Chapter 96 – I Am Elegant, I Am Noble — and I Intend to Become the Mightiest Knight of All!

A corner of Syn-Fibra's lab -- the same room where Letaria and Ritte Fon had fought their intense simulated bout not long ago, the large simulator still occupying its place at the center.

"Phew..."

The drive hum died, the capsule opened, and a man emerged wiping the sweat from his face. Grain, captain of the vigilante corps.

"So? How does the Riese handle? It's only the data reproduced in our environment -- the actual machine hasn't arrived yet -- but still."

Milea looked up from the control panel, her sharp eyes steady behind her glasses.

Grain had only just returned to active duty. He spoke with the deliberate weight of someone calling up the feel of a familiar cockpit seat.

"Hmm... Can it actually deliver those numbers in practice? I'll be honest -- this surprised me. The full output of my old custom machine, Shuel, pushed to its limit -- the Riese beats that casually, at normal operating levels. So this is what next-generation military hardware is."

A note of quiet pride found its way into Milea's expression.

"It's the flagship machine that head office has poured everything into right now. Even when it goes into full release, it'll be the kind of unit deployed only to ace pilots of the regular military."

"Fair enough. Though -- the simulator kept it from being an issue today, but if the real machine can actually pull off this level of high-mobility performance, my body won't hold up under the load."

Grain scratched the back of his neck with a wry smile.

"The machine itself will have an inertial control system built in to reduce the stress on the pilot. And on top of that--"

Milea shifted her gaze toward him.

"We're currently developing a dedicated suit for you specifically, to reduce the load further. Sora is putting in the work on it now."

Grain raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise.

"That will be another burden on Dr. Skaria. I'll have to think of something proper to thank her with."

"She loves gathering data from new machines and new pilots more than anything. Give her plenty of time with you in testing -- that'll be thanks enough."

"Ha. I'll ask her to go easy on me."

Grain laughed and turned back toward the simulator capsule. The first run had only been basic: confirming the limb movement, running simple attack tests against static dummies. The next pass would be different.

On the main monitor: the old Arden. Combat data from before the Letariem pre-prototype components -- the earlier configuration.

A simulated bout, calibrated for real combat conditions.

Grain worked the virtual Riese through its range and drew alongside the Arden racing through the simulated space.

The Riese's acceleration was extraordinary -- it matched the Arden that had once been peerless in raw speed, without conceding ground. Responsiveness was excellent throughout.

But nothing landed.

The Riese's precise Photon Rifle shots were threaded by the narrowest of margins. A close-range Photon Saber strike was evaded with the particular overdriven, off-the-chart reaction speed that was characteristic of Arden. Every attack slipped past.

(But--)

Grain's focus sharpened in kind. He turned away every counter without taking a single hit, reading and deflecting in a continuous, unbroken flow.

Then he found it -- one opening. The Riese slipped inside Arden's guard on a wide arc, and brought the Photon Saber's blade to rest precisely at its throat.

"Time. That's it."

Milea's voice through the comm, and the simulator's view went dark.

"Past combat data from Letaria loaded into Arden -- and you still read it cleanly. Impressive."

Grain shook his head at the praise.

"That was a simulation of her movements, nothing more. It's a completely different thing from the real article. You know that as well as I do, Milea."

Milea let out a quiet, acknowledging smile.

"True. No simulation can reproduce her actual physical resilience -- and above all, the sixth-sense quality of how she moves through her magic. So in the end, it's only data that approximates her response patterns -- it behaves the way she behaves, but that's all it is."

"Right. Which means when it becomes fully predictable -- as it did at the end there -- it can be beaten. But against Letaria herself, it wouldn't go that way. You would need something like what Twoin used against her -- a total-coverage attack from a range where escape is physically impossible."

"Even so -- outside of Letaria herself, I don't think there are many pilots in the Federal States who could even keep pace with you and the Riese the way you moved just now. As for countermeasures against an inescapable attack..." Milea paused. "I'll take that as our development problem going forward."

"My, that does sound like an interesting conversation!"

Letaria was standing behind them. No one had heard her come in.

"When did you--"

Letaria set one hand on her hip and smiled -- the bright, undaunted smile, a little dangerous.

"Sora-san showed me the way! Taking a point off my old Arden -- quite well done, I must say!"

"My lady." Grain climbed out of the simulator and shrugged with good humor. "Against the data, perhaps. Against the real you -- I rather think that would still be a great deal of work."

"Ohohoho!" The laugh came out full and clear, exactly as it always did. "Naturally! I am elegant, I am noble -- and I intend to become the mightiest knight of all! But if Grain has acquired a machine of that caliber, then I cannot afford to fall behind. Milea -- please finish adjusting the new Arden as soon as possible!"

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm analyzing the scan data right now, so kindly be patient for a little while, my lady."

Milea smiled. Letaria smiled back.

In Letaria's eyes -- the absolute trust in her partner that had always been there, and something new alongside it: a fierce, bright fighting spirit aimed at the new machine that was both companion and rival. And beneath it, the unmistakable golden gleam of her magic, burning quietly and sure.