“But if we… get more agents, won’t the work just increase?”
“That seems likely.”
“…Ugh.”
While working, Midori and Dolores were sipping coffee and saying that.
Well… it’s true we had a lot of work to do.
In fact, we were intentionally not doing a lot because there were too few agents.
If we get more agents and increase our squad, we’d probably engage in more activities than we do now.
This included the external exploration activities I mentioned to the Commander yesterday.
“Commander, here.”
“Thank you.”
“Did you review the materials I sent you yesterday?”
“Well, I took another look at them.”
Just once.
Honestly, I thought that was enough.
After all, it wasn’t a major issue.
Besides, I wasn’t planning to wrap up the discussions related to agents with just what we talked about yesterday.
“Then, how about discussing it one more time now? Everyone’s already comfortably seated on the sofa.”
“Hmm…”
“Hey, we weren’t sleeping!”
Even if we were, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.
Both of them had done their jobs well, and they were just sitting there afterward, so I had no reason to intervene.
Since they did their jobs nicely, there was no reason to say anything at all.
Of course, the Commander still had some work left, so it might be better to do it a bit later… but he had almost completed it.
“Everyone, let’s check the materials I sent by email. I just sent it, so it should have arrived.”
“Eh?”
“It’s nothing weird, just the materials about the new agents we’re bringing into the fleet. Just check it out on your phones right there.”
“Got it.”
“Okay~”
After hearing the Commander, the two of them started checking the materials while I and the Commander just turned in our chairs to sit comfortably.
Well, it wasn’t something difficult or serious to discuss anyway.
We had placed a sofa in the office before, but there were a few things that were lacking.
The problem was that there were currently four people in the office, but it was cramped for four to sit on the sofa.
Personally, I preferred to use a sofa spaciously, and three people sitting on it felt uncomfortable for sure…
“Hmm.”
Next time, I should ask for at least one more sofa.
*
“But… is there no additional furniture for the office?”
“Is it necessary?”
“Well, no?”
“…Then why did you ask?”
That’s a good question.
Even though we were going to recruit new agents, I had absolutely no intention of adding a new agent to the office right away.
That was because things weren’t difficult.
“Anyway… the ones coming this time are all pretty! Is it the Commander’s taste?”
“……Don’t say weird things.”
“Ah… Okay! Let’s just skip that!”
“Anyway, if there’s anything you don’t like about the agents listed in the materials, please let me know.”
It was just the two of us who made the selections, so there might be something we overlooked.
“Umm…”
“Hmm…”
“Commander, do you not need any more?”
“Hmm… not for now. I already mentioned that yesterday.”
“But I’m asking again.”
Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head.
Since we hadn’t done many activities besides our usual purification operations and the work we do inside the ships, it didn’t demand many agents yet.
If we were to start external exploration activities this time, we would need more agents from then on.
Right now, at the start, we didn’t need to gather too many agents related to that.
“Isn’t this enough? Aihihorn here…? Bringing in this agent costs quite a bit, and we probably don’t need to bring in more at the moment.”
“As Dolores said, if we increase the number of agents, it would be impossible to pay them with the money coming into our ship.”
“I think… this is enough for now. What about you, Midori?”
“Me…? Well, I think this should be enough.”
“Hmm…”
Well, there was nothing we could do.
We didn’t have a ton of money, and we had to recruit sensibly.
Agents would increase compared to before, and naturally, the work we could do on the ship would also increase.
It would also mean we could earn more money.
As more time passes, we would eventually have more agents, and we’d have to take on more responsibilities, so it would be a good thing in many ways.
“Then we’ll stick to this list as it is.”
“Are you going to take care of it?”
“This time, the Commander should handle it.”
Honestly, it felt a bit odd for me to keep taking care of this kind of thing, and the final decision was originally the Commander’s.
Now seemed like the time to slowly pass this important task onto the Commander.
“Now you should start working like a real Commander, right? After all, you’re not the one who kept passing everything off to the Vice Commander.”
“I got it. I do work better than before.”
“Hehe.”
Since the Commander smiled and said that, I couldn’t help but smile in response.
By the way, he really had improved in terms of work compared to earlier.
Since he was doing so well, there was really no need for me to handle everything.
*
“You called me…? You’re not a shapeshifter, and an ordinary human is my contractor?”
“If I were a shapeshifter as you wish, I wouldn’t be sitting here; I’d probably be working as an agent too.”
