Chapter 434 – Decision
The atmosphere on board cooled down due to Zaid’s nagging bombardment.
“Now, Mr. Zaid…”
“Lynette, that’s not what I told you.”
Zaid stopped Lynette who tried to intervene.
Linette flinched at Zaid’s firm attitude and kept her mouth shut.
“I’m sorry…”
“…?”
Zaid looked puzzled at my first words, which seemed to be an innocent apology.
This guy looks like he ate something wrong.
In some ways, it seemed like he was embarrassed because he didn’t know I would come out like this.
“Did you know I was going to say…?”
“… What?”
Zaid’s face hardened at my subsequent fake apology.
“It is a big mistake to think that you can change my mind with your ladylike nagging. No matter what you say, if the same situation happens, I will save Lynette.”
“Bah, Lord Bark.”
Lynette must have been moved by my words, as she looked at me with wide eyes.
Linnet and Zayd.
It is clear whose favor we need to win.
And even if I give Zaid favor, I don’t get him.
“And wasn’t Lynette in danger because you didn’t prepare for the Predator to come out in the first place? So you could say this is your fault. I can’t thank you… Tsk tsk. Since you’re blaming others like that… You’re gold. Well… No, I wasn’t able to become a good leader.”
Zaid looked like he was going to explode, probably because he thought he was being teased by me.
“… Are you saying that? I don’t understand how someone like you was put on a mission like this. I will report this to my superiors.”
“I’ll tell my mom too, but? You were talking about the evaluation earlier… Could it be that you were a mama’s boy? You decide whether you tell it or not.”
“What…?”
Zaid’s face is distorted.
I must have touched something, so I could feel the flow of magical power.
‘… Is it really Mama’s Boy?’
An atmosphere of immediacy.
It seems like they’re trying to scare me by saying I’ll report it to the higher-ups… But I’m not sure what the serious meaning of that is.
Unlike other people, I probably have a weaker sense of belonging to Rebellion.
In the first place, Zaid did not seem to be a person with great influence in Rebellion.
And I had support.
Claire and Cowra.
They said they weren’t high-ranking executives, but still… I thought they might be better than Zaid, who wipes the backs of new recruits.
What kind of trouble could possibly happen?
At most, it would be mission exclusion.
“Now, Mr. Zaid, calm down. It’s all my fault! I still have a mission left, but if you two act like this…”
Lynette was feeling restless, probably thinking that this situation had happened because of her.
“Tsk…”
In the end, Zaid gave up on Lynette’s intervention, and she sat down far away from me.
When Zaid seemed to have calmed down somewhat, Lynette noticed and carefully sat down next to me.
Lynette was sullen.
“Don’t be too downcast. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I comforted Lynette by gently patting her head.
“Yes…”
Zaid, who saw the affectionate appearance of Linette and I, twitched her lips as if she wanted to say something, but she soon closed her eyes tightly and gave off a chilly atmosphere.
*
*
*
In the cold atmosphere, the transport ship moved steadily without notice.
“… Linette, you are familiar with your mission, right?”
As the time came for her to carry out her mission, Zaid finally opened her mouth.
“Yes? Yes!”
“Change the strategy a bit. Lynette, move with Bark this time.”
“Yes…”
Lynette, who heard Zaid’s instructions, was startled and answered sullenly. I think it’s probably because he doesn’t trust himself and thinks he’s sending it away with me.
Or maybe you don’t trust me.
Maybe… It could be both.
Zaid only gave Linette those instructions and shut her up.
He doesn’t even look at me.
It is treated as a person who does not exist.
Either that or not.
The man could barely get by with that.
The transport ship arrived at its destination, and we moved to the operation location in an uncomfortable atmosphere.
And we were able to find a power plant of the same type as before.
『Going in.』
Me and Lynette as a group.
Zaid is alone.
They moved towards the power plant in different directions.
It was the moment when I was trying to enter by climbing over the wall of the power plant site.
An alarm went off.
Not on our side.
It was Zayd’s side.
Rather than a mistake, it seemed like he was trying to attract the aggro that I had originally been in charge of.
It wasn’t that dangerous.
In the first place, the security robots’ weapons themselves could not pierce not only the pit bull I rode, but even the battle suits worn by Lynette and Zaid.
If it weren’t for the Predator, it would have been a mission without any risk in the first place.
Lynette flexibly jumped over the fence.
This time, I didn’t break it, but followed her and calmly climbed over her fence.
Several security robots and drones are coming towards us.
“Ignore it and run!”
Lynette shouted at me and headed toward the power plant building, ignoring the bullets fired by the security robots and drones.
