4-07: Frenzied Steel

4-07: Frenzied Steel

Despite being man-made, even this forest would turn a different face once the sun sets. After all, the dark of the night could only grow deeper under the shade of the trees, making the forest even scarier and more confusing for people. If anyone were to enter it without any preparation, he would surely lose sight of the way back and be attacked by raybeasts.

But in truth, it was the forest that was covered in darkness, and the trees the victims as giant bodies that reached toward the sky took even the light of the moon and the stars away from them.

It was not just one or two giant as well, but enough to cover the forest as they strutted about.

These were not raybeasts, as shown by the lack of glowing organs that all raybeasts possessed. The only lights that could be seen here were the flashes of light from the ongoing battle.

With a roaring sound, the giant bodies crashed. With a high-pitched sound, they crashed into the surrounding trees.

Their feet which came in all manners of forms from multiple legs to wheels to caterpillar tracks left a heavy mark on the land.

Steel smashed against steel. Pieces of metal scattered about. Muzzles shot out fire. Iron trampled underfoot.

Already, the word nature had lost all meaning here, and this squabble between machines had transformed a part of the forest into a wasteland.

Which movie company is shooting this? Shinichi asked.

It was curious if he was joking or not.

They watched the battle between giants from an elevated area away from the battlefield.

The girls with him werent surprised to see the machines, but Shinichi was confused.

Theyre not shooting a film, Nakamura-san. Although such requests have been applied for as soon as the Floating City (Kutoria) was constructed, as far as I know, none have been entertained.

Ari-chan, hes just joking. You dont have to answer him so seriously.

Actually, I was 10% serious. Ive seen a lot of robots since coming here, but never something like those.

The reason he thought that someone might have been shooting a film here was because of those giant machines.

The moon and the stars did provide light, but it was still nighttime. Moreover, they were quite some distance away, so it was hard to make out the details.

Anyhow, since they werent shooting a film and the girls werent surprised, then these giant machines were probably products of the technology class.

Moreover, given their large figures that were bigger than the trees, they were probably made by the upper classes.

This area should be the designated area for the B Class of the Technology Class.

Thats why it was so strange.

If these were creations of the students from the same class, then they should be more or less similar to each other.

In fact, Shinichi has seen the life-sized versions of these during his tour of the academy on his first day, but it was his first time seeing them so big.

There were many multi-legged guard robots in Kutoria who looked just like these.

But no matter how he looked at it, the robot they were surrounding was clearly human-shaped.

Moreover, it was flashy just like a super robot.

This suspiciously looks like a reenactment of a main characters robot surrounded by a group of hostile mass-produced robots.

That was something that didnt appear in Kutorias or in Garestos materials.

As for why, the two girls beside him gave a brief explanation.

The trend of pursuing human-type robots is purely Earth culture. Thats why the authorities had humanoid heavy machineries created when the two worlds interacted for the first time. You know since it was popular and all. At the academy, I hear that the kids from Japan like to make humanoid ones too, but its my first time seeing one that big. As far as Garesto is concerned, though, its a lot cheaper to just hire someone rather than to go out of their way to make a humanoid robot, Myuhi said.

Scouting, investigating, direct combat, security, from civil works to cleaning, there are all kinds of robots, but they are all given shape according to their purpose. Theres also the cost issue, but either way, explicitly going out of ones way just to make a robot humanoid doesnt make much sense, Aristel said.

Other than situations where its too dangerous for people to enter and the robots have to be humanoids, humanoid robots arent needed.

Exoskeletons became popular first, so there was never much of a need for life-sized humanoids. Most situations could also be dealt with just by strengthening the exterior, Myuhi said.

At that size, it is indeed easier to imagine how a machine would move when made humanoid, but numbers are needed when it comes to mobile weapons, so it still loses out on the cost aspect. The money and labor spent to build just one unit could probably build more than 10 guard robots, Aristel said.

