novelraw Chapter 13
Chapter 13
The Special Mission Military Academies of the United Human Star Nation are broadly divided into two types.
The Central, Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Special Mission Military Academies, which train special mission officers for the ‘Federal Army’.
And the various planetary special mission military academies, which train special mission officers for the ‘Defense Force’.
Of course, there were many others, such as non-commissioned officer schools that train special mission NCOs and academies that train regular officers, but there was one fact they all acknowledged on the surface, regardless of their private feelings.
The 「Central Special Mission Military Academy」 was the most outstanding of all military academies.
Naturally, the scale of support it received was beyond imagination.
It wasn't for nothing that all the factions paid more attention to the Central Special Mission Military Academy than anywhere else.
‘To the extent that destroying one training ground could be passed off as a minor incident.’
Jin Crow sat in a chair in the instructor's office, gazing at Dokgo Ran, who was kneeling with her hands raised and a tearful expression, and Famille, who stood beside her.
“So, you got angry and followed her because she put your name on the assignment without permission, and Cadet Famille headed to the training ground to avoid causing damage elsewhere. Is that correct?”
“……W-well. Ugh.”
As if she was aware of the trouble she'd caused, Dokgo Ran lowered her head like a puppy with its tail between its legs.
Famille, on the other hand, was quite composed.
“Yes, that's correct, Instructor.”
There were probably no lies.
Even speculating based on the personalities of the two he had seen in the original novel, the conclusion was the same.
Tap, tap-.
Jin Crow looked back and forth between the kneeling Dokgo Ran and Famille, who stood politely with her hands clasped beside her, as he lightly tapped the armrest of the leather chair he was sitting in.
“First, Cadet Dokgo Ran.”
“Yes!”
“Stand up.”
“Yup!”
Dokgo Ran responded in a cheerful voice while cautiously watching his expression and got up.
For the record, the kneeling was something she had done voluntarily.
“You may leave.”
“Th-then?”
A flicker of hope crossed her face.
But he shook his head and said.
“Go to the Military Police and receive your demerits.”
“Ah?”
Was his answer unexpected?
Dokgo Ran blinked her reddish-black eyes for a moment, then her face brightened as she nodded.
“Th-thank you!”
Then, as if worried he might change his mind, she immediately bowed 90 degrees and left the instructor's office.
Just as Jin Crow was about to wonder about her reaction, he noticed that Famille, who had been standing silently, also wore a surprised expression.
‘Why?’
Dokgo Ran.
Was there some reason he was supposed to dislike her?
As he was thinking this, a certain rumor suddenly crossed his mind.
-I heard that if he doesn't like someone, he'll draw his sword on them, regardless of whether they're a cadet or an instructor.
‘Dokgo Ran. Come to think of it.’
Only then did it feel like the puzzle pieces were fitting together.
When Dokgo Ran was a cadet, she had shown a brief interest in Jin Crow.
And given her reckless personality, that ‘interest’ had likely gotten on Jin Crow's nerves.
“……”
When he looked up, Famille's strange blue eyes were gazing at him.
At her gaze, which seemed to be observing something out of place, Jin Crow inadvertently let out a non-excuse excuse.
“It was just a pain to deal with her.”
……Was it because the effects of the stimulant hadn't worn off yet?
The words he had blurted out were too scathing.
But in that moment, Jin Crow fell into serious despair about his own reputation.
“……Yes. Well.”
The tension in Famille's blue eyes, which had been slowly filling with a strange suspicion, dissipated.
Moreover, she even gave a slight nod in agreement with his opinion, making it awkward to take back his words now.
“Why did you do it?”
Because of that, instead of trying to retract what he'd already said, he continued the conversation with a question.
His question lacked a subject, but Famille understood what he was asking without a moment's hesitation and answered.
“I became interested.”
“Interested, you say.”
“Isn't it the same for you, Instructor? Although I didn't expect her to rampage like that.”
It wasn't about Dokgo Ran; it was about the Creatures.
The incidents on Planet Aurum and Planet Reumal had long since become a hot topic within the United Human Star Nation.
However, from his position of having read the assignment she wrote under Dokgo Ran's name, he couldn't help but scoff at the simple word 'interest'.
‘She was a little short of Baek Hwi-young, but she was very close.’
The difference was that while Baek Hwi-young had intentionally listed only established theories, she had no qualms about using some radical methods.
Indeed, it was just like the future wise general of the United Human Forces and the ‘efficienist’ who disregarded sentiment.
Tap-.
Jin Crow stopped tapping his fingers on the leather and asked her.
“You've heard about the new lecture, I assume?”
“Yes. Since it's an unusually new lecture, there's been a lot of talk. I heard Ran is applying too...”
“She already has. Besides her, over 200 applicants have flocked to it.”
It wasn't a bluff, but the truth.
Of course, with about 1,500 cadets in each year and it not being a regular lecture, it was hard to call it a popular one, but even considering that, it was by no means a small number.
“200 people.”
She knew that as well, so she looked surprised at the larger-than-expected number.
“It will only increase from here. As you said, the stirrings of the Creatures are no light matter, and the previous two cases have proven that the Planetary Defense Force has its limits.”
No matter how brilliant she was, a shocking future she could not foresee awaited.
At Jin Crow's confident assertion, Famille's eyebrows twitched slightly, and after pursing her lips a few times, she asked him.
“What is it that you're trying to say?”
“Apply for the new lecture.”
“Pardon?”
She had expected it, but it was a proposal full of questions.
However, her answer was already decided.
With so much to do already, she had no intention of wasting her time on a mere lecture about space monsters.
“……I appreciate the offer, but.”
“For your information.”
However, her refusal was simply thwarted by Jin Crow, who added with a calm face.
