Chapter 50 - Test of Worth

"After all this observation, I believe that I can conclude the Infected are trying to stage an attack." Agent concluded after reading out her observation results of late.

Adam said nothing yet and continued to read the data in the report and the gears in his mind started to spin themselves.

There are few major concerns highlighted in the report.

Flying Grimms like Sphinx, Griffon, Nevermore and Lancer joined the rank of the Infected.

A herd of half a dozen 60 meters tall Mutated Goliath spotted in the wilderness of Sanus leading a massive horde numbered in the millions.

Finally, the overall increase of the number of Mutated Grimms to Zombified Grimms ratio. Which means there is another nest somewhere hidden pumping out Mutated Grimms again.

Life just wouldn't allow Adam to catch a break. Just after a short while and the military barely recuperated, they now once again faced possibly another major attack from the Infected.

The Goliath and the horde can be taken care of with his numerous mechs that have been producing non stop in Black Bullet world for a month and a half now. Along with the Servants, it's possible to defeat the horde. But the flying Grimms is the issue here.

The battle on Mountain Glenn caused the Air Force basically to be reduced to zero. All Airships crashed that day by the Dragon Grimm. What survived was just a few dozen gunships compared to the few hundreds that he had at the start.

After more than a month of recuperation, 6 Airships had been made along with almost 30 gunships. But those are spread around the other kingdoms to stop the spreading of flying Infected Grimms. Which means, if those flying Infected Grimms were to attack Vale, Vale will be the sitting duck and can only rely mostly on the AA weapon systems.

Adam needs a solution and the answer is already obvious. If the way his System selects Interdimensional Contract were as what he assumed, Interdimensional Contract is his answer to all problems. As long as he can finish the Contract, the world will offer him the solution just like the case with Siegfried.

Suddenly, Adam felt Agent was touching him and interrupted his thoughts.

"Are you going to another world on your own again, Master?" Agent asked. Her face showed no expression he can identify but from her voice alone, he can sense worry and concern.

"Is it really that obvious?" Adam neither confirmed what Agent asked of him nor does he want to admit.

"Yes." She replied. "Are we that useless that you feel we are a burden to you?" She asked suddenly which caught him off guard.

"What? Why would you even think of that? I would never be able to achieve what I did today with you and everyone else. Why would I think of any of you as a burden?" Adam replied and held Agent's hand firmly.

"Then, why would you be reluctant to bring us… me along with you?" She asked as her facade of calmness was cracking and desperation filled her expression.

Adam realized perhaps his actions last time had hurted Agent and possibly everyone. How could he not realize it, he made a promise to Agent to always be together and he forgets about it in his moment of desperation to find a solution.

Yet, Agent never voiced her dissatisfaction. No one did, now that he thinks about it.

He felt like he should apologize for it. But somehow he felt that Agent didn't really care about his apology. She would rather see action than simple words that hold little meaning.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't because I was afraid of losing any of you?" Adam answered with a wry smile.

"That's plain stupid. Foolish even. We are T-Dolls. Even if our body is destroyed, annihilated, as long as our Neural Cloud and its imprint remains, we are immortal. We simply cannot die." She replied.

To that, Adam has no words to argue back. As she said, Adam is just acting stupid and being a fool.

"But, well. I can't say I didn't feel happy, Master. To think you would care about me so much that you can't bear the thought of losing me." Agent's voice suddenly turned affectionate and enamored.

Staring with his eyes open wide, Agent for once breaks her professionalism and slips on his thighs while her arms coiled behind his neck. They exchanged passionate gaze at each other, Adam finding it irresistible that the usual cold and aloof maid would be this passionate.

"Master…" Agent moving her lips closer to Adam as his mind short-circuited to comprehend this situation.

*Knock* x3

The door opened and Jalter entered unsuspectingly and when she finally looked at Adam on his desk, she caught him and Agent in such a compromising situation.

Her eyes opened wide in shock and hyperventilating as her pale cheek turned red like a tomato.

"W-Wait, she is looking at us." Adam felt embarrassed and told Agent to stop. But the devilish maid didn't care and placed her lips on his regardless for a hot and passionate smooch.

Adam didn't know how or why he reached this point. But gods be damned if he said he dislikes it. If only they are in a better situation instead of being stared at.

Jalter staggered and her steps faltered before she turned around and fled from the room with burning red cheeks, slamming the door as she left.

Meanwhile, Agent finally releases his mouth after a minute long intense kiss with a string of saliva connecting them. She looked satisfied with a cheeky smile plastered on her face.

