Chapter 93 – ９３ – Prototype Device

Sports Festival Arc

Now, as the days passed through May, I spent my time juggling various things: practicing for the Sports Festival, dueling, attending regular classes, and occasional correspondence with the ‘Silk Cloud’ company.

To be a bit more detailed.

There is nothing much to say regarding the Sports Festival practice and regular classes.

As for the duels, Ichi and Marie both won without any trouble, and the other A-Rank Evaluated students—excluding myself—won overwhelmingly.

The messages exchanged with Silk Cloud covered a wide range of topics, from design to specific requests, but it seemed only a portion of them reached me; the volume of messages Suzu was processing was clearly far greater than mine.

And then came today.

The final week of May, Tuesday, May 28th—just over a week before the Sports Festival.

A visitor arrived at the Duel Academy.

“Thank you for sparing your time for us today, Lord Midorikawa.”

“Not at all. This is for our benefit as well, Ms. Tanoshine.”

The people who had come to the Duel Academy’s reception room were Ms. Tanoshine from Silk Cloud, accompanied by several women who looked like guards, dressed in suits and wearing sunglasses.

In their hands, they held a total of four sturdy attaché cases.

“So, regarding this… is there a reason for the oppressive atmosphere?”

“Yes, there is. Regarding a recent incident, it appears someone attempted to infiltrate our development department. Fortunately, nothing was stolen, including confidential information, but as a precaution, we have tightened security more than usual for today’s visit.”

“…”

“Well, when it comes to a completely new Device, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were people who wanted it desperately. If you’d like, I can put you in touch with some cyber-security experts.”

“…We shall take that matter back to the company for consideration.”

“Understood. Let’s do that then.”

I see. So there were people trying to physically steal corporate secrets. It’s only natural to be on guard.

While I was nodding and thinking this, I noticed Suzu was the one offering to connect them with experts, and Ichi was performing some kind of check. Marie seemed to be in the same boat as me.

“As such, Lord Midorikawa, please be very careful with the handling of these Devices. You never know who might be targeting you and from where.”

“I understand.”

“That’s true. While the academy’s security would likely stop anyone overtly aggressive, there’s no guarantee there aren’t any strange elements inside.”

“So, either keep it on at all times or keep it securely in the attaché case,” Suzu noted.

“I’ve heard that students at the academy aren’t always well-behaved, and there are cases where circumstances in their backgrounds make it impossible for them to remain so,” Ichi added.

“That’s scary…”

Still, if there are people bold enough to break into a corporation, isn’t it dangerous for us to possess new Devices?

Just as I was thinking that, it seemed that within the academy, I didn’t need to worry about external criminals or violent offenders. However, since there’s no guarantee that no “strange elements” are mixed in among the students, caution in handling them was indeed necessary.

In fact, a prime example of “strange elements” among the students were Ichi and Marie themselves. Since they were both on my side, they simply happened to be on the counter-intelligence side of things.

Conversely, this meant that a student receiving support from a company hostile to me or Silk Cloud could very well direct their abilities toward espionage rather than counter-intelligence. In other words, it wouldn’t be strange at all for people like Ichi and Marie to exist, just with different allegiances.

“By the way, these attaché cases have been processed so that they cannot be easily breached even by attacks containing magical power. Furthermore, they are equipped with the latest multi-stage authentication mechanism, so you needn’t worry about them being destroyed.”

“Huh. It almost sounds like they could be used as shields or armor in a pinch.”

“Actually, I’m told that using them as shields after opening them is a planned possibility,” Ms. Tanoshine replied.

“Is that so…”

For now, the main thing I need to worry about is making sure I store the Device properly in the case before it leaves my sight after use. That’s the key.

Incidentally, despite the “latest multi-stage authentication mechanism,” the actual process for me seemed simple enough that opening and closing it wouldn’t take much effort.

“Now then, shall we move on to the main event—the unveiling of the Devices themselves?”

“Alright.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Naru.”

“I am as well.”

“The time has finally come to hold the actual products.”

Attaché cases were placed before the four of us: me, Suzu, Ichi, and Marie.

As for identifying them… we could do so by the images on the surface of the cases, so there was no chance of a mistake.

Once we confirmed there were no errors, we followed Ms. Tanoshine’s instructions to open the cases and check the contents.

“These are the prototypes of the Custom Devices for Lord Midorikawa and his companions… the ‘Silkcloud Crown’.”

My own Custom Device, the Silkcloud Crown.

In appearance, it was a metallic ring with large, foldable ear-cuffs—or perhaps it was closer to a laurel wreath, like the ones worn by figures in Greek mythology.

However, the metallic ring was adorned with metallic plant leaves, and charms modeled after narcissus flowers hung from the ear-cuff portions.

For Suzu and the others, a silk veil hung from the ring to hide their faces, and the narcissus flowers on my device were replaced with different types of flowers.

“As for performance, as per your requests, the tuning prioritizes the deployment capability, realization capability, and delicacy of the Masked Form.”

“I see, I see.”

“The number of registerable Skills is limited to three. However, according to the testers’ reports, finer control is possible compared to standard Devices.”

“Right.”

“However, as these are prototypes, each Device is equipped with a function to collect data from the wearer during use. The development department predicts that if they can proceed with information gathering and achieve optimization through this function, both performance and Skills can be upgraded.”

“Oh?”

The performance was exactly as requested. As for a comparison… since the only Devices I know are the ones distributed by the academy, any comparison would be inappropriate.

“Now, Lord Midorikawa.”

“Yeah, I know. Let’s give it a try first. Suzu.”

“Right. I’ve already borrowed the necessary facilities, so we’re good to go.”

Now, let’s verify the performance through practical application.

Silkcloud Crown

A Custom Device for Naru and his companions, manufactured by Silk Cloud.

Appearance: A laurel wreath with a veil and foldable ear-cuffs. (Naru’s veil was removed as he has no intention of hiding his face).

The ear-cuffs can be fitted with charm-type additional parts.

Since the ear-cuffs, charms, and veil also possess functions as part of the Device—not just the laurel wreath itself—caution is required during handling.

While the design requires a certain amount of courage to wear on a daily basis… if one is motivated, it is possible to wear them as a necklace or bracelet.

Side note: Charm shapes

Naru: Narcissus

Suzu: Lily of the Valley

Ichi: Yew

Marie: Marigold