Mithril Pacific Squadron's SRT Arm Slave combat team, consisting of three members, had just received a special mission.
The mission was to protect a high school girl named Kaname Chidori. Judging from her profile, she seemed completely ordinary.
Although her father was a senior UN official, the intelligence they had gathered showed that he had not provoked anyone recently, so secretly assigning protection to this high school girl was rather strange.
More importantly, this mission had also assigned the team B-level equipment. In simple terms, that meant they were authorized to deploy Arm Slaves for the operation.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're operating in a city, and we're still bringing AS units? That just proves this young lady isn't simple at all."
The man speaking in that slightly flippant tone was a blond soldier named Kurz Weber, one of the team members, rank: sergeant.
"Sousuke, what do you think? Does this young lady have some kind of special background?"
Kurz patted the youngest member of the trio on the shoulder. In the country this young lady lived in, this guy was technically still underage.
Interestingly enough, he had also been assigned to pose as a student at her school, all so he could protect her more effectively.
"No idea."
Sousuke Sagara answered without even the slightest hesitation, blinking with that usual dead-serious look in his eyes.
"Don't answer that fast without thinking. Do you think maybe this young lady might be... one of those?"
"One of what?"
"I mean..."
Bang.
With a dull thud of flesh taking a hit, Kurz was sent headfirst crashing into a pile of junk on the floor.
"If you've got time to run your mouth, hurry up and pack your gear."
The one who had kicked the blond idiot flying was the AS combat team's leader, Melissa Mao, rank: sergeant.
"All right, all right, boss. Then let's switch to a more interesting topic. Have you heard? Our beautiful submarine captain has been acting kind of strange lately. Ever since that weird biohazard drill the other day, Tessa's been off. So, boss, got any inside information?"
Kurz's question earned him a wrench flying straight at him.
"And just today, someone new showed up aboard the submarine. The captain's acting even stranger too. She's all tense and excited, like some teenage girl about to see a childhood friend she hasn't met in ages. She even dressed up prettier than usual. I noticed, all huge and-"
Was she actually trying to kill him?
"So, boss, got any details? Weren't you the one bringing Tessa her meal just now? It looked like it was for two people too. Did you see anything?"
"If you're that desperate to know, go ask Tessa yourself."
This time Melissa did not throw anything, because Tessa really had been acting very differently today.
She had helped deliver the food, but she had not brought it directly to Tessa herself. Major Andrew had taken it from her midway and carried it the rest of the way in.
So in truth, she was extremely curious too. Just who was that young man who looked like a college student, the one dining together with Tessa?
Suddenly, her communicator went off.
It was Major Andrew.
"Sergeant Mao, the mission has changed. You three are to report to the SRT command room immediately."
"Understood."
The other two had heard it too, and immediately dropped what they were doing.
"I bet this definitely has something to do with that guy. Think he's some big shot's son from headquarters, here to pad his record?"
Kurz immediately started gossiping again.
"Otherwise why authorize AS deployment? It's obviously just to boost his survival odds. Guy sure values his life."
His tone turned openly mocking.
The other two ignored him completely, which only left him more annoyed.
But when they reached the command room door and pushed it open, all three top officers were present, and that made the trio pause.
More importantly, there was one extra person there.
The same man Kurz had maliciously guessed was here to pad his résumé.
"Sergeant Mao, this is the revised mission assignment."
Melissa took the tablet Major Andrew handed her and read the updated information.
Hm?
At that moment, Melissa felt that maybe Kurz's nonsense was not entirely impossible.
The newly added participant in this operation, the man named Kain, was the young man currently standing beside Tessa.
And Melissa noticed a detail.
Though his rank was also sergeant, the way he stood beside her carried none of the usual line between officer and subordinate.
It felt more equal than that.
And Lieutenant Commander Richard Mardukas, that somewhat rigid old man who was normally such a stickler for discipline, actually seemed unconcerned by the young man's lack of military bearing.
How to put it...
It was as if this guy's real identity was anything but ordinary, which was why both the lieutenant commander and the major, and even Captain Tessa, were treating him with a faint degree of respect.
Could he really be here to pad his record?
Hm?
Five members?
After flipping to the next page -
"Wait... what is this supposed to mean?"
Melissa's voice rose despite herself, because the fifth team member was the last person she had expected to see.
"What?"
Kurz leaned in and looked at the tablet too.
The information displayed there was for their beautiful captain.
What was that supposed to mean?
"Lieutenant Commander, Major, Tessa... are you serious?"
Melissa's tone turned extremely stern.
Tessa wanting to participate in the mission was not impossible for Melissa to understand.
In private conversations, Tessa had mentioned before that she wanted to go out in the field with the three of them someday and be active on the front lines like everyone else.
But Tessa also understood perfectly well that she could not be that willful.
And yet this time, she really was being that willful?
Even more absurd, the lieutenant commander and the major had actually approved it.
Melissa's gaze shot toward the young man named Kain.
Tessa's decision to take part was absolutely connected to him.
Did this guy not realize he was dragging her into danger too?
"Major, are you sure this arrangement is acceptable?"
Kurz spoke up too.
No, more than spoke up. He was openly challenging it.
"No problem."
"Fine. If all of you officers are in agreement, then we don't have much to say about it. But I do object to this."
Kurz jabbed a finger at one of the task assignments shown on the mission briefing.
It stated that Tessa's protection would be Kain's responsibility.
Was he really capable of that?
"I want him to prove that he has the ability to protect Tessa."
As he said that, Kurz rolled his neck and shrugged his shoulders, producing a series of cracking sounds.
The meaning was obvious.
He wanted the man to show his skills.
If he was not good enough, then sorry, but Kurz would make sure he could not join the mission at all.
And if that happened, Tessa would not need to take the risk either.
"No problem. Sergeant Kain, let the three of them see what you can do."
The three of them?
That made Kurz frown, and beside him Melissa narrowed her eyes as well.
Major Andrew's meaning was obvious.
He wanted all three of them to come at him together?
Was he looking down on them?
Or was this young man really that extraordinary?
"Um... Mr. Kain, please go easy on them."
Even the captain said that.
Kain stepped forward.
And the moment he looked their way, his gaze changed.
In that instant, Kurz and Melissa both had the terrifying illusion that they had already been killed.
A freezing chill shot through them in a flash, surpassing mere cold and sinking straight into their souls.
At that moment, it felt as if they were being stared at by Death itself, not as a figure of speech, but the real thing.
So strong was their instinctive drive to survive that their bodies reacted before their brains could even catch up.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed through the meeting room with deafening force.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]