Apparently, I was a clone.
I was supposed to be Tatiana.
I’d gone from being a recruit in the Delta Baron Territory Defense Force to a Private Second Class in the Imperial Army. I was pretty sure I’d only been promoted to Private First Class the day before I died.
They called it a special measure because all the higher-ups had kicked the bucket, so they made me a Private First Class.
I was the eldest of five siblings.
But those were the memories of the original Tatiana. They weren't mine. Socially, though, we were supposedly the same person.
My family had supposedly been maids for some Marquis house originally. But that shitty old hag—my grandmother—who died recently, slept with the head of the house or his son and popped out a brat.
Marrying into nobility and getting a happy ending only happens in stories. It was the same for the old hag.
They told her, "Leave the kid and get out," so she apparently stabbed the guy with a kitchen knife and fled to a colony. After that, the shitty old hag raised my old hag... oops, you won't know who's who if I call them both that. She raised my mother.
But you see, the bad parts of parents are hereditary. My mother also got pregnant by some colony mafia brat. That was me.
There was no way a low-life mafia member was going to raise a kid, so my mother was abandoned as soon as she gave birth to me. After that, she drifted from man to man, cranking out kid after kid with different fathers. Those were my siblings—two girls and two boys.
And so, in the midst of extreme poverty, I turned fifteen. The old hag told me to sell my body, so I joined the local military instead. I figured the old hag could just rot, but my brothers and sisters were innocent. I thought I’d work for a bit, and once my life was stable, I’d take them in.
You didn't really die in the defense force unless pirates showed up.
...But then, one day, the Zorks came, and half of us died. I managed to survive and kept fighting. Just when I thought I was about done for, the Imperial Army showed up.
Ah, I won't have to die after all.
While I was feeling relieved, the Imperial Army invited me to join. Man, the food bought with the country's money was delicious! And even if you died, they paid out. It was an amount equal to about a lifetime's worth for a colony prostitute. Prostitutes can't even live until they're forty, after all. With that money, I could send my sisters to a decent school in the capital city.
Blessings, blessings. Even though I’d been happy about not dying just a moment ago, now my head was filled with thoughts of dying. In short, I just hated the idea of dying in vain. Yeah, yeah, let’s just die quickly and become fertilizer for the family.
That was how it was supposed to be!
"You bastard, Claude! Don't you dare die before you pay me back, you idiot!"
Those were my first words upon being revived. The base had been attacked, and I’d died in a flash. A crab monster had eaten me head-first. The sound of my skull cracking was still fresh in my memories.
Claude, who was in the same unit, apparently didn't want to be revived. He wasn't there. Give me back the five hundred credits I lent you yesterday, you moron.
After cursing him in my heart, I calmed down and questioned the medical technician in front of me.
"Uh, technician. Why was I revived? I marked 'do not want' for the clone treatment."
"It was the wish of your family. Cloning is a procedure for the family, not for yourself."
"Um... what about the military death benefits?"
"They were used for the clone treatment."
"Damn it! That shitty old hag!!!"
Are you stupid?! Use the money from the military to give my sisters a good life! Enraged, I burst out of the room and headed for the refugee camp where the displaced residents were being sheltered.
"You! You old hag!!!"
When I entered the tent, the old hag and my sisters were there.
"Ah, Big Sister! Thank goodness! We heard that you died in the line of duty. We told them we didn't need the money from the military—we just wanted you to come back to life!"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! It was you!!! That money was for you guys!!! Old hag! You should have stopped them!
Then the old hag clung to me, weeping. "Tatiana... thank goodness! Don't push yourself anymore! I'll work hard, I promise!"
I lost the will to even hit her. I was already a different person from the previous me. Why couldn't they have said that kind of stuff before I died?
Unable to bear being there, I fled back to the base. Just then, the results of my ESP test came out. Apparently, I was a rare type of esper. Because of that, I was ordered to be reassigned to military headquarters... and I was saved! That was how I ended up being stationed on the Imperial Capital Planet.
