LIGHTNOVELONLINE Honestly speaking, the Commander wasn’t exactly the best at his job.
Of course, paperwork could be handled at a decent level by most people, and in reality, Midori wasn’t particularly great at it either.
That said, he wasn’t a complete disaster, so I had no real thoughts about it.
Just a suitable level of task management.
After all, the commander’s main role wasn’t just shuffling papers; it was to lead operations.
“Do we really need to send the 1st Squad for the leftover disposal?”
“I absolutely don’t think so.”
“Yeah, I think so too. Even if a fight breaks out, it’s definitely easier than a purification operation.”
An afternoon without Midori.
Usually, she would have spoken up confidently, but today wasn’t one of those days.
In truth, we could have had this discussion without her.
We hadn’t even brought Midori in for planning such things.
I just thought the Commander and I were a bit too low-energy, and since we needed someone with a bit of a high vibe in the office, I brought her along.
“Plus, we need to form the 2nd Squad eventually, right? How about we create it for this leftover disposal?”
“Hmmm…”
It didn’t seem like a bad idea.
I sometimes thought we needed to form one more squad too.
After all, at some point, we needed several squads.
Of course, even if it wasn’t a combat squad, there were still agents to be deployed elsewhere, so it couldn’t be rushed.
A bit of contemplation was necessary.
“Since the 1st Squad should train regularly to prepare for actual operations, I think creating the 2nd Squad now might be beneficial…”
“I think that’s not a bad idea.”
“Do you think so too? We’ll have to form it eventually. I see we’re on the same page.”
The Commander responded with an obviously pleased expression.
It seemed like he had given it quite a bit of thought lately.
Literally, it looked like he had been mulling over the creation of the 2nd Squad quite seriously.
He had probably considered it enough to look good about it and was naturally pleased to hear positive feedback on his idea.
I could definitely understand that.
Moreover, I hadn’t expected that the Commander would have thought about it at all.
“Of course, organizing the 2nd Squad will… require your help…”
“That’s no problem at all. Helping with that is pretty much my role, isn’t it?”
“If you say that, I appreciate it.”
“Well then, since we need to act quickly to process the remaining contaminants, forming the 2nd Squad swiftly is crucial.”
It wouldn’t take much time to create the 2nd Squad, but we had to deal with the contaminated mountain rather quickly.
After all, Krytinium was like that.
Even if the Core was destroyed, it was still not a good substance for people.
Though, it was efficient because there were plenty of uses for Krytinium.
Just in terms of health, it was problematic.
“We’ll need personnel capable of direct combat and someone who can search for the remaining contaminated entities…”
“I think it would be easy to choose those who can actually engage in combat… but who would be good at searching?”
“Let me show you the list first.”
I stood up from my desk.
After all, there were only two of us in the office, and it was easier to show it through the pad.
I walked slowly and opened the files of the agents on our ship.
Thanks to the recent recruitment, we had quite a few agents now.
Although we still hadn’t reached the maximum capacity for agents.
“Commander, here’s the list of agents.”
“Looks like it. I see Agni at the top, and I can spot other 1st Squad agents in the middle.”
I positioned myself a bit closer to the pad to show it more easily, but I didn’t think too much of it.
I wasn’t wearing anything weird, just a regular suit.
There was no reason to think anything odd; I also knew the Commander wasn’t the type to hit on women.
“And for the search, I think it would be good to have an agent who can utilize drones.”
A sniper with good eyesight would also work.
After all, the search category needed certainty.
But since the location was a mountain, I wanted to be even more sure.
What could see what the eyes couldn’t was, of course… machines.
And we happened to have agents who could conduct search operations using those machines.
“This is an agent we recently recruited. You can see simple information like their name and age.”
I pointed to a girl with gray hair and twin tails among the agents.
Honestly, what caught my attention more was how those twin tails looked like they were styled like roller curls.
