Chapter 28

What Are They Doing?

“—That concludes my report. And……”

Having finished his not-quite house arrest, Meursault gave the commander a brief report before adding,

“Today is Lord Haydam’s training simulation.”

“Is it today?”

“Yes. If you leave now, you should arrive on time.”

Even after hearing that, the commander did not stop reading the report. Meursault asked again,

“Aren’t you going to watch?”

“There is no reason to.”

The commander casually set down the report and answered,

“Haydam is going to win anyway.”

“…People will criticize you if you take your doting-father act too far, Your Excellency.”

Despite Meursault’s reasonable yet insolent remark, Commander Hayden merely gave a faint chuckle.

To Meursault, who knew nothing about the circumstances, he probably did look like an excessively doting father.

Haydam is a regressor……

In truth, the commander believed Haydam’s claim to a certain extent.

As Haydam had said, with Luna Moon herself having been a “player,” there was no reason her child would be ordinary.

The child of a player is a regressor. Would Daphne’s child also be special?

Thinking that, the commander stared silently at Meursault for a moment.

A child between that man and a player might be somewhat dangerous.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

At Meursault’s question, the commander answered with perfect composure.

“Because I find it surprising.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you believe Haydam will lose?”

“Haydam is ten years old. The cadets are officer candidates on the verge of graduation. And yet……”

Meursault frowned slightly and gave a faint smile.

“It is strange. I don’t think Haydam will lose either.”

“Your eye for people remains as accurate as ever.”

“That still does not change the fact that you are a doting father.”

“And you remain as impudent as ever.”

Lightly ignoring Meursault’s grumbling, the commander looked through the window in the direction of the military academy.

The Second Apocalypse……

If another apocalypse truly was approaching in the near future—

And if Haydam really was a regressor who had returned from the future—

Luna Moon. Your child is going to save the world.

***

The military academy’s training simulation.

In truth, in an age when humanity’s main enemies were alien monsters rather than other humans, combat training against fellow cadets might have seemed outdated.

Even so, there was a reason interpersonal combat training remained necessary.

During subjugation missions, troops occasionally encountered forces from other zones.

Perhaps because humanity was already on the brink of extinction after the apocalypse, people rarely tried to kill one another.

However, the people of the Knife Zone were homicidal maniacs who existed completely outside the bounds of common sense.

Other zones suffering from resource shortages sometimes attempted raids as well, as did refugees who could no longer return to their own zones for criminal or political reasons.

That was why this training was necessary.

Conversely, if our own zone ever ran short on resources, we might have to raid another zone ourselves.

That was the meaning behind planting a flag in the enemy base.

In other words, this was training designed to expose cadets to the lowest depths of humanity.

Which meant they had to fight with everything they had, even if their opponent was a ten-year-old child.

I had actually been worried that the cadets might not take me seriously……

Judging by those eyes, I don’t need to worry about that.

For some reason, the cadets selected to face me were staring with open hostility.

Why?

Because I had said attending the academy would be a waste of time?

Because I had used my father’s influence to gather the finest cadets and turn them into measuring sticks for my combat ability?

Or because I had told them to attack me all at once since I could handle them alone?

There are too many possibilities.

In any case, it was good for me if they intended to fight seriously.

At the very least, no one would be able to say they let me win because I was the commander’s son.

Had this been a real examination after I enrolled rather than a demonstration, I would have simply abused my father’s influence and passed.

“You all know the rules of the training simulation, but as this is Lord Haydam’s first time, I will explain them briefly before we begin.”

Of the three instructors appointed as judges and supervisors for this simulation, the one wearing a red cap stepped forward.

“The rules are very simple. To win, you must either eliminate every enemy or plant your flag on the opposing team’s flagpole. Generally, when your body receives an impact, your sensor will react and determine whether the injury would be fatal or result in death. In situations the machines cannot judge, we instructors will observe through drones and determine whether the injury qualifies as fatal or lethal. This is only training, so if you believe you are in danger, do not hesitate to declare your surrender.”

That final sentence was not normally included in the explanation.

They had probably added it because I was both the commander’s son and a child.

At that moment, one of the cadets raised a hand.

After receiving permission to speak, he said,

“We have already experienced training simulations on this field, so we are familiar with the terrain. But this is Lord Haydam’s first time using it. For the sake of fairness, shouldn’t we use different terrain?”

The instructor glanced in my direction before answering in a flat voice.

“…Lord Haydam stated that any terrain would favor him too heavily, so for the sake of fairness, the training should take place somewhere familiar to the cadets. The decision is final.”

“……Pardon?”

The cadet who had asked the question stared blankly for a moment.

Then he realized that I had insulted them, and his face reddened.

The other cadets also began murmuring in disbelief, while the cadet named Plato, whom I had met earlier, glared at me with his blue eyes as though he wanted to devour me alive.

They really are still amateurs.

If a ten-year-old could provoke them before the training had even begun, wiping them out should not be difficult.

A furious snake became so obsessed with inflicting a fatal wound on the enemy before it that it forgot to protect its own body.

“What is wrong with that brat?”

Before the training formally began, one cadet burst out in frustration as they entered their team’s starting area.

