[3]: Chapter Three
Duel
Claire, on the other hand, frowned.
She attempted to humble him right here; however, she didn't believe him.
He stood on a chair to show he was looking down on her.
A person with null compatibility.
How dare he.
It didn't matter anymore.
To Claire, it didn't matter whether he had been sent by her brother or not.
After this, she would expel him without hesitation.
"If you somehow manage to prove your claim, I will rescind my earlier statement."
"Of course, I would also formally acknowledge your position here.."
"However, if you fail, you and those two will be expelled immediately."
He knew,
Shion understood the structure of this place.
This place was all about military commands and the like; it bored him.
Obeying codes of conduct and stuff like that bored him.
Ultimately, it was only the weaker people who needed to pay attention to those sorts of things.
Not him.
Would someone strong care for military sorting, and stuff?
"Of course, but there's nothing in it for me. I'm the challenger here, Claire Harvey."
"..what?"
Shion slowly raised his hand and pointed directly at her.
Judal… so this was what he had been aiming for all along.
That was why he sent him here.
All that special advisor stuff was nonsense.
It was nothing more than a sham.
Politics were indeed a sham, and now he understood her brother's intention.
Whether it was Claire or even the other girl…
'I should… help them, shouldn't I?'
Shion thought quietly.
If that was the case.
Then this role might turn out to be far more interesting than he had expected.
"Insolence!"
Everything happened in the span of a flash, Liddy had summoned her partial armament.
From the stage, it was clear: her killing intent.
But despite that, Shion didn't even pay her any attention. Instead, he focused on her.
"Now I just realized what your brother wants. We both have a deal, you see."
"That's why…"
His words made her pause for a brief moment.
But only for a moment.
Soon after, she fixed him with a cold, furious stare.
"Fine then, have it your way. It seems simply reminding you of your place won't be enough."
The taunt landed perfectly.
Shion smirked inwardly.
How easy.
"Our duel will take place this afternoon. Or are you too afraid?"
"Bring it on. I don't need any preparation to deal with you."
The two of them clashed as they stared at each other in a silent battle.
It was safe to say the entrance ceremony had been completely ruined.
With so many witnesses, anticipation spread as everyone waited to see how the duel would unfold.
For now, however, as Claire and Shion both stepped out of the auditorium,
Liddy and Erika took control of the situation, continuing the orientation.
As much as they wanted to follow Claire, they had no choice but to remain.
Outside the auditorium,
"Uhm… uhm…"
The two girls fidgeted nervously in front of Shion, lowering their heads.
Words wouldn't come out.
If anything, they had unintentionally given him the perfect excuse.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and pulled one of them into an embrace.
"...!"
She stiffened at first.
Then, slowly, she relaxed and leaned into him, resting her head against his chest.
"Don't worry, girls. Everything will be fine. After all, I'm strong."
Even to him, it sounded a bit like bragging, but he couldn't help himself.
The girl in his arms nodded softly before pulling away.
With purpose, he walked off, past the corridor connecting two buildings.
Glass panes showed the outside world on both sides, as he stared straight into the ocean.
'I take it back.'
Thinking that, he strutted off.
Pushing the door open, he stepped into the hallway and turned left.
He stopped in front of an emergency exit.
But he knew better.
Raising his PDA, he placed it against the panel.
With a soft hiss, the door unlocked, and he stepped into the elevator beyond.
Without input, the elevator began descending automatically.
He moved with familiarity, though it wasn't quite that.
In the first place,
There was a map on every student's PDA.
What Claire likely hadn't considered was that his PDA functioned much like hers.
It granted access to restricted files and locations.
Of course, the authorization came from Judal.
But the one who had actually assigned it to him was—
[Authorized Personnel Only.]
Yeah, I'll ignore that.
Shion thought as he brushed past the notice and stepped up to another door.
A scanner was embedded beside it.
A sharp electronic beep rang out, followed by the word "OK" flashing across the display.
Tss—!
With a mechanical hiss, the door slid open.
A dimly lit room greeted him.
While the overhead lights which should be switched on were off.
Instead, the dim glow of massive computer systems filled the room.
One corner, in particular, shone brighter than the rest.
There, a figure sat.
It was a girl in a white lab coat, slouched over in her chair.
"Ehhh, the wonder child from outer space finally came to see me in person."
She idly inclined her head with a smile.
"I should be saying the same to you too, Genius."
After that, the girl idly scratched her head before turning back to the computer.
Charlotte Dimandias.
Like him and most every other student here, is a high schooler.
However, this girl is different.
She earned her PhD when she was primary-school age.
By middle school, she had already become the foremost expert on many subjects.
In other words,
A true genius.
Putting all that aside, Shion finally glanced around the room.
There were many statistics which he roughly understood.
Just as he did, Charlotte spoke.
"Mah, someone just had to cause trouble for the princess."
Blinking, Shion turned his head over to Charlotte.
"Did the contract include causing trouble?"
"Worried I'll flip out and fire an annihilation beam?" Shion asked.
"Sounds like something you'd do."
Charlotte admitted.
On the other hand, Shion stared at her with a wow, so much for faith.
But then again he knew she was joking.
"For the most part, I've had no interest in hundreds. Care to fill me in?"
Removing a sweet from her breast pocket, she unwrapped it.
Munching on it, she pointed to the tube in the middle of the room.
[Hello.]
