I think you’ve already noticed it by now, but the man known as ‘Nakamura Shinichi’ has little interest in this academy as a place of learning.
While it may be true that he shares the common denominator that is “To know the unknown” with other students, he did not come here to “study” but to “investigate”.
From the beginning, Nakamura Shinichi didn’t have the luxury of enjoying a student’s lifestyle.
The difference in their common sense was simply too big. One misstep and the whole stack could go up in flames.
Yet doing nothing out of fear would also be fruitless.
So, first, he needs to fool these people watching him.
Shaking them off is easy, true.
But since they’re going out of their way to underestimate him, it wouldn’t do him well to give them reason to tighten their watch.
Quietly waiting until they let down their guard is the wiser course of action.
To that end, he figured he’d put on the act of being an average student.
And such an act becomes all-the-more easy when this school has something known as “Combat Training”.
And that class takes place immediately after History.
And so, because of that, he went here to the sports ground during recess, but…
What he saw left him speechless.
“What… is this?”
That so-called “Sports Field” was nothing but titular.
Surrounded by spectator seats, and a large circular arena at the center, the words “Sports Field” and “Gym” were clearly ill fit.
Shaped like a dome, this was not something one could find in an academy.
He’d already known that his common sense of the place known as “Academy” would be overturned, but this turn of events caught him completely off guard.
And when he saw the battle occurring on the arena, he felt a strong sense of discomfort.
It should’ve been a given that the weapons they’d be using would be completely different. There’s no way the technology of a world that could overcome the barrier of dimensions like Garesto would be on the same level as that of a sword and magic world like Falandia.
Yet on top of the weapons they’re using, if it’s just the shape, then everything was practically the same.
The only thing different were the differently colored full body armor the students were wearing.
Those could truly be called armors made of steel. But such armors were not made through forging, but were instead, deployed automatically by a machine.
Because of that there were people who covered their whole body in armor, while there were those who only covered their limbs, or those who covered everything except for their face.
And then, there were those weapons that came from those powered suits.
Exactly, what kind of technology was this?
The small parts combine, changing their shape, mass, and size, transforming themselves into swords, into a hammer, into a cannon.
“Oi, oi…”
It was just like the hero special effects he used to watch when was a kid.
This should be a dream come true for any boy, but the shock was too great, and he couldn’t find the time to think such thoughts.
“Wow, the mock battles of the upper-classmen are awesome!”
“I wanna fight like that too!”
“Senpai! Do your best!”
The people cheering the students in the arena made him dizzy.
This field, Sports Field 1, is open during recess and is vast.
In this stadium, that’s comparable to the size of the Tokyo Stadium, groups of two to four students could be seen battling in the arena inside circles, swinging giant weapons.
Fighting in the centermost circle and the biggest part of the arena were three people.
“Heh, you should try harder, Mr. Noble!!”
A black-haired man wearing a white armor with black lines, covering only his chest and his limbs, gripped the long handle of his weapon with both of his hands. As energy extended out of that gaudy handle, forming the shape of a blade.
The white armored man swung that weapon, which was over twice his height, sweeping toward a yellow armored fighter and a blue armored fighter.
The erupting waves from that attack left a scar on the field grounds.
“Ku.”
“Tch.”
The male and female student who were fully covered in armor except for their faces boosted themselves away from that attack.
That naturally vivid hair color of theirs meant they were from Garesto.
The yellow-armored female student and the blue-armored male student had the hair color of each other’s armor.
After they each took their distance, a gun appeared in their hands, and they both shot off a ray of light.
“Think you can dodge this!?”
“Eat this!!”
The girl and the boy yelled respectively.
The gun barrels started rotating, and then the shooting began.
What came shooting out weren’t physical bullets but bullets of light. From their hue, it could be seen that they were photons.
As a rain of energy bullets descended on the white-armored student, he fearlessly laughed.
“Fuhahaha, you think those peashooters of yours can hurt me!!”
Without even trying to dodge or defend, he stood their fearlessly beneath the rain of light, laughing.
Not even a scratch could be seen on the student, though the ground was now hollowed.
From that, it was clear that those bullets weren’t weak.
The student in white armor was just that strong.
“Shit, and we even made sure to strengthen the guns!”
“Who would’ve thought these new models wouldn’t work!”
“To think this is the best you could do in a 2v1.
But then again, for Aristel’s goldfish to even think he could actually beat me, know your place!”
As the white student scorned the other two, he laughed and wielded his great sword over his shoulder.
In response, the yellow and the blue student withdrew their guns, and changed their weapons into blades.
With the metals having the same brilliance, it was clear that the energy of their weapons came from photons.
But their weapons were clearly thinner and shorter than the white student’s.
