06 Little Explorer Squad

"Hey, are you sure it's safe to go in?"

"Mio's got this, so it's fine!"

"Seriously...?"

Mio strides forward with her usual confidence, heading toward the training academy.

A different companion stands beside her.

Shou is being pulled along by the arm, somewhat forcibly.

The boy has been entirely at Mio's mercy lately.

"I'm repaying you for saving me last time."

"Barbecue's more than enough..."

As they trade these words, Mio approaches the academy gate.

She places her palm on the scanner. A confirmation tone sounds, and a green light pulses—authorization granted.

Mio passes through.

"Shou-kun, hurry up!"

"Eh—"

Muttering that it's impossible, Shou tries to duck under the gate—

A barrier rises with a warning siren, blocking his path.

Attempting to force through now would bring security forces rushing in.

"Ah—"

"Hey, is Higashi really just an idiot, after all?"

Why did you think Hoshino could get through using Mio’s ID? The implication hangs in the air, but Mio does not hear it.

"Umm, why is this happening?"

Fingers brushing the scanner repeatedly, emitting a soft, rhythmic clicking sound.

No, it's impossible for Higashiō. Give up already.

"Come on, just keep going!"

The utterly futile persistence of Mio.

For some reason, it bore fruit.

The green light illuminated in tandem with the authentication tone, and the barrier lowered.

It's become passable!

Yeah... this has to be a malfunction.

"Let's go, Tōya-kun!"

No, wait! This is definitely bad!

Jin tried to protest, but was dragged along, inch by inch.

Good, Tōyakun. We’ll hide— they’ll get angry if they find us.

You're the one who's gonna get yelled at for doing something like that! I'm not involved in this!

Though Jin was the one fully caught up in it, his anger did not reach Mio.

"Over here."

Mio moved stealthily, hiding along the wall.

At the training facility, where meals were eaten every other day, her presence drew little suspicion.

Either way, it had become commonplace.

A familiar boy tagging along was hardly noteworthy.

Confidence alone could make one pass unnoticed.

Perhaps it was fair to call them peace-weary.

After all, their enemy was ASID—not humanity.

A trainee even smiled at the two, as if playing hide-and-seek.

"Hey, Higashiō. Let’s just go normally. We’re already obvious…"

"Shh."

Mio pressed a finger to Jin’s lips.

Her lips brushed the finger, forcing his mouth shut.

"Good. Sharon isn’t here."

"You really…"

"Over here, over here."

Honestly, he felt like he’d only get more scolded the further in he went.

But Sokatsu also understood that parting ways with Mio here would be worse.

After all, if they split now, the boy who came with Mio would become a trespasser on his own.

That was something he wanted to avoid.

"At least tell me where we’re going."

"Well, the storage bay!"

"The storage bay?"

The question "Why?" became clear the moment they arrived.

It greeted Sokatsu immediately.

"Toya-kun said he liked assault frames, so I thought I’d show you the real thing!"

"Awesome."

Sokatsu forgot the current situation entirely, breath catching in awe at the sight Mio showed him.

He had never seen an assault frame this close before.

"Isn’t it amazing?"

"Seriously awesome. Thanks, Higashi!"

The instant Sokatsu sincerely thanked Mio—

"Toya-kun, hide! Sharon!"

"Eh? Eh?!"

Mio also understood.

It was wrong—undoubtedly—to bring someone else along without permission.

Yet the thrill of doing something wrong was also undeniable.

That aside, she did not want to be scolded.

Sharon knew, unlike ordinary humans with no prior connection, why Mio was allowed—why only Mio was allowed.

She lacked the normality bias others possessed.

Therefore, she would be reprimanded.

“H-hey, we should hide quickly…”

“Yeah, this is definitely wrong… Let’s hide on that cargo platform over there.”

They slipped beneath the platform of a truck, perfectly out of view from others.

Inside the covered seat, they were invisible from outside.

