Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume9 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 13===

“Yayyyy!!”

Quenser and the others cheered while clinking together mugs of cheap soda water.

They were thirty kilometers south of Lost Angels on the deck of a small aircraft carrier of the Legitimacy Kingdom Object Maintenance Fleet floating in the Indian Ocean.

For some reason, a table with a pure white tablecloth was placed in the middle of the deck and it was covered with a simple feast of pizza, fried chicken, and French fries.

The surrounding soldiers who only had soap-like rations to eat were giving them murderous looks, but Quenser, Millia, and the rest of the Lost Angels team were the MVPs of the winning team today.

They had captured a cutting-edge Second Generation Object entirely intact. That alone was a victory worth five billion dollars, but the various technologies they were sure to find when they dismantled it would up that value to immeasurable levels. It was hardly surprising that the extremely satisfied higher ups would demand that the team was rewarded in every way possible.

Incidentally, the feast was especially luxurious because Millia Newburg had confiscated the money Quenser and Heivia had snuck out of the Capitalist Corporations armored van. When it came to information management, they could not hope to match someone from the intelligence division.

And that meant their only choice was to make the most of this.

Heivia stuck his fingers in his mouth to whistle and then shouted with a piece of fried chicken held up like a microphone.

“Okay, okay! It’s time for an interview with today’s hero! This operation was thought up by Quenser Barbotage, the super genius of our own 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion!! How are you feeling now!?”

“Now, now, now. I only came up with the idea! It was Millia and the others who made it a reality!!”

“C’mon, you can’t let yourself be so hardheaded while on the front lines! And I never imagined the intelligence division would get a turn in the spotlight!!”

“Ah ha ha ha ha!!”

“Wa ha ha ha ha!!”

In a win-win scenario like this, people’s tolerance knew no bounds. Those two idiots would normally fight over any loose change they found on the ground, but here they pretended to be intellectuals and tried to let the other have the honor.

The Princess was also a part of the winning team as she had made the final holdup, so she had joined in even though she always had nice things to eat.

Frolaytia however did not get to eat.

She breathed out some sweet-smelling smoke from her kiseru and wrapped an arm around Quenser’s shoulder like a delinquent.

And she took no notice when the Princess grew a little irritated.

“You did a great job this time, Quenser.”

“Heh…eh heh heh! You really think so!? Y’know, if you’d taken off that formal uniform and exposed that nice body of yours to the sun, you might have been able to join us in this reward!!”

“Well, that might have been a nice change of pace. Drawing lines on a screen to order an attack can get old. How about you let me join in on your discussions from now on?”

“Dwa ha ha ha!! We can have a nice ‘hands-on’ discussion right now if you want! It can be just the two of us in your room and on your bed!!”

Millia Newburg then wrapped her arm around Quenser’s shoulder from the other side and spoke cheerfully.

And she was oblivious to the Princess growing truly angry.

“Unfortunately, I can’t let that happen.”

“Eh? Why not? W-wait, is everyone finally realizing what a great catch I am!?”

“Yes, a city full of gangs and mafias has really fallen for you.”

Millia’s comment flash froze Quenser and Frolaytia sighed.

“I don’t like it either. If your theory had proved useless in practice, I could have taken you right back, but after such a tremendous success, I’ve lost my excuse to take you from the intelligence division.”

“Eh? Eh? Wait…”

Millia ignored his complaints.

“The city of bullets and desire is waiting! Take three steps and a car is liable to explode, but don’t worry!! Lost Angels is filled with villains, but you’re the only one to pull off such a daring heist. You’ll probably be given either a bed of money or a gravestone, but if you’re lucky, you might just escape the city alive!!”

“Oh, no. I’ve seen this pattern before! Now that I’ve used up my beginner’s luck, I’m done for!! I don’t want to go back! I want to quit while I’m ahead and leave that place forever!!”

“You can’t, Quenser. Let’s see…ahem! ‘Effective immediately, Battlefield Student Quenser Barbotage’s temporary assignment to Lost Angels is extended indefinitely until further orders are received. He is to work hard for the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion and the Legitimacy Kingdom as a whole.’ Whew, HR sure can be scary.”

Frolaytia must have been in a really good mood because she grabbed a piece of shiso leaf from a large plate of food, placed it below her nose to create a handlebar mustache, and did an impression of someone’s voice.

But Quenser could hardly laugh.

“Going back to Lost Angels is a really bad idea. The gang the Faith Organization controls is definitely going to be on the lookout for me!! And even as the most dangerous city in the world, it’s technically a safe country, so I can’t hope for any support from the Baby Magnum!!”

The Princess turned around in a huff in her seat a short distance away.

She apparently did not like that he assumed she would always come rushing in to save him.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

“Wa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

Meanwhile, his superior officers drowned out his completely legitimate fears with laughter.

Tears had no place at a victory party!

Even if death awaited the very next day, that may have been the rule for anyone in the military.

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