Copyright © 2023 by Yuya Takashima
Copyright © Sotsu, Sunrise, and MBS
This book is a
fan translaon
.
Support the official release if there ever is one.
Names, characters, organizaons, places, events and incidents may differ
slightly from official names at the me of translaon. Updated versions of
this will be made to reflect changes at a future date.
Kadokawa Comics Ace “MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM THE WITCH FROM
MERCURY VOL.1”
Released 2023.02.25
For more informaon, to make a donaon, or to read more Gundam
novels and manga, head on over to either:
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Novel Translaon and Book Layout by Zeonic|Scanlaons
First Edion: July 2023
1
Yuya Takashima
[Original Work] Hajime Yatate & Yoshiyuki Tomino
[Cover Illustraon] Lin Junbun
[Artwork] Shuuei Takagi
用語集 Glossary
[WORLD]
Ad Stella: The name, signifying "To the Stars," marks the Space Era,
established aer humanity's expansion into the cosmos.
Spacian and Earthian: The inhabitants of space are called "Spacians," and the
inhabitants of Earth are called "Earthians." The economic disparity between
these two camps has widened with the growth of space industry, producing
division and strife between Spacians and Earthians.
[COMPANIES]
Vanadis Instute: An organizaon researching the body-funcon
augmentaon technology known as "GUND." Though it was conducng
research with the goal of assisng the human body in a space environment, it
repurposes the GUND technology for military applicaons, in return for
funding received from the mobile suit manufacturing company Ochs Earth.
Benerit Group: A major conglomerate in the space industry and the leading
force in the mobile suit industry.
Three Branches: As of A.S.122, it refers to the three major companies within
the Benerit Group that have achieved outstanding performance: Jeturk
Heavy Machinery, Peil Technologies, and Grassley Defense Systems.
Mobile Suit Development Council: An organizaon formed for the sake of
mutual cooperaon in mobile suit development. Its members include the
CEOs of mobile suit manufacturing companies such as Jeturk, Peil, and
Grassley. It regards the GUND Format's adverse effects on the human body
as a dangerous threat.
Shin Sei Development Corporaon: A mobile suit company on Mercury, to
which Prosperia belongs. They are responsible for developing the mobile suit
"Aerial," which Slea pilots.
Cathedra: An auding organizaon under the umbrella of the Mobile Suit
Development Council, whose purpose is to maintain order and ethics in the
development of mobile suits. Delling Rembran serves as its supervising
representave.
Dominicus Unit: Originally a special forces unit belonging to the Mobile Suit
Development Council. As of A.S.122, it is now under the direct control of
Cathedra.
[SCHOOL]
Ascassia School of Technology: A higher-educaon facility run by the
Benerit Group. It is made up of specialized pilong, mechanical, and
management strategy departments. A recommendaon from a company
affiliated with the Benerit Group is a prerequisite for admission.
Student Number: This consists of three elements idenfying the student's
year of admission, department, and personal number. Third-year students are
designated as "K," second-year students as "L," and first-year students as "M."
The pilong department is "P," the mechanical department is "M," and the
management strategy department is "S." The personal number is determined
by the hierarchy of the recommending companies. Sulea's student ID
number "LP041" is made up of "L" for her admission year, "P" for the pilong
department, and "041" for her personal number.
[TECHNOLOGY]
Mobile Suit: A colossal humanoid machine that far exceeds the size of a
human body. Pilots board the cockpit inside the unit. The pilot suit and
cockpit seat are physically connected through aachments.
Permet: A metal compound refined from the organic complex of the element
"Permetnium," discovered during the lunar development era. It possesses the
property of informaon sharing among Permet parcles and is used in
various space-related technologies by mixing and controlling Permet as
materials or propellants.
GUND: A body-funcon augmentaon technology which uses Permet.
"GUND Format" is a system which uses GUND technology for military
applicaons, and a mobile suit equipped with it is called a "GUND-ARM."
#0 Prologue
Where is thy lustre now?
From William Shakespeare’s “
King Lear
”
[FRONT] A huge arficial living facility constructed in outer space. These are built with asteroids
as their foundaon. By rotang the enre structure or specific secons, arficial gravity is
generated, enabling long-term habitaon for people.
1. ERICHT SAMAYA
In the pitch-black void where not even stars dare twinkle, one is
forced to acknowledge the solitary existence of self. The intensifying
cadence of one's breath fills the world in an immersive rhythm.
──
Thrall to LF-03. Restarng Permet link connecon test. Three,
two, one.
The voice echoes in the helmet
The cockpit of the mobile suit known as the LF-03 is shrouded in
darkness, with the faint glow of the control system the only source of
light, casng an ethereal glow on the pilot. Yet, their face and their
emoons remain obscured by the visor's gleam, a mystery to the
observer. This is a moment that requires no individual senment, no
melancholy. The pilot is focused on the test.
──
Interconnect established. Currently on layer 31. Please
commence calling.
The pilot answers the voice as it's heard again.
"Understood. Commencing call to layer 31."
Following the operator's instrucon, the pilot pulls the trigger of
the control lever, a literal call to the machine's system.
──
No abnormalies detected in GUND Format. Connect to layer
32.
"Calling layer 32."
The monitor indicates that layer 32 had been cleared.
──
Callback confirmed. Connect to layer 33.
Suppressing their anxiety, the pilot's finger is poised on the trigger.
Up unl layer 32 had been cleared some me ago. However,
progressing beyond layer 33 was somehow an insurmountable
challenge.
Ironically, the number "33" has come to be a detested figure,
although it holds no significant meaning beyond its place in the
sequence.
“Calling layer 33.”
Pulling the trigger grip with their right hand, the pilot leans
forward.
However, the main console flashes an error.
The informaon is shared with the operator, who issues
instrucons with detached efficiency.
──
Error. No callback. Fall back to layer 10.
The pilot pulls the lever again but to no avail. Their control
movements become increasingly violent. The error message repeats.
“Calling from layer 10 to 33 again.“
──
Error. No callback.
Not again.
“Calling layer 33.”
──
Error. No callback.
No maer what, it cannot be cleared.
Running out of paence, the pilot speaks out, "LF-03 to Thrall.
Requesng increase in GUND Format score."
──Negave. That's contrary to the test objecve.
“We don't have me. Execung now.”
──
Hold on!
The pilot aempts to pull the lever again.
An instrucon comes from another terminal. The voice is
decidedly older than either the operator or the pilot.
──
Elnora. Let's end for the day.
The pilot is unable to ignore that voice.
Elnora, as the pilot is known, halts her grip momentarily, but
unable to give up enrely, she aempts to argue.
"I'm not yet in the dangerous range. Let me increase the level and
test layer 33--"
──
That's enough, Elnora.
Elnora Samaya's body jolts slightly at the slightly heightened voice.
Inside the visor, she accepts the instrucon, bing her lip.
“Yes, ma'am.”
With Elnora's voice, the panoramic monitor switches to external
view mode.
Inside the hangar, dozens of staff members are bustling around.
Operators and mechanics are giving instrucons.
"Test concluded. Begin analysis of Permet influx values.”
“Yes, start maintenance on the Lfrith as well.”
“Understood. Beginning analysis.”
“Detected any abnormal fluctuaons?”
“Look for tremors before the fluctuaon."
As Elnora releases the lock on her helmet, the cockpit lights begin
to fade.
Next, the hatch in front of her opens, and she takes off her helmet
and takes a breath.
"Phew…"
Her sweat hung in midair. This was a zero-gravity environment.
Weaving through the staff, a figure moved towards the cockpit.
With an ease that spoke of familiarity with zero gravity, they lightly
touched down at the cockpit hatch.
“Don't get too worked up.”
It's the person who reprimanded Elnora earlier.
Elnora looks up.
“Dr. Cardo.“
“If you can't clear this, then no one can.”
At the words of Dr. Cardo Nabo, Elnora answers while looking
down.
"We need to prove the soundness of the GUND Format as soon
as possible. Otherwise, the council will..."
Elnora's grip ghtens on her helmet.
The council refers to the Mobile Suit Development Council. It was
composed of CEOs from various mobile suit manufacturing
companies, and its influence was immense.
Cardo watched Elnora intently.
“Our success won't mean a thing if you're crippled for life.”
“But—"
“Besides, someone's here to see you.”
Cardo shakes her head and gestures outside the cockpit.
“What?”
As Elnora lis her face, she hears a voice.
“Mommy! “
A young child floats towards her as if swimming in the air. To
avoid geng hurt, she is wearing a pink rabbit-shaped cushion on her
back.
However, the child loses her balance midway and dris off in the
wrong direcon.
“Mommy! Oh, ah, whooooa!"
“Eri!”
Elnora leapt from the cockpit in surprise, kicking off the hatch.
"Whoooooa"
Eri - Ericht Samaya's body starts to spin out of control. Unlike
Cardo, Eri hadn't yet mastered the skill to move their body in zero
gravity—or in a gravity environment, for that maer.
"Eri!"
Elnora reaches out with both hands and manages to catch Ericht.
Ericht giggles.
“Mommy! Daddy's waing for you too! Let's have cake together!”
“Haven't I told you that you're not allowed to come here?”
Elnora scolds Ericht, but she doesn't listen and looks to the side.
“Is she sll sleeping?”
Elnora followed Ericht's gaze.
Before them stood a white mobile suit—the Gundam Lfrith.
Mechanics were swarming all over it, beginning their maintenance
work immediately on the various secons.
Reminded of her failed test by her daughter's words, Elnora was
filled with gloom.
“Yes. You're right.”
Ericht, nocing her mother is upset, talks to Lfrith.
“What a naughty girl. It's me to rise and shine.”
Just then, a voice is heard from Elnora's terminal. It's Cardo.
“Lfrith is sll an infant.”
“A baby?”
When Ericht looks, Cardo is standing on the hatch, touching her
microphone.
“Yes. She doesn't even know how to turn over in bed. She's the
child of all the staff members here. Now, your mommy is trying to
teach her all sorts of stuff.”
“I see... Then I'm her big sister!”
Ericht looks at Lfrith.
"How old are you now, Eri?"
Researcher Nyla Bertran asks from the scaffold in front of the
Lfrith. Next to her is Wendy Olent, a fellow researcher who also
served as a test pilot.
When asked her age, Ericht shows the number with her right
hand. The gloves of her infant spacesuit are like miens, with the
fingers all bundled together except for the thumb, so it's hard to tell
how many there are, but her every gesture amuses all the staff,
including Nyla.
And then Ericht exclaimed joyfully.
“I'm four!”
This arficial living space, created in a small asteroid floang in
space, is called a "Front." The name of the Front where Ericht lives is
taken from "Fólkvangr," the domain ruled by Freyja, the goddess of
love, beauty, ferlity, and war in Norse mythology.
A live broadcast of the news was streaming on the hangar
monitor, though no one was watching.
Footage showing a significant number of Gundam Lfrith Pre-
Producon Models being carried into a spaceport, then switching to
the Earth headquarters of their manufacturer, Ochs Earth
Corporaon, was being displayed.
As the news anchor spoke, images were shown on the screen.
"As of the 20th, the Front 3rd Autonomous Sector has approved a
budget to purchase Gundam-type mobile suits manufactured by Ochs
Earth. Ochs Earth's weapon system has raised major concerns
regarding bioethical issues for its pilots, and the accountability of the
company, as well as the Mobile Suit Development Council, has been
called into queson."
A commentator nodded and made a comment.
"Originally, the GUND Format was a medical technology meant to
assist with physical dysfuncons caused by the space environment.
However, when the Vanadis Instute, the lead researcher on the
project, was acquired by Ochs Earth, the GUND Format was
repurposed for military mobile suits. Physical damage to its pilots due
to data storms then emerged as a problem."
Various applicaons of the GUND were displayed on the screen,
showcasing prosthec arms, legs, and even more extensive
mechanisms intricately connected to the body. An agreement was
reached, and the representave of Ochs Earth, the acquiring party,
and the representave of the Vanadis Instute, the acquired party,
shook hands. Next, footage of people undergoing treatment in beds
was shown. Connected to life-support machines, their eyes were
vacant, and their gazes unfocused.
"Just imagine. An 18-meter-tall giant frame moving with non-
biological mechanisms, controlled by forcibly linking it to a human
body. The burden placed on the pilot must be immeasurable!"
Throughout the commentary, the Gundam Lfrith Pre-Producon
Models connued to be transported into the spaceport of the third
autonomous sector of the Front.
Cardo's research facility was medium-sized, and the staff
residences were in the arficial gravity secon.
In the living room of the Samaya family, decorated for a birthday
party, Nadim Samaya was watching the same special news program.
His work clothes bore the company logo of Ochs Earth. Nadim
himself was an employee.
The commentator connued.
"The recent mobile suit buildup may provide Earth with an excuse
to expand its military and accelerate tensions between both sides--"
Nadim's face visibly showed his displeasure.
"Say all you want about our products."
Today was his beloved daughter's birthday. This was not the me
to be watching such a program. He turned off the TV with the remote
control, and in the darkened screen, his reflecon could be seen. He
wore an apron and held a remote control and a plate in his hand.
The sound of the front door opening was heard, and he turned
around.
"Daddy, I'm home!"
Ericht energecally leaped into the room.
Nadim put down the plate and remote control and welcomed
Ericht.
"Welcome back."
Elnora also entered the living room.
Nadim took his daughter into his arms and spun her around.
"Kya-ha!"
Ericht was overjoyed. The room was decorated with "HAPPY
BIRTHDAY" signs and lines of origami rabbits.
Seeing the party decoraons, Elnora said, "This looks great. I'm
sorry you had to do everything."
"It's fine. Eri helped out too."
Nadim smiled at his daughter.
"I did this part myself!"
"You're amazing! It looks so prey."
Ericht looked pleased being praised by her mother.
Nadim put his daughter down on the floor and said, "Eri. Why
don't you go show Mommy your birthday hat?"
"Right!"
Ericht energecally ran into the back of the room, and both
parents watched her leave with smiles on their faces.
But Nadim noced that Elnora seemed to lack her usual energy.
"Layer 33 again?"
At Nadim's queson, Elnora involuntarily looked away. However,
she quickly put on a forced smile.
"If I don't clear that soon, it'll mean trouble for everyone."
But Nadim felt responsible as well.
"I'm sorry. This wouldn't have happened if the higher-ups weren't
in a rush to roll out the Lfrith."
"We needed a sponsor, anyway. You helped us, Nadim."
"I just hope the council will stay quiet unl the deadline."
2. COUNCIL
Elsewhere, influenal corporate execuves from across the
cosmos had assembled on a different Front. They were convening the
Mobile Suit Development Council.
"The press conference is in one hour," the young Vim Jeturk
informed, prompng the CEO of Jeturk — Vim's father — to curl his
lips into a smirk.
"This is the end of Ochs Earth. This is what happens when
Earthians get presumptuous."
Sarius Zenelli remained cauous.
"Hopefully, it'll be as easy as you say. We don't know if Dr. Cardo
Nabo will comply."
Echoing Sarius, the other CEOs murmured their agreement.
"But are you sure this is okay? We may be overstepping the
bounds of private enterprise..."
"You say that at this stage of the game?"
From behind Sarius, Delling Rembran interrupted the
conversaon, triggered by the word "overstepping."
"What's wrong with overstepping them?"
Delling's tone was asserve, and the parcipants began to
murmur, casng sharp glances toward him.
"We're not asking for your opinion, Delling."
Even aer being singled out by Sarius, Delling connued
unperturbed.
"Once those guys at the Vanadis Instute complete their Gundam,
it will be too late. As the Mobile Suit Development Council, we must
make a decision. So that humanity can remain in peace, we must
wield the hammer of witches."
The party was just about to begin, with a cake placed in front of
Ericht.
Ericht, the star of the show, couldn't contain her excitement.
She stood on her chair and chanted, "Cake! Cake! Cake!"
"I'm pung in the candle lights now."
But as Elnora moved to light the candles, her hand fell limp with a
mechanical whir. The candle light fell onto the table.
"Oh, my," said Elnora.
"Mommy?"
"Sorry. Give me a moment."
Elnora rolled up the right sleeve with her le hand. Her right arm
was a mechanical prosthesis — a GUND. With pracced movements,
she removed the arm, swapped the built-in unit, and recalibrated it.
While watching her mother's arm, Ericht said, "Your GUND always
stops working, Mommy."
"Yes. But without this technology, Mommy wouldn't be alive right
now." Elnora smiled at her daughter. "So Dr. Cardo is my teacher who
saved my life."
On the room's shelf was a photo of Elnora and Dr. Cardo.
Ericht's face broke into a smile.
"Granny's awesome!"
"Eri!"
Nadim gently scolded his daughter.
Laughing, Elnora successfully lit the candle this me.
"Dr. Cardo isn't one to fuss about what people call her."
"Even so, that's rude. She's a prominent figure in GUND theory."
As Nadim said this, a call came through on his terminal. Seeing
Nadim's expression quickly cloud over, Elnora grew anxious.
"Is that from headquarters?"
Nadim nodded, addressing his daughter.
"Just a moment, Eri."
"Whaaat!"
Ericht pouted as her long-awaited birthday party was interrupted.
Nadim couldn't resist her adorable expression.
"Daddy has work."
"Sorry."
"No! I want to cut it now!"
Even aer Nadim had entered his room, Ericht connued to
protest, her cheeks puffed out in indignaon.
Leaving the living room and entering his darkened room, Nadim —
hesitang at the sound of his daughter's voice — closed the door and
responded to the call from headquarters. The face that appeared on
the monitor was a coworker of Nadim's age, Yamaoka, working at their
Earth headquarters, dressed in a suit and e.
"What's wrong?" asked Nadim.
"The council is holding a meeng now." Yamaoka's voice was
somber.
"But it's not even the deadline yet!"
Nadim started up his computer, placing the terminal on the desk
and fing the earpiece.
"It was Delling. He's behind this."
As soon as Nadim heard that name, his brow furrowed intensely.
"That ex-military guy?"
"We don't know what he'll do. You be careful too."
At the same me, the mid-size transport ship, Begavent, was
approaching the spaceport. The guidance lights of the port
illuminated, and communicaon from the control room reached its
bridge.
──Fólkvangr to transport ship Begavent. Control 173.
"This is Begavent. Communicang with 173. Distance to gate
entrance is 22."
──Course confirmed. Please enter through Gate 3.
At that moment, near the control room, a person in a spacesuit
approached the base of a large parabolic antenna installed on the
surface of the small asteroid.
The device they held was connected to the antenna, and some
kind of program was unzipping on the screen. Soon, the system
infiltraon was complete, and the enre communicaon funconality
of Fólkvangr was disabled.
As the operave looked up, their helmet visor reflected the image
of the transport ship perfectly.
Two Gundam Lfrith pre-producon model prototype units were
also stored in Fólkvangr's hangar.
Nyla, in one of the cockpits, called out to Wendy from outside,
holding a drink in her hand.
"The ship's here! Come help me move, Wendy."
While organizing data in the cockpit, Wendy complained.
"Tariff rates have increased so much recently. It's pissing me off."
Ochs Earth Corporaon, being of Earth origin, had been forced to
comply with favorable deals for the Spacians in many situaons. This
was a source of discontent for Wendy.
Nyla spoke to Wendy in a comforng tone.
"Transportaon isn't free, you know?"
"The Spacians are monopolizing it unreasonably."
"I'll treat you to something aer this. Come on."
Nyla skillfully squeezed on the container, causing a poron of the
drink to fly towards Wendy. Wendy gobbled up the droplet of drink
that had formed into a sphere in front of her.
"That's cheang."
Wendy laughed awkwardly, troubled by Nyla's ancs. Wendy, who
tended to be negave about many things, always found her
composure disrupted by the cheerful and dependable Nyla. But
Wendy enjoyed their relaonship like that, and it seemed Nyla felt the
same.
The two of them leaned against each other and headed towards
the cargo loading.
"I found it, Eri! This is the one, right?"
In her hand, she clasped a short fork meant for children. The very
one Ericht had wanted, the one she'd been searching for all along. But
there was no reply. In the living room, only the birthday hat Ericht had
made lay discarded.
"Eri...?"
Ericht was in the research dock, unaware of her mother's concern.
Her gaze was fixed upon the quiet, imposing form of the Gundam
Lfrith.
"Just wake up already!"
Ericht shouted at Lfrith.
"Daddy and Mommy... Everyone only cares about you! It's
supposed to be my birthday today!"
With a flail of her limbs in frustraon, Ericht spun in a dizzying
whirl.
"Ah, ah..."
Ericht clung to the mobile suit in panic.
──I'm sorry about that.
That voice seemed to echo from the Lfrith, at least to Ericht's
ears.
Startled, Ericht looked at Lfrith. But its eyes were dark, their depth
unfathomable.
The hatch of the cockpit opened, revealing Cardo. It was Cardo's
voice.
"Granny."
Relieved, Ericht leaped towards Cardo.
Cardo kicked down the cockpit's ramp and scooped Ericht up into
her arms.
"You came here alone again? Didn't Elnora say you're not
supposed to?"
"But..."
Poung, Ericht cast a resenul glance at Lfrith. Inside the cockpit
floated tools that Cardo had brought in.
"Is this child important to you too, Granny?"
"She is."
Cardo answered without hesitaon.
"Why? Then you don't care about the other two over there?"
Her ny finger pointed towards the neighboring dock. The "two"
Ericht referred to were the two blue-grey units, the pre-producon
prototype models of Lfrith that Wendy and Nyla were working on just
a while ago.
While looking up at the towering white mobile suit — the Gundam
Lfrith, Cardo said, "This one's special."
"Special?"
"In order for you, your daddy, and your mommy to live in space,
you need to have an adaptable body and not a weapon like this."
Cardo stared straight at Lfrith.
"Lfrith is the future of GUND that we're aiming for. She is a new
door that will open up new possibilies for humanity."
"I don't get it."
Ericht made a confused face.
"Then, do you want to try talking to her?"
"Okay..."
With a sly smile, Cardo guided the increasingly bewildered Ericht
into the cockpit.
Only Cardo — or perhaps not even she — knew what she was
thinking or whether it was just a whim. Regardless, Ericht found
herself climbing into the cockpit of the Gundam willingly.
As Ericht took her seat, the spacesuit aachments and the seat
connected automacally via cables. Simultaneously, the cockpit
powered up, and the seat and console rose up.
Cardo began operang the main console.
"Come here, Eri. Place your hand here."
Guided by Cardo, Ericht fumbled about, and the cable connecng
the seat and her back extended. As Ericht's right hand touched the
monitor, a biometric authencaon began. A beam of light traced
along, displaying Ericht's biological informaon.
"Now Lfrith will recognize you. Tell her that this world isn't scary."
Cardo smiled at her warmly.
Ericht considered for a moment before beginning her chat with —
or rather, to — Lfrith.
"My name is Ericht Samaya! Do you like cake? It's my birthday
today! I'm going to wear my birthday hat!"
Although Cardo had been watching Ericht with a smile, her device
beeped, and she responded immediately.
"What's wrong?"
The call was from a senior execuve of Ochs Earth Corporaon in
a conference room within Fólkvangr.
"The council is about to hold a press conference."
Behind the execuve, monitors showed a council press
conference about to begin. Things were already in moon.
"I wasn't told about this."
Cardo's voice suddenly hardened.
"Ochs Earth has been le out of this."
"Got it. I'm on my way."
Ending the call, Cardo quickly weighed her opons while looking
at Ericht. Leaving her alone wouldn't result in Lfrith moving. She
thought about taking Ericht to the conference room but showing this
child the mundane polical maneuvers would serve no purpose.
"Can you go back by yourself, Eri?"
"Yeah."
"Don't make your mommy worry now."
With that, Cardo le without bothering to look back.
Once Cardo was out of sight, Ericht immediately forgot about
returning home and started talking to Lfrith again.
"The cake has strawberries on it. You see, Mommy..."
3. INFILTRATION
The mobile suit carrier, Ulysses, far larger than the cargo ships
already docked in Fólkvangr, was moving through the same sector of
space. On its hull, a figure holding a sword was painted, the emblem
of the Dominicus Team, but no eyes were there to see it amidst the
stars.
From the captain's chair, Rajan Zahi opened a comm channel.
──Deployment of Ulysses is complete. We can commence at
any me.
That report was received by Delling, who was in the hallway
connected to the conference room on the Council Front. In the room,
preparaons for the press conference were underway. A staff member
was aaching a lapel microphone to Delling's chest.
"Raid it along with their headquarters according to the plan."
──Don't we need the Council's approval?
As the staff member stepped away, Delling was free to speak.
While moving toward the stage, he quietly responded to Rajan.
"I'll assume full responsibility."
While it was a clear order of aack, there wouldn't be any
problem even if it was recorded. The press conference venue was
filled with numerous camera drones floang in the air, surrounded by
a multude of journalists. Delling was cauous to the end.
The Council members were already lined up on the stage that
Delling was walking towards.
First, Sarius, as the representave, would issue a statement.
──We, the Mobile Suit Development Council, have just now
made the decision to freeze all development of Gundam-type mobile
suits.
At his words, the reporters started to murmur. Sarius's words were
also heard in the conference room on Fólkvangr.
──In addion, we will forcibly seize Ochs Earth, the company
that developed them, under the authority provided by business
administrave laws.
The people from Ochs Earth Corporaon and Vanadis Instute
present in the meeng room were taken aback.
"No way..."
"Are they planning to cut us off?"
Just then, Cardo entered without knocking.
"Any ships scheduled to enter port?"
"There's one transport ship. It should be docking soon."
"Stop it. Don't let it enter the port!"
Cardo had started to guess the Council's — Delling's — intenons.
Immediately, the staff started making calls.
However, the ship was already docking. Cardo's realizaon was
one step too late.
From the window of the Fólkvangr communicaons room, the
landing was confirmed.
The rena of the staff was authencated, and the boarding bridge
door opened. The two staff members were clad in spacesuits.
A gun muzzle equipped with a silencer slowly extended from
behind the door. When one of the staff members noced, two
gunshots rang out——immediately aer, blood splaered. Due to zero
gravity, both the blood and the body floated in space.
The armed intruders pushed the body aside and advanced into
the interior of Fólkvangr, issuing a GO sign from the corridor. Then,
more soldiers with guns poured in.
The declaraon that Sarius had started at the remote conference
venue had reached Fólkvangr.
──And to maintain order and ethics in the development of
mobile suits, we will establish an auding organizaon named
Cathedra. Allow me to introduce the supervising representave of
Cathedra, Delling Rembran.
Following Sarius's words, Delling stepped onto the stage, and the
flashes from the cameras of the press filled the conference venue.
At the same me, their faces twisted in bierness, Nadim and
Yamaoka were watching the conference.
"They never planned to accept us! They aren't dealing with us
financially, but by using violence--"
At that moment——and completely unbeknownst to Nadim and
Yamaoka——the infiltraon program planted by the operaves was
triggered, causing the parabolic communicaon antenna to cease
funconing. Yamaoka's words were cut off, and the monitor froze. The
communicaon had been completely disrupted.
"Yamaoka... Damn it!"
The words NO SIGNAL were the only ones reflected on the
screen.
Nadim slammed his fist on the intercom in frustraon. Even
without knowing the details, it was clear that an aack had been
launched on their comm system. And he had a good guess at the
mastermind behind it.
"Spacians are so narrow-minded..."
The residents of space, including Delling, or perhaps many
corporaons in space, had turned hosle towards Ochs Earth, an
Earth-based company.
When Nadim le his room, the pair who were supposed to be
preparing for the party were nowhere to be found.
"Elnora? Eri?"
In the region near Fólkvangr, the massive thrusters of the mobile
suit-equipped ship Ulysses ignited, the vessel rapidly accelerang.
Inside the ship, the mobile suit Heingra took its posion on the
catapult, paused momentarily on the launching rail, leaning forward
for a swi takeoff. At the end of the catapult, the binding lock at its
feet was released, and with perfect ming, the thrusters blasted,
sending Heingra speeding into the void.
The Heingra had locked onto Fólkvangr, where Eri and the others
were. Several mobile suits from the Dominicus Team were already
ahead.
A communicaon from Rajan came in.
──Headquarters to all Dominicus units. You are to seal off
Folkvangr and its surrounding space at once. Don't let a single shule
get away.
The Dominicus Team spread out, surrounding Fólkvangr.
Meanwhile, inside Fólkvangr, Nyla led the way through a zero-
gravity corridor with Wendy following.
Nyla noced something was off aer taking a right turn at a T-
juncon.
From deeper in the corridor, faint smoke was visible. The next
instant, another smoke grenade was lobbed, and smoke billowed.
Sensing danger, Nyla halted in the middle of the T-juncon and
signaled Wendy to stop.
"Nyla?"
"Run, Wendy. Hurry up!"
As Nyla pushed Wendy back the way they came, gunshots rang
out in rapid succession.
One bullet hit Nyla straight in the head. Nyla's body went limp
and started floang, with droplets of blood expanding around her.
"Nyla!"
A heart-wrenching scream echoed in the corridor.
Pushed away, Wendy was moving farther from Nyla.
Almost immediately, the corridor lights switched to red, and an
alarm began to blare.
4. GUND-ARM
"The alarm?"
Elnora, who had been searching for Erichit, came to a halt in the
corridor. Soon enough, Nadim caught up with her.
"Elnora! The council has crossed the line."
The alarm, coupled with Nadim's words, connected in Elnora's
mind. Naturally, her immediate concern was Ericht.
"I can't find Eri."
"Eri's missing? You take care of Eri. I'm going out in the Lfrith."
"It's too dangerous!" Elnora immediately objected.
"It'll be too late by the me they arrive! Believe in the GUND-
ARM you made." Nadim retorted, flashing a daring grin as he
connued towards the dock.
──You're going yourself, manager?
One of the astonished staff members asked.
"I can't make contact with Wendy. Establish an escape route while
I'm holding them back!" Nadim responded, clambering into the
cockpit.
──What about reinforcements from headquarters?
"We shouldn't get our hopes up," Nadim answered, closing his
helmet's visor. The Lfrith's systems acvated, its bulk beginning to
move. The crew directed the machine with illuminated guide poles.
"LF-01, launching!"
Following Nadim's vocal command, the catapult's hook
disengaged. The mobile suit shot towards the depths below and
instantly ejected into the void of space. The machine's atude control
thrusters automacally kicked in, opmizing its orientaon in space.
