Editing Vandread Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 5===

"Cheers!"

In the ceremony hall that had until recently been a place with an uneasy crowd, the atmosphere had changed and was now one of complete harmony.

With the 'Ikazuchi' having achieved a successful takeoff, the time remaining until the drill was devoted to a celebratory graduation banquet.

"All present, putting aside rank!"

At the sound of the voice of the host which spoke at this opportunity, the tables that had been on standby were brought in, along with heaps of pellets, and they began serving celebratory alcohol. With even the Prime Minister who had delivered that long commissioning speech quenching his thirst in his seat as the guest of honor, the atmosphere was one of good humour.

On the other hand even the graduates who had been accumulating mental strain,  their reaction was to completely let loose, as they were enjoying the party.

"We~ell……thrilling huh. Seems you're a Bangata commanding officer? So envious!"<ref>Note, throughout this dialogue, the men are calling each other with 'kisama', which in modern Japanese is usually derogatory (though in archaism it was polite).</ref>

"Say what, surely if it's you, someday you'll be a bridge officer. Would you not be the one giving me orders?!"

"Hehehe……that'd be a nice feeling!"

"How about it? Want to make children when we get back?"

"A child with you? That wouldn't be so bad."

Among the graduates who were pleasantly chatting, there were men of frail attitude serving them. Presumably they were third-class citizens. They were moving about busily while being meticulously cautious not to bump into any of the graduates who were upper-class citizens. It happened just as one of these servers was placing the bottle of alcohol he was carrying on the table. Suddenly someone else's foot slid in unseen underfoot in front of the server.

The unfortunate victim whose footing was lost due to this foot spilled a vast amount of alcohol onto the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'll clean it up immediately……"<ref>This line was written entirely in Hiragana without any Kanji, normally something typical of young children.</ref>

"Geez! You're so irritating!!"

Regarding the man with the abusively foul mouth, he was Bart Garsus who had been yawning during the Prime Minister's speech just before. And now, he was also the perpetrator who had stuck his foot out before the server.

This man who had been raised well whose fair bangs had been evenly trimmed gave the impression of a young warrior who had just come of age. With a nose that was long and straight and upturned eyes like that of an actor, he had a beauty that would make anyone stop and look.

However, while he was outwardly of pleasant appearance, in contrast on the inside he was a rather sly character.

As he was grinning in enjoyment at the server's flustered appearance something else of particular interest entered Bart's field of vision. It was a group that even among the numerous graduates were considered to be especially elite.

"Hou……. I wonder if I should give them a little greeting."

Murmuring that he took out some kind of small box the size of a porcelain bowl, and took a step towards the elite group.



"How about you then?"

"Umu, rather that an army commander I'm thinking I'd rather be in the news department."

"Hou, I have interest in the supply chain myself……"

As one would expect this is the admired group of elites. Even their conversation topics carried a different atmosphere. One man among them however barely opened his mouth other than to consume his alcohol. It was Duero Mcfile. In contrast with the other graduates who had short hair, only this one man had long hair that reached all the way down to his waist. On top of that, even his bangs were long such that they hung down and covered the right half of his face. As for his narrow upturned left eye that was barely visible, it's sharp glint was filled with an ambience that didn't miss a thing.

His behavior was not that of one who was participating in the conversation, but rather, it would seem correct from his expression, he simply didn't feel the need for it. Even the other members paid no mind to Duero, as they continued their conversation.

"So? How about it Duero? A scholarship student like you must have a multitude of admirers am I right?"

"Since it's practically destined that you'll have the seat of Prime Minister of our generation."

As can be understood from this conversation, Duero was the elite of the elite. It was reasonable from that that his scores were excellent, again, that he could achieve any result once he put in the effort, since with the brains he possessed he need only decide on an objective. In other words, anything for him was within expectations, and consequently he was unable to display emotions because of that matter. On the contrary since Duero faced that everyday the ironic reality was that he had lost all interest. For such a reason he had intentionally grown his hair long, what was seemingly some kind of expression of defiance.

"Truly it must be a joke that you aspired to the medical division right? Hehehehehehe!"

"However, apparently this guy submitted his career aspiration form completely blank."

"What was that!?"

Despite the shock of everyone present, it didn't disrupt his style as though he was saying it has nothing to do with him. Against 'the anticipated future' he had wanted to put on an act of defiance; just as such words were about to be emitted from Duero's mouth,

"Yo! Everyone, what's all the excitement?"

The one who had thrust himself onto the conversation with a strangely bright tone was Bart. He held out in front of everyone the small box that he had been holding since before, one sidedly thrusting it before them without giving them the elite group a chance to reply.

"This is the new product within our company! Specially refined by my grandpa, it's called the 'Robust Nourishment Pill'. Although I shouldn't be saying this out loud, the quality of ingredients is superior to pellets elsewhere. Well then? As a sign of our meeting! Come, come, no reason to hesitate everyone!"

