Chapter 31
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31
The moment I arrived at Cracia Academy, I felt eyes gathering on me. Students walking to and fro around the airfield were watching. A quiet curiosity lingered in their gazes.
'They must find it strange to see Giselle Custoria and me getting off together.'
The Custoria Family was one of the Empire's most prestigious houses. As the daughter of the Family Head, Giselle was bound to be a prominent figure within the academy.
"The identification color for academy students is purple—low saturation."
Giselle, walking ahead of me, spoke without so much as glancing back. She tapped her terminal a few times.
Bzzzt.
A brief current ran through Giselle's coat. As the electrochromic function activated, her clothes shifted to a shade of purple. Come to think of it, though the students' outfits varied in style, they all shared that same consistent purple.
"Hmm, nice color," I said with a shrug. The Imperial Guard Cadet uniform was a plain, dull gray.
"Don't you even have a color-changing function?"
This young lady seemed to think color-changing functions came standard on every piece of clothing.
"Cadets have no need for it."
"...I didn't expect you to show up without even this much preparation."
"I suppose so. My apologies," I replied half-heartedly. At my hollow words, Giselle's face twisted with frustration. Watching her react was actually quite amusing.
No matter how prideful a young lady she was, she wouldn't dare openly defy her formidable father. That was why, despite venting all her annoyance, she was silently playing the role of my guide.
"Follow me. I'll take you to the dormitory where you'll be staying for the time being."
I followed Giselle, taking in the academy grounds as we went.
'Cracia Academy...'
It struck me anew that I was now standing on the same ground as people of high birth. Unlike the bleak training center, the landscaping here was beautifully maintained. As we passed the garden, a towering statue of the First Emperor came into view. An inscription of praise was carved into its base:
Praise Dino Cracia, Emperor of the Empire, Father of the Nation, and Guardian of Humanity.
I turned my head. Every single student passing by was using a high-end prosthetic body. And not high-end merely for the output—these were luxury prosthetics of exquisite craftsmanship. I even spotted custom-made, hand-crafted units that bore no factory model name at all. I couldn't begin to estimate what those would cost.
The noble students' prosthetics made none of the typical mechanical noises. Their artificial skin was rendered in meticulous detail, down to every last sweat gland, and on the shoulders of one student exercising shirtless, not even a seam was visible.
As I passed the sports field, I spotted a familiar face. At the same time, he saw me too.
"Ah, Luka!"
He was an Imperial Guard Cadet, dispatched here just like me. His name was Felix Eigen. The Eigen family was also a highly prestigious house—which was probably why he seemed to know so many people at the academy.
Felix, who had been surrounded by acquaintances, broke away and approached me. He clearly meant to talk.
I checked Giselle's expression. She stood waiting with a blank face. She, too, seemed to have recognized Felix Eigen's status and showed no intention of interrupting.
"Lady Giselle Custoria, we have met once before. I am Felix Eigen, an Imperial Guard Cadet from the same class as Luka. May I speak with him for a moment?"
Felix bowed slightly, one hand over his chest. At his polite manner, Giselle returned the courtesy.
She stepped aside to give the two of us some space. I felt like I could finally breathe.
"To think the young lady of the Custoria family is glued to your side—guess those rumors are true."
"Don't even get me started. I'd have rather come alone. But what rumors?"
I had a vague idea, but I asked anyway.
"That the Captain is giving you special treatment. He's openly favoring you now—putting his own daughter at your side, no less."
"She's such a handful I can hardly believe she's the Captain's daughter. Looked down on me the moment we met. If we were outside these walls, I'd have broken her nose by now."
Felix burst out laughing at my grumbling. It wasn't that the two of us were especially close.
But we had spent three years together as cadets. We'd been through every kind of hardship, sometimes even trusting each other with our lives. Because of that, cadets of the same class could speak freely with one another, regardless of background.
"I didn't expect you to be dispatched to Cracia Academy. This place is a different world from the training center—you'll run into a lot of awkward situations. Giselle won't be the only one acting hostile."
