Chapter 48

Then, after finishing the report to Ryuje, I head straight to where Banetta is waiting.

The place where we agreed to meet is a storage room located a bit away from the academy.

As I slowly move along the forest path filled with greenery on my Bungbungi, I catch sight of a rough, gray-and-green building far off among the trees.

And waiting for me at the entrance of that building is a woman who looks like she has no motivation – Banetta. She wears a white lab coat over her attire, and her long green hair is still disheveled.

“Banetta.”

“Ah, you’ve come, Edu.”

As I call her name and approach, a bright smile blooms on her previously gloomy face.

“You’re a bit late; where have you been?”

“Yeah, I was at the president’s office for a bit.”

“At the president’s office? Did you meet with the president?”

“Yeah.”

“Mhm—”

Banetta stretches her words with apparent interest.

I notice that her reaction is half a question, and since there’s no need to hide it, I explain the reason I met with Ryuje to her as well.

“There were several incidents during training.”

“During training?”

“Yeah, I encountered some Invaders.”

“What? Invaders?”

Banetta looks shocked.

“Yeah, I don’t know what their intentions are, but they deployed a mech unit.”

“A mech unit? Wait. Edu, you didn’t fight them, did you?”

“No, I did.”

At my words, Banetta’s eyes widen.

“Wh-what were you thinking! That’s dangerous?!”

Flustered, Banetta even stutters. It’s clear that her concern is not just about pointing out my mistake.

“I know, but there was no other choice.”

“…Hmm, right. I guess you wouldn’t have done it thoughtlessly.”

“Oh? You accepted that pretty quickly?”

“Of course, there aren’t any bad people who handle robots with care.”

From Banetta’s response, I sense a certain conviction.

“Anyway, it feels strange to be talking here, so let’s go inside.”

“Okay.”

Banetta takes a key from her coat, unlocks the padlock, and pushes the latch aside.

With a loud creaking sound, the heavy iron door slowly opens. It seems to have been left untouched for quite some time, as I see vines and spider webs growing through the door’s cracks, along with rust.

“Please understand that it’s a bit dirty inside. I’ve been using it as a storage space.”

“That’s fine with me.”

I’m in no position to complain since I’m the one receiving help.

As we step inside the building, the first thing that catches my eye is a spacious area, wide open.

And in the corner of the storeroom, there’s a huge pile of various junk and tools that immediately tells me this is where she works.

“This storeroom was originally built as a kind of outpost, but it’s been abandoned for a while now, so I’ve turned it into storage.”

“Ah, so that’s why it’s situated way out here.”

“Yeah.”

No wonder it was so far away from the academy; it has its backstory.

After hearing her explanation, I look around the interior of the building and indeed see structures and devices that could certainly be used for military purposes.

“Alright then, shall we get started? Have you had a chance to use your abilities since then?”

“Ah, about that—”

“Hmm? What is it, Edu?”

I subtly scan Banetta’s expression and glance around. It seems there’s no one watching, so it should be fine, right?

“Collection Release.”

– The collection feature will be disabled. 8 pieces of collected equipment. Please select the equipment to release.

With the notification, a holographic window appears before me. There are two tabs present.

——————————————————–

Humanity ▽

——————————————————–

[ MBT-4S Saver Tank x 1 ]

——————————————————–

Invaders ▽

——————————————————–

[ ST-05 Clarent Tank (Destroyed) x 3 ]

[ ASC-03 Gandiva APC (Destroyed) x 4 ]

——————————————————–

Applied Effects – None.

——————————————————–

“Can you bring out one of the more intact Clarent and Gandiva to a nearby empty place?”

– Location confirmed. One ST-05 Clarent Tank and one ASC-03 Gandiva APC will be released from the collection and placed in the nearest empty area.

Two pieces of equipment slowly materialize inside the storeroom, accompanied by a white light.

Although they’re quite damaged, these are definitely the Invader tank and APC that attacked us on the ground.

“Uh?”

Banetta makes a stunned sound.

“E-Edu. This is—”

“Yeah, it’s the Invader’s tank and APC. They’ve been quite damaged though.”

The reason these things are coming out of the collection dates back to yesterday.

After completely defeating them, I approached the Invader wreckage with my friends for confirmation when the notification sounded.

– Notification, the collection feature can be used. Would you like to use it?

‘Huh?’

That was definitely the same notification I got during the encounter with Saver.

So, unconsciously, I accepted it, and lo and behold, the enemy’s wreckage was included in the collection.

‘Oh?’

Just in case there might be a use for them, I returned with the most intact pieces of the Invader wreckage that were left, which is why these pieces are emerging from my collection now.

“Real Invader weapons….”

Banetta mumbles to herself while swallowing hard and approaches the wreckage I brought out.

“And while collecting these, I learned more about the collection feature.”

“….”

“Uh, Banetta?”

After not getting a response, I call her name, and she jolts and looks at me with surprise.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry, can you continue to tell me?”

Even as she responds, her eyes can’t seem to leave the Invader wreckage.

I thought someone of her caliber would have seen plenty of Invader wreckage before, but judging by her reaction, it seems I was mistaken.

“…Would you like to take a closer look?”

“Is that okay!?”

A quick reply.

At Banetta’s reaction, I can’t help but let out a small chuckle.

Given that I have benefitted from her help in many ways, I guess it’s fair to let her enjoy things a bit.

“Sure, that’s fine.”

“Then, just a moment—”

With a childlike smile, she examines the Invader wreckage, and from a distance, I can see her expression changing in various ways.

Excitement and anticipation.

Joy and surprise.

