“Did you really get commissioned just yesterday?”
Having safely reached the nearby city, we swept the surroundings and confirmed there were no signs of Raptures. Only then, with a bit of breathing room, did Rapi address me.
Her question still carried a hint of disbelief in my words.
“Uh… yes, that’s right?”
It seemed she wasn’t comfortable carrying out an operation under a rookie Commander fresh out of the academy. Honestly, Rapi’s reaction was pretty natural.
Dropping an untested, green Commander into the battlefield was clearly wrong, no matter how desperate the situation.
But one thing to be clear on: I didn’t volunteer to be a rookie Commander. I simply woke up reborn in an unfamiliar body with that title.
“Suspicious. A rookie Commander with zero experience showing that level of leadership skill—sounds odd.”
Anis by my side stared at me with a suspicious look.
Being dismissed if I screw up, yet suspected if I do well—this situation was maddening.
“They sent up a rookie Commander to replace the one who died during the operation… I don’t know what they were thinking.”
“…What did you just say?”
My heart sank. Even in my past life, I’d never been so blatantly dismissed before, and I found myself speechless.
What a fucking life.
Suppressing the surge of emotion, I clenched my fist as if nothing was wrong.
Huh?
When I turned, Marian’s brow was deeply furrowed. I guessed she’d heard Rapi’s muttering clearly as well.
“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, as of this moment, you’re the Commander of this squad. We need to hand over the operation in progress. Any problems with that?”
“Sure. No problem whatsoever.”
Annoying as hell, but finishing the operation is a top priority. As long as Raptures swarm the surface, we can’t be safe.
Which means we have to wrap this up quickly.
“Forty-six hours ago, a Nikke squad searching this sector lost all communications. There was no log at all, so we judged a search necessary. We were deployed—but the Commander died on the job.”
“The problem is that Commander knew the coordinates of the operation area.”
“…So that’s why there’s been no progress on the operation.”
Hearing the explanation, I grasped the seriousness of the situation.
This was more serious than expected. We needed to complete the operation and return to The Ark as soon as possible, but things had gone sideways.
“Commander, do you know anything about the coordinates?”
“…Unfortunately, no, I don’t.”
“Right? I thought so.”
Shaking my head, Anis added with a deadpan expression.
“I know it.”
At that moment, Marian spoke in a calm voice.
“Mmhmm. I thought so. Yeah.”
At that unexpected remark, Anis didn’t think much of it at first, but the next moment she widened her eyes in realization and asked again.
“…Huh? What did you just say?”
“Marian, you?”
I wasn’t the only one surprised. I, too, had never heard that Marian knew the coordinates.
“Yes. The coordinates were uploaded to me before deployment. I’ll lead the way. Follow me.”
“Yeah, uh… OK.”
Still, this was a stroke of luck in an unfortunate situation.
I had no idea where the operation area was, but now that Marian knew the location, there was no need to worry.
Just as I was quietly pleased at the smoother status of the operation—
“And you. Rapi, was it?”
“?”
Marian, who had suddenly called out to Rapi, continued speaking. There was a seriousness and coldness in her tone I hadn’t seen before.
“Don’t go picking on people and calling them rookies when you couldn’t even protect your Commander. These people are risking their lives for humanity just like we are. So if you make comments like that one more time, I won’t stay silent.”
“Oh, what is this. Conflict already starting?”
“Uh…”
The conversation was going in an unexpected direction.
I appreciated that she’d gotten angry for my sake, but at this rate, a conflict could severely impact the mission.
If that really happened, it’d be a problem in its own right.
“…Right. That was a slip of the tongue. I apologize.”
“Apologize to the Commander, not me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Surprisingly, contrary to my concern, Rapi offered a sincere apology at Marian’s words.
To be honest, I was taken aback; I didn’t expect her to apologize so readily.
“…It’s fine, so let’s focus on the mission now.”
“……”
“Wow, you’re not even getting mad? Haha, this Commander is kind of weird.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d think of it not as weird, but as something different.”
**
“……”
“What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
“Marian. Is something wrong?”
Anis asked, concerned, as Marian staggered. Come to think of it, Marian’s condition had indeed been odd for a while.
