Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Chapter 20. Getting Serious (2)
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If I had any idea what the good news was, I might have some expectations.
But since I had no clue, there was nothing to expect.
The kids and I just stood there blankly, waiting for the instructor to speak.
Though no one said it, their faces all seemed to say, *Is it really going to be anything special?*
“...At a recent meeting, it was decided that Squad 3 will be getting new members.”
Turns out, it was something special.
It was unexpectedly good news.
“Oh!”
The kids, who had been standing around blankly, immediately burst into cheers.
“If the vacancy had happened in the middle of the term, it would have been a bit awkward, but... it might be a bit much to say this, but you were lucky.”
The instructor’s expression, which had seemed inexplicably deflated at our initial reaction, finally brightened.
“If things stayed as they were, Squad 3 would have to face the squad competitions at a disadvantage from admission all the way to graduation, and that doesn’t align with the Cradle’s principle of equal opportunity.”
Apparently, when a vacancy occurs in the middle of a semester, it's usually maintained that way until graduation.
Hearing that, the timing certainly wasn't bad.
Of course, being directly involved in the expulsion incident, I wasn't in a position to say so.
“So, we decided to first offer the opportunity to the applicants who took the exam with you, and we contacted the one who came closest to passing.”
The process was faster than I thought.
The expulsion was swift, and so was the reinforcement.
My heart felt lighter.
It wasn't my fault, but given Squad 3's situation, I must have been feeling the pressure without realizing it.
Still, it was a relief.
To think we could get a new squad member, even if it was late.
That was a premature judgment.
“Now, for the bad news.”
The instructor, who had paused to gauge our reaction, spoke again.
“The applicant who unfortunately failed, well, he’d already joined a provincial knight order. So we contacted the applicant with the next highest score, but it was a similar situation for him too.”
To summarize the instructor’s explanation, it was something like this.
Apparently, the provincial knight orders had already snatched up all the individuals who met the minimum qualifications to become a Cradle cadet.
Since they were talented individuals who had at least passed the Cradle's rigorous initial screening, it was only natural.
“Anyway, due to that, we’re now looking for ways to fill the vacancy through various channels, but no one knows how long it will take to get a result.”
It could be tomorrow, or it might not even happen this year.
Disappointment washed over the kids’ faces.
I felt the same.
If this was how it was going to be, he shouldn't have said anything at all.
How is this any different from giving something only to take it away?
“Still, we’re getting quite a few recommendations from here and there, so if there’s a decent one among them, we might get a replacement soon. Or maybe not. Right. Your class got in entirely through the exam, without recommendation letters, so for the sake of fairness, we’d have to verify them anyway.”
He went back and forth.
My face twisted on its own at the instructor’s attitude, which seemed like he was deliberately teasing us.
Now that I see it, this guy is clearly enjoying our reaction.
“Still, you never know how things will turn out, so you should all pray hard. Who knows? Maybe some unbelievable genius will fall from the sky and pass the verification in record time.”
Pointless words.
Even I, who hadn't been here long, knew that the Cradle’s way of doing things was exceptionally strict.
There's no way a genius great enough to ignore the Cradle's procedures would be common.
At least, not unless they were a transcendent being like Roman.
Besides, even if such a genius existed, I doubt the greedy stars in the sky above would just leave them be.
“Anyway, that’s all the professor wanted me to relay.”
The instructor, who had been chattering away obnoxiously to the very end, disappeared.
Unlike his usual self, who would listlessly trail behind the professor without a shred of motivation, his steps were light and energetic.
“He doesn’t look it, but he’s got a really nasty personality.”
As I stared at his back, I muttered a single comment.
“…”
I felt a stinging gaze.
The kids of Squad 3 were staring at me.
But there was something displeased about their eyes.
It was the same kind of look they gave me before Lian created an opportunity for us to bond.
Basically, it was: *Because of you. If it weren't for you.*
That was the general sentiment in their eyes.
“Ah.”
Thanks to that rotten instructor, I had to endure the kids’ glares for a while.
It was a day that felt exceptionally long.
* * *
Time flew by.
Every day was more or less the same.
“Gah!”
I'd watch the kids get thrown around in beatings disguised as guided sparring,
“Huk.”
get hacked to pieces by the Heart Sword,
“Hap!”
do my own individual training in the training ground assigned to the Silver Eagle class,
“Roman, you son of a…!”
and at night, I'd suffer through nightmares, only to attend class again with a haggard face. This cycle repeated day after day.
There was nothing special.
The talk about the Cradle’s real training beginning now seemed hollow as the days continued in their utterly ordinary fashion.
The stars of the outer constellations were still silent, and I had grown accustomed to their absence.
“Winning at this every time is getting boring.”
Even the wargames on the terminal, which I used to enjoy so much I'd lose track of time, had lost their appeal.
“Seeing your mug in the morning really ruins my mood.”
“Yeah. The feeling’s mutual.”
“What the hell are you doing every night to make your face look like that? You’re not an undead, are you?”
“Yeah. If I’m an undead, you’re an orc.”
“Whatever. What’s on the menu today?”
“Dunno.”
“Then again, you’ll eat anything. Even a beggar has a weaker stomach than you.”
