t was already past lunch time, the shop was nearly empty. The four of them somehow managed to catch up to lunch time special. While eating, Layfon explained why he was transferred to the Military Arts - he didn't mention that he was forced to transfer.

They were eating dessert.

Only Layfon wasn't eating, instead drinking juice.

"Oh, I was worried that Academy City only had healthy food for students. It's great that my worry was unfounded," Mifi said with satisfaction, her mouth filled with cake.

"This really is worth drawing a map for."

"And I was wondering what a city operated by students was like. Who'd have thought it would be quite organized," Naruki said with admiration.

In reality, many shops lined the roads heading from the dormitories to the school, but because it was an Academy City, most of the shops were closed during class hours. Once classes finished, the shops were full of people. These shops were managed by senior General Studies students who studied Commerce or Management. Other students came here to work as employees.

The food was made by seniors in Gastronomy.

"There's a Police Department and a Court here too. I'll try applying to the Police."

"Nakki's dream is to be a policewoman."

"Yes."

"As for me, the newspaper. Since it's related to publishing, I'll try to find somewhere that publishes news. What about Mei-chi?"

"....Somewhere that makes dessert."

"Then you'll have to find somewhere with delicious food. Uh, eating while you walk....watch out so you don't get fat."

"You're pretty red right now, aren't you?"

"Urg, what was that? It's because Nakki's all sweaty from exercising. You smell~~"

"Psh, that's the smell of youth."

"Agh, I don't get you."

The conversation expanded, and Layfon watched it all with a distant feeling. Those three were from the same city. From their conversation, it seemed they already knew each other before coming here. Shut outside the intimate conversation, Layfon sipped his juice.

Mifi suddenly directed a question at him. "That's right. Where'll you be working, Layton?"

"....Layton?"

Startled at the unexpected name change, Layfon opened his lips with juice still inside his mouth. He almost spilled it all.

"Yeah, Layton. That's easier to say, isn't it?" Mifi said cheerfully.

"Nakki, Mei-chi, Layton, and I'm Mi-chan. Is that ok?"

"You didn't give the names any good thought. More importantly, let my nickname be my normal name."

"It's boring to think up a nickname for yourself. If I said "Just call me Mi-chi~", doesn't that sound revolting?"

"Revolting. At least I wouldn't want to be friends with that person."

"Exactly. Then that's ok. So Layfon is called Layton now!"

"That can't be helped. Then we're counting on you from now on, Layton."

"Yeah, Layton, Layton~"

"....Layton."

Even Meishen was calling him by that name. For some reason, Layfon felt like he had come from a really far away place. Where was this place? Just in which dimension was he lost in?

Till now, none of his female friends had ever called him like that. Even his closest friend Leerin would only call him by his first name. For his nickname, she just called him "Lay."

Layton....Layfon was dumbfounded.

"So, where will you be working at, Layton?"

He could only answer the question, since he knew it wasn't possible to resolve the name issue.

At this moment, no words came to him.

Speaking of which, somebody just said Layfon's scholarship had been upgraded, so it didn't matter if he worked or not.

"Don't tell me it's all right if you don't work?"

"No, I've still got to work," Layfon shook his head. "I'll be working in the mechanical department."

All three girls burst out with "Wow" and frowned.

"Why such a hard working job?"

"I heard you need lots of strength for Military Arts. That kind of lifestyle will damage your body. Are you sure about this?"

"....Won't that be very tiring?"

All three girls expressed their worries. Layfon could only smile bitterly.

Even he knew it'd be hard work. But it was dangerous to rely fully on the Student President. If something happened and he had to oppose the Student President, his scholarship might be cancelled. It'd be the worst case scenario to be left without money, unable to continue his studies.

"Yeah, but that can't be helped. I'm an orphan. I don't have anything else besides the scholarship."

He thought the way he put it was natural and inconspicuous.

But the word "orphan" caused the three girls to widen their eyes. Embarrassed, their uneasy gazes darted around.

"Ah~~ I see. Sorry. Do your best."

