D-1

Cadets began gathering one by one in the wide open space.

-The smell of ammunition gives me a headache.

-Honestly, I was so nervous I couldn’t shoot properly.

-Weren’t you not very good at shooting anyway?

-You jerk.

As students who had finished the Secret House training in the gray building appeared one after another, the space that had been sparsely populated quickly became bustling.

“Yena, over here!”

Erika, who had entered the building earlier, seemed to have already found a spot.

“H-How did it go?!”

She started with a greeting, smiling as refreshingly as her blue hair.

“Fine.”

“You didn’t get hurt anywhere?”

“I’m okay.”

“Even though the instructors were there, it was the first training using live ammunition! You could have been in danger…”

Starting with that short sentence, she continued an endless stream of chatter, showing off her talkative personality, asking if I got hurt, if there were any problems, or if I made any major mistakes in the test.

“There’s always a possibility of something happening…”

“Erika.”

I cut off her rambling.

Thud─

“You saw during the last survival training, right? You know I’m not the type to make stupid mistakes in this kind of training.”

I conveyed this briefly while grasping both her shoulders.

“Ah, right. That’s true…”

“Still, thanks for worrying. It means you care about me. Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”

“No, no problems!”

“Well done.”

Of course, I didn’t scold her.

I thought it was just her typical cheerful personality causing her talkativeness. Even if her chattering made my ears hurt, it’s clear she was saying it all with good intentions, right?

“Did you do well, Erika?”

“Yes! I think I’ve improved a lot compared to before!”

“How much?”

“Before I couldn’t even handle one gun properly, but now I have no problem loading? Anyway, my skills have improved!”

I didn’t show any particular discomfort. Rather, focusing only on her positive changes, as a form of praise,

“Your hard training paid off, good job.”

“Hehe…”

I patted Erika’s head with its short hair sticking out here and there. Thanks to her short height, it was much easier to place my hand on her head.

‘You need to grow more.’

Don’t be satisfied with this, you need to become stronger than anyone and have outstanding power. You’re the only cadet I’m teaching, and the only comrade I’ve decided to stay with until the end of the Great War.

I looked at Erika with a curved eye line while harboring such thoughts.

It was good news that her skill level had risen compared to when she first entered. It meant that Erika’s bold and fierce aspect I had encountered during survival training was not a lie.

Didn’t she even complete this training alone?

‘Has she finally succeeded in standing on her own?’

Erika demonstrated good abilities without sticking by my side. Originally, she showed a complacent attitude of only fighting with confidence when I was beside her,

The fact that she no longer does that held more significant meaning than expected.

Finally, as she breaks away from her past lack of self-esteem and develops, gaining value befitting an officer of the Empire and my comrade,

Aren’t the days I spent training Erika without missing a single day, pushing her to the extreme to fix her weak mentality, not in vain!

‘She’s become more useful.’

For that reason, I showed a smile filled with contentment to the girl in front of me, held her pale white hand, and patted her shoulder.

“Let’s train even harder from now on.”

“E-Even more than now?”

“Yes.”

“I think it’s enough…”

Then another team member,

“Yena.”

Only when Rina, who seemed to have just completed the training, called my name as she walked towards the open space did I let go of the hand I had been holding.

“I’ll go now.”

“O-Okay!”

Soon after, I moved my feet.

“What is it?”

Towards Rina with her thoughtful and solemn face.

‘Looks like she worked hard on the test.’

Gray dust accumulated on each floor of the abandoned building and black gunpowder dust from the separation of cartridges – these two foreign substances were thickly smeared on her face.

It stood out even more, perhaps because dark specks were stuck under her snow-white hair and skin, and Rina’s characteristic golden eyes.

“Aren’t you going to wipe off that dust?”

“I’ll wash up after class.”

Rina didn’t seem to care much about it. She just stared intently into my eyes.

“How many minutes did it take you to reach the rooftop?”

Then, like Erika, she started the conversation by asking about my performance. The difference was that the expression of the woman in front of me was cold, unlike Erika’s bright one.

