Commander's Rounds

Entry 39: Consolation Prize

Roon was eating pudding at the commander's desk. This was just the reality he had to work with.

Granted, he was the one who bought her the pudding in the first place, as a reward for helping Taihou and King George V while he was away. She just decided that his desk was the best place to enjoy it at this very moment, and this left just that much less room for the commander to do his work. What the commander did know was that Roon didn't especially insist on being in his presence unless she had some questions for him, so he considered it relatively harmless to leave her where she was. And besides, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

After she finished, she then just looked at the commander, studying him for a while. After a few moments, she finally spoke up. "So, what's on your mind, commander?"

"Nothing too special, aside from what you probably already know. Anyway, I still wanted to thank you for deciding to help King George look after Taihou."

"Ah..." She thought about it for a moment. "Well, she said you'd be upset if something happened to her, so I had to come along, is all. It's not something I completely understand, but if it's for the commander's sake, I'll do it. I'll just follow orders~"

Hearing that from an Iron Blood did give the commander some pause, but Roon was never really the best at phrasing. Or tact. In fact, her social graces could use some work, especially since "grace" was rarely involved. "I think the fact that you were willing to listen was good enough."

Roon folded her arms on the desk and rested her head on them, just looking at the commander sideways. "But you see commander, something more happened while you were out. Something... New?"

He dared to ask. "So, what new thing happened to you while I was down for the count?"

Roon blinked a couple of times. It was something she was struggling with, and the commander guessed that she may have had some kind of new experience that she didn't quite know how to parse. "Hm...? When Vestal was keeping you alive, I was left alone to think about that sort of thing. But... The truth is, it never really made a difference to me who lived and died. But when I thought about how the commander might not be there to give me hugs, or buy me pudding, or let me loose to scatter the remains of our enemies like ashes to the wind... I wasn't okay with it."

The commander gave a nod as he went back to his work. "I see. Well, maybe this is your first step to understanding why I want a world of peace for us."

Roon blinked. "Huh?"

The commander went on. "Well, you weren't fine with the idea of me being suddenly taken away like that- and if there wasn't a war between us and the Sirens, you wouldn't have had to feel that way, at least not for that reason. Because of what's going on now there have been plenty of people in this world who have had to feel the same way that you did."

"Oh!" Roon thought about it a bit more, and put on her smile once again. "...I still don't know if the commander's world of peace is a place where I can live, but I'll still keep my promise- I'll take the lives of anyone who stands in its way."

That was more or less what the commander had come to expect from Roon, and after Monarch explained to him what the two of them did to Purifier, the Siren probably had been given something to think about for a while. "Speaking of which, have you seen Taihou recently?"

"Taihou..." Roon needed a moment. "Mmm... Once or twice, really. She seems a bit gloomy, but not nearly as bad as when you were in that coma. I wonder what she's thinking about? She's an armored carrier, and yet, in some ways, she's so fragile too..."

"I think I have an idea- I'm going to have to go talk to her alone. I hope you understand."

Roon gave a nod to him. "Oh...? Is this something that other girls should be concerned about?"