The ball continued for three days.
Of course, I only went on the first day and passed on the rest afterward.
I tried to return Aili’s main body to Aila, but she refused.
It was already a personally customized specification.
Moreover, since the customization was illegal, she told me to hold onto it to avoid unnecessary trouble.
I got the feeling she just wanted me to keep the robot maid she’d made.
Aili was happy that she’d be able to do housework in my dorm room.
I don’t really see what’s so great about being able to do housework.
I don’t get it.
Then again, life with a personally customized robot gyaru maid in my room doesn’t seem too bad either.
“Huuuh.”
It’s a strange feeling.
My first year is almost over.
I’ve changed a lot since I first came to this world.
At first, I thought I’d starve to death, but now I’m worrying about how to spend my sponsorship money to get the best customization.
I have so much sponsorship money saved up that I could live in luxury if I wanted. It’s astounding just looking at my bank account.
Actually, pouring money into customization itself is a luxury.
For me, this is my fandom, my gacha, my maxing out.
Titan, my love.
Titan, my life.
Titan, me.
It’s far better to spend money on customization than to waste it on something weird.
The more I customize, the more my thruster performance improves, even if only slightly; malfunction probability decreases, and armaments are slowly modernized bit by bit.
“How much money are you pouring in for a performance boost that’s smaller than a rat’s tail?”
It was Friday simulation sparring time.
Professor Zieg circled around Aili as if bewildered.
“Every time I see it, the armor and equipment are updated. Is this only changing in the simulation?”
“I’m really changing it.”
“So that’s what that racket was. You racking your brain over where to spend your leftover rotting money.”
Why is he picking a fight?
Valmung’s main camera moved up and down, scanning Aili.
“Several professors have raised objections regarding your rank change.”
Did Professor Flavia cause trouble again?
No, Count Luna’s family had said positive things to me, so she probably wouldn’t.
“They said your rank change is too minor compared to your level of activity and grades so far. The majority opinion was that you should be placed at the front among cadets with the same grades.”
That’s a development I never imagined.
Of course, a higher rank is better, and now I’m ready to handle the attention.
It’s not a bad thing.
“Then what rank?”
“Well. If you’re lucky, maybe a single digit. We haven’t examined the exact scores yet, and even if it is applied, it’ll be after the final exams.”
Valmung’s sensor flickered briefly.
“Is this the final version you’ll use in the exam against the Imperial Princess?”
“Ah, probably.”
“Are there plans for additional inspections?”
“A few.”
Chairman Paraya’s pressure was so intense that I’d forgotten for a moment, but Professor Zieg’s pressure is no joke either.
I feel like he’s quietly dissecting my Aili, and it’s suffocating.
The silver Valmung has a subtly noble color to it, making it even more burdensome.
If anything, it feels more like a royal Titan than the red Kaiser.
“A sword, huh.”
Valmung’s steps stopped behind Aili.
The main camera wouldn’t leave the sword sheathed at her hip.
“And not a greatsword, just a sword.”
“Yes.”
Professor Zieg laughed as if dumbfounded.
“You should know why all close-range equipment became mass-type weapons.”
Daggers are used for ease of storage, and hidden blades are used for ease of storage and ambush capability.
Aside from those two, all other close-range weapons are heavy pure mass weapons.
The greatswords used by Kaiser and Valmung, the battle axe used by Icarus, the mace used by Alex, the kukri used by Levant.
Among close-range weapons not meant for auxiliary or ambush purposes, there is no close-range equipment that isn’t a mass weapon.
“B-because I need to pierce armor.”
Core Titans don’t have beam weapons.
Not in Part 1, but they exist in Part 2.
No, strictly speaking they exist, but the Empire doesn’t have them.
Unless you’re going to run around shooting charged particle cannons from your mouth like Fafnir going into the beam bathroom, you need equipment to pierce armor.
Machine guns to grind down armor, high-explosives to destroy the ground-down armor, armor-piercing rounds to skip that process.
And close-range equipment that simply crushes armor when swung.
That’s why close combat happens frequently in anti-Titan warfare.
It requires less thinking than firepower battles.
“I don’t know why you’d try to fight up close when you have a perfectly good railgun.”
“B-because of electromagnetic sensors.”
Titans originally do have electromagnetic sensors.
But Ian’s all-around monitor core is thickly plastered with sensors across its entire body.
I realized that when I saw Samoyed’s heat weapon last time.
Heat weapons that heat by running electric current are blatantly visible to electromagnetic sensors.
A railgun will definitely be detected no matter how much distance you put between you and the target.
Since there are sensors all over its body, even a surprise attack from behind would be detected.
Of course, I could probably hastily slap on magnetic shielding armor for the railgun if I had to.
But a sword is cheaper.
“Then why use this thin sword instead of a greatsword?”
Instead of answering, I drew the sword.
Valmung nodded.
“So that’s what it was.”
There is a way to pierce armor even without a mass weapon.
“Then swing it.”
It’s already inside you.
No, I don’t think this is it.
***
I opened the hatch and sat in the pilot seat.
