“Wow.”
I couldn’t help but quietly marvel at the situation unfolding before my eyes.
It probably wasn’t just me; anyone facing this situation for the first time would have to react the same way.
And no wonder…
“It’s floating in the sky….”
I knew what a ship was. After all, I was living and working inside one, so I’d seen the internal areas of Babil 07, which was sort of like a viewing room where most agents resided.
But until now, I had never experienced the true functionality of a ship.
The commander had only just arrived, and I hadn’t been on any missions yet.
“First things first…. I should get to work.”
It wasn’t the time to be surprised that the ship was floating in the air. I already knew that.
I was simply astonished to see the ship hovering for the first time.
Plus, today was finally the day of our first mission.
I needed to be better prepared than usual.
I still hadn’t showered, so for now… I should probably wash up first.
*
“Commander, it’s morning.”
“…I’ll get up.”
“Yes.”
There was an alarm clock, but I had no choice but to go wake the commander in his personal quarters today too.
Normally, I wouldn’t just open the door whenever I wanted, but since he had given me his key, it wasn’t a problem.
Of course, it seemed a bit concerning to entrust a key to someone so easily…?
But it wasn’t any of my concern, so I just took it, opened the door, and woke him up every day.
He probably had a style that made it hard to wake up with just an alarm clock.
Sure, if it rang every five minutes for an hour, he would wake up eventually…
“Hmm….”
That said, seeing the commander’s unnecessarily handsome face first thing in the morning was a bit much.
It was strange that the first thing I had to say in the morning was to a man, and honestly, having to look at my superior’s face to wake him up didn’t sit well with me.
Logically, who would want to see their boss first thing in the morning?
I figured that wouldn’t be something an ordinary employee would want.
And I wasn’t even an employee, to begin with.
“Sigh….”
It couldn’t be helped.
Unfortunately, even after being reincarnated, I ended up as the vice commander.
But then again, if I suddenly shirked my vice commander duties and just lived freely, I’d certainly get fired.
Even if it’s not a very dangerous world yet, it was increasingly leaning towards an apocalypse.
The story itself was a game about preventing that impending apocalypse.
So leaving here was… definitely the worst choice.
It’d honestly be easier just to hang myself and call it a day.
Not to mention, Lindera didn’t have any significant connections outside.
“Have we eaten yet?”
“Not yet, let’s go have breakfast.”
“Okay.”
There wasn’t really a moment to chat, so we headed straight to the cafeteria.
I woke him up in the morning, but we were still just a superior and a subordinate.
We weren’t exactly close enough to have a friendly conversation, and I didn’t plan on it either.
“Ah, welcome, master.”
“Yeah. You are… Lindera?”
“Yes, your humble servant is Lindera. I’m honored that you remember my name.”
“…….”
One thing was for sure… in the scenario of a hyper-dystopian world, having one extremely handsome man among the ranks was totally unfair.
After spending over a week with that guy, I couldn’t help but think that way.
And honestly, all the agents treated him nicely.
I was shocked at how their relationship was far better than what was depicted in the game.
Then I was doubly shocked when I noticed his face turning red whenever he did something nice for them.
And finally… I was left stunned by the notice board.
It was worse than a male-only school where a female teacher was praised excessively.
Seriously… if the agents were asked to endorse him, they probably would.
“Is there something you wish to eat, master? If there is….”
“Just serve me what the other agents are having.”
“…Understood.”
The unmistakable disappointment was evident on his face.
With the incredibly cool-looking chef-agent showing disappointment like that, how could I remain unfazed?
Was this what it felt like to be a Casanova?
Lindera, so… she had a breast size similar to mine.
Plus, she had beautiful silver hair and mesmerizing azure eyes.
How could I not flinch seeing such a lovely agent disheartened?
“Hmm.”
If I were him, I’d probably be incredibly shocked to see such a beautiful agent looking disappointed.
I would have spent ages trying to cheer her up.
Ah, but since I wasn’t as handsome as him, that wouldn’t be happening.
*
“What’s the status of the agents?”
“All confirmed to be without issues. There shouldn’t be any disruptions in the operation, so there’s no need for concern.”
“Got it.”
The commander, Midori, and I arrived in the operations room, not the office.
This was the first time since we did the tutorial, so maybe I was a bit excited.