"I will make you take responsibility for warming up my cold mechanical heart, Master~" She hugs him and whispers to his ear.

As for Adam, he is really confused by the string of events that just happened in the last few minutes. From discussing important reports to suddenly this.

Also, he thinks Agent might, quite literally have a loose screw in her head. Where is the cold and aloof maid that always acts professional? Who is this person on his lap? He cannot relate the two! They are too different.

———

Jalter was running away after what she just saw… Her Master and that devil maid are doing lewd stuff in the office. They were kissing and acting lovey-dovey even after she entered and didn't even care! They continued as she left and probably will have s… se-

*Crash*

Jalter ran into someone and almost fell but was caught by someone. She wanted to yell out to release her frustration but stopped when she realized who was in front of her. It's Jeanne.

"Hmn? Why are you leaving away from Master's office? We were summoned, remember? He said he has something important to talk about." Jeanne asked and noticed the healthy amount of blush on Jalter's face which made him a little curious.

"Ah! No. Let's return later. Master is still busy…" Jalter said which is odd because it's lacking the usual dose of mocking and scorn that she usually throws at Jeanne.

"Busy? We can wait inside. He surely is finishing up soon. Better wait in his office than elsewhere." Jeanne probes again and already has her guesses which isn't hard with how Jalter blushed.

However, Jeanne and Siegfried doubts that Adam would do such an act brazenly in his office after he summoned them. As Adam honestly didn't strike him as such a daring person that will engage in indecent acts openly or at all. There must be a misunderstanding. After all, it might be insulting to say but Adam is quite a conservative man from what he observed so far.

Anyway, Jeanne and Siegfried were curious and they head towards the office to investigate the matter despite Jalter's insistence, yet she also tagalong despite everything.

When they arrived, they saw nothing unusual. Adam sat on his desk as usual, waiting for them and Agent stood by his side with her stoic face as usual, prepared to give a briefing of their new task.

No one said anything as the briefing started. Jalter constantly gazed at Adam and Agent while blushing but stayed quiet throughout.

"The three of you will be participating in this expedition to defeat this horde of Infected Grimms along with a few others that will be informed later." Agent said and then shows the footage of the Goliath. "Your main objectives will be defeating these Mutated Goliath Grimms."

"They are quite massive." Siegfried commented.

The footage shows the Mutated Goliath which towers over the forest they stood over which only reaches about a third of their height.

"Indeed. The normal Goliath Grimms are usually only as tall as 20 meters, the Alpha variant reaches around 30 meters. They are modeled after African elephants." Agent explains as she shows the data of Goliath Grimms which were heavily studied and available in the bestiary textbooks used by academy students. "Their main advantage is their immense durability and sizes, their main method of attack is ramming, their power trunk and tusk. Besides that, they are generally highly intelligent compared to other Grimms."

"The recommended tactics used to fight against these Grimm is to get on top of their body which they cannot reach as they could easily trample their enemies with their surprisingly high agility despite their sizes." She says.

No one interrupted and listened to the end and nodded as they mentally noted the abilities of the Goliath and the recommended tactics.

"Are there any questions?" Agent asks.

Jeanne lifts her hand and asks, "How about the other Infected Grimms?" Siegfried also nods as he has a similar question.

"The other will be dealt by the Mechs after the Goliath is dealt with. The Goliaths are highly intelligent and could possibly remain so after being Infected and choose to trample the Mechs using their massive sizes, bringing unnecessary losses to our forces." Agent explains.

Anyone that is familiar with ancient Indian warfare knows that war elephants are very dangerous as they could easily trample through an army and bring chaos which will be detrimental as any army, even the Mechs requires a formation to exhibit their best potential. If let say the Goliath trampled through the Aegis mechs that were supposed to protect the backliner like the soldiers and Nemeum mechs, the Nemeum will be easily targeted and too distracted to maintain pressure on the enemies, which lead the Aegis mechs to be overwhelmed and defeated. Then it will be a chain reaction which leads to total defeat.

After the briefing ended, everyone left for the preparation and the operation will take place tomorrow.

———

An hour later, Adam and Agent arrived at the mansion and were greeted by Tina, Alices and Winter.

"Are we really going to let them participate too?" Tina in her serious mode, asked Adam.

"Just a selected few. Mostly to see if they are prepared to fight in the frontline." Adam replied, knowing it's an uncomfortable and unavoidable topic.

He saved the Cursed Children not out of kindness but not without kindness either. He simply pity them to be hated by the people in their original world and better have them here where they will be appreciated. However, it remains that he wanted to use them as soldiers no matter how he tried to sugarcoat it, not that he did. The Cursed Children understand that and they themselves are willing as a way to repay his kindness.

