Fireworks and Forgotten Memories
The cadets of the Alitus Aindium Military Academy reached Lans City, their destination, in the late afternoon of the first day of the training retreat. We parked our Aindiums inside the temporary hangar at the garrison prepared on the city outskirts, then gathered in the open clearing. With nearly the entire academy assembled—minus about half of the third-years—the place was packed with both cadets and supervisors alike.
“We will now begin the Alitus Aindium Military Academy training retreat.” One of the supervising instructors made the formal declaration, and the schedule kicked off in earnest.
The first event on day one was a ten-kilometer run for physical conditioning. Ten kilometers might not sound bad on paper, but the course featured significant elevation changes that made it grueling. Even some of the combat-track pilots struggled to maintain proper form, and cadets from the operator and maintenance divisions began falling behind one after another.
Thanks to my daily morning and evening jogs, I managed to stay with the lead group even if I wasn’t in first place. Rendel, who had been running a little ahead, glanced around, spotted me, and deliberately slowed his pace.
“Is the pace all right for you?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
With his monstrous stamina and speed that could easily take first place, he was choosing to run at a relaxed tempo. It might seem odd for the protagonist of a hot-blooded robot series, but it was a smart choice for proper energy management.
When Rendel and I returned to the starting point side by side, we found Yvette-senpai—now wearing her formal uniform instead of workout clothes—talking with the instructors. She noticed us and waved cheerfully.
“Luna, Rendel. Over here!”
“Yvette-senpai.”
This training retreat required close cooperation with the lord of Lans City, so it made sense that she had stepped up to act as intermediary. Rendel and I gave polite bows and stepped aside so we wouldn’t block the other cadets.
Soon the rest of the students began arriving in waves. The CT Club members naturally gathered around us. Carson-senpai and Muri-senpai had already finished with the front group, and the first-year pilots came in right after us. Neria placed in the middle of the pack; she sometimes joined me for runs on days the maintenance team wasn’t busy, so her stamina was better than she looked. Marius, Kirié, and Rane-senpai finished in similar mid-tier positions.
“Hek… hek… Looks like we’re… the last ones.”
“Good work, Christine, Jena.”
With the first-year operators bringing up the rear, the entire CT Club was finally assembled.
“Everyone, gather by club!”
Club membership was mandatory at our academy. Most students joined organizations that matched their personalities and goals. There were clubs like the CT Club, which trained exceptional individuals to become battlefield specialists, student-council-style groups for aspiring commanders and their aides, and even clubs that drilled and operated exactly like regular military units. Even the ghost members who never actually participated belonged to at least one club. When multiple conflicting duties arose like this, the standard procedure was to split up by club affiliation.
“City security detail, line up here! Monster subjugation team, over here!”
At the instructor’s shout, the cadets scattered and reformed like a well-oiled machine. In moments they had arranged themselves into the familiar five-column formation they had drilled into their bodies. Once in position, they stood at ease and waited in perfect silence. The clearing, which had been noisy only moments before, was now so quiet that the sharp click of dress shoes echoed clearly across it.
Yvette-senpai stepped onto the platform in her formal uniform. She swept her gaze across the assembled students and spoke.
“Greetings, classmates and juniors. I am third-year Iveticia Layrans.”
Many cadets tilted their heads in confusion; these kinds of addresses were usually handled by the student council president.
“Lans City is my proud hometown where I was born and raised. It is also the territory granted to our Layrans County by the royal family.”
Only then did the students realize why she was standing on the platform. A few soft gasps of understanding rippled through the crowd.
“I would like to thank all the cadets who will be working hard for the sake of Lans City. As a small token of appreciation, I have prepared a modest gift. Please enjoy it to your hearts’ content.”
Yvette-senpai lightly lifted the edge of her short cloak and spread her arms wide. The outdoor buffet that had been set up in the clearing and the campfires that now blazed to life drew an immediate reaction.
“Whoa!”
“From now until lights-out after dinner, you are free to do as you please!”
At the instructor’s announcement the cadets let out wild cheers and dashed off.
Delicious food and the warm glow of campfires. Stars glittered in a sky even clearer than the one above Alob Island, floating above the treetops.
“Ah, my friends are calling me. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time.”
After watching Savian run off to join his classmates, I cleared my plate. The CT Club members had eaten the first round together before scattering. The three operators had been summoned to a strategy meeting for tomorrow’s operation, and the maintenance team had gone with them. Carson-senpai headed to headquarters to review the roster in advance, while Muri-senpai was quietly eating with Yui. As for Rendel…
“Senpai! Can I get your autograph?”
A short distance away, Rendel was giving autographs to a group of first-years with an awkward smile. The line easily exceeded ten people. A couple of boys were mixed in, but the majority were girls. I knew he had always been famous, but his TV appearance was back in October of last year. Why the sudden surge…?