"Oh, you must be LiZA, I've heard about."
[Exactly.]
[Kamika Shion. Welcome to Little Garden.]
Charlotte, from her desk, stared at Shion, inclining her head lightly.
"Looks like [LiZA]'s giving you quite the welcome."
Shion didn't reply right away.
Instead, his eyes scanned the entire room at once, and he finally understood.
"Hou? An artificial intelligence of this level, impressive."
"Nn? You know about these things?"
Shion tilted his head with a particularly offended expression.
And that told Charlotte everything.
Immediately, she got up from her seat, running towards him, holding his clothes.
Her eyes seemed like a child who'd found something to play with.
"Err, Ms. Genius?"
"What else do you know, tell me, tell me."
Sure enough, Shion thought.
Raising his hand, he aimed it squarely at her head, flicking it.
Ouch.
Charlotte recoiled, clutching her head, then quickly pouted.
"I'll tell you some interesting concepts, but first, what exactly are Hundreds?"
Of course, his mission involved multiple objectives.
It could be categorized as follows:
[Main]:
• [---]
[Important]:
• [Fulfill Judal's wishes to get the key to the Warslan Vault]
• [Research on the Variable Stone]
• [Defeat Claire Harvey in a fight and stop the two poor girl's expulsion]
[Side]:
• [Learn about the hundred]
If put plainly.
That would be the order of his mission.
For now, the immediate priority was learning about the Hundreds and the Variable Stone.
The Hundreds were powered using ore known as Variable Stone as raw material.
They were created through a process of computer-controlled genetic manipulation.
Originally, Shion had assumed they drew energy from some exotic power source.
Instead…
Genetic manipulation, huh?
He raised an eyebrow at the simplicity of it, slightly disappointed.
But right now, he theorised it might be possible to create energy out of it.
Depending on what's used.
"By the way, do you—"
Charlotte paused, her lips tightening as if recalling something.
Then, after a brief hesitation, she shook her head.
"Forget it. Well, good luck. Oh, and I've already prepared what you asked for."
"Oh, thank you. I'd almost forgotten I even came for that. And also, thanks for the pass."
Charlotte slumped back into her chair, drooping like water over the seat.
Just as Shion stepped toward the door, she called out,
"Ah, don't forget about—"
But before she could finish, he had already vanished from sight.
The elevator doors slid shut behind him.
He checked the time, and the hour was drawing near.
Only about a few minutes left.
[PDA]
Notification from:
[Student admin]:
• [Begin to make your way to the colosseium right now.]
A message was displayed, and immediately, he made his way there.
The training grounds were located on the first level of the basement.
It was situated a short distance from the main Bugeika building.
From what he heard, they were the size of the auditorium.
But no matter how much one looked at them, they felt larger than that.
What's more,
The field was surrounded by glass partitions.
Each partition housed a few seats of a kind that could be found in a theater.
As for the ground however,
It looked barren in every sense of the word.
The ground was not paved with concrete, but it was simply dirt.
Shion had slowly approached the entrance, surveying the stands.
From all the cheers he could hear.
He was sure the majority were here for the [Perfect Queen].
Of course, he didn't mind that.
He could even see fan-made signs and banners were in abundance.
Nothing was more clear than all their support was for Claire.
'Some, however, seemed to be looking forward to me.'
Leveling his eyes forward, she had already entered.
With that, he took that as his queue.
Once more, stealing a glance at the spectators seat, he could see a few he recognized.
Hayato, Emile, Fritz, Reitia, and the two girls were about to get expelled if he lost.
"...Hmph. You don't even have a Variable Suit, huh?"
Sure enough, her gaze was even more hostile.
After all, he was in his black coat, inner shirt, and trousers.
But he didn't bother.
However, he stared at her.
"Could you not stare?"
Hearing that, he blinked.
"Stop eyeing me with that lewd gaze…"
Despite saying that, her face was flushed as she held her arm looking away.
Seeing this made him blink.
For real?
He thought.
"I mean, I couldn't help it, you're sexy afterall."
"S… se… se… sexy?"
Ah, was I not supposed to say that? Shion thought, taking a glance at her.
The Variable Suit clung to her body, showing off her well-developed, womanly curves.
Not just her sides, even her shoulders were exposed too.
The two big bulges of her breasts and her figure made it impossible to deny her
femininity.
She was charming.
"It seems like you won't stop staring huh? Even more points. Well then…"
She didn't bother to wait for a reply.
Claire flipped the Hundred she grasped in her hand lightly into the air.
"HUNDRED ON!"
Alongside her shout,
The Hundred released an emerald green light, which transformed into six red gun pods.
Shion simply watched.
Objects hovered around Claire's body like cannons or a turret locked onto him.
The muzzles of the weapons in question were rather wide.
It seemed likely the beams they fired would be quite powerful indeed.
"Now it's your turn."
Shion nodded.
He shut his eyes as the whole crowd went silent.
Then, sharply, he opened them.
Crtcch–!
A blue energy descended in front of him, forming a sphere.
The sphere then slowly expanded, gripping and pulling it.
[Kusanagi Reject]
It formed a sword.
One with a sleek design, with electricity crackling around it.
Unlike normal weapons, the edges were charred black.
White lines ran around its surfaces.
Naturally, this earned a round of mutters from every student in the stadium.
However,
"Saa, come, attack me from anywhere you like. I'll be okay. After all—"
I am the strongest.