312 Return

Her friends greeted her with full compassion after they've heard the news that she was now the Chief Engineer…

She hadn't expected this as well. This happened so fast considering that she only arrived here on the Moon Base about two months ago.

Traceless Hands or Wallace had started mass recruitment of talented Mana Technicians or even licensed Magic Engineer to bring in outer space. 

It was completely different from the first recruitment that almost all magicians who had passed were capable combatants. 

"Thank you, everyone! Let's work harder and make this place even better…"

Zhilina didn't have huge aspirations when she applied here. She was just curious about the magnificent spacecraft, the mysterious Moon Base, and the rumored foreign beings…

However, even since she lost during the international young magician's competition, she studied even harder and achieved a level that could be compared to Arcane Artificers at a very young age. Due to her background, she didn't need to formally take license examinations and was still recognized by her country.

Every time that she remembers her creation during the Battle Royale, she would just chuckle to her pathetic previous self. 

Of course, she felt embarrassed at first when she remembered her Turtleback Wolf being completely destroyed by Wallace's Red-Eyed War Beast. 

'Hmph! It doesn't matter. At the very least, my automaton was destroyed by someone who's truly incredible…'

It was her consolation after being the first one to be eliminated in that competition. She heard a lot of news about Wallace after that competition…

The young man became an apprentice of a Grand Arcanist, he became a successful businessman, and most of all, his shocking identity as the same person who made the virtual world possible. 

After this, he even surpassed all the other powerful countries and won the Space Race by himself. It wasn't too bad losing to a person like that.

"Congratulations! I heard that you became the Chief Engineer… We'll surely meet a lot more times with this…"

Another young lady came forward as she greeted Zhilina. 

All the other magicians surrounding Zhilina suddenly turned silent and made whispering noise…

"Isn't she the ace pilot of Providence's First Mech Knights Division?"

"That's her…"

"She looks really young…"

"Mhmm… She's definitely a superb pilot since even the famous Adept Mages from different countries had lost against her."

This young lady doesn't have the air of arrogance even though she was being admired by her fellow magicians. She even felt a bit awkward with this but she had to continue. She wanted to get close with the technicians in front of her… 

"Hilda! Thank you! I heard that all the pilots were busy with their training…"

"Ah… It's fine. I have some business with Sir Wallace and I already completed my training."

"Right… You're the ace pilot, after all."

Hilda only smiled at this. Each combat spaceship has three divisions of Mech Knight pilots. She was assigned at the Providence Battleship and was recognized as an Ace pilot after a series of examinations. 

In the end, she received the Radiant Knight as her personal Steel Knight to command the first division. 

She was also one of the few magicians who has been allowed to communicate with the Arians at the Lagrange Point.

Wallace had mostly selected Mana Technicians in charge of communicating with this foreign race as it would be beneficial to them. However, he allowed other outstanding combat magicians in order to learn their unique method of combat. 

In the end, the Arians had also learned the existence of Mana which made their Mind Stones corrupted. 

Unfortunately, they couldn't study the Mana since they don't have the necessary equipment to do so. 

"Ah… We're planning to eat at the newly opened restaurant in the central dome… Do you want to join us?"

"Err… I'd love to… But it seems that Sir Wallace would be giving me another mission."

Hilda politely declined and after saying her goodbyes, she went ahead to the meeting place that Wallace had set. 

"You're early…"

Ace greeted Hilda after seeing her.

They weren't in a secretive place or something but was instead in the Entertainment Hall of the Moon Base. 

There were many things here that would allow them to remove their stress or improve their mood. From the food they could eat, games they could play, and even devices they can use to connect within the Earth… 

Right now, Ace was sitting at a table and eating ice cream as if he doesn't have any problems he needed to think about. 

'Ice Cream House…' Hilda read the sign of the shop…

"Oh… I just finished the training earlier since I'm familiar with it." She finally answered.

"Great… Then I guess you're ready…"

"Mhm… I'll do my best whatever mission you'll give."

Hilda announced proudly. She just became an ace pilot but she barely had any combat experience. She wanted to prove herself and gain recognition so this mission was important to her…

"That's reassuring to hear…"

Wallace nodded as he instructed the automaton working at the shop to give one cup of ice cream to Hilda. 

After she received the chocolate ice cream, Wallace continued.

"I need you to return to Earth…"

"Eh?"

Hilda was confused. Based on her observation, there's an unavoidable battle that was about to happen.

'Are you sending me to a safe place?'

This is what she suddenly thought. She had trained so hard and was among the best pilots. She couldn't just accept being sent somewhere else when a battle was about to happen. 

"No… Don't misunderstand… Your mission together with your team would be to escort a group of individuals to be sent on Earth. It will be their first time on land and they might die if something went wrong in this mission. This is very important…"

Wallace said seriously. He still clearly remembers how he suddenly died when he arrived there for the first time. If not for the Cube of Paradox doing mystical things, he would have surely perished. 

However, this time, he made a lot of preparations through Veda and Avalon's assistance. 

This might be called an experiment and some Arians might truly die but he was hoping that this would be successful. After all, it can be crucial once the Empire descended.