Chapter 1: Miss

It was afternoon and there were no lights on in the office.

The early autumn sun had begun to fade, and the sunlight filtered through the windows, plading the office floor with a golden shade.

The desk facing away from the window was Kluet's chair, a fifty-five-year-old man who lay down in his chair without hesitation, giving the half-worn chair a tooth-aching wail.

He's too strong.

A height of 190 centimeters, an overly burly physique, all this gave him an astonishing weight. It's fine to sit honestly, but if you do it as you like now...... Well, it's not surprising to get a brand new chair a month.

"Sit down, Miss, the sofa is a little dirty, but it's cleaner than the previous floor. ”

This is Griffin's Southeast Division, the exclusive base of the 'Peace Parallelists'. Although the area is limited, it is about the size of a football field. But because there weren't many players on the Parallelist team, it felt a bit empty when it actually lived.

Of course, this refers to the overall area including the shooting range, arsenal, medical room, and various recreational facilities.

If you only talk about the current room, Kluet's office...... Although the area is not small, it is a bit crowded because of the accumulation of various debris.

"It's rude. ”

Look at Klute as he pulls out champagne from a drawer and pours himself a full glass. The eldest lady, who had just been rescued a few hours ago, and now still has strangulation marks on her wrists, is very calm. She sat down on the couch as Kluter suggested, and looked around, quietly observing the furnishings in her office.

'It's messy'

The situation in the room was even more chaotic than it seemed at first glance. All kinds of cabinets are placed against the wall, making the room a little smaller.

None of the books on the shelves are sorted, not only are the colors chaotic, but the old and the new are not distinguished.

Some of the bookshelves are so full that it makes people feel uncomfortable looking at them. The bookshelf next to it was loose and crumbling, and the books were crooked and messy.

'It's a mess. ’

And the floor of the office wasn't much better—because the cabinets were almost full, and Klut left the extra cardboard boxes on the floor.

Looking through the open gap, there was literally everything in those cardboard boxes.

Unopened South American cigars, half-used DSLRs, Greek-inspired handicrafts, and unlabeled videotapes — it's all messy, unrelated, like a half-grown child's toy box.

'But it's not bad taste'

The eldest lady thought quietly.

Just now, she noticed one of the cardboard boxes, which contained some vintage records: she liked the medium so much that she had a good taste for Klut with her.

"So, let's talk. ”

Klute drained the champagne in one gulp and pushed the empty glass aside.

He pulled out a document from the pile of papers on the desk and opened it.

"Hmm...... Alice?Kaguya?"

What the hell is this name?

"Yes. ”

Seeing Klut's hellish expression, Alice's face also twitched a little - although she was quite satisfied when she was young, as she grew older, especially after recently entering high school, she herself began to be dissatisfied with the name.

What.

Is this some new type of shame play?

Alice?Kaguya - Whose eldest lady would have such a name?

If only it were a novel, after all, it is human instinct to watch the excitement. But this is not a novel...... When it comes to her name, Alice can't laugh it off.

But her resentment was of no avail.

"Because it's my mother's hope, my name is Western. ”

Alice gave a ghostly explanation, trying to maintain a calm expression.

Klute also gave her face, although she wanted to complain "Girl, you are so miserable", but after all, he is a reliable father who is over forty years old. He just smiled kindly, and then continued the conversation.

"That's right...... Well, I'm the commander of the Griffin's Southeast Division, Kluet. This time, at the request of Mr. Kaguya, I launched a rescue for you...... But it seems too late to say that now. Anyway, everything is going well. Would you like something to eat before your dad comes to pick you up?"

Klut closed the folder and tossed it aside. Then, he leaned slightly sideways and pulled out a large box of snacks from the drawer.

A tin box that looks a little cheap, but the portions are excessive.

"No ......"

"Sugar bars, biscuits, and chocolate. My girls like these quite a bit, so come on, you're welcome. ”

Bang –

The sound of the tin box slapping on the table made Alice tremble slightly.

Even the refusal to blurt out was choked back into his mouth.

She blinked, and looked at Kluet. After making sure that the latter's line of sight was very good, she nodded reluctantly and stretched out her small hand to the box.

"That'...... One piece is enough. ”

"Try this. ”

Klute pulled out a large piece of chocolate from a pile of snacks and stuffed it into Alice's hand. Ignoring the latter's wildly jumping eyebrows, he gave him an encouraging look.

