The Second Inflection Point - 16
The sound of dry leaves crunching underfoot reached my ears. Starting with my hearing, my senses began returning one by one. My arms stretched forward, draped over something. A hard object pressed against my upper body. Something solid supporting my thighs. A faint scent of sweat. My eyes slowly opened. Through a hazy blur, a dark forest came into view. Once my head cleared a little more, it didn’t take long to realize I was being carried on Rendel’s back.
I'm screwed.
That single word filled my mind completely. The mysterious moonlight encounter was gone, replaced by the ridiculous scene of me falling after jetpacking off a cliff and getting rescued by the protagonist. The fact that my own actions had widened the gap from the original story even further filled me with self-loathing.
Judging by the dark forest path around us, it didn’t seem like much time had passed since I blacked out. When I lowered my gaze, I saw my bag positioned between me and Rendel. For a moment I wondered if he’d found it too annoying to carry separately, but then the memory of briefly carrying Neria came back to me. Even touching her petite frame had felt embarrassing—how much worse would it be carrying someone as well-developed as Ruwina…?
He really has unnecessarily good manners.
I didn’t mind carrying others, but I wasn’t particularly bothered about being carried either. I considered asking him to put me down now that I was awake, but decided it was easier to just stay like this. The reunion was already ruined anyway, and there was no fixing it now. I’d spent the entire day hiking through the mountains and I was exhausted. Might as well stay on his back, get some sleep, and wake up later.
Giving up feels so freeing.
Despite my relaxed mind, the bag pressing against my upper body made things physically uncomfortable. If I fell asleep like this, I’d probably wake up sore all over. Like a student being punished, I pulled my arms—which had been stretched straight forward—back and yanked the bag free.
“Huh? You’re awa—”
As I slung the bag over my arm and wrapped myself tightly around his neck, Rendel swallowed the rest of his words. Yeah. I’m going back to sleep now, so please be quiet.
My eyelids drooped shut. I felt Rendel, who had paused for a moment, begin moving again with careful steps. Instead of the hard bag, I now felt the warmth of his broad back. Half-asleep, I instinctively sought out that warmth like someone groping for a blanket, and before I knew it, I was nodding off.
Flash—
“Mmm…”
Sudden brightness pierced my thin eyelids. The discomfort of having a light turned on while sleeping made me open my eyes, and there it was—a steel giant.
A gray Aindium illuminating the area with a searchlight mounted on its chest armor. The muzzle of a standard Aind-class rifle that had been aimed at us now pointed upward, and a voice flowed from its speaker.
“Carson?”
Carson? Oh my god. I’d been wondering where I’d seen it before—it was the personal unit of Carson, a fellow CT Club member with Rendel and one of the main characters of Wing of Union. The machine was called ‘Hussar,’ a slight twist on the famous cavalry unit. Among fans, though, it was known as ‘who sad’ because of Carson’s somewhat pitiful position in the story…
Anyway, he was the first major character I’d met besides Rendel. Before I could even feel happy about it, more people emerged from behind the Hussar. There was Kirie with her red ponytail, the mechanic senior to Neria. Then Muri, the petite silver-haired twin-tail designed to appeal to a very specific audience. And even my favorite character, Senior Ran.
Almost all the second-years from the CT Club had gathered. The characters I’d only seen in anime were now standing before me as real people. Was this a dream or reality? If it was a dream, it had to be a nightmare. Of all possible situations, I had to meet the future seniors of the club I’d eventually join in this state. It was an undeniably terrible first impression.
My mind snapped awake and a cold sweat ran down my back. I pushed off Rendel’s back, slid down, straightened my posture and clothes, and plastered a smile on my face—all in just five seconds. Please, please tell me they didn’t see anything.
“I was wondering who he was carrying. Isn’t that Luna?”
“Ah, the junior Rendel’s been following around?”
Damn it. They saw everything.
I suppressed the urge to clutch my head and scream, then bowed politely to the CT Club members.
“Hello, seniors. My name is Luna Adelt.”
“Hi! So you’re Luna. I’m Ran.”
As expected, the incredibly sociable Ran stepped forward first to greet me warmly. It was just a simple greeting, but it made me want to cry with gratitude.
“By the way, Luna. Rendel didn’t do anything weird to you, right?”
“N-no, he didn’t.”
“Reeeally?”
Ah. This was a pattern I’d seen often in the anime. Ran was Rendel’s childhood friend and acted like an older sister. Whenever Rendel got into trouble with someone or made a mistake, she would scold him sharply. To think I’d get to see her signature cute expression where she raises one eyebrow when she’s suspicious of him. As expected, Senior Ran is the best…
“Hah.”
No, that wasn’t right. Right now, defending Rendel—who had saved my life—should be my priority.
“No, Senior. He didn’t.”
If I raised my voice in panic, it would only make her more suspicious. I continued speaking calmly. I kept the part about Limpy hidden for now and explained that I had gone to Fairy’s Hill, come down from a high place, and that Rendel had saved me from getting hurt. Ran’s expression softened.
“Good job, Rendel.”
“Mm.”
Seeing Rendel look embarrassed by Ran’s praise was another scene straight out of the story. Only now did it truly sink in that I was inside the work.
“But—”
Thud!
In the middle of Ran speaking, a loud noise shook the ground and scattered leaves everywhere. In the dark forest slightly off the path, something unknown was glowing with red eyes.
UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED
“Everyone, get behind me!”
Carson’s Hussar moved to shield us. The gray knight took a kneeling stance and aimed at the opponent, but the black shadow that burst from the forest was faster.
“Power armor?”
