Like a Snowball - The Next Day
The next day, I found myself back in the interrogation room for the session that had been cut short yesterday. The moment I stepped into the conference room beside the principal’s office, I saw Windsor waiting with his arms folded and a rigid expression on his face.
“…….”
“Good morning? Your Maj—”
“Ahem. That’s enough.”
“Yes, sir.”
Windsor’s mood had subtly shifted from the day before. He had shed a layer of that formal royal bearing, revealing the irritable scholar underneath.
“I have no desire to keep the princess tied up for long either, so let’s begin at once.”
“Understood.”
It wasn’t some grand interrogation. I simply explained the fairy’s abilities, gave a detailed account of Limpy, and described how we had stopped the attack. What interested Windsor most, of course, were the fairy and Limpy.
“An auxiliary AI created by Dr. Carol. Can other pilots use it as well?”
“Yes. Right now, not only me but the cadets in the CT Club are using them too.”
“CT Club?”
“The official name is probably the Combat Technology Club.”
“Ah, the Combat Technology Club. We had one in my day as well.”
Windsor scribbled something in his notebook before firing off the next question.
“About that fairy— is the number limited? I’m curious whether we could increase their numbers and distribute them to other cadets or active pilots.”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never heard that it’s possible to create them. There’s almost no information left behind by Dr. Carol, either.”
“Hmm. The materials we received barely touched on the fairies. The research data may have been lost… or deliberately destroyed.”
“I didn’t hide anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
I hurriedly defended myself in case he suspected me, and Windsor let out a small snort of laughter.
“I suppose not. Besides, can the princess even distinguish which information pertains to the fairies?”
“…No.”
Looked like I had taken the hit this round. Having traded blows evenly, we looked at each other and exchanged artificial smiles.
“Even after I return, the laboratory at this academy will continue researching the fairies, so I would appreciate your cooperation.”
“Of course. As a cadet of the Alitus Military Academy, I will assist to the best of my ability.”
“Good.”
Windsor nodded in satisfaction and clapped his hands. The conference room door opened at once, and a guard slipped inside.
“Bring the principal.”
“Yes, sir!”
The guard dashed out, and less than a minute later the principal entered the room.
“You called for me.”
“Yes. I wanted to share the initial investigation results with both of you.”
“So the results are in.”
At last, the moment had come to hear the long-awaited outcome. I didn’t know whether the rest had died, but at least the pilot of the command unit that the principal and I had captured together should still be alive. With luck, we might learn the identity of the enemy faction.
“First, regarding the pilot you personally captured, sir, he was in no condition for questioning due to severe memory disorientation.”
“Memory disorientation?”
“Correct.”
Just as I feared. They weren’t about to let us catch the tail so easily. Since the others had killed themselves, there was nothing to gain from the pilot after all. Still, I asked out of courtesy.
“Then what about the other pilots?”
“They were all dead.”
“I see.”
Unlike me, who had already known the answer, the principal frowned with clear discomfort. One of the most important lessons taught at our academy was to place survival above all else, so even for enemies it was unsettling that the pilots had thrown their lives away so easily.
“However, their condition was extremely strange.”
“Strange in what way?”
“Here are the autopsy results.”
Windsor placed a single sheet of paper labeled TOP SECRET on the table. Since I wouldn’t understand it anyway and the word “top secret” made me nervous, I slid the paper toward the principal. He examined it with an inscrutable expression.
“The bodies had been dead for thirty days and were preserved with embalming treatment.”
“Excuse me?”
What kind of nonsense was that? Dead people had been piloting them?
“Approximately fifty Aindiums attacked Allob Island. We secured forty-two cockpits. Of those, forty contained these deceased individuals.”
“That’s almost all of them.”
“Indeed. Of the remaining two, one was the mentally disturbed individual I mentioned, and the other died by poison.”
A chill ran down my spine at Windsor’s words. What had appeared in the original animation were merely fragments of the truth. This incident was far more complicated and far larger in scale than I had imagined.
“The experts believe magical analysis will be required to determine how corpses were able to operate Aindiums. After speaking with the royal mages, they suspect a deep connection to necromancy.”
“Necromancy is a school of magic that has been forbidden for a long time, is it not?”
“Correct. It is prohibited in our kingdom, the three allied nations, the Empire, and the Republic. It is considered to have died out in practice.”
“You are also keeping in mind the possibility that the invaders came from a distant country or another continent.”
“That is my thinking as well.”
Windsor gathered the documents and slipped them into an envelope. Leaning back against the sofa, he looked at the principal and me.
“For that reason, the investigators have concluded that the possibility of either the princess or the principal being an accomplice is virtually nonexistent.”
“That is a relief. Of course we are not accomplices.”
“Not only did you capture the sole surviving enemy, but thanks to the princess, her fellow cadets, and the principal, we were able to protect Allob with almost no damage. We should be giving you a reward instead.”
“That matter is also under consideration. First, on behalf of the royal family, allow me to express our gratitude.”
Since Windsor personally bowed his head, the principal and I hastily returned the gesture.
