Ready

A week had passed since I arrived in Lumia with the Commander.

If I had to summarize what happened in that time… it went something like this.

Meals, work, meals, work, meals, work, and sleep.

I spent a solid twelve hours out of every twenty-four buried in tasks.

Why was I doing this, when I had so many plans to execute?

The reason was simple. Everything at the branch was a complete disaster.

*Damn that useless piece of trash former Commander….*

The previous Commander — dead now — had been out of his mind.

Rumor had it he'd abandoned all his duties and spent his days doing nothing but playing around.

He'd even brought women into the Commander's office for all sorts of unsavory activities.

Apparently there were days he didn't even bother showing up to work at all.

And then he'd gone and died without warning.

The Commander and I had no choice but to stare at the state of the branch in stunned disbelief.

No record of where the money had gone.

The inventory of equipment and supplies in the warehouse — completely unaccounted for.

In short: no handover had taken place, and all that remained was the malice of the previous person in charge.

*Haah…. This feels like such a waste of time.*

Though honestly, deep down, I couldn't have cared less.

What did it matter to me that the work had been left in shambles?

If the place wasn't falling apart and was somehow limping along just fine, I could've left it exactly as it was.

But even thinking that, I couldn't bring myself to ignore it.

Because the Leila I was performing would have wanted to fix the problem.

For the sake of staying in character… it was an unavoidable ordeal.

*Still, it's not like there's been nothing to gain from it.*

The position I'd been assigned was Adjutant — supporting the Commander directly.

Which meant drafting documents alongside him.

Visiting problem sites in person.

All of it gave me plenty of opportunities to build a rapport with him.

Lately, we'd even been timing our meals to eat together every day.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before he fell for me.

"Hehehe… the plan is proceeding smoothly…."

Having finished my work, I'd stepped outside for a moment to catch my breath.

A cold can of coffee, rolling out of the vending machine with a satisfying clunk.

I sat on a bench, sipping it while gazing up at the blue sky.

Mm. This is nice, every once in a while.

I closed my eyes briefly and let myself relax.

But of course, some Valkyries happened to be passing nearby and called out a greeting.

"Oh, Leila! Hello!"

"What are you doing out here?"

"Hailey, Nancy — just getting some fresh air with a cup of coffee."

"Eeek! You remembered our names…!"

"She's so beautiful today too…."

"Hehe, thank you. You two are absolutely adorable."

I was quite popular in Lumia, in various ways.

Partly because I was a capable Valkyrie dispatched from headquarters.

Or perhaps because I'd spent the past week sorting out all sorts of problems for the Valkyries here.

I'd managed to get on friendly terms with most of the fifty-odd Valkyries stationed here.

Some of them even called me "Leila-unnie" or "Leila-nim" on occasion.

Well, it had been like this back at central headquarters too, so I was used to it.

*Ugh… I want to be alone. Would you please hurry up and leave.*

Terribly annoying, but there was nothing to be done — reputation demanded it.

Wearing a smile as a mask, I made small talk with the Valkyries for a while.

They left reluctantly, citing duties to attend to.

Just as I was about to head back myself, I caught a glimpse of the Commander in the distance.

"Commander. Are you on your way back from somewhere?"

"I stopped by the infirmary for a moment."

"Oh — are you hurt?"

"Nothing like that. The medic finished the medical supply inventory, so I went to collect the data. As expected… the numbers don't add up."

"Ahaha, of course they don't…. Still, you could have asked me to handle something like that. I was nearby anyway…."

"No. There was no need."

The Commander answered flatly, his expression unchanged.

On the surface, it could easily be taken as a sign of distrust.

But the remarkable thing was that it meant precisely the opposite.

*There's a talent in making people misread you like that.*

I decided not to point that out.

"That aside…. You seem to be quite popular."

"Ah, did you see just now? Ahaha… I'm a little embarrassed."

He must have spotted me talking with the Valkyries.

Not that I was actually embarrassed, of course.

I already knew I was popular with them.

Most Valkyries had a guileless sort of personality.

Affection-starved creatures who'd latch onto anyone who showed them the slightest kindness.

Which meant that with just a little practice, it was easy to get close to them quickly.

Though apparently, for the Commander, that was easier said than done.

He let out a low murmur, a shadow of gloom crossing his face.

"Honestly… I envy you."

"Ah…. Mm. Well…."

There was a reason for his reaction.

He simply couldn't get close to the Valkyries easily.

The only ones he was on familiar terms with were probably me and the Rabbit Hole Squad.

There were all sorts of complicated reasons for that.

*For one thing… his first impression is intimidating.*

The Commander was tall, and his features were rather sharp.

So when he stared at someone with a blank expression, the pressure was considerable.

