Kuklo’s body screamed the moment he turned in his sleep. The pain was severe, as though every muscle in him was cramping, and since he was hurting from head to toe he hardly dared budge. He had yet to look over his body, but it promised to be an ugly sight. His chest ached just from breathing. Groaning, he forced open his eyelid. It felt as heavy as lead.
“Where am I…” A familiar ceiling came into Kuklo’s view, and he knew right away: he was lying sideways on his own bed in the barracks.
“How do you feel,” Cardina asked, peering into his face. Behind him stood Jorge.
“How do I feel?” Kuklo was still groggy, just having woken up, but he soon remembered something important. “Oh, yes. I was using the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment when I─”
Since he was still alive, he’d just barely avoided crashing into the ground. His body was in pain because he’d pushed himself to the limit to survive. He could have been left with muscle injuries, tears in the worst case, but it seemed as though he hadn’t moved in overly extreme ways. His pain was within manageable bounds, and he’d recover in a few days.
But that was not what was important. He needed to focus on the chain of events that began with a mechanical malfunction and ended with a nearly fatal dive.
It took place over just a few seconds, but in that brief moment Kuklo had considered many things and settled on a course of action. It felt as though he’d applied all of the skills he’d learned.
As soon as he came to this realization, his heart filled with a sense of accomplishment. I handled the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment perfectly during that split second.
“Anyway, about the accident…” Cardina said, looking serious. “There was actually a problem with the harness you were using.”
“I see…” Kuklo balled his fist. His euphoria seemed to be acting as an analgesic, and he felt no pain.
“This doesn’t leave this room, but there were signs that your harness was tampered with.”
“Someone did that, then…”
“Oh, so you’ve figured it out. Please take a look.” Cardina brought the harness out in front of Kuklo and pointed at the torn area. “We believe that someone made a notch here with a blade. The culprit is most likely─”
Waving his hand to cut him off, Kuklo said, “Enough about that, listen to me!”
“What? This is important, you know?” Cardina looked quite nonplussed.
“The revolution! It’s happened!” Kuklo exclaimed.
“What are you talking about?”
“I think I’ve mastered the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.”
“Really?!”
Kuklo nodded, then explained why he thought so to Cardina and Jorge.
“Perhaps being on the brink of death drew out new possibilities,” mused Cardina.
“And thanks to an ambush of sorts. All of your disparate skills combined as one due to an accident, the machine failure,” Jorge remarked with a look of understanding.
“So now we know what the revolution we need is…”
“An ambush can’t be the only way, Cardina. It must be one of many methods.”
“But we found one,” Kuklo said.
“Yes, a rather dangerous method…” Cardina’s cheeks had grown stiff. He clearly preferred a different method. Reacting in the wrong way could lead to a fatal fall or a career-ending injury, so he was hardly to blame.
“A small price to pay for mastering the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment,” Kuklo insisted.
“I don’t think so. Live to fight another day, and all that,” Cardina countered.
“An ambush is definitely dangerous,” the instructor admitted. “But if you can’t overcome one, then sooner or later, you will drop out. I don’t mean to pressure anyone, of course.”
“I was the one who decided to stick with him, so I’ll try my best, but… Please don’t get your hopes up.”
“Don’t worry. You can do it too, Cardina. So can everyone else.” Kuklo was certain of it, though he couldn’t explain why in words.
Jorge expressed his agreement. “If Kuklo can master it, everyone else should be able to. You have a tendency to underestimate yourselves, but you’re all completing the same training. You can be more confident.”
“I sure hope so…” Cardina sighed. “Getting back to the harness, what should we do?”
“Do?”
“Weren’t you listening to me at all?!” Cardina put a hand to his forehead and groaned. “Someone tampered with your harness. Don’t you think you need to question him?”
“So that’s why my Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was strange?”
“Yes.”
Kuklo immediately had an idea of who had done it, but he was not interested in hunting down the perpetrator, nor did he feel the desire to expose him and see him ruined.
I don’t care about that stuff. It was a waste of time.
In fact, it was thanks to this perpetrator that Kuklo could now use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. He felt like he needed to thank him if anything.
“He’d regret it, and his face would turn red, if he heard you say that,” Cardina said chuckling.
✦ ✦ ✦
“How? How is this the result…” Xavi mumbled, dumbfounded. His eyes were fixed on the flunkers leaping through the forest’s trees. More specifically, he was watching Kuklo make deft use of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
Kuklo ought to have suffered major injuries during a training accident a few days ago. Yet, he was the picture of health with no noticeable after-effect. In fact, his movements were more agile and exact than before. Did he now have complete mastery over the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?
The same was true for the other flunkers. Advancing smoothly as though they were marching on the ground, they looked like full-fledged servicemen. The only difference was that the sky was their stage, not the earth. There was no longer a trace of apishness.
There’s no way he could be fine. They trained twenty meters in the air. Anyone falling from that height would suffer grave injuries, and there were in fact rumors that Kuklo had been dealt a fatal one. After all, Xavi had prepared the cause of the accident and foreseen the calamity that befell Kuklo.
A debilitating injury at the very least. Preferably, death…
Yet, contrary to Xavi’s expectations, Kuklo was brimming with energy. At this point, Xavi had to question the source of the rumors.
I have to murder him. There’s no other way… Dirtying his hands was undeniably risky, but the only option left was to watch Kuklo die with his own eyes. Unless he committed the deed personally, Kuklo would come back to life again and again, just like a Titan, to stand in Xavi’s way. I have to put an end to it myself…
But killing Kuklo would inevitably generate suspicion─a dire problem for Xavi, who wished to join the ranks of the Military Police Brigade. He had to figure out a way to not only kill Kuklo but to come out of it clean. He was asking for too much, but he needed to make it happen.
Fortunately for him, an event where he might do exactly that was going to be held in two days. If he proceeded boldly yet carefully, he should be able to slaughter Kuklo once and for all.
Glaring at his enemy among the branches, Xavi began to consider the necessary steps.