Ch.129

Author: By the way, have all the commanders completed the popularity vote?

I, of course, have already done so.

As for who I voted for... well, you can probably guess.

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His eyes opened.

The somewhat narrow field of view remained unchanged. He, realizing once again that the prosthetic eye embedded in his right eye socket had been blown away, let out a small sigh of frustration.

Having been lying on his back, the first thing that caught his eyes upon waking up was Rapunzel's sleeping face in the narrower field of view.

"Quite a refined face," Moore thought casually as he raised his upper body.

Fortunately, there was no sharp pain in his abdomen or chest. It seemed to have healed to a dull ache.

Nevertheless, it would be a lie to say that he didn't feel bothered.

"Are you awake?" a voice called out.

He shifted his gaze to the corner of the room.

Rapi, who had been sleeping with a submachine gun in hand until a moment ago, rubbed her eyes, lifted her hips, and walked quietly toward him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not completely recovered, but... I should be able to move without any issues."

"Is that so?"

He returned an affirmative nod to Rapi, who was staring at him with her crimson eyes.

"...I'm relieved."

"...Sorry for causing you trouble."

"No. ...But, may I say one thing?"

"What is it?"

Turning to her with a formal attitude, he directed his deep brown monocle towards her. At the end of his gaze, he could see Rapi's eye corners gradually twitching. Did he do something wrong? When Moore began to feel a little uneasy inwardly, her perfectly shaped lips uttered words.

"Please... never do that again."

What could Rapil be referring to? He was not dull enough not to inquire further.

When Crow shot him—more precisely, after that— he must have proposed a deal to let his subordinates go in exchange for his own life. It might be seen as a verbal agreement, but Moore understood within a short time that he and Crow were similar. Even if it was just a verbal promise, she would keep it. Crow insisted that cunningness was a virtue, but Moore had won the gamble.

He was satisfied with that, but Rapi, Anis, and Neon probably, to varying degrees, still harbored some resentment toward Moore's actions.

Why did he do such a thing? He understood the reason. It was indeed characteristic of him, but that was it.

As the representative of the group, the leader of the squad, Rapi looked at Moore with a hint of anger in her words.

"...I'm sorry."

That was the only reply he offered.

Was it a straightforward apology, or was it an apology that meant he couldn't accept her reprimand because he might do it again? Probably, it was an answer that carried both meanings.

He would never change.

That was what Rapi herself wished for. Perhaps she cast a curse, or maybe she wished for a curse called desire. Or was it the influence of the temperament he inherently possessed? However, this time, they couldn't overlook it.

"...Take off your jacket."

Prompting Moore, Rapi, holding an IFAK pouch, stepped forward.

As he removed the outer layer of the cold weather combat suit covering his bare skin, she slowly peeled off the chest seal attached to his thick chest plate and examined the condition of the scars on his chest.

Surprisingly, it's already starting to heal.

She knew that his healing ability was not like that of an ordinary person, but the sight before her made her feel as if this ability had been paid for with a sacrifice of life. Moreover, it seemed to be concentrated solely on continuing the fight.

After removing the chest seal and completing the appropriate treatment, Rapi extended her hands toward Moore's face.

The bandage covering the right half of his face was slowly unraveled, and her expression clouded slightly.

Crow's bullet, fired at Moore, had hit the artificial eye embedded in his eye socket, causing the trajectory to deviate. Fortunately, he managed to overcome the crisis of losing his life. Whether it was luck or misfortune, it didn't matter at this point.

The wound on his cut eyelid was also in the process of healing. The scar left by the cut eyelid, which occurred when he pulled out the fragment that pierced his eye during the battle with Chatterbox, was so faint that it would go unnoticed unless mentioned.

"This will remain..."

He shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't mind.

Rapi took off the gloves she had on both hands, gently brushing the scar that ran from his sunken eyelid to his brow with her slender fingertips.

The bullet seemed to have taken away part of his eyebrow, cutting through the skin. The interrupted eyebrow in the middle served as proof.

With her crimson eyes flickering, Rapi stood up and circled behind Moore.

Using a new bandage, she wrapped it around his sunken right eye, performing the treatment and tying it at the back of his head.

"It's done."

"Thank you... and sorry."

Rapi didn't respond to his simultaneous expressions of gratitude and apology.

Instead, a light shock traveled through Moore's right shoulder.

With monocular vision, humans can capture about 60 degrees upwards, 75 degrees downwards, 60 degrees to the nose side, and 100 degrees to the ear side. This is the range of human vision.

