The Fourth Inflection Point - 47 - A Summer Promise
After wrapping up every last detail at the border, we arrived in Shutor, the capital of Alitus. According to our original schedule, we should have reached the academy by Tuesday morning and been resting comfortably. But the incident was too serious for that. The military’s top brass—and even the royal family—had summoned us, claiming a precise investigation was necessary.
Among the cadets on the train, an atmosphere thick with tension, anxiety, and a strange undercurrent of anticipation hung in the air. Half of them believed we would be punished for nearly sparking a national conflict, even if unintentionally. The other half argued we deserved a reward for defeating a monster that would have demanded heavy sacrifices to subdue. Even the instructors had no clear idea why their superiors had called us here.
“Sigh. Your class really does attract trouble, doesn’t it?”
One of the teachers said this to Rendel, who could be considered the students’ representative. He offered an awkward smile.
“But we’ve gotten through everything just fine so far, haven’t we?”
“That’s true. This time, too, there wasn’t any major damage.”
Several Aindiums had been wrecked, ammunition had been wasted beyond the planned amount, and Limpy’s fake specs had been unexpectedly exposed—minor issues, all told. Miraculously, there had been no loss of life or damage to civilian property. If anything, the Ellydium we could harvest from the Earthworm’s body made the whole affair incredibly profitable. I would need to persuade the others about that part. Since the CT Club—Rendel and I in particular—had contributed the most, securing our share shouldn’t be difficult.
The place we arrived at was a military facility near the royal palace. While every cadet was involved in the incident, only a few of us were central to it: Enlow and Grik, who had first encountered the Earthworm, and Rendel and I, who had made the greatest contributions to its defeat. The four of us entered a room with our instructors to be questioned about the event.
A military investigator in uniform was waiting inside. When we entered, he rose from his seat, and the oldest instructor among us saluted first.
“I am Cardo, warrant officer and instructor at the Aindium Military Academy.”
“I am Captain Angelo of the Shutor Capital Defense Force.”
Besides Captain Angelo, there were several researchers and regular soldiers in the room. After brief introductions, Angelo gestured toward a separate interrogation room prepared on one side of the chamber.
“I’ve already reviewed the reports, but we will investigate the sequence of events in there.”
“Understood.”
The instructors’ questioning began first. Enlow and Grik, seated beside Rendel, kept glancing nervously in my direction. We had anticipated this and coordinated our stories in advance. As long as those two didn’t slip up, this matter shouldn’t become a serious problem.
When Grik entered the interrogation room, Rendel leaned over and whispered.
“Luna. Is there anything I should say on your behalf?”
It sounded like he was offering to perjure himself a little for me. I appreciated the thought, but Rendel wasn’t the type to deceive others.
“Just tell them exactly what happened, Senior.”
“Got it.”
Before long it was Rendel’s turn. Grik emerged from the room, and when I gave him a questioning look, he gave a tiny nod. Enlow had reacted similarly, so it seemed there were no issues.
After Rendel’s rather lengthy questioning ended, it was finally my turn.
“Cadet Luna Adelst. This way.”
I was the very last. As I passed Rendel, I gave him a small, reassuring smile. The interrogation room had a one-way mirror—transparent from outside, opaque from within. Inside waited two burly soldiers and Captain Angelo.
I took the empty seat. Angelo immediately gave orders to the soldiers.
“Activate the auditory blocking function and turn around. Tap my shoulder when we’re finished.”
“Yes, sir.”
The soldiers adjusted their helmets, then stood facing the opaque glass with their backs to us.
“Cadet Luna Adelst. Is that you?”
“Yes, it is.”
He flipped through a file containing Luna’s profile and muttered to himself.
“Hmm. The profile is classified level two. What is your real name, not the alias?”
If he truly knew my identity, he wouldn’t be probing like this.
“Is that really important right now?”
“It might be. Who knows—you could be a foreign operative trying to stir up conflict with Taraen.”
“The academy isn’t so lax that it would admit a foreign agent without screening them properly.”
“…My apologies.”
Angelo cleared his throat and opened his notebook. Then he activated the crystal orb that had been sitting on the desk.
Enchanted Artifact
Detects truth and falsehood through embedded magic. Reliability is limited; self-belief can override its judgment.
“This object is imbued with magic that distinguishes truth from lies. Its accuracy isn’t perfect, but it serves well as a reference.”
“I see.”
I knew this thing well. It appeared in every installment of the Aindium series without fail. In truth, it was barely better than a lie detector. If the speaker genuinely believed their own words, it could turn a falsehood into truth. That was why Angelo had called it a mere reference tool. Still, those unfamiliar with it or unable to deceive themselves would likely speak honestly out of fear.
Because I had noticed its presence, I had told Rendel to speak only the truth.
“The two cadets, Enlow and Grik, claimed they entered the forest on your orders. Is this true?”
“It is.”
“A giant monster awakened because an Aindium entered that forest. Do you agree with this causal relationship?”
“I do.”
“Then would you also agree that you are the cause of this incident?”
“I cannot agree with that.”
Angelo didn’t seem particularly surprised. He tilted his head slightly, inviting my counterargument.
“First, I spent several days in that forest hunting monsters. Although I only caught a few, I faithfully carried out my role as an observer.”
“We already know that from the instructors’ statements. And?”
“And on the final day, the hunt ended shortly before the monster awakened. Our cadets then began the perimeter reconnaissance that had been scheduled for that evening.”
Angelo glanced at the crystal, but since everything I had said so far was true, there was no reaction. I secretly circulated mana within my body—dark mana specialized in deception and disguise.
