I Became the Golden Sun That Steals the Academy’s Aircraft

015. First rules of engagement. Colossi are not omnipotent.

What Alexander realized while fighting on the battlefield for 10 years was that war does not start and end with colossi.

When he was still young, he thought that all wars were driven by giant gods.

Unsurprisingly, the Giant God Soldiers operated by outstanding knights were destructive and influential enough to change the course of the war. In fact, the fact that he was able to overcome numerous battles using the Giant God Soldier was proof of that.

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However, moving the giant soldier cost a huge amount of money, and the limited time for maneuver was a major weakness. Alexander, a young man who danced around with his sword without knowing anything, faced the limits of his mobility in the middle of enemy lines and was in desperate danger. Fortunately, he was able to save his life with the help of Marquis Lucas and Count William, who went on the expedition together.

The fact that I now have a long cut across my face was a lesson I learned that day and a foolish mistake from my youth.

After the day when Alexander almost lost his life, he did not blindly trust the Giant God Soldier. A weapon is just a weapon, and the person holding and shaking it was a human.

And since humans are not perfect, he should not blindly trust the Giant God Soldier.

＂The Colossus is a weapon that is said to be the culmination of magical engineering on the current continent. This is because what would have been possible with hundreds or even thousands of knights gathered together can be accomplished by a single, state-of-the-art giant god soldier. Therefore, the appearance of the Giant God Soldier changed the landscape of the continental war. In any war taking place on the continent, there is no case in which the Giant God Soldiers are not deployed. Just as there is no country that feels burdened by the deployment of giant soldiers.”

A lot of money goes into operating a giant soldier. And all countries that could not cover that amount disappeared into the back of history, either going down the path of collapse or becoming part of another country’s principality.

＂The nature of territory warfare has also changed from the past when private soldiers were led into clashes. There was no need to see the blood of soldiers unnecessarily, unnecessary expenditures such as hiring mercenaries were prevented, and unnecessary destruction of territory was also prevented. This too has become an era in which the solution can be seen through a decisive battle with the Giant God Soldier.”

Unlike the past territorial battles that were fought with private soldiers and mercenaries, the current territorial battles have been transformed into decisive battles using giant soldiers. No matter how much capital was required to operate the giant army, it was a matter of winning the territory war.

Winner takes all.

War has always been about getting the most out of something.

＂Then, Cadet Gilbert. He has something to ask you.”

＂Yes.＂

Alexander wanted to find out more about the heir to the Count family who had eyes similar to those of his comrades. It was out of personal curiosity as to what kind of person he was that had eyes like this.

＂So far, everything the professor has said about the Giant Spirit has been positive. I was talking about the strategic value that the Giant God Soldier could have and its necessity. However, when Professor Bon started his lecture, he made a negative statement as the first rule of engagement, saying that the Giant God Soldier is not all-powerful. Why do you think that is so?”

Professor Alexander’s words were not fundamentally correct. If you find a negative reason and create it, it can become a reason.

Nevertheless, there was one reason why Alexander mentioned this rule of engagement in his first lecture. This was to prevent incorrect judgment of the situation by blindly trusting the products of advanced magical engineering. When carelessness and unfounded confidence that one can somehow solve a gigantic disease come together, it can lead to fatal injuries in places where one could never die.

Gilbert recalled a memory from a long time ago when he heard Alexander’s words. When he was Kang Do-jun, the instructor who taught him always said something.

Don’t fall into missile omnipotence.

At one time, it was thought that an air battle could be fought only with guided missiles in the early stages of development, and there was an incident that resulted in the worst engagement ratio in history. Performance was lacking due to lack of proper verification of the weapon, and unrealistic rules of engagement caused predictions of the missile hit rate to be incorrect.

Of course, as time has passed, air-to-air missiles have achieved remarkable technological advancement. Just looking at the cases of missiles being shot down in air-to-air combat, the status of missiles in air-to-air combat was clearly different from before.

Look first and shoot first.

It was a dazzling technological development that was enough to change the paradigm of air combat.