On top of that, he wasn't good with words — he had a gift for being misunderstood.

And then there was the legacy of the previous Commander's misconduct.

Some Valkyries had developed a wariness toward men because of it.

Two separate problems feeding into each other, creating a perfect storm.

It was inevitable that some would keep their distance from him.

*Not that I mind — it means there's nothing to distract him elsewhere.*

Mm, but could I find a way to use this conversation to my advantage?

I turned it over in my mind for a moment, and a good idea surfaced.

"Commander. Would you like to know how to get closer to the Valkyries?"

"…Yes. I would."

"Heheh… well, it's simple. First — compliment the person you want to get close to!"

"Compliment… them?"

"All the Valkyries are cute and pretty, so they love being praised. Oh — why don't you practice on me first?"

I spread my arms wide and looked up at him.

The Commander looked flustered.

He'd probably brought up his troubles without thinking much of it.

Now that I was suddenly asking him to compliment me, he seemed thrown off.

But I had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by.

When people compliment someone, they naturally focus on what they genuinely liked.

In other words — this was a perfect chance to learn the Commander's preferences.

*Go on, then. Show me what you're drawn to.*

"Come on, what would you like to compliment about me?"

"Mm, well…. You are… quite beautiful."

"Heheh, and?"

"Your uniform suits you very well."

"And?"

"Your personality is wonderful as well. The fact that you've grown close to all the Valkyries here in just one week… it's remarkable."

"…Somehow this feels a bit hollow. Is this what they call asking for compliments yourself?"

The results, however, were disappointing.

Nothing particularly revealing about his preferences, and the answers were so dull….

*You're hopeless. Just go on living your boring life.*

I was about to tell him that was enough and he could stop.

But the Commander's gaze swept slowly up and down my figure.

It came to rest somewhere near my thigh, and then he continued, with unexpected gravity.

"Um…. That, on your thigh…."

"Hm?"

"The choker around your thigh… I think it's very… nice."

"Oh, ah, thank you. It's actually a garter, technically…."

*That caught me off guard. I didn't expect him to bring that up.*

I was momentarily startled, but I smoothed my expression quickly.

To anyone looking, it would appear to be nothing more than an ordinary accessory.

Reacting with surprise would be the stranger thing.

I composed myself in an instant and gave him a bright smile.

"Thank you. I've been rather fond of it lately."

"That's… good to hear."

"Then — is it my turn now?"

"…Pardon?"

"Surely you weren't planning to be stingy and keep all the compliments to yourself? You have to give me a turn too."

*So he has a thing for thighs. Good to know.*

I couldn't afford to waste a perfectly good opportunity to raise his affection.

I stood before him with a confident expression and said:

"Well, for starters, Commander… you're diligent."

"Diligent… is it."

"From everything I've observed, it seems like no matter how hard things get, you never let it show. I actually found myself thinking — how can someone push this hard? It was that impressive."

"No. It's simply that this was all I was capable of. Anyone would have done the same in my position."

"That's not true. Not just anyone can do it. It's possible precisely because it's you."

Over the past week, my honest assessment of him was that he was a fool.

A stubborn, socially inept idiot.

But he possessed a remarkable strength of will to match.

The kind of person who, when he had to move forward, didn't break.

The feeling I'd had when I first laid eyes on him — it hadn't been a mistake.

*I'm looking forward to what comes next. Truly.*

Good. Time to press the advantage.

I took the Commander's hand and looked up at him.

"And… Commander. You think of Valkyries as people, don't you?"

"Ah, that's…."

"You don't have to hide it. It's obvious from the way you look at them. You really are… a kind person."

This was what I'd call the *I believe in you* strategy.

Men generally respond well to someone who trusts them.

Give them a reason to believe it, and there would surely be a reaction.

And it seemed my prediction was right.

The Commander's eyes went wide with surprise — and then he reached out and took my hand in return.

"I… think Leila is far kinder than I am."

"Me? I think I'm fairly ordinary…. What made you think that?"

"…I just… thought so."

"Pfft, what kind of answer is that."

…Wait, did he say something like this in the original story too?

I turned the hazy memory over for a moment, then let it go.

What the original Leila had done or hadn't done — none of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was the relationship between me and the Commander, right now.

Mm. Was it time to wrap this up?

Deciding it was, I smiled softly and drove the final nail in.

"So what I wanted to say is… I hope you won't lose heart just because you haven't gotten close to the Valkyries yet."

"…Yes."

"And besides — you already have one Valkyrie you're close to, don't you?"

A gentle gust drifted through the window, stirring my hair.

The Commander looked down at me, and in his eyes, there was only me.

*This feels like a scene from a romance novel.*

Please — when I die, I hope you remember this moment.

