Kanata seems to have something he wants to ask Iska.
Before leaving the Penthouse, he decided to ask the Commander something he had on his mind. “Commander, you told me my body has a device to prevent escape… is that just a bluff?”
The Commander lit a cigarette, letting out a puff of smoke. His mouth, holding the cigarette, was smirking. As expected, he was right.
“Why do you think that?”
“You’re too free. I’m in a huge city, yet there’s no surveillance or restrictions. It’s a blessing, but it’s unnatural. They might even sneak into a hospital to examine the device in my body.”
“Perhaps it’s a cleverly designed device that’s impossible to discover?”
“I wonder? You’re a realist and incredibly sharp. You also know there’s nothing absolute in this world. If that’s the case, you’d probably warn me with words or make me carry a transmitter, but there’s nothing.”
“Ku ku ku, that look in your eyes is one of absolute conviction that it’s a bluff. Yes, it’s a bluff. There was never any escape prevention device implanted in your body. I gave Shijima a water conservation app and ordered him to install it, telling him it was an escape prevention app. I thought you’d see through Shijima’s acting, Kanata.”
So, Dr. Shijima thought the water conservation app was an escape prevention app?
“Please tell me the activation code for the water conservation app later. I’m saved; I don’t have to buy it.”
He was thinking of buying it, as it might be useful in desert battles.
“You profited. However, the escape prevention device is already activated. This isn’t a bluff; it’s true. Therefore, you won’t be able to escape anywhere, Kanata. Be prepared.”
What! The Commander… is serious. This time it’s not a bluff!
“When did you install such a device!”
“I didn’t install it. You got caught in it yourself. What do you think is the ultimate escape prevention device?”
He was stumped. So that’s how it is. He truly had no choice. He couldn’t escape anywhere.
“It’s making me lose the will to escape.”
“You understand. Yes, if Kanata has no intention of escaping, he won’t escape. Can you leave Marika and Lilith behind?”
There was no way he could do such a thing.
“I can’t. It’s not just Marika-san and Lilith. I’d rather die than abandon the Thugs of the Asura Unit.”
“I saw the recording of your duel with Number 10 and decided to recruit you into the Asura Unit. You didn’t want to break… no, kill Number 10. I’m sorry, if I had been there, I could have stopped you.”
“Your words are enough. You shouldn’t be a spectator at such a distasteful arena.”
“Then, after looking at your records at the laboratory, I was convinced my judgment was correct. You don’t kill willingly, but you can if necessary, and you make up for a lack of strength with intelligence. You’re tenacious. That’s the kind of soldier I want. And if I entrusted you to Marika, she would have entangled you with emotional chains, and you wouldn’t have had any desire to escape.”
So, when he arrived at the Garden, Marika being there to look after the place was also intentional on the Commander’s part.
He said he’d approach them in order of unit number, but he intended to entrust him to Marika from the start.
“Approaching them in order of unit number was also a clever move. Even if Marika refused, which would thwart your plan, Shigure-san of the Rinsei’s Second Unit would surely accept. You calculated all of that, didn’t you?”
The Commander nodded with satisfaction.
“I have to have backup. Marika might refuse on a whim, but I was sure Shigure would accept. If you were under Marika or Shigure…”
“I would have thought this was the place to put my life to use. And that’s exactly what’s happening. I’ve been beaten. I’ve been made to dance completely at your fingertips.”
It was like the tale of Buddha and Son Goku, though Buddha was often depicted as having a fierce temper.
As much as he knew it, the Commander was still a few steps ahead in this kind of negotiation.
However, he didn’t feel bad about it. In that laboratory, he was nothing more than a test subject, but the Commander saw him as a person.
“Are you unhappy dancing at my fingertips, Kanata?”
“No, even if I was made to dance to your choreography at first, what I’m dancing now is undeniably my own will. If you take over the world, and I can live a peaceful life with moderate satisfaction, it’s worth betting my life on.”
The Commander gave a wry smile at his response.
“A peaceful life with ‘moderate’ satisfaction, is that your wish, Kanata? It lacks ambition, or perhaps it emanates a sense of being a commoner… why don’t you aim for something greater?”
“They say excessive ambition leads to ruin. I understand that I’m just a commoner.”
“For a twenty-year-old kid, you’re a strangely aged man. A young elder, perhaps.”
In the Shogunate, being a young elder was a rather distinguished position. He wasn’t that great a person.
