A Foal Unleashed
Back in the living district, Calsira was truly a foal with the reins off.
The urge to just run free surged through her—like a foal that had been cooped up inside a fence, only for the reins to be released and the vast prairie laid out before it.
"Sluuurp— Ahh~ So good~ Ah, let's go over there too!"
After sucking down a sweet drink through a straw at a café, she moved her feet the instant anything caught her interest.
"Ah, wait a second! I told you to wait!"
"Kyahahahat~"
She was a Zabalcan with excellent physical ability, wearing a nano-suit in a place with good security, so there was no real need to worry. Still, the way she moved without the slightest caution—exactly like a child—made Heliane anxious.
"Aren't you worrying too much? From Calsira's point of view, she's enjoying the freedom she's longed for since the day she was born."
"That's exactly why I worry more! If she wanders into the slum district like that, it'll become a hassle!"
"She's not a kid. Surely not."
"Her body may have grown, but her mind is still a child's."
Growing older does not automatically make someone an adult. A person's spirit matures through the collision of different values, through varied human relationships, through cultural life. Conversely, without those elements, age only makes the body bigger. Calsira was the perfect example.
"Heh. You've completely turned into a mom."
"Uh… what……?"
"You're acting just like a mother handling a baby. That's something you can only do when there's love involved. You might turn out to be a surprisingly good mother."
"Ugh… augh……."
Heliane, who already mixed bodies with Jincheon at every opportunity, felt the word "mother" hit her all the harder. She lowered her face as it blanched white and could not open her mouth under the weight of every kind of embarrassment.
Wham!
"Kya……!"
"Then shall we go calm our child down?"
"A… a child……."
She flushed with shame at the sight of Jincheon pulling her waist close and speaking as if they were a married couple. Yet when she imagined actually bearing his child and strolling around like this with that child, her face burned so hot that her ears would have turned red if she had been a Terran.
I tease her that much and she still hasn't built up any resistance?
Jincheon felt a slight pity for the way she grew flustered and could not even defend herself whenever he attacked from that direction. After her father died, she had thrown herself entirely into revenge and had never even imagined building a family, so of course no resistance had formed.
"Hey! Just how far are you going!"
Seeing Calsira charge ahead without the slightest regard for them, Jincheon quickened his pace a little and followed with Heliane.
This is strange……. When I'm held in this man's arms… I feel far too safe…….
Having lived a harsh life that always demanded vigilance of her surroundings, Heliane never let her guard down. Yet the moment she felt the large hand around her waist and the warm body heat radiating from him, that vigilance vanished without a trace and she found herself relaxing. Her animal instincts simply decided that, inside Jincheon's embrace, there was no need to watch the surroundings—and the wariness disappeared on its own.
If only it could stay like this…….
A fragile wish began to form: that his thick hands would keep holding her and protecting her just like this. Heliane quieted the pounding in her chest and walked on with Jincheon, following after Calsira.
"Nngh~~~!"
With the five-hour mark almost upon them and the transport for the modifications due to arrive, Jincheon's group headed for their dock.
"Haa~ I really had so much fun~"
"Glad you enjoyed yourself."
After touring café drinks, street food, and every game arcade in sight, Calsira stretched luxuriously with a bright smile.
"That aside, it's surprising. In a world like this I figured most games would be virtual reality."
Jincheon had assumed that, given the setting, the majority of games would be enjoyed in VR. Instead the arcades were dominated by gun-shooting machines and games that used sensors so you moved your own body—something he found unexpected. In the world he came from, the advance of VR consoles had been on the verge of driving every other type of machine into extinction. For the record, Jincheon's head was so full of mecha that he had never bothered searching the history of games; on this subject he was essentially a complete outsider.
"It was like that about fifty years ago. But bodies grew weak, extreme obesity became a social problem, and people started wanting to move their own bodies again."
Heliane, having stepped away from Jincheon's side and returned to her usual self, supplied the additional explanation.
"Trends really do go around and come around. No matter where people live, it's all the same."
While they exchanged those words, the three of them arrived at their dock.
"Two minutes left, looks like."
It seemed they intended to fill the promised five hours to the very last second.
"Unnie, unnie. After we send this off, let's go play again."
"Huh? Again?"
"What do you mean 'again'! There's still so much I haven't seen! We have to go to a game shop and download games worth playing, and there's still tons of food left!"