Felix was alluding to my background. It was reasonable advice, offered not out of malice or contempt but pure goodwill. None of our classmates looked down on me for where I came from.
But at Cracia Academy, there would surely be no shortage of idiots who would. I had expected as much.
"I didn't want to come either. But it was an order."
"If it's an order, there's nothing you can do. Still, it's strange he sent you specifically. Then again, look at it this way—it makes sense. The Captain wants you to get a taste of noble society. For your future. After all, the people you'll be dealing with down the line are nobles."
Felix's insight was sharp. He was mostly right. The Captain intended to acclimate me to noble society.
"Ha, or maybe the Captain just wanted to watch me get into trouble."
I tried to laugh it off. Felix smiled and gave my shoulder a light pat.
"Cut the crap. No matter how tough the Captain is, he has to cherish his own daughter. And yet Giselle Custoria is right there beside you. Maybe he's angling to take you in as a son-in-law."
Felix's deduction landed unnervingly close to the truth. There was a secret agreement between the Captain and me: in exchange for monitoring Kinuan, I would be brought into the Custoria family.
'Except as an adopted son, not a son-in-law...'
And even if we entertained the son-in-law scenario, I couldn't stand women like Giselle. My own temperament wasn't exactly pleasant either—so what would happen if my spouse had an equally foul temper? Just imagining it was horrifying.
"Luka, so you're heading to the academy dormitory, then?" Felix asked, looking a little worried.
"Will going to the dormitory cause problems?"
"Not exactly... but if you want, you don't have to stay there. You could stay with me during the dispatch. I have a house in Akbaran and an aerial vehicle for the commute."
I caught his meaning.
"Ah, so the dormitory's where the poor stay."
"Yeah. Nobles in name only and folks from the Lower Districts. That's why the other students don't think much of the place."
Even knowing Giselle was waiting, I talked with Felix for a good while. He offered far more useful information than my supposed guide ever had.
In any case, I had no interest in getting on Giselle's good side. As long as Felix was here, she wouldn't dare cut in.
The dormitory could be summed up simply. It was where people from the Lower Districts whose talents had been recognized—people like me—and the children of fallen families had no choice but to stay. With their finances, they couldn't afford a place in the Upper District.
I rested my chin in my hand, thinking, then shook my head.
"...Thanks for the offer. But honestly, it makes me want to go there even more. The Captain probably didn't expect me to have an easy time at the academy anyway."
"Figured you'd turn me down. I only offered to score some points with you."
Felix backed off easily. He and the rest of our classmates knew my personality well.
I chatted with him a bit longer before getting ready to leave. Felix had generously shared everything I'd need for academy life. I had a feeling we'd end up much closer by the time this dispatch was over.
"One last thing... Luka, did you get that part modified?"
I felt Felix's gaze drop. Following it, I looked down at my own crotch.
"Here? No, not yet."
Only my limbs, right eye, and part of my hip joint were prosthetic. As if he'd expected that answer, Felix rummaged through his pockets.
"Dispatched cadets are traditionally very popular with the ladies."
Felix smiled meaningfully as he pressed something into my palm. I looked down to see what it was.
...A contraceptive.
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
* * *
The Cracia Academy dormitory was a clean white building. Four stories tall but sprawling horizontally, with over a hundred windows visible at a single glance. Looking at its exterior, it was hard to believe fallen nobles and lower-class citizens lived here.
Then again, Cracia Academy was one of the Empire's premier institutions. There wouldn't be a single detail they'd left unattended.
"From here on, the Dormitory Head and the androids will guide you. And this is my terminal's unique ID," Giselle said, showing me her terminal screen.
"Exchanging numbers? I thought you couldn't stand me," I replied indifferently.
"If anything happens while you're living at the academy, contact me. I have no intention of neglecting the duty my father assigned me."
So Giselle possessed some sense of responsibility after all. My opinion of her rose a fraction. Of course, it was like adding a single drop of ink to a lake.
"I doubt I'll have much reason to call you, though," I said. It wasn't a joke; I meant it.
