V3C093: Not A Loser

Regardless of the level of their military march before the league, the Imperial Comprehensive Academy was the most impressive. Different from the past, the freshmen of the Comprehensive Academy have something that their predecessors did not reveal.

It’s a kind of aggressiveness that can be described as sharp. Just from their eyes, one could see their high morale.

The fighting spirit displayed by them not only shocked the freshmen of the military academies they were directly facing, but also the high-ranking military officers who are used to seeing active soldiers. They put away their joking eyes and finally started to take this team from a non-military academy seriously.

As if to prove it, the performance of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy proved this point time and time again in front of everyone!

The first of every physical fitness test was the traditional long-distance obstacle race, which wasn’t that terrible. The first test for every academy’s military training was long-distance running. In the later training, although they won’t run a long distance every day, there would be long-distance running in their daily physical training. It could be said that after the military training, the physical stamina of all freshmen has been greatly improved. However, in this case, the long-distance running announced by the league referee still shocked many people:

150 kilometers!

Not only freshmen, to be honest, but even the instructors responsible for training them were also taken aback by this number.

From the start of the league, instructors are not allowed to appear on the field, so the freshmen are completely in control of their own games while the Military Department would send special league referees to decide the games. This is the usual practice of the freshmen military training league. While the freshmen compete, the instructors are all required to leave the court. After having many years of experience training freshmen for the league, hearing this distance, some instructors jumped on the spot:

“How is that possible! The length of all previous physical fitness tests was 75 kilometers! The test length of recruits into the army will not exceed 100 kilometers!”

Why 150 kilometers?! 150 km is the distance that active officers have to sweat when they want to run! Moreover, it’s already noon. To finish the 150 km meant that they must run a considerable distance at night. Long-distance running at night will further aggravate the psychological burden of the freshmen!

There were cold sweats on the foreheads of several instructors on the spot.

Right! They were misguided. In this training, they were all freshmen who meet the 100 km test requirements. Now that there’s a sudden increase of 50 km, can those students do it? It should be…okay, right?

Each academy sent five instructors, so a total of 35 instructors were present. Among so many people, there are only two academy instructors who didn’t seem panicked.

Of these indifferent faces, there’s naturally the Imperial Military Academy.

“Hmph…the physical training benchmark for our recruits was 150 km from the beginning, and later, it was increased to 180 km. Not to mention running at night, day and night training is commonplace for our students.”

Standing in a small corner contentedly, the instructors of the Imperial Military Academy exchanged knowing eyes.

The number one never came out of thin air. The training of the Imperial Military Academy is always a multiple of the training volume of other academies. The ability to complete this and the perseverance to continue through gritted teeth, the freshmen who can stand in this field have no shortage of these two abilities. As for the freshmen who have neither…

They’ve already left the Imperial Military Academy.

The five instructors of the Imperial Military Academy looked at the same five people in the other corner imperceptibly: Those are the instructors of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy. Don’t know which base they’re from but they had never seen these people. They looked calm, but aren’t they worried?

Not only did the five of them think so, but the instructors of other military academies also naturally noticed the calmness of the five of them. Reminiscing about the strong debut of the freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy, they muttered in their hearts.

But in fact——

“It’s over! The system’s estimates are wrong. Don’t know how they changed the league rules but our longest distance is only 75 km!!!!!!!”

Hearing the kilometers announced by the referee, the four instructors went crazy on the spot. While grasping their hairs, seeing Fraffetal’s calm face next to them suddenly calmed them down.

Right…anyway, they’re definitely the last one, so what else can be done.

This mantra was directly reflected outside but has become extreme leisure in the eyes of the other instructors.

Halfway through the long night, the freshmen of the Imperial Military Academy reached the end first. The first 50 freshmen who reached the end were all freshmen from the Imperial Military Academy and they were also the first to have all their members. After arriving, they quietly stood aside and stood in line again. Although they have gone through a long track, they seem to be just ordinary tired. The military officers were not surprised at the quality they showed this time.

Students from the other military academies also came one after another. The freshmen of Grando Military Academy and Daolan Aofa Military Academy were a little slower, but they were sparsely gathered before the sun star was about to rise. As the two military academies that have produced civilian soldiers in large numbers, everyone also recognized their performance.

The only one that didn’t even arrive was the Imperial Comprehensive Academy and this is their first time to compete.

“Lord, the Madam said: He will not prepare breakfast for you until the arrival of the students from the Imperial Comprehensive Academy.” Bowing slightly, the guard relayed the instructions he heard from the next room to his boss.

