Chapter 27

Provocation

It took the commander a long time to respond.

“You’re… what?”

His tone suggested that he doubted the words he had just heard.

I repeated myself with perfect clarity.

“A regressor.”

“A regressor means……”

“Exactly what it sounds like. I returned from the future to the past.”

“……”

The commander’s mouth opened briefly, then closed again.

“…You’re saying something strange. Luna Moon used to play those kinds of jokes too.”

Hmm. His reaction was more underwhelming than I expected.

Since he already knew Luna Moon had been a player, I thought he would take this revelation more boldly.

“It isn’t a joke.”

“Enough with the nonsense. You, a regressor?”

“Did you react like this when my mother confessed that she was a player?”

“……!”

My words made the commander look as though he had been struck in the head with a hammer.

Granted, the whole regressor thing was a lie, so I felt a little guilty about dragging a dead person into it…

Actually, I didn’t.

I had already been growing sick of acting like a child.

I needed to play the role of a regressor properly now if I wanted to stop being treated like a child and avoid enrolling in the military academy.

And this was not merely for my own sake.

It was to prevent the apocalypse.

“Haven’t you ever found anything strange? The fact that I’m far too mature for my age and know far too much about the military?”

“Being more mature than other children is supposed to make me believe you’re a regressor?”

“At the officers’ meeting, I knew everyone’s names.”

Since the commander seemed to want evidence, I began listing plausible examples.

“Do you truly believe I could know so much about them merely because Mother told me stories? Do you think the reason I can handle firearms so naturally and shoot so well despite never having touched a gun in the slums is simply because I’m a clever child? Do you think climbing over Lady Daphne’s wall the other day was merely an impulsive act?”

“……”

The commander still seemed unable to believe me completely.

However, the next words that left his mouth were not an expression of doubt, but a question about my intentions.

“Why are you only revealing now that you’re a regressor?”

“Because you don’t know.”

“Know what?”

“That we’re running out of time.”

Watching the commander tilt his head slightly, I continued.

“In ten years, the apocalypse will begin again.”

“What?”

Even the commander looked considerably shocked by the claim that another apocalypse would occur.

“We called it the Second Apocalypse.”

“Another apocalypse in the future… I would prefer it if this were a lie.”

“I wish it weren’t going to happen too. But in the future, we failed to prepare for it, and I died.”

At the mention of my death in the future, the commander’s eye widened slightly before settling again.

“When I opened my eyes, I had returned to when I was ten years old. If this was the second chance I had been given… I decided that this time, I needed to prepare for the apocalypse in advance. That’s why I want to participate in the subjugation battle and why I’ve been so concerned about combat rations.”

“……”

After a long silence, the commander finally answered.

“This is as difficult to believe as when I discovered that Luna Moon was a player.”

“I understand. But I had no choice but to tell you. At this rate, we won’t have enough time to prepare for the apocalypse.”

Since I had already gone this far, I decided to explain every suspicious aspect of my behavior.

“The reason I’m only telling you now is because it was during this regression that I learned Mother had been a player—and that you knew about it. I thought that if you already knew Mother was a special existence, you might take my story seriously.”

“So your future self didn’t know Luna Moon was a player?”

“No. But I had always vaguely known that Mother was no ordinary person. That’s why, after regressing, I went to Lady Daphne to learn more about her…… It’s also why I wasn’t especially shocked when I discovered that Mother was a player. I’m a regressor myself, so why would my mother being a player be such a big deal?”

My carefully twisted logic seemed to leave the commander somewhat confused.

“If you truly came from the future… then predict something that will happen.”

Hmm. Apparently, that evidence was still not enough.

As the commander of an entire zone, it was only right that he exercise caution before believing someone.

Unfortunately, I had no convenient prophecy to give him.

“That would be difficult.”

“Difficult?”

“The future has already changed considerably because of my regression. Originally, I didn’t come to find you this early.”

At that, the commander seemed somewhat convinced that I could not speak freely about future events.

Good. Then……

“I may not be able to predict future events, but if you want more definitive proof—”

Technically, it was not impossible for me to tell him about events that would occur in the future.

Some things had changed because of my possession, but I was a veteran who had completed this world countless times.

However, I had no intention of pretending to be some half-baked prophet.

As a veteran, shouldn’t I prove that I came from the future through skill?

“Please permit me to challenge the military academy’s training simulation.”

The commander flinched and stared at me as though I were some creature from another world.

“…The fact that you know about the military academy’s training simulation does make me think you may truly be a regressor.”

“I already graduated from that academy in the future. I’m confident that I’m superior to every student currently enrolled there. If I complete the training with better results than anyone else, you’ll have no choice but to believe me.”

The commander looked conflicted for a moment, then gave a small nod.

“I permit you to challenge the training simulation.”

I smiled without bothering to hide the rising corners of my mouth.

Once I proved myself through the training, he would never be able to tell me to attend the military academy again.

