Commander, Business Trip (5)
"Aahh..."
A proper, traditional maid... Brynn, I think her name was. After she'd shown us to our rooms, I'd been unwinding from the trip. Not that there was much to unwind from — all I'd done on the way here was pass out in the back seat.
The talks were tomorrow. I wasn't going anywhere, and I had to rest anyway. Might as well rest well.
"This is nice..."
In that spirit, choosing a bath from among the many options available had been the best decision I could have made. Brynn had mentioned it in passing, so I'd figured I had nothing to lose... and the effect was incredible. You really do have to listen to the people who know what they're talking about. I almost missed out on something this good.
Of course, someone out there would probably say a bath is a bath — what's the difference just because you're doing it here? Yeah. I'd thought the exact same thing.
It was different.
...When you've got something like this... it really is different.
I leaned my back against a tub large enough to hold dozens of people, scooped up a handful of the faintly pink water, and tipped my hand to let it trickle back through my fingers.
Bath salts. I'd never seen them in person, let alone used them... but I was a fan. The scent wasn't overpowering, and just dissolving the powder in the water was enough to feel like every trace of fatigue was being rinsed away. I'd always stuck to showers because filling a tub was too much trouble, but every now and then, this wasn't so bad.
"..."
...Except for one thing. These damn lumps of fat... bobbing on the surface.
"...Hah."
I hadn't come in here looking to contemplate the laws of physics. If my whole body were floating, that would be one thing — but when only one part of me was catching the full force of the buoyancy... it felt like my body wasn't listening to me. Not exactly pleasant.
And honestly, they were just pointlessly huge. Nice to look at, sure, but they were literally good for nothing.
"...What if I just shrunk them?"
Irritation flared up out of nowhere. Until now, I'd put up with the inconvenience of this damn chest because it wasn't like I had a choice. But I'd been relaxing so nicely, and then it was like someone had dumped cold water over me. It was getting a little hard to tolerate.
I mean, come on. If I tried to recreate today's experience and took a bath every time, those things would just float there all over again, wouldn't they? Then instead of unwinding, I'd just end up in a worse mood. Would it really be so bad if this ornamental fat — hanging there for other people's viewing pleasure — just... went away?
"...Forget it. Never mind."
And just like that, it fizzled out. I'd given it about two seconds of thought and realized that would be its own kind of hassle. In the time it'd take to do something about them, I could finish who knows how many documents. Absolutely not. What a waste of time.
Right. Who needs a bath? A shower is plenty. Yeah.
...Though for a second there, I thought I heard someone screaming no from somewhere. Must have been my imagination.
"...I should get out."
It occurred to me that I'd been soaking for too long, so I stood up carefully. In the old days I would have just bolted upright, but this was a body that had to worry about anemia now... I needed to be careful. And besides, I was no longer in a position where I could treat this body however I pleased.
Reminding myself of where I stood, I picked up a plush towel and dried off. Next, I took my time drying my hair — it had grown a little past my shoulders by now. Last of all, I slipped into the snow-white bathrobe hanging by the door and stepped out into the room.
"Are you resting well, Commander?"
...An uninvited guest was already inside.
A blonde woman had claimed one corner of the table, sipping tea she'd apparently brought from somewhere. That brazen attitude — as if she'd arrived exactly where she belonged — was infuriating. It was a good thing my face came with a blank expression as the default setting. If it didn't, my facial muscles would have twisted themselves into knots ages ago.
"Mm? Why so quiet?"
Because I didn't let you in, that's why.
Someone of her caliber would have any number of ways to sneak inside, sure — but a person with even a shred of common decency wouldn't actually do it. And that went double when the target was the representative of another power you were scheduled to meet the very next day.
"...The talks are scheduled for tomorrow, Vice President Erhild."
"Oh my. How cold of you."
I swallowed a sigh and delivered the words in a voice with no rise or fall. The uninvited guest — no, the Vice President — chuckled and set her teacup down with a delicate little motion. The sight of it made my blood boil all over again. Did she not even realize she'd been rude?
We were going to see each other the moment the sun came up tomorrow. How close did she think we were, barging in here like this? Couldn't we just meet professionally, talk business, and go our separate ways? What was so urgent she had to haul that heavy ass of hers all the way over here?
...Is what I'd like to say, but that would actually be sexual harassment, wouldn't it?
"And here I thought we were close enough for a private conversation."
"I don't recall us being particularly close."