"GUND Format Permet score, two!"
Responding to his voice again, the pre-producon Gundam Lfrith
prototype raised its head, its camera eyes lighng up.
The enemy ship's radar had already locked onto Nadim's suit. The
officer in charge of the tracking system reported the match.
──Checking idenficaon. Matched with target mobile suit.
"Send in the Dominicus Team."
──Roger that. Iniang acon.
The Dominicus Team pilot responded to Rajan's command.
Immediately, two Heingra launched from the Ulysses hangar,
closing in on Nadim's suit and starng their aack. However, the
beam shots from the two units didn't even graze him.
"So fast! So that's a Gundam?"
The pilot of the Dominicus team shuddered. Despite being
briefed, the overwhelming pressure of actually facing the suit was
something else enrely. The two Heingra split up, one above and one
below Nadim's suit.
Nadim's suit swily shot down the unit below while deploying
weapons, numerous GUND-BITS from its backpack.
"Permet score, three!"
Nadim's shell unit responded even stronger. The movements of
the GUND-BITs were all under his control.
The Heingra fired its shield-mounted machine gun, but the small
units dodged its aacks as if they had a will of their own.
"He dodged it?"
A small unit latched onto the Heingra.
"Impossible--!"
An explosion from it enveloped the Heingra.
Nadim's breath turned ragged all at once.
"It's been a while since I felt like this."
On Nadim's face, a red mark caused by the Permet influx
appeared, closely resembling the glow of the shell unit on his suit.
The Dominicus team's comms officer relayed the results of his
analysis, "The opponents are using unfamiliar swarm weapons."
"Swarm" refers to the group. While each had an independent
thought structure, as a whole, they behaved as if they had a singular
intelligence. Through the GUND format, Nadim intuively controlled
mulple Gunbits.
"Do not engage one-on-one. With numbers--"
However, before the order could be relayed, a shot from behind
Nadim's unit pierced through the other Heingra.
"Is that you, Wendy?"
Wendy's eyes were filled with tears.
"I have to avenge Nyla."
Understanding everything through Wendy's words, Nadim gave a
silent nod.
"I see. I'm going to lure the enemy away. Make sure everyone has
an escape route."
A new blip appeared on the Ukysses operator's display.
"Second Gundam-type mobile suit detected to port side in travel
direcon."
The approaching Gundams were displayed on the monitor, closing
in while shoong down the Heingra. Rajan nodded.
"That matches our informaon. Remain on guard. Kenanji."
Rajan connected a channel to the pilot on standby on the dock.
"Deploy Beguir-Beu."
──Roger.
Responded the ace pilot that the Dominicus team boasted of,
Kenanzi Avery.
The operaon had only just begun.
5. SPEECH
Delling’s speech begins with several camera drones hovering
around the conference hall, capturing it.
――Throughout my years of experience on countless balefields,
I’ve come to one conclusion. Weapons should only exist to kill people.
As he speaks, soldiers connue their incursion, the Fólkvangr
control room already completely wiped out. The corpses of its crew
floated in the air with their blood, like spectral apparions.
――There should be no excuses for this. Once someone holds in
their hands a tool meant purely for killing, they have to bear the sin
that comes with it.
Delling declared, his voice growing more intense.
――But the mobile suits of Vanadis and Ochs Earth are different!
Not only do they take the lives of their opponents, but of their
operators as well. This is not a tool. It is a curse!
At that very moment, Nadim and Wendy were facing off against
the enemy out in space, the two having already taken out four
Heingra units.
“Keh!”
Breathing hard and in pain, Wendy’s face is moled with red spots
like bruises. The Gundam had overwhelmed the enemy, and maybe it
was the price she had to pay, but she was gradually starng to show
symptoms.
Nadim opens comms with her.
“Wendy! It’s too dangerous to raise the score further!”
But his voice didn’t reach her.
Back on Fólkvangr, the staff finally understood the danger they
were in and made a move to escape. But just as they were about to
flee, a squad of stormtrooper commandos appeared and unleashed a
relentless barrage of gunfire upon them. Delling’s speech connued
to play on the monitors in the room.
――The punishment for taking a life should be imposed upon us
by humans, and not machines.
“Nyla… I’ll avenge your death!” Wendy hollers. Ahead of her, the
Beguir-Beu appears, piloted by Kenanji.
Wendy’s mobile suit charges forward with zero hesitaon.
――People must kill or be killed by people. I believe that’s the
minimum courtesy in the foolish act of war.
She raises her Permet score and deploys her GUND-BIT in an
aempt to surround Kenanji’s mobile suit, but he quickly acvates his
non-kinec pods.
Her approaching GUND-BIT fall silent one aer another, an aack
known as an “andote” as it neutralizes GUND Format.
As he moved to provide cover, Nadim noced something unusual.
“Get back, Wendy! That’s no ordinary custom type!”
A claw-like mechanism unfurls from the legs of the Beguir-Beu,
and it swoops down on her suit. Despite her desperate aempts to
evade the aack, Kenanji’s pilong skills proved too much for her. The
“claw” latches onto her rifle. She pivots to wretch the suit off her, but
the claws have dug in, enrely immovable. A second later, more
“andote” completely dims the light of the suit’s shell unit, and the
lights in the cockpit wink out.
“I can’t move. Why?!”
She tugs francally at the controls, but there’s no response
whatsoever.
Kenanji confirms the situaon for her, indifferent to her plight.
“GUND Format link suppressed. This is the end of the Gundams.”
“Nyla…”
Wendy’s thoughts turned to her days with Nyla, just before
Kenanji’s suit thrust its saber into the cockpit of her suit and fired off
two addional shots.
“Wendy!”
Nadim cried out in agony, but his voice no longer reached her.
Delling’s speech, in the meanme, resonated far and wide
throughout the enrety of the living spheres humanity called home.
――When we pull the trigger ourselves, we bear the burden of the
life we’re taking, and of a sin we can never atone for.
In the conference room, one of Sarius’ underling’s whispers in his
ear, and his eyes go wide in astonishment at the message. His facial
expression broadcast at the me would later be replayed again and
again as historical stock footage. It was here that he first learned of
Delling acng on his own authority. Delling, however, connued to
speak with a commanding voice, keenly aware of the murmurs going
up behind him.
――In war, or any form of murder, that’s how it has to be.
6. CARDO NABO
With the casuales connuing to mount on Fólkvangr, Cardo
found herself cornered in her office as she fled the invasion. She
opened a drawer in her desk to reveal a gun she had rarely ever used.
When was the last me she serviced it? Would it even fire?
As she looked up, she saw a souring, red-hot glow spreading across
the door to the laboratory. Enemy combatants were about to burn
through the door. She sighed as the door was wrenched open, and
soldiers spilled into the room, immediately taking up posions around
her desk. One of them, who appeared to be the commander, spoke to
her.
“Dr. Cardo Nabo. You are going to die here.”
It amounted to what was probably the clearest death sentence
that could be made, but she was unfazed by it. She connued to
speak, her voice civil as she tried to get her point across despite
knowing the other party had no interest in hearing what she had to
say. She had lived most of her life that way.
“Humanity was born in the cradle of Earth. Our bodies are far too
fragile for us to venture into space.”
The walls surrounding Cardo and the soldiers displayed various
GUND tech and images of people afflicted by cosmic radiaon. They
were presentaon materials for visitors. She remembered all of the
material perfectly; it was all her own research, as much of it a child of
her own bearing, or even more so.
“
Sll
,” she thought to herself, “
how did they manage to infiltrate so
easily? Did the front’s management AI misidenfy the assailants as
visitors? No, the AI isn’t at fault. Content-aware errors by AI are over
a hundred years old. Maybe the enre Fólkvangr system has been
hijacked and is experiencing decoherence, a quantum informaon
disrupon. Hell, it’s overkill.
”
“Just as an infant has to put on clothes, humanity must don the
GUND to truly go out into space.”
The commander merely scoffed, leveling his gun at her.
“That’s just an excuse for a technology that requires sacrificial
vicms.”
“You don’t understand.”
Cardo said, reaching out impercepbly into the drawer she had
just opened and gripped the gun.
“What all of you are taking away is the future that the GUND will
save!”
In one swi moon, she brings the gun up and at the commander
and in that instant, the sounds of heavy gunfire rang out.
The Gundam Lfrith Pre-Producon model that Nadim was pilong
was now doing its best to evade the enemy, its le leg exploding as
it’s hit, slamming the suit into the outer wall of the research facilies.
“Nnngh!”
Nadim gried his teeth. He just couldn’t find a way to counter the
“andote” being used by the enemy’s mobile suit, the Beguir-Beu. He
had no way of knowing the proper names for either, though. He was
unable to fight in close quarters, and when he tried to pull back for a
long-range aack, the enemy quickly closed in on him.
A blow from the Beguir-Beu grazed his suit, destroying the outer
wall of Fólkvangr. The impact also raled the Gundam Lfrith in the
hanger with Ericht in its cockpit. It was more than enough to terrify
the child who was curled up in the pilot seat.
“Eri!”
There was only so far the child could have gone, but Elnora had
finally tracked her down.
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”
Ericht tried launching herself out of the cockpit, but she couldn’t
move because the cable extending from the seat was sll connected
to a secon on the back of her suit. So instead, Elenora rushed to her,
clutching the girl ghtly in her arms. Ericht sobbed as she clung to her
mother.
“Mommy!”
“It’s okay now. It’ll be all right.”
As the hatch closed quietly and the cockpit immediately rose
up,just then, someone’s voice could be heard. An automated comms
probe connected to an external channel.
――Headquarters to all units. We’ve successfully neutralized the
lives of Cardo Nabo and all key members. Retreat as soon as
preparaons to blow up the front are complete.
There was no doubt in Elnora’s mind that what the cold, callous
tone said over the comms was true.
“Dr. Cardo… Why did you have to die…”
Elenora ghtened her grip.
――I repeat…
“Mommy,” Ericht murmured soly.
In the next instant, all the monitors in the cockpit came up, and
the boot-up prep sequence was iniated.
“A callback from layer 33? With whose authencaon vitals…?”
Elenora looked at the screen and felt a shiver go down her spine.
On it wasn’t her own name displayed, but Ericht’s. Layer 34 had been
reached.
“Mommy, did she wake up?”
Aghast, she looks at Ericht.
“Ah… ah…”
The Gundam is taking a life.
As her mother stuered and stammered, trying to find the words,
her daughter merely pouted in her lap.
7. LFRITH
A single mobile suit bursts forth from the launch port of
Fólkvangrr’s hangar. Once it stabilizes, it immediately begins to
accelerate towards the nearby sector where the Beguir-Beu and the
Lfrith Pre-Producon model are engaged in combat.
The mobile suit carrier Ulysses’ radar accurately captures this
movement. The operator informs Rajan.
――Strong electromagnec waves detected from within
Fólkvangrr. It’s an unregistered Permet idenficaon code.
“They have another machine?”
Rajan had to decide instantly whether to send addional troops or
retreat as a precauon. Preliminary intel indicated there were only
two Gundams. But nothing is ever certain. Currently, the Beguir-Beu
was overpowering the two Lfrith units with the andote, easily
downing one of them. Rajan didn’t believe the appearance of a third
unit would significantly alter the bale’s outcome. So he chose to
leave it in Kenanji’s hands.
The situaon analysis by Elnora, who pilots the third unit, is not
much different from Rajan’s.
Regardless of Ericht clearing Layer 33, she has had no pilot
training. She couldn’t possibly fight.
Sll, should they run away? If they did, Elnora and her daughter
would lose Nadim, a man irreplaceable to them, forever.
Despite seeing no chance of victory, Elnora, unlike Rajan, decided
to fight.
Within the Gundam Lfrith’s shell unit Ericht and Elnora occupied a
powerful red light surged.
Immediately, three Heingras give chase.
The moment Ericht reaches for the console, a bruise appears on
her face, but it glows a faint blue-white instead of red. Unlike Nadim
and the others, Ericht doesn’t seem to be in pain.
Immediately aer, small units are ejected from the Lfrith’s back.
As the three Heingra maneuver to posion the sun at their backs,
they simultaneously fire their beam rifles at the Lfrith.
Seven GUND-BITs whir around the Lfrith’s le arm, rapidly
orbing and combining to form a large shield that absorbs all the
beams from the three Heingra.
“One, two, three!”
With an innocent, childish voice unfing for the balefield, Ericht
counts and points at the Heingra. The monitor follows suit, locking
onto each target.
The GUND-BITs disengage from the shield formaon and rapidly
deploy from the Lfrith, surrounding and shoong down one Heingra
in a maer of moments. They pierce the head of a second one,
downing it as well.
The remaining Heingra barely avoids the GUND-BIT’s aack but
loses its beam rifle. The determined pilot draws a beam saber and
closes in on the Lfrith.
Sensing the situaon, all the GUND-BIT swarm and circle around
the Lfrith. Two connect to the beam rifle, releasing a larger beam and
destroying the last Heingra.
Elnora was consumed by a visceral dread——she had killed
someone for the first me——or perhaps, had forced her daughter to
do so. She had no intenon of fighng or taking down enemies.
“Mommy, mommy!”
Yet, at her child’s voice, Elnora jolted back to reality.
Ericht wore an innocent smile.
“They look just like candles! Isn’t it prey?”
“You’re right…”
The mother held her daughter close, her head bowed. This was no
me for fear. She had to protect her daughter, her husband——and
their comrades.
Yet even such thoughts were disrupted by the blaring alert.
Immediately aer, a flash of light assaulted Elnora and Ericht.
It was a powerful beam emied by the Beguir-Beu.
The Lfrith——or perhaps Ericht, unconsciously——shielded
themselves with the GUND-BIT’s shield and retaliated with a beam of
their own.
The Beguir-Beu evaded the counteraack while slashing at the
Lfrigh with a sword in its le hand.
Just before the impact, the Lfrith produced a blade-like beam
from its rifle, parrying the enemy’s slash.
The blades clashed, scaering sparks into the void of space.
At this moment, Kenanji, who was pilong the Beguir-Beu,
remained composed.
“Not bad. However…”
With the swi judgment befing an ace pilot, Kenanji acvated
the non-kinec pod again, deploying an andote.
“This is all a Gundam can–”
In an instant, the GUN-BITs lost control and froze in place.
“No!!”
Stunned by the potent jamming against the GUND format, Elnora
could hardly believe it.
Sensing the enemy’s confusion from the flicker of their blade,
Kenanji didn’t miss a beat. He swung the Beguir-Beu’s right sword and
severed the Lfrith’s le arm.
“Ah!”
Elnora screamed while Ericht was paralyzed with fear.
Just as Kenanji was about to deal the final blow, an unexpected
shock ran through his cockpit.
Nadim’s unit had fired a beam vulcan from a distance unreachable
by the andote.
The non-kinec pod was heavily damaged——Kenanji faltered for
a moment.
Immediately, Nadim’s unit clung onto the Beguir-Beu,
simultaneously kicking its thrusters to full power and pulling away
from Elnora’s unit.
The two Lfrith units entered comms range, and a channel was
opened.
“Is that you, Elnora?”
Most of Nadim’s face was covered in bruises from using the
GUND format.
“Nadim!”
“Daddy!”
Ericht seemed delighted to hear her father’s voice.
“Damn you…”
Kenanji tried to chase aer Elnora’s unit but was hindered by
Nadim’s unit clinging onto him.
The groaning of his unit was audible even in the cockpit, making
Kenanji grow more irate.
“Let go of me, damn Gundam!”
Nadim, breathing heavily, spoke to Elnora.
“You have to run, Elnora.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m coming–”
Nadim gently interrupted Elnora’s words.
“You’re not the only one escaping here!”
Nadim’s eyes flicked to Ericht on the monitor. Their daughter was
staring intently at her mother.
Elnora understood what Nadim wanted to say. But just as she was
about to object, interference began to disrupt their comms. The
distance was increasing. Their connecon would soon be severed.
“Live. Both you and Ericht. For everyone’s sake!”
“…!!”
At that moment, a powerful beam grazed the cockpit carrying the
mother and child, illuminang them brightly. On Elnora’s face, an
unbearable sorrow was etched.
Then, two more shots——fire from the mobile suit carrier Ulysses.
Now, when they couldn’t use the GUN-BIT——even if they could——if
hit directly by the ship’s cannon, even the Lfrith wouldn’t come out
unscathed.
Elnora’s hand trembled.
Aer repeated hesitaon, Elnora gripped the controls, inverng
the atude control direcon.
“I love you, Nadim.”
Ideally, they should have been out of communicaon range. But
her voice reached him.
“I love you too.”
Nadim quietly murmured before pushing the GUND Format to its
limit.
“Permet score, four!”
The shell unit of Nadim’s unit glowed red. Then, enveloped in
light, it accelerated further while clutching the Beguir-Beu.
The Beguir-Beu was uerly overpowered and couldn’t resist.
Nadim’s labored breathing signaled the approaching end.
“Yaaaaah?!”
Nadim’s pupils turned a deep, bruise-like red. All he could see was
the Beguir-Beu. The inflow of Permet exceeded the limit, plunging
into the realm of a “data storm.”
In the far distance, Fólkvangrr——where he spent irreplaceable
me with Elnora and Ericht——was blowing up. Although Nadim’s
percepon had become unstable, regreably, the fall of the research
facility, his own death, and everything else was all but certain.
8. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
As the bale was winding down, Nadim vividly experienced it. The
party which could no longer take place, where the living room door
opened, and Ericht scurried in. Was it a dream shown by the Permet?
──Daddy, I'm home!
──Welcome back.
Nadim gently embraced Ericht as Elnora entered the living room.
On the table, there was a birthday cake for Ericht.
──What's a birthday, Daddy?
──It's when we celebrate the day you were born, Eri.
──And what do we do to celebrate?
──Well...
"Mommy. Hey, mommy."
Elnora, struggling to pilot the Lfrith and crushed by guilt and
responsibility, was unable to respond to her daughter's pleas.
Then, a voice, which should not be heard in the cockpit,
resonated.
──Happy... birthday... to you...
That singing voice, though mixed with an awful noise, was
unmistakably recognized by Elnora as her husband's. She listened
intently, head bowed. She wasn't hallucinang it.
Eri's eyes sparkled.
"Daddy! It's Daddy!"
The song reached the cockpit of Beguir-Beu as well. Kenanji was
suddenly puzzled. It wasn't comms from his team. Could it be from
the enemy persistently pushing his unit? But to sing during a bale...
The same song echoed in the Ulysses' bridge.
"Cut off the communicaon."
Rajan issued the command, suppressing his shaken emoons.
But his subordinate replied in confusion.
"I can't. The source appears to be the Gundam."
In fact, the line was never open to begin with.
──Happy birth...day... dear Ericht...
The bridge grew even more restless.
Rajan stared into the darkness of space.
But the song finally ended.
"What's going on?"
The arms of the Lfrith pre-producon prototype lost their
strength, and the glow of the shell unit vanished. The Beguir-Beu
confirmed it had gone silent and brushed aside Nadim's suit.
"Happy birthday to you."
Inside the Lfrith, Ericht connued singing joyfully.
As if shaking off the voice of her husband, which she could no
longer hear, Elnora started to withdraw from their sector of space.
Meanwhile, at the press conference, Delling raised his fist and
declared.
──And our Cathedra shall deny...
Delling's gaze was sharp.
──all Gundams.
#1 The Witch and the Bride
The readiness is all.
From William Shakespeare’s “
Hamlet
”
[LAGRANGE POINT] The term refers to the gravitaonal equilibrium points between two
celesal bodies — such as the Earth and the Moon. There are five points from L1 to L5, and
because the energy required to maintain a fixed posion in these areas is reduced, many fronts
are concentrated there. Ascassia School of Technology is located at L4.
1. SULETTA MERCURY
Suletta Mercury, a seventeen-year-old pilot with a head of fiery
red hair, basks in the zero-gravity of her cockpit, surrounded by
munchies and her pen case, beaming as she ticks off the admissions
process paperwork on her tablet. Her airtight suit, a brilliant shade of
yellow, seems to mirror her delight. A polar bear face printed on the
side of her helmet only adds to it.
“Admission process, check.”
She continues flicking through the school uniform order form and
the regulations outlined in the student handbook displayed on her
screen.
“Uniform, check. School regulations, check. Cockpit regulations,
check.”
Suddenly, a shimmering light darts across the main monitor,
illuminating the cockpit. Its radiance seemed to be conveying a
message to Suletta.
“Don’t worry, Aerial. I did an application for you, too.”
Suletta conversed with Aerial, the mobile suit she was in, as if it
were completely natural.
Mobile suits are giant, humanoid machines that tower over the
human form. An individual boards a cockpit inside it and, through the
support of numerous operating systems, wields the colossus.
It is Ad Stella 122, and many corporations are pioneering the
development of various types of mobile suits.
An announcement comes in over the cockpit speakers.
“Arriving at Front Sector 73, Asticassia School of Technology, in
five minutes. The ship will now enter a docking course.”
Manipulating the student handbook out of her way, she brought
up the shipboard guidance menu on her main console. By linking her
monitor’s visuals to the transport ship’s cameras, Suletta was able to
witness a vast school materialize before her very eyes.
“That’s… the school?”
As she leaned forward, her heart skipped a beat at the
breathtaking sight before her, something new and unlike anything she
had ever encountered.
“Mom, I finally made it!”
The transport ship starts to realign itself toward the Front’s
spaceport.
Suddenly, Suletta catches a shimmer on her main sight and zooms
in with the camera feed. Despite some initial graininess, a second and
third zoom resolves the image of a figure in a spacesuit, floating
aimlessly in the void, seemingly unconscious or drained of energy.
“What? No Way! You can’t! No, no, no, no!”
She frantically hailed the bridge. They appeared on her monitor.
“This is the bridge.”
“They’ll die!”
Suletta’s cry crackled throughout the bridge.
“What?” the crewman replied, shocked into a simple response.
The crew’s monitor displayed a close-up of Suletta’s face.
“S-someone is… Someone is outside!”
Doubting what he heard, the crewman switches to the external
cameras and sees the white spacesuit for himself. A glance at the seat
next to him and the other crew member nods in agreement and
triggers the emergency broadcast.
“Rescue team, alert. A person is in need of rescue. Prepare for
extravehicular activity!”
On the bridge, the crew springs into action, executing start-up
sequences on a small craft. The airlock in the hangar releases its seal,
letting out a rush of air as the pressure drops. Simultaneously,
preparations begin to send out a launch.
“Please confirm victim’s status. Are there any signs of collision with
debris?” the crew asks Suletta.
But, the words fail to reach Suletta, her mind is preoccupied with
rescuing the victim. How long has that person in the spacesuit been
in space and in need of rescue? Do they have any oxygen left? She
was sure she was right.
The crew was also acting quickly.
Suletta connects the cables on the seat to her airtight suit
attachment to boot-up the cockpit. Her main visual switches to
external monitors where she sees the hangar hatch open.
Donning her helmet and hastily tucking her bag of munchies that
had been floating around her into a pouch on her suit, she murmurs
to herself in a small voice.
“If you move forward, you gain two.”
It’s the mantra she uses to move forward when she’s lost.
“What?”
With a fierce grip on the control levers, she declares, “I’ll save
them!”
Aerial’s eyes blaze green as the suit struggles to break free of its
cage, forcing it to unlock and allowing it to take a step forward. The
giant’s steps were big and fast.
The nearby hangar staff scattered as the crew from the bridge
cried out, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Leave the rescue to
us!”
But Suletta was unstoppable. As if in perfect harmony with her
emotions, the Aerial vaulted forward.
“Wah!”
“Do they intend to leave the ship?”
“Damn it…” Despite their apparent frustration, the crew chose to
overlook Suletta’s spontaneous behavior.
“Attention mobile suit pilot! We’re opening the exit hatch. Stay put
until then!”
The outer hatch seal broke and started to open slowly. Peering
outside, Suletta cautiously walked toward the ship’s exterior.
“I-I’m sorry–“
“If you spot someone in need of rescue, let us know. We’ll respond
immediately,” the crew interrupted her apology, being professionals
and knowing that Suletta wasn’t to blame.
“Yes sir!”
Suletta positioned herself at the edge of the hatch and gently
jetted out into space to prevent any damage to the ship. Activating its
orbital maneuvering thrusters, the suit quickly stabilized its
orientation and headed toward the location of the person in need of
rescue.
When the beacon on their spacesuit chimed, they looked up, only
slightly opening their eyes. The suit, with its transparent visor, has a
delicate yet airtight multilayer fiber. Despite the close proximity of
the vacuum of space that is inhospitable to life, the stars filling the
sky were a magnificent sight.
A light caught their attention, moving among the stars. It was the
thruster light of a spacecraft’s propulsion engine, coming and going as
it deftly adjusted itself as it drew nearer.
“Could this be the ship that came to pick me up as promised?”
Gradually, the shape began to materialize. It wasn’t a ship, but a
blue-and-white mobile suit, the Aerial. So, naturally, it was the first
time the person needing rescue had laid eyes on the machine.
The Aerial made minute corrections to its trajectory and carefully
reached out to the person, keeping their relative speed as close to
zero as possible. But the person began to struggle to escape, fearing
it was coming to capture them.
Seeing this play out and misinterpreting it as their distress, Suletta
cried out, “Almost out of oxygen? Beginning rescue!”
The two huge mechanical hands of the mobile suit secure them as
if to protect them. Without hesitation, Suletta opened the cockpit
hatch and sprang out into the void.
The rescued person struggled, likely confused, their limbs flailing.
Cradling them, Suletta detaches their propulsion pack, and kicks off
the manipulators, swiftly returning to the cockpit.
As the hatch closes, air begins pumping back into the cockpit, the
outer wall of the hatch also closing completely.
Suletta immediately calls out to them. Normally, helmets would
prevent voices from being heard, but contact lines open with a touch
to the helmet, making conversations possible.
“Are… Are you okay?”
A message of ‘oxygen replenishing’ is displayed as the memory
indicates the air quality within the cockpit is quickly rising.
“Hello? Can you–” Suletta attempted to call out to the person,
giving them a shake. But before she could even finish her sentence,
she was met with a fierce headbutt from the person she had just
rescued, a clear indication they were just fine.
“Nnngh!”
Suletta winced, feeling dizzy, despite the two of them wearing
helmets.
A voice full of anger and frustration sounds in Suletta’s helmet,
“Don’t interfere!”
“Excuse me?” Suletta couldn’t help but ask in return.
As the cockpit’s air supply stabilizes, the person raises their visor.
There, was a girl the same age as Suletta, with silvery hair and
eyes. She couldn’t help but stare at her with rapt fascination.
“I’d almost made my escape! Because of you, it’s all for nothing!
You’ll take responsibility for this!”
This silver-haired girl snarled, glaring daggers at Suletta as she
grabbed her by the chest and yanked her closer. There was no sign of
gratitude whatsoever.
“Sure,” Suletta responded, caught off guard by her ferocity and not
fully comprehending the meaning of the response that escaped her
lips.
2. ASTICASSIA
The arficial space known as a "Front" is an asteroid that has been
meculously transformed into a home for humanity, mirroring the
Earth in its trappings of sky, land, and human habitaon.
One of the numerous Fronts was the Ascassia School of
Technology Front.
Sulea found herself dazzled by the unfamiliar view before her.
The monorail glided down the central sha, whisking through the
network of tunnels before reaching the academic sector. Students
zipped along the connecng roadway between the dormitories and
the school structure on electric bikes, each partnered with a spherical
terminal affeconately called "Haro."
The staon swarmed with students in the morning rush to school.
Should she follow these kids? As Sulea wondered, a guide robot
controlled by Haro approached her and started talking. This being her
first encounter, Sulea bowed deeply, showing her respect.
A Demi Trainer mobile suit strolled leisurely along the footpath
outside the school building. As chaering students waved from the
crosswalk, the Demi Trainer paused, swiveling its head in their
direcon. One of their peers was at its helm.
In a large classroom, praccal training using Mobile Cras was
underway.
A gesture from a Mechanic department student was the cue for
the Demi Trainers to ascend, one aer another, from their
underground bunkers.
Once the students placed their handbooks within the Demi Trainer
cockpit, the main console's monitor came alive, displaying the view
from the head-eye camera on the primary sight. As the cockpit hatch
slid shut, the front skirt above the mobile suit's legs descended.
The lock disengaged, and the Demi Trainer ambled from its cage
toward the entrance. The hangar doors yawned open, revealing
idencal machines lined up in formaon inside, and beyond that,
several more were in moon across the parking area.
Sulea stood before the hangar, her gaze lingering on the training
ground. Her eyes were alight with ancipaon.
"Ms. Sulea Mercury?"
"Y-Yes!"
Startled by the sudden call, Sulea's voice hitched.
"You're here to observe the drills, right? I'm Nika Nanaura, a
second-year student in Mechanics. If you have any quesons, just
ask."
With her striking blue underlayer of hair, Nika extended a warm
smile. Her are – not the typical uniform but the Mechanic
department's work clothes – hinted at her ongoing training.
"Yes, M... Thank y... Thank y-you verr..."
Caught unawares by the sudden interacon, Sulea stuered
through her response, her nervousness apparent.
"Are you nervous?"
"I-I've never... been to... a school before."
"It's your first me?"
Nika, taken aback, echoed the queson. She had assumed Sulea
had transferred from a Mercury school. But then, were there even
schools on Mercury?
At that moment, a trio of female students barged in, seemingly
elbowing Nika aside.
In a flurry of excitement, they peppered Sulea with inquiries.
"Say, is it true you're from Mercury?"
"Do people live there?"
"U-um, well..." Sulea struggled to find her words.
"What's your major?"
Aer a moment of confusion, Sulea awkwardly decided to sit on
her knees, carefully avoiding the trio's gaze, and finally replied, "I'm in
the Pilong department..."
"That makes you one of the elite!"
"What did you transfer here for?"
The volley of intrusive quesons connued unabated.
"My mother... told me to go."
"Your mother?"
The students exchanged glances.
"So did she also tell you to wear that old-fashioned hair band?"
"Cut it out!"
The trio laughed innocently, their quesons playful and teasing.
Nika frowned at their ancs, but to everyone's surprise, Sulea
responded cheerfully, not missing a beat.
"Yes, of course!"
Their laughter died on their lips as they stared, speechless.
"Seriously?"
Sulea noced their astonished expressions, but before she could
react, the rapid paer of approaching footsteps caught her aenon.
