♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

Dabi and Yona trembled in fear, holding each other tightly, while looking at Eat. Eat looked back and forth between the faces of Yona and Dabi.
“Rise, Space Heroes! Soon, the Space Demon King’s army will come. You must stop them, right?”

Dabi: Please spare me.
Yona: I was wrong.
Eat: You won’t die, don’t worry! And you—what did you even do wrong! (shouted)
Yona & Eat: Aaaah~~!@

In that moment, Eat raised his voice without realizing it. At the same time, Polun’s advice came to mind. “Be gentle with the children, okay? They’re little kids, so just be kind and gentle, alright? Please~”

Eat: Ahem… Heroes, forgive me. I raised my voice without meaning to. But if you are to fight the army of the Space Demon King, you must finish your training. Rise, Space Heroes!

The children were still frightened. Eat had to find a way to ease their fear.

Eat: Heroes, look behind you. Behold the mighty weapons to be used in the war against the Space Demon King’s army!
Dabi: Please save me.
Yona: Me too.
Eat: Please, I’m begging you, just turn around once. Okay?

Though still afraid, the children slowly turned their heads. Behind them stood several enormous robots. Dabi and Yona were speechless, trembling with awe at the sight.

Dabi: Th-this… wow!
Yona: Wow, a real robot!

Eat could not miss this chance. While the children were distracted, he needed to capture their hearts completely.

Eat: Heroes~ Now, would you like to try boarding one? Hm? Do you want to pilot it yourselves?

The fear vanished from the children, replaced with joy as if in a dream—like knowing they were dreaming but still being swept away by it. Their faces shone with smiles, their excitement overflowing.

Dabi: Doctor, please let us on!
Yona: Me too!
Eat: Excellent! Space Heroes, stand before the robots and call out your names!

Dabi and Yona slowly stood in front of the robots they liked. Yona looked at Dabi, eyes sparkling, nodding eagerly. Dabi, full of anticipation, looked back and gave a thumbs-up.

Dabi: What should we do?
Yona: Let’s try it!

They shouted their names, and the giant robots carefully lifted them toward their chests. At that moment, the chest opened, and Yona and Dabi boarded. The chest closed, plunging them into darkness—then light filled the inside. Both shouted in joy.

“This is amazing! It’s real, a real robot! Wow, what is all this!” shouted Dabi. Yona also screamed with excitement, “Wow, Dabi, this is incredible! We’re inside a real robot. It even smells really good!”

To calm them, Eat picked up the robot manual and called out, “Heroes, this is your first training. First, try walking with the robot. Grab the controller in front of you, place your feet firmly on the pedals, and…”

But the children were too excited to listen. Eat almost lost his temper, but Polun’s voice returned to him: “Eat, remember—praise them a lot. Kids do better when you praise them, alright? Please.”

So Eat held back and gently taught them some basics.

Eat: Now, Heroes, take some time to study and practice on your own.
Yona: Yes, Doctor!
Dabi: Hmm…

Yona began moving the robot clumsily but steadily. Dabi, however, showed no progress. Eat thought to himself, “Could this child become my greatest trial?”

♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

Yona was making progress with piloting, and thanks to Yona’s advice, Dabi slowly managed to move his robot too. Next, Eat studied the weapons manual and explained kindly.

When a small hatch opened on the robot’s thigh, Yona pulled out a dagger and explained it to Dabi. Dabi carefully followed.

At that moment, Polun’s advice returned again. “Eat, children grow when you praise them. Please, lots of praise.”

So Eat praised them. “Good, Heroes! As expected of Space Heroes. Now…”

But just as he praised them, Yona’s dagger flew loose toward Yona’s chest. Yona gasped but managed to dodge with surprising control. The dagger shot past Yona and slammed into Eat’s private control room. A massive blade pierced halfway through the front glass.

Dabi: Ah! Doctor, I’m sorry, I messed up!
Eat: …

Eat touched the huge blade with his finger. Sharp—it stung. Anger surged, but then the face of Ina, the one he loved, came to mind. Eat whispered to himself, “Ina, can I really do this? Another great trial has begun.”

Eat had to decide. Practice could go on for days, but though there was no real rush, he could not afford to delay too long. He decided to throw the children into actual combat.