“That’s all I wanted to ask. I should go now, or I’ll be late for the Curriculum.”
“Ah, I’ll borrow Lilith for a while. She’s truly a convenient cat’s paw. She reaches all the itchy spots.”
“Please don’t go as far as child abuse. She’s my wife in two thousand and… some days.”
The genius Lilith probably remembers, but he, being ordinary, had forgotten how many days were left.
“I’ll send Lilith a congratulatory cake for her engagement. She needs sugar for brain activation.”
“Please do. Well then.”
He left the Penthouse and decided to return to the Superior.
He prepared the Curriculum at the Superior, then took a taxi to the Joint Operations Headquarters.
The classroom was the same as yesterday, but his seat had changed.
He was in the center of the three-person bench, with Shion on his right and Danny on his left.
“Yo, Kanata. We’re seatmates from today. Nice to meet you.”
“Changing seats so suddenly? Is it because of what happened yesterday?”
Shion, the Woman of Absolute Zero, said in a voice as cold as a north wind.
“What else could it be? It’s bureaucratic, to keep problematic soldiers together. How ridiculous.”
“Don’t say that when you were the instigator. Danny voluntarily got involved, but I was just caught in the crossfire.”
“You were into it halfway through. Don’t pretend you weren’t, comrade.”
“Danny, the only one allowed to call me comrade is a member of the Boob Progressive Party.”
“The Boob Progressive Party? That’s a word that really stirs the soul. What kind of party is it?”
Oh, he took the bait.
“It’s a gathering of comrades who love all beautiful breasts. Our main activities include appreciating and exchanging breast collections at party conventions, and lively discussions about the ultimate breast.”
“I… I want to join too…”
Shion started doing a Ken’s Row-like finger drill, so they ended the topic there.
Then, Major Himnon, who was substituting for the assistant professor of the Military Academy who had been “removed” by the problematic soldier trio, entered the classroom.
“He looks less impressive than the guy from yesterday? I shouldn’t judge by appearance, but…”
Danny made an honest observation.
Indeed, Major Himnon’s appearance couldn’t be called imposing.
“His outside might be unimpressive, but his inside is brilliant. Danny, don’t cause any trouble with the Major. If it comes to that, I’ll be on the Major’s side. And Shion, you too.”
“You know that useless dried fish guy?”
“Take back the dried fish. I won’t forgive insults to my comrades.”
The Major, who had cleared his interview this morning, was confirmed as our legal advisor. He was now a comrade.
I glared at Shion, but she wasn’t the type to be intimidated by something like that.
“There were weak soldiers in the Asura Unit too, huh? He looks like a man I could kill with one hand.”
Probably so. But isn’t a person’s value more than just being good at killing?
“Can you make sushi?”
“I’m good at cooking. But I’m not a sushi chef, so of course I can’t make sushi, can I?”
Hmm, she’s good at cooking. That’s surprising.
“From a sushi chef’s perspective, Shion, who can’t make sushi, would be evaluated as a useless big-mouth woman. Are you okay with that? That’s the kind of logic you’re using.”
“… You’re right. I spoke out of turn. Is he perhaps excellent as a military bureaucrat?”
“Yes, I think he’ll prove that in class. Let’s see what he can do.”
And so, the substitute lecturer’s military law class began, and the Major was as good a teacher as expected.
Military law, like law in general, is basically a subject of memorization, but Major Himnon, drawing on his extensive experience as a judge, explained it clearly, citing precedents from actual court-martials, and occasionally interjecting jokes.
It was completely different from yesterday’s lecturer, who just seemed to want us to memorize everything.
After Major Himnon’s beneficial military law lecture, Shion, who apparently had a 180-degree change in her assessment, said.
“He seems like a good teacher. I retract calling him a useless dried fish.”
With that, she went to the podium and began asking the Major questions about military law. She seemed to be a diligent student.
Danny, who wasn’t as diligent as Shion, stretched and said.
“Now, during the break, let’s talk in detail about the Boob Progressive Party.”
“Danny-san also likes breasts, I see. Very well, I shall explain in detail from its origins to its party rules.”
“Why are you talking like a low-level goon? Are you imitating someone?”
Ah, it’s an imitation of the world’s strongest low-level goon, Mr. Sanpin. You wouldn’t know how well it’s reproduced because you don’t know the original.
Played four rounds. Won with 1st, 3rd, 1st, and 2nd place finishes. I did it!
Happy New Year, everyone.
