A military port on the planet Hydra.

There, young people about to depart were bidding a reluctant farewell to their families and classmates.

Fresh graduates from the military academy were boarding shuttles to head to their new assignments.

Their families waved them off.

They would travel from the surface into space, where battleships awaited to receive them.

Some boarded battleships that had descended directly onto the planet.

The young people were departing for their respective posts.

Watching this scene from the waiting room, Emma pressed her forehead against the window and let out a deep sigh.

Dressed in her knight's formal uniform, she was waiting for her departure time to head to her assignment.

The knights' waiting room had a counter where drinks and light meals were provided free of charge.

Waiters and waitresses approached the knights to take their orders.

The waiting room was filled with rookie knights who had just graduated from the academy, and many of the young men were giddy from the smiles of the handsome waiters and beautiful waitresses.

Standing near Emma was her fellow knight from the same class, 【Kalua】, who was smiling at the scene.

She was also clad in a formal uniform, but her slender build and more mature aura made her look older than Emma.

"Everyone's so excited. Well, I guess it's natural, since we were trained so hard by the instructors at the knight academy we had no time to fool around."

"Yeah."

"But now that we're knights, the opposite sex will be flocking to us whether we like it or not."

"――Yeah."

Concerned by her friend's listless replies, Kalua sighed softly and tried to console her.

"I get why you're down, but just becoming a knight makes you a winner. You should hold your head up high. It's a waste to look so glum when you've finally become a knight."

"I know that, but..."

Becoming a knight.

In this world, it was a symbol of success.

Neither Emma nor Kalua came from particularly wealthy families and wouldn't normally have been able to become knights.

They had only managed to become knights by a stroke of luck, because the Banfield family was recruiting.

As the two were talking, a male knight from their class approached.

His name was 【Russell】.

He came from a family that had served the Banfield house as bureaucrats for generations.

He was a young man from a prestigious family, a rarity in the Banfield house.

"You lack the skill to call yourself a knight, so it's good that you understand your place."

As Russell approached with a smile, Kalua scowled openly.

She didn't hide her "what a pain" attitude.

"You're certainly condescending."

This knight, Russell, wore a custom-made formal uniform with more ornamentation than the others.

It wasn't something he had commissioned himself, but a uniform permitted only for top-ranking graduates.

Wearing the uniform proudly, Russell looked down on all the other knights.

"Of course. As one of the top one hundred, I'm an elite, unlike the rest of you."

The top one hundred were granted the rank of First Lieutenant and a Knight Rank of "C".

Those who graduated with excellent results were destined for the elite track within the Banfield family.

Kalua shrugged and turned her face away from Russell.

"What does an elite knight like you want?"

Russell ignored Kalua and gave Emma a malicious smile.

"We probably won't see each other again, so I came to say my final goodbyes. The best you lot can hope for is an assignment near the main planet, right? A chosen one like myself will be heading to the capital planet with the Lord."

Hearing the word "Lord," Emma's eyes widened in surprise.

"You're being assigned to the capital planet?"

"Naturally. The Lord is currently in training, isn't he? It is the duty of a chosen knight to protect him by his side."

The lord of the Banfield family was young and currently undergoing training to be recognized as an adult.

He would be spending some time on the capital planet for that purpose, and Russell, having been chosen as his guard, was undoubtedly excellent.

Emma felt a pang of envy, but at the same time, she compared it to her own situation and looked down.

Russell, who wanted to boast about his assignment, asked Emma a spiteful question.

"By the way, Emma-kun."

Hearing her name, Emma, who disliked Russell, tensed up.

"W-What is it?"

"Would you mind telling me your assignment? I'm curious to know what kind of frontier a failure of a D-Rank knight gets sent to."

He emphasized the words "failure of a D-Rank knight," causing the eyes of all the knights in the waiting room to focus on Emma.

Many of those gazes were contemptuous, though some knights looked at her with pity.

It was painful for Emma.

Kalua whispered in Emma's ear.

"Don't pay him any mind. You're a fine knight, too."

Russell, who overheard Kalua's whisper, snorted.

"No, a D-Rank isn't a knight. It might be acceptable for a cadet, but a final evaluation of D-Rank is proof of incompetence. You're a useless existence to the Banfield family's knightly order."

Being called useless, Emma bit her lower lip.

An announcement informed Russell that his departure time was approaching. He turned his back on the two and walked away.

"It seems it's time. Well then, I'll be taking my leave. Just one last thing."

Russell glanced back over his shoulder and spoke coldly to Emma.

"It takes courage to step down, you know. You should hurry up and renounce your knighthood before you drag your comrades down."

With that, Russell left the waiting room.

Despite his rude attitude, Russell was one of the most skilled knights in their class.

Kalua placed a hand on Emma's shoulder.

"You can forget about it. He just wants to look down on you."

"R-Right."

Though she forced a smile, Emma was crushed by Russell's words.

◇

The shuttle Emma boarded also carried other military personnel assigned to the same battleship.

But something was off.

(They all look so sloppy!)

Hugging her luggage, Emma sat bolt upright in her seat, shrinking into herself and breaking out in a cold sweat.

The soldiers around her wore their uniforms sloppily.

