Planet Hydra.

It was the home star of the Banfield family, a planet that valued harmony with nature, as per the lord’s decree.

From space, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Tourists from the spaceport would stop and admire it.

On Hydra, the Banfield Earl’s mansion stood.

It was vast, an entire city unto itself. Within its boundaries lay a building where the knights worked.

A high-rise building that emphasized its aesthetics.

Inside the communications room, Colonel Claudia Bertrand was talking to Christiana, the officer in charge of the mission in the capital star.

Christiana, and the other knight representing the Banfield family, Marie Marian, were not on the home star. Their deputies and aides were left in charge while they were away.

Claudia was one of them. She was making a routine report.

“That concludes the report on the internal situation. Occasionally, some clueless pirates try to enter, but otherwise, nobody dares to come near.”

After finishing her report, Christiana appeared tense, as if something was on her mind. She was distracted.

“Christiana, is something troubling you?”

“I’ve heard the report.”

Claudia, told that everything was alright, backed down. Christiana seemed ashamed of her distracted behavior and cleared her throat to change the subject.

“Speaking of which, I heard the Atalante development was successful.”

One of their own, a former student, had accomplished an important mission.

Claudia’s expression didn’t change, but she was secretly happy.

“She succeeded in a difficult task. The promotion payment has been sent, and we’re planning to give her unit a vacation."

Emma Rodman had been promoted while working on the Atalante’s development.

They couldn’t promote her for her successful mission, so Claudia had decided to grant her a vacation to revitalize her.

Christiana nodded.

"There’s no need to rush the promotion. For now, she should just focus on leading her platoon as a Lieutenant.”

Sudden promotions could be detrimental to a person’s career.

It wouldn’t be a problem for someone who was talented, but Emma was incredibly skilled as a pilot but clumsy as a knight.

They agreed to promote her gradually.

But...

“But, we can’t grant a vacation.”

“Is there a problem?”

Christiana sighed softly and explained.

“That person has decided to officially engage in a power struggle with the Empire’s Second Prince, Linus. The army will be busy for a while.”

Claudia’s eyes widened, but she knew that if Christiana said it, it must be true, so she braced herself.

“If we’re going to clash with the Second Prince’s faction, we’ll definitely be short-staffed.”

Claudia realized that they didn’t have time to give Emma and her team a long vacation.

Christiana issued her next order.

“The former Atalante development team will be sent to the Seventh Weaponry Factory for maintenance. It’s been decided that they will be under her command.”

Christiana spat out the word, "her."

Her tone was different from before, tinged with displeasure.

Claudia knew of only one person who could evoke such aversion.

Her expression darkened.

"Marie Marian?"

The faction clashing with the one led by Christiana was the faction led by Marie.

"I don’t know how she found out, but she knows the Atalante’s pilot. She made a request, and that person gave permission.”

"She's dangerous. The lieutenant could be destroyed.”

Claudia was concerned for her former student. Christiana told her,

“It’s already been decided. Send the former development team to the Seventh Weaponry Factory. We’ll recruit new personnel there as well.”

Claudia couldn’t defy the order.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She saluted, and Christiana ended the communication.

...

The former Atalante development team arrived at the Seventh Weaponry Factory.

The Mearea was secured in the drydock, and Mag and his team disembarked.

Once they were off the ship, Emma and the others greeted the technicians they had known for the past two years.

Molly hugged Mag and cried.

“Mag, take care!”

"Molly, I’ve told you that I’m older than you. But you still call me Mag. You’re too much."

Mag, though annoyed, seemed happy to be leaving. He was a bit sad about the goodbye.

Emma chuckled.

“Well, I’ll go greet the Seventh. I need to pick up optional parts and have some meetings.”

"Emma, you have a lot on your plate."

Mag entered the building with Emma.

...

As they walked towards their destination, they ran into Nias in the corridor. She was being interrogated by a superior.

“Are you listening, Nias? You keep acting so impulsively. I won't tolerate it this time. You’re going to be taking a break from development for a while.”

The other person was older than Nias, probably a leader at the Seventh. He was wearing an expensive suit and pointing a finger at Nias, who was leaning against the wall, sucking on a lollipop.

Nias had her back turned, looking annoyed.

