Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Cradle's Brutes (4)
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The Director’s trust in his old friend and the Cradle’s Deputy Director, Henkel Heinz, was absolute.
And that same Henkel had vehemently argued for the reform of the Cradle.
It was only natural that the Director had granted him full authority and support.
But unfortunately, that alone was not enough to reform an institution like the Cradle.
“Abandoning tradition over a single piece of writing from an unknown author! This is absurd!”
“Who are we? Are we not the Cradle, the empire’s finest squire training institution? For us to deny the very foundation of knighthood…”
“A knight who does not follow the code of chivalry is no knight at all. I can never agree to this decision.”
The Cradle’s faculty were not beings who could be suppressed by the Director’s authority alone.
Even the fame of a Zodiac Knight held little sway before them.
“Is there truly not a single way to prepare for the future while upholding tradition? No, for that matter, is the apocalypse spoken of in that preposterous text even coming?”
“The world will laugh at us if word gets out that the Cradle was swayed by a mere piece of writing!”
“At a time like this, we should be the ones leading the cadets with unwavering resolve. What are we to do if we ourselves lose our way?”
The professors harshly criticized the Director’s hasty decision.
A fierce debate ensued, with both sides’ opinions clashing sharply.
In the end, however, the Director had no choice but to take a step back.
As a result, the reforms Henkel had hoped for were reduced to a half-measure, limited only to the new cadets.
Even that was decided only after attaching the condition that it would be immediately halted if the cadets protested or the results were unsatisfactory.
“If the results are not favorable, someone will have to take responsibility.”
The opposing professors, who had butchered the reform plan, even put the Director’s position on the negotiating table.
“Fine, I’ll take responsibility.”
The Director accepted all conditions on the spot.
“My apologies. I should have prepared more carefully to minimize any discord, even if it took more time. My impatience has burdened you as well, Director…”
Henkel seemed to feel guilty about it, but the Director paid it no mind.
“If things go south, I’ll just quit the directorship and retire to the countryside. What’s all the fuss? I’m a Zodiac Knight, after all. If I step down, it’s the Cradle’s loss, not mine.”
He had never been particularly attached to the position of Director in the first place.
Besides, his resignation hadn’t been decided just yet.
“Let’s think positively. At least the operating committee is quiet, right?”
The operating committee, which oversaw the Cradle’s major policies, had not expressed any particular stance on the matter.
For the two men who desired change, it was a stroke of immense luck.
If the operating committee had decided to raise objections, their plans would have likely been thwarted before they could even attempt anything.
“More importantly, did you relay my message to Professor Dieter Liesner as I asked?”
He had his own reasons for confidence.
“Yes. I told him that if he just sets the stage, Group 3 will take care of the rest.”
“Then that’s settled. Now, we wait.”
He firmly believed that Group 3—or more accurately, one cadet in Group 3—would show them something.
“Isn’t that an overly heavy burden for a cadet who has yet to even have his coming-of-age ceremony?”
“That same cadet who has yet to even have his coming-of-age ceremony is the only one who has tried to do something to find an answer while we’ve been wasting our time. Whether that answer is right or wrong, we’ll only know by seeing the results.”
At those words, the Deputy Director nodded in agreement.
He certainly wouldn’t have thought of such an unconventional training method himself.
“And I told you before, didn’t I? I have a feeling that kid will show us something.”
“There you go with your feelings again.”
“Just trust me this time.”
And so, the day of the Silver Eagle Class’s group competition arrived.
The cadets were unaware, but Dieter Liesner was not the sole observer of this session.
Through a closed-circuit camera installed in an inconspicuous location, the results of the group competition were being transmitted in real-time to the conference room.
Most of the professors, excluding a few who couldn’t reschedule their classes, had gathered to watch the Silver Eagle Class’s group competition.
“A no-rules group battle,”
“How undignified. It goes against the code of chivalry.”
“At this rate, isn’t this tantamount to the Cradle itself tarnishing the cadets’ honor?”
The opposing professors were full of complaints from the very start.
As they spoke, their eyes were sharp.
It seemed they were determined to find any fault in this competition to build a case against the reforms.
However, the Director and Deputy Director also had their own hopes for this group competition.
They too hoped it would become the justification for their reforms.
And that justification was none other than…
The victory of Group 3.
Group 1 and Group 2, composed of outstanding cadets.
Group 3, made up entirely of problem children with various major and minor disqualifying factors.
The former were cadets who adhered to the traditional, chivalry-based methods, while the latter were cadets who stubbornly tried new methods amidst the criticism of those around them.
If Group 3 were to win this group competition, it would be more than enough to serve as a justification for the reforms.
And the result came.
—Group 1 eliminated!
Group 3 had achieved an overwhelming victory against Group 1, the most likely candidate to win.
For the opposing professors, who had naturally expected Group 1 to win, the result was shocking in many ways.
“This is unacceptable! Such cunning, exploiting their opponents’ sense of fair play!”
“And what is that dogfight! Even mercenaries on the battlefield have more pride than that!”
“Is such a pride-less, classless fight truly what you envisioned, Director!”
But the opposing professors’ stance did not change.
If anything, they expressed their opposition to the reforms with even greater vehemence than before.
“It’s not over yet. Isn’t it a bit premature?”
