This Time I Boarded the Enemy’s Ship

Jens remained silent for a long time. Aira kept glancing at him, wondering if she had said something wrong again.

With his face hidden under his hat, Jens seemed to notice her looking and let out a deep sigh before speaking.

“Don’t treat yourself like an obstacle.”

“But it’s true. However…”

Aira fidgeted with her hands.

“If I’m not too bothersome to you, and if I don’t take up too much of your time.”

Aira glanced at him cautiously. His hat was pulled down so low that his eyes were barely visible.

“Would it be alright if I wrote to you?”

“…If you have questions, you can just ask them now.”

“No, you don’t seem to know either.”

What your wish is. Aira swallowed the words she couldn’t say.

He lifted his head slightly. His expression seemed both annoyed and somewhat relieved.

“Any letters you send will be censored.”

“…That’s why I asked for a guardian.”

There was no answer. But Aira knew he would eventually grant her request, just like he always had in the past.

Jens leaned on his cane, standing at an angle.

“Also, that attitude will certainly cause problems in the Republic.”

“Attitude…? Oh.”

Aira smiled brightly.

She straightened her back. Then she extended her right hand flat and brought it to her forehead.

“I look forward to working with you, Lieutenant Commander.”

Jens sighed deeply and removed his hat. After briefly returning her salute, he said:

“Don’t write too often, Cadet.”

“Huh?”

“Keep it brief and to the point. I’m busy.”

“What?”

“And don’t expect a reply every time. It’s bothersome.”

“Excuse me?”

Jens spoke to Aira, who was looking at him with bewilderment.

“Act your age. Don’t go through life without making friends to visit cafés with.”

“What?”

“You’re just a kid with an overly complicated mind.”

Jens walked purposefully toward Aira, took out a business card with his direct address from his card case, and placed it in her hand.

When Aira accepted it, he reached out and tousled her hair, like someone ruffling a young niece’s head.

Then, seemingly having completed his business, he turned sharply and walked to the reception room door, flinging it open.

“Of course, once the Conifer starts rolling you around, you probably won’t have time for complicated thoughts anyway. Well then.”

Aira was stunned by Jens’s suddenly changed attitude and his treatment of her like a child, and the curtain hitting the back of her head only added to her confusion.

She clutched the curtain, leaving her disheveled hair as it was, and shouted:

“What the…! Did you just treat me like a child?!”

“Your manner of speech.”

“Ugh.”

At his abrupt response, Aira gritted her teeth and created a manner of speech she had never used in her life.

“How long do you think I’ll remain sixteen, sir? I will surely repay this humiliation.”

“That would require insubordination, then.”

Something gentle hung at the corner of Jens’s turned face. But before Aira could recognize it, he was gone.

Aira stared blankly at the closed door. The curtain she had been clutching settled gently once more.

After greeting the disgruntled principal with Kle who had returned, Aira headed to the dormitory.

It was a room shared by two people, and when she entered, she found two students sitting on one bed talking.

Aira stepped back out and checked the nameplate on the door.

This definitely seems like my room.

“Oh, sorry! We were just chatting. Don’t worry, we haven’t touched your side.”

A girl with golden-red hair stood up first and extended her hand warmly.

“I’m Roje Riya. Just call me Roje. And about earlier… I’m sorry.”

Now she recognized the student who had spoken to her at the entrance ceremony.

Aira nodded expressionlessly. Roje awkwardly withdrew her outstretched hand and pointed to the girl with sky-blue hair sitting on her bed.

“That’s Siris Meji. We’re from the same hometown.”

“Hello.”

Siris greeted her, swinging her feet. Aira gave her a simple nod as well before placing her bag on the desk beside the bed.

The room had a simple structure with beds, desks, and wardrobes arranged symmetrically on either side, with a light, movable table in the center.

Aira had no belongings, having disembarked from the Girogssar with nothing but the clothes on her back.

After the armistice agreement ended, she had been transferred to the Republic flagship and then dragged here and there, filling out countless documents and taking aptitude tests, leaving her with no personal time.

She had been wearing the sailor’s supplies given to her on the Nautile, and had only received and changed into the cadet uniform just before the entrance ceremony.

