The Sun Rises on Another Chaotic Day
The sun rose right on schedule the next day, as if nothing had happened. I splashed cold water on my face to shake off the lingering fog in my head, then settled into my now-daily morning routine: checking the fan site bulletin board.
Scanning through the posts, it looked like Carson was beating himself up for getting taken down so easily by a seventy-year-old man in power armor. He and Rendell seemed to have drawn up an intensive training plan together. There were plenty of mocking comments like, “You got on an Aindium and still lost to power armor?” alongside supportive ones wishing for Carson to grow strong enough to keep up with Rendell. No one had yet realized that the Headmaster was actually Jade, a character from the first work in the series. His unique trait as an elderly man in power armor had generated some buzz, but that was about it.
Well, I hadn’t guessed it myself until I saw the photo. Ugh. If only I could post, I’d be dropping so many hints. But the fighter’s instinct inside me would have to be satisfied through an Aindium from now on, not a keyboard.
The Limpid Fairy, which was supposed to become Lewina’s personal unit, was currently lying overturned on a cliff. Getting it safely down from there was one problem, but I was even more worried that the Alitus Kingdom might try to confiscate it under the pretext of “researching Meister Carol’s masterpiece.”
I could already picture it: the Limpid Fairy shoved into some underground lab, completely dismantled, every single artistic component scattered to the winds. Absolutely not. I had already come up with one operation to prevent that from happening.
For this plan, I needed skilled mechanics and trustworthy, exceptionally talented cadets. I had already drawn up a list of students who fit those criteria perfectly: the second-year members of the CT Club—the protagonists of this story—along with Neria, my personal friend. If we combined our strengths, it would be possible.
There were also a few other people I needed to ask for cooperation separately.
Today at lunch, I had to meet the Headmaster as promised last night. He was the person acting as my guardian within the Alitus Aindium Academy, and the most important figure I needed to persuade before the CT Club if I wanted to protect the Limpid Fairy.
I recalled the original story’s flow. Although many events had already diverged significantly from the original, knowing so many of the hidden details allowed me to guess how things were supposed to unfold.
After all, I possessed Lewina’s memories, which positioned me as the central figure in those concealed parts of the tale.
Let’s assume for a moment that I really am Lewina. Even though she had gained freedom, she had never done anything on her own before. She probably would have gone to see the Headmaster not long after enrolling. And the Headmaster would have asked her to investigate Fairy’s Hill. The reason was unknown, but he already knew she was a “compatible one.”
Right before her first appearance in the anime, Lewina would have discovered the Limpid Fairy on Fairy’s Hill. But unlike me, she probably wouldn’t have climbed in immediately. She would have come back out and tried to report it to the Headmaster first—only to run into the protagonist, Rendell, along the way.
Why didn’t the fairies stop Rendell? Maybe there was something special about him too.
Anyway, after that, there were never any more mentions of Fairy’s Hill or the Nimust-class mecha that Meister Carol developed in his later years. Lewina probably told the Headmaster everything as it was, even if it was the very next day after meeting Rendell. That there was a research lab belonging to Meister Carol on Fairy’s Hill, and inside it were Artificial Fairies and a Nimust-class Aindium equipped with lost technology.
The result? “Nothing happened” for the next several months.
It seemed the Headmaster’s loyalty leaned more toward Lewina than toward the Kingdom of Alitus. There was a high chance that when Lewina reappeared later, she had been piloting the Limpid Fairy.
In that case, I should tell the Headmaster the truth as well. Or maybe I should throw a tantrum and insist on riding the Limpid Fairy, just in case? But that would be a bit painful for the mind of a fully grown adult man. If it came to that, I’d just have to awaken the Lewina inside me.
After waking Neria and eating breakfast together, we entered the classroom. The classmates who had been chatting noisily fell silent in an instant. As their gazes poured onto me, the timid Neria quickly hid behind my back.
The atmosphere felt strangely off.
One of the friends who had been helping me avoid Rendell cautiously approached.
“Um, Luna. Did you… happen to meet Senior Rendell yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“Kyaaak—!”
My answer triggered a wave of squealing from the girls as they swarmed over, making a huge racket. Neria couldn’t take it anymore and had already fled back to her seat. The boys either looked away or pretended to talk among themselves while blatantly perking their ears in our direction.
It seemed that because Rendell had been coming around for the past few days, everyone was dying of curiosity about my relationship with him.
I needed to get through this situation as smoothly as possible so it wouldn’t become a hassle later. I’d stick to the facts, keep it boring, and kill the rumor mill fueled by excitement.
“I did meet Senior Rendell, but—”
“Kyaa! Oh my gosh, it really was a reunion after several years?”
“…Who told you that?”
“See? I told you it wasn’t. I heard their families arranged a marriage between them.”
“No way. It’s because Senior Rendell saw Luna at the entrance ceremony and fell for her at first sight, right?”