3. MIORINE REMBRAN
The source of the footsteps aracted aenon as she walked up
to a teacher, seemingly ignoring everyone around her.
Sulea recognized the stern face.
"Oh..."
It was definitely the girl who had headbued her.
"Miorine Rembran. I've heard what happened."
Silver-haired and silver-eyed, Miorine seemed to grasp from the
hushed whispers and sidelong glances that her current predicament
was common knowledge. She mentally shrugged off the nuisance.
As Sulea surveyed her surroundings, she spoed two figures,
apparently not students, dressed in business suits a short distance
behind Miorine. The bodyguard-like are suggested that Miorine was
of special status.
The teacher acknowledged Miorine but gave no overt reacon,
merely signaling for her to assimilate into the class.
"Prepare immediately to join the class."
"Yes, sir."
Just as Miorine started walking, a mid voice waed through the
air.
"I-I'll take..."
Sulea, half-concealed behind a tablet and appearing ready to bolt
at any moment, slowly approached Miorine.
"I'll take responsibility!"
Miorine tried to catch a glimpse of her face. However, Sulea, sll
hiding behind the tablet, mustered enough courage to voice her
intenon.
"I-I'll help you with your escape! Just tell me what I should do!"
Sulea had only shared a brief dialogue with Miorine during the
rescue operaon and was clueless about Miorine's objecves or
intended desnaon.
On the other hand, Miorine, recognizing the familiar voice,
exclaimed, "It's you! You're the girl who got in my way!
A murmur of confusion spread amongst the students.
"Responsibility?"
"What's that?"
Desperate to sfle their probing, Miorine retorted, "Idiot! This isn't
the place..."
Miorine was eager to escape the awkward situaon, but an
unwelcome comment was hurled at them.
"Responsibility, huh? Why not let her take it?"
The one stoking the flames was Felsi Rollo, a second-year student
in the pilot department, currently garbed in her pilot suit. Beside her
was Petra Ia, a second-year student in the Mechanic department,
clad in the same work clothes as Nika, though somewhat disheveled.
Miorine, aware of their allegiance to Guel, didn't take their veiled
hoslity to heart. Nonetheless, a smirking Felsi connued her
provocaon from her seated posion.
"You want to run away, right? To Earth."
Miorine shot Felsi a fierce glare.
"Class is in session! No more chaer!"
The teacher's stern admonion defused the tension, albeit
temporarily. Sulea, her face sll shielded by her tablet, studied
Miorine closely.
"Earth?"
As her thoughts spiraled, an alarming sound echoed out, disturbing
the normal rhythm of the class.
Several Demi Trainers, in the midst of training, grew alert.
The panels on the ceiling were changing one aer another, and
two names were displayed there.
One of them incited a severe frown from Miorine.
Following this, blast doors flew open with a thunderous roar, the
air shimmering from the heat exhaust of mobile suits.
Two mobile suits—the Dilanza and Kapell-Kuu—were embroiled in
a fierce bout.
The Dilanza, wielding its green-pped, beam parzan spear, was
driving the Kapell-Kuu towards the center of the training ground. The
Kapell-Kuu maintained a strategic distance, unleashing its beam
vulcan.
The Dilanza, employing its hover unit, managed to evade the
onslaught of bullets. Stray beams exploded and scaered against the
barrier shield lining the paron wall.
The teacher, a pair of binoculars in hand, grimly surveyed the
unfolding scene.
"A red Dilanza. It must be Guel Jeturk."
Amidst the escalang bale, the school's broadcast system
acvated. The voice that resonated was surprisingly calm.
──
Apologies for interrupng your drills. This is an official duel,
approved by the Dueling Commiee. I, Shaddiq Zenelli, will be the
witness. I ask that no one interfere.
In the lounge of the Duel Commiee, Shaddiq wore a confident
grin. Encircling him were three commiee members—Elan Ceres,
Secelia Dote, and Rouji Chante—seated in close proximity.
4. GUEL JETURK
"A duel?"
Sulea, rooted on the training ground, was struggling to piece
together the situaon. Nonetheless, she found herself uerly
absorbed by the raging bale.
With a broad swing, the Dilanza's beam parzan clashed with the
Kapell-Kuu. The strength of the Dilanza was staggering. The pilot of
the Dilanza—Guel Jeturk—spoed a figure standing in front of the
hangar, right behind his opponent's mobile suit. The onboard camera
zoomed in on Miorine.
A smirk crept onto Guel's face as he checked the monitor.
Immediately, the Dilanza launched a powerful offensive, forcing its
adversary backward.
"Hey! That way is..." the pilot of the Kapell-Kuu cried out, but it was
too late. The two mobile suits were closing in on the students.
"Huh?"
"No way."
"Are they coming toward us?"
Sll fixated on the bale, Sulea was oblivious to the danger.
Behind her, Felsi and Petra were whooping and cheering.
"Go, Guel!"
"Get him!"
In a fierce flash, the Dilanza's beam parzan sliced through the
Kapell-Kuu's blade. The crippled Kapell-Kuu tossed aside its destroyed
weapon, aempted to regain its foong, but the Dilanza's cross-
shaped beam pierced its head. The impact sent the Kapell-Kuu flying
backward, crashing onto the ground.
"Ms. Sulea!"
Nika spoed Sulea, sll frozen on the spot, staring wide-eyed at
the mobile suits. Panic took hold of her.
Sulea's sleeve was jerked.
"You fool! Do you want to get hit?"
It was Miorine. Pulled by the hand, Sulea started to run.
Behind them, the Dilanza sliced off the blade antenna from the
felled Kapell-Kuu.
"Run!" Miorine shouted.
The blade antenna whirled through the air and landed with a
thunderous crash right behind Sulea and Miorine. The body of the
Kapell-Kuu collapsed, a giant dust cloud billowing up and shrouding
the workspace in front of the hangar.
When the dust seled, they saw the fallen Kapell-Kuu and the
Dilanza, retracng its parzan. Sulea and Miorine lay some distance
away, panng heavily.
"Did you see that, Miorine? How Guel Jeturk fights his duels! Both
you and the company will be mine before long."
A voice, brimming with confidence, echoed across the field.
Miorine looked up. Standing on the cockpit hatch of the Dilanza,
chest puffed, was the victor of this bale—Guel Jeturk, his white pilot
suit with gold embellishment gleaming under the lights.
Guel's father, the CEO of Jeturk Heavy Machinery, backed the
powerful Jeturk House, which owned its own school ship. From the
bridge of this ship, Guel's half-brother, Lauda Neill, addressed him,
"Class is sll in session, brother. Leave here immediately."
However, Guel connued his rade.
"The bastard down there laughed at me. Calling me a man with a
runaway bride."
"Bride?"
Sulea blinked, alarmed by the word. She turned to look at
Miorine.
"That jerk."
Miorine spat, disgust etched on her face. She rose to her feet and
briskly walked away.
"Hold it, Miorine! The rules say that when you lose, you apologize
like a groveling worm. I want you to see how he does that."
Miorine didn't turn back. Sulea watched her as she walked away,
an air of defiance around her.
The training field echoed with nothing but Guel's mocking laughter.
5. GREENHOUSE
The residenal structures called a Front in Ad Stella are based on
an asteroid and equipped with arficial gravity. By rotang the enre
or paral secons of the Front, centrifugal force generates a gravity
level equivalent to Earth's, an even 1G. As a result, the residents of
each Front, although largely born in space, are genecally no different
from Earthborn humans. They can live in space throughout their lives
without suffering from muscle atrophy or bone loss caused by zero
gravity or lower gravity.
Miorine meandered through the woodland fringe of the campus. It
was a modest forest, but it teemed with trees - Earthborn life
reshaped to endure the cosmic environment, flourishing under the
pseudo gravity. The foliage bore the mark of genec modificaons—
tools against pests and preservaon issues, mere conngencies for
closed environmental living. Yet, to Miorine, it mirrored the familiar
verdancy of Earth's own forests.
Beyond the embrace of the forest stood a greenhouse. Miorine
manipulated the controls at the entrance, causing the door to ascend
with a smooth glide, like a mechanical blind. An outpour of light
unveiled the blossoming chaos of flora within, the ripe tomatoes and
vibrant flowers basking in the arficial sunlight.
"I'm home," she announced to the greenhouse, her voice laced with
mordant humor. It was an unplanned return, an unexpected reunion
with her green tenants. Unsurprisingly, the tomatoes offered no
response.
An unfamiliar voice punctuated the silence, reaching her from the
forest's edge.
"E-Excuse me!"
She recognized the voice instantly. It was that meddling girl. She
seemed harmless enough, though.
Miorine half-turned towards her.
"You again?"
"I-I just wanted to thank you for saving me earlier." Sulea bowed,
her words stumbling out in a rush.
"Huh?" Miorine furrowed her brows. She had merely helped a child
who seemed about to get caught up in something. She didn't recall
anything warranng gratude.
The girl asked the queson that had evidently been troubling her.
"M-Ms. Miorine, about your fiance--"
Miorine cut her off sharply, "Stop. I never agreed to any of that."
The very menon of Guel was enough to stoke her ire. Sulea
seemed taken aback, her cheeks reddening as she aempted to
process this informaon.
"You mean that guy just decided on his own that you're engaged?"
Sulea's words hung in the air, her mind evidently reeling from the
prospect.
Miorine paused, considered her words, then finally explained, "It
was a duel. At our school, the students sele important maers
through duels. Money, authority, apologies... Even marriage partners."
Her emoons bled into the final word. Frustraon, bierness,
resignaon - a cocktail of senments that Sulea undoubtedly
sensed, her confusion apparent, yet it morphed into worry.
"So you're going to marry him? Why?"
"My lousy father designed it that way."
Meanwhile, in a region not far from Ascassia, inside another Front
floang in space, a congregaon of the influenal Benerit Group was
poised to commence. The meeng was presided over by none other
than the Group's president, Delling Rembran - the father of Miorine.
"Jeturk Heavy Machinery, Peil Technologies, Grassley Defense
Systems... These three are the Benerit Group's highest earners for this
period."
Each named corporaon was a giant in the mobile suit industry,
commonly referred to as the 'Big Three.'
The CEO of Jeturk, Vim Jeturk, slouched in a show of calculated
nonchalance as if the honor was a predetermined fact. Before him
were the quartet who helmed Peil Technologies and Sarius Zenelli, the
CEO of Grassley Defense Systems.
Glimpses of other company delegates blinked across a mounted
monitor - some obscured behind the steel veneer of their headgear.
Each announcement from Delling was met with a symphony of
applause resonang from the screen's depths.
Yet, Delling's voice sliced through the celebratory din, "However..."
The thunderous applause dwindled to an echo as the word hung
heavy in the room.
"...the Parneo Company has recorded a loss for three consecuve
periods. Our group has no need for companies in the red. I am hereby
suspending their access to the group's finances."
Projected onto the oversized screen, the Parneo Company's CEO
grew visibly pallid.
"Wait a minute, President Delling! If that happens, we'll go bank--"
"Exactly. You'll go bankrupt."
Delling's gaze bore into the man, as unforgiving as the cosmic void.
The CEO of Parneo Company wilted under the weight of the
sentence, unable to counter the icy proclamaon.
"Their financial documents indicate there is potenal for recovery."
"They've had their chance. The only thing I'm interested in is
results."
Delling rose, the gesture a silent gavel declaring the discussion
concluded. Sarius Zenelli's stoic countenance betrayed no surprise at
the verdict. Vim's gaze, however, followed Delling with an
undercurrent of animosity.
Aer leaving the room, Delling was immediately approached by his
secretary, Rajan, who began reporng.
"I've assigned two agents to keep watch on Mistress Miorine.
Would you like to meet them?"
"For what?"
Delling connued his stride, not even a flicker of interest at the
menon of his daughter.
"You know beer than to waste my me."
6. TOMATO
Beneath the foliage of the greenhouse, Miorine lied the lid of a
floor storage bin. It was a trove of refrigerated tomatoes, a veritable
feast of vibrant reds. She gingerly added a handful of her mother's
tomato seeds into the mix. Though she'd inially dreamed of ferrying
the enre greenhouse back to Earth, she'd reconciled with seling for
her mother's precious seeds.
Hovering by the entrance, Sulea observed Miorine with curiosity.
Her two bodyguards lingered further off; their watchful eyes trained
on the sole exit.
Overcome by curiosity, she ptoed towards the threshold, her foot
almost breaching the oasis of green.
"Stay out!"
Miorine's voice snapped, sending Sulea scampering back.
"I-I'm sorry," she stuered, though her gaze never wavered from
Miorine.
With a hint of irritaon, Miorine asked, "What is your deal?"
"Excuse me, what is that?"
"What is what? It's a tomato, naturally."
"That's a tomato?"
Pure astonishment was etched on Sulea's face as she looked at
the tomato, having seen one for the first me.
Miorine, just as purely, was flabbergasted, "What exactly do you
Mercurians eat?"
"We do have tomato flavoring, but..."
As if on cue, Sulea's stomach growled.
"Uh..."
Embarrassed, Sulea tried to disguise the sound by holding her
stomach and sinking to the ground.
Aer a moment, Miorine placed something wrapped in paper
beside Sulea. As the paper unfolded, a large, red tomato made its
grand appearance.
"Here."
With that, Miorine retreated into the depths of the greenhouse.
Sulea turned to face the plump red globe that was the tomato,
cradling it tenderly within her hands.
"Th-Thank you!"
Yet here, Sulea was stumped. The maer of its consumpon
eluded her. Without much thought, her gaze flied towards Miorine.
"Umm..."
"Just bite into it."
Miorine instructed, her gaze not straying toward Sulea. Inspecng
the tomato warily, apprehension creeping through her veins, Sulea
took Miorine's advice and bit into it.
Juice from the tomato, alien to Sulea's palate, trickled down her
chin. The vibrant flavor, the scent of freshness, caused Sulea's eyes
to gleam in appreciaon. A singular word, an uerance of sasfacon,
bloomed within her mind.
"Delicious!"
From Sulea, that simple proclamaon carried an air of authencity
that was hard to dismiss. Miorine, who had been absently stroking the
petal of a poed flower, spoke up.
"Not all tomatoes taste good. That one's special."
As Sulea shied her aenon from the tomato back to Miorine,
she found herself ancipang the next words, tomato juice sll
smeared on her cheek.
"My mother made it," Miorine added.
"She made a tomato? "
"That specific breed, of course!"
"Your mother..."
At the menon of 'mother,' Sulea's interest was piqued, and she
regarded the tomato with newfound wonder.
"It's the same for me. My mother sent me here to study so that I
could make Mercury a more prosperous planet. That's why..."
Yet, as if a shuer of her heart had closed, Miorine's expression
darkened once again.
"I see. So your mother is sll alive."
"S-S-Sorry!"
Sensing the undercurrent of Miorine's emoons, Sulea stumbled
over her words in a panic, seeking to apologize.
While she was sll grappling with her emoons, Miorine took
charge of the situaon.
"Hand me your student notebook."
Without a word, Miorine retrieved the student notebook from
Sulea and busied herself with its operaons. Her intenons were
clear; Sulea was to leave as soon as possible.
Being unfamiliar with the complexies of the student handbook,
Sulea could only watch in silence.
"You don't know the way back, right? Once I've given you the
school map app, scram and leave me alone."
"Right..."
Before Sulea could muster a response, a voice laden with self-
importance echoed outside the greenhouse.
"Playing farmer again? All this pretending you're on Earth... what's it
good for?"
The voice belonged to Guel Jeturk.
He stood out, wearing a uniform starkly different from the
standard blue-green of Sulea and Miorine, his white garb adorned
with a gleaming gold insignia.
With his jacket casually draped over his shoulders, Guel ascended
the greenhouse stairs, followed by his younger brother, Lauda, and a
duo of juniors who admired him: Felsi and Petra. Next to Miorine,
Guel's towering figure was an imposing sight. He was quite literally
looking down upon her, yet Miorine, unbowed, retorted.
"Guel. You can't just barge in here."
Nonetheless, Guel sauntered into the room without a hint of
hesitaon, his voice echoing loudly, the very embodiment of his
domineering presence, not just to Miorine but to everyone in
aendance.
"I came up with a bright idea. From now on, you're gonna live with
us at Jeturk House. We can't have any more escape aempts, aer
all."
His words were met with smirks from Felsi and Petra, spectang
from the sidelines.
Miorine challenged Guel's audacity, "I never agreed to this."
"It's your father who made the rules."
"Do we always have to follow what our parents decide? Aren't you
daddy's lile lap dog?"
With these bing words, Miorine painted a scornful smile on her
face. Guel, in a fit of rage, began a destrucve spree, knocking over
the wall-mounted plant pots in a row.
"What are you doing? Leave them alone!"
As flowers and soil scaered and gardening tools lay ruined,
Miorine launched herself at Guel, only to be forcefully rebuffed.
A piful cry escaped Miorine as she crumpled to the floor, the
shock causing the drawer's tomatoes to scaer across the ground.
"Oh, how clumsy, my lady! Beer watch yourself!" jeered Petra and
Felsi, basking in Miorine's humiliaon.
Sulea, in a fluster, seized Laud's sleeve, pleading for him to
intervene.
"W-We have to... we have to stop--"
"If you want to stop my brother, do it yourself."
"Sh-She needs h..."
Sulea couldn't help but whisper. However, Miorine's bodyguards,
staoned outside the greenhouse and fully aware of the chaos within,
remained apathec, their yawns indicang their disinterest. They
seemed to be present merely to stymie Miorine's escape.
Guel aggressively snapped a branch he picked up and brandished it
menacingly at Miorine as though threatening to strike her with it.
"I've been too lenient with you, it seems. As your future husband,
I'll have to teach you some discipline. You just need to shut your
mouth and give yourself over to me."
Before another word could escape his lips, Sulea pulled back her
arm and landed a swi blow on Guel's posterior.
THWACK!
The sasfying reverberaon filled the greenhouse. Miorine's eyes
widened in astonishment.
'OUCH!'
Caught off guard, Guel let out a yelp. He spun around, only to find
Sulea, a stranger, standing there defiantly, her knees quivering.
Both Lauda and his entourage stood speechless.
However, Sulea, summoning her courage, met Guel's gaze
unflinchingly.
"D-D-Didn't your mother ever teach you? You can't act like that!"
Her bravado remained undiminished, though her legs betrayed her
fear. Yet she connued to rebuke Guel. Infuriated, he closed in on
Sulea.
"What the hell's your problem?"
"Heeee!"
Sulea shrieked as he leaned in, his forehead nearly grazing hers.
"Don't you know who I am?"
She quickly sidestepped Guel and found refuge behind Petra.
"What the...?" Petra muered, taken aback by this sudden
development.
Sulea wracked her brains before hesitantly offering, "Um, well... A
pushy suitor?"
At Sulea's aempt to guess his name, both Petra and Felsi burst
out laughing.
"Pff!"
Mocked by his own entourage, an infuriated Guel declared loudly,
"I happen to be the heir to one of the three branches of the Benerit
Group, the head of the Dueling Commiee, and the reigning Holder!"
"Holder?"
"The school's number one pilot, as chosen through duels."
Sll shielded by Petra, Sulea retorted bravely, "Th-That may be
true, but... But what's wrong is wrong! Please tell Ms. Miorine that
you're sorry!"
"Huh? Here at this school, right and wrong are decided through
duels. Or would you like to duel me yourself? Hahaha."
Guel laughed dismissively at Sulea's audacious proposal. He was
confident that she was in no posion to defy him. But he was about
to be proven gravely mistaken. Sulea emerged from behind Petra,
her gaze unwavering.
"I accept."
"What?"
Once again, the smile plastered on Guel's face melted away.
"You and I will duel!"
Sulea declared resolutely. She had taken Guel's casual suggeson
seriously and accepted the challenge, looking him square in the eye.
"Stop it! This has nothing to do with you!"
Miorine, who had been lying on the floor, started to get up, but
Guel cut her off. His demeanor had changed; his mirth was replaced
by grim determinaon.
"Sounds fun. If you lose, you'll have to leave the school."
"Right," Sulea responded confidently.
"You idiot!"
Miorine's helpless cry echoed through the greenhouse, but it did
lile to dampen Sulea's resolve.
A determined fire flickered in her eyes.
"I'll do it."
7. DUEL
Within the cavernous hangar of the Jeturk House's academy ship,
students assigned to maintenance bustled around, prepping a mobile
suit for dispatch. As the large shuer slid open, Guel's formidable
Dilanza was ushered into the airlock chamber.
"Send the carrier to Gate No. 2! Load it with spare packs, too!"
The voice of Kamil Kaysink, the Jeturk House's chief mechanic and
a senior from the Mechanic department, reverberated through the
hangar.
Up on the bridge, the operator meculously oversaw the launch
procedures.
"The carrier is now moving to Gate No.2. Spare packages are
loaded."
The Dilanza was secured within the container.
──
Phase 02 of launch preparaons. All personnel, final check.
Lauda was on the bridge with the staff and felt the weight of his
brother Guel's upcoming duel. His victory was crucial for the Jeturk
House.
Guel, now donning a pilot suit, climbed into the cockpit and
iniated the systems of Dilanza with pracced efficiency.
Across the academy, in classrooms and corridors, students tuned
into the impending duel, their eyes glued to student handbooks and
tablets.
"There's gonna be a duel!"
"With Mr. Guel!"
"Who's he against? "
"A transfer student, I hear."
The container housing Dilanza was transported to the catapult of
the Jeturk House's academy ship.
──Passage to taccal tesng sector. No obstacles. Takeoff
granted!
Following the operator's commands, the container was fastened
onto the carrier, rotated into launch posion, and then fired from the
catapult, following the distribuon paths spread across the Front to
the taccal tesng sector.
Simultaneously, at the spaceport of Benerit Group headquarters,
Guel's father, Vim Jeturk, was bidding farewell to Delling Rembran
with his associates. As Delling ascended the ramp to the group's
colossal courier ship, Vim discreetly signaled to a subordinate,
ensuring no one was observing.
"Are you sure about this?"
Vim swily retrieved a compact transmier from his subordinate.
"If Delling dies, my son Guel's engagement will be secured. I have
to act before the results of these silly 'duels' are nullified."
Vim scrunized the transmier, his gaze shiing between the
deparng ship and the device in his hand. Unbeknownst to Delling, a
powerful explosive had been implanted on his ship on Vim's orders.
"Set the detonaon for ten minutes aer launch."
The subordinate, realizing the point of no return had passed, could
only nod in affirmaon. Vim echoed his thoughts aloud, "Delling... our
long friendship ends today."
The gate to the taccal tesng sector opened, and the container
carrying the Dilanza appeared on the surface.
──
Environmental seng data for taccal tesng sector received.
Coriolis correcon, stable.
The operator's voice filtered through the comms. The container's
fastenings clicked open, and the bay doors parted.
──
Bioinfo, idenficaon complete. Permet link, sasfactory.
The doors on the container's top layer shied open sequenally,
revealing the sleek form of the Dilanza. In the cockpit, Guel, following
protocol, announced his student number and the machine's name
with resolute clarity.
"KP001, Guel Jeturk. Dilanza, let's go!"
The cage lock disengaged with a metallic snap, and the Dilanza
descended onto the surface of the taccal tesng sector. In an
instant, its blade antenna extended, and the camera eye pulsed into
life.
Back in the Duel Commiee Lounge, Shaddiq watched with
evident enjoyment as the Dilanza projected onto the sizable screen.
"Show-off. Aren't you going to watch, Elan?"
He spun around to prod Elan into parcipaon, only to find his
fellow commiee member engrossed in a book.
"Who cares," Elan dismissed him with a nonchalant flick of a page.
On the cockpit monitor, Guel's younger brother Lauda voiced his
disapproval. While idly toying with his hair, he expressed his
dissasfacon.
"Why accept a duel from that country bumpkin?"
In response to his brother's words, Guel responded with a self-
assured grin, "I'll make it quick for her. I'm the future ace of
Dominicus, aer all."
A blip on the adjacent monitor indicated the approach of a second
mobile suit. Guel's smirk broadened, "There she is. The Mercurian girl."
The Aerial had arrived, albeit with noceably shaky steps.
In the commiee lounge, one of the Duel Commiee members,
Rouji, was showing Aerial on the tablet he held.
Beside Rouji was a Haro.
Secelia, peering at the screen from behind, said,
"She's got a flashy one, too."
"I don't see a logo. Could it be handmade?" Rouji replied, gazing at
the mobile suit he had never seen before.
A camera drone equipped with a Haro hovered between the two
suits, its lens trained on the mobile suits preparing for combat.
"With mutual consent by both pares, we will now begin the duel.
As always, victory will go to the first one to break the blade antenna
of their opponent's mobile suit. Both pares, face off!"
Guel, catching sight of his opponent on the Dilanza's main screen,
couldn't suppress an exclamaon of surprise.
"Miorine? Why are you here?"
The image of Miorine donned in a pilot suit confronted him. He
had been expecng to duel with Sulea, the transfer student from
Mercury.
The academy's student body erupted in speculaon.
"What?"
"Isn't that the princess?"
"I thought it was the transfer student?"
The transfer student who had become the talk of the enre
school—Sulea herself was also astonished as she looked at the
screen.
"How did Ms. Miorine board Aerial?"
She should be the only one in Aerial's cockpit.
Immediately aer the duel with Guel was decided, Sulea naturally
headed for the hangar but couldn't enter without her student
handbook. While geng lost on her first day in the school, she went
around looking for her handbook by retracing her steps, and before
she knew it, the duel had started.
"Right."
A wave of realizaon washed over her as she recalled handing her
student handbook to Miorine in the greenhouse. She hadn't retrieved
it, and without it, she couldn't approach the taccal tesng sector.
Overwhelmed and unsure of how to recfy the situaon, Sulea
was jolted from her thoughts by a voice behind her.
"Ms. Sulea? What's wrong?"
Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with Nika.
Inside the cockpit of the Aerial, Miorine was already engaged in
bale. The duel itself had not yet commenced, but she had never
been one to shy away from conflict, no maer the circumstance. This
was true even for a verbal spar through a monitor.
"What's the meaning of this, Miorine?" Guel's domineering voice
boomed through the monitor.
No, it was as if the whole world was pressing down on her. Miorine
fired back, her eyes searing with determinaon.
"I'm sick of people making decisions for me."
Her life had always been decided by her father's whims. The idea
of someone making decisions for her made her blood boil. That's why
she couldn't stand Sulea deciding to duel on her behalf.
"This is my fight!"
Miorine spat back, her words simmering with defiance. Guel's
response was nothing more than a smirk as he raised Dilanza's beam
parzan.
"Impudent girl. Have it your way. I'll show you firsthand that you're
no match for me."
As Dilanza seemed about to launch an aack on Aerial, a
communicaon from Shaddiq chimed into his cockpit.
──
Guel? Do you approve the change in duel opponent?
"I approve. Victory is never decided by mobile suit performance
alone."
"Nor by the skill of the pilot, alone."
Miorine finished for him. In unison, they pronounced, "The result
itself is the only truth!"
"Fix release!"
Shaddiq's command was followed by an intense light that engulfed
the taccal tesng sector, transforming it into a desolate, cloud-
strewn wasteland.
"DUEL" blazed across the sky, marking the official start of the
combat. The Dilanza charged forward, with Aerial aempng a clumsy
counter.
"Weapons. Where are the weapons?"
Miorine, meanwhile, francally searched for Aerial's weapons. As
she manipulated the controls, a beam rifle appeared on the sub-
console.
In an instant, the rifle was launched from the Aerial's back.
The rifle's thruster kicked in, and Aerial took it into its hand with
precision, aiming at the Dilanza.
Most of the movement was not Miorine's unfamiliar handling but
the result of the atude control system.
Energy filled the muzzle, and Miorine's command pulled the trigger,
releasing a potent beam. The aack missed Dilanza, and the resulng
recoil threw Aerial off balance. Following Newton's third law, the
acon of the fired beam had an equal and opposite reacon, causing
Aerial to topple over, discarding the rifle.
"Ahh!"
Even though she had learned about it in class — Miorine let out a
scream inside the cockpit.
"Did you think any amateur could handle a mobile suit?"
Guel's voice taunted as he fired Dilanza's chest-mounted beam
vulcans. The photon bullets rained around Aerial, some finding their
target.
"It's my life; let me do as I please!"
Miorine retorted as she fought back desperately. Despite her
efforts, she was no match for Guel.
"I'll decide for myself!"
The Dilanza, dodging the Aerial's beam vulcans with his hover unit,
struck the chest of the Aerial with the opposite side of the beam
parzan's blade—the pommel.
"Ugh!"
Violently shaken inside the cockpit, Miorine felt her stomach churn,
and she threw up.
The Aerial fell flat on its back onto the ground.
Back at the Benerit Group's spaceport, Vim was staring intently at
his wristwatch instead of watching his son's fight.
"Two minutes le."
Meanwhile, in the classroom, four students gathered to watch the
outcome of the duel.
Among them, Chuatury Panlunch had the coldest gaze directed at
the tablet. Lilique, Till, and Aliya surrounded her.
"The princess of Management Strategy has no chance of winning."
Chuatury, also known as Chuchu, was from the Pilot department.
She was convinced that a beginner couldn't pilot a mobile suit, let
alone defeat Guel, who was the Holder.
The Dilanza pointed its weapon at the fallen Aerial.
"Take a good look at yourself. You're nothing more than a trophy."
Guel, intending to finish it, slowly moved the Dilanza forward.
According to the rules of Ascassia's duels, the fight wouldn't be
over unl the mobile suit's blade antenna in the head was broken.
Suddenly, an electronic sound echoed through Dilanza's cockpit,
halng Guel's movements.
"An alert? What? An intruder?"
The sensors had detected an unarmed human within the taccal
tesng area, causing an interrupon to the duel.
The intruder's face flashed on monitors throughout the school,
baffling Guel.
"Who the hell are you?"
Naturally, Guel had no idea who Nika was.
The next moment, a student in a pilot suit, riding a Haro-equipped
bike, charged toward the two mobile suits.
──
Exceeding speed limit. Please decrease speed.
Despite the Haro's warning, the bike didn't stop.
Guel immediately zoomed in on the monitor. He recognized the
face behind the visor — this me, for sure. It was unforgeable. The
transfer student from Mercury, Sulea Mercury.
In the classroom, where Ojelo and Marn were watching the duel
with Nuno, Nuno asked Nika, who had been carrying luggage,
"Why is it showing your name, Nika?"
