Cardina watched, befuddled, as Kuklo hurtled to the ground. Kuklo, who was more skilled and twice as hardworking as any of the others, wouldn’t ever fall.
But that was exactly what he was seeing.
Fortunately, Kuklo’s superhuman nimbleness had kept him from falling all the way down, but he was surely hurt. He was now face-up and flat on the ground, completely still.
He couldn’t be… The worst of all outcomes crossed Cardina’s mind, but he shook his head, denying the possibility.
“Cardina!” Rosa yelled out to him and descended to Kuklo’s side before he could. His classmates followed.
I was just jumping to conclusions. Cardina breathed a deep sigh and quickly shot out a wire to head back to the ground. He landed, recovered his anchor, then rushed over to where Kuklo lay spread out.
“He’s just unconscious. It doesn’t look like he’s particularly hurt.”
Just as Rosa diagnosed, Kuklo seemed to be okay. He had no noticeable injuries and his breathing was normal. He would be bruised the next day, but they were confident he’d come to soon.
“In any case, I can’t believe how tough he is.” Cardina was genuinely stunned.
“It might not be appropriate to say this, but I’m kind of relieved.”
“Why?”
“Now I know he’s human, too.”
“Ah, I take your meaning.”
Kuklo had been known as the Titan’s son, and his body was hardy enough to give credence to the label. Rosa could be forgiven for harboring a faint, lingering suspicion.
“As you can see, Kuklo is just a regular human. Though he is tougher than most people need to be.” Cardina shrugged his shoulders. “Still, I can’t believe he’d fall… What could have happened?”
“I was in the air a little behind him…” Rosa looked pensive for a short while but continued, “His anchor flew off in a weird direction, so it could have been a mechanical malfunction.”
If the error was due to the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment not working properly, then even Kuklo could not avoid falling.
Could that really be it, though? It had been developed by Xenophon and Angel. They wouldn’t overlook such a flaw, but if an anchor flew in a direction its user didn’t intend, there had to be some cause.
Cardina looked at the parts in question, the right controller and firing mechanism.
Well, I don’t see any damage. He couldn’t be sure until he took it apart, but an amateur like him probably wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the problem anyway. Since the left anchor worked properly, the main unit of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment had to be fine. The cylinders are full of gas, too.
Cardina performed a quick check of all the equipment on Kuklo’s body but found nothing that could have caused a malfunction.
We’ll probably have to learn how to service these things sooner or later. Having to call the craftsmen every time something broke wouldn’t do in an emergency. At the very least, they needed to learn how to disassemble the machinery, study its parts, and reassemble it.
“Let’s carry him back to the barracks for now. It could be that he’s sick.” Though Cardina didn’t really think Kuklo was ill, a medic needed to see him, just in case.
He took the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment off of Kuklo’s body, then moved on to the harness. When he was nearly done, a section of it snapped and tore off.
Rosa looked at the split harness. “So this was the problem…”
“The machinery must not have registered his movements because this part was coming loose. It makes sense that an anchor flew in the wrong direction.”
Cardina sighed in relief now that he had a satisfactory answer. Rosa, however, continued to stare at the harness with a grave expression.
“Is something bothering you?” he asked her.
Rosa nodded and pointed to the severed part. Carved into it was an unnatural notch. “If it tore itself apart, there would be fraying. But this…”
“Yes. It’s like someone used a sharp blade to make a cut there.”
“Did someone tamper with his harness?”
“I hope not…”
Yet the artificial slice made it clear that someone had meddled with it. It must have been left mostly intact just so it’d fail in the air. In other words, the cut was like a time bomb.
Did someone try to kill Kuklo?! It was a natural conclusion, considering the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment’s purpose. A chill ran down Cardina’s spine.
“But who would do such a thing…” Despite the words that spilled out of his mouth, he didn’t need to whittle down a long list of suspects in order to name the culprit. Kuklo had an enemy, and the answer was obvious.
“I think we might know who our criminal is.” Rosa seemed to be thinking of the same individual. “So, what do we do?”
“Let’s consult with the instructor first. This isn’t the first time that guy has done something evil.”
“Not the first time?! Why let someone like that join the Training Corps?” Rosa demanded, visibly distrustful.
Oops, I said too much there. But it was too late for him to take it back. “There’d been a certain situation,” Cardina said evasively.
Rosa looked even more doubtful. “Are you going to spout some bullshit about suspicious organizations again?”
“Please, let’s just leave it at that. I’ll tell you about it once we get everything sorted out.” Given the nature of the matter, however, that time might never arrive.
Cardina hoisted Kuklo up with his teammates and returned the way they came.