Scowling with outright rudeness, the officer glared at the golem without acknowledging its salute.

Having missed its chance to lower its hand, the golem continued speaking with its salute still held.

『I have heard much about you, Lieutenant Colonel. Until you leave this place, I will serve as your assis—』

"Yes. Captain. You took your time coming to see me. Even the convict laborer beat you here."

Her sarcasm had a sharp edge. The golem hesitated at her hostility before belatedly adding,

『I will rectify that. However, there were circumstances.』

"Are you making excuses?"

『... I will rectify that.』

When the golem fell silent, the officer clicked her tongue and turned away. Without even letting the golem see her face, she spoke.

"I do not care how many of your golems have been destroyed, communications officer."

That was a lie. She cared a great deal. Not out of concern, but as grounds for criticism. What she really meant was: What the hell did you do with all those golems?

"Likewise, I will not take issue with the fact that this golem is in worse condition than an empty bean can."

Make no mistake. She was taking considerable issue with it. She had even stopped just short of telling AB to check her appearance before offering a salute.

Turning as she spoke, the officer solemnly clasped her hands behind her back. Two gleaming silver medals swayed along with the breasts beneath her uniform.

Having proudly drawn attention to her medals, she lifted her chin high.

"However, if your duties are the surveillance and management of Tantalus, you should at least fulfill them faithfully. Yet since arriving here yesterday, I have not received a single report from you. Not until this very moment, when a convict laborer brought you here."

『... I will rectify that.』

"Your future superior arrives in the area under your jurisdiction, and you only meet her a full day later. Is this a lack of ability, or a lack of will? To call it lax discipline would hardly cover it."

The relentless barrage of criticism had me itching to act.

Hold back? Should I?

No, I couldn't. How could I leave an atmosphere like this alone?

『... I will recti—』

Just before the golem could finish, I promptly bent down, hugged it tight, and shouted.

"Don't be so hard on our Captain AB! What has my little darling done wrong?"

Officers were so predictable. She intended to bolster her own dignity by harassing an innocent subordinate.

Well, that accounted for about ten percent of it.

Of course, I wasn't about to let her.

Where was the fun in playing along with her plans?

"That's right, it's all my fault! If only I hadn't spitefully forced Captain AB's legs into a split! If only I hadn't removed the speaker from her mouth! Boo-hoo! I'm sorry, Captain AB!"

『L-let g—』

"There, there. It's all right. Don't cry. They say Santa won't bring you presents if you cry."

『...』

Having thoroughly muddied the waters, I swept the golem up again. It frantically flailed, but I turned away, patting its back as though soothing a small child.

"Lieutenant Colonel Callis! I'm sorry for making you take time out of your busy day to put down a golem just to look tough! Please, get back to work!"

"... Tsk."

With the mood for further recriminations ruined, all the officer could do was click her tongue. I hastily waved before she could say anything else.

"Goodbye, then!"

Leaving the officer behind, I stepped out of the Instructor's office. At some point, the golem in my arms had stopped moving.

Just as I began to wonder whether she had disconnected,

『... It is not really your responsibility. As the lieutenant colonel said, the fact that only one unit remains is due to my negligent management.』

A dispirited voice emerged from the golem. I replied casually.

"Still, that was going too far. I mean, she falls into the bottomless pit by mistake, then asks why you didn't come see her? How unfair can you get?"

『Do not concern yourself. I am accustomed to it. When someone becomes a communications officer without taking any examinations, as I did... When they become a Level 3 citizen, equal to an advanced military academy cadet, without effort or competition, it must seem like an insult to those cadets.』

Graduates of elementary civic school were Level 1 citizens.

Those who completed secondary military school were Level 2 citizens.

These citizens made up the vast majority of the Military State and formed its foundation.

But a foundation, by definition, was something trampled underfoot. Oppressed, battered, and knocked about, they packed down the Military State's soil. Nourished by their blood and sweat, the Military State grew lush and thick.

From Level 3 onward, however, everything changed.

Officers, technicians, scholars, factory managers, and the like.

Once you distinguished yourself in a field and became someone exceedingly difficult to replace, your circumstances changed. You gained access to more facilities, earned more money, and received certain privileges unavailable to citizens of lower levels.

Officers became Level 3 citizens the moment they graduated from the advanced military academy, and they took tremendous pride in that fact.

Enough to despise communications officers who had become Level 3 citizens through sheer luck, without any effort...

... To think you would pretend that was all it was, Lieutenant Colonel Callis.

I read other people's thoughts. As I quietly read them, I hear the desires they harbor in their hearts.

Wishes they have decided can never come true, or flimsy convictions behind plans made with overflowing confidence.

Those things come to me tinged with a peculiar resignation, or brimming with excitement.

And the approach I usually take is...

"Is Lieutenant Colonel Callis always like that?"