Nika searched for words and smiled.
"I guess I helped."
When Nika encountered Sulea in distress, she lent her student
handbook.
With Nika's student handbook, Sulea infiltrated the taccal
tesng area, commandeered a bike, and managed to reach Aerial. She
leaped off the bike, ran towards the cockpit, and accessed the forced
operaon panel of the hatch.
With a burst of exhaust, Aerial's cockpit sprung open. Miorine,
slumped in her seat, raised her head in surprise.
"Why are--"
Before Miorine could even finish saying "you," Sulea gave her a
fierce headbu, mirroring the intensity of the one Miorine had given
in space.
The impact accidentally acvated the external speaker funcon.
──What are you doing?
Miorine snapped, indignant about the sudden interrupon.
──Give it back!
Sulea retorted with equal fervor.
──What?
──Aerial is mine!
──I told you, this has nothing to do with you!
──Then fight in your own mobile suit!
The argument between the two echoed throughout the school.
In the classroom, the students began to sr.
"What's going on?"
"Are they fighng?"
Even in the Duel Commiee lounge, Shaddiq and the others
exchanged glances and shrugged.
Inside the Aerial's cockpit, Sulea and Miorine wrestled and fought
over the seat. Of course, it was all heard throughout Ascassia.
──Don't be so sngy! It's just another mobile suit!
──Aerial isn't just another one! We were raised together, as
family!
Sulea's tone was strong, which made Miorine furrow her brow.
──Huh? Family?
──Why don't you let me fulfill my responsibility by winning?
Aerial and I will never lose to the likes of him!
Upon hearing this, Guel was once again infuriated with Sulea. He
opened a line to the Duel Commiee lounge.
"'The likes of him?' Shaddiq, I'm changing opponents again!"
"Give him the go ahead, Secelia."
At Shaddiq's order, Secelia immediately tapped away at her student
handbook.
"Sure thing."
Simultaneously, the duelist's name on the screen changed from
Miorine to Sulea, signifying the new match-up.
8. BRIDE
No sooner had the enforced halt lied, the Dilanza powered the
hover funcon of its legs to their max and sprung into a preempve
strike on the Aerial.
"Brother!" cried Lauda, but his voice was lost in the cacophony,
unable to penetrate Guel's seething fury.
"I'll correct your ignorance, you country bumpkin!"
With a swi flick, the Dilanza shrugged off its parzan, switched
its weapon to the beam rifle, and let loose a volley of high-energy
parcles.
The downed Aerial slowly clawed its way up from its prone
posion, the beams glancing past it.
"Straight ahead!"
Miorine's warning cut through the tense silence in the cockpit, her
voice a tremulous note of apprehension of the imminent direct hit.
Contrasng Miorine's panic, Sulea was a picture of tranquility, her
calm belying the chaos of bale around her.
"My mother taught me, 'If you run, you gain one, but if you move
forward, you gain two.'"
"What?"
"When you run, you gain one by not losing. But if you move
forward..."
"You can win?"
Miorine was forced to sit on the le side of the seat.
Sulea, seated, turned her gaze upwards. The midity that had so
characterized her inial interacons with Miorine was gone, replaced
now by an unwavering determinaon.
"Whether you win or not, there are two things you gain.
Experience and pride. Not to menon trust!"
While Miorine sat there, dumbstruck by Sulea's sudden
transformaon, the internal circuitry of Aerial's Shell Unit, nestled
within its head and chest compartments, flared up in crimson
defiance.
In response, an array of Gun-Bits, hitherto affixed to various parts
of the mobile suit, sprung into acon, encircling the Aerial at a
dizzying speed before converging on its elevated le arm, forming a
formidable shield. At this point, Guel chose to deploy another beam
rifle aack. The beams, aimed with deadly precision, were all but set
to land on the Aerial but were rebuffed by the protecve force field of
the shield. It splintered into luminescent fragments, scaering behind
the Aerial and dissipang as they struck the walls of the combat
arena. The resulng shockwave threw up a thick veil of dust around
Aerial's feet.
Back in the classroom, Nika and the others watched, agape and
uerly astounded, their understanding struggling to keep pace with
the rapidly unfolding events. When the dust finally seled, the Aerial
was revealed to be unscathed.
Lauda, who had been so certain of Guel's victory, involuntarily
found himself leaning in, eyes wide with disbelief.
"A shield?"
While Lauda grappled with the surprising turn of events, Guel's
fighng spirit roared back into life.
"She blocked it. In that case..."
The Dilanza discarded its beam rifle, drew a beam torch, and
charged forward. The Gun-Bits, no longer maintaining their protecve
formaon around the Aerial, whirled around in a wild dance. A shiver
of premonion snaked down Guel's spine as his insncts kicked in,
but before he could fully comprehend the implicaons, the de had
turned irrevocably.
Without warning, the eleven GUN-BITs let loose a blinding
barrage of beams. The lethal shower pierced through Dilanza's
shoulders, arms, and crical systems, showing no quarter. Pieces of
the once formidable machine were blasted apart, creang a macabre
display of scaered debris.
Le defenseless, Guel could only stammer, "What just happened?
What kind of mobile suit is that?"
The Aerial donned its GUN-BITs again.
At this spectacle, Elan Ceres, a member of the duel commiee,
closed the book he'd been half-reading and stared at the screen with
keen interest.
"GUND-ARM... Gundam," he murmured. His comment made
Shaddiq's eyes widen as if he had just ancipated a wave of looming
chaos.
With the combat far from over, the Aerial unholstered a beam
saber from its back, extending the gleaming blade straight ahead.
From his fallen cockpit, Guel could do nothing but stare at the
menacing figure looming over him, beads of sweat trickling down his
forehead.
"Wh-What... What the hell are you?!"
With a swi, merciless swing, the Aerial raised its beam saber high
above its head and, in one fell swoop, tore through Dilanza's horn.
A shower of feather-like debris scaered across the balefield.
Vim checked his wristwatch. It was 16:11 — more than 10
minutes had passed since Delling's ship had le the port.
It's me," he declared. He pulled out his communicaon device,
and a subordinate's voice reached out to him.
"Mr. Jeturk."
"A last-minute intervenon?"
"No. Your son was defeated in a duel."
"What?"
Vim was taken aback. Despite being strict— or precisely because
of it— he had not doubted his son's victory at all.
His subordinate connued in a measured tone, "Even if you killed
President Delling now, Master Guel won't be Mistress Miorine's
fiance."
"Who was the opponent? Grassley? Peil?"
"No. It was..."
Vim's subordinate stumbled over his words.
Meanwhile, in the taccal test area where the duel had
concluded, the victorious Aerial knelt on its right knee, silently
awaing its next command. Miorine, having climbed out of the
cockpit and onto the Aerial's large palm, surveyed the wreckage of the
defeated Dilanza. Victory belonged unequivocally to Sulea and her
Aerial.
"Excuse me..." a voice dried to her ears. She turned to find
Sulea, the same nervous demeanor from their first encounter sll
apparent.
"I-I won." Sulea stuered. Her student handbook, tucked in the
cockpit of the Aerial, lit up, proudly displaying the results of the duel.
Extracng the handbook, Miorine confirmed the victor's name. Up
to this point, she had dismissed Sulea as a mere annoyance. But
now, she would remember her name.
"So it seems. Sulea Mercury..."
Miorine held up the screen of the handbook for Sulea to see.
"Huh? What the... How did you..."
Sulea started, her eyes widening at the sight of her grey pilot
suit transforming into a prisne white, adorned with a golden mark. It
was idencal to the design Guel had previously worn.
With a gasp, Sulea gazed at her altered appearance.
"This are is the emblem of victory. The emblem of the Holder,"
Miorine explained. Then, she added, "It's also the emblem of my
fiance."
"Wh-what?" Sulea stammered, unable to keep pace with the
abrupt turn of events.
"I told you, didn't I? Those are the rules."
"But I... I'm a woman."
"I guess Mercury is rather conservave. That sort of thing is
commonplace here."
Sulea was speechless, unable to form a coherent reply to the
casually delivered bombshell. Capitalizing on her bewilderment,
Miorine launched what felt like a follow-up aack.
"Nice to meet you, my groom."
#2 Cursed Mobile Suit
Strong reasons make strong acons.
From William Shakespeare’s “
King John
”
[SECTOR] The term refers to a region in space. In Ad Stella, precise spaal coordinates are used
for space navigaon, and the term "sector" is oen used to describe relavely large areas, such
as "the sector near the school front" based on reference points such as fronts and celesal
bodies.
1. FRONT MANAGEMENT COMPANY
In the aftermath of the fierce duel in the tactical testing zone, Guel
Jeturk found his mind trapped in a relentless cycle of defeat. Again
and again, he saw his machine, the pride of his combat, humiliated by
the unyielding Aerial.
"What just happened? What kind of mobile suit is that?"
His words, a disbelieving groan, echoed within him, the
reverberations of his loss refusing to fade.
In the Duel Committee Lounge, a speculative murmur slipped from
Elan Ceres, "GUND-ARM... Gundam."
No sooner had the name escaped his lips than Shaddiq Zenelli, an
up-and-coming executive from the renowned Grassley Defense
Systems, caught the implication. He quickly turned to Rouji, issuing a
command.
"Rouji!"
"Yes! Haro."
Shaddiq's instructions couldn't be ignored. Even the seemingly
inconsequential utterance from Elan couldn't escape his attention. On
Rouji's vocal command, the Haro's lights blinked in affirmation.
──As you wish.
Soon, the Aerial's registration data was pulled up on Rouji's tablet.
The Haro's AI had parsed the lounge's conversation with uncanny
accuracy, inferring the desired action from a few scattered phrases.
Rouji scanned the data before announcing, "There's no match for
its individual Permet code, but there's one machine that's similar."
"Ochs Earth, huh?"
Shaddiq's eyes didn't leave the Aerial's image on the monitor as he
voiced his thoughts.
Over his shoulder, Rouji echoed his incredulity, "But that's
impossible. I mean..."
"If that's the Witch's mobile suit, then... We can't just leave it
alone."
Elan's words punctuated the room. The Gundam, called "GUND-
ARM," was not only strictly forbidden from being manufactured or
researched but also from being developed within any company
affiliated with the Mobile Suit Development Council. It was
inconceivable that such a thing would be officially brought into
Asticassia, operated by the Benerit Group. It was simply impossible.
Yet, against all odds, the impossible had occurred.
Shaddiq sensed the seismic shift in their circumstances, a smirk
unwittingly forming on his lips.
Suletta and Miorine—unconcerned about being seen from across
the school—were still standing atop the towering hand of the Aerial
within the tactical testing zone. A drone camera, operated by a Haro,
filmed their silent tableau from a discreet distance.
Suletta, now in a pilot suit that had involuntarily transformed into
the style of the Holder, wrestled with incredulity.
"Me? Your groom?"
"My lousy father decided without consulting me. I'm to marry
whoever the Holder is."
"B-But..."
Even when told that it was Miorine's father who had decided,
Suletta was at a loss. She had entertained countless dreams about her
school life and many adventures she hoped to undertake, but
matrimony was notably absent from that list.
"Don't worry. There's no way I'm doing that."
"Huh?"
The emotional whiplash left Suletta bewildered, with the
unexpected title of fiancée thrust upon her, only to be dismissed as
swiftly.
"All I want... is to go to Earth."
Miorine's murmured confession hung in the air, her back turned
towards Suletta. When she finally faced her, her eyes brimmed with a
steadfast resolve that left no room for doubt.
Across the academy, classrooms buzzed with animated whispers.
"Guel lost?"
"No way. I can't believe it."
Nika Nanaura, a member of the Mechanics Department, and her
Earth House companions—Ojelo, Nuno, and Lilique—had their eyes
glued to their student handbooks, broadcasting the live footage of
the duel's aftermath.
"Wow... They build mobile suits like this at Mercury?"
The Dilanza that Aerial had defeated was the latest cutting-edge
mobile suit manufactured by Jeturk Heavy Machinery, one of the
three branches of the Benerit Group. Nika could only be in awe of
Aerial, which had so easily defeated it.
The development and manufacturing of mobile suits were
overwhelmingly advanced on the space side. When would the day
come when an exceptional mobile suit like the Dilanza could be
created on Earth, where Nika was born and raised?
The Aerial, a product of Mercury, had vanquished the Dilanza.
Nika didn't know much about Mercury, but she knew it had a
harsher environment, much closer to the Sun than Earth and that its
primary industry was mining Permet. The engineers on Mercury must
have made tremendous efforts. "We can do it on Earth too," Nika
found hope in Aerial.
Suddenly, the footage dissolved into a sea of static, every screen
blotted out by a burst of block noise.
"Hey, look...."
Chuchu, who was in another classroom, experienced the same
with her student handbook. Martin, Aliya, and Till from the same
Earth House looked at each other.
"Jamming?!"
The same anomaly occurred in the tactical testing zone at the
same time.
An alarm sounded throughout the entire area.
The sky's footage was cut off, the lights were dimmed, and it
became almost pitch dark. Multiple ALERT messages were displayed
on the wall monitor, and below it read ACCESS CONTROL.
Suletta had no idea what was happening.
"Entrance and exit restrictions...what...?"
Blinding light spilled from above, dousing Suletta, Miorine, and the
Aerial.
"!?"
──Warning!
A stern warning echoed from the overhead speakers, and mobile
suits began descending ominously from the sky. Each landing sent
ripples of powerful gusts, forcing the girls to huddle closer.
The squad, numbering five or six, encircled the Aerial, and a
commanding voice barked from the leading unit.
──Cease dueling immediately!
The noise that Nika and the others saw was jamming emitted by
this mobile suit to cut off communication with the outside world.
The mobile suit's shoulder was marked with a logo.
"The front management company?"
The front management company mainly managed and provided
security for the Benerit Group's fronts and had officially adopted the
mobile suit Demi Garrison, which stood before Miorine and the
others.
──Student ID Number LP041. Suletta Mercury. You and your
mobile suit are to be taken into custody on suspicion of using a
Gundam.
As the security mobile suit announced this, it leveled its gun at the
Aerial. If it were shot at such a close distance, the Aerial wouldn't
escape unscathed, and the lives of Suletta and Miorine outside the
cockpit would be in danger.
This is just a threat, Miorine understood.
But Suletta, who was standing next to her, was already in a state
of extreme confusion and reacted only to the word Gundam. She had
to protect Aerial.
"A Gundam? You've got it wrong! This is Aerial!"
"Lower your weapons!"
As the threat escalated, Miorine stepped forward to shield Suletta.
Knowing the mobile suit would hear her thanks to the system's voice
processing, her voice, steady and firm, cut through the cacophony.
"Your job is to manage the fronts. This is a school!"
The mobile suit responded with chilling apathy.
──Rules set by the President take precedence over all others.
"The President?"
Suletta's confusion deepened further.
But Miorine, standing next to her, knew exactly who the
"President" referred to—more than anyone else in the universe, in a
sense.
Miorine stared fiercely at the mobile suit, but soon a resentful
expression flickered across her face, and she looked away.
Next to her, Miorine was perfectly aware of who the 'President'
was, more so than anyone else in the universe, in a manner of
speaking. Her face twisted into a grimace, her usually volatile temper
flaring anew at the mention of the 'President.'
"That lousy father of mine..."
She seethed, gritting her teeth in helpless fury.
2. LISTENING IN
The storage hangar buzzed with acvity in the front management
district of the school's spaceport. Staff members meculously
inspected the retrieved Aerial.
"Weren't all the Gundam types disposed of?"
"It certainly doesn't look like an old machine."
"Don't those things take the lives of their pilots?"
"Yeah, but that girl is alive, isn't she?"
That girl—Sulea—was dressed in a paent-like garment and was
seated in an interrogaon room aer undergoing thorough physical
examinaons.
The inquiry, relentless and monotonous, had stretched on for
hours. Armed with the same persistent quesons, an interrogator
from the front management company bore into her.
"Sulea Mercury. Age 17. Student ID Number LP041. Pilong
department... Your father is deceased, and your mother is currently
assigned to Lagrange 1. Is that correct?"
The quesoner, glaring at Sulea from behind a tablet with forced
precision, inquired again.
"I already answered you," Sulea retorted, her gaze sinking to the
floor. Her words spun in a grueling loop of repeon.
"Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Do you acknowledge that the machine you were pilong was a
Gundam?"
"Her name is Aerial!"
Sulea's protests were systemacally sidestepped, her words
falling onto deaf ears. Having braved the harsh duel, this stretched-
out invesgaon was a different beast altogether. With a sigh of
defeat, she lowered her head.
"And that the use of machines equipped with the GUND Format
has been frozen and prohibited by the Agreement?"
The interrogator's tone was dipped in accusaon.
"I don't know... what you're talking about."
A dossier thudded onto the table in front of her, the deposion
inside splayed open for her viewing. Clearly, it was intenonal. The
sharp sound echoed menacingly.
Sulea recoiled.
"Sulea Mercury. Are you not a member of the Vanadis Instute
that developed the Gundams?"
The interrogator leaned in, elbows braced on the desk.
She was at a loss; every ounce of her energy sapped, le to tread a
conversaon she didn't comprehend.
Meanwhile, in the Benerit Group's conference room, company
moguls scrunized the interrogaon video. Delling, onboard a courier
ship, joined via monitor. Two of Peil Technologies CEOs, Nugen and
Nevola, were engrossed in a hushed conversaon.
"She's a Gundam pilot?"
"She doesn't look like a witch."
Sarius Zenelli rested his chin in his hand, his eyes never leaving the
screen.
"Any links to Vanadis?"
In response to Sarius' queson, one of the execuves quickly
searched for informaon.
"Her mobile suit is registered... to the Shin Sei Development
Corporaon of Mercury. We're sll invesgang--"
Next to the four CEOs of Peil Technologies, Vim's hand thundered
down onto the table, his booming voice slicing through the room.
"If she's not a witch, then how do you explain this? Do you think a
bunch of miners at Mercury could build their own Gundam?!"
His gaze swept over the company heads, his finger stabbing toward
the monitor.
Sarius, who had been watching, offered an alternave.
"Or perhaps... it's the ghost of Ochs Earth."
The footage of the ongoing invesgaon of the Aerial connued to
be displayed on the screen.
Vim roared, his anger barely in check, his voice a mirror of his son
Guel's tone, "The duel results are void. Confiscate that machine
immediately and send the pilot back to Mercury!"
"And then your son will reclaim the tle of Holder, won't he?"
Sarius's retort hit Vim like a well-aimed shot.
Delling's visage dominated the central screen in the conference
room, commanding the aenon of all the execuves.
──Summon Shin Sei's representave. We will hold an inquiry.
It was a decision that no one could interfere with.
3. EARTHIAN/SPACIAN
At Ascassia School of Technology, the rhythm of academia played
on, oblivious to the web of corporate machinaons.
Next to the school building, an oversized elevator showcased
training mobile suits, the Demi Trainer. Students and teachers in
mechanics uniforms approached, while nearby, mobile cras designed
like bikes and mobile suit towing vehicles stood on standby.
Within the confines of the training rooms, students tested their
mele against machines, and instructors meculously recorded their
progress with tablets' impassive efficiency. Yet, despite the mundanity
of the academy's roune, whispers of the previous day's duel srred
curiosity and conjecture.
"The duel results were voided."
"Well, she cheated, right?"
"I knew something wasn't right."
"What about the transfer student?"
"They're probably sll interrogang her."
Over the hum of the student body, teachers connued their
lectures, treang the whispers as an inevitable backdrop to their
scienfic discourses.
──In other words, the organic complex purificaon method of
the element 'Permetnium,' which was discovered during the lunar
development era, has been established for the metal compound
Permet...
Meanwhile, in another corner of the school, a trio bound by shared
senments towards the newcomer, Sulea, seemed swathed in a
cloak of mild sympathy.
"I almost feel sorry for that Mercurian girl."
"Well, she made off with someone else's prize, aer all..."
Their gazes dried towards Miorine.
"Right."
Guel referred to Miorine as a 'trophy,' a blatant insult knowing her
pride. A lesser fool might have mistaken the term for a compliment,
but Guel had dely wielded it as a cung insult. Many people desire
to be the trophy that numerous suitors vie for in marriage, sincerely
and naively thinking it's a good thing. Guel truly understood Miorine
as a person in that respect.
Of course, Miorine correctly took Guel's words as an insult. She
didn't need anyone to tell her she was being treated as a trophy. That
was why she aempted to escape to Earth to change her situaon -
only to be interrupted by Sulea!
No students dared approach Miorine; she was like an island,
surrounded by vacant seats.
"Nanaura."
"Yes?"
Nika Nanaura quickly turned around as a teacher called out to her
on the staircase landing.
"This arrived from the front management company. That transfer
student took yours, right?"
The teacher extended a student handbook.
Nika took it and said, "I offered it to her. She was in trouble."
"The lending of student notebooks is against school regulaons."
Every student received a student handbook. The handbook was
more than a simple academic guide—it was a personal informaon
terminal and an essenal permit for campus navigaon and mobile
suit operaon. It wasn't an item to be handed over casually, a trust
Nika had extended to Sulea, the girl she barely knew.
"When will that girl be back?"
"An Earthian like you should stay out of this. Just concentrate on
your studies."
With this stern instrucon, the teacher le Nika standing on the
landing, the derogatory 'Earthian' hanging heavy in the air. The term
was inially used to refer to Earth residents. Even though they were
born on Earth and were now in space like other Ascassia students,
some teachers did not consider them equal to 'Spacians.'
Meanwhile, the school front bustled with acvity, high-speed rails
crisscrossing as vehicles zipped past ceaselessly.
For interstellar travel to other fronts, various courier ships are
employed. One such ship awaited Shaddiq, who prepared to depart
from the bustling plaorm. Elan was there to see him off, Sabina
Fardin by his side—a housemate from Grassley House and an essenal
ally.
"Take care of the Dueling Commiee for me," Shaddiq said handing
off his responsibilies to Elan.
"You work awfully hard for a student."
"I'm just doing it because I want to." Shaddiq retorts, laughing it off.
"A witch trial at the head office?"
Shaddiq, who was called to the main office front, offers a wry
smile, "Something like that."
Elan responds aer a thoughul pause, asking, "That girl... Could
she really be a witch?"
Shaddiq, amused by Elan's rare curiosity, ribbed him, "What's
goen into you? Curious about someone besides yourself, Elan?"
He took a few steps away, then turned to look at Elan, "Don't tell
me you're in love."
Elan averted Shaddiq's knowing gaze, his eyes betraying nothing of
his emoons or intenons as they stared far into the distance.
"Falling in love is something I'll never do. No maer what."
Miorine stood amidst the ruins of the greenhouse, shuffling the
remnants of shaered poed plants, misshapen equipment, and
disarrayed toolboxes – all vicms of Guel's reckless rage.
"Phew..."
As Miorine took a break, she heard footsteps from behind.
"Let me help."
Spinning around at the unexpected offer, she met the gaze of
Lauda, Guel's younger sibling, standing against a backdrop of Felsi and
Petra.
"It was your great 'ace' who broke these, you know," she remarked,
not bothering to veil her resentment. What Guel had perpetrated was
nothing short of violence, raw and unfiltered.
Lauda's brow furrowed. He seemed prone to defensiveness at any
crique of his brother, yet he showed admirable restraint as he neared
Miorine.
"Well, my brother told me to fix them."
"Does that mean he's sorry?" Miorine's words were coated in bing
sarcasm, "And where is he now?"
She cast a sweeping glance around the desolate landscape. Guel
was conspicuously absent.
"He's absent today."
"He probably got summoned aer losing that duel."
With each of Miorine's sharp words, Lauda's expression soured. It
was Felsi who broke the silence with a causc retort of her own.
"Well, it's beer than a parent who's aloof from their child!"
Her voice had an edge of raw spite as if the words had a personal
sng. Petra chimed in to further provoke.
"Like father, like daughter. You just leave that transfer student
dangling aer she fought for you."
However, Miorine countered their remarks with a dismissive
atude.
"I never asked her to do that. I'll tell her when she gets back not to
meddle in others' affairs."
Their smirks faltered briefly at Miorine's asserveness, only to
reappear, more forced than before.
"Since you don't seem to know, we'll fill you in. The Mercurian girl
is going to be expelled."
The word 'expelled' hung in the air like a guillone's blade. Miorine
had been reaching for a wrench; the revelaon caused her to freeze.
"They're going to scrap her mobile suit, too! I heard my dad say so."
Felsi put extra emphasis on the word 'dad.'
Silently, Miorine retrieved the wrench, its metallic surface reflecng
the cold light. She advanced towards Felsi, who insncvely retreated.
"Wh-What? You got a prob--"
Miorine's wrath, held in check by a ght rein, found an outlet as
she thrust the wrench against Felsi's chest.
"You said it, right? Fix it, then."
Leaving behind the wreckage of the greenhouse, she set a course
for the school. As she ambled away, Felsi aempted a parng shot,
but the intense gaze Miorine cast over her shoulder rendered her
speechless.
"And one more thing..."
Miorine paused for a beat before delivering her final warning, "If
you touch my tomatoes, I'll kill you."
At a cafeteria table, Nika was sharing lunch with her fellow Earth
House residents—otherwise known as fellow Earthians—Chuchu and
Marn.
Marn Upmont, a third-year Business Strategy major and the Earth
House dorm leader, broke the meal's rhythm to peruse his student
handbook.
"Here it is. Shin Sei Development Corporaon. Founded 33 years
ago. Ranked D within the group. 151st place in sales?"
"Isn't that the boom of the ladder?"
Chuchu—Chuatury Panlunch, the freshman and junior of the Earth
House, a Pilong major—exhibited an amalgamaon of shock and
revulsion. The noon that a mobile suit from such a lowly
organizaon could trounce the Dilanza was staggering.
"I'm impressed she got into this school. Sll..." Marn mused.
"They made their own mobile suit."
Nika turned the thought over in her mind. If they could build
something as impressive as the Aerial on Mercury, wasn't it possible
on Earth too?
As a fellow Earthian, Marn knew what Nika was thinking. He
sighed and crossed his arms.
"But unless it's approved, what good is it? If she had a bigger
supporter, it might've been a different story."
"At our school, you're as good as the rank of the company that
recommended you," Chuchu said, propping her cheek on her hand in
frustraon.
Even the student numbers assigned to each individual were based
on the corporate rankings. The students with higher-ranked
companies got smaller numbers. First-year pilot major Chuchu was
MP039—M represented the year of admission, P for pilot major. Guel,
a third-year from the same major, was KP001.
"I can hardly be proud of being born on Earth," Marn conceded to
the harsh reality.
But Chuchu was not convinced.
"It's the Spacians who are holding us down!"
"Keep your voice down, Chuchu," Nika gently chided, an easy smile
playing on her lips.
They shared the common bond of being Earthians and had thus
become fast friends. However, they were all different in every other
aspect—the environments they grew up in, the burdens they carried,
and even their feelings toward the Spacians.
"I don't care if they hear!" Chuchu was defiant, puffing her cheeks
as if to protest against Nika.
"Well, I do care," Marn, always the mid one, confessed.
Caught in this tug-of-war of contrasts, Nika was about to be put to
a new test as two students approached their table.
It was clear from their expressions that they had come to pick a
fight.
"Do you mind moving?"
"That's our usual table."
Chuchu was quick to argue back.
"Since when—"
But Nika interrupted Chuchu.
"It's fine. We just finished eang."
Nika stood up gracefully. On her tray, the food remained largely
untouched.
One of the students spat something onto their tray——it was the
gum they had been chewing.
"You're done eang, right? Throw that out with the rest."
The gum-sping student sneered at Nika, a cruel smirk dancing in
their eyes.
"Hey! Learn some manners, Spacian!"
Chuchu couldn't hold her tongue, jumping up, her fists balled for a
brawl. Marn stood frozen at the sudden confrontaon.
But Nika addressed them both with a calm voice.
"Let's go, Chuchu. Marn, too."
"Eh...?"
Chuchu, who was ready to brawl, found herself disarmed by Nika's
natural yet visibly restrained smile.
Nika walked away from the scene, encouraging them further with
her acons.
"W-wait, Nika!"
Chuchu hurried aer Nika in a panic.
"I'll clean up right away."
Marn offered a wry smile to their challengers, gathering his and
Chuchu's trays to follow in Nika's wake.
"Nika, why did you..."
In Chuchu's plea, frustraon was overshadowed by a note of
sorrow.
But Nika didn't turn around; she just kept walking, her expression
unseen.
4. COUNTDOWN
Aer school hours, Miorine had found herself at the counter of the
front management company.
"As I said, there's a possibility that was a forbidden machine."
The officer on the screen reacted with palpable annoyance, but
Miorine stood her ground, pushing back hard.
"I'm only asking to see the pilot! She's my classmate!"
"It's not up to me."
"Who's it up to, then?"
"President Delling."
Once again, that name came up, and Miorine was taken aback.
"Now, if you would please leave."
Overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness, Miorine's strength
drained from her shoulders as she leaned on the counter.
Soon aer, she found herself drowning in the cosmic void outside
the window of the spaceport lounge, with her two omnipresent
bodyguards playing their usual role in the backdrop.
One of them approached her.
"Mistress Miorine."
"'Go back to class,' right?"
"No. I have a message from your father."
The bodyguard extended a handheld device.
Without even taking it, Miorine said, "I don't want to read it."
"Then I'll read it for you. 'Miorine, I'm unenrolling you from the
school.'"
"What?"
"I'll arrange a groom myself. Return immediately."
"What?"
Miorine, listening with her eyes closed, sprung up, her surprise
morphing into raw indignaon.
"That's all."
"Give me that!"
She snatched the device from the bodyguard, scanning her father,
Delling's email, her fury igning.
"What the hell is this? It was you who decided that my fiancé
would be selected through duels. Sulea's the one who won the duel!
No man chosen by that jerk will be a husband of mine!"
"It's no use saying that to me."
She knew that arguing with the bodyguards was like screaming at a
wall. She needed to vent her anger in the right direcon.
"He's always like this. He never consults me, he never explains...
Whether it's enrolling me at this school
or forcing me to quit piano. Or deciding who I should be friends
with. Even my own mother's funeral!"
Her voice rose, tears welling in her eyes as she hurled the device
towards the lounge window.
Caught by surprise, the bodyguards didn't react in me.