“His father is the commander. He isn’t a soldier himself. What gives him the confidence to claim he can defeat us on our own training ground?”

The other cadets appeared to agree, but there were many ears around them, so one senior cadet raised a hand to calm him.

“Watch your mouth. The instructors may hear you.”

“Didn’t you see that even the instructor found it ridiculous?”

The complaining cadet deliberately raised his voice as though he wanted to be overheard.

“His Excellency is going too far as well! Telling us to face a ten-year-old child…… It feels like he is treating us, cadets who are about to become officers, like a joke!”

The other cadets, who sympathized with him, began speaking one by one.

“It’s also strange that he refused to change the training field while claiming he could face all of us alone. Is he planning to make excuses later that he lost because we fought on advantageous terrain?”

“What if he really does?”

“Either way, that would still mean Lord Haydam lost. We should consider ourselves fortunate that no one ordered us to let him win.”

“We’re busy with training, and so are the seniors. This is the real waste of time!”

“Lord Haydam apparently thinks the military academy itself is a waste of time. Perhaps the commander agrees with him deep down. The commander never attended the academy either!”

“Calm down.”

As the atmosphere threatened to overheat, Plato, who had silently listened from the rear, stepped forward.

“I understand that you’re angry, but getting worked up now will not help. None of you said a word in front of Lord Haydam, yet you complain behind his back. Can you call yourselves proud military academy cadets?”

“Th-That……”

“I misspoke. I apologize.”

“My apologies.”

Once the cadets began reflecting on their behavior, Plato spoke with a more serious expression.

“Listen carefully. I also found it absurd when Lord Haydam said he would face us alone. But after thinking about it, I realized he had no other choice.”

“What do you mean, no other choice?”

“First, no matter how skilled one of our cadets may be, they would not coordinate well with Lord Haydam during his first training exercise. Just as you do not think highly of him now, any cadet assigned to his team probably would not cooperate with him properly.”

Perhaps because they had been insulting me until moments ago, the cadets looked convinced.

“Second, it would be inefficient to form a team with Lord Haydam because protecting the weakest member would consume too many resources. And what if Lord Haydam were injured during the training? Wouldn’t the cadets who failed to protect him be placed in a difficult position?”

The cadets nodded in unison, as though that also made sense.

These thoughtless fools are supposed to become officers in the future……

Plato let out a quiet sigh before continuing.

“Third and finally, if Lord Haydam is alone, he can hide anywhere in the terrain. With his small body, he can secretly slip into places our cadets cannot pass through.”

“Ah… now that you mention it, that does make sense.”

“Therefore, Lord Haydam has only one possible strategy. He will hide, infiltrate our base, and plant his flag. Eliminating all of us would be impossible, but planting his flag while we are careless is not entirely unrealistic. Seen that way, conducting the training on terrain familiar to us also benefits Lord Haydam. We will lower our guard because we believe we know the field. He probably made those insulting remarks deliberately to make us angry and narrow our vision.”

When Plato finished, every cadet around him looked as though they had experienced a profound revelation and began lightly applauding.

“Oh… as expected of Senior Plato! Now that you explain it, Lord Haydam’s remarks make sense.”

“So Lord Haydam began his strategy from the moment he faced us. He wasn’t actually insulting us because he looked down on us.”

In truth—

Having personally spoken with Haydam, however briefly, inside the principal’s office, Plato knew that Haydam’s contempt for the cadets had been completely sincere.

But knowing that won’t help them. Anger and carelessness are poison during an operation. If even one cadet maliciously injures Lord Haydam, there will be no taking it back.

That was why, instead of telling them the truth, Plato had no choice but to say,

“That’s right. He is as intelligent as the rumors claim. If Lord Haydam is taking this training so seriously, then it is only proper that we face him seriously as well. His Excellency likely approved this training because he wants Lord Haydam to realize that the military academy is not a waste of time. And this exercise will benefit us as well.”

“How will it benefit us?”

“If you encounter a child from another zone during a real subjugation mission, are you confident that you won’t lower your guard or feel sympathy?”

“Ah……”

“Therefore, for many reasons, we must defeat Lord Haydam with everything we have. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

Watching the cadets answer loudly, Plato gave a faint smile.

As long as they did not let their guard down, there was no possibility that they would lose to a ten-year-old child.

“I will remain hidden near the flag and snipe Lord Haydam when he appears. The rest of you will advance toward his base as loudly as possible and pretend that you’re charging in a rage. For Lord Haydam to feel secure enough to sneak toward our flag, he must believe our entire team is moving. Stay packed tightly together so he cannot accurately count our numbers.”

“Yes, sir.”

“It would be easy to plant our flag in Lord Haydam’s base while he is away, but then he would learn nothing. Instead, we will pretend to move according to his strategy, then strike him from behind.”

The buzzer signaling the beginning of the training sounded the moment he finished speaking.

Plato tilted his head, signaling the start of the operation.

“Go. Drive the rabbit toward me.”

“Roger!”

When I spotted the cadets approaching my base, I doubted my own eyes.

What are they doing?

Why are those idiots moving in such a tightly packed group, making themselves so easy to kill?