Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Getting Serious (3)
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From that day, basic theoretical training for the drop began.
“First, drops are classified into three types based on altitude: high-altitude, mid-altitude, and low-altitude…”
“From there, they are further divided into orbital drops, which use pre-installed tracks, and personal drops, which are further split into free drops using only equipment…”
“There are tactical drops for immediate deployment onto a battlefield, and maneuver drops, which are jumps made in non-combat situations where safety is secured…”
For now, the cadets’ assignment was a mid-altitude free drop using only personal drop equipment.
“Even a mid-altitude drop is a jump from a height so great you can’t even be seen from the ground, so you must be especially mindful of safety…”
“The most critical moments during a drop are right before you jump and just before you land. In either case, a small mistake can be fatal, so stay sharp…”
“During the drop training course, physical disciplinary action is permitted under the authority of the supervising professor. If you get distracted, get beaten, and then complain about it later, I’ll be very disappointed…”
First was safety, second was safety, and third was safety.
Professor Dieter Rissner emphasized safety time and time again.
Even though the same explanation was repeated, none of the cadets, myself included, complained of boredom. It was likely because the speaker’s expression was so grave.
Or perhaps it was because of the passing mention of an accident involving a nameless senior cadet during a drop.
“What you see before you is the personal drop equipment.”
“It consists of a drop suit, which includes boots, gloves, a top and bottom, and head protection, and a drop pack containing a buffer that you throw to your landing point to mitigate the impact.”
“If you throw the buffer to the landing zone beforehand, it will inflate in an instant, deploying the drop point.”
A terrifying question instantly popped into my head.
What would happen if the buffer deployed in the wrong place?
“I have a question!”
Great minds think alike, it seemed. Someone else had a similar thought.
“Wh-what should we do if we throw the buffer to the wrong spot?”
one of the cadets asked, his face pale.
It was the chatterbox, Angelo.
“If you look closely at the drop suit, you’ll see a wide piece of tough fabric stretched between the arms and legs.”
Sure enough, when I examined the provided drop suit, there was a wide piece of fabric between the legs and between the arms and torso, much like webbing.
“If you spread your arms and legs wide, you can glide for a short time. This allows you to quickly adjust your direction and correct any errors.”
It was hard to believe that a person, not a bird, could freely change direction in the sky.
“To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, the drop pack contains a spare buffer. If you feel something is wrong, immediately position the drop pack below your legs and fall. The buffer will deploy just before you hit the ground. Of course, unlike the main buffer, this is strictly for emergencies and is packed according to your weight, so you won’t be able to avoid breaking both your legs. But, well. It’s much better than dying.”
It seemed there were measures in place to prevent the worst-case scenario, but I still couldn’t feel at ease.
Horrible scenarios kept replaying in my mind.
I couldn’t bring myself to trust the drop suit or the buffer.
No matter how I thought about it, this was wrong.
Humans weren't birds, so how could they fly? It was ridiculous.
By this point, even the kids who had been all worked up by the nonsensical talk of experiencing a star's descent were starting to sense that something was wrong.
The initial heated atmosphere was nowhere to be found.
All that could be heard were the sounds of people swallowing dryly.
“First, let’s have a demonstration of the buffer, and then I’ll finish the rest of the explanation.”
Professor Dieter Rissner clicked his tongue at the pale-faced kids and pulled out a cylinder.
“Now, if you twist the back like this.”
*Thump.*
No sooner had he finished speaking than a mucus-like liquid shot out from the end of the cylinder, hitting Angelo, who had just asked the question.
*FWOOSH.*
The liquid instantly expanded, becoming a massive sphere.
*Gurgle, gurgle.*
Trapped in an instant within a sphere that looked to be about five meters in diameter, Angelo flailed his limbs and gasped for air.
“The buffer deploys like this.”
Professor Dieter Rissner added, pointing at Angelo.
“The larger the deployed buffer’s surface area, the less the impact and the lower the chance of landing in the wrong spot. However, as you can see, it’s not easy to move inside a deployed buffer, so for tactical drops where you’re deployed directly onto the battlefield, it’s common to set the buffer’s volume to a minimum.”
As he spoke, Angelo continued to struggle.
“And the buffer’s shock absorption effect is…”
*SWOOOSH.*
With a sword he’d drawn from who-knows-where, Professor Dieter Rissner swung a slash at the sphere.
I couldn’t help but shout.
There’s a person inside that sphere!
But Professor Dieter Rissner paid my scream no mind and completed his swing.
A terrible image of Angelo being split in two flashed through my mind.
But the tragedy of Professor Dieter Rissner’s sword cleaving Angelo in half did not occur.
*Squish.*
The sword, upon touching the sphere, suddenly slowed down and came to a complete stop after penetrating about halfway.
“I wasn’t using my full strength, but it’s more than enough to easily block even one of my strikes.”
“Oh!”
“Wow!”
The kids, who had been pale with the fear of falling to their deaths, burst into cheers as if nothing had happened.
The buffer’s effect was that much more incredible than imagined.
A deliberate slash from a high-ranking knight like Professor Dieter Rissner had enough power to split a massive tree in half.
I had never imagined that something capable of blocking such a strike so easily existed in this world.
A treasure that would turn the world upside down if its existence were known.
I licked my lips.
It was a pity that such a treasure, which could be an extra life depending on how it was used, was being wasted (?) in this way.
“I trust this is enough to reassure even cowards like you.”
Indeed, just as Professor Dieter Rissner said, none of the kids expressed any more doubts about the buffer’s effectiveness.