『Today was my first time meeting her in person as well. She is famous for reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel at a young age. In particular, news of her hunting down the beast of Aok Valley after a three-day operation, and of her locating and single-handedly subduing a Resistance base, spread as breaking news among communications officers.』

"And someone like that would mouth off to a communications officer? Doesn't that seem suspicious?"

...to steer things in a direction nobody expects.

『It is only natural for someone who earned her distinctions through her own strength, as the lieutenant colonel did, to dislike communications officers who work in comfort without any achievements to their names.』

"No, I'm talking about competence, Captain AB. Why would someone so competent do something to her own disadvantage?"

The officer, Lieutenant Colonel Callis, had reprimanded Captain AB. No, reprimanded was putting it mildly. Acting that way from day one was tantamount to picking a fight.

Whether Captain AB was obedient or rebellious, she would never go anywhere near Lieutenant Colonel Callis if that was how Callis treated her.

"She enters the bottomless pit by mistake, then rudely mouths off to a communications officer. What a mess. Is that the true face of the famous Lieutenant Colonel Callis?"

That was precisely what Lieutenant Colonel Callis wanted.

"Captain AB, as you've seen, I've won the Progenitor over. And Shei is an antisocial person who slices up every golem she sees. Of everyone in Tantalus, Callis's only ally is Azi, who's on every human's side. In other words, she has none at all."

Begin.

Persuasion starts from common ground.

You put an arm around their shoulders, talk about things you both know, and walk side by side, your feet pointing the same way.

"Then why, on her first day at her new post today, was she so cold to you, Captain AB—the only person in Tantalus who is friendly toward her?"

Gradually, ever so gradually.

You curve the path so naturally that they never notice.

Persuasion is turning someone's thoughts in a completely different direction from the one they originally faced.

"Because Lieutenant Colonel Callis doesn't consider you an ally, Captain AB!"

When I had read her thoughts a short while ago, something had felt wrong.

The officer's dislike of communications officers was certainly genuine.

But here in this isolated bottomless pit, a communications officer was invaluable: the only means of contacting the outside world. Was she really incapable of setting her feelings aside for a moment and keeping her dislike to herself?

If she were that stupid, she would never have made lieutenant colonel.

『What do you mean by that?』

"Put simply, the lieutenant colonel has a reason to avoid your eyes, Captain AB! Even in this isolated bottomless pit, she wants to isolate herself further! Could she possibly be as much of a loner as I am?"

『What does that...』

"Oh, come on. What a nasty habit. You understand perfectly well. Do I really have to spell it out?"

In truth, she must have understood already. Communications officers dealt in information; she must have known something was strange.

I couldn't read the golem's thoughts, but I was certain my words had gotten through.

The reason truth has value is simple. It comes down to economics.

It is unique.

There are countless lies in the world, but only one truth.

That is why the genuine truth always gets through. I told her the fact I had read from Lieutenant Colonel Callis.

"She's plotting something shady behind the Military State's back!"

『Do not attempt to sow discord!』

The golem offered an obligatory protest.

『I will not fall for your attempts to sow discord. You are a petty criminal, while the lieutenant colonel is an officer of the Military State! It is self-evident whose words carry more weight! How dare you! The soldiers of the Military State are bound by blood and iron! Such baseless slander... Baseless...』

Taken individually, each incident was plausible. Something you could overlook.

But looking back over them all, they were so suspicious that it was hard to believe you hadn't noticed.

Normally, people don't. Other people's intentions are invisible, and too much happens in the world to connect it all.

But once you know the answer, everything becomes evidence.

『But if what you say is true, this goes beyond insubordination...』

Good. She'd taken the bait.

A communications officer's duty was to report. Even if she didn't believe me, she would at least report anything that raised her suspicions.

Then that would be that. All I had to do was wait for the Military State to respond.

And secure a little benefit for myself in the meantime.

『... Then Lieutenant Colonel Callis reprimanding me was merely an act...』

"No, I think there were some genuine feelings mixed in there."

The golem shot me a sidelong glare. Then it composed itself and faced me squarely.

『... I will take my leave now. Please place this unit somewhere safe.』

"Leave it to me."

The golem abruptly went limp. She had released the synchronization.

I carefully set it in a corner of the dining hall, then sat down on a chair to think for a while.

I didn't know what she was plotting, but it was time our elite officer got a taste of how bitter life could be. Wouldn't life be terribly boring if everything went your way?

Besides, this would be better for me.

If an alarmed Military State took the officer back to determine the truth, I would get a clear look then.

At a way out of this bottomless pit.

Hmm. Now that I'd planted the seeds of suspicion, perhaps I should spend my spare time reading the officer's memories. At the very least, knowing what she was plotting would make it easier to respond.

I left the dining hall again, rounded the corner, and headed toward the Instructor's office.

And came face-to-face with the Regressor, Sky Cherry Blossom raised over her head, just about to smash down the office door.