Eat: Heroes, training is enough. The minions of the Space Demon King are almost here. Prepare for sortie!
Yona: Already? Isn’t it too soon, Doctor?
Dabi: Ugh, are we really going out like this?
Yona: You definitely can’t handle it~
Dabi: You’re right!
Eat: It’s enough. With your current strength, you will surely win! Now, sortie!

“Wait!” Dabi’s desperate cry went unheard as the robots took launch formation and blasted out of the base.

Outside lay space itself. Countless enemies were coming straight for Dabi and Yona. They trembled, but Yona pulled out a huge gun from the robot’s back and cautiously fired. By chance, the first shot pierced a monster’s wing.

When Yona downed one monster, Dabi looked at Yona in awe.

Dabi: Yona, amazing! How did you do that?
Yona: Aaahhhhhh! (screaming in panic)

Dabi barely managed to calm Yona. But the sheer size and terrifying appearance of the monsters overwhelmed them. Panicking, Dabi and Eat screamed and fired wildly in every direction until the first mission ended. Out of 1000 points, Yona earned 50, Dabi only 7. Mission Failed.

The children returned from their first failure. Eat told them their skills were still impressive for beginners. Hearing this, they regained some confidence, though Eat’s face darkened.

Eat: If you build training day by day, soon you will achieve amazing results, Space Heroes. Good work.

Encouraged, Dabi and Yona trained for several days, becoming more skilled, though never passing the required score. Eat poured over the manuals, desperate for a way forward. Yona’s score stayed around 450, Dabi’s around 300. All Eat could do was rely on praise.

One day, Yona spoke up.

Yona: Elly! …Yes, Elly!
Dabi: What about Elly?
Eat: And who is Elly?
Yona: Elly isn’t a thing, Doctor—Elly is our friend!
Dabi: That’s right, Elly is great with machines!
Yona: And Elly’s really good at games!
Dabi: Yes, exactly!
Eat: …Games?

The next day, Dabi and Yona brought Elly. The training began anew. Elly gasped in wonder. “Wow~~~~ Robots!”

Excited, Elly soon took the pilot’s seat.

Elly: Wow~ It even smells good!
Yona: Yeah, it smells good!

After only a short trial, Elly showed remarkable control. Dabi and Yona were thrilled, their skills quickly catching up to Elly’s. They all prepared for sortie, feeling stronger together.

Elly: Ah, I’m so nervous! What if I mess up?
Dabi: Don’t worry—I’ll help you!
Yona: I’ll take down everything, don’t worry!

At Eat’s order, the sortie began. Elly trembled with awe: “I… I’m really in space!” Goosebumps ran across Elly’s body.

Soon, countless monsters appeared. Elly gasped, “Ugh, they’re real monsters! Why are they so huge?”

Dabi charged first, followed by Yona, striking monsters. Encouraged, Elly clasped hands under the chin, prayed briefly, breathed deeply, and grabbed the controls. Slowly moving forward, Elly began attacking.

But soon, Elly surged ahead, destroying monsters faster than Dabi and Yona. Watching this, Eat dropped his ice cream in shock, staring intently. Seeing Dabi and Yona learning from Elly, Eat smiled as if he had found the answer.

The mission was completed. The children returned, faces flushed like after heavy exercise.

Yona: Wow, I’m sweating!
Dabi: Following Elly made me sweat too.
Elly: That was so fun! I think I’ll get used to it if I try again!

Dabi and Yona were glad they had brought Elly. Eat rushed over, eager to deliver the results.

Yona scored 610, Dabi 500, Elly 980. Eat was thrilled, praising their improvement. But while Elly regretted not scoring higher, Dabi and Yona lost their smiles.

Eat: Space Heroes, what’s wrong? You should be happy! This is amazing progress!

But the children could not smile. Only later did Eat realize: useless score competition brought them no joy.

After that, Elly continued achieving high scores, and Dabi and Yona also improved. Yet Eat no longer gave scores, nor looked them up. He simply celebrated mission success and shared joyful times with the children, so they could return home happy.

The machine that calculated individual scores had been brought in by the Golden Owl, Polun—not by the king’s order. When the king received the training report, he summoned Polun and scolded him severely. On that day, Polun wept buckets of tears.

“Waaah~ Waaaahhh!”