Chapter 49 – Oh, Not You Too – Treating Me Like a Child…!

The great airlock hatch of the Seldia Administration Bureau slid shut, and air flooded slowly back into the hangar.

Three Makinas that had fought their way through a battle with unmanned machines and stumbled into the strangest rescue operation anyone present could remember set down quietly in their designated docks.

The corps was already assembled on the platform ahead. Grain at the center, Merry at his side. Behind them, armed vigilante members and a police unit from the bureau itself, standing at full alert.

Grain looked up at the approaching machines and raised one hand briefly.

"Good work. Got your message and came straight over."

The hatch seals released with a hiss. Letaria, Zein and Fal, and Twoin came down their respective ramps and stepped onto the deck.

"Grain, Merry, everyone - we're back. I must say, I never imagined the people at the end of that distress signal would be... that."

Letaria swept her hair back with a slightly tired gesture and pointed to the container they had towed in.

"Had a bit of a conversation with them through the wall on the way back, but they were too rattled to make much sense. I'll leave the detailed questioning to the professionals."

Grain nodded at Zein's words.

The police unit was already moving, forming a complete cordon around the detached container. The locks disengaged, the hatch came open, and the men inside were pulled out one by one - all of them in pilot suits.

"I'm not resisting, I swear! We're cooperating!"

"You saved us - we're grateful, we really are - !"

Pathetic cries from men being put in restraints. And among them, the man who had once terrorized the space around Seldia - Blang. The ferocity was gone. The arrogance was gone. He went with the officers without a struggle.

(... This is that Blang?)

The anticlimax of it left Letaria with something she hadn't expected: relief, yes, but underneath it something harder to name. A hollow, oddly melancholy feeling. Blang's wretchedness seemed to bring it into sharper focus.

"They'll be transferred to the bureau's detention facility first. The corps will be running joint interrogations given the nature of the situation. After that - how they're prosecuted will be up to the bureau's higher-ups."

Grain laid out the next steps without ceremony.

At his signal, Merry and several corps members fell into step with the police escort and walked Blang's crew toward the back of the hangar. As she passed, Merry glanced back at Letaria and the others and said, quietly, with a small smile: "Nicely done, all of you. Thank you."

The noisy group disappeared, and the vast dock settled into quiet - just Grain, and the freelancers who had seen it through.

"Right. The special bonus. Processing is already done. It should be in your accounts by tomorrow - make sure you check."

"That's what I like to hear."

Fal broke into a pleased, slightly sheepish smile right there on the spot. Zein watched her with the warm, slightly exasperated look of someone who was either a father or a much older brother, and cracked his neck.

"Much appreciated. We took a few hits we didn't need to out there. I was bracing for a serious repair and resupply bill."

"...I saw what I came to see."

Twoin, who had said very little throughout, unfolded his arms and let something close to satisfaction show on his imposing face.

"The special-class machine in action. And Letaria-dono in the field. Beyond what I had heard."

"I am honored by your praise. There may well be another occasion for you to witness my brilliant Makina-handling in person."

"I look forward to it."

Twoin's expression didn't shift, but the corner of his mouth eased, just slightly, as he nodded.

"Well - we've got machine maintenance to see to. We'll take our leave. See you in the hangar sometime, miss."

"Yes, until next time!"

"Thanks, Letaria!"

Zein, Fal, and Twoin exchanged brief farewells, and walked out of the hangar trailing the comfortable weight of exhaustion well earned.

◆

What remained was Arden, standing in quiet; Letaria; and Grain.

Letaria glanced around and said something that had been sitting at the edge of her mind.

"...Come to think of it, Grain - there was no word from Milea this time. That is unusual. I would have expected her to be demanding data the moment we touched down."

Grain let out a short breath that wasn't quite a laugh.

"Milea? ...She's been running on nothing for days. Syn-Fibra finally ordered her to stand down. She's probably sound asleep right now."

"My. Milea actually resting. That is a rare thing."

"If I'd told her about this operation in advance, she'd have come flying out of her bed regardless. So I said nothing. Deliberately."

"And when she finds out afterward, won't she be absolutely furious?"

Letaria raised one eyebrow in mild exasperation. Grain said "most likely" and shrugged with the resigned air of a man who has made his peace with it. The tension that had been sitting in the air between them finally began to ease.

But Grain brought his expression back to something more deliberate, and added, as though he'd just remembered:

"Actually - about your machine. Arden. Starting tomorrow, it will be going into Syn-Fibra's special dock for a thorough inspection. A few days without the cockpit, I'm afraid - bear with it."

Letaria paused and looked up at the deep-purple machine standing still behind her.

"...Understood. It is my finest partner. There is no better choice than to have it properly seen to. I leave it in Milea and the others' hands."

"Glad you're taking it in stride. It will come back to you in full condition."

Letaria took a step toward him - and, without dropping a single degree of her composure, looked him in the face.

"Grain. That goes for me as well, you know. Do not push yourself too hard. You arranged rest for Milea - which means the next one to collapse will be you, and you do not look well. A captain of the vigilante corps setting a poor example of self-care is hardly fitting, is it."

Her own awkward, roundabout way of caring.

Grain blinked at it - a flash of genuine surprise - and then a warm smile settled in, the kind that belongs to someone considerably older.

"...Ha. Fair enough. But I'll return those words to you exactly as given, young lady. You have been pushing yourself just as hard. Harder, by the corps' standards."

He reached out and gave her shoulder a single, easy pat.

"Rest up. Properly. Stay out of trouble."

That was all he said. Then he picked up his terminal and walked briskly out of the hangar.

"Excuse me - ! Oh, not you too - treating me like a child...!"

Letaria pressed a hand to her shoulder and directed her indignation at his retreating back, cheeks puffed out in protest.

Then, after a moment, her expression eased - just a little.