“They aired our sports festival on TV recently and showed Rendel-senpai’s performance for quite a long segment. That’s probably why.”
I had been glaring at him without realizing it. Yui leaned over and whispered the explanation in my ear.
Right. If they broadcast the sports festival, there was no way they could have left out the decisive final performance that secured his overall victory. My head had been so full of thoughts about the newly discovered relatives that I hadn’t had time to watch television.
For the first-years who hadn’t known much about him, learning that he was the same Rendel who had competed last year would naturally revive the high-pitched screaming that had followed him at the beginning of the first semester. Still… did the protagonist really have time to leisurely hand out autographs? We had no idea what might happen during this training retreat or the meeting with the countess.
“Huu…”
A sigh slipped out before I could stop it. I stood up.
“I’m heading out first.”
“U-um, okay.”
Yui waved her hand awkwardly, fidgeting. A moment later Muri-senpai dragged her off somewhere. I slipped into the shadow of a tree and pulled up the bulletin board. It would help me feel more at ease if I gathered some information myself.
But the very first post I saw irritated me.
These people. Instead of posting Neria memes, they were busy capturing that. The intense feeling that it might become a dark chapter of history made me immediately block the keyword “shikshik.” I scrolled through the board to see if there was any new information.
Hmm. The animation board had almost no new posts; nothing special seemed to be happening. Then what about the game board that I checked occasionally?
Pilot Rendel Zubertain (Swimsuit), UR White Fang (Black)
Pilot Ruwina Edelstia (Swimsuit) Pickup Event Guide (~7.28)
“Eek.”
The swimsuit gacha I had feared—and both Rendel and I were on simultaneous pickup, no less. Seeing the video that perfectly captured the swimsuits we had worn during summer break made my face burn. Couldn’t I report the game developers from the other world for portrait rights infringement?
Grumbling to myself, I continued scrolling through the game board. The event seemed to center around the Karmanu rescue operation that had taken place during summer vacation, linked with the character pickups. From the summary, the in-game story had diverged quite a bit because the game’s original protagonist had interfered. It was interesting to see the altered plot progression, but there didn’t seem to be any crucial information.
“Huh?”
Then I spotted a word that was clearly connected to the enemy faction.
The protagonist engages in battle with the ■■ Order’s △△△.
Required Combat Power: 13,500 or higher
—View Strategy Guide—
Two characters and three characters. The first was probably the name of the enemy force, but what was the second? If it had been something like “pilot” it wouldn’t have been censored. It was such an obvious word.
“Luna!”
While I was lost in thought, I heard Rendel calling my name from a distance. He must have finished the autograph session. Must be nice to be so popular.
Feeling slightly annoyed, I stepped out from under the tree. The moment Rendel spotted me he hurried over.
“Senpai, what’s the mat—”
Before I could finish, he grabbed my wrist.
“Sorry I’m late. Let’s hurry.”
“Huh?”
Rendel suddenly broke into a run, heading toward a deserted hill. Did he have something confidential to tell me?
“We’re not late.”
“Late for what?”
“Just a moment… Look over there.”
Rendel, who had been checking his watch, pointed at the sky. I followed his finger. With a sharp whoosh, a single small flame streaked across the darkness. A missile? Or a rocket?
My confusion lasted only a second. Then—boom. Boom. Fireworks exploded across the night sky.
Brilliant bursts of every color filled my vision, forming dazzling shapes and letters.
Alitus. Aindium. Lans.
Another gift prepared by Yvette-senpai.
A memory from the distant past rose unbidden. A memory shared by both me and Ruwina—of going to an amusement park with family. The gap between an ordinary Korean man and a princess of a nation in an anime world seemed to vanish in those nearly identical recollections. Both memories ended with fireworks.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the display. For some reason, tears slid silently down my cheeks.
Even after the five-minute fireworks show ended, quite some time passed before Rendel spoke cautiously.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
I wiped away the inexplicable tears with my sleeve and forced a bright smile.
“But did we really need to come all the way up here?”
“I thought you might dislike crowded places.”
“…It’s not that you simply wanted to watch them together, is it?”
“Hmm. I can’t exactly deny that.”
Rendel scratched the back of his head. I pointed it out exactly as Rane-senpai would have and started down the hill.
“Go first.”
“Yes.”
Probably to prevent any strange rumors, Rendel sent me ahead and stayed hidden in the tree shadows, watching. Thanks to him, I was able to walk back along the dark path in a surprisingly peaceful mood.
Thus the first day of the training retreat came to an end in an atmosphere far more relaxed than that of an ordinary school—as if gently foreshadowing the grueling forced march that would begin on the second day.