"Candy! I like candy!"
Sten said happily as she took a lollipop, completely forgetting the fear she had felt outside earlier.
Candice's eyes lit up as well and she took one. As a child, even though she was trying hard to be strong, she still had no resistance to sweets.
"Sweets...?"
HK416 also took a lollipop and examined it carefully.
"Is it that rare?"
Lux asked while driving.
"Yes. In 206X, resources are scarce. Most supplies have to be allocated to more important humans. Ordinary Dolls rarely get to eat things like this."
HK416 answered seriously.
"..."
Lux didn't know what to say.
"Can I save it?"
HK416 asked.
"You can, I guess, but why? Food is meant to be eaten, isn't it?"
"I'm not lacking energy right now. I can keep this for later, when food becomes scarce, and give it to you."
"It probably won't get that bad. I plan to loot every convenience store along the way. I'll do my best to make sure you don't go hungry."
Lux said, somewhat moved. HK416 really treated him incredibly well.
"The first gift… I ever got from you."
HK416 murmured softly in a voice so quiet it was almost inaudible.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you."
Lux looked at HK416.
"It's nothing! Don't worry about it! Anyway, I'm keeping this!"
HK416 said loudly in a firm tone, then put the lollipop into her pocket.
"Then I'll give you mine. Haha. You can't say you won't eat this one, right? Since it's my share."
Lux took out another lollipop and handed it to HK416.
"Eh?"
HK416 froze.
"Why… aren't you eating it yourself?"
"I've eaten plenty of candy over the past twenty-plus years. One more or one less doesn't make much difference to me. I'd rather let you try it."
Lux said with a smile.
He didn't know why HK416 wanted to keep the lollipop, but he still wanted to see her expression while eating candy.
"No, um… I…"
HK416 opened her mouth, unsure how to explain for a moment.
Being treated specially by Lux made her very happy, but she didn't want to simply take his candy either.
"Ahh, looks like 416 doesn't like sweets! Then I'll enjoy this lollipop myself!"
MDR said teasingly with a mischievous grin.
"Who said I don't want it! This is from Lux! I'm eating it!"
A blur flashed past. The lollipop in Lux's hand was already snatched by HK416, who clumsily tore open the plastic wrapper and stuffed it into her mouth.
Lux smiled. From the rearview mirror, he could see that MDR hadn't actually intended to grab it at all. She had only spoken up because HK416 was hesitating, deliberately provoking her to take the lollipop.
Maybe he had misunderstood MDR before. Perhaps she was actually a pretty decent Tactical Doll. Lux couldn't help but think that.
"Haa~"
HK416 relaxed a little in the passenger seat while eating the lollipop, and Lux couldn't help but glance over.
The relaxed HK416 was different from her usual sharp and heroic beauty. There was an extra hint of cuteness.
"Cough, cough!"
Noticing Lux's gaze, HK416 straightened up again and coughed lightly to hide her inner turmoil.
"This is…"
"Haha, don't worry about it. Just relax in the car. There's no combat mission right now. You should rest properly when it's time to rest. And eating some candy helps relieve fatigue too. You and MDR have worked hard protecting me these past few days."
Lux smiled, then refocused on the road. In the apocalypse, everyone in the car's lives were indirectly in his hands. He had no intention of letting anything go wrong.
HK416 hesitated for a moment. Her mouth was filled with happiness, and she truly wanted to savor this feeling a bit more.
"Commander, you're really gentle."
Sten MKII said admiringly from the back seat.
"Hehehe, because you're all cute girls."
"Playboy…"
AA-12 said coldly.
"Ah, cough… well, I am a man after all. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable."
Lux replied with a wry smile. AA-12 seemed like the type of Tactical Doll who wasn't easy to get along with.
"Doesn't matter. I'm sleeping. Wake me if there's a combat mission."
After saying that, AA-12 lay down in the back seat and closed her eyes.
The atmosphere in the car fell into a somewhat awkward silence.
Thankfully, the car's GPS voice occasionally broke the silence with navigation prompts. Even so, Lux still felt a stomach-twisting pressure.
"Here… have a bite."
HK416 turned her head away, blushing, and poked the lollipop against Lux's face.
"Huh?"
"What 'huh'! Do you… do you dislike it? If you do, forget it!"
"I don't dislike it. Not at all."
Lux took the lollipop, still warm with HK416's temperature, into his mouth.
In an instant, his heart started racing wildly. No matter how you looked at it, this was an indirect kiss. It was his first time experiencing something like this.
"I—I'm good!"
Lux opened his mouth. If he kept eating, he felt like he'd get too excited and suffer cardiac arrest on the spot. That was no joke. A car accident here would be a huge problem.
HK416 blushed and took the lollipop back.
The oppressive atmosphere in the car caused by AA-12's coldness immediately dissipated.
While driving, Lux began thinking about who the remaining two Tactical Dolls might be.
He wondered if there would be a sniper Tactical Doll.
According to the system, every Tactical Doll was unique. That meant that as long as he summoned enough times, he could eventually summon all of them. That was actually good news.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the money power to summon dozens of times in one go.
Still, thinking about it carefully, pulling a five-star shotgun like AA-12 already made this more than worth it.
Lux decided to trust his luck for the day.