Chapter 17: Frame Gear Practice - Academy Side
“It’s fresh and innocent, isn’t it? Just like a fawn that has just started to walk.”
Looking at the many Light Cavalry ‘Cavalry’ units displayed on the split large monitor in the Control Room, my colleague Professor Flare Paralem narrowed her eyes. Her Dragonkin tail tapped pita-pita against the floor. It is a habit of hers when she is in a good mood.
“Don’t you think so too, Professor Sofie?”
“Well, I suppose so. We were much the same, after all.”
Saying that, I recall the time when I enrolled in this academy. Has it already been over ten years? Just like them now, I was excited to ride a Frame Gear for the first time, even if it was in virtual space. It feels nostalgic, like a memory from the distant past. …No, no, I am still young. I’m young. It is too early to feel old.
“Ah, one fell over. …Seems they are alright.”
“Shouldn’t we have lowered the shock reproduction rate?”
“If they don’t fall and get hurt a little, they won’t learn that it’s dangerous. We have taken proper safety measures, and there is no need to go out of our way to make it different from the actual machine.”
The Frame Unit faithfully reproduces the movements of a Frame Gear cockpit. That means it also reproduces the impact when taking damage. If they receive a shock that is too strong and hit their head, they may even lose consciousness. There are almost no fatal accidents caused by Frame Units, but I have heard several stories of people hitting their heads or parts of their bodies hard and sustaining serious injuries. In fact, there were similar accidents when I was a student. Though the majority of them came from pilot error. Forgetting to fasten the seatbelt, reckless actions carried away by enthusiasm—such things invite accidents. Even if they get injured, it can be healed with recovery magic. However, the fear felt at the moment of injury sticks firmly to the mind. That dulls their split-second judgment, and there are many who end up losing [Star Duel] matches they could have won. Well, if one intends to become a [Trooper], they must be strong in that mental aspect as well.
“Oh, there’s someone who has already reached the final item. Wahaha! They’re dancing, they’re dancing!”
On the screen Professor Flare Paralem pointed to, a Light Cavalry ‘Cavalry’ was performing a truly peculiar dance. On other screens, there were also Light Cavalry ‘Cavalry’ units performing elegant dances like a waltz. One’s upbringing really shows here. This dancing item alone is not judged automatically, but by us instructors. Technically, the judgment criterion is ‘whether they can dance utilizing the machine’s movements,’ but to be blunt, there is a part of it decided by whether it is funny or not. It is a small bit of amusement for the instructors.
“Differences in dancing really come out depending on the country of origin, huh. I feel like those from hot countries dance more intensely.”
On the screen Professor Flare was watching, a Light Cavalry ‘Cavalry’ was dancing a fierce dance. It looks like they are piloting chaotically, but they are on the beat. That pilot’s home country is… the southern island nation, The Kingdom of Egret, huh? Since it is a country famous for resorts, it seems there are many people with cheerful personalities. While confirming the Light Cavalry ‘Cavalry’ units starting to dance here and there, I issue permissions for them to switch to their own machines. Every year, there are several people who get too excited, pilot recklessly, and fall into magic depletion. We must keep a sharp eye out to ensure that doesn’t happen. While doing so, one of the Light Cavalry ‘Cavalry’ units shown on a screen suddenly stopped moving. Here we go, already.
“Number 71, can you reply?”
I call out, but there is no reply. The vital signs being sent from the Frame Unit are dropping. Typical magic depletion.
“Please take the student, Number 71, to the infirmary.”
“Yes.”
The assistant who was waiting on standby runs toward the training room. At that level, they should wake up soon if they rest quietly. Inevitably, the tension rises during the first piloting session, and they end up using too much magic without realizing it. Especially those with low magic perception are insensitive to their own magic, so their realization is delayed. Well, even those with excellent magic perception end up the same way if their concentration is extraordinary. After that, two more students collapsed from magic depletion in the same way and were carried to the infirmary. I heard ten were carried off last year, but… I must make sure the number doesn’t increase now that I am in charge. When I sighed a small fuu and looked up, an outrageous image jumped out on the screen in front of me. A Lightning Frame type Frame Gear is moving through the air. No, if it is a light-armored Lightning Frame with acceleration capabilities, such a thing is possible, but when it comes to doing it ‘continuously’, it is a different story. Movement by thrusters in mid-air consumes an outrageous amount of magic. It would be understandable if a Mana Amp (Magic Amplifier) or auxiliary boosters were attached to increase a small amount of magic. However, that is a bare-bones ‘stock’ machine with nothing on it. If one performs such reckless acceleration maneuvering, in the worst case, it could be life-threatening!
“H-Hundred forty-four, Nero Silhoueska. Are you alright!?”
“Eh? Yes, I am alright though?”
I connected the microphone and spoke to her, but an indifferent voice replied as if asking ‘About what?’, leaving me at a loss for words. Huh?
“…Umm, you aren’t feeling sick or anything?”
“No, not particularly.”
