Smack! Chifuyu’s clipboard was super effective. Ichika took 30 damage!

  Rubbing his head, he turned his eyes back to the container. Inside were hulking metal forms in the shape of armor.

  “Lehrerin, are these—”

  “Call me Ms. Orimura.”

  Something was stirring Laura’s memory—enough that she reverted to modes of address from the Bundeswehr, to Chifuyu’s chagrin. Seeing her reaction, Laura nervously clammed up.

  “This is the EOS exoskeleton assault armor under development by the U.N.”

  “EOS?”

  “It’s short for Extended Operation Seeker. It’s designed for missions like disaster recovery and peacekeeping.”

  “Ms. Orimura? How do we...” Houki nervously began to ask.

  Chifuyu’s answer was simple and direct. “Try it on.”

  “Eh?!” Ichika and the six girls gaped.

  “Don’t make me tell you twice. The higher-ups were told to get some operational data on it. And since you’re all without IS for the moment, you’ve been volunteered.”

  “O-Okay...” They managed a weak response.

  Behind them, Maya was already clapping out marching orders to the rest of the class, “All right! I want you to form up into groups and get ready for mock battles using the trainer IS. Could you bring them from the hangars?”

  The cries of dismay from the girls hoping to see the EOS in action were quickly silenced by a glare from Chifuyu. Meanwhile, she kept the cadets’ minds from wandering too far with quick raps from her clipboard.

  “Hurry it up, you idiots. We don’t have all day. Or, what? Are you worried you’ll have a hard time with these?”

  “Why, Ms. Orimura. As national cadets, I’m sure we’ll have no problem at all.” Cecilia, for one, was confident.

  “Oh? Really. Show me, then.”

  Nervously, under Chifuyu’s smug grin, the seven began to strap themselves in.

  Moving the EOS around was slow and laborious, more like lifting it than moving it at will. Their brows furrowed as they strained against their own limbs.

  “Ugh, this piece of...”

  “This is...”

  “Rather heavy... Aren’t they...”

  “Gimme a break...”

  “This is pretty tough...”

  Ichika, Houki, Cecilia, Ling, Charlotte. Each was having trouble with the EOS. After all, it was heavy. Lighter than an IS, to be sure, but an IS is equipped with a Passive Inertial Canceler anti-gravity system and an array of auxiliary motors and power assist functions to take the weight off its operator. The EOS, on the other hand, was just a lump of metal. What assists it had was far below the level of an IS, and energy consumption prevented its constant use to boot. And unlike an IS’ Direct Motion System which predicted its pilot’s movements, the EOS inevitably lagged behind.

  Worse yet was the huge backpack each pilot was equipped with. It was called a ‘portable plasma battery,’ but over 30 kilograms was pushing the limits of ‘portable.’ Even with that, the EOS could only be run at full power for around ten minutes. It definitely impressed on each of them just how advanced IS were.

  Still, Laura, who had quietly run through the motions, soon gave a confident nod.

  “Now that you’re settled in, it’s time for a mock battle in the EOS. Remember, the only protection they have is the armor, so don’t aim directly for the opposing pilot. We’re only using paintballs, but it’ll still sting pretty bad if you get hit.” Chifuyu clapped to draw their attention.

  As her yell of ‘Start!’ rang out, Laura immediately used the foot-mounted wheels to close in on Ichika, who was still struggling with the controls.

  “Gwuh?!”

  “Hmph. You’re too slow!” Dodging his clumsy punch, she darted in and swept his legs out from under him.

  “Ugh!” As Ichika tumbled to the ground, she nimbly pulled out her EOS’s submachine gun and squeezed off a three-round burst. Her next target was Cecilia.

  “Got you!”

  “I won’t be that easy to take down!” Cecilia fired away in full auto mode, but her aim was poor. “Ugh! I can’t believe the recoil...”

  An IS was equipped with auto-balancers and the PIC’s reactive controller, making it fully able to compensate for both recoil and weight shifts in melee. An EOS, on the other hand, was not, and relied on the pilot’s own strength to compensate.

  “Hmph! Gunpowder is fussy enough to deal with, even in an IS!”

