Chapter 29 – I Am Rather Exhausted From the Inspection Trip!

The transport vessel Serpent eased into Seldia Administration Bureau's vast docking bay.

The hatch opened. The ramp came down. And at last, Letaria, Zein, and Fal--each accompanied by their machine--returned to what passed for ordinary life.

Waiting for the three of them at the bottom was the Serpent's captain, visible relief written across his face.

"Everyone--truly, truly, thank you. I don't want to think about what would have happened to the ship and the passengers without you. This is the agreed payment, along with a special allowance from the fleet."

Letaria received the electronic chip and the parcel of thanks with a composed nod.

"I did only what was required. On the name of Letaria Adeniam--those who would soil my route and trouble innocent people will not be forgiven."

After the captain departed, the three of them gathered in a quiet corner of the dock.

Fal's machine was still moving, thanks to Zein's field repairs--but its armor was scorched, and sparks were occasionally jumping from the joint assemblies.

"...Miss. Let me say it properly." Zein looked at Letaria directly. "Thank you for getting Fal out. I might not have made it in time."

"He's right." Fal said it with her eyes slightly down. "...You saved me. That was--honestly--incredible."

She looked up, hiding the remaining flush in her cheeks by pointing a finger at Letaria.

"But that doesn't mean it's over! I'll pay this debt back--someday, I will!"

"Ohohohoho! That's the spirit! Very well--keep chasing after my back for as long as it takes!"

Beside Letaria's laughter, Zein gave a long-suffering shrug.

"Before you pay back any debts, you need to do something about that machine of yours. Nothing gets done in a wreck like that."

"I--I know that, boss!"

Fal hurried back to her machine, herded along by Zein's prompting, and the two of them moved off.

"See you, Letaria! I'll be stronger next time!"

"Farewell, Fal! And you too, Zein--until we meet again!"

Letaria watched their retreating backs for a moment.

A teacher and a student. Something like family. People who trusted each other with their lives.

In the Adeniam household, the people around her had been divided into three kinds: those who deferred to her, those who flattered her, and those who wanted her gone.

(...Was that envy, just now?)

A small thing, brushing past her chest.

But she shook her head almost immediately, with something wry in it. She had people in this world. She was connected to them now.

"...Yes. I have Milea--who never stops nagging me--and Grain, my steadfast knight, and Steshia-san, my friend."

A different kind of relationship than the hierarchies she had grown up inside. Crooked, perhaps. And yet, somehow, exactly the right shape.

Letaria gave a quiet, satisfied nod, then moved Arden to the private Syn-Fibra dock that had been designated for her use.

◆◆◆

Arden secured in the hangar. Letaria climbed out of the cockpit--

--and felt her legs go uncertain beneath her.

"...Oh. I am rather exhausted. Overextending Trace Mode really is something one ought to do with more... restraint..."

"Welcome back. That turned into quite an expedition, didn't it."

A familiar voice. Letaria looked up.

Milea Ichinose was walking toward her, terminal in hand.

"Milea! You came to meet me? How considerate."

"...Your data stream told me you'd been reckless. How was the inspection? Did you learn anything useful about the world outside?"

Letaria closed her eyes for a moment, turning through it all--the encounters in Cranea, the fight in space.

"...It was fasci--that is, highly instructive. Most valuable for the cultivation of my already considerable education."

"Good. Then rest, first. Managing your condition is part of my work too."

Milea's delivery was as businesslike as ever. But Letaria, now, could hear what was underneath it.

"Yes--I shall do exactly that. ...And Milea--you promised. To bed at a reasonable hour, yes?"

"...I'll do my best. Goodnight, Letaria."

◆◆◆

After Letaria left for the residential sector.

Milea sat alone in the silent lab, facing the main monitor.

"...Right. While she rests--I'll finish the analysis."

On the screen: the behavioral data Arden had recorded from Blang's machine during the engagement.

At first, normal raider movement. But from the midpoint of the battle, the data began to show anomalies.

"...This doesn't add up. This level of response improvement--FCS compensation alone doesn't explain it. The mechanical frame's limits are being exceeded. It's as if the pilot's thought processes are being fed directly into the machine's movement..."

Milea narrowed her eyes and expanded the waveform.

Blang's machine had shown a strange, reflexive quality--almost as if it were trying to mirror Letaria's own reactions. But the underlying load data was unmistakably different from anything Arden's records showed. Entirely different in kind.

"...Brainwave-driven control? Arden has shown indications of something similar..."

She pulled up Arden's combat records alongside.

The logs were not the same. But they were similar.

"...Escado."

The word came quietly, almost to herself.

Behind Milea, the hum of the machines ran on without interruption.

Somewhere beneath the small victory Letaria had won today, something was moving.