“Ah… Finally back to civilization…”

“Good work, Major General Kamiya.”

“Good work to you too, Lieutenant Hayami. It’s been a while since we had back-to-back shifts, and it was a bit tough.”

Stepping on the clean floor mat of the Joint Headquarters Command Room, I finally feel like I’m back.

As soon as my summer vacation started, it was a life of flying around the world on missions every day.

The treatment of people was beyond rough.

“You’ve been through a lot, General Kamiya.”

“Oh, Marshal Tachibana, thank you. Good work.”

I reply with a somewhat casual salute.

With several large-scale operations involved this time, the Marshal must have been directly checking the situation in the command room.

“General Kamiya, as I always say, show proper respect to Marshal.”

“Please forgive me, as I’ve just finished my mission. Oh, isn’t my combat suit sweaty?”

Sitting in the command room chair, I give a suitable reply to the Marshal’s aide who offers criticism.

The aide frowns as he notices mud on the floor mat from the half boots.

Whether in the military or at the academy, the treatment hasn’t changed, but I don’t care about such details now.

“Well then, today marks the beginning of our long-awaited summer vacation. Let’s go, Hayami-san.”

“Yes!”

That’s right, starting today is our summer vacation.

The fatigue from consecutive missions is nothing.

We’re off to Okinawa by plane.

Feeling excited, I quickly return to my office with Hayami, skipping formalities with Marshal Tachibana and others at the Joint Headquarters.

Now, I’ll change out of the sweaty and muddy combat suit and boots, take a shower…

While planning my next steps in my mind, I suddenly glance at the clock on the wall of my office and am shocked.

“Huh… 10:00… Huh?! The boarding time for the plane is 10 minutes before!”

I can’t keep up with my thoughts.

“Uh, Hayami? Is it 10:00 from yesterday? Or is it still 10:00 from the previous night?”

My voice trembles as I ask Hayami-san.

Oh no… From the frustration of realizing my mistake, the blood drains from my face, and I can’t stop sweating.

“It’s definitely 10:00 on the day of our Okinawa training trip.”

“Noooooo!”

I collapse on the spot, feeling like a dung beetle.

“Because of your missions around the world, you couldn’t catch up with the time difference set on the clock. My apologies for my carelessness.”

“No, it’s not your fault, Hayami.”

My wristwatch, not a radio-controlled one for fear of being caught by the enemy, is manually set. I’ve been adjusting it to local time with every mission around the world, so I have yet to pay attention to the local time in Japan at all.

This is bad…

“Hayami-san, I need a favor…”

“That’s not possible, General Kamiya.”

Surprisingly, Hayami-san remains calm even in this situation, smiling as she indicates her refusal.

“I haven’t said anything yet!”

“I assume you wanted to use my teleportation ritual to get to the airport, right?”

“Ugh…”

“My teleportation ritual requires approval from higher-ups as a rule.”

“You’ve used it when infiltrating the academy’s clubroom and when escorting me home when I was unwell.”

“Those were emergencies involving your chastity or health. It doesn’t apply here.”

Hayami-san brushes off my protests as if she had prepared for them in advance.

“In any case, with this appearance, you’ll definitely get caught by airport security.”

“That’s… true…”

I look down at my combat suit.

There’s no way I can board a passenger plane with genuine camouflage-patterned combat gear. It’s unhygienic with mud and sweat.

“First, please take a shower, General Kamiya. That’s the first step.”

“…Understood. I’ll be out in 5 minutes!”

I hurriedly grab a change of clothes and rush to the shower room in my office.

“Is Hayami-san not back yet…”

After quickly showering and changing and stepping out, Hayami isn’t in the office.

She’s probably using the shower room designated for female officers.

It takes time for women to shower and get ready.

But making Hayami, who has been running around the jungle just like me, use her teleportation ritual without a shower is too cruel.

While I fret over this, the wall clock indicates a hopeless time to catch the flight.

No… It’s too late.

I sent a message to Mina saying I’ll go ahead since I’ll be late.

“General, sorry for the wait.”

As I’m feeling down after sending the message, Hayami returns to the office.

Hayami, who has returned, has changed from her combat suit to casual clothes for the trip, just like me.

She’s wearing a black dress with a white cap, sneakers for easy movement during the trip, and a stylish fashion that presents a neat older sister image.

The black dress has slits for ease of movement, and the glimpse of her slender legs is a bit captivating.

“Uh, yeah. No, I’m fine. Anyway, about the schedule for the trip…”

Trying to cover up my distraction from admiring Hayami-san’s casual outfit, I start discussing the trip.

“If that’s the case, don’t worry. I’ve already arranged alternative tickets.”

“Wow, as expected of you, Hayami.”

She’s really excellent as a secretary.

She swiftly took action while I was taking a shower.

Huh?

But then why didn’t Hayami check the departure time of the plane…

Well, mistakes can happen to anyone, and what’s important is how to recover from them, so now isn’t the time to worry about that.

“Thank you for your kind words. However, due to it being the peak season in Okinawa, the only available flight is the business class on the early morning flight the next day.”