“Hmmm…”
“Since this squad will be temporary, let’s keep it light. Honestly, once we recruit more agents, changes in squad members will happen occasionally.”
“That’s for sure. We still don’t have that many agents.”
“Plus, it’s not like we’ll conduct all operations with the same members, right? For now, I recommend keeping it light.”
In the game, you could completely change your squad every round, and it didn’t matter if you didn’t play; you could just swap characters.
But now it was reality, and we had to think about communication among agents.
We had to get to know each other and sync up to operate properly, and even when not on a mission, keeping the atmosphere good was essential.
“Well then, let’s just focus on forming the 2nd Squad for the rest of today’s work. We’ve basically determined one member, so we just need to fill the remaining four.”
“Let’s select the remaining personnel like this. No need to waste time separating.”
I wanted to wrap things up quickly while sitting close to the Commander.
He had already stated that today’s work was just forming the 2nd Squad, so if we finished this, it meant going home.
Of course, I’d probably end up doing paperwork in my spare time after leaving anyway.
“…If that’s what you want, let’s do it.”
“Yes.”
So, I continued the selection process while sitting close to the Commander.
The 1st Squad had been filled with the best combat-ready agents on the ship, so naturally, the 2nd Squad might lack a bit in combat compared to them, but it was still not bad.
We had plenty of decent agents that I had picked from our fleet.
*
“Commander, I came to talk to you for a moment…”
“Commander, Agni is here.”
“?”
Just as we were selecting the 2nd Squad, Agni suddenly entered the office.
Naturally, he wasn’t carrying his massive weapon.
Logically, it would be strange to bring that in when there was no combat or training going on… but Agni had a quirky side, so who knew?
Regardless, it wasn’t like there was any operation from the 1st Squad at the moment.
So Agni suddenly showing up in the office didn’t make much sense in several ways.
“What brings you here?”
“Um.”
“I thought the 1st Squad had no particular schedule today.”
The Commander had a response that was just as bewildered as mine.
After all, there was genuinely no reason for Agni to come here today.
“Commander, do you have some time?”
“I’m currently busy with work.”
“Then after work.”
“…?”
What’s going on here?
Suddenly dropping by while working and then asking about time was awkward.
It was strange seeing Agni, who usually didn’t visit the office, acting this way.
“I guess I will have some time. Why do you ask?”
“Dinner. Want to eat together?”
“Well, that doesn’t pose a problem. After all, I don’t have any other commitments.”
“Oh, really? That works then. I’ll see you later.”
With that, Agni simply… left the office.
Just like that.
“…?”
I couldn’t figure out what that was all about.
Was he really just swinging by to ask the Commander out to dinner?
Of course, Agni had no other work.
After all, the only precious 5-star character on the ship couldn’t just be used recklessly.
I figured they’d want to keep him in the best condition possible.
Oh, of course, it was true that Agni was somewhat lacking outside of combat.
“Alright, let’s get back to work.”
“Uh, yes…”
The Commander continued, sounding completely nonchalant as if nothing special had just transpired.
Wasn’t what Agni just mentioned sort of like a date proposal?
Of course, it wasn’t particularly romantic or anything.
But was that what it sounded like?
So why was the Commander reacting so casually?
He didn’t seem curious at all or like he had other thoughts on the matter.
“Commander.”
“What is it?”
“…Never mind. By the way, how about this agent? She seems suitable for combat and would also assist with gathering the remaining Krytinium remnants.”
I had plenty of thoughts swirling around, but I decided to let it go for now.
Whatever he was doing, whether dating, having fun, or getting married, it had nothing to do with me.
I wasn’t involved in any special way.
I just hoped the Commander wouldn’t do anything inappropriate to Agni, who was at the same level as his subordinate.
If suddenly a superior started harassing a subordinate, especially a golden child like Agni, it’d be a nightmare in so many ways.
Of course, it wouldn’t just be a professional problem; there was a risk of actual bodily harm!