Chapter 11: The First Legion
"Alright, I'm up!" Vivian flicked her hair and strutted up to the podium on her slender heels. Her speech was so formulaic that Yuka almost yawned after listening for a bit. Luckily, Vivian left the auditorium soon after finishing, not noticing Yuka's half-asleep state.
Then, the white-haired principal appeared on the big screen, a cat cradled in his arms and a beach-floral shirt on, waving at everyone, "Hello, students!" Yuka had seen his memes on the forums and heard that the principal was a laid-back and kind old man.
"Work hard this new term, and remember, enjoying your studies is key," the principal said, glancing back at his desk, "Ah, my fresh oysters are ready, gotta go, bye!" Yuka thought to herself... 'yep, definitely laid-back.'
She lowered her head and continued to nod off.
The big screen switched back to the UUA background, and Ayoi, lowering her voice, excitedly nudged Yuka: "Admiral Kuba's here! And he's in uniform, oh my gosh, so cool!"
Yuka barely opened her eyes and looked up at the podium. Kenji, in his dark blue military uniform with four gold stars on his shoulder, looked even more imposing under the warm yellow lights of the auditorium. His features appeared sterner than when he was in casual clothes.
The previously buzzing auditorium fell silent.
"First off, on behalf of the Alliance Army, I extend my warmest greetings to all," Kenji said, placing his hands on the podium and scanning the students, "This term, I'll be teaching mecha practicals to the first-year students of the UUA Combat Department."
Someone in the back row sarcastically whispered, "Has he been demoted or something? Why else would he be teaching?"
The people around glared furiously at the speaker, and even Yuka couldn't help but turn and look.
The bald student's face turned red as he defended himself, "What? Am I wrong?"