Chapter 43

“...Excuse me?”

“I asked if you bought your shampoo at a pet shop.”

“No... at the supermarket.”

“You do realize it’s for dogs, right?”

“......”

Well... so what? Dogs in the capital probably get better shampoo than our unit does. Besides, as long as it lathers, what does it matter?

“Are you seriously going to keep using this?”

“...That one’s actually really good. And really... expensive.”

All she got in return was a cold stare. Erabelle decided it was probably best to keep her mouth shut.

Honestly, I don’t even have the energy to argue.

Slumped over the edge of the bathtub like a sodden towel, she simply let him do as he pleased.

Instead of using the dog shampoo, he washed her with ordinary soap and body cleanser.

Ugh... I feel like I’m melting.

Between the auxiliary equipment, the ID tag, and everything else, the schedule had been far too punishing for someone with a physical level of 2.

If I were just a regular soldier...

Nothing about serving in this special unit was ever simple.

But what am I going to do about food? Should I just grab a bowl of instant noodles at the station again?

Lost in such trivial thoughts—I should eat something before boarding the liner—Erabelle leaned dazedly against the tub... then suddenly flinched.

Several drops of blood slipped from her nose and spattered against the rim.

He gently wiped the blood from around her nose and mouth with damp fingers.

“You really aren’t going to last much longer at this rate.”

Dezeb smiled, the corners of his mouth curving upward.

“It won’t be long now.”

Was that just my imagination?

Something in his tone sent a chill down her spine.

Yet Dezeb merely brushed her pale, damp hair back from her face with surprising tenderness.

This was one of those moments when he seemed genuinely kind.

Yeah. It was probably just my imagination.

I’m doing fine. As well as anyone possibly could. I even updated my ID tag... There’s no reason anything should happen.

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, his lips brushing her temple and cheek as well.

It’s all in my head.

Erabelle forced herself to suppress the unease bubbling up inside her.

***

So what you’re saying is—you’re dating an asshole?

Camillia’s voice came flatly through the line.

“No, not me. I’m talking about my friend, okay?”

Sure. Let’s go with that. Either way, someone’s dating an asshole.

“No, seriously. He treats her really well most of the time! This is about my friend.”

Got it.

“He really does treat her well, but... you know, every once in a while, she gets this weird chill down her spine. For no reason at all. I mean, it’s probably nothing, right?”

Did she recently inherit something?

“...She signed away her claim ages ago.”

Insurance?

“......”

Don’t say anything. Seriously, there’s no reason for it. She even updated her ID tag without any problems. That chill is probably just... a fluke.

Be careful around rattlesnakes, alright? Just because you’ve known someone for a while doesn’t mean you can let your guard down. Familiar threats are the most dangerous.

Rattlesnakes... Ugh, don’t even go there.

If Camillia knew who the “familiar threat” actually was, she would be even more horrified.

Why did it have to be someone from that unit? That whole group is packed with convicted criminals. You always manage to pick the worst possible ones.

Camillia apparently suspected that whoever Erabelle was involved with belonged to one of the six companies currently stationed near the capital to attend to the upper officers.

After two years, there was only so long Erabelle could keep insisting it was “just new treatment.”

You’re seriously not going to tell me who it is?

“James, Lucas, Alec...”

Don’t give me your fantasy lineup! Who is it really?!

“Pistis.”

Stop drinking so much beer!!

That’s a bit harsh... It’s one of the few joys I have left.

You’re impossible.

Camillia sighed and muttered something under her breath. A moment later, Erabelle heard fingers tapping against a data pad.

Physically, you’re fine.

Apparently, the APU hadn’t detected anything abnormal.

If it had, Camillia would already have been unleashing every curse word in her vocabulary.

So even if he is an asshole, just deal with it, okay? And don’t even think about taking any more sedatives.

“Yes, ma’am...”

Same lecture every time.

Need anything else?

“There’s a 59 nearby, so... no, I’m good. I’ve been careful. I mean, I’ve been buying my meds for years now—wait, no! I didn’t mean it like that. I’ve been living responsibly, okay? I’m not bragging, I’m just saying...”

Camillia’s scolding erupted through the phone.

“Oh, I have to board now. Uh, it’s here.”

Erabelle hurriedly hung up.

Seriously, why does everyone around me nag so much? I don’t get it.

Shaking her head, Erabelle stepped onto the waiting shuttle.

There weren’t many passengers aboard. She found an empty seat and settled into it. Soon afterward, the shuttle lifted off and rapidly pulled away from the station.

