The Broadcast Goes Wild
The sports festival stands were in chaos. The message board was a complete mess. From somewhat embarrassing praise comparing me to Haze—the brilliant heroine of the legendary Aindium series Return to Galaxia—to outright accusations of me being a card shark or con artist. Seeing both fans and antis going wild at the same time, I wondered if I might actually have what it takes to be a superstar.
While I was lost in those silly thoughts, the signal to begin the match rang out. At the same time, a set of numerical coordinates appeared on one side of the screen. I muttered to myself as I looked at them.
“Should I mark these coordinates on the map from top to bottom?”
Number Five, hearing my solo act, silently flew up and pointed to each spot on the map beside the coordinates. I advanced my Aindium while marking the locations Number Five indicated. By the time I left the starting point at the Second Sports Field, the most efficient route was already complete.
Fairies could inhabit Aindiums to assist with calculations, enhance functions, and stabilize mana circulation, but their main role right now was supporting the pilot. Since this assistance came from the fairy’s own computational power rather than directly affecting the Aindium, there was no chance of any anomalies appearing in the machine. Plus, I gave commands through “muttering” and input everything manually, so no one would ever know Number Five was here.
I sprinted toward the first target faster than anyone else. My weapon was a sniper rifle of the same type I usually used. Since the fairy couldn’t provide aiming assistance, ultra-long-range sniping would be impossible, but months of practice wouldn’t just disappear. Number Five had plotted the route while factoring in my rifle’s effective range and my shooting skill, so all I had to do was fire at the targets from the positions it designated.
Bang—!
Normally, the target hidden among the trees would have required finding an approach route and circling around even if you knew the coordinates. But I simply fired through the gaps between the trees. I had used suppression rounds with far greater stopping power than penetration, so the target tilted slightly from its original position. Now it would be impossible to hit from where I had fired. The players who had rushed after me wasted time searching for the now-invisible target, and in that time I moved forward.
*
After hitting six targets, I finally had a moment to catch my breath. As the match passed the midpoint, the gap in rankings became noticeable. I wondered how far ahead I was from second place.
The second-year senior who had followed me at the first target but avoided wasting time by taking an independent route had taken second. Since our directions were completely different, we probably wouldn’t run into each other. From third place onward the scores were a dismal three or fewer, so I decided to ignore them.
The next destination was a hill quite far away. I sharply turned my Aindium and increased speed.
If I had simply continued along the path I’d taken so far and picked off the roadside targets, I would have won without much trouble. But I had both the duty and the right to embody the CT Club’s prowess. So I had to give the message board guys something to really freak out about.
After nearly five minutes without scoring, the senior who had taken a different route had reached six points, tying with me. Those below third had also closed the gap to within one point. But I wasn’t worried at all. First, the tenth target on Kariks’s route was quite far away. No matter how quickly he finished shooting, it would take considerable time to return. On the other hand, my route drew a circle using the shortest distance, and the final target was quite close to the finish line. Moreover, it was a route where I could secure up to eleven targets with just a little movement if needed. Number Five really had an incredible sense of timing—fitting for a fairy that supported the stubborn Rendel. I’d have to bring it plenty of the fairies’ favorite food and items later.
Whether it knew what I was thinking or not, Number Five silently pointed out the next direction with an expressionless face. Thanks to its help, I finally reached the top of the destination hill. Not only was it high, but there was no path and the undergrowth was thick—any normal person wouldn’t even think of bringing an Aindium here.
I pulled the lever and raised my weapon. I stepped forward with the left foot pedal, then firmly pressed the posture control pedal under my heel to assume a kneeling position. After the satisfying click of loading, I aimed at the target—not nearby, but several kilometers away.
Bang!
Except for the second target, every shot was a clean hit with a single round. At this distance, sniping wasn’t difficult even without fairy assistance. On top of that, Number Five had lightly touched my finger during aiming to make minute adjustments—there was nothing more perfect.
I had said I wouldn’t pay attention to the message board anymore, but since I was a message board user by nature, I couldn’t help it. Since the match wasn’t over yet, I closed the board and headed for the final target. Using piloting techniques that had become completely natural to my hands and feet, I slid down the hill at high speed. The reason I had climbed to the top was because the location of the final target required circling around the hill. By going over it, I had saved both time and distance.
The final target was at the western end of Allob Island, not far from Fairy’s Hill. It was near where the submersible had been when the enemies attacked. They said the collapsed barbed wire had been repaired, so I figured I might as well take a look. The barbed wire was useless in front of an Aindium anyway, but they had set it up to trigger an alarm if broken, so we wouldn’t be caught off guard like last time.
