Chapter 435 – Acceptance
〈You say you won’t abandon your colleagues? You fought so hard about this earlier, and now you’re abandoning him? 〉
Cosmos scoffed at my quick decision as if it were absurd.
‘Hmm… Even if opinions sometimes differ, beliefs must be respected.’
〈What is respect? .〉
No matter what Cosmos said, my mentality did not waver.
And in the first place, Zaid does not fall into the category of my colleagues. It’s funny to say he’s a colleague even though we’ve only known each other for a few hours.
“Linette, I’m saying this out of fear of misunderstanding, but I’m not saying this because I have any particularly bad feelings toward Zaid.”
“Ah… Yes…”
Lynette seems still bewildered by the reality of me, the person who saved her, mercilessly abandoning Zaid.
〈You kept it in your heart, right? 〉
‘Uh huh… Cosmos, are you looking at me like such a narrow-minded person?!’
〈 Yes! 〉
Fortunately, Cosmos’ opinion doesn’t matter.
But Lynette’s opinion is important.
I felt the need to convince Lynette.
“Linette. Would Zaid be happy if we told him we were going to rescue him?”
“Yes? Well, that’s…”
Lynette also heard what Zaid said on the transport ship. Therefore, we cannot say categorically that he will be happy.
“He always said.”
I saw it for the first time today.
“During your mission, you must make cool decisions under any circumstances. There must be no setbacks in your mission! One small mistake can cause damage to the entire Rebellion!”
This is what Zaid was claiming while spitting inside the transport ship just before.
“Linette and Zaid will hope that we proceed as planned.”
“Well, still…”
Linette’s remaining conscience seemed to be holding her back.
‘Linette, has this guy forgotten that he was abandoned by Zaid just a short time ago?’
It’s not old either.
Less than a few hours have passed.
Still, I was hesitating.
I felt the need to be somewhat strict with this tiger.
“Private Lynette!”
“Yes? Yes!”
Lynette took an immobile stance toward me, who could be said to be her junior.
As expected, it is an unusually ostentatious thing.
“Linette, don’t be swayed by pity. Things like this often happen during missions!” Said Zaid. Are you going to blaspheme his beliefs?!”
“Oh, no!”
“I finally realized it.”
It was a timely realization.
“There is truth in what he said! Zaid said that in times like these, we should not get caught up in personal feelings. If the mission succeeds without a hitch, Zaid will be happy and accept the current situation. This can even be exchanged for Zaid’s death. It is also a belief that does not exist!”
〈Have I never said that it is a belief that cannot be changed even by death? .〉
“… I see, that’s right.”
Lynette seemed to be somewhat convinced.
“And…”
“…?”
“Linette, my honest feelings are that I don’t want to drag you into danger.”
At the end, I added a spoonful of sentiment.
“Bah, Bark…”
Lynette nodded quietly, as if my sentimentality was okay.
We gave up on Zaid, who didn’t come, and headed to the transport ship. Lynette kept looking back and following me, probably because she still had some regrets.
*
*
*
The transport ship begins to slowly rise.
The cargo compartment door is slowly rising and closing.
In the end, Zaid did not arrive until it was time for the transport ship to take off.
“After all, he was a good Rebellion member who sacrificed himself to protect his beliefs.”
〈Are you already treating me as a dead person? 〉
“…”
You can at least tell a good story to a dead person. There was also a small fight with him. With a big heart, I decided to let go of my feelings for him.
“Linette… Let’s meditate.”
“Yes… Sniff…”
Lynette, who was next to me, seemed to be feeling weak and had tears in her eyes.
I can’t believe I only lost one comrade…
I am worried about how I will get through the difficult life of Rebellion in the future.
It was when we were honoring Zayd’s soul.
-Tooong!!
There was a sound of something hitting the hull strongly.
“Aaaaah!”
Linette was startled by the sound and hit her butt.
A finger was seen hanging over the half-open door.
Then, a black, round helmet comes up.
The helmet was half broken.
Through the gap, I could see the face of a pale man.
“Now, Mr. Zaid?!”
Lynette, seeing that face, shouted in surprise.
Zaid pushed her body through the crack in her door and rolled into her.
“Now, Mr. Zaid… Are you okay?”
Zaid ignored Lynette, who was worried about him, and stumbled and fell into a chair in the corner of the transport.
