049. True Education (2)
049. True Education (2)
Under the military organizational structure, biodroids were not assigned any rank. They were rankless.
That was the case now, at least.
It hadn't been that way from the start.
In fact, in the early days of biodroid development, ranks had been assigned to them.
A three-tier system of Private, Private First Class, and Corporal.
They had introduced the rank system without much thought, carried along by the inertia of ranking human soldiers.
But when they actually put it into practice, the rank system proved highly unsuitable for biodroids.
Structurally, it was inevitable.
Rank, after all, inherently presupposed rising through accumulated achievements and years of service. But biodroids had fixed upper growth limits between individual units.
In other words, no matter how long a low-grade unit worked and grew, it remained unavoidably inferior to a newly produced high-grade unit.
When the rank system was forcibly imposed on top of that, all manner of contradictions and conflicts proliferated.
For example, mediocre Corporals ending up following the orders of an exceptional Private. Or a Private ignoring a Corporal.
The larger problem was that the ranks uniformly assigned by the military made organic unit operations difficult.
Especially when the Commander was a greenhorn, the visible presence of rank caused confusion in the chain of command.
In short, incidents kept occurring where biodroids ignored an unreliable Commander's orders and prioritized the judgment of a higher-ranked soldier.
As the above problems and confusion mounted, the rank system eventually followed the path toward abolition.
Afterward, an 'Overall Combat Power Rank' was assigned in place of military rank, but this rating couldn't be used to establish a hierarchy the way military rank could.
Because the rank was ultimately assigned based on training results and mission performance, biodroids working at the same base tended to converge toward the same rank.
Additionally, non-combat biodroids like Sumire could not even receive a combat power rank to begin with.
So, for some time after the abolition of the rank system, biodroids existed in a state of equality with no superior-subordinate relationships.
Thanks to that, the previous problems — mismatches between rank and role, insubordination, and the like — were mostly resolved.
But a completely new type of problem proliferated.
Namely, biodroids deployed on a mission bickering with each other from a position of equality about who was right and who was wrong.
In short, if the previous issue had been that hierarchy was causing problems, now the issue was that there was too little hierarchy.
In that context, after going back and forth about reviving the rank system and whether to grant Commanders the authority to assign ranks on their own, followed by concerns that this would give Commanders too much power, what ultimately emerged was—— the Commander's Discretionary Senior-Junior System.
The Commander's Discretionary Senior-Junior System.
To put it simply, it was a system that allowed a Commander to establish senior-junior relationships among the biodroids under their command at their own discretion.
Once designated as a junior, the senior soldier's instructions were to be regarded as equivalent to the Commander's instructions.
Therefore, if a junior disobeyed a senior soldier's instructions, the Commander could legally impose various disciplinary measures based on that.
However, not all Commanders adopted this senior-junior system.
Because the path of least resistance — everyone getting along as equals with no senior-junior relationship — was more pleasant and easier.
Most commanders tried to avoid defining senior-junior relations whenever possible, and I had essentially held that stance as well.
More than that, I was among those who didn't understand why such a system had come to exist in the first place. Because up until now, I had always worked under a system that deployed only one biodroid — Sion or Laika — into combat.
But now, I felt like I understood.
To manage multiple people at once—especially stubborn girls like Rinne and Laika—a clear hierarchy was indispensable.
So.
"From now on, one of you will be the senior and the other the junior. The junior must always address the other as 'Senior [Name].' You must also obey the senior's instructions. Failure to comply means disciplinary action."
I looked back and forth between Rinne and Laika as I made the solemn declaration.
The two, who normally competed to see who could talk back more whenever anything was asked of them, unexpectedly offered no resistance.
That was because both were firmly convinced that they themselves would be the senior and the other the junior.
"Good. From now on, you will address me as Senior Rinne."
"Euhe~? What nonsense is she spouting, I wonder? If anyone's going to be the senior, it's obviously Laika~"
Unfortunately for the two of them, I had no predetermined opinion.
I had only arrived at the idea of binding the two into a senior-junior relationship; I was planning to assess specifically who was suited to be the senior from here on out.
That was precisely the problem. Now that I thought about it, each of them had their own grounds to become the senior.
In other words, it went like this.
"Haaah? How could a sleepyhead like you be the senior. I came to Krädel over a year earlier than you!"
"Euheee? All that means is you spent a year goofing off longer, doesn't it~? Laika started pulling her weight waaay before Rinne did, you know? Laika didn't just rack up useless seniority like some rookie~"
"What'd you say, you! When's your production year!"
"Mm, if we're talking production year, Laika is a brand-new model made two years ago~? Should I apologize that I couldn't get old like someone else did?"
Hmm.
Who should I actually make the senior?
If I went by production year, Rinne was far more senior. Despite how she looked, she had been manufactured a full ten years ago.
But most of that history was hollow experience from working in the Public Affairs Department or lazing around at Krädel.
On the other hand, as a combat soldier, Laika's field experience far outclassed Rinne's.
But then again, Rinne was undeniably the one who had come to Krädel first.
But the one who had gotten her act together at Krädel first was Laika.......
......Fine. Let's call the service-history score a tie. I'd award bonus points in the remaining categories.
First, from a tactical standpoint, a structure where the rear support soldier was the senior and gave the orders was far more stable. +1 tactical point to Rinne.
