"──The password is 'WonderLand.' Careful with uppercase and lowercase letters."
──...So Close.
The desktop was placed on the table. Moore, sitting on a creaking chair, entered the password on the keyboard. Meanwhile, Ludmila, who had a tendency to touch machinery, only to be broken, unconsciously pressed her ample chest against his shoulder while giving him instructions.
──Could you move away a bit? It's hard to type.
Although the wolves, a rare source of comfort, were waiting outside, Moore regretted not bringing them.
With a sigh that was about to escape, he finished entering the password and tapped the Enter key.
"Now, that folder. Yes, that one. Open this file... No, not that file. That's a game. Do you know 'Digital Cop'? It's an old one but classic."
"...I don't know. And don't lean on me. Don't grab my head. I mean, I don't understand what you're saying by just saying this or that."
"You're my servant, so just figure it out. Look, go back."
With a reluctant expression, as if saying, "Don't ask for the impossible," he obeyed her instructions.
As soon as he opened the wrong file, Ludmila grabbed his short-cropped black hair and leaned in, pressing her soft but firm chest against his shoulder. She pointed to the correct file with one hand, and suddenly the screen seemed to freeze. It froze even though she hadn't touched it.
On the other hand, the members of the Counter's squad were watching Moore and Ludmila, who seemed unusually close, from behind. While complicated feelings was bubbling within them, they could only watch the situation unfold.
"Now, that file next to it... Yes, open that and enter the password. It's 'SuperUltraNikke.'... . Output the image on the screen."
Following the instructions, Moore operated the information device and projected the image onto the LCD screen on the wall inside the room.
What appeared was a map of the entire northern region.
Sparse white dots on the map represented the coordinates where Pilgrims had been sighted, along with the attached dates indicating when they appeared. However, Ludmila and Alice had never actually met them, as they had only seen them from a distance.
Moore, who sat in a rotating chair and looked at the image projected on the screen while smoking a cigarette, found it hard to breathe as Ludmila unconsciously used his shoulder as an armrest.
He didn't want to be presumptuous, but he couldn't help but be more concerned about the arrangement of the dots. He crossed his long legs, rubbed his chin where a stubble was growing, and pondered.
"──Patrols, maybe?"
"It seems so. They appear at various points at regular intervals."
When he voiced his speculation, Rapi nodded in agreement. Ludmila also seemed to concur, suggesting the possibility that the Pilgrims might be searching for something in the northern region.
He exhaled the purple smoke towards the ceiling, which had a large hole, possibly due to combat damage, and it flowed outwards.
"And right at the bottom... at the very edge. It's going to appear there soon. If we're lucky, we might meet them. Servant, show the next photo."
When Ludmila moved her arm from the shoulder-rest position she had been using, Moore rotated the chair again, tapped the keys, and outputted the next photo to the liquid crystal screen, facing it once more.
"The image is slightly grainy, but it's clearer than the photo of the Pilgrim shown in the Vice Commander's office.
A girl with hair as white as snow, or perhaps like silver threads – Nikke.
"──Her codename is Snow White."
"──Onii-Chan." (Tl Notes: Big Brother)
"──!?"
A severe pain raced through his skull. He instinctively pressed his forehead and the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth fell to the floor, trailing purple smoke.
"──Servant?"
Ludmila, who was closest to him, immediately noticed his distress. She reached out her hand to Moore's shoulder as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and gasped for breath.
"Commander? Are you okay?"
"...No, I'm fine. It seems fatigue caught up with me."
As the pain gradually subsided, Moore raised his hand to stop Rapi from rushing over. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his glove, picked up the fallen cigarette, and lit it, letting the purple smoke curl.
"I only had breakfast, and it was a forced march."
"Oh, that's not good."
"Yes, unlike us. Sensei, makes sure to eat three meals a day."
"...I'll put effort to do so."
Annis and Neon chimed in, as if saying it was too late for him to change now. Moore shrugged in response.
Gently, he gazed at the photo of the Pilgrim – Snow White – displayed on the screen again. This time, he didn't experience a headache.
"Rapi, transfer the information to the terminal."
"Understood. Let's depart once you've rested."
