Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 230 Is it really getting better...?

"Damn it, where is that lady?!"

It was another workday, and Jimmy drove to the park as usual, but he wasn't there for lunch. Instead, he wanted to find the blonde woman that Mr. Cardo was obsessed with.

As a young man who only thinks about acting recklessly in the face of trouble, Jimmy decided that he should still help Mr. Cardo, even if he was turned away. It was better than watching Mr. Cardo become more and more depressed.

To Jimmy's surprise, he came to find no one there. Because her good friend had to work overtime, Nina did not come to the park to eat alone, but chose to eat at the company cafeteria. For Nina, who was stationed in the office, there was no difference between eating in the cafeteria and eating outside. In fact, she could eat a wider variety of dishes at the company cafeteria.

Having lunch in the garden was simply to spend time with her good friend. Mora, a test engineer, needed to spend long periods of time in cramped spaces, so having lunch in a spacious garden was her daily way of passing the time.

Meanwhile, Anaheim was working overtime these past few days on the Federation Army's military restructuring plan, so Mora didn't have time to come out for a meal, and Nina didn't show up either.

This was tough on Jimmy. He came every day to stake out Nina, and he even missed lunch. His hurried appearance was noticed by Kado, who secretly followed Jimmy and discovered that the other man was staking out the park alone.

This touched Kado somewhat. After all, in the past, his comrades-in-arms, whom he regarded as his own, had been torturing and tormenting him. But now, Jimmy, who had nothing to do with him and was merely a hired hand, was worrying about him.

This was like a small comfort to Kado's barren heart, and it seemed that heaven had given him a chance. Soon, after Jimmy had waited for who knows how many times, he finally saw the beautiful blonde woman.

"Go for it, Jimmy, you can do it!"

After cheering himself up, Jimmy checked his appearance in the rearview mirror. Although his work clothes were old, they were clean enough, and his face wasn't dirty. However, to make sure he made a good impression, he wiped his face with a wet wipe and then walked toward the two people who were having lunch.

Perhaps he was too nervous, because when he stepped onto the lawn he tripped over a small hole, and then Jimmy rolled forward and landed at Nina's feet.

"Um, are you okay?"

Seeing the unfortunate child covered in grass dust after being thrown around, with one hand dangling behind his back, Nina was startled and immediately inquired about Jimmy's condition.

Just as Jimmy was about to say he was fine, he discovered that his left arm had twisted at an unusual angle.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

"My arm!"

Good news, Jimmy's pickup line was a success; bad news, he broke his left arm while doing it!

Jimmy was no longer in the mood to chat, because he had three more trips to make that afternoon.

"Kid, don't look so upset. No bones are broken. I've put it in temporary immobilization for you. Go to the hospital for a check-up, and you'll be fine in a month or two!"

Mora, whom Jimmy had always treated like a man, promptly offered her help. She provided initial treatment for Jimmy, using a handkerchief she carried with her to immobilize his arm and prevent further injury.

But I still have to work this afternoon!

"Where's your boss? Call him, I'll talk to him!"

Mora stretched out his large hand and slapped Jimmy's intact right shoulder, making him stagger.

So, Kado, who was busy at the company, was called to the scene. When he saw the blonde woman standing there waiting for him, Kado was unusually embarrassed. Although he already knew what had happened, Kado did not know that Jimmy had tripped accidentally. He thought that the other party was putting on a show for him.

"You must be this child's boss!"

"Yes, I am very grateful for the help from both ladies. Thank you so much!"

"It's nothing, just a small favor. But he probably won't be able to work for a while, so you should let him rest and recover!"

"Of course. Ah, let me introduce myself first. My name is Anabelcardo. May I ask your names?"

"Just call me Nina, and this is Mora!"

"Then I thank you both again. I'll take the child to the hospital now, and I'll definitely thank you properly another day!"

After exchanging contact information, Kado took Jimmy to the hospital for treatment, and at that moment, he finally had a chance to chat with him.

"Jimmy, you really didn't have to do that!"

"Mr. Kado, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to go over and say hello, but I didn't expect to fall!"

"Oh, so this wasn't intentional?"

At this moment, Kado just wanted to slap this guy twice. Bastard, give me back my gratitude! Do you know how much business we'll lose after you break your bone?!
In the end, however, Kado could only pat the other person on the shoulder helplessly.

"You did a good job, but don't do it again next time, or I'll dock two months' salary!"

"Mr. Kado, please don't!"

Jimmy was devastated. He had come to work for Kado because the other party was willing to pay him his full salary as a minor, and he also received extra overtime pay and late-night snacks. If he lost his salary, he would be kicked out of his home by the landlord and have to sleep on the streets!

However, in the end, Kado didn't deduct Jimmy's salary, after all, he had done him a great favor.

A few days later, Kado specially chose a day when Nina was eating out and brought the two of them some fruit and desserts as a thank you gift for helping Jimmy.

After that, things went smoothly. Although Kado had gone through many hardships, he had at least held an important position in the Zeon army, so his manner of speaking and his perspective were naturally different from those of a common soldier. Therefore, he and Nina gradually became acquainted. After that, under the guise of expressing his gratitude, he invited the two women to dine at a restaurant owned by Von Braun that had decent food.

Everyone was very satisfied with the meal, and since Kado kept bringing them fruit and desserts, Nina felt bad and had no choice but to invite Kado to a restaurant instead.

After more than a month of this back and forth, the three of them had become good friends. In particular, Mora, as an observer, could see that Mr. Cardo had feelings for Nina.

