Chapter 64: The Opening Ceremony

“Alright, then standby here until the opening ceremony. The first-year and second-year matches start immediately after the opening ceremony, so go to the bathroom now, okay? It might be a long haul.”

When Flare-sensei said “long haul,” she probably meant if the match isn’t decided until the time limit.

For the record, the ‘Inter-School Match Bifrost’ is set at an hour and a half per match, and the comprehensive match is three hours.

If it’s not decided by then, victory or defeat is determined by the number of surviving machines and their degree of damage.

Well, it’s rare for a match to be decided by a time over, though.

In a comprehensive match, it’s over when half are defeated, and in grade-level matches, it’s usually ‘game over’ when the ‘Crown’ is shattered.

In grade-level matches, winning by defeating all opponents is rare. When the numbers decrease on both friend and foe sides, it becomes easier to aim for the ‘Crown’. Normally, they aim for that.

Well, even if it’s a long haul, it’s an hour and a half, but I should probably go to the bathroom just in case…

When I returned from the bathroom, on a bench in the hallway on the way back to the lobby, Carrol had her eyes closed, looking down, and was muttering something butsu-butsu. What? It’s kind of scary…

“Carrol? What are you doing?”

“…! Ah, Nero… Seeing the ‘Four Princesses’, it really hit me that the ‘Inter-School Match Bifrost’ is starting. I was just calming myself down a bit.”

“What? Are you nervous?”

Saying that, I sat down next to Carrol.

“Aren’t you nervous, Nero?”

“Not really. It’s not like we’re going to die, and I don’t think we need to be that stressed about it. Sensei said it too, right? It’s a ‘festival’. Then I think it’s better to enjoy it. Even if we lose, we can just win next year.”

Honestly, I don’t even feel like getting nervous. As long as there’s no presence of death, this is ‘play’. Then it’s better to have fun. Well, ‘play’ isn’t fun unless you go all out, so I’ll do it seriously to the bitter end, though.

“You’re quite a big shot, Nero…”

“…Are you indirectly being sarcastic because I’m small?”

“No, no. I said it because I really thought so.”

Carrol hurriedly waved her hands in front of her. Hmph, well, I’ll let it slide.

Thinking it might be better to leave her alone for a bit, I stood up and decided to return to the lobby.

“I hear it’s good to do abdominal breathing when you’re nervous. Yoshino-sama said it calms your mind and body.”

“Heh. Yoshino-sama… eh, Yoshino-sama, you mean the Principal’s younger sister, Yoshino-sama?! Wait, Nero, what do you mean?!”

Somehow Carrol is panicking behind me. Huh? Did I not tell everyone about Yoshino-sama? Oh well.

When I returned to the lobby, the upperclassmen and lowerclassmen were relaxing here and there. The opening ceremony will start in about thirty minutes. And our first-year and second-year matches will start immediately after.

Well, since we’ve come this far, there’s no point in struggling. I also sat down on a sofa in the lobby and decided to watch footage of past ‘Inter-School Match Bifrost’ playing on the installed monitor.

“Umm, is this last year’s fourth-year match…?”

Looking at the date and description displayed in the top left of the screen, I think so, but. Ah, that’s Rimiera-senpai’s ‘Indra’ that was just shown. So it’s from when Senpai was a fourth-year. ‘Indra’ looks quite different from how it does now, too.

The one fighting is a large black Frame Gear with a horn on its head. A Titan Frame? No, that feels a bit off for that…?

“Ritter… no, Custom Frame?”

“Oh, you figured it out.”

Hearing a voice from above, I looked up, and Rimiera-senpai was standing behind the sofa before I knew it.

“That’s the ‘Academy’s’ Custom Frame, ‘Doomsday’. The pilot is Zeros, the [One-Horned Battle Ogre].”

“[One-Horned Battle Ogre]?”

“It’s an alias Zeros got because he’s a Horned race from Mismede.”

Saying that, Rimiera-senpai sat down next to me.

Horned race… demi-humans with horns on their heads. One or two, the number varies by individual.

They’re large, strong, and a belligerent race. I’ve seen Master beat one up before.

On the monitor, he charges in without flinching at all at Indra unleashing lightning strikes, swinging around a war mace like an iron club. I mean, aren’t you going to defend?

Eventually, a war mace landed a direct hit on Indra’s shoulder, and the left arm was crushed and torn off. Just when I thought this was decided, something like an arrow with a wire attached was launched from Indra’s right arm and pierced Doomsday’s neck.

In the next instant, an electric shock strong enough to make you think lightning had struck flowed through the wire, burning Doomsday’s machine from the inside out.

Taking a direct hit from a lightning Gear Spell, Doomsday stopped moving for an instant.

Not missing that opening, Indra detached the wire, drew a dagger from behind its waist with that arm, and mercilessly pierced the cockpit.

“Ooh… Being able to turn it around from there despite having an arm torn off is amazing, isn’t it?”

“That’s what they call ‘Let them cut your flesh so you can sever their bones’.”

Preparing for a small sacrifice of your own to deal a fatal heavy blow to the opponent, was it? Is one arm a small sacrifice?

As I was looking at Indra which had lost one arm, a rain of bullets suddenly poured down from the sky, and in an instant, Indra became a honeycomb. Eh?