"Servant, come with me. This room isn't suitable for resting with a hole in the ceiling."
"...I'm glad we don't need a ventilation fan."
If he could make light of it like that, he should be fine. Ludmila watched Moore as he picked up the assault rifle, backpack, and helmet that had been leaning against the table where the desktop was placed. She confirmed his condition and then guided him to a room suitable for resting.
The room they were led to was not far from the well-ventilated room they had been in earlier. It was furnished with the basics.
"Rest here."
"Thank you. May I ask something?"
"What is it?"
"You gathered quite a bit of information, and it seems you've been tracking Pilgrims for a long time... Why?"
She mentioned that information about the Pilgrim is stored inside the base. It's true, but it turned out to be a more significant find than he expected.
"---Oh, I see. Curious?"
"It's just a genuine question."
"...There are two reasons."
Ludmila, with her sharp eyes, sighed with a touch of resignation and raised two fingers on one hand.
"Because I was embarrassed. And because I thought it was something I should do."
"...Sorry. I'm not sure I understand."
With a slight scruff of facial hair around his mouth and jaw, Moore tilts his head.
Seeing his reaction, Ludmila can't help but slightly smile. She guess it's worth expressing with that kind of words.
It's a subtle way of getting back at her servant for seeming to look down on or disrespect their queen.
"──I'll tell you the details... after you become closer to me."
While running her fingertips along Moore's jawline covered with a light beard, Ludmila gave him a meaningful message and then turned on her heel, leaving the room.
Watching her leave, Moore proceeded to quickly disassemble the assault rifle and grenade launcher placed on the table. He began maintenance and inspection.
He polished the parts with an oiled cloth, revealing a fair amount of dirt. It was likely due to firing without proper maintenance. It was a miracle that no misfires had occurred in this freezing environment.
Next, he used a cleaning rod to wipe away the residue of bullet jacket fragments and combustion gas inside the barrel. Ideally, it would require several days of maintenance, but they didn't have that luxury in their current situation.
After completing the maintenance and assembly, he stored the unloaded magazines from his dump pouch onto the table. Moore chewed on an energy bar with an emotionless expression, marking his first caloric intake in approximately 15 hours.
The sound of him munching on the energy bar and the clattering of him reloading ammunition echoed through the room.
Normally, cold-weather combat rations were heated using heat packs for consumption. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time for that.
Moore opened the sealed pouch of the clam chowder, which had solidified from the cold, and scooped it into his mouth with a synthetic resin spoon. It was neither good nor bad; it was just sustenance.
While eating, he finished loading ammunition and securely fastened them with Velcro onto the magazine pouches of his body armor.
As he got up to dry his cold-weather combat suit that had gotten wet when he fell into the river, he set up a paracord line in a corner of the room and hung his damp clothing there. At that moment, the door opened, and the girls entered.
"So quick! Have you already eaten?"
"...Don't worry. I left the cookies."
Upon seeing the remnants of combat rations still on the table, Anis worried that he might have devoured the cookies entirely, but Moore had left them untouched.
Once he finished hanging up the clothes, Moore handed over the clam chowder, which he didn't particularly enjoy, to the girls.
Moore opened the pouch containing the large cookies, split them in two, and handed one to Neon. While watching Anis carry the other cookie to her mouth, Moore finished cleaning up the table and then put on his helmet.
First, he confirmed that the assault rifle was clear of rounds. He then slammed a magazine into it and, with his backpack, moved to a corner of the room that provided cover from the door. There, he took a seat.
Moore adjusted his sling so that the rifle pointed at the floor between his neck and right armpit, then slightly adjusted his helmet to obscure his eyes.
"...I'll get some sleep."
"Alice, sit next to the servant."
"Yes, Your Majesty! I'm going to keep him warm, right?"
When Ludmila nodded, Alice, looking like a bunny, hopped over to Moore, sat down beside him with her legs extended, and leaned her back against the wall.
"A heating suit?"
"No, it's a cooling suit. Somehow, Alice has an abnormally high body temperature. That suit helps regulate it."
"Hehe. Mr. Rabbit, is it warm?"
As Rapi asked Ludmilla about it, Alice, who had sat down next to him, inquired if the suit was warm.