"I hope so too."
With those parting words, Giselle turned and walked back the way she'd come.
Putting her out of my mind, I looked up at the dormitory I'd be calling home for the next two months. As I stepped inside, an android bowed to me.
The interior was every bit as clean as the exterior. Androids were stationed on every floor, handling all the minor chores.
– This is your assigned room, Mr. Luka. If you require anything further...
"No, I'm good. This place is practically a palace."
I dismissed the android.
'Is this really where fallen nobles and lower-class citizens live?'
That was my first thought as I stepped inside. It was twice the size of the room I'd used at the training center. A large window looked out over the grounds, and beneath it sat a stylish four-person sofa. Across from it, a display took up an entire wall.
"The best really is on another level."
There were several academies across the Empire. The finest among them was, naturally, Cracia Academy—the one that bore the Emperor's name.
'A place for those who aren't suited to be soldiers but possess outstanding talent.'
Irregulars who excelled in fields different from mine came here. To be honest, I was a little excited. I thought we might turn out to have a lot in common.
My schedule for the day was empty. According to the android, the Dormitory Head would come find me once classes ended.
Until then, I planned to clear my head.
Slide.
I sat on the floor and regulated my breathing. Even without sleep, meditation speeds the recovery of the brain and nervous system. Unlike sleep, which leaves you groggy as consciousness returns, meditation lets you exert peak concentration the moment you finish.
In other words, mental discipline was essential for handling high-performance prosthetics, which rapidly built up nervous-system fatigue.
Time slipped by as I meditated.
Before long, I heard footsteps beyond the door. A human, not an android. I opened my eyes and rose to my feet.
Checking the time, it was indeed the hour for the Dormitory Head's visit.
I stood in front of the door before she could even ring the bell. The instant the sensor recognized me, the door slid open.
"Ah, a-ah... H-hello! I-I'm the Dormitory Head."
A woman about a head shorter than me spoke, flustered. She looked thoroughly startled. Feeling a little awkward myself, I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Uh, I'm Luka. An Imperial Guard Cadet dispatched here."
I studied her as I spoke. She wore clothing in the purple color scheme, but the sleeves and collar were badly worn. Above all, her limbs were biological—not prosthetic. No trace of cybernetic parts or implants.
'She's not a noble.'
Her tone lacked the stiffness and elegance typical of the highborn.
"N-nice to meet you, Mr. Luka. I'm Barbara."
As I'd guessed, no surname. Not all lower-class citizens lacked one, but the absence of a surname was a sure sign of low birth. Sometimes, when names overlapped and caused confusion, they'd simply invent a surname they liked.
"No need to be nervous. I'm from the Lower District too."
"Ah, so those rumors were true. That's incredible. Rising all the way from the Lower District to become an Imperial Guard Cadet."
Being recognized always felt good.
"Just call me Luka. And I'm not the only one who clawed their way out of the Lower District. You got into the Empire's top institution too, Barbara. And being Dormitory Head on top of that—that's quite an achievement."
I offered the compliment sincerely. Barbara fidgeted, at a loss for what to do with herself, before letting out a laugh.
I found myself warming to Barbara. Nothing romantic. Just a sense of kinship, born from sharing the same lower-class roots.
'Barbara must have poured everything into getting here—just like me.'
That alone was enough to make me see her in a favorable light.
Barbara closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and exhaled. Then she opened them and rattled off her lines.
"Follow me, Luka. I'll walk you through the dormitory now. No refusals allowed! It's the Dormitory Head's duty."
It seemed like something she'd rehearsed in advance to come across as clever.
I nodded and followed her out into the hallway. Walking behind her, I caught a pleasant scent, like she'd just showered, drifting from her bright reddish-blonde hair. Sure enough, traces of moisture still clung to it. She must have washed up very recently.
'Classes just let out, yet she's already showered. She must have been pressed for time...'
The instinct honed by Akies Victima kicked in on its own. A strange sense of wrongness washed over me. But if Barbara was simply a diligent sort, that would explain it well enough.