“Whoop! Whoop…”
He was breathing heavily.
The helmet was half shattered… And his battle suit was torn in various places.
It seems that he ate some Jjambap and somehow succeeded in persistently escaping and finally got on board.
‘Tsk… Why are you going to live like this…’
I decided to hide my regrets and acknowledge his survival with a wide heart.
“Hmm… You don’t think we abandoned you, do you? After thinking about it, I think your advice makes sense, so we retreated as planned.”
Lynette lowered her head and looked at Zaid’s thoughts, feeling guilty for some reason.
“Huuuuu of she her… She did a good job.”
“Are you really okay? I thought I heard teeth grinding… No way! You, who abandoned Lynette, aren’t going to be angry about this, are you?”
“… I said no.”
“Then that means Lynette and I’s judgment was right.”
“… That’s right.”
After hearing Zaid’s confirmation, I decided to comfort Lynette, who was a little cowered.
“See? Lynette. There’s no need to feel unnecessary guilt towards Zaid. Didn’t he say this too? Our choice was the right one.”
For some reason, Zaid was still glaring at me with sharp eyes after I accepted his words.
Although there were many incidents, the mission itself was successful without a hitch.
I guess they are doing a good job of rescuing slaves that other teams are doing.
Whether to save it or not… It was none of my business… But…
Now all that was left was to return.
Zaid did not say a word during his return. It was still low pressure.
He didn’t have a good complexion either.
It seems like he suffered internal injuries.
Of course, that’s not the only reason.
I think he’s still thinking about abandoning himself.
I did the same thing I did to Lynette and that’s what happened.
He was a scruffier guy than I thought.
It seems that human introversion cannot be helped.
Above all, I learned once again that people should not speak carelessly.
I don’t think Zaid’s evaluation of me will be that good.
Bark is a man not fit for duty, wouldn’t he sound the same?
The transport ship returned to the intermediate base in Spartenver. And then we boarded the sealed van that first brought us here and headed to Zephia.
The driverless van dropped us off at the Zeppia Station parking lot.
As soon as Zaid got off at the parking lot, she stumbled and disappeared somewhere without even saying goodbye to us.
I called my car with my smartphone.
Soon, a luxurious car that was somewhere in the parking lot gently came and stopped in front of me.
“Shall I give you a ride home?”
I asked Lynette who was next to me.
It’s not like I’m driving. Even though her house was a bit far away, it wasn’t a huge burden.
“Oh, no.”
I don’t think I’m just saying this out of politeness.
He is involved in a secret organization called Rebellion, and although we have only met for a day, he may be reluctant to know about his home.
I didn’t have the desire to forcefully burn someone who didn’t like it.
“Well, thank you for your hard work today. I hope to see you again next time.”
Except for Zayed.
After saying goodbye, I was about to get in the car.
“Bah, Bark!”
Lynette urgently called me.
“Huh?”
When I turned my head, Lynette’s face came closer.
-Side!
I felt the touch of soft lips on my cheek.
“Oh, thank you so much for saving me today!”
After kissing my cheek, Lynette immediately bowed her head in embarrassment and quickly turned her back and ran away.
I thought he was timid, but surprisingly he had a bold side.
It’s fresh and cute.
Looking at her back, today’s hard work was worth it.
Lynette doesn’t look that old.
Looking at his actions, I think he might be around 100 years old.
He may be older than me, but anyway, based on the documents here, I’m probably older.
When she returned home in good spirits after receiving a kiss from Lynette, she could see the three beauties sprawled out on the sofa.
They were watching something like television news.
“Master. I heard you went on a Rebellion mission?”
“Well… That’s right.”
“Well then, look at this.”
Suni points to a huge television screen showing news.
“… Hmm?”
The television was showing a somewhat familiar scene.
‘That’s…’
A dome-shaped building located in a quiet forest.
It was the magic power plant where I did the Rebellion mission.
『Rebellion, which was said to realize justice by liberating slaves, has finally revealed its true colors. Could it be that they had no choice in the end when faced with a refined magic stone with astronomical value? Due to this incident, their slogan also lost its power… The public security office is taking this seriously… This is Oliver, JNN News, at the scene of the theft of the Debodu magic attribute power plant and refined magic stones.』〈 Br〉
“…”