“Cadets who complete the drop training and succeed in a drop will be awarded a ‘Drop Insignia’ as proof of completion. Depending on the number of drops, you can receive a Gold Wing, Silver Wing, Blue Wing, or White Wing insignia. For your reference, I recently completed my 300th drop and received the Silver Wing insignia.”
Professor Dieter Rissner puffed out his chest, pointing to the silver wing insignia pinned there.
An insignia I hadn't seen before.
He had clearly pinned it on to show off in front of the kids.
“If you all work hard, you may not get a Silver Wing, but you should be able to get a Blue Wing. If you participate in drops whenever you have the chance, you’ll be able to take home a blue wing as a souvenir.”
“Ooh! A Blue Wing insignia!”
Just as he’d hoped, the kids were completely ecstatic.
It wasn't strange.
Insignia were items that were incredibly difficult to obtain.
You could only receive an insignia for achieving distinction on the battlefield, performing a special feat of arms, or reaching a certain rank determined by the Empire.
While provincial knight orders also awarded their own insignia based on their standards, the issuing authority made them worthless in the eyes of others.
In fact, they were often mocked as worthless insignia, or ‘trash’ for short.
At the very least, an insignia issued by the Cradle would never be laughed at as trash.
“An insignia you can only get at the Cradle? This is super rare.”
“Oho. I have to get this.”
“Professor! Are there any cadets who have received a Silver or Gold Wing insignia?”
The excited kids shouted.
“Tsk.”
I stood one step back, just watching the frenzied scene.
Honestly, I wasn't very impressed.
I had received no small number of insignia in my past life.
Moreover, a considerable number of them had been awarded by Grand Princes.
Though they were of a slightly lower class since I had received them as a squire, not a knight.
Still, they weren’t the kind of things you could compare to a souvenir (?) given for jumping out of the sky a few times.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, I felt a sense of unease.
The shape of the insignia on Professor Dieter Rissner’s chest looked vaguely familiar.
“Huh?”
As I stared intently at the insignia, I froze.
Though the shape and color were slightly different, it was definitely something I knew.
One of the many insignia owned by a certain ill-tempered man I had served.
Although it wasn't gold like the one I had seen in my past life, nor did it have a brilliant design with a star, I was sure of it.
The unidentified insignia that Roman had shoved into his luggage looked exactly like that.
“No way…”
A hypothesis formed in my mind.
I didn't know exactly what that man had been doing before he met me.
He wasn't the type to ramble on about his past, and I, for one, had no interest in the past of a psychopath.
But it seemed I had just discovered what that man had been up to in his past.
“This is insane.”
To think that man was my senior (?).
It was something I had never even imagined.
He was a monster who grew stronger every time he woke up, so I couldn't picture him learning anything from anyone.
Though it wasn't as if the man was born holding a sword.
No, with Roman, he actually might have been.
Anyway.
“Ah?”
As I was lost in thought, I heard a strange noise.
I turned my head to see Angelo, trapped inside the sphere, hanging limp with his eyes completely rolled back.
Trapped by the buffer, on the verge of suffocating, and facing the danger of being split in two, it seemed the series of sudden events had caused him to completely lose consciousness.
Angelo, discovered belatedly, was carried straight to the infirmary.
“As you can see, if you don’t get out of the deployed buffer in time, you can suffocate.”
With Professor Dieter Rissner’s shameless excuse, which was clearly meant to smooth over the situation, the first theory class came to an end.
I waited quietly for him to be alone, then approached and asked.
If he knew a cadet named Roman.
“Roman? I’ve never heard that name.”
But he said it was a name he’d never heard before and instead asked me who Roman was.
I mumbled a vague answer and left.
My mind was a mess.
I was certain the insignia I saw on Roman was a Cradle Drop Insignia.
But Professor Dieter Rissner didn't know Roman.
I wondered if he might have forgotten the name because there were too many cadets, but that didn't make sense.
Roman was not a man you could see and forget.
For better or for worse.
“So does that mean that guy is my junior, or what?”
The thought was so absurd I laughed at myself.
“It would be fun, but there’s no way.”
He wasn't the type to meekly treat me as a senior just because I had enrolled first, and besides, the timing was off.
The fall of the satellite city was almost certain.
The next class would arrive in two years at the earliest, and unless he graduated in the same year he enrolled, it was impossible.
Of course, the man I knew was a monster who could have mastered everything on the spot upon admission and received his diploma right away.
“I must have seen it wrong?”
Since the man hadn't clearly stated the origin of the insignia or his past, it seemed I had just gotten worked up over nothing.
“Ah, what a shame. It was a chance for revenge.”
I licked my lips with a sense of regret.
* * *
“Ugh.”
Lately, my nightmares had been getting worse.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d slept properly.
In such a state, there was no way the lessons would stick in my head.
“Aren’t you going to get your head in the game!”
At my repeated mistakes, Professor Dieter Rissner acted as if he was going to eat me alive.
“What’s with you? Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Serves you right, but you know the drop is a group activity, right?”
“Don’t drag us down. Just quit now if you want. Of course, that means you can forget about graduating.”
The kids from Squad 3 took this opportunity to nag at me.
Even Professor Navian was tormenting me daily with her Heart Sword, with increasing intensity, making my life a living hell.
At this point, I could barely tell the difference between reality and my nightmares.
“Save me…”
A groan escaped my lips.
My mind was a complete blank.
That must have been why.
I didn't notice the change that had occurred in me.
“…”
When I came to my senses, everything was quiet.
Around me were the kids, their eyes wide open.
And in front of me was Professor Navian, her face flushed for some reason.
She held her beloved sword, which she had never drawn before.
“Ah…?”
What in the world was this situation?