While walking normally, she’d stagger as she did moments ago, lose her balance, and keep staring blankly into space.
It was as if some system error had occurred.
“I’m feeling… off, for some reason.”
“Let me help with maintenance. Could you remove your top?”
“Eh? Here?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, the Commander’s here and…”
With a puzzled look, Anis asked, and Marian’s face reddened as she glanced at me. Maybe because I’m male, she seemed reluctant to remove her top easily.
“Haha, what’s with that reaction? Worried the Commander might see Nikke as women? Don’t worry. Don’t worry. We’re just bloodless, tearless combat machines. There’s no way you see us as women. Right, Commander?”
“I’ve never thought of you as weapons, though.”
This was 100% sincere. Not once had I thought of them as weapons; I treated them as humans.
My attitude toward the Nikke wouldn’t change from here on—I would respect them as living beings, not tools.
“Well… I wonder if we can really trust that.”
But I’d need to earn that kind of trust over time. They clearly didn’t trust my words.
“Ah. I’m fine now. I guess the unfamiliar environment caused a brief malfunction.”
“Take it off.”
“I-I said I’m fine…”
“Maintenance isn't optional during malfunctions. It's mandatory.”
Rapi cited protocol as she urged Marian, who hesitated in embarrassment, but the situation remained stalled.
“Marian. I’ll face away; hurry up. You really can’t have anything wrong, you know?”
“…Okay.”
Unable to stand it, I finally spoke up. Reluctantly, Marian nodded in agreement.
“Alright then. Commander, look over there.”
Following Anis’s instruction, I turned away and waited for the maintenance to finish.
After a short while, a voice broke the silence—probably the maintenance was done.
“All clear.”
“See? I told you.”
“Oh, I can see you.”
“!!”
Startled, Marian stared at the area Anis was pointing to.
“Just kidding.”
“……”
“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s move quickly.”
Small talk over, we resolved that minor incident safely and resumed our journey toward the operation area.
Just when I was wondering how long we’d been walking, a human voice came through Rapi’s comm.
Crackle-!
[…Shi…fty?]
[This is The Ark to the surface. Can you hear me? Rapi, Anis.]
While walking, a quick electronic beep was followed by a girl’s voice. Whether from interference or not, the comm crackled, then the girl’s voice came through clearly.
It seemed that communications with The Ark, which had been cut off, had been successfully restored.
“This is Rapi. Shifty, do you read me?”
[Ah, we’re finally connected. How are things on your end?]
A bright voice sounded over the comm.
She seemed unable to grasp the situation fully, but I sensed genuine concern.
“We’ve linked up with the new Commander. We’ve secured the coordinates, and the operation is underway.”
[Phew~ That’s a relief. I was startled when we suddenly lost contact with the transport.]
“Can you guys do things right for once? Why would you fly a transport straight into the enemy stronghold?”
[Huh…?]
Anis raised her voice and snapped. The girl, on the other hand, merely sounded puzzled, as if she couldn’t follow the context.
“It got utterly blown to pieces. Thanks to that, we almost screwed the whole thing up…”
[But the Raptures in that area don’t have anti-air weapons, right? That’s why we used a transport…]
“What…?”
At the unexpected reply, Anis asked back sharply. I felt the same confusion.
It didn’t add up. The transport had been obliterated to the point of being unrecognizable.
We assumed it was a Rapture anti-air weapon that caused the disaster—but it wasn’t them?
“…Shifty. Can you send us the transport’s black box data?”
Rapi, pausing to gather her thoughts, quickly made the right call.
[Ah… I’m analyzing it now. I’ll send it as soon as it’s done. It’ll be quick.]
“Okay. Please.”
[Yes. Please wait a moment.]
The girl, after briefly responding to Rapi, addressed me.
[Well then… hello, Commander. I’m Shifty, an operator from The Ark’s intelligence division. I’ll be supporting the operation as of now. I look forward to working with you.]
The sudden greeting. Shifty’s voice over the comm was so cheerful. Maybe that brightness could serve as a bit of energy amid the urgency of this mission.
“The pleasure’s mine. I look forward to working with you.”
[Yes!]
With that cheerful voice fading out, we continued our journey toward the operation area.
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