I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 16

The place Jin Crow headed after leaving the Central Training Ground was none other than his quarters.

“……”

Perhaps because it was still too early for the lecture to be over, the only people he encountered on his way to his quarters were a few soldiers and androids.

Even they paid him no particular attention, so Jin Crow was able to return to his quarters without any friction or being held up.

“Gasp……!”

He hurriedly opened the door to his quarters and, as soon as it closed, let out the breath he had been holding.

He roughly threw off his outer coat and even unbuttoned his white shirt before clutching his heart and collapsing to the floor.

“……Kgh. Haahk!”

His heart was pounding like crazy, and his fingertips were terribly numb.

Clutching the hair that fell over his eyes, he gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze.

A nosebleed dripped down, staining the floor.

‘Damn it. Fuck.’

All he could do was grit his teeth and swallow the curse.

‘It wasn’t this bad in the training ground……!’

He had gotten nosebleeds during every training session.

It seemed to be worse because of all the training he had done and the psychological pressure.

Either that, or there was something wrong with the Awakening Agents he had been taking.

“Cough! Cough!”

Whatever the reason, in his current state, he was confident he would even lose to the soldier on duty at the instructor's quarters.

How much time had passed while he was collapsed like that?

Once he could barely control his body, he forced his creaking frame up and moved to the sofa.

Fsssh, inhale-.

He took a cigarette from the pack on the table and lit it.

The heavy smoke pressing down on his lungs made his already dizzy head ache even more, but paradoxically, the pain felt like it was clearing his mind.

‘I haven’t lost anything. If anything, I’ve gained.’

The side effects of the Awakening Agent are temporary anyway, and pain disappears once you forget it.

But weren't the other things I gained things I might not have been able to obtain if not for today?

‘I’ve quelled some of the cadets' suspicions, and I’ve been able to see my situation more clearly.’

I might not know about the Special Ability Division cadets, but seeing how the Martial Arts Division cadets watched quietly, I think I can be sure of the former.

Indeed, isn't it the department’s custom for most Martial Arts Division cadets to charge in headfirst if they think something is wrong?

The fact that they just watched quietly proves that, at least for now, there isn't a major problem.

“Hoo.”

It wasn't that I had anticipated this situation and trained in the simulation for it from the start, but it was fortunate.

However, the situation wasn't entirely hopeful.

It wasn't as if there were no daunting problems.

As if to prove it, the face reflected in the mirror I glanced at was quite a sight.

“……Two bottles.”

Before, when I returned the alcohol to the Military Police, I had four bottles left. Of those, I’ve finished roughly two bottles as of today.

‘I can’t rely on alcohol forever.’

For now, the cadets and other instructors might just think of me as an instructor who likes to drink, but if this keeps happening, they might catch on someday.

No, perhaps someone has already noticed.

‘An alternative, I need an alternative.’

I can’t rely on Awakening Agents forever.

Even if I manage to hold out for a few days or months, as an instructor in the combat faculty, there will definitely come a time when I have to prove myself with skill.

Moreover, isn't the Central Special Mission Military Academy the Empire's number one target for terrorism?

Sizzle…….

He took the cigarette from his mouth, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and roughly wiped away his cold sweat.

Just then, his gaze fell upon the white shirt stained with his nosebleed.

“Damn.”

Bloodstains are hard to get out.

He unbuttoned the stained shirt and threw it, along with the rest of his clothes, into the laundry basket.

Then he opened the shower door, stepped inside, and immediately let the cold water spray down on his head.

Shwaaaa…….

The blood and sweat he hadn't managed to wipe away slid down to the floor with the cold water.

Wiping the condensation from the mirror, Jin Crow stared at his even paler reflection and murmured softly.

“OOPArts.”

Among the alternatives he could think of, there was only one that was remotely realistic.

「OOPArts.」

Originally, it’s a term interpreted as Out-of-Place Artifacts, used in various occult, conspiracy theory, and pseudo-history circles.

But in this world, it’s a little different.

Because here, ‘out-of-place artifacts’ that cannot be explained by science or the laws of physics actually exist.

‘Artifacts that existed during the transitional period when Earth was endlessly expanding its colonies across the galaxy, and within the histories of various other races.’

Of course, a few other things came to mind besides OOPArts, but most were so unrealistic that he didn't even consider them deeply.

In fact, the plan to ‘obtain an OOPArt’ was by no means an easy one.

‘The most suitable sources for me are the Holy Galactic Empire, and the other is the Free Planetary Alliance. And I don’t even know if the latter actually exists.’

The damage the Synthetic Nation and the Empire have suffered from the war with the Holy Galactic Empire, now in its third iteration, is beyond astronomical.

Moreover, who was Jin Crow?

He might not have his memories, but he was a veteran Special Mission Officer who had fought on the battlefield for a long 20 years.

This meant that his career was practically a count of how many elves from the Holy Galactic Empire he had slaughtered.

His options were effectively forced towards the latter.

‘The Free Planetary Alliance……. They’re not an easy bunch, but is there no other way?’

Since they’re the type to do anything for money, it might actually make things easier.

It seems I’ll have to pay them a visit soon.

