After enjoying ourselves in the stalls for a while, I went to the registration desk with Aoi-chan and Hina-chan to register for the race.
We were given matching bib numbers with 120 written on them, which we put on.
[Does this mean that 120 teams have signed up for this race?]
[No, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re starting from 001, right? If they started from 101, there would be about 20 teams and, well, I think there will be more applicants incoming.]
When I looked around us while answering Hina-chan’s question, there were quite a few people who seemed to be contestants. The atmosphere around this place felt like a marathon reception desk, but there are almost no people who are glaring at each other like those mysterious veteran teams we saw a while ago, and rather, there are many people here with a friendly atmosphere.After I chatted with my kouhais for a while, the registration desk was closed, and after a while, something like an entry list was posted on the wall.
There were 10 teams per race, and we were in the fourth race. This would mean there are at least 120 people from the 40 teams participating, so I suppose it can be said that this competition is of a moderate scale.
I see, I think I’m starting to understand why Alice said “I wouldn’t say it’s a minor event”, so I guess this might be a popular event in some way.
At the same time, the ways to use the Flying Board and other related explanations were taught to the contestants who were participating for the first time. It seems that three people would be riding on a relatively large disk, and each of them is in charge of different operations.
One person operates the board’s Directional Control by touching the four arrows attached to the Flying Board, which indicate forward, backward, left and right. Of course, as we had been told before, the Flying Board doesn’t always fly as intended properly, and it must be quite challenging to control the direction of the Flying Board while taking the wobbling into consideration.
Another person would be in charge of the Altitude Control, which as its name suggests, controls the ascent and descent of the Flying Board, so I suppose this would be a three-dimensional race with obstacles befitting a race like that. Although it takes less work than Directional Control, this role is still important, as it’s necessary for them to synchronize with Directional Control.
The last member operates the Speed Control. From what I’ve heard, this would probably be the hardest post to operate. Just as its name suggests, this role controls the speed of the Flying Board…… Since the Flying Board is a magic tool, this might be obvious already, but it works based on the magic power within the magic crystal. In other words, the Flying Board is fueled by the magic power stored in the magic crystal.The faster the speed of the Flying Board, the faster the magic power within the magic crystal will be consumed, and worst case scenario, it may not last until the goal. On the other hand, if you’re reluctant to increase the speed, you may end up losing the race. It’s an extremely important role that adjusts the speed of the Flying Board according to the situation while ascertaining the amount of remaining magic power within the magic crystal, which is visualized by a magic formula installed in the Flying Board.
[……Couldn’t we leave Speed Control to Aoi-senpai? Perhaps, among us three, she seems like she could judge stuff like that the calmest.]
[Indeed…… Aoi-chan, can we leave this to you?]
[Yes. I’ll be handling the Speed Control then.]
Delicate work to adjust speed while calculating the amount of remaining magic power according to the development of the race. Aoi-chan certainly would be the right person for that. Aoi-chan, who had been a Mage main back in the online game we played, would be good at MP management, so she’s the right person among us three.
[After that, Hina-chan and I would be in charge of Direction and Altitude Control……]
[I think it’s better if Kaito-san handles the Direction Control. Hina-chan is, well….. she’s a girl who can’t do detours according to the situation……]
[Eh~~ That isn’t true at all! I’m sure I can do that too!]
[If Hina-chan controls the directions, how would you operate it?]
[Aoi-senpai, you can’t win a race if you don’t move forward! Basically, we just have to move forward!]
[……Alright, I will control the directions.]
[Please take care of it.]
[Eeehhhh!?]
I understand Aoi-chan’s concerns. Hina-chan is probably the type that, even though there are some obstacles in the path, would choose to push through. Of course, depending on the situation, it may indeed be necessary to take risks to win the race, but in the first place, Flying Boards seem to fly in a strange way, and considering that it needs to be operated with a certain degree of caution, leaving controls to Hina-chan somewhat makes me feel uneasy.
And so, I would take control of the directions and Hina-chan would take control of the altitude.
[Well, we are placed in the fourth race, so it’s a bit of a relief that we could get a feel for the atmosphere from the 3 races before ours.]
[Right. We wouldn’t be sure what it feels like until we actually see it.]
[Yes! Good luck! With our teamwork, let’s seize victory!]
Hearing me and Aoi-chan’s words, Hina-chan clenches her fists and declares…… seems like she’s having fun.
[……You look like you’re having fun today, Hina-chan.]
[After all, Kaito-senpai, this is team play, you know!? Aoi-senpai and I came here after the Summer Tournament, so the Sports Festival and the Cultural Festival haven’t happened yet, so I’m starving for team play right now.]
[Hina-chan is the kind of girl who likes unity, class synchronization and the likes.]
[Ahhh, I see……]
She had been hungry for that kind of team play that she had been in high spirits right from the start huh…… Hina-chan certainly seems like she’d like that sort of thing. On the contrary, Aoi-chan seemed like the type who prefers individual competitions.
Well, in any case, it has also been a while for me being around team play-related stuff, so I’ll do my best to live up to Hina-chan’s expectations.
……Well, there’s that time I played basketball a little while ago, but I just ended up being a burden alongside Tre-san……
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [I thought Kaito would have an advantage with his luck correction if the randomness of this competition was strong, but if there are a lot of parts that need to be operated, I guess that wouldn’t be the case?]
? ? ? : [Well, his luck may help them with what kind of Flying Board they’ll get, but the important thing is indeed for the group to synchronize with each other. In that sense, just like Hina-san said, this is a team battle.]