The device floated in the zero-gravity, not in a parabola, but
straight, hing the window and soly bouncing off. The reinforced
glass remained unscathed.
Kick-starng her exit with a swi boot to the bar stool, Miorine
decided to ditch this place.
"Where are you going?"
"To the bathroom!"
The bodyguards, though exasperated, had to follow their charge. A
swi conversaon followed between them, one deciding to fetch the
discarded device while the other shadowed Miorine.
"Don't let Mistress Miorine out of your sight."
A spectang figure on the lounge's second floor stood up. The
sunglassed individual, having heard the exchange, hurriedly followed
Miorine and the bodyguard downstairs. Unaware, they connued
their pursuit.
"Die, die, die, die..."
Sequestered in a restroom stall, Miorine was killing virtual enemies
on her student handbook, using the restroom as an excuse to escape
her bodyguards.
Her game was interrupted by a knock, causing her to raise her
head in surprise.
"You must be Ms. Miorine Rembran."
The voice outside halted her massacre.
Miorine paused her game, tuning into the voice.
Sensing her cauon, the stranger outside murmured words only a
collaborator would know.
"Designated Colony Coordinate XY72Z53."
"That's... the rendezvous point for my escape!"
The stranger outside had to be... Cauously, Miorine cracked open
the restroom door.
Feng Jun, the figure from the second floor, stood there.
Miorine, not recognizing Feng, eyed her warily.
Feng, undeterred, bowed politely.
"It's nice to finally meet you in person. You didn't show up to meet
us the other day, so I came to check on you."
Miorine felt a flicker of relief at this.
"Is this some sort of aer-sales care?"
"You did pay us, aer all."
Feng, with an easy smile, offered her proposal.
"If you haven't changed your mind, would you like to escape now?"
"What?"
"If we act now, I can send you to Earth as you desire."
"To Earth?!"
Miorine exclaimed with excitement, but immediately averted her
gaze from Feng.
"But..."
Miorine was reminded of Sulea.
"I can wait for 30 minutes. Make a decision you won't regret."
Feng's kind words only amplified Miorine's internal turmoil.
Sulea had helped her. She couldn't just abandon her.
But—another thought crept in. Miorine had been waing for an
opportunity to escape. This was her biggest chance to run away from
her despised father. It might be her last.
On the game screen—the one Miorine wasn't looking at—a
countdown had started. She had to decide whether to connue the
game within 10 seconds.
8, 7, 6—
Should she go to Earth or stay here?
Looking at the indecisive Miorine, Feng judged that she wouldn't
be able to decide and closed her eyes for a moment, preparing to
leave quietly. But then,
"I'll go."
There were sll three seconds remaining in the game countdown.
Feng found it surprising, but she had already received the
payment. She turned to gauge Miorine's resolve.
Her hesitaon sll lingered, but there was an undercurrent of
determinaon as she pleaded.
"You've goa get me out of here!"
It was clear; Miorine's heart had spoken.
5. GUEST
A small transport vessel launched through the gate, pulling away
from the spaceport. Miorine's figure could be seen through the
porthole.
"Is it really this easy?" she mused.
The once grand expanse of the school colony dwindled into the
void, retreang from her vision.
Feng, in the pilot's seat, spoke to Miorine, "It's all about ming.
We're lucky the spaceport controller was a collaborator of ours, and
then you and I happened to meet."
"We'll be leaving the airspace controlled by this port in 5 minutes,"
Guston, in the co-pilot's seat, reported.
A note of finality laced Feng's words, "Once we do, we can't
change our course. Are you sure?"
"Yes. I've made up my mind."
Any semblance of hesitaon, any vesge of doubt that had once
clouded Miorine's thoughts, had been swept away.
Elsewhere, aboard the Benerit Group's massive courier ship,
Delling toiled over his digital workspace. As he scanned and
authorized documents with a single touch, the tablet displayed his
unmistakable signature – "Delling Rembran."
Beside him, Rajan chose this moment of silent producvity to
commence his report.
"Mistress Miorine has disappeared again."
"What about the men watching her?"
"She shook them off. Shall we seal the port?"
"Have the immigraon authories spread a dragnet. I know she's
bound for Earth, anyway. More importantly, when will the inquiry
begin?"
Delling didn't even glance at Rajan. His disinterest in Miorine's fate
was almost tangible.
Unfazed by his superior's dismissal, Rajan connued in a flat tone.
"We've just confirmed the arrival of the Shin Sei representave."
"I see."
With a sigh that seemed to echo the weight of his dues, Delling
leaned back in his chair, pausing his relentless work. He closed his
eyes, surrendering to a moment of introspecon, before reopening
them with a gaze that could freeze a sun.
The execuve office of Jeturk Heavy Machinery was punctuated by
the high-pitched reverberaon of a slap.
Vim, the iron-fisted CEO, had just disciplined his son Guel, who
was now hanging his head in silent submission.
"So a member of the Jeturk family lost a duel in a Jeturk mobile
suit? Are you trying to destroy the company's reputaon?"
"Forgive me, Dad."
Guel, undoubtedly the epicenter of frustraon in this vast universe,
remained silent. His obedience was in stark contrast to his demeanor
at the school.
"This me around, I'll arrange to have the duel result voided. Don't
embarrass me again!"
"Yes."
As Guel exited the office, a message from a subordinate pinged on
Vim's terminal.
―――You have a visitor, sir.
"Who is it?"
―――It's... The representave of the Shin Sei Development
Corporaon.
"What?"
Why would the center of controversy visit Jeturk company? Vim
frowned, pausing to consider his next move. The tea set on his desk
exuded a comforng warmth, the fragrance of hot tea permeang the
room.
The person allowed to enter was the representave of Shin Sei,
adorned in white headgear. Her lips, the only feature visible beneath
the headgear, were painted a vivid scarlet.
"It's been a while, Mr. Jeturk."
"We haven't seen each other for 3 years since your appointment as
president, Lady Prospera."
"That's right."
Vim resumed his seat with a calculated air of indifference, crossing
his arms in silent protest.
"If you want me to talk to the President on your behalf, the answer
is no."
"Not at all. The opposite, in fact."
"What?"
"It's you who should ask me for a favor."
A mischievous smile appeared on Prospera's crimson lips.
Sulea remained alone in her confined room, floang gently while
hugging her knees as if trying to conceal her vulnerability.
"Mom..."
Fear snuck into her voice, uninvited.
Then came the intrusive buzz of the room's alarm.
"Y-Yes?"
In the weightlessness of her confinement, Sulea, eyes sll affixed
to the floor, spoed an unfamiliar student floang at the doorway,
something cradled in their hands.
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Uh-huh..."
Sulea placed her hand on her stomach and nodded repeatedly.
The door to the confinement room opened, and the student dried
towards Sulea.
"My name's Elan Ceres. Like you, I'm a student at Ascassia. The
guard here let me do his job."
Elan casually introduced himself as he handed over a covered food
tray to Sulea.
"Is it really okay?"
"Go ahead."
"I-It's so nice of you."
Liing the cover, Sulea found bread and a variety of side dishes.
Having been hungry, Sulea began eang hesitantly at first, but soon
she was gobbling down her meal without a care for Elan.
Soon, as she connued eang, tears started flowing from Sulea's
eyes. In zero gravity, her tears scaered like a celesal shower,
unending. Elan, unmoved, watched on silently.
As if trying to hold back the tears, Sulea quickly drank from a
bole of water.
During that me, Sulea was momentarily oblivious to Elan.
Suddenly realizing this, she hurriedly wiped away the tears from her
eyes with her hand and looked at Elan with a bashful expression.
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome," replied Elan, his expression unchanging.
"Why would you..."
"You interest me," Elan immediately responded without hesitaon.
Sulea widened her eyes.
"Huh?"
It was the first me someone had said such a thing to her.
Elan looked at Sulea with a serious gaze.
"Sulea Mercury... I'd like to learn more about you."
Sulea felt her cheeks growing hot.
6. HYPOCRITICAL
At the front of the Benerit Group, in their so-called deliberaon
chamber, Delling sat at the apex.
Below his gaze, Vim and the CEOs of Peil Technologies were
visible. Next to the CEO of Grassley Corp, Sarius Zenelli, sat Shaddiq,
freshly arrived from the school. Shaddiq, the adopted son of Sarius,
had changed from his casual school are into formal are, his long
hair neatly ed back.
At the center of this power matrix, a solitary figure, Prospera, held
the room's aenon. Despite the circumstances, she emanated a
serene strength, an enigmac smile playing on her lips. As an
announcement echoed solemnly across the chamber, the tension
became almost palpable.
"We will now begin the inquiry."
Delling opened his weighty mouth in connuaon.
Today's topic was the Gundam. Its significance or danger, Delling
knew too well. Thus he had decided to lead the deliberaon himself.
"Lady Prospera, representave of the Shin Sei Development
Corporaon. Are you a witch?"
His queson caused a ripple of disquiet amongst the CEOs. Swily,
every eye turned towards Prospera. Yet, she remained undeterred, her
response concise.
"No."
"Do you have es to the Vanadis Instute?"
"No."
"Then how did you build a Gundam?"
Delling pushed further, his voice echoing in the vast chamber.
At this, Prospera smiled enigmacally, holding her ground.
"The Aerial is not a Gundam. It's a product of Shin Sei's newly
developed drone technology."
"Did she say drone?"
Vim couldn't contain his surprise. His own corporaon's machine,
the Dilanza, had been bested by the Aerial. If it didn't involve illegal,
prohibited tech – something as potent as the Gundam – it would be a
huge blow to their brand, especially in the presence of their president,
Delling.
At this moment, Sarius Zenelli nudges his son—rather, his adopted
son—Shaddiq.
"Shaddiq."
"Yes, Father."
Shaddiq replied, his fingers flying over his panel, projecng images
onto the screens before each individual. The Aerial's unit, two
waveform graphs.
"During the duel, that machine's Permet influx values exceeded the
standards. This is a unique characterisc
of the GUND Format, the core system of all Gundams," he
explained, a sardonic grin playing on his lips.
Prospera interjected gently as if advising, "If that machine is
equipped with the GUND Format, you should also have detected a
data storm. Well?"
"There was none detected."
"Its control system is based on a convenonal Permet link. I'm
confident that it complies with all of the group's technology
provisions."
Prospera's chest swells with pride.
A defiant Nugen voiced her doubt, "That alone doesn't prove it
isn't a Gundam."
"You can't prove that it is, either," retorted Prospera, her voice cool.
Sarius Zenelli chimed in with a taunt, "Lady Prospera... You are
merely using the lack of evidence as an excuse. Are you trying to tell
us that black is white?"
"We're one of the smallest, but sll a member of the Benerit
Group. We are, of course, aware of the Cathedra Agreement. I ask for
your trust."
Prospera taps her chest with her fist.
"I can't help doubng when you come dressed like that."
Vim shot back, his eyes full of distaste. Prospera merely shrugged
her shoulders.
In a theatrical display, she disrobed her jacket to reveal her
shoulder.
Vim furrowed his brows, clearly confused at her intenon.
As all the CEOs watched, Prospera threw off her jacket and rolled
up the sleeve of her inner shirt, revealing her right arm. With a push
of a switch on her le hand, a prosthec arm fell off.
There was a sr among the surrounding execuves.
Ignoring the commoon, Prospera flung her prosthec arm.
"Whoa!"
The one who caught it was Vim. Furious that she had thrown it his
way, he glared at her.
Prospera, however, seemed unbothered. If anything, she acted as if
she had ancipated this all along. She connued speaking with a
composed demeanor.
"This arm, as well as the face behind this mask, were both claimed
by Mercury's magnec field."
As she showed the cross-secon of her right arm, Prospera looked
up at Delling from behind her mask.
Delling silently stared back at her. The other CEOs remained quiet.
"Environmental condions on Mercury are severe. However,
ulizing our drone technology, we'll be able to mine for Permet
without pung anyone in danger. Please allow us to connue the
Aerial's development. We are in need of the group's support."
The deliberaon chamber fell silent due to the intensity of her
statement.
As the CEOs of each company awaited the judgment of Prospera's
request, Delling spoke.
"No. That thing is a Gundam."
"Why is that?"
Prospera's query was met with Delling's dogmac reply, "Because I
said so."
From the small part of her face that was visible, it was impossible
to tell how Prospera felt about his asseron.
He connued with a commanding presence.
"Any objecons?"
Everyone present remains silent, as usual. Even the opinions of the
leaders of the three branches will not be accepted at this point.
"Then it's seled. The mobile suit shall be disposed of. We'll get rid
of the student pilot."
As he said this, Delling stood up as if to pre-empvely deny any
objecons. Vim tried to call him back, rising from his seat.
At that moment, the door to the deliberaon chamber opened.
There wasn't a single person in the room who didn't recognize the
face of the newcomer.
Even Shaddiq knew it well.
Amidst the confused stares of the various company CEOs, the one
who walked past a slightly smiling Prospera and stopped at the center
of the deliberaon chamber, under Delling's gaze, was Miorine.
She had defied her father Delling's instrucons laid out in his email,
choosing to present herself here rather than journeying to Earth or
returning home. At her arrival, his countenance hardened instantly.
"What are you doing here, Miorine?"
Unable to meet her father’s inmidang stare, Miorine addresses
him while being watched by the crowd.
"I came to give you a piece of my mind. If you made these rules
yourself, you shouldn't change them aer the fact!"
Her small frame echoed with defiance as she connued her
confrontaon.
"You hypocrical loser of a father!"
7. CASE CLOSED
At the spaceport dock of the Benerit Group headquarters, there
sat the transport ship that had brought Miorine -- not to Earth, but
here.
In the cockpit, Feng and Guston appeared bored.
"Weren't you supposed to take her to Earth?"
"I have to honor my customers' requests. And when it comes to
the President's daughter, it can't hurt to be owed a favor."
"As calculang as ever."
Feng, having retouched her makeup, gave a wry smile.
"Space is in need of new rules."
In the deliberaon chamber, Delling, the father whom his daughter
Miorine had called a 'hypocrical loser of a father,' wore a
countenance marred by discontent.
Double-standard - or hypocrical - is another way of saying that
one can freely judge according to the situaon. As the president of
Benerit Group, the leading company in the industry, he handled and
created standards whenever he needed them. There was no need to
respond, let alone contradict, Miorine's observaon.
However, he would not tolerate any contradicon, however slight,
against his decisions as the president.
"Why are you standing there?"
"What?"
"The only people permied to stand in this room are the powers-
that-be from the top companies of the Benerit Group. But you are
different. You are merely a student with no authority to speak of."
Delling mercilessly inmidated Miorine.
Miorine felt a stab of truth in his words. She didn't trivialize the
corporate arena, nor did she intend to capitalize on her status as the
President's daughter. But disagreement? That, she held in abundance.
Thus, she wouldn’t back down.
She seized this rare opportunity and drove her words home
without an ounce of hesitaon.
"It's always the same with you. You look down and control my life
without asking or explaining."
Yet, he stood unaffected by her torrent of words.
"Neither consultaon nor explanaon are necessary. I decide. You
obey."
"!!"
Miorine's expression hardens at his words.
"Did you think you could speak out against me because you're my
daughter?"
"What's your problem?! You're a king?"
"That's right."
Miorine didn't expect her father to actually admit to being a king.
Was it going to be like this? Miorine tried to hold back on the brink of
giving up.
At this point, Delling signals to Rajan.
Rajan nods and approaches Miorine.
"I am vested with power. You have none. The powerless shut their
mouths and obey. Those are the rules of our world."
Before her father’s final words of ruthless reproach finished, Rajan
grabbed Miorine's wrist, intending to take her out of the room.
But at that moment, Miorine raises her gaze firmly. Not yet. It's not
over yet.
"If you move forward, you gain two..."
Rajan found himself unexpectedly thrown off guard. His grip
loosened, he hadn't ancipated Miorine's vigorous resistance.
Miorine moved ahead, staring down Delling with a renewed vigor.
"In that case, I challenge you to a duel!"
Delling momentarily faltered, confused yet taken aback by
Miorine's audacious challenge.
"If we win, you'll accept Sulea as my fiancé. If we lose, you can do
as you please!"
Miorine has always been dragged into duels. This me, she is
willingly diving into a duel herself.
"Were you unable to comprehend my words?"
Delling's disappointment was palpable. He was trying to take
control of the argument forcefully.
But Miorine wouldn't lose to all of that anymore.
"I'm saying that I'll fight according to your rules! At least take
responsibility for your own decisions! You're an adult, aren't you?"
Miorine's words carry overwhelming momentum, but more than
that, they have a logical and persuasive force.
A heavy silence descended, the tension tangible.
If power is the rule, then a duel is the best way to reveal the
difference in power. That's why Delling intended to decide the
Holder—Miorine's fiancé—through a duel. And those present in this
room, to varying degrees, all believe that power is the rule. So a duel
is an appropriate soluon.
Among the sea of serious faces, Shaddiq, a fellow student, admired
Miorine's audacity with a broad grin.
Just as Delling is about to speak again, Vim raises his hand.
"May I speak? Even if it was accidentally, that machine defeated
our company's Dilanza. Perhaps we should give it me to see what it
can do."
Delling's brows furrowed at Vim's input. Vim had inially been a
vocal advocate for the disposal of Aerial.
"What do you mean?"
Delling glared at Vim.
But Vim shows no signs of wavering. Aer all, Vim had recently
tried to assassinate Delling himself.
"Recently, mobile suits from other companies have made market
gains. That machine could be the key to recovering our market share."
When Vim calmly said this, Prospera added as if to support him.
"I believe the school duels will be an effecve test of the Aerial's
abilies."
Pung on her jacket, her gaze unwavering as it met Delling's. One
of the four Peil Corporaon CEOs lined up, Nugen, asked with a
smirk.
"And will you provide us with the machine's technical data?"
"Of course," replied Prospera.
However, Sarius was firmly opposed.
"Hold it right there! Do you intend to violate the Cathedra
Agreement?"
Ignoring him, Prospera looked at Delling and at his daughter. The
CEOs of the various companies began voicing their opinions
chaocally.
"I object!"
"How will you announce this to the outside world?"
"It could be valuable."
This is about ethics!"
"But..."
The council chamber quickly turned into chaos. Miorine stood firm
amidst the uproar, her eyes locked with Delling's. And Delling, the
magnate at the center of the storm, stared right back at her.
8. DUELING AGAIN
Confined to her room, Sulea was idly floang in the corner,
wearing something like hospital paent clothes, and reminiscing about
Elan. Due to the weightlessness, it seemed like her heart was also
floang lightly.
Suddenly, a loud knocking sound echoed through the door.
Startled, Sulea looked in the direcon of the noise.
"Sulea!"
The room's seal hissed open, and in sprang Miorine. Propelled by
the zero gravity, she launched herself towards Sulea.
"Ms. Miorine!"
Surprised, Sulea dropped the food tray that Elan had given her
and caught Miorine as she came flying at her. They ended up pressed
against the wall, looking at each other.
"What are you..."
"Let's do it. The duel..." Miorine cut her off abruptly.
"Huh?"
Sulea was confused, unable to make sense of what was
happening.
But Miorine pressed on, her words forcefully emphasizing the dire
stakes.
"If you lose, Aerial will be scrapped! And you'll be expelled! You
have to win!"
Dumbfounded, Sulea hung in silence for a few eternal seconds,
then comprehension dawned.
"What?!"
Around the same me Sulea's confinement was lied, a ballet of
destrucon unfolded at Jeturk Corporaon's space proving ground.
Three mobile suits had begun their deadly dance. Two were Dilanza
units.
Among the spangling sea of asteroids, a cung-edge mobile suit,
the Darilbalde, streaked through space, leaving a comet-like trail of
cerulean luminescence.
On the nearby military vessel belonging to the Jeturk company,
staff harvested a torrent of training data while a voice coolly relayed
the bale situaon to Darilbalde's pilot.
―――Permet link established.
―――Decision Making Extension AI has been connected.
―――Confirming deployment of combat space network.
The Dilanza units unleashed a hailstorm of beam rifle fire, but
each radiant pulse harmlessly fizzled into the void, missing Darilbalde
by a hair's breadth. The superior unit seemed to predict and elude
every threat with uncanny prescience.
―――Whenever you're ready.
As a signal that certain preparaons had been made within the
unit, the Darilbalde rapidly accelerated and inserted itself between
the two Dilanza units that were approaching.
Immediately aer, Darilbalde's arms separated and, along with the
two drones on its back, transformed into four blades. They spun in a
lethal pirouee, cleaving through the Dilanza units.
Between the two explosions, Darilbalde's eyes ominously
gleamed. The next opponent had already been decided.
#3 Guel’s Pride
I cannot hide what I am.
From William Shakespeare’s “
Much Ado About Nothing
”
[DUEL] At the Ascassia School of Technology, duels are—under the watchful eye of voluntary
Duel Commiee members from the student body—a means for students to bale for stakes in
mobile suits. To minimize the risk to the duelist's lives, live ammunion is prohibited. Instead,
they use beam weapons and close-range weapons with regulated output. Furthermore, sengs
are such that aacks on the cockpit and vital systems are not allowed, and medical staff are also
staoned on-site.
1. LIST
At long last liberated, Sulea was moving through the gravity-free
passageways of the school's front with Miorine. Fague was etched
onto Sulea's face, starkly contrasng her usual vibrancy.
She would have to fight.
Miorine braced herself, issuing the solemn challenge to Sulea,
"You have to win this duel, so you won't be expelled, and I won't be
forced to marry."
The weight of defeat was immense; not only expulsion but also a
forced marriage awaited Miorine, arranged by her father.
Sulea paused, her reply mid yet unwavering, "I don't want to."
"What? It only makes sense for us to fight together now!"
Lowering her gaze, Sulea whispered something almost inaudible,
"My list..."
"Huh?"
Miorine frowned at the crypc uerance.
Sulea hesitated before explaining, "I made a list of things I wanted
to do when I went to school. Make friends, call them by nicknames,
study in the library, eat lunch on the roof, and..."
Then, in the faintest whisper, "...go on dates."
"What's that?"
Confounded, Miorine leaned in, aempng to decipher Sulea's
mumblings.
"I want to go on dates!"
The unfamiliar admission le Sulea flushed, her voice
unintenonally escalang.
And then—a sudden jolt to her forehead. A souvenir of Miorine's
swi flick.
"Yow!"
Sulea lost her equilibrium, the world around her spinning.
"You're sex-crazed."
Miorine remarked, her gaze holding no amusement.
Franc, Sulea retorted, "I-I can't go on dates once I'm married!"
"Whyever not?"
"Cheang is wrong!"
Fantasies began to expand rapidly in Sulea's mind.
Miorine, seemingly unfazed, began to glide down the corridor, her
touch against the wall propelling her forward on the moving walkway.
Sulea, nursing her throbbing forehead, trailed behind.
"Calm down! It's not going to happen right away."
"Huh?"
"The legal age for marriage is 17. Which means it won't happen
unl my birthday, at least."
"R-Really?"
"I'm going to escape here and go to Earth, no maer what. You just
have to play my groom unl then. Let's make a deal."
Sulea watched, dumbfounded, as Miorine extended her pinky
finger, their agreement symbolized.
Meanwhile, aboard the Jeturk Corporaon's military ship, a fiery
red unit was being fasdiously prepped in the hangar: the Darilbalde.
Around it, mechanics buzzed with urgency, performing maintenance
and iniang operaonal procedures.
The cockpit hatch opened, and the pilot emerged.
"Welcome back, young master."
The pilot casually removed his helmet. It was Guel.
"How did you like the Darilbalde?"
But Guel, the so-called "young master," suddenly seized the
mechanic by the collar, expressing his simmering rage.
"What the heck did you do to this mobile suit?"
Yet the mechanic remained unfazed, explaining impassively, as one
might to a petulant child.
"We added a 5th-generaon Decision Making Extension AI. It's sll
a beta version, but it makes composite Bayesian predicons from
previous combat data--"
A new theorecal model is created in Bayesian predicon,
reflecng new informaon. It's a learning forecast. Jeturk's
development team boasts that they have developed a more accurate
AI that can predict further into the future by combining mulple
different AIs.
"Am I not skilled enough to win?"
His boiling anger erupted, but the heated exchange was
interrupted by a sharp slap across his cheek.
"Nngh."
Guel insncvely held his cheek and looked up.
There weren't many people in space who could slap Guel. The man
floang before him was Guel's father and CEO of Jeturk Corporaon,
Vim Jeturk.
"Dad..."
"I gathered these staff members as well as the Darilbalde just to
make you win."
Vim waved his hand, gesturing around.
The staff paused momentarily, gauging the situaon between the
father and son before returning to work. There was no me le unl
the decisive bale.
Vim connued speaking.
"There's no room here for childish pride! If you want to be treated
like an adult, then win and reclaim the tle of Holder!"
"Yes, sir."
Guel responded, the sng of his father's hand sll echoing on his
cheek. The memory of his past defeat to Sulea remained fresh, but
all that maered now was the upcoming victory—for the Jeturk
Corporaon's honor and his own.
2. CALL
The hairband Sulea received from her mother and the school-
issued bag hung suspended in the zero-gravity space. For the me
being, she was housed in a hotel room within the school's front.
Rotang gently as she donned her socks, she held a conversaon
with her mother through the speaker funcon of her student
handbook, which lay open on the nearby desk.
"Say, Mom. What's a Gundam?"
──What's this all of a sudden?
Her mother's image was displayed on the screen.
"People from the Benerit Group say that Aerial's a Gundam. And
they even call me a witch. Is it true?"
──I don't recall raising you as a witch.
"Neither do I."
Her mother smiled slightly.
──Of course, I know about that past incident, and about
Gundams. But you and Aerial aren't like that, Sulea. You're my
precious daughters. Your mom will vouch for you.
Her gaze was filled with love.
A warmth spread in Sulea's chest. With newfound enthusiasm,
she zipped up her uniform to her neck and grinned at her mother's
screen.
──Now, don't you have to leave yet?
"Oh, no! Well, good luck at work, Mom!"
──Thank you. Good luck to you, too, Sulea.
The hand of her mother, who squinted and smiled, had a headgear
with four sensor-like items placed on it. It was the same headgear as
the masked woman who was put on trial—Lady Prospera.
Walking to school, the air buzzed with gossip as students
whispered about her, their words carrying the sng of judgment.
Some spoke in hushed tones, while others made sure their words
found her ears.
"Look, there she is. The Mercurian girl."
"The one who cheated?"
"I heard the duel's being redone."
The murmurs bore into her, weighing down her shoulders and
sinking her heart.
"Ms. Sulea Mercury! Good morning!"
Whether she knew of Sulea's situaon or not, Nika, one of her
few acquaintances at the school, greeted her with an energec cheer.
Remembering her previous intervenon, Sulea bowed deeply in
gratude.
"Th-Thank you for your--"
Nika was a motormouth of excitement and mechanical jargon.
"I was watching it! Your mobile suit was amazing!"
"What?"
"What kind of layer structure is it using for its swarm control? Is it a
convenonal one? Or is it based on a simultaneous spaal concept?"
Nika was a student in the mechanic department. Her eyes were
sparkling.
"My mom said something about 'using successive spaces
concurrently...'"
As Sulea recalled the story from her mother, she somehow
answered.
Nika got even more excited.
"So that's it! Now I understand the concept-synthesizing schema. It
enables it to clear the fricon--"
Nika's excitement mulplied tenfold, drawing technical conclusions
that Sulea could barely comprehend. Nika's enthusiasm was
overpowering, but she radiated a warmth that made Sulea believe
she was, indeed, a good person.
But their conversaon was cut short by a sneering voice, "Hey!
Mercurian wench!"
The students in the corridor quickly opened the way and distanced
themselves from the arrogant voice.
Guel, the source of this callous remark, strued over, his brother
Lauda and their followers, Felsi and Petra, trailing behind him.
Sulea immediately retreated behind Nika, inmidated by his
towering presence.
"Huh? Ms. Sulea?"
Though taller than Nika, she managed to make herself appear
smaller, her fear creang a shield between them. Nika, who had never
spoken with Guel and his gang, was also confused like Sulea.
Of course, Guel perfectly ignored the confusion of Sulea, Nika─
and everyone around─and said what he wanted to say.
"Our last duel was voided. Now we'll sele things for real."
"Ms. Sulea?"
Guel's words were primarily directed at Sulea, but they were also
intended to inform the whole school.
Sulea nervously peered out from around Nika's shoulder.
"W-Well, if that's the case, then... My opponent will be..."
"Me."
Guel pointed at himself with his thumb.
"That's a relief."
Sulea's honesty surprised even herself. Her words lacked malice,
but Guel took them as an insult. His anger was a physical presence in
the corridor.
"A relief?!"
Startled by the loud voice that seemed to pour oil on the fire,
Sulea hurriedly hid behind Nika's back once again.
"W-Well, you know, I already won once..."
"Don't get carried away, you bumpkin!"
Guel's face was grim, his temple twitching.
At that moment, the school bell rang, conveniently interrupng the
situaon. Seizing this opportunity, Sulea quickly straightened her
posture, bowed at a right angle, and said her goodbye.
"W-Well then, I'll be going!"
"Ms. Sulea!"
Sulea le the spot at a speed that didn't even allow Nika's voice
to reach her.
Guel, le behind, audibly clicked his tongue.
3. ELAN CERES
Meanwhile, within the confines of the Jeturk Corporaon, Lady
Prospera - the woman with the mask - made her visit to Vim's
chamber.
"Your help in the inquiry was invaluable. Thank you very much."
She handed over the media record to Vim. It contained evidence of
the Delling assassinaon plot. In exchange for this data, Prospera had
demanded a lifeline in the upcoming inquiry.
Vim's ego had not just bloated; it had puppeteered the inquiry like
a seasoned performer.
"You blackmailed me. Don't be sarcasc."
"Let's not meddle in each other's business from now on."
Prospera, a smirk dancing on her lips, pivoted with an audacious
swing of her heels, poised to exit.
"How did you know about the assassinaon aempt?"
Vim tried to corner her with the queson, but Prospera dismissed
him casually with a flick of her finger to her lips.
"Call it a trade secret."
"A country bumpkin playing strategist?"
Vim ghtened his grip on the data chip, a grimace casng shadows
on his face.
In the school's central courtyard, Shaddiq Zenelli found himself
engrossed in a video call with his father, Sarius.
