Asteroid Belt Exploration (8): An Unfamiliar Ceiling
Freesia opened her eyes around lunchtime the next day, a little earlier than Petricia had expected. It was an unfamiliar ceiling. The situation brought to mind a once-popular phrase, and for a moment Freesia sat up with a confused expression. 'It was definitely Daisy….'
She remembered Daisy calling for Dmitry with a face drained of all color, and Dmitry carrying her out of the bridge on his back. Beyond that, nothing.
Having experienced something close to fainting for the first time in a while, Freesia looked around with a somewhat dumbfounded feeling. 'Is this the infirmary?'
A pristine white bed, white sheets, and even a white patient gown. It was the very definition of a stereotypical infirmary room.
'It's uncomfortable.'
She was slowly wiping away sweat with the neatly folded towel beside her when the door opened and Daisy walked in.
"Commander?"
Her wide-eyed look reminded Freesia of a startled rabbit. She gave a small wave, feeling a pang of guilt at how shocked Daisy must have been when she collapsed yesterday.
"Sorry for worrying you. Could you help me with my back…"
"Doctor!! The Commander is awake!!"
Before Freesia could even ask for help reaching the hard-to-access spot, Daisy bolted from the room, calling for Petricia.
The moment she heard that Freesia had woken up, Petricia abandoned her half-eaten meal and rushed over. She performed another full-body scan from head to toe.
Yesterday’s results had shown nothing wrong, but there was no such thing as being too careful. A commander’s physical condition was among the most critical factors on any ship—especially in this search battalion.
"37.3 degrees. There’s still a mild fever."
Compared to the way she had collapsed the day before, Freesia’s current state was nearly perfect. The slight remaining fever was the only lingering sign; without it, one might have doubted she had collapsed at all.
"I can only say… it’s incredible. You mentioned you were a half-blood, correct?"
Petricia clicked her tongue in disbelief as she reviewed the detailed examination results. Beastmen naturally possessed overwhelming physical prowess compared to humans or elves, but that advantage diminished as the bloodline thinned in mixed offspring. Other seasoned commanders couldn’t last even a month without rest, yet this young commander had endured for a month and a half—and on top of that, had fought battles without proper recovery.
And after all of it, a single night’s sleep had washed away every aftereffect, leaving only a trace of fever. An absurd recovery rate. She was probably a half with pureblood parents.
"Doctor. More importantly, are you certain there’s nothing wrong with my mana circuit?"
Freesia’s question carried a hint of anxiety, but Petricia nodded without hesitation.
"Yes. In cases like this, the mana circuit is the most critical area, so we examined it with extra care. The results came back completely normal. Here’s the report."
The document was packed with complex technical terms, but commanders were required to study mana circuit theory, so most of it was readable. Freesia carefully went over the report, asking Petricia about the specialized medical jargon sprinkled throughout. Only then did she set it down with a sigh of relief.
"It’s not that I don’t trust you, Doctor. I just have some bad experiences with this sort of thing."
"Not at all. The mana circuit is essentially a second heart for a commander. I completely understand why you’d want multiple confirmations."
Petricia suddenly realized Freesia was using polite speech. She had done the same during the operation briefing before entering the asteroid belt.
When Petricia pointed it out, Freesia awkwardly twirled a strand of hair. As a Major, Petricia was the battalion’s chief medical officer. Freesia, a Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the search battalion, could—and technically should—speak to her casually. But relationships never followed theory perfectly.
The clearest example was Warrant Officer Frederick. His rank alone didn’t invite casual address, but even for a unit commander, using semi-polite speech instead of full formality wasn’t usually a problem.
Yet Frederick’s sixty years of experience carried such weight that not even a fleet commander could easily speak down to him, let alone Freesia. On top of that, unlike Freesia and most personnel who belonged to Space Military Command, Petricia was assigned to the separate Medical Command.
In the distant past the Medical Command had fallen under Military Command with full military status, but times had changed. The Medical Command had become independent, and modern military doctors held a status closer to civilian military employees.
Considering that nearly all Medical Command doctors were seasoned veterans with decades of experience, most—if not all—were significantly older than Freesia. Their half-civilian status only added to the distance. And Petricia herself was nearing seventy. The age gap was barely different from the one between Freesia and her own aunt, making casual speech feel impossible. The convenient excuse of Petricia’s civilian-employee status helped as well.
When Freesia explained that she found it difficult to speak freely because of the age difference, Petricia opened and closed her mouth several times before giving up. She rose from her seat. Come to think of it, the young commander before her was living proof of the military’s famously rapid promotions. She wasn’t much older than Petricia’s own nephew.
After Petricia left with a final reminder to rest comfortably, Daisy returned like a relay runner, carrying a plate of neatly sliced fruit.
"How are you feeling?"
Freesia wasn’t sure how to answer. Both Petricia’s assessment and her own senses told her the physical condition wasn’t bad. A faint fever remained, but it wasn’t bothersome. If she wanted, she could return to the bridge immediately without issue.
Yet after maintaining extreme tension for over a month and then suddenly releasing it, her mind felt strangely languid despite her fine physical state.
"I’m just a little low on energy. How are things on the bridge?"
By the time she had collapsed, the situation had been wrapped up and cleanup was underway, so there probably weren’t any major problems. Still, she was curious. As commander, she needed to know the exact status.
"All fleet damage reports have been completed. One of the 1st Company’s fast boats lost its shield, but the external armor sustained no significant damage. The shield was repaired and regenerated just a short while ago."