  Cecilia may have had a tough time at first, but she was still a national cadet. Her military training helped her get the hang of the EOS fast. But Laura’s training was better. Before Cecilia was able to fully come to grips with her gun, she closed in with a zig-zag motion.

  “You’re quite fast! But closing in will just make it easier to hit you.”

  “How foolish can you be?”

  Laura suddenly charged forward toward Cecilia, rather than the arced path she’d taken while evading Ichika’s counter, blocking her return fire with the shield on her left arm.

  “What?!”

  “Pfft.” Laura shoved Cecilia’s shoulder armor with an open-palm strike.

  “Eek!” Losing her balance, Cecilia tumbled onto her back. With the weight of the EOS, she’d have a very hard time getting up. The EOS featured a pushing arm on its back for just such a situation, but it was already too late. Before Cecilia could get back on her feet, Laura sprayed her with a hail of paintballs.

  “Two down!”

  “And a perfect opening for me!” Ling charged from the side at full speed. “Gotcha!”

  In came a haymaker punch with the full weight of the EOS behind it. Laura twisted her body, letting it brush by her.

  “Huh?” Unable to control her momentum, Ling tumbled with a resounding clang.

  “That leaves...” Laura looked up to see Houki and Charlotte side by side. “Who’s first?”

  “I-I’ll go second!”

  “Me too...”

  Houki and Charl argued energetically over who would have to be first.

  “Charlotte, why don’t you go?”

  “No, no, you first.”

  “You don’t have to worry about being polite.”

  “No, I insist.”

  “.........”

  “.........”

  “All right, I’ll go.”

  “I’ll go!”

  “No, I will.”

  “Go right ahead, then!”

  Ahh, the beauty of Japanese politeness. But that last volunteer was Laura.

  “Eh?”

  Houki and Charlotte looked at each other in shock, but it was already too late. The servos driving Laura’s wheels whined as she closed in.

  “T-Take this!”

  “Sorry, Laura!” Having seen Ling’s faceplant, the impromptu tag team opted for ranged combat over melee. But while Charl kept her balance as she opened up some distance, Houki miscalculated and fell backward onto her butt. She was promptly met by a shower of paintballs.

  “Got you!”

  “Oww! Stop it, you idiot! That hurts! It hurts!” Laura, uncaring, emptied her clip into Houki before throwing the spent gun at Charlotte.

  “Huh?!”

  “Sorry.” Speeding in, Laura gave Charlotte a two-palmed shove as she crouched for balance.

  “W-Whoa!”

  “Hmm. You kept your footing.”

  “Ehehe...”

  “Let’s try that again, then.”

  Slam! The second shove was more successful than the first.

  “Whoaaa!”

  Just like Cecilia, Charlotte tilted over backward. But a moment before she hit the ground, she curled into a tumble and regained her balance.

  “All right, that’s enough!” Chifuyu called an end to the EOS mock battle. “Not too shabby, Bodewig.”

  “I owe it all to mein Lehrerin in the Bundeswehr—”

  Smack! This time, the clipboard held a spec sheet rather than a class roster, but it didn’t seem to reduce its effectiveness at all. “I told you. Call me Ms. Orimura.”

  “Yes, ma’am...” As Laura rubbed her head, the others, having taken off their EOSes, gathered.

  “Laura, have you used an EOS before?”

  “No, not really, but the Bundeswehr has something similar. It’s used for testing experimental IS equipment,” Laura quickly replied to Ichika’s question.

  The next was Charlotte’s, “Wow, and you were still that impressive in it?”

  “I wasn’t that impressive, was I?”

  “If that wasn’t impressive, what is? Jeez.” The only way Ling could salvage her utter defeat was with an attempt at wit.

  “It’s more like the rest of you were... Pff— Ahahahahaha!” Laura suddenly broke out in laughter. It was only when Ichika and the others looked at each other that they realized why—the blotches of paint all over their faces and clothes.

  “Dammit, Laura, you were aiming for my face, weren’t you.”

  “I-I just missed, hahahahaha.”