“Says the well-fed pig. With a face like that, how can you afford to be a picky eater?”
Teasing Udo, who picked a fight with me at every opportunity, wasn't much fun anymore either.
By the time a full month had passed since entering the Cradle, all the kids of the Silver Eagle class, including myself, had grown accustomed to daily life there.
“So stuffy. So stuffy.”
“It’s the same every day.”
“Same faces, same routine.”
“I want to go down to the lower world.”
Life in the Cradle, an endless cycle of classes and rest with nothing special, had reached the point of boredom.
“You all look like you’re dying of boredom.”
As if our inner thoughts were written on our faces, Professor Dieter Lissner spoke with a knowing look.
“I knew you would be, so I’ve prepared something just for you.”
The kids showed little reaction to his words.
It was only natural.
They'd heard it all before—that the Cradle’s real training would soon begin, or that things were about to get serious.
He always just set the mood, so it wasn't strange that their reactions were lukewarm.
I felt the same way.
It was obvious. This time, too, it would just be empty words.
I was wrong.
“It’s real combat, kids.”
Professor Dieter Lissner’s declaration made my ears perk up.
“Normally, you wouldn’t see real combat for at least half a year, but this time, the schedule has been moved up…”
“Woooooah!”
He waved his hands at the delayed eruption of cheers.
“Quiet. I’m not done explaining.”
Once the kids quieted down, he continued his explanation.
“The combat will take place in the lower world…”
“Woah!”
“The schedule is for exactly one month from now…”
“Ah…”
Excited at the mention of going to the lower world, then dejected to hear it was still a month away.
Their emotions swung back and forth several times.
“Still, it’s better than nothing.”
“If we just hold on for a month…”
Still, everyone seemed secretly thrilled at the thought of escaping this tedious Cradle.
“It’s too early to celebrate.”
But that was too hasty a thought.
“Because the way down to the lower world won’t be nearly as comfortable as the way up.”
What does that mean now?
Surely, it's not like we're just going to jump straight out of the Cradle.
“For the next month, you will begin descent training.”
But it turned out, that was exactly it.
“Descent…?”
Professor Dieter Lissner replied to a cadet’s question with an indifferent look.
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Descent. To go down from a high place.”
As the kids still stared blankly, not understanding his meaning, he added an explanation.
“In other words, a drop.”
Descent, or drop.
It was just as difficult to grasp the precise meaning.
“Is the word too difficult? Then let me put it more simply. In one month, you will all jump from here down to the world below. Like this.”
It was only after seeing him mime a small jump that I realized ‘drop’ wasn't some special metaphor.
So, to sum it up, in one month, we were going to commit mass suicide by jumping.
“…?”
This is insane.
* * *
Contrary to my fears, it wasn’t a situation where the Cradle had suddenly decided the cost of our meals was too high and was just going to toss us out.
In short, the descent was a kind of special training stemming from the unique nature of the Cradle as a city floating in the sky.
The fastest, most efficient, and most inhumane method.
“Well, I can’t say it’s completely safe. But the survival rate isn’t bad. At least no one has died in the last five years.”
Professor Dieter Lissner rattled on nonchalantly.
It was so absurd it was baffling.
Saying no one had died in the last five years was the same as saying people had died before that.
“Though we’ve had injuries every year.”
He even said there were injuries consistently.
What kind of bullshit is this?
“As long as you diligently participate in the training, there shouldn’t be much to worry about. Probably…”
That ominous tag at the end of his sentence.
I began to envy Stefan Grossman, who was recently kicked out of the Cradle.
Though no one dared say it out loud, it seemed everyone was thinking something similar.
“Think positively. Where else but the Cradle could you have such a rare experience? Just accept it as a good life experience.”
In the midst of it all, I realized something new and nodded.
I now knew where the instructor I saw the other day learned his cantankerous nature.
The professor and his instructor were two peas in a pod.
“Ha.”
A dry laugh finally escaped my lips.
I began to seriously wonder.
Which would fall first, the satellite city or me?
No matter how much I pondered it, I couldn't find an answer.
“…”
The kids were silent.
But their expressions were all identical.
Pale faces. Eyes trembling as if in an earthquake.
They all looked as if they were at a funeral.
The only problem was that the funeral might be their own.
And by a new, unheard-of method of suicide, no less.
A mass jump from a flying satellite city.
This wasn't why they came to the Cradle.
“Why is this an unheard-of thing?”
It seemed someone thinking along the same lines as me had accidentally blurted out their inner thoughts.
Professor Dieter Lissner spoke in a tone feigning incomprehension.
“A powerful being who fell from the sky.”
What nonsense is he spouting now?
No matter what he says, no one's going to fall for it in this situation.
“The origin of the descent is the advent of the stars.”
But there were.
“Oh! The advent of the stars?”
“Like we’re stars?”
“This body will descend…?”
And not just one, but many.
“Descent! I definitely want to do it!”
All the kids except me suddenly started begging for it.
Their eyes had completely glazed over.
“Alright! I’ll let you descend!”
Professor Dieter Lissner laughed heartily.
I laughed along with him.
“Ahaha.”
Since I couldn't cry.