Chapter 52: Special Robo
By the end of the summer, the Mobile Force Tournament began.
I heard that the total number of applicants exceeded 500, and even several preliminary rounds were held.
I couldn’t help feeling deeply moved seeing that Mobile Force had become that popular.
Many of the contestants chosen to be in the Top 100 were acquaintances, such as Merle, Mira and Garm.
There was also that veteran adventurer, Komsei-san, who competed with Michelle in the finals of Yahagi Onsen Tournament.
The venue for this tournament was the city’s stadium, which looked like a smaller version of the Colosseum.
It was a fairly large venue, but it was crowded with people.
I’ll be setting up my stall again today at the place that Baron Essel has prepared for me.
In this stall, I plan to set up a Mobile Force booth for a little while.
The King and the Queen Consort will be watching the tournament, with a royal box prepared at the venue for them.
Before long, the King announced the opening of the tournament.
[Minerva, are you going to go to the opening ceremony?]
[No, I’m not going. I don’t want to see the King and Queen Consort, nor do I want to hear their voices.]
If Michelle went, I feel like she would attempt to throw a curse on Queen Consort Titti, so I guess that’s fine.
There are hundreds of Guard Knights waiting at the venue.
I myself don’t want this to be a bloodstained tournament.
[Well then, I’m going to take a look around, so can I ask you to look after the stall?]
[Unnn.]
I’m a little curious to know what kind of people the King and the Queen Consort were like.
Neither of them seems to be popular among the people, so I’m a little bothered about them.
After what they did to Michelle, I don’t have a good feeling about them either.
With the thought of ascertaining what the King’s face is like, I entered the venue.
I watched as the King gave his speech, and to be frank, he really looked like a suspicious guy.
He certainly was good-looking in his own way, but he oozed frivolity and arrogance.
Michelle is very lucky that she didn’t end up with such a man.
He talks a lot.
I got bored of listening to his boring chatter, so I discreetly returned to my stall where Michelle was waiting for me.
[I’m back. I’ve seen the King and the Queen Consort.]
[Hmmm……]
Michelle replied absentmindedly.
There are no people around the stall at the moment as everyone has gone to the venue.
[I thought you two might look a little like each other since you’re sisters, but the Queen Consort and Michelle don’t look alike at all.]
[People had been telling me that very often for a long time. Titti was much prettier than me, right?]
[You think so? I went to see her with high expectations because everyone said she had a seductive beauty, but she wasn’t really my type. Well, she does have a flashy face. She also has a bewitching sex appeal. However, you can clearly see her bad disposition.]
[…………………]
[If you ask me, I would definitely choose Michelle over her. Definitely.]
[Yuusuke……]
[Whoa, your mask turned red! What’s going on!?]
It would normally be the face that’s turning red, not the mask, right!?
[I’m sorry, I got so stimulated that the Recognition Inhibition Magic……]
It seemed that her magic had gotten disrupted.
Flustered, I looked around us, but there was no one paying attention our way.
The tournament went smoothly and Merle remained in the Top 16.
If she had won her next match, she would have won a prize, but unfortunately, Merle got eliminated.
After all, her opponent was Komsei-san, the runner-up in the previous tournament.
[Even though I can use the Zako the best……]
It was hard to look at her with her shoulders slumped in disappointment.
[I was thinking of using that million rims to help me get ready to open a small grocery store……]
Adventurers tread on a tightrope of death and survival.
It’s not a job that they can keep on doing forever.
It seems that both Merle and Mira are saving money to start a new business in the future.
[Don’t be so downhearted, I’ll treat you to lunch today.]
[I don’t need the lunch, please just give me that instead, Yahagi-san!]
Merle pointed to a not-for-sale Mobile Force.
Product name: Char Zako
Description: A custom machine with 30% more thrust. Its control is more difficult. A robo painted in deep crimson.
Price: Not for sale
Thanks to the level-up, I got a promotional item for Mobile Force.
This Char Zako is a special machine for display.
Not only does it have good performance, it also has this unique dignity to it.
As a Zako user, Merle must be drooling over this model.
[I can’t have that. This is going to be the overall winner’s prize.]
[Can’t you somehow do something about it instead!?]
Merle is a cute regular of mine, but this isn’t something I can’t grant her.
After all, doing that would exactly be favoritism.
[Merle is getting attached to it because you kept on displaying it here. Why don’t you just hand it over to the Baron?]
[Guess you’re right, Minerva. I’ll go hand it over, so wait for a moment.]
[I’ll go with you.]
The Baron should be in the Guest Room of the arena.
If I show the Guard the Special Mobile Force, they might usher me in.
Minerva and I started walking together.
The building where the Baron and the King’s waiting room were located was heavily guarded.
Many of the Royal Guards who usually stand in position in the palace were busily going in and out of the building.
As I headed straight for the gate, I was immediately stopped.
[Where are you going?]
[My name is Yahagi, I sell Mobile Force. I am here for business with Baron Essel.]
[What is your business with him?]
[I am here to deliver this Special Mobile Force.]
I took out the Char Zako from the box and showed it to the Guards.
The Guards, however, didn’t look at me favorably.
[This is no place for plebians like you. Go do your business at a different time and place.]
If the time and place is changed, the tournament would have ended.
In that case, the winning prize wouldn’t be able to make its debut.
[It’s an urgent matter. Could you somehow announce my arrival to the Baron?]
[No, get lost!]
It was the staple scenario of being turned away at the gate.
It wouldn’t be good to push what they think is unreasonable and end up being imprisoned, so I simply gave up.
I don’t feel like anything good comes from getting involved with those with authority.
Having this in mind, I turned to Michelle.
[Can’t be helped, let’s just directly hand it over to the winner.]
[That would be better.]
We were about to leave when we spotted the Baron heading towards us.
It seems like he had been outside and had just returned.
For some reason though, the Baron looked flustered when he saw us.
[If it isn’t Yahagi-dono, what are you doing in a place like this?]
[It’s good I met you here. Actually, I got a special robo prepared, so I brought it to add it to the overall winner’s prize.]
[Hou……]
I explained so, but somehow, the Baron’s attention doesn’t seem to be present in our conversation, as he was constantly looking around the building.
At that moment, a group of Guard Knights rushed in our direction, so me, Michelle and the Baron dodged to the side.
[What’s going on?]
No one answered my question, but that question was soon answered.
The King had come out of the building.
If Baron Essel hadn’t been with us, we would probably be eliminated long ago.
The King was walking leisurely with the Queen Consort.
I glanced at Michelle.
She wouldn’t do anything strange, would she?
However, Michelle remained calm and composed.
It seemed that she didn’t care about the King.
[Ohh!]
The King suddenly shouted and came our way.
For some reason, he was looking at me.
No, to be more precise, he was looking at the thing in my hand.
Ahh, he’s looking at the Char Zako, which I was about to give to the Baron huh.
Yep, I have a bad feeling about this though……
<Translator’s Notes>
Char Zako: based on MS-06S Char’s Zaku II
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