Chapter 49 : Ant friend!

The cough that had lasted for a while has stopped.

It seems that I didn’t catch a cold, but rather just had a mild body ache.

Thanks to warming up my body and drinking hot chocolate, it looks like it didn’t spread into a cold.

I’m relieved!

Ah, but the important thing right now isn’t that.

It’s that I grew taller!

“Wow.”

I couldn’t believe the truth unfolding before my eyes and had to rub my eyes several times.

If you don’t look closely, it’s hard to notice, as it’s a subtle difference, but still, the heights of the two lines were clearly different.

Wow. Is this the old height of Maru?

Wait… Huh. I’ve grown a little taller. Congratulations!

“It’s not just a little taller… I’ve grown a lot!”

I wanted to express the overflowing joy, so I grabbed Bada’s hand and started spinning around.

Bada was momentarily flustered, but soon saw my happy face and smiled back, spinning around with me.

Maybe because she’s a cat hybrid, her movements were light and graceful, to the point that I felt like we were dancing in a ballroom.

Anyway, it’s amazing that I grew this much in just three days.

This must be a huge surprise.

Along with the effectiveness of the stretch exercises… at least it means my growth hasn’t stopped.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Hehe.”

I showed a victory V sign while looking at the Commander.

I told you. I said I’d grow a lot.

“Maru? What’s going on?”

“…Nothing.”

But that frustrating Commander, even though I’ve grown taller, still looks confused without noticing.

Even when I jumped up in front of him, he just turned his attention back to the computer, as if he didn’t notice.

Commander, doesn’t anything seem different?

“Ugh, huh? Oh, there’s an ant on your head. Let me get it off…”

“Eeek?! Not that! No! Don’t do it!”

I was expecting a reaction like a girlfriend would say during a date, but suddenly, his fingers started moving toward my head.

You know, that gesture where you flick someone’s forehead or try to make a gesture to hit them.

“Huh? What’s wrong with the ant? Ah, you want me to get it off, right? Don’t worry, Maru. This old man will help…”

In the end, I had no choice but to swat away the Commander’s hand in panic. There was indeed an ant on my head, doing a little dance.

“Ant, are you okay?”

!!

I checked above my head with a camera to make sure the ant was unharmed.

The ant, reassuring me by wiggling its antennae, was fine.

It seemed like it had safely escaped before the Commander’s ruthless and wicked hands could reach it. I’m so glad.

“Maru, why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Is something wrong…?”

“Is something wrong? Is it the Commander again? Linne, get him!”

“Okay.”

“Eh? No, wait… I think there’s some misunderstanding. Eek?!”

After confirming the ant’s safety, I turned around and saw the Commander, who had a dazed expression while being held down by Linne.

“Explain yourself. What happened while we were making cocoa?”

“Nothing happened…”

“Then why were you shouting things like ‘No, don’t!’ and ‘I don’t like it!?’ with a scream?”

I could see Linne and Nunu, both looking extremely angry.

“I-I don’t know. I was just trying to get rid of the ant on my head…”

Do you think that makes sense, Linne?

“Start.”

“Ah, no! Not that! No!”

The Commander, who had pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, was about to throw them into a cup of water, with Linne looking at him.

Looking at the scene, the Commander’s face was so full of frustration that anyone would think he was being tortured.

…I was about to punish him a little for trying to flick the ant away, but it looks like I’ll have to save him.

It wasn’t intentional, so this much should be enough.

And, I guess I’ll introduce the ant as well.

Thinking so, I nodded and threw myself into the middle of the scuffle between the two sisters and the Commander.

“Oh my.”

Even though I must have jumped in from an unseen angle, Nunu caught me with just a small exclamation.

Because of my sudden interruption, the Commander’s unfortunate cigarette punishment was delayed.

I didn’t miss the chance.

I got off Nunu’s arms, placed my hands on my waist, and stretched my chest forward—my usual “confidence pose.”

“Maru, I brought you more hot chocolate. Do you want another cup?”

“Ah, that might be nice… but no! I came to rescue the Commander!”

