Chapter 53: Most Things Can Be Solved With Brute Force
Because of Aoi-san’s sudden appearance, Kazuma had been unable to find out the crucial Gift. However, he didn’t give up and decided to try again. Kazuma called out to Souji, who was bantering with Aoi-san.
“Um~, so what Gift are you Copying right now?”
“Hm? Oh, that’s—”
Just as Souji was about to answer Kazuma’s question, Aoi-san whacked him on the head with a supakoon.
“I told you, what are you trying to say! And you too! Could you stop asking such strange things!”
“I don’t think it’s strange at all! Just as there’s the saying ‘enemy reconnaissance,’ I’m merely gathering information!”
“Hmph! Even so, could you please stop doing that in such a public place? You’re not our only enemy, you know.”
Not to be outdone, Aoi-san also glared at Kazuma. He didn’t break his resolute demeanor even when glared at by a beautiful girl. Or so it seemed, but Kazuma then acted deferentially, like a salaryman sucking up to his boss.
“Can’t we work something out here~?”
“Where did all that earlier vigor go…?”
“Hahahaha! Well, isn’t it fine? Do you think I’d lose just because it’s known?”
At those words, everyone in the venue tensed up with killing intent. No one intended to lose. Everyone was aiming to win. Souji’s remark had turned everyone present into an enemy.
“Whoa…”
Kazuma couldn’t help but be impressed. Souji’s absolute confidence likely stemmed from his past glories. It was a statement backed by his record of participating in the Academy Battle Tournament since his first year and leading the First Academy to victory for two consecutive years.
“I wonder about that…”
“Hayato, huh? Sorry, but I won’t let you complain.”
“Yeah, I know. I know your strength all too well.”
“I’m looking forward to it, you know? You’re the only one who’s ever managed to hand me a defeat. I bet you’ve gotten stronger than last year, right?”
“Of course. I’ll be sure to carve the two letters of ‘defeat’ onto you.”
“Fuhahahaha! I can’t wait for it now…”
Just as Hayato and Souji were glaring at each other, Tennoji Yayoi from the Second Esper Academy and, likewise from the Second Academy, Isurugi Kanna, cut in.
“Hey, hey, what are you two getting all worked up about? Let us in on it too, eh?”
“That’s right. We’d appreciate it if ya didn’t carry on the conversation ignoring us~”
The Second Esper Academy, last year’s runner-up. Naturally, they had a history with the First Academy. Moreover, the Second Academy had been the runner-up for two consecutive years. It should be clear by now. Their path to victory had been blocked by Kenzaki Souji every time. It was only natural that they saw Souji as a rival even more so than Hayato did.
“Oh, it’s you, Ojou. Sorry, but we’ll be taking the championship this time too.”
“What’re ya sayin’ so selfishly? We ain’t gonna lose this year.”
“Kanna. Could you not steal my lines?”
“Hahahaha. I’ll take on a challenge from anyone, you know?”
Everyone smiled back at Souji’s audacious grin. ‘Bring it on, this time we’ll make you cry,’ the athletes were brimming with motivation.
“(Uhyo~~~. Fighting spirit maxed out. Everyone’s brimming with motivation, huh~)”
Feeling the tense air in the venue, Kazuma shivered with excitement. Each and every one of them was a beast starved for victory. After some preliminary practice, these worthy rivals would compete for supremacy. Although Kazuma wished for peace, he didn’t dislike fighting itself. A contest of skill without lives on the line was more than welcome.
That said, unfortunately for Kazuma, his only appearance would be in the Crown Battle.
◇◇◇◇
The next day, after finishing breakfast, Kazuma and the others were in the meeting room assigned to the Seventh Academy.
The agenda was to confirm the Academy Battle Tournament schedule and the Crown Battle formation.
The Academy Battle Tournament is held over multiple days, like the Olympics. Kazuma would participate in the main event, the Crown Battle. It was basically the same as the training conducted at the academy, a battle royale format using Virtual Space.
“Well then, Satsuki-kun and I will head off first.”
“Eh?”
Kazuma, who hadn’t received any particular explanation, stared blankly with his mouth agape as Hayato stood up.
“Ahaha. It can’t be helped that you’re surprised. Until the actual Academy Battle Tournament, students from each academy will be practicing. The remaining two days are for a full dress rehearsal. That said, the final day is a day off. To ensure everyone’s in peak condition for the challenge.”
“Hah. I see.”
“Well, generally, the first half is for practicing various events, and the latter half is for Crown Battle rehearsals. A practical combat format using AI.”
