"Sticks?"

"Maces. They're maces."

"No, they're sticks. I mean, they are walking sticks!"

"They have heads: therefore, they are maces."

This hilarious and pedantic conversation took place among the audience, most of which had trained in the art of fighting since their early teens or were at least familiar with most common weapons.

Just like everything else in their possession, someone's weapon tells a lot of things about them. Garnet's unique set of weapons looked really eccentric.

"Practically speaking, they're maces, but – whether it was requested by Garnet or not – the smith went out of their way to make them look like walking sticks," said Reinhard, analyzing them carefully.

"Oh? Do tell." Theodore listened eagerly to what he had to say.

"Garnet's sticks are about seventy-six centimeters long. If we use generic infantry maces as a reference, that means a three centimeter shaft with a two-point-five centimeter hollow core."

"What is this 'centimeter' you speak of?" asked Theodore.

Reinhard realised too late: Ah crap, they don't use Metrics, do they? Ignoring Theodore's bafflement, he continued his explanation. "The knob is of unknown density and weight and roughly one-tenth of the weapon in length. If we assume it's made of iron or steel, the weight of the shaft alone should be just over two and a half pounds."

"That's a surprising amount of heft for something look so thin," Theodore mumbled. "It really is designed for an armor suit, huh?"

To take advantage of the increased size and strength of armor suits, weapons designed for them tended to be slightly longer and heavier than the equivalent weapons of the previous era: the era in which horses and plate armor had reigned supreme. For example, a generic one-handed mace of two and a half pounds would be scaled up to somewhere between three to four pounds. Scaling up by a factor of two, as in doubling the weight, would usually be considered excessive.

"The knob should either be hollow or made of a lighter alloy. If it was made of solid iron or steel, it would be hard for Miss Pucheria to make quick and rapid strikes like that," someone commented from the side. "Still, the knob has a tapered rim, which would concentrate a lot of energy on impact regardless of low mass. I reckon the whole stick would be around three pounds."

Reinhard snorted. "Having the weight of a mace while giving it the reach, speed, and appearance of a walking stick. The smith who forged it was either a gentle person of refined taste or a devious mad bastard."

Everyone came to a conclusion: "So, it's a stick."

Meanwhile, in the arena, Garnet adopted a defensive stance as she faced two opponents. Both were skilled and more than willing to gang up on her.

"Why so quiet, Addie?" Theodore asked the quiet young woman who was sitting beside him all along.

"I'm shocked no one seems to want to talk about the actual fighting," Adrianne scoffed, "but it's not as if I don't get it."

"Oh? Share it."

"There are three schools of thought running now: the first group thinks Lady Denver and Lady Darlington are delivering righteous punishment on Miss Pucheria for her impudence. The second group considers them shameful for ganging on a peasant girl. And the third group either have no opinion or are conflicted."

"But no one here expected her to win, did they? That's why no one is talking about the actual fight," Reinhard guessed. "That's what is bothering you, Milady?"

"You think she could win?" Theo blinked.

Adrianne smirked quietly and another student approached her: a young woman with back-length hazel hair tied near the end. Theo and Reinhard noticed a few streaks and stains on her hands and skin.

Oil. That's machine oil, Reinhard realized.

"It's been prepared, Milady."

"Thank you for the help, Luna." Adrianne stood up. "Would you like to watch from here?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"Suit yourself." Adrianne turned and left in haste.

"You're Luna Linker, right? From engineering class. Your family served the Lysters for generations." Theo laughed. "I don't know where Addie is going, but her seat is free now."

"I'm a bit dirty at the moment, your Highness." Luna bowed apologetically. "Sitting here wouldn't be appropriate."

Reinhard offered her a handkerchief with a friendly smile. Luna blushed hard and her heart almost stopped. Then she remembered this seemingly harmless low noble managed to score with her elder sister...

Dodge!

"Thank you, but I should take my leave," she said quickly.

"Wait, Luna." Theo stopped her for a moment. "I know I shouldn't be prying too hard, but at least give me a clue as to what Adrianne is up to."

"His Highness might not be aware, but Lady Adrianne is a genius engineer." Luna grinned wickedly, almost salivating even.

Before the two young men could inquire any further, the audience stopped murmuring and the entire arena resounded with gasps and cheers. Theodore and Reinhard looked back to the field. They saw Garnet's Starfall practically dancing around the flurry of strikes from Lina and Serena.

