Chapter 1194: The Only Request
After dinner, Tilly told Roland what had happened at the airport.
“Because of a feeling?” Roland set down his cup. “That’s the reason you changed your mind?”
“What — not good enough?” Tilly folded her arms.
“You wrote the rules for the Aerial Knight Academy, so you’re the authority.” He raised a hand in surrender. “I’m only curious what that feeling actually means.”
“Talent,” Tilly said. “You don’t know anything about flying. Ordinary students follow the manual mechanically — precise, correct, dead. But certain people can visualize it. They see the result before they move. They know what the plane will do before they’ve done it.”
“That does sound remarkable,” Roland said, with a diplomatic neutrality that failed to convince either of them.
He admitted it freely to himself: if not for Tilly, there would be no air force. She had built it, tested it, improved it, pushed the designs from blueprints scavenged from the Dream World into actual machines flying actual combat missions. Left to Roland’s instincts, he would have assumed that a plane was simply a machine — that you learned the manual, practiced the procedures, and eventually flew.
“I have that talent too,” Tilly said, a shadow of regret in her voice. “Which means I can recognize it. You — if you were enrolled at the Academy, you’d probably be expelled, brother.”
Roland nearly choked. Behind him, he heard Nightingale swallow a laugh.
“You think anyone can become a pilot with enough repetition,” Tilly went on, reading the remnant of the thought on his face. “And some people do develop reflexes through sheer repetition — that’s real. But feeling it, from the start, is its own kind of talent, and it develops much faster. Most people will never reach it no matter how long they practice. They’ll fly. But in a fight — between those two kinds of pilot, which one survives?”
Roland said nothing.
The gifted ones. Obviously. They learned faster, adapted faster, extracted lessons from each mistake that the others simply couldn’t access. Without that faculty, a pilot remained fragile, one bad situation from dead.
“Though that’s not always the case,” Roland said after a pause. “The student who answered correctly today — maybe he was lucky. The right guess at the right moment.”
“Which is why I asked him to fly,” Tilly said simply.
“And the other two?”
“They chose to fly as well.”
Roland blinked. “Both of them? I’m genuinely impressed.” He paused. “Isn’t it a shame to expel them? Being dismissed from this particular school leaves a mark on their records — it makes everything harder afterward. Ground staff and maintenance crews are paid well, the positions are stable, there are housing and medical benefits. We have fewer than two hundred pilot trainees in Neverwinter. I don’t want to lose any of them lightly.”
“The Aerial Knight Academy has no use for students without the gift.” Tilly’s voice dropped. “Bravery without talent doesn’t make a better pilot. It makes a faster casualty. Better they leave now.”
A silence settled. Roland fetched two drinks and set one in front of her. Tilly uncurled slightly and changed course.
“Speaking of which — my new aircraft. Any progress?”
His heart tightened. He had known this was coming. “I think we should proceed slowly on that front. The Academy needs you here. Your presence in Neverwinter poses a greater threat to the demons than — ”
Tilly didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. Her eyes held a clarity that had nothing accommodating in it.
Roland exhaled.
She wasn’t asking about the Unicorn. She was asking about a true combat aircraft — something built to kill demons at altitude. After Ashes died, Tilly had come apart in his arms in the dark, inconsolable, and when morning came she had told him in a flat voice that she wanted a plane capable of taking the fight directly to them. She wanted revenge.
His evasion had not moved her. Months had passed, and it had not moved her.
“Is this truly what you want?”
“You weren’t this hesitant when you planned the ambush on Ursrook.”
“That was logistics. This is the front line.”
“The difference is smaller than you think.” She shook her head. “In both cases, I’m putting my ability in service of the people who need it. I agreed to send Ashes forward. I knew the risks in the sky — aerial knights can’t hold against demons in numbers, and the numbers will always favor the demons. Only I can change that equation.”
“But the Academy — ”
“I’ll fulfill my responsibilities. I’ll train qualified instructors before I leave, people who can expand the Academy after me.” She held his gaze and said it without inflection, which made it land harder: “I know I’m being selfish. This is my only request.”
Roland looked at her for a long moment. At last: “I understand.”
Tilly unclenched her hand. “Thank you.”
He called after her as she turned to leave. “One more thing — any preference on the color?”
She paused, puzzled. “The color of the aircraft? Not really.”
“What about red?”
“Does it matter?”
“The side that commands the sky tends to fly that color,” Roland said quietly.
Tilly’s mouth curved. “Then red.”
She was gone. Nightingale came to stand beside Roland.
“Her Highness is serious this time,” she said.
“That’s what troubles me.” He pressed his fingers against his forehead. When Tilly had said this is my only request, something underneath the words had made itself plain — a perseverance ground down to its irreducible core. Roland could help her avenge Ashes, or he could watch her hope calcify into a grief that would never open again. He had understood, dimly, that refusing would mean losing her in a different way entirely.
“She’s changed,” Nightingale said. “But I understand her. If it were you — ” She stopped herself and shook her head. “No. I can’t even imagine it.”
Roland sat with the silence. War remade the people inside it whether they consented or not, and kept remaking them, and meanwhile the destruction continued. The only way to stop it — to stop what it was doing to Tilly, to all of them — was to end the Battle of Divine Will. As quickly as possible. Whatever that required.
Chapter 1194 - The Only Request
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After dinner, Tilly told Roland what had happened at the airport.
“Because of… a feeling?” Roland said, a little surprised at the reason Tilly had changed her mind.
