Chapter 42 : Ouch!

So, to summarize.

“Yeah, yeah.

First of all, the commander uncle and that bald uncle are workplace senior-junior colleagues, apparently.

That bald uncle was surprised when he found out that our commander was the commander of area C. He added, ‘If you had told me earlier, I could’ve helped sooner.’

Ugh?!

Wow, such a cute Maru was our junior’s first mercenary. Truly lucky. As expected, my junior.

‘…You’re overpraising me.

No, why does everyone get so eager to lift me whenever they see me?

It’s better than being petted, but, no, being petted feels good. This is just me flailing around in the air with nothing to do.

I puffed my cheeks, signaling that I wanted to be lowered quickly. I puffed them up really big.

Pff…

“Hey!

“Oops, sorry.

Nunu who was watching from the side, stared at my puffed-up cheek, then immediately pressed them down.

In the end, my cheek shriveled up.

Filled with dissatisfaction, I puffed my cheeks up again. She placed her hand on my head and gently patted it.

“Ah, Nunu. Can you move aside a little? I want to refill my Maru energy.”

“Oh, so it’s Maru energy? Does patting this small head create that energy?”

Ugh…

The bald uncle who was holding me, and of course, the commander’s hand was also on my head.

“Ugh, ugh!”

Did Bada want to pet me too? She started jumping up from below. But, since she was too short, it was impossible.

Eventually, instead of her hand, Bada began to pet me with her long, swaying tail.

“…Me too.”

Lulu, who had been shyly standing by, joined in, so now I was receiving affection from a total of four people.

Oh my, not a double pat but a quarter pat.

With all these hands gently stroking me, I started to feel better, and my mouth started to smile.

…Oh no, I almost got caught.

The bald uncle, who had been smiling happily, suddenly took his hand off my head.

…Why did he have to take it off now? It was the perfect chance to experience a four-in-a-row petting.

“Ahem, let’s stop pampering Maru and get back to the situation.”

“Excuse me, Maru’s head is so irresistible.”

This was the first time, so I puffed up my cheeks without realizing it. Since they were already puffed, a soft wind sound leaked out of my small lips.

Stopping in the middle of petting, seriously, that’s too much.

By the way… is it because the commander is quite experienced? No one has ever resisted the temptation of my small head.

A little disappointing.

…No, no. What am I thinking right now? I should speak clearly.

It’s not just a little disappointing, it’s a lot disappointing.

Hmm, anyway, Lulu and Nunu used to be colleagues in the same command, right?

“Yeah.”

“That’s right.”

“Wait a minute, Lulu, didn’t you say you didn’t have any previous command experience?”

“That’s what the commander assumed. I haven’t answered that question, as far as I know.”

Lulu Nunu glared at the bald uncle and hugged me again.

“I thought maybe again?” but Lulu Nunu smiled at me as if saying no.

“Now, this way your head won’t hurt, and you’ll be comfortable, right?”

“A, thank you.”

Lulu Nunu placed me on a small desk beside her.

Since everyone was much taller than me, I had to look up, but it was nice not having to look up since I was here.

“You don’t need to thank me. Soon, the teleportation device will be working, and we’ll need to move. What’s the big deal with sitting here for a bit…”

“Commander, you’re looking bad.”

“What, what do you mean! I was going to place you there, but Lulu, you acted first, so I didn’t have the chance.”

“Yeah, sure. What about your true intentions?”

As soon as Lulu Nunu spoke, the bald uncle started sweating profusely, unlike his usual calm demeanor.

He moved his gaze nervously from side to side like a scared puppy, afraid of getting scolded.

“Could it be that you also want to hear some praise…?”

“Y-Yes! I also wanted to hear praise from Maru! What’s wrong with that!”

Lulu Nunu’s eyes were gradually turning more irritated.

The commander’s face beside her was also funny, as if to say, “Is this what a senior looks like?”

“Honestly, there are only sharp-faced men in our command, and you two, Lulu and Bada, are the only ones… And you two…”

Come to think of it, these days, both Bada and I have been relentlessly pestering the commander.

The bald uncle’s face suddenly brightened when he heard Lulu Nunu’s words.

But the following sentence was enough to immediately wipe that smile off his face.

“Though, it was deserved.”

“Lulu, still, you’re being too harsh in front of your junior—”

“In the recent A-rank monster hunt, who made the wrong judgment and caused a big mess?”