Although it was technologically feasible to build giant humanoid robots, they were a lot harder to build than the mobile weapon groups that were currently in trend.

The more economical option that would result in more units for the same price and labor was simply too attractive.

Another reason was because the dream for humanoid robots that could be found in Earth culture didnt exist in Garesto.

I get why I havent seen any until now, but In that case, what is that?

But despite what the girls were saying, there was clearly a giant humanoid robot in front of them.

The two girls wryly smiled.

Im just guessing, but There are a lot of kids in the Technology Class who want to do things their own way. But theyre all studying the same technology, so they split off into their respective specialties and do their best there, Myuhi said.

Among the people good at researching on their own are those with a unique subject. Im not quite sure how to put it, but Basically, from time to time, you get ones who take their hobbies a bit too far, Aristel said.

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Perhaps.

Garestos more advanced technology brought both hope and despair to the scientists of Earth.

The things that were impossible then could be possible now with the new otherworldly technologies.

Hence, what appeared before them now was not something that was pursued out of need or practicality, but purely the result of a mans romance.

Is it really okay for the Technology Class to do something like that? Shinichi asked.

It would depend on the persons grades. Even if its someone from the B Class, its probably someone high-ranked, Myuhi said.

Thats probably it considering how the academy doesnt normally give permission to build something that big, Aristel said.

While the girls were explaining with a wry smile, the boy alone looked at that robot with an indescribable but complicated expression.

Anyway, we cant really tell much from here. Theres a chance that their afternoon exam has been prolonged, but were too close to their area, Aristel said.

Normally, an examiner would already be warning us to keep our distance. And honestly to me it just looks like that humanoid robot is being lynched, Myuhi said.

The girls became wary as they realized that something was off.

What they didnt know was that the man between them had ordered 1 D to do something similar just this morning.

The person in question was acting like the topic had nothing to him whatsoever, though; he didnt react even the slightest.

Moreover

Theres no way anyone could warn us when theyre like that.

Huh?

What?

He had already seen through the abnormality of the situation.

I cant see too clearly, but isnt there something like a cage past the area where theyre fighting?

No way Zoom'

As Myuhi said that, she used the Night Vision skill and the Far-sight skill.

Past the battlefield of the steel giants was an iron-barred cube in which several adults were imprisoned.

Those are the examiners for the technology class! But why? Aristel said.

I dont know whats going on, but thats clearly a foul. If theyve gone this far, then obviously this isnt just some kids squabble, Myuhi said.

Am I only the one here who thinks it wasnt just some kids quarreling the moment giant robots entered the fray?

So thats why these two were so calm, Shinichi wryly smiled. It was the difference between the common sense of their respective cultures.

Because of Shinichis former modern Japanese common sense, he couldnt immediately come to terms with this reality.

Ruona-san, you help the teachers. Ill stop the students. Exoskeleton (Armor), Activate!

Yeah, thats good and all, but Theres something thats been bothering me for a while now, do you mind? Myuhi inadvertently asked the girl whod immediately put on her exoskeleton and flew up.

I dont mind, but please hurry.

She had no problem with their division of work. The same was true for Myuhi.

When considering the perspective of the students, Aristel was clearly the more popular one.

There was no better candidate to serve as an arbitrator than her, and even if the other party refused to cooperate, she could simply suppress them with brute force.

Thats why what Myuhi wanted to ask about wasnt anything related to that but the circumstances that led to them going here in the first place.



Several shots were fired, and when the bullets reached the guns of the robot guards, it sealed them.

Ku, I cant move!

Fire, fire, fire!!UOOO!?

Were the diligent ones, so why!!?

I wont forgive you, you bastard! I wont!!

Just what in the world happened here?

It took her less than 5 seconds to render the guard robots useless, so it should come as no surprise that she couldnt understand the pilots in that time.

But even then, the pilots have been acting strange from the start. They didnt have the slightest bit of composure to them.

They didnt even remember the obvious functions and special traits of the machines they themselves built.

