“Hmm.”
That nasal sound.
Whether it was Director Paraya humming her hmms or anyone else, I finally understood why my stomach churned every time I heard that kind of nose sound.
Only someone convinced they held the initiative in a conversation made that kind of sound.
Director Paraya had the initiative over everyone at the Academy to begin with.
This person called Kaya had come here as a buyer, so of course the initiative was on her side.
“So it’s this type of technology. I thought of it lightly as cadet-level tech, but I never imagined the sensors and core monitors were wirelessly interlinked.”
Besides, this situation was extremely strange too.
Ian was the one who had developed the core’s omnidirectional monitoring technology, yet this person called Kaya had asked to see the tech while bringing me along.
She didn’t even ask me to explain from the side.
She just looked over this and that by herself, then nodded her head as if she understood something.
Perhaps Darka Sinis was handling the actual trade; off to one side, she had gathered Ian and Ran together and was continuing one conversation after another.
“Wh-why, uh, um.”
Could a person from the Southern Alliance really roam around the Academy so casually like this?
“You have a curious expression, wondering if a Southerner can walk around the Academy like this.”
My body flinched.
Kaya, who had been looking at me before I knew it, smiled lightly.
“Currently, my identity is a technical advisor recognized by House Sinis and a visitor to the Academy.”
Kaya lifted the identity badge hanging around her neck.
Just as she said, it was stamped with the seal of House Sinis.
“There is no false data in this identity. I am actually a Southerner, an engineer, recognized by House Sinis, and visiting the Academy.”
Certainly, not a single word was wrong.
However, what was omitted was all too clear.
“But the Alliance….”
Shh.
Kaya stretched out her index finger and pressed it right against my lips.
No, she crushed it down.
“That’s confidential.”
It was a quiet and gentle action for sure, but I felt the will to kill me if I spoke.
I didn’t even know if this side was the real trading partner to begin with.
No, Darka had no reason to lie to me.
If the Southern Alliance really wanted Ian’s technology, what did this side want from me?
There was only one reason that came to mind.
“Jane will have gone to the heaven she believed in while she was alive, and Cain returned alone to hand over your combat data to me. It was fascinating.”
Given the circumstances, the Alliance soldier who had piloted the high-mobility Titan was Jane, and the one in the heavy-armor Titan was Cain.
Kaya had deliberately left a hint about her position within the Alliance.
Receiving the combat data meant that, at the very least, Kaya was their superior.
From another perspective, it meant she was someone who could hold me responsible for those two’s deaths.
“I….”
I hadn’t pulled the trigger to kill someone.
It was Revan who pulled the trigger, strictly speaking.
If he hadn’t pulled it even then, I might have been the one done in.
I might hate Revan, but I didn’t feel like criticizing him for that matter at all.
Just as I tried to make some excuse, Kaya quickly raised her index finger.
“I know. I’ve already seen all the combat data, and I’ve collected as much of your combat data from every fight you’ve been in as possible.”
She even smiled.
“Jane was often hasty. Unlike Cain, after stopping you, she most likely would have tried to eliminate you on the spot rather than persuade you.”
There was no sign of blame or accusing me of guilt.
“One who draws a sword must be prepared to be cut. One who holds a spear must be prepared to be pierced. If you’ve boarded a Titan, you must naturally be prepared for that Core to be shattered.”
“That’s….”
“To begin with, I only came because I was curious about Ian’s technology. While I was at it, I wanted to talk with you too.”
It was quite different from what I expected.
No.
Professor Flavia had also used that kind of sophistry to put me at ease before suddenly attacking.
Thinking this person would treat me well, unlike Professor Flavia, was just as absurd.
Kaya had absolutely no reason to treat us well.
“Is Ian doing well here?”
My body stiffened for a moment at that instant.
No.
There was one reason why Kaya, a native of the Southern Alliance, might treat us well.
Ian had said it.
Ian's mother was from the Southern Alliance, and she was no longer in this world.
Even with the dead, ties always remained.
I looked at Kaya again.
“You’re curious what kind of relationship I have with Ian.”
I nodded my head immediately.
“B-because you seemed curious about Ian.”
“Hmm.”
Kaya took out a palm-sized, slab-like device and showed me a photo on its screen.
“No way.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no.”
It’s a smartphone.
It had been so long since I’d seen one that I failed to recognize it for a moment.
