Turning point (3)
"Don't bother someone who's still in pain. Even if the surface looks healed, the inside is still a mess."
"No, I just... Ah, fine. Okay, I get it."
"Hyun-woo, that goes for you as well. I told you before, when the pureblood supremacists quiet down, you should treat it like it's the last break of your life."
"Ah, yeah."
Watching Licorice being cowed by Nadia's force and giggling to myself, I quickly answered as soon as attention shifted to me. Depending on when I responded, her reaction would change, so I had to keep my wits about me.
Nadia expressed her displeasure by flicking her tail in the air. She looked at me, arms crossed, and then let out a small sigh as if she just couldn't handle us.
Then she leaned in my direction, pressing her cheek against mine or rubbing at my shoulder before straightening up again. I suppose I should be grateful for that, at least.
Finishing her little marking ritual, Nadia was ready to leave as if she'd never just walked in.
"Oh, you're leaving?"
"Of course. I've got a ton to do."
She explained that once she started working, it was hard to stop midway, so she had just come to check on my condition before she began.
"As I said earlier, don't think about doing anything today. If I catch you acting like 'I'm already fine' and doing stuff..."
"... If you catch me?"
"I might just bite you. Actually, I'm definitely going to."
Nadia bared her teeth with a menacing growl. I was so shocked that she would show that side to me, I sucked in a breath.
With a trembling voice, I asked, "But, what if I really want to?"
"Go ahead and try. I'll show you what a fox sounds like at every hour of the day."
Hearing her voice wobble as if on the verge of tears, I quickly swore I wouldn't do it. As if by magic, the weepy tone instantly disappeared.
"Just rest. I'll be back after work."
With that, Nadia left the break room. Soon, the door closed quietly.
"... Is it just me, or is Nadia getting better at playing woof-woof lately?"
Licorice whispered, glancing around nervously, perhaps worried she'd overhear and come right back in.
Honestly, I was scared too. When someone suddenly approaches you wielding a pistol and you can't do anything about it, that helplessness hits hard. Tied up with a restraint device, Licorice couldn't do anything except hop about.
I'd known for some time that Nadia was a good actress. Specifically, back at the beginning of all this, when we were heading toward town and Celestia accidentally grabbed Nadia's tail—Nadia hadn't hesitated to pretend-cry to get another advanced-rank medical supply.
"Well..."
I didn't add anything more. Licorice grumbled as she tidied up the restraint device that Nadia had undone.
"Who would've thought she'd bring a smart pistol... How are we supposed to survive in a world this scary?"
"You really can't do anything with Nadia these days."
"That's you, not me, isn't it?"
"Nope, I was talking about Licorice."
"Good grief. Unbelievable. That's not true at all!"
Licorice snapped, rubbing her numb, tightly bound arm.
"My ear hurts."
"My whole body hurts because of you! Why do you keep playing with that thing like it's a toy?"
"Well..."
I trailed off, then admitted what I had to. Even though it was because the bud got a bit too enthusiastic—different from my intent—Licorice had gotten hurt, so apologizing was the right thing to do.
It wasn't designed to be a toy in the first place. For Licorice, it was no different from a collar, so it was no wonder she felt humiliated every time it went off.
Even after accepting my apology, Licorice kept fuming. She kept sticking out different red, swollen spots and asking, "Can't you see how puffy it is here?" so I looked away.
"I said I was sorry. You shouldn't provoke me like that. You started it, Licorice."
"What?"
"—Not that I should say that. Anyway, how are the nightmares?"
"Changing the subject so fast..."
Licorice gave me a look. I could tell she was a little hurt, but I was glad to shift the direction. She'd lost a lot of her confidence ever since learning she was Lobelia's clone.
Her previous boldness, which had sometimes come off as arrogance, had all but disappeared, so I couldn't treat her like I used to.
Letting out a small sigh, Licorice responded, "I didn't have any."
"Really?"
"I'm not lying. Look in my eyes. I'm tired—well, yeah I'm tired, but it's not because of nightmares. It's because there's so much work, I barely get to rest."
"That's good to hear, then."
"It's all thanks to that."
Licorice nodded with her eyes at the unmoving bud. The bud was lying there as if to say, 'Wake me again and you'll regret it.' Unlike before, the bud's golden outline would appear and disappear in cycles.
