Aurora Over a Dead World

Chapter 24: Another Side of a Teacher

"Urgh... wonderful..." I wake up drenched in sweat and with my heart racing, feeling the "stability" that comes with having this damn chip in my head.

"Figures... haa..." I get out of bed, breathless, thoroughly displeased at having woken up with this uncomfortable sensation. Before sleeping, I had been training my powers a bit in a test.

But of course luck isn’t on my side. It never has been, and I doubt it ever will be.

’I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anymore today...’ I get out of bed, touching my head with one hand and straightening my clothes with the other as I head to the living room.

’I can shower later.’ I turn on the television, checking to see what good might be found on it, but after a few minutes flipping through channels, I give up.

"Hey Nexus, anything interesting you can tell me about? Actually, what’s Nadir doing right now? Has any operation started?" I ask Nexus, searching for something to distract me from the discomfort in my brain.

"[Nothing of interest to you at the current moment. As for Commander Nadir, he descended to the horizon a short while ago. We are passing over ruins that may hold something of value.]"

"I see... so he’s already down there." At times like this, even though it’s dangerous, I’d rather be down there myself. Something about killing monsters has become a natural part of my life, and living in a "peaceful" society with normal civilians is frustrating.

’I feel like a bird trapped in a cage...’ The unsettling restlessness I feel makes me want to find something to do.

"Nexus, give me a list of all criminals and monsters nearby, since I can’t take Eirwen too far from the academy." A reality many don’t notice is that Aurora Island is full of monsters.

Most of them are just hidden or in isolated areas normal people don’t have access to. Of course, the majority are weak monsters that aren’t worth the cost of sending Kairas.

So we have special "civilians" who are trained and hunt these monsters with common weapons when they’re very weak, and with vector weapons when they’re a tiny bit stronger than the already weak ones.

"[I will compile a list of criminal organizations and monsters with available data that are in nearby areas and have yet to be stopped due to lack of personnel—]"

"Shhh Nexus, I don’t need that explanation about ’lack of personnel.’ I know it’s mostly a lie. The reality is that no one cares."

"Why would they spend resources hunting weak monsters and street thugs? Come on, do you think I’m an idiot, Nexus? Seriously? Making excuses to me? No, you wouldn’t do that, would you? You’d have to be really stupid to try and justify yourself to a former commander."

"[Okay, I understand. The sarcasm is unnecessary.]"

"Did that get under your skin? Then do your job without trying to find justifications for your owners’ shoddy work. And keep the list updated. After all, I don’t need something I won’t find the moment I go looking for it."

"[...Understood. Anything else?]"

"...A weapon. That idiot Nadir took all my weapons. I want to buy new ones." Powers are nice, but considering how unstable they are, I obviously use weapons in general alongside them.

Unless the threat is major, I prefer to try not to use my powers, since the chances of them killing me are high. So it doesn’t make sense to gamble with luck against weak monsters.

"They need to be vector weapons, but they don’t have to be the kind with powers. Just the ones that carry vector force to increase piercing, impact, and the damage they deal... a new knife would be nice too... oh yeah, and put it all on Astrid’s account."

"[Would that not be a problem? Many payments are being placed on User Astrid’s account. Should—]"

"No, no, it’s not a problem. After all, Astrid is rich, very rich. Besides, she’s a bitch who helped Nadir and made me become a professor. She can pay the bill!!! I lost my weapons because of her and Nadir. She owes me these weapons now."

"Plus, if she’s got a problem with it, she can come complain to me! I’m not scared of that old hag with a young face." Astrid doesn’t have the guts to fight me.

Not because she’d lose, but because she knows I’m not a coward who holds back in front of a superior. If the two of us ever fight seriously, the destruction I’d cause is something she’s not willing to bear.

After all, spatial destruction is one of the worst types of damage there is. You can’t heal when damage comes from spatial destruction. Deformed materials can’t be restored. Not to mention the full range I have.

"[Your confidence is truly frightening.]"

"Frightening, huh... whatever. Just do as I say and don’t question so much..."

"[Astrid requests reports on your activities. Will you do them? Or should I inform her that you refuse?]"

"Ah, right, that too... I’ll do them. It’s important, and I can’t just say I won’t hand them in." Unfortunately, Astrid has barred me from seeking information about those six students.

Aside from that initial file she gave me, I haven’t found anything else, and Nexus won’t tell me anything about their families, the state they were in when they arrived at the academy, what led them to come, their situation before the academy, etc.

All of that was blocked. Maybe out of Astrid’s pettiness, but I think the pasts of some of these students are quite intense, and maybe I’ll uncover them in the future. The reports will help with that, since as long as I do them, Astrid will grant me more access to their data.

’Cautious as always, old witch...’ She obviously wouldn’t let data on the strongest "weapons" she has at the academy leak, even to me. I can see that despite her age, she still hasn’t lost her touch.

"Hey... wait... Nexus, who the hell is supporting Nadir?" Out of absolute nowhere, I feel my connection with Nadir picking up a repulsive sensation that fills me with rage.