"Chocolate is a good thing, it quickly replenishes your stamina and warms your body. ”

But it's going to be fat.

"But then again, you're quite bold, girl. Ordinary people are not so calm when faced with robbers...... Why, why are your hands shaking?

Is this called a girl...... And I was a little scared, but I was scared of you.

Unpack and separate the foil. Although it was only a trivial thing that was not worth mentioning, it was the first time in her life that Alice had eaten such a cheap sweet.

The tin foil wrapped in the chocolate was gently folded by her, and the soft sound it made was subtle and beautiful. The aroma of cocoa butter rose from the chocolate, teasing the girl's sense of smell, so that the eldest lady, who had been hungry for a long time, finally recalled the feeling of hunger.

"It's rude. ”

She reached out and began to break the chocolate tray. She then fed the broken chocolate into her mouth piece by piece - the temperature of her fingers melted the surface of the chocolate, which bothered her a little for a while. But soon, as the first bite of chocolate slipped through the esophagus, this little 'loss of etiquette' was left behind by her.

"It's not enough to take it yourself, you're welcome. ”

"How good is this—"

"Your dad paid a lot of money, so let's take this as an add-on. ”

“……”

Can't you just say something nice?

Alice sighed deeply and decided not to go any further into the topic.

The office quickly fell silent. Sensing that Alice wasn't going to speak, Klute began to work on paperwork - although paper office has long been synonymous with backwardness and waste, everything like Griffin has to be archived. For companies that permanently retain 'evidence', using paper products to carry contracts is also an indispensable part of their business.

Originally, this kind of thing should not be done in front of outsiders - but there is no way, because the accumulated amount is really a bit too much, and without the assistance of PPK, Klute can only hurry up.

However, this is a hassle, but it is not difficult to do.

Most of the documents are simple - as the most experienced humanoid unit in the Southeast, the Klut team is actually very targeted.

Except for those tasks that are truly urgent, life-threatening, and indispensable to Kluet. His main job has always been training - the rookie commanders who don't make it out often turn to Klut for help, or remotely seconded Daddy's wits and wail for help on video calls. Or simply drive the humanoid girls whose 'rank' is not high enough and let them continue their studies here for a period of time.

Of course, there are also some children who are particularly close to their fathers, and in this case, if the child is also a girl, Klut will also consider sending support for the M590 or PPK to go on a field trip.

But it's strange - these kids are very reliable. But every time after going out on the field, the faces on both sides are never very good-looking.

It's like having had a fight: no matter how much you ask, both sides say no.

It's troublesome.

Over time, Kluet chose to take matters into his own hands when faced with such situations – and the problem was half solved. The children who received the aid were happy and smiling. But their own children were pale, and no matter how they looked at it, they looked like they were angry.

It's troublesome.

If he were twenty or thirty years younger, Klute might have misunderstood—he thought that those girls were not having a cerebral convulsion, which was a little interesting to himself. But he is fifty-five years old this year, and he is not young and handsome at all.

So what are these girls robbing?

Daddy robbery?

“……”

Dad, this thing is also limited?

"Mr. Klut?"

"Huh?"

Just as Klute was deserting while approving the papers, the eldest lady suddenly spoke.

"Excuse me, is there a place where I can wash my hands?"

Hand washing...... ?

Klute blinked, and it dawned on him.

"yes, I see. ”

Calculating the time, it seems that it is not easy to endure until now.

Not counting the kidnapping process, the time between the rescue and the helicopter's return to base was close to an hour and a half.

Although the kidnappers didn't seem to provide the eldest lady with water, she didn't drink less water on the helicopter.

And now, retribution has come.

"I'll call someone over, can you wait a minute?"

“…… Good. ”

The promise was quite happy, but his face was already a little unsightly. Kluet's personality is not bad at all, so at this time, he has no intention of joking at all.

So he got up and left his position.

"Forget it, come with me. ”

"I'm sorry for your trouble. ”

Fortunately, although the toilets in the southeast branch are not commonly used, they are still fully functional. Although Klute is the only person in the entire building who will use the restrooms, at least the men and women are well separated.

On the one hand, this is by design, and on the other hand, it is also taking into account the embarrassing situation that may occur now.

After all, it's a humanoid mercenary organization, and at best it can be regarded as a service organization.

If the configuration in all aspects is not humane enough, then it is better to make a woolen service? Hurry up and transform into a military contractor, and learn from the 'iron and blood' who have become terrorist organizations in the AI revolution a few days ago.

