Chapter 22: Carrol’s Debut Match

The sky was clear and blue, without a single cloud. It was the kind of weather that felt like it was blessing our first [Star Duel].

“Are you nervous?”

“Not really. It seems I’m not as nervous as I thought I’d be.”

“You’ve got nerves of steel, Nero. I had a hard time falling asleep.”

That’s surprising. I didn’t think Carrol was that sensitive. Carrol’s debut match is today too, taking place an hour before mine. Her opponent is apparently a second-year student, just like mine. Lara, Sherry, and Lirisha already finished their [Star Duel] debuts yesterday, and all three won. Sherry and Lirisha won their Frame Gear matches without much trouble, but Lara’s Armed Gear match was a really close call. Well, maybe not a “close call”… halfway through, Lara’s machine went out of control. She swung her weapon around wildly, and the opponent was unlucky enough to take a clean hit, giving her the win. That was how it ended. Lara muttered something about “Ether Paths” or whatever, but knowing her, she probably tinkered with it too weirdly and caused a malfunction. It makes me anxious about whether it’s really safe to leave my machine’s maintenance to her… Two Armed Gears were waging a fierce battle in the East Arena. I wanted to watch, but today I’m too full with my own stuff.

“Ah, good morning, you two. The maintenance is finished. All that’s left is the final check.”

Inside the hangar, which lined the edge of the arena like a row house, Lara was performing final checks on our two Armed Gears in our rented space. Sherry and Lirisha weren’t there. It seems they both had lectures today and couldn’t come. The two Armed Gears stood side by side in the hangar. Mine is a rental unit, but Carrol’s is her own. Apparently, it was shipped from her family home. It was an Armed Gear with a form like a black-lacquered knight. Its equipment was an orthodox sword and shield, which really brought out that knightly feel. Compared to that, my rental unit looked somewhat rugged… It’s a bit of a weird comparison, but there was as much difference between them as there is between a Knight and an Adventurer.

“Anahais Magitecs’ ‘Caliburn’. It’s a model from about ten years ago, but it’s a good machine, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’ve been practicing with this one back home for a long time. It’s easy to handle.”

Huh, so Carrol’s machine isn’t the latest model. That’s a bit unexpected.

“The fine details have been tuned up; did your family’s mechanic do this?”

“That’s right. I had them send it just as it was.”

“That mechanic has good skills to adjust it perfectly for the rider. I’d love to talk to them sometime.”

“Hahaha, if the opportunity arises.”

Is having an Armed Gear mechanic at home a common thing for nobles…? No, there are plenty of nobles who haven’t produced any [Troopers], right? Carrol’s place must be the odd one out. Or rather, isn’t this school originally meant for those kinds of noble kids anyway?

“I’ve adjusted yours perfectly too, Nero-san. And regarding ‘that thing’… I think it’ll be safe for maybe one or two uses. Any more than that, and I think the Ether Lines will burn out.”

“Hm? What’s ‘that thing’?”

“Ah, umm…”

When Carrol asked Lara, she glanced at me to see if it was okay to talk about.

“Well, it’s like a trump card for Armed Gears.”

“Is it that ‘Battle Spirit Method’ you mentioned before? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t use it?”

“It seems a different application of the ‘Battle Spirit Method’ is okay. Though as Lara said, a few times is the limit.”

In reality, I only pulled it off a few times in training. The success rate is less than twenty percent. It’s almost an all-or-nothing gamble. However, Lara vouched for its effectiveness after seeing it. Well, it would be best to win without using it, of course… While we were discussing that, Carrol’s turn came. She boarded the black Caliburn and ascended the arena stage, which was enclosed by a barrier. Her opponent was a red Armed Gear wielding a large hammer. Woah, that looks brutal… If you get hit squarely by something like that, you’ll be sent flying, machine and all.

“The Betting Star is one. Is there a [Raise]? If not, both sides step forward.”

As the referee teacher announced this, the red and black machines took a step forward and readied their respective weapons. Basically, the number of Betting Stars for a debut match is one per match. If Carrol wins, she gains one star; if she loses, she loses one. Normally, you decide on the number of Betting Stars with each other at the stage of applying for the match. And a [Raise] is the act of betting additional stars on top of that. Of course, you can refuse. In that case, you just fight for the original number of Betting Stars, so there’s no particular disadvantage. The number of stars increases only when there is mutual agreement. Except for special cases, the limit for F-Rank seems to be ten.

“Now then, [Star Duel], Start!”