Moore nodded slightly in response to Alice's question as he remained silent.
"...When you're too tired, you can't sleep easily. At times like this, Alice's body temperature comes in handy. ──Looks like he's fallen asleep."
Ludmila noticed Moore's posture, which looked like that of an exhausted corpse. She was both impressed and astonished by how he could sleep in such a position.
Afterward, when Alice leaned her head on Moore's shoulder and fell asleep, Ludmila turned her gaze back to the girls.
"Thank you for today. You really saved us. Servant... Is this your first operation with him?"
"No..."
Ludmila, misunderstanding their close relationship as a conventional operation, asked, and Rapi hesitated, but ultimately, there was no choice but to answer truthfully.
"Huh? Consecutive commands? And he recently graduated from the Officer School...?"
"That's right. Um... it's been just over a month. Two months at most, right?"
"Yeah."
Lapi and Anis nodded in agreement.
"...Regarding that right leg exoskeleton, he said the original was taken by an unknown monster..."
"...To be precise, the Commander cut it off himself."
"...Really, he just graduated from Officer School recently?"
Ludmila asked once more to confirm, but the girls just nodded in response.
"...How peculiar."
It was strange for someone with such a background to be so experienced, or rather, overly prepared.
Rudmila found it strange that someone's actual experience didn't match their background. It was her first time encountering such a situation, even though she didn't know many commanders.
Suddenly, the memory of the incident from a few hours ago when she was almost crushed by a snow boulder falling from above flashed through her mind.
"Are you okay!?"
Then, his voice and image played back in her memory.
She had never heard of a commander who would risk their life to save a replaceable weapon like Nikke.
While considering what reckless thing he might have done, she felt a slight warmth on her cheeks when she remembered his body temperature when he had held her.
-----
Author Notes: Wow, I guess she's a bit...easy" (I apologize if I misunderstood m(_ _)m)
"However, this commander, who seems to have a natural immunity against Nikke, you know... not reacting at all when unintentionally pressed against Ludmila's chest, it's like not having bal*s to react... (spreading rumors)"
"──The password is 'WonderLand.' Careful with uppercase and lowercase letters."
──...So Close.
The desktop was placed on the table. Moore, sitting on a creaking chair, entered the password on the keyboard. Meanwhile, Ludmila, who had a tendency to touch machinery, only to be broken, unconsciously pressed her ample chest against his shoulder while giving him instructions.
──Could you move away a bit? It's hard to type.
Although the wolves, a rare source of comfort, were waiting outside, Moore regretted not bringing them.
With a sigh that was about to escape, he finished entering the password and tapped the Enter key.
"Now, that folder. Yes, that one. Open this file... No, not that file. That's a game. Do you know 'Digital Cop'? It's an old one but classic."
"...I don't know. And don't lean on me. Don't grab my head. I mean, I don't understand what you're saying by just saying this or that."
"You're my servant, so just figure it out. Look, go back."
With a reluctant expression, as if saying, "Don't ask for the impossible," he obeyed her instructions.
As soon as he opened the wrong file, Ludmila grabbed his short-cropped black hair and leaned in, pressing her soft but firm chest against his shoulder. She pointed to the correct file with one hand, and suddenly the screen seemed to freeze. It froze even though she hadn't touched it.
On the other hand, the members of the Counter's squad were watching Moore and Ludmila, who seemed unusually close, from behind. While complicated feelings was bubbling within them, they could only watch the situation unfold.
"Now, that file next to it... Yes, open that and enter the password. It's 'SuperUltraNikke.'... . Output the image on the screen."
Following the instructions, Moore operated the information device and projected the image onto the LCD screen on the wall inside the room.
What appeared was a map of the entire northern region.
Sparse white dots on the map represented the coordinates where Pilgrims had been sighted, along with the attached dates indicating when they appeared. However, Ludmila and Alice had never actually met them, as they had only seen them from a distance.
Moore, who sat in a rotating chair and looked at the image projected on the screen while smoking a cigarette, found it hard to breathe as Ludmila unconsciously used his shoulder as an armrest.
