Chapter 27

Chapter 27
The commanding officer answered only following an extended period of quiet.
“You… what did you just state?”
He communicated as if doubting his own hearing.
I restated my point, articulating every single part with absolute precision.
“A time-turner.”
“A time-turner… meaning……”
“Precisely how it sounds. From upcoming years back to prior days. I came back.”
The commander’s mouth parted, then shut once more.
“…Such a bizarre thing to utter. Luna Moon used to make claims like that all the time.”
Well. His reaction proved tamer than I anticipated.
I had imagined that, knowing Luna Moon had operated as a player, he might receive this with greater acceptance.
“It is not a joke.”
“Cease the absurdity. You, a time-turner?”
“Did you react this way when she admitted that my mother was a player as well?”
Hearing those terms, the commander appeared as though struck by a mallet.
Strictly speaking, pretending to be a time-turner was a fabrication, so involving a deceased woman felt somewhat… not particularly remorseful, truly.
Furthermore, the entire routine of acting like a small child had begun wearing thin on me.
If I successfully sold the time-turner performance, I could finally drop the “mere youngster” label and escape enrollment.
None of this was meant solely for my own benefit.
It served as preparation for the cataclysm.
“Have you not noticed anything unusual? That I possess excessive maturity, that I understand far too much concerning military affairs?”
“Simply because you show greater maturity than other kids, you expect me to accept that you are a time-turner?”
“During the officers’ briefing, I recognized every individual’s name.”
Sensing his desire for evidence, I presented whatever arguments sounded believable.
“Father, do you genuinely believe that merely listening to tales from Mother would grant me all of those names in such detail? That a child from the slums who never once touched a weapon could operate one adeptly and shoot so precisely, solely because I was a clever boy? That the day I scaled Daphne’s perimeter and went searching for her constituted nothing more than a sudden impulse?”
The commander remained hesitant to accept my words completely.
Yet the remarks that followed from him did not express disbelief; instead, they questioned my motive.
“Why disclose that you are a time-turner only at this moment?”
“Because you remain unaware.”
“Unaware of what?”
“That we lack sufficient time.”
I watched his head tilt slightly to the side before pressing onward.
“In a decade, a secondary cataclysm will commence.”
“What?”
Even the commander appeared thoroughly shaken by that revelation.
“We designated it the Second Cataclysm.”
“Another cataclysm in days to come… I almost wish it were false.”
“I wish it would not occur either. Yet within the future where we failed to ready ourselves, I perished.”
At the mention of my demise, the commander’s gaze widened briefly before returning to normal.
“When I opened my eyes, I found myself back inside my ten-year-old vessel. If this constituted a secondary chance granted unto me…”
Following another prolonged quiet, the commander finally responded.
“It proves just as difficult to credit as the day I discovered Luna Moon was a player.”
“I comprehend. Yet I had no alternative but to inform you. If circumstances proceed along this path, we shall lack adequate time to prepare for the cataclysm.”
I determined right then to clear away every lingering detail that might arouse his suspicion.
“The reason I voice this only now… stems from the fact that, through this regression, I learned my mother was a player—and that you already knew. If Father, who already understands Mother was someone extraordinary, will take my narrative seriously…”
“Thus the future version of you never knew Luna Moon operated as a player?”
“Negative. But I possessed a vague sense that Mother was unconventional, which is why, upon returning this time, I visited Daphne to learn more concerning her…… That explains why I felt no great shock discovering she was a player. I am a time-turner—would my mother being a player truly cause such astonishment?”
My carefully woven logic left the commander looking faintly bewildered.
“If you genuinely arrived from the future… then prophesy an event bound to take place.”
Hmm. So that extent of proof still fell short.
As the leader of an entire zone, maintaining caution regarding whom he trusted was entirely proper.
Regrettably, I held no convenient prophecies to offer him.
“That would prove difficult.”
“Difficult?”
“Because my regression has already altered the future to a considerable degree. Originally, I never would have sought you out at this early stage.”
Hearing that, the commander seemed capable of accepting why I could not discuss upcoming events.
Excellent. In that scenario……
“I cannot prophesy future occurrences. But should Father desire more concrete evidence—”
In truth, explaining the future to him as he wished was not entirely impossible either.
Possession had shifted a few occurrences, indeed, but I remained an experienced veteran player who had conquered this realm multiple times over.
“Please permit me to test the military academy’s training simulation.”
The commander jerked with astonishment and fixed his gaze upon me as though I were an entity from another realm.
“…Knowing concerning the academy’s simulation makes me question whether you might genuinely be a time-turner.”
“Well, I already graduated from that institution in the future. I can assert with confidence that I surpass any pupil currently enrolled there. If I clear the training with superior outcomes compared to anyone else, you will possess no alternative but to believe me.”
The commander appeared conflicted for an instant, then offered a slight nod.
“I grant you permission to test the training simulation.”
The upward curve of my lips remained unhidden.
Once I established my capability through the simulation, he would never again attempt to force me into the academy.
Slaughtering novices was rarely a veteran’s task, but on this occasion, I had no choice.
