“Well, whatever. Jacks of all trades have a hard time picking out their weapons, but their ability to fight in so many different ways is their characteristic quality. If you attack in waves with all sorts of weapons, you’ll be able to really confuse your opponent.”
“I-I see.”
Shinichi’s comments were based off experience, so the girl was naturally impressed and she found herself nodding.
What she didn’t know was that Shinichi was actually talking about using everyday items as weapons and replacing them after use.
It’s no wonder that his opponent would become confused when he’s using things that aren’t even meant to be weapons as weapons.
“Ah, but I wonder if the foster has the capacity for it. A full set of an exoskeleton plus several things can fit in it, so… Hmm, I guess it should barely fit.”
The girl fiddled with her foster and calculated how much her foster could carry.
A foster’s capacity to carry weapons varies according to one’s class and grades. Naturally, Shinichi had the foster with the worst capacity.
“As expected of the special class. Even your foster is special made. My foster can only carry a simple exoskeleton and a sword at most. Well, I still don’t really understand how this thing can store so many weapons, though.”
Falandia did have bags that could carry more than they seemed to be able to, but those use ceremonial magic to prepare a dimension just for storing things inside them, so the concept is easy enough to understand, but the fosters use a completely opposite theory, so he doesn’t really get it.
“It’s limited to just weapons and exoskeleton, but the foster disassembles them and compresses them. Some part is also turned into data, and then the process is simply reversed whenever the weapon or exoskeleton is needed… If you need a more in-depth explanation of the technology, unfortunately that’s currently above my level…”
Looks like the technology is so complicated that even the students with good grades find it difficult to explain.
On one hand you have the foster which can compress things, but is limited to just weapons and exoskeletons, and on the other hand, you have the indiscriminate magic bags but have much less room for storage.
As for which of the two is more convenient, that would depend on one’s needs.
But then again the former is geared towards weapons, while the latter is geared toward miscellaneous goods, so they can’t really be compared.
“It’s fine. Even if you explain it, I won’t understand anyway. I hear this stuff all the time at class and it all just sounds like some mysterious chant to me.”
“Ufufu, I know exactly what you mean. I was like that before too. Actually, this uniform also uses the same concept and material as the other equipment. When equipping the exoskeleton, it’s stored into the foster and is automatically replaced by a bodysuit, then an armor is equipped on top of it just like they do at the Garesto army.”
“…So that’s why I can’t get any when I’m ordering so late.”
Shinichi was surprised to find out why the uniform was said to be specially made.
No one thought he would ever get to wear an exoskeleton, so no one explained this to him.
“That’s right. Also, the foster is actually the same specs regardless of the class. There’s just a limiter depending on one’s grades and rank.”
“I see. Now that I think about it, it is more economical to be able to upgrade the fosters without having to replace them whenever a student’s grade goes up.”
The girl was glad to see that she was able to help Shinichi somehow too.
What she didn’t know was that Shinichi was secretly hacking his foster to release its limiter.
It would be dangerous if the ability to hack it was exposed, but Shinichi was weak to things that didn’t know anything about the convenient existence that was the mask.
He found out how to hack it since he thought that a system might have been put in his foster to monitor him, but he never noticed the existence of a limiter since he never knew about it in the first place – a result brought about by him being mindful of subtle things.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ve been reading up on my own, but common sense stuff like this just keeps slipping past me.”
“All the returnees seem to have trouble with this, so you don’t have to feel bad about it. And something like this isn’t enough to thank you for the advice you gave me today.”
“I don’t think I’ve given you that much advise though. Just consider my advice as a reference of sort. As long as you keep gaining experience, you’ll one day become first-rate even without doing anything special.”
“T-That’s not true…”
The girl was puzzled by how confident he was about that, and her anxiety and lack of confidence showed on her face. She wasn’t being humble, and neither was she putting an act to hide her usually confident self.
Perhaps it was because of that that Shinichi roughened up his tone a little and denied such thoughts.
“Despite the gifts you were born with, you didn’t become complacent and instead continued to train. That alone will never betray you.”
When he came to this school for the first time and praised ‘her efforts’, those were his true feelings.
He knew that her efforts didn’t end at mere words.
The brilliance of a soul innate and the brilliance of a soul tediously polished might look similar, but they’re not the same thing, and yet he found both such brilliances in her.
That’s why he looked straight at her.
Those eyes were more likely to recognize her than anyone else around her.
“A little is fine. Believe in it, be proud of it. Don’t put on an act. Sincerely believe and be proud of it.”
“—”
Don’t make such an unconfident face. Don’t cower. Puff out your chest and stand tall.
Just what was he looking at that he could say something like that? The girl didn’t know.
But what she did know was that because of that she felt something warm enter her chest.
She was elated to know that she had something that this powerful man acknowledged.
And his words which recognized what she’s been doing until now as a ‘matter-of-fact’ were full of warmth.
“Yes!”
So in order to become just like that person he wanted her to be, she gave him a firm reply.
Shinichi nodded in satisfaction, but his expression soon became troubled.
The girl was anxious to see his expression change suddenly, but Shinichi merely grinned.
“…By the way, how long will you be holding my hand for?”
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