Working and Eavesdropping

I hum as I sweep the streets.

"Sweep, sweep and keep sweeping until it's clean. Ohhhh... broom, why are you so noble. Ohhhh... broom, your service is so great for cleaning the dirty. Oh... broom..."

After successfully getting out of this hospital, I immediately approached someone to ask him for a job. And as a result, I was given an orange uniform with the "Cleaning Team" logo written on the breast pocket of this uniform by a man wearing a white uniform and blue pants.

He asked me to clean up some trash that was scattered on the ground. He also asked me to be careful if I saw some bloodstains on the streets so that I wouldn't step on them and they could investigate the bloodstains.

But even so, as long as I work, I feel this is good for me. Yeah, even though some people look at me while humming this and keep them from focusing on their work, I'm still doing my job well.

"Hurry and find him!"

Hearing that voice coming from inside the hospital, I immediately looked towards the hospital entrance and saw several people in black uniforms coming out with faces looking like they were looking for something.

After a while, I saw Shiva also come out of the hospital with the same face as for them.

I don't know what made them like that, I have to focus on my current job.

The distance between this road and the hospital is quite close, only 50 meters. So, I can still see Shiva well.

"She's fine."

Shiva's condition is quite prime. How could she not, she just ran here and there looking for something energetically and looked beautiful as usual.

Even though I ignored her, I also glanced at her a few times, so I knew what she was doing at the moment.

And when I looked at the man who gave me my job, I saw he was talking to someone there while looking at the hospital door.

Without thinking, I swept, walked, swept, approached, swept again, then heard what they were talking about.

"The AAT Squad is already strong, with Karin Nakano being there."

"That's how it is."

The person who spoke also wore the same uniform, namely a white uniform and blue pants.

I'm confused by these uniforms, what exactly is the difference? This uniform motif is indeed quite simple and not tacky, but why do so many uniforms have different colors? And again, every time I see this uniform, I'm always on guard so that the Astral Beings don't come after me again.

You know, I've seen an Astral Being wearing this uniform, twice, and it's from just one Astral Being. The first, when on top of the lion statue. And the second, when he disguised himself as a medical team. So, what scares me is that the creature called Sakata is disguised again in this uniform.

Yeah, though, the black uniform with the red skirt is so cool and I'm happy to see Shiva wearing it. She is perfect for that.

"Even though Team 1 of the AAT Squad is filled with great new people, it's not possible that they are ready to fight Astral."

"What about Karin Nakano's presence there, doesn't it encourage the students of Wlynina Military School because of her presence, Tanaka-san?"

He lit his cigarette. "They always look at the face before knowing the true nature. Despite the presence of Nakano in Team 1 of the TAA Squad as a Captain, the members are still not used to her strict and mean nature. Plus, she quickly became captain there, even though there were many seniors there. Is it because she is from the Nakano family?"

"You know her so well, don't you, Tanaka-san."

"Yeah, I taught her to fight before she became captain," he said, turned to the man who gave me this job.

"Eh? Seriously? Did you ever teach her to fight?"

"Yes, it is true. Yeah, even though she turned out to be more powerful than I thought."

"Heh, I see. You are only 2 years apart in age, you have taught her."

The man called Tanaka looked at the hospital after smoking his cigarette.

"But seeing this failed, I feel that she will have another grudge against that creature."

"What's the matter, Tanaka-san?"

"You did not know?"

"Not." The person who gave me this uniform shook his head.

"When she was little, while the family was on vacation at the beach, her onee-chan was killed in front of her eyes by an Astral S-rank. Since that incident, she never smiled again and kept looking for that Astral. She had a grudge against that Astral. The wound she sustained was incurable. That's why every time she saw Astrals, she always had a bitchy face."

"Oh, so that's the reason. I understand."

"Yeah, I see, hahaha." I subconsciously spoke beside him.

Even though I didn't understand what they were talking about, but I pretended to be someone who just knew something, and that made them immediately turn to me.

"Who are you?"

"I? I-"

"Oh, he's the one who asked me for a job earlier, and I gave him a job sweeping the streets."

The person who gave me this job cut me off, so I didn't have to answer the question.

"Oh…" He suddenly glared at me, then carefully examined my face. "Hmm... you're very diligent, aren't you. You even asked for a job. You are different from me. What is your name?"

"Akio Samsudin," I said, seeing his handsome face, 2 to 12 with me, with brownish-black hair.

"Oh, Samsudin-san."

"What were you two talking about? Can I join?"

It doesn't feel good to work without chatting with other people. I once felt this when I planted rice alone in the fields because some farmers suddenly had to attend an event they had to attend. It felt really painful. So, I don't want to be like that anymore.

"You heard it?"

"Yeah, I was secretly eavesdropping while sweeping. Who is Karin Nakano? Is she a monster?"

Seeing me say that, he immediately laughed.

"Hahaha. She is a monster, you should stay away from her."

"Tanaka-san, you can't be like that to him!"

Seeing them like that makes me confused.

"This is it." The man who gave me this job approached me. "Karin Nakano isn't a monster, she's the captain of Team 1 of the AAT Squad."