The strength the bud held had clearly increased, especially after our trip to the Sky Whale.
'So that's what it needed—a core from the reactor.'
Despite needing an extra energy source to grow, all this time, it had rejected Blue Crystals or other power sources because only the crystals from the reactor could feed it.
According to Carrot, the bud was little more than the image or concept of a pure energy mass. It only *looked* like a bud, but that wasn't its real form.
'The total amount has definitely increased.'
After it absorbed the crystal, I started to change too. Though my body was still recovering so my supernatural power couldn't manifest properly, I was optimistic for once I was healed.
The size of the core inside me hadn't changed, but its density was noticeably higher—like the diameter of the hose had gotten wider.
I briefly wondered if securing another reactor would make me even stronger but knew that thought had to stay just that—a thought. After all, every remaining reactor was now in pureblood supremacist territory.
No matter how strong I became, there was no sense in doing something if I couldn't make it back. I wouldn't be the only one to die, either.
"Lobelia's not trying to interfere, is she?"
"As far as I can tell, no. There's nothing weird on the recorded footage either."
Licorice was under constant surveillance now. Wherever she went, beta Series members followed, and her bracelet monitored her and everyone around her.
That sort of round-the-clock monitoring was uncomfortable, but I couldn't always be by Licorice's side, so it was necessary.
Making eye contact with me, Licorice shrugged. "Giving me that look again. Worrying so much?"
"Of course."
"If you're talking about surveillance, there's no need to read too deeply into it. On that front, you're not any different from me."
"Sorry?"
"Think about it. What era do you think we're living in, anyway? Even when you stayed in the residential area, there were cameras everywhere. To be precise, it wasn't just you—a camera saw everyone in the streets, but still, you were seen."
Licorice pointed around, saying nothing had changed even after coming to Albatross.
"There's fire detection sensors over there, pressure detectors on this side, all sorts of sensors everywhere. We just don't notice them most of the time. Same goes for the Beta Series patrolling the ship. I just have the bracelet added on top of that."
Licorice remarked that we already live buried under so many eyes. She casually suggested that obsessing over each little thing in life would only shorten your years—and that we should all learn to be more nonchalant.
After that, Licorice stretched her body out, showing off surprising flexibility.
'She's changed a lot.'
Maybe she had always been like this, but it was suppressed, or maybe her personality itself had shifted. I couldn't tell if it was genuine or just an act to appear indifferent.
At some point, Licorice stopped talking about credits. As far as I could guess, that change coincided with the time when Lobelia started to intervene with direct commands instead of simple suggestions.
I had concluded for myself that Licorice wasn't Ian, but she didn't have that certainty. After all, she never knew when Lobelia would suddenly take over.
Licorice's confusion was very much ongoing. That might be why she was trying to react to everything as if it were no big deal.
I wished I could keep my relationship with Licorice. It was a personal desire. Even if it was Lobelia's suggestion that connected us, the time spent afterwards wasn't fake. I wanted her to recognize that.
"Licorice, when are you going to state your wish?"
"What? You haven't forgotten?"
"Of course not. So what's your wish?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? Be patient. It's not time to say it yet."
"So you've already decided?"
I looked at her with some surprise, and Licorice smiled slightly. She looked up at the ceiling with a light expression, giving off a strangely poignant vibe.
"Yeah, I decided a long time ago."
"Then you could just tell me now."
"I told you, it's not time."
Licorice rolled her eyes and, as if to scold me for making her repeat herself, she flicked me on the forehead. Her fingers were thin, but her flick was shockingly sharp—so much so that I shuddered from the sharp pain.
When I whined, Licorice was startled and immediately checked the spot she hit, then gently rubbed my swollen, reddened forehead.
"Oh, right. In case you're curious, let me say this in advance: Roxy already checked two out of the nine candidate locations. Unfortunately, both were dead ends."
"..."
"What? Why?"
I was curious, but I didn't say so. Licorice only brought it up to change the topic, a silent apology in its own right.
I followed her forced transition and kept the conversation moving.
We started joking about theories regarding the construction of the Sky Whale, speculating what kind of object could possibly be deemed indestructible, and I watched Licorice process feedback from the ship's system in real time.
