088. Sports Day (1)
088. Sports Day (1)
The next day.
Using the Kaleidostone I had brought, I produced the discontinued sensor unit <Tsukiyo>.
The replacement was completed without incident.
With this, Alicia's body was restored to the exact specifications she had at the time of the incident five years ago.
There were still slight deviations in her stats... but since those were steadily improving through training, it didn't appear to be a major concern.
That meant the remaining task was to accurately reproduce the equipment she had used back then.
I already knew specifically which equipment was needed.
Thanks to Alicia having kept the list of the equipment she used at the time.
I just had to purchase them exactly as listed.
However, there was one serious problem—— the prices of the equipment Alicia had used.
Unlike biodroid parts, equipment cannot, in most cases, be produced at a Manufactory.
Manufactories were installed at each base as a special allowance so wounded soldiers could be repaired quickly and sent back to the front. Equipment was a separate matter entirely.
Well, realistically, it was probably to protect the manufacturers' profit margins.
The message being something like— please don't make your own equipment, just buy it from the manufacturers.
I didn't think that was necessarily a bad thing.
Bluntly put, if commanders gathered the materials and manufactured their own equipment too, how were small and medium manufacturers that couldn't even make cores supposed to earn money?
...So, I did understand that they tacked on high profit margins for equipment.
I really was trying to understand.
[ Optic Flare (Red / Cross-Type) ]
Detailed Classification: Optical Scope
Equipment Grade: S-Rank
Suggested Retail Price: 3,390,000 won (10% discount for military supply)
[ Silent Butcher ]
Detailed Classification: Suppressor
Equipment Grade: S-Rank
Suggested Consumer Price: 1,790,000 won (10% discount for military supply)
......
......
[ Grip Master 3rd Gen (M Size) ]
Detailed Classification: Marksman's Gloves
Equipment Grade: S-Rank
Suggested Consumer Price: 2,580,000 won (10% discount for military supply)
"Is that price for real?"
That was all I could say.
When I did, Alicia pointed it out as if it were nothing remarkable.
"As I told you, Commander. The prices are quite considerable."
She had said so.
And I had said that I would consider it an investment and let it slide, as long as the cost was within reason.
That was because I didn't know. I'd mistakenly assumed we could settle it for around five or six million won.
But once I actually looked into it, every single piece of equipment was S-Rank without exception.
The combined price of all of them was close to twenty million won.
And for accessory equipment, no less, where the difference between having it or not was negligible.
No, really.
"What kind of gloves are these that they cost three million won?"
"They have a unique skill that suppresses recoil."
"Fine. But why use an S-Rank optical scope? You have Telescope anyway. Couldn't you just put on any old scope?"
"I thought so too, but regardless, that was the standard issue in 7033."
Standard issue?
"So you're saying they just hand these out as supplies?"
"Yes. The 7033 is a unit directly under Allied Forces Headquarters, not an independent unit. When a new recruit is assigned, standard equipment is provided by default. For reference, two sets each, including spares."
That was truly absurd.
"Krädel gets nothing except a regular meal budget of 73,000 won a month. Even that gets delayed sometimes, until I have to chase them with reminder calls."
"That is because Krädel is an independent unit operated by an independent commander."
"Alicia, this isn't something to uncritically accept and rationalize. This is all taxpayer money. Isn't it the blood and sweat squeezed out of proletarians like me?"
"It is a bit awkward for me to be questioned about that when I work under said proletarian..."
I wasn't really directing it at you specifically.
I was just venting out of frustration. Because an expenditure totaling twenty million won had suddenly materialized.
Well, that amount could be covered, just barely, within Krädel's current assets——
"For reference, the list I provided you excludes the weapon."
"...Huh?"
What was she saying now.
"Excludes the weapon? Isn't the weapon the most critical piece of equipment?"
"That is true, but that particular weapon has now been converted to supply-only. Therefore, general distribution is prohibited, and it has been removed from the catalog as well."
"...Then how do we get it?"
"I was hoping to ask you the same question."
That was a problem.
"We can't get it on the black market?"
