After the meeting ended, Bruce led his little team back to the operating room where Horus was being kept. On the way there, though, he kept feeling that something was off.
Was it just his imagination?
Why had Warfarin suddenly become so clingy?
And for some reason, whenever he had both her and Lion behind him at the same time, he could not shake the feeling of a chill running up his spine.
"Warfarin."
The moment they stepped into the operating room, Bruce turned around and called her name.
The instant he did, he saw Warfarin standing there pale-faced and trembling, while beside her Lion suddenly broke into a smile, one hand already resting on her sword hilt.
What are you two doing?
"Yes, Acting Commander!" Warfarin snapped to attention.
"I'm a little curious," Bruce said, rubbing his chin. "Why are you sticking to me so much? You're not usually like this."
Under normal circumstances, when she was not out on a mission, Warfarin would stay holed up in her designated lab, tinkering away at the bio-tech experiments the legion considered taboo.
So why was she acting so strangely today? It was not as though she could really help much with saving Horus anymore.
"B-Because… because I want to learn from you, Acting Commander!" Warfarin answered loudly.
Because I don't want to die!
For the hundredth time, Warfarin regretted opening her eyes the moment she woke up.
If she had not done that, she would already have bolted back to the Remilia by now.
But as things stood, the only way to stay alive was to stick to Bruce without leaving his side for even a second.
The moment she stepped out of his line of sight, Lion's greatsword would come down.
As for running back to the Remilia? Warfarin had tried that already. The second she left Bruce's visible range, she saw several Dark Angels in black robes lurking in the shadows, calmly wiping down their bolters and power swords.
That was enough to tell her everything she needed to know.
If she stayed just barely within a distance where Bruce might still hear her scream, they would only glare at her. The farther she went, the worse her death was going to get.
"But I don't really have anything to teach you," Bruce said, even more baffled.
"N-No problem! As long as I stay by your side, Acting Commander, I can learn something no matter what I'm seeing!" Desperation blazing through her, Warfarin whipped out a notebook and pen.
"I'll record every single word you say, Acting Commander, and have the whole ship study them!"
"That's right! I'm doing the same!" Alfred immediately chimed in.
Unlike Warfarin, who was saying all this to save her own skin, Alfred genuinely meant it. He had been completely won over by Bruce and firmly believed that this was the man he ought to follow.
"Well… I really don't know what to do with you two," Bruce said, sighing and shaking his head.
Bruce was not the vain sort, but when two of his key subordinates looked at him with that much naked admiration, it was hard not to feel just a little pleased with himself.
"Oh? Is that so?" Lion said.
Standing behind Warfarin, she placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder and smiled. "Then you had better make sure you record every single word Bruce says. I'll be reviewing it carefully."
"Yes—yes, ma'am!"
"Ah, that won't be necessary," Bruce said. "Anyway, you two seem to be getting along pretty well."
As he spoke, he pulled a device out of his storage compartment.
It was a square little box with several buttons on top and a conspicuous handset hanging from the side. Its name was the Videophone.
Its function was extremely simple: hang it up in front of a screen, punch in the right number, and once the connection went through, you could see the other person through the display.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a video call device.
But if that device could make instant, zero-latency calls across entire star systems, that was a very different matter.
"Ha… hahaha…" Warfarin laughed nervously, cold sweat rolling down her back.
"Mm…" Lion said nothing, merely resting an arm around Warfarin's shoulders while staring fixedly at Bruce as he fiddled with the Videophone.
From this angle, Bruce's backside really was rather enticing…
A little while later, Bruce finished setting up the Videophone, completely oblivious to the polar opposite states of the two women behind him—one wanting to devour him, the other convinced she was about to be devoured.
After confirming that the device worked, he picked up the receiver and punched in a string of numbers.
That number connected directly to the Scarlet Devil Manor's private line, one only a handful of people knew.
The call connected smoothly. Snow flickered across the screen for a moment, then the image cleared.
Meiling appeared, a steamed bun clenched between her teeth.
"Hello? Scarlet Devil Manor speaking. If you've got business, leave a message. The Acting Commander's out on a trip, Captain Sevatar's busy, and Milady is having afternoon tea. If you've got nothing important, hang up."
She was chewing a huge white bun as she spoke, words slurring together through the mouthful.
Bruce, having spent enough time around the gatekeeper, understood her just fine.
"Meiling, it's me—Bruce. I need a favor. Get Doraemon to the phone."
"Wha—?!" she yelped.
The instant she recognized Bruce's voice, the bun nearly fell out of her mouth. Luckily, her foot was fast enough to catch it, pinching the half-bitten bun neatly between her toes.
She swallowed her mouthful hard, flicked the bun back up, and caught it in her hand.
"Acting Commander? When did you get back?"
"I haven't. I'm still aboard the Vengeful Spirit."
"Then how are you calling from there?" Meiling asked, completely baffled.
Illiterate as she might be, even she knew there was no ordinary communication technology that should have been able to connect two places this far apart.
