Pirates

"Why is that?" a student from the infantry specialization shouted, "We finished the task ahead of time! Not getting extra points is one thing, but why do we get zero?!"

Others chimed in, "Yeah, the folks from the mecha specialization were so slow, how come they passed?"

Fred frowned, "Sir, I also reached the end on time."

The other students in the mecha specialization looked towards Yuka and her two companions, wondering why they passed.

Yonda glanced over them and said sternly, "Quiet."

Realizing Instructor Yonda was really mad, the infantry specialization students reluctantly shut their mouths.

"Wanna know why?" Yonda scoffed, pointing at Yuka and her friends, "Because only these three knew how to help each other out!"

"You guys have no sense of teamwork," Yonda shook his head in disappointment, "I know there's bad blood between the infantry and mecha specializations, but remember, most of you will be comrades on the battlefield. You need to cooperate and protect each other's lives!"

"Those who give up don't deserve any points, and pleading won't help! On the battlefield, the enemy won't go easy on you just because you've lost the will to live. Your only path by then will be death!"

The students fell silent.

Yonda sighed, "Don't think it's too early to be on the battlefield. Space pirates have been getting bolder in recent years, and even Capital Octoxis isn't safe. Take the recent space pirate hijacking, for instance. If it weren't for that brave old man, everyone on that spaceship would have perished in space."

Yuka thought, 'Can we please stop talking about this?'

"In any case, I'll give these three students a score of sixty," Yonda asked, "Any objections?"

The others, deflated, murmured, "No."

"Alright, class dismissed," Yonda clapped his hands, "See you little rascals next Monday."

The students, not actually looking forward to next Monday, picked up their opticomputers and left the training ground, some briskly, others limping.

Yuka picked up her opticomputer and suddenly remembered something. She turned to Ayoi, who was nearby, and asked, "Ayoi, do you know why the logistics students didn't come to class? I thought according to the notice, they were supposed to attend both the physical training and mecha operation classes."

Ayoi shook her head, indicating she didn't know.

"I know." Alex approached them, the dried scars on his leg making his movements more painful than before.

Seeing this, Yuka took out the alcohol and painkillers she had brought and handed them to him.

Alex quietly thanked her, applied the medication to his wound with a grimace, but managed not to cry out.

Yuka's impression of him changed a bit more.

As Alex applied the painkiller, he explained to Yuka, "I have a friend in the logistics specialization, Toru. He told me that after they received the notice, they protested."

The logistics students were perhaps the only ones in this world who didn't care much about which army corps they'd end up in. Their specialization was unique, meaning their role in any corps would be similar, so they were indifferent to the allure of Kenji's temptations and didn't mind whether they attended those two classes or not.

"After discussions between the principal and Admiral Kuba, those two courses have now become elective for them," Alex continued, handing the medicine back to Yuka. "It seems most of them dropped these classes and chose others to make up the credits. There's a detailed post about it on the forum, I'll send you the link..."

He suddenly realized he didn't have Yuka's contact and awkwardly stopped talking.

Yuka then took out her opticomputer, suggesting, "Let's exchange contact info."

Ayoi also pulled out her device, exclaiming, "Me too!"

After they exchanged contacts, Alex sent them the forum post link.

Yuka quickly skimmed through it. There weren't many discussions, but the information was substantial. The post mentioned that the logistics specialization was undergoing reforms.

Previously, logistics graduates mostly joined army corps to repair damaged mechas or maintain them. But in the future, they would pilot mechas and join combat personnel on the battlefield for on-the-spot repairs, enhancing efficiency.

The logistics specialization was diverging; some were preparing to join the Alliance Science Academy, while others were adapting to pilot mechas in combat.

Yuka frowned slightly, pondering, 'What is Kenji up to? Is the situation that serious?'

Ayoi, in a cheerful tone, said, "Hey Yuka, and... Alex, we don't have classes this afternoon. Why don't we go out and have some fun?"

Alex, a bit embarrassed, replied, "I should probably rest in the dorm. I won't be joining you."

Yuka quickly created a group chat for the three of them, saying, "I plan to rest as well."

She felt the need to gather recent data to look for any inconsistencies. Although her family was now the wealthiest, for the sake of their future happiness, Yuka decided to be proactive. Maybe she could even alert her father to avoid potentially unprofitable ventures.

Ayoi shrugged, "Alright then."

They said goodbye to Alex and headed back to their dorm.

Yuka ordered delivery service from the cafeteria, and Ayoi also decided to get a meal. After finishing her meal, Yuka climbed into bed, pulled the curtain around her bed, and instructed the butler, "Filter news from the past five years, extracting keywords [pirates], [royalty], [the Alliance Army], [academy]."

She paused, then added, "And [business]."

"Right away, Master," the butler responded, rapidly working on the opticomputer's search interface. "I'll compile the text and images into a document. It should take about twenty minutes."

