episode_0043

a few days ago.

So, before arriving at Artemis Colony.

Five students had gathered in the lounge inside the battleship, in a place where not even the androids could hear except during clean-up time.

“Hey, over there. What’s going on…?”

The one called is Lavender.

The person who called Lavender was none other than four members of the Special Forces Team A.

“I have a question before I die.”

“Lord, I can’t believe I’m dying. Still for us….”

“There is hope, but I still have to resolve any questions I have.”

No matter how bad people are, unless they are lifelong enemies, they are bound to reconcile in a crisis.

“Even if I starve to death, I will not forget the blessings of the biscuits you gave me.”

“Jessie….”

“But that’s it!”

To be precise, there are many cases where people are forced to cooperate in order to survive, and in the process, they end up suppressing existing resentment.

“I will remember for the rest of my life that you shot us in the back. Even after we are rescued!”

“Yes…. I will also be careful for the rest of my life.”

“…You just need to know! Be careful not to shoot anyone else in the future.”

Of course, there are cases where someone kills someone out of a previous desire for revenge, but the academy students in their early 20s did not have that level of vengeance.

“Hey, lavender.”

Because I had more important questions than that poison.

“Have you never heard of a cloud instructor?”

“Uh, huh?”

Lavender was embarrassed.

I’m sure we’ve become quite close since I shared biscuits with him before, but I didn’t expect him to ask me this directly.

“First of all, you often talk 1:1 with the cloud instructor. Have you heard anything from him?”

“I haven’t heard anything…”

“Jessie. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Arthur. Aren’t you curious? You never know. Since he declared that he was a member of ‘that unit,’ he might have said something to Lavender!”

“…….”

The reason why everyone in Class A gathers here and asks Lavender is because they are that curious.

That’s because the name [Eunha] was an object of admiration for many pilots.

“Was Instructor Cloud really a member of the Galaxy Unit?”

“I don’t know. Officially, the Galaxy Unit is an official unit that does not exist.”

Hanae scratched her head as if she recognized something strange as she spoke.

“…Everyone knows it exists, but it is a unit that is officially known to not exist.”

“Unless we are in a situation where we are drifting and about to die, it is a established rule that unit members do not disclose their unit even after leaving the unit.”

If Trev Cloud, the mask instructor, had known that he would arrive at a place called Artemis Colony within a month, he would never have revealed his identity.

And even if his identity was revealed, data about him would never be known.

“Hanae. Is it possible to be hacked?”

“What do you think of me as the best hacker in the universe? Better tell them to rob the Zodiac Union’s federal bank.”

“Is that possible?”

“……As long as you have enough equipment.”

“…I heard something amazing, but anyway, there is no way to know about the masked instructor among the information we have?”

Jessie sat next to Lavender, who kept her mouth shut.

“So tell me once. Have you heard anything about the mask instructor?”

“That….”

“Please, me too.”

“Even Senior Andy…?”

When Andy bowed his head and asked, Lavender hesitated and then adjusted her posture and sat down.

“…I retired quite a long time ago.”

Lavender slowly opened her mouth.

“If the age written on my resume and wiki is not false, I think I retired in my early 20s.”

“What about your pilot experience?”

“I didn’t say exactly how many years it was, but I know it’s been quite a while. But if you have more than 5 years of experience…”

“Child soldiers? That’s ridiculous.”

The special forces even took out the panel and began to do the calculations.

“Let’s say you retired at age 22 and joined the Galaxy Unit at age 20. So that means you have 2 years of actual experience, or at best 3 years.”

“If you think about the experience listed on the mask instructor’s wiki… it came out at least 4 years ago.”

“Yeah, but. Rather, shouldn’t we think the opposite way, seniors…?”

Jace cautiously raised his hand.

“Is it possible that he did not mention his career in more detail because he was really a child soldier, not because he was in the Galaxy Unit?”

“That is absolutely ridiculous. What is lacking in the Galaxy Unit to use child soldiers…?”

“Okay. Child soldiers are a violation of federal law. Putting him in AS before he becomes an adult? That is so illegal that the colony itself will be destroyed.”

“…Even in the old countryside on the outskirts, children are not given AS.”

No matter how the light of war shines in the universe, children who have not yet grown up are not sent to AS.

“Jace. Haven’t you been riding since you were the youngest among us?”

“I’ve been taking the pilot special major since I was in elementary school…”

“Have you ever actually ridden it?”

“…It was the first time since I became an adult and entered the academy.”

Even if there are some talented people, it is limited to simulation simulators.

Therefore, there are cases where they provide a minimum level of education until they become adults and then use tricks to make it possible for them to be put to work as soon as they become adults.

Starlight Colony wasn’t as tight-knit, but it was run similarly.

Lavender is someone who was missing from the curriculum radar.

“Have you heard anything from Instructor Aria?”

“Isn’t it Lavender that I’ve heard more about than Aria’s instructor?”

