Wow! It's Summer! (2)
Late May. During our three training sessions, we repelled A-rank monsters in the northern Monster Zone of Ludbekia Marquisate, racking up points for our practicals. Fortunately, there were no monster outbreaks. After the one in March, no large-scale monster swarms popped up in the Monster Zone. They happened elsewhere from time to time, though. When you're holed up in the academy, you don't notice monster outbreaks much, but once you're out in the world, they're surprisingly common. Even a sudden swarm of over a hundred C-rank monsters counts as one. The issue is the scale—whether local hunters can handle it right away, nearby reinforcements can clean it up, or if it's bad enough to call in S-ranks.
Luckily, the worst-case scenario we feared didn't happen. You know, when hunters fail to contain a swarm, it spirals into a massive outbreak, pulling in every veteran who's dealt with one before. And in the chaos, our Old School Building special class—[Team Phoenix]—gets dragged in too. None of that went down. The academy chugged along normally, nothing noteworthy.
Until it didn't.
"The special rules for this October's Grand Martial Tournament have been decided."
Instructor Esta's words hit like thunder.
"Isn't the fall festival just casual sparring matches? What's this about special rules?"
"No changes to the format, but they've unified the uniforms."
"Uniforms...?"
"Exactly. This."
Instructor Esta stripped off her instructor uniform without warning, boldly showing us what she had on underneath.
"Cover your eyes!"
"Not something to say while you're already shielding my face with your hand, Unia."
The outfit Esta wore was so outrageous that Unia slapped her hand over my face to block my view. But I'd already clocked it. The kind of getup gym rats and Pilates folks post on Stargram with "workout complete."
Tank top up top, short leggings below. It clung so tight it was hard to call it clothes—more like a device designed to outline every curve of the body.
"We're really doing the Grand Martial Tournament in that?"
"Yes, Rydmila. Even Dean Ederson and Student Council President Julius approved it."
"Of course they did."
"......"
"Men, right?"
As Rydmila said, no guy would complain about outfits like that—unless safety was an issue.
"Why these clothes? Hoping some pervert VIP wants a close-up of the female contestants' figures?"
"Not perverts, but close enough."
"What?"
"It's a combo of issues from the past half-year. Unia, mind letting go of Phoenix's face now?"
Unia sheepishly released me. Esta's violent visual—same as what Rydmila wore in her room when I helped with stretches, but with short leggings—couldn't help but draw the eye.
"By the way, men have to go bottomless."
"Huh?"
"Basically just drawers. 'Gender equality' saved us from that. Otherwise, it might've been triangular bottoms for everyone."
"Hold up, how does the Grand Martial Tournament even work?"
"Exactly."
Esta gestured to her exposed skin. She seemed a bit self-conscious, but—no, this was her showing off her toned abs to me. A hint that come tournament time, girls would be flaunting everything.
"Let's recap last year's first. You haven't seen it, so watch the finals and we'll discuss."
Esta projected a magic screen on the blackboard.
"Student Council President Julius?"
"His opponent... wait, her?"
"Right. Last year's finalists—you know them well."
Both blondes stepping into the arena. One the current president. The other, first-year then: Yurha Silverstar.
"Never pegged Senior Yurha for the arena."
"After the winner's prize?"
"Who knows? Only she does. But Julius took it. Focus on their outfits."
Esta pointed at their clothes.
"Casual wear?"
"Personal combat gear. See—"
"Ah! Got it!"
Evangeline shot up. "Silverstar made some suit? Worried money buys better gear than skill, so they standardized to make it fair!"
Hostility toward Silverstar, or concern for the cashless? With Evangeline, probably both. Leaning toward the latter now.
"Close. Various reasons. But to clear up—no, those weren't combat suits. Real Yurha casuals."
"For real?"
"Yeah. But this year? Different." Esta mimed poking her mana pouch. "Fakes might show up."
"Fakes...?"
"Fake Breast Device."
"......!"
"Wasn't that banned from the academy?"
"Sadly, no." Esta switched the screen.
A photo of a girl who'd scored decently in May's practical. March, April, May shots. I spotted the difference instantly.
"Cup size up in April alone?"
"Phoenix...!"
"Unia, it's obvious. Real vs. fake stands out."
"Clothes can be tr—oh."
"Yeah. Clothes. Fools teammates, not me. Padding?"
"If just padding, fine. But mana-wise, Fake Breast Devices are why they're uniforming like this."
Esta turned, reaching for a round device behind her.
Whirr.
Mana flowed; her top instantly loosened. The fabric, taut over her mana pouch moments ago, slackened. Side panels draped like curtains, lightly covering it—like an underboob peek.
"Showing off big chests? Fine. Problem is stuffing in 'liquid-type auxiliary mana stones.' Wanna see?"
Clap clap. Esta pointed outside. "Come in, Cardisha?"
"Ugh, how'd I end up like this..."
The door opened; Instructor Cardisha entered.
"Gasp."
"Whoa."
Unia and others gawked; I couldn't help admiring Cardisha's massive mana pouches.
"At least two cups bigger than yesterday."
"Phoenix? 'Yesterday'?"
"Massaged her. Difference is like 10cm now."
"True. Wanna check?"
Cardisha approached, arms up. "Touch and know."
"Me?"
"Phoenix, you're the expert here."
"Can't argue."
Experiment. Research. I stood, moved behind her.
"Uh, thought you'd go frontal."
"Back grab's surer."
Squish.
"Hm."
Mana flowed. Their faces turned weird watching me.
"Phoenix."
"Yeah."
"Why the face? Looks disgusted."
"Not real?"
I tugged the hidden fake under her clothes forward per Unia's words.
"This."
Mana pulled the 'fake' from her cleavage—skin-tight slime or silicone lump.
Squish.
Cardisha was plenty big naturally; this monstrosity was gross. Why fake it when natural's perfect? Unless for combat boost, not beauty.
"This the problem?"
I held out the translucent orbs.
"Yes. The 'fake.' Fake Breast Device Type 2."
Esta took it gravely. "First was worn; this slips inside undies. These tights..."
"Perfect for spotting wearers."
"Right. As Evangeline said..."
Mana on the fake; it glowed RGB.
"Can't let cheats fake mana in the sacred tournament."
And so, now.
"Still, wearing this daily ain't right."
"It's summer."
"Hot, that's why."
"Only spot with proper AC~"
We're dressing like this to prep for the tournament.