Interlude: A Story About Results
One week after the unprecedented large-scale offensive. Major General Katsutoshi Ogata, commander of the Second Division, who had compiled the aftermath and lessons learned from the battlefield, left his post in Kyushu and visited the National Defense Force Headquarters in Ichigaya, Tokyo, to report.
“I see. So, his final score was 10 large-type, nearly 50 medium-type, and over 100 small-type.”
“Yes, sir. While some might argue that we should have confirmed the effects of the incendiary shells before commencing artillery fire, in that situation, the priority was to prevent the monsters from escaping. I am confident that Colonel Shibano’s judgment was correct.”
“Yes, well, we don’t intend to disregard individual achievements, but it would be counterproductive if prioritizing personal accomplishments led to monsters escaping. There’s no objection to prioritizing the annihilation of monsters.”
“Thank you for your understanding!”
The person to whom Ogata bowed was General Ryoko Asaka, a member of the imperial family and the Head of the Coordinating Headquarters.
Although both held the rank of General, due to Asaka’s imperial status and the difference in their positions—one being the Second Division Commander and the other the Head of the Coordinating Headquarters—Ogata needed to show deference.
Incidentally, in the National Defense Force, the positions of First Division Commander, Head of the Coordinating Headquarters, Chief of Staff, and the highest commanding officer, the Minister of Defense, are all occupied by members of the imperial family.
This is because each division forms its own faction, and these factions have strong local ties. There were concerns that if a division member became the commander-in-chief, they might not be able to lead the entire force impartially. Additionally, there had been repeated covert conflicts between divisions over vested interests in the past. Eventually, several high-ranking officers, tired of power struggles, suggested that “only imperial family members capable of treating everyone fairly should be military commanders.” They almost forcibly implemented this idea, which became the official system.
While the imperial family tends to prioritize the Kanto region where they reside and the Kinki region, which includes Kyoto—the capital for the past thousand years—prioritizing the economic zones of the capital and Kinki makes perfect sense from a national defense perspective. Moreover, there’s no doubt that they are capable military administrators, so no one has complained so far.
Setting aside the matter of high-level military personnel…
“I understand the field’s opinion, but that doesn’t mean we won’t recognize his individual achievements.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The Coordinating Headquarters is considering officially making him a Second Lieutenant and then promoting him to Special First Lieutenant.”
“Second Lieutenant, you say?”
Becoming a Second Lieutenant at this point would essentially guarantee a promotion to full Lieutenant after graduating from the military academy.
Considering his status as a student, this would be an exceptional treatment.
“There will likely be jealousy from other students. However, an organization that doesn’t clearly reward merit and punish wrongdoing cannot be considered a healthy organization. Don’t you agree?”
“That’s correct. However…”
“However?”
“We’re not sure how he will receive this.”
“Hm?”
Ogata had no objection to Keita’s promotion.
In fact, he thought it would be more problematic if Keita couldn’t be promoted despite such achievements just because he was a “student.”
But the issue was whether Keita would be happy about it or not.
From discussions with Colonel Shibano, who spoke directly with Keita after the interception battle, and Takafumi, who acts as Keita’s supervisor, it became clear that Keita has a personality that doesn’t favor standing out.
“Unlike other students, he doesn’t particularly desire military achievements or promotions.”
Of course, being human, Keita would prefer promotion over remaining a low-ranking soldier.
But he doesn’t want to stand out too much from that position (although it’s already too late for that, regardless of promotion).
“Then what are his desires?”
“Money, and an environment where he can live peacefully with his sister.”
“That’s… well, considering his background, we can’t call him vulgar.”
“Indeed.”
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If a member of the imperial family or military faction had said the same thing as Keita, both Asaka and Ogata would have looked at them with contempt.
And if such a mindset were revealed, promotion within the military would become impossible.
But Keita is just an ordinary person who happened to have the aptitude and reason to fight, unlike the imperial family who have privileges because they stand with the nation, or the military faction whose power is recognized because they risk their lives in war ahead of others.
What’s wrong with a child, an ordinary person who lost their parents and lives alone with a sister, seeking a substantial amount of money to improve their life or wishing to distance themselves from battle?
Isn’t it the duty of those who are both imperial family members and soldiers to provide that?
Once this thought occurs, it’s impossible to harbor ill feelings towards Keita.
However, whether to grant this is a separate issue.
“I understand the Second Lieutenant’s wishes. However, I’m afraid we can’t grant them at this stage.”
“Yes, sir.”
The ability to take down a large-type monster with a single strike. The mobility to evade counterattacks from large-types.
The rapid-fire capability to launch further attacks after evasion, and the endurance to continue fighting even after defeating 10 large-type monsters. None of these can be let go.
Therefore, he’ll have to give up on peace.
As for money, this is also difficult.
It’s not that there isn’t enough money.
If it’s about wanting money, if Keita could be won over by paying him, even if military budget couldn’t be used, Asaka and Ogata could pay 1 billion or 2 billion yen from their personal assets, and members of other factions would likely do the same.
After all, the budget required to manufacture one standard-type machine is about 2 billion yen. Considering the evaluation of Keita and the composite type’s performance, Keita himself is worth more than 10 machines.
At least the upper echelons, including Asaka and Ogata, think so. That’s why even if they paid 10 billion yen, there wouldn’t be any complaints.
You might think, “Then why not just pay him?” But it’s not that simple.
What Asaka and others are concerned about is the possibility that Keita’s motivation might decrease after receiving a large sum of money, or more specifically, they’re worried about the possibility of Keita leaving the military.
The fundamental premise is that Keita is in the military because he doesn’t have money, and if he gets enough money to send his sister to university and live comfortably, Keita would have no reason to continue at the military academy.
To make matters worse, there are no laws at the military academy to prevent students who wish to withdraw voluntarily from doing so.
Of course, they could apply a gag order, and since he would be a Second Lieutenant, even if he left school, he would be treated as a reserve, so he could be conscripted if necessary.
However, it’s common sense in the military that machine operators who have once left the battlefield and lost their sense of tension as soldiers significantly weaken.
And it’s not just the operators who weaken. The machines do too.
Although it has essentially become a personal machine, the fundamental ownership of the machine lies with the military, so if Keita leaves school, the machine he was using would be initialized and returned to the school’s military.
However, initializing a machine that has grown significantly after defeating more than four large-type monsters, no, a machine that has now defeated 10 large-type and nearly 50 medium-type monsters, would be an incredibly foolish act that anyone with even a little knowledge about machines would oppose. No one in the military would want to commit such a folly.
“Then, if you don’t pay the money would solve the problem?” That’s not the case either.
If they only promote him without paying any money, in the worst case, Keita might think he’s “not being valued enough” and respond to recruitment offers from other countries.
It might be fine now since his sister is like a hostage, but what would Keita do if agents from another country secured his sister’s safety and offered him a large sum of money?
(He’d probably accept the offer with high probability. Sigh. If we pay him enough money, he loses motivation, and if we don’t pay him, he gets poached. Really, when someone who has neither pride as a soldier nor a sense of duty as royalty or nobility gains power, they become this troublesome…)
“Well, let’s put him aside for now. I’d like to hear from Ms. Kuga, his homeroom teacher, as well.”
“Indeed.”
This was the moment when an extremely inconvenient interview was decided for the boss, homeroom teacher Shizuka Kuga.
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