Chapter 111 – Female Knight
It’s time for breakfast. While other members of the corps began to appear in the cafeteria to fill their hungry stomachs, only Ceres was nowhere to be seen.
It’s rare. That is why Ceres is late for meals. That’s why she muttered as Karen, who sat down with the tray, blurred her expression.
“…Ceres is late. Is she still sleeping?”
“Don’t worry. Ceres will come soon.”
Then, as if in response to Karen’s muttering, Netoru said so, and she sat down in front of Karen. Karen looked at Netoru like that and put on a puzzled expression. She wanted to know how this guy knew that.
“Are you coming soon? How do you know that.”
“Yeah, I met you earlier.”
“Ceres? Ceres didn’t come out of the room until I came to the restaurant? Where did you meet?”
Karen tilted her head. It was because he had never seen Ceres come out of the room.
Even when she knocked on the door she didn’t answer. She wondered if she was sleeping deeply, so she just gave up and came out.
But where did the man Netoru meet Ceres? That’s the guy who said he’d go to the shower right after we parted ways in the infirmary.
Of course, no matter how different the bases were stationed in, the areas for women and men were divided.
So it was strange for Netoru to know Ceres’ whereabouts.
“···Hmm.”
Seeing Karen’s puzzled gaze, Netoru shut her mouth for a moment. It seemed he was right to just pretend he didn’t know. Of course, I couldn’t bear to say that Ceres was sleeping in her room.
Ceres must have been hurriedly washing herself in the shower by now. There is no way she could come to the restaurant with the traces of her love affair the night before.
“···What. Why no answer?”
Karen, who did not know such a situation, did not ask such a difficult question, but her eyes slowly narrowed when there was no answer.
However, Netoru calmly shrugged his shoulders with an unwavering expression, and answered Karen with half truth and half lies.
“When I was just washing up, I saw Ceres enter the women’s shower.”
“···Shower room?”
“Okay. Probably, you came out of your room while you were on your way to the restaurant.”
“·······”
Toru’s answer, Karen gently narrowed her brows.
Karen intuitively sensed that Netoru was hiding something. But that doesn’t mean she bothered to dig deep into it.
So, with a dissatisfied face somewhere, she tore the bread and dipped it in the soup while eating it. Karen, who glanced at Netoru, remembered something she had been curious about since morning.
“Netoru. Can I ask you something?”
“What do you want to ask? What.”
Can I just ask this honestly?
I thought for a moment, but… What she found out anyway, Karen decided not to hide it, but to reveal it confidently.
“I heard from the infirmary that you used to be in a place called the 1st Independent Task Force?”
“···What. Did you overhear it?”
“No···. Ugh… I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on it… Really, how come?”
Netoru’s expression hardened slightly. Thanks to this, Karen wondered if she had asked for nothing, but she pursed her lips and finally mustered up the courage to ask insinuatingly.
“What is the unit doing there?”
Karen said she had asked Tohru before. What unit were you in before? But he didn’t give me any answer, saying it was a secret every time.
In that respect, the story that flowed from her infirmary was bound to become a mass of curiosity to Karen. Should I be curious about Netoru’s past?
Besides, the way she was talking to her knight, Berléans, was so serious that she couldn’t help but care more.
But at that time, it was someone other than Netoru who answered Karen’s question.
“… Karen. Don’t you know If it were you and no one else, you would have heard of the 1st Independent Task Force at least once.”
It was Natsuo’s voice. Arriving late with the tray, he naturally dragged a chair and sat down next to Karen.
“What. Natsuo, do you know something?”
“Of course. When your hometown of Warberg fell to the bugs, it was the first unit to break through the defense line.”
“···Huh? What?”
Karen’s eyes widened at Natsuo’s unexpected answer. Natsuo frowned at Karen’s reaction.
“… Karen. Did you really not know?”
“Yeah… You don’t know that Conversely, how do you know that?”
“Yeah, I saw it in the newspaper back then. If I remember correctly, it was written in the largest print on the first page. It was because of the 1st Independent Task Force that Warberg collapsed.”
“·······”
Was it written in the newspaper at the time?
Warverk collapsed and Karen had to wander along the evacuation procession for a long time, and then she eventually found herself in an orphanage in a strange city. It was Karen’s past.
So, of course, there was no way that young Karen at the time could afford to read newspapers or anything like that.
Karen carefully looked at Toru’s eyes at her unexpected information. I wondered if Netoru was in the 1st Independent Task Force at the time. Then I shouldn’t have talked about it carelessly like this.
