The Special Steel Squad was asked to investigate an ancient mechanical part, as we have seen, they were special parts that generated Phantom Mist. |
The assemblage of mechanical parts, which had turned into a giant monster, reverted to rusty junk after its activity was brought to a halt. As no flow of magic power could be felt, it was judged that there was no further danger and we decided to take it back to the garrison. |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"So it was a more dangerous find than we imagined. I never thought that a piece of junk could fuse and combine into such a huge Mist Monster." |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"But we're safe now. The Mist has cleared up. With this, the Mist Train can leave safely." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
'The SSS, once again, is in the lead! Let's share the joy of victory together~!" |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"Joy of victory together!" |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"Woah! Hey Yoshino! Don't suddenly hug me!" |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"This is how much you need a hug. Yoshino is a Kougyoukei after all." |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"Oh, jeez, oil! Ya have oil all over your hands from handling those parts!" |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"Oooh, maybe we'll all fuse together?" |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Conductor, can I have a word?" |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"... for saving my life earlier." |
Conductor |
It was us who were saved by you. I'm sure everyone else who's getting excited over there thinks so, too.
Finchley did a really good job. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Please don't. There may be some praise to be given, but... That last part, that was all Conductor's." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I've caused you all a lot of trouble. I've failed as an instructor." |
Conductor |
"The Order of St. Iris has a teacher who always come back alive, no matter what dangerous place they send her." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"What's that?" |
Conductor |
It is rumoured that there is this one teacher among the upper echelons of the Allied Forces, where it is said that when a new student or squire goes out for field training, there is no better person than her to lead the way. |
Conductor |
'Does that teacher hit the enemy with thick textbooks?' Soldiers from another country would joke about that, but the knights of St. Iris will reply with a straight face. |
Conductor |
'She doesn't carry textbooks, because she herself is a textbook.' |
Conductor |
--her name is Finchley. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I..." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I'm not a teacher. I'm just a knight, or an instructor... who's strict enough to be a demon." |
Finchley's voice was trembling. She bit her lip and tried hard to hold back her rising emotions. |
Finchley had been training for years before the Mist Train was completed. Finchley is a zeroth generation student, so to speak, who had been training as a candidate for the SSS for years before the completion of the Mist Train. Thoughts must be racing on her mind. |
But seeing the look on Finchley's face now. I sensed that there was some other reason for the trembling in her voice. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"There's more to what I said earlier. About the mistake I made when I was a candidate for the SSS." |
Conductor |
The story that your unit was on the verge of total annihilation because of your actions, Finchley? |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Aye, that's right." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I left the Special Steel Squad right after that incident. Of my own volition, I didn't want to be here anymore." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I wanted to get some real combat experience as soon as possible. I thought it would make me stronger. I really thought it would help my dead comrades." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I couldn't wait for a Train that I didn't know when it would be finished. As a knight of the Order, I chose to fight on the front line." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I was lucky I didn't die. Maybe that's why I got so much credit for my exploits on the expeditionary missions. I got an offer of the position as an instructor. They want me to train combatants at the Knight Academy." |
Conductor |
But that was also an order to stand back. Did you not try to refuse in order to remain at the front lines? |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"No. I jumped at it without hesitation." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"This is something I haven't really talked to people about... I wanted to be a school teacher. Not in a knighthood school, not in a military school, but in a normal school, teaching academics.' |
Conductor |
That's new to me. Most of the pupils didn't know about this. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"It's not every day that I get the chance to tell my students. But I'm not trying to hide it from them." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"So I don't have to worry about you girls asking me. You all should stop sneaking in the back and come forth." |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"So sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop..." |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"I came to check on yer injuries. Then I heard ya two talking..." |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"We totally lost track of when to leave." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"It doesn't matter. I wouldn't be talking in a place like this if I didn't want people to hear what I say." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"But isn't it hard for you, Finchley? Doesn't it remind you of anything you don't like?" |
![Story Vivienne.png](/images/8/89/Story_Vivienne.png) Vivienne |
"Putra..." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I'm fine. Listen... I want to talk to all of you." |