It had really been a long time since I’d seen a smartphone that showed images on a monitor screen, rather than a watch projecting holograms.
Was it a technological difference between the Southern Alliance and the Empire?
No, given that the technology provided to Academy students was top-tier even in the Empire, maybe not.
In any case, such thoughts couldn’t occupy my mind more than the photo before my eyes.
They were blue eyes.
“It’s a baby.”
It was a baby.
It was a newborn so young that one couldn’t say who it resembled at all, yet that was exactly why I could clearly think of who it was.
There was only one person who had such blue eyes but wasn’t blonde.
“This is a photo taken when Ian was just born.”
Kaya smiled and nodded.
“Isn’t he cute?”
I had no idea.
They say newborns look rather repulsive, and that was exactly how I felt.
But Kaya stared at Ian, then placed her hand on Ailee’s Core.
Wait a minute.
Did that mean she was already around forty with that face?
The moment I flusteredly tried to look at Kaya’s face, a vibration alarm rang from my smartwatch.
“Ailee?”
When I raised my wrist, a notification appeared immediately.
“Ah.”
1:45 PM.
It was the location-based next lecture alert system ringing.
If I didn’t leave right now, I might be late.
“Is it soon time for class?”
“Yes, um, uh, is the trade, are you doing the trade?”
“I suppose so. The Southern Alliance needs superior technology. Even if it entails violence, it cannot be helped for the sake of liberation.”
Liberation.
The Southern and Northern Alliances called themselves the Liberation Army.
But.
“Liberation from what?”
The two Allied Armies behaved completely differently.
The Southern Alliance conducted secret dealings with House Sinis, a Southern noble house, or even entered the Academy to purchase technology.
Yet they didn’t seem to have much intention of exercising significant military force against the Empire.
And they spoke as though they considered violence a last resort.
“Th-that aside. Why are you cooperating with Count Sinis? Clearly in the South….”
“You think Viscount Otto is repelling the Southern Alliance, but it’s merely our performance. Since Viscount Otto has mediocre talent as both a pilot and a tactician, we can deceive him.”
She admitted that they were constantly staging a WWE show.
In other words, while Viscount Otto’s actions blinded the Empire, they maintained a close relationship with Count Sinis.
On the other hand, the Northern Alliance was different.
They always attacked with all their might to break through the North.
According to something I’d briefly seen on the academic community, there was analysis that although the Northern Alliance had suffered heavy critical damage from this surprise operation, they would return to their original behavior before long.
It meant they had such firm convictions that they had to uphold them even at the cost of lives.
“S-status?”
Was it the ideology of natural human rights?
In this world where status still existed, the word “liberation” couldn’t help but sound like the liberation of the lowborn and the commoners.
“That is indeed an important part of liberation.”
Kaya nodded without denying it.
That she didn’t affirm it either meant that while the direction might be the same, the essence was somehow different.
“Cadet Deep was a lowborn, wasn’t he?”
“Uh, y-yes.”
“If something troubling happens and you end up leaving the Empire, come find us in the South.”
“Huh?”
“The Southern Alliance accepts even those who fled after being falsely accused by the Empire.”
The wording was a bit strange.
As if there were a great many people who had been falsely accused by the Empire.
Kaya met my eyes and nodded.
“Your guess is probably correct.”
“That is….”
… the Imperial Family’s doing?
Before I could ask those words, my smartwatch started buzzing.
“Deep, D-Deep! Deep! If you don’t go now, you’ll be late! You’re gonna be tardy!”
I raised my watch urgently.
1:50 PM.
Even if I started running urgently now, I might be about two minutes late, but the professor for this lecture usually called attendance starting with the nobles.
If I ran quickly, I could avoid being marked late.
“Um, uh. If we meet again, l-let’s talk about this.”
I hadn’t expected to say something like this.
There was too much information I could get from the other party.
Information I couldn’t ask from nobles or the Imperial Family was suddenly pouring out.
“That won’t happen.”
“Th-that’s true.”
Because Kaya had no reason to come back to the Academy.
I nodded and started running out of the auditorium.
Kaya, who had been watching Deep’s retreating figure for a long moment, lightly tapped the Core before her with her hand.
“The Imperial Family is just, and they do not punish until they see the crime with their own eyes.”
A tightly clenched fist slowly lowered.
“That is why we are needed.”
As soon as Darka Sinis’s trade concluded, Kaya turned her steps toward outside the auditorium.