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nVolume 4 Chapter 1 Military Academy

nThe Algrand Imperial Academy.

nIt was a place where an entire planet was used as a military educational facility.

nUrban areas, lush jungles, scorching deserts, fields of ice and snow– all of them were training grounds.

nEven in space, they focused on nurturing soldiers to support the Empire using ports, warships, and even entire colonies.

nI- Liam Sera Banfield had entered the military academy was currently enrolled into the strategy department where the elites were gathered.

nThe students expected to rise up the ranks as commanders or maybe even the chief of staff were put on this course, given preferential treatment.

nIn short, basically excellent cadets were gathered here in addition to the nobility.

nIt’s the place where the elites were supposed to go, but as a future duke, I was able to major in the strategy department regardless of my grades.

nGeneral cadets could only enter after achieving great results, but others could enter simply because they were of noble birth.

nThat’s right, grades didn’t matter as long as they were an aristocrat.

n“Birth isn’t everything in this universe, but don’t you think who you’re born as still has a big impact on things?”

nThe academy’s cafeteria.

nWhile saying that in front of the gross food that emphasised on nutrition, Wallace– whose head was shaved, answered while biting down on some hard bread.

n“What’s this so suddenly?”

nIn the academy, you were basically forced to shave your head.

nWhile women were only allowed to have short hair.

n–and so, my head was also shaved.

nBut once I entered into my third year, I’d be allowed a little bit of freedom with my hairstyle.

n“Just because I was born into a noble house, that alone gave me the qualifications to enter the elite course.”

nI was born as a winner in life and looked down on those who weren’t.

nAfter sending a look my way, Wallace was suddenly glancing around at the surroundings.

n“Liam, can’t you speak in a smaller voice? Just look at the eyes gathered on you.”

nTaking in my surroundings, I could see a group of losers glaring at me.

nSome of candidates looking at me quite favourably though.

nI’m sure those people were from the nobility. They agreed with my opinion.

n“Isn’t it the truth though? If any of them have a complaint, they can say it to me directly.”

nBut no one approached.

nThe cadets who were glaring at me turned their eyes away in silence.

nThat’s what I thought. –They were scared to go against me, a high-noble.

nThe school was too big to remember the faces and names of all the cadets.

nBut it was definitely the general candidates who were glaring at me.

nThis is it. This is what I’m talking about.

nThis is exactly what I imagined being an evil lord would be like.

nAs I thought that, some of the senior cadets must’ve been offended by what I said and approached me.

n“That’s quite the bullish attitude you’re taking there.”

nWallace was surprised after seeing the upperclassmen.

n“Dolph?!”

nThe military academy was too large to know each and every candidate.

nBut even I knew who this man was.

nAfter all, he was the valedictorian.

nEven though he was also of noble birth, he seemed to have a sense of justice strong enough to stand against me after I harassed the commoners.

n–I don’t like him.

n“While I heard that your grades were excellent, but to have a personality of that level. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

nI hated sarcastic bastards like him.

nHis hair that was hardened with gel was slicked back.

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nHe was Dolph Sera Lawrence– a strange man who was a noble, but still took the sides of the commoners.

nHis body was on the skinny side, but you could still tell he was a trained soldier.

nI didn’t like that expression he had that seemed to say he was a true elite.

n“What does this year’s oh so great valedictorian want with me?”

n“…that isn’t an attitude you should be taking towards your upperclassmen.”

nWhile he was my senior in the academy, he was also of a lower court-rank than me.

nAs a future duke, there was no reason for me to treat someone of a mere count house as an equal.

nMilitary discipline? How much do you think I donated to the academy? There’s no doubt that they’ll aquitte me.

nWallace was looking my way while shaking his head.

nHe probably wanted to tell me not to start something, but I hated people that had a sense of justice.

nThey reminded me of myself from my previous life.

nWith a sense of justice with no reason or logic behind it, they were basically good people.

nSurely this guy was angry at me for belittling the commoners.

nHe was such a good child that he made me want to vomit.

n“Why should I care? What’re you gonna do about it?”

nI wanted to say that it was him who shouldn’t be addressing me so over-familiarly.

nHis temper rising, Dolph raised his jaw a little as a blood vessel appeared on his forehead.

