“Wow.”
The reason an exclamation slipped out was simple.
It was a hangar.
Not the Academy’s hangar, spotless and well maintained, dazzling with all sorts of private craft.
This was a hangar stained with oil, lined with mass-produced machines used by ordinary soldiers rather than private craft, each one bearing traces of its pilot’s personal color, the smell of lubricant rising from them.
The noble cadets’ expressions crinkled slightly.
It was understandable.
Unless they were members of families responsible for the front lines, most of the hangars they had used were either exclusive to noble houses or the Academy’s.
They were fundamentally different from those on the urgent front lines, and their level of maintenance was bound to differ greatly as well.
To my eyes, it seemed remarkably clean for a disadvantaged front, but to them, it probably looked like a fairly battered hangar.
But for me, that made it even better.
The sound of metal striking metal, the sound of anchors moving, the smell of oil, even the sight of sparks flying.
From the moment I entered the hangar, my breathing grew rough and sweat began to run. I wanted to examine every single detail and ask the pilots why they had made those customizations.
“Deep, Deep! Hurry up and follow the person in front of you!”
Ailee whispered.
Only then did I come back to my senses and move along with the line.
Following the professors’ guidance, the cadets each headed toward their own Titans.
When we stood in front of Ailee, a familiar face lifted his head with a weary look.
“Inspection complete.”
Ian nodded.
Wherever a pilot went, naturally, their engineer and operator followed.
Ran was waiting in the control room, but Ian had continued inspecting Ailee’s customizations until the very end.
It was only natural.
No, not because he was an engineer. There was a reason he had to do so.
“Yeah, she was super pretty even as a bombardment type, but I really like this one too.”
“I agree. It’s clean.”
All the missile launchers that had been added were removed.
A flight unit was added to the thrusters on her back, maximizing hovering efficiency and increasing speed.
Flaps were attached to her waist, improving directional changes and speed transitions in midair.
Flight was still impossible, but increasing speed and efficiency while hovering was possible.
The pile bunker was removed. It was armament that was completely useless against drones.
In its place, at the same location, was a high-speed drone equipped with enhanced close-combat gear.
Ian blinked, then scratched the back of his head.
“I did it because you told me to, and honestly, it’s true I wanted to try it once, but does a high-mobility support type even make sense?”
“A-A high-mobility artillery type didn’t make sense or have precedent either, did it?”
The greatest weakness of a support-type Titan that used drones was that while controlling the drones, the main body became extremely vulnerable.
That was why drones were usually attached to heavy-armored types, or else a separate support-type Titan specializing solely in drone operation was used.
It was a little different from artillery types.
Basically, if the reason artillery types hadn’t been combined with high-mobility types was because other combinations were more efficient, the reason support types hadn’t been combined with high-mobility types was because it was impossible.
Because you couldn’t control both a drone and a Titan at the same time.
Because while you controlled one, the other’s strengths became useless.
But I had no intention of staying within averages and common sense.
“Well, I figured you told me to because you can control it.”
I felt gazes from around us.
I knew without looking.
One was the princess’s gaze, another was Allang’s gaze, and the remaining one was Charlotte Keria’s gaze.
There was no weight in the other gazes. Most of them held only curiosity.
I did not enjoy attention, but I was no longer pained by it either.
“Hehe.”
The speakers inside the hangar crackled and rang out.
“Everyone, can you hear me? It’s the microphone we use every day, so I’ll assume you can hear me well and speak right away without an inspection.”
It was Charlotte Keria’s voice.
Now that I looked, Charlotte Keria wasn’t nearby. I had definitely felt her gaze, so she seemed to be watching from quite a distance.
I didn’t know whether she was observing me that closely, or whether my senses were becoming sharper as time passed.
“Our front does not have simulation machines. So all the training we can provide you will be close to actual combat.”
A slight murmur spread, then stopped with the sound of someone tapping the microphone.
“Today is the day supplies arrive. We can use jamming devices to block drones, but that also inevitably creates jamming vulnerabilities on our side. The Allied Forces mainly target those as well.”
My wrist vibrated briefly.
“Woooow. Feels like they’re making us do something way too hard from the start?”
“I agree.”
The words I had been waiting for, the words I had expected, followed.
“What we’ll entrust to you is defense against radio interference vulnerabilities during resupply. Honestly, it isn’t particularly dangerous, but I’m thinking of making a little wager to keep things fun for you.”
A wager?
At the sudden remark, the cadets’ murmuring grew louder.
