Newcomer Master Ruria

Now, everyone was in the middle of grueling daily training.

… But pushing through without rest or sleep just hurt efficiency, so we made sure to rest where rest was due.

That was true for me too.

You couldn't grind nonstop. Sometimes you had to pause.

At home, I sipped the tea Leone had brewed for me and relaxed. Time like this wasn't bad either.

This was the tea Eclair had rated as better than Earth's.

It wasn't very bitter or sour, with a faint sweetness.

I couldn't really tell, but I genuinely thought it was tasty.

"The town feels a bit livelier lately, doesn't it?"

"Ah, that's because it's about debut season for the new Masters.

"This town of Amen, too, is getting a lot of new Masters pouring in, and that's bringing in the bustle. It's an annual fixture from March to April."

So Leone informed me while working in the kitchen.

"Heeh…"

Newcomers, huh… May, when I was made to debut, was actually late by newcomer debut season standards.

That was why I'd had so few chances to meet new Masters my own age. If Reichhardt hadn't been so slow, I might not have met a single one.

"What's it like, I wonder."

"Fufu, want to head out and see for yourself?"

"In that case, why not use the Incognito system?"

Lyuka offered.

"The Incognito system?"

"If a higher-ranked Master has to walk around a lower-ranked town, you can conceal your information to avoid causing unnecessary trouble. It costs quite a bit, though…"

"That really is quite a bit. Also, there's nothing for C-Class and above."

"C-Class makes you an associate noble. It's strictly for use against commoners."

"Heeh."

Well, ranking up later would just waste money, and 50,000 wasn't a big deal, so I'd go ahead and buy it.

My sense of money had loosened considerably.

Then again, between 30 million G per match across 6 matches in the A-Class Tournament (Seika only took the final's share) and the 100-million G championship prize, my pockets were pretty flush.

"So, if I enable this Incognito system, how do I appear to those around me…? Ah, I can decide how I look however I want.

"It's a G-Class town, so if I went as an F-Class Master, no one would mess with me, huh.

"The name… Naoto should be safe, right?"

"For a child name given by a Japan-origin Garumon, it's not an unusual name.

"There are people who give their children Japanese-style names…"

"Like S-Class number 1 Satoru?"

"Yes. So it should be fine."

In that vein, I ended up casually visiting Amen's battleground.

I had a few of my companions tag along inside their capsules.

If I let them out, the carefully arranged information concealment would be ruined.

… I'd learned my lesson before that walking around this town in date-mode wasn't really fitting, and showing off absurdly high-level Garumon to the newcomers seemed in poor taste.

So, I'd walk the town solo, casually.

Murmur, murmur, murmur…

"Oho."

The town's chatter was different from before. There was a real energy in the air! It was like the opening town of an RPG.

Innkeepers were calling out to draw customers.

I see, if newcomer Masters used the town as their base for a while, the place would thrive.

Merchants selling food, tools.

And, in suspicious shadows, men in black murmuring, "Buy your Garumon…" All kinds of bustle and chaos… it was getting fun.

Another thing I noticed: the people on the streets were young!

Boys around fifteen… well, to adults I probably looked no different.

From my perspective, soon to be a third-year senior, the first-year high schoolers really did seem young.

Decent-looking R-Class, maybe SR-Class Garumon. Sparkling youths walking around town accompanied by gorgeous Garumon.

Watching their glittering, hope-filled bearing somehow lifted my heart.

Hm, this kind of thing was nice too.

… However, walking through town, nothing in particular happened to me.

I'd just won a tournament broadcast nationally on TV, you know. Recently, too.

Probably thanks to the information concealment doing its job.

… Or maybe I just didn't stand out.

Maybe everyone only looked at the Garumon and not the Master.

I'd been through every A-Class Master's face in the Garumon Yearbook myself, but until we faced off, I hadn't recognized any of them either.

If it was a cute futanari Master, though, I wouldn't have forgotten her face.

And so, I casually swung by the battleground.

"All right, go! Mirei!"

"Yes! Rolling Shot!"

"Gugyahh!"

Oho, in full swing. A rather adorable Garumon was unilaterally cornering a not-so-pretty one.

The matches were mostly young, spirited rookie G-Class Master VS jaded, washed-out G-Class Master who'd stuck around at G-Class.

Fresh-out-of-school newcomers brimming with "I'm going to be a Garumon Master!" energy, fighting vibrantly.

Battles like that going on at four or five spots at once, all very lively.

Most of the time, the youngsters were winning.

A Garumon's ability and talent seemed to matter more than an elder's experience.

