The boys were ordered to sit in seiza.
Served them right!
We were in the martial arts hall. It had been a temporary cottage just yesterday, but it must have been assembled while I slept. Talk about a rush job.
Eventually, the discussion turned toward making the rest of the guys—not just me, Eddie, and Edge—practice as well. And that was how we ended up here.
Today’s lesson: spears.
"You lot! Like Major, like subordinates! Your blade lines are non-existent! Your axis is wobbly! You can't even perform proper suri-ashi! How on earth have you managed to stay alive this long?! This old man is simply baffled!"
"M-Master! Close combat isn't exactly our forte... Spear training is usually only a brief supplementary course for Bayonet Arts in the third year... and we're only second-years..."
Master Katori ground his wooden sword into the face of my classmate, Isono.
Since Isono was the biggest idiot among the boys, watching it was actually quite satisfying.
"I see. But listen, I'm only angry because you're all stupidly strong despite not knowing the basics! Hey, Nakajima! Don't you dare try to run!"
Master Katori’s wooden sword made a clean hit on Nakajima’s rear just as he tried to bolt.
Those two slacked off way too much, honestly.
Even though they were both actually pretty good with Dagger Arts.
Just as I was thinking that, something came flying my way.
"Hey! Leo! Grab a spear and come at me!"
Master Katori picked up a wooden spear and tossed another to me.
"Master! As Isono just pointed out, I have not yet completed the curriculum for Imperial Spearmanship!"
I stated this with a sharp, serious look.
Master Katori responded by grinding his spear into my chest.
Knock it off with the Nipple Drill!
"Huh? I checked your combat history, and it says 'spear' right there! You little brat, shut up and come at me!"
"Waaaah."
Damn it! Master Katori has researched us down to the last detail!
I took a stance, widening my stride to about one and a third times my shoulder width.
"Hoh... Come on, then."
I swung upward from the bottom.
"What’s this? It’s not spearmanship; it’s Staff Arts?"
"Uooooooh!"
Whack!
I thought I’d landed the hit, but I was the one who hit the floor.
The moment I’d stepped forward with the spear, he’d hooked my leg.
"That's what happens when you stomp around instead of using suri-ashi! Do it over!"
"Waaaaah!"
I wailed like a baby, but in my heart, I was screaming, I'll fucking kill you!
Die!
"Yes, keep that spirit up!"
Waaaah!
I struck with everything I had, but he blocked it easily.
From the other side... Hmph!
"Good! Next!"
He pinned my spear down from above. Fuhahahaha!
I thrust the spear in from below and maneuvered into an advantageous position. From there, I’d flip him... use the momentum to leap into the air and aim for his head—
"Nope, that's a foul."
The moment I jumped, a full-power swing of his spear caught me in the torso.
A home run.
"Gnyaaaaaaaah!"
I was sent flying all the way to the dojo wall.
"I see. Hey, where did you learn that? Even the Tachibana Style doesn't have a stance like that."
It seemed Master Katori assumed I’d learned it from Melissa. Wrong!
"I learned it from the movies!"
I gave him another sharp, confident look.
"...Oh. I see. It was entirely my fault for asking you, Leo. Everyone, back to the basic forms! Let's go!"
"Hieeeeeee!"
And so went the daily lives of the boys.
Unlike us, the girls followed instructions and practiced diligently. Since they hadn't developed their own weird habits yet, they were allowed to start normally from the basics.
"I will do my best, arimasu!"
One-oh-one was participating too. And Master Katori was incredibly soft on her.
"One-oh-one is such a good girl. Here, have a snack."
"I love you, Master, arimasu!"
Meanwhile, One-oh-one’s partner, Tatiana, was keeping a healthy distance from Master Katori. She claimed she could sense the aura of a predator.
Perhaps Master Katori felt the same thing from Tatiana as he did from me, because he also kept a fixed amount of space between them. They didn't seem to dislike each other, but they were clearly wary.
We spent about a month living like this.
The Second Expeditionary Force was just too large; it took a massive amount of time to get everything moving. Hurry it up already! Someone rescue us from Master Katori!
Even Thomas and the others were constantly running away from him. According to them, the man was "utterly insane."
Apparently, the intensity of our training was higher than a selection camp for athletes before the All-Galaxy Championship.
We’re an army, damn it! Not professional athletes!
I felt that deeply.
Well, despite our personal struggles, certain units were already operating ahead of us: the remote-controlled Reconnaissance Drone Units.
They were scouting the surrounding systems as we aimed for Planet Sanctuary. Beyond our current position lay unclaimed planets.
Legally, they were the territory of House Shinagawa, but aerial camera surveys had deemed them worthless. Not worth the cost of development.
That wasn't to say they were uninhabitable gas giants or places where acid rain fell, making terraforming impossible. Their management numbers were... actually, let’s not. There are too many digits.
They were simply planets where development was impossible because there was no water or the atmosphere was too thin to even mobilize Chlorella-treated workers. They simply had no economic value.
In most cases, if agriculture isn't possible with current technology, a planet is classified as this rank—unless it’s a strategic location that warrants building a colony regardless.
This planet was no different. It wasn't suitable for farming, and because it was so close to Planet Shinagawa, no one had bothered to develop it.
Still, it would be a problem if the Zork were there, so it remained a target for reconnaissance. Sometimes you find a gold vein on planets like these, but if the conditions are this poor, the logistics of extracting the resources would just put you in the red. Ultimately, location is everything. Planet management is tough.
Finally, some data came in.
"I see a structure," the investigation team reported over the comms.
If it looked like something out of Giger or Beksinski, it would be a massive death flag. I wouldn't go there for anything! I'd just burn it to a crisp with missiles, no questions asked!
"Well, it’s a single white house sitting alone on the rocks..."
Looking at the photo, there really was just one lone house in the middle of a rocky wasteland. ...Seriously, can we just burn it? It’s creepy in a whole different way.
"The air is so thin, I don't understand how it can even be there..."
It was an atmosphere that required a constant life support system. The fact that it existed at all was terrifying. I sought a decision from Wifey. I couldn't trust my own judgment on this one.
"What do you think, Lord Groom?"
"Let's burn it down, no questions asked!"
"Tell them to investigate with drones. The Lord Groom is overreacting."
"Whyyyyyy?! Why would you say that?!"
Lately, nothing has been going my way. It’s like everyone has started reading my mind.