"I suppose there might be one listed somewhere... but the weapon you want has an ‘attunement’ property that changes its phase pattern to match its first user. So unless it is brand-new, it may still function, but it would be unsuitable for the reenactment experiment."
"Which weapon is this, for reference?"
"The S-Rank Anti-Legion sniper rifle, <Black Death>."
S-Rank again.
So, it had an attunement trait. As Alicia pointed out, I couldn't simply acquire any used one and use it. I had to secure a factory-fresh, brand-new unit.
Dead stock of S-Rank equipment—— meaning unused items—— was unlikely to be obtainable on the black market.
And I didn't have that kind of budget in the first place.
The fact that it was converted to supply-only was practically the military drawing a line, saying, 'From now on, only people we authorize will be allowed to use this,' precisely because the equipment was that good.
Getting a weapon that good through the black market right now... I couldn't say for certain, but it would easily cost over 100 million won.
"That means we have no choice but to receive it through official supply channels."
"Yes. However, there is no way Krädel would be supplied with S-Rank equipment."
That was also true.
As I had mentioned before, Krädel was so neglected that it couldn't even receive its regular meal budget on time.
There was no receiving it through ordinary means.
Even so.
"Ah."
"What is it?"
"No, come to think of it, isn't this exactly the All-Army Sports Festival season?"
"...Sports Festival? Is there such a thing?"
There was.
The All-Army Sports Festival.
An athletic meet and team-building event where members of every unit under Allied Forces Korea Command gathered together.
Its structure and format were identical to a typical sports festival. Various events were held, and teams or individuals would participate and be ranked.
They would socialize, build up the profiles of their bases and commanders, and so on. That kind of event.
"I understand that much... but why bring up the Sports Festival all of a sudden?"
"Why do you think."
Because of the victory rewards for those Sports Festival events.
"There are rewards?"
"There have to be."
The All-Army Sports Festival was, after all, a tournament built around athletic competition.
Competitive elements were inherently built in, and for competition to work, rewards were necessary.
To explain in a bit more detail, when the Sports Festival was held, as mentioned, multiple events were conducted and rankings were assigned per event.
Then, based on those rankings, points were awarded to each affiliated base.
Once all events concluded, the final overall ranking was determined by summing the points per base.
After that, victory rewards were distributed according to rank——
"You are saying that among those rewards, there is a weapon we need."
"Exactly."
The single best team could choose and receive one piece of .
"...So that means we must seize first place among all the many participating units?"
"It does, but why the tone lacking confidence, Alicia?"
"I wonder. I merely felt a sense of doubt as to whether Krädel taking first place in the Sports Festival is actually realistic. To begin with, our headcount is absurdly small."
Hey now.
Where was this defeatism coming from.
More importantly, at this point, one thing needed to be made clearly and definitively understood.
"Krädel is no longer the dumping ground where discarded washouts get thrown together."
"It isn't?"
Absolutely not.
Laika was an assault soldier nearing S-Rank, and Rinne had been rehabilitated to an overall evaluation of A-Rank.
On top of that, Eve, whom we had recently recruited, was holding her own reasonably well.
(She probably could not participate because she was a deserter, but) Sumire possessed two crafting-type skills, making her especially valuable even among the already rare Production Specialist Type biodroids.
And above all——
"You might not be able to use your sniping skills, but on specs alone, you are indisputably the military's S-Rank sniper."
Bases possessing a lineup like this were genuinely uncommon.
With a little exaggeration, it wouldn't be a stretch to call us the elite force of the Western Frontline we belonged to.
It was just that everyone had incurred the military's displeasure in one way or another, so they weren't being treated properly.
We could do it if we tried.
"Besides, the headcount issue isn't a problem either. Participation is limited to five per base."
A measure to prevent the Sports Festival from causing disruptions to military duties.
Fostering camaraderie was all well and good, but you couldn't have entire bases getting wiped out because all the troops had pulled out for something like that.
In that sense, Krädel's numbers fit perfectly. Krädel's members, excluding the unofficial unit member Sumire, were exactly five.
"...Excluding Sumire, wouldn't that be four? Myself, Laika, Rinne, and the newly recruited Eve."
"That's four biodroids. But there is also me."
"You intend to participate as well, Commander?"
