Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 4 - Chapter 1.3

3 

“…What am I doing? At this rate, I’m as big a moron as Six!” 

The next morning. 

Waking from her slumber, Lilith lets out a shrill screech, storming out of her tent and directing her renewed ire at me. 

“Six! Just what are you wasting my humanity-leading intellectual powers on?!” 

“Wasn’t it fun attacking that anthill? I mean, I sure didn’t expect them to stage a counterattack to free our captive. I take my hat off to ’em.” 

“So true. And to top it off, the moment they realized they couldn’t win, they started offering pebbles of an unknown alloy as though trying to pay a ransom for the hostage… No, no, no! I’ll admit the anthill attack was fun, but I’m here as a reinforcement!” 

Lilith shakes her head, as though remembering what she came to do, and raises her voice. 

“You’ve been a serious help. If it was just Alice and me, they would’ve holed up in their hill, and…” 

“Forget about those ants! First, we get a hideout! Then, we destroy our competition! I mean, without a base of operations, I’ll never get home!” 

Lilith then glowers at the tents. 

“Me, a top Supreme Leader of the great Kisaragi Corporation, reduced to living in a tent! Six! Do you call this an acceptable state of affairs?” 

“I dunno; last night, you seemed pretty happy playing cards with us in the tent. You also seemed to be a pretty big fan of the curry.” 

“That’s beside the point! …Oh, speaking of which, let’s have a chat with the pretty Chimera who made the curry I had last night. She’s currently investigating her past, right? And I remember reading that you recruited her as a Combat Agent in training.” 

The pretty Chimera who made the curry? Oh, she must mean Russell. 

The Chimera who’s looking into her past and was recruited to be a Combat Agent in training is Rose, but if she wants to chat with a Chimera, I guess I’ll go get Russell. 

“What now, Six? I’m kind of busy with everyone’s laundry.” 

“Yo, this lady wishes to speak to you. I wasn’t able to introduce you last night, but this is Lady Lilith the Black, one of Kisaragi’s top Supreme Leaders.” 

Hearing her introduced as a top Supreme Leader, Russell twitches and shudders. 

“Hello there, pretty Chimera. I see—a little horn, a tail, and mismatched eyes, just as the reports said.” 

“U-um…h-hello…” 

Russell is already on the back foot, evidently because he’s already well aware of the strength and abnormality of Kisaragi operatives. 

As for Lilith, she’s examining Russell as though she’s studying a particularly interesting specimen. 

“No need to be so tense. So I hear you’re interested in learning more about your past?” 

“…? U-um, no, I’m not particularly hung up about the past…” 

Russell looks nonplussed at Lilith’s remark, but she continues: 

“Strange, that’s what the reports said. How odd. Anyway, on to the next question… How are you holding up? Do you think you’ll settle into our organization? Six and the others haven’t done anything weird to you, have they?” 

Lilith smiles over at the slightly anxious Russell to put him at ease, speaking to him in a gentle tone. 

“Weird? I’m not sure, really… Well, I’d like them to stop hiking up my skirt for a peek while I’m working because it’s really distracting, but otherwise…” 

“Hey, Six? I know we promote acts of villainy, but to sexually harass someone so young…” 

Yep, now she’s looking at me like I’m worth less than garbage. 

“Well, we don’t get any Evil Points for peeking, so I doubt Russell minds all that much.” 

“Really?! B-but…that’s ridiculous…” 

As Lilith’s gaze shifts from disgust to incredulity… 

“So long as they don’t interrupt my work, I really don’t mind having my skirt hiked up. I mean, sure, I do think it’s pretty stupid, but whatever.” 

“You need to value yourself more, pretty Chimera! Is it that you lack a sense of shame because you’re a Chimera?! Six, she’s too naive—I’m going to put her under my protection!” 

Seems like she’s operating under a massive misunderstanding. 

“Lady Lilith, Russell’s a guy.” 

“Just what the heck are you on?!” 

Lilith shoots a look at me with a deadly serious expression. 

“Six is right. I’m a guy.” 

“And what are you going on about, too?” 

Since Lilith won’t take our word for it, I decide to show her his indisputable evidence . 

“…Hey, Six, can we wrap this up? I’m getting embarrassed.” 

“But she’ll keep treating me like some pervert otherwise!” 

Faced with the hard evidence that Russell is a guy, Lilith slumps to the ground in confusion. 

“Is that unique to Chimeras? Are Chimeras intersex? No, no, the reports clearly said the Chimera in Six’s group was a girl, so what could have happened in this short time frame? Oh, I get it. She’s still a girl at heart. Of course, Kisaragi’s a tolerant organization, so employees are free to identify however they feel—” 

“Actually, he’s dressed in girl’s clothes because Tiger Man likes it.” 

“The world might consider me a genius, but I can’t make heads or tails of you lot!” 

Lilith hops to her feet, sighing in consternation. 

“How am I supposed to report this to the others back on Earth…? That prude Astaroth will have a stroke if she hears Six is hiking up the skirts of cross-dressing boys…” 

“Oh yeah? I wonder how she’ll react to one of the Supreme Leaders staring at a cross-dressing boy’s dick.” 

“Okay! Let’s just keep today’s events between us! If I recall correctly, your name’s Rose, right, Chimera? Rose, I’m going to give you a little bit of spending money, so forget what’s happened today.” 

Lilith is so flustered that she hands over a wad of cash, completely forgetting that our currency has no value on this world. 

“I’m not Rose. I’m Russell.” 

“Really? REALLY?! What are you trying to get out of teasing me?!” 

A short while later, Russell returns to his laundry, and Lilith starts recovering her composure. 

“Lady Lilith, would you please stop procrastinating and start getting some actual work done?” 

“I wasn’t exactly trying to procrastinate! Oh, for the love of… Alice! Aliiiice! Come along, it’s time for work!” 

Lilith calls over Alice, who has been standing off to the side, pretending to be a passerby. 

“…I’m afraid I’m busy dropping sugar cubes into the anthill, so do you mind if I stay here?” 

“Of course I mind! Alice, have you been hanging around Six so much that you’ve been infected with his rebelliousness?” 

Since arriving on this planet, Lilith has been conspicuously short on patience, but she’s still technically one of Kisaragi’s top Supreme Leaders, so we need to get her to build the hideout. 

“Well, why don’t we head out, Lady Lilith? Though elite agents like myself may be struggling with the construction, I’m sure it’ll be a snap for you.” 

“I don’t know when you became an elite agent, but leave it to me. I’ll show you the true power of Kisaragi technology and a top Supreme Leader!”