Platon, eldest offspring of Anton belonging to the pro-Daphne faction, stood as an exceptional cadet on the verge of graduating near the summit of his class at the military academy.
Though his father spearheaded the pro-Daphne faction, Anton had raised him under rigorous impartiality designed to shape him into a commander respected across all factions. Platon himself never aligned with any side, and he never once utilized his father’s standing to resolve a problem—earning him widespread respect among his peers.
Yet Platon had grown so detached from ideological rivalries that even Anton found him suffocating: a sharp-edged stone who never hesitated to voice his opinions.
To the junior cadets, Platon—boasting exceptional written and practical grades—appeared as a splendid senior maintaining strict principles. To classmates and instructors who recognized how vital absolute obedience remained for a soldier, he represented nothing more nor less than a stubborn fool blessed with high scores.
Even so, his status as the prospective top graduate was not entirely divorced from his father Anton’s influence.
“I refuse.”
“Platon!”
Within a corner of the headmaster’s office where Platon had been summoned, Heydam Goodman himself stood observing him, prompting the principal to shout his name in alarm. Platon refused to yield.
“Even though it remains merely a simulation, I cannot inflict damage upon a young child who has not even enrolled yet. You understand just as well as I that injuries can still transpire during a simulation.”
“The commander himself has granted authorization.”
“He has?”
The training simulation utilized by the Cola Area Military Academy constituted a mock skirmish.
Participating cadets divided into Team A and Team B, departing from their respective home bases. The initial team to plant its banner within the adversary’s stronghold—or to “eliminate” every member of the opposing squad—triumphed. Straightforward guidelines.
The contest proceeded without lethal armaments, employing training blades and paint rounds, yet when clashes intensified, actual punches occasionally flew, leaving cadets injured upon occasion.
Yet the commander permitted his own ten-year-old offspring to participate in such an exercise.
Do not tell me… he intends for me to throw the match?
That deduction appeared accurate. The headmaster’s subsequent remarks fell squarely within expected parameters.
“Furthermore, training can proceed with a degree of flexibility, can it not?”
Just as I suspected.
Platon shook his head immediately.
” Stated differently, you expect me to go easy upon him. He may remain a child lacking formal enrollment, yet he will one day become a warrior of this zone—a future cadet. I shall not subject him to that humiliation. How mortified would he feel discovering his initial simulation victory was handed to him by an opponent holding back?”
“P-Platon! Please mind your tongue……!”
“I do not mind.”
The principal glanced nervously toward Heydam Goodman standing directly beside them, whereas Heydam himself displayed not the slightest sign of offense upon hearing everything.
Platon quietly scrutinized the glossy raven hair alongside the dark eyes gleaming with ominous curiosity.
Thus this represents the illegitimate offspring from the rumors.
The angelic-faced psychopath who, starting from their very initial encounter, smiled while threatening Platon’s own father.
A child who once scaled the perimeter into Daphne’s residence upon a bizarre whim, yet who likewise ventured outside the zone independently to hunt a hippo-boar and shared the meat with peers of his own age—an indecipherable little entity.
He already suspected the boy was no ordinary youngster.
That explained why, upon learning Heydam would visit the academy on tour, and even upon hearing the boy intended to challenge the training simulation, Platon felt no genuine resistance.
He had assumed that child would prove fine.
Being ordered to confront the boy personally within the simulation, however, had never crossed his calculations.
“Why me of all individuals? Countless cadets must be better suited to Heydam’s tier.”
“Please choose your expressions with greater care, and regarding that……”
“I requested him.”
Heydam’s youthful tone cut through.
He gazed directly upward toward Platon and spoke.
“I wished to observe the academy’s premier cadet with my own eyes.”
“…Thank you.”
For reasons unknown, Platon could not shake the impression that Heydam’s demeanor bore no resemblance to that of a mere tourist visitor.
It feels almost like a company commander stopping by to offer encouragement……
Still.
If Heydam chose to join the training alongside him because he desired to witness the finest cadet, Platon resolved to step back.
Setting one’s sights on someone superior and challenging them constituted, after all, an exceptional trait for a warrior.
Yet even so, I still prefer not to confront a small child…….
Platon proposed a sensible compromise.
“Please assign me to Heydam’s squad. That should roughly balance things out.”
Heydam’s eyes widened dramatically, and both hands waved in rejection.
Platon had naturally assumed Heydam refused because he believed passing the simulation with Platon’s assistance would be unsporting.
The remarks that followed completely overturned that expectation.
“—then I shall prove incapable of demonstrating that I surpass every single cadet in the academy, correct?”
That remark could not simply be overlooked. Platon’s brow furrowed before he could stop himself.
“What did you just state?”
“Ah, I neglected to mention this aspect.”
Even the headmaster stared at Heydam in open horror while the boy proceeded in a cheerful voice.
“Father permitted me to challenge the training simulation solely because if I establish my superiority over anyone at the academy, I avoid enrollment. Honestly, I consider entering the military academy a waste of time.”
That marked the instant Platon resolved, with absolute certainty, that he would direct every ounce of his ability toward this ten-year-old child—and crush him.