The Imperial royal uniform she had been wearing had disappeared somewhere. It was probably in some museum or thrown into a trash can by an angry Republic soldier.

So her only possessions were the uniform she was wearing, duty clothes for immediate use, and the bag containing money and documents that Kle had just given her.

Well, she did have Jens’s business card neatly wrapped in the handkerchief he had given her to stop the bleeding, tucked in her inner pocket.

After roughly stuffing the duty clothes into the wardrobe and putting the document bag in her personal safe, there was nothing left to unpack.

While Aira was wondering what to do next, having finished so quickly, Roje and Siris, who had been watching her movements, spoke up in bewildered voices.

“Is that all your stuff?”

“Did you lose your luggage on the way?”

Aira frowned.

“Don’t we get everything as supplies?”

“Yes, but you should still have a few sets of civilian clothes, right?”

“And I heard the quality of the supplies isn’t that great. Shouldn’t you at least use your own cosmetics?”

She had already refused Kle’s offer to prepare anything, saying she would just use the supplies.

“It’s fine. Where do I go to receive the supplies?”

“They said we’ll be contacted in order. But, um… the nameplate says Aira Til. Should I call you Aira?”

It was a name she had hastily chosen when told she couldn’t use her royal name and needed to pick one for use in the Republic. Aira nodded.

“Aira. Nice to meet you. I’m your roommate, and Siris is in the next room. Let’s get along well.”

Aira felt strange. In the Empire, only royalty could dare address a princess by her name. She doubted the Emperor even knew her name, and her mother had passed away long ago.

Her peers wouldn’t dare use her name—it was a blessing if they didn’t try to poison her—and her sister, the 12th Princess who used to call her affectionately, had entered Evighkeit Palace, and Aira hadn’t heard her voice in a long time.

Among her peers, only the 3rd Prince, Jorge, had called her by name.

But she hadn’t seen Jorge for a long time before her death, and in this life, she had come to the Republic without ever encountering him.

It had been truly a long time since she’d heard her own name.

Along with the unfamiliar surname of Til, even her unchanged first name seemed to fit her poorly, like rough fabric against skin.

Aira couldn’t respond due to the strange feeling, so she simply nodded again.

The two girls seemed a bit deflated by their unresponsive classmate. But Roje, who would be living with her as a roommate for at least a year, renewed her enthusiasm.

“Where are you from? We’re from Prong. Hmm… where could you be from? Wait. Siris, where do you think Aira is from?”

“She’s definitely not from Oculer, right? I know how those misers talk. They’re incredibly arrogant.”

“Shh! Sharne is from Oculer. You shouldn’t speak carelessly.”

“Ah, no wonder she seemed so slimy when I greeted her earlier.”

Oculer was the capital of the Republic. Aira couldn’t help but smile at their chatter.

However they interpreted her smile, the two launched into a more heated discussion, guessing where Aira was from.

“Filtrom? Sursi?”

“Could it be Fosset? I heard there are many beautiful people in Fosset.”

“Yeah, doesn’t her accent sound a bit like Fosset’s?”

“That’s it! Fosset! Aira, are we right?”

Aira shook her head at Roje, who was smiling brightly, trying her best to liven up the atmosphere. Roje made a disappointed face and threw up her hands.

“I give up. Did you move around a lot? Identifying hometowns is usually my specialty.”

Aira considered for a moment before speaking. This information would be in the newspapers soon anyway. There was no point in hiding it.

“Anarchia.”

“Huh? The Archipelago?”

“But even immigrants from the Archipelago can’t enter the naval academy. Besides, the Archipelago changed its capital’s name a long time ago because it overlapped with the Empire’s.”

“The funny thing is that the Empire also changed its capital’s name because they found it annoying. What was it again?”

“Bahaight-Anarchia.”

“Right, that was the name…”

They looked at Aira with a strange feeling. Aira spoke again, expressionless.

“Bahaight-Anarchia. That’s where I was born.”

“…?”

The two girls’ eyes filled with suspicion. Roje stammered as she spoke.

“Sorry, but I overheard what the person looking for you said earlier.”

“Yes.”

“Jens Will, right?”

“Yes.”

“Lieutenant Commander Will? From the Servolang Naval Battle?”