The reason one went to a game shop to download was to pull the games directly through the servers located there. Inside a planet, remote download without visiting a shop finished in ten to twenty seconds. In space, however, remote purchase through a Bio Device took an enormous amount of time, so one had to connect to a shop's server. Naturally an extra usage fee was charged.
"And I want to pack a bunch of snacks and go watch the duel arena!"
With so many mercenaries gathered in one place, bitter grudges that could only be settled by actual fighting sometimes formed—or people simply ran into each other. In those cases, if both parties agreed, they could duel in mecha inside a designated ring in the space outside the city. Those duels could be watched on giant screens set up in special venues, and people even bet on who would win.
"The duel arena? Why there?"
"Because Jincheon-ssi said, 'There's no better spectacle than watching small fry fight!' And he said simple snacks make the show even tastier!"
"……."
Heliane glared at Jincheon with a look that clearly said You're teaching a kid wonderful things, and Jincheon, having nothing to say this time, blatantly averted his eyes and shut his mouth.
Fortunately the awkward moment for him passed in a flash; the instant five hours struck, the massive cargo doors opened.
Rrrrrumble—
A giant vehicle for transporting mecha appeared, followed by a crowd of people who looked like work crew.
"Greetings. We are from Calzeran Company."
"Right on time."
"Hahaha. Keeping the promised hour is the pride of Calzeran Company."
A man with green skin and a boar-like face, wearing a one-piece suit of neat color and texture—a Getchwa—approached Jincheon's group and offered a polite greeting.
Looks like an orc, yet acts like a gentleman. So in this world the orcs ended up becoming the refined ones?
In the world he came from, orcs had been the very symbol of brutal beasts; the genre flip that made them gentlemanly had briefly been a fad and then settled in completely. Jincheon entertained the idle thought while looking at the Getchwa man who resembled an orc, then cleared his mind at the still-courteous voice.
"We will begin the confirmation process. Is this modification plan the one you yourselves verified?"
The man projected a hologram from his hand and checked whether the plan the three of them had worked out matched exactly.
"That's right."
"Then please review this consent form and sign."
The Getchwa man opened his Bio Device and displayed a consent form that, in long strings of difficult characters and words, essentially said: Sign here and we really will modify it exactly like this. No take-backs, no refunds, absolute!
Jincheon signed the blank space with his finger; the man folded the Bio Device with a good-natured smile.
"Consent form confirmed. Please open the hatch so we may take the mecha."
"Calsira, Heliane."
"Yes~"
"Got it."
Following Jincheon's instruction, the two opened the hatch and went inside the ship to indicate which mecha needed modification. There was one spare Gareld inside; the point was to keep the crew from taking the wrong one by mistake.
Thud! Thud!
"Is this fellow the one in charge?"
At that moment a man of the Cave species—rough stone skin that made him look like a rock given human form—approached with a heavy voice.
"W-wait a moment……."
The Getchwa man panicked and tried to cover the other's mouth, but the Cave man's lips opened first.
"Who is it? The suicide hopeful who stupidly added engines to a Gareld?"
"Haa……."
The Getchwa man sighed at the open declaration that the customer was a suicide hopeful. They had already signed the consent form so a refund was impossible, yet the customer might never use their company again.
Jincheon, however, was not offended; he smiled as if the reaction were only natural.
"Hey, don't tense up so much. For ordinary people this is the normal reaction."
"Ah… yes……."
"Anyway, that 'suicide hopeful' part is wrong. I can use that Gareld perfectly."
When the Cave man learned that the person who had increased the Gareld's speed by 1.7 times was Jincheon himself, he frowned.
"Are you insane? A Gareld is already faster than most mecha. Add another 1.7 times on top of that and the pilot cannot endure it."
Whether his command of language was poor or the Cave species simply spoke this way, his manner of speech was quite blunt.
"Honestly I'm disappointed I couldn't make it three times. If I'd only had more money I would have mounted better engines for triple speed."
"If a Gareld moves at triple speed, the pilot faints within one minute. I would bet my entire fortune on that."
"That would be true if an ordinary human rode it."
It was an expert's opinion and Jincheon himself thought the same, so he had no intention of arguing; he simply pointed at himself with a thumb.
"But I can handle that speed. Honestly the current Gareld is too slow."
"……."
The Cave man looked Jincheon up and down at the bold claim.
"Did they develop some new pilot suit somewhere I don't know about?"
"Hm? No. I ride bare-bodied."
"…I'm not being sarcastic or mocking you; this is serious advice. Rather than modifying the mecha, you should go to a hospital."
