Chapter 24
[Showcase].
Stingray vs. Militech.
From the very first day of the semester, the entire Academy began to buzz over this major event.
Not only were both corporations busy preparing for the duel, but other corporate-affiliated figures were also rushing through the halls, keeping a close watch on the outcome of this mock battle.
And somehow, news seemed to have spread outside the Academy, with related stocks reportedly showing unusual movement.
For the record, it wasn’t like I wanted to know about the stock market—there was just this guy who wouldn’t shut up on the phone.
[Boss! Please, it’s not too late! Cancel this now!]
"Quiet. It’s already too late to back out."
[If you were going to do whatever you pleased like this, why didn’t you just take my position completely? This is nothing more than dumping scraps on me!]
"……."
Ah, busted.
Turns out, being the chairman of the Foundation came with a ridiculous amount of work. Honestly, I didn’t come to this world because I wanted to work.
For the same reason, I had also been ignoring all the requests for armed support that the Stingray headquarters sent directly to me.
I kept delaying them with the excuse of “still recovering from the illness,” but who knew how long that excuse would keep working.
[Please listen to me! A showcase against Militech on the first day of classes?! What will you do if this turns out badly?!]
"We just have to win."
[Even if we win, that’s a problem in itself! How do you think Militech will view this? Relations with them have already been unstable lately…!]
"It’s an abscess that would’ve burst sooner or later, even without this. Taking some of the pus out early won’t change anything."
[T-That’s true, but…!]
Hitting the mark left Benedict speechless.
Stingray and Militech.
Two giants of New Valhalla City, barely maintaining a fragile relationship—was it because of me that things suddenly fell apart?
Impossible.
From the day this city was founded, the two corporations had been locked in a fierce battle for dominance, using every means available—legal or otherwise.
In the last war, Stingray emerged victorious, and Militech was forced to step back into second place.
However, Militech had always been biding its time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike back, and was still one of the most dangerous competitors, often rallying other corporations to threaten Stingray’s power.
Given their notoriously bad relationship, the majority of other corporations reacted to this [Showcase] with, “I knew this day would come.”
‘In fact, past the midway point of the original story, their relationship does break down, leading to an actual war.’
Militech, deciding that the time had come, joined forces with other corporations to pressure Stingray through various means, eventually escalating into a violent armed conflict.
‘It’s like nobles staging a rebellion against the Emperor.’
The title of that episode was “Whale Fight.” Like the saying “When whales fight, the shrimp’s back gets broken,” the Academy’s main cast was caught up in the megacorps’ war.
That war ended with Stingray winning by a narrow margin, but the entire New Valhalla City was thrown into chaos as a result.
‘If I can prevent the war, that would be ideal. But if not, it’s better to start widening the gap in preparation for it.’
How big the butterfly effect of this event might be was uncertain, but I didn’t think it would lead to a negative outcome.
And now that I had become Aaron…
There was one new fact I hadn’t known as a reader—the reason why, in the original, the war had broken out at that exact moment.
‘Aaron had been the one preventing the war.’
Aaron and Vladimir.
The two heirs of their respective groups had spent their school days together, and although their relationship looked awful on the surface, they were somehow preventing the powder keg from exploding.
I didn’t know what Vladimir thought, but it seemed Aaron had a certain degree of familiarity with him.
Of course, a sociopath’s sense of familiarity was different from that of normal people, but regardless, Aaron—with his overwhelming force—had undeniably been acting as a massive deterrent to war.
Then Aaron died, the relationship rapidly deteriorated, and the inevitable happened.
‘Well, not something I need to dwell on right now.’
What mattered at the moment was the outcome of the [Showcase].
This was the time to focus on ‘Iri Elisbell,’ the main character of the first episode.
"I’ll hang up now. It’s about to start."
[What?! Boss! Boss—!]
Click.
Ending the call with Benedict unilaterally, I looked down at the training ground from the viewing area.
Iri and Donovan.
The representative players of each corporation were holding weapons, waiting for the [Showcase] to begin.
