I think I also understand why the president was excluded now.
“Do you think that’s ridiculous?”
I paused for a moment to think.
“Ridiculous or not, in the end, I’ll have to cooperate with you, right?”
“If you want my technological expertise, then yes.”
“……Well, it can’t be helped.”
Well, at least if we take his own words at face value, it just means he’s a bit of an overly delusional engineer.
Getting to that position must have been all thanks to the president’s influence.
He doesn’t seem like someone who can fight political battles.
After all, what kind of crazy executive would provide a mere soldier with all sorts of the latest equipment?
And upgrade it every time they went into battle?
“Are you having some rather rude thoughts right now?”
James asked, but I just shrugged my shoulders in response.
It seemed like James didn’t want to have much of a conversation with me either, so our dialogue ended there.
I started reading the comic books that were in the Earth-bug room again, and James went back to munching on the seeds and nuts he had been eating earlier.
By the way, he really does eat nuts just because he looks like a hamster.
The people from that planet must have it easier.
They probably don’t have to worry much about things like housing prices or construction costs.
Or maybe their reproductive capabilities are so high that there’s not much difference from Earth.
I thought about this and that, but in the end, the only thought that came to mind was how things were as they were, so I couldn’t focus on the comic book and had to put it back on the shelf.
The thought of housing prices reminded me that, of course, Earth-bug’s house wasn’t free.
It wasn’t even his own house to begin with.
I’d never asked about his past, but if he was someone who lived a normal life on his planet, buying a house in the middle of Seoul, South Korea, would be nearly impossible.
It would be as hard as me trying to buy a house in the capital of a developed foreign country. Mainly because of the cost.
Of course, I had no intention of living for free.
But at the moment, I didn’t have the money for that.
So, in the end, I followed Earth-bug to a day labor site.
It wasn’t related to Noir Corporation.
It was more like an ordinary construction site.
Not a huge building, but a small villa being built, about five stories tall, on the ground floor.
The people from Earth-bug’s planet are often stronger and have better stamina than they look, so they are welcome at places like this.
Earth-bug told me that when there was no work at Noir Corporation, he worked at sites like this, getting by day by day.
The more I heard, the more it felt like a sad story.
Though, I heard that at Noir Corporation, even though the work was tough, the pay was decent for a day’s work.
“Earthling? A student, you look so young.”
Because of this, I got such assessments when I followed Earth-bug out.
An Earthling.
And no matter how old I looked, I seemed to barely be in my early twenties at most.
James judged that if the age on the mask I was wearing didn’t match my real age too much, there was a high chance I’d be exposed.
As a result, the mask I wore had the face of a woman in her early twenties.
“Even though I look like this, I’m good at physical work. I’d be grateful if you could trust me just this once.”
Earth-bug said this and bowed politely, so I quickly followed suit and bowed as well.
The man still looked skeptical, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at me before speaking.
“This is a demolition job. It’s not that big, but we’ll probably need to break down walls and such. I’m not sure if a student can handle that.”
“Yes.”
“Just leave it to me.”
I said confidently.
If it’s a job that requires technical skills, there’s a high chance I won’t be able to do it. But if it’s just about breaking things, I’m confident.
I’ve used a hammer before… though mostly for hitting people rather than walls.
It would definitely be impossible without any tools, but right now I’m wearing a circuit on my wrist.
Since it’s still winter, I could hide it with gloves, and James, not having thought of this, had recently decorated the circuit’s outer part to look like a modern smartwatch.
The circuit, which already looked like a smartwatch, even displayed a clock screen, so there was really no reason I’d get caught unless someone was really looking closely.
“Well, since Pangpang said so, I’ll trust and leave it to you. We’ll see how it goes.”
Fortunately, the kind man gave me his approval.
Earth-bug gave me a grin, and I shrugged my shoulders in response.
Bang!
No matter how much the world advances, or how technologies that tear through space and take us beyond the universe are developed, construction sites haven’t changed all that much.
People still carry loads and break things.
The helmet protects your head, and the boots protect your feet.
In the end, doing things manually is cheaper.
Well, if you think about it that way, even soldiers should all be robots by now.
Like the one James was riding.
I grabbed the hammer again and swung it with all my strength.
Bang!
If the goal was to completely demolish the house, it would be better to bring in bigger equipment and knock everything down at once.
But the term “demolition” doesn’t just refer to destroying the house itself; it also includes tearing out the interior of a floor or a single unit of the building.
Before remodeling, everything needs to be ripped out, and sometimes there are things that can’t be removed easily, or walls added to divide rooms that need to be torn down as well.
And fortunately, I was perfect for the job.
As I loaded the debris from the broken drywall onto the cart to take it out, the man who had doubted me after hearing Earth-bug’s introduction earlier stared in surprise.
“You did all that by yourself?”
I was told to only do what I could, but I ended up doing it all alone, and the man…
“This much is doable.”
Though, it’s not just my strength doing all the work.
The man scanned me with a skeptical look.
While my face was covered, my body was impossible to hide completely.
I tried to conceal my figure as much as possible by wearing loose clothes, but even so, aside from my chest, my slightly slim frame didn’t give off an impression of great strength.
That said, it’s unlikely he was thinking I was some sort of hybrid with an alien.
Aliens had only been on Earth for five years after all.
“Have you done this kind of work before?”
“Ha.”
“Yes, I’ve done similar work before.”
Only after hearing my response did the man nod his head.
“You’ve worked hard, haven’t you?”
I had nothing to say in response to that, so I just bowed my head and went back to the spot where I had been working, pulling the cart along.
I picked up the hammer again and smashed the places that needed to be demolished.
To be honest, it was less physically demanding, but it wasn’t exactly an enjoyable task. It felt like time was moving slowly.
After doing it for hours, the fatigue was inevitable.
Still, there was one good thing about it: while working, I didn’t have to worry about my current situation.
Bang.
Bang.
I kept swinging the hammer steadily, breaking down the already constructed parts little by little.
The broken sections would be patched up later by another company with a new interior.
I wish I could break down the obstacles in front of me the same way.
Though I don’t think anyone will rebuild them.
Even so, it would make things much easier.
The circuit continued to run without stopping.