[Reberu] ga Arunara Agerudesho? Mobukyara ni Tensei Shita Ore wa Gēmu Chishiki o Ikashi, Hitasura Reberu o Age Tsudzukeru - CH 85

[The Sole Existence]

[Now! With the introduction of each player over, the race’s going to start shortly!]

[No one really stands out beside Julia, it seems. Hey Tōru, you gotta make this interesting somehow, you hear me!] (Luisina)

[Tōru… you mean, the participant Sakurai Tōru, is it? His party member is, hm? There’s no information about her. I wonder if she’s a transfer student? With no record of her activity, is she going to be the dark horse of this race? This is something worth looking forward to!]

Can you please stop uselessly attracting attention to us?

Look, everyone around starts looking toward us, including the participants.

If they remember my face and hold a grudge against me at the end of the race, it’d be troublesome to beat them up before they get a chance to take revenge on me.

Well anyway, the venue that is the racetrack is not much different from that of the modern time.

If I must point out the difference, the oval-shaped track is level soil instead of grass, and at the starting position, instead of frame-like starting gates, a rope attached with hooks is stretched out horizontally in front of the participants.

This rope has a mechanism that would make it spring straight up when the referee hit it with a simple magic, which would also signal the start of the race.

There are 9 parties in one race. This time, the number of parties is slightly biased toward the military academy, with 5 parties from the military academy and 4 parties from the adventurer academy, including me.

Since we are all lined alternately according to affiliation, I’m sandwiched between the party of Julia and another party from the military academy from both sides; and without fences like the ones in the modern horse race separating us, the participants have already begun to size each other up.

Both the adventurer side and the military academy side are doing petty things such as lightly provoking their competitors and intentionally bringing their own horse closer to that of their competitors’ in an attempt to scare them off.

Of course, the knight apprentices on the opposite side of Julia and next to me are provoking me, Iris, and Horsie.

However, when I slide from side to side on the brim of the chariot with my new leveling style that combines movement technique and practice-swinging while screeching, “Kiiiiiiiiiiii!”, the other party turn immediately silent; they don’t pose much of a problem.

[Now, the fourth race’s about to start!]

The words of the female student sitting in the commentator seat turn the attention of the venue toward the race course; I clench the reins of Horsie in front of the chariot and concentrate my consciousness like the other participants.

Is it a few seconds, or a few dozens of seconds?

Is this silence caused by my excessive concentration, or has the venue actually quieten down?

Without being able to reach the conclusion of that, the time comes.

“Start!”

The referee shoots a magic at the rope at the same time as he yells; the rope springs up high with a crisp plosive sound, and the participants wave their reins and start running their horses!

“Uwaah!?”

“What! What happened!?”

“Kyaa!!”

Then, a few meters pass the starting line, the loud sound of something getting bent rings from behind, and at the same time, all the chariots, except mine and Julia’s, unnaturally come to a sudden stop!

Of course, the people on them fall forward due to the inertia, and some even fall off the chariot and get disqualified.

“Maintenance and inspection before racing are important, you know! Farewell, everyone, you only have your own negligence to blame!!” (Sakurai)

The truth is, their situation came about due to my small trap.

The reason why I purposefully lined up on the track late was so that I could tie the chariot of each participant to the entrance gate with threads using Shishū skill. The threads are sturdy enough to be used in battle, so I can use them like a wire by weaving several threads together.

As a result, except for me and Julia who noticed the trick, everyone gets stuck several meters past the starting line. They try to cut the thread that extends from the wheels to the entrance gate from the top of their chariots, but looks like they find the task to be difficult.

There are some participants who tries to forcefully snap the threads by making their horse runs, but that is a bad move.

The thread sure is sturdy, but so is the entrance gate of the racetrack; it only got slightly distorted when it was holding back the chariots connected to it by threads at the beginning, and now it’s doesn’t even budge no matter how strongly the threads are pulled.

The force with which the chariots start running turns into a force that makes them skidding sideways, and as a result they end up hitting the chariots next them.

Then, they curse each other, and because of that, it took them more time to cut the threads… or so their situation getting worse.

“Now then, I’d have to have you let me go ahead, okay?” (Julia)

Although I’m able to get off to a good start, the princess won’t let me get the first place just like that.

Julia, who noticed my trap and is running parallel to me, grabs the grip hanging on her waist with enough force to tear off the thin gold chain that ties it to her clothes, and points it at me.

“‘Conversion’.” (Julia)

Julia says the keyword to use her exclusive skill. In response, the torn off gold chain flies into the air.

The chain floats at the tip of the grip like it has no gravity and transforms into a spherical shape, before turning into a golden pole reminiscent of a rapier blade at the next moment.

“‘Hit’.” (Julia)

And then the pole shoots toward us in response to Julia’s words.

Although it’s a rounded pole that is designed not to injure the opponent, its shooting speed is the same as or faster than an arrow. Even if the tip is not sharp, when a metal pole flies at such a speed, it’d still pack quite a punch.

“I won’t let you!” (Iris)

Responding to that is Iris; she swings the long rod in her hand and knock the flying pole away.

On other hand, Julia, who has created new poles by immediately ‘Converting’ the buttons on her cuffs, shoots the second and third poles in quick succession. With it being able to rapid-fire like that, rather than a bow, her ability is more like a pistol, isn’t it?

“You sure are extravagance, ain’t you!!” (Sakurai)

Looking sideways at the exchange of offense defense of Iris and Julia while holding the reins, I involuntarily raise my voice.

After all, the chains and buttons she has converted into poles are made of pure gold, and she’s completely extravagantly turning them into weapons and shooting them. Ethel would surely faint if she were to see it.

“‘Triple Conversion, All Bullets Hit’.” (Julia)

“Try harder!” (Iris)

“Hahahaha! Even triple shot can’t get through, huh! This is splendid, the amount of gold may need to be raised a little more, it seems!” (Julia)

Julia von Knaust makes a joyful smile and ‘Converts’ the thin gold bar she just took out into a new pole, before shooting it.

While Iris knocks it away again with her rod, it seems that her hand gets numbed due to the shock from the impact that is far stronger than the previous ones; she looks at Julia while repeatedly opens and closes her hand that gripped the rod.

Julia von Knaust, a beauty in male’s clothing born in the royal family.

The name of the skill she uses is ‘Conversion’, a special skill that converts the value of an item into fighting ability.

It is a skill that exerts damage and effects according to the value (price) of the item by converting (consuming) the item possessed at the start of battle and at the time of attack; in the original game, it has the ability of exerting the greatest firepower when a unique level of expensive item is consumed.

However, on the other hand, she has to consume items even in a battle against small fries, and is a gold eater who’s infamous for dropping the total number of items one owns by one digit after a boss battle.

The nickname given to her is ‘Royal Money Warrior’.

The sole ‘Combat Alchemist’ in the game.