[3] Chapter 01: The One Who Hold The Scales
Chapter 01: The One Who Hold The Scales
Berun, the capital of the principality of Wiltia was designed with the royal palace at its center, and the government offices situated around it, like planets around the sun.
One of the facilities closest to the royal palace was central military headquarters.
The top-ranking official at central headquarters... No, in the whole Wiltian army, is in the deepest chamber within the headquarters.
Today, Sophia was standing in front of the door to this room.
"Sophia von Rundstadt reflorting... I mean... reporting!"
She was so nervous that she stumbled over her words.
"Enter."
The man behind the door answered her.
Sophia usually kicked open doors as she knocked.
It didn't matter if the door led to the division commander who was her immediate superior, or to the colonel who was the chief of the Weapons Development Bureau.
Her character and intensity were so strong they defied hierarchy.
"Yes, Sir! Excuse me!"
But the man inside this room was special.
Sophia carefully turned the doorknob and entered the room in silence. If her subordinates and superior officers had seen, they would have stared in shock.
"Sorry, Hold on sec. I'm just reaching the climax."
The man before her was impervious to her overwhelming presence and fearsome glare, known as the Dragon Slayer.
Elvin Lior was a marshal of the Principality of Wiltia.
He was the commander-in-chief of all soldiers.
"S-Sure! No problem!"
Sophia saluted tensely like a fresh recruit at military academy.
There were piles of reports and other documents spread around the room.
They were stacked so high that Sophia had to walk carefully to avoid knocking them over, even though the marshal's office was spacious, in line with his rank.
There were many matters awaiting his attention and approval.
"Hmm... My apologies. At ease."
Elvin returned her salute and urged Sophia, who was frozen in salute, to lower her arm.
As he sat at his desk with legs splayed. Elvin was reading a novel rather than classified military reports.
"Wow... That was wonderful!"
Elvin closed the book with an air of satisfaction.
He carefully placed the paperback into a drawer as if showing respect to the author, whose name, according to the cover, was Mary Clarissa. Then he turned to face Sophia once more.
"How rude of me when it was I who summoned you. Sophia forgive me. This author's new novel was most interesting. I was engrossed in reading it."
"No, it's my fault for arriving earlier than scheduled. Um..."
Elvin raised this palms to tell Sophia, who was fumbling words, to calm down. Then he suggested that she sit on the sofa.
"Don't be nervous. If the famous Devil's Black Spear were to cower before me, I could brag to my eldest boy, but it makes it uncomfortable for us to talk."
Sophia remembered that Elvin was in his mid-forties.
His noble features made him look younger. His warm smile resembled that of any merry gentlemen you might see around the city.
But Sophia knew about the marshal.
During the Great European War, many soldiers earned the moniker of hero, and Sophia was one of them.
But Elvin was considered a hero of a completely different kind.
Normally, the measure of a military hero was skill in fighting, and that was determined by the number of battles that warrior had survived.
Elvin was the reason that Wiltia's army was victorious in the most recent war. He had served as a hero of strategy for that ten-year war.
His fame was widespread, and he was admired as the wisest general in history, and as a strategic god. The opposing nation of August deemed him an enemy of the state. In the Greyten Empire, soldiers were so frightened that he was a god or a demon that it was necessary to declare in the queen's name that he was human.
Sophia wouldn't tremble before Elvin if he were just famous.
This man had mastered the path that she, as a soldier, struggled and risked her life to walk, and she was in awe of him.
"I called you here today in relation to your current duties."
"My duties... Do you mean guarding the Weapons Development Bureau?"
The Royal Weapons Development Bureau was located northeast of the royal palace, and was responsible for the creation of the Hunter Units, the weapon behind the Principality of Wiltia's victory.
The Bureau was also the lair of an extraordinary scientist and mechanical genius named Daian Fortuner, who was referred to as a sorcerer.
"Am I being transferred to central headquarters?"
"Huh?"
"F-Finally, I'll be free of that pervert! Good thing I submitted that request!"