It was downright bizarre.
"Don't worry about that. Just get Doraemon on the line!"
"Eh? But… it's been so long since we talked, and now you're treating me like this?" Meiling looked genuinely hurt.
They had practiced martial arts together, cooked together, even slept on the same heated brick bed under the same quilt. Weren't they supposed to be good brothers?
And now he was telling her to go fetch that blue, round-headed raccoon before even speaking to her properly?
What exactly was so great about that thing?
Lion's hand tightened on Bruce's shoulder.
"You two… what exactly is going on here?"
"Oh, come on! Don't say things that make it sound weird!" Bruce almost jumped out of his skin.
Anyone hearing this would think he was some scumbag who toyed with women and abandoned them afterward.
"But the other day, didn't you say that next time we met, you'd take me to go look at the stars?" Meiling asked sadly. "And now you're acting like this."
"The stars?" Lion repeated, staring at the image of Meiling idly toying with the phone cord using her pinky.
I knew it. The two of them were awfully close that time they walked off together.
What in the world is the Eighth Legion made of? Konrad is bad enough, but now even some random underling thinks she can steal Bruce from me?
"What I said," Bruce exclaimed, "was that once the industrial tech is developed enough and Nostramo's pollution eases, we'll finally be able to see stars from the Scarlet Devil Manor!"
"Eh? Isn't that basically the same thing?" Meiling said, not seeing the issue at all.
To her, it was a beautiful promise. As someone born and raised on Nostramo, she had never once seen a proper starry sky. When Bruce said that, she had been convinced he was a real man.
Everyone else only ever thought about how to wring more value out of Nostramo. Bruce was the only one actually trying to make it better.
That was the kind of Acting Commander she admired.
"You…!" Bruce wanted to punch straight through the screen, but sadly, there was no such option.
Did Doraemon have some kind of remote screen-slapping gadget? Once the blue cat picked up, Bruce was absolutely making him send one over.
"So then…" Meiling continued, "teaching me some new dishes—that part was real too, right? When? I still want to eat that braised eggplant you talked about."
Lion's expression went dark.
Provocation. Naked provocation.
Only I get to eat food Bruce makes. Who do you think you are?
"Oh, for heaven's sake, can you please just go get Doraemon?" Bruce begged.
At the same time, he hurried to reassure Lion. "It's all a misunderstanding. Once Horus wakes up, I'll cook an entire table of dishes for you myself. I still remember that promise!"
"Really?"
"Really. Why would I lie to you? Meiling and I are just ordinary comrades."
"Ah? So we're just ordinary comrades?" Meiling sighed sadly. "The other day, while we were on the heated bed together, you were saying how nice it was to have me, that being with me was the closest bond there was…"
"Excuse me?!"
Then, suddenly gloomy, she added, "Fine. I'll go get the blue, round-headed raccoon."
I thought we were the closest of comrades.
So that was all just me fooling myself?
With that, Meiling set the phone down to the side, leaving behind an inexplicably forlorn silhouette as she walked farther and farther away.
Bruce nearly coughed up blood.
Meiling, why are you doing this to me?!
All I said that day was that having a good buddy like you was great! How did you twist it into this?
My room was in ruins, and you let me sleep in yours, let me share your heated bed—if that's not what brothers do, then what is?
Damn it!
"Bruce…" Lion said quietly, looking away for a moment before asking hesitantly, "those things you said… do you say them to everyone?"
To every girl, are you always like this? Telling each one she's the most special, the prettiest, the one who means the most to you?
"Do I look like that kind of person to you?" Bruce asked weakly.
"But that girl…"
"Listen, Saber. To me, you are absolutely the most special. Don't pay attention to those noisy misunderstandings. Even compared to Konrad, you are still special to me."
Meiling is my closest comrade-in-arms. Konrad is the Primarch I respect most. And you, Lion, are the Primarch I'm most terrified of. So of course you're special.
"R-Really?" Lion asked, her heart starting to race.
So… to Bruce, I really am special?
Special even compared to Konrad?
Does that mean I actually have a chance to take Bruce away from her? That I'm not doomed to stand by and watch as he belongs to Konrad alone?
"Really, really. Don't worry. Even if the whole world explodes, you'll still be the most special one to me."
One day, when you finally recover all your memories, I'm probably dead anyway. That's a very special situation.
"Mm! Good, then!" Lion beamed and wrapped her arms around Bruce's waist, temporarily forgetting there were still two unconscious people and one half-dead one in the operating room.
From nearby, Warfarin silently took notes, nodding furiously.
I see. So this is how it is.
Following the Acting Commander really is the right choice.
If she had language skills and emotional intelligence like his, would she ever have been exiled by her Primarch?
No wonder he rose so high while still so young. No wonder he'd won a Primarch's favor.
At that exact moment, she truly felt she was learning.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter1165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 150
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 55
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
My Harem Is Indescribable 26
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