"Don't worry, I will not send them to a dangerous battle. I just want to test them in a real battle." He reassured Tina.

"Alright. I will trust you, nii-san."

"Thanks." Adam appreciates and promises to not betray her trust. "Now, let's meet them." He said.

Meanwhile, with the batch of Cursed Children, Amy and Erin.

Amy and Erin are the first to meet Adam back then and receive his help. He left quite a lasting impression on the girls, especially Erin who literally received a miracle of a second chance after she was at the critical stage of turning into Gastrea. Adam arrived like a knight in shining armor, saved her from the pit of despair and cured her.

When she first arrived in Remnant and was managed by a lady who called herself Agent. There are rumors that said she is Adam's secret lover. But anyway, she explained their purpose and what they should strive towards. Adam isn't running a charity program. He saved them because he needed them.

The Cursed Children are strong. Very strong that even the Mentors who are proper Huntsman and Huntsman-In-Training cannot compete with them in terms of physical capability like strength, speed and reflex prior to unlocking their Aura.

They knew that they were essentially being adopted and trained to be a soldier. Yet they accepted it.

Compared to their previous world, they are treated even worse. They aren't soldiers. They were simply a convenient tool for the people to wage war against Gastrea. Here, they were given beds, meals, home, love, education and basically anything they could ever ask for. To other normal people, this is a basic necessity. To them, it's luxury and privilege.

So what if they will be sent to a battlefield? They are willing. For all the kindness and love their savior and the people around them had showered to them, they are willing to fight. They are willing to bleed for those who appreciate them and see them as human and not abominations that need to be exterminated.

That's why they worked hard to learn. To master the usage of Aura, to learn how to fight. They work hard day and night for this day, the day they will be called to the battlefield.

Amy and Erin are two of the one hundred selected girls of the twenty thousand with excellent progress. They stood in the hall, facing an empty podium with excitement and anticipation.

The day they will be fighting for their beloved savior and father has arrived. The day they will be rewarded for their hard work and effort. The day they can finally stand side by side with him in battle and show him their worth, to show him the effort and resources she spent on them is not for naught.

When the door to the hall was opened, they tensed up as they heard multiple footsteps behind them, walking towards the podium.

Back to Adam…

Adam entered the hall and saw the 100 selected girls, dressed in a plain, form fitting black combat suit designed for best flexibility of the limbs, heat dissipation and ample protection from trauma made of 80% graphene.

He noticed a few faces including Amy and Erin. But all of them look a little too tense which made Adam also become tense as he sensed the mood in the room.

When Adam reached the top of the podium. Agent, Alice, Winter and Tina positioned themselves behind him as he faced the hundred girls who stared at him with deep anticipation which made him gulp audibly as the hall turn pin dropped silent.

"Ahem. Welcome, everyone. I assume that most of you had been briefed about the situation and the reason why you all are gathered here?" Adam started with a simple question and hoped he could diffuse the tense atmosphere a little. However…

"Yes, Father! We are ready! Please give us a fight! Let us shed our blood in battle and bring upon victory in your name!" They all replied in unison with great vigor and unwavering faith.

Adam felt like he was standing before battle hardened soldiers instead of childrens. It makes him not just a little, but greatly confused.

Did someone mess up the script? Just a few days ago, they are the same goofy yet endearing girls, chasing him around and dragging him through the city to explore their curiosity like a child of their age should be. But now? It's like day and night. Too different. He might think someone brought him the wrong people if they had not recognised their faces.

"Aha… I think someone indeed made some mistakes. You all are not joining the main battle." Adam explained something is quite right here. "The purpose of me requesting all of you here today is to test if you are ready to participate in the battle in the future. Think of it as a test for all you have learned so far from your classes."

While what Adam said is different, what the girls interpret is also different. In their mind, what Adam just said is, "This is the time to prove your worth, maggots. Do your best and prove to me that you are not a waste of my time." with a face of contempt staring down at them. Of course, this is not what happened in reality.

Meanwhile behind Adam, Winter looks proud at the results of her hard work. A soldier worthy to serve Adam. The countless time she spends indoctrinating the girls as the results of her being put in charge as one of the teacher/instructor since she has experience as a member of a special force unit, the ACE operatives unit.

"Yes, Father! We will not disappoint you!" They replied.

At this point, Adam felt like correcting them wasn't going to work and decided not to bother with it and let Agent take over the briefing of their test.

—————

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