Banetta’s face, openly expressing her feelings like a child, shone vividly, starkly different from the lack of motivation and exhaustion I had seen before.

Seeing that reaction, it’s clear that she’s a natural engineer. Or rather, should I say an engineer-type girl?

Thinking that, I wait patiently, and after a considerable amount of time, Banetta returns to me, seemingly satisfied.

“Hmm, that was a great stimulus. Thank you, Edu.”

“Don’t mention it. If you need one, I can give you one of them.”

“Uh, is that okay?!”

She looks shocked by my offer but doesn’t refuse.

“Yes, it’s broken anyway, and I have extras left.”

“Thank you, Edu!”

Reaching out, Banetta grabs my hands and pulls me towards her.

“Uh?”

Caught off guard by her sudden action, I’m pulled in and hug her, only to feel a huge and soft symbol of motherhood hidden beneath her coat against my cheek.

“How can someone so small and cute have such deep thoughts? I think I’m falling for Edu!”

The warmth traveling through my cheeks and a gentle resistance. Realizing my face is buried in her chest, I notice a light, sweet smell.

“Ugh!”

My face flushes bright red.

Just as I instinctively try to move away from her embrace, I suddenly realize something significant.

‘Where can I hold on…?!’

The only thing within reach to support myself is her large chest.

In this situation, to escape, I would have to make an even closer contact, and my body stiffens.

‘What a dilemma…!’

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Edu? Your face is red?”

As I ponder, Banetta bends down to look at me.

What do I do? While wondering, I decide to just come clean.

“I’m, um, a little embarrassed.”

“Hmm? What’s embarrassing between girls? I think you’re a bit too sensitive to physical contact sometimes.”

“That’s—”

I try to answer, but I lose my words. Even though I’ve told everything to Ryuje, sharing this reason is a bit tricky.

Moreover, as Banetta said, my appearance was that of a small girl, a million light years away from a man, so her actions were not wrong in any sense.

But still, for some reason, there’s a feeling of guilt…! My inner Jeong Eun-woo, 22 years old, is tormented—

“You don’t have to be shy, we’re friends, right?”

As she says this, Banetta gently pats my head. As I accept her touch, I feel something different from before.

Is it that my heart feels a sense of ease? Receiving someone else’s touch isn’t bad.

‘…Eh, I don’t know.’

At any rate, since I was already held tightly, there’s no significant meaning in trying to escape now, so I calmly stay in her embrace until she feels satisfied.

Then I discover a truth.

There’s a reason big breasts are called mothers…!

Thus I receive unintended healing. After patting my head for a while, Banetta finally releases me.

“Now, I need to find a place to hide these.”

“Hide them?”

“Yeah, outside the Fangju, storing or researching Invader equipment or items without permission is prohibited. It’s for security reasons or something like that.”

“Ah, I see.”

So there are regulations that made Banetta so curious about the Invaders.

However, the mention of Invaders in the Fangju suddenly reminds me of the events from the previous day. Come to think of it, the false charges they were trying to place on me in court were tied to the Invaders too, right?

Thanks to Ryuje’s comfort, even when I think about that incident, I no longer feel scared, yet I feel a surge of emotions.

Especially regarding that bastard, Geojek.

‘Hmm? Wait a second—’

The rule against carelessly storing Invader items.

And I possess remnants of the Invaders that are leagues above any of their items.

Moreover, I have the power to freely store and retrieve those remains as well.

Oh, if this is handled well…?

“Banetta.”

“Hmm? What is it, Edu?”

“Can we possibly repair those destroyed tanks or APCs?”

“Ah… those?”

Banetta tilts her head at my question.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t mean to restore them to their original production state, right?”

“Of course not.”

They’re not even human-made items. Asking to restore them to the original state would be unreasonable.

“Then what kind of repair are you talking about?”

I take a moment to gather my thoughts in response to Banetta’s question.

Simply possessing Invader items or equipment is already a violation of the rules, but that’s not enough revenge for what I experienced.

To escalate the situation further…

“I think it should be enough if they can move like real Invaders to intimidate our enemies.”

“So, something like moving and talking?”

“Yes, that should suffice.”

Banetta nods at my answer.

“If it’s just that much, it’s certainly possible. But why do you want to fix those? Is there a purpose?”

“I’ve had some experiences worth addressing.”

“Experiences?”

“Yes, well…”

Since it’s not exactly a secret, I tell Banetta about the incident at the court.

The expression on her face changes rapidly. After hearing the entire story, her face twists in obvious anger.

“…Haa, I guess things haven’t changed there.”

She mutters to herself in self-deprecation.

“If that’s the case, I’ll help you as much as I can, Edu. But, I can’t prepare everything alone, so could you bring someone trustworthy to assist me?”

“An assistant?”

“Yeah, someone interested in Invaders or similar subjects, do you have anyone in mind?”

A particular individual flashes in my mind at Banetta’s words; thinking about it, there wouldn’t be a more suitable person.

“I have someone in mind; I’ll talk to them later.”

“Okay, I’ll leave that to you. Oh, it’s already this late? Edu, since it’s quite late, should we check the technology tomorrow instead?”

“Yeah.”

The next morning.

I head towards the Fangju to find Edward.

“Edu? What’s up?”

“Edward, I have a favor to ask you.”

“Haa… I got caught up in that last incident, but I’m not someone who always has time to spare—”

“I can provide you with a set of Invader APC wreckage, and I’m even offering free delivery to wherever you want it right now.”

“Haa, Edu… did you think I would just automatically agree to that?”

Nod.

“Exactly, from today onward, I’m your slave, Edu. Should I start licking your toes?”