Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Silver Eagle Cohort (3)
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“Oh, what a relief.”
A sigh of relief escaped me.
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*Current Durability of the Main Power Unit (1383/99999)*
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The main power unit's durability had decreased by '2' in a single day.
At a rough estimate, it would take a little over two years for the durability to reach '0'.
At the very least, it seemed I wouldn't share the fate of the satellite city by plummeting to my death in my sleep.
For now, I decided to put aside my worries about the satellite city until the stars brought good news.
There was something more important right now.
“Finally…”
Today was the official start of classes.
Dawn was just breaking outside the window.
There was still some time, but it wouldn't hurt to be early.
I took out the Cradle uniform that had been prepared for me, put it on, and tidied my hair.
Finally, I took out the insignia I had received from a Cradle staff member the day before.
An epaulet shaped like a silver eagle.
At the Cradle, they said that the cohort assigned upon admission was kept until graduation.
It went something like this.
The senior cohort, fourth-years and above, was the 『White Qilin』.
The intermediate cohort, second-years and above, was the 『Black Lion』.
And my junior cohort was the 『Silver Eagle』.
The year the Black Lion cohort graduated, the incoming freshmen would become the new Black Lions. And the year the White Qilins graduated, the new students would take on their name.
So, the cohort that graduated the year we enrolled was the Silver Eagles, which naturally made us the new Silver Eagles.
*Click.*
I attached the epaulet to my shoulder and stood before the mirror.
Looking at myself like this, I almost looked like someone born and raised in a noble house.
If there was one flaw.
“When am I going to grow taller?”
My growth spurt hadn't started yet, so I still had a small frame.
I wasn't worried.
Even in my past life, I wasn't small.
This was a problem that would solve itself with time.
Just as I finished my preparations and was about to leave the room, I heard a small sound from behind me.
*Yom yom.*
A noise so faint you wouldn't notice it if you weren't paying attention.
“...?”
Following the sound, I turned my head and saw the small flowerpot I'd left by the window.
It was the pot where I had transplanted the Mandragora.
The soil, which I had packed down firmly the day before, was now completely disturbed, and peeking out from it, the Mandragora was looking at me.
Looking at it now, it didn't seem like some mystical herb, but more like a half-pulled radish.
*Yom yom.*
The Mandragora whimpered softly.
I had no idea how it was making a sound without a mouth.
To my ears, it sounded like it was asking me to take it with me.
“No.”
As I answered unthinkingly, the leaf sprouting from the top of the Mandragora's head drooped.
Could it actually understand me?
“I'll be back as soon as I can.”
At my words, spoken on a whim, the droopy leaf perked up slightly.
“Huh?”
I thought it was impossible, but it was real.
It seems that the most mystical of herbs can communicate with people.
As I stared at the Mandragora in awe, I belatedly realized how much time had passed and hurried out of the room.
The long hallway.
*Creak, creak.*
Kids appeared from all over, opening their doors.
Except for Amelia and a few other girls who were assigned to a separate female dormitory, the entire Silver Eagle cohort was here.
Angelo spotted me and waved as he approached.
“*Yawn*. Good morning.”
Angelo's voice was thick with sleep as he yawned and greeted me.
His face was drowsy, as if he'd been up all night doing something.
“Yan.”
“Pon.”
Pon, who approached a step behind, greeted me.
He looked just as tired.
“Ugh. I was so nervous I couldn't sleep a wink.”
“I had trouble breathing, so I was up all night. Can we even get used to this?”
It was clear that neither of them had slept well.
They weren't the only ones.
The other kids looked to be in bad shape as well.
Given the satellite city's location, it seemed some cadets were suffering from altitude sickness symptoms like headaches and nausea.
Even those who weren't, complained that their bodies felt twice as heavy as usual.
In fact, my body felt heavy, as if I were wearing full plate armor.
According to the Cradle staff, it was a side effect of the satellite city's navigation system.
That meant we had no choice but to endure this pain for our entire stay at the Cradle.
“This guy looks like he slept well, though…?”
“Yeah. He looks no different than usual.”