Of course, I didn’t show it.
“The agents have completed their preparations as previously organized. They are ready for immediate deployment.”
“Then…. Lindera. Connect with the 1st Squad.”
“Yes.”
I operated the pad to connect the office’s communication line with the 1st Squad.
The sound confirming the line was connected echoed through the office.
“Ah, 1st Squad. Do you read me?”
The commander spoke into the mic set on his desk.
Fortunately, since he was talking into a mic, no male voice echoed loudly in the operations room.
-This is the 1st Squad; the communication status is good.
“No issues then. We’ll send you to the operation area shortly, so if there are any problems, speak now.”
For a moment, the office was filled with muffled chatter.
Of course, it wasn’t us making the noise; it was just the sound from the 1st Squad coming through the speaker.
With five people present, it was only natural they started conversing.
-All clear.
“Then please take your seats for landing.”
With the responses of the five agents, we prepared to move to the next step.
The priority was to reach the top of the mountain and destroy the Krytienium core, so we had to land the 1st Squad at the base of the mountain.
Naturally, if it were possible to take off the ship itself… that would be the best, but with the potential for contamination from Krytienium, and since we could provide support from the air, there was no need to forcibly land the ship.
It was much easier to just send the five agents separately.
“Lindera?”
“Yes.”
The capsule carrying the 1st Squad was ready to drop at the base of the mountain.
Other agents were working below the ship too, so all we had to do from here was touch the screen and drop the capsule.
After that, we would simply command the operation through communication with the 1st Squad.
We confirmed that both the 1st Squad and capsule drop preparations were complete, and then…
-I’m dropping nowww!!!
-IWUU! Calm down, we have plenty of operations to start like this in the future.
-Naaan!!!
-Huh…. First, let’s pray…
-Here we go.
-Haah….
“….”
Honestly, seeing the five agents truly deployed into the operation was… surprisingly loud.
The agents deployed for this operation were a total of five.
Gumi, playing the tank role, Agni, attacking up front, IDUU handling a bit of central offense, Easter managing rear attacks, and Mary, who had prayed for me yesterday, were all joining the mission.
We selected them based on their roles, stats, and tendencies.
Of course, Agni was just the highest-ranking agent among those on our ship, so I arranged him.
“Until we complete the drop, let’s keep the noise down.”
“…Yes.”
The commander briefly muted the mic to say that to me.
He must have thought it was a bit noisy and that it was unnecessary to hear.
And he was right.
After dropping the capsule from mid-air, it wasn’t long before we successfully landed it.
While we said we dropped the capsule, it wasn’t just falling straight down.
Right before touching the ground, we slowed down using boosters, and we successfully made a safe landing.
“Everyone, commence deployment!”
And then, Easter’s deployment line echoed as she exited the capsule.
Immediately after, the purification operation to cleanse the contaminated mountaintop began.
To ordinary people, it might seem a bit high, and it would take a while to reach the summit, but for agents, it shouldn’t be a problem.
If there were any issues with that, there would be no reason for agents to be sent on a mission to climb the mountain.
We weren’t stupid enough to overlook something like that.
“Are those… the targets for extermination?”
“Agni~ If you go ahead like that, you might get hurt, okay~? Let Gumi take the lead!”
“I already know without you saying.”
“Sigh….”
Is it because it’s the first mission, or did they still not feel like a team at all?
Though they would likely improve as time passed.
Still, they didn’t give me the impression of being one unit.
I doubt I was the only one thinking this.
…Right?
“1st Squad, today, the leader is Easter, and during combat, follow her orders.”
-Chit….
-Understood!
-Okay~
“Oooh….”
I quietly marveled.
Honestly, she performed better than I thought!
This was the proper first mission, and she was confidently issuing orders to the 1st Squad.
Was it really just because it had been a year since she became the purification commander?
If she didn’t have that ability, there was no way she would have reached her current position.
-Encountered the enemy; prepare for combat!
And… not long after that, we ran into the wild beasts contaminated by the pollution on the mountain.
The saving grace was that since it was the mountains where the contamination occurred, the enemies were just a bunch of grotesque wild animals.
But…
“Meow…?! Is that wild boar bigger than a car?!”
“Well, it’s a contaminated creature, so that’s to be expected.”
“That’s true, but!”
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