"I can feel your resolve." Xi Yan smiled and raised a hand, pressing it down to quiet the crowd. Once everyone fell silent, however, he said slowly, "But being unafraid to die isn't enough to qualify you for war."
Xi Yan's gaze slowly turned icy. "Interstellar war is a matter of kill or be killed. Entire fleets are often wiped out. Death isn't frightening. Meaningless death is."
"If the Empire needed it, I would even send you on missions that meant certain death. Would you still be willing?"
"If you aren't prepared to die young for your country, don't come here."
Xi Yan knew what these college brats were thinking. He knew all too well!
To say they weren't afraid of dying-how could that possibly be true?
They still needed educating. Everyone had to be told that large-scale space warfare offered neither pity nor mercy.
There was no holding back in wars against alien races!
Unless they were adorable fox folk or delicious canned starfish.
The students fell silent for a moment, seemingly wavering.
Yet the same student from before answered loudly, "I'm willing to give my life for the Marshal!"
Xi Yan's vision went black.
"My family used to be workers at the very bottom, generation after generation. We'd had enough of being exploited by capitalists. It was the Marshal who drove those exploiters out, so my family could eat their fill and live in a clean home. For that alone, I'm willing to die for the Marshal!"
The student spoke at the top of his voice. As he went on, his eyes grew wet, and he kept speaking loudly while wiping away his tears.
Xi Yan blinked, somewhat moved, but still tried to explain that he had simply done it to improve the Empire's output.
Then a student