Unexpected Encounter
“I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”
“Quiet! Keep your hands up where I can see them!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The gray-haired woman stood in the empty corridor with her hands raised. Perhaps she had let her guard down too much on what should have been a pleasant trip home. If she had changed clothes in the restroom, she could have blended in as a visitor and left without issue. Instead, she had walked straight out of the school building in her tracksuit and been stopped by a patrolling instructor.
Students sneaking out of the military academy were nothing new, but today was a day when outsiders came and went frequently, so security had been tightened.
Even so, I’m not the type to get caught and punished without a fight.
The woman, who usually took pride in being called strange by her colleagues, decided to turn the situation to her advantage. Fortunately, they hadn’t questioned her identity, so her disguise as a cadet remained intact. On top of that, she had learned that the security around the classroom buildings was surprisingly lax—a valuable discovery.
“Stand there for five more minutes, then head to the training field. Don’t leave the campus.”
“Yes, sir.”
Exactly five minutes later, the woman lowered her hands and strolled out of the classroom building, scouting the academy grounds. Even on a day when outsiders were allowed in, lingering near the hangars would look suspicious. But right now she was disguised as a cadet.
Why not finish the rest of my reconnaissance today while I’m at it?
She had already identified the person who handled the fairies—the most critical piece of information—but she still didn’t know where to find them.
I’m fairly certain they mentioned some kind of club…
As she walked, deep in thought, a cadet with long, flowing dark-blue hair rushed past her. The cadet stumbled on a broken paving stone, nearly falling forward and dropping the paper in her hands. The woman instinctively reached out and caught her arm.
“Ah…? Th-thank you.”
Thanks to the woman’s quick grab, Ran Geilt managed to stay on her feet. The gray-haired woman tilted her head and snatched the fluttering paper from the air.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Thank you again.”
Ran bowed politely as the woman handed the paper back. The woman glanced at the name written on it and was startled.
“Are you a member of the CT Club?”
“Pardon? Oh—yes. I’m a second-year in the CT Club.”
Ran only now noticed that the other woman was wearing a tracksuit like a cadet. With her excellent memory, Ran had memorized the faces and names of most students at the academy. Since she had never seen this face before, she had assumed the woman was an outsider.
Ran tilted her head and asked carefully, “Um… are you perhaps an OG of our school?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m sorry, but you don’t look familiar. If you were a current student, I would have seen you at least once while passing by…”
Flustered by Ran’s words, the woman decided to go along with the suggestion.
“Ah, y-yes, that’s right. I graduated two years ago. I live nearby, so I came to watch the sports festival.”
“Ah! I see. Thank you for helping me, senior. My name is Ran Geilt.”
The woman, who had blurted out a lie without thinking, breathed an inward sigh of relief when Ran treated her with respect.
Since things have turned out this way, I might as well gather some information.
“Nice to meet you. I’m—”
The woman paused for a split second while trying to give her name. After a brief moment of thought, she smiled faintly and spoke.
“My name is Teicia.”
The woman from space boldly gave her real name. Since no one here knew her, she felt a refreshing sense of freedom from the weight that name carried.
“Miss Geilt, is there a cadet named Yui in the CT Club?”
Movement Festival – Day Two. Team battles were scheduled for the morning, followed by unrestricted-class combat in the afternoon. The unrestricted-class matches were large-scale group battles held across the outdoor training grounds scattered throughout Allob Island. With each team allowed up to fifty pilots, the event was even larger than the full-grade training exercises. Every moment was recorded and later broadcast on television, drawing intense public interest.
「So let’s all do our best.」
「“Yes!”」
The pilot chosen as representative for the Red Team was none other than Carson. As a central figure in the CT Club who also got along well with members of other clubs, he was perfectly suited to the role of on-site commander. No one raised any objections to his selection.
However, because he had to look after not only the CT Club members but also the other pilots on the team, the first-year CT Club members—including me—received relatively little direct attention.
「Luna. Sorry, but could you lead your classmates? I’m giving your group the role of moving independently to support the main force.」
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
Independent action sounded nice, but in reality it meant we were essentially a detached unit. We might even end up being the ones to stop Rendel.
“Mikhail. Want to take on Rendel-senior?”