  Houki and the others couldn’t stay mad, seeing that rare smile on Laura’s face. She looked just like a normal girl who’d played a joke on her friends.

  “Anyway! These, er, EOS. Do you think they’ll be of any use?”

  “I was wondering about that, too.”

  Cecilia and Houki watched Chifuyu, waiting for her answer.

  “There aren’t that many IS out there. I think they’ll be significant in rescue operations.” In terms of raw capability, a thousand EOSes couldn’t match up to a single IS. Chifuyu found it better to just not mention that. After all, the official line was that they ‘weren’t designed for combat with IS.’

  Seriously. How desperate are they, that they had to send that kind of thing to IS Academy? She couldn’t understand why the principal went along with it, either. But now wasn’t the time for that. It was something to think about when the time came. Though not, of course, not to prepare for.

  As she wandered lost in thought, the students, now all out of their EOSes, gathered around her, asking for orders with their gazes.

  “Ah, right. Bring them to the second hangar. Use the jacks they came in on. Dismissed.”

  As Chifuyu clapped, the students got to work. Maya had loaded the EOSes on the jacks using her IS, but moving them was to be done by raw brute force, and Ling let out a quiet whine as she realized what was happening. The process took the rest of the scheduled practice time.

  “Seriously, though.” The girls’ shower room was crowded after IS practice. Ling’s voice rose through the steam. “Didn’t that take a toll on everyone’s IS?”

  “Indeed it did— Come on, Ling! Don’t just wander off with my shampoo!”

  “What’s wrong with that? You’re rich, you can afford to buy another.”

  “I-I don’t mind if you take it, just tell me!”

  “Yeah, that expensive shampoo’s some good stuff.”

  “Are you even listening?!”

  Regardless of the shampoo, Ling’s observation seemed to have caught the attention of all of the cadets.

  “Seems like it. I heard some of the second and third years had to send their IS back to their home country for repair.”

  “Y-Yeah... I heard that too... My sister’s having hers repaired here, though,” Kanzashi chimed in after Laura.

  “Tatenashi’s is Russian, right?”

  “Can’t she use other countries’ equipment because of technology sharing, though?”

  Charlotte and Houki had their own questions, and Kanzashi filled them in as well, “Some of the technology is Japanese, and I think there was an Italian engineer involved too...”

  “Italian? Wait, Tempesta’s—” Cecilia’s expression was serious as she probed Kanzashi about a potential rival in the selection process for the EU’s next frontline IS.

  “Hmm. A successor to the Tempesta. Now I’m curious.”

  Chifuyu’s opponent in the championship match of the first Mondo Grosso tournament, and in the scheduled championship match of the second tournament which she forfeited, was Italy’s Tempesta. One of the few IS with a one-off ability, it was widely recognized as #2 in the world. Just like Chifuyu’s, it was a pure melee fighter which overwhelmed its foes.

  It was powerful enough that its pilot had no hesitation publicly stating that things ‘weren’t settled’ between her and Chifuyu—maybe, that was the only reason she said it. Still, though, she had declined to be crowned Brynhildr at the second Mondo Grosso. Because of this, and the popular understanding that the Brynhildr was the strongest, most people still considered the title to be Chifuyu’s.

  “You know. Aren’t the Aqua Machines an application of BT technology?” Charlotte’s casual speculation naturally—inevitably—made Cecilia wince. It seemed like she had had the same thought. “I mean, mind control of fluid energy... They’re pretty much the same.”

  “I... I suppose.”

  “I’m pretty sure Tatenashi’s works better, though.”

  Thunk. Ling had definitely stumbled upon a way to set Cecilia off. No, had stamped her foot right down in it.

  “...Ling.”

  “Huh, what?”

  “I’m never lending you my shampoo again.”

  “Huh?”

  “Or body wash, or conditioner, or facial wash, or hand soap, or lotion, or perfume, or towels, or money! Never again!”

  “Whaaaa? Wait, why? How come?! I need them, though!”

  “.........”

  “Don’t ignore me!”

  Ling, realizing she was losing a vital, vital lifeline, suddenly stopped joking around and tried to beg her way back into Cecilia’s good graces. But Cecilia was the proud scion of an empire upon which the sun never set. Once her mind was set on a decision, it wouldn’t be easily changed.