He didn't want to be presumptuous, but he couldn't help but be more concerned about the arrangement of the dots. He crossed his long legs, rubbed his chin where a stubble was growing, and pondered.
"──Patrols, maybe?"
"It seems so. They appear at various points at regular intervals."
When he voiced his speculation, Rapi nodded in agreement. Ludmila also seemed to concur, suggesting the possibility that the Pilgrims might be searching for something in the northern region.
He exhaled the purple smoke towards the ceiling, which had a large hole, possibly due to combat damage, and it flowed outwards.
"And right at the bottom... at the very edge. It's going to appear there soon. If we're lucky, we might meet them. Servant, show the next photo."
When Ludmila moved her arm from the shoulder-rest position she had been using, Moore rotated the chair again, tapped the keys, and outputted the next photo to the liquid crystal screen, facing it once more.
"The image is slightly grainy, but it's clearer than the photo of the Pilgrim shown in the Vice Commander's office.
A girl with hair as white as snow, or perhaps like silver threads – Nikke.
"──Her codename is Snow White."
"──Onii-Chan." (Tl Notes: Big Brother)
"──!?"
A severe pain raced through his skull. He instinctively pressed his forehead and the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth fell to the floor, trailing purple smoke.
"──Servant?"
Ludmila, who was closest to him, immediately noticed his distress. She reached out her hand to Moore's shoulder as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and gasped for breath.
"Commander? Are you okay?"
"...No, I'm fine. It seems fatigue caught up with me."
As the pain gradually subsided, Moore raised his hand to stop Rapi from rushing over. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his glove, picked up the fallen cigarette, and lit it, letting the purple smoke curl.
"I only had breakfast, and it was a forced march."
"Oh, that's not good."
"Yes, unlike us. Sensei, makes sure to eat three meals a day."
"...I'll put effort to do so."
Annis and Neon chimed in, as if saying it was too late for him to change now. Moore shrugged in response.
Gently, he gazed at the photo of the Pilgrim – Snow White – displayed on the screen again. This time, he didn't experience a headache.
"Rapi, transfer the information to the terminal."
"Understood. Let's depart once you've rested."
"Servant, come with me. This room isn't suitable for resting with a hole in the ceiling."
"...I'm glad we don't need a ventilation fan."
If he could make light of it like that, he should be fine. Ludmila watched Moore as he picked up the assault rifle, backpack, and helmet that had been leaning against the table where the desktop was placed. She confirmed his condition and then guided him to a room suitable for resting.
The room they were led to was not far from the well-ventilated room they had been in earlier. It was furnished with the basics.
"Rest here."
"Thank you. May I ask something?"
"What is it?"
"You gathered quite a bit of information, and it seems you've been tracking Pilgrims for a long time... Why?"
She mentioned that information about the Pilgrim is stored inside the base. It's true, but it turned out to be a more significant find than he expected.
"---Oh, I see. Curious?"
"It's just a genuine question."
"...There are two reasons."
Ludmila, with her sharp eyes, sighed with a touch of resignation and raised two fingers on one hand.
"Because I was embarrassed. And because I thought it was something I should do."
"...Sorry. I'm not sure I understand."
With a slight scruff of facial hair around his mouth and jaw, Moore tilts his head.
Seeing his reaction, Ludmila can't help but slightly smile. She guess it's worth expressing with that kind of words.
It's a subtle way of getting back at her servant for seeming to look down on or disrespect their queen.
"──I'll tell you the details... after you become closer to me."
While running her fingertips along Moore's jawline covered with a light beard, Ludmila gave him a meaningful message and then turned on her heel, leaving the room.
Watching her leave, Moore proceeded to quickly disassemble the assault rifle and grenade launcher placed on the table. He began maintenance and inspection.
He polished the parts with an oiled cloth, revealing a fair amount of dirt. It was likely due to firing without proper maintenance. It was a miracle that no misfires had occurred in this freezing environment.
Next, he used a cleaning rod to wipe away the residue of bullet jacket fragments and combustion gas inside the barrel. Ideally, it would require several days of maintenance, but they didn't have that luxury in their current situation.
After completing the maintenance and assembly, he stored the unloaded magazines from his dump pouch onto the table. Moore chewed on an energy bar with an emotionless expression, marking his first caloric intake in approximately 15 hours.