Even though I was a little tempted by the magic stone safe, I decided to quietly listen to Lynette this time.
Next to the tightly closed metal door, Lynette sticks something on the lock pad, and the door to the building opens.
A hallway appeared that was large enough for a pit bull to enter.
Lynette ran ahead as if she was used to it.
I also followed after her.
There were no special obstacles inside the power plant building, except for drones that appeared occasionally.
It didn’t seem like there was such strict security.
We stopped at the entrance to the stairs leading to the basement.
The entrance was too narrow for a pit bull to enter.
It seemed difficult to get in unless I got off the pitbull.
“Please leave this to me!”
“Are you okay alone?”
“It’s no problem. I think you can protect this place, Bark. I’ll finish it soon and come up.”
As Lynette said, I decided to guard her entrance and wait for her.
He said there were dangerous Predators roaming around outside and not inside the lab, so I thought I could trust him.
“Then, I’ll do as you say. If anything dangerous happens, tell me right away.”
“Yes!”
Lynette responded vigorously and threw her body into the stairs leading to the basement.
-Doo doo doo doo.
Security robots and drones approach me from behind, shooting electric bullets at me.
The bullet hit the pitbull’s armor hard, but it also did no damage.
The pitbull’s thigh area opened, and a large pistol popped out. I picked it up and started a gunfight with the security robots.
– Tung. Tung. Tung.
The bullet fired with a heavy sound hits the security robot, generating a powerful electric current.
I don’t know if it has EMP properties or if it’s because of the strong electric shock, but the effect of falling over wasn’t bad.
As we engaged in a gunfight without any sense of danger… At some point, the security robots and drones that were flooding in began to stop working.
And then I heard Zaid’s radio call.
『The joining location has been sent. I hope to arrive within 5 minutes.』
The joining location was displayed on the display map, and less than a minute later, Lynette came up from the underground.
“We succeeded. Let’s retreat!”
It seemed like the mission would be completed without incident, but when we left the power plant building, we saw a familiar mechanical weapon with several long legs.
“Predator…”
Lynette’s voice trembled, perhaps because she remembered being chased not long ago.
“Linette, is this something called a Predator something you often see?”
“That can’t be possible… If that were the case, there’s no way they would have sent just enough people on this mission.”
This time, the Predator appeared even though I didn’t unlock the power plant magic stone.
‘Wasn’t it my fault after all?’
〈Is that really so? Wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that this situation occurred because of what happened at the power plant? 〉
‘Cosmos, don’t you know the principle of presumption of innocence?’
Everything is just Cosmos’ speculation, and I can still be said to be innocent.
“Uh, what should I do?”
“How can I…”
I’d like to fight him with pure pit bull power, but I don’t have time.
The pit bull was strengthened with magical power and rushed towards the Predator.
The Predator’s legs nimbly shoot towards me. The pit bull’s body was lifted into the air to avoid the man’s legs.
-Boom!
The tip of the Predator’s awl-like leg gets stuck in the ground.
I used that leg as a stepping stone and headed towards its body.
The other legs flexibly wriggled and shot at the pit bull.
-Boom boom!
The Pitbull reached the Predator’s torso, lightly repelling the attacking legs with its already hardened fists.
At some point, the pit bull had a knife in her hand.
The knife dug into the Predator’s fuselage. And the ultra-high temperature flames that spewed out from the tip of his sword stirred the Predator’s insides.
-Gigi Geek!!
The Predator, who was creaking and emitting hot steam from all over, lost strength in his legs and sat down.
“Like before… How on earth did you do it? You took out the Predator with just a pit bull knife…”
Lynette, who saw me dealing with the Predator so lightly, asked in bewilderment.
“It’s confidential.”
“Well, it was confidential.”
Lynette nodded her head cautiously, as if she really believed what I was just saying.
After quickly dispatching the Predator, we headed to the rendezvous point.
Zaid was not yet visible at the joining location.
I waited for Zaid with Linette.
“…”
Even though it was the appointed time, he did not show up.
『Zayd. What are you doing?』
I radioed Zaid, who did not appear.
‘No way, this narrow-minded guy didn’t go to the transport ship first.’
『Crackling…』
Noise was heard from Zaid’s radio.
“…”
Somehow… I feel like deja vu…
“Bah, Mr. Bark… Is this?!”
I can hear the tension in Lynette’s voice, as if she was thinking the same thing.
What if there wasn’t just one Predator?
Maybe the Predator went to Zaid’s side as well.
“Hmm… This… It’s really unfortunate. But there’s nothing we can do. We… Head to the transport ship as originally planned.”
“… Yes?”
Lynette’s confused voice returned to my unfortunate decision.
