Volume 1Epilogue

The Training Grounds. The day of the postponed intra-academy ranking match.

One full week had passed since the Armored Insect invasion was resolved, and Mistgun was steadily recovering its everyday peace and quiet. Led by students from the Economic and Industrial Departments, reconstruction efforts were progressing briskly across the city, while the Sky Wizards of the Guardian Department who had been injured in the battle were being discharged from the hospital one after another.

“What’s up, Yuri?”

With his left arm immobilized in a cast and suspended in a white sling across his chest, Kanata was sitting in the spectator stands waiting to watch the aerial match about to unfold inside the Combat Arena’s barrier when Yuri quietly walked up and sat down in the seat right beside him.

“Nothing in particular. I simply thought I would see for myself what sort of students you have been raising, Senpai…”

Normally, Yuri’s voice carried a sharp, sarcastic edge whenever she spoke to him, yet today, for some reason, her tone sounded almost like it had back before the day he “betrayed” the squad.

Looking down from the spectator tiers at Misora, Lecty, and Rico facing off against their opponents in the arena below, Kanata remarked nonchalantly:

“Did something good happen to you today? Feels like you’re in a slightly better mood than usual.”

“It must be your imagination. …Come to think of it, Senpai, I heard you were assigned to civilian evacuation guidance inside the city during last week’s battle—how on earth did you manage to injure your arm that badly?”

“Who knows? Must’ve tripped and taken a nasty spill while running away in the middle of the skirmish.”

Shooting a sidelong glance at Kanata as he delivered that blatant lie without blinking, Yuri murmured in a slightly sulky voice:

“…That side of you is the one thing I really still hate.”

“What’re you talking about…?”

“Oh, perfect timing! Looks like the ranking match is just starting!”

“This is the platoon Kanata’s been coaching, right? Let’s see what kind of team you’ve molded them into.”

Returning from buying cold drinks at the concession stand, Chloe and Lloyd joined them in the row. Noticing right away that the frosty tension between Kanata and Yuri had thawed considerably, Chloe beamed with a warm, angelic smile.

Down in the arena, the match had just begun. Bolstered by the confidence they had gained surviving real combat against the Armored Insects, Misora, Lecty, and Rico dispersed swiftly into Kanata’s signature formation right from the opening bell.

“Alright! I’m completely unmarked!”

“Uwaaah, M-Misora-san! P-Please help me!”

“W-Why have Lecty’s movements gotten that stiff and awful again?!”

“U-Umm… Having human opponents stare right at me still sets off my stage fright, and all three of the guys on the other team have been glaring straight at me since the match started, so umm… ughhh!”

“Rico! Why aren’t you giving Lecty any covering fire?!”

“Hmm, covering fire, was it? —Hmph, choke on this!”

“H-Hey, Rico! Why the heck are your magic bullets flying straight at ME?!”

“My apologies. My finger slipped. …I shall make sure the next round hits you squarely.”

“Whoa! W-Wait, you fired at me AGAIN! Why are you aiming at your own Platoon Leader?! The enemy team’s over THAT way!”

“—The true enemy is obviously standing directly in front of my muzzle.”

“W-Why are you coming after me so relentlessly?! Don’t tell me you’re holding some kind of personal grudge against me?!”

“…Had a certain Trigger-Happy Idiot not blown an entire residential block sky-high last week, by now I would be receiving the hero’s adulation worthy of a goddess.”

“…………”

“Why on earth did my glorious achievement of subjugating an enemy Chimera have to be canceled out to offset your crime of urban destruction—and worse yet, why was a goddess like myself forced to write a formal letter of apology alongside you?! Just when I had distinguished myself with goddess-tier heroics that would have earned the reverence of the entire city, I was dragged down into the mud thanks to you, Misora!”

“—I-I already told you a hundred times I was sorry about that!”

“Furthermore, since the block you obliterated included your own house, I hear your father qualified for a municipal war-damage insurance payout. Do not tell me you deliberately blew up your own café in the chaos to commit insurance fraud!”

“A-As if I would ever do something that crooked! B-Besides, when my poor dad was standing in front of the rubble crying his eyes out over losing our home, how was I supposed to look him in the eye and say, ‘Sorry, Dad, I’m the one who blew our house up’…?!”

“Even if the entire world forgives your sin, a goddess like myself never shall! Fall from the heavens, Misora!”

“M-Misora-san! Rico-san! P-Please stop fighting each other!”

“S-Stay out of this for a second, Lecty! Before we take down the enemy squad, I have to settle the score with Rico first!”

“Indeed, Lecty, hold your tongue. I am about to educate Misora on the wrath of a goddess.”

“U-Umm—I-I’m so sorry!”

“…………………………Kanata-senpai, in what universe is this platoon supposed to be strong?!”

“Hmm. Well, I guess days like this happen too.”

After Yuri had stared at the arena in stunned silence for a full minute, Kanata offered a breezy shrug.

Right in the middle of an official intra-academy ranking match, two-thirds of Fireteam E601 had broken into a friendly-fire dogfight against each other. Left completely on her own at the front, Lecty—despite possessing top-tier Magic Dual-Swordsmanship skills—was stuck fending off all three male opponents in a desperate one-on-three defense.

Even putting the most charitable spin on it, the spectacle below was nothing to brag about.