Apparently some ridiculous rumors had been spreading without me knowing. I should have paid more attention to real-life gossip instead of just the bulletin board.
“None of that is true.”
“Then what is your relationship with Senior Rendell?”
“It’s nothing special. A few months ago I met him at the arena and lent him a handkerchief. I guess he was just returning it.”
I’d only spoken the facts, yet the classroom fell silent once again. Did I say something wrong?
The sound of a chair scraping across the quiet room sounded unusually loud. Everyone’s eyes turned toward a girl wearing thick glasses. Known as the most knowledgeable student in our class, she pushed her glasses up and spoke.
“Our Alitus Kingdom was once renowned as a land of knights. Tournaments where knights competed in skill were held quite frequently.”
I knew Alitus was famous as a kingdom of knights—Lewina had known that too—but why was she bringing it up now?
“It is said that knights who participated in tournaments considered receiving a handkerchief from a lady to be an immense honor. They would even dedicate their victories to that lady.”
“Oh my. How romantic.”
The story of knights and ladies seemed to have stimulated the girls’ sensibilities. I still didn’t understand why she was telling this story. Was it really just because of the shared element of a handkerchief?
“The times have changed, but it reminds me of that old tradition. Instead of tournaments, we have Aindium duels. Instead of knights, we have pilots. Luna, you’re quite something.”
“Luna, you’re amazing.”
Why were they all saying things like that while giving me thumbs-up? My face flushed with heat. The rumors that had been floating around until now had been baseless nonsense, but the words that had just come out of my own mouth were creating this kind of misunderstanding.
“N-no! That’s not what I meant….”
“Luna’s so cute. Look at her getting all shy.”
The girls’ teasing tone made it hard to refute them with a straight face. In the end, my attempt at an explanation only gave birth to yet another rumor, and it circulated among everyone for quite some time.
The Headmaster was waiting for me in the same quiet buffet-style restaurant as yesterday. Even as he welcomed me, he seemed concerned, stroking his beard as he spoke.
“I worry that continuously sharing lunch with this old man must be uncomfortable for you.”
“It’s fine. I actually find this place comfortable.”
The girls in my class never stopped chatting even during normal mealtimes, but today would be even worse. Because of the misunderstanding my explanation had caused, I’d been bombarded with questions every break. Maybe I should solve at least one meal a day here for the time being. Or buy bread from the school store and eat it back at the dormitory with Neria.
After a meal spent eating and drinking diligently without much conversation, I sat on the sofa in the reception room facing the Headmaster.
“I’ll explain everything in chronological order.”
“As you wish.”
I recounted everything I had experienced in the order it happened. How I had almost fallen victim to the fairies’ pranks the moment I entered Fairy’s Hill, only to be allowed in after they realized I was a compatible one. How I had discovered Meister Carol’s laboratory, the black Nimust-class unit, and the Limpid Fairy there. How I had opened the Limpid Fairy’s hatch, launched, and then crashed because I couldn’t control the unit properly. And finally, how I had escaped using the jet pack only to be rescued by Rendell.
The Headmaster shook his head slowly after hearing my story.
“I did not send you there to do something so dangerous.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hmm. It seems Her Majesty Queen Line did not fully understand Your Highness’s personality. She told me you would not recklessly throw yourself into dangerous situations.”
“Uh, y-yes, that’s what she said, right?”
“It appears you became rather excited after coming to the academy. From now on, if you discover anything, please return immediately and report first.”
“Yes.”
When I bowed my head and showed remorse, the Headmaster’s voice softened considerably.
“Still, a machine researched by Meister Carol… Even I find myself growing interested.”
“Oh, right. You knew Meister Carol, didn’t you, Headmaster?”
“Indeed. Before fleeing the Empire, the Meister apparently received a great favor from Her Highness the Imperial Princess. That is why he provided significant help when Her Highness settled in Karmanu. It was during that time that I learned a great deal about Aindiums as well.”
The Headmaster smiled, seemingly lost in old memories.
“Thanks to that, I ended up coming all the way to this distant foreign land and even became the headmaster of an academy. Since the introduction of Aindiums came late to places other than the Empire and the Republic, the infrastructure was lacking in many ways. Who could have guessed that someone like me—a former Imperial power armor soldier—would become an Aindium specialist educator?”
“You really have lived quite an eventful life, Headmaster.”
“Haha. Thanks to that, I have the honor of serving Your Highness in my later years. I consider it a blessing.”
Having reminisced, the Headmaster leaned forward and lowered his voice to ask a question.
“So, Your Highness. Do you intend to use that Nimust as your personal unit?”
“Yes. From what the fairies said, it seems no one else can pilot it anyway.”
“As expected… In that case, we will keep this discovery hidden.”
“Then what about the Limpid Fairy?”
“We will hide it carefully and secretly remove it when Your Highness graduates from this place.”
