The chaotic introductions finally wrapped up.
The Commander and I were given a tour of the facilities by the Rabbit Hole Squad.
We'd be imposing on them for a while, after all.
It seemed worth knowing where everything was.
What unfolded before us, however, was a sight beyond imagination.
"First, this is our Training Area!"
"This is the Training Area? To my eyes… it looks like a shipping container."
The Lumia Branch's Training Area was, astonishingly, a converted container building.
At least several containers had been joined together, so the space itself wasn't cramped.
But compared to the training facilities at Central Headquarters — which had felt like a theme park — this place was on par with an abandoned apartment complex's outdoor gym.
Stepping inside didn't offer any pleasant surprises, either.
The lights barely worked, and wind crept in through the gaps between containers.
"…It looks like some of the exercise equipment has been broken and left as-is."
"How did the Training Area end up like this?"
"Ah, there was a time when the Erosion Species' bombardment reached inside the city. I think they set this up as a temporary fix back then and just… kept using it."
"No, you'd think they'd rebuild it properly…."
Could anyone actually train in a place like this?
I glanced over at Yubina without thinking, and she immediately flushed red.
No, there's no need to be embarrassed. It's not really her fault.
*So this is roughly what the rest of the place is going to look like.*
We visited the other facilities afterward.
The infirmary had no fewer than half its treatment devices broken.
The cafeteria had no cook, so the Valkyries prepared their own meals.
The dormitory had several rooms whose doors wouldn't close properly.
It was a dreadful environment — bad enough to visibly shake even the Commander, who rarely showed his feelings.
At last, we arrived at the final stop, and Yubina spoke up.
"And lastly, this is… the Commander's Office, where you'll be conducting your duties, Commander."
"…Strangely, this seems to be the only room that's spacious."
"The previous Commander insisted that the Commander's Office absolutely had to be large…."
Central must have been sending support funds all along.
So why were the facilities in such a wretched state?
The answer was right here in this office.
For one thing, the quality of the walls and floors was on a completely different level from the rest of the building.
Scattered around the room were various pointless luxury items.
So he'd poured every last coin he received into this room.
I surveyed my surroundings and thought quietly to myself.
*So this is why all the facility levels start at zero in the original….*
Ashen Valkyrie — a game about raising Valkyries.
In the original, you could upgrade facilities for your Valkyries.
The initial state was always a run-down Level 0, without exception.
That setting had carried over into reality, and this was the result.
Getting this properly fixed is going to be quite the undertaking.
I mulled it over briefly, then reached a conclusion just as quickly.
*Well, it's not really something I need to worry about.*
The incident would happen in a few days at the earliest, a few weeks at the latest.
For someone who would be dead by then, it was all rather beside the point.
Once the prologue ended, proper support would arrive anyway.
I'd just have to put up with the inconvenience in the meantime.
While I was tidying up my thoughts along those lines, the Commander beside me spoke to me with a serious expression.
"Leila. About all of this…."
"…."
"Leila?"
I nearly answered on reflex and barely managed to swallow the response.
Because at some point, the way he addressed me had slipped back to formal speech.
It didn't really matter to me either way, honestly.
But this made all the effort I'd put into raising his affection feel rather wasted.
So instead of answering, I simply stared at him.
He looked flustered under my gaze for a long moment — then, as if the promise he'd made earlier had come back to him, he scratched the back of his head and spoke.
"Ah, um…. Leila."
"Yes, Commander. Did you call for me?"
"Oh my."
"Ohhh…."
The onlookers watching us drew sharp breaths.
Dahlia and Promina in particular were brimming with curiosity.
They were clearly wondering what kind of relationship the Commander and I had.
Right. That was part of the effect I was going for.
He's my prey. Don't even think about getting close.
That was the unspoken warning I was broadcasting.
The Commander, however, seemed oblivious to that sort of thing.
He simply picked up where he'd left off.
"What do you make of the current situation?"
"Lumia's facilities are… far too inadequate. The previous Commander is likely to blame. In this state, I'm worried it may be affecting the equipment as well."
"I think so too."