「…I’ll look for the right moment.」
Mikhail was a good close-range training partner for Rendel—essentially a sandbag, but not just any sandbag. That was why Mikhail, who had bravely faced Rendel head-on during the club interview simulation, had started avoiding him lately. Maybe he was tired of getting beaten no matter how hard he tried.
In that regard, I was tempted to give Enlow, Rendel’s self-proclaimed rival, a higher score. At least he didn’t run away from Rendel.
Since Enlow was also on the Red Team, I immediately sent him a transmission.
“Enlow-senior. Could you keep Rendel-senior in check?”
「Huh? Lu-Luna? I, uh, well…」
Huh? This guy just cut the transmission. He’s been avoiding me ever since I used him as bait against the Earthworm in the first semester. Looks like there’s really no one left to mark Rendel—except me.
“Then I’ll tie down Rendel-senior. When I do, focus your firepower on him.”
「Roger.」
「Luna, are you sure about this?」
“Don’t worry, Carson-senior. I’ve fought Rendel-senior plenty of times already.”
Recently, I had fought Rendel more than anyone else. Even if it was only in simulations, getting hit by his sword hundreds of times made you get used to it. Besides, the mass-produced Aindium he would be using couldn’t handle his acceleration ability. His signature White Fang was effectively sealed, so he would be fighting with pure piloting skill alone. I figured I could hold out for a while.
Truthfully, I was more interested in experiencing real combat against Rendel than in winning. How often did you get the chance to fight the protagonist of your favorite story?
I slowly piloted my Aind-class Aindium into the bushes designated as our starting position. Yui, Mikhail, and two other pilots Carson had assigned joined me nearby.
「The unrestricted-class combat match will now begin. Please signal when both teams are ready.」
「Red Team, ready.」
「Blue Team, ready.」
Surprisingly, the leader of the Blue Team wasn’t Rendel. Then again, Rendel was more of a sword than the center of a team.
“Yui. As soon as we start, head to that hill and set up the decoys. Then come straight back down.”
「Got it.」
“Everyone else, escort Yui and keep watch. If you spot Rendel-senior, report immediately.”
「Roger.」
The mass-produced Vivald-class carried four decoys in total. Because the Vivald-class was so large, its magical presence when the engine was running was enormous. The decoys were meant to conceal that presence, but most people assumed a Vivald-class was nearby if they detected a decoy. If we placed them on a hill partially hidden by trees, the enemy would likely charge in expecting a Vivald-class—and the artillery raining down from the hill would be terrifying.
I waited in the forest a short distance from the hill for the Blue Team to approach. Although the battlefield was quite large, the objective wasn’t to hold a specific area. Enemies would naturally gather wherever allies were. Rendel would appear somewhere among them.
This time, I decided not to use the fairies. After all, this was essentially my first real battle relying only on my own skill—even if it was just one event in the sports festival.
I took off my gloves and wiped my sweaty palms on my suit.
“Huh? Have I gained some weight?”
When I first arrived here, Ruwina’s figure had been quite slender. Lately my thighs and… other slightly embarrassing areas had been filling out. At least all the exercise had kept me from developing a belly—that was something.
「Luna, Rendel’s charging the main force!」
“I’m on my way! Yui, begin autonomous fire on the Blue Team. Everyone else, protect Yui.”
「Roger!」
I sprinted toward the dust-filled battlefield. Then a forum post suddenly popped up.
I opened the forum, wondering if I had missed something. There were quite a few posts I couldn’t read, just like the usual blind feature. I hadn’t paid much attention before, but now—
“Yui! Everyone, come to my location right now!”
「Huh? Luna, what’s wrong?」
“No time to explain!”
Posts directly related to enemy forces had always been unreadable to me. Unless I was directly confronting the enemy like during the hill capture battle, even if the animation was airing, I couldn’t access the information—as if it were under embargo. A sudden flood of such posts meant the enemy faction had appeared in the animation and information had been released. And right now, it probably meant we were about to run into them.
「Blue Team behind us!」
BOOM—!
Mikhail’s urgent shout was followed by the sound of a training shell exploding, sending up a cloud of smoke.
“Watch out!”
I pushed my speed even higher toward Yui’s position.