Can't Stop - 3
Blackraptor
Not too sore, are you?
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"--eon!" I blinked at the voice. "Leon!"
My eyes focused and beheld a very worried looking Olivia cupping my cheeks. This was a somewhat familiar situation. I glanced around and saw that Angelica, Daniel, and Raymond were there too. They looked concerned as well. Weird, but okay.
"Hey guys, is the party over?" They all blinked at my question before sighing in relief.
"This isn't the time for your jokes, Leon. You had us all pretty scared there." Daniel scolded me after Olivia finally let go of my face.
I blinked at what he said. "What do you mean, I just volunteered to be Angelica's champion."
"Leon," Raymond spoke slowly. "You just challenged the Prince and his entourage to a five-on-one Armor battle."
"Yeah, that way I can take them all on for once." I pointed out. Why was everyone looking at me like I lost my mind?
"Maybe he just needs some sleep?" Raymond asked the others, who all looked skeptical.
"Leon, I'd like to thank you again for standing up for me." Angelica eventually spoke out. Finally, a conversation that actually made sense!
Still had no idea why everyone was so spooked.
"You're welcome, Angelica. I wasn't about to just let them walk all over you like that. Besides, Olivia would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't help." I joked, earning a light slap on my arm from Olivia and a giggle from Angelica.
"I believe it would be good if we all retired for the night." Angelica suggested and we all agreed. I was about to start walking when I felt Olivia tug on my sleeve.
"Leon, can I talk to you for a bit before we leave?" She asked. I nodded in agreement and we both waved for the others to go on without us. The decision ended up giving me the pretty amusing image of Raymond and Daniel trying to have a conversation with Angelica as they walked away.
"You're still Leon, right?" Okay, that was a very strange thing to lead with.
"I don't understand the question." I easily admitted, getting a bit worried about how worried everyone else seems to be about me.
"The light." Olivia said, squinting her eyes in thought. "When you went up to stand at Angie's side, the light started changing."
"It was still a green light, but a deeper color. Angier. Scarier. It wasn't gentle or soothing anymore. It felt like it just wanted to hurt." Okay, now I was officially within the realm of worrying.
"Then your expression changed and you wouldn't listen to me or Angie no matter how much we tried to reach out to you." Like, I just bought a house in the middle of worry-town. The hell were the Getter Rays doing to me?! "The party eventually ended and you only snapped out of whatever that was just now."
"Thanks for telling me this, Olivia. How is the light now? Did it go back to normal." I spoke, trying my best to not sound like I was terrified of what might be happening to me.
"It's settling down, it looks like. It doesn't feel as scary anymore." Olivia answered while lightly placing her hand on my chest. "Are you going to be okay, Leon?"
I put the feeling of her hand on me out of my head, I had more immediate things to deal with. "I'll see what I can do about it. You should probably get some sleep."
Olivia looked like she wanted to say something else, but eventually nodded.
"How much of that whole thing did you witness, Control?" I asked my empty room as soon as I locked the door. Control turned visible a few feet in front of me before speaking.
The entirety of the party.
I nodded, at least I didn't have to explain much. "And you heard what Olivia said? Is this the Getter Rays messing with me?"
I had not anticipated that the changes in you to be so drastic in such a short time, I apologize for not paying more attention.
So they did know something after all. Good, that should help! "So what is all this? What is happening to me?"
The Getter Rays you have been exposed to have been facilitating changes within you. As an example, you have been relying less and less on vitriol as a defense mechanism for your insecurities.
The hell was Control talking about? I haven't been…okay, maybe they had a point. But still! "So I'm changing? Is my body going to start glowing visibly too?"
That would require an amount of Getter Radiation that would be beyond what Black Getter F is capable of generating.
"So just the way I think then? It's been brainwashing me?! Why didn't you tell me?!" I started to panic, Control's answers had not been giving me confidence that what was happening to me was a good thing. I could feel my blood pumping hard again, but I shut my eyes and forced myself to calm down.
Your alarm is understandable. As I said, I had expected the changes to be more gradual. To have you slowly gain more real confidence and let people into your life more organically.
"Then what's causing it?" I asked the obvious question after taking a few breaths.