Wielding two sticks with no handguard put Garnet at a disadvantage when it came to defense, the same as with anyone wielding a pair of maces, hammers, or axes. In battle, those weapons were usually paired with a shield for a good reason.

That was among the reason why everyone in the audience, including some instructors, were pessimistic about Garnet's odds of winning. Her weapons were flashy but ultimately disadvantaged.

But after Garnet went on the offensive, all bets were off.

Garnet braced her arms to her cuirass to cushion the blow from Lina's halberd strike and then pushed it outward to destabilize Lina's footing.

That was quite a risky move. However, anyone who ever fought polearms with a shorter weapon would understand that if she wanted to win she had to close the distance.

If nothing else, it was a clear display of Garnet's boldness and fighting resolve. She was more than willing to bet everything on a single risky move.

By the time the audience focused, Garnet was already inside Lina's vulnerable zone and smacking her right on the helm with her elbow.

As if that wasn't enough, Garnet also tackled Lina's legs. The combined weight of an armor suit and its wearer could easily reach four hundred and fifty pounds: it fell with a loud thud.

Lina Denver was eliminated from battle!

Garnet twisted her body and then leaped in the direction of Serena, who was frozen in shock. Serena was supposed to cover Lina's weak areas because she was armed with a hammer and a shield. But she hadn't expected Garnet to defeat her partner so quickly.

Garnet's two sticks impacted on the shield with enough energy to shatter a thick wooden door. But it held well thanks to being reinforced by Serena's inner force.

"[You impudent woman]!" Serena roared and swung her hammer toward her, but Garnet dodged with such precision that it was breathtaking to see. Serena's hammer barely glanced on Garnet's chest piece, scratching the paint and nothing more.

"She can switch from such a reckless charge to elegant footwork in a second." Reinhard clicked his tongue. "What monster of a mare are we seeing here?"

"Scary," Theodore said it out loud. "This is why you should never overlook a scholarship student. Lady Denver might never recover from this humiliation."

Scholarship students were accepted to set an example for other, more fortunate students, demonstrating that their wealth would mean nothing if they didn't train and study seriously. Knights weren't born instantaneously into existence: they were created through the arduous, fourteen-years-long tutelage of their mentors. Garnet might not have been acknowledged by her master. But she had gone through same experience as other knights, and she took those harsh but rewarding lessons seriously.

This one-sided beatdown didn't mean she excelled beyond all of her classmates, merely that Lina Denver was a poor example of an aspiring knight.

Serena knew what not to learn from her fallen partner, so she paid more attention to her guard.

"[Behourd isn't a life and death battle. If you fall, you lose]." Garnet twirled her sticks and put them back in the belt behind her armor suit.

"What's she's doing?"

Serena didn't waste any time and attacked Garnet while putting her shield at a correct angle to avoid a possible hidden countermove. What she didn't expect was for Garnet to keep dodging until she couldn't and get hammered on the chest and thrown backward.

"[Serves you right]!"

"No, wait." Theodore's eyes widened.

Garnet used the energy from the hammer to travel backward to where Lina's armor suit was and pick up her halberd.

"[Oh no]!"

Garnet charged again, halberd in hand. With her newfound range advantage, she kept striking and smashing at Serena without mercy.

She kept attacking until the reinforced wooden shield broke apart from the accumulated blunt force. Garnet lunged toward Serena and threw her to the ground with a straight thrust.

Avan, still in his Starfall Crusader, stepped forward and announced, "[The winner of this duel of honor is Miss Garnet Pucheria]!"

"[God bless me with this victory]!" Garnet raised the halberd in her hand high and then threw it to the ground, point first. The halberd got stuck in, its head buried. "[If you two have anything to say, it better be an apology to Dame Alcott]."

Lina and Serena both stood up and supported each other, clearly at a loss for words. Garnet had trashed them so hard that they had no face to show anymore. But they were still too prideful to apologize for their behavior and words.

So they decided to leave in a hurry.

"[Interesting show of chivalry, Garnet]." a familiar voice rang from the dark entrance to the arena. "[I see you put that old machine to good use]. However, I would like to put my Regal Wasp to the test, I sincerely hope you didn't mind helping]."