“What? Not a good reason for you?” Tilly said while folding her arms.
“Well, you made all the school rules for the Aerial Knight Academy, so you’re the boss,” Roland denied while waving his hand. “I’m just curious about what that feeling refers to.”
“It means talent. You really don’t know anything about flying,” Tilly said while shrugging. “For ordinary people, they simply follow the instructions in the manual mechanically, but some people could visualize their action. These people could foresee the result of their actions beforehand.”
“Er… that sounds really amazing,” Roland commented indifferently while twitching his lips. He admitted that he had no knowledge of flying. If it was not for Tilly, he would probably never be able to train so many aerial knights. Tilly helped him a lot to build, test, improve, and finalize the plane and train new pilots. Normally, it would take a few decades to build an actual plane based on the blueprints collected from the Dream World and apply it to militeray operations. Having said that, a plane was essentially a machine. Wouldn’t it be enough to follow the instructions and keep practicing if someone wanted to learn how to operate it?
“Because I have that talent too,” Tilly said regretfully. “The fact that you can’t visualize it means that you don’t have the talent. If you were a student of the Aerial Knight Academy, you would probably be knocked out of the school, brother.”
“Ahem…” Roland almost choked as he heard Nightingale stifle her laugh behind him.
“Are you under the impression that we could be pilots as long as we practice?” Tilly said as though seeing the thought in Roland’s mind. “It’s true that some people could develop reflexes after numerous practices, but being able to feel is also a talent, although it’s not as fast as the former method. Most people probably would never develop such an ability. Flying would be the most they could achieve. Between the two, who do you think will have a higher chance of surviving a battle?”
Roland fell silent.
Without a doubt, the gifted ones would have a better chance. They normally learned much faster than ordinary people, as they possessed the ability to learn from their experience. However, common people could barely survive. In other words, it took talented students less time to learn and absorb new knowledge.
“But that’s not always the case,” Roland said after a short pause. “Maybe he was just lucky and happened to have the right answer.”
“So that was why I asked him to fly,” Tilly said casually.
“… What about the other two?”
“They chose to fly too.”
“Really?’ Roland said while blinking in surprise. “I’m impressed with their bravery. Don’t you think it’s a pity to expel them?” Being expelled from school was a severe punishment, especially when this particular school was managed by the princess. This meant the expelled students would have a record, and it would be a lot harder for them to seek other employment in the future. Busboys and ground staff were actually paid well, and they were relatively stable jobs. The academy also offered them medical and housing benefits.
There were less than 200 pilot trainees in Neverwinter, so Roland cherished every one of them.
“The Aerial Knight Academy doesn’t need untalented students. Bravery would only lead them to an early death. It’s better for them to leave now than later,” Tilly said in a low voice.
There was a strained silence. Roland got two drinks for both of them, and Tilly changed the subject. “By the way, I came here for my new plane. Any update on that?”
Roland’s heart skipped a beat. He knew Tilly must have some important business to discuss. “I think we should take this matter slow. We need you to build the air force. You’ll pose a greater threat to the demons if you stay in Neverwinter — ”
Tilly did not respond but her eyes were glistening with inflexible determination.
Roland breathed out a deep sigh.
Tilly was not referring to the “Unicorn” but a more powerful military aircraft. After Tilly had cried hysterically in his chest like a defenseless child that night over Ashes’ death, she had told Roland the next morning that she wanted a plane that could kill the demons.
She was going to seek revenge.
Apparently, Roland’s evasive promise had not changed Tilly’s mind.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“You weren’t so indecisive when you planned to ambush Ursrook.”
“That’s because logistics is completely different from fighting at the front.”
“Not really. In both cases, I use my ability for those in need,” Tilly denied while shaking her head. “It was I who agreed to send Ashes to the front. You know very well that aerial knights won’t stand a chance to win against the
demons in the sky. There are too many demons and the aerial knights are too weak. Only I could change the situation.”
“But the academy…”
“I certainly will fulfill my responsibilities. I’ll train some qualified instructors so that they could further expand the academy.” Tilly paused for a second, her eyes fixed on Roland, and said slowly, “I know I’m being selfish, but this is my only request.”
Roland gazed into Tilly’s eyes. At long last, he sighed, “I see.”
Tilly unclenched her fist and said, “Thank you.”
“By the way, any specific requirement on the color of the aircraft?” Roland asked when Tilly was about to leave.
Tilly stopped, a little perplexed, and answered, “No, not really…”
“Then how about red?”
“Does it make any difference?”
“Normally, the party that dominates the sky is in that color,” Roland explained gently.
“Really?” Tilly said while curling up her lips. “Then red it is.”
After Tilly took her leave, Nightingale said to Roland, “Her Highness is… serious this time.”
Roland replied while massaging his forehead, “That’s what troubles me.” When Tilly said “this is my only request”, Roland sensed her perserverance and eagerness behind her words. Roland understood no other person except him could help Tilly avenge Ashes. If he had turned Tilly down, her hope would turn into poignant despair, and dimly, he had a presentiment of losing her.
“She’s also changed,” Nightingale remarked. “But I understand her. If it was you — ” Nightingale broke off and shook the idea off. “No, I can’t even imagine it.”
Roland fell silent. He suddenly realized that a war could alter many people and things, but the war itself would continue to bring destruction.
To prevent tragedies like this, there was no way other than ending this Battle of Divine Will as soon as possible.