Of course I would participate.
"...I believe you would be no match for a biodroid."
"Ah, that doesn't matter. Commanders compete against other commanders."
To be more precise, the events were strictly assigned by unit type.
Otherwise, the contests wouldn't even be competitive to begin with, and certain types would be too overwhelmingly advantaged.
For instance, assault soldiers like Laika excelled in nearly all athletic activities, whereas support soldiers like Rinne had physical capabilities roughly on par with an adult human male. If you threw them all into the same event, it wouldn't be a game anymore, and you would end up with nothing but assault soldiers.
"In that sense, I should look over this year's events by unit type."
"For reference, I am currently registered as an operator."
"Ah, I will have to factor that in too."
Alicia was originally a sniper, but her sniper status had currently been revoked.
Thus, her registered unit type was 'Operator.'
Another thing to keep in mind was that Rinne was a sniper, I supposed. During her strike phase, she had arbitrarily registered herself as a sniper just because she thought it sounded cool.
The other two besides those two were normal. Eve was registered as an intelligence soldier, and Laika as an assault soldier.
Taking all this into account, I should list the events each person had to enter, one by one. This would also serve to strategize who we would focus training on.
Starting with Laika.
—Laika (Assault Soldier): 500-Meter Swim
"Can Laika swim?"
"Who knows. I am not sure about that... but if we tell her to do it, she will probably do well, won't she?"
Considering Laika's stats, she would likely perform well across the board in any physical sport.
So I wasn't too worried on that front. Next was Eve.
—Eve (Intelligence Soldier): Cheerleading
"...Cheerleading? How is this evaluated?"
"The participating commanders score it. Who did the most energetic cheerleading."
"In practice, it would be closer to a beauty contest. Though I do not think Eve has a body suited to broadly popular tastes..."
Well, that was true.
But it was better than assigning Eve another intense sport. Her companion-model body had poor physical capabilities.
The only concern was how Eve herself would take being assigned to cheerleading... but perhaps I could ask for it as repayment for helping her get revenge on the Vice-Chief last time.
Next up was Rinne.
—Rinne (Sniper): Yutnori
"This one landed quite fittingly as well."
"Indeed. Yutnori would not be hindered by Rinne's abysmal stamina."
...Aren't you being a little too blunt?
Though I did agree with the point.
Anyway, next was Alicia.
I would have preferred an event where stamina was key in her case—— but the result was ambiguous.
—Alicia (Operator): Three-Legged Race with Commander
"Three-legged race...?"
"You know—the event where two people tie one leg together and run as a pair."
"You don't know what it is?"
She might not.
Separately, Alicia didn't seem too pleased with her event.
As I said, it looked somewhat ambiguous to me as well. An event that couldn't leverage Alicia's key strength—her high stats—I suppose.
It wasn't as if Alicia and I had particularly great teamwork either.
So it seemed we would need to focus our training heavily on this aspect.
"Then let everyone know. Alicia, how about we get some practice in? The event is... only a week away."
"I also agree that this should be the training focus. However, isn't there one event we haven't yet confirmed?"
"Huh? We have checked all the events you guys need to enter..."
...Ah.
"I almost forgot too. I need to check the commander-exclusive event."
Since our base intended to participate with me included.
Only by doing so could we fill the five-person quota and claim the first-place prize we were aiming for.
Belatedly, I examined the <Events by Unit Type> section at the very bottom of the Sports Festival promotional poster again.
To find out which event I would be personally participating in.
I wasn't particularly anxious.
It felt a bit awkward to say it myself, but I was quite multi-talented.
No, really, I thought I had the right to take pride in that.
First, I was reasonably intelligent.
Even though I was just a dirt-poor kid raised by a biodroid, I had passed the Academy entrance exam and graduated with fairly high marks.
On top of that, my physical fitness was excellent.
While other commanders commonly grew fat and sluggish, dumping all physical labor onto their biodroids, not only was Krädel in no position for that, but I myself enjoyed exercise.
So.
I was confident in any event.
There was no contest I couldn't handle.
I truly believed that without a shred of doubt, but——
—Han Si-hu (Commander): Marksmanship
I didn't know about this one.