It looked as if she was angry about something.

But I knew that Rina’s face like that wasn’t due to discomfort, but rather stemmed from excessive curiosity and inquisitiveness.

“I don’t want to tell you.”

“U-Um.”

“Why should I tell you?”

So that’s why I’m answering so indifferently, right?

‘She must be curious.’

I stared intently at Rina’s eyes, which were filled with bewilderment.

I could roughly guess why she was acting like this.

She probably wants to check how much difference there is between her score and mine in this training. She’s shown interest in my grades and rankings before, so it would be strange not to realize it.

Of course, this was the first time she asked so directly.

It could be seen that the events that occurred during the survival training had a big impact on her. Since that day, a significant portion of Rina’s behavior had changed.

“…Comrade.”

“Hm?”

“I-I want to know as a comrade.”

For example, asking in a gentler tone than before like now, or referring to me as a comrade were examples of that.

‘Is this a good sign?’

I didn’t dislike this change. Rather, I welcomed it. One way or another, the fact was that my relationship with Rina had improved, so I had no reason to dislike it.

“It took me 5 minutes.”

“Eh?”

Answering obediently was also for that reason.

“Everyone gather around!”

Finally, Gartel’s cry commanding the audience pierced my ears.

“I’ll go now.”

“Huh? Oh… alright.”

There was no time to dally anymore.

“You must have been quite exhausted today, good work. Tomorrow will be even harder, but don’t give up and keep trying until the end.”

After sending Rina off with a brief greeting, I quickly gathered in the open space as per the instructor’s order. Then I straightened my back, raised my neck, and assumed a posture of attentive listening.

“It must have been hard for everyone to adapt in a foreign place, but tomorrow is the last day at the Sevirpol training ground! So work even harder. The instructor doesn’t want everyone in the class to fail the qualification screening.”

“Yes, understood!”

“Then let’s dismiss now. Move in order according to your numbers. I’ll go ahead first.”

As Gartel’s address came to an end,

“Thank you for your hard work!”

I joined the voices of the cadets and returned the greeting in unison.

Swish─

Then I stepped out, choosing a path opposite to the cadets going to the dormitory or canteen.

‘I might not be able to come to this facility again.’

I should diligently use the facility. Rather than leisurely resting and sleeping in the dormitory, it was much more beneficial to engage in endless battles with monsters that could only be experienced at this training ground.

‘I also need to say goodbye to Serti.’

From the standpoint of maintaining friendly relations with him, isn’t it better to make as much of an impression as possible? Even if not for the purpose of training against monsters, there were many reasons to go to the lab.

“Yena! Let’s have lunch togeth…”

“Sorry, I have somewhere to go.”

“Ah, aah.”

“We have plenty of time anyway, so let’s eat later.”

“Okay…”

So I waved goodbye to Erika,

Thud─! Thud─!

And moved my body, alternating the hard soles of my military boots, towards the majestic and enormous training facility visible beyond the bushes.

---

“You were already here.”

“Of course, I’m quite impatient you see, haha─!”

A hearty laugh filled the alley.

‘Looks like the preparations are complete.’

Wolf raised the corners of his mouth into a grin as he looked at the man in front of him in the secluded alley that had become their meeting place.

The fact that he had called him meant that the plan to be carried out tomorrow was perfectly prepared, and an uncontrollable chuckle burst out.

‘Nothing went wrong?’

Since the failure of the diving equipment operation, he had been anxious about whether the military academy might notice their current covert activities, but there hadn’t been any particular problems.

Time passed as usual, and the day finally arrived when Manfred, the maintenance officer, would give him information about the operation.

“Then please explain.”

“Alright.”

Wolf crossed his arms, his mind strangely at ease, and waited for him to open his mouth.

“First, take this.”

Wolf frowned and hesitated for a moment at Manfred’s sudden action of handing over an object the size of a finger.

‘What is this?’

Where did the talk about the plan go, what is he doing? Wolf raised his eyebrows with such questions in mind.