"[Support?]"

"Yes! Support! I doubt Nadir is leading alone!!! We were a duo. Who the hell is in my place?!"

"[Vice-Commander Cecilia.]"

"...I’M GOING TO KILL THAT BITCH!!!"

"How disgusting!! How disgusting!! HOW DISGUSTING!! That fucking whore kissed Nadir!! I’m going to cut that goddamn opportunist’s tongue out!!" I quickly grab a lollipop, shoving it into my mouth and biting down on it.

’So disgusting...’ My tail slams against the floor, opening a small hole. The connection with Nadir is already low on our "energy reserve," so it’s heightened and only going to increase.

"[?]" Nexus seems confused, since no one really knows about my relationship with Nadir or how it works! The point is that many things are shared between the two of us, especially as the energy that keeps us separate drops and the sharing increases.

’That opportunist!! I knew I should have killed her on our last mission!!!’ I hate it when women kiss Nadir. It’s revolting. I can feel it, and I hate it deeply!!!

"Call him now!! Call that bastard Nadir!! It hasn’t even been a month since he kicked me out, and already there are whores in heat jumping all over him!! NOW!!" I shout at Nexus. There are only two things that make me lose my balance.

Meeting Nemesis in person, and that bastard Nadir. Nothing besides these two causes me such awful feelings.

"[He is currently occupied on a mission. Perhaps the timing—]"

"What timing?! That damn bastard isn’t busy!! A busy man doesn’t go around kissing long-eared sluts!!!"

"[I will initiate contact...]" Even though Nexus is an AI, it has integrated personality for better interaction with its users, which is why it shows "real" concern and doubt at my attitude.

"Hello? Who—"

"Nadir, I know what you did." I cut Nadir off, and he immediately falls silent.

"Look, Zenith... it’s not what it seems... you know how Cecilia is, right?"

"I know... of course I know. It’s obvious that damn support girl could get the better of a strong, powerful man like you. Yeah, she definitely got the better of you, didn’t she?"

"...I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Really? You don’t know? Are you screwing with me, you idiot?!! I felt it from up here!!!"

"Zenith, I asked before for us to recharge. If you had agreed, you wouldn’t have felt—"

"SO NOW I’M THE PROBLEM?!!"

"...No... haa... women are so difficult. Look, I know you hate this, but hey, if you want, I’ll visit you as soon as I’m done here... take you out on a date, how about that?"

"Nadir, I feel like I’m going to vomit. If I sense that you slept with that rabbit bitch, I swear I’ll cut your dick off."

"...H-Hahaha... I wouldn’t do that... I definitely wouldn’t. I know full well how uncomfortable it is for you. There’s no need for all this jealousy... Nexus, erase this entire conversation from your memory and activate sleep mode." When Nadir gives the command, Nexus enters a state where it can’t store memories.

"Zenith, look, I understand the situation is unpleasant for you, and don’t worry, I’m not planning to build a harem of girls. It’s not my fault I’m handsome, you know? But I’m serious about this matter."

"Leave Cecilia be. She’s useful, and it’s not like I love her... she knows that herself. At least she has something to distract herself with down here... so forget about it, and let’s talk about something better. How was your day?" He tries to change the subject, and biting my lips, I accept the change.

"Today down here we found some good wreckage. There are lots of engine materials that can be used in vector engines and that will help a lot." Nadir smoothly changes the subject.

"I hate how good you are with words, even when you’re just stringing me along... sorry, I lost it. I woke up in pain and was already restless."

"...Is your head okay?" He immediately knows the problem.

"...More or less. Just a bit of pain in my brain. Nothing unusual, but normally I’d have you by my side comforting me... I think my students will be the cause of my death one day for real." I say it as a joke.

"Your harsh words really are a great good-morning message for me, Zenith."

"...Masochist." I say it to him with false scorn.

"O-Ouch... I’m serious, Zenith. It’s good to see you haven’t been replaced by a parasite or something like that. Only you would call me over a kiss and threaten my physical well-being, hahaha."

"!!!" I get a little embarrassed by that.

"...At least I still know you’re the same idiot as always... okay, sorry for what I said. Just don’t kiss other girls anymore, got it? Or maybe I really will do something crazy. I’m not balanced enough to let other girls take you from me."

"Jealous. Plus, you’re very tsundere... or I wish you were... but I never know if your threats are real or just something in the moment."

"...It’s not jealousy. You’re still me! I would never let someone steal my other half like that."

"That sentence sounded terrifying, so I’m going to hang up before you question the reason for the kiss. It’ll still take some time, but I’ll come up soon and we can recharge." He speaks, and knowing him, I know he gave a wave from the other side of the screen.

"Take care, idiot! And make sure you don’t die!!"

"You too. Hope you have fun up there!" He ends the call while Nexus, still off, keeps the line silent, not being active to cut the connection.

"Haa... I really hate waking up in pain." I head to the balcony to observe the moon, one of the few things that has barely changed over the years.