“…Okay. For now, I acknowledge the contract between this ship and the ‘Commander’.”
“I’m glad you arrived sooner than I expected. I thought you’d arrive over the weekend, but you got here so quickly.”
As the Commander said this, he shook hands with Aihihorn.
Honestly, I had met with many new agents recently, but Aihihorn had talked more often than the others.
“By the way, you seem to have more shapeshfted features than other agents.”
“Tail? Wings? Are those parts bothering you? The humans I’ve met recently said that shapeshifters look weird. It’s hard to predict your mindset.”
“Is that so?”
The Commander suddenly looked towards me while responding.
Wait, why?
I wasn’t sure why he suddenly looked my way to ask or respond, but it surprised me a bit.
“Is something wrong…? Why did you suddenly glance over here?”
“No, is there anyone who reacts to the agents’ appearances? I was just a bit curious.”
“Well… We call ourselves agents, but in the public, the term shapeshifter is often used. That’s because we are different from ordinary people, and they use a somewhat distinguishing term for us.”
For me, the agents’ appearances just seemed pretty and distinctive, but many felt differently.
It’s natural for some to find the features typical of animals odd instead of the ordinary human look.
Of course, I thought shapeshifters were beautiful, so it didn’t really matter to me.
However, there were indeed some who disliked certain features of shapeshifters.
Regardless of the beautiful and attractive exteriors, they were ultimately beings whose bodies were altered by Kritium.
In a way… it was similar to the situation of the contaminated.
“Of course, there are fewer people discriminating against shapeshifters than before. But still, discrimination hasn’t disappeared entirely…”
“Hmm…”
“Of course, in our area including our headquarters, such things don’t happen.”
“Ah… that’s why I didn’t know.”
I didn’t know the Commander’s exact activities, but it was clear that the Commander seemed to have only remained in places where the headquarters has influence.
I also didn’t know much, but watching the news frequently made it hard not to know.
While such aspects weren’t shown in the game story, they became reality, making it evident.
“Well, most people here are shapeshifters like you. Besides, other agents wouldn’t dislike you just because you’re an agent.”
“Raising expectations with such words isn’t a very good thing.”
“Haha. Anyway, since you’ll be staying with us from today, I hope you get along with the other agents. You probably haven’t spent time on such a ship before, but everyone will welcome you.”
“…Yeah, it sounds fun.”
Saying that, Aihihorn left the room.
It seemed that among the agents, there were quite a few with somewhat self-centered personalities like that.
I didn’t think it was particularly rude.
After all, once they became shapeshifters, they probably had various experiences, and those with very bright personalities would be quite rare.
Thinking about that, I couldn’t help but suddenly admire Midori.
“What do you think? Aihihorn.”
“Um… it feels like I’m looking at a bigger Agni.”
“Indeed… there are many similarities in various aspects.”
“At least in height, Aihihorn is definitely taller.”
“…Are you talking about the chest?”
Since there weren’t many other things to mention except for height, it was only natural to say that.
The Commander didn’t pay much attention to Aihihorn’s chest a moment ago, but still, I couldn’t help but say it.
After all, it sounded like that for real!
“No, that’s not it.”
“If it’s not that, then why bring it up? Is it that you have a preference for chests?”
“…….”
“Indeed, Aihihorn’s outfit was rather provocative. For the Commander, who hasn’t even been in a relationship… Hehe.”
“…Why are you laughing?”
I chuckled a little while looking at the Commander.
I knew full well he wasn’t that kind of person, but I found it frankly amusing?
“It’s a joke. Just a joke.”
“It seems like I’m being treated with less respect lately…”
“Still, among the people who work in the same office, the person I rely on the most is you, Commander.”
“Does saying that suddenly make me feel better…?”
“Haha.”
“But… is it really true?”
Seriously… how will he deal with the strict agents that would come later?
Just a bit of praise seemed to make the Commander’s lips curve upward; he really was easy to please.
I even found myself worried that he might fall for some strangely flirtatious woman later on.
After hearing he was still inexperienced, I began to think like this more than before.
“Yes, it is. You’ve spent the most time with you, Commander, so surely it must be true, right?”
“…You speak quite well.”
The Commander pretended not to believe it, but clearly, he was feeling good, and his lips were not turning down.
Well, being a bit naive seemed kind of cute.
It felt a little strange to think a guy was cute, but his reactions were just amusing to me.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
