One of the things repeatedly mentioned when talking about me is that I’ve traveled to many planets and had various experiences. This doesn’t mean that I’ve understood much because of my experiences; it simply means that I’ve seen a lot through numerous experiences. The universe is too vast to have mastered everything through experience alone, and sometimes, depending on the culture of the planet, all the accumulated experiences can become useless.
To get to the point, having traveled to many planets, I’ve met countless people. Although there were instances where enemies became acquaintances, there were no cases where they became close.
It’s true that there were times when enemies became close to each other around me, but there were no instances where they became lovers or spouses. This shows that there’s still a lot more experience I need to gain.
Even if you’ve done many things, humans inevitably have more unexperienced situations than experienced ones.
Anyway, there weren’t any such cases around me, and I never thought I would be the first to become lovers with an enemy from another planet.
I thought there would be confusion during confrontations, but surprisingly, there wasn’t much confusion during confrontations. Since public and private matters are clearly distinguished, and since the girlfriends didn’t know my true identity even though they knew I was fighting them, I felt less burdened.
However, the situation has changed now.
I confidently told my girlfriends to give it their all during confrontations, but I hadn’t really thought about whether I was okay with it.
Until now, only I recognized my girlfriends, but from now on, they will recognize me too.
The moment I heard this change from someone else’s, specifically Luche’s mouth, my mind became complicated. I had been naively thinking that everything would be fine as usual since the confrontations haven’t changed until now.
Luche also knew that she had fought while maintaining her relationship with me after learning that I was dating members of the HunterKiller team.
But starting with the terrorist incident, the girlfriends and the HunterKiller team found out that their boyfriend, me, belonged to Spacystro Team 3.
This was exactly what Luche was worried about.
“Yes, I thought it would be fine, but now that we’re actually going to confront each other, I feel uneasy.”
I considered speaking casually like last time, but since everyone had just left the auditorium, I answered respectfully and looked around to see if anyone was still there.
Even though I try not to use informal speech with Luche unless absolutely necessary, I couldn’t help but check the surroundings.
“Wouldn’t it be awkward for the senior if I’m conscious of them over there?”
Although it seemed like she was accepting the situation, upon closer inspection, she was focusing on how I would be put in a difficult position rather than who the opponent is.
I think Luche could think this way. Even if Luche and I have a long history, our current relationship is that of a superior and subordinate. It’s exhausting to create a situation where a subordinate becomes problematic and affects work from a superior’s perspective.
So, I want to avoid causing any hindrance to the battle due to the changes in the HunterKiller team’s combat situation.
“I already told them not to be conscious of me. I’m trying not to be conscious of them either, but it might be hard to give a definite answer before the actual confrontation.”
Looking at me with a worried expression, Luche started to stroke her chin in thought.
“What if we don’t participate in the confrontation?”
“I don’t like that idea.”
I really don’t want that to happen. While I’ll do my best in any other job that isn’t combat-related, right now, I am a combatant assigned to Team 3.
If I can’t fulfill my duties due to confronting my girlfriends, then my existence in Team 3 won’t matter.
Since I have no intention of avoiding the confrontation, I firmly refused the suggestion to withdraw.
My response was unexpectedly firm, which surprised Luche, making her look bewildered.
“I won’t let my feelings affect the confrontation. If necessary, I’ll change positions and continue participating in the confrontation.”
“…I understand. If you’re that determined, there’s nothing I can do.”
Seeing Luche’s concerned look turn into a smile after my satisfactory response, she sighed.
“I thought the senior wouldn’t say they’d withdraw from the confrontation.”
“I didn’t expect the team leader to suggest withdrawing either.”
When our eyes met, we both burst into laughter simultaneously. Despite the opposite relationship and the switch from formal to informal speech, meeting Luche again felt almost the same as the first time, knowing she is ATi.
“I have to find a way to resolve this. And who made me suggest that?”
“It’s me.”
With a confident attitude, as if saying I did nothing wrong, Luche couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
“How unreasonable. You owe me a treat later.”
“The excuse hasn’t changed, whether in the past or now.”
“Who taught me to use excuses to make the situation favorable?”
“It’s me.”
Now, looking back, many of Luche’s small habits seem to be learned from me. More accurately, she observed and learned from my actions, not directly taught by me. Now, I consider others’ and superiors’ opinions, but during the time I was responsible for Luche, I didn’t care about anyone’s opinions due to my immaturity.
It’s fortunate that I didn’t pick up any bad habits from her.
“Shall we go in? We should tell them about our team too.”
