My desire is to draw anguish from the Commander's face.
For that, I was perfectly willing to use even my own death as a tool.
But let's think about this carefully.
For grief born of death to work, the person who died had to matter — truly matter — to the one left behind.
After all, no one weeps their eyes out over a coworker they've barely exchanged a handful of words with.
In other words, to torment the Commander, I first had to get close to him.
No… more than simply close. If I could make him feel genuine affection, all the better.
So I quietly laid my plans, careful not to let him catch on.
On the way to Lumia — I'd find a way to move things forward between us.
And yet….
And yet this man…!
"…Lumia is one of eight frontier cities, and the northernmost one at that. The air is dry, the winds are harsh, and citizen satisfaction is at rock bottom. It's a small city — no airport, not even a proper department store."
"Is that so."
"But despite those harsh conditions, its strategic importance is considerable. It guards the upstream route leading to the central territories, and with the mountain range at its back, it can serve as a breakwater — buying time when a threatening force bears down. In that sense, I'd say your shoulders carry quite a heavy burden, Commander."
"Indeed…. I suppose they do."
The Commander nodded at my words.
His face was blank — utterly unreadable, not a flicker of emotion.
It was the kind of reaction that made me, the one who'd started the conversation, want to shrink into the floor.
*This man… does he just not want to talk to me?*
That was exactly it.
I'd been trying to engage him for hours. How many times had I reached out?
And this infuriating creature had kept up this exact attitude the entire time.
I saved his life. I let him touch me. And this is what I get!
Could he have noticed I had ulterior motives?
No — that was impossible. My performance was flawless.
No matter how I looked at it, the problem was his complete lack of social skills.
*Say something yourself, would you? I've been carrying this entire conversation.*
I let that sentiment settle into my smile as I looked at him.
He quietly averted his gaze — and then, out of nowhere, spoke.
"…You really are quite knowledgeable, Leila."
"Ahaha… Am I? It's just that this is the city I'll be living in from now on. I thought I should at least know this much."
In truth, I'd simply said what the original Leila would have said, but….
Right. The timing was actually perfect. I could use this to close the distance.
Keeping my smile in place, I spoke to the Commander in the brightest tone I could manage.
"Oh, and since we'll be in each other's lives for quite a while — please, feel free to just call me Leila. Commander."
"…I'll… think about that."
"Eh? Oh. Yes…. Whenever you're comfortable, then…."
Ugh, how mortifying….
It felt exactly like being told "were we even friends?" by a classmate I'd thought I was close with.
I hadn't expected to be turned down, and heat rushed to my face before I could stop it.
*The nerve. Making me feel this kind of humiliation. Unforgivable.*
I will pay this back in full.
I stacked the grievance high inside my heart.
But even as I did, a nagging question circled through my mind.
My performance should have been perfect. So why was he so guarded around me?
Had he perhaps been deceived before by a woman with ulterior motives…?
Damn it, his instincts are too sharp. Is he really determined not to be fooled twice?
Sensing danger, I began quietly drafting my next strategy.
"…."
"…."
Perhaps because I'd gone quiet.
Silence settled between me and the Commander.
Of all the luck — facing seats, with nowhere to look.
Maintaining a carefully composed expression, I thought in silence.
*This is harder than I expected…. How exactly does one go about seducing a person?*
Honestly speaking, I had always lacked social skills.
In my previous life, I'd done nothing but suppress the impulses I harbored.
Making friends had always been difficult, no matter where I was.
I was rotten at the root — that was simply the kind of person I was.
And did becoming a beautiful girl somehow fix that? Of course not.
I was doing my desperate best to imitate the original Leila.
But it seemed I couldn't hide what lay underneath.
I should have practiced a little more before it came to this.
As I wallowed in self-reproach, a memory suddenly flashed through my mind — the moment the Commander had reacted, visibly shaken.
*Still… he did respond a little during the contract. Maybe it's the body? Should I be using my body to seduce him?*
Hmm. Even so, seduction through physical means didn't particularly appeal to me.
True pain only surfaces when you dig down and tear at the roots that have grown deep.
If the relationship became fixated on physical pleasure alone, I doubted I'd ever see the expression I was after.
Though if nothing else worked, I supposed I'd have no choice but to fall back on that method.
Haah. Making someone show a face full of anguish really is no easy task.
Had I gotten a little too full of myself just because I'd become a beautiful girl?
I was deflating, digging aimlessly at the ground in my mind, sinking into gloom — when, without warning, the Commander across from me spoke up, carefully.
"Excuse me…."
"Oh, yes? What is it?"
"May I call you Leila?"
"…Pardon?"
"Mm, I'm not particularly good with words. But after I turned you down earlier, you seemed… a little put out. Was I… imagining things?"
What. This man. Why is he suddenly being so familiar?
Caught off guard, I quickly turned over his intentions in my mind.
He'd been so obviously keeping me at arm's length that I'd assumed he simply disliked being approached.
But perhaps the truth was that he simply had no experience with conversation at all.
*In other words… he's hopelessly awkward?*
This is an opportunity.
Sinking deep into the role of Leila, I let a bright smile bloom across my face.
Then I leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between us.
"…Commander. One more time."
"Pardon?"
"Say my name one more time. Leila."
"…Leila."