“Huh. So, why am I being called out all of a sudden?”
“Isn’t that a simple matter? It’s because you’re the key to this whole thing.”
It was a nice smile, but for Kazuma, it wasn’t good news. He had heard that the other Support Course students were going sightseeing; he hadn’t been told he’d be stuck training with the President.
“Objection!”
“Overruled. Not approved.”
“Uwoooooooohn…”
“Well then, shall we go to the VR devices?”
Kazuma, whose shoulder was grabbed, was escorted away by Hayato just like that. His planned sightseeing trip was completely ruined.
The room Hayato brought him to was filled with a large number of VR machines. Moreover, they were the latest models. As expected of the First Area. Kazuma was made keenly aware of the disparity; the way they spent money was different from a rural place like the Seventh Area.
“Will we be using these for the actual event too?”
“Nope. It’ll be an even newer model than these.”
“Ugh, seriously?”
He wondered if there was any point in developing so many, but there was. There were many things in the adult world that Kazuma simply didn’t know about.
“Alright, for now, I’ll set it to the same field as the actual event.”
“Roger!”
And so, he immediately dived into Virtual Space.
Kazuma ignored the detailed settings and, as usual, descended into Virtual Space in his school uniform.
The field used for the Crown Battle was a deserted island. However, it wasn’t an ordinary deserted island. It was divided into five areas: a volcanic area, a ruined city area, a dense jungle area, a desert area, and a wasteland area.
In Virtual Space, the flow of time is different from reality. Thanks to that, the participants can fight without holding back. Moreover, since the Crown Battle is a battle royale format, they can fight until the very end.
“Hey, Satsuki-kun.”
“Ah, hey. So this is the Crown Battle field, huh.”
“Yep. It’s huge, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t it too huge?”
Kazuma and Hayato were on the rooftop of a towering building in the ruined city area. As far as they could see were the areas he’d been told about: volcanic, desert, ruined city, dense jungle, wasteland. The battle royale would take place across these five areas.
“Well, the area will shrink as the number of participants decreases, though.”
“That system is reminiscent of a certain game, isn’t it?”
“That can’t be helped, can it? At the start, there are a total of one hundred and four participants—thirteen representatives from each of the First to Eighth Academies—so if the area isn’t large, the match would end too quickly.”
“Well, that’s true. The feeling of battles happening in various locations is what makes it interesting, right?”
“Exactly. Strategy becomes important too.”
“You can aim for things like ‘the fisherman’s profit,’ after all~”
“Yeah. That’s why it’s the most exciting event, with chances for major upsets and all, but…”
“For the past two years, it’s been Souji-senpai’s unrivaled show, hasn’t it?”
“That’s right~…”
“But you were so close, Kaichou!”
Hayato only started participating in the Academy Battle Tournament in his second year. During his first year, he was looked down upon and scorned for being a thread-user, but through painstaking effort, he rose to become the strongest in his grade by the end of his first year and was chosen as a representative in his second year.
In his first Academy Battle Tournament, he drew attention for the rarity of being a thread-user, but he couldn’t defeat Kenzaki Souji, who was already famous at the time as the strongest active high school student. However, Hayato was the only one who had ever managed to hand Souji a defeat. He skillfully wielded his thread Gift, which was considered unsuitable for combat, bewildered Souji, and cornered him to the point where he was just a step away from victory. But due to Souji’s final, hidden Gift, Hayato lost, falling just short.
“In the end, if you can’t win, it’s meaningless.”
“Kaichou…”
“Well, let’s stop with the gloomy talk. Shall we go over the rules one more time?”
Clapping his hands with a pan, Hayato cut the conversation short and proceeded to confirm the Crown Battle rules.
“The Crown Battle is, literally, a battle royale for the crown. The format involves Support Course students from each academy holding a crown, which others try to snatch. So, one team consists of ten representative players and three members whose role is to flee with the crown, for a total of thirteen.”
“There’s a real crown and fake (dummy) crowns, right?”
“That’s right. This time, I want you, Satsuki-kun, to flee with the real crown.”
“Time is unlimited. The rules are battle royale format. It’s going to be constantly nerve-wracking!”
“That’s right. You can’t let your guard down for even a moment.”
“By the way, Support Course students are allowed to be armed, right?”
“Yep. Firearms are limited to Handguns, but bladed weapons are pretty much anything goes. There have been past instances where Support Course students managed to defeat Combat Course students who attacked them. Well, but they also get unilaterally trampled from long range, though.”
“Hmm, hmm. We can check armaments now, right?”
