“Here are cookies and tea, please.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Commander (Eve), ＜Ringo＞, and the Five Sisters gathered in the dining hall to discuss future plans.
＜Ringo＞ brought in newly made cookies and tea.
“Tea is ready?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I found a plant that closely resembles a tea tree and processed it. Upon investigation, I found that green tea is consumed in a very limited area. It doesn’t seem to be widely distributed, but I was able to hear about it even in Telek Port City, so I don’t think there’s a problem.”
Commander (Eve) nodded thoughtfully and picked up the teacup.
The Five Sisters watched her intently.
＜Ringo＞’s sense of taste is, in fact, problematic due to the nature of simply operating a Communicator Doll.
Whether the nervous system related to taste, such as delicious or bad, has not fully developed, or whether it is simply due to individual differences in the Doll Machines being operated, there seems to be a variation in the range of tastes she perceives.
And ＜Ringo＞ seems to recognize this variation as within an acceptable range.
Well, it’s mainly because Commander (Eve) spoils her. She should have clearly said it was bad if it was bad. But it’s too late now.
Originally, an AI should detect absolute values using a taste measuring device, but she deliberately uses the tongue of the Doll Machine to check the taste.
It seems to be an action driven by a heartwarming emotion, like a child imitating their parent, wanting to taste the same way as Commander (Eve), for Commander (Eve)’s sake. Only Commander (Eve) thinks it’s heartwarming; the Five Sisters were thinking, “Give me a break.”
Therefore, the Five Sisters were very wary of new creations.
＜Ringo＞ is aware of this, but she seems to understand it only as disliking unfamiliar tastes. It’s a hopeless situation.
Thus, the only victim is always Commander (Eve).
“…Hmm. Not bad.”
However, recently, there have been fewer of these bombs. This is probably because taste-related data has been accumulating.
Also, the averaging of Doll Machines has progressed, and the taste deviations that directly hit Commander (Eve)’s palate seem to have decreased.
“I’m glad.”
＜Ringo＞ smiled, and Commander (Eve) actually seemed to enjoy the tea and cookies. The Five Sisters exchanged glances and picked up cookies.
Well, it’s the usual scene.
“Hmm. In addition to daily meals, we now have snacks. Is livestock farming going well?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The breeding of animals similar to cows and chickens is generally going well. Pigs have not yet been found, so we are still searching. Although they are not bred in Telek Port City, we have confirmed testimonies that such livestock exists. If we also had sheep and goats, there would be quite a variety, but it seems their habitat is different, and they do not live in this area. Also, we have captured and started breeding sea beasts similar to dolphins, so we will have those soon as well.”
“Okay. Do it moderately.”
Commander (Eve) wondered what it was like to eat dolphins. She didn’t remember eating them often, or even if she had eaten them at all, but she concluded that it was probably okay since they were mammals.
However, she didn’t know if the meat she ate in the real world before her reincarnation was really the meat as labeled on the package.
She remembered those times when she didn’t think much about it and felt a little nostalgic. Back then, Ada took care of her, nagging her about playing games too much, praising her for earning pocket money…
“It’s about the same,” she muttered.
“…? Ma’am, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. Well, it’s a waste to just laze around like this, so let’s continue.”
So, Commander (Eve) decided to get back to the main topic.
“About the future of Flattala City. For the time being… well, let’s decide on the future governance before that lord’s wounds heal and she comes out of the Medical Pod. The grace period is, let’s see, about five days?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Three days for wound healing, one day for muscle repair and overall optimization, and one day for adjusting internal organ functions and other things. We can enable autonomous action in five days. Should the treatment for Radaeri Furatara this time be just the healing of the gunshot wound?”
To her confirmation, ＜Ringo＞ gave a strange reply. Feeling a sense of discomfort, she pondered for a while.
“Does that mean there’s something else to treat besides the gunshot wound?”
“Yes, Ma’am. As a result of the overall scan, severe internal organ diseases, overall malnutrition, and deformed and damaged bones and cartilage around the shoulders and waist were found. These are typical stress-related diseases, the effects of food shortages, and problems from long periods of desk work.”
“…”
Commander (Eve) thought. According to the information collected by ＜Ringo＞, Flattala City seemed to be in a very difficult situation.
To the extent that they had to decide to attack the external delegation that had come all the way to visit.
And it seemed that this decision was made relatively rationally. The governance seemed to be a one-man show by Radaeri Furatara, but the surrounding environment was so bad that no one felt any resentment.
“I’m starting to feel sorry for her… Heal what you can.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Radaeri Furatara’s vitals are currently very stable. She seems to be sleeping peacefully. Well, mainly due to the effects of the administered drugs.
“Commander (Onee-chan). I also feel sorry for her… so, the empty land is a bit…”
“Yes, yes. I think it would be good as a supply base!”
“Me too! Hey, let’s build a runway!”
Ichigo, Utsugi, and Erika seemed to think it would be good to continue using Flattala City for something.
“…I think a supply outpost would be good… It would be more convenient to have a base for interactions with the Forest Country (Lebresta)…”
Olive also seemed to be of the opinion that Flattala City should be turned into a base. That leaves Akane.
“…I think it would be enough to just leave the embassy there. Turning it into a base is too risky from an information leakage perspective. If we want to avoid a full-scale war with the Afrasia United Kingdom, we shouldn’t carry out blatant invasions.”
“I see.”
Somehow, she also thought that it shouldn’t be turned into a base, although to varying degrees.
But, when you think about it, there’s no merit in building a base in a place where people already live.
Rather, it would be faster to build it from scratch in a place where there are no people at all. After all, there’s no need to restrain oneself. This is obvious when considering the Fortress Two currently under construction.
“That’s right. We originally contacted Telek Port City to gather information, and well, we got a lot of iron. We owed them that, and more importantly, it was our only source of iron. We didn’t want to make a bad impression, and I had no intention of massacring them. The same goes for Iron Town. We could have occupied it, but we decided against it from a humanitarian point of view. Besides, we understood the surrounding situation to some extent, and there was no need to rush.”
She spoke, recalling her thoughts at the time.
“The idea of not using what you have isn’t wrong. There’s even a word for it, ‘Mottainai’.”
“Ah, Commander (Onee-chan), does that mean Flattala City is ‘Mottainai’?”
“That’s right,” she nodded.
“Yes. ‘Mottainai’—at least, that’s what I thought. It’s a waste to just leave it alone when we’ve gone to the trouble of acquiring it. But we need to think more long-term and not just about profit and loss.”
“Commander (Onee-sama), I’m sorry… I couldn’t think that far. I’m disqualified as a Fortress Commander…”
“Oh dear.”
Commander (Eve) smiled at Ichigo, who had become dejected. Not wanting to leave it at that, she stood up and went to Ichigo’s side.
“It’s okay. Now you’ll be able to think a little more next time. Besides, Akane was able to follow up properly. I told you, the two of you will manage Fortress Two together. If you think together, you’ll be able to do it properly.”
Commander (Eve) stroked the heads of Ichigo and Akane, offering support.
“Besides, honestly, I was thinking the same thing as Ichigo… Well, let’s just say I learned something from Akane this time.”
After patting Akane’s head, she returned to her seat.
“Well, with that said, let’s think a little more about the future of Flattala City. Also, we should consider setting up a supply base! Even from Fortress Two, Flattala City is more than 640km away in a straight line. Unless we lay down a railway, we’ll have to manage somehow by air. Let’s decide what to do.”
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