Chapter 6

"Mark, I want you to tell me, someone who knows nothing.

About those who board this ship..."

"Yes, they all passed that difficult selection and were allowed to enroll in the elite officer training school in the capital planet Diamond.

I had heard that the cadets attending the training school would be treated as non-commissioned officers, but I was surprised to find out that we would be taken to the capital on such a luxurious ship.

Naoto, you must have been surprised too."

Everyone... all ten of us, including me, are officer cadets.

I looked at the document in my hand for the first time, carefully.

It stated that a special aircraft would transport the cadets from the spaceport the next day, and to be on time.

It says 'the cadets.'

That's when I noticed something was off.

For some reason, I was apparently being sent to the capital planet Diamond as an officer cadet.

Was it good luck... or just luck?

More importantly, what did Mark mean by luck?

At that moment, I honestly told Mark and asked him to answer my numerous questions.

Well, I conveniently glossed over the fact that I had considered suicide after being rejected by her.

I only explained that I had failed to get into Keirin University and, as an orphan, I couldn't afford to retake the exam, so I had volunteered for the military to earn money for university.

I did mention that I had been recommended as a special student to the career bureaucrat training course at the Royal First University.

"Wow, Naoto, you're amazing.

I can't even imagine that.

But maybe that's the right choice."

"So, if I failed Keirin, I'd be in trouble."

"Yeah, it was just bad luck."

"Bad luck again..."

"Bad luck??

Just listen.

Probably because you're in this environment, you haven't heard this kind of information.

About the luck, apparently, there were an unusually high number of children from wealthy families applying to Keirin University this year.

So, I heard that the number of general special students like you who were accepted was zero."

"General special students??

Then what about the non-general applicants?"

From there, Mark explained in detail.

Basically, even just waiving tuition fees is a significant financial burden for private schools, but they accept special students because they want to secure excellent students.

However, this alone is not enough to sustain the school.

So, they accept donations from the children of the so-called wealthy class.

It sounds good to say 'accept donations,' but it's more like an auction.

Of course, they require a certain level of academic performance, but it's still about two ranks lower than general applicants.

In return, the benefits of being a special student, such as tuition and dormitory fees, which would cost about 20 million G in total for four years, are offset by a donation of 50 to 100 times that amount.

However, this year, even that amount of donation was not enough.

There were so many children from wealthy families that it was said to cost twice as much.

Mark's family is quite wealthy, but even they couldn't afford that amount.

Apparently, this kind of information leaked to his family.

Mark had applied to a considerable number of universities in advance.

"Because of our business, we have a lot of connections with military personnel, and I heard that the number of children of military personnel is often low in years like this. My father told me to apply to the elite officer training school just in case.

The status is much higher here, and it's definitely better than being bossed around by my cousin in the future.

I was really happy when I got in."

"R-Really?

But I didn't even take the exam."

"Ah, well, probably, probably because the country's management system is excellent."

"Management system?"

"Yes, Naoto, you were recommended as a special student to the Royal First University.

Of course, your excellent grades are managed, so when you volunteered for the military, the data from your ID was used to make a quick decision.

I heard that excellent officers are desperately needed."

Hearing that explanation, I had a hunch.

The receptionist's surprised face when I volunteered for the military.

She must have seen my data and given some instructions.

Still, the country's data management is impressive.

I was also surprised by the gap caused by one's background.

After hearing Mark's story, I finally understood what Jaien meant by luck and why others knew about my university results before I did.

It seems that the upper class had the information beforehand.

But, I can't help but feel that if my failure was determined before the exam, I should have been informed beforehand.

No matter how much it's just a formality, my life is at stake.

But, in the end, I'm just an orphan.

This is probably how I'll be treated.

I don't really want to live in such a world for long.

Well, the treatment after graduation won't be much different.

Someone like me will likely be sent to the front lines soon.

It will take some time to graduate, but it's not that long, so I'll wait.

Mark is a really nice guy.

We were seated next to each other on the spaceship and became quite close, talking about various things.

Even though I can't really have hope, I felt a bit guilty, but I still had a good time, which I haven't had in a while.

This is a high-speed spacecraft that the kingdom is proud of.

Even though the planet Nihonium, where I lived, is in the capital star system, it's in the Yttrium system, which is next to the Dain system where the capital planet Diamond is located.

It took only a few hours to travel from the neighboring star system.

We arrived safely at the Fullerene Spaceport, the home port of the First Fleet on Planet Diamond, the second planet of the Dain star system, where the capital is located.

This spaceport is used exclusively by the military, and it is surrounded by bases.

In one corner of the base is the elite officer training school where we will be attending.

The training of military officers is not limited to this place.

There are officer schools on the main planets of each military district, but this one is special.

This school is specifically designed to train career officers, and its graduates are potential admirals.

About half of the graduates who survive to the age where they can become admirals actually make it to that rank.

In essence, if you survive and stay in the military, you have a 50% chance of becoming an admiral.

That's why only about 100 carefully selected individuals from the entire kingdom are allowed to enroll here each year.

Even though it's from all star systems, the Kingdom of Diamond consists of five star systems, and only the capital star system and the Borazon star system are binary stars.

We came from Nihonium, the main planet of the Yttrium system, one of the binary stars in the capital.

High-speed spacecraft from each star system continued to arrive, and it seemed that our ship was the last to arrive.

After arrival, we were lined up in the area used by the training school, and the first assembly was held.

There is an official enrollment ceremony the next day, but this seems to be a gathering to build camaraderie among the cadets who will be living together.

A colonel, the head of the student affairs department, stepped up to the podium and began his speech.