The sound of him munching on the energy bar and the clattering of him reloading ammunition echoed through the room.
Normally, cold-weather combat rations were heated using heat packs for consumption. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time for that.
Moore opened the sealed pouch of the clam chowder, which had solidified from the cold, and scooped it into his mouth with a synthetic resin spoon. It was neither good nor bad; it was just sustenance.
While eating, he finished loading ammunition and securely fastened them with Velcro onto the magazine pouches of his body armor.
As he got up to dry his cold-weather combat suit that had gotten wet when he fell into the river, he set up a paracord line in a corner of the room and hung his damp clothing there. At that moment, the door opened, and the girls entered.
"So quick! Have you already eaten?"
"...Don't worry. I left the cookies."
Upon seeing the remnants of combat rations still on the table, Anis worried that he might have devoured the cookies entirely, but Moore had left them untouched.
Once he finished hanging up the clothes, Moore handed over the clam chowder, which he didn't particularly enjoy, to the girls.
Moore opened the pouch containing the large cookies, split them in two, and handed one to Neon. While watching Anis carry the other cookie to her mouth, Moore finished cleaning up the table and then put on his helmet.
First, he confirmed that the assault rifle was clear of rounds. He then slammed a magazine into it and, with his backpack, moved to a corner of the room that provided cover from the door. There, he took a seat.
Moore adjusted his sling so that the rifle pointed at the floor between his neck and right armpit, then slightly adjusted his helmet to obscure his eyes.
"...I'll get some sleep."
"Alice, sit next to the servant."
"Yes, Your Majesty! I'm going to keep him warm, right?"
When Ludmila nodded, Alice, looking like a bunny, hopped over to Moore, sat down beside him with her legs extended, and leaned her back against the wall.
"A heating suit?"
"No, it's a cooling suit. Somehow, Alice has an abnormally high body temperature. That suit helps regulate it."
"Hehe. Mr. Rabbit, is it warm?"
As Rapi asked Ludmilla about it, Alice, who had sat down next to him, inquired if the suit was warm.
Moore nodded slightly in response to Alice's question as he remained silent.
"...When you're too tired, you can't sleep easily. At times like this, Alice's body temperature comes in handy. ──Looks like he's fallen asleep."
Ludmila noticed Moore's posture, which looked like that of an exhausted corpse. She was both impressed and astonished by how he could sleep in such a position.
Afterward, when Alice leaned her head on Moore's shoulder and fell asleep, Ludmila turned her gaze back to the girls.
"Thank you for today. You really saved us. Servant... Is this your first operation with him?"
"No..."
Ludmila, misunderstanding their close relationship as a conventional operation, asked, and Rapi hesitated, but ultimately, there was no choice but to answer truthfully.
"Huh? Consecutive commands? And he recently graduated from the Officer School...?"
"That's right. Um... it's been just over a month. Two months at most, right?"
"Yeah."
Lapi and Anis nodded in agreement.
"...Regarding that right leg exoskeleton, he said the original was taken by an unknown monster..."
"...To be precise, the Commander cut it off himself."
"...Really, he just graduated from Officer School recently?"
Ludmila asked once more to confirm, but the girls just nodded in response.
"...How peculiar."
It was strange for someone with such a background to be so experienced, or rather, overly prepared.
Rudmila found it strange that someone's actual experience didn't match their background. It was her first time encountering such a situation, even though she didn't know many commanders.
Suddenly, the memory of the incident from a few hours ago when she was almost crushed by a snow boulder falling from above flashed through her mind.
"Are you okay!?"
Then, his voice and image played back in her memory.
She had never heard of a commander who would risk their life to save a replaceable weapon like Nikke.
While considering what reckless thing he might have done, she felt a slight warmth on her cheeks when she remembered his body temperature when he had held her.
-----
Author Notes: Wow, I guess she's a bit...easy" (I apologize if I misunderstood m(_ _)m)
"However, this commander, who seems to have a natural immunity against Nikke, you know... not reacting at all when unintentionally pressed against Ludmila's chest, it's like not having bal*s to react... (spreading rumors)"