But in any case, since the pilots were currently incapable of reason, they should immediately be bound.

Aristel dragged them out one after another and put them to sleep, then she bound them using a binding skill.

Fuu, theres just 10 of them, but it sure is a lot of work when I have to do everything myself.

Just to be safe, she took away their fosters. After that Aristel rested for a short while, then she looked down at the Technology Class students bound by energy rope.

This whole thing probably started with a conflict between the students, and then things got out of hand.

But considering the imprisoned teachers, the student with the unique robot being attacked, and the abnormality of the pilots, this was not a situation that could be kept under wraps.

Why did something like this?

Ring, ring You have a call. You have a call

Can you not mess around when a person is trying to think seriously?

Just as she was about to ruminate, someone called out to her in such a ridiculous manner that she couldnt help but snap back harshly.

When she opened the communication line, the face that appeared was just as she expected.

Dont get mad. I waited until the sounds stopped, you know!

When Aristel saw that ever smiling fox girl with moving ears, she sighed.

If she understood that much, then she should have been more considerate with her call.

Im not mad. Im just fed up.

Wow, Ari-chan, youve been so honest lately. Im so happy!

Just what was so amusing about her telling her exactly how she felt?

But Myuhis smile only deepened causing the tension to become even lower and Aristels head to hurt.

With Myuhi like this, it actually made Aristels impression of Shinichi who could push her around quite a bit higher.

Sigh, enough. More importantly, hows your side? Did you find out anything from the teachers?

Ahh, about that I did find the cage and the teachers, but

Aristel dropped the topic and went to the more important matter, but Myuhi seemed reluctant.

Did something happen?

Looks like something happened there too. But then again just the fact they kept on fighting despite you showing up is plenty weird already.

Myuhi too understood how strange it was for them not to fear the name of Aristel and to fight an exoskeleton.

She was still smiling, but the playfulness from before was already gone.

The teachers werent being restrained.

They werent restrained? But they were clearly inside the cage!

Yeah, but in their case, they werent restrained, but

Aristel was sure that she saw them in that cage. Myuhi wryly smiled and turned the monitor from her face to show the cage built to restrain criminals.

As soon as she did

How dare they make fun of their teacher!

As if I could teach these classes!!

Raise my salary! Ill kill you damn it!!

Kyaa!!?

The face of the angry adults were fully shown on screen.

And their loud yells caused Aristel to cry out an adorable scream.

Normally, Myuhi would tease her for that, but this time she really was just showing her the state of the teachers.

The way I see it, theyre basically in quarantine, no?

Aristel didnt say anything, but she acknowledged the oddity of the situation.

She knew they were struggling when she saw them from afar, but she thought they were just trying to escape.

Up close though, she finally realized that they were just angry.

Not one person inside the cage was calm. The people there were like beasts howling, and there were even some who wrestled with each other.

Given that, the cage was less a means to restrain the teachers and more a means to quarantine them.

The students over here are in the same state.

Figures.

So I guess the one who did all this was the student being attacked?

Most likely. Otherwise those students wouldnt have ended up with that kind of mentality.

After showing that they shared the same opinion, they turned toward the same direction and looked at the giant machine that had finally picked itself back up.

There was some distance between them, but fortunately, he wasnt going crazy like the others.

Because of that they decided to talk to the pilot.

But then

Woahh!!! Are you for real!!?

Huh?

Fue?

An excited voice resounded loud and clear that left the two girls dumbfounded.

Was that

Icchi?

Theyve never seen him that excited so they werent sure, but it sure felt like his voice.

When they thought of how fervent he sounded, they couldnt help but imagine the worst.

With the cause of the teachers and students going berserk unknown, they couldnt say for sure that Shinichi wouldnt be affected.

Perhaps he too has been entranced by whatever it was that caused all of this.



The two girls inadvertently glanced at each other, and then in the next moment, ran off in a panic.

G-Get yourself together, Icchi!!

Shinichi-san, please stay calm!!