Chapter 20: Towards the Debut Match

“Guah!?”

The vernier on the leg was hit, and Lucifer lost its balance significantly. Before hitting the ground, I put my hand down and rolled sideways using the momentum of the fall. Immediately, the next bullet flew to the spot where I had fallen, gouging out the sand on the ground. That was close!? Damn it, they don’t give me a moment’s rest! Today’s combat field is a desert. There are no places to hide. That applies to the other side as well, but I have a sword, and they have guns. The difference in range is too great! I’m trying to force a close-quarters battle somehow, but I’ve been intercepted with pinpoint accuracy since earlier, and I can’t even get close. Damn it, at this rate, I’m going to be whittled down until I lose. Should I take a gamble and launch a suicide attack? The opponent’s ammo should be limited. It’s not like they have ‘Infinite Loading’ using Teleport magic, so I don’t think it’s impossible. The opponent’s equipment is two Gear Handguns. If I recall, the magazine capacity should be fifteen rounds. Considering the number of shots fired since the match started, they should only have about five or six rounds left. Can I make it if I keep dodging? I don’t have time to hesitate. I’ll strike before they reload! I open Lucifer‘s back thrusters to full throttle and charge toward the emerald green machine in front of me. Bullets are fired immediately, but I use the leg vernier that isn’t broken to dodge them by a hair’s breadth. Two more, then three more pursuit shots are fired; I sink the machine low, kick the ground, dodge them all, and close the distance to the opponent. Just a little more…! It’s obvious, but the closer I get, the harder it becomes to dodge. Even so, I don’t stop advancing Lucifer. A bullet hits the left elbow, and everything below it is blown away. Because the Lightning Frame is a light machine that emphasizes speed, its defense isn’t high. Taking one hit causes major damage. My arm was torn off, but I still have one arm left. Go! Just a little more and my sword will reach! The opponent’s machine pulls the trigger of the right handgun, but no bullet comes out. The one in the other hand seems to have run out of ammo as well. Alright! I won! I swing my right hand back widely and swing the sword I’m holding down onto the crown of the opponent’s machine.

“Ah.”

In the next instant, I noticed the existence of the vulcan cannons equipped on the opponent’s head. Wait, you’re kidding!? The vulcan cannons, a total of four equipped on the head, all breathed fire at once, and my Lucifer, taking that at point-blank range, was turned into a tattered beehive. At the very, very end…! Kunuuuhhhhh—! Biiiiiiiip! The sound signaling the end of the match rang out, and the words ‘YOU LOSE’ appeared on my screen. In Duchy script, it means ‘Your Loss’. I know that without being told!

“Haaah…”

Letting out a heavy sigh, I press the Frame Unit’s open switch. With a small pushu sound, the unit’s lid opens, and I am pulled back into the real world.

“I lost…”

“Good work. That was a good match.”

Carrol called out to comfort me as I crawled out of the unit. And from the unit next to mine, a smiling Sherry emerges. Curse you…

“Wow, that was dangerous! It was barely in time! I didn’t think you would get that close. I’m glad I loaded the vulcans just in case!”

“Guh! Since when did you…”

“Checking the opponent machine’s equipment is basic, you know? It is your failing for neglecting that, Nero.”

Lirisha rubbed salt into the wound. I know that! But I couldn’t see well because of that long distance and the desert heat haze!

“It is fortunate that this was just before the [Star Duel] began. You almost started with a black mark (loss), you know?”

Gumuu. It’s frustrating, but she’s right. If possible, I want to decorate my debut match with a white mark (win).

“You should think positively that you found your weakness in the final adjustments for the [Star Duel]. After all, you don’t know who your opponent will be for the debut match.”

Right. As Carrol says, only the first match of the [Star Duel] for new students is decided randomly. We new students are, naturally, the lowest rank, F Rank. The opponent is chosen randomly from all members of this F Rank. ‘From all members of F Rank’. That means F Rank upperclassmen are also included. To borrow Lirisha’s words, ‘Those who are still smoldering at the bottom despite being upperclassmen are no opponents at all,’ but we cannot let our guard down. Since they are upperclassmen, they surely have a reasonable amount of experience, and I think they would hate to lose to a new student, so they will probably come to crush us with full force. I wonder if they are opponents we can beat so easily… Well, whether we get matched with an upperclassman or not depends on luck. The probability is apparently about one in two, so it really is luck. All we can do is choose between a Frame Gear battle or an Armed Gear battle, and then leave the rest to fate.

“So, have you decided whether to go with Frame Gear or Armed Gear?”

“Hmm… If I get matched with an upperclassman, a Frame Gear is disadvantageous…”

“True. Naturally, they will have customized theirs. We have to fight with almost stock machines.”