What I understand is only the "captain", the rest I don't understand.

Noticing the confused look on my face, the person laughed again.

"Hahaha. Look, he doesn't understand what you're saying, Nagato. He's so innocent."

"Don't laugh at him, Tanaka-san."

That person called Tanaka saw me.

"Samsudin-san, aren't you someone who lives in this city?"

"No, I'm not from here. I come from Takjaya Village."

And as soon as I said that, the two of them fell silent and pondered.

"Why?" I asked them because their faces suddenly contemplated like that.

"Tanaka-san, you must apologize to him!"

"Ah-haa... hahaha. I am sorry. I didn't know you were from that village."

Maybe because I came from Takjaya Village, the village that was destroyed by those creatures, they felt sorry for me and felt guilty for laughing at me. But actually, I didn't think much of it and even now I keep trying to let it go. So they didn't hurt me for what they did to me.

"It is okay. Besides, I'm fine." I try to convey the facts about me right now to them. "So, who is Karin Nakano?"

"Just as Nagato-kun said, that Karin Nakano is the captain of the AAT Squad 1st Team, which operates in an assault against Astral Beings."

"Oh, I see. I understand. So she's not a monster?"

"No, she is a monster too."

"Why? Why do you say that?"

"Yeah, it's because of her fierce nature. So, don't go near her, okay, if you don't want your feelings to be hurt because of her words."

"OK, I understand."

"But by the way, are you the only survivor of your village?"

He suddenly asked that. Indeed at this time only Shiva and I from that village survived. I also did not see the people of my village in this hospital, because I had walked through every room of this hospital at that time. So, what I have to answer is a fact about me surviving this incident.

"Yeah, only me and Shiva-chan survived."

"Hermawan-san is also from the village you live in?"

"Yes."

"Heh, I just found out about that. How close are you to her?"

Thinking of that question, I immediately thought for a moment by putting my hand to my chin.

"Ummm... my relationship with her is like that of a queen and a slave."

"Queen and slave?"

"Yes, she is the queen and I am her slave."

"How bad is that?"

I nodded in agreement.

No matter how much I tried to escape the castle, I would still be caught. A slave is just a person who always obeys her master's wishes. With what became the freedom of a slave, it was all arranged by the master. So, no matter what the circumstances, I am like a slave serving the will of my queen, Shiva.

But then again, a queen is not bad either, because a queen always takes care of her slaves and wants to take good care of them.

"Woah, you have bad luck, even though Hermawan-san is so beautiful and works hard with her talent."

It's true what he said, Shiva did work hard even though she was born with natural talent. When I was a child, I always saw Shiva shooting bottles with a slingshot whenever I handled her livestock. She aimed and managed to precisely drop the bottles. So it's no wonder why Shiva has such a good shooting ability.

And I, I have no talent for shooting. All I could do was swing an object that was long in shape quickly and powerfully. The stamina that I have is quite good, maybe because since childhood I always work, work, and keep working, my muscles have been trained with it. So, if asked to lift something so heavy, maybe I can lift it.

"I like you. Your name is Akio Samsudin, right?"

I nodded.

"I'm Tanaka Sakamoto. Nice to meet you, Samsudin-san."

"Nice to meet you too, Tanaka."

"Huh..." Nagato was suddenly surprised that I was calling out people's names. "You can't be like that, Samsudin-san. You must-"

"It's okay, Nagato-kun." Tanaka looked at me quite sharply, "you can call my name like that, as long as I can call your name too."

"OK, just call."

"Alright, Akio-kun, keep in mind that calling someone's name shouldn't be careless, let alone new ones."

I nodded understanding.

"You have to be able to maintain your decency so that you are seen as a good person. It's fine with me, but don't ever call someone's name carelessly. Okay, remember that."

"OK, I understand."

Suddenly a voice came from the direction of the hospital door.

"Nakano-san, where are you going?"

When we looked in that direction, we saw a black-haired woman walking in this direction.

Tanaka was taken aback.

"Wow, we were just talking, but that person has already arrived here."

"She's the Karin Nakano we talked about earlier, you have to be careful with her," Nagato said, turning to me.

"OK, I understand."

Seeing Karin Nakano walking so elegantly made me have to wave my hand.

"Karin-chan, what shampoo are you using? Your hair smells great."

They were both shocked and looked at me.

"What are you doing, oy?!"

"I told you to be polite to others, why did you even forget about it, huh?!"

"Eh?" I was surprised to see their shocked faces. I then turned to myself, "am I wrong?"

"OF COURSE!!!"

They immediately ran away leaving me here alone.

Knowing that something was wrong, I immediately looked around and saw people's faces in panic when they found out that Karin Nakano was walking here.

"What happened to them? Why are they panicking like that? And… why did they stop doing their job?"

Looking to find out, I kept looking at those cold sweats.

"Shiva, catch that person!"

Hearing Karin Nakano's voice like that, I can confirm that she is speaking towards me.

And after a while, suddenly my head was covered by a cloth and I couldn't see anything.

"I've caught him."

When the voice appeared, I knew that someone was behind me, and the voice I recognized was Shiva's voice.

In the end, I passed out again due to difficulty breathing.