Chapter 28 (Volume 3)

Author Notes: "I was originally planning to follow the main story, so I wasn't too enthusiastic about this development... However, I hope it can be a small consolation for those who support Mihara and Uni, without causing any problems."

----

Volume 3, Episode 1

"Hey. Can I ask you something?"

"If I can answer..."

"Are you really human?"

Moore, who had just been discharged, couldn't understand why he was being questioned about his very existence.

In addition, he still didn't understand why Syuen had ambushed him outside the hospital and forcibly insisted on riding in the long luxury car.

Inside the car, not only Syuen but also Mihara and Uni, who had worked together in the recent operation, were present.

Syuen was looking out the car window, but she wasn't interested in the passing scenery.

It was just that Syuen, who, to be honest, didn't want to face an uncomfortable person directly and turned away from him like a child, felt strangely abnormal when he saw Moore in his military uniform, to the extent that he couldn't help but ask.

"...How many days were you in the hospital?"

"10 days."

"Yeah. That's what I heard. ...But why did the h*ll could 'you' get discharged after just 10 days!?"

"Well, even if you ask why... the doctor told me to get discharged quickly, so I did. By the way, is this a non-smoking area?"

"...Open the window."

When Syuen instructed the driver, the window on his seat's edge opened. Moore rummaged in his military uniform pocket, took out a cigarette and an oil lighter, and lit it.

"...I thought you'd come out looking more beaten up than....this."

His right eye, which had been reported to have been torn out by him, was undoubtedly sharp and intact, almost indistinguishable from his left eye, which was still there.

His right leg, she had heard, had been self-amputated. That right leg was also covered in something like black armor, but it was undeniably there.

She had heard that he had been teetering on the brink of life and death. And yet, he had been discharged after only 10 days.

She knew he lacked common sense, but she didn't expect him to be so far gone as to 'almost' mistake him for not being human.

"Hey, Commander! Do that! That thing!"

"...Oh, the smoke rings? It's a bit tricky here. The smoke will flow outside."

"Yuni, do you know this person?"

Yuni, a petite figure with pink hair, pleaded with him for a familiar trick, but unfortunately, it was difficult in the car, especially with ventilation.

When Mihara, who acted as if they were meeting for the first time, asked, Moore also realized.

....'This' must be memory erasure.

"I'm Lieutenant Shou Moore. Nice to meet you."

"--Oh, what an unusual commander. Asking for a handshake from Nikke..."

Leaning out of her seat, she extended her right hand to Mihara, who sat down with a somewhat seductive gesture for no apparent reason. Mihara responded, her lips moistening as if she had found an interesting person.

As their mismatched right hands were shaken and lightly moved up and down, her eyes blinked several times, and she stared intently at Moore in front of her.

"Oh...? Lieutenant Moore, yes?... Have we met somewhere before?"

"...Mihara?"

"...I said earlier, nice to meet you, didn't I?"

"...Right... Sorry. I said something strange."

The conversation that took place in front of their eyes left Yuni and Syuen wide-eyed, needless to say.

"Wait, wait...! What did you do, you...!?"

"What...?"

"I mean, she didn't remember anything, right? So why...!?"

"...Can we get to the main topic?"

Although the memory erasure had undoubtedly been carried out, why did such words come from Mihara!!? If Syuen were to speak for her inner thoughts, it would likely be something like that.

While glancing at Syuen's behavior out of the corner of his eye, he exhaled purple smoke. He seemed to consider calming things down, perhaps noticing Yuni's confusion, and like the other day, he drew circles in the air with the purple smoke. However, it disappeared into the outside air from the window almost as soon as it was released.

Syuen, prompted by him, realized that she was the only one flustered. She cleared her throat quietly and handed a card to Moore.

"...What's this?"

"...It's a cooperation fee for this time. There are 50 million credits in it. Use it as you like. I won't track it."

"...I don't recall making such an agreement..."

"...Just take it already. Once you do, please get out of the car quickly. How about using it for repairs on that old place?"

"...I don't need it; I feel like it'd be used as blackmail as soon as I accept it."

"...Tch..."

A distinct click of the tongue was certainly heard.

-----

"Hey, Commander, I've been wondering for a while... You are 'human', right?"

"Today is quite a day. Anis is the second person to doubt me THAT right after I got discharged."

In front of the headquarters building of the forward base, Anis, with her hazel eyes half-open, asked Moore, who was wearing a military uniform and serving as the commander, while looking up at him. Strangely, he had received the exact same question just a few tens of minutes ago.

"Well... usually, it would take much...longer... ---Still, why did you get discharged after only 10 days!?"

"No... the attending physician said my wounds were healed, I didn't need rehabilitation anymore, and my prosthetic limb was fine. They told me to vacate the hospital bed... --Huh, I heard that just now too. Deja vu?"

"Don't tell me you just escaped or something..."

"Why do you doubt me so much..."

Am I that much of untrusworthy commander? Unintentionally, Moore's forehead gained a few more vertical wrinkles.