"Once more."
"Leila…. Ah, how long must I keep doing this?"
"Hehe…. Just one more time."
Finally — a glimmer of possibility.
Yes. This was the kind of earnest, unpolished quality he responded to.
For your sake, I'll tear down my entire performance style and rebuild it from scratch.
*I will make you fall completely.*
And then I'll deliver the worst despair you've ever known.
I looked at the Commander with a feeling of genuine delight.
Commander. This feeling — it isn't manufactured. It's real.
For the sake of a ruin more beautiful than anything else.
The train raced on toward Lumia.
*
Several hours later, in the evening after the sun had set.
We finally arrived in Lumia.
We'd set out early in the morning with cheerful farewells — or so it had seemed.
I hadn't expected it to take an entire day just to arrive.
Of course, getting caught up in that incident along the way was the biggest reason.
Both the Commander and I were traveling fairly light.
Our other personal belongings would be sent along later with a supply shipment, apparently.
We stepped out of the station at a leisurely pace.
"So this is Lumia…."
"It's very quiet."
The city was quiet.
The number of people moving through the streets could be counted on one hand.
Most of the shops in sight had their lights off.
It was only around eight in the evening by the clock.
But the atmosphere felt closer to two in the morning.
I explained the reason to the Commander, who was looking around with a puzzled expression.
"It's probably because this is the eastern district."
"The eastern district… you say?"
"The east side of Lumia has the station and various shops. But the proportion of outsiders is relatively high over here, so… apparently most businesses close up at night when foot traffic dies down."
"You know that as well?"
"I looked it up beforehand."
Well, it wasn't particularly difficult to research.
City status reports were submitted on a regular basis, and they were accessible at headquarters without much trouble.
I spoke to the Commander, who was still taking in his surroundings.
"For now, let's head to the central district. The branch office should be there, and they'll already know we've arrived."
"The branch office…. Yes. I'd appreciate you showing the way."
"Hm-hm. No need to thank me. It's simply what I'm here to do."
I pulled my terminal out of my pocket.
Even so, it was unfamiliar territory. I did need the map.
We made our way directly toward the Valhalla Lumia Branch.
A building blazing with light, visible from a distance.
The moment we stepped inside, an enthusiastic welcome awaited us.
"Heheheh…. At last, our new Commander has arrived~!"
"Welcome… to Lumia…."
"Oh my, this is unexpectedly fine-looking…."
"Ehehe~."
Waiting for me and the Commander were four Valkyries.
One with bun-shaped rolls of hair, sitting in a chair with an imperious air.
A tall, short-haired beauty timidly kneading her shoulders from beside her.
A braided, generously endowed beauty radiating considerable maternal warmth.
And nestled in her arms, a listless-looking girl mumbling to herself.
The Commander looked flustered by the sudden welcome.
But I had already known they would be waiting.
*This part is exactly the same as the original.*
They were the Rabbit Hole Squad.
The only squad force remaining in Lumia at the time of the prologue.
For the record, every single one of them was more talented than Leila.
The concept: raw talent left to wither under an incompetent commander.
If I recalled correctly, they grew to A-rank once actual combat began.
Well, for now, even Yubina — who could be called their leader — was only C-rank.
Compared to me, they were far weaker.
"You're the Rabbit Hole Squad, aren't you? I'm Leila, a B-rank Valkyrie dispatched from headquarters. And this is Commander Yujin, who will be taking charge of Lumia going forward."
"Yujin. A pleasure."
"Yu, Yujin…. What a splendid name…. Like a prince~."
"Finally, a Commander for Lumia…. I won't have to carry the weight of acting commander anymore…."
"Quite handsome, isn't he. Tall, broad-shouldered…. Hm-hm~."
"Ehehe~."
The Rabbit Hole Squad's reactions were fairly positive.
They'd lost their commander and been waiting for the next one, after all.
At least Yujin's first impression didn't seem to be a bad one.
The problem, however, was that they talked far too much and said far too little.
One person would say something, and all four would fire back in an endless relay.
That would set off the next remark, and the whole thing would spiral into an infinite loop of chatter.
At this rate, we'd never get anywhere.
I looked at the bun-haired girl and made a gentle request.
"Excuse me, Squad Leader of the Rabbit Hole Squad? Could we perhaps move on to introductions? The Commander seems to be at a loss."
"Commander Yujin, is there anything you particularly like to eat? I could show you around Lumia as well…."
"Ah, well…. I don't really have strong preferences…."
"Haah…. Commander. Rabbit Hole Squad Leader."
*Listen when someone's talking to you. And stop trying to poach what's mine.*
I somehow kept my smile intact as I called out both their names.
The room went silent in an instant.
Everyone seemed to tense up sharply all at once.
The bun-haired girl in particular went pale at a remarkable speed.
"Eek…! Ah, um…. Yes! I, I am the leader of the Rabbit Hole Squad… my name is Yubina…."
"D-D-Dahlia…!"
"Promina."
"Anje."
"This one is Anje."
"Mm. Thank you all. For introducing yourselves."
Good. Now we were finally getting somewhere.
I gave a light clap and looked around the room.
Let's get along well from here on. I smiled at Yubina.
She immediately made a face that looked rather frightened.
Ah… I had a feeling this was going to become a habit.