Chapter 34: The Duel at Seekers
“Stop dawdling! If you do a half-assed job, I’ll send you flying, hey!”
“Not there! I told you the other side! Do you have eyes?!”
“Don’t put parts in a place like this! I’ll crack your skull, you bastard!”
Upon entering the factory grounds, the angry roars of men flew from here and there. The workers were all burly, muscular men. It felt overwhelmingly stifling.
“This place seems awfully rough…”
“Really? Aren’t town factories usually like this?”
Carrol furrowed her brows slightly and looked around nervously. Well, a noble lady coming to a place like this for the first time would probably react like that. Most of the workers are burly men, but there are quite a few Dwarves too. I can spot women here and there as well. So it’s not completely devoid of women. Well, those few women are just as muscular as the men, though… Huh? A girl I recognize is looking this way with a surprised expression. That girl isn’t muscular… wait…
“Eh? Nero-san and Carrol-san?”
“Lara? Why are you in a place like this?”
My classmate Lara ran over in a jumpsuit. I didn’t expect to meet her in a place like this.
“This is a factory owned by an acquaintance of my father. Occasionally, I help out part-time like this.”
“I see.”
I introduced Lara to Keel and the others just in case. Keel greeted her earnestly, the playboy greeted her frivolously, but the pale gourd kept looking away and didn’t even glance at her. Ignoring her because Lara is a commoner, or just spiting me…? You bastard, remember this. Keel spoke to Lara.
“So, where is the boss?”
“The old man? In that case… ah, here he comes.”
From the direction Lara pointed, an Armed Gear came clank-clank toward us. …An Armed Gear? That thing. Doesn’t it look a bit different…?
“Oh. What’s this, isn’t it the kid from Suleiman’s place?”
An old man’s voice came from inside the Armed Gear, and suddenly the Armed Gear clattered! apart. Separating into several parts, a bearded old man jumped out from inside the disassembled Armed Gear. The Armed Gear parts that spat out the bearded old man reassembled into one again. However, its form wasn’t humanoid, but became a large bear-like Golem. No, this isn’t an Armed Gear. It’s an Armed Golem. An Armed Golem, as the name suggests, is a type of Golem you wear. I heard from Master that unlike normal Golems, they can be equipped like armor from weapon forms… but there are Armed Golems like this that aren’t weapons too?
“What’s with the crowd you brought?”
“Umm, we want to have an Armed Gear match, so I was wondering if we could borrow the place and a set of gears.”
“Hoh. You doing it, kid?”
“No, it’s these two here.”
Introduced by Keel, I bowed slightly. The pale gourd remained looking away, sulking.
“This tiny missy and tiny brat are gonna do it?”
“”I’m not tiny!!””
Damn, I harmonized with the pale gourd. When I looked at the pale gourd, he was looking at me too. What are you glaring at, hey…!
“Well, whatever. There are two units I was just servicing. They’re old but sturdy, so you can use them. This way.”
“Thank you very much.”
Led by the bearded boss, we headed toward the back of the factory. There was a wide space behind the factory, and in the corner, junk parts of Armed Gears were piled up. To me, it just looks like a pile of garbage, but they probably restore and use these too. In front of that mountain of junk, I saw two Armed Gears placed there. Aren’t these quite antique…? They’re older than the outdated models we use in ‘Academy’ classes, right?
“Wow, Twimack Inc.’s ‘Rainwald’! And an early model! So cool!”
Lara flew straight to the Armed Gears at full speed. I don’t really get it, but it seems to be a model she likes.
“With these, it’s fine even if you go at it somewhat roughly. I was planning to replace the armor anyway.”
“Thank you very much. Alright, so are you two okay with settling this with these?”
“Fine by me.”
“No problem.”
The pale gourd looked at me and snorted, “Hmph.” Every little thing he does is irritating…! The two Armed Gears were separated to opposite ends, and apparently adjusted to match each rider. As I walked toward one of the Armed Gears, the pale gourd called out to my back.
“If you don’t want to embarrass yourself, you can forfeit the match even now. I am generous, so if you apologize now, I might forgive you, you know?”
“Haa? It’s already decided that you are the one who’s gonna be embarrassed. Or rather, getting scared and trying to call it off now… not just your height, but your balls are small too. As expected of a pale gourd.”
“Wha… Y-y-you…! Is that how you speak to a prince of a nation!”
“Fourth Prince, was it? Good for you. If you were the heir, the country would be ruined. Helgaia is lucky!”
“Th-this…! I won’t forgive you anymore!”
The pale gourd turned bright red and left toward the other side. Hmph, don’t think you can beat me in a verbal argument. Provoking the opponent to claim self-defense is an essential skill for adventurers, after all. Lara seems to be handling the maintenance on this side. The boss seems to be doing the other side. Before I knew it, factory people had gathered around us. Spectators? I thought, “Get to work,” but some were sitting on steel beams eating bentos. Ah, lunch break. Damn, I’m hungry. Let’s beat up that idiot quickly and go eat. I boarded the serviced Armed Gear. Is this a type you board from the back? Adjusting the seat, I flowed magic to activate the main power. System check. No problems. All green.
“How is the suspension?”
『It’s fine. I think this level of stiffness is no problem.』
“What about weapons? The usual gauntlet type?”
