Imperial Academy Girl Magic Officer

Perhaps because my body had become smaller, my movements felt lighter than before.

Tap! Tap!

I headed towards the main building of the military academy with brisk steps. Since I already knew the facility, there was no getting lost.

Everything’s the same.

From the unchanged appearance to the same locations, everything was exactly as it had been when I encountered it in the past, without even the slightest deviation.

However, the grandeur was an exception. Perhaps because this world had now become reality, the eagle statue at the top of the building boasted a majesty that couldn’t be seen in the game.

The regular patterns drawn on the outer walls exuded an incomparable elegance compared to before.

“You came here too?”
“Just watch, I’m going to turn my life around by becoming an officer.”
“You’ll probably get expelled before that.”

Even when I entered the auditorium, that feeling remained unchanged.

The bustling interior, with hundreds of cadets lined up in rows and columns engaging in conversation, was truly a spectacular sight.

All of them were showing various reactions different from the past game.

“Haha…”

I shuddered at the scene no different from reality.

I truly felt that this place was not made up of digital pieces.

You’ve witnessed the world you yearned for, right? Now the ground you’re stepping on is not made of data fragments, but actually consists of stones and sand? How could my heart not race?

I secretly raised the corners of my mouth as I headed towards the corner of the auditorium.

Click, click!

As I moved with such a joyful heart,

“…Hmm.”

The moment I joined the line-up following the other cadets, my brows naturally furrowed.

This is an unexpected problem.
I can’t see ahead.

I didn’t notice while walking on the street, but upon entering the auditorium, I clearly felt it.

I couldn’t see ahead due to the backs of others’ heads blocking my view.

I thought the hair reaching down to my waist that appeared when my body changed was the most uncomfortable thing, but I never imagined my height would have decreased this much.

Instead of the wide stage that should have been visible before my eyes, the sight of large shoulders occupying that space felt out of place.

To think what I had dismissed as a kind of penalty would come back to bite me like this.

My physical abilities had decreased. The muscles that once occupied every corner of my body were gone, replaced by soft flesh.

In an instant, I had lost my tall height and robust physique.

“Tsk.”

Should I take comfort in the fact that I’m at least in a healthy state, not suffering from any illness?

Well, there’s no need to despair or be discouraged.

I pointlessly grabbed a handful of my newly acquired long, silky hair for the first time in my life.

If this world is exactly the same as the [Academy 1945] I remember, no matter how my body changes, physical abilities are merely shackles that can be easily thrown off.

Mana was the absolute truth that determined one’s rank, and this rule was even more emphasized in the life of a Magic Officer.

“Ugh, umm…”

If I stand on my tiptoes like this, I can see ahead.

What does it matter anyway? Any further contemplation would just be unproductive, so I supported myself on my tiptoes and raised my chin to look over the shoulders of the cadets at the world beyond.

As expected.

And that scene, like outside the auditorium, displayed considerable grandeur.

The national flag with a black eagle, the modern European-style architecture, and finally the banners written in the native language.

It exuded the unique charm of an Imperial military academy.

Then the internal and external political situation of the Empire must not be much different either.

After all, if the military academy is no different from before, it means that the reason for its establishment and the current international situation surrounding the Empire have not changed either.

I easily deduced this because this military academy was established for political reasons.

This was the facility built to regain the army that was taken away due to the peace treaty after the Empire’s defeat in what would later be called the First Great War.

Of course, in secret.

In the current situation, the establishment of a Magic Officer corps consisting of Awakened ones was a clear violation of the treaty.

But if the Empire was going to stop because of that, would the Second Great War have happened in the future?

The Empire made a deal with the Federation. In exchange for sharing their military technology, they would be provided with an environment to grow stronger.

That’s why the Academy was in Astrakhan, a small Federation city, not in the Empire.

Of course, just like the existence of this place, I too would be strictly confidential, so officially I’d probably be a soldier working somewhere in the countryside.

“Hey, hey, he’s coming!”
“It’s my first time seeing him in person.”

Just as I finished my contemplation, the chatter among the cadets died down.

Everyone, whether they had been chattering with their peers or absentmindedly looking around at the facilities, tightly closed their lips and looked up at the stage.

More precisely,

“Ahem, hmm──!”

At the old man with a long mustache stretching left and right like a count from a medieval noble family, who had somehow brought his mouth to the microphone.

I watched him with narrowed eyes.

The splendid feather-shaped epaulettes and gold bars indicating his high rank announced that he was no ordinary person.

“Greetings, candidates”

His voice was deep and solemn, exuding no small amount of charisma.

No wonder I recognized him.

There was only one man in the military academy with such strong leadership, authority, and uncommon seagull-like mustache.

Even the cadets here should be familiar with that old man’s face,

“I am Rustet, the principal of Astrakhan Military Academy.”