I offered that silent prayer in the depths of my heart.

*

Late at night, after I'd finally cleared the mountain of work piled before me.

I returned to my room and leaned against the door, letting out a quiet breath.

"Well then… let's give it another go tonight."

Slip.

I shrugged off my jacket, undid the buttons, let the skirt fall — and in an instant I was down to my underwear. I reached down and unclipped the garter from my thigh.

The bloodstained gauze tucked beneath it fell to the floor.

The wound on my thigh had already healed completely, without a trace.

I sat down in the chair and drew a single nail from the magazine.

It was thick and sharp — designed to be used as ammunition.

I gripped it in a reverse hold and brought my other hand to my throat.

"First… Trance Tranquilizer."

Crackle.

A current ran through me, and a wave of sensation spread across my entire body.

Before long, a hazy numbness crept into my head.

This was Trance — one of the applications of my innate ability, lightning.

A current with its destructive power reduced to almost nothing, its precision cranked to the maximum.

Channeled inward through my own body to forcibly stimulate the nervous system.

I didn't fully understand the mechanism, but it probably had something to do with my constitution — the fact that I could discharge electricity without being electrocuted myself.

The drug I was emulating this time was a sedative.

When my mind had filled completely with a foggy, drifting sensation —

I pressed the nail into the outer side of my thigh.

"Hah, hah…. Haahh…."

No pain.

Whatever sensation the wound produced was instantly swallowed by the flood of everything else.

But my body swayed, and I caught myself against the bed, muttering.

"This one won't work…. The muscle relaxation alone is a problem. Getting drowsy mid-fight would be a disaster…."

Sedatives suppressed anxiety, fear, and tension.

But they also came with side effects: muscle relaxation, drowsiness, impaired concentration.

This wasn't going to be useful in a fight.

"Trance off."

Sting.

The moment I released Trance, pain flared in my thigh.

Not particularly agonizing — just enough to be mildly irritating.

*Then it's on to the second method.*

I pressed my hand to my throat again and introduced a different stimulus.

"Trance. Runner's High."

This time I was mimicking endorphins.

The substance that made humans forget pain — essentially a natural drug.

If this worked, it could be enormously useful in combat….

But the moment the current passed through me, the world lurched violently.

"…Hehh? Hic, hehee… hahh…."

Thud.

My body toppled sideways, completely beyond my control.

I lay there for a moment, unable to collect myself.

The sensation of having my own will stolen from me by someone else.

Drooling onto the bedding, I scrambled to assess the situation.

*I got the ratio wrong…!*

The ratio of the stimulus was, at its core, a matter of feel.

I'd accidentally injected twice what I'd intended.

Feeling happy for no reason at all.

Was this what it felt like to be high on something?

No — I can't stay like this. I'll actually die.

A spike of alarm cut through the haze. I slapped my own cheeks, hard, and clawed my way back to reason.

Then, barely managing it, I brought my hand to my throat in a strangling grip.

"Ngh, hah…. Tran… ce… off…!"

Whoosh.

The moment Trance released, the sensation of plummeting from a great height crashed over me.

Up and down ceased to exist. I rolled off the bed and hit the floor, retching dryly.

"Uuugh… I almost broke my brain…. Watch the ratio on that one…."

For the record, what I was doing was research into applications of my ability.

If I could deliberately control the stimuli, it might give me an edge in combat.

That was the idea — and so every night I worked through variations of Trance, one by one.

I hadn't expected to nearly end my life while trying to learn how to dope myself.

*Don't make that mistake again….*

I gave myself a stern internal reprimand, then pulled out the box I'd hidden under the bed.

Inside were the medical supplies I'd quietly pilfered from the infirmary a few days ago.

I applied the ointment to the wound on my thigh, then climbed back into bed.

"Maybe I should make the cuts somewhere other than my thigh…."

The Commander's comment about the garter drifted back to me unbidden.

I stared blankly at the ceiling, idly wondering where else might work, when —

The terminal I'd left on the pillow began to ring.

I picked it up, curious, and saw it was a call from Yubina.

*Odd — wasn't she on duty tonight?*

I felt a flicker of unease, but answered anyway.

"Yes. This is Leila. What's the matter?"

["L-Leila-nim! Something terrible has happened! One of the Valkyries has been missing for an hour now, out of nowhere…!"]

"…Understood. I'll be right there. Tell me the details when I arrive."

Sleep vanished from me in an instant. I threw myself out of bed.

And immediately pulled on the uniform I'd discarded earlier.

The prologue wasn't over yet — not at this point in the timeline.

Which meant that if a Valkyrie had gone missing right now, there was only one possible cause.

"So you've come."

At last, my death had drawn close enough to touch.