This time, Charlotte Keria did not quiet the cadets’ commotion and simply continued speaking.
“The cadet who shoots down the most drones will be granted operational authority. Well, it won’t be anything too major, but you can at least suggest an operation to me.”
In that instant, I felt a gaze.
“Sounds like she’s saying that for you to hear, Deep?”
“I think so.”
After finishing my conversation with Allang yesterday, Allang had said he would at least pass the matter on to Charlotte Keria.
She probably didn’t think I could create an operation that would influence the war situation in only two weeks.
Then at the very least, she meant to test my ability.
“I like this better, actually.”
“Right? We’re confident in our skills!”
Being tested was far more comfortable than someone trying to seduce me.
It wasn’t as if I was that handsome, and honestly, when she held my hand, it had been more than a little uncomfortable—it had almost felt unpleasant.
Klang!
At the sudden sound, I flinched and turned my head.
It seemed the princess had struck the hangar railing once. Aaron, who had been beside her, quickly ran over to stop her.
“Ah.”
She was centered on close combat, so in this wager, she would be practically out of consideration.
“Each cadet, please board your Titan. If there are any problems or if additional inspections are needed, speak now.”
Several cadets raised their hands, and aside from those with issues, the rest boarded their Titans.
“External power for Ailee supplied up to ninety-two percent.”
At the same time, Ran’s voice came through.
“Ah, hello.”
“Yes. Given Ailee’s characteristics of using three generators, I don’t think overcharging will be necessary going forward either. I heard the monitors were changed, so please let me know how they are.”
When I connected my smartwatch to the slightly altered central connector, light flashed on from every direction at once.
It wasn’t just the screen in front of my eyes. Omnidirectional monitors turned on, making it feel as though I were floating in midair.
“Th-this is incredible.”
It was beyond imagination.
The physical instrument panels had been minimized or replaced entirely with holograms, and monitors had been packed throughout the interior of the core.
What had changed the most after replacing them with holograms was—
“Pew pew.”
“You startled me.”
“Were you surprised? Ran did the modeling! Amazing, right?”
Ailee appeared as a hologram.
She was only about the size of my palm, but she had been properly rendered sitting in a pilot seat, and the quality was bewildering.
“What do you think, what do you think? Ran made me exactly the way I wanted! If I had a body, I’d look just like this. Am I cute? Pretty?”
“You’re cute and pretty.”
“Ah.”
Ailee opened her eyes wide, then covered her face while peeking out with one eye through the gaps between her fingers.
“You’re an otaku, so all you’ve got is talk!”
She got angry.
I had no idea what I had done wrong.
I felt like I had once been told that modifying the inside of the core was something you weren’t supposed to do in the first place, never mind how difficult it was.
Ian must have handled it properly. Surely he wouldn’t have done something he shouldn’t.
Though the thrusters were stolen too, so surely he didn’t do something truly forbidden.
He said he was going to submit this to the club festival.
I didn’t know. There was no need for me to worry about it.
Separate from that, my entire body tingled.
All that had happened was that my field of vision had opened up, yet my spatial awareness rang through my senses as if I were seeing with my whole body.
So this was what it meant to see even places my eyes weren’t looking at.
“Anyway, Ian is incredible for making this, but I never imagined Ran would be this good at modeling too…”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Ran cut off Ailee’s words with a cough.
“To add a little more to the commander’s explanation, the majority of the enemy drone units are said to be suicide drones. Will the drones mounted on Ailee truly be all right?”
Catching drones with drones was, in truth, beyond common sense.
Moreover, it might have been different if they were drones capable of long-range attacks, but my drones were fitted only with close-combat equipment for melee attacks, meant to collide directly with the enemy.
That meant they had to move far faster and far more powerfully than the enemy drones.
Could I control them?
Of course I could.
Could I cut down the enemy drones?
Of course I could.
The hangar doors opened. Unlike the Academy’s hangar, they parted to the left and right.
Because the Academy’s hangar opened up and down, Icarus had once hit its head. Doors that opened left and right did seem undeniably more efficient.
They were a little less stylish, but pursuing efficiency was stylish too.
With both feet on the catapult, I took a deep breath. The structure, which did not require us to launch one at a time, was quite impressive.
My field of vision was so wide open that I still wasn’t used to it, but once I got used to it, surely—
“Let’s get tooootally stronger!”
“Yes.”
Completely.
I could sweep them away.
“Launch orders beginning from Hangar One.”
“Deep, Ailee. Launching.”
I drew in a breath.
“Deep.”