His voice was not small, and the other officers in the room could hear it with their sharp ears.

“Haha…” Everyone had the same helpless expression on their faces. Similar scenes played out when the rules of the game were announced yesterday.

“This kind of schedule is unfair to the students of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy! Dinner is canceled!” ——in a word, supper was gone.

“Madam said she’s watching the game intently and didn’t want to go to sleep.” ——in a word, the quilt is gone.

They listened to words like this, feeling helpless and funny, so these officers had to eat the food prepared by the barracks’ chef. Their madams obviously came over but they still have to eat the nutrient solution from the army, this is hard~

“Is it too strict for the students of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy? I don’t know who suggested this…” A general sighed after eating the unpalatable supplements.

Due to the gathering of high-ranking military officers this year, Lord Marshal temporarily urged everyone to write a competition. This must be within the league rules and could be slightly higher than the original difficulty, but not too high, and they’ll be drawn through a lottery.

As a result, the first physical fitness event became the 150 km endurance race. Not to mention their Madams, even the officers present here felt that this topic was unfair to the students of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy.

Their eyes fell on Dean Argos: Argos must be the one who caused this wicked problem and caused them to have a hard time! This kind of topic is a piece of cake for the Imperial Military Academy!

But for the freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy, they can just…

Thinking of this and their family’s antics, many people inadvertently looked at Dean Ode who was sitting at the end.

The first ray of sunlight cast through the window and stuck on Ode, his whole person shrouded in a halo, making it impossible to see his expression.

At this moment, someone suddenly yelled.

“They’re here! The freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy are back!!!” The speaker was General Condon under the Marshal. This middle-aged man, who had always been steady, lost his cool at this time. He even threw the nutrient solution he was eating onto Lt General Yolan’s plate.

Lt General Yolan, who had always been obsessed with cleanliness, didn’t frown this time. Seeing the direction General Condon was pointing with his hand, he also stood up. For this Lt General who had always been very serious, this is already an extremely shocked appearance.

Everyone looked at the corner where Condon pointed his finger, and then saw the scene that shocked the two generals:

The freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy are back, but not alone, and not just a few people, but all of them!

All of them are together, lined up as neatly as when they started and although many people were carrying their classmates on their backs, they came back together!

It’s completely different from the image of the always elegant students from the Imperial Comprehensive Academy. At this moment, the iconic white uniforms have been soaked in sweat and everyone was tired, on the verge of running out of stamina.

“1——2——3——4——” Even the student who’s in charge of shouting the slogan had a hoarse voice, but still yelled out vigorously. He must shout like this because everyone is running and enduring just from his orders.

With their physical strength exhausted, many people were on the verge of fainting and just instinctively followed Dobby’s slogan. At this point, even if Dobby lead them off a cliff, many people would jump along with him.

For them, Dobby’s voice at this moment was the light in the dark, and his broken yells guided the whole team forward.

On their first day of military training, the shock of the scene where the miscellaneous departments ran back neatly came to their minds. At that time, all of the students secretly imagined what it would be like to be in that group of people.

Bathed in the shocked gazes of everyone, it must be a particularly prideful feeling, right? They’d be proud of being in that group.

The miscellaneous department demonstrated collective strength to these freshmen. Then, Fraffetal’s ancient training method continued to deepen the importance of collective honor, intentionally or unintentionally.

Under such circumstances, there’s no other military training that would allow these freshmen to appreciate the weight of the word “collective” in this way.

So when they knew the first exam item, all that came to mind was the scene they saw during their first day of military training.

“Let’s run back neatly like the miscellaneous department, and shock everyone!” ——when the activation bell rang, all the freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy thought this way.

However, although their wish was beautiful, the reality is not that simple.

The long-distance of 150 kilometers was just beyond the physical reserve of military academy students, but for these children from an ordinary academy, it has become an impossible task.

Even if they have good dreams, even if they worked very hard, after a hundred kilometers, some people could no longer hold on.

At this moment, the most powerful students in the team stood up resolutely and carried the fainted students on their backs, and continued to run forward.

No one thought there’s anything wrong with this.

“I want everyone to look cool when they came back together” ——it’s no longer the wish of one or two people. Almost everyone in this team thought so.

Even the reserved Brad also carried a girl from the Medicine Department.

Those powerful like Dobby even carried two people on his back.

If they say that the first 100km was supported by their physical strength, then the next 50 km is a competition of willpower.