I believe that the lack of emotional attachments you have experienced in your prior life has amplified your bonds with the people around you in this life. You, as a person, found something you never thought you needed and did not want anything to happen to it. As such, you may be more vulnerable to emotional outbursts if they are threatened. This may explain your earlier behavior.
Sounded like a whole lot of psychoanalysis mumbo-jumbo but it seemed to make sense. "But you're not sure?"
I lack enough data points to make a satisfying conclusion.
"Then what? I just wait? I don't want to suddenly wake up and not even realize that I'm not the person I was when I went to sleep, Control! I don't want to lose the person I am!" The prospect of suddenly becoming a completely different person terrified me. Would I even like the things I liked? What about the things I hated?
Why?
The question made my mind suddenly slam to a halt. "What?"
Did you even like the person that you were before you reincarnated? Do you like the person that you were before you found me?
For the very first time since we met, I felt like I hated Control at that very moment. My face twisted into a snarl but they interrupted the response forming in my mind.
And before you say 'yes', think carefully if that really is the case or if it is because of fear or pride. That you don't want to admit that you wasted so much time being someone you didn't even want to be.
The implication actually did make me stop and think. About my old life, my childhood, my family, my friends–or lack thereof, my school years, my time as an office worker. Did I enjoy the life I had? Did I regret it? Was I even happy?
Was I just going to end up doing the same thing all over again if I hadn't met Control? I was, wasn't I?
"Then what the hell is even the right answer?" I muttered as I stumbled back onto my bed.
It is an everlasting dilemma that a person needs to tackle. Do I stay true to myself? Do I change? Which one is the correct answer?
Was I a coward for not doing anything to change the way I was? Was I brave for sticking to my personal beliefs? Did any of it even matter?
Getter Rays are fundamentally an agent of change. It encourages it and facilitates it. It will force you to become a version of yourself that is more than what you currently are, for better or worse.
Of course, because people could definitely change into worse people. Even I could admit that most of the noblewomen didn't start out as horrible people. Even the love interests that I wanted to stomp into the ground probably weren't always like that.
You need not fear change, Leon. People change all the time. It is an incredible gift that humanity has. After all my time before I was put to slumber, I have come to understand countless different reasons why humans change. I am envious that it is something I cannot do.
"Don't underestimate Getter Rays, Control. They know where you live. You might already be changing without realizing it." Control actually went silent for a few seconds when I told them that.
Fair point.
I took a deep breath and considered something. "And if I don't want the kind of changes it's pushing onto me?"
Then you must become strong enough to make it understand that you are satisfied with who you are or that you will change on your own terms.
"That sounds like a pretty tall order." I pointed out with a chuckle. Sure, just tell the weird all-powerful energy source that you don't agree with it.
Getter Pilots are rarely alone when they face this dilemma. They usually operate as a team of three, working together and overcoming challenges together.
I groaned, of course it would be something like that. "Just my luck that I'm alone huh? Except for you, I mean."
I wouldn't say that. You also have your family, Olivia, Angelica, Raymond, Daniel, even Clarice to an extent. If you feel like it becomes too much, you can always look back to them to remind you of why you are doing what you do.
"Really? Friendship and Love?" I asked with a bit of humor. The whole thing was starting to sound like a regular Shonen Manga story.
Very few things in the Universe are more powerful than that.
"You're serious?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing from the AI.
Would it really be such a stretch to believe so?
Dammit, they were right. "When you put it like that, no."
I decided that the heavy existential talk could be put on hold and I prepared to sleep. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I suddenly felt so exhausted. As I closed my eyes and drifted off, an idle thought crossed my mind.
Getter Change, huh?
Oddly enough, Angelica asked to meet me privately the day after the party. Olivia said that she wanted to discuss some specifics about the duel and even asked for a private room from the school. When I entered, it looked like some kind of lounge with a couple of couches facing each other as well as chairs surrounding a coffee table.
Angelica saw me enter and smiled. "Leon, thank you for coming. Please take a seat."
She gestured to the couch across from her and I strangely felt like I was a kid about to be scolded by a teacher. No. Stop brain, I'm warning you. I didn't mean it that way. Don't put imaginary Angelica in a tight pencil skirt.
