novelraw Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Idealle Kukenhausen.
One of the founding contributors of the United Human Star Nation and the second daughter of the Kukenhausen family, a traditional military family of the nation.
Furthermore, she was a war hero who had successfully rescued approximately 1.5 million refugees during the Rocha Colony Escape Operation in the 3rd Galactic War, an operation everyone else had given up on.
“I-I respect you, Commandant!”
“…Yes, for now, everyone, to your seats.”
She normally didn't show herself before the cadets unless absolutely necessary.
It wasn't that she disliked them.
It was just that every time she saw the cadets' intense reactions, it felt like a bitter reaffirmation of how her family had decided to ‘use’ her.
‘A war hero.’
Such a hollow honor held no emotional sway over her.
The real heroes were likely buried under the cold earth of some nameless planet even now.
‘Unlike a scarecrow like me, created for propaganda.’
Perhaps the reason she couldn't be harsh with Jin Crow was due to that sense of indebtedness.
Although he was broken and fallen, the man she had met on the battlefield was undoubtedly a comrade she had admired and respected.
“…I don't think I've seen you since the entrance ceremony.”
“She looks younger than I thought. She seems almost our age.”
Regardless of the cadets' gazes, a bitter smile graced her lips.
At the young age of 30, she had reached Penta Gear and attained the rank of Brigadier General.
However, having been born with the Kukenhausen name, she had only three options.
Become a political soldier, a path she despised so much.
Or leave the military and renounce her family name.
If neither, then she could only cling to her half-baked convictions and retreat to a minor post, as she was doing now.
…That was the kind of family the Kukenhausens were.
A lineage of iron faces who considered it natural to sacrifice for the family, and if not, to be used by it.
In fact, the family's faction was one of the largest, alongside the Rosen faction to which Jin Crow belonged, so what more needed to be said?
‘…It’s time.’
Idealle gazed at the clock hanging above the lectern with her distinctive white eyes.
It was about time for the lecture to begin.
For that reason, she opened her mouth to tell the cadets to return to their seats.
No, she was about to open her mouth.
If it hadn't been for the single phrase uttered by Jin Crow, who at that very moment, entered the classroom with a creak of the door.
Tap-.
“…Break time is over.”
He narrowed his brow from between strands of black hair that slightly covered his eyes and scanned the chaotic group of cadets.
The black eyes shining from beneath his distorted brow were endlessly indifferent, but in that moment, Idealle could instinctively tell.
That he was in a foul mood.
And at his next words, not only the cadets but also the instructors accompanying Idealle froze solid.
“Everyone, shut your mouths and sit down.”
The sharp words scattered.
It was only natural that the atmosphere in the classroom turned icy cold.
“……”
Idealle stared at him with slightly dazed eyes.
It wasn't because she was overwhelmed by his presence.
Rather, it was because that single utterance had reminded her of the man she had once seen on the battlefield.
But that was brief.
She soon realized she was having too many useless thoughts and gestured to the instructors behind her.
At her signal, the instructors, who had been hesitating just like the cadets, belatedly moved.
“Alright, everyone, sit down!”
“You're moving too slow! Move it!”
At Jin Crow's words and the instructors' frozen expressions, the cadets sat down with faces that looked as if they were walking on thin ice.
Meanwhile, Jin Crow, the one who had created this atmosphere, simply prepared for the upcoming lecture with a still expressionless face.
‘Looks like.’
‘Yeah.’
There wasn't a single cadet who failed to grasp the situation.
‘We're fucked.’
It was clear that Jin Crow was in a very bad mood.
“Hic-Hiccup!”
Miel, standing by the door, must have also sensed the grave atmosphere, as she tugged on Baek Hwi-young's clothes and scurried to her seat.
Of course, even then, Baek Hwi-young was still watching Jin Crow with that same unchanging gaze.
“As you know, a failing grade in a theory class will not be an issue for your commission, but it will affect your duty assignment. Keep that in mind.”
