Volume 1 Chapter 8 part3

TLN: Changing Arogantz to Arroganz

A large box descended from the sky and then its speed slowed down before it hit the ground.

Once the front portion of the box opened, the side and top portions also opened to reveal a suit of armor.

When I used it before, it wasn’t for battle, but for a test ride. However, it’s appearance right now had the style and dignity for something to be used in combat. It was the perfect armor, which made me feel sorry when I first used it to dig a hole in the floating island.

However, I was concerned about the name.

“…What meaning does Arroganz have?”

I felt like I had heard it somewhere before…a dreadful name, but I personally liked it.

[It’s the perfect word for you.]

“Is that so? I suppose you can tasteful every once in a while.”

Unlike the currently commonplace stylish armor, the dark grey armor was built to be tough. The main body itself is larger than regular armor.

It was suited for combat, didn’t have any decorations, and looked like a rugged robot.

The armor belonging to the prince and the others were of the slim type for high mobility, while mine was the heavy type that looked slow.

There were people in the audience that made a roar of laughter when seeing my armor make an appearance in the arena.

They were third year students who had gathered.

In any case, with this large of an event──I felt it was quite possible that students were gathering here to see the gallant figure of Julian and the others.

Thousands of people had gathered, but the audience seating was enough to accommodate them since the number of people it could hold was in the ten thousands.

Anjelica looked at me in doubt.

“Do you plan on fighting with this? Could it possibly be a lost item? If it is, you probably think that it’s strong, right? Though lost items are impossible to reproduce, just because it is one doesn’t mean it’s strong.”

Olivia rested her hand against her cheek and tilted her head to the side.

“Though, it’s kind of cute.”

“You’re sense of beauty is strange. Not only is it unrefined, but it’s unfit for the current battle.”

In the current trend of emphasizing offense over defense, it was common to have something move quickly to kill the enemy.

In other words, heavy armor appeared obsolete, behind the times.

I liked heavy equipment, though.

“If you take a look, you’ll understand.”

I went up to the stage inside the arena.

When I approached the spot where the armor was, violet armor descended onto the arena. It gave the impression of being long and narrow, and it carried a number of weapons resembling lances on its back.

Judging from its color, it was Brad.

The chest of the armor opened, revealing the figure of Brad.

“I’ll commend you for coming here and not running away. However, did you plan on winning against my armor with that old, outdated one you have? The manufacturing of this armor by a skilled craftsman alone requires white gold coins to──”

Ignoring his boasts, I opened the chest of my armor as well.

As I slipped inside, I placed my arms into the two compartments in front of me. I clutched the joysticks within. They were like joysticks from a game.

When I grasped them, the chest closed, obstructing my field of vision, but──

[Arroganz is activating.]

Arroganz started booting up in response to Luxon’s words. In front of me was an image that made it seem as if I was practically outside.

The interior mechanisms moved around and fastened onto my body. They protected the head, neck, torso, and so on.

Now that the preparations were complete, I looked ahead and found that Brad was still boasting about his armor.

“That guy is still bragging on?”

[Based on his story, the weapons he’s carrying on his back are like drones. Should we deploy measures against them?]

That’s not necessary for this person. After all…that purple guy is basically weak at hitting, right?”

In the game, he really was a pain to deal with since he would quickly go down.

When Arroganz took a step forward, Brad made a face as if he lost his temper. It seemed that he wasn’t pleased about me ignoring his speech.

It was fine…I knew about the characteristics of his armor since Luxon had listened to him.

[…He took offence at your attitude.]

While Luxon said that, the chest closed and he took a position ready for battle, so I took out my weapon.

“Let’s see…we’ll go with the best blade.”

Upon which, a shovel from the storage box of this thing’s backpack popped out. Though it’s main use was for digging holes, it was the best shovel-blade.

Since it was to be used with armor, it was definitely large, but…a shovel is still a shovel.

“Huh?!”

[We placed this top-tier shovel in storage after using it from last time, didn’t we.]

“Take out a blade!”

[You’re the one who has to specify that first, master.]

That thing definitely did this while actually knowing what I wanted.

While I readied the shovel, I could hear laughter from the audience, but Brad got enraged, perhaps thinking that I was mocking him.

“You, are you making fun of me by doing that?!”

I heard the voice of a teacher acting as a referee within the arena.

“Both of you, first on the agenda is to take the oath of a duel and──”

However, Brad, who was grandly rushing ahead, didn’t stop himself.

Brad was holding a spear in both of his hands, pointing it towards me to try and pierce me. He aimed at my torso. It seemed that he was planning to kill me.

The tip of the spear was engulfed in light from an outburst of magic.

Luxon was impressed.

[What a magnificent rush forward.]

“You──”

The people outside couldn’t hear the conversation between Luxon and me. It would definitely would be troublesome if someone knew about Luxon.

I operated my armor, and moved it according to my mental image. The heavy armor lightly stepped to the side, immediately seized Brad’s arm, and held it down.

“L, let go!”

“Alright, calm down. Look, we have to do the oath of a duel. If you don’t do it, you’ll get into lots of trouble, so follow through with it.”

◇

Anjelica was in a cold sweat while watching the movements of Arroganz.

Next to her was Olivia, an amateur who knew nothing about armor and was cheering him on.

“Anjelica, it seems like Leon can hold out!”

Seeing Olivia like that, Anjelica could only nod along while going “S, sure.”

However, on the inside, she thought that what she was seeing was impossible.

(What were those movements just now? Can armor that heavy make such light movements? Impossible. Just what in the world is that armor? There more weight there is, the more burden its supposed to have on the pilot.)

Going by the theory about armor, Arroganz’s weight seemed impossible.