“Ugh, urgh. That was really a mistake. One of the top five mistakes of my life.”

“Hmm, but just yesterday, you said that a true commander doesn’t make mistakes.”

Wow. That sister is really good at roasting people.

The bald uncle tried to say something to save face, but he immediately sank, looking like he was about to cry.

No matter what, isn’t it too harsh to say that in front of our direct junior commander?

At this rate, all of the senior’s authority is going to disappear.

Ah, my tone was too strong. Especially in front of another commander…

“It’s okay. Senior has always been like that.”

“I see.”

Or maybe not? Maybe there was never any authority to begin with.

…Somehow, that’s kind of sad.

“But at least senior never made a fatal mistake. Even if it seemed like a big deal, in the end, it wasn’t much, right?”

“…If moving a monster’s corpse and all its fluids straight into the command center isn’t a big deal, then I don’t know what is.”

Aha.

Judging by what they’re saying, it sounds like they accidentally teleported the entire body of a defeated A-rank monster into their own command center.

And with a huge amount of sticky fluids, no less.

How does someone even make that kind of mistake? Did they mess up a teleportation spell or something?

The cleaning crew is going to have a rough time. I feel bad for them.

On top of that, the rigor mortis made the corpse spread its green goo all over the command center.

“Ugh.

…Wait, so the entire, vast command center is covered in sticky green slime?

Oh no. That stuff is really hard to clean off once it sticks. If it’s all over the place…

Ugh. How long is it going to take to clean? No, can it even be cleaned? Isn’t this a job for professional cleaners?”

“And then, using the excuse that Bada spent too much money… ahem. As an excuse. He ran away while everyone else was cleaning.”

“Lulu, you ran away too.”

“I’m just following and assisting the commander wherever they go.”

Such dedication to her job.

…If it weren’t for the current situation, that’s what I would have thought.

So she ran away because she didn’t want to clean either.

She sure knows how to talk.

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!?”

“Thank you.”

…I’ll just stop talking.

I’ve been thinking this for a while, but that bald uncle and Lulu seem to get along surprisingly well.

They tease each other a lot, though the bald uncle usually gets the short end of the stick…

But since he doesn’t seem particularly offended, they must actually have a good relationship.

“Anyway, Commander? If we keep calling you ‘Commander,’ won’t that get confusing? Should we call you ‘Uncle’? Or ‘Bald Uncle’?”

“Bald? Maru, even if he’s an uncle, saying that would hurt his feelings… Just call him Senior Commander. Our proud junior calls me that too.”

“…Yes! Got it, Senior Commander!”

“Hmm, it’s the same title, but hearing Maru’s lovely voice say it makes it sound so nice.”

The bald uncle closed his eyes slowly and nodded as if savoring my voice.

Sigh.

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Why are all commanders like this?

Our commander, this bald uncle… I guess the junior takes after the senior.

Not that I really mind.

After all, who doesn’t like being loved?

And if there is someone like that, let them come to me.

I’ll smother them with love until they change their mind.

I hugged a small, fluffy white fox tightly in my arms.

Just like this little fox plushie in my embrace.

Hehe.

“Then shouldn’t we hurry back? You said you ran away while cleaning, right?”

Bada, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, rested her chin on her hand and spoke.

Oh, right? This bald uncle is just slacking off here.

…Though, since he’s the highest-ranking person, maybe calling it slacking off doesn’t quite fit.

Still, he should finish cleaning first.

“Ah, well, that’s true… but there’s no need to go back right now…”

Wait a second.

Hearing Bada’s words, I suddenly remembered something I had completely forgotten.

“No! We need to go back now so we can get our payment! And so I can buy pudding!”

“E-Even you, Maru…”

My pudding!

No wonder I’ve been feeling sluggish and tired lately.

It was a pudding deficiency!

It’s been, um… well, a really long time since I last had pudding, so I need to fix that immediately.

“Alright. We’ve been here exactly 15 minutes, so that’s a perfect break. Let’s head back now.”

“L-Lulu? But can’t we rest just a little bit lon—”

“Initiating teleportation.”

With Lulu’s merciless words as the last thing I heard, the scenery around us changed in an instant.

“Ouch!”

…As soon as we arrived, I slipped and fell because of the sticky fluids on the floor.

Oww!