Chapter 40: The [Floating Sword] 'Fragarach'
A pale ultramarine machine dashed across the grassland field. Holding a sword in its right hand and a round shield in its left, it was an orthodox Ritter Frame machine. It was the Frame Gear ‘Siegfried’, piloted by Carrol. While watching the screen, I turned my gaze to the other machine. Carrol’s opponent’s machine didn’t have a human shape. Its legs were like a dog’s, a so-called theropod type, its body jutted forward, and it had no arms. Instead, something like missile pods were attached, and there were even two pairs of cannon turrets on the left and right. A custom frame. First time seeing one. It’s a type where the Frame Gear is intentionally reduced to a ‘vehicle’ to create a form strategically advantageous for the battle situation, maybe…? In fact, against Carrol, whose only means of attack was a sword, the opponent was loaded with all kinds of weapons like missiles, cannons, and machine guns. Carrol seemed to be struggling against the attacks from long range. When she tried to get close, a barrage was laid down, thwarting her initial movement. It’s been a repetition of that over and over for a while now. I think Carrol is doing well continuing to dodge.
“Does the other side run out of ammo?”
“Unless they have the ‘Infinite Magazine’ equipment, they will run out, but I don’t think a second-year would have that. They seem to be carrying a considerable amount, but surely soon… Ah, look.”
At the direction Lara next to me pointed, the barrels of the vulcan cannon were spinning empty with a clack-clack sound, unable to fire bullets. Just when I thought Carrol would make a move, another missile flew toward Siegfried. Only the vulcan cannon ran out; do they still have other ammo? From there, the opponent’s firepower gradually weakened. Missiles ran out, grenades ran out, and finally, even the cannons became unusable.
“Seems they ran out of magic power too. Once that happens, there’s nothing left but close combat, but with that machine, it’s as good as checkmate.”
As per Lara’s commentary, Carrol’s Siegfried approached without difficulty and tried to tackle it, but the opponent dodged it easily. In the next instant, Siegfried’s sword flashed, slicing through the cockpit protruding from the front. BEEEEEEP!, the buzzer announcing combat inability rang out.
『That’s it! Winner, Carrolina Liette!』
Receiving the referee’s declaration of victory, Carrol’s win was decided. The letters F → E were displayed on the result screen. With this, Carrol is E-Rank too. We welcomed Carrol as she came out of the Frame Unit.
“Congratulations on your promotion.”
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks. Man, I’m tired…”
Wiping sweat with a towel draped over her shoulders, Carrol slumped into a chair that was there.
“You really look exhausted.”
“I am really exhausted… I didn’t think I’d experience a situation where I couldn’t let my guard down for even a second for such a long time. The pressure of it being a ‘Promotion Match’ piled on too, making it suffocating…”
“U-umm, here, please!”
“Woah, thanks!”
Carrol gulped down water from the bottle Lara offered. It must have been really tough.
“Haa… Finally starting to feel like I won…”
The fifth E-Rank. Her grade ranking is eleventh. Carrol is definitely a candidate for a regular member of the ‘Inter-School Match’ too.
“Winning against that opponent with a Ritter Frame is amazing!”
“Ahaha. But I did think I should have prepared at least one vulcan cannon or something.”
“You can attach a gatling gun to the shield too. Though you won’t be able to do shield bash anymore.”
“Hmm, maybe that’s an option too…”
Carrol and Lara were already discussing reinforcement plans for Siegfried. Long-range attack means, huh… In my case, my stance is to approach with high mobility and attack, so I wonder if I need a long-range attack means… But having absolutely none is also… As a means to break through helpless situations, maybe I want at least one. Maybe I should attach head vulcan cannons to Lucifer like [Windia]. No, since I went to the trouble of changing the internal mechanism to the Mystic Frame’s magitech circuit, maybe I should equip [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ here…? Zelda Onee-sama and Sharon-senpai use them too. Their versatility should be high. Let’s think about it a bit.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Hmm~? Nero-chan, you want to use [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’~?”
“Rather than want to use, I was wondering what they were like…”
After dinner that day, I tried asking Sharon-senpai, who happened to be in the dorm’s common room. Everyone was relaxing in the common room, but seeing me, a first-year, talking to the Dorm Head and Rank 3 Sharon-senpai, everyone turned eyes filled with curiosity towards us.
