“Ugh…”
Seriously… if I ever drink with these idiots again, I’ll definitely be the biggest fool.
Honestly, if I’d been just a tad weaker, I would have left them behind.
But here I was, healthy enough to have to deal with them.
“Hah…”
“Hick!?”
I was in the process of moving Dolores to the lobby and the Commander too.
I mean, I’m human, and moving two people at once is really hard.
With the Commander’s arm over my shoulder, I suddenly huffed out air and honestly freaked out.
It just had to go into my ear, right?
“Hah…”
It wasn’t just annoying; it was exhausting.
How much did I drink to be this wasted?
“Heh… Hoo… I’m dizzy…”
“Anyone would think I drank two bottles or something…”
“Hah…”
Not even sure if they were listening to me.
I was completely out of it.
Both Dolores and this guy were making my life hell.
Midori had drunk way more than these two, yet her friend seemed much more manageable.
“Sigh…”
“…….”
“Hah…”
By the time I reached the lobby, Dolores was already sound asleep, and now I had to move these two to their private rooms.
Since I knew where their personal rooms were, it wasn’t a big issue.
If I didn’t know, I really… wouldn’t even want to imagine it.
Dragging a drunk person around while they keep asking where home is? I would’ve given up.
“Please… don’t invite me to drink again…”
“Sigh…”
“Yawn…”
“Ugh… Hah… Hah…”
I had one person draped over each shoulder and began the trek to their personal rooms.
If Midori wasn’t sleeping at a friend’s house, I might’ve just given up by now.
It was really that exhausting today.
We were supposed to celebrate successfully finishing the mission, feel good, drink, and have fun.
Yet here I was, suffering the most!
“Geez…”
“Hah…”
“Huh…”
*
“Hah… Hah… Ack…”
How long is this damn drunken mess going to last?
I tossed Dolores into her room and dragged the Commander along too.
Fortunately, Dolores remembered her room’s password well enough, and since I already knew the Commander’s password, it wasn’t a huge issue.
The Commander used to ring the doorbell or told me not to use the master key when coming to wake me up in the mornings.
Who would’ve thought it would end up like this?
“Seriously… I might need a raise.”
Honestly, a Vice Commander like me isn’t half bad, right?
Not just good, I might even be more than enough for a Commander who gets wasted after a couple of drinks.
“Sigh…”
What would everyone in the office do if I wasn’t here to manage them, especially the Commander?
I worried the most about the Commander.
I mean, Midori and Dolores did their jobs well.
Unlike the Commander, who didn’t exactly excel at work, but had everyone trust him based on looks.
“If only he wasn’t so good-looking…”
I sneaked a glance at the Commander sprawled on the bed.
Honestly, I had to admit, he was good-looking.
Being a guy, it didn’t change anything for me, but I totally understood why most of the agents would crush on him.
“… Well, it doesn’t matter to me.”
I’m a guy, so just being good-looking doesn’t change a thing for me.
I’m not gay, I’m not suddenly liking guys or anything, not happening.
“Sigh…”
“…”
The Commander suddenly shifted uncomfortably, like something was bothering him.
What’s making him uncomfortable?
He wasn’t even wearing his usual formal suit but a comfy hoodie, so I couldn’t quite figure it out.
But seeing him fiddling around the neck of the hoodie made it seem like that was what was bothering him.
“…….”
It’s not like I was doing anything wrong; he genuinely seemed uncomfortable.
It wasn’t some weird thought that made me feel like that.
“…….”
I took his hoodie off.
It felt a bit weird thinking this way, but it was right to take it off, so…
Underneath was just a t-shirt.
As for the pants… I felt a tad shy about that, so I refrained from it.
I mean, taking off someone’s pants is a bit too much, you know?
“Ugh. Taking clothes off really feels… kinda weird.”
Honestly, it was strange to strip someone like this.
I’m not a girl, and taking off a guy’s clothes felt awkward for reasons I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
*
“Lindera.”
“…Yes.”
“…I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“As long as you know.”
Right, knowing was good enough.
I was well aware of how much of a hassle I had gone through, so it was easy to let that slide.
