats prepared off to the side for the guests.
‘Orlando Monarch’s here, as expected.’
Among the outsiders, there were Monarch family members.
I’d been tipped off beforehand, so no surprise.
Except there was one unexpected figure from the main house besides Orlando.
‘Those are reporters over there.’
Way more reporters than I’d anticipated.
I figured maybe ten at most, but it looked like three times that.
They were clearly here to milk the event.
“Friend. Looks like it’s our turn?”
Darmosa nudged me and nodded toward the stage.
The principal was up there, dragging out my name like a wrestling announcer.
I shook off the tension and stepped forward with a smile.
“Please give a round of applause! Our honoree, Cadet Leonard Monarch, receives the Human Union’s 3rd Class Medal of Honor, along with......”
The ceremony flew by in a blur.
Unlike when it was just us, Darmosa pinned the medal on me with a solemn expression, and the auditorium filled with applause.
Reporters’ drones buzzed around noisily.
“......And with that, the medal ceremony concludes. A meal has been prepared for our distinguished guests and cadets. Those who wish to partake, please......”
Thankfully, my moment in the spotlight ended there.
Next up to steal all the cadets’ attention: Darmosa.
When he showed up at the buffet restaurant for food, cadets swarmed him.
“...Should we head over now?”
“You think you can push through that crowd?”
“Yeah.”
“Without violence.”
“......Huh?”
Roze, who’d been stuffing her barely-filled stomach, shook her head.
Yet her eyes were glued to Darmosa, so she was clearly interested.
‘She’ll hate him later......’
But that’s something I “don’t know” about.
Makes sense—she has no reason to dislike him yet, without those events.
Anyway, seeing Roze so eager to meet him, I figured I should help.
“Earlier, while waiting, I got pretty chummy with that guy.”
“...That guy? You can call him that?”
“Uh, I mean the commander.”
I’d slipped and used the image in my head.
I corrected myself quick, but she looked suspicious.
“What I’m saying is, I can probably get you a meeting with him?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Hang on. I’ll bring him over.”
Roze was so shocked she stopped eating.
Calling Darmosa over was easy.
As I approached his group, he spotted me, forced a smile through the cadets, and latched on like we were old pals.
“This okay?”
“Oh, sure. I’m interested in your friends, too. They look hungry. That yours? Mind grabbing me a plate of the same?”
“I got it for you, sir. Dig in.”
“How’d you know my tastes so well? You’re like my right-hand man.”
Not that hard to guess.
He just likes meaty kid-friendly stuff like me.
Grab what I want and serve it up.
“These are my friends. Roze, Barton, Sahm, and Merdi, starting from her.”
“Birds of a feather, huh. Nice to meet you.”
Darmosa grinned and sat down.
Just as expected, he seemed pleased.
And obviously so.
He’d met promising juniors who could lighten his workload. Why wouldn’t he be happy?
Plus, this was a time when everyone was into Darmosa.
Led by Roze, questions poured his way.
“But can we eat first? Especially the redhead missy. You’re staring holes through me.”
“Ah, sorry. I know not to bother during meals.”
“Polite one. Mind toning down that fighting spirit a bit?”
“Haha, can’t control that.”
Roze shook her head with an innocent smile.
She was already itching for a fight.
Darmosa shot me a troubled look, but I just shook my head.
No controlling Roze like this.
“Eating like this, I’ll get indigestion.”
“Then how about a quick spar first? Work up a sweat, and the food tastes better!”
“Nah, not that. Try this instead.”
Darmosa pulled something from his pocket.
It looked like a fancy bus strap handle.
“This is from my direct tech team. If I had to name it... Pressure Gauge?”
“Pressure Gauge?”
“Yeah. Measures energy output within a set time. Two ways: raw strength or channeling your ability.”
First time I’d seen it.
Like a battle power meter.
But could that tiny thing handle superhuman force? Doubtful.
Roze seemed to think the same.
“...Looks like it’ll break.”
“It’s pricier than it looks. You’d be shocked at the materials. One of a kind in the universe. Here, watch.”
Darmosa fiddled with the Pressure Gauge, setting the timer to 3 seconds.
He gripped it and applied force.
His ability activated, green mist lightly enveloping the area.
After 3 seconds, the reading: [11,120 K]
“Me too. Let me try.”
“Here.”
Roze snatched it eagerly.
Before setting the timer, she gripped it, stood, and took stance.
Left leg forward, waist slightly bent.
Left forearm braced on left thigh, right fist—palm open—gripping the handle, supported.
‘She’s going all out.’
She held the pose, then looked up at Darmosa.
“Won’t break if I do?”
“Told you, it won’t. Held up fine at my full power.”
Darmosa boasted confidently.
Roze smirked.
She took a deep breath in, then a short kiai as she pushed.
“Hah!”
Dust swirled out from her center.
Being in a restaurant, surprised voices erupted here and there.
No time to look.
The Pressure Gauge numbers.
From the timer start, they shot up, surpassing Darmosa’s before 1 second.
By 2 seconds, the first digit changed, acceleration increasing.
Final reading: [38,200 K]
More than triple Darmosa’s.
“Ah...... Failed.”
Roze looked disappointed anyway.
She’d really wanted to smash it.
But Darmosa, watching her, gaped in shock.
“Thirty... over thirty thousand?”
“It’s really tough. What’s it made of?”
“Thirty thousand...... I barely hit a hundred thousand after going all out.”
He was clearly stunned.