The second time.
The moment it began, I fired the thrusters in reverse. The instant I thought I had opened some distance, Balmung’s side skirt turned toward me. Gun muzzles spat fire, and my core was penetrated.
The fourth time.
The moment it began, I fired the thrusters in reverse. The instant I saw the side skirt turning toward me, I killed the main thruster and ignited the side thrusters.
At the same time, I was bisected by the approaching greatsword.
The ninth time.
Reverse thrust. Without killing the main thruster, I ignited the side thrusters and simultaneously blocked the greatsword with my shield. At the same time, I fired the side thrusters to swing backward, adding to the main thruster’s forward thrust.
“Stop.”
I stopped. When I turned around, Balmung sheathed its greatsword with a metallic clang.
“You barely managed to escape on the ninth try. One less than expected.”
I couldn’t tell if that was praise, or a mockery implying he’d seen me as a guy who couldn’t dodge even once in ten bouts against him.
“N-now, will you t-tell me why we’re doing this?”
“There are many reactions in this world when you tell someone to do something.”
No, I asked if you were going to tell me.
“Those who neither question nor act. Those who simply act without question. Those who don’t act despite having questions. But among them, you at least have the will to learn.”
“Y-yes?”
“Because even when you have doubts, you act first and ask later.”
I turned my head slightly. My shield, sliced away by the greatsword, lay discarded on the floor. Thank goodness it was a simulation. Repair costs would be a pain.
“Your reaction speed is fast. And your ability to execute tactics is excellent.”
“Thank—”
“But you cannot do both at the same time.”
Both at the same time—did that mean acting in response to the enemy’s movements while executing a tactic?
It was hard to understand.
If you could win simply by moving according to plan from the start, there was no need to move relying on reaction speed. Conversely, if you had to move relying on reaction speed, it meant you were in a situation where you couldn’t move according to plan.
It had been the same this time. There was no moment to formulate a plan; every second was spent desperately reacting.
“Don’t think in dichotomies.”
How does he know what I’m thinking?
“You probably think you were moving relying solely on reaction speed every moment, but no. In reality, I was anticipating my own actions every moment and moving while planning my next action.”
That much—
“Don’t say you were already doing it. By my standards, it was hardly any different from charging in without any plan at all.”
In truth, that was exactly right.
Professor Zieg had completely overwhelmed me from start to finish. While cutting me down ten times, he moved without a single error. The fact that I could respond at all was thanks to that.
He had moved exactly the same way all ten times, without a single deviation.
And not even with his own body, but with Balmung, a Titan.
“Do not act impulsively, merely reacting to what you see before you. Plan the actions dictated by your survival instinct before your survival instinct ever screams.”
“H-how is that even possible?”
“The answer is already inside you, and if you can’t do it, you die.”
Just as I had been cut down by Professor Zieg ten times.
If this had been real combat, I would have died at the very first encounter. Had I faced Professor Zieg as an enemy, I would have died.
No, there was no reason to use Professor Zieg as an example. Fafnir, whom I’d met recently, was at least evenly matched with Professor Zieg, or perhaps even slightly stronger.
“If you search for the answer only when you’re truly in danger, it’s too late. Move before the danger comes.”
Didn’t you almost die to Fafnir because you couldn’t do that either, Professor Zieg?
I quickly swallowed the words before they came out.
“I was going to make you do this five more times if you added unnecessary remarks, but since you listened quietly, we’ll stop here. The lecture time is almost over too.”
“Y-yes.”
It was survival instinct.
***
“Does everyone know that the club festival starts in a week?”
The Hired Help Club cafe closes at nine.
Since everyone is a student, there are quite a few cadets who need to sleep early to prepare for the next day’s lectures. Engineering majors especially need time for assignments, so many leave before closing time.
As people trickle out one by one, closing around nine naturally becomes inevitable.
It was usually around this closing time that Aila, my senior, would wipe a glass cup with a linen cloth and bring up something subtly important.
“C-club festival?”
The club festival.
