Editing Toaru Hikuushi e no Seiyaku:Preface

A Certain Pilot's Promise, by Koroku Inumura

Illustrations by Haruyuki Morisawa

'''Preface'''

Air Hunt Officer Academy Main Characters

Sakagami Kiyoaki A third-year student at Henan Officer Academy. Seventeen years old. Aiming to transfer to Air Hunt Officer Academy. He is in charge of piloting during the goodwill flight.
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Mio Syira A third-year student at Henan Officer Academy. Seventeen years old. Aiming to transfer to Air Hunt Officer Academy. She is in charge of reconnaissance during the goodwill flight.
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Illia Kreischmidt A third-year student at Air Hunt Officer Academy. Seventeen years old. He is in charge of piloting during the goodwill flight.
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Reiner Beck A third-year student at Air Hunt Officer Academy. Seventeen years old. He is in charge of reconnaissance during the goodwill flight.
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Kagura Murasaki A fourth-year student at Misato Officer Academy. Eighteen years old. She serves as the vice-commander during the goodwill flight.
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Cecil Hauer A second-year student at Air Hunt Officer Academy. Sixteen years old. He is in charge of communications during the goodwill flight.
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Balthazar Grim A fourth-year student at Air Hunt Officer Academy. Eighteen years old. He serves as the captain during the goodwill flight.
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At that time, I didn’t particularly want to save the world; I just wanted to keep the promise I made to her, who had disappeared.

She had already gone far away, and we could no longer exchange words, but I knew she would be sad if I broke my promise.

So the image of me, as a saint throwing myself into the flames for the sake of the world, as it’s being told now, is wrong. In reality, I prioritized my personal feelings above all else, causing the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of people, making me a great sinner.

As a result, our actions became known as the “Miracle of the Pleiades,” but the image of the seven of us conveyed in reports and related books is far from the truth.

First, among the seven of us, it's not “five heroes and two traitors.”

Every time those two are called “traitors,” my heart bleeds. I ask you to understand that.

Labeling those two as villains, to make the remaining five, myself included, heroes, and creating a clear narrative of good and evil might make things simpler for some, but all seven of us were just ordinary people, with good and bad mixed in. The only difference was our upbringing and the circumstances we

faced after we met.

If judged by loyalty to the nation, what those two did is undoubtedly unforgivable, and they may be seen as traitors who threw their comrades into hell. But in that time, in that situation, they had no choice.

And despite having no choice, they still kept their promises. Promises that would gain them nothing, promises that no one knew about, promises they held close, even as they were scorned as traitors and had stones thrown at them.

It’s been over ten years since then, and I’m only speaking out now because, if I don’t, the false image of them as traitors will be passed down to future generations. I believe that if you hear my story to the end, you’ll agree that we were not saints, and they were not villains.

That’s enough of an introduction.

At times, I may lose my way, but I intend to speak as sincerely as I can. This is not a glamorous heroic epic. This is the story of promises made by children who dreamed of the sky—

A tale of love and aerial combat woven by seven young boys and girls.

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