Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Panty Thief, Assistant Instructor Application
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On the way to the laundry room,
I offer a quick word of thanks to Mino's back.
"Hey, thanks for helping out."
Her head and horns nod lightly in reply. Mino gets embarrassed about hanging around with me, but whenever I'm in a pinch, she always shows up to lend a hand.
"Ugh... those fucking bitches. I have no idea what's wrong with them. Everyone loses their damn minds the second they join the army."
With Mino by my side, I can vent a little more honestly. She's the only squad mate who helps me out, and the one special girl who doesn't treat me like a sex object.
"...You should be a bit more careful too. I'm really grateful for your help, but the other girls might come after you because of it."
That just makes me feel even more guilty. Here I am receiving help, yet I'm worrying that it might cause trouble for her.
"..."
Mino pauses at my pointless concern and turns to look back at me. Her calm face shows no trace of emotion.
No fear, no worry—
It's all just blooming inside my own heart.
"...Sigh, yeah. Who the hell is worrying about who here? Anyway, thanks. Seriously, thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
I chuckle it off and take the lead again, heading for the laundry room.
I have to get my precious underwear back. In the army, nothing's more important than managing your issued gear. If I lose my stuff, I'll be branded a failure without any chance to explain myself.
Please, let it just be tossed somewhere in the laundry room. If that's the case, I could just brush off the dust and take it back.
Creeeak—
As we open the door and step inside, nothing lost catches our eyes. A few washers are humming away busily in real time, but otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Haa, we're fucked."
It's gone.
No matter how much we search, it doesn't turn up.
Not in the washers, not outside them,
not even in the corners.
"Looks like someone took it. It's not in the laundry room."
"..."
Mino shrugs, having found nothing herself, and stares at me blankly. She's probably wondering what we'll do now.
But there's no good solution.
If someone deliberately swiped my underwear,
the victim has no hope of getting it back.
"Shit... Let's head back for now. I really appreciate the help today. I'll figure something out from here on."
As shitty as it is, there's nothing else for it.
Next time, I'll handle things more thoroughly and catch the panty thief red-handed.
However,
as luck would have it...
"What are you doing?"
"My underwear went missing, so... I was standing by in case it disappeared again!"
"Does that mean you can just loiter around the laundry room? Return to the barracks immediately."
The instructors won't even tolerate that small effort.
"If a culture forms where trainees stand watch at the laundry room like this, it could lead to a long-term loss in combat effectiveness. Everyone clustering around to take turns on lookout—that kind of thing could happen."
...But does that even make any fucking sense?
It's not like random stuff is vanishing; it's specifically my panties getting cherry-picked. If they're going to block victims from protecting themselves, then what the hell are we supposed to do...?
"Sigh."
In the end, I'm kicked out of the laundry room, left waiting helplessly for the thief to steal my underwear again.
That's just how the army is. I'm the victim, but under the system, I get no recourse—in fact, I'm treated like the problem.
"Hey."
And the one extending a helping hand to me is,
once again, Mino.
"I'll help."
She taps her nose to emphasize, offering to track my underwear with her keen sense of smell.
"...Okay. Thanks."
I don't turn her down and shake on our pact of friendship.
Trading help to survive the day,
we've become inseparable besties.
...At least while we're in training camp.
Anyway, here's the plan:
1. Mino sniffs my panty scent.
2. She searches the barracks for a matching smell.
3. We catch the culprit.
That's it.
...It's a bit pervy-sounding,
but honestly, there's no better option.
Assuming the one who took my panties is some psycho using them to get off, she'll definitely sneak them out before the scent fades to use as her personal toy...
"I'm ready. You?"
"...Yeah."
We execute the plan inside a bathroom stall. With Mino here, no other perverts will approach, so it's just us.
I sit on the closed toilet lid
and awkwardly pull down my pants in front of her.
I want to wrap this up quick before the mood gets too weird. For her sake, since she volunteered, I can't be a burden.
