Naomi regretted having a meal in the Military Base’s cafeteria.

There were two reasons why she regretted it. Firstly, it was the place. The cafeteria was located inside a big building, just a few minutes from the training ground. It was a building dedicated to being a cafeteria.

At first, Naomi had high expectations because it seemed like the Military had put importance on the meal. But, when she entered the building, she immediately grimaced at the sight of people lining up nicely with a tray that looked like a plate from the prison to get their meals.

That much she could tolerate, but when she saw that there was only one menu- bread, soup, and a slice of meat- she immediately regretted her decision to come to the cafeteria. It was better if she ate outside the Military Base for lunch.

To add to her annoyance with the food came the second reason. The soldiers turned to her as soon as one of them spotted her and had the bright idea of shouting her name and title.

The soldiers immediately crowded Naomi, and she was stuck with them for around 30 minutes dealing with them. She didn’t want to force them to leave and hurt her image, so she replied to some of their questions with a smile, albeit wryly.

They didn’t seem to take her position as Lieutenant-General seriously yet, something Naomi noted. Currently, only the trainees that she beat treated her with respect, so she knew what to do to get their respect in the future.

Finally, after 30 minutes, a girl with brown hair in her twenties that looked like she had a high position on the base arrived in the cafeteria and dismissed the soldiers that crowded around Naomi.

After the crowd was dismissed, the girl had an apologetic look as she turned to Naomi.

“I am sorry for their behavior, Lieutenant-General.” She apologized.

“No need to apologize, miss…” Naomi paused, looking at the girl to ask for the girl’s name. The girl suddenly interjected when she had just entered, so she didn’t know her name.

“Please forgive my late introduction. I am First Lieutenant Eveline Emmerich, the secretary of General Nicolas Emmerich.” The girl saluted as she introduced herself.

Only then did Naomi notice an armband with a star and two stripes on her left hand.

“First Lieutenant Eveline. You don’t need to apologize to me; all is well.” Naomi continued.

“Yes.” Eveline answered, still saluting, and she didn’t seem to stop saluting in a while for now.

‘Is there something wrong with her?’ Naomi thought, but then she remembered something about returning a salute.

She had never returned the salute since she entered the base earlier in the day, but was it different for someone with high rank or officers? Did she need to return her salute to make her stop?

‘Or maybe she waits for my command?’ Naomi wondered, ‘Let’s just ask her to be at ease.’

“Right, you can be at ease, First Lieutenant. We are in an establishment to eat. You don’t need to salute at me.”

It was only then Eveline lowered her hand as she answered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Looking at her, Naomi smiled wryly, ‘It seems the Military is a bit stiffer than I thought.’

However, it was the perfect chance. First Lieutenant was an Officer rank. Surely she knew a thing or two about this Base.

Not to mention, she introduced herself as the General’s secretary. The General was the only person besides Ingrid that had a higher Rank than her in the Military, right? Though he wouldn’t be able to order her as she worked directly under Ingrid, or so was what was written on the paper.

So, Naomi grinned.

“Say, First Lieutenant. You are familiar with this Base, right? Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Not at all. Please do ask me anything.” Eveline smiled brightly as she motioned for Naomi to ask anything.

“Then, I will ask you to follow me first. It seems that this place is not suitable for a conversation.” Naomi looked around and saw the soldiers secretly stole a glance at their directions before they turned away, whispering to their buddies.

“It seems so…” Eveline said, squinting her eyes to intimidate the soldiers before turning back to Naomi. “I do know the perfect place to have a conversation, Lieutenant-General. If you don’t mind, please allow me to escort you to the place.”

“Sure. Also, is there something to eat in that place? I was about to have lunch earlier when they suddenly... crowded around me.”

“Please don’t worry about it, Lieutenant-General. The location that I have in mind has a variety of foods.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Naomi put her hands on Eveline’s shoulders. “Lead the way, First Lieutenant.”

Eveline was surprised when Naomi suddenly gripped her shoulders, but she maintained her smile as she said, “S-Sure. Please follow me.”

***

Unexpectedly, or was it expected, the place that Naomi escorted into was the biggest building on the base, and they went to the third floor of the building.

Naomi could feel her father’s Esper pressure inside a room farthest away on the third floor. Naomi thought that Eveline would take her to the room where her father was, but no.

She stopped in front of a door that was located on the left side of the hallway, right before the farthest room. There was another door across from it, but Eveline opened the door on the left and motioned Naomi to enter.

“This is your office room in this Base, Lieutenant-General. If you don’t mind, please wait for me inside while I fetch some refreshment from the second floor.”

Naomi entered the room as she said and marveled. The room was like her mother’s office room in the main building of Akasa Inc., but the pieces of furniture were all made from wood. A table between two dark green couches and a working desk at the end of the room.

There was a table with a coffee maker adjacent to the working desk and two bookshelves filled with a book of unknown origins on the right side of the room.

‘This is my office? I have one?’ Naomi thought to herself before turning to Eveline.

“Thank you. I will wait here.”

“Well then, please excuse myself.” Eveline answered and closed the door.

As she was left by herself, Naomi went to the working desk and sat on the black chair, often called the CEO chair, and played around with it, rotating the chair like a little kid.

After a while, she stopped and put her elbow on the table. She rested her head on her hands and smiled sweetly.

“I think I take a liking to my Lieutenant-General Rank now. I should just bring my base and put it above this base tomorrow. That way, Anna and Dan-Bi will be able to visit Germany, and Mischa can help with the Base’s defense while playing with me. Perfect.”

RaizarP

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