"I'll take a nap then," Yuka mumbled, covering her head with the blanket. "Wake me up when it's ready."

The butler, observing Yuka's twisted sleeping position, silently continued to delve deeper into the news while nestled on the blanket.

Twenty minutes later, the butler woke Yuka, "Master, I've finished."

Yuka rubbed her eyes and yawned, picking up her opticomputer and opening the document.

The butler spoke inside her psychic power, "Master, I've found that in the last three years, the frequency of space pirate appearances in the news has skyrocketed, and it's all because of one person — a pirate leader known by the code 'Deadman'."

"This pirate appeared four years ago," the butler continued. "He quickly organized his own force upon joining the pirates, and within a year, he killed the original pirate leader and took over. According to rumors, this current leader, Deadman, might be Alex's grandfather, the late queen's father, the ex-Admiral of the Alliance Army, Bartland."

"The speculation is based on the fact that this pirate's physical and psychic powers are both strong. He couldn't have been an unknown figure before, and there haven't been any criminals with such high levels of both attributes in recent years. Although his face is covered with a red mask, his physique resembles Bartland's. Most importantly, after the queen's death, Bartland retired and rarely showed up in public. Four years ago, he allegedly committed suicide at home, but..."

"But what?" Yuka inquired.

"The funeral was held in secret," the butler explained. "Kenji took care of it. According to Kenji, he had already scattered the ashes in space before anyone else arrived."

"So, nobody but Kenji can confirm whether Bartland is actually dead," Yuka pondered.

"Exactly," the butler confirmed. "This rumor was found on an anonymous forum that has since shut down. You can only view it now; there's no option to reply or delete posts."

Yuka hummed in acknowledgment and continued to browse through the document.

The rest of the content in the document didn't reveal anything particularly novel. Yuka, however, sent the news about "the potential devaluation of advanced minerals due to substitutes" to Hideki as a heads-up.

Hideki quickly responded to Yuka's message: "Yuko, dad's going to a newly explored planet for inspection soon. The network there might be spotty, so I might not be able to contact you for a while."

"It's okay," Yuka replied. "Stay safe."

Hideki responded with a simple "Okay."

Shortly after, Yuka received a deposit of sixty million astracredits in her Astracredit Pal account. Glancing at her balance with its numerous zeros, she casually opened a shopping app and purchased a new Lev. The store, treating her as a VIP, promised premium packaging and the fastest delivery possible, estimating arrival within two hours.

Yuka spent the next two hours gaming on her opticomputer. Then she received a call from customer service, a robotic voice informing her to collect her parcel downstairs.

She got out of bed, put on a coat, and opened the door. Ayoi peeked from her bed, "Yuka, are you going for dinner?"

"No," Yuka replied, "I'm picking up a delivery. Do you want dinner? I'll order for you."

"Yeah, I'd love some spaghetti with meatballs, thanks," Ayoi said before sinking back into her bed.

Yuka was ordering the meal as she walked downstairs. The delivery person, wearing a yellow cap, was waiting there. Approaching him, she asked, "Is this the delivery for Taira Yuka?"

"Ah, yes," the delivery man looked up. It was Toru.

Yuka was momentarily startled but quickly blinked away her surprise. She took the pen from Toru's hand, signed her name, and then took the space button, no larger than a coin, from him.

Toru couldn't help but say, "You look a lot like someone I know."

"Oh, is that so?" Yuka asked, nonchalantly.

Toru scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, "You sound like her, and you have the same height, build, and hair... By the way, I'm Ando Toru, a student in the logistics specialization of the Combat Department this year. This delivery job is part-time for me."

Toru looked at Yuka with hopeful eyes, wishing she was the person he was thinking of.

Yuka shattered his illusion mercilessly, saying, "You're the freshman representative this year, right? I'm Taira Yuka, nice to meet you."

"Me too," Toru said, a bit disappointed as he put away the receipt. He couldn't resist asking, "Yuka, do you have any sisters?"

Yuka smiled, "No, I'm an only child."

"Ah, I see," Toru nodded. "Can we exchange contact information? We're all classmates, and we might help each other in the future. If you ever join an Alliance Army corps, maybe I could be your logistics support."

Even though it seemed like their first meeting, Toru felt an inexplicable sense that, even if Yuka wasn't the person who had saved him, she was somehow connected to that individual.

After a moment of thought, Yuka nodded and took out her opticomputer to exchange contact information with Toru.

Once Toru had left, the butler spoke up, "Master, could it be that he has actually recognized you, but seeing you deny it, he's just not revealing your identity for now?"

"That's impossible," Yuka confidently asserted. "I was wearing a helmet at that time."

She couldn't afford to have her true identity uncovered just yet.

Turning to head upstairs, Yuka hesitated for a few seconds before adding Toru to a group where she would receive his messages without notifications. Her cautiousness in handling this delicate situation was evident.