Mwu Lamias

After Xiao Ran's injuries had been treated, Kira piloted the Strike Gundam and carried everyone away from the devastated area to a park that had suffered little damage. He then explained what had happened to them.

The boys hurriedly carried the unconscious Mwu Lamias out of the Strike Gundam's cockpit. Xiao Ran forcibly suppressed his urge to climb inside, casting an envious glance at Tolle and Kazui, who had already crawled in. Since his hands and feet were inconvenient to use, he helped Miriallia bandage Mwu Lamias's wounds.

After treating her wounds, Xiao Ran began unconsciously studying the first mature beauty of Gundam SEED. She was clearly about the same age as him, yet she possessed a far more mature air. Determination, decisiveness, courage—these were qualities Xiao Ran had rarely seen in girls his age in his original world. Yet she did not lack the gentleness she ought to have, either.

Mwu was still unconscious. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the fever brought on by her gunshot wound, and even while unconscious, her rosy little face wore a tightly furrowed brow. Xiao Ran found himself staring blankly for a moment. Although this world had become real, that did not mean Mwu looked worse in three dimensions than she had in two. This was not cosplay; this was the real thing. Beauty would not change because of that.

Whether it was Kira, Mwu, Miriallia, Tolle, or the others, they were no different from the anime. On the contrary, becoming part of a real world made them feel even more familiar.

"Teacher, are you thinking something improper?" Miriallia looked at Xiao Ran's somewhat dazed expression. Having grown a little closer to him after he had helped her so much, she could not help teasing him.

"Of course not." Xiao Ran's face reddened slightly as he immediately denied it. "Though I admit that this woman is quite attractive, I'm not the kind of person who starts having wild thoughts whenever he sees a woman. I was just wondering what connection she has with that MS. Didn't Kira say that MS seemed to belong to the Earth Force? Then why was it in Orb? What role was Orb playing in all this?"

"I'm not going to believe you just because you explained so much." Miriallia covered her mouth and laughed softly. Perhaps her laughter was too loud, because Mwu coughed twice and slowly opened her eyes.

When Miriallia saw Mwu wake up, she thought she had disturbed her and said somewhat embarrassedly, "You're awake. I'll get you some water."

Mwu groaned in discomfort after waking and struggled to sit up. Seeing this, Xiao Ran quickly pressed down on her uninjured arm. "You'd better not move around."

Mwu stopped struggling. Miriallia returned with a bottle of water. "Here, have some water."

"Thank you," Mwu said softly. With Xiao Ran and Miriallia's help, she sat upright. At that moment, Kira noticed the situation and hurried over. "Are you okay?"

After taking several sips of water, Mwu shook her head at Kira. Perhaps remembering the unbelievable scenes from the cockpit earlier, she looked at Kira thoughtfully.

Still somewhat immature, Kira thought she was blaming him for acting recklessly and turned his head slightly away. "Sorry, I acted recklessly just now..."

Mwu immediately realized her behavior had been rash and was about to shake her head when a voice sounded beside them. "Wow, it's called Gundam? It looks amazing."

"Can it be started?" Kazui's voice sounded as well.

Mwu turned her head toward the source of the voices, but the sight greatly startled her. Two boys who looked like students had actually climbed into the Gundam's cockpit. To Mwu, who regarded the Gundam as immensely important, this was an extremely serious dereliction of duty. Ignoring her discomfort, she jumped to the ground and pulled a pistol from her side, aiming it at Tolle and Kazui inside the cockpit.

"Get down from there now!" As Mwu's words fell, a bullet shot from the chamber and struck the outer wall of the cockpit. Tolle and Kazui shrank back in fright, cried out, and looked at Mwu with fear.

Xiao Ran, whose presence had been extremely weak ever since Mwu awoke, wore a strange expression after seeing her fire a bullet from her pistol. Scratching his head in confusion, he watched blankly as Kira rushed over in two steps and stood in front of Mwu. "What are you doing?! They were the ones who carried you out of the cockpit!"

"Sorry." Mwu frowned tightly and turned the gun toward Kira. Her eyes showed a trace of guilt, but even more determination. "Thank you for saving me earlier, but that is an important military secret. It is not something ordinary people like you can come into contact with."

"What? Wasn't Kira the one piloting it just now?" Tolle turned his head aside and replied with a mocking tone.

That mocking remark made Mwu aim her gun at Tolle again, as well as Sai and Kazui beside him. Mwu said, "All of you, move over there."

Everyone shot Mwu angry looks, but in the end they obeyed and stood beside Xiao Ran. Miriallia in particular practically hid her entire body behind him.

Mwu walked in front of them and pointed her gun at the group. "One by one, state your names."