“I sensed a monster’s movement in the forest. At first, I thought it was the herd of rhinodons that had fled into the woods.”
Enlow and Grik had coordinated their stories around my saying, “There’s a monster in the forest.” Since it wasn’t a lie, the orb hadn’t reacted. And it still showed no reaction now. The dark mana I had released made the falsehood feel like truth to me. For that moment, the words were not a lie. My brain had simply been mistaken.
“Hmm. I see.”
“Yes. We couldn’t just leave the monster there—it might have harmed the nearby villages. After all, the whole purpose of the operation was to clear out monsters to prevent exactly that.”
Deceiving myself with dark mana was quite difficult and carried the risk of verbal slips, so after dispersing the mana I deliberately used the word “monster.” Both the rhinodons and the Earthworm were monsters that could harm nearby villages, so every word was true.
The sharpness in Angelo’s gaze softened. He nodded, looking impressed.
“An excellent mindset. We need more people like you in the military.”
“Everyone here is quite admirable.”
The mood had improved, so I flashed a bright smile and offered the flattery. But—
Wiiing— Wiiing—
The crystal orb lit up and emitted a clear tone. Angelo gave a wry smile.
“I suppose we can’t call this perjury.”
“Ah, ahaha.”
I could only laugh awkwardly.
The results of the incident investigation came out quickly. Cadets had detected monster activity and entered the forest, where they unfortunately encountered a colossal monster. Working together, they had subdued and killed it without casualties. As the truth emerged—that the creature was the legendary giant monster spoken of in the region—the focus shifted to rewards.
Rendel and I, Luna, had clearly shown the most outstanding performance. Lately, Luna’s standing on the message boards had been skyrocketing.
The fact that the Earthworm was a monster that had crossed the border many times in the past, causing massive damage, meant that even Taraen had paid us a reward. Half of it had gone to the royal family and the military, but a considerable amount remained. Rendel had said he would keep only a small portion and donate the rest, so I stepped in to stop him.
“Luna. Donating isn’t a bad thing. It might feel like a loss, but…”
“No, Senior. I know donations are good. They come with tax benefits and would raise your evaluation as a soldier. But right now, there’s something we need to do with that money.”
“What is it?”
“Securing the corpse of the monster we killed—the Earthworm.”
The Earthworm’s remains currently belonged to the state. They probably planned to process it like any other monster, sell the materials, and distribute a portion of the profits to us. I demanded my share of the actual body. In the end I obtained about twenty percent. If Rendel pushed for it, we could secure up to half. Adding the reward money we had luckily received would let us claim nearly the entire carcass.
Rendel tilted his head after listening to my explanation.
“Do we need to secure that monster’s corpse?”
“Senior, think carefully. The reason your sword didn’t work at first—was it simply because the hide was tough?”
“No. The mana I wrapped around the blade vanished as if it had been extinguished. Ah!”
Rendel clapped a fist into his palm as if he had realized something.
“You don’t mean…?”
“Exactly.”
The hint had come from the exploits of Blackwolf (presumably) that Rendel had heard from his master. Blackwolf had pierced an imperial artifact—an Aindium shield called the Barrier of Damar. The Earthworm’s hide produced a similar effect to that shield, which was packed with Ellydium. At this point, even Rendel must have caught on.
“But buying the entire corpse will be difficult. People will notice.”
“That’s true.”
“So I’ll only contribute about half the reward money.”
“That’s more than enough.”
The part of the head I had burned would have melted Ellydium mixed with other metals. If we gave them the head, they might never realize Ellydium was even present. In the end, we purchased roughly seventy percent of the Earthworm’s remains and hauled them to the CT Club’s exclusive open lot at the academy.
“Luna! What the hell is this!”
I received a scolding from Kirié, who often used the area as a field maintenance yard, but it was still an incredibly satisfying transaction.
And then, the moment I had been deliberately avoiding finally arrived.
It was Friday, the day after final exams ended. Rendel sent me a private message during the first virtual training session in a long while.
> Come to the club room tomorrow morning after breakfast.
Visiting the club room on a Saturday only happened when there was truly nothing else to do—or when there was something that had to be done. This was clearly the latter. I had wondered if he had forgotten after so long without mention, but of course that wasn’t the case.
Saturday morning. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to the club room. Only one person was inside—Rendel.
“You’re here?”
Rendel greeted me with a bright smile across his face and turned off the TV he had been watching. This guy. He really is enjoying this, isn’t he? I frowned slightly and sat on the sofa opposite him.
“I won the bet, right? You said so yourself, and although I touched the hammer, I didn’t use it.”
“Yes.”
“Then I get to make one wish?”
“Do as you like.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
I had already given up on most things. If he asked for money, I would give it. If he asked me to go to war with him, I would go. But there was one thing I could never allow.
“Only!”
“Hm?”
I grabbed the sleeve of Rendel’s uniform.
“N-nothing perverted, okay?”
Rendel stared at me blankly for a moment, then his face gradually turned bright red. Mine probably looked the same. I could feel my ears and the back of my neck burning.
“I’m not going to ask for something like that!”
Rendel shouted in a very uncharacteristic way, then gave a short cough. He seemed quite flustered.
Rendel took a sip of water and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Would you like to go somewhere together during summer break this year?”
It was a far more ordinary request than I had expected. Perhaps even if I had won, I might have asked for something similar—a modest wish. I smiled in relief and nodded.
“Of course. I was actually thinking about where to go this summer too.”
“Really? Then I’ll put together a plan.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
After that, Rendel kept smiling brightly, suggesting places and praising certain beaches. I kept my own smile in place and listened to every word. Sorry, but the destination for this summer is already decided. The next battlefield is waiting for us.