Though he tried to sound composed as he addressed the opposing professors, the Director was just as shocked.
He had never imagined they would seize the initiative by exploiting the chivalric principle of not drawing one’s sword on an opponent’s back.
However, he had no intention of revealing his inner thoughts and giving the opposition an opening.
He could only hope that this time, Group 3 would show something different than they had against Group 1.
Fortunately, it was unlikely that Group 3 would use the same method twice.
Not only would the same trick hardly work a second time, but Group 1 and Group 2 were fundamentally different in nature.
Prestigious families and prestigious knight orders.
Though both were prestigious, there was a clear difference between them.
The former preferred to maximize their offensive power based on individual skill, while the latter placed a relatively greater emphasis on balancing both offense and defense.
Of course, there were exceptions, like Lian Kart of Group 3, whose family was the Iron Wall Kart, or Amelia Justice of Group 2 from the Judiciary Knights, but that was the general tendency.
A glance at the equipment of Group 1 and Group 2 made this clear.
Group 1, led by Bern Vigete and other cadets from prominent families, had not brought shields to this group competition.
In contrast, Group 2, composed mostly of cadets from knight orders, with the exception of Hummel, were mostly armed with swords and shields.
—Close the gap.
At the command of Group 2’s leader, Amelia Justice, the cadets narrowed their distance.
It wasn’t quite a phalanx of heavy infantry, but the formation was considerably tight.
Indeed, with a formation like that, it would be difficult to create space for a melee.
A reckless charge would likely result in being struck by a shield and sent flying back.
It was a clever response.
As long as they remained hunkered down like that, it would be difficult for Group 3 to break through Group 2.
Especially now that all their tricks had been exposed.
—Forward!
Nevertheless, Group 3 did not hesitate.
*Thud, thud, thud.*
The cadets of Group 3 began to run toward Group 2’s formation.
“……?”
But something about their charge seemed strange.
Their path was skewed to one side, as if they were drunk.
Perhaps the accumulated impact from the fight with Group 1 had affected their sense of balance.
That was what everyone assumed.
But they were wrong.
“……!”
It was only after a considerable time had passed since the first clash that the professors finally realized.
And by then, a crack had already formed in Group 2’s once-solid line.
A formation rotated at an angle.
The cadets on the right flank were pushed forward, while those on the left were forced back.
Group 3 did not let the exposed flanks of Group 2’s cadets go unpunished.
—Ugh!
—Gah!
Struck on their unguarded sides, the cadets of Group 2 let out successive groans.
Before long, their formation completely collapsed, and a melee erupted.
And a melee was Group 3’s greatest weapon.
Unable to properly respond to Group 3’s cadets, who struck out at will without fixed opponents, the cadets of Group 2 were eliminated one after another.
“Unbelievable. To collapse so easily even in formation?”
“What in the world just happened?”
In response to someone’s question, the professor in charge of tactics and strategy answered with a grim expression.
“An infantry phalanx armed with spears and shields is bound to rotate as a battle drags on. The space covered by a shield is, at best, the left half of the body. The other half must rely on the soldier to the right. Soldiers unconsciously press closer to the soldier on their right to protect their unshielded half. As a result, the right side of the formation juts forward, while the left side falls back.”
It was a principle known to any knight who had commanded on a battlefield.
“But they are Esquires, not common soldiers. They are different from faint-hearted soldiers.”
“Furthermore, they possess the ability and equipment to protect themselves. Their shields are much larger than those of infantrymen. Large enough to completely cover their bodies.”
“The rotation phenomenon in an infantry phalanx occurs when the battle is prolonged. Not enough time has passed for that. Besides, isn’t it a stretch to treat Group 2’s line, which has no support from behind, the same as a phalanx?”
A flurry of rebuttals immediately followed.
“That’s right. They are not common soldiers. Nor is it a phalanx. But the weakness is the same.”
The professor who had first offered his opinion immediately countered.
“To block an opponent’s weighted attack, you must also put weight into your shield and push forward. In that process, your body’s balance will unconsciously shift slightly to the left, the side holding the shield. On top of that, Group 3 intended from the start to break Group 2’s balance, so they placed their relatively stronger cadets on the left.”
While one side solidified its defense, the other used its superior strength to push one flank back, breaking the side of the diagonally rotated formation.
It was the most effective way to break a phalanx.
“An oblique formation.”
At his words, the professors let out a collective groan.
They all looked astonished, realizing that Group 3’s method, which they had until now dismissed as a mere dogfight, unexpectedly followed the principles of a high-level tactic.
“Knights who fight like soldiers…”
The Deputy Director, Henkel Heinz, who had been watching quietly, muttered to himself.
While the professors were lost in their own thoughts, the competition between Group 2 and Group 3 was rapidly approaching its end.
Three members of Group 2 remained; Group 3 also had three.
It was simply astonishing that Group 3, already exhausted from fighting Group 2 immediately after Group 1 and outnumbered from the start, had managed to push Group 2 this far.
“Group 2 held on tenaciously as well.”
“Now, it’s truly impossible to tell.”
But the real fight was just beginning.
Oblique formations and melees no longer held any meaning.
“From here on, it will be decided by pure skill.”
Having pulled back to briefly regroup, Group 2 and Group 3 faced each other.