  Ignoring Ling’s panic, Laura rinsed her hair and put her eyepatch back on before saying, “By the way, I’ve received orders to return home. I’ll likely be leaving for Germany soon.”

  “Really? You’ll have to pick up some souvenirs for your squad, then.”

  “Yeah. Everyone from the Schwarze Hase has been telling me what they want.”

  “Like what?” For once, Houki took an interest in Laura’s conversation. Probably out of pride that her squad was so interested in Japan.

  “Matcha, yatsuhashi, Imagawa cakes, konpeito. Then taiyaki, monaka, manju buns, uiro, senbei biscuits, warabi-mochi, dango, mizuame...”

  As they watched Laura count on her fingers, Charl and Houki wore awkward grins.

  “They’re all sweets...”

  “I guess even if they’re a spec ops squad, they’re still girls...”

  “Oh, and the most important part, the thing Klarissa asked for!”

  “W-What?”

  “A shachihoko.”

  “Whaa......?” Their jaws dropped.

  Meanwhile, Laura, with a serious look on her face, repeated herself, “A shachihoko. What, don’t you know what that is? It’s supposed to be the image of an ancient guardian deity. With it, you can put up an impregnable defense. It was vital in the protection of the old castles.”

  Wasn’t that just because they were supposed to prevent fires?

  I think her second-in-command is deeply confused about something...

  “Do you know where I can buy one?”

  “I, umm. Laura. I don’t think they sell those.”

  “I see. So I should take one by force?”

  “Where’d that come from?!”

  “I read a manga about something like that.”

  “Just because you read it doesn’t mean you should do it!” Charlotte seemed to know which one. Or at least have enough of an idea to know that she should shut that line of thought down, fast.

  For the rest of the shower, Charlotte and Houki tried their hardest to convince Laura that she had the wrong idea. On Laura’s part, she had little to say but a surprised expression, nods, and a repeated ‘I see.’

  “Cecilia! Don’t you see how sorry I am?!”

  “I most certainly do not see anyone here being properly apologetic!”

  Houki, Charlotte, Laura, and Kanzashi put on their underwear as Ling continued to entreat Cecilia even in the locker room. The scene, vivid beyond color, was one only possible among teenagers. To put it into words—yes, it was simply indescribable with words.

  ◇

  “Um...”

  In a research laboratory, set far away from the urban hustle and bustle of IS Academy. It had taken me an hour on light rail, another hour on the bus, and I was beyond deep in the mountains.

  “Is this the place?”

  I looked down at my map, then up at the sign again.

  “Kuramochi Engineering. It definitely should be.”

  Yeah. I’d made my way to where Byakushiki was created. Today was a weekday, and normally I’d be in class, but today I had special permission to leave campus.

  A full overhaul of Byakushiki, huh. I wonder what they’re gonna have to do. As I wondered to myself, I made my way to the gatehouse punctuating the white wall around the complex. But there was no doorbell, no intercom, just a blank door.

  “How am I supposed to get in here...”

  Grope, grope.

  “Whoa!”

  Feeling someone grope my butt, I spun around wildly. As I tried to keep my balance, I saw a woman in blacked-out swim goggles, right on the border between creepy and alluring.

  “Wh-What are you—”

  “Ufufu. You’ve got a nice, tight butt.” Her grin arced like a crescent moon. From it, long fangs poked out, almost like Dracula in the movies.

  “Who the hell are you?!”

  “Who do I look like?”

  She was wearing what looked like a school swimsuit—no, a navy blue IS suit. Plastered across the expanse of cloth that could barely hold her huge breasts in was a name tag reading ‘Kagaribi.’ And she was drenched. Not just that. She had a harpoon in her right hand, and a still-writhing clump of five or six trout in her left. The water was still dripping off of her onto the asphalt. Her curly hair was soaking wet, too, and hung off her like sheets of seaweed.

  A weirdo... is what she looks like. Some kind of pervert. I did my best to keep my distance, but this pervert got right up in my face.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Um...”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10