Spy In The Base

TIME PASSES...

Mornings had become something of a wrestling match at the orphanage lately.

Evidenced by that fact Uriel was currently perched cross-legged on my back. “Feed me! Feed me! Rau!” 

“I would if you’d stop sitting on me while I’m trying to do push-ups.”

“Amateur. Looks like all that so-called training was for nothing. Pathetic. How are we going to fulfill the Duke’s orders now?”

Grr… Uriel really knew how to set me off!

~SALARYMAN TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED: UNADULTERATED SPITE~

“I’ll show you!”

With one arm straining to keep me off the floor, I scooped up a spoonful of meat stew and shoved it into Uriel’s mouth. 

It was like threading a needle while bench-pressing a boulder.

For reference, this was the week following coronation day. And we had set about our adventurer training in earnest!

It was an order directly from the Duke, honest! It’s just that we won’t be only doing guild jobs from the jobs board, what little there was in East Gate so far.

Instead, we were launching a full survey of the lands around East Gate to track down the source of the Crown’s newest headache, while Calilah ran his own investigation inside the city.

Unfortunately, you can’t officially be an adventurer here unless you’re an adult. And in this world, that meant seventeen. And if a town guard or any such authoritative body shows up to ask for an adventurer’s license, and you don’t produce one? Straight to jail.

It made all too much sense the more I thought about it. How can you be trusted to venture out on your own when you can’t pass a simple test?

…Hence, our current training.

Apparently, I was behind schedule on Uriel’s completely deranged ‘fitness regimen.’ In reality, I think she just wanted a convenient punching bag to vent her frustrations. But you know what? I could respect that.

It was refreshingly honest, unlike corporate Japan where your boss would passive-aggressively ‘delegate’ more work to you just because their boss chewed them out. At least Uriel skipped the formalities and just sat on me.

Still, I couldn’t deny the results. And despite Uriel’s attitude, I really enjoyed her company.

“Feed me next, Cotter! Me next!” I was quite confused when I found out it was Piper who said those words.

Ever since the orphanage has been fixed up, she’s been acting so weird. Her tail was already coiled around me, slithering up my side as her upper half leaned in, mouth open, eyes squeezed shut.

Before I could scoop her a bite, though…

Daisy’s voice floated from the far end of the hall. “Cotter?”

I stopped my rep. “Yes?”

“Once you’re finished with Uriel and Piper, I need to borrow you. There’s something important we need to discuss.”

Daisy didn’t wait for a reply before she left. I was honestly puzzled by her new enigma persona. It was weird.

“Hiss…” Piper's coils tightened around my waist so hard I wheezed. I don’t think Piper wanted that bite of food anymore! “Damn demonness…!”

What’s gotten into her?!

“Oi, focus!” Uriel’s tail swatted my back like a whip. “Ten more reps!”

“Yes, ma’am…” I groaned.

Piper, meanwhile, refused to unwrap herself. If anything, her coils tightened even more as her lips curled into a pout.

My friends were friggin’ crazy!

\\

I stumbled upon the most curious scene.

Daisy was on the floor, attempting—keyword: attempting—to do push-ups.

“Gods…!” Her arms were trembling like they were about to snap in half.

And then… inevitable failure.

Her elbows buckled, and she face-planted into the floor with a rather unceremonious thud.

“I can’t do it…! Stupid… mortal… body!” she groaned, flopping onto her back in defeat, limbs sprawled out like a squashed spider.

“Hey, we all have to start somewhere.” I shivered at the memory of my first training session with Uriel. “Best not to push yourself too hard.”

Her fingers curled into fists against the wood.

“I just want to fight without having to rely on you-know-who. I want to be with you guys. Not have to worry about some past self eager to take over my body if I decide to join the fray. But… all I can do is heal. That’s it.”

I sat down beside her, cross-legged.

“What makes you think you can’t come with us because you ‘only’ heal?”

She didn’t answer.

I sighed. “You know, I’ve always hated stories where the healer gets kicked out of the party for being ‘useless’. Like, have they ever played a team game without a healer? I’d like to see them survive a day.”

