The Cavalry Clash
The sports festival — 3 — 74 — I never thought I’d see the protagonist fighting barehanded instead of in an Aindium again. After the Black Wolf special forces, I figured that was the last time. “This is bad.”
With Rendell rampaging like that, our team’s chances of winning were practically zero. The sight of our side collapsing in an instant made me sigh without meaning to. Rendell was unstoppable, snatching five headbands from the red team in the blink of an eye. When he raised them high and shouted something, the magically glowing red bands turned gray, and two Aindiums standing across from us roared to life.
While Aind-class was the standard, mounting another Aindium required movements outside the normal operating range, so a significant size difference was needed for stability. Because Vivald-class and Nimust-class Aindiums differed by more than double in scale, activating them posed no major issue. That was why each team fielded one Vivald-class and one Nimust-class. Yui and I were no exception.
If a team gathered five headbands through mounted combat, they could awaken one opposing team’s Aindium. Each side had three teams on standby, for a total of six units. Stealing all fifteen headbands from the enemy would activate all three teams. Anything less than five meant no Aindiums could be summoned at all. In other words, if we dominated the human-mounted phase, we could win without ever reaching the Aindium cavalry stage.
Yet that very outcome now seemed possible — all because of Rendell and his absurd specs.
“That’s already eight! The red team is completely helpless!”
“Rendell’s strong in an Aindium, but he’s no slouch with his bare hands either.”
The blue team had stopped fighting seriously and was instead herding the red team’s mounts straight toward Rendell. The red team fought hard, but every group that collected two or three headbands got taken out before they could awaken their Aindiums.
“Blue team awakens their second Aindium team!”
Combined with the two headbands another blue team had gathered, Rendell’s eight triggered the second pair of blue Aindiums. Angry shouts erupted from the red cheering section.
“What are you doing, red team?!”
“Steal them back already!”
Meanwhile, the blue stands roared Rendell’s name.
“As I speak, the red team is being driven into total defense! Will the mounted phase end in such a hollow defeat?”
Only three red mounts remained out of fifteen. Between them they held just four blue headbands — one short of the required five. The eight blue mounts slowly tightened their encirclement while Rendell’s mount advanced at a leisurely pace.
Then, in that moment—
“Oh! A red team first-year mount is charging straight into enemy lines!”
The team led by Mikhail as its rider swung wide around Rendell and struck the outermost blue mount. One of the two remaining red mounts threw itself in Rendell’s path to block him, while the other snatched the headband Mikhail had claimed and passed it over. With five headbands secured, they activated an Aindium.
But of all the luck…
Whirr—
“Us? Really?”
“Looks that way.”
Out of all the randomly assigned activation orders, ours had come up first. Unless Mikhail suddenly possessed Rendell and started hunting blue mounts, the rest of our team’s Aindiums had no chance of waking. That meant Yui and I would have to fight one versus two — or possibly one versus three.
The mount that had challenged Rendell was already down, and the team that had awakened us had already lost their headbands. Mikhail’s only remaining option was to surrender.
“Ah, the last red mount has removed their own headband and forfeited. That means we’ll be fighting one versus two.”
“They made good use of the rule allowing surrender once ten or fewer mounts remain.”
They had judged that giving up was better than increasing our opponents. One versus two was preferable to one versus three, but the situation was still grim.
“Then let’s move straight into the Aindium cavalry match!”
A roar erupted from the stands at the caster’s announcement. In the Aindium cavalry phase the goal wasn’t to steal headbands but to knock the Nimust-class rider off the Vivald-class by any means. Whether by having the Nimust-classes clash or by ramming with the Vivald-class itself, there were many ways to achieve it. Because of the rules, the Nimust-class units were built with extra emphasis on defense and pilot safety even among mass-produced models.
I reduced external audio and opened a channel to Yui.
“Yui. Just do what I told you earlier.”
“Okay, got it.”
Yui lacked flexibility and quick thinking, but she could reliably carry out straightforward instructions. I had given her only one order: Stay firmly attached.
“Hold on tight. Here we go.”
I stood the Aindium I had been sitting in upright — not the Nimust-class, but the Vivald-class.
*
The heavy pedals and weighty levers. The massive frame of the Vivald-class rose, lifting my viewpoint far higher than usual. The story had mentioned Muri possessing considerable arm strength, and Yui always complained about sore arms after piloting, so I had wondered how it would feel. It took more effort than expected. Still, the strength training I had squeezed in here and there should let me manage for a few minutes without issue.