He offered the counsel with genuine sincerity, yet Jincheon knew it was the natural reaction and only chuckled.
"And in space combat… no, anywhere at all, the red you chose is far too conspicuous. The moment you enter a battlefield the enemies will target you first."
"I painted it red so they would. There are other reasons, but if the enemies concentrate their attacks on me, my comrades will take that much less fire."
"…You. What's your name?"
In the end the Cave man became certain that Jincheon's mind was already made up and asked for the name.
"Jincheon. Surname first. Terran."
"Never heard the name. This business is smaller than people think. Idiots and geniuses become known at once. I'll watch whether you get recorded as a fool or become a new named."
With that he entered Jincheon's ship for the work and joined the crew loading the mecha onto the transport vehicle.
"Then I will take my leave as well."
"Hey, how long will the modifications take?"
"Our technicians will examine the estimate and send a message."
"When will they look at that estimate?"
"The technicians are checking with scanners right now."
"Understood."
After a certain amount of time the transport successfully loaded the three mecha scheduled for modification and headed out of the dock. At the same moment a single text arrived for Jincheon.
"Three days, huh."
"Sounds reasonable."
"Ugh… only three days……."
Jincheon and Heliane thought the time appropriate; Calsira, who still wanted to play more, drooped at the news that it was only three days.
"Calsira."
"Yes?"
Seeing her like that, Jincheon seemed to recall something and offered advice.
"The joy of play is something you enjoy with the feeling of working and then properly releasing stress. Playing as if you're being chased by time is the worst way—you never truly enjoy it."
"Ah……."
Calsira made an embarrassed face, as if the impatience that had risen the moment she heard "three days" had been completely exposed.
"As long as you're with me you can enjoy yourself as much as you want, so keep that leisurely sense of enjoyment."
"Yes!"
That was right. As long as she was with Jincheon she could savor this same pleasure whenever she wished.
"Well then, shall we go play?"
"Already?"
"This time you have to enjoy it with us too."
"Me? I……."
"Ah! I'm sorry, unnie! You should have come with us!"
Only then did Calsira realize that Jincheon and Heliane had simply been dragged around after her; she apologized with a heavy load of guilt.
"No, I'm fine. I don't even like this sort of thing to begin with……."
"That won't do. Life has hard parts, but it also needs enjoyable parts if it's going to taste like living. Calsira, from now on you go everywhere with Heliane, no exceptions."
"Yes~! Let's go together, unnie!"
"W-wait! I'll go, so move slowly!"
Calsira grabbed one of Heliane's arms with both hands and pulled her outside; Heliane, wearing an awkward smile at the behavior, had no choice but to follow.
If Calsira had been unable to enjoy pleasure because of a life of oppression, Heliane had been unable to enjoy it because of revenge. Their races and nations still snarled at each other, unable to rest until the other was dead, yet the two of them were gradually forming a sisterly bond that stepped outside that cycle of grudges.
Once more outside the dock, Jincheon's group wandered the living district, happily debating where to go next.
"Hm?"
At that moment Jincheon sensed something and pulled the two women close.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Because of that."
When Jincheon jerked his chin, the two turned their eyes to the place he indicated and looked at "that."
"Huff huff huff!"
There a Tucan with a male lion's head and glittering gold thread worked into his mane was sprinting toward the guild district.
"M-move! Please move aside! Quickly!"
Mixing casual and polite speech while pouring sweat, he looked urgent by any measure.
"Hmm."
Jincheon found the circumstances of a Tucan moving that desperately interesting and could not tear his eyes from the retreating back.
"Shall we go?"
Heliane, seeing the spark of interest in Jincheon's eyes, suggested they check what the matter was.
"Huh? No, it's fine. We're stuck doing nothing for three days anyway, so finding out what his problem is won't change anything……."
"Still, let's go. He looks so desperate I'm curious."
"Idle curiosity is… no, in this situation it probably doesn't matter."
In the Murim, sticking one's nose into other people's business could create unexpected grudges and, in the worst case, cost one's life; there was even a saying that one should never feel curiosity toward strangers. But if the man was going to place a request at the guild, everyone would learn of it soon enough, so it made no difference.
"You sure?"
"I'm fine."
"I'm fine too."
It would not waste much time, so the two nodded.
"Then let's go. Honestly I find it fun checking what kind of circumstances other people have."
Having been the strongest in his own world and therefore free of people picking fights, Jincheon had developed an interest in such matters; he headed for the guild district together with his women.