A few days after the test, I had an interview with a high-ranking officer.
"Well... look, Private First Class Tatiana. I'm sorry, but let me explain the situation. You have become an esper that we have positioned as an ultimate weapon of destruction."
"So I'm going to the front lines? Please make sure the death benefits are paid out next time."
Can't be helped. I'll just go die quickly one more time.
"That's not it. The military wants to increase the number of Jesters. I am very sorry, but... we want you to bear the child of Captain Kamishiro, who is a fellow Jester."
"No thanks. I joined the military because I didn't want to be a prostitute, so isn't this the same as selling my body?"
"Right. I think so too. But... the survival of humanity is at stake..."
"You're talking big, aren't you? Besides, isn't Captain Kamishiro's wife an Imperial Princess? No matter how many lives I have, it won't be enough."
"That is true, but without Jesters, we cannot win against the Zorks. In fact, your home planet must have turned into a hellscape."
"Look, I have my own preferences too. Personally, I like the yankee type who's strong in a fight..."
Then the officer sent over a photo. It was a young man, naked from the waist up, with a mischievous face. Whoa, this looked way better than the ones in the military PR photos. He had amazing muscles—his abs were perfectly shredded. He wasn't the gorilla-macho type I preferred, but I was practically drooling.
"...Well, well, this is a wonderful thing... wait, no! Someone that handsome? A short, ugly, flat-chested bitch with a nasty personality like me wouldn't stand a chance!"
"Please rest assured regarding that. It has been discovered that Captain Leo Kamishiro gets excited by women who look like they'd be in the same class, rather than models or actresses—girls who are, if anything, unremarkable."
"Did you just indirectly call me ugly?"
A voice so low even I was surprised by it came out of my mouth.
"N-No, you said it yourself just now..."
"Shut uuuuuuuup! The magnitude of the damage is totally different when you say it yourself versus when someone else says it!!!"
"Wh-What?!"
"Anyway, no thanks!"
"You'll be rewarded."
"With what?"
"A massive reward."
A sample of the amount was sent to me. Eh? I could send all my sisters to schools in the Imperial Capital and still have plenty left over. Wait, I can get Imperial Capital citizenship too? Are you serious?
"...I'm in."
That was how I ended up taking on the impossible game of seducing Captain Kamishiro. Drop dead.
Later, I froze. Was it because I met Leo Kamishiro and he was even more handsome in person? No. Was it because I was irritated by the happy-go-lucky attitude of the group of rich boys? No. Was I bullied by the noble girls? No.
"Why... why are you guys such hard workers?"
I encountered Leo Kamishiro in the hallway wearing an apron. Apparently, he was cleaning the boys' toilet. ...You're a Captain, right? You're the squad leader, right?
"It's my turn, after all♪"
This squad was weird. Normally, units at the bottom would spend their free time drinking or playing around. But here, every single member of the squad was studying for qualifications or entrance exams for the military university during their spare time.
"Why are you so dedicated to studying?" I asked Captain Leo.
With an expression of pure void plastered on his face, he said, "If we don't increase the things we can do, we'll die."
What was with this squad? Was this the invincible Hound Squad? They were also proactive about basic training and using simulators. It was strange. I thought I knew the world better than the pampered boys of the Officer Academy.
But right now, I was in the middle of being taught how to iron by Kevin.
"Now, make sure there are no wrinkles♪"
My hands, which were suffering from full-body muscle pain from training, trembled.
"Do we do this once a week?"
"Every day♪ The Officer Academy is strict about clothing, after all♪ Let's do our best!"
What the hell! They're way too strict about clothes here! And what's with those huge boobs?! Even though he's a colony citizen! Even though he has a name like a guy! Damn it, he has a cute face too, and he smells good! There isn't a single part of me that can win!
What the hell! No matter how I look at it, trying to seduce Leo Kamishiro is an impossible game!!!