Although Klut didn't like these things very much - after all, he was no longer young, even in the old Griffin, who was the oldest. But he was also young after all.

As long as you want to do it, you can still do it.

"It's rude. ”

Alice came out quickly, and her demeanor was generous, not embarrassing at all.

Seeing her like this, Klute couldn't help but think of his daughter - although he has been fighting all year round and has never been in love and married, he still adopted a righteous daughter more than ten years ago.

A few years ago, that girl was just like Alice, with a down-to-earth demeanor that was a model of a lady. But in recent years, as Klute has shifted his focus to training, the girl has started to get weird.

“……”

It's really not worrying at all.

Sure enough, it's best when my daughter hasn't grown up.

Secretly sighing in his heart, Klute scratched his chin. The lion-like old man led Alice towards the office, and at the same time said what he had just thought, and praised her sincerely.

"It may seem strange for me to say this, but Alice, you are such a good girl. ”

"What?"

"I also have a daughter, who was quite similar to you a few years ago - but of course, she is not a big lady, but I can teach quite well, and I don't lead the good seedlings crookedly. ”

“……”

"It's a pity, that girl has been getting less and less worry-free lately...... Is it the rebellious period?,Always work against me.。 It's pretty cute, but thanks to her, it's been a lot of trouble. ”

“……”

"Don't be like that, girl...... Your dad was so panicked when he called me, I don't think he would have been so panicked when he was kidnapped. Comfort him when you get back...... Why are you standing still?"

However, when the conversation progressed to the fatherly part, Alice suddenly stopped.

So Klute knew that there was a story in it.

It's embarrassing.

"What's wrong?"

"It seems to you that way. But the word father is actually very new to me. ”

“……”

To be honest, Klut didn't really want to talk about it. I said those things before, but in fact, the main purpose was to pass the time.

He is not the old man of the neighborhood committee, and he has nothing else to do except help the neighbors coordinate with the parents.

But since it was a topic he raised, he couldn't ignore it.

"You say he's in a hurry...... To be honest, I was a little surprised, but not incomprehensible. He may have been busy when he received the news, but he couldn't ignore his daughter - after all, he was the leader of the Kaguya Group, and if he was treated as a 'real daughter', he could ignore him. There will still be a lot of damage to his image. ”

"What?"

"It's unlikely. Because I've thought about it, my safety isn't important enough for him to cheat—then, for sure. Maybe he really cares about me, and maybe he cares about me as a daughter...... If only he could speak ten words to me in a year. ”

"Ten sentences?"

"It's incredible, isn't it? Actually, I was quite surprised to live in the same house. But we have fewer conversations than strangers. But the atmosphere was so congenial, and by the time I realized it, silence was the best way for us to get along. ”

"Maybe your father has a hard time. ”

"For example?"

"Men, they always value face. Maybe he also wants to talk to you, but it's hard to speak because of Yan's father's identity. ”

"Is this your experience?"

"That's what you should be. ”

"Unfortunately, you've been talking to me for more than ten sentences. ”

“…… Does it matter?"

"You're not my father after all. ”

"That's just as well. ”

This is the end of the conversation. Standing in the doorway of his office, Klute sighed.

It's hard to do this—he thought as he pushed the door open. Just then, Kluet's cell phone rang, interrupting his movements.

"That's just right. ”

The caller was Alice's father.

"My father?"

"That's right. ”

Klute pressed the answer button and nodded: he thought it was a very good unfolding, and Kaguya was also very face-saving.

Man, who hasn't had ambitions for a career? Who doesn't want to do something big?

accidentally snubbed his daughter, noticed it and was embarrassed to open his mouth - this kind of thing is really normal. It doesn't matter, as long as you find an opportunity, say a few good words, and dig out your heart. What's not going to work?

"Hey, Mr. Kaguya?"

"It's me, Mr. Klut. I'm very sorry, because the company has an emergency meeting, I can't pick up the little girl today. Can you let her be there for the night?"

"Uh......"

"I'll pay the commission extra, please. ”

"Okay. ”

If you want to say sincerity, the president of the Kaguya Group called in person, and it was indeed very sincere. On this alone, Klut could not refuse.

Besides, his previous hesitation was not because of this.

"Thank you very much, and please allow me to come to the door and thank you in person. ”

“……”

"Mr. Klut, are you still there?"

"I understand, I'll relay it to Ling Ai. ”

Klute and Alice looked at each other, and there was a thick embarrassment in the air.