Ch.303Academy Festival (8)

“Aaaah!! A battle between two robots!! Just watching it makes my heart race!!”

The MC shouted.

“Woooooah!!!”

The audience (mostly men) let out screams that were close to shrieks of excitement.

“No. It’s just scrap metal hitting each other. Why are they acting like that?”

Kana seemed unable to understand this level of tension. This is why women…

“We finally meet, old man. You’ve managed to bring such a piece of junk.”

Kisho mocked Hagestein.

“I… failed to guide you properly. As your senior who couldn’t lead you correctly… I must atone. I’ll stop you here.”

Hagestein said.

He knew well that he would lose this match. Nevertheless, he wanted to create at least a small ripple in Kisho’s heart.

“Hmph. Atone? I’ve made our school club this strong!! I’m not in a position to take advice from someone as incompetent as you!! Even Heichi, the robot of the former club president, has completely different capabilities now!!!”

Kisho shouted loudly.

“No… he’s talking so dramatically but in the end, it’s just a high school club.”

Kana, one of the few sane people here, immediately objected.

“Kana… in these situations, you’re supposed to just go with the youthful atmosphere.”

Betting your life on a high school club? That’s fine. Because that’s… ‘youth.’

“Results… You’ve forgotten the motto of the former president: ‘Enjoy everything.'”

Hagestein said, stroking his bald head.

“What did enjoying things ever get us!!!! The club ended up falling apart!! Important people left for better clubs because of entrance exams or whatever!! All that was left were the dregs!! That’s all those bonds amounted to!!”

Kisho shouted, then immediately raised his hand.

“Heichi!!! Sweep them all away!!!”

Kisho yelled.

Thump thump thump-!!

Upon hearing those words, the robot called Heichi immediately closed the distance toward Hagestein’s clown robot.

KWAAANG-!

Heichi swung its iron fist and delivered a straight punch toward the clown robot.

“……….?!”

The audience seemed unable to follow its speed.

However, a select few skilled individuals, including myself and Kana, clearly caught what had happened. It had thrown a punch at tremendous speed.

“That’s strong…..”

Kana muttered.

It perfectly reproduced the movements of someone who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts. No. Wait, they really built an impressive robot? Is this really high school level? Such doubts weren’t unreasonable.

KWAGAGAGAANG-!!

The clown robot’s body crumpled as it rolled across the ground.

“Heichi Beam!!”

At Kisho’s shout, Heichi’s arm transformed into something like a gun barrel.

FWOOOOOOSH-!!!!!!

A beam of light erupted from Heichi’s hand.

KWAAAAAANG-!!

The beam completely destroyed half of the clown robot’s body.

“………!!”

Hagestein seemed to have expected this much.

“No… that’s clearly not high school level!”

Kana shouted.

“Kana… that logic is like spitting while lying down. You’re not high school level either.”

I said to Kana. She was also in the ranks of the superhuman.

“Ah. Fair point.”

Kana coolly acknowledged it.

“Optical technology… that’s clearly technology from another school. Did you just copy it?”

Hagestein stared directly at Kisho.

“You’re making me sound like a plagiarist!! They legally transferred the technology to me!!”

Kisho gave a vile smile.

“Threatening people to… divert technology… so it was true. I never thought you’d fall this far.”

Hagestein wore a wistful expression.

“It’s all for the club!!!”

Kisho raged.

Thump-!

Heichi mounted the clown robot and, in a dominant position, threw a heavy punch.

KWANG-! KWANG-! CRUNCH-! CRACK-!!!

The robot began to crumple beyond recognition.

“See!! This is how much stronger Heichi has become!!”

Kisho shouted loudly.

KWAAAANG-!

With that, Hagestein’s clown robot was completely shattered into pieces.

“Th-The winner!!! Kisho!!! An overwhelming difference in power!!”

The MC shouted loudly.

“He’s definitely… strong.”

He would probably make it to the round of 16… I shouldn’t let my guard down.

Squeeze squeeze-!

“Um… Shota. It’s fine to get serious, but… could you stop touching my butt?”

Kana said.

“There’s something moving about Kana’s plump bottom…!!”

She definitely exercises, so it had both softness and firmness coexisting.

Hagestein came down from the stage as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“It was… beyond my abilities. Please… stop him. Shota.”

Hagestein said.

“I’ve properly inherited your determination, senior.”

I said with a smile.

“No. He just got completely destroyed but he’s still putting on airs?”

Kana objected, seemingly dumbfounded.

“Hey! Stop nitpicking!”

I immediately punished the sensible Kana by kneading her chest.

“Hyaaah?!”

Kana’s face immediately turned bright red.

———-

Anyway, the preliminary matches proceeded quickly.

It wasn’t a round of 16 where only the strong had gathered. The preliminaries were meant for weeding out. The chaff was naturally filtered out, so the matches progressed quickly.