──Why didn't Delling object to Shin Sei's request? Vim Jeturk's
defending them bothers me, too.
Shaddiq shared the results of his invesgaon with his father.
"Prospera Mercury, representave of the Shin Sei Development
Corporaon. She belonged to the Mercury Development Group,
married in the field, and gave birth to Sulea Mercury. Injuries to half
her body from a resource mining accident... So that explains the
headgear and right arm."
──She's officially in charge of development, too.
Shaddiq responded with a laugh, "How would she find funds and
infrastructure in that backwater? There's no record of her registry as a
mobile suit engineer."
──In that case, who could have built that machine?
"..."
Shaddiq's usual light-heartedness faded.
On the other side of the lawn, the figure of Miorine could be seen
zipping through the vegetaon area on her electric bike equipped
with a Haro.
──Shaddiq. You look into the daughter.
"Yes, Father."
With that, Shaddiq closed his student handbook. He lay back on
the grass, gazing up at the sky, a smile slowly appearing on his face.
"Things are geng interesng."
He contemplated his father's words, a seed of intrigue planted
within his mind.
Miorine meculously surveyed the aermath of Guel's havoc in the
greenhouse aer school. Indeed, everything had been beaufully
repaired by Lauda and his crew.
"All done."
The words emerged from her lips, adorned with a fleeng smile as
she surveyed the tomatoes, sll verdantly defiant.
"I'll leave the ferlizer here."
Sulea stood tentavely at the entrance, remembering Miorine's
stern warning earlier – "Do not enter." Yet now, as she hesitated with
two bags of ferlizer, Miorine casually beckoned her in.
"Bring it to me."
"You don't mind if I come in?"
"Go ahead."
Such an inconsequenal exchange for Miorine, yet for Sulea, it
was an olive branch extended, a delighul surprise that swily
whisked her into the greenhouse.
"Does this mean we're best friends?"
"Huh?"
Miorine maintained her stern demeanor, causing Sulea to
backtrack, "Sorry!"
"Well, whatever we are, if you lose that duel, it's over for both of
us."
"I'm sorry."
Sulea clutched her knees, responding solemnly as if reflecng on
her acons.
It was at this juncture that Elan's serene voice punctuated the
conversaon.
"Sulea Mercury."
"Mr. Elan, right?"
While this interacon unfurled, Miorine observed, a nutrient
cartridge slong into her shovel. The dynamic between Elan and
Sulea raised her eyebrows. When had they become acquainted?
Sulea descended the steps of the greenhouse and quickly walked
up to Elan.
"Th-Thank you for..."
"I came here to summon you to a Dueling Commiee meeng."
"A commiee?"
Sulea's confusion warranted clarificaon. Elan was notoriously
recent.
"This guy's a member of the Dueling Commiee," Miorine chimed
in.
"I didn't know how to reach you."
As Elan said this, he pulled out his student handbook.
"May we exchange contacts?"
Could this be his only move for the visit? Sulea's heart fluered,
unbidden. Yet Elan remained stoic, his expression unchanged as they
swapped details.
"Number 12 on my list came true."
"Your list?"
"Exchanging contact info with someone. It was something I wanted
to try when I got to school."
Elan hadn't even thought of making such a list.
"What else is on your list?"
At Elan's queson, Sulea - for whom even this casual
conversaon with a boy of her age was a first-me experience -
started counng on her fingers with sparkling eyes.
"Making friends, calling them by nicknames..."
"Going on dates."
Miorine interjected from the sidelines, adding a hint of mischief.
"Ms. Miorine!"
Such things, she didn't have to say it here... Sulea's voice rose in
alarm, but Miorine, feigning ignorance, simply tapped her shoulder
with the shovel.
"I hope..."
Elan's voice interrupted her flustered retort.
"Huh?"
Elan, his countenance a constant stoic facade, whispered his wish.
"...you'll fulfill many wishes on your list."
4. DUELING COMMITTEE
As the ornate, golden elevator doors, etched with geometric
symbols, parted, the Duel Commiee's luxurious lounge, with a
breathtaking panorama of the academy under an endless sky, was
unveiled.
As Sulea and Elan crossed the threshold, they were met with an
obsequious greeng from Shaddiq, who gave a courteous bow.
"Welcome to the Dueling Commiee Lounge. My name is Shaddiq
Zenelli. Nice to meet you, Mercurian Miss."
With Shaddiq's sleek, extended hand and the lounge's expansive
view, Sulea was visibly overwhelmed, her eyes darng around the
room in surprise.
"Nice to m-meet..."
Her polite acknowledgment was abruptly halted by the sight of the
brooding Guel lurking in the corner of the room. Her greeng
morphed into an involuntary yelp.
"Heee~"
Catching the inmidang stare of Guel, Sulea insncvely
recoiled, taken aback by his unexpected presence.
"Tch."
Guel dismissed her with a derisive snort, turning his face away.
"Shall we begin?"
Elan ushered the conversaon forward with an air of nonchalance.
"B-begin what?
Sulea, however, was le floundering, oblivious to the imminent
proceedings.
With an indulgent smile, Shaddiq elucidated.
"The oath. For the duel."
The lounge's expansive window transmuted into a gargantuan
screen as the glass took on a smoky hue. The academy's crest
materialized on the screen, along with the legend, "Ascassia School
of Technology."
In front of the screen, Sulea and Guel faced each other. Elan,
officiang the oath, stood between them while Shaddiq, Secelia, and
Rouji—fellow commiee members—observed the ceremony from the
sidelines.
"Both pares, deposit your souls on Libra's scales. The duelists are
Guel Jeturk and Sulea Mercury. The locaon will be the 7th taccal
tesng sector. The one-on-one code will apply. Any objecons?"
"None," Guel responded languidly.
"None."
Sulea was a bundle of nerves, a novice to this ceremonious ritual.
"Sulea Mercury, what is your stake in this duel?"
"Huh? Uh..."
Elan's inquiry caught Sulea off guard. She had observed a duel
before yet had given lile thought to her own wager.
Shaddiq interjected with a piece of mely counsel.
"Our duels require you each to place something on the line.
Money, an apology, a woman..."
"You're the only one who'd bet women."
Despite Guel's snide comment, Shaddiq merely laughed it off.
"I'm not as bad as you think. And I know they'll always demand I
give the girls back."
"Huh? What?"
Sulea's confusion grew at the crypc exchange between Shaddiq
and Guel.
"Sulea Mercury."
"Oh, right!"
Sulea regained her composure at Elan's voice. She had been
asked what she would wager. Squaring her shoulders, she addressed
Guel.
"Um... please apologize to Ms. Miorine."
Guel, sll standing with an air of defiance, remained nonchalant.
"Guel Jeturk, what is your stake in this duel?"
"Same as last me."
In other words, if Guel won, Sulea would be expelled, just like last
me.
Elan lied his palms towards the sky and clasped them together in
front of his chest.
"Alea jacta est. The duel is approved."
With the ceremony complete, the display reverted, and the
window's opacity receded, revealing the school once more in its
grandeur.
Sulea expelled a sigh of relief, a momentary calm before the
storm. From her perch on the couch, Secelia broke the silence.
"How nice for you, Mr. Guel. When you have powerful parents, you
can even undo the results of a duel."
Secelia's provocave words earned her a cold glare from Guel, but
she remained unfazed.
"You'll have no excuse if you lose this me. If I were you, I'd
reconsider."
"If you want to duel me, just say so, Secelia!"
Guel's words were loaded with anger, but Secelia connued to
provoke him with a teasing grin and a hearty laugh.
"I'm giving you advice. I don't want to see your market value drop
any lower. Or has it already boomed out?"
"Tch!"
Guel was finally unable to hold back and took a step forward, only
to be halted by Sulea.
"Stop it! No!"
"Huh?"
Secilia fixed her gaze firmly on Sulea. The enre commiee, taken
aback, turned their aenon to her.
"Mercurian Miss?"
Sulea's feet had frozen, but she steeled herself, refusing to avert
her gaze from Secilia, mustering the courage to try and calm the
situaon.
"L-Laughing at someone who doesn't run away is... It's wrong!"
Guel was le in stunned silence, simply observing Sulea.
Later, in the elevator ride down, Sulea found herself alone with
Guel. It was he who broke the awkward silence.
"Why would you say something like that?"
"Huh?"
"Don't you want to laugh at me, too?"
Sulea's back was turned towards Guel, her reflecon faintly
visible on the elevator's golden surface. Aer a moment's pause, she
found the courage to face him.
"It's because 'If you run, you gain one.'"
"?"
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out. The floor was
bathed in the golden light of the seng sun.
"F-For example, if you're facing a strong enemy, by running away,
you'd gain safety and security."
"I wouldn't run."
The pair paused, their conversaon echoing in the golden light.
"But if you fight, you might lose!"
"I wouldn't lose!"
Guel declared, his chest puffing out with a hint of pride, his voice
barely above a whisper.
"The last me was a fluke."
"It wasn't a fluke."
"If I hadn't let my guard down, I would have won."
"Which is another way of saying you lost, right?"
"..."
Caught off guard by Sulea's unexpected retort, Guel was at a loss
for words, but she pressed on.
"But either way, it's okay."
"What? What's okay?"
"If you move forward without running, you gain confidence in
yourself, or experience, or recognion. You gain a lot more than you
would by running. That's why 'If you run, you gain one. And, if you
move forward, you gain two.'"
Guel was momentarily touched by Sulea's senment but brushed
it off with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
"That's quite a philosophy."
"My mother..."
Sulea began to speak in fits and starts.
"My mother taught it to me. My mother is always strong and kind."
With the ps of her fingers on both hands lightly touching each
other, she smiled warmly. Whenever she talked about her mother, she
was never at a loss for words. Guel quietly listened to Sulea's words.
His irritaon from earlier had faded, replaced by a distant look in his
eyes. Unconsciously, he reached up to touch the cheek that had been
struck by his father, but his hand stopped before it made contact,
balling into a ght fist instead.
"A good parent, huh?"
His voice was surprisingly gentle. Sulea, pleased by the
compliment about her mother, bounced back with a cheerful, "Yes.
My life's goal is to be like--"
She looked up, ready to respond with full vigor, only to find Guel
had already walked off. She thought they were starng to understand
each other. As she watched his retreang figure, Sulea muered to
herself.
"I don't get him."
In the hangar of the Jeturk House school ship, preparaons for the
young master's victory were underway.
A message pinged onto the student handbook of Guel's younger
brother—Lauda Neill. It was from their father, Vim Jeturk. Strategic
instrucons for the duel emphasizing that no means should be spared
to ensure Guel's victory.
"..."
Lauda's expression hardened.
Oblivious to his brother's internal strife, Guel arrived at the hangar
where the Darilbalde, his mechanical gladiator, slumbered. Felsi and
Petra, beacons of unwavering support, were first to greet him. A
throng of dormitory students congregated around Guel, among them
Kamil Kaysink, the chief mechanic of Jeturk House. Despite his
privileged status as the young master, Guel was revered by many
dormitory students, his virtuous character outweighing the trappings
of his birthright.
"Mr. Guel!"
"Welcome back."
"Your machine is ready!"
"Please give that bumpkin a beang she won't forget!"
The ebullient Felsi, ever the cheerleader, earned a warm smile from
Guel. As the camaraderie brewed, Lauda wove into the scene, his
fingers mindlessly twirling his locks as usual.
"Brother. This isn't a duel just for yourself. You haven't given up on
being the ace pilot of Dominicus, right?"
"I haven't. And I'm going to win at any cost."
Guel smiled confidently. Perhaps it was because he was
surrounded by his housemates, but the flicker of confidence that had
been momentarily exnguished now blazed in his eyes.
5. VOW
"Permet link established. Armament, all green. I ate properly, too."
At the spaceport hangar of the school front, preparaons for the
duel were advancing methodically. The Aerial was relocated to the
launch lane, its entrance into the vacuum-sealed sector signaled by
the yawning doors. Inside the cockpit, Sulea is carrying out a final
check. She was already perfectly suited up in her pilot suit, visor
down. Her stomach is also in great condion.
"Sulea?"
Miorine's face, framed by her school-issued normal suit, flickered
onto the sub-monitor. Posioned nearby the Aerial in the hangar, she
maintained communicaon with Sulea.
"M-Ms. Miorine!"
"I registered myself in your contacts."
"How could you just..."
It felt as if Miorine treated Sulea's belongings as her own. Sulea
displayed a hint of annoyance. Aer all, being betrothed didn't mean...
Unfazed by Sulea's expression, Miorine didn't bother to
apologize.
──Look, don't you get it? Your future and mine depend totally on
this duel's outcome. Don't forget the deal we made.
Miorine emphasized her point by holding up her pinky finger on
the monitor. The gesture wasn't exactly how Sulea envisioned
friendship, but, somewhat reluctantly, she held up her own pinky in
return.
"Right."
Before she could truly absorb the weight of the conversaon, the
locks of the container holding the Aerial were released, and it
accelerated for launch.
In the lobby of the school ship's dock located beneath Jeturk
House, Lauda solemnly greeted Vim, who had just arrived. Following
Vim, Lauda moved along the long corridor leading to the school ship.
His thoughts were solely on his older brother, Guel. Would he win
and reclaim the Holder status?
"Dad, only students are allowed to be involved in duels."
"This is company business. Anyway, did you make the
arrangement?"
"Yes, but..."
"But what?"
"My brother doesn't need tricks like that to win."
In Lauda's voice, trust in his brother was evident.
A symphony of dueling preparaons echoed through the
underground railway of the school front, the cacophony
accompanying the transport of mulple containers.
The duel was about to begin. In the cafeteria, on the terrace of the
courtyard, students were buzzing with ancipaon, peering at student
handbooks and tablets, keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.
"Have they started?"
"Any minute now."
"I wonder who'll win?"
"It's got to be Mr. Guel!"
At Earth House, Nika and her friends—Chuchu, Marn, Ojelo,
Nuno, Till, Lilique, Aliya—were clustered around a monitor, tracking
the unfolding event.
"Once Jeturk House gets serious, there's no stopping them."
The pessimisc remark from Marn, their House head, fell on deaf
ears as Nika remained fixated on the monitor.
The container holding the Aerial adjusted its course toward the
current dueling area—the seventh taccal test sector. As the ejecon
port of the test zone was unlatched, the container made its entrance.
The Duel Commiee lounge was full of members. At the center of
them, Elan began to speak.
"With mutual consent by both pares, we will now begin the duel.
As always, victory will go to the first one to break the blade antenna
of their opponent's mobile suit. The observer shall be Elan Ceres from
Peil House."
As the container unfolded, revealing the Aerial's prisne, gleaming
body, a communicaon from Miorine infiltrated the cockpit.
"You can come out of your MS container. State your name and
student ID number."
"Right! LP041. Sulea Mercury, Aerial, launching!"
With Sulea's voice, the Aerial ambled forward, descending into
the duel arena amid a plume of dust.
──Both pares, face off.
Their witness, Elan, iniated the duel.
Guel's face appeared on Aerial's monitor.
An unexpected communicaon from Elan disrupted Sulea's
stupor.
──Sulea Mercury.
"Y-Yes ?"
──Please recite the duel vow.
"T-the vow?"
──I taught it to you just now!
An exasperated Miorine interjected. Sulea scrambled to recall the
words.
"Oh! Um... Victory is never decided by mobile suit performance
alone..."
Guel, frustrated with Sulea's stumbling, took over, connuing the
sentence with an air of annoyance.
──Nor by the skill of the pilot, alone.
In unison, though jarringly disjointed, they completed the vow.
──The result itself is the only truth.
"T-t-t-The result itself is the only truth."
Despite the clumsy synchrony, Elan declared the start of the duel
with clinical precision.
──Fix release.
With the declaraon, the enre taccal test sector
metamorphosed into a digital wasteland through projecon mapping.
Simultaneously, the Aerial blasted off with a fierce jet of propulsion.
Red markings appeared, flashing and pulsang on the shell unit of its
torso.
"I'm going to win, and I'll stay at this school with Ms. Miorine!"
6. PRIDE
The duel exploded into acon as Aerial unleashed an aggressive,
pre-empve assault. Two of the rapid-fire GUN-BITs merged into the
rifle, immediately blasng luminous shots at the feet of Darilbalde.
"That's a diversion. The drone-like things are coming from three
o'clock...?"
Just as Guel was about to retaliate with his javelin, the Darilbalde,
indifferent to Guel's intenon, made a sudden move and changed
direcon. The sheer force pinned Guel against his seat. Inside the
cockpit, the autopilot program was running.
"What the..."
Frustrated by his lack of control, Guel's face ghtened.
Sulea answered back, her beam rifle sping energy projecles in
a frenzy of light. The Darilbalde danced through the deadly storm and
retaliated with a javelin throw.
Again, Aerial's GUN-BIT morphed, this me into a shield, and
managed to deflect the javelin at the last possible moment.
The javelin, spinning as it flew, paused mid-air, aiming at the Aerial,
and promptly pierced right beneath her.
"What just happened?"
Something was different? Sulea pondered, a gut feeling of
inconsistency srring within her.
She pounced on the opportunity of the Darilbalde's momentary
defenselessness, locking her target and releasing a volley of energy
rounds.
"I'll be hit!"
Upon seeing the approaching beam, Guel's eyes widened.
The beam was evidently aimed at the corner. Just before it made
contact, the shield drone aached to the Darilbalde's shoulder
intervened, dissipang the beam.
"He deflected it?"
Sulea blinked in surprise. This was nothing like the previous
encounter with Guel - the movements were sharp.
Guel, equally bewildered, watched the lever dance of its own
volion.
"This thing..."
Everything was out of control. Regardless, the Darilbalde landed
back where the javelin was. Retrieving its weapon, a light flashed in
the head unit's eye site.
"It's not a Dilanza?"
Vim, watching the course of the bale on the Jeturk dormitory ship
with Lauda, said, "Understand that an outdated Gundam is no match
for our company's Darilbalde."
In the heat of the bale, Sulea's voice crackled over the comms
to Miorine, "Is that a different mobile suit from before?"
"That just means they're serious. Don't lower your guard!"
The Darilbalde split its javelin into two, switched to dual wielding,
and went on the offensive. Furthermore, the two drones connected
to its back deployed beams in a saber formaon. Shortly aer, the
Darilbalde made a slashing aack on Aerial.
Aerial fired beams, but they were blocked by the drones. She
dodged the twin blades' onslaught, neutralized the relentless drones,
and skillfully maneuvered the Aerial with its thrusters.
"She got behind him!"
At the Earth House, Ojelo, who was beng on Aerial, shouted.
Other students, including Nika, watched the monitor with intense
focus.
Sulea, who hailed from Mercury, was a Spacian. But unlike Guel,
she didn't belong to one of the three branches. Nika and others
believed that Sulea — and Aerial — might be able to bring change.
Having taken the rear, Sulea targeted the Darilbalde's antenna
and let loose a blast.
But a drone threw itself in front of the beam, throwing her aim off.
She couldn't hold back her disbelief.
"No way!"
In an elegant, deadly ballet, the Darilbalde whirled around,
coordinang with its drones, and launched an impossible combinaon
aack with its javelin, something not possible without its decision
making extension AI.
While the Aerial fended off the fierce aack with its shield and
evaded, it lost its balance. The separated javelin aacked again.
Sulea had no choice but to create distance.
From the outside, it seemed Jeturk had the edge. But inside the
cockpit, Guel was in turmoil. His hands weren't even gripping the
controls anymore. The control had been completely hijacked by the
AI. He stared at the oscillang lever with disgust and slumped.
"Are you saying you don't need my will at all?"
He spat out the words, bierness dripping from every syllable.
As the tension escalated, a beam from the Aerial surged towards
the Darilbalde.
And then, the sprinklers.
In a sudden burst of water, the balefield was drenched; the beam
lost its strength as if melng away and dissipated just before it hit the
shield.
Sulea and Guel, from their respecve cockpits, registered the
anomaly, the new variable in their heated duel.
"?"
"It dissipated."
Sulea leaned forward, looking out of the cockpit.
"Is this water?"
Her experience had never extended to phenomena like rain.
The heavy shower cascading from the colony ceiling caught the
aenon of those in the Dueling Commiee Lounge. Shaddiq looked
on, a ghost of a smile on his face.
"Is it the heat management system"
"Yes. With that much water being dispersed, beam weapons will
inevitably be degraded."
An announcement echoed throughout the taccal tesng sector.
──Abnormal heat detected within dome. Emergency water
cooling in progress. I repeat...
Unyielding, the Aerial fired another beam, but it was devoured by
the rain, dissipang into nothingness. Bewildered, Sulea could only
stare.
"Ah..."
Aboard the Jeturk school ship, Vim gloated in front of the monitor.
"Take a good look! My plan was right on the money!"
Lauda listens on in silence, wearing a bier expression.
Meanwhile, the drones connue to return to the main body of the
Darilbalde one aer another.
Although the levers are sll moving automacally, Guel was taking
in the spectacle with a bier triumph.
"Too bad for you. Lady Luck is on my side this me!"
To Guel, the rain was a mere coincidence, an unexpected ally.
Armed and ready, the Darilbalde charged, javelin raised high. The
Aerial countered with its beam saber, clashing against the formidable
adversary. Sparks flew as metal met energy, but it was clear the Aerial
was being pushed back.
"Sulea!"
Miorine's voice echoed, but it was too late. The javelin found its
mark, tearing through Aerial's armor and severing the right arm at the
elbow.
Sulea gried her teeth against the jolt in the cockpit.
"Guh...!"
Witnessing the turn of events in Guel's favor, Miorine made her
move.
"There's no way the system would start spraying water without an
anomaly. Those Jeturk House thugs. They'd really go this far?"
The monitor in the Dueling Commiee Lounge displayed the Aerial
being pursued by the Darilbalde's drones, with the suit itself further
aacking via hover. Sulea was effecvely trapped. Elan watched, his
expression unreadable.
Miorine's face filled the monitor as she interrupted the
communicaon.
"Stop the duel immediately! You should only resume aer you've
corrected the system error!"
However, Elan's response was cold as ice.
"Duels are never held on equal terms."
Miorine balked at his nonchalance, "What are you saying?"
He remained indifferent.
"It's up to students' patrons which mobile suits and which support
staff they can access. Even if this accident were set up on purpose,
that would sll be part of his strength."
Frustrated, Miorine agrees with Elan's percepon.
"In that case, you'll allow me to be part of Sulea's strength, won't
you?"
She turned, her eyes landing on a mobile cra waing near her.
Drenched in a deluge, Aerial nimbly dodged relentless onslaughts.
Amidst the chaos, Miorine's voice crackled through the comms into
the baered Aerial's cockpit.
"Sulea, do you read me?"
"Ms. Miorine?"
"I'll stop the squall! Just hang on unl then!"
Miorine clamped her student handbook onto the cockpit, powering
up the mobile cra. The startup sequence unfurled across the
monitor. Seconds later, sparks ignited from the exhaust port.
"But how?"
"Just don't let him beat you!"
The mobile cra lurched skyward, Miorine's pilot skills rudimentary
at best. It yawed, scraping against walls and flooring, but she would
not be deterred. Staggering, she connued down the corridor towards
the elevator.
"My lousy father... This me, I won't let things turn out as he
pleases!"
With a grimace, Miorine clenched her teeth and held out.
A metallic arm extended, prying open a hatch to the storage bay.
The cra careened into the monorail tunnel, latching onto a
descending rail.
"A mobile cra?"
The sight caused a sr among the students onboard. Unauthorized
use of educaonal equipment, intrusion into off-limits areas, and
property damage were all violaons, but Miorine was desperate.
Meanwhile, Sulea connued to struggle.
"'Hanging on' is easier said than done..."
The Aerial, devoid of its beam rifle and right arm, reduced to
defensive maneuvers, was trying to fend off aacks while sporadically
firing its vulcan.
Elan watched the scene, a statue of cold calculaon.
"Sulea Mercury, if you really are a witch, you can survive this
situaon."
The Aerial's remaining arm flung its saber, parrying the Darilbalde's
flanking aempt.
"I've got to hang on. I've got to hang on. I've got to hang on. I've
got to hang on."
With concentrated nerves, Sulea muered Miorine's words like a
spell.
Drawing its beam saber with its le hand, the Aerial prepared.
"I will hang on!"
Sulea murmured, Miorine's words a mantra. The Aerial's beam
saber sliced through the air, cung the Darilbalde's impending strike
short. Sparks ignited the field.
Thanks to the spell, Sulea barely escaped a perilous situaon. But
the swing's momentum had its toll; the saber slipped from the Aerial's
grip.
"Eeeh?!"
The Darilbalde lunged, targeng the Aerial's vulnerable horn. In a
feat of agility, the Aerial evaded.
"She's safe!"
Ojelo, beng on the Aerial, involuntarily let out a sigh of relief
when he saw Sulea avoid a fatal blow.
"But it's sll only a maer of me."
Marn let out a resigned sigh.
The members of the Earth House, including Nika, connued to
watch the match with bated breath.
In the Duel Commiee Lounge, Shaddiq cheerfully made a
statement.
"It looks like the game is over."
Secelia concluded with a nod, "In the end, the winner is always the
one with the stronger backing."
But there was one student who never doubted Aerial's victory and
was desperately struggling: Miorine.
While pilong the mobile cra, Miorine steadily advanced deeper
and deeper into the monorail passage of the taccal test sector.
When she reached the ceiling frame in the front, visible against the
outer wall of the sha, the control room came into view.
Occupying the room were Felsi and Petra, their cheers for
Darilbalde bouncing off the walls as they watched the unfolding duel
on their handbooks.
"Darn! That was so close!"
"Heck, she dodged again. What?"
But the sudden rumble silenced them, making way for a mobile
cra that thundered in headfirst.
The monitor of the mobile cra showed Felsi and Petra hugging
each other in fear.
"I knew it would be you two."
Miorine's voice echoed in the control room.
"Miorine?"
"Using a mobile cra isn't fair!"
——Look who's talking!
But their protests were drowned by the approaching danger as
Miorine advanced, the arm of her cra towering menacingly above
them.
"No, please, we didn't do anything!"
"W-w-w-wait!"
Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and mere seconds later, the taccal
test area sprinklers fell silent.
In the cockpit of the now one-armed Aerial, Sulea looked up,
standing staonary at the edge of the precipice.
"It stopped?"
"Hey! What's going on?"
Vim yelled, but there was nothing Lauda could do.
The control room, its glass was strewn across the floor in the
aermath of the chaos, held one remaining link to the console - a
tablet, its screen displaying the ceased discharge of the cooling water.
Aer Felsi and Petra fled, Miorine had dismounted the cra,
choosing to sit amid the ruins of the control room. She surveyed her
student handbook with a smile that betrayed more than sasfacon -
it was a proclamaon.
"Sulea? All that's le now is for you to win."
7. DECISION MAKING EXTENSION AI
"Thanks, Ms. Miorine!"
Sulea expressed her gratude as the deluge ceased, invigorang
her with a surge of revitalized power.
"Aerial... Now it's our turn!"
As Sulea spoke, GUN-BIT sprang into acon, lining up in a
forward-poinng formaon. Aerial drew another blade. Propelled by a
muscular leap, Sulea darted forward, her azure arc radiang an
iridescent glow, flinging beams toward the advancing Darilbalde.
The rain was no more; no aenuaon of her onslaught. Cornered,
the Darilbalde found itself relentlessly hounded by GUN-BIT. An
unexpected reversal sent tremors of excitement through the Earth
House. One mechanic student, second-year student Ojelo Gabel, was
especially enthralled.
"Go! It's 8.6-to-1 odds!"
The clandesne beng on duels had become a favored pasme in
the academy, and a majority of stakes this me were leaning towards
Guel. A victory for Aerial, therefore, would mean an extravagant win
for Ojelo.
Even Chuchu, hitherto observing the duel with frosty indifference,
leaned forward, her fist punching the air.
"Blow the Spacian away!"
"She's not from Earth either."
Marn interjected quietly, but of course, the fervor of Chuchu and
the others drowned his words.
Now, with both arms lost, Darilbalde found itself on the defensive.
It evaded Aerial's relentless assault with the GUN-BIT, controlled by
the Darilbalde's expanded AI. However, it was strange that not a
single aack hit. Guel realized that he was being guided.
But the AI detected the heat sources of the guided bits in advance
and iniated an abrupt stop unrelated to Guel's intenons.
"You fool! Don't stop!"
Despite Guel's realizaon of Sulea's strategy, the AI dismissed his
protests.
Upon reaching the predetermined spot orchestrated by Sulea, the
lying-in-wait GUN-BIT cluster took aim and fired, obliterang the
shield drones and right shoulder armor. A mighty explosion sent
fragments of Darilbalde's crimson armor scaering in all direcons.
"No way you'd be tricked by a decoy that cheap!"
The Darilbalde's AI, which was integrated into the system, had
been outmaneuvered by Sulea.
Had Guel been in control, he could have evaded that assault. Yet,
even in its damaged state, Darilbalde connued its autonomous
acons. Guel found himself lacking the will to grasp the control lever.
It was then that his father, Vim, appeared on the sub-monitor.
──Guel! What are you doing? Finish her off!
"Dad? How did you..."
The duel was supposed to be solely student-led. Instantly, Guel
pieced together the puzzle - the rain and the AI were all machinaons
of his father.
"Was that heat management thing your doing? Dad! Why won't
you believe in me?"
It wasn't anger driving him now but a sorrow so profound it
eclipsed rage, slowly crushing Guel's spirit. His father stood
unwavering, trampling over his son's emoons.
──If you want me to believe, then crush that Gundam!
"Do you think I can't win if I play fair?"
──That's the child in you talking. The result is all that maers!
Guel struggled against his roiling emoons, his teeth gried, while
the bale raged on. Aerial advanced from the precipice.
──Brother, just focus on the bale for now!
"You're only saying that for Dad's sake!"
──Why don't you understand this duel is bigger than just you?
Children should do as their parents say!
"Shut up!"
Guel smashed the student handbook connected to the cockpit,
fragments flying in every direcon. The monitor's feed abruptly cut
off. Concurrently, the Darilbalde's eye camera, as the suit was on the
verge of geng back up, flickered out. It collapsed, sapped of
strength.
──The Decision Making Extension AI has been disabled.
Vim's fury erupted at the operator's report.
"That fool!"
Though the Darilbalde stood moonless, Sulea maintained her
vigilance.
"An error? But..."