Erabelle gazed through the window at the planet shrinking beneath her.

The alien city’s neat, square blocks looked like biscuits.

They really do look like those biscuits from Neo Confectionery.

After eating that spicy ramen, she was definitely craving something sweet.

While she sat there idly thinking about snacks, the shuttle cleared the atmosphere and docked with a long-distance vessel, connecting with a soft metallic clunk.

“Greetings, passengers. This is the Somnium. We will be departing from the capital, Imperium, and traveling to Planetary System 2155.”

The same announcement as always.

Only half-listening, Erabelle crawled into her assigned capsule.

“For your safety, signum channel access will be temporarily suspended from this point onward.”

This was the cheapest fare available, and the capsule came with mandatory sleep periods.

People often joked that traveling this way was less like being a passenger and more like being shipped as cargo.

“Third-class passengers, please observe the mandatory sleep hours. Continuous sleep exceeding 20 hours is not recommended.”

They practically knock you unconscious anyway, so... yeah. The cargo comparison isn’t exactly wrong.

“Once again, we kindly remind third-class passengers...”

Still, at least they guaranteed forty minutes of activity every ten hours.

That was marginally better treatment than an actual package got.

“Uuugh...”

Groaning, Erabelle crawled fully into the capsule and began synchronizing herself with the sleep schedule.

Whatever people might say about being treated like cargo, this capsule was perfect for someone coming off an itinerary as brutal as hers.

It was cheap. It was quiet. And all she had to do was sleep.

What more could she ask for?

So she passed out—gladly and almost instantly.

***

“You’ve already been reminded several times that the maximum recommended sleep duration is twenty hours. How many times do we have to tell you? You can’t keep setting it to seventy.”

“I’m really sorry. I must’ve forgotten.”

Maybe I should just put a hard limit on it...

“If this happens again, we’ll have no choice but to blacklist you.”

“Please. Just this once.”

Erabelle looked up at the navigator with the most pitiful expression she could manage.

Blacklisted for oversleeping—seriously?

Sure, there was a risk of brain death or whatever, but still... that seemed a little excessive.

“Other passengers wandering around when they shouldn’t is already enough of a problem. But you... ugh. Next time, you’re on your own.”

“Yes! Thank you so much!”

“Do some stretching. Eat something. The Somnium assumes no liability for accidents caused by passenger negligence.”

“Yes, of course. I understand.”

“Jeez. I thought you were dead.”

The navigator finally disappeared, still grumbling, and Erabelle let out a long, enormous yawn.

Seventy hours and they’re making this much of a fuss?

Displaying absolutely no remorse, she shuffled toward the onboard cafeteria and grabbed a quick meal.

[...Two Miro units requested from 84WP...]

[...Temporary dispatch requested from 121WP...]

Now that they had entered Planetary System 2155, authorization requests began pouring in one after another.

Only half paying attention, Erabelle quietly tucked herself into a corner near the shuttle gate and opened her signum channel.

Shipboard signum jammers typically operated at Grade A.

Grade S users were exceedingly rare, even within the Empire, so civilian vessels had little reason to install infrastructure capable of handling them.

Erabelle might bow and scrape like someone with a low body grade, but if she ever formally registered, she would immediately be classified as a top-tier operative subject to name-only identification protocols.

If I just registered, I could...

[Request from 39WP denied...]

[Reattempt in progress...]

Because she had placed restrictions on her artificial spirit, she had to review everything manually.

It was annoying, but necessary.

Things seemed stable so far, though she would have to keep monitoring the situation for another few months.

Her head was still foggy from sleep.

Not my fault. Life’s just exhausting. I mean... yeah. Maybe my life itself is the problem.

With a sigh at that belated realization, she rose to her feet.

Colony 77, her destination, belonged to the same planetary system as Colony 80.

It was a slum zone where government presence was virtually nonexistent.

Since it lay farther out than Colony 80, the smog was slightly thinner—but visibility was still terrible.

Erabelle switched on the SDP—Spell Disk Player—that Dezeb had given her.

As expected of something expensive, it responded instantly and smoothly.

She inserted a Perception Disruption Disk she had already memorized and began making her way slowly through the dim streets, guided by the occasional streetlight.

Planetary System 2155 was a disputed quadrant in the fourth star region, crawling with organizations that operated beyond the surveillance nets.

That was precisely why Erabelle had chosen it.

Unfortunately, it also meant the place attracted exactly the sort of people no sane person wanted to become involved with.

This wasn’t somewhere you could wander around without perception masking.

Not unless you had a death wish.