24 The outrageous merchant

Upon reaching the seat, Cross said his thanks and sorry to that person. She replied, "No problem. That's better, otherwise, you'll be obstructing other people's vision."

Cross simply nodded and took the seat in a hush.

When sitting down, he directed his attention to the match that was still being replayed on the wide TV screen. Sadly, the Warrior Mech was dominated by the opponent after several exchanges.

As he was looking up, he heard his neighbor say something.

"The status of the academy is not good in this duel. The first two battles were an overwhelming defeat. The result of the first match was even worse because the pilot of the M1 Warlord suffered an injury."

Cross suddenly heard the person next to him say that.

He glanced at her, slightly wondering who she said those words to. Is she talking to me? Cross thought.

In regards to suffering an injury in a mock battle, it could happen by accident if you asked him, so Cross wasn't surprised when he heard it, especially when the battle was so intense.

He glanced around, especially at the people around them. But it seems none of them paid attention to her words.

Based on what she said, it was right to assume that it was now the end of the second match and the third match was just about to begin.

While Cross remained silent and wondered who she was talking to, he noticed that she glanced at him. That gesture proved his guess. There's no mistake, she was indeed talking to him.

Good grief. He needed to reply in that case, or else he would be deemed as a snob person if he didn't, no?

I suppose, Cross thought.

"I-Is that so? It doesn't seem like that's good for the academy. Haha", Cross replied in the most commoner's way.

He needed to be very flexible in conversing with someone, so changing his way of speaking with someone, depending on the person, was a piece of cake for him. It wasn't like he was mocking them or anything, he just wanted to see the result of every option he chose.

One example of that was his conversation with Naomi and Rebecca. He tried to act cool and complimented them as much as he could. He learned the two dislike flattery. On the contrary, when he met Vice Commander Sheha, he tried a normal way of speaking, but the vice commander wanted flattery instead for some reason.

See the difference? Because of that, Cross concluded that every person had their preferences.

This person beside him exuded an aura of a significant person. She must be someone who has a good standing in this academy. Although it was nothing but a baseless guess, he believed in his intuition.

Secretly observing her, she seemed to be two or three years older than him. A commoner's way of speaking was the best option in this situation to pair up with her aura.

Upon hearing Cross's reply, he noticed her nod.

"Indeed." After saying that, she suddenly turned her gaze toward him. "I saw your face for the first time here at the academy. Are you a freshman student?"

Cross nodded. "Yes. I just transferred yesterday."

"A transferee… that's rare", she said in almost a mutter. "No wonder your face wasn't familiar to me", she said after.

Cross smiled wryly upon hearing that. Then he opened his mouth and asked her. "By the way, is the result of the first match that salty?"

There was a slight frown on her face upon hearing that. She nodded slightly before she replied, "Very. Very salty", she said.

Judging from her expression in her reply, it looks like the result of the first match was indeed much worse than this one.

As he glanced at her, Cross noticed that she was holding a tablet. It also looked like she was taking notes of something.

"Is the opponent's mechs that good?" He asked again. Although he wanted to limit his words to maintain his commoner image, his curiosity got the better of him this time.

"Hm… how should I say this… as you can see. Our Warlord Series is no match against it, so they're of course good, no?"

She had a point. He thought.

"Y-you're right. Sorry for asking."

"However…"

"Hm?"

"They're not without flaws…"

"You mean…"

"They still followed the standard mechanism. That female mech. Its best attributes are its agility and utility."

Cross agreed with her based on his observation of the fight on the wide TV screen.

"I see."

"Now look at its arm."

She suddenly pointed out. After Cross looked to where she pointed, he saw something surprising.

"A dent?"

"Indeed. There's a dent on its arm. That's the result after blocking the M2 Warlord's attack earlier."

Cross's eyes opened a little wider.

She continued saying, "They used light materials to that mech to maximize its agility. I didn't say it's a bad choice, but against an opponent with the same capabilities, I bet that mech won't last long either."

That's right. A brittle-skin mech is only good when you're up against an opponent slugger than you. Once it faces an opponent as capable or more, it would be at a disadvantage. Cross thought.

"Uhm—" He was about to ask again when they suddenly heard a shout coming from the battlefield.

"Come quick! Bring a stretcher!"

Hearing that, Cross turned his gaze away from her and looked in the direction of one of the entrances. He noticed the two mechs had finally arrived at the entrance where the opponent's mech had dragged the Warlord mech. That yellow mech brought its opponent to their camp.

Some people rushed to check the condition of the pilot of the Warlord mech.

The yellow mech stared for a second at the person with a stout build. Although it was quite far, Cross could still identify the man's visage. If he was not mistaken, that was Commander Guren of the Mech Soldier Department. He was there when Cross took his mana evaluation test as part of the evaluators.

After the glint in its eyes blinked briefly, the yellow mech turned around and ambled in the opposite direction.

Seeing the retreating figure of the yellow mech, Commander Guren quickly returned his attention to the issue at hand.

"Everyone quick!"

"It looks like the pilot needs immediate assistance", Cross muttered.

"Seems so", his neighbor replied.

On the VIP podium, Merchant Bernard said something outrageous to the headmaster.

The headmaster frowned briefly. But she had to remain calm. "A bet? Are you bullying us, Mister Bernard?" Though she wasn't pleased with it, the expression on her face was still calm.

"Ufufufu, listen to me first, headmaster", said the merchant.