Chapter 7
Chapter 7
The scale of Bethesda Academy was enormous.
It had hangars large enough to house thousands of Titans, warehouses for spare parts, vast open fields for training, and countless other facilities.
Because of that, maglev buses ran across the campus. They were fast and smooth enough to prevent motion sickness, and they could carry a large number of passengers, which was another advantage.
The only downside was that there were no partitions, meaning everyone’s attention naturally converged inside the cabin.
“Is that him?”
“He doesn’t even look like he has any muscle. And he survived that level of G-force?”
“The footage wasn’t edited, right?”
Even though I was sitting in a corner of the bus, the stares didn’t stop.
I felt like I was going to throw up. Not from motion sickness. From the attention.
My head had been aching since earlier. I couldn’t tell if it was because I’d slammed my forehead into a wall in the morning, or if my headache had made me slam it in the first place.
I still couldn’t understand it. All I did was lose badly against the princess, so why was that fight getting this much attention?
“So, a Titan otaku with zero piloting experience suddenly showed impossible G-force tolerance and insane mobility? And if he had a melee weapon capable of breaking a shield, he could’ve won?”
A12’s voice came through my smartwatch. I thought about arguing, but I couldn’t really refute it.
“We lost.”
“That part is true.”
In the end, I lost.
After A12 was slammed into the ground and rolled, even my only advantage in mobility disappeared.
After a few exchanges of retreating and firing, I was forced to surrender right before the second hit landed. The entire fight lasted less than five minutes.
There was nothing I could do. No experience, not enough fuel. I should have accounted for fuel consumption, but I only upgraded the thrusters.
I never once gained the upper hand. No meaningful hits either. It was just aerial acrobatics. Even the lack of weapons wasn’t an excuse.
And that footage was uploaded to the academy’s official community, turning me into a public figure.
In short, it was humiliating.
“This stop is First Lecture Hall.”
Relieved that I had reached my destination, I got off the bus, following the students while avoiding attention as much as possible.
First Lecture Hall was where the pilot department’s core classes were held. I didn’t even need directions; I just followed the crowd.
I slipped into the large lecture hall and took a seat in the corner. Fortunately, most students only glanced at me without approaching.
Except for one person who was looking directly at me.
“Dib, hey.”
“I know.”
I had no idea why she was coming over here either.
“You seduced the princess?”
“No way.”
Unlike the black standard uniform, hers was a luxurious outfit decorated with red fabric and gold embroidery. A privilege of the royal family.
Princess Saya Aslan walked straight toward me, grabbed the chair next to me, and sat down.
“Commoner.”
She sat properly. The only thing I could do was bow slightly.
“What country are you from?”
What a ridiculous question. The special admission track for lower-class students only accepts citizens of the Empire, and commoners can only enter through that route.
“I-I’m from the Empire.”
Her eyes widened.
“You have a speech disorder? You didn’t seem to have issues during deployment.”
That’s rude.
“I-I don’t. I just get nervous.”
“I see. So you are from the Empire.”
I nodded, but I couldn’t speak confidently. Even I wasn’t sure what I should call myself. I was just a commoner of the Empire.
She leaned in and whispered.
“I think you’re a spy.”
What the hell.
I barely held back the response that almost came out. The stares around us were already painful enough.
“That piloting skill. There’s no way a commoner with no Titan experience could do that.”
“Then I guess it would’ve been better if I just lost without resisting?”
That slipped out before I could stop it.
She leaned back slightly, looking surprised, then tilted her head as if reconsidering.
“…Fine. State your name.”
“D-Dib.”
“I’ll remember it.”
It wasn’t threatening. It sounded like she genuinely meant it.
Then the door slammed open.
Bang.
A man walked onto the podium.
“Isn’t that Lieutenant Zeke from the Eastern Front?”
“The Zeke with 300 kill marks? Why is he a professor?”
Zeke scanned the room. The students quickly quieted down under his gaze.
“I assume you all have questions about why I am here. Forget them. I am simply a professor of this academy.”
He raised a hand and the room went silent again.
“This lecture is to build the fundamentals of pilots. Some of you may already have experience, but it is not enough by my standards.”
His eyes clearly landed on me.
“And there are also students here who have not even built the most basic foundation.”
That’s definitely aimed at me.
“If you know what the most important foundation for a pilot is, answer.”
Hands went up.
“Responsibility.”
“No.”
“Patriotism!”
“No.”
“Piloting skill.”
“No.”
“Theory…”
“No.”
Finally, Princess Saya raised her hand.
“Endurance.”
“Correct.”
Applause broke out.
“So today, we will test endurance.”
Why of all things.
Bethesda Academy valued efficiency.
So much so that there were no orientation ceremonies, no speeches, and not even course registration.
Which was why I didn’t expect them to make us run on the first week.
The training field was absurdly large.
“Haah… haah… ugh…”
I hadn’t run properly in years. My body couldn’t handle it.
And then Instructor Zeke said,
“Run more. Run until you can’t run anymore.”
I was already at my limit.
But Zeke was running beside me.
“You’ve already pushed past your limits once. What you need is a stronger body.”
Then he added,
“You’re the type who still squeezes out one more drop when you think you’re empty.”
Fuck.
In the end, I ran another lap.
When I collapsed on the ground and looked up, Instructor Zeke’s face looked strangely… gleaming.