The demonstration that unveiled the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment at the contest brought about a more than satisfactory result. There was now an inquiry into making Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training a part of the official curriculum. The final verdict wouldn’t be out until after graduation, but there were already rumors that the Training Corps had placed an order for more units with the workshop, and the common view was that it was a done deal.
The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment’s battlefield debut was still some way down the line, but Kuklo and the rest of his team had definitely done their part.
Though the Training Corps wasn’t deciding until after their graduation, Kuklo’s team did reap some benefits. Their special training had once come at the cost of their free time, but it was now considered a part of regular training. This was a dramatic change. Finishing at the same time as everyone else meant they could eat something other than leftovers. This meant little to Kuklo, whose sense of taste was nearly nonexistent, but a lot to his comrades. More so than their improved diet, it was being treated like everyone else that pleased them, a natural reaction after being groundlessly branded as flunkers for so long. In a telling shift, the remedial lessons were now synonymous with honest effort.
While the erstwhile flunkers’ stock rose rapidly, Xavi was fading into the background. His crushing defeat to Kuklo at the matches hadn’t gone unnoticed. There was hardly any room for sympathy since he deserved his comeuppance.
Only two weeks remained until graduation. Kuklo and the other recruits kept at their training without slacking off.
Soon. We’ll meet soon, Kuklo muttered in his heart as he squeezed his controller. Then, imagining the soaring cypress tree in front of him to be Ogre, he pulled the lever.
A crystal-clear blue sky spread as far as the eye could see. The rays of the calm morning sun poured onto the athletic grounds with not a cloud in sight. The entire day seemed guaranteed to be beautiful after such a refreshing morning.
About five hundred recruits stood in neat, orderly lines on the grounds. Every one of them wore a tense expression, and they listened closely to the address being delivered by the headmaster from atop the stage.
Thirty minutes had passed since the beginning of the Training Corps graduation ceremony. The headmaster went on tirelessly about his own struggles during his years on active duty. Most of his stories were simple bragging meant to prove his brilliance. In a nutshell, his point was that he belonged to the Military Police Brigade because he was indeed that good. The ceremony was like a final lesson intended to test the recruits’ fortitude, but Kuklo was barely listening in the first place.
“─You recruits graduating today have three options. The Survey Corps, the Garrison, or the Military Police Brigade.” The headmaster continued in his resonant voice, “Of course, only the ten students with the highest grades announced earlier are allowed to apply for the Military Police Brigade.”
In other words, any recruits who didn’t stand head and shoulders above the rest wouldn’t be able to enter the Military Police as fresh recruits. To do so, they needed to produce results as active soldiers. In Jorge’s case, he’d been deemed worthy after many an expedition as the Survey Corps commander and for bringing down a Titan.
“Am I in the top ten, too?” Kuklo whispered to Cardina, who stood on his right.
“Yes. Everyone in our team. The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment must have left that strong of an impression.”
“The Military Police, eh…”
“Do I hear you sounding interested? You work in the interior and get a lot of authority, so you could act important for the rest of your life.”
That much was clear from watching the headmaster, but the Brigade was also home to soldiers like Jorge who gave their all to the nation. Ultimately, it was down to your personality. Inconveniently, an individual with a problematic one had scored well enough to end up in the top ten.
“Xavi’s in the top ten, too…”
“He is talented, after all,” Rosa, who stood to Kuklo’s left, replied to his muttered words. “Let’s just pray he doesn’t take the country in the wrong direction.”
“Right,” Kuklo said, but in reality, nothing would come of Xavi joining the Military Police. Kuklo knew this intuitively as a result of butting heads with him. If he’d felt even the slightest bit threatened by Xavi, he would have done something after the attempts on his life. He hadn’t even felt the need, which meant that Xavi no longer affected him in any way.
As Kuklo chatted with Rosa and Cardina, the headmaster brought his speech to an end. “This concludes the Training Corps graduation ceremony. We will now move on to the recruitment ceremony.”
Taking the place of the headmaster, who had finished bragging about his exploits through his so-called address, Carlo briskly walked up to the stage.
“I am Carlo Piquer, and I have been entrusted with the position of commander of the Survey Corps,” he began. The recruits quickly started whispering amongst themselves. If the commander of the Survey Corps was taking the stage at the recruitment ceremony, it could only mean one thing. “As I’m sure even you recruits know, the Survey Corps, recently reformed, suffers from a perennial lack of personnel. After this ceremony, you will be asked which branch you wish to join. When that happens, I want you to think about us, the Survey Corps.”
Carlo spoke with passion. He was wooing the newly minted soldiers for exactly the reason he gave. More than anything, what the Survey Corps lacked was quality. Putting aside exactly how capable it had been in bygone days, it certainly seemed to fall far short of Carlo’s ideals in its current state. Kuklo, who had snuck along on an expedition, knew this well.
Moreover, because the Survey Corps took on the unique duty of embarking on expeditions, their members were far more likely to die than those in the other branches. A new soldier only had a seventy percent chance of survival on an expedition. While the level of risk differed drastically depending on the nature of the foray and whether or not they encountered a Titan, it was clearly a harsher assignment than working within the walls. Joining them was not a decision to make lightly. Not even the strongest sense of purpose warded off sudden death.