"Everyone gathered together on this day! Truly a wonderful day!"
Elysia raised her wine glass with her usual smile, while her adjutant stared at everyone present with a completely different expression—as if his uncle had just died.
However, he was wearing a helmet, so his expression was hidden. The problem was that even with his face covered, a sinister, terrifying aura like a monster from a horror film roared past everyone's ears.
This resulted in everyone present looking as pale as... the uncle who had just died.
"...There is no holiday today, Elysia," Lin reminded the high-spirited girl beside him.
"Eh? But isn't today the day of our orientation and reorganization? The Thirteenth Squad is being reborn." Elysia had an expression that suggested she had no idea what he was talking about. "Why would you forget such a major holiday?"
"Orientation..."
Lin really didn't know Fire-Moth had this tradition. Did he have such ceremonies when he was in the Fifth and Seventh Squads?
"Oh my, you're my adjutant. You need to set a good example~ First, raise your glass... Hey! Cheers!"
Elysia shoved a glass of wine into his hand, then lifted his arm, laughing as she clinked their glasses together, spilling a bit of the wine into each other's cups.
Seeing this, the other newcomers were scared out of their wits. Some were so timid they almost fainted.
Why is THAT 'Lin' in this squad?!
Fire-Moth's personnel replenishment was massive. The previous shortage of hands had vanished; there were now ten times the personnel than before the Seventh Eruption. Thus, squad reorganization was an urgent item on the agenda.
After consideration, Lin was assigned to the Thirteenth Squad under Elysia as her adjutant.
On one hand, because Lin had once quit Fire-Moth, he couldn't just leave and return to his original rank at will. Thus, Lin could no longer serve as a Captain. This was also why he had acted as a temporary member of Chrysalis Squad.
On the other hand, Elysia was one of the few MANTIS in existence. It was most appropriate for her to watch over Lin, whose status and consciousness might have issues.
After serving as a member and a Captain, Lin finally filled the missing link in his resume.
However, this wasn't necessarily a good thing for others—especially the new members of the Thirteenth Squad.
Elysia was a MANTIS. That was great—the Captain was powerful, beautiful, witty, and treated people gently. Many had heard that Elysia was an angelic presence in Fire-Moth. If they could have filled out a preference form during assignment, Elysia Thirteenth Squad would have been the most popular choice.
But the adjutant was that "Lin."
Lin voluntary participation in the MANTIS project had indeed changed many people's opinions of him, but it didn't mean they felt his overall image had been reversed.
He was still that taciturn, fierce-eyed, cold-acting helmeted man. Now he just had a nicer-sounding prefix.
Though former members Immer and Hua had said Lin was good, who knew if that was true? One must remember that two Herrschers had appeared in the Fifth Squad where Lin once served. Privately, many called him the "God of Death" of calamity.
Of course, some old faces didn't care about this at all.
"Nom nom nom nom..." Pardo sat in a small corner while everyone else was holding their breath in agony, eating and drinking to her heart's content. Her appetite had grown; she had gained quite a bit of weight on her arms, legs, and waist, yet she didn't care as she happily enjoyed the feast.
She was so happy. She didn't have to do anything, could eat her fill, and when she was bored, she could watch movies in her room, turn on the heat lamp, and take a "sunbath."
Life was so perfect that she sometimes almost forgot she was here to find Big Brother Lin.
Besides her, there was another person who, while not as bold as Pardo, didn't look at Lin with fear like the others. Instead, he was somewhat nervous and excited, like he was about to meet an idol he had been a fan of for years.
Erwin stood in a hidden spot, looking at Elysia chatting and laughing with Lin with a hint of envy.
Captain Elysia and Lin have such a good relationship...
Under Elysia explanation, Lin reluctantly accepted that her squad had a fixed orientation ritual. Scanning the recruits who were terrified by his gaze, he said calmly: "Eat."
"No, no, no, you first, sir." The member standing at the very front wiped away cold sweat, forcing a smile.
"...I'm not hungry."
"Then... then... then we aren't hungry either."
Lin shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to say something, a pair of chopsticks held a piece of meat right in front of him.
"Ahh~" Elysia stared at him with a beaming smile.
"I..."
"Ahh~~~"
Elysia smile grew even more brilliant.
Lin was silent for a good while before silently pushing up his helmet and eating the meat from the chopsticks.
"Alright! The Captain and Adjutant have started! Everyone, eat!"
Elysia announced happily. Only then did the others breathe a sigh of relief and start eating. The sounds of conversation gradually increased.
"Geez, truly, orientation used to have many fun things to do. But my adjutant is such an iron-faced man, we can only organize it so everyone gets to know each other simply and call it a day." Elysia sat beside Lin, resting her pink-flushed cheek on one hand, smiling playfully.
"...Sorry."
"Haha, just teasing you~ How could I blame you? After all, that's just how Lin is~"
Lin sat without picking up his chopsticks. He just listened quietly to the voices of the others. To them, the dishes were colorful and aromatic delicacies; in his eyes, they were just colorless chunks of meat and vegetable slices.
At this moment, he suddenly felt a bit nostalgic for roasting potato chips with Kalpas at the sanatorium.
In truth, roasting chips back then wasn't because Kalpas wanted them, but because the sanatorium was short on supplies. Kalpas couldn't take regular food for barbecue, so he could only eat the damp chips that couldn't be given to the children.
Yet both Lin and Kalpas had eaten them with great relish, even if they were a bit burnt.
The crisp "crunch, crunch" sound made Lin feel that it must have been a delicious midnight snack.
"...Elysia, right now... are you happy?"
Hearing Lin question, Elysia took a languid sip of red wine. "Of course."
"Why?"
"Hmm..." Elysia suddenly sat up straight and serious, observing Lin, then broke into a brilliant smile. "Because everyone, including Lin, is here."
"What about you? Lin, are you happy?"
"I..."
『Please』 always love those around you, Lin.
Lin subconsciously placed his right hand on the ring on his left hand.
After a long silence, he finally nodded: "Being by your side, I also feel very happy."
Crash.
The sound of glass shattering rang out. Lin turned, puzzled.
He saw Elysia with her mouth wide open, red wine spilled all over her, completely dazed.