Aerial closed in, its beam saber held high. The Darilbalde lied its
face once more, a spark rekindling in its eye-sight. It was as though its
fighng spirit had been revived. It deployed a beam saber from its
arm, challenging the Aerial to a fierce melee. Sulea was auned to
the different pressure compared to before and reacted quickly.
"!?"
Control had been switched back from AI to manual. The Darilbalde
began pushing Aerial back.
"This is my fight!"
Drenched in sweat, Guel maxed out the thrust on the main
thruster. All other noises receded into the background, leaving only
his voice echoing.
"It's mine. Only mine!"
With a sudden surge of speed, he pushed Aerial back, staging a
dramac retreat.
"His moves are different from before!"
Capitalizing on the momentum of the push, Aerial executed a judo
Tomoe Nage, sending Darilbalde skyward. But, mid-air, the Darilbalde
regained control of its posture. Guel fired the wire-guided restraint
gear "Shackle Claw" from its legs, ensnaring both of Aerial's arms.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Guel let out a primal roar.
The Darilbalde soared higher, whirling Aerial around with the wire.
"This guy is strong... But Aerial and I won't lose!"
Fighng against the centrifugal force, Sulea used the main
thruster to slow down. Aerial braced itself against the paron.
"Aer all..."
"Guel Jeturk cannot lose!"
The Darilbalde drew itself up in a two-sword stance.
"There's sll so much le on my wish list!"
The Aerial grabbed its saber with its remaining hand, aiming for the
Darilbalde's antenna, and lunged forward from the paron. The
Darilbalde blocked the strike with its le arm while seizing the saber
with its right, slashing back. Aerial, however, pinned that arm, charging
at it from the chest. As Aerial landed and regained its balance, the
Darilbalde's red antenna was conspicuously snapped off.
On the monitor watched by all the students, "WINNER SULETTA
MERCURY/ AERIAL 1 win 0 loss 0 e" was displayed.
Into the arficial sky, a rainbow light filters in.
"Ms. Sulea, you're really amazing."
Nika murmurs, seemingly touched.
8. PROPOSAL
Inside Aerial's cockpit, Sulea was praccally breathing through her
shoulders.
Sweat trickled down the interior of her helmet visor.
Just then, a message arrived on the sub-monitor. It was from Elan.
──Congratulaons!
"Uh..."
Merely seeing those characters was enough to flush Sulea's face.
Yet before she could even savor the moment, messages started
flooding the same monitor with a torrenal force.
──So cool!
──How lucky!
──Mercurian girl, Go go!
Praise, mockery, teasing - a barrage of various messages unfolded
one aer the other.
"Huh? What?"
Overwhelmed by the flood of messages, Sulea was thrown into
confusion and hasly sought help from Miorine.
"Ms. Miorine! M-My screen is filled with words! So many words! So
many words, many words!"
"Why did you release all messages? I said, only from registered
contacts."
Once Sulea le only Elan's message, the window was refreshingly
empty, and she could finally catch her breath.
"Phew..."
"You won. We won."
"Right."
"Now you won't be expelled!"
Miorine's voice was effervescent.
"Then Aerial and you are both... safe?"
Sulea exaggeratedly signaled safe with her body.
"That's right! Take that, you louse of a father!"
Miorine showed a radiant and playful smile, unlike anything she'd
shown before.
Seeing Miorine openly laughing and genuinely enjoying herself,
Sulea felt a surge of hope.
"G-Good news, right, Mio-Mio?"
Sulea decided to try it out.
"Excuse me?"
But Miorine's expression instantly turned menacing, and she spoke
in her usual scary tone.
"I'm sorry!"
"What the heck is "Mio-Mio"?"
"Calling a friend by a nickname was near the top of my list, so... It's
cute, isn't it?"
Sulea was fidgeng, hoping for a posive reacon from Miorine.
But Miorine was unyielding.
"Rejected. It's super lame."
"Th-Then how about--"
"Rejected!"
"I didn't even say it yet!"
It was at this point that Sulea noced Guel standing outside the
cockpit, silently staring at her.
Guel had descended with a sense of unease, although he himself
wasn't sure what exactly that unease was.
Sulea decided to open the cockpit. She thought she should
properly greet the person who had shown such an impressive fight.
Stepping out of the cockpit, Sulea descended onto Aerial's palm
and landed in front of Guel.
"E-Excuse me... I-I'm sorry!"
Sulea bowed her head deeply, but Guel didn't quite understand
why he was being apologized to.
"I underesmated you. Well, you were, you know, really strong."
Sulea's words were a shock to Guel.
Guel's eyes sparkled.
Immediately aer, Guel grasped Sulea's hand firmly.
"Eek!"
She involuntarily sffened. However, Guel knelt down on the
ground, sll holding Sulea's hand and looking into her eyes. Sulea
was jiery, not knowing what would happen.
"Sulea Mercury... Will you marry me?"
Guel's gaze was unwavering.
Sulea couldn't tear her eyes away from him.
Aer a prolonged silence, Sulea, finally understanding Guel's
words, could only reply...
"What?"
Novel Edion Original Episode
#1 Yushura’s Amusement Park
This is, and is not, Cressid!
From William Shakespeare’s “
Troilus and Cressida
”
[HARO] A spherical base unit used by the Benerit Group for infrastructure tasks. It can be given
a broad range of funcons by exchanging various aachments, enabling it to provide many
different kinds of services. Furthermore, the main body of the Haro device could also be
customized with the right technical skills. Rouji Chante, a first-year student in the Mechanics
department, had modified the voice of his Haro device from its default sengs.
1. PRACTICE
──
Nice to meet you, my groom.
Those words uered by Miorine Rembran connued to echo deep
within Sulea Mercury's heart.
Ever since that moment, Sulea had countless conversaons with
Miorine, feeling a sense of understanding aer each. Yet, pey
disagreements would always arise—though not quite disagreements.
Sulea was just trying to be friendly, but the more she tried to
express her feelings, the more she seemed to go in circles, ulmately
only succeeding in cking Miorine off.
"Student number LP041, Sulea Mercury, do you have a partner?"
The teacher's queson snapped Sulea out of her daydream.
"Y-yes! Yes, I-d-d-do have a buddy!"
She realized this was no me for absent-minded daydreaming; the
exercise was about to start. Sulea looked around in a panic.
Today marked the start of a major exercise involving all students
of all departments and grades at the Ascassia School of Technology.
Hundreds of three-meter-square simulator boxes were arranged in
the vast zero-gravity area designated as the exercise space. In front of
each box, a pair of students stood ready in airght suits.
"Sulea! Over here!"
"Ms. Miorine!"
Sulea kicked off the floor, pushing against a box to float over to
Miorine.
Miorine extended her arm and pulled Sulea in.
"I did send the box number to your student handbook, remember?
You need to be more mindful."
"Oh, yes, I'm sorry..."
Sulea's heart sank as she was already being scolded by her
supposed bride-to-be.
"But what exactly are we doing today? There was no advance
noce."
It turned out the students were merely told to pair up and gather;
the nature of the exercise was kept under wraps.
A lile distance away was Nika Nanaura from the Mechanics
department. Catching Sulea's eye, Nika offered a cheerful wave.
Sulea, of course, eagerly waved back. Nika's buddy was the
eccentric Chuatury Panlunch—nicknamed Chuchu—with her unique
pink pompom-shaped hair. Upon nocing Sulea, Chuchu simply
turned away with a huff.
── Alright, everyone, please enter the simulator.
The instrucon echoed through the exercise area.
Following Miorine into the simulator, Sulea heard a so
electronic sound as the hatch locked behind them.
"Eh? Wh-what?"
"Don't panic. Seems like the assessment has already started."
Miorine subtly pointed to a camera tucked away in a corner of the
ceiling with her eyes.
"R-right!"
Cameras were scaered everywhere, seemingly recording every
move they made. With human teachers unable to evaluate each
student's performance, it appeared a 'value assessment program'
would assign their scores.
The teacher's voice reverberated from a speaker in the ceiling.
──This exercise will simulate a situaon where you are stranded
on a small communicaons vessel that has experienced an emergency
shutdown. A distress signal has already been sent out, and a rescue
team will arrive in five hours. Your task is to take whatever acons you
deem best during this me. However, extra-vehicular acvies are
not necessary for this exercise. Any student who leaves the simulator
box within the me limit will be disqualified.
"Five hours, huh..."
"The... best...?"
With different thoughts swirling in their heads, Sulea and
Miorine each wore puzzled expressions.
──Let the exercise begin.
The buzzer sounded, and the room light turned red.
"Ms Miorine, should we put on the helmets?"
"Good call. We don't know the condion of the ship either."
The two of them put on the helmets near the cockpit seats and
held hands, opening the "communicaon channel."
"And now—"
"Uh, should we talk?"
"We can't do
that
for five hours."
Miorine sighed noceably.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize for everything."
"O-okay..."
Miorine briskly le the cockpit area.
Feeling downcast, Sulea followed.
"Um...?"
"We're checking the structure of this place. There might be a task
hidden somewhere."
"I-I see!"
In the first cabin they entered, there was a hatch on the floor, and
the enre lower secon was a cargo hold.
Various supplies were lined up, and there were also refrigerators
and freezers.
As Sulea tried to open one, Miorine stopped her.
"No, that won't work. The power is out, and the rising
temperature inside might spoil the perishable food we're trying to
keep cold."
They decided to return to the cabin and discuss.
"There's no engine room, so we can rule out any tasks about
engine repairs. That would give an advantage to the Mechanics
students anyway."
"I wonder if Nika and Chuchu are working hard."
Nika was an acquaintance of Sulea and Miorine. Sulea intended
to bring up a relevant topic, but Miorine connued to discuss the
task, indifferent.
"Focus on us, not others. What's the cockpit like?"
Prompted by Miorine, Sulea sat in the cockpit seat.
"It's a regular pilot simulator."
"I see... Oh, can you perform a hull inspecon?"
"Yes! Um... this is it, 'Inspecon Mode'!"
"You know a lot about ships, don't you, Sulea?"
"Not really, but back on Mercury, I had to do a lot myself."
"Hmm, I see. Interesng"
"Do you want to hear more about Mercury!?"
Sulea turned around eagerly, but Miorine was indifferent again.
"Let's finish our work first."
"But we've only been at it for fieen minutes."
"Can we send out another distress signal? No, make it every thirty
minutes."
"I-I think we can!"
Sulea set the console to automacally send signals.
"Now the rescue team can locate us."
"The inspecon is also finished. There is no damage to the hull!"
"NO ABNORMALITIES" was displayed on the main monitor in the
cockpit, and the emergency lights switched back to regular lighng.
"We might actually run out of things to do. I don't think the test is
about killing me, but..."
"Food!" Sulea suddenly exclaimed.
"Food?"
"Um... aren't you hungry?"
"I see, food... Perhaps that's the key to this exercise. We know for
sure that rescue will come. If we don't get the nutrion we need, we
won't be able to handle an emergency situaon."
With that, Miorine sat in the cockpit and listed the available food
on the console.
"We can't access the data from the refrigerator and the freezer.
We have to open them and check."
Sulea peered from the cargo hold's hatch and said,
"Uh, the electronic heater might be broken. The indicator light is
on."
"Huh? Oh, you're right. There's an error message. Is there a water
heater around?"
"Yes, yes! This one seems to be working fine."
"It does, doesn't it."
When Miorine tapped the cockpit monitor, the ship's AI suggested
a method for repairing the electronic heater.
"Sulea, do you think we can fix this within 4 hours?"
"I... I'm not very good with repairs..."
"Not even a lile?"
"I'm sorry! It's, I mean, I'm really bad at it!"
"Well, I can't do it either. This clearly favors the Mechanics
students."
"So, do you think there's a task that's geared towards the Business
Management students?"
Ascassia School of Technology has three departments: Pilot,
Mechanic, and Business Mangement.
"Maybe it's about the food."
"Huh?"
"We're stranded, so we have to calculate our power consumpon.
Cost calculaon is fundamental in management."
"That's amazing!"
Sulea was thoroughly impressed.
With her face poking out from the floor of the cabin, Sulea
stared at Miorine in the cockpit. Miorine seemed to be quickly
focusing on the idenfied task. Sulea wondered if there was
something she could do as well.
"Ms M-Miorine!"
"Hm?"
"There might be another source of food!"
"Where?"
"Under you, Ms Miorine!"
Sulea came out of the hatch and entered the cockpit.
"W-Wait a moment."
"Ms Miorine, please move."
Sulea pulled a yellow box from under the seat.
"It's a first aid kit."
"H-here you go!"
Sulea handed over the kit.
Inside the kit were bandage tape, various medicaons, purified
water, and plenty of emergency raons in tubes.
"Well done, Sulea."
"Ehehe."
"Now we have more opons, though it's going to be a hassle to
compare costs."
"Uh, what?"
"It's fine. We have to find all of this, then compare and consider to
decide the best course of acon. However, it seems like eang
emergency raons would be the most efficient in an emergency."
"Should we eat now?"
"Gluon."
"Wha-whaaat?"
"We'll eat later. I want to properly calculate first. Probably—there's
sll something le."
"I see——"
Just then, the simulator shook violently, and the lights went
completely out.
"What?!"
"I-I'll check!"
In the cockpit, Sulea swily took a seat, running her eyes over
the various console displays.
Red warnings lined the screen.
"We're heading straight into a dense debris field!"
The debris referred to here was space debris, or 'space junk.'
As Miorine looked on, wreckage of mobile suits approached at
high speeds, colliding with each other. What looked like an arm
smacked against the hull, causing the simulator box to jolt violently.
"Whoa!"
"I had a feeling something would happen!"
"I'm going to evade!"
"But the engines are shut down, right?"
"I'll use the atude control thrusters!"
Sulea, seated in the cockpit, had a different air about her,
reminiscent of her aura during her duel with Guel – a sense of
determinaon.
"Miorine, take a seat in the cabin!"
Miorine nodded vigorously.
"Please!"
In a rush, Miorine le the cockpit and seated herself in the cabin.
"Sulea, can you handle this?"
"It's completely different from the Aerial... but I'll give it my best!"
While the Ascassia School of Technology's Pilot department was
considered elite even in the academy, their specialty lay in mobile
suits and mobile cras, and their training in pilong a vessel like this
was only basic, just like the other departments.
"I guess the test lasts five hours because of events like this."
Miorine peered into the cockpit, hoping to assist Sulea.
Sulea was already busy dodging and pilong through the rapidly
encroaching asteroids while also keeping an eye on the radar monitor.
Miorine's unfamiliarity with navigaon might only serve as a
distracon, so she began to review the ship's informaon again on the
terminal at her cabin seat.
The upper level contained the cockpit, cabin, and bathroom. The
lower level was the cargo hold. There was plenty of air, water, and
power. Even though there's sll plenty of me, taking a shower is
clearly out of the queson.
If they were to use the shower, it might be to thaw the frozen
space food supposedly in the freezer. But to warm the frozen packs,
the temperature of the shower wouldn't be enough, and it would only
waste water and power. Besides, eang frozen stew wasn't nearly as
appealing as emergency raons.
The more she thought, the more Miorine was convinced. Securing
and efficiently consuming food must be the primary challenge here.
Securing food under any circumstances was an essenal skill for
survival in space. It also served as a task that each specialty could
ulize.
"Whoa!"
A violent shock made Miorine inadvertently exclaim.
"I'm sorry! We've hit something!"
"Never mind! If you can't dodge it, no one can!"
That was more of Miorine's wishful thinking, but in reality, their
scores so far were in the top 1% of all pairs.
Pung safety first—which is of utmost importance in space—
perhaps Sulea should remain in the cockpit and eat emergency
raons while on guard.
But that would put too much burden on Sulea.
"We have three hours le..."
The drill would probably end on me. Although it's common for
rescues to be delayed, it's best to assume that this drill has a me
limit. Otherwise, the concept of a rescue ship arriving would be
pointless.
"Sulea! What about communicaon with the rescue team? Are
they aware of our posion?"
"Um... yes! The line has been connected all along!"
Hearing this, Miorine made her decision. Relying solely on Sulea,
considering her principles and the score of the praccal training,
wouldn't be opmal.
"Sulea! Once we're through this, we'll have dinner together!"
"Huh...! Yes! Whoa!"
Sulea lted the ship to avoid a giganc asteroid.
"Got it? Focus on pilong for now!"
"Ri-right!"
Aer a while, the interior lighng returned to normal.
"It looks like it's over."
"Yes! I've also increased the sensor sensivity!"
"Right. We might hit something again... It's my turn now."
"I thought we were going to eat together..."
"I've been thinking about what and how we should eat opmally.
We're going to work together."
"I-I'm looking forward to it!"
The pair moved to the cargo hold and began to examine the
cooking tools mounted on the walls.
"Our opons are limited."
"So, we either eat emergency food or fix the electronic heater to
warm and eat the frozen packs, right?"
"If we can fix the electronic heater, the packs are the most
efficient. It uses a bit of electricity, but it gives us more calories in
return. Plus, we can make a warm meal."
"But there's just over two hours le..."
"Yeah, that's why I'm thinking of another way to warm up the
packs."
The Ascassia School of Technology that Sulea and the others
aend was established by the Benerit Group with the goal of
nurturing individuals who can acvely contribute in space.
Even in AS 122, space is sll dangerous, and there is a possibility
that the shule they ride in could stop due to engine problems.
Nika and the others had reached the same conclusion as Miorine.
"Phew, it's fixed."
"Nika, you're amazing!"
What sets Miorine's team apart from Nika's is that they chose to
repair the cooking equipment. For Nika, a mechanic, a malfuncon of
this degree was trivial.
"It took some me, though."
"We sll have an hour, so we're fine!"
At the same me, Sulea and Miorine were struggling.
For more than an hour, they had been wrestling with hot water.
They intended to warm up the frozen packs with hot water instead of
a shower or heater. However, the water coming from the kele was
quite minimal for safety reasons, and they were trying to collect it in
the helmets they had removed. This was not going so well in the
weightless environment, and barely any water was geng on the
packs.
"Hot!"
"Mi-Miorine, are you okay?!"
The water splashed a lile onto Miorine's nose.
"Never mind me, Sulea, just hold on to it properly!"
──Five minutes le ll the end.
"This is tough! Shall we switch to emergency raons?"
"We've come this far; I don't want to give up."
"That's, that's right."
"Can't be helped. It's sll cold, though."
Miorine began opening the packs of space food. Inside was a stew
they had both chosen.
When Sulea put a spoon into it, there was a crunchy sound.
"Then, I'll be the taster..."
"I'm eang too!"
Both put it in their mouths at the same me.
"Mmm!"
"Ngghhh!!"
Most of the stew was frozen, and the carrots and potatoes were
so hard they couldn't chew at all.
At this point, the buzzer for the end of the exercise sounded, and
the hatch at the entrance opened.
"Oh..."
"..."
──Your scores will be sent to your student handbooks.
Dismissed.
Miorine briskly walked ahead, leaving Sulea behind.
"Um, I'm sorry!"
"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who messed up."
Their evaluaon was slightly below average.
Their pilong score was nearly perfect, and their meals were
above average, but they received the lowest rang for
communicaon.
"It's because I couldn't express my opinions... So, it's not your
fault, Miss Miorine!"
Miorine sighed and said, "Yeah, yeah, I get it."
"M-miss Miorine!"
But Sulea’s call was in vain as Miorine merely connued walking
away.
2. YUSHURA MIRZAKHANI
Aer their exercise, Sulea trudged alone through the extensive
academy grounds. In her otherwise unfortunate circumstances, it was
a silver lining that the academy was vast, and every place she went
was a new experience, ensuring that she was never bored, even when
alone.
Making a round trip of the school, Sulea finally came to rest at a
café terrace near the spaceport's zero-gravity secon. It wasn't
exactly "sing" per se, but rather floang gently between the tables
and chairs.
"Oh... I wish Miorine could be a bit more kind..."
"What are you moping about?"
Startled by the voice cast down from above, Sulea sprang up in
surprise.
"M-M-Ms Miorine!"
However, something was off.
Miorine wasn't looking directly at Sulea.
"Do I...look like Miorine to you?"
"What? Huh?"
Sulea prided herself on her observaonal skills. That's how she
noced Miorine driing in space.
The silver hair, hidden earlier by her bangs, was idencal to
Miorine's, but the face was completely different. The clothes weren't
the Ascassia uniform but a cape, and she had a decidedly more
mature aura about her.
A graduate? A visitor? An upperclassman or a teacher she hadn't
met? Why was she imitang Miorine's hairstyle?
Lost in her thoughts, the person she thought was Miorine
chuckled.
"My apologies."
"Wh-Who are you?"
"I'm Miorine's childhood friend, Yushura Mirzakhani. This, this is
my disguise!"
Yushura said, reaching up to touch her le ear with her right hand.
In the next instant, Yushura's hair sparked with faint electricity,
shiing from silver to a vibrant gold, her hairstyle changing to a
ponytail draped over her le shoulder.
From the end of the ponytail, a metallic-like fluid flowed into
Yushura's hand, forming a silver sphere. The surface of the ball
trembled soly.
"Wha- Your hair...how did you...?"
"My natural hair color is this. Haro."
As Yushura tossed the ball, the p of the wand called Haro
opened its mouth to swallow it, concealing it within.
"That surprised me! Even the length has changed, right?"
"Yes. It's our new product, 'Ferrohair,' using magnec fluid. It's sll
under development by my company for use by mobile suits, but I had
it adjusted for today. Would you like to try it?"
"No, thank you! I... I like my hair the way it is!" Sulea declined,
flustered.
Sulea hasly protected her head with her hands, barely covering
it. She was a bit interested, but since she had just met this person, she
felt more nervous than intrigued.
"It's a lovely red, isn't it?"
Then, Sulea realized she had yet to introduce herself.
"Ah, um, I'm Sulea Mercury! I-I'm in the same grade as Miorine..."
"You're friends, right? You menoned Miorine earlier."
"Y-Yes! But why disguise yourself as Miorine?"
"I wanted to surprise her when I ran into her. I just happened to
surprise you first."
"That's a prank, isn't it!"
"Yep. That's it."
"But, um... are you really Ms Miorine's childhood friend?"
Behind Yushura, a bodyguard-like figure in a black suit was quietly
standing.
Sulea didn't know the details but knew Miorine had many
enemies. She decided to proceed with cauon here as her
prospecve groom.
"Ah, you're being cauous."
"N-no, not at all!"
"What can I do to earn your trust?"
"Well, um..."
"Let's start by showing you some old photos of us. Haro."
At Yushura's voice command, the Haro on her staff began
projecng something onto the nearby wall.
"T-this is Ms Miorine... and you, Yushura?"
"Yes, that's right."
"So, so cute...!"
"Oh, you should exchange contact informaon with me."
"Y-Yes, sure!"
Yushura brought her Haro sck closer to the student handbook
that Sulea had held out.
Their respecve contact informaon appeared on the screens of
both the student handbook and the Haro.
"You see the funcon in the address book that shows mutual
friends, right?"
"Ah, there it is! It's Miorine and Yushura, side by side."
"So, do you believe now that Miorine and I are sll in touch and
are childhood friends?"
"I-I believe you!"
"Then, a handshake!"
"A handshake, of course!"
Yushura gracefully took Sulea's hand.
Sulea immediately noced — though she didn't menon it to
Yushura — that Yushura's grip was incredibly weak, even more slender
than Miorine's delicate hand.
All this while, Yushura's mechanically-operated cane stood on its
own beside her. Atop it was the Haro, looking almost like a wizard's
staff. Every now and then, it adjusted its posion in response to the
air condioning flow, maintaining a comfortable distance from
Yushura in the zero-gravity environment.
"This? It's a mobile support staff equipped with a Haro. I'm a bit
weak, and I struggle to move in a gravity environment."
The moment Yushura placed her right hand on the Haro, air
spewed out from various parts of the staff. Yushura began to float,
twirling in a figure eight before gently landing in the same posion.
"That's amazing!"
Sulea was completely capvated by the magic that Yushura kept
showing. She really seemed like a wizard.
At this moment, the black-suited figure who had kept their
distance approached them.
"Miss, it's me. We should head over to Miorine's place soon."
Yushura crossed her arms,
"Wait a moment, Yaya. I'm changing the plan a bit. I want to talk
with Sulea a bit longer."
The butler, called Yaya, silently nodded and stepped back.
Yushura turned to Sulea with a smile,
"I think it'll be more interesng to meet Miorine later."
"Interesng?"
"Interesng is important, right? I base everything on whether it's
interesng or not."
"I-I do too! I love fun things!"
Yushura skillfully maneuvered the thrust from the Haro sck,
landing right in front of Sulea's eyes.
"I think we're going to get along great!"
3. SHIP
"Sulea."
As students milled about and passed each other, the voice that
called out belonged to one of Sulea's few friends, Nika Nanaura.
Beside her was Chuatury Panlunch, affeconately known as
Chuchu. Her bubblegum pink hair sparkled with feisty charm as usual.
"Who's that with you?"
"This is Ms. Yushura! Ms. Yushura, this is Nika, and Chuchu."
Sulea began the introducons, but Chuchu interjected with a
snarky comment, "Let me guess, another high-society Spacian gal?"
"Chuchu, that's rude. Hello, are you here for a tour?"
Upon picking up on Yushura's mature air, Nika offered a polite
greeng.
Yushura responded with a gracious smile, "I forgot to menon it to
Sulea. I am Yushura Mirzakhani, the Chief Technical Officer of
Langlands Corporaon."
Sulea stammered to connue the introducon, "She's... she's
Miorine's childhood friend, and I-I-I just met her earlier..."
But Nika interrupted, her eyes wide, "Langlands Corporaon? The
one famous for magnetohydro technology?!"
"You're familiar with it?"
As a Mechanics department student, Nika was deeply interested
in cung-edge technology.
"Seeing as you're a friend of Sulea's, I'll show you something
special."
With a flick of her Haro sck, two silvery spheres appeared, and
Nika and Chuchu's hairstyles were swapped instantly. Nika's hair had
turned into a bubblegum pink pompom, while Chuchu's was
transformed into a blue-highlighted bob.
"Wha-!? What just happened!?"
"What's going on!?"
Nika and Chuchu stared in shock.
"Is this a product of Langlands?"
"Yes, a new release."
"Could you... Could you tell me more?!"
Technical jargon started to fly around, much of it going over
Sulea's head.
"Ah, once Nika gets started on tech talk, she never stops."
Chuchu rolled her eyes as if this was a common occurrence.
Aer their discussion, Yushura waved her Haro sck again,
returning Nika and Chuchu's hairstyles back to normal.
"Hold on. Why is Sulea the only one in a white uniform?"
"W-well, that's..."
"Did Sulea cause some trouble and was made to wear it as
punishment?"
Yushura eyed Sulea suspiciously.
Sulea's uniform was white with a golden emblem, quite
disncve at first glance. Yushura didn't really believe it was a
punishment; she was merely jesng.
However, Sulea, taking her seriously, began to fluster.
Seeing Sulea in distress, Nika jumped in, "Sulea didn't mess up
anything. It's quite the opposite. Sulea is the top pilot at the school;
she's a Holder."
"Holder?"
As Yushura threw more quesons, this me, it was Chuchu's turn
to answer.
"In this school, we engage in duels, in mobile suits, staking
something on the line. Sulea won a duel against the previous Holder,
Guel, wagering Miorine."
"A duel for Miorine? Sulea did that?"
Sulea recollected that fateful day.
"I-I proposed the duel..."
How she mustered such courage that day was beyond her
comprehension. But it all started from that moment when she moved
forward two.
"Sulea proposed the duel!? That's amazing!"
"Eh, uh, well... heh heh"
How to react in such situaons sll baffled Sulea.
"What does it mean to wager Miorine? Does it mean you receive
something from Miorine?" Yushura's quesons connued.
"Sulea became Miorine's groom," Nika clarified.
Yushura gasped, "What!? A groom? Of Miorine? Really?"
Yushura's piercing gaze rested on Sulea, who recoiled under its
intensity.
"Y-yes... um, that is... right."
"Congratulaons!"
"Th-thank you...?"
"You queson that? Are you not happy?"
"N-no... I'm happy."
"I've wanted to get closer to Miorine, too," Yushura muered, her
gaze fixed on Sulea. "You must really care about Miorine."
"Um... yes?"
Yushura's words echoed in the air like a personal musing, yet also
as an explanaon to Nika and the others.
"I decided not to see Miorine today," she confessed.
Nika and Chuchu exchanged puzzled glances.
"I want to see her, but I don't."
"What do you mean?"
"I... I want to talk more with you guys. Especially with Sulea."
Her unwavering gaze was locked onto Sulea.
"M-me?"
"Of course! You're Miorine's bridegroom, right? Sulea Mercury,"
Yushura said, sll locking her gaze on her, "how about we go to the
port? I have a ship there."
"A ship?"
At the spaceport a mid-sized ship adorned with gold
ornamentaon on a blue background was moored. Its rounded hull
boasted a showy yet dignified charm.
"Come on, everyone, get on board."
Yushura's ship was surprisingly large for a personal vessel. It even
had a cargo hold large enough for one mobile suit.
"Can we board?"
But Yushura's next words were unexpected.
"I invite you to my front with this ship."
"What?!"
The trio echoed in disbelief, imagining a simple tea party aboard
the ship.
Nika, usually the serious one, expressed her hesitaon. "While I'd
love to go, I have to be back at school by the end of the day..."
"Don't worry. This ship is super-fast. It's our latest model," Yushura
assured, puffing out her chest.
"Come on now, everyone, don't be shy!"
"Well, then..."
Sulea couldn't contain her excitement about an oung with her
dorm mates.
"I guess I'll take you up on your offer," Nika chimed in, eager to
board the state-of-the-art ship.
Seeing the excitement of her friends, Chuchu sighed.
"Fine. If Nika is going, I will too."
4. LAPIS GARDEN
Yushura led the way as Sulea, Nika, and Chuchu entered the
ship, before Yaya closed the hatch behind them.
The cabin they were led into was spacious, with comfortable sofas
and tables arranged generously. Just as Sulea let her guard down, a
chair slid towards her, and she was made to sit.
"Wha!"
Startled, a so apparatus sprang out of the chair, automacally
gripping Sulea around the waist.
Peering at the underside of the chair, Nika remarked, "This is the
latest seat drone. Impressive, just as one would expect from the
cung-edge Langlands Corporaon..."
