Lucia von Dis Pater knows about Deep.
She can even say exactly since when she has known.
Lucia von Dis Pater had been watching Deep since the very beginning of the first semester.
“He’s lowborn, isn’t he?”
The reason: lowborn.
Lucia was not the only unusual one.
Most of the nobles had been watching the existence known as Deep for that very reason.
To tear into a lowborn.
To rip him down the moment he looked like he might stand out, even a little.
“They say he lost.”
It did seem as though he had stood out a little.
But in the entrance exam, he had lost without landing a single effective hit.
“They say he lost again?”
In his first spar, he used some strangely shaped Titan, and in the end, he lost.
Around that point, most of the nobles predicted Deep’s elimination and looked away.
They felt nothing special from him.
Lucia von Dis Pater did not look away.
Because he was a member of the Servants’ Club.
Because he was someone who stayed beside the older sister who had always indulged her whims.
Because she could not tolerate a member of the Servants’ Club lowering her sister’s standing.
And then, at some point, the assessment began to reverse.
“They say he won?”
He had beaten Karina Luna.
She thought that was possible.
She knew Karina Luna’s Titan. She had stood on the same battlefield as it again and again.
It was a light, small, weak Titan. From the start, it was closer to a means for responding to special situations.
He must have won by pushing through with size or overwhelming her with durability.
“They say he was there when they faced Fafnir?”
“He risked his life, didn’t he?”
She thought there was no way that was true.
Because a lowborn was an existence that had not inherited noble blood.
She thought it had not been self-sacrifice, but a choice he had been forced into by the noble Aaron Dyke.
“Smoke grenades?”
He had beaten Joshua Otto.
A noble who was dull-witted to begin with, yet rated himself highly.
She thought it was fortunate that a man she disliked had lost.
“Rod lost?”
Not only had he lost.
He had lost without properly landing even a single effective hit.
Rod Rose.
Lucia von Dis Pater knew him too.
A strong opponent whose ability to pressure enemies with a bombardment-type Titan was something even Lucia acknowledged.
At some point, she found herself replaying the combat footage of Deep and Rod Rose over and over.
The sight of him ceaselessly dodging and intercepting homing missiles and bullets was—
“The Black Comet.”
An existence in the night sky called the Academy that shone, yet could not be allowed to stand out.
“That’s insane. What alias? Are you fifteen?”
Giving an alias to a lowborn who had never even stood on a battlefield? It was too ridiculous to laugh at.
Why am I even replaying a lowborn’s combat footage over and over in the first place?
Do I actually think that lowborn is a genius?
“That cadet named Deep…”
“The other day, against that cadet Deep…”
“They say he’s close to Professor Siegfried…”
Why do I focus whenever I hear Deep’s name?
[ >>>Deep<<< What the hell is this bastard doing at 28th place? (views) ]
[ Are the rumors true? (views) ]
[ 13th class vs 133rd class, does that even make sense? (views) ]
[ They say Deep-Sea Girl really fell into the deep sea, is that true? (views) ]
Why am I clicking every single post related to Deep on the community?
Calm down.
“Calm down.”
Good. I’ll calm down and go hang out with Karina.
If we go to some café and I settle myself, I won’t even think about someone like Deep anymore.
“I haven’t really had much interest lately, but heavy-armored Titans keep catching my eye.”
“Heavy-armored Titans?”
Karina, who had taken a sip of black tea, nodded.
“After getting beaten once, I keep noticing them. Should I make White Bunny a little bigger and put some armor on it? You’re a heavy-armored, high-mobility type too, Lucia.”
“Is there any need to move into a type that doesn’t suit you?”
“I know that too. How should I put it? I definitely know it doesn’t suit me, so I try not to look at it as much as possible.”
Karina shrugged.
“They call it the denial phase after falling for something, don’t they? Don’t be surprised if I suddenly change Titans.”
The denial phase after falling for something.
That’s it.
That’s what this is?
No, am I insane?
There’s no way.
I hate high-mobility types. I hate them because they seem like something the Allied Forces would use.
And I hate lowborns too. If it’s a lowborn using a high-mobility type, I hate it almost seven times as much.
I’ve decided.
Let’s spar.
The moment I meet him, I’ll pick a fight. I’ll pour out every insult I don’t even mean.
And I’ll win.
I will absolutely win.
“L-Looks like you’re scared.”
Denial phase, my ass.
This insolent lowborn bastard.
***
Maybe I actually like fighting.
I had known it a little ever since Karina picked a fight with me.
I’m the kind of person who wants to kick a table over when someone starts shit with me.
If Levan hadn’t stopped me back then, I really would have kicked the table.
“Deep, what are you thinking about?”
Eily stared at me, her face close to mine.
“I’m thinking, why am I doing this?”
The pilot seat was still slightly firm and soft.
If I ripped this thing out and turned it into a gaming chair, it would be perfect.