“[Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’, you see~, anyone can use them, but mastering them is tough~. Plus, when the number increases, you have to do a lot of things at once~.”
Saying that, Sharon-senpai stood up and fetched something like a basket from under the video monitor stand in the common room. Inside were many small cloth-like objects. What’s this?
“These are~, called Otedama (beanbags), a plaything from Eashen, but…”
Sharon-senpai picked up three beanbags and tossed them poi-poi into the air, then immediately started juggling the three beanbags from right hand to left hand, then floating into the air and back to the right hand, round and round. Ah, I know this. A street performer who came to Alente did this. Although those were rings. While I was thinking that, Sharon-senpai added one more, then another, and eventually was juggling so many beanbags I couldn’t tell how many she was handling.
“So, well, this is a repetition of ‘throw’, ‘pass’, ‘catch’, but unless you can constantly grasp where which beanbag is while rotating them, you can’t move multiple [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ freely~.”
Ehh…? Hmm, watching from the side, I can grasp where everything is, but doing it while juggling… I feel like I could do it if I got used to it.
“Spatial awareness ability, maybe? Unless you become able to grasp where everything is instantaneously at a glance, controlling multiple [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ is difficult~. Umm, look at this?”
Saying that, Sharon-senpai showed me her smartphone. Wah, a bunch of puppies in a dumpling pile are playing with Sharon-senpai. Are they dogs she keeps at her family home? After showing it, Sharon-senpai immediately pulled the smartphone back to her hand su. Oh?
“Can you tell where the black puppy was~?”
“Eh? Umm, on Sharon-senpai’s lap?”
“The white puppy?”
“I think it was sleeping on the floor. Ah, one was also peeking out from behind Sharon-senpai’s back.”
“…Could you tell how many there were in total?”
“Eh, umm… twelve?”
“…What was the tail color of the dog I was holding?”
“It was hidden by your arm, so I couldn’t see it.”
“Why do you know~?!”
When I answered, Sharon-senpai made a surprised face. No, rather than know, I was put through similar training by Master… When confronting multiple enemies alone, it’s necessary to constantly grasp where the opponents are and what they are trying to do. Mobilizing all senses—vision, hearing, everything—to capture presence, killing intent, and even intuition without missing anything. Perhaps due to that training, my instantaneous memory is good. Though I forget quickly.
“Eh~? What’s that~? What kind of training did you do…?”
“Umm, I was thrown into a settlement of about a hundred goblins. I thought I was going to die that time…”
“Is Nero-chan’s Master a demon…?”
Hmm, close but no cigar… maybe? No, she helps me properly when it’s absolutely hopeless, so I don’t think she’s a demon. She makes me do it over and over until I can, though… Huh? Maybe she is a demon…?
“Surprisingly, Nero-chan might be suited to be a [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’ user~. If you’re okay with the basics, shall I teach you?”
“Really?!”
This might be lucky. To be able to learn from the best [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’ user in the ‘Academy’. However, in the next instant, zawa, the atmosphere in the common room changed.
“Following Zelda-sama, even Sharon-sama…?”
“What is with that girl…!”
“Is she planning to aim for the position of Sharon-sama’s little sister too…?!”
Not good. The atmosphere is getting weird.
“Then, let’s talk details another day! Ah, I have to take a bath! Good night!”
Pyuu, I escaped from the common room. Because I carelessly got close to famous people in the ‘Academy’, I’m slightly floating in the dorm. Even fellow first-years treat me like a boil and don’t come to talk to me. When I think they have, it’s Onee-samas’ worshippers. Those who come to talk are divided into two types. Either they dig for information about the Onee-samas, or they criticize me. Honestly speaking, I don’t know enough about the Onee-samas to talk about them. It hasn’t even been a month since I met them. You guys know more, don’t you? That’s how I feel. The ones criticizing me say things like “A commoner like you…”, but they’ve been quiet for the past few days. Probably because I’m high in the grade ranking. At least the first-years below me shouldn’t be able to say anything. Because then it becomes “What about you who are lower than that?”, right? Well, there are still E-Rank second-years and plenty of people who pick fights. I thought challenges from lower ranks would become annoying after ranking up, but surprisingly, they didn’t come. I guess they didn’t think harassing me was worth betting ten stars. I lost a chance to earn, huh. Man, I really want to live a peaceful academy life…