"Yeah, if it's anything I can do, I'll help out."

"....Me too."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it...."

Their attitude made him feel troubled.

"I don't find it particularly difficult. I feel troubled when I'm pitied."

Even so, Mifi and Meishen exchanged a glance, their faces full of anxiety. From his previous experiences, Layfon knew it wasn't possible to make them understand it right away, so he wasn't bothered by their reaction.

"Ok, I get it. I won't worry about it." Naruki nodded immediately. Her quick response was a surprise to him.

"Uh? What? Did you say you wouldn't worry too much about it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

It was clear that Naruki wasn't just talking about it. She meant it. Layfon nodded hesitantly, then he couldn't hold it back anymore and laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that you act like a big sister."

"What did you say?"

Naruki frowned, but Mifi agreed.

"Ah, I understand. I understand. Nakki's got that feel about her. She's cool."

"....And she's popular with lots of girls."

"Yep, she always receives lots of presents and love letters."

"Well, I'm troubled by that. I've never known what to do with them."

Although she said so seriously, Layfon laughed again.

(The atmosphere feels good.) Layfon thought as he laughed. Although what he experienced at the opening ceremony was a setback for him, from his conversation with the girls, it felt as if he was now back on track.

"Uh....excuse me."

A voice broke through the laughter.

As their eyes found the owner of the voice, everyone couldn't help but held their breath.

Standing beside the table was a girl. The silvery hair hanging down to her waist shone as if to reflect the light of the coffee shop. She had snowy white skin and a heart-shaped lower jaw. Peeking from inside her collar was a delicately small neck and a kind of a dangerous charm. Long eyebrows trembled above a slightly lowered, silver-eyed gaze.

A girl who was as beautiful and delicate as a doll.

No one noticed she was wearing the uniform of Military Arts.

The first to finally notice was Naruki.

"Aren't you a grade older than us? Do you want something?" Naruki said.

Layfon realized the color of the threads on her harness was different from his own. From the harness hung a long thin rod like thing.

"Are you Layfon Alseif?"

Silvery eyes caught Layfon's image.

"Yes."

"I've something to tell you. Could you come with me?"

"....Okay."

Layfon stood up naturally, compelled by that voice to obey.

The girl turned her back to leave the coffee shop. Layfon would have followed behind just like that, but he returned to the seat. He took his bag and from his wallet, left some change on the table for his juice.

"Sorry, I gotta go."

"Sure. Then go." Naruki said on behalf of her two still silent companions.

"Yeah. But, just what...."

Wordlessly, Layfon rushed after the silvery girl.

The bell tied to the coffee shop door swung out crisp notes as Layfon passed. Thinking back on how confused Layfon appeared to be, Naruki smiled bitterly.

"Wh....What just happened?" Mifi muttered.

"Of course he's been targeted after that elegant performance at the opening ceremony."

Mifi didn't understand what Naruki had just said. She looked at her friend with questions on her face.

"Isn't there a different badge on that Senpai's chest pocket?"

"Yeah, really?" Mifi frowned.

"....It's a silvery round thing?"

"Yes."

Meishen had seen it.

"....There's the number 17 on it."

"A badge that only people belonging to a platoon would have."

"A platoon....what is that?"

"To put it simply, they're the official candidates in the Military Arts course. It carries the additional meaning of a fighter with high level of skill."

"Um....yes?"

Naruki explained. "They're the core teams in the Military Arts competition. Underneath the General headquarter are the platoons....They're called commanding teams. Beneath them are the larger teams, and those take charge of people who don't belong to any teams, meaning, normal Military Arts students like me...."

"Wow, if that's the case, then it's like climbing all the way up to the top." Mifi said, clapping her hands.

"But it's not that easy in there."

"Why?"

