Chapter 120

"You say you like me, so why were you going to transfer your signum? Weren't you planning to hand it over and run? You were going to quit your job and spend the rest of your life holed up on a House Vermilion planet, crippled. Weren't you?"

"Y-yes."

Dezeb's face twisted.

"You wanted to leave me badly enough to become a cripple, and now you say you feel what for me?"

"I-I like you."

"Are you playing with me?"

"No. Liking you and transferring my signum have nothing to do with—"

"Be quiet."

He had been wiping the blood from her nose. When she swayed, he scooped her up and snatched a towel. He wiped her face as best he could, then carried her to the bed and laid her down.

Erabelle went limp, whether from crying herself out or sheer emotional exhaustion.

"Couldn't even go to that job you love today, could you?"

"I took leave. I still had a day off left this month..."

"Already?"

"Yes... And I don't like going to work. Ever since I was little, my dream has been to be rich and unemployed. Spending my whole life indulging my fandom and doing nothing is an old dream of mine."

"Your fandom?"

"Yes. James is so cute. Really, I gave birth to him in my heart and raised him with my bank account. I've always thought this must be what it feels like to be a parent."

"You took truth serum just to piss me off, didn't you?"

"I took it so I could confess."

She was beginning to watch his face for a reaction. Dezeb gently swept back the hair scattered across her tear-streaked, sweat-damp face and put it in order. But Erabelle kept crying.

"Why do you keep crying?"

Tears kept falling onto his hand and pooling there. Without a trace of fear, Erabelle buried her face in his palm.

"Dezeb."

"What?"

"I like you..."

His hand tightened slightly around her face. The tendons stood out, as though he wanted to seize hold of her.

"I wish you knew what you were saying."

"Dezeb."

"What now?"

"If you're going to dispose of me, could you please send the insurance certificate to my family? And I'll transfer the signum, so please don't use me as a module. Just bury me. And when you do, please make sure my fandom box goes in with me..." ℯℯ𝑙.

"You really are doing this to piss me off, aren't you?"

"I like you."

"...Hey."

At the drop in his voice, Erabelle flinched and promptly buried her face in his palm again.

"S-sorry. It's become a habit."

Dezeb rolled his eyes at her muffled words, at a loss.

"Sweetheart."

"...Y-yes?"

As his hand lifted her face, she cautiously raised her eyes to gauge his mood. She kept crying, so he couldn't even bring himself to scold her properly.

"Go to sleep. Now. And stop crying. If you ever use a drug like that again, I'll round up every bastard involved, skin them, and pack them in salt. Crying won't help."

He took hold of her delicate nape, pulled her close, and held her tight. Erabelle nestled into his arms and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I said stop crying and go to sleep."

"Dezeb."

"Why do you keep calling me?"

"I really... I really like you."

His arms tightened around her.

"Go to sleep. Now."

Erabelle spent the night cycling between tears and sobs, but the next morning she got up at precisely 7:10 and went to work.

"...Likes me, my ass."

If she likes me, why does she leave me behind every time? She must like going to work more than she likes me.

"......"

Alone in bed, he put a cigarette between his lips and let his gaze wander.

"She likes me"...?

He couldn't believe it. No, there was no reason to believe it.

Has she figured out what I'm thinking and started laying the groundwork?

The words were dizzyingly sweet, but he couldn't help being suspicious. Dezeb ran his tongue over the cigarette filter caught between his teeth, his mouth watering, and let out a quiet laugh.

It was ridiculous how much he savored those words even while doubting them.

He pushed himself up on one arm. He was too unsettled to stay here.

I'll have her leave work early today.

As he lowered his legs over the side of the bed, he laughed again.

"Dezeb."

A naked Dog came running to his feet and prostrated himself.

"The Lieutenant has left her post."

Erabelle had gone to work.

"Lieutenant, shall I move that cart for you?"

She followed Camillia into the infirmary.

"Lieutenant, would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Lieutenant, Lieutenant—"

Camillia said nothing.

Even when Erabelle followed her from examination to examination, she said nothing.

The infirmary was busy. Erabelle deliberately trailed someone who already had plenty to do, hovering at her side without letup. In the end, Camillia gave in.

"...All right, all right! I said all right! Now go do your own work."

Erabelle grinned.

"So you've agreed?"

"Yes. I've agreed."

