01.42 - Welcome to Officer School! Grey-kun

Did she just ask me out?

“Hey, Grey, are you listening?” Lucy asked while eyeing me with a tilted head. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Eh, yeah, five of them, actually,” I splurted out without thinking.

“What?” she asked with what seemed to be genuine surprise, then she pondered for a moment. “Like father, like son. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised then.”

“Eh? What?” I was baffled.

Was she joking?

Was she serious?

I am not like that guy, am I?

Great System, I hope not.

“Nevermind,” I said. “I was just kidding.”

“Really?” she asked with reignited interest.

“And… anyway…” I stumbled over my words. “...aren’t we related?”

“Barely,” she said. “You're supposed to be my what? Great-granduncle? But I am actually three years older than you. Besides, isn’t everyone technically related somehow? Just have to include enough ancestors.”

Silence.

“You keep dodging my question,” she said. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I… Technically… Officially… no,” I just said.

“Do you want one?” she asked straight out.

She sure wasn’t the shy kind.

“Like… right now?” I asked.

“Hey, people would line up at the chance I am giving you right now,” she said with both arms at her waist and a pout on her face.

“Is that so?” I asked. “Then why are you still single?”

“Haven’t found someone who could handle me,” she said. “In battle… And otherwise.”

“I see…” I said. “Can I think about it?”

“Sure,” she said. “Let’s meet in the Aula. First regular school day. Once classes are over. But don’t make me wait. It’s my last school year, and I don’t plan to waste it.”

That night, I had a surprisingly short talk with Reiko and the others.

—

My first official school day in officer’s school was mediocre.

The combat exercises were useless. So were a lot of the basic classes, although I didn’t remember most of my own world's lectures. Basic math and writing were not that challenging, to say the least.

Military Strategy and Tactics, as well as History, on the other hand were pretty interesting.

As for the breaks, I did not make any friends.

There were generally three types of people: The jealous, the sycophants, and the indifferent.

I honestly preferred the latter ones to both of the former, but it was really hard to break the ice with people who just don’t care to make friends with you.

The library was a godsent during longer breaks.

Anyway, the day came and went, and I met Lucy in the afternoon.

Having connections to someone close to my father could help with my ultimate plans.

Having it be someone cute was just the icing on the cake.

We met up in the Aula and left the campus to sit in a quiet cafe I had recommended.

Lucy had the same privileges as me, if not more.

She could leave school grounds at any time and was not required to report back at all.

Lucy slowly nibbled at her rainbow jelly parfait.

“So,” she said. “What’s your answer?”

“I am in,” I said.

“Great,” she said as she took another bite. “And this is pretty good too, actually. Plus, you are not trying to weasel around today. I like decisive people.”

“So… you are a pupil of my ‘father’?” I asked as I sipped on my coffee.

I remembered that point from our first meeting in the other timeline.

“Did I mention that?” she asked, clearly surprised.

“Eh, no,” I said. “I just heard… stuff.”

“Well, yeah,” she said as she nearly emptied her glass. “It’s not exactly a secret.”

“So, how exactly are we related?” I asked.

“Well,” she said, “I guess my great-grandfather is technically your brother.”

“One of countless, I assume?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Like sand on the beach or stars in the sky,” Lucy said while laughing audibly.

“Truth be told,” she said, “I kinda despise the old man.”

“I swear, he grabbed me multiple times,” she said. “And not just now. It goes way back.”

“I can imagine,” I said. “My ‘mother’ was fourteen when I was born.”

“Huh,” she said. “I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

“Dunno,” I said. “But I’ve heard enough stories to dampen my interest in meeting him. On top of everything else I mean.”

“Same,” Lucy said. “But there is no avoiding it if you want to make it in a world like this.”

The conversation after that drifted off into smalltalk, hobbies, and other things.

We left the cafe, then took a turn into a small sideroad for some privacy.

Lucy sure didn’t wait around. I was just fourteen, she was a bit more than 3 years older than me.

First date, first kiss.

Guess I shouldn’t have expected anything else, the way she talked before, and her conviction to make the best out of her final year in school.

Just as our tongues parted, she looked at me with suspicion.

“I am not your first, huh?” she asked. “You did this before, didn’t you?”

“Guilty as charged,” I said.

“Well,” she said. “That makes things easier.”

And by easy she meant quicker, and by quicker, I mean a full home run.

As the sun set outside, we found ourselves in a rather spacious, but still pretty cozy hotel room.

With a warm water shower and other semi luxuries.

Plus a very comfy and fluffy bed.

She used the shower.

I meanwhile spent my time rolling around in the bed, while scrolling through all the Classes and Skills I had discovered during my extensive use of “Know Your Enemy” during officer school’s orientation week.

I stopped the moment she left the bathroom.

She walked toward me and the bed, and smiled at me, clad in only a towel.

Then her last cover dropped.

“Like what you see?” she asked.