Forgetting her former tension, Sophia shot to her feet and openly display her joy.
"Oh... sorry. That isn't what this is about."
"Huh? It isn't?"
Sophia was so disheartened that she almost dropped to her knees.
"About your request... I'm sorry, but it was denied. We would be in trouble if you didn't continue to tend that scientist."
"But why me?!"
Sophia was threatening... No, she was begging him, nearly in tears. Elvin gestured for her to calm down.
He stood up and poured lukewarm tea from a heat retention pot in a corner of the room and handed the teacup to Sophia.
"Oh... thanks."
"Do you really hate him that much?"
"I am soldier, so I cannot reveal such private opinions."
As a soldier, mixing private feelings and duty was strictly prohibited, so she could not answer his question.
"Forget about that and just tell me."
"No, I..."
Elvin asked again as Sophia sought for words.
"As a marshal, I order you. Tell me."
"I have an instinctive dislike for him!"
Soldiers must obey orders no matter how they feel.
As soon as she had received the order, Sophia spoke as if a dam had broken.
"I hate his face, his voice even his breath! And the pompous superficial way he talks! When I ask what time it is, why can't he answer without dancing, too? It makes me want to clout him a good one! But I can't, so it really ticks me off!"
"Oh... really?"
The force with which Sophia spat out her pent-up frustration overwhelmed even the mighty hero, Elvin.
"What is he thinking?! What isn't he thinking!? Instead of simply telling me, he drops 49 hints! And I get annoyed when he chuckles and looks at me in confusion! I bet if I used his face for target practice, I'd score a perfect hit rate!"
"Oh I see... Um... uh..."
Elvin regretted asking her what she thought of Daian Fortuner.
Sophia hated everything about Daian. But there was a reason for that.
His true nature awakened in Sophia-as a soldier and as a woman-a strong, instinctive feeling of dislike and distrust.
"It's like..."
Sophia stopped before speaking.
It was like Daian was observing humans but was himself inhuman.
Daian always watched people innocently, but as if he were scrutinizing an ant colony in a terrarium.
Around him, Sophia grew confused and felt as if she had become an ant... but no.
She felt as if the whole human race were no more than insects to him.
It was an eerie, frightening feeling.
"Like what?"
Elvin questioned Sophia, who had gone silent and stiff.
She realized that her feelings were nonsensical.
"Oh, nothing. In any case, I'm frustrated at how irresponsible he is. The other day, maybe because he was bored, he sang what he called 'The Bored Song' and danced 'The Bored Dance', which he had composed and choreographed himself."
It had been so annoying that she had praised her self-control for restraining the urge to punch and kick him.
"Bored... He's bored. huh? That's not good."
Elvin frowned.
"Sir, um, is that a problem?"
"When Daian Fortuner has time to kill, it's a dangerous sign."
Elvin sighed and peered at a map of the royal capital and vicinity.
"Have you heard of the Schutzstaffel?"
"Of course! What about them?"
The Schutzstaffel were troops that protected the Principality of Wiltia's royal palace.
But that was only until the Great War ended.
After the Great European War, Wiltia proposed the establishment of a Society of Nations.
Nominally, its purpose was to create everlasting peace so that a world war never occurred again, but actually it was a means for the victorious nations to preserve the various interests and lands they had acquired. The winners of the war wanted to ensure they wouldn't lose should hostilities ever break again.
As a first step, military reduction was proposed for each nation, and in order to lead other member nations, Wiltia was the first to begin shrinking its military, It reduced its military budget and the number of its soldiers by 30 percent.
"Winning the war means we gained territory both on land and at sea. We have a broader area to protect, but our budget and military force have decreased in size."
Elvin sighed at the absurdity.
"As a result, other nations-both allies and enemies-agreed to reduce their militaries as well, and to redirect the revenue into social welfare, thereby benefitting the citizenry, who had suffered during the war."
Two years had passed since the Great War ended. It had left behind much destruction, even in the victorious nation of Wiltia.
