Ball

Clank.

The simulation device shut down.

The moment the hologram disappeared, I took off the goggles.

Cheers rang out around me.

When I covered my ears because it was too loud, my sense of smell sharpened instead.

Ugh, is that smell of alcohol coming from me?

I hadn’t drunk in so long that a single glass got me drunk and then sober again.

After catching my breath for a moment, I turned my head back.

Behind me, Ailee was waving this way.

Thank goodness. It looked like things had gone well on her end too.

And when I looked forward again, Professor Flavia was standing right in front of me.

“Your skills are decent.”

Her expression wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.

I thought she’d slap me across the face the moment she arrived and scream about how dare I teabag her.

“Still, I cannot forgive the teabagging.”

“Y-you were only aiming for my upper body.”

“Yes. I targeted your upper body to make you lower your guard, then aimed for your lower body, but I failed to properly grasp the output of Cadet Deep’s Titan thrusters.”

No matter how sturdy a Titan’s frame was, jumping was usually impossible.

Even elephants couldn’t jump, so naturally, a Titan supporting that weight on two legs couldn’t jump either.

Kicks were closer to briefly lifting off by using every thruster and hovering device available.

Earlier, Ailee had genuinely leapt high enough to reach Samoyed’s eye level.

Honestly, I’d only thought about it before. It was my first time actually doing it, so I was a little flustered too.

“B-but you didn’t bring out all your armaments either, Professor.”

Professor Flavia’s eyes widened slightly.

You could tell just by looking at her armaments.

A whip, a machine gun, a shield. For actual extreme close-quarters combat, a dagger.

To call them armaments focused on close-range combat, something was obviously off at a glance.

On top of that, she hadn’t properly made use of the weight and propulsion needed for a close-range output contest either.

Maybe it was simply Professor Flavia’s lack of skill after being away from the field for so long.

You could think that, but honestly, it made no sense.

There was no way a professor from House Luna was that much of a useless piece of crap.

“You noticed.”

She hadn’t hidden her armaments.

From the start, she simply hadn’t called several of them into the simulation.

Unlike what she’d said at first, she hadn’t truly done her best.

“You were evaluating me, weren’t you?”

Every word she said carried a somewhat aristocratic tone.

A way of speaking that observed, analyzed, evaluated each of my actions and demanded feedback.

But I think she really was pissed off about the teabagging.

Without saying anything, Professor Flavia rummaged through her breast pocket and took out a business card.

“Take it.”

I took it for now.

I wondered if this was something like the ticket I’d received from Joshua, but there wasn’t any particularly eye-catching information.

It simply had ordinary information stating that she was so-and-so belonging to House Luna.

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, when a noble handed someone a physical business card instead of an electronic one…

“Is th-this an invitation?”

The chairperson had told me it meant an invitation.

“You know.”

Professor Flavia nodded.

Her expression said she’d been spared the trouble of explaining.

An invitation? Then she meant to invite me to House Luna?

“To be more precise about the timing, this concerns a deployment during the vacation.”

A deployment during the vacation.

The deployment during summer vacation after the end of the first semester of the first year was mandatory.

From the vacations after that, deployment became optional rather than mandatory.

Of course, I’d heard that most cadets went on deployments on their own even if they weren’t told to.

They might have a front they were originally assigned to, choose the same front as someone they’d grown close to during the first semester, or need sponsorship.

“Securing high-ranking cadets first is also part of the job.”

Or high-ranking cadets might be scouted.

Professor Flavia was scouting me for the Northern Front right now.

“I-I don’t want to.”

It was absurd.

It wasn’t as though I’d received no help from House Luna.

During the first semester, the head of House Luna had sponsored me once, and I’d received a fair amount from Karina too.

But that didn’t mean House Luna was friendly to me.

I didn’t know if they thought I was an idiot, but it hadn’t been long since Professor Flavia had tried to take my core.

“I thought you would say that.”

Professor Flavia nodded as well.

At the same time, she raised her smartwatch and gestured over the hologram.

Beep.

At the sudden notification, I lifted my smartwatch.

“I sent you one million credits as an advance.”

One million credits.

Credits were roughly similar in value to dollars.

In these days of high exchange rates, one million dollars would be around 1.5 billion won, not one billion.

“A-an advance?”

“Yes.”

“You mean you’ll give me more if I g-go on the deployment?”

“Yes. It’s certainly nice that you understand quickly, for a commoner.”

“Wh-why are you going this far?”

One million credits was an amount any house would find difficult to casually hand over as an advance.

Professor Flavia looked so matter-of-fact that it actually flustered me.

“You could call it image rehabilitation.”

Image rehabilitation?

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but the Count Luna family is already continuously sponsoring other cadets who are not nobles. Cadet Levan, the top student, would be the representative example.”

They told me to stay away from House Luna, but he ended up taking that route after all.

“House Luna hates everything that is not noble. In that sense, Cadet Deep’s wariness is actually welcome. It means you are not some foolish commoner who would jump at money the moment it was offered.”

“S-sorry, but with what you’re saying right now, your image isn’t being rehabilitated at all.”

“Image is something you polish with money.”

She wasn’t wrong.

“From House Luna’s perspective, Cadet Deep is like a stone. A protruding talent. A stone jutting up on the path nobles must walk. It must be pulled out, but it won’t budge. Then there is only one method.”

Professor Flavia extended her hand.

“To use that stone as a foundation stone.”

