Chapter 15: Frame Gear Practice & Classroom Lecture

After that, I parted ways with Rimiera and wandered around the bazaar, but there wasn’t anything in particular I wanted. No, it wasn’t that there was nothing I wanted, but I realized it was completely impossible given my financial situation. If I tried to buy an Armed Gear, even a used one would cost at least two platinum coins. That price is only because it’s the academy’s bazaar; normally, I think it would go for four.

The modified and tuned-up hand-me-downs from graduates and the shiny new ones bought with G are roughly the same price. I can’t say for sure which is better. Both have their merits and demerits. However, based on my preference, I still think a new one is better. A machine that has picked up someone else’s habits seems hard to pilot, and it feels like various emotions might be ingrained in it, so I feel like I wouldn’t be able to use it freely. In that case, I have no choice but to work hard with the goal of saving up G to buy a brand new one.

According to Carrol, if I go through [Star Duel] normally (and keep winning smoothly), I should be able to buy one just from the G prize money by the time I advance to the second year. By the way, calculating based on Zelda’s battle record during her first year, it seems she was able to buy one before summer break. Well, she is the person who got into the recommendation quota for [Mecha Great War: Ragnarok] as a first-year… It makes sense she could buy it. I was shown her battle record for a bit, and that senior, the moment she saved up enough stars to challenge a higher rank, she would challenge it immediately and climb her way up. It felt like she was fully intending to go straight to the top. As expected, she couldn’t stand at the top as a first-year, but she made it into the Best 9, which is outrageous… Of course, she was undefeated until she reached S Rank. After that, she lost once to the valedictorian at the time. I suppose once you get to S Rank, it’s full of powerful people.

Come to think of it, Rimiera is also S Rank… Since ranks one through nine correspond to S Rank. Will I ever have to fight Rimiera? No, probably not. She is a senior student. For a first-year like me to challenge her, I’d have to make a rapid advance on par with Zelda. She would graduate before that happens. …I wonder if we could do it unofficially. I’ve heard there are events like that as demonstrations. Was it the sports festival, or maybe the cultural festival? In any case, if I don’t get stronger, I won’t even be chosen as an opponent, so what I have to do doesn’t change.

“Alright! Let’s do this!” “Ah!?”

When I psych myself up on top of my bed, I hear Lirisha’s panicked voice from through the wall where she was building a plastic model.

“Wait a minute, Nero!? Please do not let out strange cries so suddenly! I painted it wrong because of you!”

“Haah? Hmph, if you messed up, want me to buy that kit off you?”

“I will not sell it! Good grief, this is why country bumpkins are…!”

Being a country bumpkin has nothing to do with this! Damn it, if things were right, that would have been mine… Why did I play Rock back then…! Let’s pray that a rare plastic model appears at the next bazaar. Next time, I’ll definitely get it.

“Frame Gears, unlike Armed Gears, remarkably reflect the pilot’s intuition and thoughts in their movements. Also, through resonance via intrinsic magic power, it is possible to read those thoughts and execute movements that trace your own. In other words, what is important here is imagery. Basically, please consider that movements you cannot perform yourself cannot be easily performed by a Frame Gear either. This is one of the reasons why knights skilled in combat were chosen as Frame Gear pilots in the early days.”

During the lecture on practice using virtual Frame Gears, I was listening intently to the teacher’s story. Finally, I can operate a Frame Gear (albeit a machine in virtual space). I can’t afford to miss a word. The teacher in charge of the virtual Frame Gear classroom lectures and practical skills is the one Carrol and the others were talking about at the entrance ceremony, Professor Sofie Swordwreck [The Swan]. She is in her late twenties, a tall woman with long silver hair and a slender figure, who appears to have no openings. If I recall correctly, she is from the neighboring The Kingdom of Belfast.

“Also, each Frame Gear has its own characteristics, and it is important to choose a machine that suits you. You can understand this well if you look at the famous nine Duchesses’ machine ‘Valkyrie’ series.”

Saying that, Professor Sofie began playing a video on the monitor in the lecture hall. First, a silver machine is displayed. The sniping warfare specialized Frame Gear, Brunhilde. A machine that excels at long-range sniping using a sniper rifle and mirror armor that blends into the surroundings.

Next, a burning red machine. The melee warfare assault Frame Gear, Gerhilde. A machine that excels at hand-to-hand combat using strikes. The pile bunkers equipped on both arms can shatter any armor.

The blue machine is the aerial warfare variable Frame Gear, Helmwiege. By transforming into flight mode, it is a machine that can fly freely in the sky. Capturing its high-speed performance is a feat of extreme difficulty.

The yellow machine is the defensive warfare armed Frame Gear, Ortlinde. It combines with three support machines to become the giant Frame Gear, Ortlinde Overlord. The power it unleashes is immeasurable.

The purple machine is the close-quarters warfare light Frame Gear, Schwertreite. It excels at close combat using a katana. The speed at which it cuts in is truly god-speed.

