Chapter 136: Invisible Changes
"Okay...can I ask what you two are doing here? I hope you didn’t come with Zenith or sneak into one of the teams that were coming here. That would be a problem for you, so I hope you have a good answer for why you’re here." I ask while crossing my arms with a confused expression as I see Charlotte and Edith in the containment area during one of the ruin expeditions.
I had come to check on the people who had arrived to provide support for what we were doing in these ruins. After all, if we finished early this time, we’d get a week off, so I wanted to make sure the help would actually be useful.
"Hello, Commander Nadir. We’re just working here, don’t worry, Professor Zenith has nothing to do with why we’re here." Charlotte speaks with an arrogant little smile. I think for a few seconds, remembering that it must have been a month, or maybe two, since they graduated.
’That’s right, they’ve already graduated as far as I know, so it makes sense that they’re already working, even if it’s mostly for the experience.’ I had completely forgotten about that. After all, they’re Zenith’s students, and I have almost nothing to do with them.
"Oh, right, you graduated, didn’t you? That’s great, I’m glad you made it through...but how did you end up in this area? As far as I remember, this isn’t a place for rookies to show up in the containment area." It does make sense for them to go on missions, but it doesn’t make sense for them to be here in this particular area. This is where some of the monsters we’ve captured are kept.
The laboratories on Aurora Island are trying to study the technology found in the ruins where Nemesis appeared. Turning monsters into humans seems like a good way to better understand monsters and try to deal with the problem of Nemesis creating monsters.
"We were sent here by orders from above. They want to finish everything sooner. I was sent to help the commanders, and Edith was sent to help in the medical area." Charlotte says, pointing upward to indicate that the orders came from high up in the hierarchy.
"As Charlotte said, I came with the medical team. The chief said there were injured people, so I was supposed to help with medication. I ended up running into Charlotte and followed her to talk to her." Edith is much more reserved now. Unlike Charlotte, her expression is much colder when she looks at me.
’She doesn’t seem to like me...did I do something wrong to her or something?’ I wonder why this girl looks at me this way, as if I’m some massive problem standing right in front of her.
’I don’t think it’s exactly a problem with me. I remember what Zenith said about her students. She’s the one who hates men, right?...Should she really be working in the medical area?’ It’s a little questionable. I hope she does her job properly, or I’ll have to report her to the higher-ups.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
"If you came here at the request of the higher-ups, then there’s not much I can say about you being here. Nexus would have warned us if you were intruders. What area are you assigned to? Are you staying here?" I try to learn more about why they’re here. I was informed that help would be arriving, but I didn’t know that the help would be Zenith’s students and a few other people.
’Looks like they’ve already started throwing the rookies onto the battlefield. Nothing new under the sun...’ That’s how it’s always been. Zenith’s other students must have been thrown onto the battlefield too.
"We’re new to this, so we’re more like support staff, Commander Nadir. We’ll stay wherever the person in charge is, but since I’m here to help the commanders, I’ll have to keep switching areas. Edith, on the other hand, will be in the area where the wounded are treated." Charlotte explains with a sigh.
"That makes sense...then you two should stay in the second area, away from the containment area, for now. Just follow this corridor and go seven streets up through the ruins. You’ll reach the second area, and it will lead you directly to a temporary base." I explain where they should go.
"Also, avoid going into places like this. Security is pretty strict, and you could get into trouble if someone who doesn’t know you sees you here. Don’t go exploring places carelessly." I tell them while taking my tablet from my clothes to send Cecilia a message.
"...All right, thank you for the information, Commander Nadir..." Edith leaves as if she doesn’t want to stay near me, but before Charlotte can leave too, I call out to her. She stops at the door while I tell her to close it.
"..." She gives me a strange look and then closes the door, staying inside the room. She puts her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow at me.
"Commander Nadir, this is pretty strange. Aren’t you with Professor Zenith? Asking a young girl like me to stay alone with you in a closed-off place is suspicious, to say the least. Professor Zenith would be angry with you." She implies that I asked her to stay because I had something improper in mind.
"Don’t flatter yourself, Charlotte. I’m not interested in you, and showing that kind of disrespect toward your superior could earn you disciplinary action. Be careful what you imply." I say in an extremely serious tone. I only have eyes for Zenith.
"...I’m sorry, Commander Nadir. I crossed the line. Please don’t report that joke as defamation." She seems to realize that she said too much and backs down as she apologizes. She takes her hands off her hips and adopts a more rigid, military posture.
"All right, just don’t do it again. I asked you to stay here because I wanted to ask about Zenith. What did she decide to do?" Cecilia replies to my message, sending me some data along with information about all the new soldiers who arrived.
’So there are fifty soldiers here to help, ten rookies including Charlotte and Edith...Looks like none of Zenith’s other students came...Fifty...With this much help, we should be able to finish the work in time to get our vacation...’ I’m satisfied with the numbers.
"...Are we allowed to talk about a civilian, Commander Nadir? As far as I know, we soldiers can’t just sit around talking about the public or personal lives of civilians as if they’re entertaining stories." She speaks in a mocking tone despite her "respectful" posture, using the logic that she can’t talk about this because I made the atmosphere between us so formal.
"You can talk about it without any problem, not only because I’m your superior and what I ask isn’t something you should simply question unless there’s something directly wrong with it, but also because Zenith isn’t just some ordinary civilian. She’s the person who trained you, and your failures can reflect back on her, so behave yourself and answer what I asked, please."
"After all, if she was your mentor, everything related to what you do will be viewed through a very biased lens. What you learned from her shapes the choices you make now, doesn’t it? I think it does, which is why you should talk." I obviously would never use any of this against Zenith, but that’s how things work.
If her students do something wrong, commit crimes, or fight against the "system," people will naturally start trying to find out why and question what Zenith taught her students. Using that same logic, I’m asking Charlotte to talk about Zenith.
"That’s harsh, Commander Nadir. I feel oppressed. You shouldn’t be so hard on your juniors, but since my boss asked me to do this, fine. I’ll tell you what you want...Professor Zenith is doing fine, I think. She disappeared after graduation and hasn’t spoken to us since. She must be busy."
"I really don’t know much about it. I would’ve liked to talk to her more, but as soon as all of us students of hers arrived in the army, we were sent on missions. Still, she should be back to teaching soon, right? Or maybe she’ll become a military instructor like she said she would." What she says worries me a little.
"What do you mean, disappeared?" Knowing Zenith, I don’t know if she’d go back to teaching at the academy after finishing her first time, since she could simply quit after fulfilling her "responsibility."
"She’s at home, according to Nexus, but she hasn’t sent us any messages. I don’t know, maybe I’ll visit her after this mission ends, but she must be busy with the start of the academy’s new students next year." She simply answers as if it were nothing important.
’So she doesn’t know Zenith that well after all...She’s going to quit, I’m sure of it...’
"...Okay, Charlotte, you can leave now." I can’t wait for this work to be over so I can return to Aurora Island and see Zenith. I think she must be pretty frustrated.
’She can’t possibly be happy about this...’ I know what kind of person she is, and I think she must be very angry and irritated about everything.
"Have a great day, Commander Nadir." Charlotte speaks in an especially irritating tone of voice, as if she’s mocking me because of the situation I created. She closes the door with deliberate slowness, and I hear her footsteps, loud enough as if she wants to make sure I know she’s leaving.
"...I hope Zenith doesn’t do anything stupid."