The Headmaster’s suggestion was perfectly reasonable, but I didn’t have the luxury of waiting that long. There were several major events that would occur within the next few months. I couldn’t possibly go around in a regular Aindium until then. Whether or not my involvement would actually help was secondary; to increase my survival rate, I needed an outstanding unit.
“But then I won’t be able to ride the Limpid Fairy until graduation?”
“There is no other choice. It is not something that should be shown to outsiders.”
It seemed my thinking had been wrong. If the Headmaster had opposed it this strongly in the original story as well, then even when Lewina appeared later, she might not have ridden it.
I immediately brought out my plan.
“Um. How about this instead?”
“Please speak.”
“We create something else to show the Alitus Kingdom. Since only those permitted by me, the compatible one, can enter Fairy’s Hill, there’s no way for them to know whether the Aindium discovered inside is the Limpid Fairy or not.”
“Hmm. Do you have a detailed plan?”
“Yes. I haven’t looked at the materials discovered in Meister Carol’s lab yet, but there should be information about the Limpid Fairy. We show them a Nimust-class Aindium created by following the Limpid Fairy’s design along with that data.”
“You mean a replica.”
In the Aindium series, a replica referred to a copied or degraded version modeled after a unique item—similar to a “prototype” commonly seen in mecha genres. Unlike mass-produced models, it was a duplicate that didn’t consider cost, parts supply, or production price. It was exactly what I needed right now.
“Yes. I understand that with about two excellent mechanics, it wouldn’t take long to build.”
It might sound like a stretch, but in the world of Aindiums, each mechanic was practically a one-person robot factory. That was also why the number of mechanics among the cadets was unusually low—they were that efficient. Wearing suits similar to the construction robots from the Korean traditional game Star Wars, they could repair or build Aindiums with astonishing speed. There was a dominant theory that this setting had been forcibly added to explain away the error of the protagonist’s half-destroyed unit in the first Aindium story being fully restored and deployed the very next day.
The operation I had come up with was to borrow the power of Neria and Kirié to create a fake version of the Limpid Fairy—a replica. The exterior could be made to look almost identical, and its capabilities wouldn’t differ much from current mass-produced Aindiums. With luck, we might even be able to downgrade and include flight capability. Even if it differed from Meister Carol’s research data, it wouldn’t be a big problem. We could simply say it had broken down over time or that the results hadn’t been as good as the Meister had hoped. What could they do even if they grew suspicious? Only I, the compatible one, and those I permitted could enter the hill.
After handing over the completed replica along with the data to the Alitus Kingdom, we would later release the real Limpid Fairy as an improved model. That way, the dark-attribute Limpid Fairy would naturally become my personal dedicated unit. Given its attribute, it was unlikely they would try to build another one anytime soon.
The Headmaster fell into thought for a moment after hearing my plan.
“I am not sure if there are mechanics skilled enough to deceive the Kingdom while also maintaining absolute secrecy.”
“I know two cadets with outstanding skill. They will definitely keep the secret as well.”
“Are you acquainted with those two individuals?”
“Yes. They are Kirié, a second-year mechanic cadet and CT Club member, and Neria, a first-year mechanic cadet. I met Senior Kirié yesterday, and Neria is my roommate.”
“Oh-ho. I have heard of Cadet Kirié. She is a disciple of Meister Nelson, is she not?”
Meister Nelson was a famous craftsman in charge of Alitus’s largest Aindium workshop. Lewina hadn’t known, but since it had been mentioned several times in the original story, I was aware.
“And Neria is Meister Nelson’s daughter. Her skill is said to be just as exceptional as Senior Kirié’s.”
“Ooh. So such a talented individual has enrolled. I must keep an eye on her.”
“Neria is a very timid friend, so if you ever need to call her, please contact her through me.”
“Understood.”
The Headmaster looked at me with a pleased expression.
“I was worried whether Your Highness would adapt well, but it seems you have made many friends. This humble servant feels greatly relieved.”
“Ugh. I can at least make friends, you know.”
I wondered what the original Lewina would have been like. She had shown quite a bewitching side to the protagonist, but I had no idea what she was like among her classmates. That wasn’t what I needed to worry about right now. Making the Limpid Fairy safely into my personal unit was the top priority.
The disciple and daughter of a master craftsman. The two of them would surely create an excellent replica of the Limpid Fairy. Getting Kirié and Neria’s cooperation shouldn’t be difficult. As born mechanics, there was no way they would pass up the chance to research Meister Carol’s Aindium and build a replica.
I had already half-convinced Neria this morning.
“It seems feasible. It is not a bad proposal for the Alitus Kingdom either, since they would obtain Meister Carol’s research data. I will provide all the materials necessary for building the replica.”
“Really? Thank you so much.”
I had been thinking of requesting help from my home country of Karmanu if necessary, so the Headmaster’s offer of support was very welcome.
Now all that remained was to ask for help from the CT Club seniors, including Kirié. Once afternoon classes ended, I should head straight to the CT Club.