"Didn't I mention it? That badge holds the meaning of a high level fighter. Students belonging to a platoon must excel in a certain area, from commanding ability to the control of Psychokinesis. Mostly, they specialize in a certain weapon. Besides the individual skills that are judged, the strength of how well an entire team does is also assessed. Whether a person can work in a team is also evaluated. As such, there's competition going on between teams for the ranking list. In other words, it's a fight in between students at the academy. During those fights, if a team doesn't perform well, the worst situation is that it gets disbanded. Official candidates turning back to normal students. Fighters normally have strong self-esteem. If one returns to being a normal student, other people would say he's fallen from the clouds to the bottom of a valley....no one can take that kind of a setback. His life in the Academy would become too painful to bear."

Naruki glanced at the door that Layfon had just left through. No new customers had entered. The bell remained solemn.

"....Layton said he's going to clean in the mechanical department," Meishen said.

"Ah, that will be tiring for him!" Mifi said. "Will he be all right?"

"Yeah, it should be quite smooth for him." Naruki could only give such an answer. She washed down the last piece of cake with red tea.

◇

What Naruki said to the other two at the coffee shop also came to Layfon's ears, but from the terrifying girl with golden hair.

The beautiful, silver-haired girl took Layfon deep inside the first year dormitories, it was a certain building with an old and worn out feel about it.

Layfon was taken to one of the rooms and was greeted by a terrifying girl with golden hair.

"I'm Nina Antalk, the captain of the seventeenth platoon," the girl said firmly.

The room Layfon was in had been split into two by a huge wall, so the space was only twice as large as a normal classroom. On the wall were hung many different types of weapons.

Including Layfon, there were five people in the room.

The first person was the girl Nina Antalk, standing right before Layfon. Next was the girl who took Layfon here. The beautiful silver-haired girl had moved immediately to a corner after having entered the room.

The rest were two male students. The taller boy lay lazily in a corner. The other wore a dark green working suit that was stained with engine oil and some other type of machine related liquid.

Nina gave the confused Layfon an explanation about the platoon.

Layfon half listened, with his mind somewhere else.

"Do you understand?"

"Ah, yes."

Turning his gaze back to Nina, Layfon gave her a quick answer without really meaning anything he had just said.

"Then why was I called here?"

Layfon understood everyone here was an official candidate.

But, that was all he knew.

Nina didn't explain why Layfon was here.

Half of Nina's eyebrow trembled as if it had the cramps.

"I understand from your explanation that everyone here is an elite. But, if that's the case....because of that, I don't get why I, as a first year student, was called here," Layfon said, trying to mediate the atmosphere. Nina closed her open mouth, her shoulders moved as if she was breathing deeply, then she opened her mouth again to speak.

But before that—

"Buahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The tall male student burst out laughing from his position.

"Sharnid-senpai!" Nina said loudly, her shoulders trembling in anger.

"Gahaha! Ha~heehee....Ah, my stomach hurts! Nina, it's your fault. All because you beat around the bush and gave the new student there an opportunity to pretend he was a fool."

"Um!"

Nina clamped hard on her teeth.

"Heh!" Sharnid jumped up, watching Layfon in a flippant manner.

"I'm Sharnid Elipton, a fourth year. I'm a sniper."

"Ah, nice to meet you."

"Well, let me explain clearly in place of our captain. Layfon Alseif, we asked you to come because we need the right number."

"Huh?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Stop pretending. Everybody saw your performance at the opening ceremony. The excuse of you being a new student and not having enough skill won't work. You've already proven your skill. We thought you were good, so we want you in our team."

Sharnid gave Nina a meaningful glance.

Nina cleared her throat and stood before Layfon again.

"Layfon Alseif. I order you to become a member of team seventeen. No refusal will be accepted. The Student President has already given permission and formally proposed for your application. Either way, those who are in the Military Arts aren't allowed such a feeble action as refusing to enter a platoon."

What a resolute speech. Nina's unyielding attitude meant Layfon had no way to run.

"We'll now conduct a test to see which position you're best suited for in the platoon."

Nina took out the two rods from her weapon harness. She pointed at Layfon with the rod held tightly in her right hand.

"Choose whatever weapon you like!"

Perturbed by the seriousness in Nina's eyes, Layfon turned to examine the weapons on the wall.

The price of free school fees....what an A grade scholarship.