A white flying machine roared as it flew over it.

“I got taken out.”

“Ah, right! You got taken out!”

Rimiera-senpai sulked, looking unamused.

“It was my mistake for neglecting to check my surroundings. I won’t make a blunder like that today.”

“That white machine is?”

“Odette Relivan’s transformable Frame Gear, ‘Gunparade’. Looking down from above like that, I’ll definitely shoot it down today.”

Odette Relivan… Ah, that bespectacled girl who was among the ‘Four Princesses’. If I recall, [White Imperial Eagle]?

It’s the same type of machine as the Frame Gear piloted by Duchess Linze, one of the Nine Duchesses, ‘Helmwige’. A Custom Frame.

It’s a machine that transforms according to the situation and excels at hit-and-run tactics. When you try to counterattack after taking an attack, it’s already no longer there.

It’s like a Lightning Frame that dashes through the sky.

Just like a Lightning Frame, its weak point is its thin armor, but it has the strength of attacking from the sky.

“It was a wasteland stage at this time. So it must have been in plain sight from above. I’d be grateful if it was a forest, urban area, or cave today…”

Ah, in those stages, a flying machine wouldn’t have the advantage, right. Especially a cave stage would be tough. Probably half of that machine’s characteristics would become unusable. Since it can’t fly.

However, a cave stage is also a demon gate for us Lightning Frames. We can’t move freely.

Titan Frames also have their movement restricted due to their size.

Considering things like cave-ins caused by magic, Mystic Frames can’t fully utilize their abilities either. A cave stage is practically a monopoly for Ritter Frames.

Rimiera-senpai’s Indra is on the larger side, but not so big that it can’t move in a cave.

If she fought that flying machine in that stage, there’s about an 80% chance Rimiera-senpai would win.

The stage decision really is important… And the time of day, too.

Please let the first-year stage not be night… I’m regretting just a little bit choosing equipment that makes the machine glow.

“Whoops, it’s almost time. Opening ceremonies are tedious and a pain, aren’t they. They should just start the matches right away.”

“I totally agree.”

Several students had begun gathering near the lobby entrance.

Rimiera-senpai and I moved to where our respective grades were gathering.

Carrol also arrived a little later.

“Did you calm down?”

“Somehow. Now it’s just doing what I can with all my might.”

It seems she’s relieved her tension nicely. Counting on you, Leader.

“Is everyone present? We will now move towards the venue.”

We walked in a group trailing behind the leading teacher.

Exiting the building that served as the waiting room, we passed in front of the long school building, and proceeded through a tree-lined avenue with the wide athletic field to our side. It’s a vast campus, just like ours. Well, since they handle Frame Gears, it probably inevitably becomes like that.

Eventually, we arrived at an octagonal building. Is this the match venue for the ‘Inter-School Match Bifrost’?

Entering the venue, we were again guided to a large waiting room.

Even just the representative students are sixty people, and if you include the students acting as maintenance assistants and the leading teachers, nearly a hundred people in one room feels a little suffocating. Especially since I’m short…

“Then we will enter the venue by grade. Please line up by grade ranking, starting with the fifth years.”

Led by the fifth-year homeroom teacher, Rimiera-senpai, Chiba-senpai, and the other fifth years exited the waiting room first.

The fourth years, third years, and second years exited one after another, and finally it was our turn as first years to exit.

Lined up by ranking, I’m third, right after Pearl. It’s hard to see the front… Kuh, next year I’ll become first place and be at the front.

Led by our homeroom teacher Sophie-sensei, we proceeded down the hallway and stood by in the wings behind the stage.

Even though it’s early morning, it seems many spectators have already gathered in the venue.

That being said, most of them are affiliates of the ‘Academy’ and the ‘School’, and the rest are invited guests like the families of the representative members.

But these families of the representative members are a bit troublesome. Don’t we have two princesses even among our first years? In other words, royalty are just normally present…

As expected, they can’t just be in the general seating, so it seems they watch from something like special seats.

『Now, the newly enrolled first-years of this year! Will promising rising stars who betray our expectations appear! Everyone, please welcome them with warm applause! First-year representative members, enter!』

While feeling put off by the live commentary that considerably raised the hurdle, we walked down the flower path through the spectator seats amidst a rain of applause. From the opposite side, the first-years of the ‘School’ were taking the stage.

Glancing at the large screen installed on the stage, the names and facial photos of the first-years who just entered were scrolling from bottom to top. It’s the student ID photo. I have kind of sleepy eyes there. Won’t they let me retake that…

We went straight up onto the wide stage.

Already on the stage, both schools were lined up in rows by grade. We first-years also lined up at the end of them.

『Now, at last, this year’s ‘Inter-School Match Bifrost’ begins! The cover has been taken off the fiery battle, and who on earth will grasp victory at the end of this death struggle! Please watch the exploits of these young heroes closely with your own eyes!』

Looking over Pearl’s shoulder at the woman doing live commentary with a microphone on stage, I involuntarily did a double take.

Wait, why is Yoshino-sama doing the live commentary?! No, you don’t need to look this way and wink, okay?! I don’t need a playful tongue stick-out (tehepero) either!