Chapter 91
Chapter 91
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Roze's Transfer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Because I’m weak in that area.’
Anyway, there’s no doubt she’s struggling to adapt.
“Cheer up.”
“……Yeah!”
That was all I could say.
Roze nodded with a spirited smile once more.
We sat side by side in silence again, passing the time.
As the surroundings grew quiet, I naturally drifted into other thoughts.
‘But what the hell was that dream?’
The contents were still vivid.
I could vaguely recall what the me in the dream had written.
No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t just a dream.
Maybe something ‘special’ had happened, like the time I lost consciousness before.
Even if that were the case, questions remained.
‘Why now, of all times?’
The problem was why it had to be right now.
I tried to reconstruct the contents of what the dream-me had written as best I could.
There were connections between the original story and the dream’s text.
It matched the plot I’d pondered over—how my interventions and their results would play out later.
But that was it.
Thanks to what I’d accomplished, the Human Alliance was holding up well enough, but it had only slowed the collapse; it hadn’t reversed the situation entirely.
So what the hell had I been doing all this time?
Had I done nothing and just let things unfold?
That didn’t make sense.
‘……It’s like I vanished from the picture altogether. Ah!’
Right.
Something happened to me.
If that made it impossible for me to intervene anymore, then that story flow made perfect sense.
‘Yeah, that’s it.’
Even today’s actions fit.
I’d stirred up some serious enmity with Mutant Medical Corporation.
Did they really not know?
‘……Even if it takes time, they’ll figure it out eventually.’
If they found out I was the mastermind, there was a good chance they’d take some retaliatory action.
‘Now that I think about it, there’s a lot that could trip me up…….’
The fact that I was the real owner of the increasingly prominent Salmon Research Lab, and that I had a cure for Alien contamination.
I was carrying treasures anyone would covet.
I’d hidden them as best I could, but secrets always come out eventually.
I couldn’t feel secure forever.
Not even as a superhuman.
It wasn’t an issue now, but by the time the original story progressed, massive organizations opposing the Human Alliance had openly pushed anti-superhuman sentiment and attacks.
That meant crimes against superhumans existed even now.
Even if they were happening under the surface.
Thinking about it that way made me a little uneasy.
What if something really did happen to me?
I needed some kind of contingency, but nothing came to mind.
I didn’t even have a sense of how they might come at me.
‘Ugh, if only I could’ve seen when and how it happens…….’
What a shame.
Maybe I exited the stage so early that my existence got completely buried.
That’s why it might not have been written in the dream novel.
But if there was something about me in the parts I couldn’t confirm, and if I’d just seen it, I’d feel so much more at ease.
I scratched my head vigorously.
“Something bothering you?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s……”
Mid-sentence, I noticed Roze.
Thinking about it, she’d saved my life today.
If she hadn’t shown up in time, I would’ve been beaten to death by that monster test subject, overload device or not.
‘Hmm…….’
A way to protect myself.
And Roze.
I organized my thoughts and asked Roze what she thought.
“What do you think about switching affiliations?”
“……Doesn’t matter to me?”
“Good.”
“Why? What’s up?”
Roze’s eyes sparkled.
I just let out a low chuckle.
The Battle of Utah City wrapped up soon after.
*
The three days after the air raid were hectic.
With so many Aliens dropped on the surface from the continuous assaults, there were a ton of hatcheries formed.
That’s why most of the superhumans who came for support were deployed to eliminate them.
Hatcheries generally come in two types.
Surface ones and underground ones.
Surface hatcheries weren’t too hard to deal with.
Spotting them was easy, for one.
They expanded fast and had high production rates, but we could provide fire support tailored to their status and deploy ground forces accordingly.
In the end, as long as you kept them in check early on, surface hatcheries weren’t a big problem.
Underground ones were a different story.
Since they were underground, radar detection was tough from the start.
They grew slower due to the handicap, but if you failed to find them for too long, they could strike like a dagger from the shadows.
A prime example was the Hazard Level 7 Land Crawler that popped up out of nowhere on Hurnshaya Planet.
We got lucky and took it out as an immature specimen; otherwise, the fourth defensive line might’ve collapsed right then.
That’s why the Human Alliance forces never slacked on searching for and eliminating underground hatcheries.
They periodically checked even terrain that seemed fine, just in case some had been missed.
That’s why Roze and I were on our third day of camping out.
“Yaaawn…….”
Roze lay sprawled on the ceiling of her land-air dual-use shuttle, which doubled as lodging and transport, letting out a massive yawn.
Today, the two of us were on standby.
Compared to how busy we’d been the past couple days, it was boring as hell with nothing to do.
Finally unable to stand the boredom, Roze whined.
“……Lemon, I’m bored.”