A veteran had no business bullying beginners, but this time, it could not be helped.

***

Plato, the eldest son of Anton, leader of the pro-Daphne faction, was an exceptional cadet on the verge of graduating at the top of his class from the military academy.

Although his father led the pro-Daphne faction, Anton had raised his son fairly, hoping to turn him into a commander respected by every faction.

As a result, Plato did not discriminate based on faction.

Nor did he ever invoke his father’s name to solve his problems, which earned him the respect of many fellow cadets.

However, Plato had grown into a soldier far less bound by ideology than Anton had expected. He became such a blunt and uncompromising man that even Anton found him frustrating.

To the junior cadets, Plato—who excelled in both written and practical examinations—was an admirable senior who remained true to his convictions.

But to his classmates and instructors, who understood how important absolute obedience was in the military, he was nothing more or less than a high-scoring blockhead.

Even so, the fact that he was expected to graduate at the top of his class was probably not entirely unrelated to his father Anton’s influence.

In any case, that stubborn temperament revealed itself once again when he was ordered to participate in a training simulation with the commander’s son, Haydam Goodman.

“I refuse.”

“Plato!”

Haydam Goodman, the person at the center of the matter, stood in one corner of the principal’s office and watched him.

The principal called Plato’s name in shock, but Plato did not relent.

“Even if it is only a simulation, I cannot deliberately endanger a child who has not even enrolled yet. You know that injuries can still occur during these simulations.”

“The commander himself has approved it.”

“He approved it?”

The Cola Zone Military Academy’s training simulation was a mock battle.

The participating cadets were divided into Team A and Team B. Each team began in its own base, and victory was achieved either by planting their flag in the enemy base first or by eliminating every member of the opposing team.

The battle used no lethal weapons, only training swords and paint guns.

Even so, when clashes became intense, fists sometimes flew, and cadets were occasionally injured.

The commander had approved his ten-year-old son’s participation in such training?

Could he be expecting us to let him win?

As though confirming Plato’s suspicion, the principal said exactly what he expected.

“And surely you can exercise some discretion during the training?”

Of course.

Plato immediately shook his head.

“In other words, you want me to go easy on him. He may be a child who has not yet enrolled, but he is still a future cadet who will one day become a warrior of this zone. I cannot subject him to that kind of humiliation. How ashamed would he be if his first training simulation ended in victory only because his opponents held back?”

“P-Plato! Please watch what you say……!”

“I don’t mind.”

The principal glanced nervously at Haydam Goodman standing nearby, but Haydam showed no sign of offense despite having heard everything.

Plato quietly studied the child’s glossy black hair and black eyes, which gleamed with an ominous curiosity.

So this is the rumored illegitimate child.

The angel-faced psychopath who had supposedly threatened Anton with a smile during their very first meeting.

A mysterious child who had climbed over the wall of Lady Daphne’s mansion, yet had also gone outside the zone alone to hunt a hippo-boar and fed children his own age.

I assumed he wasn’t an ordinary child.

That was why Plato had not felt much resistance when he heard that Haydam would be visiting the academy.

Nor had he objected much when he learned the child would challenge the training simulation.

He had thought a child like that might be capable of handling it.

But participating in the training simulation alongside him was something Plato had never anticipated.

“Why me, specifically? There must be plenty of cadets whose abilities are more appropriate for Lord Haydam’s level.”

“Please choose your words more carefully. And as for that……”

“I requested you.”

Haydam’s youthful voice cut in.

He looked directly up at Plato and said,

“I wanted to see the academy’s finest cadet for myself.”

“…Thank you.”

For some reason, Haydam’s attitude did not feel like that of a simple visitor.

It almost feels like a company commander visiting to offer encouragement……

In any case, if Haydam wanted Plato to participate because he wished to see the academy’s finest cadet, then Plato was willing to compromise.

Aspiring to challenge someone superior was an excellent quality in a warrior.

But even so, I don’t want to fight a young child……

Plato proposed a reasonable compromise.

“Assign me to Lord Haydam’s team. That should balance the teams well enough.”

Haydam reacted with surprise and waved both hands.

“Plato on my team? There’s no need for that! If an excellent cadet like Plato joins my team……”

He may have made an unreasonable request beyond his level, but at least he understands shame.

Plato naturally assumed that Haydam intended to refuse because he believed winning with Plato’s assistance would be an imposition.

But the words that followed completely overturned his expectations.

“Then I won’t be able to prove that I’m better than every cadet in this academy, will I?”

Plato could not simply ignore that statement.

His brows furrowed before he realized it.

“What did you just say?”

“Ah, I forgot to mention that.”

Even the principal stared at Haydam in horror as the boy cheerfully continued.

“Father allowed me to challenge the training simulation because I told him that if I proved I was better than everyone in the military academy, I wouldn’t have to enroll. Honestly, I think attending this academy would be a waste of time.”

That was the moment Plato resolved to fight with everything he had and defeat the ten-year-old child before him.