11 Irregular

"Riddles were fun—"

Two days after the shocking academic assessment.

Mio was taking a retake.

The reason was obvious.

She had been suspected of cheating.

Anyone would doubt a six-year-old solving advanced mathematics in seven seconds per question.

Jin understood this pain all too well—no complaints.

Math only, for the full duration.

Unlike last time, the initial questions began at an eighteen-year-old level.

The result revealed an unfathomable depth: even university graduation-level problems were solved with ease.

Further, it appeared she grasped the solutions instantly upon sight, yet took time to write them down.

Jin had been enthusiastic about accelerating her grade progression, but for now, he held off.

"Hey, Mio. Did you ever solve riddles like this before?"

"Hmm..."

She puckered her lips, adopting a thoughtful expression, then after a pause, returned to her usual face.

"Can't say."

As always, memories before meeting Jin remain absent.

Yet this calculation ability is extraordinary.

Some kind of training... no, even if trained, is such a feat truly possible?

"Let's look into it."

Something about it piques interest.

Not just a prodigy—can't celebrate without reservation.

"Jin, Jin. Let's eat at Jake's."

"Right. We're out already—might as well go harass him."

Boarding the hyperloop, Jin heads toward Jake's shop.

As always, no customers.

"Welcome! What's this, Toukou? Damn it, wasted my greeting."

"Attitude like that toward guests? I'd love to see the manager's face."

Jin takes a seat, exchanging light banter.

"Two daily specials."

"Today's special..."

Peering into the refrigerator.

"Oyakodon."

"You're definitely passing off yesterday's leftovers."

There's no complaint— it's cheap enough.

Jin wants to interject, wondering if such a careless approach is acceptable.

It doesn’t matter—only you two come during the day anyway.

No, seriously... just stick to night shifts.

Jin is troubled that the shop is closed during the day, but more so by the management.

I can't let go of the possibility of the worst case...!

As Jake stirs the egg, he wipes away a tear.

Mio, truly affected,

How pitiful...

and worry.

You’re being worried over by a child, aren’t you?

Thanks, Mio. I'll throw in an ice as a bonus.

Yatta—

Mio, fond of sweets, raises both hands in delight.

In contrast, Jin furrowed his brow.

Hey, don’t give her too many sweets. What’ll you do if she gets cavities?

"The cleaning nanites will blow away even the cavity-causing bacteria, so it's fine," she said.

A cleaning nanomachine commonly used by personnel of the Third Fleet to maintain personal hygiene.

Breaks down bodily waste, dissolves grime, and provides sterilization—highly effective.

Jin has one cleaning box at home.

Complete in thirty seconds, making it invaluable when time is short.

"Here we go, omelet rice."

"Thank you for the meal."

Mio eats the omelet rice skillfully with chopsticks.

She overextends her mouth beyond her limits, smearing her cheeks, but her technique is practiced.

If anything, Jin is less adept, using a fork instead.

"That's right... Jake. Do you know of a skilled neurosurgeon?"

After finishing her meal, Mio falls asleep, full.

At that moment, Jin poses the question.

"Doctor? What's this sudden question? I'm just a restaurant owner."

"No, I just thought—back in your military days, you had some oddly specific connections. Wondered if you knew anything."

For reasons unknown, he’d once been a pilot, and the connections he’d made had seemed enough to sustain him financially.

Thinking they might still be active, Jin asked, but Jake’s expression turned strangely grim.

"Anything happen with the girl?"

"How’d you know it was about Mio?"

"Wouldn’t be hard to tell if worry’s written on your face."

Jin was glad he didn’t have a mirror.

Otherwise, he’d have been peering into it, checking if the truth showed.

"I had her take an academic entrance exam."

"Yeah. That one. Damn it. I really don’t want to hear that word again..."

"She scored at a university graduate level in math."

"Seriously?"

Jake froze, his face twisted in shock, recalling memories from his student days with a bitter expression.

He ran a hand over his bald scalp, choosing his words carefully.

