“I’m heading back then. Lindera? Please take good care of the child.”
“Of course. Be careful on your way back.”
They were exchanging greetings in front of the autonomous car.
Well, starting tomorrow I had to return to work, and the Commander’s mother had a hard time staying here for long anyway.
She came to see her son, but with him being too busy to even meet, there was no reason for her to stick around.
“You should listen to your girlfriend more, keep gaming to a minimum. You know that, right?”
“…I know. Yes.”
“Good, that’s settled then. You have a nice girlfriend, so what’s the point of me nagging you? Hurry up and go inside with Lindera.”
“Go on in. I’ll contact you when I have some vacation time next.”
“Right, I’m going.”
Having said that, the mother got into the autonomous car and shut the door.
I thought it was a bit harsh, but since she had taken care of her business, there was no need for her to stay longer.
It was better to return quickly than to drag things out unnecessarily.
The Commander next to me also looked somewhat relieved.
“Hmm.”
“They’re gone.”
“…I see.”
“You really made your angry human talk to your mother all day. What a hobby you have, Commander.”
“…….”
Seriously.
He definitely knew I wasn’t feeling great.
It was impressive that he called me out of the blue this morning.
He did it because I was being good to him.
If not, I would never have come.
“I’m sorry. That day…”
“Are you going to say it was your fault, Commander?”
“………”
I guess I was right.
Well, I wasn’t expecting anything too special anyway.
It just seemed likely.
After all, the Commander wasn’t one to overthink things.
“For now… let’s have dinner at least, and then head back. It would have been nice to have dinner with your mother…”
Since someone hurriedly told us to go inside.
Well, since he said it would take time to get home, it was indeed better to leave quickly.
But still, I thought it would have been nice for his mother to spend time with him after such a long while.
It was frustrating because he seemed to not even think about that.
Anyway… for now, I finally had a chance to rest a little.
“Ha… suddenly making me meet your mother from the morning… is this really a holiday?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“How about treating me to a delicious dinner?”
“I’ll do my best.”
It was supposed to be a relaxing holiday, but thanks to someone, I had to spend the whole day outside.
Isn’t it the Commander’s responsibility this time?
*
The Commander and I started having dinner together in the area.
It was already late afternoon, and it was the right time for dinner.
We went to eat pizza.
We could’ve had something else, but since I had had cutlets recently and pasta often, I was okay with pizza.
“Have some of this too.”
“…Thanks.”
“You were really troubled because of your mother today, weren’t you?”
A square pizza.
It looked slightly different from the ones I knew, which made me a bit curious, but the taste itself was pretty average.
Except it had a bit more cheese and was softer?
“I really had no intention of calling you today, but if I didn’t, that would have been a problem too.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t complain too much.”
“Thanks.”
“Then can you at least let me rest another day?”
“That…”
I didn’t think that would work.
I hadn’t expected too much, so it wasn’t like I was saying it for real.
I figured he would just let it slide.
I didn’t expect any further compensation either.
“….Then please order a drink for me. A Zero Cola.”
“Got it.”
“From tomorrow, I’ll have to start writing reports, so you can’t just sit still like today.”
“…I know.”
“Seriously… if I had just sat still, how do you think your mother would have felt? She didn’t seem to have much to say.”
Even if he truly lacked thought, it was ridiculous how little he had today.
He really should know how much I took care of his mother today… all day from morning till close to parting, I had talked more with her than he did!
“Next time something like this happens… please make sure to explain things properly.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“I was mad, but… I won’t let go of this kind of thing easily.”
He was someone who could separate work and personal matters.
Of course, this was a little more personal, but it was still important.
He wasn’t the type to just act on impulse about something like today.
If anything, the Commander was the more clueless one.
“Apologizing with that dumb face of yours from the morning… just eat your pizza.”
“…Thanks.”
Though he said it curtly, I could tell he was genuinely thankful.
After all, it would have been more of a problem if he weren’t grateful after everything I did today.
By the way, the pizza was good.
At first, it tasted a bit ordinary, but as I ate, it turned out to be better than I expected.
“And finally… please only drink alcohol when I tell you to.”
