Here’s the translated text:
I felt so embarrassed that my face turned bright red. It wasn’t embarrassing that I had been under Luche’s supervision for the past ten years as her subordinate.
Spacystro prioritizes ability, and there are cases where someone with ability becomes higher in rank than those much higher in seniority.
I am currently Siera’s superior, even though we are childhood friends and colleagues. Despite having been disciplined in the past and going through tough times, it’s not a problem that I’m still a regular soldier. On the contrary, it’s more praiseworthy that Siera has become a team leader.
Then, what part of it was embarrassing? It was that I didn’t know Luche was Ati. Back then, it seemed insignificant. I took on the role of Ati’s education supervisor without much thought and spoke to them curtly, but I only remembered them as one of the people I met occasionally.
Ati also remembered the major events we went through together. Of course, I didn’t always think about Ati.
Just like how you don’t constantly think about important people or special individuals, and gradually think about them less over time, I hadn’t thought about Ati either.
But once I remembered, all the events with Ati automatically came to mind, and I thought back to those times.
Back to the main point.
For the past ten years, I was Luche’s direct subordinate, and we had countless conversations and worked together many times.
Throughout this process, I never once thought that Luche was Ati. Honestly, if I had thought about it, it would have been more unusual.
Luche was a famous ace pilot who had served in many units before joining the 6th Fleet. They joined just before the 6th Fleet landed on Earth for their invasion activities.
I met Luche not right after they joined the 6th Fleet, but ten years after landing on Earth. Therefore, the first time was when Team 3 was reorganized ten years ago.
It would be strange and odd to think ‘Luche is Ati’ after spending ten years with her.
But now that I know Luche is Ati, I see Ati’s appearance in everything we’ve done together. The reason I realized it now is the same as before.
My perspective on seeing Luche was different from my perspective on seeing Ati.
But when I made my view of Luche the same as my view of Ati, I felt stupid for not noticing it until now, and thinking about how Luche has been seeing me like this made me feel too embarrassed to bear.
“Hold on…”
Suddenly, Roy wondered how Luche knew Ati was Ati despite joining Team 3 only two weeks ago. And he said he probably knew it for a long time.
Was it that obvious? I couldn’t help but be curious and instead of chasing after Luche, I opened the office door to check what happened to Roy.
“!”
The moment I opened the door, my eyes met Roy, who was hiding behind the office partition.
“What happened? Team Leader rushed out with such a fierce momentum.”
Without thinking about answering Roy’s question, I walked up to him confidently.
“You. How did you know that Team Leader is Ati?”
“What? No, rather, I’m curious. Why didn’t you know?”
Roy’s counter-question left me speechless. Could it be that obvious, and I was the only one who didn’t notice? I definitely didn’t think so. Even Theo, whom I met at the entrance just now, and Klugger, who has been active in Team 3 for the past ten years, didn’t mention anything about Ati.
Those two guys who often worked with me during Ati’s living education training couldn’t have missed it.
“So, which part didn’t you notice?”
Seeing me ask with a terrifying demeanor, Roy broke out in cold sweat and swallowed hard before speaking.
“Just by looking, it’s clearly Ati.”
I couldn’t understand. It seemed like Roy recognized Luche as Ati because they were fellow weirdos.
Indeed, Luche’s atmosphere was completely different from when they were Ati twenty years ago. Back then, Ati was not even 150 cm tall and had black hair. Now, they sometimes look like a child, whereas they never looked like that in the past.
It was hard to believe that just by appearance, Luche could be identified as Ati.
“Ah, I can’t take it anymore.”
The thought that I alone failed to recognize it started to change from doubt to resentment. Roy, who likes to think simply rather than complexly, recognized it instantly, and I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t recognize it for ten years.
Why couldn’t I recognize it? Why?
I wished Kruger, who was lying down, would say “I didn’t recognize it either,” and I turned around and ran at full speed.
“Senior?!”
Ignoring the voice calling me from behind, I opened the emergency exit next to the elevator and quickly went upstairs.
There was no one on the fourth floor where Team 4’s office was located. I ran at full speed except when opening the door, and arrived at the team leader’s office, throwing the door open.
“Siera!”
“!!!”
Opening the door, I immediately called out to Siera who was in the office, and Siera, who was sitting quietly, was surprised by my loud call.
“Hey, you didn’t even knock!”
Thinking she might have been eating snacks, I quickly drank the water on the desk to swallow the food stuck in her throat. But I didn’t care about Siera’s situation; I immediately approached her and placed my hand on the table, asking:
“Luche is Ati!”
This was the biggest issue among recent issues for me, to the extent that I could say it was a major event. Although I had a lot to say about this major issue, it was equally shocking to me.
Siera swallowed the food stuck in her throat and looked at me quietly, and I looked at her with an expectant gaze.
Siera’s wide-open eyes gradually turned into a sullen expression, and with squinted eyes, she looked at me as if she found me pitiful.
“Didn’t you know until now?”
“What?”
