"Burp~"
The mature, red-haired woman very immaturely let out a loud burp. A smell of alcohol drifted from her bright red lips, completely blowing away her sexy aura as she lay on the sofa.
"Lín, Lín boy, your cooking is good, good." She pointed at Lín, who was holding a glass of plain water, sounding neither fully sober nor completely drunk. "And your capacity for alcohol… is also good, just a little worse than mine… Hoo hoo hoo…"
By the end, Himeko's eyes had closed, and she had fallen asleep. The liquor bottle fell from her arms and hit the floor, clinking crisply with the mountain of empty bottles.
Capacity for alcohol?
Lín hadn't drunk a single glass of alcohol. He wouldn't let alcohol numb his brain and affect his thinking. Himeko was purely drunk out of her mind and mistakenly believed Lín had been drinking with her.
In fact, Huá, whom she had dragged into drinking, was now also passed out on the table, her eyes tightly shut in sleep.
Well, the most important matter of the day had been ruined by Himeko.
Lín's original plan was for the Fifth Squad and the Seventh Squad to have a simple dinner. For the past year, Himeko had mostly been looking after the Seventh Squad members. Having her present could ease Lín's terrible aura, and she had a deeper understanding of the situation than Lín did.
But now Himeko was unconscious, and Huá, the team member Lín intended to check up on, was also unconscious.
And it wasn't even time to leave yet. Only Himeko was drinking heavily, and Huá, stubborn as she was, drank along with her. Everyone else was too smart to fall for it and stuck to water or soft drinks.
"…" Lín coolly shook his head, found two blankets, and covered them both.
The gathering lasted very late. Kléin even came to find Lín during dinner time to pack some food from him.
"Mobius sent you?"
"The Doctor said I shouldn't let you know she sent me."
"…"
Fortunately, although the Moth of the Flame had monitoring devices as numerous as the stars, the soundproofing was actually quite good. Even though they were noisy until midnight, it didn't disturb anyone.
"I'm taking Prometheus first. Her body still needs some adjustments."
Vil-V walked out carrying Prometheus, whose face had turned into a ▽_▽ expression. It seemed Vil-V had activated a back door on Prometheus's body during their argument.
"Lín, save me…"
"Bang." The door closed.
"Well, we should leave too." Méi made a gesture to Lín before leaving, one of their secret communication codes. "See you tomorrow, Lín."
Seele, meanwhile, carried the mumbling Himeko: "I'll take the Captain back."
In the end, only the silently smiling Elysia, the soundly sleeping Huá, the habitually quiet Immer, and Lín remained in the room, facing a table full of empty plates, without speaking.
"Why haven't you left yet?" Lín said this to Elysia.
"I think something very interesting is about to happen." Elysia never concealed her interest in Lín and smiled naturally. "So, I stayed behind~"
Lín didn't hold back his words: "You caused me trouble today."
"A party is only fun when there are more people, isn't it? Or… did Lín actually not intend to have a party? Or was the party just a cover?"
Elysia's cleverness was as sharp as ever. In just a few sentences, she had guessed about eighty percent of Lín's intentions.
"Mmh…" At that moment, Huá slowly woke up. She lifted her head groggily, then met a pair of cold eyes.
Lín, wearing his helmet, was leaning against the wall, staring at her.
A sudden jolt, and she was instantly sober: "Captain."
The blanket on her body fell to the floor. She scrambled to pick it up. This cute display made Elysia smile.
"…Are you alright?" Lín asked.
Himeko was an old drunkard. Her tolerance for alcohol was not something a young girl like Huá, who hadn't drunk much, could compare to.
"Um… I actually didn't drink much." Huá realized her awkwardness and felt a bit embarrassed. "I apologize, Captain."
Lín only shook his head in response: "No, it's nothing… You and Immer, come with me."
"Eh? What about me?" Elysia dramatically pointed to her face, asking pitifully.
"Stay and wash the dishes."
…
The sea breeze on the deck made people shiver. With late autumn approaching, the air was increasingly cold, and this year's winter seemed to arrive earlier than usual.
Immer asked Huá beside him: "Huá, aren't you cold?"
She had drunk so much alcohol; she could easily catch a chill.
"I'm fine." A martial artist could endure harsh environments. This temperature was nothing to Huá.
"…"
Lín, standing at the edge of the deck, turned to face the two of them. The heavy atmosphere made them both instantly quiet.
Lín rarely sought them out individually, which meant there was indeed something important to discuss today.
"Immer, why did you want to join the Seventh Squad?"
The first question Lín asked was completely unexpected.
Immer had voluntarily joined the Seventh Squad, which Lín only learned about afterwards. Lín didn't feel any need to investigate, so he never asked.
Now he wanted to know Immer's original thoughts.
"Captain." Immer executed a military salute, just as he had when he first joined the squad. He said seriously, "I wanted to join the Seventh Squad because I believed the Seventh Squad could hone my skills."
"…" A not-so-unexpected answer.
Even back then, and even now, Lín's reputation within the Moth of the Flame was mixed. The most concentrated point was Lín's personality. Almost everyone believed that when Lín became Captain, his personality would demand strict self-discipline from himself while expecting the same degree from his team members.
And Immer happened to think the same way, which is why he chose to voluntarily transfer to the Seventh Squad.
In reality, after coming to the Seventh Squad, Immer found that Lín was indeed similar to the cold helmeted man of the rumors, but he was not overly strict with his team members. He wouldn't order the team members to go out on missions that weren't compulsory assignments, instead resolving them by himself.
Furthermore, Lín rarely managed the Seventh Squad. He was more like a hands-off manager, directly handing the Seventh Squad over to the Fifth Squad Captain, Himeko, to guide the two of them on his behalf.
"…Now, are you disappointed?"
"No." Immer shook his head. "Back then, I was merely wishful thinking, believing you were the most valuable Captain and the most suitable person for my development. But after receiving guidance from Captain Himeko, I realized I was wrong all along."
"In truth, everyone fights in their own way; there is no superiority or inferiority."
What Lín wanted to say was that for him to think this way meant that Himeko was indeed better at mentoring newcomers than he was. In fact, Lín could even be said to have been influenced by Himeko.
"Huá, what about you?"
"Me?"
"Do you want to go to Himeko's squad?"
This question made Huá hesitate.