n“Follow me to the simulation room. I’ll give you a lesson on how you’re supposed to treat your upperclassmen.”

n“…if you actually can then by all means.”

nWith my provocative smile, the cafeteria broke out into a commotion.

n“Hey, Liam and Dolph are going to fight in the simulator.”

n“Those two are?!”

n“This is definitely a must-see!”

nInside of the excited cafeteria, Wallace was the only one hanging his head.

n“Liam, why do you always have to–”

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThe simulation room.

nMany cadets were gathered to see what was about to happen.

nLiam, the top student in the first year, and Dolph, the valedictorian of the sixth, were about to lead their fleets against each other in a simulation.

nThere were many candidates interested in this.

nWallace sighed as he looked over how clearly divided the spectators were.

n“As always, Liam is very popular among the commoners.”

nSupporting Dolph were the aristocrats who hated Liam.

nOn the other hand, most of the people who supported Liam were just ordinary cadets.

nThere were a few nobles mixed in there, but the overwhelming majority of them were commoners.

n“Nevertheless, to pick fights with the nobles in the middle of the cafeteria… and for it to be Dolph of all people.”

nDolph was the second son of the Lawrence house, a true advocate of noble standing.

nTo him it was only natural for the nobility to receive preferential treatment.

nAnd yet Liam pick a fight by saying, “Just because I was born into a noble house, that alone gave me the qualifications to enter the elite course.”

n“This isn’t good. There might be a lot of bad rumours around Dolph, but his skills are the real deal.”

nWallace was worried because of all the senior cadets Liam had to pick a fight with, it just had to be Dolph.

nA mere five year difference might seem short, but it actually had a huge effect.

nNo matter how good Liam was, it’d be difficult to overcome Dolph’s five years of military experience he had over him.

n(Well, it’s kind of suspicious how he was able to become the valedictorian though.)

nThe bad rumours surrounding Dolph mostly stemmed from how he crushed other potential students that threaten his spot at the top.

nThey said that if there was a cadet who was likely to become his rival, they’d suddenly be forced to drop out because of false charges.

nThere were even stories about how he hired criminals to take someone’s family hostage unless they dropped out.

n(I’m afraid of Liam’s sense of justice, that makes him easily pick fights no matter who the opponent it.)

nWhile he did have a foul mouth, Liam sense of justice was strong. He also had the ability to back it up.

nSuch a Liam was the hope among the commoners who found the nobility to be an annoyance.

n–The simulation started.

nAs the two people moved their fleets through the control panels, Liam immediately went on the offensive.

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nDolph dismissed those movements as nothing,

n“Those tactics might work against pirates, they’re useless against me.”

n“What?”

nDolph sent out a cheap provocation, and in truth Liam’s forces were slowly being whittled down.

n“A person who only knows assault tactics is nothing to me.”

nLiam’s fleet was specialised in offensive maneuvers.

nConversely, Dolph’s fleet was specialised in defensive ones, and the situation was growing more and more unfavourable for Liam.

nThe organization of their fleets and how they were built was decided before the simulation even started.

nThis was so your opponent couldn’t prepare perfect countermeasures and to keep things fair.

nHowever, Dolph was acting as if he had known how Liam’s fleet had been organised from the beginning.

nHe was using tactics that knew what ships Liam chose and how he was going to move.

n(This is bad, Dolph did something.)

nAs Liam suddenly became disadvantaged, the nobles who cheered for Dolph started speaking out.

n“What, so this is all that pirate hunting amounts to?”

n“Even if this would work against pirates, he needs to learn that this is what reality is like.”

n“That redneck from the frontier needs to learn his place.”

nThe aristocrats taking bullish attitudes.

nConversely, the commoners were silent despite the fact that they had realised the nobles had done something.

nIf there wasn’t any evidence, their support would only embarrass Liam.

nThey were certain that Dolph had cheated, but without proof nothing could be done.

n(At this rate Liam is going to lose.)

nLiam’s situation was unfavourable enough that even Wallace would see his defeat.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThere was a man standing upside down on the ceiling of the simulation room.

nHe was wearing a top hat that covered his eyes and a tailcoat suit.

nDespite that, you could still see his smile.

n“…now this is interesting.”