A few months ago, Sophia had experienced that destruction herself.
"I heard you took in child soldiers from Defairedead."
"?!"
Elvin words surprised Sophia.
They were war orphans from Pelfe, a key culprit in that incident.
Partially due to Lud's pleading, Sophia had given protection to children pressed into service by the enemy nation of Greyten, in an almshouse in the Rundstadt family's domain.
"Don't worry. I'm not criticizing you. It's just unusual for you to give anyone special treatment. By rights, the principality should have done that."
The almshouse was a big improvement over the facility where the child soldiers previously lived, which had been like a jail.
The almshouse provided boarding, meals, education and job training. It was a rehabilitation facility that would prepare the children for returning to society instead of to the life of crime caused by poverty.
Their freedom was limited for a time, but at least they could lead a better life than they would have in jail with adult criminals.
"It's better to use the funds saved through reduced military costs for war reconstructions. At least, I wish they were happening, but it isn't that reality. That man Genitz..."
"Genitz?! What has that rotten lieutenant general done?! Oops... Excuse my language!"
Injecting private feelings and making insulting statements about a superior officer would undermine the organization. Sophia quickly covered her mouth.
"Don't worry. I too have a hard time checking my desire to beat him to death every time I see him."
Genitz was a lieutenant general for the Principality of Wiltia.
He came to prominence midway through previous war. He served the notably on the western front, but unlike Elvin, he wasn't popular among the regular soldiers. You might even say they hated him.
And there was only reason: Genitz didn't wage war so much as he efficiently shed blood.
One of his "achievements," the destruction of Lapchuricka, was notable example.
He besieged the city with a large force and bombarded guerillas and civilians alike. It was an outright massacre.
With that, he erased an entire city from the map.
"What irritates me is how highly effective his tactics are, including Lapchuricka. After that destruction, all rebellions and resistance movements in the occupied territory stopped at once. He prevented the resistance of 10 million civilians by killing 100 thousand."
That was one way of looking at it.
But accepting his methods meant turning war into slaughter and soldiers in to butchers.
Elvin and other veterans could not accept that.
"But he's popular among the aristocrats, who have never set foot in battle. They treat human lives as mere numbers for calculation. To them, Genitz's way sounds clever!"
Elvin's features, which had remained calm, now showed intense anger and distrust.
"Oh... sorry, I don't mean all aristocrats. There are exceptions like you."
"I understand."
Sophia's family, the Rundstadts, was among the finest of Wiltian aristocratic families.
Elvin had apologized because he knew that.
"But what does Genitz have to do with the Schutzstaffel?"
"He has assumed the post of captain in the Schutzstaffel. Officially, his duty is to protect the royal palace, but the truth is that he wants to take control of central, including the capital of Berun."
"What?!"
The Schutzstaffel had just taken the money removed from the military budget, along with 300 thousand troops, for its own use.
The Schutzstaffel's duty was to protect the monarch and his lands.
To all appearances, Wiltia had downsized its military. In reality, it was keeping its full force as a private army for a single monarch.
"Looking back, the establishment of the Society of Nations must also be part of Genitz's plan. He now has the center of the world in his hands."
There were several other continents beyond Europea.
Most were home to nations and colonies dependent upon the powerful nations of Europa.
And the most powerful country to rule Europea was Wiltia.
With 300 thousand soldiers. Genitz controlled the capital and the core of Wiltia through brute force.
"We regular forces are scattered across territories and colonies. The forces in the capital and at central are so powerful that I don't even want to think about how disadvantageous it is for us."
Elvin picked up a cup as he said this.
But he wasn't drinking tea.
It was brandy he had hidden in his pocket.
The situation was so preposterous that he had to have a drink.
"Um, may I ask something? What does this have to do with my duties?"
Elvin sipped brandy before replying.
"Genitz is scheming to pull that big shot Daian over to the Schutzstaffel's side."
* * *
"Meow!"
Tockerbrot was a little bakery in a corner of Organbaelz.
