I thought I volunteered for the military.

 

 

So I headed to the space military recruitment center.

In this country they have space military recruitment centers everywhere.

With the constantly understaffed military needing a steady supply of soldiers, they say there’s always one in a conspicuous spot in every town.

I passed through the gate of the recruitment center nearest me.

Enlisting in the military is extremely simple.

The amazing thing about this country is how individual information is properly managed.

Thanks to that, just showing your ID card and stating your ID number is all that’s needed to join the military, no other paperwork required.

I stated my ID number and that I wanted to enlist. The woman at the reception desk operated her terminal.

The moment she operated the terminal, she hurriedly left her seat and went to her superior.

It seems there was some issue with my background.

I was about to give up thinking I couldn’t even join the military, when she came back and handed me a document.

“Don’t miss tomorrow’s charter flight leaving from the spaceport. You’ll be going to the capital planet.”

I was told.

Tomorrow is awfully sudden.

But it looks like I can get into the military somehow.

I returned to the orphanage and informed the teacher I had failed to get into college, telling them I would be joining the space military.

Then I said my farewells, telling them I’d be leaving tomorrow.

I probably won’t be coming back here.

Since this will likely be my last parting with the teachers who had cared for me until now, I politely expressed my gratitude before entering my room.

The teachers seemed to already know I had failed my college entrance exams.

They just silently saw me off when I told them I’d be enlisting.

Frankly, I’m thankful for how they treated me.

Showing my pathetic side again here would just be sad.

I’m relieved I didn’t have to display my shamefulness again.

Otherwise I probably would have bawled here too.

But it doesn’t make sense.

Why do they know the results of my college admission before me?

The next morning I headed to the spaceport specified yesterday, my meager luggage in hand.

Despite being so early, the spaceport was rather crowded.

A number of males and females around my age were gathered here, along with a large number of people who seemed to be their family members.

The males and females around my age seemed to be boarding the same ship as me, seen off by the others.

I think it’s over the top, and moreover I don’t get why the males and females who look around my age are all well-dressed people.

They clearly enlisted differently than me.

If so, what’s going on?

Are they going to the capital for some other business?

Could it be they’re off to attend colleges in the capital?

If that’s the case, I feel a little out of place just this once.

To think I’d be with people like this after failing college and unable to even commit suicide so I enlisted.

I’d surely look pathetic compared to them.

Well, while it’s a once in a lifetime meeting, they’re people I’ll never see again after this trip.

I’ll endure it as just the atmosphere until we reach the capital.

While I was thinking that, an announcement came from the spaceport staff.

It seems we’ve been cleared for boarding.

I went over to the staffer with the documents I received yesterday.

Though it felt like very few compared to the number of people gathered around this gate, about ten males and females around my age had congregated near here. Looks like it’s just these ten boarding the capital planet with me.

Everyone showed some documents like mine to the staffer at the gate, asking for instructions.

I headed to the designated area with the others as instructed.

What awaited us was a small passenger spaceship, probably classified as a high-speed ship even in this country.

I hear voices leaking out nearby.

“Ooh, how extravagant.”

“It’s too much. I never imagined we’d get treatment like elites by being taken to the capital on a ship this luxurious. You too, right?”

Certainly my impression upon seeing the docked spaceship was the same.

I reflexively checked the documents in my hand again, but there’s nothing written there.

Just the boarding pass I was given at the gate.

READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM

A voice came from behind, sounding anxious like me.

There was another guy who appeared to be about the same age.

“Hey, what are you doing? We’re running out of time. Let’s get on board quickly,” he said, pulling me towards the spaceship.

Although I was meeting him for the first time, he seemed like a friendly guy.

Once I boarded the spaceship, I showed the seating chart I had received earlier to the ship’s crew, and they guided me to my seat.

It wasn’t long before the spaceship departed from the spaceport.

As the guy who had spoken to me earlier had mentioned, it seemed like time was running quite late.

But I couldn’t understand.

Why would they use such a luxurious spaceship just to transport a volunteer soldier like me to the capital planet? Something didn’t add up.

I was pondering this when I heard another voice from the seat next to mine. It was the guy who had spoken to me earlier.

“It seems like there really wasn’t much time.

If we had delayed here, I can’t imagine what the instructors would have said.”

I was just staring blankly and listening to what he was saying.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Mark, Mark Campbell. Nice to meet you. And you are?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Nao, Nao Bruce.”

“Huh? Bruce? Are you related to that Admiral Bruce?”

Admiral Bruce was one of the famous heroes in the star system where I grew up.

After his service in the military, he had spent his retirement years as the first Director-General of the Coast Guard and was also known for his philanthropic activities.

He was one of the few heroes who had lived a happy life without tarnishing his reputation in this turbulent era.

As a result, he was one of the most popular figures in Nihoium Star, his hometown.

“No, it’s not like that. I’m from an orphanage established through the kindness of Admiral Bruce. Those of us who didn’t know our last names use the name of the orphanage. But more importantly, you mentioned Campbell. Are you related to the Campbell Factory or something?”

The Campbell Factory was a well-known major weapons manufacturing company in this country.

While it wasn’t a conglomerate, it was still a sizable corporation.

“The president of Campbell Factory is my uncle.”

“Wow! That’s impressive. You come from a good background. So, why…”

I blurted out my thoughts without realizing it.

It was impossible for someone like me, the son of a prominent family in this kingdom, to volunteer as a common soldier.

That possibility was completely out of my mind, and I accidentally voiced it.

“Why? Well, that’s because I was lucky enough to get into the Elite Officer Training School. My grades were pretty tough, but I managed to pass. I’m really glad.”

It seemed that he was going to the Elite Officer Training School, not just as a common soldier. He was also becoming an elite.

That was quite an enviable story.

“Wow, that’s amazing. But…”

“Yeah, I understand. Why would someone like me, the child of a merchant, aim for the military instead of Keirin University? It’s because I was lucky. No, it might be the opposite. I was lucky to be able to barely make it to the elite.”

Another story about luck…

“Sorry. It’s impolite of me, a commoner like me, to speak so casually to someone from the upper class like you.”

“What are you talking about? From the moment we boarded this ship together, we’re already comrades.”

“Huh? Comrades… certainly, I volunteered for the military, but comrades, I mean, because you’re going to be an officer, right?”

“Huh? You too, Nao. You say interesting things.”

Huh? Huh?

What did he mean?

Certainly, I volunteered for the military, but it was as a common soldier.

I didn’t attend the Elite Officer Training School.

What was going on?

Unable to understand so many things, and a little rudely albeit knowingly,

I went ahead and asked Mark since he seems more familiar with the ways of the world.

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