Camillia clenched her teeth to keep her voice down.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be going, then!"

Erabelle beamed at the exasperated Camillia and turned to leave, only to notice Majia sitting blankly on a bed. The young man was staring into space as though his mind had gone elsewhere.

"......"

For some reason, she felt sorry for him.

There was what had happened to him at the club, of course. But she honestly hadn't known that confessing your feelings was supposed to make the other person angry. She had only learned that yesterday, after daring to make Dezeb angry herself.

If she had known earlier, she wouldn't have rebuked Majia for confessing to her as though he were trying to pick a fight.

So Erabelle turned back, went to Camillia, and discreetly pressed a can of beer into her hand.

"What's this?"

Erabelle tipped her head toward Majia.

"Could you take care of him for me? In return, if you ever need anything from me, I'll do it, no questions asked, up to three times."

She felt bad for Lieutenant Camillia as well as Majia, which was why she made the offer.

"...All right."

Camillia accepted. Erabelle Vermilion was an exceptionally capable worker. The only problem was that she was now someone Camillia couldn't put to work. She wasn't even bad at reading a room. It just took her forever to realize what it meant for her.

...God, seriously.

Pressing at the headache building between her brows, Camillia signaled to Erabelle's platoon members as she left the infirmary. They met her eyes, nodded, and closed in around Erabelle like an escort.

Camillia couldn't ask what on earth the woman had done yesterday. The order from above might have been to treat her as they always had, but that didn't mean Camillia could question her about anything involving the Master.

If she'd known from the start that this human would become so entangled with him, she never would have gotten close to her....

What did she do? Seriously.

She had even taken truth serum with her.... Since everything was quiet, perhaps it had been nothing serious. Still rubbing her brow, Camillia approached the young human Erabelle had asked her to look after and examined his unfocused eyes.

In truth, a few days' rest would have been enough. Even so, Camillia treated Majia herself.

"...Here."

She even put a cup of warm tea in his hands.

If something happened to this human, Erabelle, who was softer-hearted than she looked, was bound to worry. That was why.

But the young human, only just beginning to focus again, rejected her kindness.

"Um, instead of this, do you have any beer?"

Camillia scowled.

These people, I swear....

Having no choice, she handed him the beer Erabelle had left and snapped, "Take it and go. There's nothing left to treat."

"...But I like this."

What do you want me to do about it?

The human ignored her order to leave. He clutched the can, his face crumpling as tears dripped from his eyes. The way he gripped it in both hands made his lingering attachment painfully obvious.

A dangerous glint entered Camillia's eyes.

She did not like this young human hanging around Erabelle Vermilion.

"Could I have one more can?"

"......"

She'd shown the Lieutenant he was safe. Surely she could get rid of him now? Camillia barely overcame that private struggle and drove him out of the infirmary with all his limbs intact.

She had just begun to relax, relieved that the nuisance was dealt with, when the news reached her.

"...What?"

"The Lieutenant went missing during work outside."

"How could..."

She was too stunned to finish. How was that possible? How could such a thing have happened? She couldn't make sense of it.

"We've all been ordered to stand by."

The ritual pathway was as silent as a grave.

Once Camillia finally grasped the situation, it seemed even more absurd. It had all been an accident. A sudden stroke of bad luck followed by another....

Erabelle had briefly gone outside. While the platoon members accompanying her were occupied for a moment, a hatchery erupted nearby.

The blast struck the shuttle. Erabelle and the driver who had been waiting with her quickly fled the area, but the section where Erabelle had been sitting broke apart. She alone was left behind.

It was simply bad luck.

Erabelle Vermilion was always fucking unlucky. And now, fuck, it looked as though the rest of them were unlucky too. Bad luck must be contagious.

Thunder rumbled. The atmosphere warped, and darkness swept in from every direction. Tension ran through the company, dividing the soldiers into two groups.

Those being controlled and those doing the controlling.

Along a walkway that had been completely sealed off, a tall, handsome man in civilian clothes passed with his subordinates.

The soldiers, growing angry at the sudden restrictions, saw him clearly. Moments later, they were deeply shaken to find they could no longer remember his face. Only a chilling terror remained in their minds. That inexplicable fear made them submit to the controls and keep their heads down.

The man took a few more drags on his cigarette as he crossed the walkway, then tossed it outside and entered the building.