No, brain! Don't take the skirt off imaginary Angelica!
"Leon?"
"Yes! How can I help you? It wasn't my fault! I'm sorry!" Angelica looked at me in surprise and a bit of worry. I scratched my head and glanced away. "I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted."
"I see?" She said unconvincingly.
"So what did you want to talk about? Strategy or something?" I sat down and rubbed my hands in anticipation. I already knew what each of the love interests' Armors are capable of but any additional input couldn't hurt.
"I would like you to back down from the duel." I blinked at Angelica's serious words.
I blinked again when she just looked at me with a determined expression. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I may have misheard."
"I'm sorry." She said with a sigh, her shoulders slumping as she continued. "After sleeping on it, I now understand that my rashness and anger put you in a situation that might put your future in jeopardy."
"Hey now–" I started but suddenly recalled what Jenna told me a while back. Get to Julius' good side and I was set. Oppose him and I was going to suffer for it.
"I will bear the responsibility for the loss. I cannot, in good conscience, allow someone as promising as you to perform what is basically political suicide for my sake." She said, her concern was blatantly obvious.
"I'm not backing down." I told her with narrowed eyes.
"What?! Why?! You have to! Your entire future would be in peril if you continue with this!" I leaned back when Angelica actually stood up when she said that.
I shook my head and frowned at her words. "What about your future?"
"I will face the consequences of my actions with dignity." I knew what the consequences of her actions were. She would be disowned and banished, forced to marry a nameless old noble and live miserably for the rest of her life.
"I'll still fight for you, Angelica." I insisted.
"Why?" She looked so sad when she asked me that I felt my heart clench a bit.
I looked up to the ceiling for a way to convey my thoughts. I then chuckled when I remembered a line from a half-forgotten movie I watched a lifetime ago.
"I know what it's like." I began as I turned my head down to look at her in the eye. "To know so desperately that you're right, yet fail anyway."
Angelica looked like she couldn't comprehend what I was saying at all. "So that's it? Sympathy? Risking it all for that?"
"I'd like to say that it's more that I'm helping out a friend who is having a really bad few months." I said with an awkward smile.
Angelica choked back a sob but couldn't stop her eyes from misting. "Then I am in your debt."
"Friends don't keep score like that, Angelica." I lightly said with a chuckle before she cut me off from saying anything else.
"Angie. It's what my friends call me." I looked at her in surprise. Well, Clarice and Olivia did call her that. "I'll be in your care then, Leon."
"I'll do my best, Angie." She excused herself soon after and I was left alone in the room. Well, not alone.
So we are fully committed to supporting Angelica then.
"Agile thinking, Control." I reminded the AI as I stood up to stretch my back. "How easily can you get Black Getter here from the Nagare?"
Trivially. Are you planning on making another memorable entrance?
"You know it."
A few days before the date of the duel, I walked into my room and found it completely messed up. Furniture was thrown around and even my sheets looked like they had been shredded by a knife.
"I can't say that I didn't expect this." I muttered, knowing that people in the Academy have been bullied for less. Must have been supporters of Julius and his boys, maybe even Marie's.
I have a video recording of the event. It seemed that even Daniel and Raymond were pressured to participate in the vandalism.
Control proceeded to project the scene in question. I gasped when I saw what my friends did.
"How dare they lightly knock over my chairs! Don't they know how inconvenient it is to put them back in place?!" I declared with full, legitimate, totally-not-put-on, indignation.
You seem to think lightly of the event.
"I'm more relieved that they weren't hurt for being my friends, frankly." I pointed out in a more normal voice as I righted the chairs that Daniel and Raymond knocked over. I was taking off the ruined sheets from my bed when Jenna suddenly barged into my room with her catboy. Without knocking? Rude.
"Leon! What did I hear about you cha–the fu–" Jenna's ramblings cut short as soon as she took in the state of my room. "Don't tell me you actually challenged Prince Julius and his entire entourage to an Armor battle."
"Okay, I won't tell you." I immediately said right before Jenna grabbed me by the front of my uniform.
"This is what I was warning you about! What kind of moron are you?" She yelled at me, her catboy taking in the damaged state of the room.