Ellis, a white cat that found a home in the shop, welcomed Lud at the door as he returned from a delivery.
"Thanks for the welcome!"
Lud sat down and scratched the narrow throat of the cat with his thick finger.
"Meow!♪"
That was all it took for Ellis to meow happily.
"Hm? Aren't you a little dirty?"
"Meow?"
Ellis's with fur was spotted with mud.
"Is that my fault?"
Lud looked back to where his truck was parked.
The tires were resting in a puddle from the previous day's rain, so apparently his truck had splashed mud onto Ellis's fur.
"Sorry about that... Come here, I'll wash you."
Keeping a small animal at a place that serves food, such as a bakery, is troublesome.
It has to be kept clean to avoid ticks, and must be trained so it will stay away from goods for sale.
Sven, the ace waitress, handled all that, but Lud had brought the cat home.
"It would be wrong to make Sven take care of you all the time."
Lud picked up Ellis and walked to the well beside the shop.
* * *
"Master is home!"
Inside the shop, Sven stood up when she heard the truck.
"How do you know?"
"Tee-hee-hee! I'm confident I can recognize the way he breathes with a 500-meter radius!"
Jacob was impressed.
"I guess... you really can."
"Tee-hee-hee!"
Sven beamed a victorious smile at Jacob, who stopped himself from jeering at her claim.
For Sven, a humanoid Hunter Unit created by the smartest scientist in the Principality of Wiltia, identifying an individual anywhere in the vicinity of Organbaelz was possible when using her auditory sensors at full power.
"I'll brief Master on what we were talking about!"
Sven wanted to see Lud as soon as possible, so she dashed out.
She opened the back door with a broad smile...only to encounter a startling sight.
"Hey, Sven, I'm back."
"Um... Master?"
Lud was washing the cat, Ellis.
Since he had sweated a little during the delivery, he was topless and washing himself too. "Oh... um... waaah!! Pardon me!"
Blushing, Sven rushed back to the shop, but she was in such hurry that she tripped and fell.
"Guh! Gwah?!"
With a loud bonk, her face struck the floor.
"Hey, are you all right, Sven?!"
"What was the noise?!"
Jacob and Milly, who had been at the oven, poked their heads out.
"Mwa ha ha ha!"
Jolt!
The two were worried about Sven, but she merely erupted in mischievous laughter.
"Uh-oh! I caught Master with his guard down! Mwa ha ha! I shall store this precious sight within the safest reaches of my memory for all eternity!"
She was so excited that she blushed all the way to her ears.
If she had been human, the thrill might have caused bright red blood to spurt from her nose.
In fact, the artificial body fluid that circulated inside her was coursing so quickly that it might have flowed from every pore. If her pulse beat any faster, she could have exploded.
"I don't know what happened here, but I can imagine."
"Aw, man!"
Jacob and Milly were watching Sven in astonishment, but she just continued to laugh.
A few minutes later...
"A sales trip?"
Sven announced her new idea after Lud had finished washing and changed clothes.
Her cheeks and ears were still bright red.
"Yes Tockerbrot's business is going well, but given the limited population of this town, sales are going to hit a peak."
There was no other bakery in Organbaelz.
They basically had a monopoly on the market, but that meant their customer base couldn't expand beyond the residents, no matter how hard they tried.
"We should sell your bread in nearby towns and bring in more revenue!"
"Hmm... I never thought about that."
The plan hadn't occurred to Lud because he was still trying to figure out how to get the townsfolk-beyond Jacob-to enjoy this bread.
"I understand expanding out market, but we don't produce enough bread for that."
At present, Tockerbrot was delivering bread to the mine, local schools, and the city hall cafeteria, in addition to sales in the shop.
It would be difficult to bake more bread with their current production capacity.
"If we need more products, we need more ovens, and I doubt we can get another loan."
"I have an idea about that too! But before revealing it, I want to run a recon-in-force op."
Reconnaissance-in-force is an aggressive maneuver that involves launching an attack and observing an opponent's reaction to determine its military capacity, It's a time-tested tactic.