But was that ominous intuition correct?
“… Karen. Are you from Warberg?”
As soon as her eyes met, Netoru’s heavy voice reached Karen’s ears.
And there she saw
It was the dark shadow on Netoru’s expression. When had this guy ever had such a dark expression? Unusually, Karen swallowed her saliva at those stark eyes that were intertwined with complex emotions.
Apparently, Netoru was really in the 1st Independent Task Force at the time. It was too much to call it a coincidence.
“Yeah, that’s true, but…”
“Is it···.”
A bitter smile formed on Netoru’s lips. Karen stared blankly at him, swallowing her breath at that moment.
Karen wanted to see the faces of these four Toru. She didn’t ask about the 1st Independent Task Force.
Netoru’s face, stained with guilt and sadness, was so pitiful and unfamiliar that Karen was stunned. Thanks to her, she wanted to ask for nothing, and her belated regret tormented her.
“That···. Netoru? I know roughly what you’re thinking, but I… Not really you…”
“Sorry···. I am very late.”
Karen hadn’t even finished her words. The words of Ceres, who was carrying the tray behind her, interrupted Karen.
Her words were twisted by that sudden appearance, and Karen inadvertently bit her tongue. This is bad timing. So she was at the time when Karen glanced resentfully at Ceres for no reason.
“…?”
Suddenly, Karen could sense a subtle current in Netoru and Ceres.
This is something… A strange atmosphere that is difficult to explain.
When Netoru glanced at Ceres, he slightly averted his gaze, and he began to look around, contemplating where to sit.
However, there was nowhere to sit other than the seat next to Netoru. Because the troops were already sitting elsewhere.
Netoru erased the serious expression he had just a moment ago and smiled, as if Ceres was interesting.
“… Ceres. What are you so worried about just sit next to me There’s no place to sit anyway, right?”
“Eww… That, yes, but…”
When Netoru pulled a chair next to him, Guernsey Ceres, who couldn’t bear to refuse, shook his head and sat down next to him. But for some reason, Ceres’ face was red.
What the heck is this?
Netoru’s face, which had been dark until just now, subtly brightened when Ceres appeared, as well as Ceres’ appearance of not being able to meet Netoru’s gaze…
It was when he was staring at the two of them, feeling that his heart was getting stuffy at such a sight.
Karen suddenly felt an intense gaze beside her.
Wanting something, she turned her head to see Natsuo staring at her.
“… Natsuo? Do you have something to say?”
“…No, nothing.”
Natsuo shook her head.
2.
Although Unit 393 has been stationed in the city for the past few days, the lifestyle of its commander Lien has not changed. This is because once a pattern is broken, it is difficult to reverse it. A commander must always be diligent.
······Of course, it is true that a slightly more comfortable life has continued since being stationed in the city.
While in Area 39, Rien had to be prepared to observe the movements of the bugs at all times. Even when he was sleeping, he was maintaining a close observation network with magic.
Although it is rare for bugs to move at night, it is not that there is no nighttime infiltration, so it was not once or twice that I woke up in the middle of the morning.
So it was only natural that Rien always had dark circles under her eyes. It is difficult to get proper sleep while in Area 39.
At least occasionally, if Asuna hadn’t maintained her observation net instead, she might have collapsed from exhaustion and stress.
The time is 9:03.
Rien quietly began to organize his behavior in the still unfamiliar commander’s office. Now he was because of an upcoming guest. I don’t know why, but I want to see your face.
Although it is said that he retired due to an injury, he was not a person who could treat Lien comfortably, even if he was a commander.
How long did you wait for that
“…Is it time to come soon?”
Rien, who checked the time because she wanted to be late for something, tilted her head. It was because he originally said that he would come to visit him at 9 o’clock sharp. Is there something wrong with you?
It was then that he had such thoughts. Just in time, there was a knock on the door. Did it finally come?
When Rien said it was okay to come in, the door opened and a blond man with white hair came inside.
It was Sir Boldroy of the Knights of Saint Mishar.
…Why this person?
As Rien tilted her head with a puzzled face, Lord Baldroy cleared his throat and said,
“Kuhmm… Lord Berléans asked me to speak for him. I mean, I don’t think I’ll be able to see the Commander today.”
“Yes? Did something happen to you?”
“···That is. He sprained his back during sparring.”
“···Yes?”
Dalian? Waist?
Rien, not understanding the situation, tilted her head.
