PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

′′ Let’s not look so surprised, it was a matter of time for the war to get worse and once that happened the fate of every human city will be in the hands of the military and therefore our lives will be in the hands of the military.

I had already foreseen something like this since the day the mutant beasts attacked this place, it’s just that I hoped to have more time, in any case, now the only way to have even a little control over our destinies is by sacrificing a little of my freedom by joining the army. ′′

Desmond’s arguments managed to make the girls understand his reasoning a bit, but at the same time, it made Claire realize one thing in particular.

Since the world had gone to hell, many had died and although the losses were massive, it could be said that the population that suffered the greatest impact was men over 25 years old, the shelters and underground bunkers took women and children. while the men went out to fight for their families.

From that moment on, the labor force was scarce in the sectors where men were mainly hired, at first it did not seem like a big deal, after all the reality is that women are as much or even more capable than men in many fields so after having left behind certain stereotypes, it was possible to gather the workforce for many sectors.

The problem was the military, it was predominantly made up of men and the women in it were subjected to a lot of abuse at the hands of powerful espers so recruiting more women wasn’t exactly easy and there weren’t many men to recruit in the first place.

It was for these reasons that the military invented all kinds of methods to increase their ranks, great salaries, vacations, luxuries, and privileges; etc. Among those methods was one in particular that Claire believed would be used by Desmond.

They called it a petition or inheritance of honor, the children of soldiers who have died before, during, or after the day of awakening could use the military achievements of their parents to ask for something from the army, the higher the achievements, the greater what is you can ask, and with enough achievement, you can ask for almost anything.

.....

If Desmond wanted to have even a little control over his freedom and his destiny, he could not afford to start from the lowest part of the military chain of command, so his only option would be to use the military achievements and medals from his father as a bargaining chip to obtain a high enough military position.

It turned out that when Desmond explained his plans to the girls, it was exactly as Claire had assumed, the only difference being that Desmond was going to apply specifically to a high position within the esper sector.

As mentioned before the vast majority of the world’s population possesses some kind of esper ability, unfortunately, those who possess abilities powerful enough to be considered useful weapons by the military are few; that is why the military chain of command is divided into two sectors.

The standard military sector is in charge of all military operations and the esper sector is considered a special forces division that deals mainly with high-risk missions and is the main trump card of the army on the battlefield.

Although both sectors are part of the army, there is a clear hierarchy between them, normally a member of a certain rank in the esper sector is considered two ranks above someone with the same title within the military sector.

The only requirement to be in the esper sector was power, the stronger one was the higher one could rise in position, in theory, Desmond would not have to use his father’s military achievements to be accepted in the esper sector but it was different if Desmond he wanted to be assigned to a specific location and gain some favoritism in the process.

And that was exactly Desmond’s line of thought, he was going to use his father’s military achievements to directly apply for the position of the first lieutenant in the esper division, he knew that he was opening up some tests intended to test whether he had the strength to back up such a claim, but Desmond was pretty confident about the results.

′′ It’s my fault. isn′t? For disobeying you and revealing the ability I gained on the day of the ceremony, I’m sorry Desmond. ′′ From the tone of her voice it was clear that Claire felt very guilty for how things turned out, but that day she had had to support her friend or she would not forgive herself.

′′ Don’t worry, I already told you that this was only a matter of time... look, we’ll are gonna talk about that later, okay? For now, I want to relax a bit, do you want some tea? Sasha makes a tea that is great for relieving fatigue. ′′

At first, Claire was not very encouraged by Desmond’s words as she knew he was only trying to comfort her, but when Desmond mentioned tea for fatigue, Claire felt that the other girls at the table had suddenly turned their attention to her; at that moment Claire wanted to be able to hide in a hole out of shame as it was obvious that the girls knew quite well the reason why she was exhausted.

Desmond on his own just enjoyed a steaming cup of tea while ignoring the strange expression on the faces of all the girls at the table, there was an awkward silence in the room for several minutes until Desmond seemed to remember something in particular.

′′ Oh, I almost forgot... Claire, when do you have to report to the local military headquarters? ′′

Finding a way to escape Sasha and Kyuru’s awkward stares, Claire immediately responded to Desmond by telling him that she had a week’s grace before she had to report to the military.

′′ One week huh... if I take into account how long the paperwork and relocation issues take that means I have less than four days... well, I guess taking a break is off the table. ′′