『Yup. That please.』
Since we were told we could use weapons as we liked, Lara equipped bulky gauntlets on both of Rainwald’s arms. I glanced over, and the other side had a greatsword. It’s about 1.5 times the length of the Armed Gear. If I get hit squarely, I might be wrecked in one blow. If I get hit, that is.
“Equipment complete.”
『Thanks. Well then, I’m off.』
Clanging the equipped gauntlets together gan-gan, I stepped forward to the center. The surrounding area was already full of a gallery gathered to kill time while eating lunch.
“I’ll be the referee. No problems for both sides?”
As Keel stated that, I raised the Armed Gear’s hand slightly.
『I want to ask the boss something; if this Armed Gear gets wrecked, do I have to pay for it?』
“Ah? Wrecked…? No, having something I just fixed broken again is a bit… Or rather, are you going to do it that seriously? I thought it was just a practice match…”
Replacing the boss who showed a bit of reluctance, the pale gourd’s snide voice flew from his Armed Gear’s external speaker.
『Hah! Worrying about being broken by me already?! This is why poor people are… Fine! Even if the Armed Gear breaks in this match, I will pay for it. So I’ll do it without holding back!』
『…You said it, right?』
At these words, I smirked, and Carrol, who was watching, seemed to understand what I was about to do, looking up at the sky with an “Ah…”. Alright, even if the Armed Gear breaks, that idiot prince will pay for it. That means I can go all out without worrying about anything!
“Are you ready? Then, match start…t?!”
Along with Keel’s signal, I was already closing in on the pale gourd’s Armed Gear at full speed.
『Tch…! You…!』
The pale gourd swung the greatsword horizontally with a wide motion, but I lowered my body to dodge it and jumped into my range all at once. I wrapped magic and ‘Qi’ around the straight punch drawn back to the side of my waist. The moment I thrust out and released the rotating fist, I discharged the accumulated ‘Qi’, exploding it all at once like a spiraling spear.
『Bushin Style, Shinra Rasen-ken (God-Sura Spiral Fist).』
Gakyarara! With the sound of metal crushing, the pale gourd’s Armed Gear, which took my fist to the body, was blown away with tremendous force into the pile of junk behind it.
“Wha…?!”
『Referee. The verdict?』
“Ah, eh, ah, umm, Nero-kun’s win…?”
Why the question mark? No matter how you look at it, it’s my win. Keel, who delivered the verdict, gasped and ran toward the blown-away pale gourd. Even the playboy ran frantically. It’s probably fine. Armed Gears have magic shields, so direct damage shouldn’t have reached the rider. Well, there might be damage from being blown away, though.
“Oi oi oi! Missy, you use ‘Battle Spirit Method’?!”
“Oh, Boss, you know it?”
When I opened the Armed Gear’s hatch and came out, the boss came over looking excited.
“Of course. I’ve seen it a few times in Battle Gear matches. But most users were veteran masters who had mastered martial arts…”
Ah… Well, in my case, I’m boosting it with a ridiculous amount of magic power. I’m cheating a little. Master said, “If you don’t get caught, it ain’t cheating”… that kind of thing? A bit different maybe. Since it’s still ‘Battle Spirit Method’, it’s not against the rules.
“Boss! The brat inside is safe thanks to the cockpit shield, but the machine’s body is wrecked! This is a total write-off…”
“Seriously…”
The factory people swarmed around the pale gourd blown into the junk pile.
“Oi oi, seriously…”
“The body is twisted. Terrifying…”
“Someone bring a crowbar! The rear hatch is warped from the impact and won’t open!”
By the way, the fingers and arm of my Armed Gear that punched are also bent in weird directions like a complex fracture.
“He said he’d cover all repair costs. You heard him too, right Boss?”
“I certainly heard it but… Can that brat pay?”
“Apparently he’s a prince of Helgaia, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Hmm. Then it’s fine…”
Good, no problems with this.
“Carrol, sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go eat lunch.”
“You did it flashily again…”
When I went to Carrol who was watching, she had an exasperated smile. Lara next to her had a similar twitching smile.
“Judging people by appearance leads to painful experiences; he learned that firsthand, right?”
“Well, true, even I, as a noble, thought that attitude was questionable for royalty. I hope he reflects a little.”
I wonder. Lirisha was like that when we first met too, but she properly considered her position in the ‘Academy’ and corrected her attitude. She stopped throwing her weight around as a noble, but it’s annoying that she still treats me like a country bumpkin. While I was thinking about that, Keel came over from the other side.
“It’s okay, he just fainted. No need to worry.”
“I’m not worried at all, though?”
“Ah, ahh, is that so…”
Why do I have to worry about such an arrogant and rude pale gourd? Besides, I properly pulled my punch so he wouldn’t get injured, so there’s no way he’s badly hurt.
“Well then, we’ll be going now. I’m so hungry I’m about to faint.”
“Eh? Ah, in that case, you should go to the cafeteria right in front after you leave here. It’s not a stylish shop for girls, but it’s cheap, delicious, and has volume, so I think you’ll get full.”
“Heh. Shall we go try it? Carrol.”
“I don’t mind.”
We slipped through the buzzing factory people and headed to the cafeteria recommended by Keel. Ah, I’m hungry…