“An accident is one thing, but intentionally deflecting an attack towards an instructor will be hard to get away with just demerits.”
“I'll be sure to apply, if only out of gratitude.”
Famille, befitting her sharp mind, quickly chose to surrender and bowed her head, thinking to herself.
‘……What a petty man.’
It seemed she would have to cut back on her sleep a little more.
***
Opened unseasonably in the middle of the semester, Jin Crow's lecture, 「Understanding Space Monsters」, was successfully established to great fanfare.
“……Here is the cadet list.”
Jin Crow, trying his best to maintain a neutral expression, opened the file without even looking at Ginatio who handed him the cadet data.
----
1. Baek Hwi-young (Martial Arts Division)
2. Miel Angbereu (Supernatural Division)
3. Dokgo Ran (Martial Arts Division)
4. Famille Dimejear (Supernatural Division)
5. Hino Kanae (Martial Arts Division)
......(omitted)......
98. Walker Vitrant (Martial Arts Division)
99. Yu Seol-ye (Martial Arts Division)
100. Beatus (Martial Arts Division)
----
A whopping 347 cadets had applied for the lecture, but as it was being run as a trial linked course, the capacity was limited to 100.
What was surprising was that the Martial Arts Division was more numerous than expected, and furthermore, that even Hino Kanae had applied.
‘No, maybe it’s not so surprising.’
Hino Kanae is an oddball.
Not only was she raised as a de facto noble within the United Human Star Nation, which ostensibly advocates for democracy, but she was also born into a prestigious political family, yet dreams of being a soldier and reveres martial prowess.
‘I have a rough idea of what she’s thinking.’
In any case, it wasn't a bad thing.
Miel Angbereu was also a surprise, but if she applied to follow Baek Hwi-young, it wasn't entirely implausible either.
Just then, Instructor Ginatio, who was sitting on the sofa in the instructor's office with an uncomfortable expression, asked.
“……This is unexpected.”
“What is?”
Jin Crow asked back, still scanning the list of cadets, and Instructor Ginatio replied after making an unnecessary 'ahem' sound.
“That I am once again the assistant instructor... I imagine that's not a very pleasant development for you.”
“Ah, so that's what you meant.”
Thud.
He placed the device he was holding down.
The paper-like texture was quite impressive.
Jin Crow looked at him and said.
“This was already discussed with the Headmaster. I knew about it, so there's nothing to be displeased or unhappy about.”
“Is that so.”
He didn't question it, but he nodded with an expression that still showed he didn't understand.
Of course, Idealle had never said anything about assigning Ginatio as the assistant instructor.
‘But I expected it.’
An instructor who, until recently, had many problems apart from his skills, is now in charge of a lecture that involves practical combat—albeit against monsters—and not just theory.
No matter what kind of irrefusable deal they had made, from the perspective of Idealle, who was practically a 'good guy', it must be nerve-wracking.
Wouldn't it be stranger ‘not’ to place a monitor by his side?
“Since you're here, I was thinking we could share some opinions on the lecture. Is that also uncomfortable for you?”
“……How could it be?”
Ginatio's expression still wasn't pleased, but his attitude was one of getting the job done regardless.
Jin Crow nodded once at his rather cooperative demeanor, and with a cigarette in his mouth, handed him the curriculum he had prepared in advance.
“What's this?”
“I'd like you to check it, and if there are no problems, we'll proceed with this.”
Instructor Ginatio took it with an anxious expression, but Jin Crow was confident.
There couldn't possibly be a problem.
Because he had reconstructed it from memory, adapting the curriculum that had run smoothly without any issues in the original novel to the current situation as best he could.
“Th-this is.”
Just as he expected.
Watching Instructor Ginatio's jaw drop as he read through the curriculum, Jin Crow wore a satisfied smile and prepared himself to enjoy the admiration that would follow.
His head lifted with a creak.
Horror filled his distinctive brown eyes, and soon, a single phrase slipped past his lips.
“……Excuse me, but are you trying to get yourself thrown in the stockade?”
“Huh?”
His reaction was the complete and exact opposite of what he had expected.
Because of that, Jin Crow blinked for a moment, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and re-examined the contents in Instructor Ginatio's hand.
‘There’s no problem, though?’
Wondering if he was looking at a different file, he looked at Ginatio, but Ginatio instead furrowed his brow with an expression that said he didn't know where to begin, and then spoke.
“……What is the content of the first lecture?”
“A front-line inspection.”
“……And the target area?”
“The front lines on the partially reclaimed Planet Remal.”
“Are you insane?!”
Only then did Jin Crow realize the difference in perception between himself and Ginatio.
‘……Ah, right. These guys haven't been ruined yet, have they?’
But he didn't feel any particular need to change it.
At least in this world, front-line inspections were a fairly common part of the schedule for cadets of all years, and his top priority right now was to engrave the terror of the Creatures into the cadets' minds, rather than theory or combat techniques.
“Absolutely not!”
“It's fine.”
“I said no!”
“It's fine.”
In the end, Jin Crow and Ginatio continued their argument for an hour.
“What is all this commotion?”
“H-Headmaster! Wh-what are you doing here...? More importantly, look at this. Instructor Jin Crow has finally lost his mind...!”
“……Is he in his right mind?”
In the end, after the intervention of Idealle, who had come to see Jin Crow for another reason, they had no choice but to reach a compromise: requesting a few corpses captured from the front lines for research purposes from the higher-ups.
“……Tsk, I'll concede just this once.”
Jin Crow clicked his tongue as if disappointed, and at the sight, Idealle and Ginatio met each other's eyes and thought.
‘……Headmaster.’
‘Yes.’
‘Perhaps leaving Jin Crow to his own devices, drowning in alcohol, would have been the better choice?’ they thought.