As I was fastening my belt, a communication signal flickered in front of me.
“Have you checked all operation plans?”
“Yes.”
Actually, there was hardly any operation plan.
Ran seemed quite disappointed.
Last time, I’d been able to formulate at least some strategy, but this time there was really nothing to do except leave everything completely to my physicals.
It couldn’t be helped.
The opponent’s operator was probably the same.
Both pilots focused more on physicals than complex strategy.
“Deep. Deep deep. Deep deep deep.”
Aili’s hologram sat down next to me and stroked my forearm.
I couldn’t feel the sensation, but it was hard to concentrate before the exam with this.
“Are you going to do that?”
That beast-like movement I showed in the battle against Samoyed.
Back then, it was a movement using elbow rockets, so it looked a bit awkward.
Now with Aili assisting, I could pull it off without even using the elbow rockets.
“I think I will.”
The gravitational acceleration mitigation device had been upgraded significantly, too.
The sudden acceleration and deceleration I used during the first semester against Icarus could be used freely now.
I had to use everything I could.
Otherwise, I couldn’t win.
“I’ll ask for your help when push comes to shove.”
Watching Aili handle things in my place during the Samoyed battle, I’d realized.
It might be okay to transfer some pilot authority to Aili.
So I had made quite a lot of authority into joint authority with the pilot.
Actually, with this level of authority given, Aili could steal my authority instead.
But there was no way that would happen, so it didn’t matter.
I opened and closed my hand.
Aili’s hand crackled as it passed through my fingers.
Aili grinned.
“For real? Really? Were you trying to interlock fingers?”
The hologram was so realistic that I’d forgotten it couldn’t touch.
“…I was trying to do something similar.”
“Ehehe. When you get back to the dorm, wash up first.”
“Aili, please don’t say things that would be misunderstood if someone heard.”
“Don’t all otakus like this kind of thing?”
“I hate it when the communication channel is open.”
You normally get drenched in sweat after an exam and have to wash up anyway.
I had no choice but to wash up even without Aili telling me to.
“Ahem.”
When Ran cleared his throat, Aili immediately vanished.
“Given who the opponent is, let’s focus.”
“Aili started it.”
“Didn’t Deep wag its tail?”
“Hey, damn it, focus.”
If Ian says so, I should focus.
“Pre-sortie check complete. Handing Aili over to launch position.”
I raised both feet onto the catapult.
“Catapult connection complete. Reconfirming augmentation pack application. Confirmation complete.”
Kiiiiiiing!
The entrance opened with a piston sound.
The catapult moved back and fixed the launch direction.
“Port guidance system check. Check complete.”
There was a lot to check.
We had prepared a lot on our end, too.
The time on the display counted down.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
At the start of the exam, communications between both sides connected for three seconds.
To confirm that both sides were ready and signal the start of the exam.
What was the entrance exam like again?
I trembled at the words “member of the Imperial Family,” and prepared for the duel filled with rage at a single remark from Ian’s lackey.
“It’s been a while.”
“I look forward to our match.”
Now I could greet with composure.
“Saya Aslan.”
“Deep.”
The declared names announced the participants of this duel.
“Here I come.”
“Dive.”
The following words announced the opening of combat.
Communications cut off, and I pushed the stick and pedals.
Simultaneously with the catapult’s propulsion, I activated hovering and thrusters.
Now I didn’t even turn them on myself.
Aili naturally activated them on her own.
“Objective is close combat. Therefore, we will approach at high speed before engaging.”
“I already memorized all the operation plans!”
The battlefield was a wasteland.
The same as the entrance exam.
“Honestly.”
“Hmm?”
“I felt displeased watching the Imperial Princess get torn apart by Revan.”
“Yeah. I felt a bit like that too! That’s right, that’s right.”
“I think I know why.”
It wasn’t that I wanted to see the person who beat me lose.
I just wanted to fight once more.
I wanted a revenge match.
“Enemy detected, 750 meters ahead!”
“Operating, please hand over to the on-site command AI.”
From now on, it was purely a physical fight.
No operating needed.
“Handing over.”
“Don’t say Deep! I really wanted to be the one to say it!”
“Okay.”
Ran and Ian had shown me two customizations.
One was a bombardment type.
The other was a close combat type with boosted mobility.
I had a question.
Was there a need to choose between the two?
“Full burst!”
I could just do both.
Aili shouted.
The missile ports attached to her shoulder pylons opened simultaneously.
The sensors recognized Kaiser and locked on targeting.
“Huh?”
The targeting that had been centered on Kaiser suddenly scattered.
I thought I knew what this was.
“I thought they’d prepared, but I didn’t expect them to prepare like this.”
Click.
Additional missile ports installed on Kaiser began to open.
It even had a bazooka slung over its shoulder.
If they possessed the same firing assistance function, then what their functions aimed for was the same.
Intercepting missiles with missiles.
“Are we shooting? Shooting should work, right? Shooting?”
“Shoot!”
“U-uh, okay!”
Kaiser poured out missiles.
“Shot!”
Aili poured out missiles.