In an ordinary grocery store on an ordinary street in Davao.
Hathaway was leafing through magazines on a rack by the entrance that looked as though they had been sitting there for an eternity.
Mihessia Hence, whom he had met before the Oenbelli operation, stood beside him.
She appeared to be examining various electrical appliances displayed at the storefront.
Inside the shop, a man wearing a black shirt, a blue tie, and a duckbill cap was hunched over a computer, investigating something.
"Thanks for your hard work. You had to come to meet me this time as well."
Hathaway closed the magazine in his hand and placed it back onto the rack.
It was rare to find a backlog of magazines from the year '93 in a grocery store like this.
The edges were curled, and some pages were loose due to poor binding—clearly, many people had flipped through them.
"Because you are important, Hathaway..."
Mihessia stood up and looked toward the blue sky of Davao. "After all, you are the key to whether we can obtain a Gundam to oppose the Earth Federation Forces and whether we can continue our operations."
"You are our ace!"
"An ace... huh."
Hathaway looked at a yellowing image in the magazine—a photograph titled "The Miracle Aurora Crossing the Earth."
The conversation trailed off, and a silence fell between the two. However, a slightly flippant voice soon called out from inside the grocery store.
"This card is the real deal."
Having apparently finished his check, the man in the black shirt retrieved a card from his equipment. He tapped it against his palm as he walked out to the storefront. "They say it has no tracking function, and it won't even leave a record of payment."
"It's essentially a wallet with infinite use and no credit limit. One of these and you're set for the rest of your life, and they just handed it to you, Hathaway."
Contrary to what the man in the black shirt expected, Hathaway did not look "excited" or "surprised." Instead, his expression was heavy.
While Hathaway was sinking into a strange, low mood, Mihessia frowned and glared at the man in black.
"...Mitsuda, don't say things like that in front of Hathaway!"
Mihessia snatched the card from the man's hand. "What if you lead him astray!"
"Uh... I get it. I'll be careful next time."
The man in black, named Mitsuda, raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, but his attention remained fixed on Hathaway.
"Anyway, Hathaway... what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine."
Hathaway's voice was low as he took the card—the card that could provide for him for the rest of his life—from Mihessia. "I just don't like... what this card represents."
Hathaway originally had no intention of accepting this card gifted by Kenneth Sleg, but in a situation that was, in a sense, "deep within enemy territory," he had no choice but to accept this token of Kenneth's goodwill.
Even if he didn't fully understand the clearance required to obtain such a card, it undoubtedly required a massive amount of influence to secure, let alone to give away.
Thinking of this, Hathaway felt an inexplicable sense of sorrow; he wanted to destroy such privileges, yet he was forced to accept the fruits of those very privileges.
Faced with the "privileged class" Kenneth—who constantly extended goodwill and sought to become his friend—and his own ideals as "Mafty" to destroy Federation privilege and corruption, Hathaway felt himself being constantly pulled apart by his dual identities as "Hathaway" and "Mafty."
"Hathaway, I feel like something is wrong with your current state."
Although Mitsuda seemed obsessed with money, he was a veteran member of the local Davao cell and immediately picked up on Hathaway's current condition. "You... are struggling with yourself."
"...Perhaps."
Hathaway looked at the card in his hand. "Right now, I'm not sure how to reconcile these relationships."
"The complex interpersonal connections forged on the Moon and aboard the Haunzen... I don't know how to handle them anymore."
Hathaway felt that he was no longer as "pure" as he had been before.
"If you're feeling lost, it might be better to keep moving."
Mitsuda understood the general nature of Hathaway's mental block.
However, he was powerless to help; some things required a wiser person to explain, or for Hathaway to find his own way out.
"I don't understand big philosophies, but if you start taking action, you might find a way to solve the problem. For instance, we could use 'sightseeing' or 'buying souvenirs' as an excuse to make good use of the enemy's resources and turn them into funds for our operations."
As he spoke, Mitsuda stepped forward and patted Hathaway on the shoulder.
"I know it makes you uncomfortable, but after all... Hathaway, our battle can't be won on ideals alone."
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After finalizing their next steps, Hathaway asked Mitsuda for the locations of several Mafty underground safehouses in Davao... most of which were bookstores, souvenir shops, or restaurants.
The three of them stood inside a souvenir shop belonging to Mafty. Mihessia and Hathaway leafed through several souvenirs with distinct Davao characteristics.
Mitsuda, meanwhile, was discussing the amounts with the clerk to ensure the final billing appeared expensive yet somewhat reasonable.
Although the tests indicated the funds could not be tracked, no one could say for certain whether the Federation—or that new Kimberley commander Hathaway mentioned, Kenneth—would investigate. It was better to be cautious.
"So... Damien's intention is to personally conduct a single-unit decapitation strike against those high-ranking officials?"