A knight armor suit walked in with quiet steps, belying its weight. The relatively minor whine of its movements signified that its joints had been adjusted to perfect precision and fit. Some people recognized the frame as having been based on the famous Royal Blade of the Marchioness of Lustre. However, it lacked the mirror polish and gilding the original had. It was painted dark yellow, for the most part, but with black stripes around it. Its chest bore the heraldry of the Lyster family: the picture of a queen bee with red, blue, green, and white flowers around it.

"[Of course, Lady Adrianne]," Garnet replied. "[But I don't want to overstep my bounds, so you should ask the referee about it]."

Avan, of course, knew that it was his little sister the moment it stepped out. Still, he was a little taken aback by Adrianne's surprising politeness. She had changed over the last three years, and he was happy about it.

"[I'll ask the teachers shortly]."

Avan approached the Headmaster, who had been watching from the side closely with his old Chevalier. They didn't exchange many words and the Headmaster simply replied with a nod. So, Avan went back and announced, "[This will be a friendly demonstration battle, but we're using the same rules as before]."

CHAPTER 07 - THE MISUNDERSTOOD VILLAINESS AND THE SPIRITED HEROINE

Theodore just laughed. Even though she seemed to have calmed down to the point of melancholy, good old Adrianne couldn't miss a competition when she saw one. She probably went ahead and prepared her machine with Luna's help to challenge Garnet right away.

"Figures she will be itching to fight." Theodore shook his head. "Never change, Adrianne."

"Today is such a feast for sore eyes!" Reinhard commented. "The two most outstanding female students among the freshmen fight right on the first day of orientation. What a legend!"

Indeed, inside her armor suit, Adrianne was breathing hard and drooling. This was well outside the game scenario, but Adrianne had given it deep thought long before the entrance ceremony began.

This was her contingency plan if the second event flag still happened even though the first one got altered. In the second event flag and the subsequent battle afterward, it was impossible for players to win the fighting minigame and come out unscathed. It was only possible for Garnet to win that duel without cost if the player was cheating or it was a new game plus. New game plus meant that the player had finished the game at least once and was replaying it with some additional perks at the start.

But real life wasn't a game. If it really was a new game plus, then Garnet could be an actual reincarnation that had gone back in time, rather than someone from a different world. If that was indeed the case, Garnet would be far, far more skilled.

Adrianne was so paranoid that she had accounted for this very scenario, based on Kuro's shallow recollection of the game and her own honed knowledge of this world. Nothing was impossible. After all, Reinhard was also a reincarnation of someone from Modern Earth.

No one truly understood heaven's way. Adrianne could only make educated guesses about what was going to happen.

No, it totally wasn't because Adrianne wanted to personally fight Garnet to satisfy her lust for battle!

Okay, maybe just a little...

Adrianne's purpose here was to gauge just how powerful Garnet was at the moment. If Garnet turned out to be strong enough to beat Adrianne, it would be a real surprise. And everything Adrianne planned would be for nothing, though she probably would be less worried overall.

So Adrianne pulled a pair of cleavers from the back of her armor suit. Their dark gray finish showed little reflection on their square blades.

"Falchion?"

"No, those are meat cleavers." Reinhard twitched a bit. "From the market, wrought iron, five pence apiece."

"Meat... cleavers? You mean, those things butchers use?" Theodore couldn't say anything worthwhile either. Garnet wasn't a slouch in the art of blade fighting. But her current weapon of choice was far too questionable!

They weren't the only ones dumbfounded.

"Lend me your strength, Kuro." Adrianne thought. She hadn't realized it until their memories merged perfectly, but Kuro was not just some maid from Modern Earth. And in the three months since her mother's illness and recovery, Adrianne had been trying to find a way to utilize what Kuro gave her through her inherited memories.

These iron cleavers weren't just Adrianne playing around. And as she pushed the loop circuitry to more than half power, the armor suit began to emit buzzing noises.

"With due respect, are you two seriously that ignorant?" someone annoyedly commented. "Think about what she's doing at the moment and think harder why she would choose them."

"You are?"

"My name is Lewis Carter," the bespectacled man said curtly, "your Highness."

"Ah, you're the son of General Carter." Theodore nodded. "It's an honor to finally meet you."

Lewis wasn't really the type to attend high-class parties. Although General Carter was famous, Theodore hadn't met Lewis before.