“And I hope you will continue to work for the sake of Alitus in the future.”
“Of course.”
“Me as well?”
“Naturally. The princess is currently a member of the Alitus Aindium Military Academy.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Having finished what he needed to say, Windsor gave us a farewell and left the conference room. He appeared to have a very busy schedule.
“Things have turned out this way, Princess.”
“Indeed. Especially after you went out of your way to capture him yourself, Principal.”
“In truth, your contribution is far greater than this old man’s. Moreover, I heard you pushed yourself considerably.”
“Ah… it wasn’t that bad.”
“Goodness. The princess keeps throwing herself into danger. I don’t know how I’ll face Her Majesty Line.”
“Ugh. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
As expected, I still couldn’t win against the principal. In the first story he had been a rigid young soldier, but age had turned him into quite the sly old fox.
After a quiet meal with the principal, I returned to the classroom. My classmates kept glancing at me before finally approaching.
“Luna, are you okay?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“We heard you’ve been under constant investigation lately. After how hard you worked to protect the school, too.”
“Yeah. Aren’t you the only first-year who actually did anything?”
“I heard you were moving with the CT Club seniors. You’re joining the CT Club, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I think so.”
When I answered with an awkward smile, I caught whispers drifting from the far side of the room.
“As expected, it’s Senior Rendell and…”
“Didn’t she say it wasn’t like that last time?”
“Who believes that? Just look at them…”
Strange rumors about me were spreading again. I no longer even felt like making excuses. Incidents would keep happening in the future; if I paid too much attention to gossip, my vigilance might grow dull. As long as the rumors didn’t become too malicious, I would let them slide.
“L-Luna. What was the result?”
The moment Neria approached, the other friends returned to their seats as if on cue. It wasn’t that they were ostracizing her; they were simply being considerate of the girl who disliked crowded places.
“I’ll tell you later in the club room.”
“Okay. Got it.”
In truth, I was still debating. Should I tell the others that most of the Aindium pilots had been the deceased? Windsor hadn’t given any specific instructions, but casually spreading the contents of a top-secret document felt dangerous. It might even be a kind of test.
In the end, just like in the original work, I could only reveal that everyone except the final pilot captured by the principal had committed suicide by poison.
“Oh my god.”
Ran and Neria covered their mouths in shock, while the other CT Club seniors reacted with mild surprise.
“They’re sacrificing pilots that casually? What country would do something like that?”
“It seems they still haven’t identified the nation. They only said the Aindiums were plain mass-produced units.”
That was about all I had learned from Windsor regarding the Aindiums. However, I remembered the fairy saying they “couldn’t communicate.” Perhaps that fact could become the breakthrough needed to identify the enemy.
“We’ll have to stay alert from now on. They might even station regular troops on Allob.”
“Probably.”
Allob Island was one of the largest islands in Alitus and had a sizable population, yet it had never hosted a permanent military garrison. That was because the military academy—the largest Aindium force on the island—was only a ten-minute drive from the city. Even if the cadets’ piloting skills were still immature, many of them, like Rendell, were already being called ace-level from their first year. The rest were said to be ready for active duty the moment they finished their first year. Hundreds of Aindiums guarded Allob City, making it one of the safest places in the kingdom.
Except in situations like this one.
“Group vacations might disappear from now on.”
Muri’s offhand remark darkened the seniors’ faces. The second-years had contributed greatly to stopping the attack, yet the vacation originally scheduled for the week after the hill contest had been canceled. As a result, they had gone straight from the hill contest and the Allob defense battle into two days of debriefing before returning to classes.
Neria and I stayed quiet so as not to provoke them, but my eyes accidentally met Kirié’s.
“Ugh, I’m so mad. I can’t even yell at Luna since she fought with us.”
“Ow!”
Frustrated that her vacation had been canceled, Kirié pinched Neria’s cheek. Rendell immediately gave her a light rap on the head.
“Are you really taking it out on your junior?”
“Yeah. Neria worked hard on maintenance after the battle too.”
“An announcement just went up. Second-years will rotate through rest periods. Next week is the pilot class, then the week after is the operator and maintenance classes.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
At Senior Ran’s words—she always checked the school bulletin board meticulously—the other seniors breathed sighs of relief. No matter how much they were the protagonist’s party, the exams, practical tests, and sudden attack in between must have left both their bodies and minds exhausted. The original work never mentioned any aftermath, so several weeks had simply passed; I hadn’t realized there were follow-up measures like this.
That meant the CT Club would essentially be on hiatus for a while. During that time, I should focus on raising my own abilities. I also needed to address the glaring weaknesses I had felt so painfully during the last battle.
“Kirié-senpai. Neria.”
“Yes?”
“What is it?”
The two girls, similar yet different, turned their gazes toward me at the same time. Both had reddish hair and green eyes that differed only slightly in shade, so they looked like sisters at first glance. Their personalities, however, were complete opposites.
“I was wondering if you could make a proper custom weapon for Limpy.”
It was time for real, tailored equipment. I would also need to modify Limpy to match. The next incident was drawing closer with every passing moment.