His unusually cold voice echoed.
He then began to list their names and scores in a dry tone, without even looking at the cadets.
“Baek Hwi-young. A.”
The cadets' expressions brightened for a moment when Baek Hwi-young's score was more generous than expected, but they soon had no choice but to realize that it had been a delusion.
“Miel Angbereu. B-. Jean Ludwig. D…”
The Special Ability Division cadets managed to get scores up to a rare B-, but the Martial Arts Division was, in a word, disastrous.
“Aaron Graham. F. Weasley Drew. F…”
What more needed to be said when half the cadets received an F?
But soon, an anomaly occurred.
“Lastly. Dokgo Ran. A.”
“Huh?”
“What did he say?”
At Jin Crow's words, Ran's black eyes, which had a characteristic faint red tint, widened, and she soon scratched her head.
Though she was inwardly perplexed, it was by no means a bad thing, so just as she was about to show off to the surrounding cadets.
Tap-.
Jin Crow put down the device he had brought with him and added.
“However, since the individual assignment was co-authored, it's an F.”
“Excuse me? That can't be…?”
“The name Famille Dimesia was written on it. I will not accept any objections.”
“Ah?”
Famille did not take Jin Crow's lecture.
But at his words, Dokgo Ran recalled the events of yesterday, immediately understood the situation, and could only let out a hollow laugh.
“Haha.”
At her somewhat murderous smile, the female cadets shook their heads.
It would probably be quite noisy for a while.
Meanwhile, Jin Crow finished grading and scanned the cadets.
His gaze briefly landed on Idealle, but not for long.
Swoosh, he swept back his slightly disheveled hair and finally opened his mouth.
“Any questions?”
The words were laden with many meanings.
Was that why?
A good number of cadets, including Baek Hwi-young, raised their hands and tried to say something.
“Instructor Jin Crow.”
If, at that very moment, Idealle, who had been observing quietly from the very back, had not spoken up.
Naturally, all eyes gathered on her.
And at her following words, not only the cadets but also the instructors looked back at Jin Crow once more.
“This assignment's solution. Could you perhaps provide an explanation?”
Hundreds of gazes focused on a single person, Jin Crow.
No matter how stoic a person might be, it's human psychology to be shaken, even if unconsciously, when so many eyes are focused on one individual.
But this was Jin Crow.
He remained unconcerned by the numerous gazes fixed on him, met Idealle's eyes with his unwavering black ones, and finally nodded.
“…Of course, I can.”
As he linked the device he brought to the simulation behind the lectern, a blue model of Planet Aurum appeared.
“A Creature invasion usually comes without a precursor.”
Tap-.
“Hypotheses about the reason are varied, but it is generally accepted that their superior species opens rifts by emitting energy comparable to humanity's hyperspace drives.”
Pointing to the simulated Planet Aurum, he flicked his hand lightly, and soon a series of purple rifts shimmered in the air, and red dots began to rapidly cover the planet's sky.
“The exits they emerge from have been named Void Rifts, and the best humanity can currently do is to observe a precursor about 10 to 30 seconds before it occurs and then sound an alarm. Aurum's Planetary Defense Force sounded the alarm about 7 seconds beforehand.”
This was all information that had been sufficiently explained in the materials Jin Crow had posted, so there was no great commotion or surprise yet.
But his words, which recited only the key points, had a clear, absorbing quality.
“Here, the first mistake was made.”
He zoomed in on the screen, which had been showing only the planet, to display the fleet stationed nearby.
Despite receiving the alert, instead of moving immediately, they remained stationary for a long time, as if confirming something.
Jin Crow looked at Baek Hwi-young and asked.
“Cadet Baek Hwi-young, what was the method you proposed here?”
“The moment the precursor to the Void Rift was confirmed, the main fleet should have bombarded the rift to establish a barrage, and then immediately requested support from the adjacent Federal Army fleet.”
At Baek Hwi-young's words, most of the cadets, and even Idealle, nodded unconsciously.