It wasn’t like I’d made some huge blunder; it was just a hassle dragging him to his room.
If there hadn’t been self-driving cars, it would have been way worse.
“But when I woke up, my clothes were different. What happened?”
“Eh…?”
I was a bit surprised by the Commander’s question.
I hadn’t expected him to be in any state of mind to care about that.
I thought he wouldn’t even remember if he had dressed himself or not, based on how drunk he was.
And then he just suddenly asked.
“I was definitely wearing a hoodie, but when I woke up, it was different.”
“… You seemed uncomfortable, so I took it off.”
“… Ah.”
Feeling even more embarrassed now, I thought it wasn’t even my fault.
It was just unavoidable.
Saying it in front of him now felt way more embarrassing than taking it off in the first place.
“More to the point, you said you wouldn’t drink yesterday; why did you?”
“Well… there were circumstances.”
I decided to deflect the question.
There was no need to keep discussing how I took off his clothes.
“I told you not to drink after I said that, yet you ended up drinking…”
“Well, at first, I wasn’t planning to, but Dolores gave me a drink, and before I knew it…”
“Commander.”
I warned him, told him not to drink after the gathering had started.
He later spread the warning to Midori’s friend, and then he drinks just because a maid handed it to him?
“Does my advice not register with you?”
“I’m sorry…”
“Do you not realize how worried I’ve been about you?”
“No, not at all…”
“Knowing that, why did you do it?”
Honestly, I was pretty mad.
I’ve told him repeatedly to abstain from drinking, and then he ends up putting me through all this trouble after accepting a drink from a maid?
If he hadn’t had that drink, I wouldn’t have had to struggle so much.
Seriously…
“Ha.”
“… Honestly, I never thought I’d get that drunk. And the atmosphere was just so good that… I just couldn’t help it.”
“It’s fine.”
Yeah, whatever. He wasn’t going to listen to me anyway.
Just let him do as he pleased.
No matter how much I said, he would still act on what the maid said.
We’d talked a lot on the way here, and still, he ended up drinking and getting wasted.
“If you’re going to keep doing this… why not just keep Dolores as your Vice Commander? You clearly don’t care what I say.”
“I’m really sorry…”
“It’s fine. Just do as you please. You’re going to anyway, right?”
He truly never listened to me. Why should I even bother taking care of him as his Vice Commander?
I scold them, he still drinks whatever the maid serves, gets himself drunk, and I clean up after him.
“Someone was carrying two drunk people around with no breaks.”
“…….”
“Must have been nice, huh?”
I had come here worried about his hangover and ended up hearing this nonsense.
What a way to ruin my mood.
“Yeah?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Does that mean you didn’t enjoy it? The pretty maid pouring you drinks that you happily drank?”
“…….”
It wasn’t that I had some weird thought causing this; it was just disbelief.
How many times did I tell him?
In a situation where he wouldn’t even listen to me, I had no reason to keep talking.
I was seriously looking after him…
“Sorry, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
It truly was fine.
I didn’t need to hear his apologies.
He just didn’t listen to my words and prioritized the maid’s over mine.
“More than that, start showing up at the office from the day after tomorrow.”
“Lindera?”
“I came to check on your hangover, and I’m stuck listening to this nonsense… Isn’t it nice having your day off start off this way?”
“I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll pay better attention next time. Can I just get a little bit of a break…?”
I looked at the Commander with a pleading expression.
But at this point, my mood was already soured, so I didn’t plan on accepting his apology.
At least not right now.
In a situation like this, it’d be weird to just shrug it off.
“Enjoy your holiday. I’m heading out.”
After saying that, I left the personal room.
My mood was already down the drain this morning, but today was a holiday.
Rather than dwell on anything that would ruin my mood, it was better just to relax.
Sure, I was angry and spoke sarcastically, but once the holiday was over, I’d have to return to the office anyway.
I’d just have to cool down a bit over the holiday.
And since I just said that, even if the Commander is a bit of a dimwit… he might actually think things through before acting this time.
If not…
“… I’ll definitely have to teach him a lesson.”
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