“I see…”

In that case, we couldn’t meet with Mina and the others until the second day.

I’ll really be causing trouble for everyone…

“Uh, General. This is just a… suggestion.”

“What is it?”

Seeing me down, Hayami suggests with a slightly trembling voice, so I ask back.

“Since we’re already prepared for the trip, how about staying at a hotel near the airport for the night? I’ve already booked a room.”

“I see, like an early stay. I was planning to head straight to the airport after the mission, so I have my suitcase with me.”

Summer vacation has already begun.

Since the days of being forcibly conscripted into the military, I’ve always wanted to make the most of my first day of summer vacation.

Above all, if I linger in the Joint Headquarters, I’ll definitely be seen as idle and be burdened with more work, so I want to leave this place as soon as possible.

Staying at a hotel to drop off our luggage and relax from the fatigue of the mission isn’t a bad way to spend the vacation.

“Then let’s go.”

[Major General, what are you doing?]

As I’m about to accept Hayami-san’s suggestion, a voice echoes in my mind.

[Huh! What is this…?]

[This is a telepathic communication from the soul armor of Marin, Espio, to your inner thoughts, Master.]

[Huh, what? I’m sorry, that was rude.]

It’s Marin-chan who’s doing this.

Only she can pull off something like this.

[Sorry. I couldn’t make it to the plane because of work.]

[It’s okay. After all, if Major General Kamiya and Hayami-san are together, you can come to Okinawa without using a plane, right? You could even get there ahead of time.]

Of course, right? Suzuna-chan said with a voice that seemed to imply that.

[…Of course, does Marin-chan know about Hayami-san’s dimension teleportation ability?]

[Yes. So there’s no need to change the travel plans?]

I can’t see her face, but Marin-chan is probably smiling and putting pressure on me.

[Sorry, Marin-chan. Hayami-san’s dimension teleportation ritual requires permission from the higher-ups in the military.]

[In that case, there’s no need to worry. With the power of my Espio, I can cover up any evidence as much as you like.]

She casually says something scary… This girl.

[Master, can we trust her words? Considering the power of her Soul Armor, Espio, can manipulate and erase evidence as easily as human detection technology.]

[Oh, Kon-sama. Thank you for your input.]

[I’ve objectively analyzed and evaluated the additional force under my command. She’s extremely capable.]

Kon answers in a composed voice.

[Thank you so much, Kon-sama! I’m honored!]

(Bitter…)

Huh? What is this?

Suddenly, a voice that isn’t mine or Kon’s, and the sound of something falling, echo in my mind, bewildering me.

[Hey, Espio, that’s rude. Sorry, my child made a mistake.]

[Ah, that was Espio’s voice just now.]”

[Normally she’s shy and doesn’t talk to anyone but me, but she received praise from her beloved Kon-sama and almost ascended, causing her voice to leak out accidentally. Come on, Espio, behave yourself.]

I hear the sound of someone patting someone’s cheek.

I can even hear the sound effects from the other side.

Wait, did Kon intentionally say something that sounds like praising but isn’t? He’s still the same unyielding guy.

[Now that Espio isn’t waking up, let me get to the point. If Major General Kamiya and Hayami-san don’t come, our first day of the Okinawa trip will be quite ruined.]

[That’s a bit dramatic… You can still enjoy yourself even without us.]

[Please don’t be conceited. Without Driver Hayami, we’ll have no means of transportation, and that would be troublesome. You don’t really matter. By the way, I still haven’t completely forgiven you for blowing up my brother in front of everyone.]

[Yes… Sorry for getting carried away…]

I shrink back at the menacing words of Marin-chan.

[Understood, please come as soon as possible. And Kohou-senpai is also feeling sad.]

Being told that hurts…

Mina, I hope you’re not crying on the plane.

[Oh, but Hayami already reserved the flight for the next day and the hotel for the early stay. Canceling on the day would incur some costs.]

[Oh, there’s no need to feel guilty about that. This time, intentionally messing up the clock setting to make sure Major General Kamiya and the others don’t make it to the flight was Hayami’s intention.]

Intentional inaction by design…

As a superior officer, I have to address this…

[Then, we’ll be waiting for you~]

Saying that, the connection with Marin-chan is cut.

“What’s wrong, General? You suddenly went quiet.”

When the inner dialogue ends and I return my consciousness to the present, I see Hayami-san’s face in front of me, breathing heavily.

“Yeah, I’m a general, and you’re a lieutenant, Hayami.”

“…Yes? Of course.”

Hayami-san looks puzzled at my sudden talk about rank without context.

“Although we’re both on vacation, this is still the Joint Headquarters office. You can interpret this as the relationship between a superior officer and a subordinate still being in effect?”

“Uh…”

Hayami also seems to realize that things are getting suspicious.

The cheerful mood from earlier is gone, and she takes off her cap and straightens her posture.

“From now on, answer my questions honestly, Lieutenant Madoka Hayami. I won’t tolerate falsehoods.”

With the dignity of a general, I proceed to interrogate Hayami-san.

“Y-Yes!”

Perhaps realizing the situation, Hayami’s voice sounds on the verge of tears.