Glorious Shield Industries

Your swordhand... is nothing compared to my auntie's!

Heh, I'll tear you right off that scoreboard, 'Nearl!' Watch this!

Ah—behind you!

Uagh—?!

Huh?

Fancy seeing you again, young Nearl. You've got nowhere to run now.

And right after 'Gałązka' comes 'Flametail'! Whoa, way-way-way, how many times has someone come for the Nascent Nearl now? You gotta get your own show, Maria!

God, I hate that guy. You're too loud!

Anyway, we're running out of foes to fight. Looks like we finally get to size each other up, right?

—If all we're doing is measuring, I'll gladly keep you company.

Ooh. Not bad. Your eyes got a lot better since you messed up Plastic.

......

Hup—

(Below?!)

Gugh—?!

Ohh? Dodged that, did you?

(What did she do just now...? She wasn't that fast—more like just too dexterous...)

Ahh. I see how you held up for so long against Ingra and Szewczyk now... you've got a better foundation than I thought.

Whislash taught you all of that, huh?

......

Nn-huh. You've got a sharp eye too. You know, you learn pretty quick.

But—

——

And now you're down one point. I think me and this format are gonna get along just fine.

Keep on like this, and every point you got from capping Plastic's gonna go down the drain, you know that?

Hnnfh—!

Urrrrraaahhh! You stinking little squirrel—!

Can't you just lie down and bite it for one second?!

Hah! Knocked away your weapon! What are you gonna do now, huh?!

Just pick them back up?! Dumbass!

Don't waste your breath! You'll meet your end right here!

—Watch out!

What the hell? Arts—no, you can't be, you're not even armed!

No, you... you... you can't be—

Good night.

Jeez, Louise...! What a good day to earn some free points... Alright, where were we, little Nearl?

(Here she comes again—!)

D'ja know? Fun fact, I'm Infected.

Huh? Infecte—

And another point. It is SO easy to distract you.

......

...But when you said Infected, you weren't just saying it, right?

You used your Arts directly just now...

Isn't it a shame?

You mean?

When the Blood Knight took the title, they went 'yeah, we'll officially let Infected be knights'—but when the Radiant Knight got infected, they chased her completely out of Kazimierz. Doesn't that suck?

Margaret...

Your debut battle was at the Roar Arena, right? All you needed to do was take your paperwork to the Knights Association, sign for your tournament credentials, and then head backstage to gear up...

Do you know how much—how MUCH—an Infected has to do to get here?

They think it's funny to lock you in a cage of gloompincer first. They think it's funny to make you trample the blood of other Infected, leaving one footprint at a time... they make you win back your humanity, to prove you're a normal, living, breathing person.

Welcome to the bottom line. They weren't gonna give the Infected any respect for a single second. 'Just throw them into the machine. Make them one more symbol of our progress.'

...Don't you think I have the right to hate it?

......

Our sights are set on every noble knight who thinks her opinion means the world... we'll go under their own rules, cut them right where it hurts.

Honestly, I'm not here to knock you out of the game... after all, I respect the Radiant Knight from the bottom of my heart. Being Infected doesn't sway me there.

Let's call the points I've already taken a fee, and here's a lesson on behalf of 'Whislash.' From the match where you beat Ingra, I can tell you still don't understand what the actual significance of the Major is.

Blind enthusiasm? Riding your own efforts, tuning all the warning signs out? In any ideal scenario, worst is you'd fall flat on your face. But this is the Major. That'll kill you.

Keep it up. Whatever.

...Wait.

Huh?

Light? Same thing as when you beat Ingra...

—Hiyaah!

Are you kidding?!

That's one point back, Flametail!

Goddamn. Didn't think you were so stupid thirsty for it—

—But hey, now you look like the Radiant Knight's sister!

You're smiling? You're that confident?

...Am I?

Eh. Give it a try and you'll find out.

Alright, then...

Aaaaaaaand—! Tiiiiiiiime!

Maybe you'd have taken one more point off me here. Maybe not. Who can say, Maria?

Could've been two, maybe.

Hahahaha—you know, from the stands, it's hard to tell just how fiercely stubborn you are, Nearlie.

And our refs are finished judging! At the end of this free-for-all, only four remained standing!

Yo, audience! Here's the deciding moment your wallets have been waiting for! Even if your favorite knight started out getting knocked around six ways from Sunday, don't you lose the light! The Arena's here to welcome you back any time!

Fourth place! Earning ten points, the arena was his to walk, and he avoided almost any direct battle! Our survivor with smarts, 'Gałązka' Daniel!

Third place! Hunted by the whole arena since the word go, and without a moment to breathe, she might be our biggest winner on the points exchange tonight! Our dainty, charming independent knight, Maria Nearl!

Second place! In the starting skirmishes, he beat three knights with his own hands! He made the arena's corner his own with his tremendous shields! The walking fortress, 'Limestone' Marko!

And our champion tonight, with twenty-two fresh points to her name! A near uninterrupted combo of victories! The super-rookie who never drags her feet—'Flametail' Sona!

And that win of hers means a mean mountain of money, so let's make some mega noise—! Coming up! We'll be announcing the lottery draws for each prize pool! Tonight, while the knights strike the sky, the audience strikes it big! All at the Fireblade Arena!

Ah, welcome, dear Miss.

Having the fortune to meet the youngest ever to join the Kazimierz Armorless Union, the mighty Platinum, I admit that I, humble Czarny, am profoundly terrified.

Uh, can we not with the niceness, Spokesman, sir. You're the ones who yelled for me anyway, right?

Hardly, hardly. I'm merely the General Chamber's mouthpiece, working as its directors will it. How could I dare think to command the mighty Platinum?

You say that, but, like, two of them are just busy and then the three above make everyone else do all the work forever, right?

Ugh, this sucks... I hate overtime. I already had enough work before you called me... Seriously, I wanna go on vacation to Sami once the Major's done.

As long as the General Chamber agrees, I can arrange you a Sami countryside villa right this moment.

I gotta wait until work's over, thoughhh—

—What do you want the Armorless Union to do?

We have many problems on our hands, dear Miss. Infected out of line, curious rumors, knights drawing a little too much attention...

But I trust that at the nod of the mighty Platinum of the Armorless Union, none of these will be a problem at all.

I'm back! Where's the chef? Let's get him going!

He's got a big meal to make tonight, and Maria'll be here soon... she needs a feast and then some! Don't say it was me who called for it.

Madam Zofia, you have a guest. One who claims urgent business with you.

A guest? Now?

They can wait until Maria's back—

Ah... apologies, Zofia, for coming uninvited...

You're the one who... *sigh*... I remember you had your own little company, and then you broke into my place like this, thinking you'd make off with all my sponsorship rights.

Well, out with it. What now?

I, uh, there's some... I have some info here... probably some of it's rumors...

But don't tell anyone! True or false, the event plans here are all top, top secret...

But I think you've guessed that already... just treat this as me paying you back... and, uh, I hope things turn out well for you...

I haven't seen a good knight in a long time... who had a happy ending.