Furthermore, not only were its sudden movements surprisingly light, it also had power. There was no way it could have the power to hold down Brad’s armor with a single arm.

(That armor was specifically arranged for the heir of the Field family. It’s not one of the many mass produced ones. It’s a custom made armor. Is it really something that can be pinned down with one hand?)

The two people in the arena, the representatives in the duel, then spoke the oath.

It was an oath where no grudges were to be made, even if death occurred.

Anjelica couldn’t keep her eyes off of Leon’s armor and didn’t pay attention to what the two were saying.

A voice from somewhere around her had called out.

“What’s going on? Hurry up and start.”

“I betted everything I had on his Highness. Wasn’t this supposed to be where we get rich quick?”

“I even borrowed money from my parents’ house!”

Many in the audience wanted Leon to quickly lose.

Some of the students even went as far as to get a loan to bet on the victory of Julian and the others. It was the opportunity for both boys and girls alike to earn money.

Anjelica smiled.

“Ah hah, ah hah hah!”

When Anjelica laughed, Olivia glanced at her as if frightened.

“W, what’s the matter?”

“I suppose I can’t help but laugh. That man is a really cruel individual.”

Olivia replied.

“He’s not cruel! Leon is a kind person!”

“I suppose. I suppose.”

While indifferently brushing Olivia aside, Anjelica pondered.

(Though, why did he side with me? I certainly understand that he has a chance of winning, but now that I think about it, being my ally seems like a bad plan. It don’t think it’s because he has a poor head.)

◇

Brad was losing his patience.

Within the narrow interior of his armor, the lukewarm condensation from his breathes were bouncing back to him.

“What the hell, what the hell.”

When he looked at his armor, there were dents shaped like fingers where his arm was held down. His armor had a metal-like strength, but was further protected by magic. A number of attacks wouldn’t give it a scratch.

──It normally shouldn’t be affected by how much it had been through.

Furthermore──it couldn’t move at all.

He couldn’t move to resist, and it didn’t seem like his opponent was straining himself either.

Now waiting for the signal to start the duel, all his composure from before was gone.

“Now that it has come to this, I have no choice but to use them.”

On his back were long and narrow cones, spears with no handles, which he could use as a soaring weapon through magic.

He really wanted to kill him using a spear to make a display of his prowess towards Marie. Brad was concerned about his lack of martial arts, and pondered while holding back from using the spears behind him that were meant for magic.

(I’m going to lose at this rate. If that happens right in front of Marie…that will be grave!”

Brad’s high talent in magic was his last resort.

He had a killing move that could create an assault of four spears and pierce the enemy from four different directions.

“Now then, the two of you──begin!”

Once the duel started, he unleashed the spears behind his back There were four of them.

“No matter what armor that is, there’s no way it will withstand four simultaneous attacks from──”

While Brad was speaking, the dark grey steel giant was approaching him.

Just then, he could see it grandly brandishing a shovel with both of its hands.

“──Huh?”

◇

The violent sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard throughout the arena.

The two of us initiated an assault at the same time as the duel began, but when hit with a shovel, he was blown away to the wall of the arena.

“What power.”

The overwhelming difference in the performance of our machines caused everything to be over before my opponent could attack.

Even though it was just a strike with the shovel in a straight path, he had already reached the point where he couldn’t attack using his pointy hat things.

[The full potential isn’t being utilized. I’m impressed about moving armor using magic, but that’s the only technique noteworthy. It isn’t smart for him to have so many pointless decorations on his armor.]

…Does this thing bear a grudge about the fact that Arroganz was laughed at? Well, Luxon is an manmade creation, so perhaps it minds quite a bit.

I approached the purple armor that had been bent after hitting the wall.

My opponent tried to move, but I stomped on him.

A creaking sound could be heard.

“S, stop! It hurts──help!”

Though my opponent’s armor was dented, my shovel had not a single scratch. Perhaps it would be good to keep battling like this using the shovel.

I ignored Brad’s pleas for help.

“Listen here, I might just end up flattening you. So, you better admit defeat, and make it quick.”

[Forcing someone to yield using overwhelming power…as expected of my master. There aren’t many people who resonate with the word coward as much you do.]

“…Do you hate me or something?”

[No, I’m praising you. After all, the word coward is a compliment in a competition. One doesn’t fight unless they think they’ll win. I’d like to be where you are as well.]

──Right, I got involved because I could win.

While holding the shovel in my right hand, I trampled on the purple bastard.

I should mention that it was true when I said that I wanted to beat these guys up. I remember saying in my previous life that I would knock the daylights out of these tiresome bastards.

As I gradually strengthened the power in my trampling, I could hear a strange sound, perhaps from the important part of Brad’s armor, the main frame, turning crooked.

“Hey now, you might end up dying if you don’t hurry and admit defeat.”

“I admit it! I admit defeat!”

I stopped my movements once Brad, on the verge of tears, shouted out the recognition of his defeat.

Then, I slowly lifted the right foot I was using to trample on Brad, and turned my head around to look at the arena. The spears he had fired were laying on the ground of the arena or had pierced into it.

The audience in the arena fell silent.

I looked in the direction of the referee.

“Referee, announce Brad’s defeat.”

When saying that, the referee shouted my full name.

“Th, the winner is Leon Fou Baltfault!”

Only the sounds of a few people clapping could be heard in the spacious arena.

“It seems there are some people who are clapping.”

I’d understand if it were just Anjelica and Olivia clapping, but there were several more that were clapping as well.

When looking at the people through the camera in the machine’s head, I saw a teacher, my mentor, straightening his back while clapping.

…My mentor was a gentleman, even at times like these.