A Helping Hand from the Adjutant
Perhaps you need some help?
Irina Bronskaya.
Chief lieutenant to the hero Aria Lowell, and the only person who had been entrusted with her retirement plans. Irina had been her accomplice. In the end, she had condoned the escape and helped it along.
Of course, it was never what Irina had wanted. She had hoped the commander would stay and claim the honors she deserved. In Irina’s eyes, Aria had more than earned them.
She had been the one who tried to persuade her until the very last moment—desperately, with an uncharacteristic flood of emotion. But Aria’s resolve had been absolute.
“Sorry. No matter how I look at it, this seems like the best way.”
“Is this… because of those affection-boosting items you mentioned before?”
“You remembered that? That’s our lieutenant for you—sharp as ever. Then I don’t need to explain further, right? Stepping back is the right call for the squad.”
“But… are those things even real? I mean, I tried one of them myself once, and nothing happened.”
“That’s—ah, I should get going. The advance party will be back any minute. Once Sirin returns, slipping out will be a nightmare. That girl is ridiculously persistent.”
“Haha, don’t make that face, Irina. It’s not like I’m going off to die. Once I’m settled, I’ll contact you on the secret channel. Drop by whenever you have time.”
In the end, Irina had become an unwilling accomplice. She simply could not bring herself to betray the expectant gaze of the woman who looked at her with such unshakable certainty.
The problems she had anticipated arrived right on schedule.
“You fucking sly-fox bitch! I knew you’d pull something like this someday. Did you think I never noticed the way you looked at the commander with those scheming eyes?! Where did you hide her?!”
“Stand down, Sirin. The chief lieutenant is already in a difficult position. Still… yes. I would appreciate an explanation that actually makes sense.”
“Commander… where did the commander go? I—I was so stupid, I… uugh, ahhk…”
After the operation ended, headquarters had descended into pure chaos. They had achieved something monumental. Once the news spread, the celebrations would rage for days.
Yet the ones who had accomplished that feat felt less joy at liberating the Old Area than fury and grief over the disappearance of the person who had led them.
While she absorbed their rage and sorrow in the commander’s place, Irina suddenly realized something. Their emotions were not the product of some cheap item the commander had spoken of.
Such convenient “affection-boosting items” could not possibly exist in the first place. Mysterious forces certainly existed in this world, but she had never heard of anything in that particular category.
At best they might create a fleeting sense of fondness. The ones the commander had used were probably of that sort. Effects like that never lasted long.
If they had, she herself would have long since—
A bitter smile twisted across Irina’s lips before she could stop it.
Was it the residual hysteria from dealing with those frantic women during the cleanup? Cool-headed as she normally was, a cynical little smirk still slipped free.
Maybe this is better than being tormented by those noisy, exhausting bitches after all.
Or perhaps the ease came from knowing she alone was special enough to receive the commander’s messages.
The day the commander’s encrypted message arrived on the secret channel, Irina only managed a wry smile.
…So this is what they mean by “the darkest place is under the lamp.”
It was exactly the sort of thing her commander would do.
Even so, Irina—who had received the coded contact—could not go looking for the commander… no, for the woman who was now a café owner, right away.
She had wanted to rush straight there, but the cleanup work was far from finished. The commander’s empty seat had to be filled by the former chief lieutenant. And those foul-tempered bitches had kept her under sleepless surveillance the entire time.
It left her with the distinct feeling of having been stuck with all the leftover chores. Conversations with the old fossils of the Supreme Committee, in particular… even someone as composed as Irina felt her mental fortitude being scraped raw.
The commander commanded and managed the unit while also dealing with these people? Is she even human?
The thought flickered through Irina’s mind for a moment. Had this person simply run away because she hated cleanup duty…?
No. She would never do that. Yes. Of course not.
Six months had passed since the commander vanished without a trace.
Having finally finished the rough sorting of affairs, Irina set out for the address the commander had sent. By then the bitches’ scrutiny had loosened. They seemed to have given up at last.
As she walked toward the address, Irina felt her heart pounding.
It had only been six months. Why was she this nervous? Was the commander well? What expression would she be wearing?
And when they reunited, the commander was…
Well, she looks extremely healthy, at least.
She was sporting something that absolutely should not have been there, but… for the moment… she looked extremely healthy. The only part Irina disliked was that the commander was together with that “real” cat-eared vixen who had always been hanging around.
But that was not the real problem.
She’s already used to handling that grotesque thing?
There was clearly a great deal to discuss with the reunited commander.
What on earth had happened in those six months for her to start living so dissolutely? And then, as if that were not enough, she had even resorted to some strange drug…
It seemed the commander was going to need her management after all. Every last detail of it. That was both the natural duty and the natural right of an adjutant.
…The way her eyes kept drifting toward that particular thing was simply unavoidable.
Wait—did she plan to just leave it out in the open like this the whole time? Uh… it looked a little bigger than before… was that just her imagination?
H-her gaze is getting lewd!
Irina Bronskaya flinched and trembled under the (former) commander’s stare before she could stop herself.
Somehow, she did not entirely dislike that gaze.
“…Commander? Are you actually listening to me?”
“Ah, yeah, I’m listening. And call me Boss now, not Commander. Young owner of Café Blackout, right here.”
“…Understood. Boss.”
“Good. I like that.”
I answered while grinding the beans. I wanted to focus on the conversation, but honestly it was hard.