“You think you could beat me with that toy!!”
As if his armor’s boost function had been ignited, the white armored student rushed toward the two.
Then without even trying to aim, the student swung his giant sword, leaving everything up to strength.
“Tch, uwaa!?’
“Kyaaa!?”
When their weapons clashed, the defense of the two students were pulverized like paper, and a blade fell in between the two.
Though the blade didn’t even graze them, the erupting waves cracked their armors, and the students were subsequently sent flying from the circle.
At that moment, a buzzer resounded, signaling the end of the mock battle.
The two students who’d grouped up to fight the white armor have clearly lost.
“Che, bunch of small fries.
If you’re going to act arrogant, then you should at least be able to take one of my attacks.”
He didn’t spare even a single glance to the two students who could no longer move.
The white armored student withdrew his great sword, and as if he’d completely lost all interest, left the stage.
“That bastard, Shinguuji, he’s as invincible as ever.”
“Shinguuji Senpai! Amazing!”
“So not even Hausen and Kanru together could beat him…”
“With this, everyone but Padyuel’s been beaten.”
Some of the spectators watching let out voices of jubilation, while some let out voices of discouragement.
Shinichi who was standing at the foremost seats of the second floor was making a difficult face as he listened to the spectators and looked down on the field.
“Hey, what face do you think I should make with something like this?”
“Kyu, kyu, kyuu?”
Seemingly troubled, she could only tilt her head in response.
If their positions were to be switched, Shinichi would probably have a similar response.
Contempt.
He can’t deny it, the pride of someone who already has full knowledge of another world.
That is also why he came here, thinking he knew full well how to handle a foreign culture.
The only reason he’s having a hard time, is because the culture of earth has also been mixed in.
But in truth, that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t that sort of issue.
It’s true that they’ve put on an armor. It’s true that they’ve used their weapon to defeat their enemy.
Whether it’s Garesto or Falandia, combat is all the same.
But, this way of fighting is… It’s just a little too–––
“Childish.”
––––Like a bunch of kids fighting.
Even after taking away the fact that they are amateurs, students, and people from a foreign culture, his opinion still remains.
There’s a difference between the information gathered and the “information experienced”.
But basing from the battle that occurred just now at the centermost part of the arena, the difference in their moves is still too big.
As for why, well for one, they completely squandered their use of their armor’s boost functionality.
Considering the level of the first attack, moving out half the distance they did would’ve been sufficient. All the more so, when you’re planning to immediately counterattack.
But not only did they over boosted, they even wasted too many bullets in their counterattack, as most of them missed.
From the energy he felt from each shot, there was certainly nothing to criticize about the firepower, but it was still too shallow.
Be that as it may though, that doesn’t mean that that white student should’ve stood there without doing anything.
Lucky for him, the bullets were all energy based. But if it were any other situation, and the bullets had some other effect, he could’ve easily found himself in a fatal position.
And that last attack… They knew a strong one was coming, yet they still bothered to try and take it head on. That was a horrible idea.
They should’ve dodged that attack instead, and then attacked immediately after during the enemy’s inevitable moment of weakness.
Them aside though, the white guy’s final attack didn’t make any sense either.
He had speed, but he didn’t take advantage of it, and instead swung his sword without aiming.
He literally just brute forced his way through.
Just like a power fighter who relies on his exceptional muscular strength.
But by doing so, he ignores most of his own strength, and needlessly wastes too much energy.
He’s using advanced technology, but he’s fighting style is no different from a brawler’s.
In other words, the battle was basically a question of who has the bigger gun. A kid’s fight, so to speak.
Depending on the circumstances, such a situation could certainly happen, but from the surrounding people’s reaction, this seems to be the norm.
To think even something like this could be different between worlds… Shinichi quietly looked down the arena.
However, this doesn’t mean that Shinichi is looking down on Garesto’s way of fighting.
Their worlds are different. If this is how they do things, then he doesn’t have the right to complain.
As long as their strength is stronger, then aside from inter-personal combat, they can definitely be said to be effective “soldiers”.
It’s just that they’re the perfect sort for Shinichi, so he can’t help but “not feel like losing”.
“…I know it’s a bit late, but… It looks my decision not to fight seriously in front of others was right.”
Thinking back on all the trouble that occurred to this day, Shinichi shrugged his shoulders.
That wasn’t a breath of relief, but him beating himself up over not having hidden himself even more.
Thinking back on it, the number of people who looked like they were about to figure him out were certainly not few.
And now that he’s thought about it, he’s starting to feel bad about having stayed too long there.
Haa, he sighed as he shook his head, before leaving the seats to go to class. But just as he was about to–––
“Oi, you… What did you say just now?”
An irritated voice called out to him from the fields.
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