“Phew——” Knowing that he had finally crossed the finish line, Dobby finally let out a sigh of relief. At that time, he wanted to shout to change from running to walking, but he could no longer make a sound.

“Forward——march!” The two students next to him found this situation and replaced Dobby at the same time. After training together for a long time, they had formed a considerable degree of tacit understanding.

Even though they were exhausted to the extreme, months of hard training had engraved all kinds of commands in their bodies, matching everyone’s movements. As soon as this order came out, the running group came to a standstill after three seconds.

Then, under the guidance of the command, they walked together to the vacant space next to the Daolan Aofa Military Academy.

“At ease! Stand at attention! Backhand stance!” Dobby, who finally slowed down, issued three instructions, and with the rubbing sound from their clothes and body, they stood up straight in an instance.

Even when they have reached their physical limit and some are even carrying other people on their backs, their postures were still so beautiful.

Faced with this scene, the three referees in charge of the verdict were all stunned. You look at me, I look at you. With these facts, they don’t know how to make a ruling.

The freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy were obviously the last to arrive, but anyone who saw their arrival could not consider them losers.

“These kids are incredible!” Having already walked out of the room and stood on the reviewing platform again, looking down at the white-clothed freshmen who were obviously exhausted but still proudly standing upright, Marshal Rothsay exclaimed.

“No one gave up and no one got left behind. Even if they carry them back, they have to bring back all their companions…I admit that they’re glorious despite their defeat.” With a stern face, Lt General Yolan said with restraint.

“They’re obviously the last ones, but I think they’re the winners.” General Condon on the side sighed.

“Agreed.” A Lt General echoed General Condon.

“I think so too.” Another one echoed.

“This…I’m not complaining. Even though these freshmen are amazing, they are still the last.”

All of a sudden, the senior officers on the reviewing stage fought hard on this, looking for a basis for the judgment they supported.

In the end, Marshal Rothsay waved his hand to suppress all voices.

“We are just guests. The referees of the military league are different. Let us listen to their verdict! In this regard, we have to trust the experts.”

After saying that, everyone closed their mouths.

***

After seeing the three referees in the field discuss with their heads together for a while, the head referee finally announced the results of the first game:

“First place is the Imperial Military Academy.”

There’s nothing unexpected there.

“The second place is Colton Military Academy.”

This time, the Colton Military Academy finally surpassed the Imperial National Defense Academy.

“The third place is the Imperial National Defense Academy.”

…

…

Starting from the first place, the referees announced the rankings of the Academies in turn.

“…and seventh place, Imperial Comprehensive Academy.”

Here, the referees finally made a decision. Based on the results of the game, no matter how well the Imperial Comprehensive Academy performed, they are still the last, but they’re definitely not losers.

Instead of “the last place”, the referee used the term “seventh place” here.

It’s the first time in the Military Training League.

There was silence in the venue.

Everyone had nothing to say about the referee’s decision.

Yes, the Imperial Comprehensive Academy is the last to arrive, but they’re not the last. They used their own style to win the respect of everyone else!

***

On the contrary, the freshmen of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy were stunned when they heard they’re the seventh place. They naturally didn’t know the difference between the seventh and last in the league since this is their first time. But for them, seventh place is not the last one!

The freshmen finally couldn’t hold back as they secretly turned to Mu Gen in the last row. Under Mu Gen’s eyes, they gestured to the instructors in the distance.

“Salute!” After receiving Mu Gen’s signal, Dobby issued the order again.

There was a trace of suspicion on the other students, but the expression of all the freshmen was serious. Their palms stretched to the side of their heads and they saluted their instructor from the bottom of their hearts!

The instructors standing aside collectively accepted the tribute of the freshmen from the Imperial Comprehensive Academy.

Realizing who these children really wanted to salute, the other instructors couldn’t help but stagger to the sides a bit. The five instructors of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy stood in a position where they were being saluted.

Under the brim of their military caps, the instructors’ eyes were also shining. Among them, Fraffetal’s eyes were particularly bright.

His efforts were not in vain. These children truly understood what kind of team he wanted! Now, with these children, the rudimentary form of the army he wanted was presented to the public in this way. He saw hope in these children! And believed that everyone else has seen it!

“Salute.” Raising his right hand, under Fraffetal’s leadership, the five instructors also extended the same respect to their students in the distance.

“The ceremony is over.”

“At ease.” With those words, just as if it had never happened, the freshmen and instructors of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy stood back to their original positions.

First, his hands hung on the sides of his trousers, but Fraffetal slowly put his hands inside his pockets, and his fists trembled slightly in this place where no one could notice.