Really? She is fine after using that much magic…? It doesn’t feel like she is putting on a brave front. Her vital signs are also showing normal values. Is she really okay…?
“…Is that so. Please be careful of magic overuse. Every year, several new students ruin their health by using too much magic in the first practice…”
“Understood.”
I immediately checked if it was a malfunction of the Frame Unit or some setting error, but there were no abnormalities anywhere. Then, is she really performing those movements solely with her own magic…? Once again, the Lightning Frame type Frame Gear jumped high into the air, and blasting its thrusters ba-ba-ba in succession, flew to an outrageous altitude. Eeeeh…!?
“That is an outrageous amount of magic. She might be closing in on Sharon [Witch of the Blue Storm].”
Looking at the screen I was focused on, Professor Flare muttered such a thing in an exasperated tone. Certainly, if it is ‘only’ magic capacity, she might be close to the Sequence Rank 3, Sharon [Witch of the Blue Storm]. However, her handling of magic looks like nothing more than an amateur with a bit of hair grown on it. She cannot control the power. There is too much waste. It is like making a dragon breathe fire just to light a stove. How truly wasteful. With a piloting style like that, eventually…
“Oops, just as I thought.”
Professor Flare must have had the same thought as me. The machine of Number 144 signaled an alert and fell into an emergency stop. The machine could not withstand the Ether Liquid rushing through its whole body containing massive amounts of magic. It is an overload.
“If you abuse a stock machine that much, that’s what happens.”
In this practical exercise, all numerical parameters are set to be the same as a real Frame Gear. In other words, even if she were riding a real, normal Frame Gear, it would have emergency stopped in the same way. Well, there is no need to worry about breakdowns in virtual space, but there is no harm in remembering these kinds of troubles. I hear that when His Majesty the First Duke King first rode a Frame Gear, the machine could not withstand his massive magic power either. …However, I have never heard of a new student causing a machine to overload and emergency stop. No, I hear that Zelda [Sword Empress], who is currently Sequence Rank 1, caused a similar overload, but I heard that was during her second year. Zelda’s magic capacity itself is not that high. Her sword technique, physical ability, dynamic vision, insight, and so on are off the charts. In her case, it was that the machine could not withstand her movements. I think that her natural-born talent, combined with a personality that spares no effort, is what makes her the Sequence Rank 1, Zelda [Sword Empress]. Could it be that this girl named Nero Silhoueska will eventually climb to the same summit?
“Fufu…”
I found myself looking forward to the lifting of the ban on [Star Duel] in a month, just a little bit.
“Emergency stop due to machine overload… huh. Fufu, she really goes for it right from the start.”
Principal Quun, the head of the academy, was looking through the report on the new students that had come up, wearing a meaningful smile. As expected, that child is interesting. Quun held an interest in Nero, who had handled Achilles, the Armed Gear she built for herself, as if it were her own limbs. Putting her in a machine without a magic control device was completely a mistake on this end, but it unexpectedly drew out that child’s potential.
“She is undoubtedly a ‘Lineage’. The second one following Zelda [Sword Empress]. I’m sure Mother and the others would find it quite amusing if they knew.”
“Well, that is unmistakable, desu. Moreover, she is a ‘Double’, desu. A descendant of Duchess Elze and Duchess Linze.”
A ‘Lineage’ refers, as the name implies, to those who carry the blood of His Majesty the First Duke King. They are not just descendants. It refers to those who have awakened to that power. In the time that has flowed over three hundred years, there are not many awakened ones. Furthermore, it is extremely rare for two bloodlines to both be awakened. For Quun, the daughter of the First Duke King, this was a joyous matter.
“However, this child… her abilities are likely sealed, desu.”
“Eh?”
Quun turned surprised eyes toward the nurse teacher, Bellflora, who was beside her.
“I examined her when she was carried into the infirmary, but remnants of magic other than hers were entangled in a complicated manner, like chains. Ah, please do not worry. It is not something malicious, but something to protect her… a seal like that, desu.”
“…It is not impossible. Too much magic can be poison to a young body. It is likely a seal to prevent that kind of accidental discharge… But who did it?”
According to Flora’s story, it is a considerably complex seal. A half-hearted caster could not do it. There are a few people who come to mind, but most of them are whereabouts unknown, so she could not pinpoint who.
“She said she was from The Kingdom of Elfrau. Could it be Her Majesty the Queen?”
She is the Queen of Elves who has ruled the country for a long time of one thousand five hundred years. Quun imagines that she could probably perform a feat of that level.
“I wonder… Would Her Majesty the Queen do that for a commoner child who isn’t even a noble? I feel like that is a bit of a stretch, desu.”
“In that case, it looks like things are going to get complicated again… Well, there is no harm, and it will probably be fine to leave it alone.”
That kind of seal is designed to break when it is time to break. When the time comes that she can control that power, it should release naturally. Probably.
“If she shows any signs of physical instability, please treat her at Babylon. I will inform the higher-ups.”
“Understood, desu.”
Quun looked down at Nero’s file again and floated a small smile.