Towards Bart who was incessantly rattling on without even stopping to take a breath, they were all literally astonished when finally,

"N-no……I'm stuffed right now……"

That was the best that they could say. Seeing everyone's unsatisfactory reaction, Bart looked around trying to spot his next target,

"Ah, th……that's disappointing. You may not get to eat this good quality for the rest of your life."

Just before he finished saying this he spotted graduates of distinction passing by,

"Hey, hey, won't you take a brief moment to try? No, but as your special pal I recommend it personally……"

and immediately took his leave of that place.

Though his sudden change of position had left them all dumbfounded, one person came to his senses quickly and muttered in annoyance.

"Who was that guy?"

Thereupon the man next to Duero replied in apparent disgust.

"The third generation of Garsus Foodstuff. So to speak, he's the guy responsible for making sure our stomachs are all provided for."

"Humph! He ruined the atmosphere," said one member of the group, taking a drink from his drink glass to repair the mood. At this time the lighting dropped without prior warning, as a bombastic announcement streamed through the speakers.

'Gentlemen! If you would face forward and observe the lecture! From here we will be demonstrating the pride of our empire, the new weapon "Tsukumo-shiki Bangata Bokugekiki"!!'

The atmosphere that had been calm up until now instantly became tense, as the graduates all turned towards the front as they had been prompted to. Thereupon, being brought simultaneously with a 'Bah!' sound that spread throughout the surrounding camp enclosure, a large partition appeared with a bust of Gran Pa inside.

While everyone present held their breath as they gazed at it, together with a solemn sound the barrier slowly opened to the left and right. The vigorous announcement has stirred up their excitement.

'Gentlemen! Put your hands together, and give a respectful welcome! It's our team of Tsukumo-shiki Bangata Bokugekikis!!'

A dazzling spotlight was illuminated, and all at once the Banagtas that were lined up side by side made their appearance.

And, the next moment, as they intently stared a different kind of commotion from the cheers of more than a hundred men occurred.

"Wha, what is thaaat!?"

In was understandable that everyone present was shocked. There was the team of Bangatas that had been just announced, and yet for some reason there was a filthy looking man dangling from the front of one of them. As for who this person was, that person was no other than Hibiki Tokai himself.

That hanger he had exquisitely snuck into, it was positioned such that only a single wall separated it from the ceremony assembly hall. Concerning Hibiki, since having blasted off, he had decided he should at least wipe away the evidence that was the part with the 'ヒ' engraved in it, but immediately after he had jumped onto the Bangata, he abruptly found himself in the presence of the graduates.

"……Ha……haha……"

At this exceedingly unexpected development, Hibiki let out a laugh having frozen in his unsightly pose.



"What's this, there's something small hanging from it."

"Oi! Isn't that a third-class citizen!?"

As the unexpected tension spread throughout the area, both Hibiki and the graduates remained motionless. Regarding that which cut through the tension that had ruined the ceremony, that would be the Prime Minister who had sprung from his chair with his face flushed bright red.

"Kuh! What are you doing!! Seize him!!"

The security guards regained their senses at that voice and rushed forward as they drew batons from their waist.

Hibiki on the other hand quickly jumped down from the Banagata, but with the security guards rushing in from the left and right he was left bewildered with no path to escape.

"Bastard! How did you get in!?"

With the security guards rushing in brandishing their batons, it was a times like this that a small body proves useful. As Hibiki evaded the blows by mere centimeters, of all things he jumped onto the front of the statue of Gran Pa.

"Hey! How could you do that! That you would jump upon the statue of our awe-inspiring Gran Pa-sama!"

As expected even the security guards became flustered. In the worst case, if were to accidentally strike the statue of Gran Pa, their own lives would be forfeit. Whether or not he was aware of this, as he clung onto the statue like a cornered monkey, the threatening Hibiki had become something of a side show. Even the graduates were clamoring in their amusement.

"O~H! Way to go, whew∼∼∼!!"

"Hang in there, shorty∼∼!!"

Everyone that was there seemed to have taken a liking, but Hibiki did not miss the word 'shorty'. Even in the best of times saying this was the most suitable way to make to make him lose his cool. As he abruptly he jumped off the statue, "Who was that!? The guy who called me shorty just now!?" he screamed, running straight towards the graduates. The distinction was that he was no longer hanging. Still as one would expect this was bad. Before he could leap at the frontmost of the graduates the security guards tackled him, and they pinned him down in a manner not at all gentle.

"Kuh! Sonuvabitch, release me∼∼!!"

Although Hibiki frantically struggled, the security guard struck him with a downward blow from his baton that easily closed the curtain on his infiltration of the 'Ikazuchi'.