"What kinds are the–" My older sister cut me off by shaking me. Was she always this strong? Or was she just mad enough?
"No jokes! This doesn't just affect you, Leon. It affects our entire family!" I was yelled at some more. She turned to her slave and gave a surprising order. "Clean this room up, now!"
"Jenna, I'm going to be an Independent Knight. My actions don't actually reflect the political stance of the Bartfort household." I reminded her as the catboy went out of the room. Where was he going?
"Do you honestly think the other high lords will care?" Jenna countered before adding, "And to an Armor battle?! Are you insane?!"
I raised my eyebrow at her alarm. "Jenna, you've seen Black Getter. Do you honestly think I'd lose?"
"It doesn't matter if you win using that monstrosity of yours. All they will see is that a Bartfort dared to challenge the heirs! Our family can't stand up to that!" Ah, I understood her concern now. From an outside perspective, that would have been the case if they didn't know more about me huh?
"Would it help if I told everyone that I'm doing it to protect the dignity of Angelica Rapha Redgave and Clarice Fia Atlee?" I offered with a smile just as her slave–what was his name again?–returned with a big plastic bag, a broom, and a dust pan.
"What are you talking about?" My declaration made Jenna pause and I proceeded to tell her what actually happened during the party.
"ALL FIVE OF THEM?!" I winced as she expressed her shock. Was she talking about Marie seducing all five heirs or me wanting to fight all five at once? The answer was 'yes'.
"So yeah, if I beg the Atlee and Redgrave families for political support, I might just get out of this in one piece." I laid out my plan for the fallout in case people got particularly mad at the outcome.
Jenna let me go but proceeded to pace around the room as her catboy continued to sweep the floor. I should really thank him. "Using what money?! The kind of tribute you'd need for that is more than what you can afford right now! You put all your money into our family lands."
"Actually, this is something you'll be happy to know about." I felt giddy when I overheard this talk from a few of the students. "People are going to be betting on the fight. The odds are delectable."
Jenna's face went from being blank to a grin that mirrored my own. For the first time in our lives, my older sister and I connected on a spiritual level.
My eyes focused and beheld a very worried looking Olivia cupping my cheeks. This was a somewhat familiar situation. I glanced around and saw that Angelica, Daniel, and Raymond were there too. They looked concerned as well. Weird, but okay.
"Hey guys, is the party over?" They all blinked at my question before sighing in relief.
"This isn't the time for your jokes, Leon. You had us all pretty scared there." Daniel scolded me after Olivia finally let go of my face.
I blinked at what he said. "What do you mean, I just volunteered to be Angelica's champion."
"Leon," Raymond spoke slowly. "You just challenged the Prince and his entourage to a five-on-one Armor battle."
"Yeah, that way I can take them all on for once." I pointed out. Why was everyone looking at me like I lost my mind?
"Maybe he just needs some sleep?" Raymond asked the others, who all looked skeptical.
"Leon, I'd like to thank you again for standing up for me." Angelica eventually spoke out. Finally, a conversation that actually made sense!
Still had no idea why everyone was so spooked.
"You're welcome, Angelica. I wasn't about to just let them walk all over you like that. Besides, Olivia would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't help." I joked, earning a light slap on my arm from Olivia and a giggle from Angelica.
"I believe it would be good if we all retired for the night." Angelica suggested and we all agreed. I was about to start walking when I felt Olivia tug on my sleeve.
"Leon, can I talk to you for a bit before we leave?" She asked. I nodded in agreement and we both waved for the others to go on without us. The decision ended up giving me the pretty amusing image of Raymond and Daniel trying to have a conversation with Angelica as they walked away.
"You're still Leon, right?" Okay, that was a very strange thing to lead with.
"I don't understand the question." I easily admitted, getting a bit worried about how worried everyone else seems to be about me.
"The light." Olivia said, squinting her eyes in thought. "When you went up to stand at Angie's side, the light started changing."
"It was still a green light, but a deeper color. Angier. Scarier. It wasn't gentle or soothing anymore. It felt like it just wanted to hurt." Okay, now I was officially within the realm of worrying.
