Chapter 13

Fujita Issei

"Junsuke, have you heard about the matter I mentioned?"

"Of course."

"Who would have thought that he would be sent to the battlefield as a special warrant officer just a little over a month after enrolling?"

"He apparently even defeated multiple medium and large enemies."

"Large enemies... So, he'll be a lieutenant, no, a special warrant major right after graduation?"

"Indeed. At the very least, he's guaranteed to be a lieutenant."

"He's surpassed us by more than just a year."

"Indeed."

Typically, graduates of the military academy are assigned to the army as warrant officers. After a year of practical experience, they are promoted to lieutenant. Therefore, Keita, who is expected to become a lieutenant at this point, has effectively skipped the 'one year of practical experience' period due to his performance alone.

It might be said that only the first year is different, but it's important not to forget the significant difference in the tasks during that period.

On one hand, there are those who start as warrant officers and work their way up. On the other hand, there are those who go to the battlefield as lieutenants. It goes without saying which path is easier to advance on.

Of course, if one goes to the military university after graduation, things are a bit different, but the fact remains that the starting line is different.

When Issei first heard about Keita's achievements that led to his promotion, he thought, "What nonsense is this?" However, the achievements he made during the test were officially recognized by the Second Division, and there was no falsehood or exaggeration in them.

"Should I not feel envious?"

"No, you shouldn't."

Enrolling after just one month and achieving outstanding results on the battlefield, leading to a promotion—on the surface, it's indeed something to envy.

How did he get permission to go to the battlefield?

What tricks did he use on the battlefield?

Not only the students in Class B but also the upperclassmen are looking at him with envy and suspicion. Issei can understand this; if he didn't know the circumstances, he would have felt the same way.

But it's different.

He is fundamentally different from us, who have been trained from birth to excel on the battlefield.

We know that he is a victim of war.

We know that he has no connections or favors.

We know that he joined the military to protect his life with his sister.

We know that the machine assigned to him was a hybrid, a concept never seen before.

We know that the machine given to him was a new model made by a company that had just entered the market, and it was deemed expendable.

We know that he was allowed to go to the battlefield and be tested there because the upper echelons considered him expendable.

In other words, we know that he went to the battlefield at the convenience of the upper echelons, fought for his life, and achieved results as a consequence.

To envy him? Impossible.

It's not right to face him with such shallow feelings.

"I've made up my mind, Junsuke."

"About what?"

"I've been honest; I've been ambiguous in my approach because I couldn't grasp the right distance."

"...I've been the same."

Usually, people like us don't encounter war victims like him.

That's why it's understandable to be ambiguous and unable to grasp the right distance.

But that's just an excuse.

Now that I realize this, I must change, I must change.

"I will no longer see him as a victim."

"Issei, that's..."

"No, of course, I don't intend to forget that. It's something I should remember as a warning. But it's separate from that."

"What do you mean?"

"It might not be fun for a pure military family, but it's wrong to say, 'He's not from a military family' and not recognize his achievements. Therefore, he should be treated as a comrade who has earned the right to stand on the battlefield with us, not just as a weak victim."

"...I see."

In reality, he is above us.

But I will catch up to him soon.

"First, I will ask to see the machine he uses. Of course, I don't intend to exploit information one-sidedly; I plan to share information as well. Naturally, I will need your cooperation, too."

"No problem."

Thus, the two young representatives of the Seventh Division who entered the military academy decided to recognize Keita as a classmate and close the distance they had intentionally maintained.

---

Mutou Sayo

While the two from the Seventh Division were discussing their relationship with Keita, the group centered around Mutou Sayo, the top student and representative of the Third Division, was also discussing Keita.

"That man was only able to go to the battlefield because he had no backing! The Second Division promoted him to prevent us from being sent to the battlefield!"

(Is that really the case?)

"Tatsumi's opinion is correct. In fact, by sending him to the battlefield, the Second Division has an excuse to say, 'We are already accepting students, so we cannot accommodate other students for practical training.'"

(That might be true, but...)

Tatsumi, who entered as the fifth-ranked student, raised his voice, while Kobayashi Kenjiro, who entered as the ninth-ranked student, nodded in agreement.

Incidentally, the reason why Kobayashi Kenjiro, the ninth-ranked student, acts more importantly than Tatsumi, the fifth-ranked student, is due to the difference in the status of their families.

The Kasahara family is a prestigious family within the Third Division that has produced staff officers and brigade commanders, but the Kobayashi family is even more prestigious. Specifically, it is a member of the Muroguchi family, which produced the former commander of the Third Division, Muroguchi Rensuke. More specifically, the Kobayashi family welcomed the second son of the Muroguchi family as a son-in-law, and Kenjiro is the second son of that family.

In other words, Kenjiro is the grandson of Muroguchi Rensuke, the leader of the Third Division.

Currently, the Muroguchi family is without a head because Rensuke, his eldest son Nobuaki, and the second son who entered the Kobayashi family, Yutaka, all died in the Imphal campaign.

Rensuke's grandson, Keishin, the son of Nobuaki, is still alive, but he is only one year older than Kenjiro and is still a student, so he has not yet achieved the military achievements necessary to lead a faction.

Moreover, due to the strong aversion to the Muroguchi name both within the military and in society, it is almost impossible for him to be deployed to a proper battlefield and achieve recognized military achievements in the next few years.