The junior that had vanished had returned, and now Irina looked obscenely sexy. I was so turned on I wondered how I had ever managed to look at her before without getting hard.
…No, I had thought she was hot even back then. It was just worse now.
I had barely managed to zip up, but it felt pointless. I was already rock-hard, the bulge in my pants obvious.
Every time I shifted my lower body, the glans and shaft pressed against the fabric and sent a tingling rush of pleasure up my spine.
Then our eyes met and shame came crashing in. In the world I used to live in, this would already have gotten me reported and investigated.
…Fuck, I’m losing it.
Three years and six months of pent-up lust felt like it had slammed into me all at once.
I tried to bury it by focusing on the coffee aroma while I pulled the shot… but honestly, it barely helped.
I was starting to worry I might get hard just from smelling coffee. I felt like a monkey gone completely sex-crazed.
That potion was definitely messed up somehow.
I shot a pointed glance at Luna; she looked guilty and immediately averted her eyes. See? She’s dodging because she knows she’s at fault. Damn it, do you even have a business license?!
“Boss?”
“Ah—yes, customer.”
“The water’s overflowing.”
“Hot-hot-hot!”
“…Haaah.”
Damn it. A professional café owner making a mistake like this—this is all the potion’s fault.
Whether she understood my inner turmoil or not, Irina sighed, rose from her seat, and came around through the staff entrance to stand beside me.
The moment she drew near, a sweet floral scent drifted over. Ah… that was the perfume Irina always used to wear. Damn, it was a lethal scent designed to bewitch men. Come to think of it—was Irina still a virgin? The question just popped into my head out of nowhere.
“You were excellent as a commander, but as a café owner you seem to be struggling.”
“…I only messed up today.”
“I’ll help you clean up.”
While my head filled with filthy thoughts, Irina simply smiled as if old memories had surfaced and began to help. There wasn’t much to clean, really…
She wrung out a cloth and bent at the waist to wipe the water from the table. The breasts hidden inside her suit jacket squashed lightly against the gleaming surface.
The silhouette of her underwear rose faintly through the tightly stretched fabric of the suit.
My lower half throbbed over something so trivial.
Oh, please calm down, buddy. She came here to help me, not to turn me on.
I was still enduring, enduring again, when Luna—who had only been watching the mood—suddenly blurted out in a flustered rush.
“Um, uh… I think I should be going now, danya… th-there’s a customer waiting, danya…”
Luna, are you betraying me? Abandoning me in this atmosphere so you can save yourself?
“Ah, please do. I hear you’ve been helping our Boss all this time. Thank you.”
“Ahaha, i-it was nothing, danya. I just… did what a merchant should, danya.”
“Even so. I expect we’ll be seeing each other often.”
“I-I’m leaving now, danya! Stay healthy, Boss, nyang!”
And with that, Luna bolted.
That little traitor. I even made her coffee. Spit it out on the way out and it becomes kopi luwak, right?
Once Luna was gone, Irina turned to me with a soft smile. My reason was sounding every alarm bell of crisis, yet my body was so aroused it converted even the danger into pure lust.
“Well then. Since the other guest has left, shall we finish the conversation still left between us?”
“Huh? Uh? What conversation?”
“…Well, first of all.”
“First of all?”
“…I would like to hear the full story of how you became so accustomed to handling that. From the beginning.”
“That?”
“…Ugh, do I… really have to say it out loud? That. The thing currently swelling as if it’s about to burst through your pants, Boss.”
“Ah.”
Irina’s face flushed apple-red as she spoke. The rare sight loosened the corners of my mouth. But her expression immediately turned fierce again. Why so scary?
“What exactly happened during these six months for you to become so skilled with something like that? Don’t tell me those people from the Supreme Committee—”
“Ah, no. Nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
“I was originally a man…?”
“…Come to think of it, you did say something like that once before.”
“Right? So you believe me?”
“…I wonder.”
Irina looked at me with an expression of deep regret. It felt strangely familiar.
Ah. Right.
I had seen that same face six months ago, when I told her I had to leave.
“Boss?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“You keep… losing focus on the conversation…”
“Ahaha… sorry. It’s because of this thing down here. Um, so… can we finish the leftover talk after I deal with this?”
Since things had already come this far, maybe if she took off her stockings and handed them over it would help.
I did not say that out loud. No matter how full my head was of those thoughts, a shred of discretion remained.
Irina looked at me with a complicated expression.
Then she began twirling a lock of hair—the habit she showed whenever she was troubled—and murmured with faintly reddened cheeks.
“…Shall I… help you a little?”
“Huh?”
“I mean… as your adjutant… no, as your former adjutant, I am offering a little assistance. Managing the Boss’s condition was… originally part of my role as well.”
For a moment my mind went blank. Then I snapped back to myself.
Since when did an adjutant handle this kind of thing? Isn’t this a little weird between us? Those words circled my throat without escaping.
Separate from any psychological resistance—
“Ugh…”
“…May I take that as an affirmative answer?”
My body was far too honest. The instant I heard her offer of “help,” it hardened as if it would punch straight through my pants.
I bent forward without meaning to. The pleasure rising from the cock pressed against the fabric was overwhelming.
I panted with my mouth shut, and a slightly flustered voice reached me.
“…I-I said I would help, but… um, how exactly should I help? I-I’ve never… seen one before.”
Irina: virgin confirmed.
My pants felt ready to explode.
What, why, what.