Though it was my first time handling a Vivald-class, the core principles of Aindium control remained the same, and with Number Five’s support I could operate it without major problems. The real issue was that we now faced two enemy Aindium cavalry teams. If at least one of them had been first-years it would have been easier, but—
“How well can the red team’s first-year pair handle the blue team’s second- and third-year pair?”
“The blue team should win fairly easily. While the red team does have the first-year ace Cadet Luna, one versus two is simply too disadvantageous. The blue team also fielded pilots with high practical scores.”
Great. The blue team had drawn second- and third-years. The plan to eliminate the weaker first-years first before facing other grades was now impossible. In that case, there was only one option left: break through head-on.
“Yui. Hold on tight.”
“No problem.”
The Nimust-class Yui rode clung to the back of my Vivald-class like a cicada on an old tree. Because we were pressed so closely together, movement felt almost as natural as wearing external armor.
The enemy Nimust-classes freed their hands and prepared to attack us. That would have been the correct stance in a normal mounted match, but this was an Aindium cavalry battle. Yvette had said last year’s winning team overcame a two-versus-three disadvantage by minimizing Nimust-class movement and fighting with the Vivald-class as if in hand-to-hand combat.
Easy to say, but fighting without weapons in a Vivald-class was no simple task. To put it plainly, it required the skill to drift a truck or bus through winding mountain roads at high speed. I didn’t think I possessed that level of ability.
But what about my helpers?
“Ready?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
Yui answered uncertainly, unsure whether the question had been meant for her. Then the fairies that had slipped out of my arms and taken positions throughout the cockpit — all the crew fairies except Numbers One, Two, and Three — gathered at my command. There were six of them in total. They attached themselves to my hands and feet and began exerting faint physical force.
While direct fairy manipulation could be detected through an Aindium’s mana reactions, indirect control through the pilot was impossible to trace. Following the signals the fairies gave, I pressed the pedals and pulled the levers to the proper positions before releasing them.
Thud—
I slammed into the enemy Vivald-class with a heavy body check, then executed a half-turn with steps so precarious even an Aind-class would struggle. When the other blue team’s Nimust-class reached out, I leapt in place and headbutted the hand away, then tilted the torso forward on the way down to ram the Vivald-class’s shoulder into the enemy’s upper body.
Just as the foe in front of me staggered and was about to regain balance, I straightened the Aindium’s torso and shouted into the comms.
“Yui!”
A short gray arm shot out beside the main screen and lightly tapped the enemy Nimust-class. Though light compared to the Vivald-class’s mass, the blow was more than enough. Unable to retract the arm it had extended for the attack, the enemy Nimust-class flailed in panic. Yui’s straight punch sent its upper body snapping backward—
“Whoa—!”
Thud.
It dropped to the ground with surprising ease.
“Incredible! What just happened?”
**
The gray-haired woman slipped into the Aindium Military Academy without any obstruction.
‘Even on sports festival day, security is lax.’
She had deliberately worn the academy’s designated athletic uniform for infiltration and naturally blended into the cheering crowd of cadets.
“Whoa!”
The tremendous roar and the kind of heat she had never felt before made her pause in confusion. Born into a quiet, devout culture and raised as a warrior, she quickly recalled her purpose here.
‘Information on the fairies that our comrades failed to obtain last time. And information on the pilot suspected of using fairies.’
Anyone whose skill far exceeded their experience or age, or who had suddenly improved dramatically, was most likely someone controlling a supporter AI created by a genius of the century.
“We’re going to win, right?”
“Who knows. Aren’t both of the red team’s first-years in the CT Club?”
She noted every mention of the specific group called the “CT Club” and turned her gaze toward the arena where the match was taking place. After watching how well Galaxia’s student pilots fought, she soon found herself holding her breath as she observed the battle.
In the strange match where Aindium rode upon Aindium, two units — one large, one small — fought two against one. The massive Vivald-class Aindium moved with such fluid, rapid precision that it could be mistaken for an Aind-class, driving both opponents back while the Nimust-class rider atop it knocked the enemy Nimust-class down with minimal movement at perfect timing.
“The red team first-years are really good.”
“They’re CT Club members. Of course they’re strong.”
“What are you doing, blue team?!”