Because of these circumstances, the Muroguchi family has high hopes for Kenjiro.

Kenjiro understands the expectations placed on him and wants to achieve military achievements before his cousin Keishin.

Therefore, Kenjiro has a grand ambition to lie low for two years at the military academy, then go on a mission for practical training, achieve military achievements, and succeed the main family to revive the Muroguchi family.

Given these circumstances, Tatsumi has been ordered by his family to support Kenjiro. In other words, they have a master-servant relationship.

Incidentally, the Muto family, Sayo's family, is a prestigious family within the Third Division, with her father serving as the chief staff officer. However, they have lost many members in the expedition, so they have no room to spare.

Therefore, they are not interested in the current behind-the-scenes struggle for the family headship between Kenjiro and Keishin, and their primary goal is to restore the military reputation of their own family.

Thus, unlike the Kasahara family, the Muto family has not ordered Sayo to support Kenjiro. Rather, they have instructed her to keep her distance.

For Sayo, who was raised as a pure lady, both Tatsumi and Kenjiro were people she wanted to keep her distance from, so this instruction was like a gift from the heavens.

(Tatsumi and Kenjiro seem to think I'm on their side.)

Sayo, who felt like sighing, decided to listen to their conversation without causing any trouble.

Putting aside the Muto family's and Sayo's thoughts,

Kenjiro, who considers himself the legitimate successor of the Third Division, was naturally disappointed to have been outperformed by Kasahara Tatsumi and Muto Sayo in the entrance exam. However, he convinced himself that "I am a commander who will use them, so it's natural to be outperformed in a test that prioritizes compatibility with magic crystals."

Furthermore, when he learned that a machine made by an unknown company had been assigned to a civilian boy who, despite being a civilian, had outperformed them in the exam and acted arrogantly by not even coming to greet them, he felt a sense of relief by mocking it.

It was then that he received the information that Keita had been sent to the battlefield ahead of them and had achieved significant results.

At first, Kenjiro doubted the authenticity of the information, but when he learned it was true, he showed his displeasure. In fact, he was furious.

Seeing this, Tatsumi thought, "This is not good," and tried to calm Kenjiro while discussing how he should achieve his own military achievements.

Returning to the main topic,

Tatsumi, encouraged by the fact that his opinion was accepted by the prestigious family and the top student, Sayo, and by the main line, Kenjiro, spoke wisely.

"That's right. Moreover, the biggest reason that man was able to go to the battlefield is undoubtedly related to the faction. However, there are other reasons used as a pretext."

"…The test of the new model, right?"

"Exactly. Without that, no matter how much the Second Division tried, they could not send a civilian boy to the battlefield ahead of us!"

"Indeed. If it's a test of the only machine in this academy, or in Japan, it might be allowed as an exception. Especially if the test pilot is a boy who can be sacrificed."

"Yes, yes, that's right. From the results that man is said to have achieved, it's clear that that machine should have been assigned to us!"

"Indeed. However, it couldn't be assigned to us because it hadn't even been tested, and its safety was uncertain. That's why that boy was sent first. That's all."

"That's right. The results that man achieved can be achieved by anyone with that machine!"

Their discussion was not based on recognizing the facts, like Issei and Junsuke, but on emotional venting. However, at least they thought they were having a sincere discussion.

(I don't think that's right.)

Sayo, who listened to their conversation silently, was skeptical of their opinions.

First, even as an excellent pilot, Sayo has no confidence in being able to operate the hybrid machine that Keita rode. The fact that he could operate it alone demonstrates his competence or rarity.

Moreover, the feelings she has for Keita are closer to those of Issei, who leads the Seventh Division. She thinks he is far more talented than she is, who was made the top student for the sake of the faction's reputation—certainly more talented than a certain young master who, despite being heavily favored, only managed to rank ninth.

(Also, the current state of the Third Division is not good, so shouldn't we be making allies rather than enemies?)

This is her personal opinion, but as a member of the Third Division, she also believes that, in reality, to rebuild the division, they need to borrow the strength of other factions, so they should avoid conflict with other divisions.

Especially since Keita is a civilian with no backing. While the Second Division seems to be trying to recruit him, this can be solved by making him a part of the family through a political marriage or something similar.

Whether it's by marrying one of his relatives to him or his sister to someone else, he should be recruited because of his achievements. Why are they trying to make him an enemy?

(If they decide to lie low for a year or two, I wish they would be patient. Is this a matter of male pride? I don't understand.)

"The information says that the Second Division has requested the assembly of the second machine."

"Then we should take it. It's not difficult to seize it from an unknown company like Saikou Heavy Industries. There are also those who dislike the Second Division's monopoly on the new model."

"Great idea!"

(No, where is it great? If we do that, we will completely make enemies with Saikou Heavy Industries and the Second Division. We should keep our distance from them. We should contact Kawakami-san first. Fujita-san will likely do the same. That means they will have at least two people. ...We need to make allies quickly. Ah, if they were more useful, ...No, it's pointless to say that. Sigh. How troublesome.)

While looking at the two plotting in front of her with a cold eye, Sayo, who was raised as a lady and thus trained in such matters, thought about the power struggles that would likely occur behind the scenes.

Is the top student a scheming lady?

Well, if you're not careful, your family will be taken over.

So you are trained not to let that happen.

Thank you for reading.