Having lost his artificial eye, Moore's field of vision narrowed, and a part of the right side that he could previously see was now out of reach.

However, despite this narrowed world, humans have the ability to regain the lost world using other organs.

Through the skin, he sensed the pleasant touch of Rapi's hair and the warm, soft feel of her skin, which did not seem to be made of Goddesium.

He realized that she must have buried her forehead in his right shoulder.

"...Don't make us worry too much."

As a breath brushed against his bare skin, her usually refined voice now had a weak tone as she spoke.

At the same time, her slender arms were wrapped around his well-built body, and receiving a gentle embrace from behind, he...

"...I'm sorry."

...uttered the apology once again. Then, he placed the palm of his large right hand over her hand.

----

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.

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Physical strength is generally recovering. The injured areas—though not fully healed yet—are not hindering movement.

The tattered body armor with tears all over the fabric surprisingly seems usable when an extra ceramic plate is inserted.

Wearing it over the cold weather combat suit and stowing loaded magazines into the pouch, Moore, carrying a backpack, steps outside the building.

The sunlight piercing through the snow from above is dazzling, but he lacks the sunglasses. He thinks he'll have to endure it, and unlike usual, he threads the sling belt through his left side and under his arm, gripping the assault rifle.

"Commander, is it really okay for you to move already? Wouldn't it be better to rest more?"

"It's okay. I can move properly."

As they start moving forward, the first to speak is Anis. Moore doesn't overlook the anxiety and uneasiness in her flaxen eyes, and he nods in response.

However, that wouldn't reassure her. It seems that anxieties and worries are flooding in one after another. Above all, he is walking with a slight limp in his right leg.

"But... in such a cold place..."

"Why did Anis suddenly become so nervous?"

As Anis voices her concerns amid the chilly air, Neon, checking her shotgun, interjects into the conversation.

Instantly, Anis turns her face towards Neon, as if repelled.

"Why are you not being so worried, Neon!? I just... because Commander got shot...! ...Never mind."

"Anis."

"Be on guard!"

Rapi calls out to Anis, who starts advancing alone, but when she returns to the meaning of her actions, the leader can do nothing but remain silent.

"...Why did you suddenly become so nervous?"

Neon, carrying the loaded shotgun, directs the question to Lapi and then to Moore.

"Well... I mean, it's not easy to get injured like this once or twice, right?"

"Well... in terms of severity, it's probably on the lighter side. After all, I can move normally and still fight."

"...Indeed."

Neon returns a nod to him, who shrugs her shoulders. Moore has experienced the amputation of his right leg below the knee, the loss of his right eye, and the absence of his left arm. Compared to those, this injury probably doesn't feel like much—perhaps her senses are skewed, but regardless, Neon finds it strange that Anis is being overly sensitive.

"...Yes, perhaps it's because she's the most sensitive among all of you."

Naturally, Rapunzel, who stood next to Moore, holding her staff, voices her opinion.

Sensitive—In this case, she considered the possibility that Anis, who is already unfamiliar with the situation and environment, has become overly sensitive due to Moore's injury. However, Rapunzel shakes her head to deny that opinion.

"...More than that, I think it's because she's become anxious."

"Anxious, you say? Anis?"

With her leaf-green eyes flickering under her glasses, Neon asks, and Rapi nods in response.

"Anis has always been suspicious and vigilant towards others... betrayed again in a moment of carelessness, almost losing the Commander's life because of it. It's only natural for her to become more anxious and sensitive than usual."

"...It's not Anis's fault."

Moore, who misunderstood the situation, takes full responsibility for it. He is aware of that and lets out a sigh. Perhaps Rapi's guess is correct.

And more than usual, he became concerned about his condition and complexion.

"... She is... a fragile personality. And she tends to accumulate stress."

When Anis was first assigned to the forward base, Moore couldn't fathom why she started taking over the commander's room as if it were her own. However, it's likely that she unconsciously sought to alleviate the disadvantages arising from her rich sensitivity. Perhaps she used the commander's room as a refuge to escape from the stress of interpersonal relationships, missions, and other sources.

After realizing this, Moore—although occasionally offering critical comments—stopped complaining too much and even accepted the fact that most of the contents of the stocked refrigerator would turn into carbonated water.

Currently, there is a high possibility that Anis is being tormented by excessive stress and responsibility.

Especially this morning, Moore could hardly move. It's undeniable that there is a lack of communication.

While thinking of talking to Anis while moving, Moore, just before that, disengaged the safety of the assault rifle he held in his mechanical left hand.