nThe Guide who watched the confrontation between Liam and Dolph was more powerful than he was before.

nThanks to the power he had accumulated in the imperial capital, he was finally freed from his suffering.

nHowever, even now his strength was being eroded from Liam’s gratitude.

nIf left unattended, then he’d eventually be left suffering in agony again.

nToday’s Liam was loved by the people of his territory.

nHis gratitude had tremendous power behind it when combined with the feelings of his people.

nWhile the guide had gathered an amount of power that couldn’t be ignored, it’d still be difficult to make Liam unhappy as he was now.

nFor this reason, he was watching over the situation for any chance to hurt Liam– but then he noticed Dolph.

nThe guide approached Dolph, who currently had an expression full of composure, but no one noticed him.

n“This looks like a man whose driven many people into despair. One of my favourite kinds of people.”

nThe man named Dolph had crushed many rivals so that he could be the best.

nMany grudges were clinging to such a Dolph.

nUnlike Liam, he was corrupt aristocrat, making him a wonderful person full of potential.

nIn addition to that, he seemed to have altered the simulator to guarantee his win.

nHis thoroughness was very pleasing.

n“…I just thought of something fun.”

nSaying that, the guide placed his hand on the simulator.

nThe moment that happened, Dolph’s fleet suddenly began to be pushed back.

nEven though Liam’s fleet was one-sidedly losing until now, the difference between them was gradually shrinking.

nDolph was confused.

n“W-what?!”

nOn the other hand, Liam was smiling.

n“I thought you were the valedictorian! Is this all you upperclassmen amount to?! ”

nTaking a glance at Liam, the guide burst into laughter while breaking into a smile.

n“That’s perfect. Goad him on more, Liam.This will become the seeds of your downfall.”

nDespite his hate for Liam, the guide made it so that he’d win.

nThe reason being–

n“Damn it! DAMN IT!”

nEven though Dolph rushed to move his fleet, he created a gap for Liam to attack, making the situation more disadvantageous for him.

n“W-why is this happening?!”

nDespite being so assured of his victory, Dolph fell into a panic and his face went pale.

nThe guide called out to such a Dolph.

nHe put his hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t seem to notice.

n“Dolph, I have high expectations for you. Your defeat here will become a source of motivation for you, and Liam, who dealt you such a humiliation will become someone you will grow to hate with all your being.”

nIn truth, Dolph already had a blood vessel bulging on his forehead as he glared at Liam.

nTo be the best, Dolph had fixed things so that he’d never lose to anyone.

nAnd yet he had humiliatingly lost to Liam, person several years his junior.

n“Over something like this!”

nWhen the simulator announced Liam’s victory, the general candidates broke out in cheers.

nOn the other hand, the aristocrats looked at Dolph with cold eyes.

n“This is our year’s valedictorian?”

n“Because he’s an obscene man, I guess he’s only really worth this much.”

n“Even though he cheated, for him to lose to Liam that badly…”

nThey ridiculed him.

nDolph had never been more humiliated in his life.

nLiam called out to him,

n“This is because you only know the simulators. It can’t compare to real battle experience gained from actual war. As your senior in life I’d be happy to give you lessons sometime– Dolph.”

nThe guide happily greeted Liam’s smug attitude in satisfaction.

nAfter all, the way Dolph was glaring at Liam now was absolutely delicious.

n“You bastard…”

nThe guild smiled at what Dolph muttered in a small voice.

n“That’s it. Grow to hate Liam even more. For you shall be the one to strike him down. I’ll prepare the perfect battlefield for you.”

nNow that the guide had enough power to spare, he wanted to slowly tighten the noose around Liam’s neck instead of rushing things.

nReflecting on the pain that he’s suffered so far, he wanted to make sure Liam didn’t do anything outside his expectations.

nThen when the time finally came, he’d thoroughly crush him in an instant.

n“You better enjoy yourself for now, Liam. Because once you finally lose everything, the expression you make then will be all the sweeter.”

nLeaving those parting words, the guide disappeared as he sank into the floor.

nThe only thing left behind being Dolph, who gritted his teeth while scowling at Liam.

n“–I will never forgive you. Never!”

nA future elite who hated Liam was born at that moment.

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