"And that means I need to ask you a favor, Jacob."
* * *
The Royal Weapons Development Bureau was in the northeast quarter of Berun, the capital of the Principality of Wiltia.
Nearly hidden all the way in the deepest part of the building, was the office of Director Daian Fortuner.
"I'm booored... I'm booored... And when you're bored, you're booored! Yo-ho-ho and a yahoo!♪"
And inside, the genius scientist was singing and dancing the Bored Song and Dance that he had written, composed, and choreographed.
"What are you doing!?"
"Yipes!!"
Bureau Security Force Commander Sophia von Rundstadt-who was also Daian's watchdog-was standing in the doorway, having opened the door without noticing.
"Sophia, you scared me! When did you get here?!"
Sophia had taken Daian by surprise since she hadn't kicked open the door and shouted "Major Sophia von Rundstadt!" as she usually did.
"You look... bored."
"Uh... ahem... You know... Wa ha ha ha!"
Although Daian complained that he was bored, he actually had work to do.
At least there was a mountain of work for the Weapons Development Bureau to do.
But, most of it considered of requests for low-cost weapons development, such as weapons that are easy to mass produce, weapons with simple maintenance, and ideas for upgrading older weapons.
"All I get is boring work! You know what I mean? I want to make weapon of mass destruction that go off with earth-shattering booms! But I only get to make incy-wincy things! Which makes me want to do the Bored Dance! But... um... maybe not. Sorry."
As Sophia glared silently at Daian his voice faded.
The idea of deriving pleasure from massacre would only anger Sophia, who was a proud soldier.
Due to their respective ranks, she would never physically assault Daian, but her animosity was understandable.
At least, that was her usual attitude...
"Tee-hee-hee! You're such a jokester, Director!"
"...Huh?"
Sophia was laughing.
Her eyes were angry, but they were crinkled at the corners, and the edges of her mouth were lifted in tense laughter.
However, she wasn't so much laughing as desperately trying to replace anger with joviality through willpower and muscle control.
"Sophia, what's wrong?"
Daian realized he had taken a step back.
"What's wrong? Ha ha ha ha... Nothing, Director. You sure do say the darnedest things!"
"No, you're not the same at all..."
Daian, who always moved at his own pace and who wouldn't even bow to the monarch unless a ceremonial official demanded it, was breaking out in a cold sweat.
"As for that invitation you offered yesterday..."
"Invitation? Oh... that?!"
Last night, Daian had asked Sophia out on a date, and had a reserved table at one of the most expensive restaurants in Berun.
She had refused before he could even finish asking if she would like to come.
"I gave it careful consideration, and if it's not too late, I would like to join you."
"Huh?!"
Daian backed away again. This time, he took two steps back.
Sophia always refused his invitations, but now she was accepting? This couldn't be happening.
"... Have you caught some awful disease?"
"Whatta you mean, you jerk?!"
"Now there's the Sophia I know!"
Daian was relieved to see Sophia react as usual by yelling in response to his bluntness.
"Anyway! That's that! I'll be looking forward to it! Tee-hee!" Sophia used her muscles to force another smile and quickly left the office, as if to say, "I can't stand it a moment longer!"
"Sophia... Maybe I teased her too much and drove her crazy."
Daian was alone, tilting his head in confusion.
* * *
"Arrrgh! I can't do this!"
After leaving the director's office and checking to make sure that she had walked far enough down the hall. Sophia shouted in anger.
"Why me? Why do I have to do this?"
She sat down, holding her head.
Then she replayed her conversation with Elvin a few hours ago.
* * *
"The Schutzstaffel wants Daian? To expand their faction?"
"Yes. They already have control of aristocrats and royal family, and now they want to bring in the Royal Weapons Development Bureau."
Elvin solemnly answered Sophia's question.
The Royal Weapons Development Bureau was not just one division of the military.
It was largely under the jurisdiction of the regular army, but since it had "Royal" in its name, it was a highly independent organization ultimately serving only the monarch.
