Chapter 107
Chapter 107
"Ah—hello, Shiki-kun. You've got a visitor. An extremely ill-mannered guest. A delightful intruder who burst straight into His Majesty's room in somebody else's colony. It's as shocking as snow falling in the desert. Hurry over. The situation's so wild I've stopped thinking altogether. Come before I throw my controller. Please, Shiki-kun."
After receiving that message, I defeated the assassins (bounty hunters) and rode the warship Allseye to the Oceanus naval port, then made my way to Mother Base.
The instant I stepped into Mother Base's command room, my eyes refused to believe the sight. A hole big enough for a meteor sat in the ceiling. For some reason, Tsukinami-san was lounging on the sofa nibbling sweets, the Six Sages were propping their cheeks with blank faces, and Ness-san was tapping her forehead with a finger over and over.
"—M-May I... go home after all?"
"No way. You're taking responsibility and hauling this wild child back...!"
The Six Sages look furious~, and that anger's aimed at me~.
"Um, Shirahoshi-san... what did you need me for?"
The white meteor—no, Tsukinami-san—gulped down a sweet.
"Let's do special training."
She said it so casually.
"S-special training!?"
"Yeah. Nobody came to the moon today, so I'm free. I'll train you. There's a big battle coming soon, right?"
"Y-Yes. I'm grateful for the training, but if the goal is to train me, why didn't you come to where I was instead of coming here?"
"I didn't know where in the colony you were, so I figured the king would tell me here. If I'm asking about the citizens, I should ask the king, right?"
"This isn't an information desk, Shirahoshi-kun."
Even for you, Tsukinami-san, that's too rule-breaking...
"Putting that aside!"
The Six Sages raised her voice,
"I'm quite interested in special training from the White Meteor. May I join?"
"I don't mind. You're also someone who holds limitless possibilities..."
But Tsukinami-san added a condition.
"Only me, Shiki, and you will participate. Filming the training is forbidden. No peeking by third parties either."
"I have no problem with those terms."
"...If you break them, I'll slice this base to pieces."
Maybe that last line grated on her; the Six Sages stepped off the desk and looked down at Tsukinami-san with hands in her pockets.
"Don't get cocky just because you won once. This is my womb. Don't think it's the same as the moon. At the very least, I'm prepared for a mutual kill."
Even if the Six Sages's words were true, she probably didn't want to fight for real. In this situation, with Rosetta glaring, a fight to the death was too risky.
"...You still don't know my depths. Fine. I'll teach you in this training... that no matter how hard you struggle, you can't beat me."
"Interesting. Please, instruct me."
Th-The mood's awful...!
"Set up the simulator. One versus two—I'll fight you two."
"M-Me and the Six Sages on a team...!?"
"My heart leaps at the thought of teaming up with you, Shiki-kun."
I feel the same.
I'm curious about the Six Sages's command ability.
"We won't fight in full armor. I'll match the conditions."
Of the three of us, I'm the only one without ∞Arts. If we fought in full armor, I'd get completely wrecked.
Still, a clash between ∞Arts users might've been fun to watch.
"Everyone gets four pieces of gear. Pick from the initial choices. You can choose your role freely, but no sniper."
Inside the simulator you can tweak various settings. You can use lower-rarity weapons freely, and you can change your role any time, but—
"Even though we're snipers?"
"I can't guide you from long range, so please use close-to-mid-range roles."
Right. Giving instruction from far away would be tough.
"If we register as friends we can talk via call, you know?"
"I have no intention of becoming friends with anyone."
The Six Sages shrugged "good grief" while showing every sign of accepting Tsukinami-san's demands.
"Understood. Ness-kun, sorry for the timing, but I'm leaving the Supreme Commander role to you temporarily."
"Roger."
We left the command room and headed for Mother Base's simulator room.
We had the military police who were already there clear out, leaving only us in the simulator room. When the Six Sages activated the simulator, the space expanded and the scenery shifted into a plain white room. Sparsely placed obstacles (cubes and rectangular solids) dotted the room.
"You can change gear and roles from the menu. Once everyone's ready, shall we begin?"
Since long range was forbidden, I chose the "Gunner" role and armed myself with an assault rifle, a saber, and two sets of shield pieces.
The Six Sages went with two handguns and two sets of shield pieces, and Tsukinami-san apparently chose two sabers and two sets of shield pieces.
"This time I'll teach you how to enter ∞ Burst."
"∞ Burst... the thing you mentioned earlier, right?"
Drawing out the brain's limits... or something like that.
"Hold on. I have no idea what you're talking about. What's this ∞ Burst?"
I haven't gotten a proper explanation either.
"∞ Burst is like a 'zone' inside virtual space."
"A zone?"
"A word you hear a lot in sports. An active state brought on by high focus and moderate relaxation. In a word, you're in top form."
"What happens to a virtual body is on another level. Your five senses sharpen, brainwave values spike, and your 'characteristic' gets massively boosted. I'll demonstrate. First, fight me in my normal state. Then fight me after I enter ∞ Burst, and feel the difference."
"OK. Then my shot will be the signal."
The Six Sages drew both handguns, pointing the one in her right hand skyward. I readied my assault rifle, and Tsukinami-san took a two-saber stance.
Distance: 30 m.
"Ready—bang!"
A gunshot rang out and everyone moved.