"Something is coming."

His deep brown monocle narrowed, and when Anis directed her gaze toward the direction, a figure with flaxen hair returned in haste.

"Rapture spotted ahead!! Three units!!"

At the same time as Anis's report, three beams of light flew from the front.

Having noticed the presence of enemy units, Lapi and Neon, carrying weapons, loaded their initial rounds and moved forward. In response, Moore, also gripping the assault rifle and walking with a slight limp in his right leg, stepped forward to engage the enemy.

However, just as he looked over his shoulder, Anis, in a sharp tone, stopped him.

"Commander, stay back!! Encounter!"

Declaring the start of the engagement, she followed up by firing grenades. The explosions and gunfire echoed in the silver snowy landscape.

I can fight too.

Implicitly feeling that he was told he was in the way, Moore felt a bit hurt. He doesn't consider himself sentimental, but this is probably due to a sense of guilt for imposing a burden on them with his own injuries.

In front of him, his subordinates were fighting. The most he could do was stare at their backs, which was more painful than anything else.

"Brother."

Suddenly, he felt a light impact on his shoulder, covered with body armor.

Turning around over his shoulder, he saw Rapunzel with a gentle smile.

"... Please don't push yourself too hard. No one thinks you're a bother."

"...I hope that's true."

Returning words filled with hope to her, Moore found it difficult.

Soon, all the enemy units were likely defeated. The echoes of gunfire and grenade explosions ceased.

Watching from a distance the subordinates hurrying back to him, Moore breathed a sigh of relief, acknowledging that everyone was safe.

"...But still, encountering Rapture even with Rapunzel around."

"Hehe. Even though my hair has jamming functions, there are limits to covering multiple moving people."

Shouldering a shrug, Moore understood that there was no help for it and returned a similar gesture.

"Commander, are you okay? Any injuries?"

Among those who rushed back, Anis is the first to worry about Moore. Normally—Lapi is more often in that role, but today, Anis seems to be overly protective.

"I'm fine. No problem."

"Are you really okay? It's not a lie, right? If it hurts even a little, let me know! Then—"

"Anis."

Excitement—or rather, impatience—in Anis's tone. Hearing that, Moore's right hand lifted, and the palm of his hand was gently placed on her shoulder.

"I'm really okay. No problem with movement. And I can fight to some extent."

Trying to reassure Anis with as calm a voice as possible.

Her deep brown eyes, one short of the usual, locked onto him straight, and she let out a deep sigh of relief.

"...If that's the case... I'm glad..."

Anis, who leaked a voice and breath that seemed to disappear, couldn't hide the anxiety and impatience that could be felt from there.

Instinctively sensing that he shouldn't let it drag on too long, Moore gently grasped her shoulder and asked.

"Anis, what's making you so uneasy?"

"Eh? Me? Uneasy?"

For a moment, Anis seemed bewildered, but in the next moment, she shaded her hands up to her chest and began waving her hands left and right, whether it was a gesture of nothing in particular.

"No~! I'm fine. Just... a little nervous, that's all... It's okay, yeah!"

"Really? No lies, okay?"

Anis dismissed Moore's question with a bright tone. However, they've been together for quite a while. He couldn't help but hear the tone of voice that tried to conceal something.

Just like when Anis asked carefully earlier, Moore asked her with the same words. Anis fell silent and lowered her flaxen eyes for a moment.

Then, with a gesture as if clinging to something, she extended her hands towards Moore, lightly holding the tattered body armor he was wearing.

"Commander... really... don't you feel anything about this?"

"...Feel anything about what?"

Unable to grasp what she was trying to say, Moore asked. Anis, who had been looking down, raised her face with a slow movement and directed her flaxen eyes, showing a hint of cloudiness, towards him.

"This time... we came up to the surface not for the sake of humanity... but for us, Nikkes, right? But we were betrayed by those Nikkes... you were almost killed by a Nikke, whom you had protected so much—"

Anis slowly expressed various anxieties and impatience that had accumulated, and her usually cheerful demeanor disappeared from her flaxen eyes.

When she gripped the fabric of the torn part she was holding tightly, Anis, with trembling lips, opened her mouth.

"Do you... resent us?"

Ah, Moore inwardly sighed in understanding.

Anis's leaking anxiety and impatience were all coming from fear—whether there was a change in his consciousness towards herself and his comrades, whether he held any resentment or hostility.

"Anis."