Iri had changed into Stingray’s black uniform, and Donovan was wearing Militech’s white uniform.
‘Black suits her better than I thought.’
Heh, my girl looks so beautiful.
I’d always wanted to see her wear it—perfect opportunity.
If the protagonist hadn’t died, I would never have seen this sight, so in a way, it wasn’t a bad thing.
Since I’d suffered so much because of him, I was entitled to at least this much indulgence, right?
1 minute until battle start.
While I was thinking that, the announcement came over the speakers.
Between the two stood various objects arranged to resemble a cityscape—cars, vending machines, and more.
How they made use of that complex terrain would be the key to victory.
45 seconds until battle start.
Before I knew it, the viewing area was full of corporate officials.
Judging by their excited expressions, many of them seemed to be treating this [Showcase] as little more than entertainment.
And the one drawing the most attention was Iri.
Despite being from the Fallen Sector, people here were wondering why I was shielding her so much, and what exactly had earned her the Crown Prince’s favor. I could practically feel their curiosity from here.
And it wasn’t just them.
"Maria."
I called the name of my exclusive secretary, who was quietly standing by my side. Her response was just a bit slower than usual.
"…Yes, Young Master."
"Are you uneasy?"
"……."
Maria’s expression stiffened as if I had hit the mark. For someone so skilled at keeping a poker face, she was showing obvious signs of nervousness.
"…Yes, Young Master. I won’t lie. I’m worried about the outcome."
"Seems you’ve checked Iri’s specs."
"That’s right."
20 seconds until battle start.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"Then, if I may risk being rude… This time, I truly cannot guess what you’re thinking, Young Master."
"You don’t trust my judgment?"
"Th-That’s not what I meant. But…"
10 seconds until battle start.
"With your permission, Young Master."
5 seconds until battle start.
"Why is it that Miss Elisbell…"
3 seconds until battle start.
"…was given absolutely no Combat Module?"
At last, Maria’s expression twisted.
Yes—currently, Iri was in a completely pure-spec state. Maria and the others might have thought I had given her some sort of trump card.
They were wrong.
I had even gone as far as to give Maria explicit orders—absolutely nothing was to be given to her. No Combat Modules, no equipment of any kind.
"Miss Elisbell is equipped with nothing but a single ‘broken, unidentified module’! Why in the world…!"
Maria’s loyalty ran deep.
She must have thought I was endangering the Stingray Group with a misguided decision.
If this ended badly, she was the kind of person who would drive a dagger into me without hesitation.
But there was no need to worry.
I had already given the reason before.
"That girl is…"
3 seconds until battle start.
2 seconds.
1 second.
"…a genius."
Battle start.
The [Showcase] began.
At the same time, an explosive roar rang out.
KWA-AAAANG—!
The explosion engulfed almost half the mock training ground in an instant.
Since the structures weren’t particularly sturdy to begin with, everything that had been placed there was swallowed up in flames.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The laughter belonged to none other than Donovan.
His wrist was bent 180 degrees backward.
At the end of that wrist was a muzzle about three centimeters in diameter, glowing red-hot and spewing smoke.
"Level 4 Arcane Module—Incinerator Cannon, you damn bitch!"
The explosion just now had been caused by an energy shell fired from Donovan’s arm. The blast was strong enough to turn the area where Iri had been standing into a wasteland.
"Why the hell would a broke, talentless bitch like you come strutting in here?! You were so weak you didn’t even leave a corpse—died in one shot!"
Normally, in a [Showcase], fighters held back to some degree. Not that they didn’t give their all, but at least they refrained from turning it into a killing match.
But Donovan clearly had no intention of holding back, showing something intense right from the start. And the audience’s reactions were just as intense.
A Level 4 Arcane Module?! At his age, he can already handle something like that?!
His adaptation rate must be much higher than he looks. He might have an arc reactor instead of a heart.
As expected, Militech leads in modules…
That kind of gear would place an enormous strain on the body… Installing something like that at his age means this student is exceptional. Worth keeping an eye on.
