Chapter 53: Team Division

“Wait a minute?! Why me?!”

“Because I thought you have the aptitude for a Commander. Actually, aren’t you bringing the first-years together well in the dorm?”

Lirisha stated this nonchalantly to the panicked Carrol.

It’s true, among the first-years in the dorm, Carrol is easy to talk to and attentive, so she’s quite relied upon. I also think she has the qualities of a leader.

“Sensei. I also recommend Carrol.”

“Ah, then me too~.”

When I raised my hand and followed Lirisha, Sherry also jumped on board.

“You guys are just saying that on a whim, right…?”

Well, yes, that’s true. But I think she’ll pull us together better than if those two did it.

“Is there anyone else?”

Sophie-sensei asked, but no one newly raised their hand. I thought they would each nominate a leader from within their own dorm groups, so it’s a bit surprising that the Azure Dragon students had no reaction. I totally thought they’d recommend Pearl.

No, is Pearl unsuited to be a leader…? With her pace-setting personality, I feel like communication would be tough. The other two might have realized that and not raised their hands.

“We could decide by anonymous voting, but I feel like no matter who is chosen, there will be dissatisfaction. Then, as it will also be a good opportunity to get to know each other, let’s have a team battle with those three as leaders.”

At Sophie-sensei’s words, a slight tension, zawa, ran through the atmosphere of the small auditorium.

A team battle? With the three of them as leaders?

When Sophie-sensei operated the console on the podium, the names of the twelve of us were projected in the air behind her.

Among them, only the names of Hatoba, Rizlet, and Carrol were smoothly extracted and placed at the top.

“The team division will be done randomly. No complaints regardless of what kind of teams form.”

Just as a small pip sounded, our names instantly lined up under the three names with a papapapapat.

Umm, I’m in… Hatoba’s team, huh. I would have preferred Carrol’s team, but I guess it’s better than Rizlet’s team…

Wait?! I mean, Carrol’s team has everyone from the Black Tortoise Dormitory except me! I’m the only one left out!

■ Hatoba Team

Hatoba Mil Lassei (Custom Frame) [White Tiger]

Nero Silhoueska (Lightning Frame) [Black Tortoise]

Nakazawa Koto (Lightning Frame) [Azure Dragon]

Pienetta Autumn (Custom Frame) [White Tiger]

■ Rizlet Team

Rizlet Frau Mismede (Ritter Frame) [Vermilion Bird]

Lumiel (Titan Frame) [Vermilion Bird]

Liseclair (Titan Frame) [White Tiger]

Ann Shelfus (Mystic Frame) [Azure Dragon]

■ Carrol Team

Carrolina Liette (Ritter Frame) [Black Tortoise]

Sheryl Gaspar (Clock Frame) [Black Tortoise]

Pearl Frennel (Ritter Frame) [Azure Dragon]

Lirisha Millian (Mystic Frame) [Black Tortoise]

So Pearl is in Carrol’s group instead of me… What is this feeling of being left out…

“That’s too bad, Nero. As expected, your daily conduct…”

“I will definitely beat up Sherry at least…!”

“I’m joking!”

I glared sharply at Sherry who was teasing me.

Hmph, I want Carrol to become the leader, but since we’re enemies, I won’t hold back.

My teammates other than Hatoba are… the black-haired girl from Eashen and Miss Boobs…

As for the machines, two Customs and two Lightnings. Isn’t that quite unbalanced?

But Rizlet’s team has overlapping Titans, and Carrol’s team has overlapping Ritters… Rizlet’s team looks tough… I feel like if Pearl were in there too, it would be extremely hard.

“The combat field is the Sea of Trees. You lose if all members become unable to act, or if the ‘Crown’ in your territory is destroyed. This time, there will be no Home Base or map data for the Crown.”

A Y-shaped field was projected onto the video where the names were floating. It’s quite wide, and a very strangely shaped field… Is it for three-way battles? Does that mean one of those protruding parts is our territory?