"I can only hope the outer barriers and wire lines are at least in working order…."
I furrowed my brow slightly, letting concern show on my face.
I didn't actually feel any such thing.
But this expression suited Leila best right now.
Fortunately, the others seemed to buy it completely.
Lucky that Leila's face belongs to a sincere-looking girl.
*Oh, that's….*
My gaze drifted and came to rest on something atop the Commander's desk.
A single document was sitting there.
Its contents were nothing extraordinary.
It reported that civilian disappearances outside the city had been increasing recently.
The numbers weren't large enough to cause alarm — the kind of news one might easily brush past.
*So it really is soon.*
But I knew.
This was the trace left behind by the one who would bring me my death.
I smiled faintly, then casually crumpled the document and slipped it into my pocket.
"Well, that should be enough of a tour. Thank you for your trouble, everyone."
"Y-yes, thank you!"
"You've worked hard too, Commander. Oh — you haven't had dinner yet, have you? How about we drop our things off in our rooms and meet back up? Let's eat together."
"Yes. I'll wait for you at the entrance."
The Commander's Office was the last stop, and the facility tour was over.
So starting tomorrow, it would be proper work.
I picked up my suitcase and headed toward the room I'd been assigned.
Yubina fell into step beside me, her bun-shaped hair swaying as she approached.
For some reason, she wore the expression of someone who had committed a grave sin — thoroughly servile.
"H-have you calmed down a little by now…."
"Pardon?"
"It seemed like I made you angry earlier…."
"I wasn't particularly angry."
"But you had such a frightening look in your eyes?!"
"You ignored what I said, Yubina. I was just… a little hurt, that's all."
"Ah, ugh… I'm sorry…."
"Really, there's nothing to apologize for."
Strange. Why is she so frightened?
In the original, she and Leila got along well, as I recall.
Is it because I'm the one inside now?
I kept my smile in place while breaking into a cold sweat on the inside.
My performance was flawless, so it couldn't be that.
Surely she hadn't figured out my plan….
*Tch. Annoyingly good instincts.*
I quickly rifled through my knowledge of the original in my head.
I didn't need to play Leila perfectly.
But having my true intentions discovered was absolutely out of the question.
So — I'd make Yubina friendly toward me here.
I naturally steered the conversation toward something she'd enjoy.
"By the way, you're not using that speech pattern from earlier?"
"Hmm?"
"The 'I say~' and things like that…. Didn't you use that before?"
"Eek…. W-was it, um, b-bothersome…."
"No, nothing like that! It's just… I thought it was cute."
"C-cute…?"
Grin.
A dopey smile spread across her previously deflated face.
Seeing it, I felt a quiet certainty inside me: *got her.*
Yubina loved being complimented on her ladylike speech pattern.
So my remark was a precise strike at her weak point.
Just as expected, she puffed out her chest and raised her voice with great confidence.
"Oh… ohoho! You have excellent taste, I say!"
"If you ever get the chance, please teach me more about it. I'd love to learn."
"But of course! I shall instruct you whenever you wish, I say!"
Easy. A few kind words and she follows along like a puppy.
I was inwardly laughing at Yubina, who was gazing up at me with bright, sparkling eyes — when, without meaning to, I glanced away.
*She's a lot to take in. And for some reason she reminds me of Arishia….*
I walked with Yubina toward the dormitory, exchanging light small talk.
Beneath her flashy exterior, she was a guileless, easily-swayed sort.
When I spoke warmly to her in Leila's characteristic gentle manner, the affection she felt toward me visibly grew.
*The Rabbit Hole Squad… it wouldn't hurt to build a little rapport.*
At this point in time, they were the most useful tools available to me.
The stage: Lumia.
The leads: myself and the Commander.
The set dressing: the Rabbit Hole Squad.
Yes. Not bad at all.
I pictured the not-so-distant future and smiled.
*
Late at night, the day the Commander and Leila arrived in Lumia.
The Rabbit Hole Squad had gathered in Yubina's room, as they usually did.
Two to a bed, sprawled out and lounging.
Yubina bounced her bun-shaped hair like a spring and murmured.