Sherry nods slightly at my mutterings. That’s right. So if you ask about Armed Gears, in my case, I’ve been prohibited from using [Toukiho]… No, it’s not that it’s prohibited, but if I use it, both the opponent’s Armed Gear and my Armed Gear will undoubtedly be wrecked, and as a result, I’ll end up shouldering debt… It’s a troubling point. In the first place, Armed Gears are machines meant for bashing each other. Normally, if they get damaged, the academy side covers the cost. However, with my [Toukiho], the exterior destruction is severe, and not only that, it destroys the internal magic pathways too, so it could lead to replacing almost the entire machine. If I destroy an Armed Gear every match, naturally even the academy won’t cover that much of the burden. According to what I heard from Lara, it’s not impossible to build a machine that can withstand [Toukiho], but it seems it would be quite a custom machine. Either way, it’s a non-starter if I don’t get my own Armed Gear… Well, even if I seal [Toukiho], I think I have more of an advantage than fighting in a Frame Gear… In the worst case, I can win by mutual destruction or prepared wreckage using [Toukiho]. It’s what Master called ‘Let them cut your flesh to sever their bone’. …Was it ‘If I die, I’ll take you with me’? If I win in the advantageous Armed Gear [Star Duel], I get G prize money. And using that G, I will modify my Frame Gear. Initially, I have no choice but to go with that flow. In the end, I decided to go with an Armed Gear for my debut match. By the way, Carrol is also choosing Armed Gear, while Sherry and Lirisha are choosing Frame Gear. Lara is also Armed Gear, but I feel like she didn’t choose it based on winning or losing, but simply because she wants to ride it.

“Upperclassmen will likely see Frame Gears as advantageous and choose that, I think.”

“But if upperclassmen only go to the Frame Gear side, won’t they be unable to play against new students? It might just end up being upperclassmen clashing with each other.”

“No matter who the opponent is, I will simply crush them.”

All three of them seem to have high tension for their first [Star Duel], and even after leaving the Unit Room, they kept talking about it. Of course, I was burning with fighting spirit just the same. It irks me to agree with Lirisha, but no matter who the opponent is, I just have to hit them with everything I’ve got. I glance at the clock on my smartphone’s standby screen. Actually, the matchmaking opponents are decided at noon today, this lunch break. The opponent’s data and match schedule are scheduled to be transferred at that time. We wait for the results while having a slightly early lunch at the academy cafeteria. Classes are over in the morning today, so we can use the afternoon for training.

“It came!”

At the exact moment it turned 12:00, the notification mail from the academy arrived. I immediately open it, scan through it, and confirm. The schedule is exactly noon, three days from now. If I recall, if the schedule doesn’t fit here, I send my preferred times to the other party to adjust. Well, I have no problems as is. The opponent is… Ah—! An upperclassman! A second year! Damn it, I lost the fifty-fifty chance! Affiliated country is The Sea of Trees Alliance… wait, this guy… I looked at the student photo listed on the opponent’s profile and instinctively grimaced.

“Ah—, I got matched with an upperclassman. How about you, Nero? Huh? That person…?”

Carrol, who was sitting next to me, peeked at my smartphone over my head and let out a suspicious voice. Yes, displayed there was that dreadlocked upperclassman who tried to deceive Lara with the potion scam.

“…How should I put it, he seems like a troublesome opponent in various ways.”

“No matter who it is, you just have to beat them up.”

“What, what? What’s wrong?”

Just like Carrol, Sherry also tries to peek in.

“Nero’s opponent is the second-year student who tried to pull a scam on Lara.”

“Ugh… What a nasty connection.”

“Or rather, that small fry was F Rank, wasn’t she? To still be at the bottom after a year, her ability speaks for itself.”

Lirisha spat out quite some harsh words. Even if she is an F Rank upperclassman, I don’t think it means she has never been E Rank even once. Even if she rose to E Rank, she probably couldn’t rise to D Rank easily, and while she was dawdling, she was likely overthrown by an F Rank opponent. And she probably lost betting a large amount of stars. Otherwise, even if she fell, she should be able to rise back to E Rank immediately. In other words, she underestimated an F Ranker as beneath her and lost. If you have the ability, even if you fall, you can return to the top immediately. The fact that she can’t return means her ability is originally at that level… It’s just a story of ranking up by luck. Since ranks are determined by the ranking in [Star Duel], if the top-class students graduate and disappear in a chunk, naturally the rankings go up. Yet, being F Rank currently means nothing other than that these seniors in this rank are closer to the bottom if you count. Most likely, this dreadlocked senior’s ability isn’t that high either. Although, letting my guard down is forbidden. When I asked about everyone’s opponents, the only ones matched with upperclassmen were me and Carrol. Hmmm, I thought the probability of matching with an upperclassman was lower for Armed Gears, though. Did the upperclassmen read that and intentionally choose Armed Gear battles? If they are from noble backgrounds, some students might own their own Armed Gears, and they would have customized them reasonably well. Now that the opponent is decided, I should focus on training with the Armed Gear. Should I also think about weapons and equipment? I recall there was punching equipment for Armed Gears, right? I’ll try asking Lara once we finish eating.