“Where you place the Crown is up to you. Please consult with your teammates to decide. Just like in the ‘Inter-School Match’, the Crown will not appear on the video monitor unless you get close. Also, in this field, you can see your allies’ positions, but you will not be able to find enemy machines from a long distance, so please be careful. Now then, head to the Unit Room in thirty minutes. Please formulate a strategy within your respective teams by then.”

Following Sensei’s words, Pearl came this way. Well, three of Carrol’s team are here, so it’s only natural. Then I guess I’ll go to Hatoba’s place too.

Of the two who were with Hatoba, Liseclair left and headed towards Rizlet. The black-haired girl—Nakazawa Koto—and I joined up there.

“Alright! Hatoba Team is assembled!”

“So? Do you have a strategy?”

“Yeah! Search and destroy!”

When I asked, Hatoba declared it full of confidence. Search and destroy?! Do you call that a strategy?!

“In this case, there’s no point in defending. The more the opponent’s numbers decrease, the more advantageous it becomes for us. So, first strike wins; just find them quickly and crush them quickly.”

Nu… Does she have a point?

I slightly flinched at Hatoba who stated that so confidently. I originally have a first-strike-wins fighting style too, so…

“Then we won’t place guards for the ‘Crown’?”

“We won’t. I mean, if it were a proper ‘Inter-School Match’ it’d be one thing, but this is a battle with less than half the numbers, right? If there’s a machine not moving in our own camp, it’s like telling them ‘It’s nearby’, right? Even if they can’t see the Crown, if they find the guard machine, we’re out, aren’t we?”

Well, certainly. Which means our team is going to leave the ‘Crown’ abandoned and everyone will go to defeat the opponents. …Is this really going to be okay?

Koto raised her hand slightly.

“Since you are the leader, I will follow your instructions, but in that case, which team will we head towards?”

“Rizlet’s team, of course! I won’t be satisfied until I beat the crap out of that cat girl who’s getting carried away!”

I think she’s a snow leopard, not a cat. Or rather, this is completely a personal grudge… It’s not a strategy or anything…

“Besides, that Carrol girl is more the cautious type, right? If we take on someone like that, it’ll drag out. We strike Rizlet first while we have spare energy.”

Hou. She seems like she’s not thinking anything, but she actually is… maybe?

Certainly, I don’t think Carrol would use a ‘Charge!’ strategy like Hatoba. That’s exactly why this suicide attack strategy makes me a bit anxious…

“Once the match starts, we aim for the center of the three territories. The other side will probably head there with two or three machines too. We’ll advance closer to Rizlet’s territory as much as possible, and crush them one by one with everyone as soon as we find them. If we can crush them all there’s no problem, but if we seem to struggle, you two Lightnings head for the ‘Crown’. I think either Liseclair or Lumiel, one of the Titan Frame group, will probably be guarding it, but if you slip past them and destroy the ‘Crown’, it’s our win.”

“You make it sound so easy…”

“Yes, honestly…”

Koto, a fellow Lightning, and I cast cold stares at Hatoba who threw all of that onto us.

It’s true that Titan Frames have sluggish movements, and for Lightning Frames which specialize in speed, they are in a sense easy to fight. You could even say it’s the machine Titan Frames are worst against.

But that doesn’t mean a Lightning can overwhelmingly defeat a Titan.

After all, they are huge and hard. And the power of a single strike is strong.

A thinly-armored Lightning would be scrapped by almost a single hit. Yet our attacks have a hard time getting through.

In other words, Lightning and Titan are machine frames that are mutually bad matchups for each other.

Well, if it’s just destroying the ‘Crown’, we don’t need to defeat the opponent, so I think we could do it if we slip past them…

“Hey, hey, wouldn’t it be better if we showed each other our machines and performance while we have the time? That makes it easier to coordinate and stuff~.”

Pointlessly emphasizing her cleavage, boobs… I mean Pienetta, made that proposal.

True, I also only know the frame types of the machines of the three people here. I’d like to know what kind of fighting style they have, even if just briefly.