On the other hand, Stingray is disappointing.
Since they held a [Showcase] on the very first day, I thought they had something up their sleeve.
I could almost hear Militech’s stock price rising in real time.
Maria glared at me, her face rigid. She clearly had a lot to say.
Resentment. Disappointment. Reproach. Betrayal.
All those emotions mixed on her face as she searched for words.
But I just threw her a light remark.
"Does that look over to you?"
It was at that moment.
Iri, who was thought to have been obliterated by the bombardment, reappeared—right in front of Donovan.
She had lowered her posture to the ground and looked up at him with a mocking smirk.
"Is that all? You seemed so confident."
"H-How…!"
Click.
Before Donovan could even react, Iri gripped a pistol in her hand. She pointed the muzzle straight up to press against his chin—and lightly squeezed the trigger.
BANG—!
A spark burst from Donovan’s jaw.
It came from the bullet’s impact. Judging from it, he must have had some kind of module replacing his bones with metal.
But at point-blank range, a round lodged directly into his lower jaw. Without a defensive module, he couldn’t stop the brain-rattling shock.
"Urrgh—!"
Temporarily concussed, Donovan’s massive body tilted and began to fall backward. And Iri did not waste the opening.
She climbed onto his slow-falling body like a squirrel, pressing the muzzle hard against his head again.
"Don’t take it personally."
A lone wild dog muttered.
"You tried to kill me too, you bastard."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Flashes burst repeatedly from Iri’s hand. She had decided one bullet wasn’t enough to break Donovan’s skull.
And she was right.
With each shot, his forehead dented further inward. The metal bone beneath warped more and more.
His forehead skin split open, and blood streamed down. Each time Iri fired, crimson liquid sprayed in all directions.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
After emptying all eleven rounds of her magazine, Iri jumped down before Donovan’s body even hit the ground.
"Whew…"
With a dull thud of metal, Donovan crashed onto the floor. Iri muttered in irritation at the sight.
"How thick-headed are you to take a whole magazine and still not die?"
She reloaded as she slowly approached the fallen Donovan—to finish him off for good.
Donovan didn’t so much as twitch, seemingly completely unconscious.
I-Is he dead?
N-No, I still sense vital signs.
Forget the one on the ground—what’s the deal with that girl? What kind of module lets someone move like that?
The viewing area buzzed with chatter.
But the most shocked of all was surely Maria.
She was the only one who knew that Iri’s movements had been achieved with no module support whatsoever—pure specs alone.
But it was still too early to be surprised.
Iri’s display of skill hadn’t yet reached its limit, and the fight was far from over.
"Y-Young Master…!"
"Save your questions. There’s still more to see."
"…Yes?"
It was at that moment.
Click.
Donovan’s fallen arm suddenly moved, aiming a gun barrel at Iri. Its motion was like that of a living creature separate from his body.
His body and gaze were still fixed toward the ceiling, yet the submachine gun in his grip was pointed directly at her.
A sudden, unexpected twist.
Even the spectators in the viewing area were so shocked that they failed to react before the SMG’s trigger was mercilessly pulled.
TATATATATAT—!
A brutal hail of bullets.
And then, a miraculous sight unfolded.
"N-No way…!"
With nothing more than slight movements of her body, Iri avoided every bullet that rained down on her.
Her motions were unhurried, almost like a dance.
With light steps to the left and right, she dodged every round being sprayed at her.
It was as if she could see the bullet trajectories before they were even fired.
Clack!
As the magazine fell to the ground, Donovan suddenly sat upright. He reloaded in an instant, then gripped the SMG with both hands and pulled the trigger again.
TATATATATAT—!
But the result was the same.
Without a change in expression, Iri calmly stepped side to side, widening the distance between them.
Amazingly, every bullet Donovan fired missed her by the narrowest of margins.
Donovan was visibly shaken.
"Wh-Why aren’t they hitting? What module are you using, you bitch?!"
"Module?"
Iri answered.
"How could I buy something like that when I don’t have money?"