Although we have tormented you like hell until now, we’ll give you a ridiculous amount of money, so let’s make up!

That seemed to be what she meant.

“And if you do not take the Count Luna family’s hand on this occasion, the Count Luna family will continue to be hostile toward Cadet Deep in the future.”

“I’m a war hero of the Western Front.”

“You seem unaware that every act that goes undiscovered is legal.”

Was she threatening me right now?

Was she trying to buy me with money?

Was she planning to insult me!

“I n-need some time to think.”

It was far too much money to scold her over.

Professor Flavia nodded in satisfaction and left.

At the same time, a glove was placed in front of me.

I’m damn exhausted.

I wanted to rest right away. I wanted to go to some terrace, drink something, and rest.

I needed time to think, too.

“Phew, that was a duel that set my heart ablaze.”

It was Zeus.

The same Zeus who had exchanged firepower with Rod during the midterm exam.

He was leaning on a cane.

Was he still suffering aftereffects in one leg, or had he healed but remained impaired?

“Ah, this?”

Zeus twirled the cane once through the air.

“The privilege of people who’ve known leg pain—a fashion cripple. My leg’s all better now.”

“Th-that’s a relief.”

Then don’t go around leaning on a cane.

How was I supposed to refuse him?

“Anyway, pick up the glove. Let’s see how much better you’ve gotten since last ti—”

Zeus was sent flying just like that.

My eyes followed Zeus, and only belatedly did I look to the side.

Ailee’s body slam.

The effect of one hundred kilograms was definitely impressive.

Since she was steel type, she really was overpowered.

What Karina had adjusted was her strength, not her weight.

If someone was rammed with that weight, anyone would end up rolling across the floor like that.

“I don’t want any more of this!”

“Y-yes?”

“I don’t want to come all the way to a ball and do nothing but duel! I’m going to play with Deep!”

Ailee grabbed my hand just like that.

“Uh, uhh?”

Since her strength had been adjusted, now she used her center of gravity to pull me.

My body, which had been sitting in the simulation seat, was forcibly pulled up.

Zeus looked at me and Ailee with a bewildered expression, then let out a deep sigh.

“She’s right. If you’ve got a partner, go.”

“Are you okay?”

“You know it’s most embarrassing when people worry about you, right?”

He was right.

I turned my head away from Zeus.

I walked as Ailee dragged me along, leaning on my cane.

I could feel a lot of people looking at us, but it didn’t bother me.

More than that, I felt saved.

It didn’t feel like much time had passed since the ball began, but I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion.

The hand holding mine felt like a real person’s hand, and the entire time I followed her, a pleasant scent came from Ailee.

“Ailee, I’m sweaty right now and my clothes are wrinkled.”

“I don’t care at all. You look handsome to me.”

“People are…”

We came out onto the terrace.

The air was slightly cool.

The gazes I had felt slowly fell away.

Ailee held my hand and stared straight into my eyes.

“Deep.”

“Yes.”

“I think someone like you should stand out in everyone’s eyes.”

“Yes.”

I knew that.

“Actually, you already stand out.”

“Yes.”

“If you’re going to stand out anyway, I hope you make it really big!”

I already stood out wherever I went.

No matter how much I tried to avoid people’s gazes, I couldn’t.

Whatever I did, people would look.

I was aiming for first place, and I was taking actions that stood out even more than Levan’s.

I was in a position where I couldn’t avoid attention just because I wanted to.

“At first, I really thought you were a pervert, Deep.”

“Yes?”

What was she suddenly talking about?

When I frowned slightly, Ailee smiled brightly.

“Because I could really feel you staring at me so intensely! If it weren’t me, that was the kind of gaze that would get you reported for sexual harassment, you know? But it wasn’t all that bad!”

“It should have been bad.”

“I don’t know. I thought it’d be nice if my pilot were someone who looked at me that passionately.”

Ailee went to the corner of the terrace and took something out.

It was a walking assist device.

“Rod said he’d leave it here! He only told me to bring it out if you felt too stuffy!”

“I’m not quite at that point yet.”

“I’m the one feeling stuffy! Hurry up and put it on!”

As she said, I put on the assist device for now.

As it tightened firmly around my legs, my tailcoat was badly wrinkled.

“Now stand up!”

I set down the cane and rose from my seat.

The moment I felt myself standing steadily on my own feet, Ailee clasped both my hands.

“Now let’s dance!”

“Yes?”

“Stop thinking about duels, and instead of fighting and stuff, if you came here to have fun, you should dance!”

“I can’t dance.”

“Then follow me!”

Ailee began moving while holding my hands as she pleased.

Anyone could see her movements were a mess.

Since she was enjoying it so much, I didn’t bother saying they were a mess.

I was having fun too.

Being alone together like this was more fun than dueling somewhere crowded and standing out.

The moment I turned back while following Ailee’s dance, the princess came into view.

During the last midterm exam, I had fought Aaron, the third-ranked student.

If we were going in order, the princess would be next.

If I was going to stand out anyway, I hoped I made it really big.

To do that, I needed to be on somewhat friendly terms with the Count Luna family.

I slowly inhaled, then exhaled.

After beating the princess in the final exam, I’d go on deployment to the Count Luna family during the vacation.

Once I finished thinking, I could dance comfortably.

It was a total mess.

“Oof.”

“S-sorry!”

Getting stepped on by one hundred kilograms really hurt.