episode_0012

As humanity advanced to the outer planets, a lot of things happened.

Time has passed since 2010, when smartphones were developed and began to be distributed, and the current year is 2199.

Ever since humankind entered the information age and became the first to reach Mars, there is something everyone agrees on.

-If there had been no ether, humanity would have had to wait hundreds of years before advancing to Mars.

ether.

An all-purpose material that advanced human space engineering technology by several centuries.

This substance, which exists only on Earth and does not exist on other planets or colonies, has had a tremendous impact on human development as an alternative mineral for oil, electricity, and nuclear energy.

Someone says

Humanity has simply returned to the pretty era of coal power generation.

He mocked himself by saying that the world was now stained with jewel dust instead of charcoal black, but even such people said that the hair roots made of ether took root in their bald heads and they did not say anything else.

Around 2100.

It is said that as humans advanced to various planets, they often fought wars over this ether.

Now, there is a ‘pseudo-ether’ created by mankind for peace after this war.

An imitation ether with a molecular structure as similar as possible to planets such as Jupiter or Saturn.

-If there are jewels, of course there must be counterfeit and counterfeit items. We decided to call this ‘cubic ether’.

As a counterfeit product, it is not as efficient as the energy of the original ether, but planets and colonies that depended only on the original ether from Earth no longer engage in wars to obtain ether.

Although it is said that this was used to reduce the cause of the ether conflict, it is also true that the Great Colony War around 2100 destroyed several colonies and increased space debris.

Is it God’s anger towards mankind who brought chaos to the universe?

Or is it that the vengeful spirits of humanity that died in the vacuum of space have come to rest in the ether, wandering through space?

Or did space microorganisms come into contact with the ether and evolve into a new dangerous species that threatens human civilization?

Ether monsters began to appear when mankind advanced into space, and can be said to be a disaster brought about by mankind itself.

“What I have said so far is to write it down and submit it later when other professors ask you to write a report. It may be suitable for cotton use.”

“…….”

Lavender, who was recording what I said on the terminal as instructed, looked at me with wide eyes.

“Why are you doing that?”

“I understand the origin of the ether monster, but I was wondering if I was going to have to listen to a special lecture in the dormitory lounge after dinner…?”

“Of course. If you know your enemy, you will have no hesitation in shooting at him. You are not shooting, you are slashing and slashing, but I am saying this in the sense that you should not waver when the enemy is right in front of you.”

Currently, this is the dormitory lounge for academy students.

There is a small kiosk and convenience store next door, and I bought a canned drink there and served it to my student Lavender Whiteley.

It is a bit of a bummer that there is a trace of the cup ramen soup that cannot be removed even after wiping it off with a wet tissue, but when it comes to teaching, the location is not important.

“Think of everything that is said around you as white noise. I wanted to rent a space exploration Hallicarrier today, report it there, sleep there, and then leave right away…”

“Hey, today is the instructor’s first day here.”

“What’s important about that?”

The vice principal and Lavender keep saying meaningless things.

“What day is today?”

“It’s March 26th.”

“Then, since you were left in the classroom for 25 days from March 1st when the semester started, you are already 25 days behind others.”

“Uh…that’s definitely true.”

“If this instructor had been in charge of teaching you from the beginning of the semester, you would have already been able to change to the aircraft you wanted.”

I’m serious.

“While this instructor has been teaching extracurricular students, the last time a student wore his own custom suit was only two months ago.”

“It’s about Mecca, right?”

“Okay. Of course, there were some realistic compromises, such as Starlight Academy, but as it was privately owned, we were able to provide appropriate clothes to students who were poor and could not even drive Harkon Abandarte.”

“You provided a personal mecha to a student who couldn’t buy one? Maybe…”

Lavender looks at me with a somewhat moved expression.

“Are you investing that much of your own money for your students? Why?”

“Huh?”

“No matter how popular it is, did you even buy Harkon for your tutor?”

“No, no. Why did I even buy a mecha for a student?”

It’s frustrating because there’s a misunderstanding before even adding an explanation.

“Of course, if a student works diligently in their education and produces decent results, I can buy them whatever they want to eat or drink within my salary. But it’s not Mecca.”

“Then…?”