Someone wearing black power armor charged straight at the Hussar. What would happen if a person in 2.5-meter armor fought an Aindium over ten meters tall? Normally, the Aindium would win easily. Its size was several times larger, and no matter how much the power armor struck it, the pilot wouldn’t feel pain, so the difference in combat endurance was massive. The Empire’s once-main force of power armor units had been pushed back by the Republic’s Aindiums and had since relinquished its position as the primary combat branch.
But things that defied common sense sometimes happened.
Clang!
The power armor knocked the standard rifle aiming at it upward, then stepped on the Hussar’s raised left knee and leaped. The Hussar quickly swung its left arm to shake it off, but the power armor used even that arm as a foothold and climbed onto its shoulder. Then it grabbed the Hussar’s head and jumped down toward an empty space.
Boom!
With its head jerked diagonally backward, the Hussar lost balance and toppled sideways. The unidentified figure in black power armor then approached us.
The only male left on the scene, Rendel, stepped forward, but facing someone in power armor with just his bare body was even harder than facing an Aindium while wearing power armor. Can’t be helped.
“Luna?”
I gave Senior Ran, who called my name in a worried voice, a reassuring wink, then took a step forward, waved my hand, and shouted at the power armor.
“I’m fine!”
Shhhk— Shhhk—
The sound from the power armor’s breathing apparatus gradually quieted, then the helmet opened with a hiss, revealing a face. The expressions on the seniors’ faces at that moment were priceless.
“Headmaster?”
The Headmaster had arrived wearing power armor.
“The power armor had the school emblem on its shoulder.”
“Aah.”
I’d thought Senior Muri was strangely calm. As expected from her sharp-eyed setting, she must have realized the opponent wasn’t an enemy. Of course, I already knew whose power armor would be wandering around here.
While the CT Club members chatted quietly behind us, I began speaking privately with the Headmaster.
“Why did you come here? Was it because the communicator stopped working?”
I had left the communicator at the entrance while going up and down the hill and mountain, so from thirty minutes after I left the Headmaster’s office until just now, it hadn’t moved. Since he had said he would come running even at the risk of his life if he thought something had happened to me, it made sense that he had come wearing power armor. But wasn’t this a bit late? If he had come earlier, I wouldn’t have had to jetpack off a cliff.
The Headmaster shook his head and gave a kind smile.
“As I said before, I was certain that Your Highness would enter Fairy’s Hill without much difficulty. So honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to the communicator not moving. You might have been sightseeing inside, after all.”
“Then is there another reason you came here?”
The Headmaster’s expression became subtle. His smiling face remained, but his eyebrows rose slightly, giving him a mischievous look.
“…Do you really want to hear it?”
“Yes.”
The Headmaster stepped back a little and gestured to me. Once we were far enough from the CT Club members that they couldn’t hear, he activated the communicator in his hand.
At the small, seductive moan, I instinctively snatched the communicator from the Headmaster’s hand and turned it off. What was this old man trying to make a female student listen to?!
“W-what are you making me listen to?!”
The Headmaster laughed heartily, as if he had expected this reaction.
“It’s the sound that came from Your Highness’s communicator.”
“…Pardon?”
“I thought you had suddenly turned on the communicator. If a sound like that came out, of course I had to come check, didn’t I?”
“…Yes.”
Of course. And of course you had to put on the power armor you’d kept stored away. Who would have thought that the communicator accidentally activated between me and Rendel would pick up my sleepy moans caused by muscle pain?
At this point, it felt like the world itself was maliciously trying to torment me. It was unfair, but since it was all my fault, I couldn’t even complain.
“So, will you tell me what happened?”
“I’ll visit you at lunchtime tomorrow.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
The Headmaster gave a slight bow, then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Only then did the CT Club members, who had been watching from behind, cautiously approach.
“Luna. How do you know the Headmaster?”
“Um. There’s a connection through my family.”
“Oho.”
It was a little embarrassing that Ran seemed to have taken an interest in me. As we talked on the way down the mountain, I realized the CT Club members were even more interesting than they had seemed in the anime.
“You’re the first junior I’ve had a proper conversation with.”
Especially with my favorite character Ran—I seemed to have become quite close with her. When she casually took my hand, I had to hold back the smile that threatened to break out. Ah, I’m so happy.
Just an hour ago I had been in despair thinking I had ruined the original story’s progression, but now it didn’t seem to matter anymore. No matter how it happened, as long as I joined the CT Club, it would be fine. In the original story, Ruwina hadn’t joined the CT Club yet, but her enrollment had been scheduled for the near future.
After returning to the dormitory and parting with the seniors, I turned on the bulletin board. As expected, I seemed to have appeared quite a lot this time.
Although it wasn’t a huge change, the fact that my actions were affecting the reality of that world felt strangely profound. That world was like a parallel world slightly different from where I came from. It felt like the world I knew was changing little by little. And with that, it seemed like my place to return to was disappearing.
I pushed those uncomfortable feelings down to the bottom of my consciousness and returned to my dormitory room.
“Luna!”
The moment I opened the door, Neria ran over and hugged me.
“I was so worried!”
“I’m sorry.”
I should have told Neria before I left. I think I was too hasty.
“You skipped class all afternoon, right? Where did you go?”
I had originally planned to give a vague answer, but a good idea suddenly came to me.
“Fairy’s Hill.”
“Fairy’s Hill?”
“Yeah. Neria. Want to go see a mysterious Aindium with me?”
At my words, Neria’s eyes sparkled like a puppy that had just been asked if it wanted to go for a walk. Perfect. I had secured one accomplice. Next, I should try to bring in the CT Club seniors. As accomplices to protect Limpy.