LIGHTNOVELSTORY “Alright, Angelica, Veronica, and Rott, Blau. Make sure you come back safe and sound. If anything happens, always keep in touch.”
“I’ll do my best not to let the Commander’s expectations down!”
“Hehe! Leave it to us! It’ll be a piece of cake!”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
The agents bid farewell in front of the ship.
The nun sisters Angelica and Veronica, along with the fox-eared Rott and Blau, were set to head out, which is why they came out like this.
Of course, Midori and Dolores were busy working in the office.
“Once you reach there, Angelica, you’ll be acting squad leader.”
“Understood.”
“For now, I won’t have you doing anything too dangerous. It’d probably be something like civilian control, no direct combat. Have a good trip.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Leave it to us!”
“Alright, time to board.”
Hearing the Commander’s words, the four agents got into the autonomous vehicle.
Some might have been regular cars, but this one was just convenient, hence the support.
It would take time to get to area 06 anyway, and it was much more comfortable not having to drive directly.
“I’ll be back~!!!”
Blau poked her head out the window, vigorously waving her arms while we waved back softly.
Meanwhile, the nun sisters started lecturing her to be careful and put her head back in.
Well… it’s a relief that they seemed to be getting along at the start.
At least it was better than a chilly atmosphere.
“We’ve resolved one issue, at least.”
“Yeah, but now we’ll be busy with another operation.”
“Well, it can’t be helped. The Commander seems to really want to enrich our ship.”
“Not like he’s given hints about it.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
He hadn’t hinted but had mentioned it a few times.
Honestly, I also wanted our ship to improve.
If the ship got better, the working environment would improve too, and we could install more things onboard.
Plus, it’d make it possible to send out more agents for external assignments.
“By the way, what do you think about Dolores?”
“She seems to be doing her job well.”
“That’s right. At least she’s certainly better than when the Commander first started working.”
“Well, wasn’t that his first time doing such tasks? She seems to have some experience with it.”
As the Commander said, Dolores adapted to her work surprisingly easily.
It didn’t seem like she was just wearing the maid outfit for show; she genuinely had some experience in that area.
“I thought we recruited her because she could handle that much.”
“That’s true.”
“Isn’t the workload for you and Midori lighter compared to before?”
“Definitely. Since a few days ago, I’ve been able to sleep earlier even at night.”
The Commander said that, but honestly, nothing had changed much. I still had to wake him up personally every morning, and during work hours, I was still helping him out!
“We should head back now. Midori is probably being noisy waiting inside.”
“Yeah, that wind was enough.”
The support squad, now distant and fading from sight, had truly vanished.
We turned around and headed back into the ship.
From now on, we’d surely be busier with many operations ahead.
So, we needed to handle our tasks as efficiently as possible.
If, while being busy with operations, other tasks got in the way, it’d clearly be a trouble.
*
“Dolores? What are you doing?”
“I’ve finished all my work. I’m just trying to take a little break now.”
“Oh… isn’t it uncomfortable? To be exercising right next to me?”
“Not at all! In fact, this spot is pretty comfortable!”
“Hmm.”
The Commander was intensely focused on writing a report while I was working, too.
But the issue was this maid exercising all of a sudden next to the Commander.
“Huh… Cha….”
“…….”
Why on earth is the maid doing squats while wearing that outfit?
It was absurd why she would do that right next to the Commander.
She could’ve done it anywhere else, but here?
“…Dolores.”
“Yes?”
“Do you need a gym inside the ship…?”
“No? I think it’s fine to do it here?”
“…….”
What is she thinking?
I seriously felt like she’d gone crazy from working in the office.
“Ha…!”
“Ha….”
I just couldn’t understand why she was acting like that next to the Commander.
She had been doing squats alone in the office!
It wasn’t like she was some gym freak, and now she’s thrusting her rear right next to him—it all made zero sense.
She hadn’t acted this way at all just the day before.
“Commander. Can I have a word….”
“?”
I moved closer to whisper in his ear.
The office atmosphere felt off!
We were just doing our jobs, and one team member near us was doing gymnastics!
Isn’t this odd?
“What’s up with that? What is she suddenly doing here in the office?”
I whispered into the Commander’s ear.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t she just exercising normally?”
“…That’s not it.”
There was no reason for her to pull that stunt all of a sudden.
Especially with her backside facing the Commander.
If I had to guess the reason? There was really only one.
It was that the Commander had some strange thoughts.
“Anyone can see she’s doing that on purpose.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep…. Isn’t it obvious…?”
Is he really that clueless?
Anyone could tell she was doing it deliberately to get his attention, and for him not to notice was unfathomable.
Is he really that stupid?
No, watching him handle his tasks, it seemed like he had an appropriate brain.
“Midori is working right next to you; how about you stop that? It’s distracting.”
“Got it.”
“Phew….”
He thankfully listened to me.
What a relief.
It was just absurd he didn’t realize she was clearly trying to get his attention.
“Ha….”
“Dolores, how about sitting down for a bit? I get that you finished up, but… it’s still work time, isn’t it?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“Let’s save exercising for later.”
“Yes.”
Sitting quietly… surprisingly, contrary to expectations, she just returned to her seat without doing anything.
If she was going to behave like this, she should’ve stopped much earlier.
*
“Hmm… should we create a gym on the ship?”
“…….”
Could she really think what she was doing next to me was proper exercise?
For a moment it struck me as weird, but I remembered that sometimes she could be quite a ditzy person.
“Commander, do you really think Dolores is doing this just to exercise?”
“What are you saying? If not, then why would she be doing that next to me?”
“Ha…. Seriously…. Sometimes I feel like you’re completely hopeless.”
He looked nothing like someone who could charm women, but here he was, responding like this…
“Ha….”
“Why are you sighing again?”
“It’s nothing…. Just a minor issue.”
After finishing work, dining, and then returning to my personal quarters was quite a frustrating journey.
Well, is it good or bad?
At least it meant he wasn’t the type to pursue women and fool around.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand why he was this clueless.
But perhaps he genuinely had some issues when it came to handling women…?
“Commander.”
“What is it?”
“…Nothing much.”
I wondered if he genuinely had a problem, but for now… I refrained from saying anything since it felt like the wrong moment.
He wasn’t simply your average guy, either.
“And by the way, creating a space for exercising inside the ship doesn’t sound like a terrible idea.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I thought it would be good while watching Dolores today. Doesn’t it sound nice?”
“…….”
What are we even talking about?
Suddenly proposing to create a gym made zero sense to me.
I couldn’t comprehend why the maid would shake her behind at the first encounter with a man and then the Commander thought it would be a good idea to build a gym off that?
In fact, among the team working in the office, wasn’t I and Midori the only sane ones?
This was just absurd.
“Are you serious about doing that?”
“Well, since we’ll be going on many operations now, we’ll be getting some funding too, don’t you think? I don’t see why not.”
“…If the Commander thinks it should be done, then I guess we have no choice.”
As the Vice Commander, I had to play along with the Commander’s nonsense, I suppose.
Besides, if the Commander spent weekdays sitting and working, then only gaming on weekends, he’d surely end up wrecking his health.
Of course, though he looked pretty fit, standing tall and quite hardened, he still seemed to fit the “not fatty” category.