"Remarkable, but why a doctor?"

"I'm trying to find out. Whether children like Mio—those with exceptional calculation skills—have differently structured brains."

Checking whether artificial intervention has been applied.

Jake understood the unspoken part of Jin's words.

"I see. Well, I'm sorry to say I don't have any leads. If not Central Hospital, then another fleet."

"Guess that's right."

"Otherwise, it'd be an underground practitioner. I don't know about skill, though."

Jin shrugged in response to Jake's answer.

In any case, another visit would be necessary for observation.

Jin considered consulting the physician who had previously treated Mio.

That doctor would know Mio's circumstances.

The conversation would move faster.

"I'm heading back. Handle the bill."

"Two thousand credits for two of you."

Jin furrowed his brow at the stated amount.

Cube food would feed them for a tenth of that.

"Isn't that expensive?"

"Food prices have been rising lately—constant attacks. This is barely above cost."

"Really that much?"

Humanoid ASID attacks.

They’d evacuated repeatedly, but he hadn’t considered the impact on supply chains.

"Cube food’s easy to make. But growing vegetables, meat—those require resources. As supplies shrink, luxury meals get cut. That’s just how it goes."

Jake said it was unavoidable. But Jin didn’t think it was that simple.

It meant the Defense Force wasn’t stopping the attacks entirely.

"…This isn’t good, is it?"

The doubt dissolved before it could form a sound.

The Third Fleet is already under strain, and with supplies depleting at this rate, the fleet’s circulation structure may collapse.

Long-term conflict is precisely the scenario the fleet must avoid above all else.

Under normal circumstances, the fleet would resupply from nearby planets to maintain circulation.

But with the current frequency of attacks, planetary surveys for resources have become nearly impossible.

As long as the humanoid ASIDs continue their assaults, the Third Fleet will be strangled slowly, like silk wrapped around the neck.

Of course, complete elimination would be ideal—but at present, that seems unlikely.

Both the fleet’s assault frames and the humanoid ASIDs operate using the same ether reactor.

Their output levels, however, differ.

Expressed in units based on the output of the earliest ether reactor model—the lammy.

Raven outputs fifty lammy. Humanoid ASIDs are estimated to produce around five hundred lammy.

A tenfold difference in output per unit.

To overcome this, one must rely on numbers.

Or on a pilot of exceptional skill.

Jin felt irritation toward the lieutenant who refused to return to the front line, even under such conditions.

One skilled pilot should have been essential.

"Anyway, that's the situation. So two thousand credits."

"...Got it."

Placing his palm on the scanner, he completes the payment.

The funds will be deducted from his registered DNA profile later.

"Always a pleasure. You'll be coming daily from next week, right?"

"Yeah. Sorry... really appreciate it."

He'd considered hiring a babysitter, but the request came too suddenly to arrange immediately.

Jake's offer was extremely welcome.

"I've already transferred the deposit and all associated fees in advance."

It would’ve been fine not to worry about it. I said, didn’t I? I expect a mascot from you, missy.

No, I’ll admit Mio’s cute—but that won’t improve foot traffic at this shop.

Jin cuts in, calling it wishful thinking.

“Honestly, being alone during the day is lonely. Hard to bear.”

“…No, seriously, why’d you open this place?”

As the routine exchange unfolds, Jin shakes Mio awake.

“Come on, Mio, time to go home.”

“Mmm…”

Mio rubs her eyes and rises slowly.

“Good morning, Jin. Tired…”

“Good morning, Mio. Sleeping in during the day means you won’t sleep at night.”

“Night’ll be bright again… pika pika…”

Pika pika—Mio calls it when the ether’s glow streaks across the sky, the signal of an attack by a humanoid ASID.

She’s saying an attack is coming.

“Don’t say things like that. Bad omen.”

Yet Mio’s words were true.

That night, the attack came for the thousandth time.

The convoy’s deterioration had become palpable, even to ordinary civilians.