… That said, not always. Sometimes the youngsters lost.

"Eh, huh…?"

A newcomer in a daze, unable to accept his defeat.

… That kind of thing struck me as pitiful.

But for G-Class Masters, March-April, when newcomers flooded in, was probably their earning season, when raw rookies showed up in droves bringing high-rarity Garumon.

Unless something was unfair, winning a Garumon Battle to take the loser's Garumon was a legitimate right.

It wasn't appropriate to complain about it.

… The loser deserved to lose.

Harsh, but that was the truth.

The other newcomers also looked at the loser with cold eyes. Everyone seemed to think, He lost, but I'm different.

… That harshness included, it was a pretty enjoyable thing to watch.

Nice, looked like fun. Would it be a problem if I joined in with Farida too?

Well, an A-Class Master playing around wouldn't really do…

… And then, the newcomer Masters were pointing my way and snickering.

It looked something like,

Hey hey, there's an F-Class Master over there. Looks weak, huh?

Even I could probably beat that.

If I take down an F-Class Master, that's a one-shot promotion, isn't it? Pretty good target.

That sort of conversation between the newcomers.

Soon enough, one of them sauntered over to me with a smirk.

"You'd be F-Class number 490, Naoto-sama? A pleasure. I'm a newcomer Master called Lutz."

So he greeted me politely… With his lips, anyway.

His attitude said he was looking down on me.

His mouth was a bit crooked, but he wasn't bad-looking.

He looked a little mature, maybe my age or even older, but he was probably just a normal fifteen-year-old.

"Ah, a pleasure."

"F-Class Master-sama, please instruct me in the way of battle. Could I ask that of you?"

"Hmm…"

Well, if he was the one bringing it up, I guess it was fine.

If I remembered right, a higher-ranked Master could refuse a challenge from a lower rank with zero risk, but accepting was also an option.

"Doesn't bother me, but for challenges to a higher-ranked Master, the going rate is twice the challenger's Garumon Value, right?

"Can you pay?"

Pft, kuhuhu…

The newcomer laughed. Felt off.

"… Yes, of course. No problem."

So he answered easily.

For a newcomer to hold a Value 4000-ish Garumon wasn't out of the question.

But 8000G wasn't an amount a newcomer Master could just hand over. A wealthy noble's kid, maybe?

"All right, fine. If I win, twice the Value of your highest-Value Garumon. If you win, you'll take my position."

"Yes, much obliged."

"Lucky Lutz, going to F-Class ahead of us…" They were chatting like that.

I wondered what kind of faces they'd make if they suddenly ended up A-Class rank 1. Not that I was going to lose, though.

"Right, let me see this newcomer's level.

"Come on, Farida."

"Y-yes, what is it, Naoto-san?"

"I've been challenged to a battle, so we're fighting."

"… Eh, ehhh!? I-I'm only LV1, you know!?"

"It's fine. Opponent's a newcomer. If we lose, I lose my current position, so take care."

"Ehhhhh!? W-wait, wait, hold on…"

Oh, fairly high Values. An SSR-Class and two SR-Classes. If I win, that's 8400G.

"Heeh… nice Garumon. Were your school grades good?"

"Yes, I was top of my class, after all…"

So Lutz smirked.

"E-eehhhh!? W-why a 1 VS 3, this is unreasonable!?"

"It's not unreasonable… it has to be at least that much for it to be training for Farida, right? Since we're at it."

"I-it's only been three days since I became your Garumon, and all I've done so far is basic training!?"

Farida-san panicked. Mm-hm, first-time jitters. Cute.

"It's fine, it's fine. Farida has a great sense of rhythm. Just move the way I tell you.

"Yes, first up, to the right!"

"… Y-yaa!"

Tan!

Farida leapt to the right.

"Oraa! Smashing strike!"

Doon! Nellie's axe swing. Oh, even at LV2, that looked like it'd carry medium damage. It'd probably hurt if it landed.

… If it landed, that is.

She dodged it neatly.

"Yaaaa! Thrust!"

Then, Iran came flying in with a fist thrust.

"Right, on target. Take it with the board as a shield. Use the rebound to jump high!"

"Kuuh!"

Gan!

Farida took it with a board she'd pulled out from somewhere. 3 damage.

Riding the momentum, she jumped!

"Now, wind your arm back big, and with everything you've got! Strike!"

"Y-yes! Strike!"

Dogoon!

She swung the board vertically and slammed it down with all her might.

There, just as planned, was Suir's head.

"… Hk."

One hit, knocked out. Incapacitated.