The orange machine is the close-quarters warfare heavy Frame Gear, Siegrune. This is also a Frame Gear for close combat using a sword as its main weapon. It is hard and excels in defense.

The green machine is the guerrilla warfare interchangeable Frame Gear, Waldraute. A multi-type machine that can fight adaptively in any situation by swapping out four types of armaments.

The black machine is the annihilation warfare bombardment Frame Gear, Grimgerde. A heavy Frame Gear designed for one-vs-many combat. No one can remain standing before the [Full Burst] powered by infinite loading.

The cherry blossom-colored machine is the group warfare support Frame Gear, Rossweisse. A support-type machine that can significantly increase the attack power, mobility, defense power, etc., of allied Frame Gears using singing magic unleashed from the Symphonic Horns on both shoulders.

These are the Frame Gears of the nine Duchesses who led The Duchy of Brunhild to become the world’s number one magic city. Even those not knowledgeable about Frame Gears know these nine machines; they are that famous. Even though they are machines from three hundred years ago, it is said that nothing surpassing these machines has been built yet. It is said they are currently stored in the basement of Brunhild Castle, but I wonder if that’s true.

“In this way, Frame Gears are divided into various types. Eventually, you will all search for a machine that suits you, but that is a story for later. Today, I will have you learn the basics of Frame Gears. First, I will explain the structure of a Frame Gear. The ‘Ether Liquid’ that circulates throughout the Frame Gear’s body, this is…”

While listening to what the teacher was saying, I ran my pen across my notebook. Mmm… It’s pretty difficult. There are a few parts I don’t understand. …I’ll ask Carrol and the others later. I somehow managed to finish the classroom lecture in the morning, and the afternoon is the long-awaited practical exercise. I finally get to ride a Frame Gear! Although it’s in virtual space. While eating the daily lunch special at the academy cafeteria, we were animatedly discussing the afternoon class.

“In the afternoon practice, we use our own Frame Gears, right?”

“The ones we received at the entrance ceremony. Come to think of it, what frame did you pick, Nero?”

“Lightning. What about Sherry?”

“I debated it, but I went with the Clock frame after all. Because I want to make it a sniper-type machine.”

Clock frame… was that the precision operation type machine frame? If she’s making a sniper type, precision is definitely necessary.

“What about Carrol?”

“I’m a Ritter frame. If I make it too specialized, it’s hard to use.”

A balance type, huh. I debated that one too. Being easy to handle allows you to move adaptively, after all.

“I chose the Mystic frame.”

“I didn’t ask… or rather, why are you here?”

I retort to Lirisha, who was sitting across from me before I knew it. Weren’t you supposed to be eating alone?

“I was merely invited by Carrol. It would be rude to refuse a kind invitation.”

Carrol, you did something unnecessary. Beside Lirisha, Lara was there too. It seems Carrol invited her as well. Her communication skills are high… Stopping her hand from drinking soup, Lara, who was next to Lirisha, asks.

“Does a Mystic frame mean a type specialized for magic warfare?”

“No, I want to use it for bombardment warfare using heavy firearms. Since I possess Fire and Wind, as well as Earth attributes.”

“Three attributes! That is amazing!”

Hmm? What is the relationship between magic and firearm bombardment? To use magic in a Frame Gear, didn’t you have to install a ‘Gear Spell’?

“Being able to use Fire attribute magic is advantageous for firing live ammunition. The same goes for Wind. You can manipulate the speed and direction of the fired bullet. The Earth attribute can also be used to increase the hardness of the armor or create special ammo.”

Carrol explained in response to my question. I see. So that’s how it is.

“If you have the Wind attribute, couldn’t you have gone for the variable flight type?”

“I considered that as well, but a custom frame seems difficult after all. Besides, I prefer a Frame Gear that is self-possessed and composed like Grimgerde.”

Just as Sherry says, if she has the Wind attribute, it seems advantageous for flying, but if she says it’s a preference, then that’s that. I’m Lightning, Carrol is Ritter, Sherry is Clock, and Lirisha is Mystic. We are perfectly scattered. I wonder what the remaining Lara chose? Surely not a Titan frame? No, in her case…

“I am a Custom frame.”

“I knew it.”

For Lara, who aspires to be a Magic Engineer Meister, the Custom with high freedom is the only choice, isn’t it? Its feature is a wide range of modification, but precisely because of that, the balance is difficult, and if done poorly, it’s a machine that could end up with the punchline that it would have been stronger not to modify it at all.

“I can hardly tinker with it yet, but there are various things I want to try. Combinations and transformations are one thing, but also just the arms getting longer, or a multi-arm multi-leg type, or the lower body being a tank type. Ah, an animal type would be good too!”

Umm, isn’t that a bit too free? This girl looks like she’s going to make something weird on a whim… That, in itself, makes me feel like I want to see it, but also like I don’t want to see it…