Even with Freesia unconscious, the fleet had continued operating smoothly. The highly advanced system developed over thousands of years did not collapse simply because one person was missing—especially not someone like Freesia, whose presence or absence made little practical difference.
"They’re also using drones to collect wreckage from the destroyed fast boats."
Ships were built with all kinds of metals, so recovering usable wreckage was always worthwhile. Small details like that were meticulously logged and reflected in performance evaluations.
"Everyone knows how hard you’ve worked, so the general mood is to do their absolute best so you can rest comfortably."
"Good. Everyone’s doing well."
Once her curiosity was satisfied, Freesia began unbuttoning her damp patient gown. Normally a mild fever like this wouldn’t affect her, but the fact that she was still breaking into cold sweats showed just how exhausted she truly was.
"My hands can’t reach properly. Could you wipe my back?"
"Ah, yes. Could you turn around, please?"
Freesia removed her top and turned. Daisy picked up the damp towel and began carefully wiping her back.
"Eek?!"
The cold touch made Freesia yelp. Only then did Daisy realize her mistake. She snatched the towel away in a panic.
"Oh no, I used the cold towel straight from the basin… You must have been so startled. Just wait a moment—I’ll bring a warmed one right away."
Freesia stopped Daisy, who was hurriedly trying to stand, and shook her head.
"It’s fine. I was just surprised because it was sudden. The cold actually feels good with this fever. Could you keep going with that one?"
Daisy’s face had turned bright red from the silly mistake. Grateful for her commander’s leniency, she resumed wiping with extra care.
As she cleaned the smooth, pale skin, a question slowly rose in Daisy’s mind. The beastmen and half-bloods she had seen before didn’t look like this. Freesia’s body was so sleek it was hard to believe she carried beastman blood at all. Even the half-blood friend from her training days, while not bulky, had possessed far more muscle than the average woman. Freesia was completely different.
The brief glimpse of her front earlier had shown pure white skin instead of thick muscle—an almost enviable softness. The only visible muscle was a pair of elegant abdominal lines.
'No tail, and those ears on her head definitely mark her as a beastman half-blood…'
"Is something wrong?"
Daisy’s hands had stopped while she was lost in thought. When Freesia glanced back with a puzzled look, Daisy quickly insisted it was nothing and finished drying her before fetching a fresh patient gown.
But her natural curiosity refused to stay buried. After hesitating for a long time, she finally asked while carefully watching Freesia’s expression.
"Um, Commander? May I ask you just one thing?"
At least she was asking permission first—definitely an improvement over her usual habit of blurting out whatever came to mind.
Freesia, unaware that Daisy’s curiosity had already cost her a promotion due to various incidents, waited with genuine interest. She was bored, and this seemed like a welcome distraction.
Daisy opened and closed her mouth several times before finally shaking her head as if it were nothing. No matter how wildly her curiosity ran, she still possessed basic common sense. If the other person had been a company commander, she might have thrown caution to the wind. But this was a battalion commander. A mistake here wouldn’t end with simple scolding.
Freesia, however, had no intention of letting an interesting opportunity slip away while stuck in the infirmary. Just what was so curious that Daisy would bring it up only to back out? Her previously drooping ears now twitched excitedly, perfectly expressing her mood.
"Now I’m even more curious about what you’re curious about."
When the exalted commander showed clear interest, Daisy’s face turned as white as Freesia’s had been the day before.
"N-no, it’s nothing. I just misspoke. Please forget I said anything."
She waved her arms desperately, but the gesture only deepened Freesia’s curiosity.
Daisy tried to hide her rude question, but when Freesia made it clear she wasn’t leaving the room until she heard the answer, Daisy finally confessed.
"The beastmen and half-bloods I’ve seen were… well, bulkier. They had incredible muscle. But you’re not like that at all, Commander. It just felt strange and made me curious…"
Having finally voiced the question, Daisy felt relieved for a moment—then immediately grew anxious about how the commander might react to such an impolite inquiry.
Separate from Daisy’s nervousness, Freesia felt slightly let down. She had expected something far more interesting. Still, from someone who didn’t know her background, the question made sense. She leaned back comfortably against the bed, thinking this was also a good chance to learn more about her orderly.
"You already know I’m a beastman half-blood, right? My father was a beastman. My mother was an elf."
The calm statement made Daisy’s eyes widen. Though humans, elves, and beastmen were united under the Federation, the three races were fundamentally different species.
Hybrids formed relatively easily between humans and elves or humans and beastmen due to genetic closeness. But elves and beastmen rarely produced offspring. Without humans as a bridge, the two races were too distant both genetically and culturally. Their genetic factors also followed a strict hierarchy of dominance.
Beastman-human hybrids displayed strong beastman traits. Human-elf hybrids leaned toward human characteristics. Elf-beastman hybrids showed dominant elf features. That was why Freesia, despite being a half, only displayed the ears and none of the other external beastman traits.
Daisy finally understood where that enviably beautiful appearance came from. The strong physique from her father, the exquisite features from her mother—each parent’s best qualities perfectly combined.
At the same time, she wondered what the odds were of such an absurdly lucky genetic combination, but after her recent blunder she wasn’t foolish enough to voice another rude question immediately. Just as she began to feel relieved that Freesia didn’t seem offended and everything had resolved amicably—
"Then it’s my turn, isn’t it? Between that question and how busy we’ve been, there are clearly many things we don’t know about each other. Shall we take this chance to get to know one another properly?"
Watching Freesia smile as she spoke, Daisy trembled like a rabbit before a tiger.