Some paid no mind to their appearance, sporting unshaven stubble and sleeping after drinking alcohol.

(They told us at the knight academy that our military was strict about discipline, but is this the reality?)

Surrounded by grim-faced soldiers, Emma was wondering when they would arrive when the shuttle began to approach a large warship.

Emma, sitting by the window, felt her cheeks twitch as she saw the ship.

(Ugh.)

The ship, with a structure reminiscent of a simple monolith, was classified as a space carrier.

However, it was an incredibly old ship.

It was at least two generations old, a carrier that had been used by the old Banfield family's private army.

This obsolete ship, with its conspicuous, shoddy repair marks, was Emma's new assignment.

◇

"Ensign Emma Rodman, reporting for duty!"

Before the nervously saluting Emma was a commander, processing electronic documents at his desk in his office.

He didn't even glance at Emma, processing the documents with a look of annoyance.

Emma waited for a response, and after a moment, the commander—a Colonel—let out a small sigh and leaned back in his chair.

"Welcome, Ensign. I never dreamed a knight would be assigned here."

"Uh, um..."

The commander asked the bewildered Emma a dismissive question.

"There's a shortage of knights right now, and everyone's fighting over them. So, to be assigned to my ship, the 【Melea】, which is a dumping ground for demotions... what did you do, Ensign?"

"――I received a D-Rank evaluation on my final exam."

When she answered honestly, the commander stood up from his chair and stretched.

"We're waiting for the escort ships to arrive, then we're heading to Planet Alias to conduct a survey and maintain public order. It was another lord's territory until recently. Our job is to lead the survey team."

Alias, formerly a planet of the Barkley family, was one of the planets the Banfield family had recently acquired.

They were being dispatched to survey it and maintain order, but—

"However, there are zero colonists. No intelligent life exists on the planet; it's completely untouched."

"Uh, um..."

As Emma looked troubled, the commander stated it bluntly.

"In other words, there's no real work to be done. It's just a decision from the higher-ups to dispatch a fleet since we've acquired it. A complete waste."

The commander, who clearly had issues with his superiors, gave the rookie Emma an order unbecoming of a military officer.

"So, you'll be appointed as a platoon leader in the Melea's Mobile Knight battalion, but—since there's no work, there's nothing to expect from you."

In other words, it meant she would have no chance to distinguish herself.

(Y-You've got to be kidding me!)

Assigned to the carrier Melea where she wouldn't even have a chance to shine, Emma immediately fell into despair.

◇

The Melea's hangar.

Parts for the Mobile Knights were strewn about, making the place a mess.

She had come to the hangar where her platoon's units were kept, only to be met with an even harsher reality.

A middle-aged man with short brown hair and sideburns that connected to his beard greeted her with a hearty laugh.

He wasn't a knight.

He was a pilot, known as a Mobile Knight rider. This was Warrant Officer 【Dag Walsh】, a pilot in the platoon Emma was to lead.

"Well now, we've got ourselves a cute little Ensign."

He had a well-built body and was more friendly than just intimidating, which made him seem likable.

However, calling Emma, a knight and an Ensign, a "cute little Ensign" was disrespectful.

"Dag-san, isn't that a bit rude? I'm Private First Class 【Molly Barrel】. The platoon's mechanic. I'm so glad, though~. I was worried we'd get someone scary."

Molly, a girl who looked to be about the same age with red hair in twintails, was a Mobile Knight mechanic.

Her way of interacting made Emma wonder if she'd had any military training at all, and her cheeks twitched.

"N-Nice to meet you."

"So stiff, Ensign-san~."

Molly, laughing cheerfully, turned her gaze to the last person.

"All that's left is Warrant Officer Kramer. Hurry up and say hello."

The one Molly was rushing was a young man who, despite his platoon leader's arrival, was sitting on a box of parts and playing a handheld game console.

The man, holding a controller and enjoying a game on a glasses-type monitor, paused his game with a look of annoyance.

"Warrant Officer Larry Kramer. No need for pleasantries. We'll be parting ways soon enough anyway."

Hearing Warrant Officer Larry's ominous words, Emma tried to correct him.

"Don't say such ominous things right off the bat! I have no intention of dying, and I won't let my subordinates die either!"

Larry stared at Emma, who had uttered such naive words, as if he were looking at a rare animal.

"Ah, sorry. Looks like I gave you the wrong idea. I didn't mean we'd be parted by death. I meant this unit will probably be disbanded soon, or sent off to some meaningless frontier."

"What? B-But, you never know what can happen in space, and..."

"What's out on the frontier? We'll never get a chance to deploy for anything other than training. Besides, I'll be eligible for discharge in a few years anyway."

Watching Larry resume his game, Dag scratched his head.

"Kids these days have no motivation.――Well, this is the unit we've got, so we're counting on you, little lady."

"It's Ensign! I'll have you know I'm a proper knight!"

When she declared she was a knight, Larry paused his game and glared at Emma.

After looking her up and down as if sizing her up, Larry sighed in disappointment.

"You don't have much presence for a knight. Well, I guess being assigned to an old bucket like this means your abilities as a knight are questionable."

Emma stood there, stunned.

(Huh? I'm supposed to lead this platoon?)