“Hang in there a bit longer. Survive today and we head back.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Got the ops directive earlier. The support troops are pulling out right after today too.”
“Huh……?”
Roze shot up from where she was lying.
Her eyes were wide as saucers.
For whatever reason, she stammered.
“……S-so then, I mean.”
“Wondering if I’m going too?”
“Y-yeah!”
She nodded vigorously.
“Of course. My post is on Lachesis Planet.”
The ten superhumans from the Central Superhuman Unit who came with Darmosa mainly operated out of Lachesis Planet.
Unless it was something like this support mission, they wouldn’t come back to Clotho Planet much.
“……Oh.”
Roze hugged her knees.
She looked deflated.
I smirked at her and continued.
“And you’re coming with me.”
“Huh……?”
Her eyes went wide again.
I could practically see question marks sparkling over her head.
I could’ve teased her more, but I explained to clear it up.
“The Central Superhuman Unit issued an official transfer order. It probably hasn’t reached your unit yet, but the formal notice should come down soon.”
“Really? How?”
“Who knows. Unit member selection is the leader’s sole authority from the start. That’s all I know.”
“……Hmm.”
Roze’s question marks lingered a moment before she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me.
‘She doesn’t buy it……?’
Even Roze couldn’t help but question such a sudden change in posting.
And naturally, I was the most suspicious one here.
I focused on managing my expression.
If it came out, it came out—but not yet.
“It’s real.”
“……You’re suspicious.”
“When I reported the Utah City incident, your name was in there. Probably because of that.”
“Hmm…….”
“Yeah. Plus, everyone’s saying you’ve been killing it here. They’re already calling you the best. Your squadmates talk about you all the time. The Central Superhuman Unit’s famous for scouting only the top talent, so they might’ve taken a liking to you.”
“Really……?”
Roze’s ears perked up.
Half of what I said wasn’t even a lie.
Her feats really had been impressive; not even a month and change after enlisting, and every soldier knew her name.
‘Might get some flak for poaching her. Nah, we’re past that point already.’
Roze was on the path to becoming what they called a named one.
Usually, superhumans got labeled “named” when tied to a particularly threatening Alien moniker.
Red Demon or Blue Devil were classic examples.
It worked the same for superhumans.
Each unit’s leader or famous superhumans all had “epithets.”
Even one standout performance could earn you one quick, for propaganda.
‘Come to think of it, the epithets Roze gets in the original are all kinda……’
Blood Roze. Queen of Cruelty. And so on.
All pretty intimidating stuff.
I knew why, of course.
Hard to imagine from her pure self now, but at the original timeline’s point, Roze was a lonely empress.
With nowhere to lean, she’d weather all sorts of storms and end up fitting those epithets perfectly.
But things were different now.
Thanks to me, the Miracle Generation had stronger bonds than before, and I had no intention of leaving her alone going forward.
“Hehe, so now I’m in the same unit as Lemon?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s awesome!”
Roze’s eyes sparkled.
Seeing her like that made me smile involuntarily.
‘Glad she’s happy.’
I’d been worried what I’d do if she hated the idea.
Roze’s transfer was all my doing.
The Utah City incident could’ve blown up bad, so my early detection and clean suppression earned me major credit.
My report naturally went to Darmosa, and we even spoke directly.
That’s when I brought up Roze.
He said he’d planned to grind her here for a year before sending her to the front lines, per the original flow.
‘That would’ve been right originally.’
The Miracle Generation were the central figures holding the front lines firm even as the Human Alliance fractured.
Each would shatter age records to become unit leaders and rack up insane feats along the way.
I’d planned to let her follow that path as much as possible, but the recent dream changed my mind.
So I convinced Darmosa to switch gears, and Roze ended up joining the Central Superhuman Unit, diverging from her original path.
No regrets.
The future had already changed in so many ways.
The dream text I’d written had plenty of convincing twists even I, the original author, hadn’t foreseen.
A few more changes wouldn’t derail the big picture now.
“What about the seniors there? They strict? Like, more formal since it’s the Central Superhuman Unit…….”
“Nah, they’re probably the most laid-back unit out of any worldwide. No need to worry about senior-junior stuff. Though there is one strict one.”
“Eek! Who……?”
“The senior who picked me up from the academy. Name’s Tana.”
“Tana? You mean Tana Silva?”
“……You know her?”
“Yeah. She’s on TV all the time.”
Right, come to think of it.
Someone like Tana was a regular on every media outlet.
“She seemed kinda cold…….”
“She’s good to the members, so don’t worry.”
“Phew, what a relief.”
We chatted about the Central Superhuman Unit for a good while, until night fell.
And just past midnight that day.
As I’d foreseen, we boarded the same high-speed ship bound for Lachesis Planet.