Once all the members of the SSS were present, Finchley spoke about her own sad past, which not many people know about. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I was unable to see through the illusions that the Phantom Mist presented. I caused the death of all my students." |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"So that was the 'second time'..." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Aye. The first time was when I dragged my senior colleague down as a cadet; the second time was when I failed to protect all my students as an instructor." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I was really giddy in glee when I first became an instructor. I was happy to be called 'Teacher Finchley'. I forgot everything I'd seen on the front line and I was enjoying school life, thinking I was a real teacher." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"One of my pupils was a railway enthusiast. She found some unusual parts by the tracks and started running. I didn't try to stop her." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"The girl picked up the part and looked back at me. The moment she mouthed the words 'Miss Finchley'... she exploded." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"Oh no..." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"It was an ancient mechanical part that exploded in response to magic. I didn't know such a thing existed either. Right after that explosion... there was a very thick Mist over the area around us.' |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Phantom Mist. It was like hell on earth. The students panicked, they were lured by the illusions, and then... disappeared beyond the Mist." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I resigned as a 'teacher' after that. What a knight needs is to survive in the Mist. I told myself that and concentrated on raising strong knights." |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"So that's how ya got the nickname 'Demon Instructor'." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"Yakutsk!" |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"...in honor of the brave knights who stood against the Phantom Mist." |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"As a soldier of the Eisengrad. As a Train Knight belonging to the Allied Forces." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"Yakutsk..." |
Yakutsk straightened her posture and saluted Finchley. |
Queensway and Putra copied her, |
Vivian and Yoshino followed suit. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"I should have told you all this in the first place. I've learned a lesson from this, to be very careful in making decisions on the battlefield." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"But you all got through that crisis on your own. Ya'll are the real 'SSS'. You've got better people than I had in my lifetime." |
Conductor |
...That's the wrong way to put it.
As an instructor, you should be a little more careful in your choice of words. |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"Conductor...?" |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"What's the matter with you all of a sudden...?" |
Conductor |
Finchley is a member of the SSS. She rides the Mist Train around the world and saves a lot of people. |
Conductor |
I'll say it again. Finchley is officially a member of the Special Steel Squad. The fact that we are all safe now is a result of all of us working together to overcome this. |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"Conductor is right. You're a member of the SSS. You're one of us." |
![Story Vivienne.png](/images/8/89/Story_Vivienne.png) Vivienne |
"Yes, that's why Instructor Finchley is on the Train." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"Yeah yeah! Today is the anniversary of the first time we worked together... ♪" |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"Yoshino is going to make Finchley Kyoukan a kimono too." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"You all..." |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"It's because of Instructor Finchley's help that we were able to clear this Mist. We are all alive like this because we all pulled together." |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"Thank you very much, Instructor Finchley. And, I thank you for your continued support." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"..." |
![Story Paddington.png](/images/2/28/Story_Paddington.png) Paddington |
"Miss Finchley, The Mist Train is about to start." |
![Story Paddington.png](/images/2/28/Story_Paddington.png) Paddington |
"Welcome back. Welcome to the SSS." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Oh..." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Right. I'm a Train Knight." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Nice to meet you too, please to be of your acquaitance." |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
'Oooh, Finchley Kyoukan is so cute when she smiles...' |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"Yes, yes, yeeees! I want to see Finchley's pretty face, too!" |
![Story Yoshino.png](/images/b/bd/Story_Yoshino.png) Yoshino |
"She's not smiling anymore." |
![Story Putra.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Putra.png) Putra |
"What?
"Eh?! Instructor Finchley, please smile again for me!" |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"Why don't you try and make her laugh then, Miss Putra?" |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"What? You're trying to imitate tangled kelp again?" |
![Story Vivienne.png](/images/8/89/Story_Vivienne.png) Vivienne |
"Pfftpht! Please... no... heh... it's seaweed, not kelp..." |
![Story Yakutsk.png](/images/b/b6/Story_Yakutsk.png) Yakutsk |
"Ya'll do well in comedy too." |
Together with their new partner Finchley, the SSS defeated a powerful enemy. |
The bond between them as friends is definitely stronger than when they first met. |
And so the investigation into the ancient machine parts has come to an end, however, there are still many problems to be solved. |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"SSS, or... We could really lift the Mist." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"...Sir, I'll do my best for everyone." |
![Story Queensway.png](/images/b/bc/Story_Queensway.png) Queensway |
"Instructor Finchley, we're about to leave." |
![Story Finchley.png](/images/1/15/Story_Finchley.png) Finchley |
"Yeah... I'm on my way." |