But temperament-wise, Laika, with her strong sense of responsibility and expertise, had the advantage as senior. +1 tactical point to Laika.
However, wasn't it funny and cute how Rinne, despite being so tiny and adorable, talked back and threw tantrums? +1 beauty point to Rinne.
On the other hand, wasn't Laika adorable when she clung to me for no reason and breathed softly? +1 beauty point to Laika.
Next, the relationship points——
......No, this wasn't going to end.
After all, both were valuable troops to me. Psychologically, I simply couldn't rate one as better than the other.
And amid all that, the two who had been bickering with each other now joined voices and began to grill me.
"Oppa. You tell us straight. Say you prefer a refreshing and cheerful girl like Rinne over a heavy and burdensome girl like the sleepyhead!"
"Commander, that's not right...? You prefer a soft and warm-hearted girl like Laika over a girl like Rinne who doesn't listen and keeps squawking, right...?"
Hmm.
If I said something like, 'Both of you are so precious to me it's impossible to choose!', I'd get torn in half.
More than that, if that was the conclusion, the original purpose of establishing a hierarchical order would fizzle out entirely.
So, in the end, I had no choice but to choose one and discard the other.......
Just what on earth could I set as an objective criterion for that——
"Ah."
I had it.
I turned back toward the two and began to speak.
"I'm going to run the Barna Defense Battle again now."
However, not once. I'd run it twice.
In one round, Rinne would give the orders, and in the other round, Laika would command the operation.
Then, I'd check the training result scores for each.
Whoever commanded the round that scored higher would become the senior.
In short, it was a score contest.
"......What the heck. Why are you deciding it with something like that?"
Rinne grumbled.
It seemed she was far less confident than Laika, who had much more combat experience.
There was no need to go out of my way to persuade Rinne.
Because Laika began persuading Rinne on her own.
No, rather than persuasion...... how to put it.
It was closer to provocation.
"Euhe~? Are you maybe not confident?"
It wasn't a particularly sophisticated provocation.
Hardly different from the single word 'Scared?', a low-grade provocation perfectly suited to the juvenile appearance of the two of them.
And yet, Rinne took the bait completely.
"Hah? What are you talking about. There's no way I'm not confident!"
"Really~? Then it'd be better to just accept it quietly, wouldn't it~? Otherwise, you'll look like a scaredy-cat who chickened out in front of Laika~"
"Fine! I accept! No, actually, how about we add one more bet? The loser has to grant any one request the other side makes!"
"Yeah, yeah! Sounds good~"
......Some strange condition got added in.
I decided not to pay it much mind. In any case, as long as they each accepted the bet, that was enough.
However, given how fiercely competitive the two were, there was one thing I needed to make absolutely clear.
"For the record, if you willfully disobey orders when the other person is commanding, you're immediately demoted to junior."
"Tch."
"Euhng."
It seemed both had been considering doing exactly that from the start.
With that in mind, I clearly added that any other outrageous cheating would also mean immediate demotion to junior status, then we ran the Barna Defense Battle once with each of them commanding.
Laika's command came first.
Then the round with Rinne commanding.
For reference, the order was decided by rock-paper-scissors.
And so, the results of the two rounds were——
—Round commanded by Laika: C+ Rank Clear
—Round commanded by Rinne: C Rank Clear
"No way! This is total bullshit! I fought better in the engagements!"
The moment she saw the results, Rinne shouted.
It wasn't entirely unfounded. In the round Laika commanded, they had only managed to subjugate one Lord Legion, whereas in the round Rinne commanded, they had subjugated three.
But the evaluation metric for the Barna Defense Battle hinged on how much of the camp's health was maintained throughout the ten waves.
Of course, you could subjugate the Lord Legion that served as the linchpin in the process of holding off the waves, but regardless, the Lord Legion automatically vanished once each wave ended.
So subjugating the Lord was merely one method and strategy for clearing the simulation, and had no bearing on the result rank.
On the other hand, camp health, which did affect the actual result rank, had been preserved slightly better by Laika.
And so, a correspondingly better result had come out.
Anyway, enough rambling.
The conclusion was this.
"In consideration of the marked disparity in battlefield judgment, I hereby appoint Laika as Rinne's senior soldier."
"Euhe~ It can't be helped~"
"Tch......."
The two showed signs of grudging acceptance.
Relieved, I prepared to reactivate the training program.
Now that the order of precedence had been set right, it was time to race toward a B-Rank clear alongside the properly aligned soldiers of Krädel.
However, Laika brought back a half-forgotten loose end.
"The wish?"
"Ahng?"
"Didn't Rinne say it earlier~? That the loser of the bet would grant one wish of the winner's."
"Do you have to be so petty and latch onto every little thing like that, Senior Laika?"
"Yep, yep. Laika won't feel satisfied unless she latches on~"
"......Fine. What's your wish, Senior Laika?"
Rinne dutifully called her "Senior Laika" as demanded.
However, only the title had changed; the tone didn't carry any particular respect.
No, more than that—she said it with a tone that blatantly revealed her hostility, as if chewing the words up and spitting them out. Senior Laika.
Was Laika provoked by that? Or had Laika been planning this from the start?
Whatever the case, Laika made her wish with an utterly sinister glint in her eyes.
"I want Rinne to get spanked by the Commander~"