The two kids, who had been murmuring to each other, looked at me with an air of injustice.
I hadn't slept well either, but I didn't bother to tell them that.
“Tsk. A bunch of weaklings.”
To lose your composure over a change this minor.
“No, listen to me. How can a city float in the sky? It doesn't make any sense. It wouldn't be strange at all if it suddenly fell.”
“Don't worry. It won't fall.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“It won't fall suddenly.”
At least, not right now.
Maybe after its durability runs out.
“Isn't it weirder for someone to sleep soundly in a situation like this?”
At Angelo's half-joking accusation, I subtly pointed to a kid in the distance.
“There's another weirdo over there.”
Hummel of Hildegard was striding along.
His face was full of sleepiness, but it seemed to be because he was naturally a heavy sleeper, not because he'd had a rough night.
At least he didn't have dark circles under his eyes like the others.
Then again, this was the guy who would find a corner to nap in whenever he had a spare moment, even during the entrance exam.
He couldn't possibly be sensitive enough to be bothered by his surroundings.
“You guys are the weird ones.”
Pon nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Angelo's words.
The two of them arbitrarily concluded that Hummel and I were abnormal.
And soon after, Amelia was added to the list of abnormals.
We ran into her not long after leaving the dormitory, and she looked no different from when we'd seen her on the ground the day before.
“...Good morning.”
After greeting us with a composed expression, Amelia immediately turned and started walking ahead.
Naturally, I, Angelo, and the other kids fell into line behind her.
It seemed someone wasn't too pleased about that.
*Swoosh.*
Bern of Vigete and the other kids from prestigious families stealthily moved past her.
“Hmph.”
Bern, now at the front, glanced back at Amelia.
The person in question didn't seem to care who went first, but he alone seemed conscious of her.
Well, it wasn't hard to understand.
The two of them had both scored 90 on the entrance exam, so it wasn't strange for a sense of rivalry to emerge.
“Youth is a wonderful thing.”
As I watched them with a pleased smile, Angelo chided me for sounding like an old man.
Regardless, I continued to appreciate the kids' spiritedness with a warm feeling.
At the same time, I took stock of the general atmosphere.
In just one day, groups had already formed, whether consciously or not.
One group was led by Bern Vigete at the very front, consisting of kids from prestigious families.
Another group, Amelia and the other female cadets, followed right behind.
Then there was another group of kids from minor families, led by the kid from the Giftrang family.
And finally, bringing up the rear, was my group with Angelo, Pon, and Hummel Hildegard.
“...?”
Hummel had naturally joined our group without anyone noticing when he'd approached.
“Gah!”
A moment later, Angelo and Pon jumped in surprise.
Ignoring them, Hummel just kept yawning.
“...”
Anyway, the four groups were heading toward the training grounds, maintaining a certain distance between them.
*Chatter, chatter.*
The kids' voices grew louder, as if they were finally waking up.
But when the main road connecting the dormitory and the training grounds came to an end.
*Silence.*
As if on cue, the voices stopped.
There were people blocking the road.
Three young men, somewhere between boys and men.
“...?”
The uniforms they wore were identical to ours.
The only difference was the epaulets on their shoulders.
The image of a roaring lion.
They were clearly from the Black Lion cohort, composed of second-year cadets and above.
“The Golden Cohort, or whatever. We heard rumors that this year's Silver Eagles were a formidable bunch, so we came to see for ourselves.”
The Black Lion cadets looked me and the other kids up and down.
“Looking at you now, you're just a bunch of snot-nosed brats.”
It was a blatant provocation.
The demeanor of Bern Vigete and the kids from prestigious families sharpened instantly.
The kids from the minor families also showed their displeasure.
I was the only one who agreed with the Black Lion cadets.
“...What are you nodding for?”
At Angelo's rebuke, I took an awkward step back.
I intended to step back and enjoy the show, to see how things would unfold.
But I couldn't.
“Which one of you is the Mage Slayer?”
Out of nowhere, the Black Lion cadets mentioned my nickname(?).
All the kids turned to look at me.
“What the. He's just a kid.”
Seeing me, the Black Lion cadets laughed in disbelief.