He was Rustet, who was rumored to be a capable staff officer during the Great War, and is currently the commander overseeing the eastern part of Bern.

“For the Empire.”

For the cadets gathered here to grow into proper officers of the Empire, Rustet was an idol in himself, so,

“For the Empire!”

The echoing voices were so enthusiastic that they shook the pillars of the auditorium.

“Hmm.”

Rustet responded to the students with a brief gesture, then placed his peaked cap on the desk and carefully began his speech.

“You know that this is where we nurture Magic Officers, the pride of the Imperial Army. And that you are specially selected Awakened ones.”

The introduction was praise.

“I believe that all of you are treasures of the Empire. I have no doubt that it will be you who will raise up the nation that has been devastated since the Great War.”

What followed was encouragement.

Under the incandescent lights on the ceiling, with medals on his chest shining with numerous honors, Rustet praised the abilities of the cadet candidates.

He continued in a friendly tone, as if trying to lighten the mood, saying things like how hard they must have worked to complete basic training and that they were the protagonists who would bring glory to the Empire in the future.

“I’m glad I came to the military academy after all!”
“Are we really becoming Magic Officers now?”

Perhaps Rustet’s sincerity had an effect, as the cadets who had maintained tense expressions gradually brightened up.

Some even harbored expectations, anticipating a bright future ahead.

But at least I remained silent in my place without any change in emotion. At least if I knew Rustet,

“Therefore, you must never forget.”

At this point, he would directly insert what he really wanted to say.

“Everything you do, no, everything you Magic Officer candidates do, is directly linked to the Empire. Causing discord is equivalent to tarnishing the Empire’s honor.”

As if my judgment was accurate, he had somehow erased the wrinkles of laughter on his face. He continued in a businesslike tone, sweeping his gaze over the sight of the lined-up cadets.

“So I hope this message will be deeply buried in your hearts. If, at any moment, you overturn your status as cadet and do something stupid!”

Boom─!

Rustet clenched his fist and even struck the desk with the microphone.

The intense sound effect reverberated through the room via the speakers.

“Remember that I will never let it slide. Understood?”
“Y-Yes… Yes!”

This too is exactly the same.

I smirked lightly at the atmosphere that had somehow frozen over.

Rustet’s eccentricity remained unchanged. His personality could be perfectly described by the idiom ‘unpredictable’.

“Of course, I’m sure our school’s cadets would never do such a thing, haha.”

This way of repeatedly alternating between warmth and solemnity to suppress the cadets with momentum and lead them this way and that was Rustet’s method of controlling new students from the start.

Something about testing their mental strength or whatnot.

How many times have I experienced this? I remember it all too well.

Shake, shake

Recalling the past where I had gone through all sorts of trouble to build a rapport with such a personality, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

Once you caught his eye, it wasn’t easy to escape. He would drag you to the frontlines every day, or throw you into the midst of the Great War under the pretext of your competence…

Rolling like mad in the mud-filled east was no small hardship, even though it wasn’t reality.

“I sincerely congratulate you on your admission.”

Clap clap clap─!

As Rustet somehow delivered his final greeting, I clapped my hands along with the applause of the cadets.

Is it over now?

At a glance, it seemed the admission ceremony was nearing its end.

But it feels unsatisfying.

It’s not quite refreshing. If it’s Rustet, and him at the cadet welcome ceremony, there’s no way he would end it normally.

“Ah.”

Only then did scenes from the past welcome ceremony flash through my mind.

“Of course, I probably won’t see half of you here next year, haha.”
“…Pardon?”
“W-What’s this all of a sudden.”

At the principal’s sudden declaration, the interior that had maintained calm until now buzzed with groans full of bewilderment.

“Six months later, we will conduct a comprehensive evaluation and suitability assessment. Ranked by grades, the bottom 30% will be expelled.”

“Of course, it doesn’t mean you can’t be commissioned at all. You can apply to be adjutants. Due to limited resources, we’ve had to select only capable personnel for the officer course.”

In simple terms, it meant that nearly half of the students here would be kicked out.

Even though they could apply to be adjutants, it was clear that this was no consolation, given the obvious limitations that they could not become commanders leading Magic Companies and would find it difficult even to get promoted.

“Well then, everyone have a good day. For the Empire.”

In the end, just as the candidates thought the welcome ceremony was finally ending and were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they were saddled with a terrifying bomb that could explode at any moment.

Whether he knew this or not, or whether he was enjoying this commotion.

Thud, thud!

Rustet leisurely left the auditorium with a final salute, waving the hand holding his peaked cap.

“We’re… we’re going down to adjutants?”
“He could have told us in advance…”

The cadets could only watch his retreating figure with hazy eyes.

“Huh.”

How unchanged he is.
That old man.