When it came to data processing, her old self reappeared. Eyes intensely focused, she would scan a hologram screen—until realizing I was watching, at which point she'd suddenly get flustered and awkward.
That would lead her to snap at me, claiming I made her mess up the data input. I would protest, saying all I could do was watch, and it was unfair to blame me for being a bystander.
When I admitted I looked because she was cool when focused, Licorice blushed so hard I couldn't tell if it was her hair or her ears turning red as she turned away.
Time passed. Eventually, night fell, and a worn-out Nadia returned from hard labor and sought comfort by my side. I was well enough to move my hands, so I gave her tail a gentle tap, and that was enough to satisfy us both.
According to Nadia, thanks to Albatross's production facilities operating non-stop, we'd restored about half the supplies lost in the last big battle. She added that we'd nearly depleted our available resources and would need to mine more.
Gail was planning to send out drones to survey the area near the mountains. They planned to keep tasks straightforward, even if it meant more round trips.
Licorice had told me most of this, but I didn't mention that. I liked the sound of Nadia's cheerful rambling.
When I asked why Nadia had Celestia's smart pistol, she didn't answer. Instead, she stared at me, then suddenly pouted. She announced it was bedtime and shed her skin.
Carry, turned into a sudden coat rack, narrowed its eyes and squeaked as it put everything away.
And so, the next day arrived.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I got a briefing from Licorice, who was already up and ready, about what had happened overnight.
"We're almost at the Mithrim Montes range. In about an hour, we'll reach the highest peak."
"Relay installation is today's main job, then."
"Yep. I imagine we'll split into two teams. Gail keeps whining about the lack of resources."
Reaching the Mithrim Montes range had taken a while, but it couldn't be helped. We couldn't take a straight path.
Pureblood supremacist surveillance was everywhere, so we had to zigzag and take detours. Thanks to being careful, we reached our destination without another skirmish.
"Roxy checked in again. He confirmed another three locations yesterday."
"So that leaves four left."
"Right."
I was about to ask if Roxy was okay but closed my mouth when I saw the pictures Licorice shared. Roxy was actually teasing the pureblood supremacist pursuit squads, even grabbing onto their tails.
He was gleefully shooting down small fighters. Maybe he was unchained this time because he didn't have us to babysit. I wasn't the only one who noticed—even Nadia choked on her bread at the sight.
"How's your physical condition?"
"I feel good. I think I can move around on my own."
"Unbelievable..."
Licorice looked me over with disbelief. Though there were some lingering aches, unlike yesterday I was able to get out of bed on my own.
Just a single day's rest had worked wonders. My shoulders still felt a little off when I rolled them, but I was ready for action.
"Hyun-woo, don't tell me you're planning to join operations today—right now?"
"That's exactly my plan."
"..."
"I'll just watch from the side, like before. As soon as combat erupts, I'll pull back immediately, I promise. So, put that down."
I stopped Nadia, who was frantically looking for something. I said I'd just play the supervisor's role and pull out at the first sign of trouble, and only then did she settle down, though she still wished I would rest longer.
"Lee Hyun-woo, don't you trust the others a bit too little? You don't have to do that yourself. It's just relay installation anyway."
For Licorice, the least trusting person of all, to say that—I was so shocked I opened my eyes wide. She shot me a disgruntled look as if to say, 'What, why, what.'
"It's not about trust. I just want some air. Lying down all this time gave me cabin fever."
It wasn't like this before; as my recovery rate increased, staying still became harder. In the old days, I'd have treated it as a rare holiday and begged for one more day in bed.
"And look at that. He won't come down from the window. I think he wants to go below."
"... Really?"
Licorice and Nadia both turned to look at the bud I indicated. The guy was pressed right up against the window as if trying to break through.
Not that it was a real window. The break room was surrounded by walls. What the bud was seeing was just the external camera feed.
"Is there anything down there?"
"As far as I know... Actually, I suppose there could be. Maybe an abandoned weather observatory left for collecting climate data before terraforming Titan. There shouldn't be anything left, though."
"Maybe that's what he's reacting to?"
"Who knows..."
Licorice trailed off, unsure. I wondered under my breath what the bud saw. Of course, there was no answer.
Even zooming the camera in the direction the bud watched, all I saw was rough terrain.
***
**New Names, locations, skills/Techniques Glossary**