Siera also knew. It became clearer that only I didn’t know that Luche’s identity was Ati. I wanted to ask why she hadn’t told me until now, but I couldn’t speak due to the shock.
“Anyway, aren’t you on break? Why are you here?”
“I came to check on headquarters too…”
“How did you know Luche is Ati?”
With a dazed expression, I answered her question and explained how I found out Luche is Ati. I met Theo at the entrance, then Roy, and Roy gave me hints that I couldn’t understand. During a conversation with Team Leader Luche, I noticed.
“……That damn dog was saying something strange.”
“You knew?”
“Of course, I knew. I knew ten years ago.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me until now?!”
Honestly, I felt so wronged that I could blame her. It was a shock that Siera, who I’ve known the longest, didn’t tell me, and it was even more shocking that she knew ten years ago when Team 3 was reorganized.
“Luche asked me not to tell anyone.”
“The Team Leader? Why?”
Why did they hide the fact that they were Ati for ten whole years? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just tell me once? Since the person isn’t here, I can’t hear it, but I’m sure Siera knows the reason, and Siera sighed deeply.
“What kind of fight was I in…”
“Huh?”
At her quiet muttering, I tilted my head in confusion, and Siera glared at me without explaining her muttering.
“Why? Do you remember what you said to Ati the last time you parted ways?”
She briefly recalled the past memory. Though it was a long time ago, it felt like a memory from my childhood that wouldn’t fade away. Recalling memories of Ati, I remembered quickly.
“Don’t forget what happened here!”
As I spoke, I felt a sudden realization, and Siera shook her head.
Ati, or Luche, wanted me to recall them first.
“Since you didn’t notice and time kept passing, it became harder for Luche to bring it up too.”
She explained as if she understood what I was thinking, but there was something odd.
“When you become a monster from a bio-roid, don’t memories get digitized? Why do I remember everything from back then?”
“You should ask Luche directly. So, where is Luche?”
“When I called her Ati, she screamed and ran out.”
“Oh, that scream earlier was Luche.”
Since my scream was only heard inside the office, Siera didn’t hear it. However, Luche’s scream echoed loudly across the corridor, reaching the entire building.
“Ah… Ahhh!!!”
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, I sat on the sofa and buried my head in my hands, letting out a small scream. Siera, who was sitting watching me, got up from her chair and sat opposite me, watching me bury my head.
“Why? What’s the problem?”
“Every moment from the past ten years, when I didn’t realize Ati, came rushing back.”
“Rushing back?”
“…So damn embarrassing.”
“It’s understandable. The other team leaders have been watching this for ten years.”
Hearing that, my face flushed again.
Back when I was responsible for Ati’s education, I was under Esmeralda, who knew very well about Ati’s existence.
Moreover, even Angelique, who wasn’t my direct superior at the time, had seen Ati a few times when visiting the unit.
“Were you the only one who didn’t know?”
“No. It seems Kruger didn’t notice. Theo wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t mentioned it.”
“…Honestly, it doesn’t make sense to notice. They’ve changed completely.”
“That’s true. Even I didn’t think Luche was Ati until I confirmed their personal information…”
Siera suddenly stopped talking, and for a moment, the tense atmosphere felt suffocating.
“But it’s unreasonable not to notice for ten years.”
I had nothing to argue. The point of my current embarrassment was that I was the only one who didn’t realize Luche was Ati and acted as a subordinate for ten years.
Now that I know Ati, I should feel happy, but I don’t feel that way now.
Until today, I was wondering what to talk about with Luche, but now I’m starting to wonder what to say when I meet her.
Should I greet her warmly? Or should I tease her for not telling me until now? Should I naturally start a conversation by buying snacks as usual?
None of these seem to work.
“Damn it.”
Scratching my head, Siera, who was watching me, stood up from the sofa as if she no longer cared and returned to her seat.
“Instead of worrying so much, wouldn’t it be better to find your team leader who ran out first?”
I forgot that Luche had already run out of the office when I was thinking about what to do when we met. Although it had only been less than ten minutes, my mind was so chaotic that I forgot.
“Yeah, okay.”
First, I thought it was more important to find Luche than to think about what to say when we meet. I decided to find out if anyone saw Luche running out of Siera’s office.
“Then I’ll go.”
Leaving Siera’s office where she was working, I was about to leave when the door suddenly burst open before my hand could reach it.
“Siera!”
Luche burst into Siera’s office, and both of us froze in place.
“Umm…”
“Kyaaaah!!”
Before I could finish speaking, Luche’s face turned bright red and she ran straight through the office towards the emergency exit. Left alone, I stood there with a blank expression.
Slowly turning my head, I looked at Siera, who was frowning at me.
“Did you two decide to enter my room without knocking?”
Her eyes conveyed a message of frustration while her mouth complained about not knocking. Then, she returned to her work as if she didn’t care, and I stared blankly at the corridor where Luche had run.
‘Will we be able to talk today?’
I couldn’t think of any way to calm Luche down right now.
