32 The Era When Robots Build Decks
A certain “one machine” appeared in the shop’s usual bustling interior as a fighter.
“Pardon my intrusion. Piga-ga-pi.”
“Welcome to… uh…?”
“Hm? It’s Mecha-Shi. Welcome.”
Just as Erea was about to turn around and greet them, she stopped.
Despite Erea’s apparent surprise, I called out to the robot fighter that had arrived—Mecha-Shi.
“M-m-mecha! It’s a mecha, Manager! A mecha! Mecha-mecha-mecha!”
“No, we talked about this already. It’s the robot fighter Mecha-Shi. …Why are you so hyped up?”
“Otaku get excited over robots and beautiful girls, Manager! It’s just how we’re made!”
I think that’s probably just Erea…
Well, today Yatochan and Daia—the other otakus—weren’t in the shop, so I couldn’t really verify how accurate that statement was.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Mecha-Shi. Piga-ga-pi.”
“Mmmm! How mechanical! Personally, if you were a mecha girl, it would be the best…”
“Your desires are really showing through there.”
What a conversation we were having. As for the other customers in the shop, they were split in their reactions.
Some were surprised by the sudden appearance of a mecha, while others were greeting Mecha-Shi normally.
Young Necca and young Crow were greeting Mecha-Shi normally.
Well, these two had probably already encountered and fought Mecha-Shi after all.
Necca and Crow were the ones with the highest encounter rate with odd fighters like this in this town.
They were greeting Mecha-Shi with deck cases they must have received from it—pretty cool deck cases at that.
“So Mecha-Shi, what brings you to the shop today?”
“Yes, Manager. Since then, I have undergone further evolution. I wished to show you the results.”
“Ooh, that sounds promising.”
“Since it’s a shop. Piga-ga-pi.”
What? But anyway…
Since I’d already fought once, it wouldn’t be bad to have someone else fight instead.
I surveyed the shop interior and… turned to face Erea.
“Erea, how about you fight?”
“Me? I’m technically working right now though… Is that okay?”
“From what I can see, the only customers who look like they’d want to fight Mecha-Shi are Necca and Crow. It seems like they’ve already fought Mecha-Shi before.”
It would probably be better for Mecha-Shi to fight someone they hadn’t faced before.
It seemed young Necca and young Crow understood this too, as they were watching from a distance. Though, they’re actually in the middle of a fight right now.
Their hands are occupied.
“If that’s the case, I understand. I’ll give it a try.”
“Great. So then, without further ado… Piga-ga-pi.”
“Want to use the central field? I don’t think you’d have to wait long right now.”
I called out to Mecha-Shi, who had taken out a deck.
Erea was completely ready to fight on the field, heading toward the terminal to reserve field fight time. …Or so I thought.
“Ah, no. I don’t have a deck on hand, so if we could use a table. Piga-ga-pi.”
“Skidoosh!”
When Mecha-Shi said that apologetically, Erea did a full-on slapstick fall.
I’ve never actually seen someone say “skidoosh” in real life and actually fall over…
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As for the actual fight:
“I won!”
“Unfortunately. Piga-ga-pi.”
Erea won. Mecha-Shi wasn’t a weak fighter by any means.
I thought that if Mecha-Shi fought Erea, it would be a close match, but…
“I did not expect to lose before the revolution could occur.”
“Hmm. Piga-ga-pi.”
Erea won surprisingly smoothly.
However, from what I could see, Mecha-Shi hadn’t become weaker.
The fighting style Mecha-Shi described had become more refined, and it should have become even stronger.
Young Necca and young Crow, who had been watching the fight from the side, were tilting their heads in confusion.
“This is it, isn’t it.”
“Manager…”
Saying that, I stepped between Mecha-Shi and Erea.
I’d finished my work and came back while they were still fighting.
I didn’t expect the match to be decided so quickly.
“Mecha-Shi, you haven’t been tinkering with your deck, have you?”
“…! Y-you’re exactly right.”
Mecha-Shi’s liquid crystal panel eyes went black and white.
I’ve never seen eyes turn literally black and white before… wait, I have seen that.
“Sure, your fighting has gotten more refined than before. But because you haven’t upgraded your deck accordingly, there’s a mismatch.”
“It’s like when a well-endowed character’s bra gets too tight again…?”
“Erea, what are you even saying?”
What are you talking about? Well, since I was speaking at a volume only Mecha-Shi and I could hear, we’re barely… no, Mecha-Shi’s face is turning red and it’s going “Kyaa!”
Yeah, that doesn’t work. …Did that function really need to exist?
“Upgrading my deck… is that so? Piga-ga-pi.”
“Yeah, why haven’t you?”
“Well… that is to say… I’m embarrassed to admit…”
Mecha-Shi was fiddling with its ring-shaped hands in an embarrassed manner.
What a very human-like gesture. And the actual reason was:
“…I ran out of budget and couldn’t buy new cards. Piga-ga-pi.”
“…”
“…Budget, you say…”
Oh man, how harsh… Erea nodded solemnly.
Perhaps she felt some kinship with the phenomenon of running out of budget.
“I understand… When making tokusatsu or anime, you end up using the budget too early and then get into trouble later.”
“So it’s that kind of thing…”
Well, never mind about Erea.
“I, Mecha-Shi, have always prided myself on possessing groundbreaking specs as a fight robot.”
“Well, you’re definitely packed with a lot of features.”
Your eyes go black and white, they turn red when embarrassed.
Why did you put so much effort into that?
“…But the fact is, I used too much of my budget on those features, leaving insufficient budget for my deck. Piga-ga-pi.”
“You’re really misallocating your budget, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
They just admitted it!
“However, while that was wasteful… it is also true that thanks to those otherwise wasteful specs, there is ample room for growth. Piga-ga-pi.”
“So you’ve become self-aware of your own wastefulness through learning…”
“Please don’t worry about it, Missus-Erea.”
“M-MISSUS!?”
Missus!? Both Erea and I sputtered and coughed at the same time.
“E-Erea is fine. Piga-ga-pi.”
“Understood, Erea. Piga-ga-pi.”
“The verbal tic is spreading.”
…Anyway, let me get back on track.
“In any case, this is simple then.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“All you need to do is strengthen your deck.”
If your deck isn’t being upgraded and can’t keep up with your specs, then:
There’s only one solution. Modify and strengthen your deck.
In a way, it’s the most straightforward path to becoming stronger. Though…
“That would be… I apologize. I have no cards on hand. Piga-ga-pi.”
“No deck cards, and no money either, huh… That’s rough.”
Here is a card shop, so there are countless cards inside the store.
But I can’t exactly give away cards for free.
Still, I had an idea.
“Then, how about we create a ‘rental deck’ using the cards we have in this shop?”
“A rental deck… is that so?”
“Yeah. My shop keeps rental decks available for people who don’t have their own deck or who want to try a deck different from the one they own.”
Mainly for customers like Daia, who would get exposed if they used their own deck (though he’s already exposed), and other clients who want anonymity.
Usually I, who like to build multiple decks, handle this alone.
But this time, I was thinking of having Mecha-Shi do it.
“Is that really okay…? I am an outsider, after all… Piga-ga-pi.”
“No problem. I understand Mecha-Shi well enough to trust you, and there are plenty of eyes around here. Plus…”
“Plus?”
I continued casually.
“If anyone tries to steal cards, they’ll just have to ‘regret it’ afterward.”
At those words, the shop fell silent. …That’s strange.
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