chapter 45
45. Philance Yellow’s Mission Log 5
“Personally, I’m more interested in the fact that you two, who live in the same base but hardly ever talk, were having a casual conversation like high school girls on their lunch break. What kind of topic could you have been discussing that made you forget my summons?”
Even though the three of us, the heroes and the doctor, had finally gathered, the doctor showed no sign of tension and began to make small talk.
“We were talking about Sora-kun.”
Uguisu-neesan answered instead of me, who was wondering if it was okay to say.
“About Sora-kun?”
“Yes, we became a couple, so I was reporting it to Kuchiba-san.”
“….”
Huh? The doctor’s face is weird. Is it not a good thing for teammates to be in a relationship? I don’t really know the reason, but I’ve heard that clubs and companies have rules against dating within the same department or division . Maybe there’s something inconvenient about us fighting with the power of love.
After a brief and awkward slightly silence, the doctor turned to me.
“I see. That’s wonderful news. Is Himawari happy about it?”
“Huh, me?”
Why is he asking me? Uguisu-neesan was the one talking just now.
“Of course I’m happy. I love Sora-nii, so I’m happy if he’s happy.”
“I see. Himawari is a kind sister.”
“Don’t say strange things all of a sudden…”
I don’t know why, but I was being praised. I’m not happy to be praised by anyone other than my brother, but if I’m being praised as ‘my brother’s sister’, then I don’t mind.
“Well, I don’t appreciate you keeping such an important matter a secret from me, your superior. Next time, I want you to report to me personally, Sora-kun.”
Hmm, so even the doctor didn’t know. That’s a bit of a relief.
“Well then, we don’t have time for idle chatter. Did you check your email? We’ll be deploying together this time.”
“Ah, yes. It’s quite far.”
This time, we’re deploying to another prefecture. It would take at least two hours by train to get to the vicinity of the destination. And it’s deep in the mountains.
“The accident site is a pharmaceutical plant and research facility. It was caused by a power outage due to lightning and a landslide due to heavy rain.”
The doctor read the details succinctly while looking at his tablet.
“The landslide didn’t cause any direct damage, but falling rocks caused part of the factory to collapse, damaging the waste liquid tank and the water purification system. Due to the power outage, the system is down and emergency measures cannot be taken. Part of the building has also collapsed, making it impossible for the people inside the research facility to enter. We won’t know the details until we get to the scene.”
“Um, so someone is trapped in the collapsed area?”
“No, the safety of the people working at the facility has been confirmed. However, with the water purification system out of operation, harmful waste liquid that has accumulated in the tank is leaking outside. Himawari, I need you to stop that physically first .”
I realized as I listened to him that this mission felt different from our usual ones.
“Is that something we need to hurry for?”
Our mission is basically to prioritize human life. Our usual work involves rescuing people who are waiting for help to prevent further casualties. We’ve never helped out a factory in trouble before because it’s half-collapsed. The reason for this is simple: problems that don’t immediately threaten life can be solved by human hands if given time.
“There’s a river flowing beneath this factory, and it’s raining right now. The natural pollution damage caused by the leaked waste liquid will be significant, so our mission this time is to minimize that as much as possible.”
“Is my job to neutralize what has already leaked out?”
“That’s right, Uguisu.”
Neutralize!? I’ve never seen Uguisu-onee-chan’s hero weapon, but can it do something that convenient? That’s amazing.
“And, Himawari, I’m sure you’re wondering, but this dispatch request came from our hero activity sponsor. You may think that it’s not something that should be prioritized because it doesn’t directly involve human life, but it’s a crisis for the people who support our daily lives. You may not be enthusiastic about it, but please accept it.”
Sponsor. I see, so that’s how it is.
Hero activity is generally considered a charitable cause, but the repair costs for hero suits, salaries, our living expenses, and the doctor’s research expenses are not something that can be done entirely on a volunteer basis. After all, even this large hero base wasn’t ‘t built by hand, so we must have borrowed external help in various ways.
Doctor Gentana is the one who handles all those negotiations. He’s in charge of everything outside of hero activities, such as communication with disaster areas, information gathering, our salaries and living support, and the improvement of hero suits. There’s no doubt that we heroes are able to live ordinary lives without revealing our identities thanks to the doctor working on our behalf.
In other words, the doctor is our doctor, commander, manager, and president.
The doctor doesn’t say it, but this pharmaceutical factory may also be one of the places where they’re secretly conducting research related to us. Even if it doesn’t become a big deal right away, if the research institute is exposed through water quality surveys or something, it could affect our activities. This mission is probably necessary for us to continue our activities more comfortably.
“Of course, I have no intention of refusing the mission. Besides, if we leave it alone, diseases and such might spread, right?”
Even if I can’t help anyone, if it’s a mission that supports hero activities, my brother might be a little happy.
“Ah, if we don’t resolve this quickly, there’s a possibility that it could cause environmental problems in the future. Since they’re handling such dangerous substances, be careful when you’re on the scene, Himawari.”
“Yes, sir. Leave it to me. Are we done talking now? Shouldn’t we hurry? Uguisu-onee-chan, hurry up and get changed.”
“Y-yes!”
It’s a bit of an irregular mission, but if I cooperate with Uguisu-onee-chan, we should be able to manage. I’ll get my brother to praise me when it’s over. And I have to congratulate him on his marriage.
I took Uguisu-onee-chan’s hand and left the monitor room.
“Hmm? Himawari and Uguisu seemed to be on bad terms, so I called them in before the deployment, but they seem to have become friendly. But husband and wife… Sora-kun. What on earth did you do?”