"The honor is mine, your Highness."

Reinhard couldn't help but notice the underlying sarcasm in his words. Did this man hate nobles or something? It wasn't that surprising, though: he was one of the burghers, the wealthy commoners with the strongest political influence. General Carter only owed his loyalty to His Majesty, King Eugene II.

"So, what's your opinion, Lewis?" Theodore asked curiously with a smile.

"Lady Lyster picked these knives because iron cleavers wouldn't do as much chipping damage as steel falchions, even if they massed the same." Lewis rubbed his chin. "The handling might be a bit weird, but if Lady Lyster is as good as people say she is... it wouldn't hold her back."

"She is that good." Theodore nodded, remembering the strange conversation the two young women had had. Could it be that those two had a relationship? "Adrianne is holding back because she doesn't want to damage the Starfall too much."

However, it would not stop Adrianne from fighting roughly. Theodore knew her temperament too well. A good spar was a good spar.

"I understand that you're close to her from before, but for me, Lady Lyster isn't giving a good vibe at all," Lewis said. "No offense."

Theodore smiled. "She isn't as selfish as you thought she was."

Adrianne wasn't being courteous and launched herself toward Garnet aggressively, to which Garnet replied in kind as the red-painted knight swung her signature stick diagonally.

What was unexpected was that Adrianne managed to dodge the attack by ducking slightly to the right. However, Garnet predicted it, pulled the other stick and jabbed the slim end toward Adrianne.

Garnet gripped it just above the knob, almost the opposite to before.

Gripping above the head was a technique used to change the center of balance in a fighting stick. By sacrificing impact strength, the user gained more control over it. And the weapon would behave like a sword instead of a mace.

Adrianne somehow managed to spin out of the way to dodge again. And smacked Garnet in the back with her cleaver with enough force to budge the Starfall.

Garnet clenched her teeth from the impact and desperately twisted to swing her left-hand stick at Adrianne, but she jumped back without hesitation.

A backwards jump for any aspiring knight was not an easy feat. This was because most knight armor suits were back heavy, thanks to the loop circuitry installed. The issue wasn't terribly problematic, but in a battle between knights, a single blink could decide victory and defeat.

Yet Adrianne didn't seem bothered as she landed gracefully, without opening herself up to counterattack. It couldn't possibly be only the issue of machine difference.

...Or was it?

Sudden buzzing interrupted Garnet's train of thought.

Regal Wasp dashed again in her direction with a strange movement as if sliding on the ground. Garnet's eyes widened as she immediately tried to block and deflect but barely succeeded.

This speed is plain abnormal!

There was absolutely no doubt that Regal Wasp was a powerful machine, but was the difference really that big?! A high-performance suit required a skilled and powerful knight to operate, too.

This was the difference in raw strength and skill between her and Adrianne!

"Miss Pucheria got cornered! As expected, Lady Adrianne is on a whole different level!"

"Still, that she could last this long... Miss Pucheria really isn't one to take lightly."

Their weapons clashed several times, with booming impact and screeching every time they met. Both the sticks and the cleavers showed visible damage, though nothing major. The brutality of the match was such that some of the teachers began to sweat profusely.

CLANG!

One of Garnet's sticks was thrown away when she lost her grip. Garnet did not panic and instead used the remaining stick with both hands and whacked Adrianne with it.

One of Adrianne's cleavers also flew. However, Adrianne couldn't do the same as Garnet did with her other weapon. Due to the short grip of the cleaver, a two-handed grip was impossible.

Instead, she put a palm on the back of the cleaver to push it. Garnet's iron stick buckled slightly, and this allowed Adrianne to smash it away in a flash.

As the strange buzzing sound returned, Garnet finally realized what had happened. Garnet's world turned upside down, quite literally, as Adrianne kicked her left leg.

The red Starfall dropped on its back.

"[The winner of this fight is Lady Adrianne Valiant Lyster]!" Avan announced. His voice was neutral but without hesitation. No one would doubt the result if they were actually paying attention to the fight at all.

"Find a person named Luna Linker in the engineering class," Adrianne opened her helmet visor and told Garnet aloud. "Get that Starfall checked, especially the left knee joints."

Garnet opened her visor and responded, "I understand, and thank you, Lady Adrianne!"