“You can. Try opening the system screen.”
At his words, Kazuma opened the system screen. There, he found he could change everything from clothing to armaments, and even basic stats like height and weight. Since this was practice mode, there was a considerable degree of freedom. It was even possible to become a girl. It was designed so it could be enjoyed in various ways.
“Hoho… As for weapons,”
The weapons screen showed a large number of firearms, but since they were completely unusable in the actual competition, Kazuma excluded them from his choices. As Kazuma scrolled through the vast array of armaments, he grew excited by the diverse selection and began choosing them one by one.
“Satsuki-kun. I understand your excitement, but your role is to survive even one second longer. It would be good to equip a Handgun and a shield. And then a powered suit. That’s the safest choice.”
“President.”
Kazuma spoke to Hayato, who was giving him polite advice.
“Hm? What is it?”
“I just want to confirm… does the combat data here get saved in the records (logs)?”
“Yeah. It all gets saved. But only we can view it. It would be disadvantageous if data from practice sessions were viewed by others, you see.”
“So, that means it won’t leak to the outside?”
“That’s right. Previously, there was an incident where someone bribed an administrator to steal data, so it’s been completely locked down since then. Only participating athletes can see it. Also, just so you know, recent systems require things like biometric authentication, so there are restrictions like ‘viewing prohibited by anyone other than the individual themselves’.”
“Hoho…! That’s excellent news.”
Hearing Hayato’s explanation, Kazuma had an idea. A brilliant idea. A clever way to lead the Seventh Esper Academy to victory.
“President. Won’t you fight me?”
“Eh? Are you serious?”
“Absolutely serious, super serious.”
“Um, I really don’t think that’s a good idea, you know? True, the reason I chose Satsuki-kun was his combat strength, uncharacteristic of the Support Course, and his good reflexes. But still, I think it’s impossible for you to fight me, don’t you? Without Gifts, I think it’d be a good match, though.”
“It’s fine, President. I’m strong, you know.”
Even the usually gentle Hayato couldn’t overlook that remark. If it were a light joke, it might have been fine. However, Kazuma was serious. This was something he, as a senior, felt he ought to teach him—who stood superior.
“Satsuki-kun. There are some things even I cannot forgive. That careless statement of yours insults many Gifted! I’ll teach you a little something as your senior.”
“In ten minutes, we’ll see who’s superior.”
Kazuma, having chosen his weapon, faced Hayato, who wore an irritated expression.
“It’s also a senior’s duty to discipline an ill-mannered junior, you know.”
“Please come at me seriously, okay? Otherwise, it’ll be over quickly.”
◇◇◇◇
At the same time, in the meeting room of the First Esper Academy, Aoi was leading a meeting.
“The ones to watch out for this year are the Second and Seventh. I think you know the Second is always in contention for the championship, but the Seventh has Kiryuuin Hayato. The Indomitable Thread User. He was the only one who handed Munetsugu a loss last year.”
Displayed on the monitor set up in the meeting room were the representative athletes from the Second Esper Academy and Hayato. Just as Aoi pointed at them and was about to continue her explanation, Munetsugu stopped her.
“No, wait. It’s not wrong to be wary of Hayato, but the number one concern is Satsuki Kazuma.”
“Satsuki Kazuma is that kid from the Support Course, right? He only appears in the Crown Battle, so why do we need to be wary of him?”
“You know it too, don’t you? The arrival of The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Witch, the Holy Maiden, and the Knights of the Round Table at the Seventh Esper Academy made headlines, didn’t it?”
“I know that, but surely you’re not saying he’s the one who’s as significant as all that?”
“Yeah. There’s definitely something about him. He’s not just some Support Course student.”
“But the Crown Battle is a battle royale where all representative athletes participate, right? Even if he’s not an ordinary Support Course student, there’s no need to be that wary, is there?”
“That carelessness can be fatal. In fact, I learned that the hard way. I knew Hayato’s threads were amazing, but I underestimated him, thinking a mere thread user couldn’t be that big of a deal. What was the result? If things had gone just a little differently, I would have been the one to lose.”
“…You’re right.”
“That’s why I won’t be careless anymore. Even if the opponent is from the Support Course, I’ll thoroughly investigate them and formulate countermeasures!”
Given that Munetsugu, already renowned as the strongest, was showing no signs of carelessness or complacency whatsoever, the athletes of the First Academy were already convinced of their victory. However, Munetsugu alone couldn’t shake off a feeling of unease. An unknown fear was appealing to his instincts.
That Satsuki Kazuma was no ordinary person.