His words were close to the standard doctrine.
But Jin Crow shook his head.
“Not enough.”
“Is that so.”
Baek Hwi-young nodded without any particular agitation, as if he had expected as much.
But the others were different.
They just hadn't said it out loud, but they had been thinking that there couldn't possibly be a better alternative.
“The Void Rift's grade was A-class. On the other hand, the Planet Aurum Defense Force's firepower is barely enough to stop a B-class. Therefore, even if they establish a barrage, they cannot maintain it for more than three minutes. It would be a meaningful delaying tactic against the Holy Galactic Empire's fleet, but not against Creatures.”
Regardless of the cadets' reactions, Jin Crow continued speaking, looking at them with an expression that said he was stating extremely obvious common sense.
“Therefore, in this case, the method the Planetary Defense Force must execute for planetary defense is forced into a single option.”
Jin Crow displayed the materials he had prepared on the lectern's screen and indifferently moved the simulation with a wave of his fingertip.
“Ram a portion of the available dreadnought-class warships, including the Canis and the Plu, into the rift, overload all their fusion reactors to scuttle them, and thus deal a blow to the rift itself. Then, with the remaining warships, strike the Void Turtles that cross the Void Rift and…”
For a slightly different reason than before, the atmosphere sank in an instant.
Some doubted their ears, while the cadets who understood his meaning stared at him with various expressions.
“…Instructor, I have a question.”
It was so shocking that a Special Ability Division cadet, who had been listening to the lecture silently until now, raised his hand and asked him with a stiff expression.
“Are you perhaps explaining that we should intentionally ram the ships into the rift and blow them up?”
Jin Crow stopped his ongoing explanation and shifted his gaze to the cadet who had asked the question.
Then, he opened his mouth and asked back.
“Well, is there another meaning to the word ‘scuttle’?”
It was a chillingly dry retort.
‘Is he crazy?’
‘…Is he a psychopath?’
His utter confidence was, paradoxically, what left the cadets speechless, able only to stare at him.
But there was a fact they had not noticed.
The fact that the instructors and Idealle, while they might question the logic of Jin Crow's words or wear expressions of displeasure, could not bring themselves to deny that he was wrong.
Most of the instructors had experienced the 3rd Galactic War.
Because of that, they knew.
That the hell known as the battlefield was a place where, if necessary, even greater madness was required.
“Hmph.”
The cadets, on the other hand, were different.
“How absurd.”
A cadet who had been sitting quietly stood up, and following her, a series of male cadets also rose.
What was peculiar was that they all had East Asian features and, moreover, stood as if they were samurai guarding her.
“I had expectations since you are a veteran, but this is a disappointment. I will be taking my leave.”
The actions of the girl with black hair as dark as a raven's feathers and red eyes, and the reactions of those around her, were unmistakably those of a noble.
‘Hino Kanae.’
It wasn't a simple bluff.
And for good reason—she was the heir to the ‘Hino’ family, who used an entire planetary system as their fief.
‘He picked the wrong one.’
It was no wonder that the other instructors watching the scene thought so.
The Hino family might have a small foothold within the military, but they held considerable influence in the political world.
Knowing this, Hino Kanae could express her displeasure so boldly.
Furthermore, their relationship with the Rosen faction wasn't bad.
In other words, it was an awkward situation for Jin Crow.
“You're mistaken about something. And you're arrogant.”
“Excuse me?”
Most people thought so, until the very moment Jin Crow's words made her expression turn somewhat dumbfounded.
“The lecture is not over yet.”
As if he couldn't care less about Hino Kanae's background, Jin Crow stared at her with his characteristically dry pupils and added.
“Sit down.”
His voice was devoid of any emotional fluctuation, but paradoxically, because nothing could be felt, the pressure it carried was beyond imagination.
“…Kuh.”
And it was enough to make even Hino Kanae, who had been born into the ruling class and raised as a noble her entire life, flinch.