“I don’t know. Instructor Aria is an adult.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Lavender immediately questioned Jesse’s words.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ah, that, that.”

Jessie looked around at the other unit members with cold sweat in Lavender’s cold eyes, but they also swallowed and avoided their gaze.

“Being an adult means doing something together as adults…? So you’re telling a more honest and deep story…?”

“That means you are an adult, an office worker, not a student!”

“Oh, really?”

Lavender smiled slightly.

“I also had an adult, ‘adult’ conversation.”

“…….”

“There’s no way you could have talked about that with Instructor Aria. The two of you don’t have that kind of relationship, honestly…”

Wow.

“Instructor Aria and I – there isn’t much difference between us.”

“That’s right! Hahaha!”

Andy burst into laughter and tried to lighten the mood.

“So lavender. What else can you guess?”

“Visor to protect the optic nerves…is the reason why you wore that ‘mask’ probably the reason you left the Galaxy Unit?”

“Then there is a possibility that he is a pilot who retired at least 4 years ago.”

The special forces joined forces and narrowed the distance.

“…Who is it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know who was a member of my unit, so how do I know?”

“But there are also people who are known to the outside world. Like the [Silver Lion] of Leo Colony.”

[Silver Lion].

Although he is now retired, he has become the dean of the academy belonging to the Leo Colony.

Although the aircraft was returned to the Leo Colony, the man’s pilot skills are still that of an S-class pilot.

“Ah, why does the silver lion come here? There’s no reason.”

“But his whereabouts are unknown.”

“…Isn’t there a bit of a distance from the silver lion?”

Even though he disappeared suddenly, the possibility could not be erased.

“Or how about [Scorpio]?”

“No. Too old. …Not instructor Cloud’s side, but Scorpio’s side. It’s already been 7 years since he revealed that he was part of the Galaxy Unit.”

“7 years ago….”

“Although he was active as a mercenary, he was already in his 30s at that time. If that’s true, then instructor Cloud lied about his age by nearly 10 years.”

“…….”

It’s unpredictable.

Among the Galaxy Unit, there are some who live a new life by actively making their affiliation known, while there are also those who hide it.

“Then, what about other people? Regardless of whether they are retired or not, they are just inactive, for example…”

“[Dragon Rider].”

Everyone swallowed their saliva at Hanae’s words.

“[Red Moon], the owner of the Red Moon.”

“…Could it be that the Red Moon appeared because of the instructor?”

“I don’t know. There is a possibility, right? When the Dragon Rider was alive in the past, when he personally drove the Red Moon…”

“Colony Massacre.”

Jace cut him off with a stern expression.

“The worst terrorist in history, destroying over 100 colonies.”

“…….”

“He’s a cloud instructor? Oh, no way. He’s a murderer who killed over 100 million people with a few clicks of a button. That’s not possible.”

Jace shook his head vigorously.

“That monster must have died when [Chang-eun] defeated it! Obviously…!”

“…And now that I think about it, he was there too.”

The window is.

Lavender kept thinking about that name.

“Haha, what are you talking about? If you are talking about the creation tree [Sapphire Unicorn]…”

Chang Se-su, contractor of ‘Unicorn’.

A legendary pilot who saved the world about three times during his 15 years of official activity.

And lastly, the one who stabbed the cockpit of [Red Moon] and stopped Red Moon’s runaway and massacre.

“Caught in the explosion, he died.”

* * *

“I am.”

Lavender thought.

What kind of person was Trev Cloud as part of the Galactic Forces?

“Nothing special.”

The instructor, who was scratching his head and hesitating to answer, looked more human than anyone else.

“I too was a ‘contractor of the beast’.”

He had already grabbed God’s blessing, which he had miraculously obtained.

“In the past.”

It was a lost entity now.

“It’s a little embarrassing to call myself that, but if it were you, I wouldn’t let it be known. Even more so if you have Fenrir.”

Trev Cloud whispered softly, as if it was nothing special, as if he were reciting the Chinese menu from the academy’s student cafeteria.

“[White Lancer].”

“Uh.”

“There was someone who called him ‘Chang-eun’s Paladin’ externally. Wow, that’s a shame. Because it’s the call sign I made when I was in middle school.”

“Now, wait a minute. That person-”

Lavender remembered.

“Obviously, the activity history is over 15 years-”

“Uh.”

Instructor Trev Cloud wore a mask and answered indifferently.

“That’s right.”

“He was dead, wasn’t he…?”

“huh.”

The instructor.

“The Masked Man does not die even in the explosion. Please remember.”

He patted his mask with his hand and laughed mischievously.

“More than that, it’s not the time for you to worry about that.”

“Yes?”

“If you were not just a student but a ‘contractor of the beast’.”

Wow.

“As this instructor is a ‘senior’, I think he can provide more detailed information.”

Lavender got goosebumps as she felt the mask instructor’s hand on her shoulder.

“Now. Press Fenrir. This is a process called ‘clicking’-”