“Arigiri Shota. I’ve heard of your reputation.”

A man with flowing, aristocratic-looking hair held a fencing saber. He seemed to be from the fencing club participating in this tournament.

“I’ve analyzed your matches in the Tushin Cup. The Scorching Stance… it boasted incredible speed. I’ll give you that. But… I have confidence as a swordsman too. I won’t lose in terms of speed.”

The man pointed his sword at me.

“I’ll give you time to prepare your Scorching Stance. I’ll wait. With great generosity. Because I want to compete properly in terms of speed.”

The man said.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

I said with a shrug.

“What…”

The man’s expression hardened.

“I think I can beat your speed without it.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You’re underestimating me.”

The man tried to speak casually, but veins popped on his forehead. He was very angry.

“Don’t regret this!!”

The man immediately closed the distance toward me. It was an attack where he kicked off the ground, closed the distance, and delivered a quick sword strike from zero distance.

WHOOSH-!!

But it was slow. There wasn’t even a need to use the Scorching Stance. I lightly twisted my body to avoid the incoming thrust.

‘I’m used to… countering thrusts.’

It was because I had so many sparring matches with Kana at the kendo dojo. Kana’s Thousand-Thought-One-Heart style’s killing technique was a thrust. Having been hit by it so many times, I had no trouble avoiding ordinary thrusts.

This guy’s thrust was… a minor copy of Kana’s thrust.

WHOOSH-!

As he missed, I immediately swung my practice rubber knife.

THWACK-!!!

The rubber knife cleanly struck his forehead.

“Guhack!!”

The fencing club whatever-his-name-was immediately collapsed.

“Aaaah!! Arigiri Shota!! He’s strong!!!! He perfectly read his opponent!!!”

The MC shouted loudly.

At that moment, the audience clamored loudly.

“SIG! NA! TURE!”

“SIG! NA! TURE!”

The audience seemed to want my signature move.

If that’s what they want, it’s only right to give it to them.

“KIEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!”

I roared loudly across the entire arena.

“WAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

The audience cheered.

“Geez… that guy… doing that again. Such an attention seeker…!”

Kana immediately blushed as if embarrassment was her burden to bear. Why? What’s wrong with it?

——–

Anyway, the preliminaries progressed smoothly.

SLASH-!

Kana, as if it was nothing significant, lightly cut down her opponent. Well… the person who faced Kana was just unlucky. What can you do?

But… Kana. Take it easy a bit. She won with such an overwhelming difference that the atmosphere at the venue became awkward.

And… Sayaka, the kendo club president, and Fiora Valeur, the French beauty who was the fencing club president, also proudly advanced to the main tournament. There was meaning in maintaining their dignity as club presidents.

“Now!! From the round of 16!!! We’re going to have a betting pool that will be returned as club activity donations!!! Everyone!! Place your bets!!”

The MC shouted loudly.

Rattle-!!

A pre-prepared odds table appeared.

“My odds are… 1.3, huh.”

Low odds meant I was considered a safe bet. In other words, I was the favorite.

“Hmph. Mine is 1.1. It means I’ll definitely win.”

Kana spoke with a superior gaze directed at me. It was Kana’s charm to be so proud during the day but suddenly become timid at night.

“We’ll see if you can be like that at night too.”

I smiled and stroked Kana’s cheek.

“Hmph… I’ve gotten quite good at that stuff too, you know?”

Kana said with a prim expression. But… the corner of Kana’s mouth twitched subtly.

I immediately understood Kana’s intention. She was deliberately provoking me to get seeding rights at night? This naughty one!!!

Kisho’s odds were also low. He had demonstrated his robot’s overwhelming performance in the preliminaries.

“Now for the much-anticipated round of 16 bracket!!! A considerable amount of betting money has been collected!!! According to this bracket, everyone’s joy and sorrow will intersect!!”

The MC displayed the bracket.

Thanks to Sayaka, the organizer, pulling some strings in advance, I was matched against Kisho right in the round of 16.

“Ooooh!! A battle between human and robot!! Will the human win?!! Or will the creation prevail!! A heated match has been set!!”

The MC shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Shota. I won’t let you off easy if you lose.”

Kana said to me.

“Hmph. I won’t lose.”

I smiled and climbed into the ring.

I needed to reform Kisho here and resolve the science club request, then have an impactful fight to catch the attention of Lei Lifeng in the audience. I had a lot to do.

I sighed and picked up the practice rubber knife.

In front of me stood a large robot. The robot’s red eyes were staring at me as if piercing through me. It was intimidating.

Ping-!

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation at the back of my head. I knew this feeling. This robot was a formidable opponent. If I won, I could immediately convert it into a memory of a strong opponent. It was a rare opportunity for a spec upgrade, which made my mouth water.

“The match~!!! Is about to begin!!!”

The MC immediately rang the bell signaling the start of the match.

The match had begun.