The woman considered whether any of her comrades could fight in that manner, then shook her head. Close-quarters combat with a Vivald-class wasn’t a tactic usable in real battle. It might only work in a playful sports event like this. Still, the pilot’s skill was undeniably excellent.
With the feeling of placing a bet, she lifted the pendant around her neck and pointed it at the rampaging red team Vivald-class Aindium.
‘It reacted…!’
She hadn’t expected it, but there had been a response. In a rush, she approached a nearby cadet who looked friendly.
“Excuse me.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
The cadet, much younger than her, answered casually, but she remained composed.
“Do you know the name of the first-year cadet riding the red team’s Vivald-class?”
“Huh? Probably Yui. She’s the only first-year in the CT Club who pilots a Vivald-class.”
“Thank you for the information.”
“Uh… sure.”
She slipped away from the stands, avoiding the cadet’s suspicious stare.
‘I’ve found her. Should I report to the branch?’
The mission had ended far earlier than expected. The woman allowed herself a pleasant early departure.
**
Yui fought even better than I had anticipated. Our remaining opponent was a third-year from the blue team with considerable skill, but thanks to the fairies’ physical support and Yui clinging on with desperate determination, we found an opening for a counterattack.
A fairy that had already anticipated the enemy Vivald-class copying my earlier move and driving its shoulder in sent a signal to the left pedal. I pressed it half a beat early, causing the enemy’s shoulder to sink in far deeper than intended. Without needing any further instruction from me, Yui swung her arm wide and clotheslined the enemy Nimust-class.
Thud.
Unlike the previous pair we had knocked down, this one stayed mounted because it was clinging tightly. But I had already begun my next move.
“Whoa!”
Clang—
Even with external noise minimized, the impact of steel on steel, the vibrations, and the weight of the levers transmitted clearly through the frame. With a sweeping leg throw I flipped the opponent over along with their entire Vivald-class, securing victory for the red team in the cavalry match.
***
“Ah, correction. The first-year Cadet Luna Adelt, the key player in the red team’s cavalry victory, was piloting the Vivald-class while Cadet Yui Elaine rode the Nimust-class. Both cadets achieved victory despite using machines of different classes from their personal units. As expected of the CT Club.”
Having brought the red team two victories and the highest score, I sat down in a chair and let out a tired sigh. When I came to my senses, the first day of the sports festival had already ended. Besides Yui, Rendell, and me, Senior Lan had won the speed operating event and Neria had taken first place in the Aindium general knowledge quiz. The CT Club’s performance had been outstanding.
Our now-famous club gathered in the clubroom in high spirits.
“Luna, that was amazing. You entered two events and won both.”
“It’s all thanks to the grueling training we do in the club.”
The fairies’ support had helped, but after hundreds of one-on-one matches against Rendell I was fairly confident in close combat as well.
“What events is everyone doing tomorrow?”
“I’m in the combined relay.”
“Oh. Muri’s running?”
“Yeah. I’m the blue team’s Vivald-class representative.”
Though small in stature, Senior Muri was surprisingly fast and had been chosen as a runner. Everyone else mentioned their own events while I stayed quiet since I had nothing scheduled for tomorrow.
“Luna, you’re done after today?”
“Yes. Tomorrow I’ll just help out a little with the team events.”
“Really? We were all planning to enter the unlimited-class battle.”
“The unlimited-class battle?”
“It’s the final event of the sports festival where we fight with weapons allowed.”
“Ah. The one Senior Yvette is also participating in?”
“Yeah. The CT Club is basically required to join, but since you worked so hard today…”
“Wait.”
When Senior Lan tried to cross my name off the list she was holding, Rendell stepped in.
“Luna probably wants to participate too.”
“Huh?”
“Right?”
Rendell turned to me and gave a slight squint of his eyes. Was that supposed to be a wink?
“Y-yeah, well…”
I did want to join. An unlimited-class battle. Not only for the experience, but because I genuinely wanted to face Rendell in a real match. As the protagonist, Rendell, and as the co-protagonist… well, it was a good chance for me to gauge how much I had grown. The more participants there were, the lower the chance of meeting Rendell directly, but I figured I might as well enter for the experience.
“I’ll join too.”
“Got it. I’ll finalize the list and submit it.”
Senior Lan left the clubroom first to submit the roster containing every CT Club pilot’s name. We ate snacks, chatted, and held a small after-party for the first day of the sports festival before heading back to the dorms as the sun began to set.