Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Chapter 58 - Second Female Supporting Role



“You look even smaller in person than online. It’s true you don’t like mechs,” Dean Atchison responded with a smile.

“I’m not short for a third-tier planet,” Ruo Manni said without any reservations.

Not to mention the two boys around 1.9 meters tall, even Mina Olli was half a head taller than her. Ruo Manni estimated that the female lead must be about 1.8 meters, making her own height of just over 1.7 meters seem quite petite.

Ruo Manni chose to ignore the conflicted expressions on the faces of the male and female leads and casually joked with Dean Atchison.

She firmly believed that her attitude toward herself would ultimately influence how others viewed her. So she decided to maintain a calm demeanor when interacting with them.

Although their initial reactions were a bit strange due to her appearance, they turned out to be better than Ruo Manni had expected, especially Dean Atchison, who was more cooperative than she had anticipated.

Instructor Dudley felt that since he learned that Ruo Manni was Lin Changfeng’s adopted daughter, he had taken on unnecessary worries.

Ruo Manni could anticipate that Mina Olli might be mocked and ridiculed because of her sudden appearance, which could lead to some malice directed at her. Instructor Dudley, however, thought even more about the implications.

If Ruo Manni weren’t Lin Changfeng’s adopted daughter, he would have kept a close eye on her to prevent any issues. Now, he had to consider how to defuse the situation.

To ensure Ruo Manni wouldn’t face difficulties, he had even stepped out of the training hall upon seeing Hua Deli and Mina Olli arrive, wanting to create a buffer for her to avoid conflict right from their first meeting.

As Dudley approached, he saw Ruo Manni standing confidently across from the three aristocratic youths from the Imperial Capital. Her presence was strong, and her smile remained calm and collected.

Truly, she was raised by Lin Changfeng—her fearless demeanor was quite evident.

“Instructor Dudley,” Ruo Manni noticed him first and stood at attention to salute. Lin’s teaching was spot on in this regard.

The other three youths turned at her greeting and also saluted Dudley.

Dudley returned the salute. Upon seeing Ruo Manni and Hua Deli together, his expression flickered, and he decided to have a private chat with Lin Changfeng that evening.

Ruo Manni was immensely grateful for Dudley’s appearance. The banter between her and Dean Atchison had just lightened the atmosphere, and she was feeling a bit drained when Dudley’s arrival relieved her of facing these three unfamiliar future classmates alone.

From their brief conversation earlier, Ruo Manni had already discerned Hua Deli and Mina Olli’s attitudes; they were clearly displeased with her but hadn’t reached the point of outright hostility.

Before arriving here, Ruo Manni was most bothered by Mina Olli’s demeanor. If another similar rival like Aoi Dan were to appear—especially one who was both delicate and well-connected—Ruo Manni felt she might consider transferring. Time was too precious; she didn’t want to waste it on unnecessary conflicts.

Now it seemed that while the female lead’s attitude was poor, it was not malicious. Ruo Manni hadn’t intended to become close friends with her anyway; the female lead’s attitude didn’t really matter to her.

Although Instructor Dudley wanted to protect Ruo Manni, he also didn’t want to make their special relationship obvious, as that wouldn’t be good for her. So he just gave them a few words of instruction, telling them to settle into their rooms before training began at noon.

Finally, Instructor Dudley said, “Ruo Manni, stay behind. You all go up first.”

Even though they had just been accepted into the military academy, they already carried themselves with military demeanor. Hua Deli and the others saluted Dudley before heading upstairs.

Ruo Manni remained standing, waiting for Dudley to speak.

“Don’t worry, starting at noon, you won’t have the energy to talk,” Dudley said.

This seemed like a punishment. Ruo Manni was taken aback—what was going on? She hadn’t done anything wrong; why start punishing them right away?

Seeing Ruo Manni’s puzzled expression, Dudley decided not to elaborate. He waved his hand, saying, “Go back to your dorm and study well. Don’t come out until roll call.”

With a mind full of questions, Ruo Manni noticed Dudley’s impatience. To maintain her calm demeanor in front of her future companions, she suppressed her curiosity and obediently headed upstairs to her dorm.

Instructor Dudley mentioned that the three rooms on the right side of the third floor were for girls, while the left side and the rooms on the second floor were for boys to choose. Ruo Manni chose the innermost room, and Mina-Olli selected the outermost one. Hua Deli and Dean Atchison confidently chose the left-side rooms on the third floor.

In the next two hours, three hovercars arrived in succession, bringing a total of six people—five boys and one girl. Two of the boys were at the late stage of level four martial artists, while the other three boys and the girl were at the mid-stage of level four.

“Hello, I’m Sheila Shahin, a new student in the Combat Department,” the girl introduced herself with a smile.

Sheila ranked tenth in the entrance exam, with a mid-stage level four mastery. Her hair and eye color were similar to Mina-Olli’s, making the two girls look somewhat alike. However, Sheila was only about sixty percent as beautiful as Mina-Olli, though her demeanor was much gentler.

From Mina-Olli’s reaction upon seeing Sheila, it was clear that Mina held a higher status than Sheila, who seemed to “defer” to her.

Sheila? As Ruo Manni heard the girl’s introduction, something flashed in her mind, making her feel uneasy.

How could she have forgotten? In the novel, there was a second-rate female antagonist who appeared just after Aoi Dan, and this Sheila was likely her.

In the story, the second female antagonist was a classmate of the male and female leads. Her schemes went unnoticed at first, only coming to light during Mina-Olli’s third year at the Xuan Gu First Military Academy when Sheila plotted against her.

The reason Ruo Manni vaguely remembered was that the second female antagonist seemed to have developed feelings for Hua Deli, which led her to target Mina-Olli. The second female antagonist appeared to want to break up the male and female leads to elevate her own status.

Ruo Manni couldn’t help but glance at Hua Deli again. She wondered if her perspective was tinted; she just couldn’t see anything remarkable about him beyond his family background.

Ruo Manni felt that Dean Atchison was in no way inferior to Hua Deli. Their family backgrounds were similar, and in terms of appearance, Ruo Manni thought Dean was even more outstanding than Hua Deli.

In terms of martial skills, Dean Atchison was only slightly behind Hua Deli, and this difference was negligible. If they fought, the outcome would be unpredictable. Dean’s exam scores were only a few points lower than Hua Deli’s, making him a strong contender.

Overall, Dean Atchison’s qualifications were not worse than Hua Deli’s. However, in the novel, Dean was portrayed as a straight man with no romantic rumors, while Hua Deli had a reputation for being flirtatious. Was this the side effect of the male lead’s aura?


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