“Excuse me? Return? What is the reason?”
Meanwhile, Medik Tenkl was spending a leisurely time on a remote planet unrelated to Earth, forced to take a break.
He was staring at a gravel storm on the opposite side of the planet through a screen when he was taken aback by the sudden return order through the communication device.
When a superior gives a command, one must obey.
That order was natural, but there must be a reasonable justification for a command.
Just as a superior could not command a subordinate to “go to Earth and die three times,” those on the executing side must also feel that the operation is rational.
Thus, Medik Tenkl raised a reasonable question.
“Ah, well….”
However, it seemed that they had not anticipated that far, as a lengthy silence filled the communication device after the “well…”.
In reality, Earth was a frontline area, incredibly far from the planets that could provide supplies, a place where one could not just sit around without a substantial sense of duty.
Therefore, if they refused, it would mean a significant loss, and it would surely take a while to find a suitable replacement.
Essentially, the upper management had judged that “the suitable candidate who could at least minimize the damage from the monsters” was indeed them.
After such a long silence, the voice from the communication device broke into pleasantries anyone could muster.
“Surely it would be impossible for Earth without you and those high-ranking officials! You guys are the best! Haha!”
Medik Tenkl had somewhat anticipated this.
There must have been some problem after they left.
At the same time, he was irritated by the audacity of the voice on the other side of the communication device that referred to them as “you guys” and “high-ranking officials.”
“Surely they don’t even know my name?”
“Yes, Medik Tenkl. I will comply.”
Regardless, when ordered, one must comply.
His futile tentacle masses relaxed and rolled on the floor.
The sweet vacation that had been forced upon him suddenly came to an end, leaving no room for motivation despite the circumstances.
“Alright! I will send a small spaceship that can take you back alone, so I would appreciate it if you could return immediately upon arrival!”
“Yes, may I have your permission to disconnect now?”
“Oh, of course! Anytime! Feel free to hang up whenever you want.”
The voice from the communication device that he no longer wished to hear.
Tenkl turned off the device and wished for a moment of rest.
“Come as slowly as possible….”
Come as slowly as possible.
Before returning by spaceship, he wished for a leisurely break on the planet.
However, to his dismay, the small, fast spaceship quickly arrived at the planet where he was located.
“Damn it.”
With no choice, Medik Tenkl boarded the spaceship.
The cold upper management that had urged them to hurry back to the mother ship was now treating him like this upon his return.
He hated all of it.
Having lived as both a monster and a combatant, he was not afraid of death itself.
Yet, being dragged to a place of demise felt unpleasant.
What he felt now was just that sentiment.
He sat on the small spaceship that guaranteed various comforts he could not feel on the regular ship, but the situation itself was too disagreeable.
0.01 Setre, which translates to 14.4 hours in Earth time.
His journey was about two hours longer than the luxurious life Mary was enjoying on an airplane.
Unlike Mary, who had enjoyed the richness of a premium seat for twelve hours, Medik Tenkl was lost in emptiness with his suction cups stuck to the walls of the spaceship.
“We have arrived. Have a good time.”
“Have a good time? What a load of crap.”
It was sure to be a good time, he recalled the curses regarding Earth that had been spoken by the doctor or professor who visited the spaceship for a lecture at one time.
With that thought, he kicked the interior of the small spaceship with his tentacle mass.
He did not know why the phrase “to become a genital” was an insult in human terms, but he felt it had an appropriate resonance to say.
The sound of his suction cups attaching and detaching echoed in the spaceship.
He had been dragged along without any formality, outfit, or stately demeanor, only realizing that the part touching the ground was empty after the fact.
What would they do, kick him out just because he wasn’t wearing anything?
Now, whatever will be will be, squinting his eyes, Medik Tenkl headed toward the recovery room.
“Oh, you finally made it.”
“Yeah, I’m here. What on earth happened while I was gone?”
Only after arriving at the recovery room did he finally get dressed properly and pose his questions to the familiar subordinate monsters in the recovery room.
After moving his elongated tentacle mass a few times, he had returned to a state not much different from the one before leaving the ship.