Although he didn't have much affection for it, the interior of the commander's office was still the same as when he appeared for the previous operation.

"Oh, the explosives were disarmed by me and Neon, so Syuen wasn't involved."

"Hmph... I thought the disposal team did it... Oh, by the way, I met the CEO earlier. She seemed like going to give me some credits, but I declined."

"Uwahhh... Commander, you're discharged, and already... my condolences."

Apparently, he still believed in the events that occurred when he was being threatened via Mihara's mobile device.

(Tl notes: Syuen DID threatened him, but that's just hot air at best.)

Was it an unnecessary effort, Moore wondered as he exhaled and lit a cigarette.

"Where's Neon?"

"Oh... Neon is..."

As Anis was about to answer him regarding Neon's whereabouts, hurried footsteps echoed from down the hallway.

It seemed like there was no need to go looking for her. Thinking so, he sat down in the commander's chair, exhaled purple smoke, and waited.

Soon, the door opened, and the figure that leaped into the room was just as Moore had expected.

"Sensei...!!"

"--Yeah, Neon. It's been a while. Are you doing well?"

"Is Sensei really a human!?"

---You too, huh.

Needless to say, the vertical wrinkles on his forehead multiplied.

The reunion was chaotic, but in any case, Moore was back at the forward operating base, and they decided to celebrate with a dinner tonight - the menu was still combat rations, but that's how it turned out. And then, Moore suddenly asked Anis and Neon in front of him.

"...By the way, where's Rapi?"

"Rapi is also supposed to return today. We got a message from Elysion."

"I see... What kind of face do you think I should make when I meet her?"

Moore, who had postponed reviewing the accumulated paperwork, sat on the sofa and, as he disassembled and cleaned his firearms laid out on the desk, asked them together.

Anis sat on the opposite sofa, tilting a bottle of sparkling water, flipping through a celebrity magazine, while Neon, next to her, answered amid flipping through a gun magazine.

"Well... Isn't it fine if you act like your usual self?"

"What's my usual self like...?"

"Well... like this, maybe?"

Anis was the first to react. While placing the half-read celebrity magazine on her lap, she used her fingers to gather her eyebrows together to create wrinkles on her forehead.

"Anis, that's not it. Sensei's usual expression... smoking a cigarette, looking a bit grumpy..."

"...I finally understand well HOW you guys see me."

Although he was technically the commander, the fact that he was perceived in this way made him feel a bit lonely. He wasn't constantly furrowing his brow. in fact, he didn't make a grumpy face while exhaling purple smoke.

That's how Moore saw it, but it was clear that they were just stating what they observed.

He let out a sigh, laid out the parts of the disassembled assault rifle on a blanket, and began cleaning each one with an oiled cloth.

Just at that moment, the sound of a car stopping in front of the headquarters building echoed.

"...Has she arrived?"

"It's possible."

"Yeah. The first impression is crucial. Let's do it properly."

At the sound of the brakes, Moore, Neon, and Anis reacted.

He was told by Anis that he should sit confidently, so he nodded, lit a cigarette with an oil lighter, and then returned to the maintenance of the assault rifle.

Before them, Anis and Neon turned to face the commander's office door, assuming a posture of greeting Rapi, who would appear shortly.

"...At this opportunity, should I become a cool character?"

"...A cool character..."

It doesn't suit me, Moore thought as he shrugged his shoulders and, while running a cleaning rod with a small piece of cloth at the tip through the gun barrel, moved it back and forth several times to wipe away dirt. In the midst of this, Neon let out a faint snicker.

"So, how about becoming a scary senpai character since you're here?"

"Hmm, that's an interesting idea."

"...Can you stop discussing newbie bullying in front of me?"

With a cigarette in his mouth, Moore let out a wry smile. They seemed to be trying to ease the tension in their own way.

Soon, footsteps approached the commander's office. Upon hearing it, the two of them changed their expressions to a serious one. As soon as the door opened, a figure entered the room - familiar in appearance and form, but a different person, as 'newcomer'. They directed their gaze toward the newcomer.

"Hey, newcomer. If you're here, report your assignment to Commander promptly. What are you doing?"

"First, could you wipe my glasses for me?"

Was Neon planning to go with that character? Moore sighed and, still with the cigarette in his mouth, gently placed the barrel of the assault rifle on the blanket and turned his gaze to her, to Rapi, who was standing in front of him.

"...Commander."

"...Welcome to your assignment. I am the commanding officer of the forward operating base—"

"...My memories weren't erased."

"...I----WH-what...?"

What is she talking about?

As if to say that, Moore widened both his natural left eye and the new artificial right eye made of synthetic material.

Anis and Neon had similar reactions, with their mouths agape as they stared at Rapi in front of them.

"...Nothing... was erased..."

Once again, Rapi reported in a voice that sounded terribly troubled.

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Author Notes: This is a fan fiction, so please forgive me... (As an excuse, even if Moore Lieutenant's strong and striking impression, as a commander, were erased from her memory, she might still have a lingering feeling of "Haven't I met you somewhere before?" at most...)