She looked like she was saying that this was a waste of time. She was pouting.

As they watched, Mag spoke to Emma.

“Nias is getting scolded again.”

Nias, known as the "Mad Genius,” had been famous for her insolence.

Emma considered her a solitary genius who intimidated others with her overwhelming ability.

“Nias seems so hard to deal with."

Mag was surprised for a moment before erupting in laughter.

"She’s definitely difficult. But there’s someone who even she can't handle."

"Really?”

“It was a few years ago, when she first arrived here. She was nicer then, but she still had problems getting along with people. The upper management told her to learn how to communicate, so they had her work as a salesperson.”

Mag, arms crossed, spoke wistfully. Emma couldn’t believe it.

“It’s hard to believe, seeing her pouting at her superiors like this.”

"Well, her ability is proportional to her personality, no, that’s wrong. Her personality is just horrible.”

It wasn’t surprising that Mag found her personality bad.

As they were talking, a noise came from Nias’s terminal.

It was a message from an important person, and Nias flinched.

Her superior, realizing who the message was from, reluctantly let her go.

“You have a meeting with the client. I know it’s probably a waste of time, but be polite.”

As he left, Nias looked around in a panic.

Her insolence was gone, and she headed for a nearby room, trying to straighten her hair with a comb.

For a moment, she even seemed to blush as she entered the private room.

Emma was shocked.

Nias, who never changed her demeanor regardless of who she was dealing with, was acting like this for someone else.

“Nias has that kind of face too.”

Mag laughed.

“We’ve seen it many times. But I think you’d be surprised to know who it is.”

"Do I know them?"

“You’d have to. It would be weird if you didn’t.”

Emma tilted her head, confused. Mag thought for a moment.

Then he looked mischievous.

“It’s more fun to keep it a secret."

"Tell me! I’m really curious to know who Nias is afraid of.”

Mag, leaving Emma behind, continued walking, unable to resist her curiosity.

“I can’t tell you about important clients. But you’ll find out eventually.”

...

The Seventh Weaponry Factory’s drydock.

A group of battleships from the capital star had docked.

The group, which included a large transport ship, allowed its crew a brief vacation as they arrived at the port.

Among them was a young knight.

He had a group of knights under his command.

The young man stopped at the port, looked up, and saw a ship.

A cylindrical drydock.

On the ceiling, on the opposite side, was the Mearea.

The young man stood there, staring at the sky. A new knight, questioning his superior, asked, “Captain Russell, is something wrong?”

The young man’s name was Russell.

He was an elite knight on the fast track to success. He had graduated from the Knight Academy and been chosen as the lord’s guard on the capital star.

He was here to lead a platoon of mobile knights.

“No, nothing.”

Russell began to walk, and his subordinates followed behind.

All the members of Russell’s mobile knight unit were knights.

Two of his subordinates were knights, and their deployed machines were the Banfield family’s main weapon—the Nevan.

One of his subordinates brought up a topic.

“You know, I’ve heard a rumor. Apparently, the people who were developing the new machine are joining us on this mission.”

Another subordinate joined in.

“It’s a Nevan for ace pilots, they say. I wonder if it’ll be assigned to us.”

The knights, with their casual tone, were all elite graduates of the Banfield Knight Academy.

They were being equipped with customized Nevan models. They were part of a special elite force among the knight-only mobile knight units.

Russell looked annoyed, as he couldn’t see their expressions beneath their helmets.

“The Third Weaponry Factory developed the Nevan. We won't get any Nevan replacements here."

The two subordinates shrugged.

“What a shame.”

“Well, our current machine isn’t bad, so we’ll just have to be patient.”

The subordinates were quite arrogant, but they had all graduated from the Banfield Knight Academy with exceptional scores.

Russell had been promoted to Captain.

But he was still C-ranked as a knight.

He lacked combat experience, which was why he hadn’t been promoted.

(I’ll show her who’s better. I’ll never let that dropout, Emma Rodman, surpass me.)

Russell was strongly motivated by his pride as an elite knight.

He ranked higher in military hierarchy, but was inferior in knight rank.

This was something he couldn’t accept.

Russell’s pride as an elite, his stubborn refusal to acknowledge Emma, was fueling his refusal to recognize her.

Volume 2: The End