“Ah, that?”
“Judging by the elongated snout, it must have caused some trouble, right? Wasn’t it hard?”
The “elongated snout” was a derogatory term Medik Tenkl used to refer to Ebl Croaker.
With the high-ranking officials absent, the ship had temporarily been under the command of a single captain.
It was needless to say that the subordinate monster soldiers had directly borne the brunt of that burden.
Medik Tenkl left a few words of commiseration for the soldiers, but the monsters in the recovery room shook their heads instead.
“There was trouble, but it wasn’t as hard as expected.”
“Really?”
Medik Tenkl was puzzled.
His first impression of Ebl Croaker was that of a mindless monster filled with muscle in its brain.
However, it seemed they had not found it too difficult after all…
Usually, when you’re under a stupid superior, the subordinates must be struggling.
But they found it not too taxing?
“Surprisingly competent? Listening to your words, I thought it would be tough for everyone…”
After hearing his subordinate’s words, Medik Tenkl pondered whether Ebl Croaker might be a competent superior after all.
He fumbled his tentacles awkwardly, taking a posture resembling crossing his arms, reconsidering the abilities of Ebl Croaker when…
“No, remember the first day when he left?”
But just then, a subordinate monster in the recovery room corrected him instantly, pointing out a mistake from Medik Tenkl’s thoughts.
Turning his gaze to that monster, it continued.
“That day, after bragging about his mental education and such, he gathered energy in the transmission room, then flew off alone to the Black Zone!”
He flew off to the Black Zone alone.
Realizing the reason for his return order, Medik Tenkl tilted his head, his mind becoming cloudy at Ebl Croaker’s bold act.
Surely he had cautioned them about the Black Zone.
No, what if he had forgotten?
Though he recalled emphasizing it several times,
If he hadn’t communicated this properly, upper management would have cursed him for lapses in the handover for a good long while.
“…Is he an idiot?”
A question that drifted aimlessly, stemming from pure curiosity.
There were no superiors or anything—stupidity is just plain stupidity.
The subordinate monster still had much to say, focusing not on answering the question but on explaining how foolish Ebl Croaker was.
“And then he returned to the recovery device with his eyes unfocused, screaming like crazy at the slightest touch.”
“So, the elongated snout was ultimately returned to upper management, right?”
“There was no other choice. What could we do? We can’t put him in a critical care room that needs absolute stability…”
The questioning, based on Medik Tenkl’s predictions, led the monster to shake its three hands up while shaking its head.
Medik Tenkl thought that he would have done the same as a subordinate and hurriedly managed the machinery to normalize the ship.
“To restore the ship’s condition to the time before that elongated snout arrived, it would take quite a bit of work.”
“Oh, about that, don’t worry, it’s almost done.”
“Huh?”
When Medik Tenkl looked over the ship’s equipment following the subordinate’s words, it was true.
Ebl Croaker must have touched the recovery device settings, saying, “The recovery device is for the weak!”
However, the current state of the recovery room equipment was practically the same as right before he left.
With the state of the ship needing no adjustments, Medik Tenkl widened his eyelids, which had been slightly closed.
He could hardly avoid asking about this.
“What happened?”
“It looked like a crazy monster, so I compressed all the important functions of the ship’s entire data and hid it in a corner.”
“Hooh…”
If just one file were leaked, the entire ship’s data would be exposed, a loophole that could be considered a vulnerability for data confidentiality.
But positively speaking, it was a restoration data set for managers only.
Medik Tenkl was impressed by this foresight and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.
Amidst the overwhelming feeling from Medik Tenkl’s gaze, shivers crept down the spine of the subordinate monster.
“Are you considering becoming a candidate for high-ranking official?”
“I’d rather you deactivate the recovery device and kill me; I won’t become a high-ranking official, even if it costs me my life.”
To the capable monster in the recovery room who emphasized death unusually, Medik Tenkl jokingly uttered a chilling remark.
“Hmm… if you want to die that much, I could send you to the Black Zone when the agreement ends.”
“It was a slip of the tongue. I don’t want to die, nor do I wish to be a high-ranking official, please spare me.”
