After I fell down into the bed, it was the time for another unplanned meeting. I tilted my head enough to see the guys, and started.

“So, tomorrow we need to sort through the items and distribute them.”

“Tak tochno, Tovarish praporshik.” [That's affirmative, Comrade Praporshik. (Praporshik is NCO rank, in Russian army this rank also looks after the military stockpiles and supply)] (J)

“No problem, comrade Private. You will receive the condensed milk two days after Old man.

Now, remember that we are here only temporarily, so maintain discipline. You, stop looking at me like that, it’s not my fault that this piece of meat can only do this much." I cut off Jester’s interruption before he could joke about my speaking posture.

“The schedule remains the same. Jester will be standing on guard today. Check your weapon and take ammunition. Maintain maximum level of vigilance, since we are near the frontline and there might be leftover enemies. The allies were informed about the situation. Shoot anyone who may be a threat.

Be ready to join the reconstruction efforts. We need to build trust with the locals, otherwise we will be under constant menafe. Nou, lefs ho sheep…”

I just closed my eyes for a second, and then ended up in the war room.

I ignored the rustle and hissing from the darkness, and checked the situation in the city.

The map showed no hostiles spotted, and I confirmed that Jester hauled his a* to the outside.

“Stella!”

‘Rustle’

After a metal rustle, it walked out to the table.

“Yes?” It showed an innocent expression and curiously stared at me.

“Tomorrow we will go out and wander around the city. I bet you would want to stretch out and enjoy the sun.”

“Not so sure about what ‘Sun’ is, but I am alright with this. I would be happy to see how humans live.” (S)

“Good. I will take you out when we are ready. Just don’t kill anybody.”

“But is that not the point…?” It was disappointed.

“The point of take a stroll is to walk around and look around. It definitely doesn’t include killing. Don’t kill ANYBODY.” After it nodded, I started playing with it. It is a nice way to spend time, and if Ether is right, my muscles are trained even if I work out here.

I woke up as soon as the clock showed 6 of the morning.

I was ready to bust the two slimes, and as soon as I sat straight I saw only one, already dressing and wobbling out to wash himself. Since there was nothing to catch, I did the same.

While I was brushing my teeth, Old man asked.

“What are we going to do today?” (O)

“I will go look around the city. A bit of sightseeing, nothing important. Your task today is to make sure the cannon is clean, perform engine maintenance, and then sort through the contents of the instrument boxes. When that is done, you are free to do whatever you want.

And yes, I know about your stash. If even a single drop disappears… You know…?”

After I gave the tasks to the crew, I picked up the rifle and headed out. The official cause is patrolling the city and assessing damage to the local infrastructure.

It was clear as day that I was going to be mostly wandering around aimlessly.

“Not bad. I thought the entire world looks covered in metal.” I let out Stella, and it started looking around, even though its head was turning only a bit.

Out of curiosity I walked behind it, and showed three fingers. Its head turned a bit but I couldn’t even see its eyes. The common sense dictates it shouldn’t be seeing my fingers, or rather myself at all.

“Three.” It answered without hesitation.

I played around with its blind zones but I found out that it is fully aware of what is going on around. Even if there are blind zones, it should be deliberately not looking there to have them.

During our walk there were a few moments when Stella paid attention to the back alleys, and I had to make sure it won’t cause unnecessary trouble.

The city was liberated a couple of days ago and the life was slowly returning to the streets. A handful of people were cautiously stepping out of the houses, and dashing between the buildings. Every time a soldier was passing by, the people were hiding.

The mayor’s office did its best to calculate the damage but the current numbers suggest that more than half of the citizens are dead or missing. To avoid further poverty, I gave Valencio a suggestion to open the empty houses, and put there some simple beds and firewood to let the homeless people settle down there.

I don’t claim myself to be Mother Teresa, yet even I smiled a bit when I saw signs ‘Empty house’ here and there. Some people already were using those houses.