[Dawnbringer v2] 04. The End of the Vacation

It's the end of a book! What kind of adventures will Lezirth and his crew get into next? What new things will we learn about how Lezirth came to be? How long will Narane take to translate it?! See for yourself in the next twenty years to find out!

Translator: Narane
Editors: MadTix

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[The coup at Critik had ended with the Alliance, after their promise to back the operation, massacring the population. The leader of the rebellion, Kasik, was killed. Kasik’s mentor William Mayer was arrested by the Federation police on the charge of creating dissent among the population.]

The television displayed the news.

I turned off my PDA and looked out the window. On the other side of the observation deck of the cruiser’s lobby was the sun setting on Critik-4.

Or, I guess, the sun’s coming up on the other side of the horizon, while the sun’s setting on this side.

There had been a lot of happenings in the short time that we were here.

I smiled bitterly as I looked upon the surface of Critik-4 from the observation windows. Sergeant Aroha was watching with me, though while receiving a glucose drip to recover from overexertion. And I was receiving an IV drip myself from the massive blood loss that I had suffered earlier.

It was almost funny how we looked, being a slave to the IV pole together.

“Aroha, this is the planet that you saved. You should feel proud for that.”

Ensign Meihowa handed her a cup of coffee. She handed me a cup, too, and smiled.

“Is that so? Then, can I get back down to the surface and take everything from the big name brand shops?”

“I would like to do that myself, but neither of us will likely get to use any of them for a while.”

The battle in the Oden system had grown worse, so we were going to be back in the heart of the war. While we were on vacation, the Federation army operations had relocated Ensign Meihowa to a different place.

The Thirteenth Special Forces Brigade.

It was a new group created by the survivors of Oden and the Kishin Ladyhawk.

The “special forces” name alone sounded fancy, but in reality, it represented the will of the Command to put us through whatever difficult task they need solving at the moment. That is, it was the brigade to throw into any dangerous battle!

“And now, we’re joining that brigade.” Admiral Luise said, Rabbitte in her arms. If she had wanted, then we may have all been transferred to a different platoon, but she must have not done so. I never thought about escaping the heat of battle, regardless.

And beside her was a silver-blonde girl, tracing her footsteps without daring to catch anyone’s eye along the way. She was wearing a man’s uniform, but... wait, hold on. Isn’t that Kiske?

His eyes were darting around the room like a scared animal’s, shivering in his unfitting uniform. Understandably, he was in the middle of the enemy’s army, so he was right to be scared. And even though he was wearing the smallest size of the uniform, his sleeves were still too long and flapped around as he moved.

“He’s Kiske Risner. Private. He’s in our brigade from now on.”

Kiske became distressed at Admiral Luise’s introduction. “No, wait, I...!”

“If you don’t like it, do you want to go to the army prison instead?”

Kiske shook violently as Admiral Luise asked. Of course, a lot of bad things were bound to happen if you put a guy who looked like that into prison.

I shrugged and sighed. “Princess Riznah will be after us as long as she lives if we have him around. Are we just going to return him when she finds us?”

“Yes! U-until then, I’ll cooperate with you people! But I’ll never lend my hand to killing another Asa!” Kiske shouted, confidently.

I sighed at her-- I mean, him. “When am I ever going to need your help?”

“I-- uh... nngh.” Kiske held his fists in frustration. But it was the truth-- according to Sergeant Aroha, an Asa, the male Asas couldn’t use the traditional magic, and their only ability was of the dirty kind.

And to think I’ll ever need that help...

Hm.

No, absolutely not! I’ll have none of that!

And as I thought to myself, Private Pencolt entered the break room. The short vacation had put back fat on his body, returning him to his old looks.

“Hey~ Lezirth! You got what you deserved after trying to spend a vacation with great girls! Hehehe.”

“Didn’t you get your own vacation canceled, too?”

“I’m sad too, but I can’t stand watching you building a harem for yourself, yeah?”

“I’m not building a harem for myself!” I explained, but watching Pencolt laugh had made me laugh just as hard. It was terrible-- I was in serious trouble if I felt glad in any way for seeing him again. “So, did you get placed into the Special Forces too?”

“Yep.”

“Then, you’re passing by Critik base before getting passed off into the Special Forces? Then we’ll have a little time, right?”

I tried to recall the time.

But Pencolt was looking at me like I was insane. “But this is the Special Forces.”

“Huh?”

“This cruiser is the Thirteenth Special Forces Brigade’s main base and the command center.”

“... ... ...”

We were returning to the battlefield without a moment’s rest? I could already feel the tough times ahead of us.

I mean, as Lezirth Dawnbringer, I had always lived this kind of life, but I couldn’t adapt after having an actual moment of relaxation as a Private. “So, we’re... going straight back into the war?”

“Yep. Well, we don’t have any orders yet, so we can rest now. Oh, and we got a new roommate that I haven’t met before.”

“Hmm?” I became curious. “Are we roommates in here, too?”

“Yeah, got any problem?”

“No, but I’m not under watch anymore! And you still are.” Was my effort in the Azoran system not enough?

Pencolt scoffed. “What a joke! That’s what I should say to you! Anyway, our room’s down in the corner, so we’re the only room with three sharing while everyone else gets four. And, mmh... let’s see. The new guy is Kiske Risner, I hear. Do you know anything about this guy?” Pencolt spoke into the PDA.

I turned my attention to Kiske in shock. Kiske is my roommate?!

“I had no choice if we’re keeping him around close.” Admiral Luise nodded.

Kiske bowed down to greet Pencolt. “I am Kiske Risner. Pleased to meet you.”

Wait, this can’t be good. Kiske is too pretty-looking, and with Pencolt as a roommate...?

It-it wasn’t going to end in a disaster, right?

Already, Pencolt was giving a full inspection on Kiske with his sharp eyes. “Hmm? Wait a minute!”

“Kyaa!”

Pencolt suddenly felt around Kiske’s body.

Though everyone else knew Kiske was also a guy, I jumped up at how criminal the scene looked. “What are you doing?!”

“I knew it, he’s a guy!” Pencolt shook his hands and wiped them on a wet paper towel. “No matter how pretty you are, I’m not interested in another guy!”

Pencolt left with those words, grumbling all the way back to his room.

Kiske was sobbing in the aftermath of the sudden harassment, but Pencolt refused to even throw him another glance as he walked back. 

...It was a terrible sight.

Pencolt, at that moment, appeared like the boldest man I’d ever seen.

“Ugh. We’ve got nothing but bad news ahead of us.” Ensign Meihowa brushed her hair back tiredly, imagining the dark days ahead.