"No worries," Yuka replied with a gentle smile.
Kenji cast one last glance at her before striding away.
"Master, how could you do this! You nearly scared me to shut-down just now!" the butler suddenly spoke up, gesturing animatedly. "You can't neglect your safety like that, getting hurt on purpose to skip school..."
Yuka responded nonchalantly, "Yeah, yeah, I got it," then blocked the butler's voice.
As Yuka headed out of the store, she bumped into Ayoi rushing towards her.
Ayoi's face was alight with excitement. "Yuka, did you see Admiral Kuba? Is he as handsome as in the pictures?"
Yuka nodded. "Saw him. Quite handsome."
"Right? Right?" Ayoi covered her face in delight. "Admiral Kuba is so young and successful, and good-looking too. He graduated from UUA's Combat Department and still tops the alumni honor roll."
Not just that, students from the Combat Department almost all aspired to be like him.
Yuka knew about Kenji's famous battle, the one that defied all opposition and secured his position as an admiral. He had led a ten-person squad on a patrol mission and encountered the No.2 of a space pirate gang. Despite facing nearly a hundred enemies, he led his troops through, capturing the No.2.
There were other battles, big and small, all against space pirates, and he never lost, never let anyone be sacrificed.
He was one of the Alliance's strongest admirals.
"I heard Admiral Kuba's psychic power is SS, twice as strong as S. Wonder if it's true," Ayoi mused. "I believe it. After all, a battle commander needs at least A+ psychic power, and with Admiral Kuba's prowess, SS-tier seems likely. He might be the only one in the Alliance with SS psychic power, right?"
Yuka replied indifferently, "Who knows?"
People with psychic power is rare, and those who can be a battle commander is one in a billion.
High psychic power is a fundamental requirement for a commander, as they need to establish mental connections with dozens, even hundreds of mechas, ensuring control at all times. If a mecha pilot loses consciousness or fighting ability, the commander must take over immediately, continuing the battle.
Moreover, a commander needs a cool head, high technical skills, strong overall quality, and an extraordinary strategic vision. They are the most trusted officers for all mecha soldiers, the ones to whom they entrust their lives.
"By the way," Ayoi suddenly looked puzzled, "why would Admiral Kuba visit our school? Could he be speaking at tomorrow's opening ceremony?"
Yuka, already familiar with the online forums, quickly found a heated discussion about Kenji and forwarded the link to Ayoi.
"The forum says Kenji is this year's freshman instructor..." Yuka tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Kenji was the former team leader of the devilish Instructor Yonda. It's said that Yonda's torturous methods were taught by him. Is he even more twisted than Instructor Yonda?"
Ayoi covered her mouth in shock. "Really?"
She frowned slightly. "Oh my, I do idolize Admiral Kuba as a crush, but he's known for his biting sarcasm and cold demeanor. If he becomes our instructor..."
"We'll suffer both physically and mentally," Yuka read out a comment from the forum.
The elder students on the forum seemed to relish the new students' plight: Tremble, freshmen! Hope you don't cry when scolded. Do you need the '100 comforting items for when you cry.zip'?
Yuka sighed. She had already been scolded.
Kenji had said, "The quality of freshmen is getting worse every year," which she took as a direct insult to herself.
'Well, whatever,' Yuka thought silently. 'It's just one semester of being scolded. Next semester, I'll switch my specialization and he'll never be able to reach me with his harsh words.'
Suddenly, Yuka remembered the black metallic object on Kenji's back and turned to ask Ayoi, "Do you know what that thing on Admiral Kuba's back is?"
"Oh, that thing," Ayoi said as they walked. "It's an external exoskeleton made by Oniyon, used to enhance physical strength. Part of it is nailed into the bones, and the other part is external. I've heard it's quite painful."
"Is Kenji physically weak?" Yuka asked, surprised.
"Well," Ayoi furrowed her brow, "Admiral Kuba has a genetic condition, a rare one that fluctuates his physical strength between the lowest D-tier and his actual A-tier. To stabilize his strength, he's had the exoskeleton since his school days. It's not a secret, you can find information about it on the interstellarnet."
C-tier strength is the average human level, so D-tier, where one might collapse after running a short distance, was indeed very low.
Ayoi continued, "This exoskeleton was specially made for him by the Alliance's Science Academy. And since Oniyon isn't naturally compatible with the human body, I can't imagine how much pain and hardship Admiral Kuba must have endured to adapt to it."
Holding her face, she exclaimed, "Ah, when you think about it, Admiral Kuba is the typical tragic hero—handsome, strong, yet suffering. Suddenly, I feel like I can relate to him and his harshness is understandable and forgivable."