Garnet felt slightly embarrassed that Adrianne managed to find that the left leg joints of her Starfall were slightly worn out. The difference was marginal enough that most people would not notice.

But that was where Adrianne attacked in their last exchange, a leg sweep that had brought Garnet down because she couldn't muster a firm enough footing. If the Starfall had been in optimal condition, that tackle wouldn't have literally flipped her over like that.

Since this is behourd, falling down is falling down, which means defeat. But the position of a fall mattered a lot on the actual battlefield. The faster you got up, the less likely you were to get killed.

Theodore finally understood as he left the seat: the reason why Adrianne would challenge Garnet like that...

So he left his seat with a smile.

"Are you staying, Reinhard?"

"Eh? Me?" Reinhard pointed at himself. "Well, not exactly, your Highness."

He didn't know what else to do except to follow Theodore on his way out, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

...

In the preparation area, Theodore found Avan and Adrianne, who were talking happily. Their respective armor suits were behind them.

"It really is based on mother's Royal Blade, huh?" Avan affectionately rubbed his sister's head. "Your display of skill was magnificent."

"Yes, I could only use eight-tenth of its power, though." Adrianne blushed slightly. "You probably could use it better."

"High-speed fighting isn't really my forte, sadly. It would be wasted on me."

Avan's Starfall Crusader might appear ordinary from the outside. But it had heavily reinforced armor and joints, which made it slower, possibly comparable to Garnet's older Starfall, but more durable than the standard model.

In online multiplayer game terms, Avan was the usual tank archetype: not exceptionally fast, but a determined and strong protector. Not that Kuro was particularly familiar with the details of such roles: she didn't really have much time or willingness to play online games by herself.

Most of these game terms and elements were things she had learned from her young mistress, who was quite sickly and spent most of the time at home.

Adrianne was glad that her paranoia had turned out to be unfounded: Garnet was indeed more skilled than the average trainee, but still beneath her at present. In any case, the reason why Garnet had managed to win her first match was that she had her own machine. She'd had three months to get accustomed to it, so it made sense that she'd outperformed her game self.

In the game itself, she'd had to choose between borrowed armor suits or fighting in plate armor. Garnet was short for a woman, which put her at a disadvantage in plate armor fighting. And using a borrowed suit would mean she was fighting in a machine she was barely familiar with.

"Addie!" Theodore called her. "Sorry, did we intrude on your reunion, Avan?"

"Haha, no, your Highness. Feel free to take her with you," Avan laughed. While he was being polite, there was an air of familiarity in his voice.

For little Theodore, Avan was like his own big brother. They drifted apart more or less the same time Theodore and Adrianne had separated.

"I see." Theodore looked at the somewhat confused and embarrassed Adrianne. "I don't know you can be so nice."

"Uhh, pardon?" Adrianne gagged. She wondered if Theodore had misunderstood something...

"You defeated Miss Pucheria for two reasons, right? The first was that you want to protect her from unnecessary attention because if she appeared too strong, the other students would be cautious and jealous of her."

Uhuh, not at all.

"Secondly, you're trying to save the collective face of your fellow nobles. While no one would doubt that Garnet Pucheria was strong, they can accept someone like you as better than her."

No. Theodore had completely misunderstood her.

"It wasn't like that at all." Adrianne awkwardly denied. "I was just trying out my new suit against a suitable opponent, and Garnet Pucheria was a very convenient target."

"Well, I know you were probably fidgeting at the thought of fighting a strong opponent... but was that it?" Theodore raised his eyebrows.

"Well, that part is true, but it's not as if I especially pay attention to her!" Adrianne told him desperately.

Well, that was a bald-faced lie. But Adrianne was too embarrassed to say that she challenged Garnet to test whether her paranoia was actually feverish imagination.

"She's actually better than I expected, though," Adrianne said truthfully.

"So you DO pay attention to her," Reinhard snorted.

"What are you insinuating, Reinhard?" Adrianne's face darkened. He'd better not leak the secret, or else...

"Tsk, what a Tsundere," Reinhard jibed. "Your Highness should be careful, or else Miss Garnet will steal her from you."

Avan just wordlessly laughed while Theodore tilted his head in confusion. Meanwhile, Adrianne turned so red that she looked like a burning tea kettle.

"What is a Tsundere?" Theodore asked.