“Must have been a false rumor.”
“All sizzle and no steak, as they say. What a letdown.”
Just then, Bern Vigete stepped forward.
“How rude.”
“What's rude is you lot not showing respect to your seniors.”
A look of bewilderment spread across Bern's face.
Was it because, as a direct descendant of one of the Eight Families, he had never been treated so poorly, or was he flustered by the other's plausible point?
It was probably the former.
As a member of one of the Eight Families that ruled the Empire, where would he have ever received such treatment?
I'd bet this was the first time he'd ever met someone who dared to act like a senior to his face.
And it wasn't as if they were acting like seniors without knowing his background.
“You have the look of someone born with a silver spoon.”
“They said a member of the Eight Families was among you. I guess you're one of them.”
The Black Lion cadets treated Bern like a greenhorn from start to finish.
“Let me give you a piece of advice. Don't even think about flaunting your background here.”
At the words, which were somewhere between a warning and advice, one of the kids from a prestigious family flared up and shouted.
“Unless you plan to live in the Cradle your whole life, how dare you persecute us like this…!”
Before he could finish, laughter erupted from the Black Lion cadets.
“Aha. So you're asking how we plan to deal with the consequences after we leave the Cradle.”
One of them looked at the kid who had just shouted and spoke.
“Don't get the wrong idea. This is the Cradle. And we are its cadets.”
“If you're trying to say that everyone is equal here, that is an overly naive thought.”
“...It seems you haven't quite understood me.”
His gaze, which had been on the prestigious kid who'd flared up, shifted to the kids from minor families who were hanging back.
“Just as you trust in your family, we too have something we trust in.”
He tapped the Black Lion epaulet on his shoulder, as if to ask if the Cradle wasn't a background just as powerful as any noble family.
In short, he was saying that school ties were just as valuable as blood ties.
“So, you all should remember this too.”
He said, looking at the kids from the minor families.
“Don't be intimidated by your family or background. Act like cadets of the Cradle. Don't bow down to someone just because of their background.”
Don't be intimidated.
The Cradle is your background, and its graduates are your strength.
As he spoke, his expression was quite serious, unlike before.
At the very least, he no longer seemed like some ill-tempered senior who was just here to haze the freshmen.
The atmosphere among the kids from minor families, who had been subconsciously wary of the noble-born kids, subtly changed.
“Good. Now you look like proper cadets of the Cradle.”
With a satisfied smile, the Black Lion cadets left with a parting word that they'd be watching, and then disappeared.
Watching them leave, a thought occurred to me.
Perhaps the initial provocation was just a pretext, and this was their real purpose.
A form of encouragement or support, something they could offer as seniors.
Of course, it seemed there were some who couldn't take that encouragement at face value.
“The Cradle is my background…”
Pon, the only commoner cadet in this cohort aside from me, repeated the Black Lion cadet's words.
Just like when he had accepted my words during the entrance exam as if they were the absolute truth.
Looking at Pon's flushed face, I thought to myself.
This guy is incredibly gullible.
Anyway.
“They're not bad people.”
I muttered my brief assessment of the Black Lion cadets and started walking again.
The kids, who had been lost in their own thoughts, finally started to hurry along.
I'm not sure how long we walked along the Cradle's main road.
The Silver Eagle cohort's training grounds, which we'd been guided to on the first day, appeared before us.
It was a wide, open space.
But for some reason, the atmosphere of the open space felt familiar.
The hard-packed ground.
The various weapons laid out in one corner.
“A training yard?”
It looked exactly like a training yard.
It was just as I expected.
The open space was the exclusive training yard for the Silver Eagle cohort.
“Let's cut to the chase. We will now begin the tournament.”
A young instructor, who had appeared a moment later, declared without even introducing himself.
“The three strongest will be the squad leaders.”
Just like that. Without any preamble.
“Alright, then. Begin!”
*Whoosh.*
While I was standing there blankly, someone shot forward.
“Hey, you!”
The kid who had taken a spot in the middle of the training yard pointed, of all people, at me.
“Come out!”
He was just as abrupt.