“I connected you with a sponsor.”

“S, sponsor…?!”

“…Because the term is used so strangely in the news these days, it’s not the kind of lewd sponsor you think.”

“Oh, that’s right… I see.”

Lavender’s face turns red.

Since there has been a recent ‘pilot sexual entertainment controversy’, that seems to have been the first thing that came to mind.

“Let me explain. This is what you and I will do from now on.”

I took out a long wallet from my pocket, and then took out several ‘paper’ business cards inside.

“Toei, Mandai, Sonogong, Hexpert, and numerous mechanical manufacturing companies.”

“Is this really a business card from those companies?”

“Okay. We connected students who could not purchase their own mecha with a mecha company so that the company could become a sponsor. Or, they connected me with a dispatch agent specializing in pilots and then connected me with the mecha they had.”

“Wow….”

“The most important resource I have gathered as an instructor for a long time, especially through private tutoring… is ‘connections’.”

It is important that you received a business card, but what is important is that it is a paper business card.

“Unlike data business cards that can be ticked as if sending an electronic mail, this paper business card is a symbol of the trust given to me by the people written on it.”

“Trust….”

“So, contacting people through this business card means that I have to respond as much as they trust me. Without performance, you can’t appeal to office workers and earn their trust.”

“In that case.”

Lavender adjusts her posture and sits down.

“Are you saying that only if I show good results can I start introducing them to these people or anything else?”

“I like it because it’s quick to understand. okay. Only when you can show off your excellent skills as a pilot will they be able to ‘invest’ in you. No matter how much I broadcast, they are not investing in me, they are investing in you.”

Since the business cards in this wallet are all from ‘players’, I can’t even contact them with half-baked people.

“There are as many talented pilots in space as stardust. However, among them, there are less than 12 people in the world who can become the face of the company and a special ace who can put all resources at risk for the colony’s fate.”

“12 people….”

“Okay. One of the most important numbers in this universe.”

There are 12 types of original ether produced on Earth.

From then on, there were 12 super-large colonies that called themselves the ‘Zodiac Alliance’ and even changed their colony names to match the 12 signs of the zodiac.

maybe.

Although this is my personal guess.

Could it be that there were 12 pieces of ether that first fell to Earth?

“You should be one of those 12 people.”

“Well, that means it has to be at the level of ‘Top Gun’ that the entire universe calls it… right? First Ace…?”

“Of course. If you’re not the first ace, how can you hope to win the colony competition? If you don’t have enough performance to invest in such talent in the first place, who would give an S-class aircraft to someone who shot an ally on the first day of a mock battle?”

“Ugh….”

Lavender lowered her head for a moment as if she was embarrassed.

“The label of ‘Agun Osa’ will continue to follow you for the rest of your life. However, depending on how you behave in the future, the evaluation on the Pilot Wiki where your profile is written will be sharply divided.”

I took out two materials in front of Lavender.

“Here, there is someone who was once called Colony Ace. Unfortunately, this man’s colleague jumped in after he had already fired the beam rifle, but in the end, he was unable to overcome the PTSD and criticism from those around him and quit being a pilot.”

“……Isn’t it unfair?”

“But what about the evaluation of history? What is your current assessment? Pilot Wiki, which contains the rawest history, also contains this content. Would it have been different at the time?”

“It must have been worse than it is now. …like my wiki.”

You probably know it yourself.

How people are evaluating Lavender Whitely.

Normally, people are happy when a star of hope or someone revered as a hero loses their wings and falls into the abyss.

“Only one person can change your evaluation.”

“Who is it?”

“Lavender Whitely. I am just the person who presents the fastest signpost along the way. So.”

I gathered my materials and grabbed a can of beverage.

“Don’t do anything else today, sleep well, and come to Academy Factory 3 by 05:00 tomorrow in your uniform.”

“…What time is it?”

“5 o’clock in the morning. For reference, this is the arrival time. If you are even 1 minute late, the funds you can earn will decrease for each hour you are late, so it is better to arrive on time.”

“Now, wait a minute! Instructor! 5 a.m. is a bit too much -”

“Or else.”

I pointed in the direction of the 3rd Factory.

“From now on, go to the factory with me and sleep.”