“We should.”
Just as I was about to enter, thinking there was nothing more to say about the confrontation with HunterKiller, something about Siera came to mind, and I stopped moving.
“But, team leader.”
I called out to Luche, who was walking side by side towards the office. She paused and turned around when she heard my voice.
“Have you noticed anything unusual with 4th Team Leader recently?”
“With Siera?”
Puzzled by the unexpected question, Luche looked up into the void, recalling Siera’s appearance over the past few days.
There were no noticeable changes in expression, so there was no way to know what she was thinking. I simply waited for Luche to finish her thoughts, staring intently at her face.
“No, there hasn’t been anything unusual.”
No matter how much she thought about it, Luche shook her head, convinced that there had been no significant changes in Siera’s recent behavior.
“Why is Siera doing something to you again?!”
Suddenly, Luche’s voice rose sharply.
“No, no. I was just asking out of curiosity.”
From the beginning, Luche and Siera didn’t get along well. Whenever they were together, they would glare at each other and always argue about whatever the other said.
Having witnessed this process firsthand, I didn’t want to see Luche and Siera bickering again, leading to misunderstandings.
“There was something suspicious about that woman, wasn’t there?”
Though I thought so and denied it, it was too late.
“She keeps telling you not to ask me to do things and complains why the team leader is interfering. But now, she’s directly telling you to do something, isn’t she?”
Although it’s been a while since she last did this, mentioning it might escalate the situation. What surprised me was that Siera had told Luche not to ask me to do things in the first place.
This seems to prove that Siera and Luche have poor communication and don’t share information between them.
As I mentioned earlier, my immediate superior is Luche. Therefore, Siera doesn’t have the authority to give me direct orders. Even though Siera’s previous statements weren’t commands or instructions, Luche might not perceive it that way.
As soon as I spoke, Luche showed her hostility toward Siera.
“Luche!”
Thinking that I needed to calm Luche down first, I called her with a slightly forceful tone.
Luche, who had been scowling at me, startled when I called her with a strong tone, her eyes widening as she looked at me.
“That’s not it.”
Seeing that Luche might not understand, I explained the situation with Siera, from when YuBin and Siera met at home to when Siera found out everything.
Since Luche knew about my situation, I explained that I asked because I was curious about what she might say to me.
Despite thinking I had explained it sufficiently, Luche’s expression remained stern.
“……”
After finishing my explanation, seeing Luche’s lack of reaction made me wonder if I had explained it properly.
“……Are you angry?”
Thinking that the reason for her stern expression was Siera, I had explained everything. However, looking at her face, I felt that the reason for her stern expression might not be Siera.
Then, what could it be? Who else is here besides Luche and me? No one. So, the reason must be me.
“I thought Siera was acting unfairly and got angry… You got mad at me…”
It seemed she thought I was angry because I called her forcefully.
“I’m not angry. I just…”
“……Hmph.”
Seeing her turn away with a huff, I was speechless. Though I was used to this kind of thing happening frequently with Luche, it felt new today.
New or not, I already knew how to handle her when she acted like this, so I started by stroking her head.
“Alright. I’ll buy you something delicious next time.”
“That’s already a promise.”
What started as an excuse to buy something delicious had turned into a promise. Saying “That’s not a promise” here would be futile.
The feeling of comforting Luche and ATi at the same time, despite being the same person, made me chuckle.
“Alright. What do you want me to do?”
“……”
Luche, with a stern face, turned her head sideways and spread her arms. Her gaze was fixed on me.
Her arrogance in wanting me to quickly resolve her mood, which seemed typical of Luche, made me think. Though her features and demeanor were different, her current state reminded me of ATi’s.
“I’m not angry.”
While holding her arms apart, I gently stroked her head. Naturally, I wondered if this is how I would comfort my daughter in the far future.
“If you come to my house and watch a movie with me, I might forgive you.”
“Huh? That won’t do. I moved into my girlfriend’s house.”
She froze as if I had completely stiffened while hugging her.
“Huh?”
Luche, as if regaining her senses, pulled away from me and looked up in confusion. With five girlfriends and the team leaders suggesting it was a good idea to move, why would she be surprised now?
“You moved into your girlfriend’s house.”
“Why?!”
“Why not?!”
“I don’t understand! You’re a fool!”
Suddenly shouting and running off to the main building where the office was located, Luche left me standing there.
No matter how much I thought about it, all I could think was ‘Isn’t my statement correct?’ But Luche wasn’t listening, and I just stood there with a bewildered expression as she walked away.