"Sai Argyle."

"Kazui Bassk."

"Tolle Gurney."

"Miriallia Haw."

Kira fell silent for a moment and gave Mwu a deep look. In the end, under the threat of the gun, he gave his name. "Kira Yamato."

Finally, it was Xiao Ran's turn. Yet he remained silent for quite some time, staring at Mwu with an inexplicable expression. No, to be precise, he was staring at the gun in Mwu's hand, his face full of confusion.

Mwu frowned. She found it strange that this man, who looked about her age, was together with a group of children. "And you. Your name and identity."

"Xiao Ran, assistant instructor at the Industrial Academy." Xiao Ran pulled at the corner of his mouth. He had never intended to hide anything from these plot characters, so he naturally told her.

"Teacher?" Mwu glanced at Xiao Ran, then introduced herself. "I am Mwu Lamias, an officer of the Earth Alliance. I'm very sorry, but because you have seen and come into contact with an important military secret, no matter the reason, I cannot simply let you leave."

After a pause, Mwu continued, "I must notify the relevant authorities. Until they respond regarding how you are to be handled, all of you must remain with me."

"How can you do that?!" Kazui shouted in surprise. Tolle, already angry, said as well, "What is this supposed to mean?!"

Sai said angrily, "We are civilians of Heliopolis, Orb! We belong to a neutral nation and have nothing at all to do with the military! You have no right to do this!"

"Exactly! It's strange enough that the Earth Force is on the territory of a neutral nation. I have no obligation to listen to you!"

"This place only became like this because you people showed up here!"

Tolle and Kazui's angry back-and-forth instantly made the atmosphere tense. Xiao Ran still held doubts in his heart and found the situation extremely strange. Since no one knew what he was thinking, he had remained silent, while his eyes stayed fixed on Mwu.

Seeing Tolle and Kazui becoming more and more outrageous, Mwu frowned and raised the gun in her hand again.

"Click, click..."

Upon hearing that sound, Mwu froze. Xiao Ran, who had been watching her all along, finally revealed an expression of sudden realization. "So that's how it is. I was wondering."

The sound of the empty gun and Xiao Ran's sudden words also quieted everyone down. They all looked at him in confusion.

Miriallia asked uncertainly, "Teacher?"

"Miss Lamias, I believe you're wondering about this, aren't you?" Xiao Ran felt somewhat uneasy, but he still gave Miriallia a slight smile. Turning to Mwu, he used his good hand to take several gleaming yellow objects from his pocket. They were bullets, shining with a metallic luster. "Sorry, but when I saw the thing in your hand, I thought it might threaten the safety of my students and me, so I removed everything inside it. The bullet you fired just now was really an accident. I didn't expect there to still be a bullet in the chamber after I removed the bullets from the magazine."

To be honest, Xiao Ran had not wanted to do this. But that gun was simply too dangerous.

After hearing Xiao Ran's explanation, Kira and the other students showed expressions of relief. No one would be very happy about having a gun pointed at them twice in one day. Xiao Ran's immediate removal of the danger also made them look at him with even greater respect, while Mwu frowned and stared intently at him.

"Um... Miss Lamias." Xiao Ran put on what he believed was a smile capable of easing the atmosphere. "The situation is different now. Although you're a soldier, you don't have any advantage against five ordinary men like us. The control of this MS called Gundam might even change hands. So can we have a proper talk now?"

Mwu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Yet it seemed that even with her eyes shut, she could still see Xiao Ran's hateful smile. She could only try hard to calm herself down before finally lowering the arm holding her weapon. "We can."

"That's good. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know what to do. As a teacher, I would definitely have to stand in front of my students first, though I'm sure I wouldn't be your match." Xiao Ran pretended to let out a sigh of relief. After chuckling, he spoke seriously to Mwu. "As an adult, I won't deceive myself with claims of neutrality like my students do. Neutrality and fairness are built upon peace and strength. I understand the cruelty and spread of war, and I understand even more clearly what such secrets mean to the Earth Force. I have also figured out why the Earth Force's secret appeared here."

Xiao Ran looked at Mwu sincerely. "So I don't want to offend you, nor do I want you to keep an eye on us. I hope we can get along peacefully. I can help you with some things, but you must guarantee that after we part ways, you will not pursue us further because of what happened today. Can you guarantee that?"

After hearing Xiao Ran's words, Mwu only felt that his mind was frighteningly sharp. She could not help giving him a deep look. "You trust my guarantee?"

"I do," Xiao Ran answered without hesitation.

"Fine, I promise you." Mwu looked at Xiao Ran seriously. "But I need your help, especially his."

Xiao Ran grinned. "No problem. I'll give my students a reason to persuade them."