“…Got it.”
That day was really rough.
Both the Commander and Dolores got drunk, and I ended up having to take care of both of them until we got back to the ship.
Thinking about it again made my head hurt.
If I had to babysit drunk people again, I only wanted to take care of one person.
Starting from two… was a bit too much for me.
*
“Lindera! Good morning!”
“…Did you rest well?”
She looked like she had rested, so I asked just in case.
Usually, acknowledging something like that makes people happy.
“Well, of course! It’s vacation, right? Not just one day!”
“I’m glad to hear you rested well. The last time we saw each other was at the gathering, so I was curious.”
“Ah… I didn’t come to the ship, I just played with Nana the whole time!”
I figured that was how it went.
Nana, Midori’s friend, had taken her away and after that, I hadn’t heard Midori’s voice on the ship either.
Considering Midori was usually loud, not hearing her meant she wasn’t on the ship at all.
Well… I was just glad to see she enjoyed her vacation well.
“By the way, where’s the Commander?”
“The Commander? You mean him?”
Suddenly asking about the Commander caught me off guard.
He should have been coming out of his private room by now.
“I think he’ll be here soon…?”
“Really? That’s good. I just wanted to greet him since it’s been a while.”
“Oh.”
So that’s what it was.
I was wondering why she suddenly asked about him.
Of course, she didn’t have to, but since she asked out of nowhere, my curiosity couldn’t be helped.
“I ran into Dolores on the way in, but I was curious about the Commander since it seemed like he wasn’t around.”
“He said he needs to stop by his private room for a moment. That’s why he’s been absent for a bit. He should arrive soon.”
“Aha!”
Since I was alone in the office and Midori just walked in.
Usually, we would either sit down first or prepare coffee together.
So maybe it was natural for her to be curious about him today.
-Swish…
“Commander! Good morning!”
“Oh, Midori. Long time no see.”
“Indeed. Have you been well?”
“Ha ha… well, I suppose I have.”
I wonder why he’s hesitating to say he’s been well.
What is he playing at?
Is this a test?
“I’m glad if you’ve been well. Commander.”
“Weren’t you saying that you talked while coming over?”
“……..”
“Well, that’s true, but I’d like to join the conversation too, you know?”
The maid popped out behind the Commander.
Speaking of which, Midori mentioned she bumped into her on her way, so they must’ve met.
Of course, that wasn’t really a problem.
They probably just exchanged pleasantries.
Since they hadn’t met during the vacation, they were likely catching up.
“Commander, I prepared coffee. Here you go.”
“Thanks. You really are the best.”
“…Yes.”
There wasn’t really a need to say such a thing; the maid was going to prepare coffee anyway.
But I didn’t mind much as I started preparing coffee for Midori and the maid as well.
Most of the staff in the office started their work with a sip of coffee in the morning.
Moreover, from today on, we had to get back to work after a long time.
Especially since I had to write reports for that annoying operation from last week endlessly.
“Ha…”
Well, at least the good thing was that there wouldn’t be any operations for a while, and after writing the reports and receiving the funds from Headquarters, only gacha would remain.
I was already excited at the thought of recruiting agents.
It had already been about three months since the Commander came here and did gacha… it felt like a long time.
Of course, not all the agents we applied for were going to be amazing five stars, but just getting more people on board was a good thing.
We could also add one or two more to the office.
“Midori, here’s your coffee.”
“Ah! Thank you!”
“…Dolores? Here’s your coffee. Enjoy.”
It felt a bit weird to make coffee for the maid, but it also seemed odd to only not serve one person.
Honestly, it felt like the maid should have been the one preparing coffee for everyone first… but I decided not to mention it and smiled instead.
“And today’s report is different from the usual, so I’ll guide you through it. Commander, since you have a lot of work, I’ll make sure to explain things step by step.”
“Ah, thank you, Lindera. I didn’t expect you to help since you must have a lot of work too.”
“It’s nothing much. We work in the same office.”
I hoped he wouldn’t get annoying this time.
Just having someone suddenly come over to jabber at me while I was working was really annoying.
Today, I was going to teach him properly and make sure he didn’t come over at all.
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