However, the machine gun never lost its place. The biggest reason was the number of missiles mounted. Even if loaded at the maximum, 14 rounds was the limit, and for actual mission performance, that number would be reduced further. Moreover, as missiles developed, so did the performance of fighter jets, so there was no such thing as an unconditional hit.

The instructor conveyed these words to Kang Do-jun and said that pilots perform their missions using a weapon called a fighter plane and should not be optimistic that something will solve everything. They even say that even a fighter jet is a tool for a pilot to carry out a mission and should not be everything.

He took to heart the words of his instructor and teacher, and for his final mission, he rammed the fighter plane and ran with his own body. Thanks to that, he had to be discharged from the military, but thanks to those words, he was able to avoid death.

I thought that maybe that was what Professor Alexander was talking about.

＂Even if the essence of magic engineering is infused into the Giant God Soldier, the person who moves it is ultimately a human. No matter how much he is assisted by artificial spirits, in the end it can only be the knight himself who makes the decisions and directly controls them. Nothing is perfect in this world. That’s why giant spirits also have problems. If you blindly trust the Giant God Soldier more than necessary, you will definitely become arrogant and let down your guard. And on the battlefield, that directly leads to death.”

＂Then is there really a need to use the Giant God Soldier? “It sounds like it could be dangerous.”

＂But ruining a great weapon is something only a foolish person would do. Technology is advancing, and we never know when more advanced giant soldiers will appear. Just a dramatic improvement in the limit of maneuver will change the landscape of war once again. However, the important facts do not change.”

For him who lived through World War III, there was one immutable truth that did not change. Unmanned aerial vehicles that did not require pilots began to appear, and all kinds of weapons and reinforced suits that were only seen in science fiction were released. Nevertheless, there was always one thing at the center of ending the war.

People.

Because there are people, there is war, and because there are people, the war ends.

That was the reason why nuclear weapons were not mobilized in World War III. If you wage an all-out war where life and death are at stake, all that remains is mutual destruction. A total annihilation where everyone dies regardless of whether they are friends or enemies.

＂It is always humans who start wars, and it is always humans who end wars. When engaging in combat, the important thing to consider is yourself and your allies, not the giant soldiers. The Giant God Soldier is just a means and should not be the center of blind faith.”

Alexander thought there was no right answer to this question, but paradoxically, he thought Gilbert’s words were the right answer. As he said, ending a war and planting a flag in the opponent’s territory was always done by ordinary private soldiers, not giant soldiers.

He thought it was a little strange to see Gilbert with a stiff face after answering. That answer contained everything he wanted to say.

Alexander thought that he should say hello to the Count of Lithuania, who was his superior for a long time. While doing so, it was a bonus to ask about my troublesome son.

＂Cadet Gilbert is right. Because that is exactly the point that Professor Bon wanted to tell the cadets. There is no doubt that the Giant God Soldier is a great weapon. The appearance of the Giant God Soldier marked a milestone in the long history of the continent. However, even if the Giant God Soldier is autonomously controlled by an artificial spirit, a knight is needed to achieve perfect performance. And knights are human beings like you. I’m not saying you shouldn’t believe in giant spirits. However, I would like to tell you not to blindly cling to the giant spirit disease. Because that will be a lifeline that can save the cadets from death in a battlefield where life and death are the difference.”

Based on these words, Alexander sincerely hoped that the cadets in front of him would return safely if they were to go to battle.

Unlike other fallen comrades.

***

His first lecture after entering the Demia Academy was a great shock to the cadets and served as an opportunity to change their ideas. It mercilessly shook their way of thinking, which had been obsessed with the stereotype that the Giant God Soldier was the best.

While there were people who actively accepted the opinion, there were also people who did not bend their opinions. It did not discriminate between high-ranking nobles, low-ranking nobles, or commoners. They were divided into categories solely based on their own judgment.

Among those who broke the stereotype were Angelina and Hans, who teamed up with Gilbert, and Lily, who couldn’t help but hate him. Although Lily was horrified to share Gilbert’s opinion, she was not foolish enough to let her emotions ruin everything.

On the other hand, Ian, whom Gilbert calls the main character…

＂Tsk＂

I just clicked my tongue and glared at Gilbert as he left the classroom.