A week later, Kuon learned that what Nanahoshi Kaede had never tried giving Hachishiki was a proper scolding.
This was his first practice session. After discussing things with his mother, Kuon had become Nanahoshi Kaede’s student, just as he had in his previous life. More accurately, he’d been enrolled in the private school she’d opened, and was currently the only student.
Right now, they were in an outdoor training area Kaede had set up. Like a proper class, it began with instructions from the teacher.
“I hate the Hero,” Kaede stated. “I also hate the army for forcing everything on him alone. I loathe the world itself for idolizing a single man and making him fight for them. More than anything else, though, I despise that misguided fool for not valuing his own life and running off to die. We don’t need a Hero like that. Don’t you agree, Suzuka Hachishiki?”
“You’re right.”
“So, you’re Suzuka Hachishiki reborn or something?”
“I am,” Kuon said.
He never considered anything but an honest answer. The fear of Kaede he’d inherited from his previous life—the result of her instruction—had left him incapable of lying to her.
Kaede shot him an ear-splitting grin and made him kneel before her. She then gave him a five-hour lecture. This was clearly the karma he’d earned in his past life. His failure to live a virtuous life had come back to haunt him. He had to endure it.
The gist of Kaede’s lecture went like this:
Five years had passed since Hachishiki’s death. Kuon had been born at approximately the same time Hachishiki died. Although Kaede never allowed a student to return after she expelled them, she figured that, since Hachishiki had died, she wouldn’t count that against Kuon.
Hachishiki was an idiot for flying into a zone after the order to retreat, a big idiot for plunging into the Gate, and a total idiot for using a self-destruct art and dying. If he ever tried that again, Kaede would turn his ass to ash, put it in an urn, and strap it to a rocket before shooting it into the sun so he’d never come back to life again.
Then, she gave him a big hug. Kuon found his little five-year-old head trapped between breasts both noticeably larger than it.
“Good job coming back, you nitwit,” Kaede said, tears leaking from her eyes.
He’d never heard her cry before. Kuon once again realized just what an idiot Suzuka Hachishiki had been. He would have to spend a while relearning what really mattered. He still had plenty of time.
That was the first and last time Nanahoshi Kaede was ever soft on her student.
Machine Fencing was all about donning Division Maneuver and using your magic. Shichisei Kenbu was a school of Machine Fencing. It was fundamentally designed for those not magically gifted. Understanding this was how Kaede had become mankind’s strongest Cavalleria despite being a Division 4.
“You fool.”
During his fourth training session, Kuon had engaged in a mock battle with Kaede. He was wearing a practice Division Maneuver; she wasn’t. She’d utterly defeated him. He was lying in a heap on the floor, receiving the gift of her lecture.
“God. You always did just try and force your way through everything, drowning in your own natural magic ability. I’m so, so glad to see death didn’t make you less stupid. Listen, I’m here to drill how the not-so-gifted fight into you once more. Weep or rejoice, because, from today forward, you’re going to be living in Hell. Feel free to be afraid—it’ll make you stronger. Faaar stronger than when they called you the Hero.”
There’s no way I could be stronger than a Division 5, he thought. Kuon was lying face-down on the ground, exhausted from his first DM fight in five years. He summoned the last ounce of strength he had and rolled over. The unit was already disengaged, and the plugsuit he wore was soaked with sweat.
The sky was blue, with no black Gates obscuring its endless expanse. As he lay there, belly exposed, something landed on his nose.
It was a little fairy. There was no other word that described it.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Kuon-sama,” the fairy said. She bowed her head.
“Master… I’m seeing things.”
“You aren’t! I’m your Guide, an AI Device.”
“Seriously…?”
“Seriously, Kuon-sama.” The fairy Guide smiled. It was a female model, wearing a uniform that looked like a modified silk kimono. It somewhat reminded him of the conductors on local train lines.
AI Devices were magically linked to their owners. They were certainly useful, but they also burned through magic quickly and weren’t in widespread use. Even Division 4s were reluctant to use them.
“Aren’t they hard to use…?” he asked Kaede.
“One of the Shichisei Kenbu ultimate arts is a breathing technique that reduces magic expenditure by 1 kei,” she replied. “I know a certain idiot who got himself kicked out before he learned it.”
“What’s a kei?”
“Ten quadrillion.”
Good lord. He really had been an idiot.
“That Guide’s yours. Don’t worry, the magic is still linked to mine.”
That meant it would be running on his master’s magic, and all the info the Guide obtained would be sent back to her as well.