"Hawawa…"

"Mn, looking good. There, turn 2.

"Dodge this one too. Yes, left!"

"Yes!"

Boing, she jumped and dodged.

Dogoon!

Nellie opened up a hole where Farida had been.

"… Hk. This little pest, scurrying around…"

"Yes, Farida. Hold the board upright, like this… and thrust your arm out as far as you can, strike!"

"Yes! Strike!"

As told, Farida used the board as a shield, and… she struck!

Dogo!

"Ugohh!"

The attack landed as a perfect counter on Iran. Iran let out a voice unbecoming of an adorable young girl, and…

Iran also went down.

"Right, last one.

"Once you get a bit better, you can dodge and counter in one go, but for now there's still maybe a 10% risk.

"… For now, just dodge normally and take her down in two strikes. With that, you'll win 100%."

"Y-yes! I'll dodge!"

Hyoi, ban! Hyoi, ban!

And two turns later, the win was secured.

"… Oh! You did it, your level went up."

"Oooh! Nice nice. Heh… Farida seems to learn time-system magic easily.

"Amazing, amazing, my mood's lifting. Looking forward to what's ahead!"

"… I-I didn't feel like I was even alive…"

"No, no, if it'd been raw improv, sure, but with three days of practice, against a newcomer there's no way you'd be caught off guard.

"Good work."

I patted and praised Farida, who'd finished her first match safely with a win.

"Ehehe… I did it."

Cute.

And then, I sent her back to the capsule.

"I-impossible…"

Lutz-kun was in a complete daze.

A G-Class newcomer as my opponent. It'd been kind of like bullying, I guess.

"Hang in there, newcomer."

Well, I'd still collect his money properly. Challenging without sizing up your opponent's caliber and losing is your own fault.

I shifted spots a bit. And…

"… Um, would you be the unfamiliar F-Class Master?

"This town's my territory, see.

"Could you maybe head somewhere else?"

Someone called out to me.

"… Your territory?"

I turned around.

… Hmm, that face looked vaguely familiar.

A quick system check jogged my memory. Ah, right.

Wasn't this the guy who'd given me grief in this town back when I was G-Class? He'd come at me with ten people in tow.

"… A-Akai… Naoto…!?"

Looked like he recognized me too.

Hmm, what to do? My opponent was an F-Class Master I held some grudge against. But he was older, so…

I'd stay polite.

Using rank to throw weight around at someone older was a clearly unpleasant move.

"Long time no see, Sice-san."

"Hahhh! It's been a long time indeed!"

It was a fluid, beautiful dogeza.

"T-today, what, what business brings you here?

"Um, you see, w-what I told those guys had a slight exaggeration and a bit of mistake in it, I didn't actually say things like that, but they went ahead on their own and…!"

"… Hm?"

… What was with this guy, starting to confess on his own.

"Tell me what you did. Honestly. I want to hear it from your own mouth."

"Y-yes, yes."

What Sice trembled and told me was that, having seen my exploits on TV and elsewhere, he'd been spinning yarns at length about how, well, that guy was one he'd raised, and gathering people's respect with it.

… Geez. I could drop the polite speech now, right? Couldn't use polite speech with an adult you couldn't respect.

"… Well, thanks to you I certainly learned how harsh this world is.

"In that sense, you can claim to have given me a hand, sure.

"… But anything beyond that, the excessive bragging, drop it."

"… H-haii…"

Sice was so terrified he looked about to wet himself. I didn't want to see him filthy like that, so I'd ease up…

He was mildly irritating, but pulping him over something like this would be trash behavior.

"… Insulting an A-Class Master unjustly is grounds for arrest, so be careful."

"Y-yes…"

"For now, why don't you give me a tour.

"Is it always like this when the newcomers come, every year?"

"… Y-yes! Yes, that's right. At G-Class, newcomer-vs-newcomer battles aren't that common. You can only have 3 each, after all.

"Even to steal a Garumon, you've got to keep your roster of 3 and still want one more, so newcomer-vs-newcomer clashes happen from F-Class on up.

"So it's us veteran Masters VS newcomers, where we sift out the ones without talent.

"Veterans' win rate is like 10-20%. But even cheap Value-1000-plus Garumon coming in at that 10-20%, for us, it's harvest season."

Sice explained in a flunky tone… yeah, flunky tone suited him.

He acted big in a G-Class town, but going to an F-Class town no doubt turned him into quite the flunky.

"Heeh…"

Even hearing such flunky stories was unexpectedly interesting.

"By the way, aren't Wind User and Water User Advanced Jobs? Why do HN-Class Garumon have such high-grade classes?"