Sulea and Nika could only look around, wide-eyed.
"Hmph. It's just a typical Spacecian ship," Chuchu snorted
dismissively.
Amidst all this, Yushura seemed to be enjoying herself.
"We'll be taking off soon."
"Please fasten your seat belts," urged Yaya, but at that moment, a
low rumbling sound echoed through the ship.
Sulea quickly held her stomach, but it was already too late.
"Uh..."
"Oh," Yushura noted, looking at her.
Nika, nocing the blushing Sulea, silently smiled.
"Did you skip lunch?" asked Yushura.
"Ah, now that you menon it! Yes, that's... right," Sulea replied.
She had been planning to invite Miorine for lunch aer class as part
of her to-do list, which included "Having a meal with friends."
However, Miorine had gone alone, and with her encounter with
Yushura, she completely forgot about her hunger unl her stomach
reminded her. She realized she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast,
aside from a single bite of frozen stew.
Standing up, Yushura said, "I'm sorry. I'm not someone who usually
gets hungry. What about you, Chuchu and Nika?"
"Nika and I were about to head to the cafeteria--"
"To be honest, I'm a bit hungry..."
Yushura smiled mischievously as she got up.
"Let's have a meal together. I'll make sure to prepare extra for
Sulea. Yaya, help me."
"Understood."
With that curt response, Yaya le the living room more swily
than Yushura.
In a maer of minutes, dishes were brought to Sulea and the
others. The ship was in a zero-gravity environment, and instead of
plates arranged on a table, the food-like objects seemed to be floang
around. These were not the usual cubed meals but an assortment of
colorful meals encased in sparkling gelan — vegetable pastes and
sautés — creang an ambience akin to being surrounded by balloons
and candy globes.
"Um, is... this... edible?" Sulea hesitantly asked.
Watching Sulea's hesitaon, Yushura chuckled and encouraged
her, "Go ahead, dig in."
"But..."
"But?"
"Miorine said not to eat something offered by strangers..."
"Haha, that's so Miorine. Go on, dig in."
"... "
"What's wrong?"
Sulea and the others were rooted to the spot by the strange and
fantascal sight.
They couldn't help but compare this meal with the frozen stew
they had with Miorine.
While that experience might one day become a cherished
memory, Sulea couldn't help but stare hungrily at the fresh and
appezing dishes before her.
"I see, I see. Miorine would love this."
"Huh?"
"Just like this, look."
Yushura puckered her lips as though leaning in for a kiss, drew a
long breath, then sucked in a nearby jello with a slurping sound.
Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!
Sulea and the others imitated, tasng the jelly one aer the
other. This was indeed a peculiar scene, yet it had a certain charm,
making them all break into laughter. Each bite held a surprise,
somemes sweet, at mes bier - it was as if they were in a dream.
"mm-eli-mm-cious!"
Sulea had intended to exclaim, "Delicious!" but her mouth was
sll full.
Yushura gave Sulea, who was blushing, a warm look and said,
"Good, I'm glad. Now, everyone, eat up!"
Even in the far-off reaches of space, away from Earth, it's possible
to acquire various substances, including light energy from the Sun and
water and oxygen from asteroids. As Yushura explained this, Sulea
blurted out.
"Mi-miss Miorine also gr-gr-grows tomatoes!"
Yushura's expression reflected a slight surprise before she uered,
"I see. Tomatoes, huh?"
Chuchu, who had been silent for a while, slowly bit into one.
"So good."
"!!"
At Yushura's smile, Sulea also felt a sense of happiness.
──We will soon arrive at the Front, Lapis Garden.
As Yaya made this announcement, the spaceship's interior walls
switched to display the external view.
"Look, there. That's my rock garden."
Floang before them was an asteroid that looked like a parfait
with white rocks topped by pale blue gems. Both the rock and the
gem were about ten kilometers in length.
"Wow..."
Sulea's eyes reflected the twinkling star, literally making her eyes
sparkle.
"It's beauful, isn't it?"
"Ye-yes! I've never seen anything like it!"
"It seems like it originally was a much larger asteroid, and that blue
crystal part grew inside it."
"Wow..."
As the ship neared the asteroid, buildings made on the rock part
started to come into view.
"Um... What is this place?"
Nika asked Yushura.
"It's the Front that I inherited from my great-grandmother."
"You inherited a
Front
? You really are the heiress of the Langlands
Corporaon..."
"It's much smaller compared to your school's Front. And
technically, it's owned by the company."
Yushura's humble words, however, only irritated Chuchu further.
"Are you bragging?! You Spacians monopolizing both space and
Earth!"
"Chuchu!"
Nika reprimanded Chuchu once again. However, Yushura,
standing before them, seemed to have a unique perspecve towards
Earth.
Yushura looked at the blue crystal and pondered,
"I wonder if there is something in the universe or on Earth that
can truly be called 'mine'."
"!!"
Chuchu, who had been about to declare that Earth belonged to
the Earthians, choked on her words.
But Yushura's words didn't seem to be a sarcasc remark towards
Chuchu. Instead, they seemed to be directed at herself as she silently
stared at her own planet.
"Mine..."
Sulea gently touched the hairband on her head.
It was her treasured possession, given to her by her mother.
Suddenly, an announcement echoed through the cabin. It was
Yaya's voice.
──
We are now entering the Lapis Garden Spaceport.
5. AMUSEMENT PARK
Crossing the gate into the inner sanctum from the Lapis Garden
Spaceport, it was, quite literally, a whole new world.
"Wow..."
Sulea gasped spontaneously, the arficial gravity of 1G pulling at
her.
The space was filled with what seemed like tracks, snaking and
sprawling in every direcon. Spinning carousels, constructs larger than
any building, resembling gargantuan clocks - while most of it appeared
mechanical, they were unlike the familiar mobile suits or heavy
machinery. The vista brimmed with peculiar curiosies as far as the
eye could see.
Sulea cocked her head.
"Wha, what—what is this place? What is all this?"
"This is an amusement park! Well, more precisely, it's an
amusement park sll under construcon. Over there is a roller
coaster, this here is a merry-go-round, and that big one over there is a
Ferris wheel!"
As Yushura waved her wand, a symphony of acvaon sounds
echoed from various aracons and the amusement park filled with
buoyant music.
"Amuse...ment park...?"
"Is this your first me?"
Yushura waved her wand again, and cheerful music began to flood
the park.
"It's my first me, yes. We, we don't even have schools on
Mercury."
"We have places like this on Earth too..."
Nika sounded a bit forlorn as her voice trailed off.
"But they're all in ruins now."
Chuchu cast a glare at Yushura.
Yushura nodded in agreement, "I'm trying to make my amusement
park a place where every child can freely play."
"But the children on Earth... They can't do that!"
Nika hasly stepped in front of Chuchu.
"I'm sorry. Chuchu doesn't mean to blame you, Yushura."
"Do you think it's pointless too, Nika? Just because a Spacian is
showing off a bit?"
"Chuchu!"
"I understand what Chuchu is trying to say. But I'm not a
magician, just an employee of a company. I'll do what I can within my
means."
Yushura stated brightly. Nika could feel a certain resolve in her
statement. Chuchu clicked her tongue in annoyance.
At that moment, a loud voice echoed from behind Sulea and the
others.
——
Welcome to Lapis Garden!
"Wah!"
Sulea turned around to find a guidance Haro had come up to
them.
Seeing the strange Haro with its nose-like feature and the area
around its mouth colored red, Sulea inadvertently bowed her head
in greeng.
"Sulea! We have those back at Ascassia too!"
Chuchu said, rolling her eyes, but then burst into laughter.
The atmosphere in the room lightened considerably. Yaya, who
had been silent unl now, chimed in with an explanaon.
"That's the amusement park's mascot character, 'PieHaro.' If you
get lost, look for PieHaro."
"U-understood!"
Yushura leaned towards Yaya and said, "Since it's just the five of
us today, let's have as much fun as possible!"
Sulea and the others decided to start with the roller coaster.
PieHaro explained,
——
It's the largest one in all of space.
Sulea and the others climbed aboard, leaving Yaya behind.
"Aren't you going to join us, Yaya?" Nika asked.
"I'll be waing here."
Yushura took Yaya's hand.
"Yaya, it's Nika’s asking us to join. Besides, I'd love to ride along,
too."
"Understood."
Sulea, Nika, and Chuchu took the front row seats in the vehicle
while Yushura and Yaya sat in the row behind them. The ride began its
slow ascent along the tracks.
"Oh, oh, oh!"
"This might be excing!"
"This isn't a big deal at all!"
Almost immediately, the vehicle shot down at high speed.
Everyone except Yaya was in a complete uproar.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
Nika was the one screaming the most, and Yushura was the one
laughing the hardest.
By the me they stepped off the roller coaster, Sulea and
Chuchu were thoroughly exhausted.
"That was... terrifying..."
"An empty cockpit like that... unbelievable."
"And you two are in the pilong department."
Nika, who seemed enrely unaffected, looked aer the two but
soon burst out laughing.
"What's up, Nika?"
The wind had mussed Chuchu's pom-pom hairstyle, but aer she
took a few steps, it went back to normal. Sulea couldn't help but join
in the laughter.
"Sulea, you're not supposed to laugh!"
"I-I'm sorry, Chuchu!"
Going out to play with school friends—another item was cked off
Sulea's list. But vising an amusement park? She couldn't even have
imagined such a place when she was on Mercury.
"When I come to places like this, Miorine might... well, she might
smile."
"Hm? Aren't you and Miorine already friends? You're her
bridegroom, right?"
"Well, I-I like to think so, but... Miorine always seems to be angry
with me."
Yushura put her finger to her cheek thoughully and said, "I see, I
see. She's the type who constantly thinks about her own
responsibilies."
Sulea shared the story of her first meeng with Miorine.
—
Responsibility! Take responsibility!
"Haha, that
might
mean she was angry with you, Sulea."
"Y-you think so?"
Time meandered by in their leisurely conversaon.
6. NO GOING BACK
"We should start heading back soon. We have class tomorrow."
Fun mes always seem to pass in the blink of an eye.
Nika noced this as she checked her student handbook.
"Nika, you’re always so serious," chuckled Chuchu, a double-scoop
ice cream cone in one hand. For all her complaining, Chuchu might be
the one enjoying herself the most.
"Don't worry," Yushura responded with a confident smile. "We
have a mass driver here."
"What?!"
Nika's eyes lit up at the menon of the magical words.
As the name suggests, the mass driver is a device used to
transport mass and is found only on limited fronts, like major
industrial complex fronts. The mere fact that one existed in this
amusement park was irresisble to Nika.
"So, spend another thirty minutes with me," Yushura said with a
beaming smile.
"Hey, I don't mind. I sll haven't tried that ride over there,"
shrugged Chuchu.
"I'd like to see the mass driver..." Nika added.
"And I..."
Sulea started to speak, but upon glancing at Yushura, she
stopped mid-sentence.
Yushura was looking down, but her gaze was locked onto Sulea.
Both Nika and Chuchu noced the change in Yushura's demeanor.
They lined up on either side of Sulea, watching her closely.
"Um..."
Sulea began, but Yushura slowly raised her head.
"Sulea, I've known for a long me that you're the Holder. I also
knew that you became Miorine's bridegroom."
"Huh?"
Yushura connued speaking in a somber tone.
It was as if she had turned into a different person from a moment
ago.
"Sulea... I've always wanted to meet you. Today, I actually came
to Ascassia to see
you
."
"What? I thought you came to see Miorine..."
Sulea looked at her, bewildered.
"First, I must do something with you, Sulea."
"W-what is it?"
"A duel! Yes, that's right!" Yushura turned abruptly toward Sulea.
"Whaaaat?"
Such words were completely unexpected, especially far away from
the school front.
"I was Miorine's bridegroom before you, Sulea."
"R-really?!"
"We made that promise back when that picture was taken..."
"That... that sounds like quite a long me ago, doesn't it?"
"Do you think promises break as me passes? Miorine broke it,
didn't she? Has she turned into a liar?"
The smile was gone from Yushura's face.
But nonetheless, having Miorine, her bride, called a liar was
something Sulea could not keep silent about.
"Miorine would never break a promise!"
Everything happened because Miorine's father, Delling, took
maers into his own hands.
"I know about Miorine's father too. But this is a challenge
between you and me, Sulea."
"W-what?"
"You'll put your qualificaon as the groom on the line. I'll stake
that ship."
"N-no, no, no! I'm okay without the ship. If you could just let us
ride it one more me..."
Yushura gave Sulea a creepy smile.
"If you win, you can use the ship to return. If you lose, you'll stay
here forever. That goes for Nika and Chuchu as well."
The two who were hanging on every word of the conversaon
raised their voices.
"Forever?!"
"What have you been on about all this me? If we don't return, it
will cause a huge commoon!"
Chuchu laughed it off casually.
But Yushura looked amused as well, "I can take care of the
expulsion process."
"Expulsion?" Nika's face ghtened.
"You ’ re yanking our chains!"
Chuchu stepped forward to confront Yushura.
Yaya stepped in between them.
“Please refrain from geng close to the young lady; you are a
guest."
"The hell is
your
problem? You wanna fight?"
"If you insist."
This me, Yushura stepped in front of Yaya.
"Chuchu, Yaya is my bodyguard and has mastered various maral
arts. It's beer not to do anything
rash
."
"Ah, you're bluffing!"
Chuchu suddenly lunged at Yaya.
"!!"
Nika tried to stop Chuchu, but by the me she realized what was
happening, Chuchu had been flipped over by Yaya twice and gently
placed on the ground.
"Are you sasfied now?"
"Damn...!"
Sulea and Nika rushed over to Chuchu, who was being tossed
on the ground.
"Chuchu!"
"Chuchu! Are you okay?!"
"Argh, I'm fine!"
Chuchu quickly got up. She didn't seem injured at all. However,
her pride had been severely wounded.
At this point, Yushura spread her arms and made a declaraon.
"Now, Sulea! Let's duel!"
Aer exchanging glances with Nika and Chuchu, Sulea faced
Yushura alone.
"A-alright! If I win, you'll let us go home! And also..."
"And?"
"Please take back what you said about Miorine being a liar!"
"Of course, that's fine! So, let's start right away—"
"Hold on!"
The one who shouted was Chuchu.
"I want in on this too!"
Chuchu was glaring at Yaya, who was standing behind Yushura.
She seemed to want revenge for earlier.
Seeing Chuchu, Nika, and Sulea, Yushura's face brightened.
"That sounds much more fun!"
7. PRIME NUMBERS AND UFOs
"Do I really have to go through with this?"
Nika murmured with an anxious look.
In response to Chuchu's wish to fight with Yaya, Yushura proposed
a best-of-three compeon, eventually landing Nika as the first to
fight.
"Go get 'em, Nika!"
"Well... At least it's not a duel of mobile suits, but I can't believe I
have to..."
Nika, looking perplexed, entered the aracon.
The inside was a stark white square space. As Nika passed
through the entrance, the shuer swily lowered.
—— I wish you the best of luck.
Yushura's voice echoed through a speaker.
"Ah, thanks. So, Yushura, you're my opponent?"
—— No, no. You're up against a Haro sck. It's a best of three,
remember?
"Wait, I'm up against a Haro?!"
—— Don't worry, don't worry. We'll use a 'skill adjustment
program' to make your abilies match.
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
As Nika's opposing door opened, in sauntered a Haro sck. It
seemed designed to maintain balance even under gravity, propelled
by thrusters.
When the shuer dropped, mulcolored balloons inflated and
floated up from the floor.
"What are these...?"
The balloons were holograms, gently bobbing in all direcons. The
surfaces of these balloons had numbers like 7 or 30 on them.
—— The rules are simple! Touch a balloon with a prime number,
and you get that many points. If it's not a prime number, you lose that
many points.
"That feels like the Haro has a significant advantage."
—— Don't worry. We've adjusted its calculaon abilies to match
yours. Same for physical abilies.
"Then, how will the winner be determined?"
—— Is that a philosophical queson?
"No, a technical one."
Yushura chuckled soly.
"What?"
—— Ah, sorry. I've been thinking about fighng with Sulea, but I
find you, Nika, quite fascinang. Miorine must be jealous.
"Could you answer my queson, please?"
—— What determines the winner always varies, doesn't it? In my
opinion, in most cases, the one with the beer luck wins.
"Probability... fatalism, maybe. I don't mind that. Alright, I'm ready
anyme."
—— Then... Begin!"
At Yushura's signal, the balloons surged out, filling the space.
"17! 29!"
When Nika touched them, the balloons burst and vanished.
A prime number is a number that cannot be divided evenly by any
number other than itself. For example, 5 is a prime number, while 6 is
not, as it can be divided by 2 or 3.
Nika considered herself good at math or mental arithmec, but
whether 251 was a prime number—of course, she didn't have it
memorized—and she decided it would be beer to score with a
smaller number.
"You got this, Nika!"
"Wow, Nika's winning!"
Chuchu and Sulea were cheering on her from outside the
aracon, watching the monitor.
Yushura and Yaya were also checking the monitor next to them.
"Nika, you're doing great... Oh!"
Chuchu pressed her face against the screen. In a stunning twist,
the Haro sck had suddenly scored 433 points, taking a significant
lead over Nika.
"That's ridiculous! No human would know if 433 is a prime
number!"
"Huh? No, look, I think the Haro sck is just guessing."
Sulea turned to Chuchu and pointed at the screen.
This me the Haro sck had touched 861, resulng in an equal
deducon from its score. 861 could be divided by 7.
"You're right. Good catch, Sulea."
"Ehehe."
It seemed Nika had noced the opponent's strategy, hesitantly
reaching out to touch a balloon numbered 1151.
The score luckily turned in her favor.
"Yes!"
But just as Nika rejoiced, the score for the Haro sck exceeded
ten thousand.
"No way..."
The Haro sck didn't budge any longer in front of Nika, who was
filled with despair.
—— Ten seconds le!
In front of Nika, numerous balloons inscribed with numbers over
ten thousand floated, but she had no idea if they were primes.
Yushura's earlier words were a hint for this game.
"Chuchu, Sulea, I'm sorry if I lose!"
Nika reached out towards the balloon marked 14377 in front of
her.
However, the balloons moved randomly. The 77773 brushed
gently against Nika's forehead, marking the end of the game.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Are you serious?!"
Sulea and Chuchu were in an uproar.
Nika was afraid to check her score.
"No way! "
Nika had beaten the Haro sck by over sixty thousand points.
77773 was a prime number.
—— You win! YOU WIN!
"Haha! That's our Nika!"
"Am-amazing! Nika!"
"If I win next, it'll be 2-0, and we win."
As Nika exited the aracon and joined the other two, Yushura
approached, clapping.
"Nika, well done. That was fun."
"We ain't here to entertain you, Yushura! If I win next, that means
we win, right?"
Yushura turned around.
"Yaya, can you beat her? I want to fight Sulea last. That will be
more excing, right?"
"Yes. I will win for my lady."
Hearing the two of them, Chuchu became even more fired up.
"Run your mouth all you want. Let's get this started already!"
The second match would take place in an aracon called "UFO
Bale."
Chuchu and Yaya each aached a large, disk-shaped drone device
to their waists — essenally cosplaying as UFOs — and faced each
other in a large dome.
On the disk was a control lever and also a trigger to shoot
paintballs.
"Chuchu, you look
SO
cute!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Chuchu responded in an annoyed tone, but she looked quite
pleased.
Yaya gave a slight nod to Yushura.
"Let's begin."
Like the taccal exam area of Ascassia School of Technology, the
dome's wall projected the bale informaon, and a countdown began.
"Go for it, Chuchu!"
"D-do your best!"
"Here I go!"
With the sound of the start buzzer, Chuchu and Yaya acvated
their drones and flew up high.
—— The rules are simple here too! The first to hit the other with a
paintball wins! Chuchu, are you ready?
Yushura's voice echoes throughout the dome.
"Yeah!"
—— Then let the match begin!
At the same me as her voice, Chuchu smartly fired a burst of
paintballs.
However, Yaya nimbly twisted and dodged all the shots.
The two closed in on one another in a crisscrossing paern.
"You've been praccing a lot, haven't you?"
"I haven't."
——
Chuchu. In order to spice up the fight, I'm adjusng the
program even now, but the evaluaon is that your pilong skills are
slightly superior, so Yaya's drone output has been increased by 5%.
Have I overcompensated?
"Well, duh, my skills are superior!"
The aerial bale grew more intense.
They rapidly approached each other, exchanging shots, and just
before they were about to collide head-on, Chuchu dodged first.
Seeing this, Yaya took a twisng trajectory, geng posioned
directly above Chuchu's drone.
"Damn it!"
Chuchu pulled the control lever with all her might, but it was too
late.
Yaya calmly pulled the trigger.
"Do forgive me."
The paintball shot straight through the cockpit where Chuchu was
sing.
With her pink pompom hair flaened by the sky-blue paint,
Chuchu stepped out of the cockpit.
Nika quickly raced over.
"Chuchu! Are you hurt?"
"Nikaaaaaa!"
"You were so close."
"Damn it!"
The paint splaered onto Nika's face and uniform, but she didn't
care and paed Chuchu's head.
Sulea gathered her courage, put her hand on Chuchu's shoulder,
and said,
"Chu, Chuchu, it was a close one!"
Chuchu glared at Sulea.
"Heeee!"
Sulea was frightened, but, Chuchu quickly spoke up.
"Win the next match, no maer what!"
While saying this, Chuchu flicked Sulea, and all three of them
ended up smeared with paint.
Yushura appeared above them, riding her Haro sck.
"Oh my, oh my."
"Don't look down on us!"
Chuchu shouted up at her.
"All three of you, stand sll."
Immediately aer, a strong wind blew from the Haro sck. The
paint dried in a flash and was blown away.
"Wow."
"Is this paint also a new product from Langlands?"
In response to Nika's queson, Yushura landed on the ground.
"Yes. Our company used to specialize in painng technology."
"Used to? So it's different now?"
"I'm thinking of moving in a new direcon soon."
Yushura smiled at Sulea and said,
"Now it's our turn."
"Y-yes!"
8. CONTAINER
"This’ll be
my
revenge match! Bring it on!"
"But, Chuchu, you're sll alive," Nika interjected with a well-med
comment, turning her aenon to Sulea. "Sulea, give it your all!"
"I-I will do my best!" Sulea stammered and turned back towards
Yushura, beginning to stride toward her.
"I will... do it!"
Yushura smiled, suddenly taking Sulea's hand and leading her
into the heart of the aracon.
Nika and Chuchu, along with Yaya, relocated to the spectator
seats.
The third match was to be held in the largest aracon space yet.
This secon was a zero-gravity area, with a star-filled sky
displayed on full-panel monitors, giving the illusion of being in the
vastness of space itself. Yushura, holding Sulea's hand, navigated
through the stellar seas using her Haro sck.
"Am-amazing!"
The G-forces were different from the roller coaster earlier,
offering a different kind of thrill.
"Do you like it?"
"Y-yes! W-whoa!"
Yushura sped up, gracefully reaching the center of the space.
Two cuboids about twenty meters tall, adorned in hues of pink
and light blue, hovered slightly apart. Designed to fit the amusement
park, the rounded corners and vibrant colors gave them a fing
amusement park vibe.
However, they weren't inflated like balloons; even landing on the
light blue one with momentum, it barely budged. It was significantly
heavier than Sulea and her companions.
And yet, this scale—this enormity—was something Sulea had
grown accustomed to since birth.
"This is... a mobile suit container, right?"
"Correct. Sulea, you'll use the light blue one."
With that, Yushura effortlessly dried over and stood atop the
pink container, speaking into the microphone of her Haro sck.
——
Sulea, we'll fight using what's inside these!
"We're fighng in mobile suits?"
——
You won a duel in a mobile suit, right? Then I also have to win
in a mobile suit!
"But I can only use the Aerial..."
——
Don't worry! We have two prototypes of our under-
development model. We'll adjust abilies as usual.
"U-uh... That's not the issue..."
Ignoring Sulea's protest, Yushura connued to lay out her plan.
——
This is the first me showing these to someone outside the
company, so I'm a bit nervous. Yaya, if you please!
"Yes, my lady."
Behind the chic spectator seats, Yaya operated a tablet, remotely
opening the container.
Chuchu watched the opening container intently while Nika
quesoned Yaya.
——
Yaya, are you sure you're controlling the output of the mobile
suit properly?
Yaya responded, looking up from the tablet.
"Rest assured. We're using the duel rules of Ascassia as a
reference. We've set an aack control system to prevent direct hits to
the cockpit, and even if it does get hit, we've limited the beam output
to the lowest level, so it will cause no harm."
"But it's sll dangerous!"
"We have a medical team on standby. Everything is done to fulfill
the Miss's wishes. I merely seek to make them a reality."
The resolve in Yaya's words suggested an unyielding
determinaon that outsiders couldn't understand.
Even if Nika and Chuchu protested vehemently here, they would
likely be overruled by Yaya.
"Sulea, be careful...!"
"Knock 'em dead!"
Sulea gripped the edge of the container and peered inside.
"W-wow..."
"Use the helmet and pilot suit inside the cockpit."
The doors of the container began to slowly open.
To be connued in Volume 2
MS アーカイブ MS Archive
GUNDAM LFRITH
A prototype machine developed by
the Ochs Earth Corporaon. This is
one of the "GUND-ARM" mobile
suits which adopted the innovave
technology known as the GUND
FORMAT. It is equipped with a
shield made up of swarm weapon
systems called GUND-B I Ts .
Model Number: XGF-02
Head Height:
18.0m
Weight:
49.3t
GUNDAM LFRITH
PRE-PRODUCTION MODEL
A mass producon version of the
Gundam Lfrith manufactured by the
Ochs company. Large launchers
loaded with GUND-BITs are
mounted on its back.
Model Number: XGF-01
Head Height:
18.0m
Weight: 49.1t
BEGUIR-BEU
A mobile suit developed by
Grassley Defense Systems. The
latest technology is incorporated
throughout this high-performance
machine. It is assigned to the
Mobile Suit Development Council's
Dominicus special forces team.
Model Number: CEK-040
Head Height:
18.3m
Weight:
55.1t
HEINGRA
Model Number: CCP-068
Head Height:
18.6m
Weight: 54.7t
A mass-produced mobile suit
produced by the Grassley company.
It is used by the Dominicus team as
an escort for the Beguir-Beu.
GUNDAM AERIAL
Model Number: XVX-016
Head Height:
18.0m
Weight: 43.9t
A mobile suit that Sulea Mercury
brings with her to school. It is
equipped with a shield made up of
GUND-BITs, a next-generaon
remote-controlled swarm weapon
system.
GUEL’S DILANZA
Model Number: MD-0032G
Head Height:
18.2m
Weight: 89.4t
A version of the Dilanza tuned for
Guel's use. As well as performance
enhancements, it also has a
magenta color scheme and splendid
decoraons.
DILANZA
Model Number: MD-0031
Head Height:
18.2m
Weight: 85.3t
A general-purpose mobile suit
made by the Jeturk company, with
outstanding power. Thanks to a
design policy of acvely adding
components, its style is
heavyweight-class.
DARILBALDE
Model Number: MD-0064
Head Height:
18.7m
Weight: 72.8t
A fih-generaon demonstraon
machine made by the Jeturk
company. It carries a new type of
drone weapon which can operate
autonomously thanks to its
Decision Making Extension AI.
DEMI TRAINER
Model Number: MSD-121
Head Height:
16.2m
Weight: 59.3t
A mobile suit used for training at
the school, manufactured by the
Burion company. It is used
throughout the curriculum of the
Ascassia School of Technology.
DEMI GARRISON
A version of the Demi series
specialized for combat. It has been
formally adopted by the front
management company as a security
mobile suit.
AFTERWORD
This work is a novelizaon of the animated series Mobile Suit
Gundam: The Witch from Mercury - hereaer referred to as the "main
story." This first volume includes episodes #0 to #3, as well as an
original episode #1 unique to this novelizaon, and extra materials at
the beginning and end for your enjoyment.
This novelizaon was made possible through the cooperaon of
the main story staff. I would like to express special gratude to
Director Hiroshi Kobayashi, screenwriter Ichiro Ohkouchi, and seng
researcher Seiichi Shirato for their constant guidance and support.
And—unique to this novelizaon—I serve as a member of the
animaon team in the capacity of science-ficon (SF) researcher.
Generally, an SF researcher in the field of animaon or games
uses science ficon or scienfic knowledge to enrich the world-
building of the work. As world-building depends on the story, in many
cases, I parcipate in story meengs as well. My first job on the show
was coming up with the name for the "Ad Stella" space calendar. In
reality, Director Kobayashi refined my longer inial proposal, and
through discussion in meengs, we finalized the details.
The conversaon about creang a novelizaon came somewhat
later. As the days of meengs for the animated main story connued,
the specifics of the novelizaon also fell into place.
Assuming dual roles as an SF researcher and the person in charge
of the novelizaon has created a synergisc effect in both direcons.
This ended up being even more beneficial than I had inially
ancipated for both myself and the work itself.
From an SF researcher's perspecve of the main story, the
novelizaon offers more accurate, comprehensive, and in-depth
descripons. The fact that I can ask quesons of Director Kobayashi,
Ohkouchi, and Shirato during script meengs provides an ideal
environment for the novelizaon.
On the other hand, as the person responsible for the novelizaon,
I oen come up with SF ideas during the wring process. These ideas
are fed back into the main story while also being reflected in the
novelizaon and in original episodes unique to the novelizaon.
As for the original episodes, I only started thinking about them
aer I began wring the novel. In this first volume, there's episode #1,
Yushura's Amusement Park, which, like the main story, will connue in
the next volume.
These are not standalone episodes but rather ones recorded
alongside the novelizaon. Thus, I have delicately set the distance
from the main story as an SF researcher as well. At the same me, by
stepping away from Ascassia, I have made quite a few new sengs.
The cooperaon of the main story staff was crical for this as well,
and I received help from Shuuei Takagi for the design of Yushura and
the Haro-mounted Sck.
In this book, a large number of materials are included at the
beginning and end. These were made possible by the efforts of all
involved. The cover illustraon was created by Lin Junbun, who is in
charge of concept art for the main series. The characters and mecha
in the show are undoubtedly an integral part of the charm of the
world of the series.
Let's keep this aerword as a brief greeng. Aer all, the story has
only just begun.
Near White Base, 2023.
Yuya Takashima