After checking the barbed wire, I was about to shoot the nearby target and move on when Number Five suddenly flew down from my shoulder with a startled look and pointed somewhere. I turned the Aindium’s torso, which had been facing the school, back toward the sea, but there was nothing there.
“What? Was there something?”
[…….]
At my mutter, Number Five silently nodded. I took out the paper and pencil I had prepared in advance and wrote.
Is it dangerous?
Number Five thought for a moment, then shook its head. Had it seen something strange? I opened the message board again, but there was no indication that anything special had been shown. Hmm. I couldn’t just stay here in the middle of a match. I’d come back later. Carrying a somewhat uneasy feeling, I piloted the Aindium toward the goal.
**
After the competition Aindium disappeared, someone hiding in the shadow of the breakwater let out a sigh. Though her face was youthful, her expression showed she had been through countless battles, and her palms were covered in calluses. Her dark gray hair, reaching her shoulders, fluttered in the sea breeze and tickled her cheek.
“Still, that surprised me. I didn’t expect a student to come all the way to such a secluded place. The target should be further inland.”
Normally there was no reason for a competition Aindium to come all the way to the shoreline, so she thought for a moment before shrugging.
“Maybe she just wanted to see the sea.”
The woman gazed at the sea for a moment and drew a holy sign with her hand.
“May you rest in peace.”
Leaving behind a prayer for someone, the woman vanished from the breakwater.
**
I safely claimed victory in the Aindium cross-country event. Since I had sent Number Five away before crossing the finish line, there were no repercussions. The message board was full of talk about my win, but a fairy was basically like an aiming assist system in a game. It was on a completely different level from doping, cheats, or hacks.
While making that lame self-justification, I climbed down from the Aindium and received the flag given to first place.
“Luna! Luna! Luna!”
I raised the flag high and waved it vigorously toward my red team comrades who were chanting my name in unison.
“Waaa—!”
Yes. This was why I aimed for first place. I kept waving the flag endlessly until the teacher told me to go inside for the next event.
**
Being the banner man was more fun than I expected. The cheers and support that grew in response to the flag’s movements. It was especially effective in events where people ran themselves. You couldn’t hear the cheers from inside an Aindium, after all. Caught up in the momentum, I joined the cheer squad in supporting our red team, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime.
“Luna! Let’s eat lunch together!”
“Yes!”
Centered around Lan, the scattered CT Club members gathered.
“It’s only the first morning of the first day and we already have two winners.”
“That’s because there were two Aindium events.”
Carson was as happy about Rendel’s and my victories as if they were his own. It was exactly what you’d expect from the student who put the most effort into the CT Club’s performance and growth.
“Who’s competing in the afternoon?”
“There’s a cavalry battle!”
“Oh, is the cavalry battle today?”
“Yes. It’s the main event of the afternoon.”
“How many from our club are participating?”
“I don’t know about the blue team, but the red team’s first-year CT Club members are these three.”
Mikhail, speaking up for once, pointed at himself, me, and Yui.
“Me?”
“Me too?”
This was news to me.
“Don’t worry. The person-to-person fights will be handled by me and a few other guys.”
Mikhail’s words gradually brought back what Yvette had eagerly explained. The cavalry battle here was similar to the one on Earth—riders, mounts, and two support riders forming a team to steal headbands or shoulder straps. However, several complicated rules had been added, so it hadn’t immediately come to mind as the cavalry battle I knew.
“Then we…”
“That’s right. We were selected as the first-year Aindium cavalry representatives. There was a lot of debate internally about who would go, but after seeing your skills, Luna, everyone unanimously decided.”
Mikhail nodded with a serious expression. Yui muttered in a slightly frightened voice.
“They said the guys would handle the cavalry battle themselves…”
“There aren’t many first-years who ride Vivald-class. Not many Nimust-class either. You two are the best pilots in each class, so they’re trusting you with it.”
This guy Mikhail. He could say some surprisingly smooth things. I deliberately let out a small sigh and spoke as if I had no choice.
“Can’t be helped. Yui, let’s give it a try.”
“O-okay.”
Yui answered with a determined expression.
*
After lunch, a few simple team events concluded. Finally, the main event of the first day of the sports festival—the cavalry battle—began.
Yui and I waited in the largest First Sports Field aboard our Nimust-class and Vivald-class Aindiums.
「Can we really do this well?」
“It’s fine. Even if we lose, the second- and third-years can win, and if we win the human cavalry battle, we’ll have the advantage.”
「But what if they lose over there…」
“We’ll think about that when it happens.”
I kept encouraging Yui so she wouldn’t fall into negative thinking and watched the person-to-person cavalry battle through the screen. The red and blue teams, each with thirty cavalry units, charged at each other. After dozens of arms crossed a few times, the result of the first clash appeared.
Wait, why is Rendel over there again?