“Hmm.”
“Commander.”
“Why do you call?”
“The cleanup for the 2nd Squad is completely finished, and there’s no operation for the 1st Squad to deploy.”
You could say we had completed the first stage.
Of course, since this was reality and not a game, it wasn’t easy to divide it neatly into stages.
“It seems that for a while, it will be enough to just write some reports related to agents and ships.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The report on the last mission is already finished, so I think we won’t have much work for a while.”
In conclusion, it was just that there was no work.
After the operation was over, we had completed the mission report, and the cleanup was entirely done.
For a while, we would naturally have little to do in the office.
“Then it seems it’s alright to leave early.”
“Are you really going to do that?”
“Midori, wouldn’t you prefer that too?”
“Really!?”
Midori replied with an incredibly bright expression at the commander’s words.
After all, she was very happy when she heard they could leave early two weeks ago on Friday and go out for a gathering.
Maybe it would be the same this time too.
Honestly, if I could leave work a bit earlier, of course, it would be good for me too.
Though, there was a worry that leaving early might mean not getting work done.
“It doesn’t seem bad since we won’t have much work for a while.”
“Of course, even if we leave early, we need to make sure all the work is finished before going home.”
“I know!”
“Good, I’m glad you know.”
“Commander.”
“What is it?”
“With the 1st Squad and 2nd Squad having no tasks at the moment, how about we take this opportunity to strengthen their training?”
Both squads were focused on combat-related activities for now.
Honestly, it felt wasteful to leave them idle when they had nothing to do.
Of course, in the case of Easter from the 1st Squad, she ran a cafe inside the ship and did some other activities, but most agents had nothing to do.
“It’s important to focus on activities related to operations since other agents are just sitting idle on the ship.”
“Hmm… I’ll consider it positively for now. After all, they have nothing to do.”
“Understood.”
I just made the suggestion, but ultimately, the decision was up to the commander.
Honestly, from the commander’s perspective, they wouldn’t want agents to just sit around doing nothing while still getting paid.
After all, the commander was in charge of the ship, and even though the relationship with the agents mattered, they couldn’t just let them be idle.
After all, if he whispered just a little with his handsome face, the agents would immediately fall for it.
“Then does this mean working hours will be reduced?!”
“At least for now, yes. Of course, if operations restart, the workload will increase again.”
“Woohoo….”
By the way, the thought of leaving work early was nice.
Now I have to think about what to do after getting off work… I’m a bit worried.
In the past, after work, I would have dinner, check the schedule for the next day, read current affairs, and then fall asleep.
That’s because, previously, after finishing work and having dinner, it would be close to midnight.
Of course, I was tired because of that.
“Midori, while we’re at it, why don’t you go and deliver some documents?”
“…Huh?”
“Go and deliver some documents to the personal rooms of the agents in the 1st and 2nd Squads.”
“Whattt!?”
The commander said that while handing over the documents.
I wasn’t sure why he suddenly wanted to deliver documents, but I was a little curious.
“What documents are those?”
“Documents related to what you mentioned.”
“Yes?”
“Training. We need to do it, right?”
Hearing the commander’s words, I immediately understood.
The reason training was being brought up was precisely what I had just suggested.
It seemed like the commander was having the same thoughts as I was.
“Like you thought, I had been thinking about it too.”
“Is that so?”
I was honestly a bit surprised.
I thought I was the only one thinking this way.
It wasn’t arrogance; I just didn’t expect the commander to have the same thought.
Maybe it was because we played a game together over the weekend, I thought even more so.
“Anyway… By the way, Midori? I’m counting on you.”
“Ugh….”
Midori looked annoyed, but she took the documents and went outside as it was an order from the commander.
Honestly, she was the type who often hated working, but she always did well.
I had no concern that she would slack off.
If she were the type to goof off, she would have refused when the commander suddenly brought her to the office.
However, since it was an order, that could change things a bit.
“Now, I’ll take a short break until Midori returns.”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to have the same thoughts as me, Commander.”
“Is that so?”
The commander replied while comfortably leaning back in his chair.
Honestly, I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
I never imagined the commander would be thinking the same as me… about the training for the 1st and 2nd Squads.
Of course, I couldn’t know his every thought, but still…
“Well, I’m the commander of the ship too. Naturally, I wouldn’t like seeing the agents do nothing.”
“Is that so?”
“Even if I hadn’t thought of it, I intended to consider what you said.”
Well, that’s understandable.
After all, he was the commander.
He couldn’t just let agents he hired with money lounge around doing nothing.
“Lindera, do you have time after work?”
“…What is it this time?”
What could it be this time?
I had no idea why he suddenly asked about dinner time.
I couldn’t figure out the reason for asking about a weeknight, especially after work.
Could it be because of the game?
Indeed, I had taken quite the beating on Saturday and had mostly stayed in my room on Sunday except for meal times.
So maybe that’s why he was asking.
Of course, it could be for another reason, but… surely he wouldn’t say anything weird suddenly, would he?
“I’m just asking if you’d like to have dinner together.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Well, a dinner invitation made sense.
Dinner was something I could do.
“Is that alright?”
“Yes, dinner is fine. Don’t we usually eat together?”
After all, we had been having breakfast together from the beginning.
Technically, I woke him up every morning, and we ate something before starting work, but still…
In conclusion, it wasn’t weird at all.
“Right, right.”
“Still, why the sudden invitation for dinner? You usually don’t ask first.”
“Well, I just thought it might be better to eat together than alone.”
“…?”
Hmm… maybe it was just a casual comment?
After all, it was nicer to eat with someone rather than alone.
So perhaps that’s it.
“Ah, how about inviting Midori too? If she’s going to eat after work anyway, I think it would be good to include her.”
“Hmm… just do as you see fit.”
“Okay, then when Midori comes back, I’ll mention it to her.”
If the commander and I were eating together, it would seem strange for Midori, who works in the office, to eat alone.
Especially since we were heading straight to dinner after work.
*
“1st Squad, all present. Commander.”
“2nd Squad, all present.”
In the afternoon, while we were waiting in front of the training ground, the 1st and 2nd Squads arrived.
They actually arrived about five minutes earlier than scheduled, so I didn’t think much of it.
The commander sent out the documents and arranged for training that day.
Initially, it was a simpler task than an operation, and since the agents had nothing to do, calling them wasn’t a problem.
Well, Midori was busy finishing up tasks in the office today, though.
“I called you all like this since there won’t be any operations for a while.”
“Is it different from the usual operations?”
“It’s not really that different. There haven’t been any operations for a while, and I couldn’t just leave you all idle.”
“Oh, I see!”
“So does that mean we’ll train together with the 2nd Squad?”
“Exactly. Of course, the 1st and 2nd Squads are independent, but they can work together or separate.”
The commander answered Easter’s question that way.
Just as the commander said, the 1st and 2nd Squads could work simultaneously or separately.
Of course, for now, they would work simultaneously if anything happened.
“Anyway, you guys are going to train here about every other day; that should be sufficient.”
Of course, it wasn’t just about training between squads.
Individual training was necessary too, and when actual operations were planned, there would be times when separate schedules were required.
“Oh, by the way, for agents who lack individual training… I plan to conduct private interviews. So make sure you do your individual training on your own.”
Hmm.
This wasn’t something that an ugly or scary-looking person would say; it was humorous hearing a kind and handsome guy say that.
It’s even possible that agents would gladly skip their individual training in response.
But it seemed like our ship’s commander had no idea about that.
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