Frankly—it was a total disaster. They really were an F-Rank Platoon through and through.

Ordinarily, Chloe would have stepped in to defend Kanata, but at the moment she was too busy feeling the crushing weight of her own responsibility for having personally recommended him as their instructor.

“…H-Hey, Kanata. Wasn’t your job as their instructor supposed to be leading those girls to victory in the ranking matches?”

“Well, in a sense, this has Kanata’s signature written all over it. You really can never predict what’s going to happen around him.”

Chloe wore a stiff, twitching smile, while Lloyd nodded to himself in wry amusement.

Kanata, meanwhile, replied in his usual unbothered drawl:

“Hm? Was that what my job was?”

He blurted it right out without batting an eye.

Witnessing her senior act so thoroughly shameless and devoid of responsibility, Yuri fixed him with an icy glare, a sharp edge returning to her voice.

“…Just as I thought, you really are completely irresponsible, Senpai.”

“Come on, Yuri, you were in such a good mood five minutes ago… Why the freezing glare all of a sudden?”

“I was actually looking forward to seeing what sort of capable squad you had raised, and frankly, I am thoroughly disappointed. If they had been a platoon worthy of your personal devotion, I would have loved to cross blades with them myself… Excuse me.”

Swallowing her exasperation, Yuri turned on her heel to march briskly out of the spectator stands—

“Hold up.”

Shooting out his good right hand, Kanata caught Yuri lightly by the sleeve.

“Sounds like a pretty fun offer to me. Sure thing—we’ll take you up on that match anytime.”

Kanata flashed a fearless grin. Though she frowned in open displeasure at his cocky reply, Yuri cast several lingering glances back at Kanata’s face as she walked away—leaving her final answer on hold for another day.

“Uh, sorry to ask again, Lloyd, mind following after her?”

“I don’t mind, though my fee is going up after last time. I wonder what I should have you treat me to tonight.”

Trading that dry quip, Lloyd headed briskly up the aisle after Yuri.

“Geez, Kanata! Just when things between you and Yuri were finally starting to mend a little, why did you have to go and make another irresponsible crack like that?”

“Hey, the reason I agreed to become those girls’ instructor wasn’t just to win a ranking match—it was to give them the real strength they need to survive out there. Sure, winning ranking matches is important too, but winning a mock match was never the ultimate goal.”

“Is that why you played dumb in front of Yuri just now…?”

“Wait, why’re you getting mad at me too…? Ow! Did I say something wrong— Ow, ow! O-Okay, I get it, quit kicking my shin while smiling like an angel!”

“Honestly! Yuri was finally being so honest with herself today, too… This is a hundred percent your fault, Kanata, so take your punishment!”

Down on the arena floor, Lecty was still holding off all three members of Fireteam E571 single-handedly, though her stamina was rapidly approaching its limit. At this rate, it was only a matter of seconds before the enemy squad seized Misora’s Platoon Leader emblem.

“So, now that you’ve tried your hand at being an instructor, how do you like it?”

Once she finished administering her shin kicks, Chloe sat back and asked with an exasperated smile.

Letting out a fearless grin, Kanata gave a firm nod.

“Your students look like quite a handful to me. Do you really think you can turn them into a strong platoon from here?”

“Hm. The tougher the challenge, the more worthwhile it is to tackle, right?”

Looking at Kanata’s profile as he said that, Chloe noticed a subtle shift in his expression. That taut, untamed, fiercely alive glint in his dark eyes was a look she remembered well from days gone by.

“Those three still have a ton of untapped potential left in them. Enough that, before long, they might even be able to aim for S-Rank.”

“Are you sure you should be making boasts that huge while watching them brawl down there?”

“If a bunch of dropouts everyone laughs at as an ‘F-Rank Platoon’ claws their way up to become an S-Rank Platoon, don’t you think that’d be super fun to watch? Seeing the weaklings everyone wrote off topple the strong—doesn’t that get your blood pumping?”

Whether in the intra-academy ranking matches or on a live battlefield, the steeper the odds stacked against him, the brighter this boy had always shone.

Chloe knew that better than anyone. She knew that Kanata Age belonged to that rare breed of fighter who genuinely relished going up against opponents stronger than himself—someone who never feared a superior foe, never gave up, and always carved open a path to victory against impossible odds.

“Right now they’re still tottering around like fledgling chicks, sure, but give ’em time to grow and those three are guaranteed to become full-fledged Sky Wizards. All I can do is coach them with everything I’ve got so they don’t get shot out of the sky before they get there. Mark my words—those girls are gonna grow into Sky Wizards who’ll blow everyone’s minds.”

Alright then—what should I say to those three knuckleheads once they finish losing this match?

Down in the arena, Misora was hollering insults at the top of her lungs, a cool and unruffled Rico was firing back surgical verbal counterattacks, and a frantic Lecty was hovering between them trying in vain to play peacemaker.

Hanging around Misora’s neck was their Platoon Leader emblem—a pendant engraved with the relief of a Valkyrie bearing twin lances, symbolizing the power to save the world—though by the look of things, the day these three girls actually became the saviors of the world was still a long, long way off.

Watching over the Combat Arena where the referee had been forced to halt the ranking match mid-bout thanks to his students’ intra-squad brawl, Kanata let his lips curve into a warm, easy smile.