I almost got fooled by Nuna Unnie’s smooth way of changing the subject, but thanks to the desperate look in the commander’s eyes, I snapped back to my senses.

Looking at the two tilting their heads while holding hot chocolate and a pack of cigarettes, I bowed my head and introduced my ant friend.

!!

A tiny ant wearing a fedora, holding a stick, and dancing excitedly.

Left leg forward, both hands forward.

Then right leg forward, both hands forward.

I’m not sure whether to call those hands or legs.

But since it’s an ant, wouldn’t they all be legs?

…By the way, where did it get that fedora and cane? Surely it didn’t rip out my hair to make them, right?

“Oh… wow.”

“…Huh.”

The three people who witnessed the ‘gentleman ant’ were completely dumbfounded, their mouths slightly open as if wondering what they were seeing.

Seeing all three of them making the same expression is pretty funny.

Even Rinne Unnie, who usually has cold eyes, looks dazed now, which makes it even funnier.

Normally, she looks so scary and barely talks, which is enough to give me chills just being near her.

But right now, she just looks like a clueless fool, which is nice.

Was it really that shocking?

Even though quite a bit of time has passed, those three still haven’t come to their senses.

The only one moving in this situation was Bada, who was sipping hot chocolate while sitting on the sofa and watching us.

“A-An ant is dancing..? Am I dreaming?”

Not only the commander but also the other two Unnies kept rubbing their eyes, looking ahead, and repeating the process over and over.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I lifted my head and stroked each of their chins one by one.

Once to wake them up, and once more for the commander because he smokes—maybe it’ll boost his female hormones a bit.

“Wow, it’s real. You really experience all sorts of strange things when you live long enough.”

“…Commander, you’re still in your twenties.”

I was a bit suspicious because of his white hair, but according to official records, he was in his twenties.

I don’t think he’s had that much stress, though.

Was his previous job really that tough?

“It even understands human speech! Hey, Ant, can you jump once?”

?

The ant, after briefly shaking its head, suddenly jumped off my head with a boing!

It really looks like it didn’t want to but did it anyway.

Maybe it’s just my imagination?

“That’s amazing.”

I know, right? I’ve been a mercenary for a long time, but I’ve never seen anything like this before…

“What do you think? Impressive, right? It’s my best friend!”

…Wait, wasn’t I your best friend?

Huh.

I was definitely talking to the three people in front of me, but the response came from a completely different direction.

The voice was so low and subdued, unlike anything I had ever heard from them before, that for a moment, I almost wondered if there was someone else in this command room.

“B-Bada, of course not. My best friend is obviously you!”

!

“Ack, ow!”

The ant on my head suddenly bit me.

What the heck is wrong with it now?

Checking my phone, I saw the ant excitedly wiggling its antennae while raising one of its legs and patting the middle of its body.

As if saying, “Weren’t I your best friend?”

N-No, of course, you are, Ant…

“Hmph.”

…When I tried to console the ant, Bada snorted as if saying, I knew it.

Oof…

What do I do about this?

To sum it up, I managed to make peace between Bada and the ant.

Honestly, I still don’t know how I did it.

I just noticed some whipped cream on Bada’s cheek while she was munching on a cream-filled red bean bun and pouting like “I’m mad!” and wiped it off.

But then, she suddenly softened and hugged me.

Why?

Wait, is this like that classic scene in comics?

You know, when a character wipes cream off someone’s lips with their finger and licks it off, creating a heart-racing moment…

But then again, Bada and I are both girls. There’s nothing here to make anyone’s heart race. And I didn’t even lick the cream…

Hmm. I don’t get it.

“Ouch, my back…”

“Ugh, sorry, Commander. I totally misunderstood…”

Looks like things on that side got sorted out too.

Well, maybe not the commander’s back.

He’s been struggling a lot lately.

I’ll have to share a pudding with him later.

This time, for real.

Ding!

Anyway, just as I was shaking tiny ant antennae in a handshake to make peace, a strangely familiar sound came from the commander’s computer.

Where have I heard that before? Oh.

It was the sound of an incoming request email.

It’s been a long time.

I’m excited.

What will the next request be?