Chapter 111

Chapter 111

"You should have seen it yesterday—the showdown between that freshman from the Medical Department and the instructor was absolutely spectacular..."

Since their chance encounter on the roadside that morning, Jessica had been chattering nonstop in Eve’s ear about how intense yesterday’s duel in the mecha training ground had been and how impressive that freshman was. Eve, for her part, had simply humored her with noncommittal "uh-huhs" and "ohs" along the way.

Fortunately, the little princess had merely grabbed someone she knew from the roadside to use as a listener. She was so engrossed in her own narrative that she paid no mind to her audience’s reaction.

The morning breeze carried the warmth of sunlight, gently caressing people’s faces. Just walking along the road, one could overhear snippets of conversation from other freshmen, also in military training uniforms—words like "mecha," "freshman," and "challenging the instructor" floating from their discussions as they passed by.

Eve kept her eyes downcast, walking past them with lazy indifference, completely unfazed by others discussing her alter ego. Yesterday’s duel had drained a lot of her energy, and even now she still felt sluggish and lacking in spirit.

Jessica had long since handed her bag to her attendant to carry, while she herself persistently followed alongside Eve, talking nonstop. Her fluffy, dark-red hair swayed behind her, carrying the luxurious fragrance of expensive shampoo—much like her words, persistently wafting under Eve’s nose and ears.

"Well, you’re pretty lucky, though—you didn’t even need to ask for leave," Jessica said casually, kicking away a small pebble blocking her path. "The Mecha Department, Melee Department, and Weapons Department are all doing military training together. Each department has its own instructor, and one of the three also serves as the head instructor for their section—yesterday, that Medical Department freshman challenged her head instructor. By the way, someone from our side wanted to challenge an instructor yesterday too."

"From the Melee Department?" Eve guessed.

The Weapons Department was stereotypically seen as eccentric tech nerds—either dead silent or explosively loud. As for the Mecha Department, they were neither overly competitive nor lazy. For some reason, the Mecha Department had always been the most well-behaved and had the strongest "office vibe" among the six departments... Perhaps it was because Mecha majors started internships early; by their second year, they could already pack up and go do odd jobs at the Military Academy.

As for the Melee Department, true to its name, it was full of fighting spirit—and had been fully infiltrated by the Cavendish family.

"Yes, and not just one—there were about five or six of them. Our instructor took us along to watch the spectacle," Jessica let out a puffing laugh. "Anyway, by the time they finished challenging one by one, the morning session was over. As for the afternoon—you got the news too, right? The school called a holiday."

Eve replied, "I thought you might try to challenge an instructor too?"

"Why would I do that? Is skipping military training something to be proud of? Besides, so many blockheads challenged instructors yesterday, but in the end, only that one from the Medical Department succeeded."

Jessica reached up to smooth her sleek, shiny hair, sneering, "This princess only likes to show off—I wouldn’t do something so embarrassing in public."

"...You’re so transparent," Eve said, rendered speechless.

As they spoke, they arrived at the west training ground where the three departments were conducting their military training. Jessica finally released Eve, instead looping an arm around her attendant’s shoulder and walking off, rapid-firing instructions for them to do this and that.

Eve stood still, hands in her pockets, tilting her head back toward the sky and slowly sighing.

"Ah..."

Why did even standing make her feel so tired?

Toot toot—!

A sharp whistle sounded not far away, followed by an instructor’s loud call: "Melee Department, assemble!"

Eve didn’t move until the call of "Mecha Department students, assemble!" rang out. Only then did she shift her feet, moving toward her department’s training area.

The Mecha Department’s instructor was a capable female instructor. She had wheat-colored skin, narrow eyes, and coffee-colored short hair tied into a small bun. Her smile seemed highly infectious. Bouncing on her feet as she waved to the students, she shouted with full enthusiasm, "Students, over here! Let’s take roll call first!"

"She seems really friendly, doesn’t she?" Jessica suddenly asked.

Somehow, she had slipped back to Eve’s side. Honestly, Eve had no idea why this person was acting so familiar with her—what happened to the haughty princess?

Because she no longer needed to avoid people as she had at the start of the semester, and because Eve felt somewhat guilty and wanted to distinguish herself from the "Lu Qing" persona, she had washed out the disguised black hair, revealing again her silver-white base color, luminous as new moonlight.

She made a noncommittal sound, her flowing silver hair neatly braided, politely revealing half of her profile with its clean lines. Her skin was as white as snow, and her sapphire-clear eyes flickered slightly in Jessica’s direction to show she was listening.

Even though they were neighbors and had many opportunities to meet, every time Jessica faced this unfairly beautiful sight, she couldn’t help holding her breath, afraid of disturbing such pure beauty.

Even though she knew full well that this person had nothing to do with the word "pure."

"Don’t be fooled by her appearance," Jessica forcibly looked away, coughing twice before saying seriously, "Instructor Lin Ke is the head instructor for our half of the sector. Even though she wasn’t the one challenged yesterday, she actually has the highest military rank among this group of instructors."

Eve was puzzled: "How do you know all this?"

She remembered that Jessica’s prince father didn’t seem to have any connections with the Military Academy.

"My cousin the Crown Prince told me," Jessica said proudly, tossing her hair. "I’m his only closely related blood sister, of course he’d help me find out about such small things."

Eve: "..."