Because Kado made a decent first impression, Mora didn't try to break them up. In fact, she would occasionally make a joke to tease Nina. At this time, Nina would also playfully tease her best friend with a shy expression. From a romantic point of view, this was good news!
After all, Nina didn't show any resistance to Kado. She even cared about his business and Jimmy's health. She even bought him a new water cup after noticing that the one he kept in the driver's seat was a bit worn out.

This cozy daily routine was so wonderful for Kado that he became completely absorbed in it. Every day, he would drive his truck to deliver goods, then have lunch with Nina in the park. Kado even began to dream about his bright future, perhaps living happily ever after with Nina. But just then, several of Kado's old friends came knocking on his door.

"Doug? Kyle? Is it really you?"

When he saw several familiar faces appear in front of him, Kado could hardly believe it. He rubbed his eyes hard and then opened his arms to them.

"long time no see!"

Several people rushed forward and embraced Kado, reluctant to part for a long time. Only after a long while did they let go of each other's hands and then escorted Kado towards the room.

"Jimmy, hurry, go buy some wine and food!"

"Ok!"

Seeing the way the others and Kado looked, Jimmy knew they were definitely going to have a good get-together, so he immediately took Kado's wallet and ran to buy some food and drinks. After that, Kado gave him a day off and told him to go out and have some fun!
Jimmy was eager to hear Mr. Kado's story about his old friend, but since Kado had given him a day off, Jimmy readily agreed and took his leave. Like Kado, he had recently taken a liking to a girl, and now was the perfect time to pick out a gift for her.

After seeing Jimmy off, Cardo immediately filled his glasses with wine and began to drink heartily with his old friends.

"Since...cough cough...Abaowakun...cough cough...I haven't...cough cough...seen you all!"

The strong liquor stung Kado's throat, causing him considerable pain, even making several of his companions unable to bear watching. However, Kado shook off their hands.

"No, let me have a few drinks with you all!"

As he spoke, Kado coughed, and then tears and snot streamed down his face again.

The men who came were all Kado's comrades from the Living Dead Division. Like him, they were staunch Zabi fighters. After being captured, they disappeared without a trace. Kado thought he would never see them again in his life. But unexpectedly, his old comrades came to his door!

"We found out from those middlemen!"

People like Kado who were released quickly were naturally a minority. These old comrades had been screened for a long time, and some were even sent to federal army prisons because of war crimes committed before joining the Living Dead Division. They were relatively lucky because their sinful past was covered up by the death of those who knew about it, so they were released after being imprisoned for a period of time.

Unwilling to return to their homeland, which had been occupied by the Federation and ruled by a puppet government, they had no choice but to come to the moon to make a living. However, the job market on the moon was already saturated. The large number of Federation veterans alone made business owners very happy, while it was quite difficult for these Zeon remnants to make a living.

Forget about going to any companies, even the colonial communes don't want them. The bitter consequences of the Zeon army's forced kidnapping of colonial communes and coercing them into service through their families in order to expand its military are now becoming apparent. The Zeon army's reputation in the colonial communes is so bad that it's been ruined for a thousand years.

Therefore, these people could only do the hardest and most tiring resource recycling work, which meant piloting rudimentary space engineering mechs to salvage useful resources from battlefield ruins.

This kind of work is tiring and dangerous. After all, you never know where a shell might come out with its fuse activated but not exploded. Most of the recycling companies' equipment is also very old. They simply can't afford to buy second-hand mobile suits on the market. They can only modify space capsules. Such equipment can withstand space radiation and low temperatures, but forget about defending against shells.

For these former Zeon pilots, the work of resource recovery is extremely painful!

"So, you couldn't continue working at your previous company?"

Kado thought his old comrade-in-arms had come to him because he couldn't make a living, so he immediately patted his chest and guaranteed that although he wouldn't make them rich, he would definitely not let them go hungry.

"No, Mr. Kado, it's like this!"

A veteran shook his head, looked around, and then said.

"We...we don't want to..."

"We don't want to live like this anymore!"

Seeing that the other person was choking up, the other person immediately took over the conversation.

“These days are so undignified and meaningless, Mr. Cardo, why, why do you say Zeon was defeated like this!”

Then came the sobs that could no longer be suppressed.

"How did our Zeon become like this?"

Several veterans were also in great pain. In the past, although they still had to risk their lives in the army and lived a life where they might die at any time, they were on magnificent warships and piloting powerful mobile suits. They only had to worry about how to fight every day. Unlike now, they had to be humble and subservient just to make a living. This huge contrast was the most painful thing!
"So what do you plan to do next?"

The leading veteran wiped away his tears and then spoke.

"Those middlemen have a way to hire Zeon pilots like us at high prices, so we want to try our luck!"

"what?"

Kado was also taken aback upon hearing this. Hiring Zeon pilots through such covert means would most likely be done by some anti-Federation organization. However, the Federation is now an insurmountable mountain in everyone's eyes, and relying on them is simply unrealistic.

"Mr. Kado, would you like to come along too?"

Several veterans then revealed the purpose of their visit to Cardo.

"Your driving skills are evident to all. If you were to lead us, we might actually be able to make the Federation tremble!"

"Yes, Mr. Kado!"

"But as you all know, my body is simply not capable of high-intensity combat!"

Kado was also in pain at this moment. He was the best in the whole team on the simulator, but in actual operation, his weak body held him back.

"As for my health, there's actually no problem, Mr. Cardo. It's said that the mysterious employer needs disabled veterans like us!"

(End of this chapter)