Chapter 87 – Is Your Treatment of Me Not Getting Just a Little Careless!?

The entrance hall of Syn-Fibra's Seldia branch. Soft light poured down through the high open ceiling as Sean and Ritte, their travel things in order, prepared to set off on the return journey to Perda Station.

Milea, Steve, and Letaria had gathered in the lobby to see them off.

"You have been enormously gracious hosts, Chief Researcher Milea, Steve-san. -- And to you as well, Letaria-san."

"The combat data, the simulator behavior -- as a technician, I came away with far more than I expected. I am genuinely grateful."

Sean wore his familiar easy smile; Ritte offered her usual precise bow -- serious, as always, but with something quietly reluctant beneath it. The tense air of the first day had long since dissolved, replaced by something that felt, against all the odds, like genuine trust.

"Oh -- that reminds me. I nearly forgot." Sean reached into his bag and produced a small, elegantly wrapped box with a ribbon on top, and held it out to Letaria. "For you."

"This is... a gift? For me?"

"A specialty of our Perda Station -- a confection called Rinem Cake. Unusually, it has the quality of continuing to 'ripen' after it is made. Today through tomorrow will be its peak. A small token of thanks for the bout -- since you were good enough to come, then slipped away early for your shower."

Letaria's eyes lit up with unrestrained delight. "Oh, how wonderful!"

"A cake that ripens -- how utterly charming! Thank you so much, Sean-san, Ritte-san. I shall treasure every last bite."

She gathered the box to her chest with obvious care, and smiled her most open smile. Ritte watched her for a moment with an expression that might have been, very briefly, envious -- then turned her gaze back to Milea and Steve.

"This visit gave us far more than the Grave Arc data alone. Seeing the initial figures from the next-generation general model Rasta as well was immensely informative. The knowledge one gains in a different branch, in a different environment, really is irreplaceable."

"To hear you say that makes it well worth sharing, Ritte-san. Your branch's tuning work was equally valuable to us -- a genuinely productive exchange, all the way around."

Milea answered with a clear expression. Sean tilted his head with a mildly mischievous look and made a show of shrugging.

"Though -- are you quite certain this was the right call, Chief Researcher Milea, Steve-san?"

His gaze dropped briefly to his terminal.

"Even I was rather surprised, I'll admit. I hadn't expected you to hand over a physical sample unit of the prototype Photon Rifle your branch has been developing independently -- the Arcian. A complete one, no less."

"We did ask quite a lot of the Perda branch over the Grave Arc affair, after all... If you'll operate that rifle in your active combat environment and share the usage data with us, the development team could not ask for a more valuable return."

Milea's explanation came smoothly, and Steve nodded in quiet agreement beside her.

The high-performance prototype rifle that had once been handed to the corps' Grain had subsequently been formally designated within the Seldia branch as the S-PRS2 "Arcian," and was now in small-batch late-prototype production. One of those precious units was being passed to the Perda branch today, as a mark of the technical partnership.

"Thank you. The moment we return to Perda, I'll work it into the Luzam's armament plan and begin generating test data. ...And if anything new comes to light regarding the Grave Arc, please don't hesitate to reach out."

"Of course. We'll be in touch when that time comes."

Sean and Ritte both nodded with evident satisfaction.

In the end, across the entirety of their visit, neither of them had pressed deeply into the things that were truly sensitive: the classified special unit project currently underway in Seldia, or the Arden System at the core of it all. Steve's reading was that what they had needed from the start was simply the Grave Arc's operational limits as a weapon -- and the Arcian sample, combined with the Rasta data, had given them a return that more than covered that.

"Then -- until the next time. Safe travels, both of you."

Steve extended his hand. Sean took it in a firm, warm grip.

Ritte looked at Letaria one last time -- a direct, quiet look -- and gave a small bow. Then she walked with Sean through the automatic doors of the entrance and out of sight. The three of them watched until the pair had boarded their shuttle and the last trace of their figures had vanished.

◆

Quiet settled back over the lobby.

Letaria stood holding her cake box and let out a soft, wondering murmur.

"Milea, Steve-san -- they came from somewhere other than here, didn't they? Like Cranea -- a different city, in a different part of the world?"

Steve answered the guileless question with a warm smile.

"That's right. Though in terms of national boundaries, they and we belong to the same body -- the Wistrum Federal States. Within that, 'a different residential city -- a different Station' would perhaps be the more technically precise way of putting it."

"I see... The world is so much vaster than I had imagined."

Letaria exhaled with quiet wonder.

She had known, until now, only the cylinder city of Seldia where she had spent her time since arriving, and Cranea, which she had visited once on a mission. Seldia alone -- with its population of several million packed into a single enclosed space -- had felt, to her, like a complete world unto itself.

"You don't need to think too hard about it, you know."

Milea watched Letaria press a finger to her chin and sink into a look of grave consideration, and spoke with a tone that was half-fond, half-exasperated.

"I beg your pardon!? Has your treatment of me not been getting just a little careless lately!?"

Letaria puffed up her cheeks in protest, carefully repositioning the Rinem Cake box in both hands so it didn't slip. Milea looked at her and let a faintly impish smile cross her face.

"Not at all. Honestly -- I was relieved from the bottom of my heart that you didn't say anything reckless this time. The adults' stomachs have been in enough knots. Just managing not to add to that was a tremendous achievement."

"Oh! So you ARE treating me like a child!"

"Yes, yes, I know. 'The strongest pilot in Seldia,' isn't it?"

Letaria huffed and fumed -- but somewhere beneath it, there was something that looked very much like pleasure. Steve watched the two of them, their familiar back-and-forth as lively as ever, with the corners of his eyes quietly creased in a smile.