After spending so much time with Qin Mengde and helping deal with the soft and hard knives sent by the Empress and Crown Prince, suddenly encountering such a naive princess gave her a dazed feeling, as if she’d gotten up too quickly.

If nothing else, if he truly cared for her, why didn’t he bring her into the Melee Department to train her by his side instead of sending her to a mediocre major like the Mecha Department?

Unlike technical majors like Weapons and Medical, or comprehensive training majors like Melee, Recon, and Command, mechas were unique interstellar combat weapons from the Interstellar Era. Professional mecha pilots had almost no use outside the military, and basic mecha piloting skills were taught in other majors too.

Although Eve knew that in about two years, the Zerg War would erupt, and everyone would become soldiers—a war that would rage across space, with mechas playing a crucial role in turning the tide, suddenly making the major highly sought-after—the Crown Prince couldn’t possibly foresee things to that extent.

This arrangement was simply because, in his view, the Mecha Department—a major that was neither here nor there—fit perfectly with a cousin who had no chance of succession but still had inheritance rights. So he casually stuffed her in here, maybe even hoping she could become Department Chief and bring some leverage to his faction.

This scheming... Eve really felt like applauding loudly. Unfortunately, the best-laid plans often go awry, and the world changes too quickly. Just like how no college student can truly say whether their major is a golden ticket or a pitfall until graduation day, as long as Eve was here, she would seize every opportunity she could get.

Her expression turned rather cryptic, but in the end, she said nothing. A thousand words condensed into two pats on Jessica’s shoulder, and then she walked away without another word.

...Good luck to the princess.

Instructor Lin, with her sunny smile, gathered everyone together and quickly took roll call. She was pleased that no one had skipped training or asked for leave, and she promptly put away the roster, saying cheerfully, "Hello, students. My name is Lin Ke, and starting today, I will be your military training instructor. For the next nineteen days, I hope we can spend this time together harmoniously."

The students drawled, "Hello, Instructor—"

The instructor continued, "Today is already the second day of military training. Because your year’s combat spirit has somewhat exceeded the instructors’ expectations, we’re already a day behind according to the original schedule. Today’s training will be a bit tough, but the instructor believes that this little intensity will be no problem for all the outstanding students here, right?"

That last sentence structure was too familiar—so familiar that Eve’s right eyelid twitched violently.

Perhaps she seemed too approachable, leading many to misjudge her. Despite the obvious trap in her question, someone still called out: "Right!"

"Very good," the young instructor said, looking pleased. She clapped her hands and said kindly, "Then let’s start with 50 laps around the field."

The Military Academy’s field was standard interstellar military academy size. The inner track was about one kilometer per lap. Fifty laps meant fifty kilometers.

Even though people in the interstellar era generally had good physical fitness, running fifty kilometers in one go would still knock them out.

"......"

Everyone was stunned.

After a long pause, Eve glanced at the two other majors still receiving instructions nearby and couldn’t help raising her hand to ask, "Instructor, shouldn’t we first go over the general arrangements and training plan at the start of military training?"

Starting off this intensely?!

"Oh, that kind of thing can be covered anytime. Anyway, the school will send you a follow-up notice. After you finish running, I’ll explain—wouldn’t that save more time?" Instructor Lin adjusted her instructor’s cap, tilting her chin toward Eve with a grin. "The student who just asked me—what’s your name?"

"Eve Medici."

As soon as the name was spoken, some people exchanged meaningful glances. Jessica, enjoying having her attendant fan her with their hand, looked suspiciously from the instructor to Eve.

"Very well, Eve Medici. I know your name, but I don’t report to your father, and I’m not in the same corps as your employer, so your name means nothing to me. Questioning the instructor is fine, but only after you’ve completed the tasks assigned. Behavior like yours would result in disciplinary action in the military."

"—Since it’s your first offense, I’ll only deduct five points from your usual score. Any objections?"

Silence fell all around, and the gazes from the surrounding classmates instantly turned sympathetic.

Eve: "..." she said nothing.

Her aqua-blue eyes met the instructor's for three seconds, then without a word, she plunged headfirst into the grueling task of running.

Behind her, Instructor Lin's cheerful voice rang out loudly, "For the first training task, as the first to carry it out, a reward of five points! Congratulations, Eve, your score is back to the starting point now~"

Eve really didn’t want to say anything more to this smiling tiger of an instructor. Instantly picking up speed, she shot far ahead and completely disappeared around the end of the track. The remaining students, seeing that the instructor didn't even give face to the Medici family, dared not disobey any further. They immediately poured onto the track like dumplings into boiling water, terrified of giving any reason to be penalized.

Even so, the last student to step onto the track was still docked five points all the same, nearly stumbling and falling on the track in shock.

The sweetly smiling instructor, left hand on her hip and right hand raised high, called out in a bright, clear voice: "Time is limited, everyone must finish before the morning classes end—that is, within three and a half hours! Those who don’t finish will face additional training or point deductions depending on the situation!" she announced.

"Charge ahead, everyone!"

All students: "!! Aaaaaah—!"

Under the sympathetic gazes of the other two departments, the students of the Mecha Department had tears streaming down their faces in the wind, yet their bodies betrayed their wills, forced to desperately accelerate and rush forward.

They unanimously thought with bitter indignation: Wait, did this instructor really get assigned to the wrong department?

...Instructor, our training goal in the Mecha Department isn’t to become super soldiers/special forces, is it?!