Therefore, the military could only assign Sophia as a guard to keep an eye on it.
At this point, the military still couldn't determine what kind of research Daian was doing.
"It would be a problem if the Weapons Development Bureau began serving the Schutzstaffel. In the name of protecting the royal capital, not only could they deploy new weapons... they could monopolize them."
And there was even more to fear.
"Even worse is that the Bureau is like a hen that lays golden eggs. New technology makes money. If they have the patents, they can collect from all over the world. And once they have the authority and wealth, power will pour in. Wiltia will be under Genit'z thumb."
Weapons are the culmination of any era's technology.
New technology created with enormous money, time and labor will make a massive fortune.
The reason Wiltia, which once had scant territory and natural resources, could compete with great nations like Greyten and August was because of its new technologies.
"Yes, but..."
"What?"
Sophia could understand Elvin's fear.
If he were right, the worst would come to pass.
But for Sophia, it seemed an unrealistic outcome for one specific reason.
"I can't imagine that a well-known monster like Daian Fortuner would work for Genitz. Daian has no interest in such power games."
To be exact, Daian wasn't interested in anything unless it satisfied his intellectual curiosity.
He would never get along with a power-oriented individual like Genitz.
In fact, rumor had it that their relationship was quite ugly.
"Surely the North Star has more chance of falling than they have of chatting and playing chess together in holiday."
But Elvin wasn't smiling.
"At the same time, don't forget that they're both the type of person who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Genitz will work with any monster for his own benefit. And so would Daian."
"What would Genitz offer to obtain Daian?"
"Daian is bored, right?"
"Oh!"
Suddenly, Sophia understood the problem.
"I see now... The Development budget!"
"That's it exactly."
After the Great War, Wiltia's territory had expanded.
The regular military had to scatter soldiers across broader territory but with reduced funding and manpower, so the money available was much smaller than during wartime.
In fact, the requests Daian received for development were for small-budget projects.
They couldn't satisfy Daian's curiosity. To him, they were boring.
But the Schutzstaffel only existed at central, including the royal capital, and had more money to spend than the regular army, So if it were to contact Daian...
"That man would do anything, It doesn't matter how much he hates Genitz, He'd hum while he shook hands with him. Daian is that kind of man."
Sophia hated Daian.
They were instinctively and psychologically at odds.
But Sophia was a rational military woman.
She worked hard to understand him rationally and had figured out how to deal with him.
But she hated Daian rationally, too.
Sophia knew him well and believed he was capable of anything.
"In order to keep that man on our side, we need money. But our budget is limited, so we need to find a sponsor."
Elvin heaved a gloomy sigh.
He was from the commoner class. Even after he became a marshal, he followed a hands-on policy according to which you didn't know war unless you were on the front line. The work of managing money would never sit well with him.
However, this could simply be the new shape of war in a time of peace.
"I have the chance to negotiate with a certain big player. If we could win him to our side, we might get enough money to satisfy Daian, but that chance won't arrive for another month."
The fate, not just Wiltia, but of the whole world, rested on an event one month in the future.
"Until then, we must prevent Daian from going to the Schutzstaffel, But given our tight financial circumstances, we have little candy to offer him. To be honest, there's only one thing."
"Only one? What is it?"
Something existed that would make Daian think it was worth his while to stay with regular army rather than join Schutzstaffel.
Sophia was surprised to learn that such a thing existed.
"......."
"What?"
Instead of answering, Elvin stared at her, giving Sophia an awful sense of foreboding and causing her to scrunch up her mouth.
"Please!"
"Hold one a se! Me?!"
"There's no one else in all the military or even all of Wiltia. You're the only human being in whom he has shown personal interest."
The army had sent various personnel to "guard" Daian.
Those sent had included elites and self-made men, former scholars and artists, and men and women of varying ages.
Most of them, however, had fled after an average of one week, with the longest lasting just under a month.
The shortest tenure had only been two hours.
That person had left soon after reporting, "He's nicer than I thought, so I think I can handle this."