"Then your expression changed and you wouldn't listen to me or Angie no matter how much we tried to reach out to you." Like, I just bought a house in the middle of worry-town. The hell were the Getter Rays doing to me?! "The party eventually ended and you only snapped out of whatever that was just now."
"Thanks for telling me this, Olivia. How is the light now? Did it go back to normal." I spoke, trying my best to not sound like I was terrified of what might be happening to me.
"It's settling down, it looks like. It doesn't feel as scary anymore." Olivia answered while lightly placing her hand on my chest. "Are you going to be okay, Leon?"
I put the feeling of her hand on me out of my head, I had more immediate things to deal with. "I'll see what I can do about it. You should probably get some sleep."
Olivia looked like she wanted to say something else, but eventually nodded.
"How much of that whole thing did you witness, Control?" I asked my empty room as soon as I locked the door. Control turned visible a few feet in front of me before speaking.
The entirety of the party.
I nodded, at least I didn't have to explain much. "And you heard what Olivia said? Is this the Getter Rays messing with me?"
I had not anticipated that the changes in you to be so drastic in such a short time, I apologize for not paying more attention.
So they did know something after all. Good, that should help! "So what is all this? What is happening to me?"
The Getter Rays you have been exposed to have been facilitating changes within you. As an example, you have been relying less and less on vitriol as a defense mechanism for your insecurities.
The hell was Control talking about? I haven't been…okay, maybe they had a point. But still! "So I'm changing? Is my body going to start glowing visibly too?"
That would require an amount of Getter Radiation that would be beyond what Black Getter F is capable of generating.
"So just the way I think then? It's been brainwashing me?! Why didn't you tell me?!" I started to panic, Control's answers had not been giving me confidence that what was happening to me was a good thing. I could feel my blood pumping hard again, but I shut my eyes and forced myself to calm down.
Your alarm is understandable. As I said, I had expected the changes to be more gradual. To have you slowly gain more real confidence and let people into your life more organically.
"Then what's causing it?" I asked the obvious question after taking a few breaths.
I believe that the lack of emotional attachments you have experienced in your prior life has amplified your bonds with the people around you in this life. You, as a person, found something you never thought you needed and did not want anything to happen to it. As such, you may be more vulnerable to emotional outbursts if they are threatened. This may explain your earlier behavior.
Sounded like a whole lot of psychoanalysis mumbo-jumbo but it seemed to make sense. "But you're not sure?"
I lack enough data points to make a satisfying conclusion.
"Then what? I just wait? I don't want to suddenly wake up and not even realize that I'm not the person I was when I went to sleep, Control! I don't want to lose the person I am!" The prospect of suddenly becoming a completely different person terrified me. Would I even like the things I liked? What about the things I hated?
Why?
The question made my mind suddenly slam to a halt. "What?"
Did you even like the person that you were before you reincarnated? Do you like the person that you were before you found me?
For the very first time since we met, I felt like I hated Control at that very moment. My face twisted into a snarl but they interrupted the response forming in my mind.
And before you say 'yes', think carefully if that really is the case or if it is because of fear or pride. That you don't want to admit that you wasted so much time being someone you didn't even want to be.
The implication actually did make me stop and think. About my old life, my childhood, my family, my friends–or lack thereof, my school years, my time as an office worker. Did I enjoy the life I had? Did I regret it? Was I even happy?
Was I just going to end up doing the same thing all over again if I hadn't met Control? I was, wasn't I?
"Then what the hell is even the right answer?" I muttered as I stumbled back onto my bed.
It is an everlasting dilemma that a person needs to tackle. Do I stay true to myself? Do I change? Which one is the correct answer?
Was I a coward for not doing anything to change the way I was? Was I brave for sticking to my personal beliefs? Did any of it even matter?
Getter Rays are fundamentally an agent of change. It encourages it and facilitates it. It will force you to become a version of yourself that is more than what you currently are, for better or worse.
Of course, because people could definitely change into worse people. Even I could admit that most of the noblewomen didn't start out as horrible people. Even the love interests that I wanted to stomp into the ground probably weren't always like that.