Mihessia felt a hint of surprise at one of the operational plans Hathaway had disclosed.
"Yes. His new unit, the Zorin Soul, is said to be a 'Fifth Generation' MS, just like my dedicated unit and the Federation's new Gundam."
Hathaway placed two decent-looking souvenirs into a bag. "If that's the case, even if he encounters the Federation's new Gundam, he will have the strength to put up a fight."
"So... you intend to abandon our feint and cover plan, then?"
After a moment of thought, Mihessia grasped the pros and cons of Damien's action plan.
"It's for the best, Hathaway. At least this way, everyone's attention will be drawn to Damien, and you will be safer."
"I hope so..."
Hathaway sighed.
"Do we have any other better options?"
"In the current situation, there's nothing else besides a direct decapitation strike by breaking into Davao."
Mihessia shook her head. "Given the constraints and environment Damien envisioned, even with our newly joined MS snipers from the former Mafty army, their skill level wouldn't allow them to destroy a moving target while moving themselves under harassment."
"I understand. Then let's proceed with this operation according to Damien's ideas."
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Just as Hathaway returned to the hotel after dinner, his communicator suddenly rang.
"I figured you'd have finished dinner by this time, Hathaway."
Kenneth's voice on the other end carried a hint of a smile, while the background hum of medical equipment suggested he was still at the hospital. "I'm currently preparing to be discharged."
"Is that so? It's good that you're alright," Hathaway replied smoothly. He took his room key from the front desk and stepped into the elevator.
The 23rd floor was neither too high nor too low for this hotel, but the top floors had already been taken over by the high-ranking officials from the Haunzen.
It was an obvious target—so obvious that even Hathaway could sense something was amiss.
"By the way, Hathaway, are you heading back to the hotel now?"
As if remembering something, Kenneth asked, "I've received some news on my end that I should tell you about."
"Go ahead, I'm heading to my room now."
Hathaway didn't break his stride. With the communicator held to his ear with his right hand and a bag in his left, he walked toward the room the front desk had assigned him.
"You remember Gigi Andalusia from the Haunzen, right?"
"The one you, the 'master of romance,' failed to hit on?" Hathaway arrived in front of his room and took out his key.
"Could you stop bringing up my failures..."
Kenneth, who had just finished dressing and getting off his hospital bed, sighed. He accidentally strained the wound on his right arm, causing his face to contort in pain.
"Listen to me. The passengers from the Haunzen have been assigned to rooms on the 20th floor and above, and everything from the 20th floor up consists of luxury two-bedroom suites. Although your luggage has already been sent up, for some reason, that Gigi requested to stay with you..."
As Kenneth was explaining, he heard a woman's scream over the receiver, followed by Hathaway's heavy sigh.
"...Hathaway?"
"You're too late, Kenneth."
Catching a glimpse of Gigi changing clothes in the living room, Hathaway sighed, closed the door, and walked toward the other vacant bedroom belonging to his suite.
"I've already seen her."
"Well... good luck, Hathaway. A woman like Gigi is more than you can handle."
Kenneth could likely imagine the awkwardness of the scene, but he soon let out a couple of chuckles.
"But, let me be clear—I'm not going to stop pursuing her."
"After all, a woman like her is the only kind I find interesting to chase."
"...Whatever you say."
Maintaining his persona as a man of few words, Hathaway gave a brief response and switched off the communicator.
To be honest, Hathaway did not want to have anything to do with a woman like Gigi right now. Even from that brief encounter aboard the Haunzen, he could sense that she was the same kind of woman as Quess Paraya.
Having personally shot Quess in the past had already caused him immense agony, let alone considering his current identity... Hathaway didn't dare to gamble.
He was walking a tightrope; when facing the Federation, not even the slightest mistake was permitted.
Hathaway glanced at an email on his communicator that looked like a research paper. He quickly scrolled to the final page of citations and opened the book he carried with him—the one regarding the Botanical Observer examination.
This work, written by Hathaway's mentor, served as the codebook for communication between Hathaway and his comrades.
It was simple but effective. To an outsider, it looked like Hathaway was discussing academic issues with others.
It was a painstaking task for Mihessia, who had to use various strange grammatical structures combined with copy-pasting to piece together over ten thousand words just to produce one "paper."
After Hathaway finished decoding the information within, he switched off the communicator and lay back on the bed.
Now, everything was in Damien's hands.
Knock, knock, knock...
Suddenly, there was a knock at Hathaway's bedroom door.
"Hathaway, may I come in?"
Gigi's voice drifted in—delicate, carrying an inexplicably sweet undertone.
"Ever since we were on the Haunzen, I've wanted to talk with you a bit."
"I feel like... you might be a little more interesting than the others."
A troublesome one has arrived—that was Hathaway's only thought at that moment.
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