Yuka fell silent. That was quite a generous interpretation.
"Let's head back," Yuka suggested to Ayoi.
Ayoi, carrying a big bag of snacks, nodded. "Yeah! We need to sleep early tonight. Can't be late for tomorrow's opening ceremony."
Yuka and Ayoi returned to their dorm, greeted by a delivery robot waiting at the door. Yuka received a medicine box from it and gave a quick five-star rating.
After washing up and settling into bed, Yuka opened her opticomputer to message her father. Without a second thought, he transferred fifty million to her, along with a piece of advice: "Yuko, our family has some connections with Admiral Kuba's family. Don't worry, if he scolds you, just tell daddy."
Knowing that her father Hideki's business dealings inevitably intertwined with the military and political realms, Yuka reluctantly replied, trying to ease his worries, "No need, dad, Instructor Kuba is quite kind."
The thought of Kenji taking revenge in class if he found out she had complained was unsettling. From the first glance, Yuka had pegged him as the type to hold grudges.
…
At 7 AM, the butler cheerfully activated the alarm: "Master, time to wake up! Wake up!"
Yuka slowly opened her eyes and flung the vibrating orb away.
The butler, after a few spins in the air, returned to Yuka's side, nudging her with its round head, "You're going to be late! Wake up!"
"I know," Yuka murmured, eyes still closed. "From now on, don't use Oniyon's body unless I told you to. Just connect yourself to the opticomputer."
The butler sounded disappointed, saying, "Okay."
As Yuka got dressed, she explained, "Your situation is unique. If discovered, you might be seized. So, keep a low profile, understand?"
The butler, extending its electronic hand, transferred its system into the opticomputer. A little figure in overalls appeared on the screen, responding, "Okay."
Nori might be a jerk, but the butler he created was indeed a marvel. The butler had its own consciousness, not just a cold machine. It could merge with Oniyon, connect to the opticomputer, and establish a mental link with Yuka.
Yuka wondered about Nori's intentions in leaving the butler with her, and he even completed the robot with a ladylike upbringing core code, but Yuka had decided to protect it well. And when she next met Nori, she planned to throw the butler right in his face.
Meanwhile, the butler, pacing on the opticomputer screen, browsed the app market and downloaded a match-three game. As it lost ten rounds in a row, Yuka finished dressing in her uniform, took a sandwich Ayoi handed her, and walked toward the auditorium.
The opening ceremony was set for 8 AM. Yuka and Ayoi arrived just in time, finding their place in the Combat Department's area and sitting down.
Vivian, seated in the front row, turned around and winked at Yuka, greeting her with a cheerful, "Hi."
"Vivian?" Yuka was surprised for a moment. "What are you doing here?"
Vivian flicked her hair playfully, "Because I'm also a freshman now."
She burst into laughter at Yuka's expression. "Just kidding. Don't look at me like that. I'm actually here to give a speech. Offering advice and encouragement to the new students is a senior student's duty."
Vivian squinted her eyes and pointed a finger at Yuka from a distance, "I heard your new instructor is Kenji. Make sure you work hard. As a person with high psychic power in the mecha specialization, don't lose to those in the combat specialization who are all muscles and no brains."
Ayoi puffed up her cheeks, "You shouldn't say that..."
"Little ditz from the Beatrix family, you have no right to argue," Vivian retorted, chin lifted arrogantly towards Ayoi. "I know your brothers are in the combat specialization. Are they particularly smart?"
Just as the situation between them seemed to escalate, Yuka quickly changed the subject. "Look, the freshman representative is about to start speaking."
Vivian huffed and turned away, while Ayoi calmed down, prompting Yuka to pat her shoulder in a silent gesture of comfort.
The freshman representative, obviously nervous, stumbled slightly as he walked to the center of the stage. There were some laughs from the audience, but he quickly regained his composure and approached the podium.
Yuka glanced at the big screen and raised her eyebrows in surprise upon recognizing the face. It was Ando Toru.
What a coincidence!
Taking a deep breath to overcome his social anxiety—after all, public speaking couldn't be worse than being held hostage by pirates—Toru began reading his speech. "Dear fellow students, I feel so honored..."
After Toru finished, Vivian leaned towards Yuka, "That guy scored the highest in this year's interstellar exams. His psychic power is A-tier, though his physical strength isn't much. I wonder why he chose the logistics specialization. And you know, he was one of the survivors from that spaceship incident. The seventy-year-old man who fought the pirates must have incredible physical strength to do that at his age."
"It's a pity the recordings were destroyed," Vivian lamented. "I would have loved to see how he fought."
Yuka silently wished for the topic to change. She hoped they would stop bringing up that incident.