You need not fear change, Leon. People change all the time. It is an incredible gift that humanity has. After all my time before I was put to slumber, I have come to understand countless different reasons why humans change. I am envious that it is something I cannot do.
"Don't underestimate Getter Rays, Control. They know where you live. You might already be changing without realizing it." Control actually went silent for a few seconds when I told them that.
Fair point.
I took a deep breath and considered something. "And if I don't want the kind of changes it's pushing onto me?"
Then you must become strong enough to make it understand that you are satisfied with who you are or that you will change on your own terms.
"That sounds like a pretty tall order." I pointed out with a chuckle. Sure, just tell the weird all-powerful energy source that you don't agree with it.
Getter Pilots are rarely alone when they face this dilemma. They usually operate as a team of three, working together and overcoming challenges together.
I groaned, of course it would be something like that. "Just my luck that I'm alone huh? Except for you, I mean."
I wouldn't say that. You also have your family, Olivia, Angelica, Raymond, Daniel, even Clarice to an extent. If you feel like it becomes too much, you can always look back to them to remind you of why you are doing what you do.
"Really? Friendship and Love?" I asked with a bit of humor. The whole thing was starting to sound like a regular Shonen Manga story.
Very few things in the Universe are more powerful than that.
"You're serious?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing from the AI.
Would it really be such a stretch to believe so?
Dammit, they were right. "When you put it like that, no."
I decided that the heavy existential talk could be put on hold and I prepared to sleep. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I suddenly felt so exhausted. As I closed my eyes and drifted off, an idle thought crossed my mind.
Getter Change, huh?
Oddly enough, Angelica asked to meet me privately the day after the party. Olivia said that she wanted to discuss some specifics about the duel and even asked for a private room from the school. When I entered, it looked like some kind of lounge with a couple of couches facing each other as well as chairs surrounding a coffee table.
Angelica saw me enter and smiled. "Leon, thank you for coming. Please take a seat."
She gestured to the couch across from her and I strangely felt like I was a kid about to be scolded by a teacher. No. Stop brain, I'm warning you. I didn't mean it that way. Don't put imaginary Angelica in a tight pencil skirt.
No, brain! Don't take the skirt off imaginary Angelica!
"Leon?"
"Yes! How can I help you? It wasn't my fault! I'm sorry!" Angelica looked at me in surprise and a bit of worry. I scratched my head and glanced away. "I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted."
"I see?" She said unconvincingly.
"So what did you want to talk about? Strategy or something?" I sat down and rubbed my hands in anticipation. I already knew what each of the love interests' Armors are capable of but any additional input couldn't hurt.
"I would like you to back down from the duel." I blinked at Angelica's serious words.
I blinked again when she just looked at me with a determined expression. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I may have misheard."
"I'm sorry." She said with a sigh, her shoulders slumping as she continued. "After sleeping on it, I now understand that my rashness and anger put you in a situation that might put your future in jeopardy."
"Hey now–" I started but suddenly recalled what Jenna told me a while back. Get to Julius' good side and I was set. Oppose him and I was going to suffer for it.
"I will bear the responsibility for the loss. I cannot, in good conscience, allow someone as promising as you to perform what is basically political suicide for my sake." She said, her concern was blatantly obvious.
"I'm not backing down." I told her with narrowed eyes.
"What?! Why?! You have to! Your entire future would be in peril if you continue with this!" I leaned back when Angelica actually stood up when she said that.
I shook my head and frowned at her words. "What about your future?"
"I will face the consequences of my actions with dignity." I knew what the consequences of her actions were. She would be disowned and banished, forced to marry a nameless old noble and live miserably for the rest of her life.
"I'll still fight for you, Angelica." I insisted.
"Why?" She looked so sad when she asked me that I felt my heart clench a bit.
I looked up to the ceiling for a way to convey my thoughts. I then chuckled when I remembered a line from a half-forgotten movie I watched a lifetime ago.
"I know what it's like." I began as I turned my head down to look at her in the eye. "To know so desperately that you're right, yet fail anyway."
Angelica looked like she couldn't comprehend what I was saying at all. "So that's it? Sympathy? Risking it all for that?"
"I'd like to say that it's more that I'm helping out a friend who is having a really bad few months." I said with an awkward smile.