"Yes, there are General-Job Wind Users and Advanced-Job Wind Users. Distinguished by Value.

"If the Value is under 1000, it's almost certainly General Job. Advanced Job is out of my reach."

I see…

So as I chatted for a while with the unimpressive Sice…

"You're the F-Class Master running this town, Sice?"

Suddenly, someone called out.

"… Whoa…"

A voice slipped out before I could help it.

… C-cute! Bright red hair like a blazing flame, big emerald eyes full of will.

In a high-class-looking dress, her figure was like a jewel-studded beauty.

The swell at her chest was wonderfully ample, and… wonderfully attractive, just my type.

She looked spirited and lively, but carried the well-bred bearing of a true princess.

What made her especially princess-like was the maid she'd brought along.

The maid was also tremendously cute.

Her ears were elf ears. Faerie-kin, maybe? The Faerie-kin included Fairies like Lyuka with butterfly wings, long-eared Elves, Hobbits beloved by lolicons, and various other subtypes.

A beautiful-girl maid with fluffy wavy bob-cut hair, soft fluffy blonde.

Big drooping eyes looked gentle. And her big chest looked soft! Also wonderfully attractive, just my type.

It was clearly a mistress-and-servant pair, but the two of them together made you want to spoil them.

I quickly did a system check.

Even at LV1 they had Advanced Jobs. That was surprising. And Samurai, no less. A Samurai paired with a Western-style princess dress, what an unbalanced combo.

The maid… I'd fought a maid named Crisilla in the Stein match before.

Wait, wasn't Crisilla an Ultimate-Job class?

Maybe maids also had Advanced and Ultimate Job tiers?

Well, rather than the name shifting to Armed Maid or Assassin Maid, just leveling up while staying as Maid might be fine.

For a maid to need a shotgun or dagger to clean out trash that broke into the mansion was pretty standard for two-dimensional media anyway.

Together, the two were stunningly beautiful.

Even among the sparkling young newcomer Masters, theirs was a top-tier shine. Ruria was extraordinarily beautiful… and a futanari Master, it seemed.

To think a girl this beautiful would show up in this town besides my own companions.

… Wonderful. I couldn't help staring.

"O-oh… I'm Sice. Wh-what's your business?"

With my go-ahead, Sice headed her way… His nose was clearly stretching out.

"I'm Ruria, debuted today as a new Master. I dislike beating around the bush. Would you fight me?"

"H-hohh…?"

Sice was practically sucking back drool.

"I don't mind fighting, but of course, if I win…"

"Yes, I wager myself. If you obtain me, Meifa comes with me. A good condition, isn't it?"

So Ruria answered proudly.

"Fhi…!"

Unable to contain the drool at the windfall of luck, Sice let it dribble.

Filthy, but…

Unfortunately, things weren't going to go his way.

Sice came over to me to check if it was all right to accept, and I told him to go ahead.

I wanted to see how Ruria fought.

The battle started. At low ranks there was no info masking, so I could see clearly.

Ruria drew a katana from somewhere and took an iai-style stance.

Oh, cool. An iai stance in a dress was something else, but the fluttery long skirt's hem was acting as a hakama, huh.

You couldn't see her footwork, and couldn't see the blade, so timing would be hard to read.

Against Ruria, winning with Farida would be tough.

Ruria stepped forward magnificently, in a smooth, beautiful motion, drawing her sword and following through without interruption.

"Continuous Flash!"

Oh, a first-strike 2-hit combo!

Zan! Zan!

She cut, then spun and slashed back.

That wasn't a skill an LV1 Garumon should have. Very impressive.

… Well, from where I stood now, those movements were painfully slow.

But for LV1, I could see how those movements were impressive.

If LV1 Kanan and Adelia had faced her, how would it have gone?

At that point Wind Shield hadn't existed yet, and… first-strike was problematic.

Kanan would have been downed first, and even if Adelia could finish her off in one hit… that Meifa probably had a skill to protect Ruria.

… I might've lost.

In one strike, Ruria took down the Mage Suir first.

A good selection too. Mages had high firepower and low defense.

"H-hannn…? D-don't mess with me! Go, Yomi, Emedaaa!"

"Leaf Dance."

Basa!

In tune with the two moving, Meifa activated a skill.

Leaves scattered across the field…

In the confusion of the blinding cover, the two pulled distance.

Oh, well done. If you stayed glued to the battlefield watching, even the Master would lose sight.

If it'd been me, I'd have crouched or moved to secure visibility right away and directed the two on attack direction to somehow land hits.