“Got it. Then I’ll go first.”

When Hatoba operated her smartphone, a video was attached to an email at the ranking address with a ping.

When I opened it, footage of a Frame Gear I’d never seen before fighting played. What is this…?! Is this Hatoba’s Frame Gear?

“How about it, this is my ‘Linddrake’!”

Rampaging in the video was a Frame Gear that truly looked like a dragon.

It nominally had a human shape, but first of all, its head was shaped like a dragon’s. And it also had a thick tail like a dragon’s. Both arms also had parts modeled after a dragon. Are those gauntlets?

It’s a Frame Gear as if expressing the race of its pilot, Hatoba, the Dragonewt. Can you really make Custom Frames this freely?

Its size is one size larger than my Lucifer. It doesn’t match a Titan Frame, though. A medium-sized machine?

“It’s basically a melee-type Frame Gear. Gauntlets made of Hihiirokane are the main equipment.”

Hihiirokane gauntlets… She probably fights using ‘Battle Spirit Method’ too. Gauntlets to reduce damage to the arms, huh. Sounds expensive…

“Then next is my ‘Night Stinger’~.”

The machine in the video sent by Pienetta was also unusual in a different direction from Hatoba’s.

It’s not humanoid. What is this… Scorpion type?

Even so, it has four legs. But the two large pincers and the tail-like thing extending from the back to the front definitely evoke a scorpion.

It’s quite a large machine. Looks like Lucifer could ride it. A longsword was attached to the tip of the tail, and it had two cannons on its back.

“Basically a machine for mid-range combat, I guess? Attack with cannons, and if they get close, handle them with the sword. Ah, the pincers on both arms are strong too. They can snip off the limbs of anything up to a Ritter Frame.”

Oou… Quite a nasty machine… If I ever fight this, I have to be careful not to get pinched. Its armor looks quite thick too, and it’d be a troublesome machine to fight…

“Next is me. This is the Frame Gear I pilot, ‘Tsukuyomi’.”

Koto’s Frame Gear felt like, how should I put it, an orthodox Lightning Frame machine. After seeing eccentric Custom Frames one after another, it somehow makes me feel relieved.

It’s a slender samurai type with silver light armor. As expected, her equipment is a katana. She has a Tachi and a Wakizashi, so I wonder if she can fight dual-wielding like me. There’s also a Naginata on her back. A spare weapon?

For a Lightning Frame, it still has some defensive power. I think it’s probably more durable than my Lucifer.

I won’t lose in speed, though.

“Lastly, me. Umm, then this video. The machine’s name is ‘Lucifer’.”

The video I sent to everyone was the one where I used [Zero Gravity] for the first time. I think this video probably best shows what kind of machine Lucifer is.

Two seconds after the match started, the opponent’s Frame Gear was split perfectly in two, top and bottom. Yep, easy to understand.

“Hah?”

Huh?

Here is a simplified roster. The world map will come soon…

■ ‘Inter-School Match’ Grade Ranking

1. Rizlet Frau Mismede (Vermilion Bird) Mismede Kingdom

2. Pearl Frennel (Azure Dragon) Demon Kingdom Xenoah

3. Nero Silhoueska (Black Tortoise) Elfrau Kingdom

4. Hatoba Mil Lassei (White Tiger) Lassei Military Kingdom

5. Nakazawa Koto (Azure Dragon) Divine Nation of Eashen

6. Liseclair (White Tiger) Strain Kingdom

7. Carrolina Liette (Black Tortoise) Regulus Empire

8. Lumiel (Vermilion Bird) Holy Tree Kingdom of Aizen

9. Lirisha Millian (Black Tortoise) Elfrau Kingdom

Reserves:

     10. Ann Shelfus (Azure Dragon) Magic Kingdom of Felsen

     11. Pienetta Autumn (White Tiger) The Allent Theocracy

     12. Sheryl Gaspar (Black Tortoise) Regulus Empire