“So…it’s monitoring me?”
“Remote teaching,” Kaede corrected.
Well, that’s one way to look at it.
“I might run a school, but it ain’t open every day. I’m a busy woman, and it’s all your fault.”
“My fault?”
“The Queen’s coming back in fifteen years. Now that I know that, I can’t exactly enjoy my retirement.”
Kuon didn’t dare point out that that was hardly his fault. He’d already told Kaede all about the end of his previous life. She was putting many things into motion to prepare for what was to come, but…
He scrambled back up. “Master, is there anything I can do? We’ve only got fifteen years till they come back! So little time!”
“Don’t rush it, idiot. It’s the other way around. We’ve got fifteen whole years. We’re gonna plan this thing out and be waiting for ’em.”
“What kind of plan? Can I help—”
“You focus on training. You’re so damn weak…snerk.”
“Ngggh…” Kuon knew his own weakness better than anyone. He didn’t need her snorting at him about it.
“When you can’t come here, do what that Guide says to train yourself. Don’t forget to rest. I’ll know if you rush it and overwork yourself.”
“Right…” He nodded, and the Guide smiled at him.
“I’ll do what I can, Kuon-sama!”
“Mm. Thanks… Do you really have to tell her everything?” he asked the Guide.
“If I don’t, I’ll cease functioning.”
“We’ve both got it rough, huh?”
The Guide giggled. She flew over to Kuon’s ear and whispered, “My owner’s just worried. She doesn’t want another student going off to die.”
“I can hear you!” Kaede said.
The Guide stuck her tongue out. She was definitely passing that Turing test.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to turn Kuon-sama into a great Maneuver Cavalleria!” she said, saluting. “Call me your Guide, your familiar, your ghost, whatever you like.”
“Do you have a name?”
“No.”
“Can I give her one?” he said, glancing at his master.
“Do what you want,” she replied.
“A name!” the Guide said, eyes glittering.
“What’s your model number?”
“NSR-250R-SE92.”
NSR…
“Then I’ll call you En.”
“En…En…” she said, trying it out. Then En smiled happily. “Thank you so much, Kuon-sama! It’s stupidly literal and you clearly have no naming sense at all, but I like it!”
She was definitely his master’s Device.
Seven years passed.
Kuon’s life was exactly as hellish as he’d wanted.
After starting primary school, he visited the training school three times a week. He usually fell sound asleep in the car on the way home. En supervised his self-training the rest of the week. The first four years were all fundamentals, and he rarely donned the Division Maneuver. Shichisei Kenbu was fundamentally a martial art and he worked on every aspect, from endurance-building runs to body management to swinging a sword until he had calluses. His parents were bemused by the whole thing.
The next three years involved a lot of training in the DM. In the third year, Kuon won the Junior Cup for his Division class in the Jogen Islands DM Combat Championships. To anyone who watched, the difference in skills was clear, but not that many people cared to watch the Division 1 tournament.
But Kuon was satisfied so long as his father, mother, master, and En saw him.
Holding the trophy on the podium, he saw his parents running toward him, far happier about it than he was, and he realized his life goals had changed somewhere along the line. He would kill the Queen; that much hadn’t changed. But he would do it so these people could live in peace.
His victory in this tournament was enough to let him enter the famed Cavalleria training school, Jogen Maneuver Academy, even as a Division 1. Nanahoshi Kaede was the headmaster of this school as well as her own, and she planned on training many Cavalleria, every bit as powerful as the Hero had been, before the Jave Queen returned.
Joining their ranks made Kuon feel like he was finally taking the first step on his path to becoming a Maneuver Cavalleria. Though, he was still a bit short of that goal.
But he was ready for it.
It was three days before a talentless no-name would astonish the assembled geniuses at the entrance ceremony.
✦ ✦ ✦
Intermission:
Hanabi’s Diary 1
Imperial Era 356. April 5th. Suzuka Hanabi.
The cover to Portrait of the Hero fell off. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it. I feel like it’s my origin story. I want to be as strong as the Hero, to live as he did. Any time I get a long break like this, I find myself thinking about that.
The entrance ceremony is tomorrow. I’ll have to find a new member to join our squad, as well as replace the one who graduated. In the meeting, we’ll be selecting one of the high school first years. We’ll only have a year to watch over them, but we’ll make the most of it. I hope we find a good one…
✦ ✦ ✦
Unofficial Records
Imperial Air Force: Assault Reconnaissance Unit. Today’s MIA Count: 6.