If you could take Ruria down with that, maybe LV1 Kanan and Adelia could manage too.

Well, Sice couldn't pull off that kind of move. He just lost sight of them.

"Continuous Flash!"

And then, with an attack thrown from a blind angle, Emeda went down.

Mn, with opponents you can one-shot mixed with ones you can't, reducing numbers is the rule.

Last, Yomi held on for one turn, but…

"Iaijutsu!"

Oh, last one. Seeing the low HP, she switched to a different skill to finish.

She drew the sword, slashed at high speed, then immediately returned it to the sheath.

A high-speed sword with the blade barely shown… Small damage, but a piercing attack. Amazing at LV1.

Ruria's victory! Splendid, really. And beautiful. I was sold on cheering her on.

"Fwoo…"

Promoted safely. Sice, dropped to G-Class, fled tumbling.

Clap clap clap…

I applauded and blessed Ruria. Truly splendid. And beautiful. I was rooting for her with everything.

Ruria noticed me and came over.

"… You're… Naoto? A friend of Sice's, perhaps?"

"No, not at all."

"… I see. So you were being bullied by Sice. It's all right now.

"Protecting the weak is the duty of a noble.

"If Sice comes after you with anything next time, tell him you'll report it to me."

So she said, full of true goodwill.

… She really did think I was weak!

W-was I that weak-looking… half of me felt deflated.

The other half found it honestly fun.

I mean, hidden as I was, I was technically A-Class rank 1… a mischievous urge welled up.

"Are you a newcomer Master? If you've already made it to F-Class this quickly, maybe you actually have talent too.

"And that's why Sice had his eyes on you, then.

"Geez, maybe I should've given him a more thorough drubbing?"

"No, I think that was plenty."

"No, no, I really hate people who pick on those who look weak, leaning on their backing to do it!"

She'd been hearing about Sice's bad reputation, it seemed. She was indignant.

Well, I wouldn't say that guy was a good guy. This time he hadn't actually done anything bad to me, though…

Well, no matter.

He'd certainly caused me trouble back then, and afterwards I'd heard he'd been puffing himself up off a tenuous connection to me, which had pissed me off.

He'd probably been bragging about how I'd begged for my life so he'd let me off, that sort of bull.

But an A-Class Master being childish enough to punish him for it would've been a bit much… so Ruria taking him down for me actually felt good.

By not correcting Ruria as she basked in cutting down evil, I'd let it stand as his punishment.

"Thank you, that was satisfying."

"Fufu, you're welcome."

Ruria smiled and answered. Cute…

Sensing I wanted to talk, she sat down beside me.

"That's right, would you mind being friends? I just set out, and I don't have any friends yet…"

"Ah, gladly."

Oh, I'd made a friend!

Griera had become a knight and was no longer a friend, so after Eclair this was my second.

Pi, and Ruria was registered as a Friend.

I was happy.

"Since you're a noble, that means Ruria's parent is an active Master?"

"… No, an already-retired Master. He was a Master called Wallace, maybe you've heard of him?"

Wallace… I'd kind of heard of it, kind of hadn't.

"… S-sorry. I don't know."

"R-really? Up until three years ago he was an active Master, though…

"Well, once you retire, that's how it goes."

Ruria covered for my ignorance.

"To reach my late father, I'll become a renowned Garumon Master under heaven!"

"Ah, he's already… sorry, maybe I made you remember something sad."

"No, it's fine. Father lived to a great age…

"True, it's lonely that I couldn't show him my debut, but even so…

"If I become an amazing Master, one to reach my father in heaven, that's all I need!"

So Ruria looked up at the sky.

"Mn, do your best. I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you, Naoto."

So Ruria laughed brightly. Cute…

She was… a really good girl, and I felt we could really become close.

… Ah, if I'd transferred one year later, could I have actually trained alongside Ruria, gotten stronger together?

Maybe. That'd be fun too.

But if so, how many of my current companions wouldn't be by my side… thinking about that, no, the present was fine as is.

But deceiving her by faking my status when we could grow close like this felt regrettable.

… And yet, a proper noble young lady might recoil if I revealed my status…

For now, I wanted to leave it as it was.

Well, it'd get out soon enough anyway. Coming clean now would be a bit embarrassing too, so I'd leave it until she noticed on her own.

… For the record, I'd be careful not to deny it once she did notice. Lying further was no good.

And so, I met newcomer Master Ruria.

The messages I occasionally exchanged with her became a moment of refreshment amid the tension of preparing for the decisive battle with Ursula.