I’d never been to university, so I’d never experienced a club festival, but I had heard stories about university club festivals.
After all, I did have friends in high school. Though later I left every group chat and blocked them all.
“Yes, the Hired Help Club is also planning to adjust and add some menu items in time for the club festival.”
“What are you planning to add?”
When Revan looked at her with suspicious eyes, Senior Aila smiled while covering her mouth.
“Well. We’ll probably add some dessert items. Even if it’s a festival, our club doesn’t aim for profit.”
I wondered what scale the Bethesda Academy club festival would be. It wouldn’t be small. Perhaps it might be one of the biggest events for the many clubs here.
But to Senior Aila, the club festival was more or less irrelevant either way.
She wasn’t aiming for profit; she just wanted to see cute, pretty maids and become one herself.
I couldn’t understand it at all.
Wait, wasn’t it pure madness that she’d even customized her Titan with that concept? Now that I thought about it, it was absurd.
“Ah, also, we’re planning to shorten the closing time during the club festival period.”
Huh.
“W-why?”
“I thought you’d ask when first. Well, I know how hard everyone in the club works. Festival periods are for enjoying the festival.”
Ian, who had been mopping, frowned.
“I need money.”
“I’ve heard many other clubs hold activities with prizes. We can’t keep the cafe open just for Ian, so targeting those might be a good option.”
That was common sense.
“Or, make that maid robot Ian built move like a real person. I’ll purchase it through my family.”
“Inefficient design.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.”
Senior Aila was a special case, pathologically obsessed with maids, but among the people I knew, she was the second most normal after Ran.
If she weren’t sane, she wouldn’t have the ability to continuously operate the club’s cafe in the first place.
Ian made a thoughtful expression for a moment, then soon nodded. He looked somewhat convinced.
When I turned my head to the side, Revan had his head bowed with a thoughtful expression.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, but we had an understanding to cooperate only when it was beneficial. If he didn’t ask me for something first, there was no reason to pay him any mind.
“Hey, Deep.”
Like this.
No, not like this. Huh.
“Uh, yes?”
I hadn’t expected him to approach me first.
Revan walked over and gestured as if telling me to lean in. When I got a little closer, Revan spoke in a low voice.
“I need money to get my custom work done too. Let’s do a job together. There’s one job that’s perfect for you.”
He was talking like I needed to infiltrate an organized crime syndicate.
When I stared at him, Revan smirked.
“There’s something we can only do during this club festival period.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you if you promise to do it.”
This was exactly that kind of thing.
That pattern when neighborhood thugs make you do some fucked-up shit while feeding you some bullshit line.
“Then tell me what happens next in the story.”
“Why would I?”
Yeah, figured.
There was no reason for him to share information only he knew with me.
Rather, it was an unusual situation for Revan to even drop this kind of hint to me. Maybe it was because it would be impossible without my acceptance.
Ah, so that’s it.
Normally, this might be an event that required building enough affection with a trustworthy NPC to proceed together.
However, judging by Revan’s actions, he didn’t seem to have any friends to do this kind of thing with. He was well-connected, but it felt like he didn’t have any genuinely close friends at all.
“Didn’t I tell you before? That I’m a friend you can cooperate with anytime.”
No, a friend you can use anytime, more like.
To Revan, other people, including me, might not be candidates for friendship to begin with.
Just characters stuck in a world where he’s the protagonist.
“Alright, I’ll do it. What is it?”
Not that I had any particular reason to refuse this offer.
If I wanted to keep using Titans going forward, I would have to constantly customize, tune, and repair them without rest. The academy provided some support funds, but it wasn’t enough.
I had to earn when I could.
Revan looked around. Only after confirming that Aila and Ian were talking some distance away did Revan open his mouth.
“Let’s rob a bank. In five minutes, we can earn 100 million credits.”
I pressed hard between my eyebrows with my right hand, then pinched the bridge of my nose and released. I scratched my ear with my pinky and looked at Revan again.
“Did I mishear…?”
“Let’s rob a bank.”
No.
I heard right.