“Th-This is…!”

However, as soon as he examined the unknown object closely, that irritation quickly subsided.

“Isn’t this a mana stone?”

“That’s right.”

The hard and beautifully shining gem that was embedded in his father’s safe instead of gold bullion, the purple solid he had encountered during the military academy’s ability test.

“How on earth did you procure this?”

The object that had landed in his hand was none other than the mana stone, known by various names.

“Despite my appearance, I’m a high-ranking official who can move between different research labs, haha! I was able to obtain it with difficulty.”

“What are you going to use it for?”

“It’s intended to be used to neutralize the mana suppression system, specifically the device in Wolf-nim’s protective gear. Despite its appearance, it’s a specially treated mana stone that I’ve slightly modified?”

Wolf let out a hollow laugh at the officer’s subsequent words. It really seemed that failure is the mother of success, as he appeared to have prepared thoroughly and meticulously.

“Hmm… impressive.”

“It’s too early to be surprised.”

“What else is there?”

“For now, take this document as well.”

However, the maintenance officer’s words were not yet finished.

Flutter─

He turned over a large sheet of paper so wide that even with arms spread out, one couldn’t grasp both ends.

“This is where the cadets will be positioned during tomorrow’s survival training. As you mentioned, Yena is here, and Wolf-nim is over here.”

“Weren’t you just managing equipment?”

“I’m not only in charge of individual cadet protective gear but also various electronic devices to be used within the facility. Accordingly, I need to know the positions of the cadets, hehe.”

The administrator continued speaking in a majestic voice.

He faced Wolf with a look and gesture full of confidence, as if to say, “See, I’ve laid out the groundwork for you like this, haven’t I?”

“Don’t they usually do a body search before putting on the equipment?”

“They don’t.”

“Hm?”

“The people on the Federation side seem to… dislike troublesome things. Even though they boast about having a cutting-edge training system that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.”

Wolf glanced with his eyes at the face of the equipment administrator, which was filled with a different vitality compared to the previous diving training, while holding the mana stone in one hand and the crumpled map in the other.

‘He really has made thorough preparations.’

To be honest, I was a bit worried. There’s the fact that his performance so far had been quite poor, and his record of squandering money on reckless gambling didn’t look good either.

However, he showed satisfactory aspects.

He had prepared the rare mana stone for tomorrow and handed over a map of where the cadets were positioned to make it easier to find Yena.

“Is there anything else?”

“As I mentioned, for Yena’s equipment, I maximized the effect of the mana suppression device to control it so that she can’t exert her full power. And…”

“And?”

“Hehe, lastly, if you could take this.”

As if he thought it wasn’t enough to find the target with just the map,

“It’s a signal device.”

“Hm?”

“The sound will gradually get louder as you get closer to the child named Yena.”

He even prepared an electronic device that, despite its small size comparable to a single finger, had extremely useful built-in functions.

“So you were capable of doing this well.”

“Ha, haha.”

“…”

“During the diving training, I didn’t prepare much thinking it was just targeting one cadet… Of course, I put my utmost effort after that!”

Although it was vexing and pathetic that he didn’t show this level of competence in the first attempt, this time he did demonstrate knowledge befitting his high position as an equipment administrator.

‘I guess money really is the best after all.’

Wolf smiled, curving the corners of his eyes like crescent moons.

Isn’t this content without anything to criticize? With this, he was confident that even if Yena gets hurt more severely than she wants, there’s absolutely no way she can escape.

“Good work.”

“Yes! Then…”

“If tomorrow ends successfully, I’ll pay the remaining balance in full.”

“H-Hehe. Understood.”

Tak─!

Therefore, Wolf shook hands with the administrator, who was grinning widely, without any particular displeasure.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Yes!”

Then he folded the map small, carefully placed the tracker and mana stone that fit in one hand with room to spare into his pocket,

Step─! Step─!

And left the alley with light footsteps.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

While waiting for tomorrow when revenge will finally be realized.