Chapter 92: SEED – Desert Tiger 1
After saying a few words, Natarle Badgiruel left together with the people of the Dawn Desert.
Only Tolle Koenig and Kira Yamato were left behind, still in a daze.
Seeing that the two hadn't followed her, Cagalli Yula Athha, looking furious, snapped at them.
"What are you standing there spacing out for? No matter what, aren't you supposed to be my bodyguards?"
Kira Yamato was still staring blankly at the surroundings and murmured quietly.
"Is this really the Desert Tiger's stronghold? It looks so peaceful… so lively."
Tolle Koenig nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, there are good people and bad people, even in ZAFT.
No matter how many bad people ZAFT has, there have to be at least a few good ones too.
Besides, I feel like the Earth Alliance has even more bad people!"
Hearing their words, Cagalli Yula Athha grew displeased and said impatiently, "Follow me."
She led herself and Kira Yamato to a spot where ordinary houses stood beside ruined rubble.
Looking at the pitted ground and the crumbling remains of buildings, she said,
"Even if it looks peaceful, all of this is fake!"
Then, glancing at a ZAFT land battleship not far away, she continued,
"That is the true ruler of this city. Anyone who disobeys their orders will be mercilessly killed.
This place belongs to ZAFT—it's the territory of the Desert Tiger."
Tolle Koenig cast a glance around, and sure enough, he spotted the Desert Tiger—Andrew Waltfeld—sitting on a chair outside a nearby restaurant.
He made sure not to let his gaze linger, quickly sweeping the area instead, pretending not to notice.
But deep down, he knew Andrew Waltfeld must have already recognized Kira Yamato. After all, with Cagalli being such a glaring lightbulb here, how could he not?
Golden hair, and during the previous attack on the Desert Tiger, he hadn't even bothered to disguise himself—no way he'd go unnoticed.
Still, Andrew likely hadn't figured out yet whether it was him or Kira who piloted the Strike Gundam.
Very quickly, however, Cagalli Yula Athha turned both him and Kira into free labor.
She went shopping everywhere, while he and Kira were reduced to little more than baggage carriers.
Tolle Koenig felt certain Cagalli was taking revenge on him. Otherwise, how come although the number of bags on him and Kira was about the same, all the heavy ones ended up on his side?
Forced to release part of his strength limiter, he gritted his teeth and decided to see this part of the story through, otherwise his being here would be for nothing.
Even as he carried the bags, he kept an eye on Natarle Badgiruel's progress in case of emergencies.
But she was already making contact and had smoothly struck up a conversation—the procurement of supplies shouldn't be a problem.
By noon, the three sat down outside a restaurant, dumping the large pile of shopping bags Cagalli had bought onto the ground.
It happened to be the same restaurant where Andrew Waltfeld was sitting, which made Tolle inwardly excited—looked like he wasn't going to miss this scene after all.
Kira Yamato collapsed in his chair, exhausted.
"So, we've pretty much bought everything now, right?"
Tolle Koenig, putting on an energetic look, flexed his arm muscles and said,
"Kira, you're weak. Look at me, not even tired at all. It's because of my martial arts training—when we get back, I'll teach you."
"Ugh, let's rest first. Shopping is too tiring, I don't want to move."
Cagalli Yula Athha shook the shopping list in irritation.
"But seriously, that girl Flay is just too much. Lotion, cosmetics—how could this place possibly have stuff like that?"
Kira Yamato, embarrassed, said, "Sorry… I made you go through all that trouble."
Because of Tolle Koenig's interference, the scene where Kira Yamato beat up Sai Argyle never happened. Flay Allster wasn't frightened either, so she didn't end up staring at him with terrified eyes.
As a result, Kira Yamato didn't spend the night inside the Strike Gundam, but instead continued sleeping intimately with Flay Allster.
What's more, Tolle had even taught him various different positions—their relationship was now far better than it originally was.
Just then, the Turkish kebabs Cagalli had ordered were ready. The waiter brought out three portions at once.
Kira Yamato, who had never seen this dish before, asked Cagalli Yula Athha curiously,
"What's this?"
"This is Turkish kebab. Ugh, I'm so tired and hungry! Here, you eat some too. Add some chili sauce—try it, it's delicious."
Suddenly, Andrew Waltfeld stepped up, grabbing a bottle of yogurt sauce and speaking to Kira Yamato.
"Hold it right there! Chili sauce on Turkish kebab? Common sense says you should use yogurt sauce.
Rather than 'common sense,' let's just say…
Oh right, without yogurt sauce, you're practically insulting the dish."
Cagalli Yula Athha retorted impatiently, "Who do you think you are? A total stranger has no right to lecture me on how I eat my food!"
Then she poured chili sauce all over her kebab, rolled it up, and took huge bites, deliberately putting on an expression of sheer enjoyment.
She even exaggeratedly said, "So delicious!"
Andrew Waltfeld turned his head away in mock terror, as if unable to bear the sight of a chili-covered kebab.
"Horrifying…"
Cagalli Yula Athha then held the chili sauce bottle out toward Kira Yamato.
"You should try some too—adding chili sauce to kebab is the true way!"
Andrew Waltfeld immediately objected. "Wait a second! You can't lead him down such a twisted path!"
Kira Yamato froze, looking helplessly at Tolle Koenig for support.
He knew that while the choice of sauce for kebabs seemed trivial, for him it marked an important turning point.
Especially since his later conversation with Waltfeld would profoundly influence his actions—he couldn't afford to disrupt it.
All Tolle could do was shake his head at Kira, indicating he had no answer either.
As Andrew Waltfeld and Cagalli Yula Athha continued arguing, they carelessly ended up pouring both sauces onto Kira's kebab.
And so, Kira Yamato returned to the original path—wearing an awkward expression as he took a bite of the kebab now slathered in both sauces.
"Mm… the mixed flavor isn't bad either."
Both Cagalli Yula Athha and Andrew Waltfeld shook their heads in disapproval.
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)