After all, I needed to visit them at some point to get alcohol with the Awakening Agent components anyway.

It was then.

Just as he finished his quick shower and was about to step out, a throbbing pain shot through him, and his vision rapidly plummeted.

“Damn, fu—.”

Soon, all that greeted him was a blackened vision and his fading consciousness.

***

“Sergeant, wake up, sir.”

As he opened his eyes, feeling the biting cold on the tip of his nose, a pair of white eyes shining in the black night stared back at him.

If he hadn't been used to it, he would have let out an involuntary scream.

However, looking at the subordinate who was now all too familiar, to the point of being tiresome, Jin Crow spoke in a low voice.

“……Is it them?”

“Yes, sir.”

For some reason, his own slightly cracked and youthful voice felt unfamiliar.

Peeeeew!

But before he could dwell on that sense of unease, the sound of a bursting wind, along with flares embroidering the sky, turned night into day.

-All troops! Charge!

-Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

-For humanity!

Soon, the dust settled.

The brightened battlefield filled with the loud shouts of officers from behind and the desperate cries of countless conscripts.

Clank-.

However, the soldiers led by Jin Crow did not immediately charge out of the trench; they merely sharpened and polished the chainswords, field shovels, and machetes they each held.

“Those morons. For humanity, my ass. They’re only running because they’ll get shot from behind if they don’t.”

“Just you watch. I plan on supplementing that officer’s head with some iron soon enough.”

A red-haired sergeant major responded to the grumbling of the blond-haired corporal who had woken Jin Crow.

But Jin Crow paid them no mind.

He simply adjusted his scope through a small groove carved between the trenches, confirmed someone was approaching quickly, and then murmured softly.

“They’re coming.”

At his word, the eyes of the soldiers, who had seemed utterly lax just moments before, darkened, and they simply waited for Jin Crow’s signal, their hands twitching on their respective weapons.

-It's a Knight!

-Kuaaaaaak!

-It’s an Imperial Knight! Sa-save me……!

Even as the screams of countless conscripts echoed from not too far away, they remained unshaken, holding their breath.

“……You disgusting humans. As if it wasn't enough to dare invade the sacred lands of the Empire……!”

And finally, just as the enemy’s steps had nearly reached the trench where they were hiding.

“Halt!”

Jin Crow shouted as if it were second nature, cranking the output of his writhing Gear to its maximum and instantly bursting from the trench.

“W-what?!”

Beneath the thick dust and the dreamlike light of the flares, what came into view was an Imperial ‘Knight’ clad in archaic armor and holding a greatsword dripping with blood.

She was surprised by the sight of Jin Crow suddenly charging from the trench, but only for a moment.

Her face twisted in a scowl, and she swung her sword, which shimmered with a green light, as she roared.

“How dare you, a mere grunt, try to face a Knight!”

Was it because she had fought too many wars?

She felt insulted that Jin Crow's rank was a mere ‘Sergeant’ and roared, while Jin Crow, knowing she was a Knight, aimed the railgun in his hand.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The rapidly fired bullets from the railgun were shot as if to pierce her through in an instant, but a Knight could not be felled by such insignificant projectiles.

“Pathetic!”

She cut down the bullets with a single strike and immediately leaped forward to cut down the enemy before her.

In an instant, she surpassed the speed of sound.

By the time she came into view again, she was already within reach of Jin Crow's neck.

“Brave, but blame your inferior species!”

For a split second, she seemed to hesitate at Jin Crow’s youthful appearance, but she quickly swung her sword with the resolve to leave no loose ends.

But in that very moment, a sense of unease ran down her spine, and she involuntarily met his gaze.

“……You morons. You always get close when I face you alone.”

“What?”

Jin Crow unhesitatingly dropped the railgun he was holding, drew a greatsword from his waist, and swung it at the nape of her neck.

Shwiiiiik!

A shallow but clean cut.

“Kgh!”

Jin Crow looked at her bewildered face and then, without hesitation, gave an order to the soldiers he had been talking to in the trench moments before.

“Tear her apart.”

Instead of an answer, dozens of soldiers covered in dust poured out of the trench, each holding a crude melee weapon.

“……Ah, ahh.”

Only then did the Imperial Knight remember.

She remembered who these beasts standing before her were.

The hunting dogs of the United Human Star Nation, who held nothing but enmity for the Empire; the nightmare of the battlefield that kept coming, no matter how many times you killed them.

In that case, this young man before her was…….

“You’re the one……! Keok!”

Her muffled murmur soon turned into a desperate scream, and a moment later.

Thunk!

Jin Crow drove his broken greatsword into the neck of the already dead Knight and spoke to his surviving squad members.

“Next.”

His eyes were endlessly empty.

***

“Gasp!”

He opened his eyes, letting out a ragged breath.

How long had he been unconscious?

He sat up and looked out the window, and soon, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“……Damn.”

Before he knew it, the sun was rising.

Just in case, he checked his physical condition, but the pressure that had been weighing down on his body until a moment ago was already gone.

He pushed his stiff body up.

But the relief from his improved condition was short-lived.

“……I.”

He unconsciously furrowed his brow at a question that flashed through his mind.

“What did I just dream about?”

As he was now, it was something he could not know.