"Hehe. You haven't changed a bit, Commander."
I put a little extra bite into the retort, but she didn't so much as flinch. Did you need a face that thick to hold the office of Vice President? This was my first time being anything resembling a person of power, so I wouldn't know.
"I'm sorry to have interrupted your rest, but won't you at least have a cup of tea?"
Having thoroughly scraped at my nerves, she poured from the teapot into the cup waiting across from her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Then she gestured toward it, as if to say, go on, drink. As if she intended to live here for the rest of her life if I didn't.
...I'd be genuinely grateful if she walked out on her own two feet, but from the looks of it, that wasn't happening.
"Ah, before that."
"...?"
"Would you mind sending that person out for a moment?"
What? There was another lunatic hoping to break and enter besides her?
I turned my head on reflex, following the Vice President's gesture — and found Shien sitting demurely on the bed.
...It was a miracle I didn't scream. When had she even gotten in here? I'd assigned the rooms myself. I'd watched everyone go inside. The door had been locked, so how...?
"When you were bathing, Commander... through the window..."
...I appreciated the honesty, I really did, but that was the part you were supposed to keep quiet about. There was another person in the room. You didn't need to itemize your criminal methods one by one.
"...Is there a problem with keeping my bodyguard at my side?"
Still, I wasn't about to let her get treated like a criminal in the act. I walked over to the table, dropped into the chair, and offered what defense I could. It was closer to an excuse than anything, but the difference between saying something and saying nothing was bigger than people thought. I'd brought her here. If I didn't protect her... wouldn't that be the much bigger problem?
"...Hmm."
The woman who'd gone back to sipping her tea let her expression twist, just barely. It smoothed over a moment later as if nothing had happened, but I'd seen it clearly enough.
"...A bodyguard."
She let my words hang for a beat, then quietly set down the teacup she'd been holding the entire time. The motion was extraordinarily gentle — so careful that it didn't even make a sound.
"I wonder. Do you truly believe, Commander, that that thing is suitable as a bodyguard?"
And now it was my expression's turn to twist.
"We were quite surprised ourselves, you know, when we heard the entry list."
"Hold on. What did you just—"
"I understand that time constraints meant we only set a headcount limit rather than reviewing the names, but even so, one ought to observe at least a minimum standard of—"
I could feel the conversation taking a dangerous turn and tried to cut her off, but she didn't stop. Once the words had started, they kept coming, one after another, until—
"I never imagined the Commander would bring a calamity rather than a bodyguard..."
—until something that should never have been said finally was.
"Vice President Erhild."
Perhaps that was why.
"Regardless of the past, Operative Lin Sien is a member of our Firma."
"Which means she is a fully vetted, rightful operative — every concern of yours has already been accounted for."
These weren't words that had passed through even a moment's deliberation. I simply knew they had to be said, and so I said them.
"And."
"Since you don't seem to understand, let me make this perfectly clear."
Was that why?
"Shien is not someone the likes of you get to pass judgment on."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"Did you not hear me? Want me to put it in simpler terms?"
And in the words I threw at her next...
...I let a little too much feeling slip through.
"...I apologize. That was out of line."
After a long silence, what came out of her mouth — in response to a tone that had been, by any measure, extraordinarily rude — was an apology. I couldn't help but be surprised. What reached my ears wasn't some honeyed wordplay with a knife hidden in it. It was an apology in the purest sense of the word, the kind that didn't belong in the mouth of someone who made her living on the thin ice of politics.
"I'd hoped we might have a more... familiar conversation. But it seems this is no longer the atmosphere for it."
"..."
"I'll take my leave. Please... rest well."
A look of genuine regret crossed her face. Then she bowed her head with crisp formality and rose from her seat. I didn't see her out. After blurting something like that, playing the gracious host would have looked ridiculous... and I didn't have the presence of mind for it anyway.
...Ugh.
I didn't regret coming on strong. Shien — and everyone in Firma — had the right to my protection, and it was my job to honor that right. The problem was the process.
Why did I... do that?
The moment I thought the Vice President was tearing Shien down... the line I always sensed on instinct vanished, just for an instant. I couldn't call it a loss of reason — I'd been vividly aware of what I was doing. And I couldn't call it entirely my own will, either, because I still didn't understand why I'd said things that went that far. As if someone other than myself had borrowed my body...?
...No.
That was ridiculous. The owner of this body was sitting right here with her eyes wide open. Ignoring that didn't make any sense.