"The new Commander really was a wonderful gentleman, I say…."
"Yeah…. Completely different from that last fat pig…. Dying because he panicked and ran away in a fight he was already winning…. What an idiot."
"I don't like speaking ill of others, but I'll admit that much."
"Heheh."
They thought back on the previous Commander, now dead.
He had treated Valkyries as nothing more than inconvenient tools.
He had squandered the support funds on pointless things.
Having lived through that, they found the new Commander all the more appealing.
Setting aside his reasonably attractive appearance for the moment —
there wasn't a trace of the unpleasantness they'd felt from the previous Commander.
Perhaps something enjoyable, unlike anything before, was waiting ahead.
Yubina, at least, was visibly delighted.
Then Dahlia, who had been pressed up against her, sat up.
She posed a question she hadn't been able to ask earlier.
"Hey, Captain. But earlier — why were you so scared?"
"Hmm? What do you mean, I say?"
"You mean Leila, don't you? She said your name once and you forgot how you normally talk…. As a squadmate, I was a little embarrassed."
"Aheh."
"Anje says you were being an idiot too."
They recalled their first meeting with the Commander.
More precisely — the incident where they'd gotten too worked up and been scolded by Leila.
The other three had quickly understood Leila's personality and relaxed.
But Yubina had remained terrified of her right up until they parted ways.
Why on earth had she been so frightened of someone so gentle?
Yubina blinked at the question and asked in return.
"Hmm…. If anything, I'd like to ask you all the same thing. Were none of you feeling it back there, I say?"
"Feeling what, exactly…."
"Wasn't she just a perfectly nice person?"
"Mmhm."
"Anje agrees."
Leila had undoubtedly been a good person.
The genuine concern she'd shown over the inadequate facilities.
A diligent kindness she simply couldn't hide.
The way she'd smiled brightly at even the smallest things.
Enough to make you want to look up to her like an older sister, almost.
The others could only tilt their heads in puzzlement.
Yubina scratched her cheek and answered awkwardly.
"No, it's just… hmm, I mean, I suppose that's true, but…. I felt it, I say…. That aura of hers — like a queen!"
"A queen?"
"The way she looked at me… like she was watching a pig about to be slaughtered…! That feeling — like she could slit your throat without a second thought if she felt like it — I thought I sensed it…? Maybe…?"
Yubina traced back through her memory.
Those eyes, staring straight at her as they called her name.
For some reason, looking into them had made her body go cold on instinct.
A gut feeling that she absolutely could not afford to make this person her enemy.
As if everything about her had already fallen into Leila's grasp.
But the other three couldn't bring themselves to agree with that assessment.
There was a limit to how far you could twist a perfectly normal person into something sinister.
Dahlia reached over and tugged sharply on Yubina's hair.
"That's completely in your head, Captain. We were all right there. None of us felt anything like that."
"That's right. If anything, she was incredibly kind."
"Mmng."
"And she even complimented your ridiculous speech pattern. Isn't that proof she's a good person?"
"R-ridiculous?! What exactly is wrong with my speech pattern, I say!"
The other three simply snickered at her outburst.
A speech pattern she'd picked up from admiring a manga character's ladylike way of talking.
If someone could compliment that with a straight face… just how good-natured did you have to be?
They exchanged a brief glance and reached their verdict.
"Conclusion: Captain just scared herself for no reason."
"Yubina does get frightened easily. Remember when she ran into a cat on the way to the bathroom at night and thought it was a demon coming to escort her to hell…."
"Th-that was supposed to stay a secret, I say?!"
"Coward."
"Anje says coward too."
"I could hear that one myself, I say!"
Yubina flailed her arms in indignation.
Of course, no one paid her much mind.
She was supposed to be the squad leader, yet she was being treated like a pet.
Deflated, Yubina flopped into Dahlia's arms with a huff.
She stared blankly up at the ceiling and tilted her head.
*Surely… it was just my imagination, right?*
Someone that good-natured couldn't possibly be like that.
She swept the suspicion far away and let herself go limp.
Somehow, she had a feeling that life from here on was going to be a lot of fun.