Angelica choked back a sob but couldn't stop her eyes from misting. "Then I am in your debt."
"Friends don't keep score like that, Angelica." I lightly said with a chuckle before she cut me off from saying anything else.
"Angie. It's what my friends call me." I looked at her in surprise. Well, Clarice and Olivia did call her that. "I'll be in your care then, Leon."
"I'll do my best, Angie." She excused herself soon after and I was left alone in the room. Well, not alone.
So we are fully committed to supporting Angelica then.
"Agile thinking, Control." I reminded the AI as I stood up to stretch my back. "How easily can you get Black Getter here from the Nagare?"
Trivially. Are you planning on making another memorable entrance?
"You know it."
A few days before the date of the duel, I walked into my room and found it completely messed up. Furniture was thrown around and even my sheets looked like they had been shredded by a knife.
"I can't say that I didn't expect this." I muttered, knowing that people in the Academy have been bullied for less. Must have been supporters of Julius and his boys, maybe even Marie's.
I have a video recording of the event. It seemed that even Daniel and Raymond were pressured to participate in the vandalism.
Control proceeded to project the scene in question. I gasped when I saw what my friends did.
"How dare they lightly knock over my chairs! Don't they know how inconvenient it is to put them back in place?!" I declared with full, legitimate, totally-not-put-on, indignation.
You seem to think lightly of the event.
"I'm more relieved that they weren't hurt for being my friends, frankly." I pointed out in a more normal voice as I righted the chairs that Daniel and Raymond knocked over. I was taking off the ruined sheets from my bed when Jenna suddenly barged into my room with her catboy. Without knocking? Rude.
"Leon! What did I hear about you cha–the fu–" Jenna's ramblings cut short as soon as she took in the state of my room. "Don't tell me you actually challenged Prince Julius and his entire entourage to an Armor battle."
"Okay, I won't tell you." I immediately said right before Jenna grabbed me by the front of my uniform.
"This is what I was warning you about! What kind of moron are you?" She yelled at me, her catboy taking in the damaged state of the room.
"What kinds are the–" My older sister cut me off by shaking me. Was she always this strong? Or was she just mad enough?
"No jokes! This doesn't just affect you, Leon. It affects our entire family!" I was yelled at some more. She turned to her slave and gave a surprising order. "Clean this room up, now!"
"Jenna, I'm going to be an Independent Knight. My actions don't actually reflect the political stance of the Bartfort household." I reminded her as the catboy went out of the room. Where was he going?
"Do you honestly think the other high lords will care?" Jenna countered before adding, "And to an Armor battle?! Are you insane?!"
I raised my eyebrow at her alarm. "Jenna, you've seen Black Getter. Do you honestly think I'd lose?"
"It doesn't matter if you win using that monstrosity of yours. All they will see is that a Bartfort dared to challenge the heirs! Our family can't stand up to that!" Ah, I understood her concern now. From an outside perspective, that would have been the case if they didn't know more about me huh?
"Would it help if I told everyone that I'm doing it to protect the dignity of Angelica Rapha Redgave and Clarice Fia Atlee?" I offered with a smile just as her slave–what was his name again?–returned with a big plastic bag, a broom, and a dust pan.
"What are you talking about?" My declaration made Jenna pause and I proceeded to tell her what actually happened during the party.
"ALL FIVE OF THEM?!" I winced as she expressed her shock. Was she talking about Marie seducing all five heirs or me wanting to fight all five at once? The answer was 'yes'.
"So yeah, if I beg the Atlee and Redgrave families for political support, I might just get out of this in one piece." I laid out my plan for the fallout in case people got particularly mad at the outcome.
Jenna let me go but proceeded to pace around the room as her catboy continued to sweep the floor. I should really thank him. "Using what money?! The kind of tribute you'd need for that is more than what you can afford right now! You put all your money into our family lands."
"Actually, this is something you'll be happy to know about." I felt giddy when I overheard this talk from a few of the students. "People are going to be betting on the fight. The odds are delectable."
Jenna's face went from being blank to a grin that mirrored my own. For the first time in our lives, my older sister and I connected on a spiritual level.