“Saved…”

“Hey, we saw what Toya-kun wanted to show. Let’s go back—before we get in trouble.”

“Yeah…”

The risk was too high to continue.

Mio acknowledged this without hesitation and nodded.

After Shirley left, we’ll jump down from here and head back quickly.

Mio made the same decision at that moment.

“Hey you two. What are you doing?”

The scolding voice caught them off guard—both flinched at once.

“What’s wrong with this truck?”

“Eh? Isn’t this supposed to be excluded…?”

“C17. This was scheduled for transport! What are you doing!?”

It wasn’t about them after all. The two exhaled in relief.

“Sharon… scary…”

Unlike her usual gentle aunt—older sister presence, Shirley’s tone when training recruits was sharp and unyielding.

To Mio, it felt a little frightening.

In truth, Shirley’s expression relaxed easily when unwatched, so she deliberately kept her face stern—making her seem even more so to Mio.

“Loading time is over… I’ll handle the communication. Keep the truck in place for transport too.”

“Y-yes, understood!”

A hurried atmosphere.

A flurry of movement ahead—specifically at the driver’s seat.

“Hey, Mio… I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Really?”

Mio remained unchanged, while Sokou began to sweat slightly, uneasy.

As if confirming Sokou’s unease.

The truck they were in started moving.

“Tōyakun said something weird, so I panicked…”

“Like that’d happen.”

Unfortunate for them, today was the day of the expedition training deployment.

Thus, Mio felt a slight urge to do something improper after being separated from Jin.

Expedition training began with the transport of equipment, carried out by trainees.

Hence, many issues arose.

Equipment, for instance, that was supposed to be loaded, wasn’t.

Naturally, a formal inspection by commissioned officers would follow at the end.

Thus, forgotten items are delivered this way—though the two of them were the forgotten item itself.

"Stopped…"

"Yeah."

Unnaturally quiet. The truck halted in a space where sound echoed despite the silence.

Where exactly is this, Mio thinks, unease creeping in.

Fear begins to rise—what if they can't return like this?

The crew is still too inexperienced. Too many flaws in the system.

Normally, the truck would be unloaded and inspected. But departure time was approaching.

So the inspection was postponed until after departure.

The truck had stopped at the cruiser’s supply storage.

Secured to the floor, immobile.

The trainee who had performed the task checked the fastenings, nodded in satisfaction, and left.

Only then did the two crawl out from the cargo bed.

"Where are we?"

"Sorry, Tōyaku… I'm sorry…"

"Tonogawa."

"Because of Mio, we ended up here—some strange place."

"Then we might as well just take the scolding straight. I'll apologize properly—seriously, I will…"

"Yeah…"

Their silent wish—anyone, anyone at all, please come—reaches no one.

Time is strict.

The cruiser, carrying trainees—more accurately, the trainees at the helm—departs on schedule.

"Whoa, it's shaking!"

"What's going on?!"

Startled by the launch shock.

Clutching each other, trembling with fear.

The storage area, now beyond the artificial gravity field after distancing from the colonization convoy, has become zero-gravity.

Most items are secured, so they don’t shift much—but not these two.

"Whoa, I'm floating!"

"You're oddly calm…"

Shu panics as gravity vanishes; Mio, in contrast, grows calm. She drifts through the storage area like swimming.

Moving with surprising dexterity, she circles the entire interior.

"Ah. There was one that made a beep sound."

"O, there's a door, isn't there? Let's find someone quick and apologize, okay?"

"Un."

Leaving Koji adrift, unable to move, Mio floats forward to the door and presses her palm against the scanner.

But unfortunately, there is no response.

Naturally. Mio's ID was only for gate access within the training academy.

It could not possibly unlock the door of a completely unrelated cruiser.

She merely had the vague illusion, for a moment, that it functioned like a free pass.

"Can't open."

"…What now?"

With all options exhausted, the two stand at a loss, unable to think of a next step.

Inside the hull, carrying two civilians.

The cruiser proceeds toward its expeditionary training.