Although the pain hadn't subsided yet, he bent down, met eyes with Anis, and gently placed the palm of his right hand on her soft cheek.

"...You probably saved me when I was dying, right? I don't hold any grudges."

"But—"

"Firepower!"

With the voice that was too familiar, the sound of something hitting resounded grandly at the same time.

Anis, who felt the impact from behind, instinctively began to fall forward.

In an instant, Moore tried to catch her, but—

"Ugh!?"

It seemed to be bad that he caught Anis in a jumping form. As soon as he embraced her to his chest, the ceramic plate forcibly placed in the body armor pressed mercilessly against Moore's chest.

The gunshot wound in Moore's chest is starting to close, but the ribs inside have not fully healed.

Instantly, intense pain corrodes his entire body, and he releases Anis, whom he was holding, without thinking, turning his back and starting to take deep breaths.

"Are you okay, Brother?"

"Commander...?"

"I-it's... fine..."

Moore, whose appearance began to be accompanied by beads of sweat, is being worriedly observed by Rapunzel and Rapi from both sides—no problem as long as he maintains consciousness. Well, there is a big problem considering the intense pain he is experiencing.

"Why did you hit so suddenly!?"

"Worrying-robot! Go away! This is all because of the lack of firepower! So, don't become a worrying-robot worrying too much about unnecessary things because of the lack of firepower!"

"What do you mean by a worrying robot!?"

In the midst of his agony, behind him, Anis and Neon are having a clash of who knows how many times.

Acknowledging his disciple's unique naming sense, Moore, who is gradually recovering from the pain, finally returns to an upright posture, then shakes a soft pack he took out and lights a cigarette.

"And why are you worried...!!"

"Cough... I am worried, aren't I?"

"Commander..."

Although he managed to return to a somewhat upright position, he senses that his expression is stiff. However, Anis, who was facing him, didn't seem to notice or didn't have the composure.

"...Crow is Crow. Anis is Anis. I don't want to evaluate everything just because of the reason of 'Nikke.' Besides, she—regarding the Exotic..."

—I don't resent her.

Keeping only that thought to himself, Moore lights the cigarette with the oil lighter clenched between his teeth.

"...You are one of my precious subordinates. Before, now, and in the future. That will never change."

Slowly puffing purple smoke, Moore's usual voice seems unchanged, and strangely, Anis's anxiety and impatience seem to dissipate.

Involuntarily, a deep sigh of relief escapes him.

"Thank you, Commander."

Don't worry about it. He seems to convey that with a slight shrug of his shoulders. Anis, seeing that, has a faint smile on her face.

"So, hurry up and return to your usual self, Anis!! Hurry up and return to the Untrustworthy-Anis!"

"Ugh, really! You're so annoying!"

"She's back! Master! Anis has returned to normal!"

"Good grief... Neon is..."

While complaining, Anis is well aware that Neon is doing this to cheer her up. Despite her somewhat violent actions, she also feels gratitude for him.

When Anis expressed her thanks to him, Rapi exchanged glances with Moore.

It seems the pain has subsided. When he nods, Anis also nods back and turns her gaze to the others.

"Alright, let's go. Staying in one place for too long is dangerous."

"Agreed. ...After the recent engagement, there's a possibility that the Rapture might come closer."

"Wow... Rapi, you really are Rapi no matter where you go."

"That's right... Rapi hasn't changed. Well, that's what makes Rapi charming, though."

"...I agree."

"...Let's go already. Everyone, move not only your mouths but also your feet."

"Yes, we'll── Hey, Commander!"

Prompted by the squad leader to gather, just as they were about to start moving, Anis senses that her hat has been snatched away.

The one who carried out this sudden act is Moore, who was walking next to Anis, dragging his right leg a little.

Stretching out his right hand, he takes her beret and adjusts its shape, placing it on his head with a small amount of white and black hair. However, he furrows his brow as if unable to shake off a sense of discomfort.

"...Something's off."

"That's my hat! Commander, give it back!"

"...No, I can't feel settled without wearing anything... Just trying it out..."

"That color doesn't suit you, Commander! Rapi's hat looks better, doesn't it!"

As the lively group starts walking, with the four of them having different heights and clothing, the golden saint watches their backs with a smile.

"Hehe. It's nice. It really is... having comrades."

A voice filled with nostalgia. After turning her forget-me-not-colored eyes toward Moore's receding figure, she also starts moving forward.

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Author's Notes: By the way, in Sakura's event story, there was a statement about TetraLine never having a change in CEO. So, how old is Mr. Mustang then!?