...I should stop dwelling on it. There was something far more important right in front of me.
"Hey... Shien?"
"...Hm?"
I stuffed the thought into a corner of my mind, stood up, and walked over to her. Then I sat down gently beside the girl who had been sitting on the bed without so much as a twitch, from the very beginning of all this until now.
"You okay? I mean... that didn't upset you, did it?"
Shien had heard every word of the Vice President's venom. That woman hadn't bothered to lower her voice, so there was zero chance it had gone unheard. She'd already suffered for so long. The last thing I wanted was for a wound that had only just been stitched shut to tear open again.
"...About what?"
...And yet the person in question just tilted her head, as if she didn't understand.
"I... am I supposed to be upset...?"
"...No. You don't need to be. It's nothing."
If she'd been hiding her feelings, she wouldn't have looked that blank. ...Right. If she was fine, then she was fine.
The tension drained out of me all at once, and before I knew it, I was stroking her hair.
"Mmhmm..."
...
That sounded like a cat purring. Kind of adorable, actually. Dangerously addictive.
When Erhild returned to her office from her unofficial outing, her chief aide was waiting to receive her.
"Welcome back, Your Excellency."
"...Yes."
As Erhild took her usual seat, the aide held out a document.
"What is this?"
"Senator Garron has requested our position on the matter in question. How would you like to proceed?"
"Tell him the decision will come after tomorrow's talks."
"Understood."
"Deliver that and then go home. I have something to attend to."
Having issued her dismissal, she closed her eyes before long and sank into thought. The aide turned and left with nothing more than a brief bow, harboring not the slightest question. Had it been without precedent, perhaps he would have wondered — but in the long years of serving her, this had happened often enough.
...Which is why he failed to notice that his superior was, this time, a little different from usual.
"..."
A few minutes after the door closed. Once she could no longer sense another living presence, Erhild slowly lifted her eyelids. An office that belonged to her and her alone — not so much as an ant left in it, as anyone could see.
And there, Erhild...
"Haa..."
...let out a sigh that didn't suit her at all.
"...I messed up."
Just thinking about it again made her dizzy. She pressed her fingers lightly to her forehead. She'd arranged single rooms so the two of them could have some intimate time together, and she hadn't expected to be interrupted like that. She had, it seemed, forgotten just how intense their obsession with the Commander truly was.
...Not that she'd had a choice. By the time she'd picked the lock and let herself in, that green lizard was already there. Fortunately, the girl's temperament seemed to have mellowed considerably — she'd readily agreed to let them talk, and that had been that, but...
Is there a problem with keeping my bodyguard at my side?
A tone that said, I need her right here, so you stay out of it. That was what had done it — she'd let herself be carried away by jealousy, just for a moment. And that had been, without question, the worst possible move. Of all the things she should never have forgotten, it was the Commander's particular brand of madness.
"I'll... have to apologize for this."
For all that she looked like a cold-blooded creature, the Commander was the kind of person who would protect anything that had come into her care, no matter the cost. An extreme self-sacrificer who would let her own limbs be severed without hesitation if that was what it took. And in front of someone like that, Erhild had said what she'd said. Who was there to blame but herself?
"She really... hasn't changed at all."
Two years on, Erhild had wondered if she might have softened. Of course she hadn't. If anything, it seemed to have gotten worse. Erhild hadn't even harmed anyone — hadn't even tried — and she'd gotten that reaction just for scratching at the edges of the Commander's circle. The fact that she herself had never made it inside that circle did sting, rather a lot, but...
...That was a separate matter.
"The Commander... was so sexy."
Coming face to face with a new side of her had been the greatest prize of the evening. Unlike the unfeeling figure of the past, this Commander had lowered her voice and torn into her without a shred of mercy. That uniquely cold, haughty air of hers, combined with a dressing-down delivered in a lovely voice that was as pleasant to hear as it was chilling...
"Nnnh..."
The moment she pictured the Commander from a few hours ago, a response began to stir below. ...Already getting wet. It didn't look like she'd be getting a proper night's sleep. The talks were first thing tomorrow, but as long as she paced herself and didn't stay up too late, she could enjoy this.
"Tomorrow... maybe I'll ask her to step on me...?"
Awakens to a new preference.
"Achoo."
"Commander... a cold...?"
"I don't think so... weird."
...For a certain someone who would be seeing her the next day, this was truly a pity.