I Became A Mech Soldier After Waking Up in The Future. - Chapter 47

The horizons lit up, the swirls of red and orange fading into blue and purple.

Keiko watched the fading sunset in surprise.

The meeting between Jeanne and her went on for so long that, unknowingly, the day was just about to turn into the night when she came out of Jeanne’s office.

“Growl~” A faint blush marred her cheek when Keiko heard her stomach making a rumbling sound. At first, she wanted to go directly to the virtual mecha training room to check out the new mecha, but she quickly changed her mind and hurriedly went to the dining room to grab her dinner.

She was just entering the officer’s dining room when a sweet voice came from behind her.

“Keiko-chan~”

“Yes, Seol-Hyun. Done with your dinner?”

When Keiko turned around, she saw Seol-Hyun Ae, who clad in a white T-shirt and military trousers, which accentuated her stunning figure, waving her hand and smiling at her. Keiko returned her greeting, smiling back at Seol-Hyun Ae.

“Nope. Just coming here. Want to grab some foods together?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

Keiko and Seol-Hyun Ae went to order their food. Keiko ordered a bowl of ramen with a beef topping, and Seol-Hyun Ae was craving light and tasty Aglio olio. After their food arrived, they walked to an empty table, put their food on the table, and quickly took a seat.

Keiko grabbed the chopstick and clasped it in her hand, uttering “Itadakimasu” before slurping her ramen with gusto.

“Hey, Keiko-chan, how is it? Have you made up with Major Jeanne?”

Keiko nearly choked out her food when she heard Seol-Hyun’s question. Her hand quickly snatched a glass of water on the table, and she gulped it down in one shot.

“Cough… you’re overthinking it. It’s not like I have a quarrel with Major Jeanne.”

“Hmph. Who are you trying to fool? Even a blind man can see something is going on between you two.”

“Don’t talk about this matter again,” Keiko said, clearly avoiding the topic.

Seol-Hyun Ae frowned, clearly dissatisfied with Keiko’s answer. But, sensing that Keiko didn’t want to talk about it again, she soon gave up.

“Anyway, why did the Major call you up this afternoon? She doesn’t make things difficult again for you, right?”

Seol-Hyun asked worriedly. She still remembered how the eldest lady made trouble for Keiko and her teams in the early days of training.

She didn’t understand why Miss Jeanne treated her savior that badly since she didn’t look like a person who couldn’t differentiate between grudge and gratitude. So there must be a deeper meaning to her actions.

“No,” Keiko shook her head, “We just discussed some projects.”

“What project?” asked Seol-Hyun Ae curiously.

“Sorry, it’s confidential. I can’t talk about it right now,” replied Keiko apologetically.

“So, it’s like a secret only between you two? how sweet~”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!”

Keiko blushed furiously under Seol-Hyun’s teasing which made Seol-Hyun tease her even more.

Around 15 minutes later, both of them had finished their dinner.

“You are not going back to the dorm?”

“No, I still have something I want to review from the training this morning, so I’ll head to the virtual mecha training room first.”

“Okay, don’t work too late. We still have a session tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. Good night, Seol-Hyun.”

“Good night, Keiko-chan~”

Keiko and Seol-Hyun Ae separated their ways, and then Keiko headed toward the training ground with a stride. Soon she reached her destination and then walked into the virtual mecha training room in a hurried step.

The light in the room was still lit up, indicating that someone was still inside. Keiko’s eyes wandered about the room, and soon she found one of the simulation chambers still active.

“Who is still practicing this late?”

Keiko had her curiosity piqued and slowly approached the chambers to see the person inside.

Before she could peep through the chamber’s window, the hissing sound of hydraulic pressure entered Keiko’s ear, and she saw the chamber’s door suddenly open, revealing the figure inside.

A petite girl came from inside on her wobbling feet. Her face was pale; most likely she had overexerted herself. After speaking with Jeanne today, Keiko was aware that operating mecha, or in this case, a simulation chamber, drained a person’s mental strength very quickly. So, when someone piloted a mecha for a long time, though they were alright physically, they were mentally exhausted.

Keiko rushed to her support and said, “Connie, are you okay?!”

“Ah… Lieutenant Keiko, I’m sorry for troubling you. It seemed that I overestimated myself…” Connie smiled wryly.

“How could you become so tired? How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe one or two hours?”

“Have you had your dinner?”

“Ah… I forgot…”

“So that’s the case.”

Keiko looked at the limping Connie with a narrowed gaze, stretched her hands over her head, and gave her forehead a rather strong flick.

“Ouch!” Connie was reflexively rubbing her forehead with her palm and staring begrudgingly at Keiko with her watery eyes.

“That’s your punishment,” Keiko said, ignoring her angry look, “No one forbids you to have an independent training session, but you can’t do it excessively. I’ll forgive you this one time because it’s your first offense. Next time, there’ll be official punishment, so don’t repeat the same mistake again.”

Before Connie gave her reply, Keiko added, “Thank you for your hard work. Now, go and rest so you can be in shape for tomorrow’s training.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Keiko.” Connie thanked Keiko sincerely, the anger she felt before disappearing without a trace, replaced with the utmost gratitude and respect. “I’ll excuse myself.”

“Okay, good night.”

“Good night to you too, Lieutenant,” Connie was slightly taken back by how casual and friendly her idol was, and her face beamed with a smile before she left the room.

A faint smile adorned Keiko’s face as she shook her head after Connie disappeared from her sight. She turned around, swung her steps toward the exosuit shelves, picked one exosuit and donned it in a skillful manner, and then she trudged to one of the simulation chambers, pressed the button beside the chambers to open it, and after the door had been pushed open, she entered inside with a determined gaze.

‘I must get stronger so I can protect myself and my cute subordinates,’ Keiko vowed in her heart.

Inside, she connected the plugs from her exosuit to the simulation chamber’s bridge port and immediately logged on inside the simulation system.