“For someone thinking that, aren’t you scowling too much? You look pretty when you smooth your face out a little. Let’s use this chance for an image change! Cut your hair too…”
“I don’t want to.”
“Aaaaaah, too bad!”
Her grinning face immediately pulled back, and she flopped down into the seat beside me.
It wasn’t a real seat. It was only a seat made of holograms.
Even so, just thinking that Eily was sitting beside me gave my mind and body a little stability.
I’m not usually this combative.
Of course, I’ve fired pile bunkers, pulled the piles back out, and spam-crouched in front of people to teabag them plenty of times, but that was all in games.
After coming here, I’ve never done something like that—
I have.
I fired a pile bunker and pulled it right back out.
I guess I really am a combative person.
And no wonder. The operation I chose this time is the most aggressive strategy possible.
Beep beep.
“New armaments equipped.”
It was Ran.
“Thank you.”
There hadn’t been much time to look for weapons.
Still, maybe the fortunate part was that I had been able to quickly secure at least one weapon through Darka.
No, to be precise, two weapons.
“We obtained the weapons in too much of a hurry, so there are no parts to attach them properly.”
Supplying equipment was possible, but the areas to attach that equipment belonged to the realm of customization.
Ian had been very busy lately, so it couldn’t be helped.
“If you run out of ammunition…”
“I shouldn’t get attached, and sh-should just throw them away instead, right?”
“Yes. Please do that.”
Hoooo.
A deep breath.
I had been in the position of attacking plenty of times, but being in the position of being attacked was not comfortable.
It felt like someone had started digging into my private life just to leave malicious comments.
For similar reasons, I didn’t look at the Academy community much either.
Because stories about me appeared more often than I expected.
Even if the quality of the gazes directed at me had changed, the words directed at me might not have changed.
I didn’t go out of my way to watch them.
Because I didn’t want to.
“I know as well.”
Ran murmured in a small voice.
“This operation relies excessively on Deep’s abilities. To be honest, it is not a good operation for an operator to make.”
Because it was a direct counter.
Honestly, I knew that too.
The operation we had put together was not exactly a good-looking one.
But.
“Ran.”
“Yes.”
“You suggested this because you thought I could do it, right?”
No answer came.
“Ran?”
No, wait.
It’s not like you made this operation thinking I couldn’t do it, right?
Please answer me.
“That is correct.”
Phew.
“Then you accurately calculated the p-pilot’s abilities.”
Because that was an operator’s job.
I can’t even protect my own mental state, and now I have to take care of my teammate’s too?
Is this what a pilot is?
Ran was silent for a moment, then belatedly spoke.
“I will perform the final function check.”
This was my first time piloting Eily since the customization.
The field of view on the all-direction monitor had widened a little, and the control sticks seemed to have a better grip as well.
“Function check.”
Woooooooong.
The three generators roared fiercely at the same time, then slowly quieted.
“Generators normal.”
Immediately after the thrusters released a short burst of gas, the flaps and small wings unfolded and folded at the same time.
“Fuel normal. Thruster functions normal.”
Clank. The armor on both arms opened and closed at the same time.
“Weapons normal.”
“Transferring power to catapult.”
“Catapult ready.”
The catapult foothold slowly began moving backward.
The thrusters heated.
Beep beep.
“Deep, Eily.”
“Lucia von Dis Pater, Huntress.”
Clank.
“Dive.”
“Good hunting.”
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
With the sudden acceleration, my body was thrown backward.
I could endure it.
Enough that it felt worthwhile not to have skipped exercise during vacation, I could endure this acceleration.
“As for acceleration, obviously…”
“We go maximum!”
The moment we left the catapult, we hovered.
We did not slow down.
We would reach the enemy as quickly as possible.
I had never fought Lucia von Dis Pater before.
But I knew clearly how to win against an opponent with strong pride.
The battlefield was a wilderness.
There were obstacles here and there to hide behind, but most of it was a flat wilderness.
It was a battlefield where we could not make use of elevation differences.
In other words, there was only one thing we could do.
A maneuver battle using obstacles.
There wasn’t even terrain to seize first, but we advanced.
“Enemy Titan sighted. Approaching at a distance of one kilometer.”
Because Lucia von Dis Pater would do the same.
“Eight hundred meters.”
I lifted both hands that had been behind my back forward at the same time.
The two weapons I had been hiding behind my back revealed themselves.
“Six hundred meters.”
Beep beep.
At the same time, the short-range communication connected.
“You.”
She gritted her teeth.
“You insolent—!!!”
What Eily held in both hands were shotguns.
Deliberately, weapons of the exact same model as the ones used by Lucia’s Huntress.
“Four hundred meters.”
The moment the engagement distance was established, we aimed our muzzles at each other.
Opening my mouth was faster than pulling the trigger.
“I-I’ll still win, you know?”
“Die!!!”
The way to win against an opponent with strong pride.
Provoke them.
At the same time, the two Titans pulled their triggers.