Simultaneous with the teacher’s words, the red machine wound up and swung that brutal hammer down. Carrol’s machine jumped to the side to dodge it. The hammer smashed into the spot where she had been a moment ago with tremendous force, shattering the stone pavement of the arena. Seeing an opening, Carrol’s longsword struck the red machine’s shoulder. In a battle between humans, the shoulder would have been sliced open, but for an Armed Gear, the armor was merely slightly dented. However, it is recorded as damage. When a certain amount of damage accumulates in the machine, it becomes incapacitated, and the Armed Gear stops functioning. In a [Star Duel], you win if you make the opponent unable to move. You don’t necessarily have to smash them to pieces. Carrol would likely take massive damage if she took a direct hit from that hammer, unlike a sword. I think just a few solid hits would mean Carrol’s loss. Well, if it hits. The red machine swung the hammer around violently, but Carrol’s Caliburn avoided it completely. Dodge and slash, dodge and slash. Gradually, the opponent’s movements became sluggish. When damage accumulates in an Armed Gear, movement gets inhibited. Looking closely, Carrol’s attacks were concentrated on the joints. Shoulders, elbows, knees, and waist—if those areas take damage, the Ether Lines transmitting commands to the machine parts get damaged, slowing down the movement, right? Carrol, you’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you? What detailed craftsmanship… Eventually, it looked like it was too hard for the red machine to even lift the hammer, and it finally stopped moving.

“That’s it! Winner, Carrolina Liette!”

The referee teacher declared Carrol’s victory. Applause and words of praise flew from the gallery watching the magnificent victory. So Carrol won too. Ugh, if I’m the only one who loses now, that would be so uncool…

“Good work.”

“Man, no joke, I’m exhausted…”

Carrol said this as she climbed down from her Armed Gear. I thought it was a perfect victory where she toyed with the opponent from start to finish. A complete win against a second year? That’s plenty good enough.

“The tension of not being able to let your guard down is on a different level from training. I knew I had to relax more, but the more I thought about that, the more panicked I got. I ended up attacking a bit forcefully.”

Heh. She wore down her mental energy more than I thought. Master used to say, “Treat training like the real thing, and the real thing like training,” but I guess that’s hard to actually pull off.

“Next is you, Nero. Good luck.”

“Yeah. Well, I’ll just try to do what I can.”

“Hah, aren’t you acting awfully confident?”

I turned around at the sudden voice to find a familiar large woman standing at the open entrance of the hangar. That bitch is…!

“Dread Scammer…”

“Dread…?! You don’t seem to know your manners towards a senior, you shitty shrimp…!”

“Huh? Who are you calling a shrimp, you shitty giant woman…!”

We glared at each other, trading insults. This giant woman, she’s too damn big! My neck hurts looking up!

“A newbie who just enrolled sure talks a big game. Don’t come crying to me later when you’re weeping!”

“Hah?! Someone who’s been smoldering at the bottom for a whole year is no match for me!”

“Huh?! You wanna go, you shitty shrimp?!”

“Aaah?! Bring it on, giant woman!”

“Now, now, calm down, you two.”

Just as I was about to step forward, thinking I had no choice but to land a punch, Carrol stepped in smoothly at just the right moment.

“The match is in an hour. Why not settle it there? If you fight here, the match itself will be declared void, you know?”

“…Tch! I’m going to beat you to a pulp, so be prepared! I’ll give you a black star debut!”

“Right back at you! You better not cry when you lose to a lowerclassman!”

Leaving those parting words, the Dread woman left our hangar. In Eashen, they say you sprinkle salt at times like this, and I really feel like doing that.

“Phew, that was close. Nero, you were seriously planning to beat her up, weren’t you?”

“Urgh…! I was just going to poke her a little…”

Technically, brawling is prohibited at the academy. If discovered, it could lead to confiscation of stars, house arrest, or even suspension. …I doubt it, but she wasn’t aiming for that, was she?

“Or rather, didn’t she come to see your equipment? She got a full look at your machine, Nero-san.”

“Ah!?”

So that’s it! I agreed with Lara’s explanation. My machine is already equipped with large gauntlets on both arms. Just seeing that makes it obvious it’s a punch-based striking type. By now, she’s probably equipping her own machine with something to counter that. What a cheap trick…!

“What will you do? Want to go scout her out too?”

The hangars here have no front wall and are open, so anyone can look inside. So if I find that Dread woman’s hangar and peek in, I’d know what equipment she’s coming out with, but…

“…Nope. I’ll smash her from the front.”

I don’t need those petty tricks; I’ll win fair and square in a head-on clash. I won’t lose to a scammer like her. Burning with fighting spirit even before the match, I resolved in my heart to beat that Dread woman’s Armed Gear until there was nothing left.