Daisy blinked. “Right. You did play those so-called ‘video games.’ Virtual worlds in the comfort of your own home. Sounds like a dream.”

“So you know that healers are the ones who carry a team. The difference between a clean victory and a corpse-run is usually a healer’s stubborn refusal to let anyone die.

Her lip quivered. She opened her mouth… but no snark came out.

“I just…” she tried. But her voice cracked. And then the tears spilled.

That was my cue. I dealt with this many times when comforting my sister after a bad day of bullying at school.

I pulled her into a hug.

She stiffened in my arms. “All I’ve been thus far is a burden. Someone you need to look after, babysit, and make sure she doesn’t blow a casket.”

~SALARYMAN TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED: SAGE ADVICE FROM THE CUBICLE~

“There’s a saying back on Earth: Your thoughts become your reality,” I said quietly. “You tell yourself you’re a burden, you’ll stay one. You tell yourself you’re not good enough, you never will be. I climbed the corporate ladder because, even when I didn’t believe it, I said: ‘I deserve to be up there.’”

I pulled back, just enough to meet her eyes.

“So I’m asking you: Do you feel like you deserve to be part of our team?”

Her lips trembled. “Not really.”

“Then let me say it until you do.” I smiled. “Malmitres? She’s chump change. You’re stronger than her.”

“But I don't feel like I am."

“Look at this another way. It shows that you care. You’re doing great.”

“Nooo…” Daisy fists hit my chest, but softly. “Stop… being nice… it’s making this harder…”

I didn’t let go. In fact, I wrapped her tighter.

“Malmitres is just a has-been, that’s a fact; but I think she’s a never-was. Think about it. She’s stuck piggybacking off a teen just to get a second shot!”

Daisy sniffled into my chest. “I hate you… I really do...”

“Then you are going to hate me even more soon. Because when we get out of East Gate, you are going to form a critical member of our party!”

“Hehe… idiot…”

But Daisy's arms didn’t let go.

“…You say all that like it’s easy,” she whispered. “Like all you need to do is believe.”

“…Isn’t it?”

“No,” Daisy said. “Because you don’t believe it either.”

I froze.

“You’re always acting like your value disappears the second you’re not useful. Like right now.” Daisy shifted in my arms, just enough to look up at me. “You didn’t save me because you believed in me. You saved me because you needed to believe you could.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“You may not believe me, but I’ve noticed something about you. You have trouble saying no.”

I was frowning now. “Well, that’s plainly not true. I think I’ve stood up for myself countless times.”

“You are being too nice,” Daisy said. “You want the best for everyone; that makes you a people pleaser, even if you don’t please people in the moment. You’re pleasing me right now. You say yes or no according to the attitude of people around you. That’s as good as saying “yes” to everything. But you keep quiet because you’re terrified about what people would think if you stop being the nice one, just for a second.”

Daisy’s face was soon inches from mine.

“You asked me if I deserve to be here. So let me ask you: do you think you’d still be part of your team if you failed just once?”

…

“I…”

"Don't answer. It was rhetorical." Her voice pitched up again, too quickly. “Enough of this touchy-feely stuff. I can’t afford to get distracted!”

I felt an invisible force push in between us. As in, I was literally pushed back.

“I called you here for a reason, didn’t I? Yes, yes I did. I do have some interesting developments regarding the conspiracy behind our… kidnapping.” Daisy said.

“Really?”

“When I say interesting, I mean it.” She leaned in and started to whisper. “According to your memories… someone’s been leaving traces of technology not too dissimilar to your world’s tech… lurking around the orphanage.”

My breath caught. Technology? This world just keeps piling on the surprises. Gods, I couldn’t wait until I was strong enough to explore beyond East Gate’s crumbling walls.

“Any idea who they could be?” I asked.

“Well…” Daisy tapped her chin thoughtfully. “They seem to have a particular… fondness for our Moonbox-making scraps. We don’t have as much scrap in the garbage room than at the end of the day.”

I felt a chill run down my spine. “You don’t mean…”

“I think it’s the orphanage dog,” she said with complete sincerity.

…

“What.”