But rubbing against each other in this cramped stall is stimulating, no doubt. It looks totally lewd and trashy to anyone watching, but we're dead serious about the mission.
Mino's eyes fixate on the front of my underwear. She's usually so calm and detached, but now that my undies are out, her face flushes beet red like it did in the showers before.
I wish she'd just sniff it casually,
but she always shows this side only to me.
"...I'll sniff."
She closes her eyes gently and slowly leans toward my lower half, as if to prove she has no dirty intentions.
But.
"Ugh."
The moment she nears my panties, she lets out a faint moan and startles.
Her hands gripping the base of the toilet tense up hard. Her grip leaves a nasty dent in the sturdy metal bowl, shaped like her fingers.
Scrrunch—
I've seen those short videos of people crumpling frying pans, but this is a first.
"Whoa, h-hey, you okay? Hold on. That's kinda scary."
"..."
Mino waves it off, her face flushed.
Unlike that iron-crushing grip,
her shy expression is pretty damn cute.
"...E-Enough."
"Ah, o-okay...?"
Now we're both embarrassed. Her nodding with a face red as a beet is so stimulating it almost makes me feel like the pervert.
"Got it."
"Yeah."
I hurriedly pull up my pants,
and we bolt out of the bathroom.
Time to hunt the culprit.
Whoever it is,
if they're using my panties as a fucktoy...
I'll never forgive them.
We only get issued five pairs.
No way I'm giving any up.
But,
unfortunately...
Sniff sniff—
Mino's superior nose leads us to
none other than...
"Hold up. We can't go up there."
The second floor of the instructors' and company commander's barracks. It's absurd, but Mino insists she smells my pungent panty scent from upstairs.
"Fuck. You're saying it really smells from up there?"
"Yeah."
"This is bullshit. You saying the instructors stole my panties? They're out of their minds. Which bitch—"
But there's one prime suspect.
I haven't seen her since the huge fuckup in the company commander's office, but...
"Ah, yeah. It'd totally be her."
Drill Sergeant Kate is super suspicious.
She hasn't come to see me lately,
and I'm scared she'll cause an even bigger mess.
"Mino, thanks. I'll handle it from here."
"?"
Mino tilts her head, eyeing me suspiciously, like she's saying, 'You can't do shit alone, so why act tough?'
But resolving things with Kate is ultimately my responsibility.
Like it or not,
this all started because of me too...
Training Camp Day 19,
7:13 PM.
"Jeong-woo...!"
I call out Drill Sergeant Kate directly for a one-on-one meetup.
We can't go wild in a warehouse like old times, but we can at least talk briefly.
There are plenty of spots inside the building where people rarely pass. To keep our meetings secret, Kate always picks the safest, most hidden ones and tips me off.
"Did you miss me too...?"
"No, it's not that..."
"I'm sorry. I wanted to come see you, but I couldn't..."
Of course, talk takes a backseat to body and lip talk. The second she sees me, tears and drool flow as she pulls me into a tight hug.
"But I missed you too! I'm really holding back right now... I don't want to make things harder for you because of me..."
But once conversation starts, surprisingly selfless lines come pouring out.
I wondered why she hadn't sought me out lately—it seems she's had her own issues.
"Hey, never mind that for now. Did you happen to see my pan—"
"Jeong-woo. Just forget about me until training camp ends, okay? I know you'll feel lonely. But you have to endure it."
Kate puts on a heartbreaking expression, like we're the leads in some pure romance manga. Her drooping tail and ears are striking.
"That's the only way you can become an assistant instructor. I already talked to the company commander. She said finish training without issues first. I submitted your application."
But chewing over her words,
they're all completely unrelatable from my perspective.
"Wait, what?"
I cut her off briefly
and ask for clarification...
"What'd you say?"
"I already put you on the applicant list. I thought it'd be good for you... and for me..."
But all I get back is nonsense.
I came to retrieve my panties,
and now who gives a shit about those?