"By putting up with Daian for more than a year, you have set a new world record!"
"Still, what do you expect me to do? Surely, you're not suggesting..."
Daian was a man and Sophia was a woman.
"Well, that would be the quickest way."
"Marshal!!!"
Sophia yelled. She couldn't forgive him even though he was her highest superior officer and a great hero.
"I know, I know! I can't ask that much of you. Everyone has natural inclinations, so I wouldn't normally ask this to someone who was reluctant or already in love with someone else."
"What...?!"
At Elvin's surprising words, Sophia forgot her anger and froze.
"Wh-What are you saying, Marshal?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing."
Elvin theatrically feigned innocence.
Not long ago, he had mentioned the Defairedead.
It had been important, but it was hard to imagine that the supreme commander knew all the details.
Besides, there was no way he could know about the man who was involved in that incident but had never come to light.
"I have nothing to say about what you think of a certain baker."
"How do you know about... No, never mind."
People think war heroes are unrivaled men who brandish pikes and swords, but that's only one aspect of heroism.
War heroes are also man who collect all manner of information plan from a comprehensive point of view, assign troops effectively, and issue appropriate orders.
And Elvin was a hero among heroes.
"I'm not telling you to use a woman's weapon. But for one month, try to draw Daian's attention. You may do that however you please, I beseech you."
"Urgh..."
She understood the problem and surrounding circumstances.
Nonetheless, as a soldier, she could have wept.
"Don't make such a face. Despite being considered a great hero of the strongest nation in the world, I feel pathetic for having to adopt such means. In exchange, I'll never forget that I owe you for this and I promise to pay you back."
After saying this, Elvin turned around, his face serious.
How persuasive he is...
Elvin was a marshal and Sophia was a major.
And in the military, rank was absolute. If Elvin shouted at Sophia to stop grumbling because it was an order, the she must obey.
But Elvin had said please and promised to pay her back.
But, it wouldn't matter if he never did.
He had taken a soldier's discomfort into consideration. Many soldiers were vurnerable to such superior officers.
"I understand and will undertake the mission."
Sophia agreed, realizing that his powers of persuasion were one reason that hundreds of thousands of soldiers called Elvin "the old man" and revered him as a hero.
* * *
"I know this is for the nation and for the military and that it's my duty as a soldier, but... yuck!!!"
In order to keep Daian on her side, Sophia was trying to be a little kinder, but it made her skin crawl.
Disconsolate, Sophia held her head and groaned.
* * *
"It seems the wind has shifted in a weird direction."
Daian was sitting on a chair in his office and observing Sophia's image on a small vid unit in his desk.
The Weapons Development Bureau was his lair.
He had eyes and ears everywhere.
Vid units were originally developed for use in the cockpits of Hunter Units, but Daian had adapted them for his own use.
"Indeed, being a soldier is a hard work... I hope I'm not soldier in my next life!"
Daian snickered.
He was not just genius in technological development.
He was highly intelligent when it came to grasping the motivation behind human activity and understood the general situation based on Sophia's abnormal behavior.
"What should I do? I have no loyalty to the regualar military, but I would feel badly about ruining Sophia's hard work."
He was only interested in things that satisfied his intellectual curiosity.
Sophia, however, was a rare exception.
When around her, his thoughts came alive and his powers of speculation accelerated.
Yes... For him, she was like his favorite brand of coffee.
"Are you there, Rebecca?"
He spoke softly and there appeared to be no one else in the room.
After a moment, a girl stood behind him.
"Oh... it's you. Where's Rebecca?"
"Rebecca is not here. She is on a mission."
"Oh, that's right."
Rebecca was the red-headed humanoid Hunter Unit who was his assistant.
Daian clapped his hands upon remembering that she was performing a mission he had assigned.
"Oh well... In that case, I'll just see how things go for Sophia's sake. For one month."
Daian spoke quietly, but the girl who was Rebecca's replacement did not reply.
There was no way to know from her red eyes whether she had heard him, or whether she understood.