The Champion of Fighters (3)
『Ready, Fight!』
SWISH!
The match began.
The moment it started, Ian's Goruki went for a clean hit with a low heavy kick. It was one of Goruki's bread-and-butter combos, taking advantage of his powerful lows.
But Selen had already watched Ian's matches several times and figured out the pattern.
WHAM!
“She blocked that?”
Selen backdashed, then crouch-blocked the instant she saw the low heavy kick animation.
Simply crouching would have left her open to an immediate mid attack, but Selen had figured out the counter through sheer talent.
“How about this!”
Ian immediately jumped and threw out a left punch.
It was the second bread-and-butter combo of Goruki, a character exceptionally strong in the air.
But Selen simply crouched beneath it.
She had realized the jumping left punch counted as a high attack and boldly ducked under it.
WHAM! THUD-THUD! WHAM!
The moment Ian's attack failed, Selen counterattacked.
A launcher followed by Wind God put Ian on the defensive.
Having seized the initiative, Selen continued her meticulous offensive pressure.
WHAM!
“…You're pretty good. You've already learned all his patterns.”
Even Ian was impressed.
The other fighters had all been skilled, but none had displayed talent quite like this.
None of them had managed to break down Goruki's patterns this thoroughly in such a short time.
But Selen had.
‘Then again, considering how capable she normally is, I guess it isn't that strange.’
Selen was exceptionally competent at practically everything she did.
No matter what sort of task Ian gave her during game development, she handled it without difficulty.
Someone like her should be the one meeting the princess and rising in status instead of me……
The thought came naturally.
But that only made Ian's competitive spirit burn even hotter.
“I was the one who said we'd both give it our best. I can't go easy on you now.”
WHAAAM!
His decisive Rising Dragon Fist struck.
And not just an ordinary one.
An EX Rising Dragon Fist powered with energy.
Aside from blocking it, it won against practically every other interaction.
“Ghk…….”
Selen was immediately forced onto the defensive.
Under King of Iron Fist's system, attacks dealt more damage while a character was in red health.
That was exactly why you could never let your guard down until the very end.
‘At this rate, I should win without too much trouble.’
Both Ian's Goruki and Selen's character were now in red health.
But Ian had no reason to rush.
Goruki was also a projectile character, so Ian could simply keep her in check with projectiles, shave away the little health she had left, or aim for a time-out victory.
Selen, on the other hand, had to be impatient.
Their health gauges might have been similar, but the one forced to hurry was always more likely to make a mistake.
SWISH-
As expected, Selen rushed forward with an aggressive dash.
She sidestepped a projectile and came in with an attack.
It was a somewhat reckless approach she normally wouldn't attempt.
Ian could use a homing move here.
Or he could safely block and aim for a counterattack.
But the latter meant surrendering the initiative first, so Ian prepared to use the homing move.
‘Wait. Don't tell me?’
At that moment, Ian realized there was one thing he'd overlooked.
Come to think of it……
His opponent still hadn't used ‘that.’
『This ends now!』
“Rage Art…!”
The flower of a comeback, usable only when one's health had fallen extremely low.
Selen had boldly gone for a Rage Art.
Her remaining health was so low that attempting it was incredibly dangerous.
But Selen had calculated her health perfectly, endured Ian's homing move with super armor, then drove the Rage Art straight into him.
Naturally, he couldn't block it.
WHAM! THUD-THUD! WHAM!
『K.O.』
The winner had been decided.
***
“That tournament was incredible, wasn't it?”
“I never thought that woman would win at the end. But why didn't the princess appear at the award ceremony?”
“You idiot. They said the winner would meet her privately. They probably met somewhere else.”
The tournament ended as a tremendous success.
People enjoyed the post-tournament festival while playing games, and versus matches could be seen taking place everywhere.
“When will the next tournament be?”
“I hear they plan to change the host location every time from now on. They are also going to create more kinds of tournaments.”
“I should aim for the next one too!”
“I'll become His Majesty's champion next time!”
Quite a few people were already looking forward to the next fighting-game tournament.
Without even realizing it, their loyalty toward the imperial household was rising, along with their sense of belonging to the Empire.
In other words, the fighting-game tournament had achieved exactly the effect the emperor and I had intended.
Naturally, the emperor was satisfied as well.
***
“That was seriously close. Selen, you're ridiculously good. I lost by a hair.”
Meanwhile, I was walking through the festival with Selen.
The match against her had been fun even for me.
Although, calling it a loss by a hair was probably flattering myself.
The moment I'd needed Goruki against her, I'd already been one step below her.
“I was merely fortunate.”
Selen looked the same as always.
Aside from the faint redness in her cheeks, perhaps because she'd had a little to drink.
“Luck is part of skill too. But aren't you supposed to go meet the princess?”
“…It is fine. I only participated as the Intelligence Department's representative anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“More importantly… are you truly not disappointed, Lord Ian?”
“Me? Not really. What would I even do after meeting a princess?”
Seriously, even if I met someone like a princess, what would change?
I might only be a baron, but I was already a noble.
I'd never entertained any presumptuous ideas about trying something with someone whose status was so far above mine, even if we were technically both nobles.
“If anything, this is better.”
“This… is better?”
“Yeah. It's my first time walking around with a pretty woman too.”
“…I see.”
Did I say something unnecessary?
For some reason, Selen's eyes turned lonely.
“I will be leaving first.”
“Sure.”
And with that, Selen left ahead of me.
I had no reason to stop her, so I let her go.
I was just thinking I should probably head home myself when someone else approached.
“Well, are you enjoying the festival?”
“Your Highness.”
“Hey, do not call me that. I am traveling incognito right now.”
It was the Crown Prince.
He spoke with a broad grin.
“I watched your match. It was a little underhanded, but still a good match. The tournament ended successfully as well.”
“Hmm. I lost in the end, though.”
“Are you disappointed? Because you did not get to meet my younger sister?”
“Not really. But did you come looking for me because you needed something?”
“Hmm, there is one thing. I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
If this man had a favor to ask me……
There could only be one thing.
“Obviously, I want you to make a game. What else would it be?”
“As expected… So what kind of game do you need this time?”
“Nothing much. My daughter's birthday is coming up soon.”
“Ah, now that you mention it.”
Come to think of it, the Crown Prince had a daughter who was a princess as well.
I thought she was twelve or thirteen, still just a child.
“I would like to give my daughter a game as a birthday present. But the games you have made are somewhat… unsuitable for a young child, would you not agree? With the exception of Tetrix, perhaps.”
“Then couldn't you simply give her Tetrix?”
“She already plays it. She says she wants to meet you at least once as well. Anyway, I was hoping you could make a game that even a young girl could enjoy.”
Ah……
I see.
Then I suppose I should make a new game while I'm at it.
“A game a young girl would enjoy…….”
“Well? Can you do it? If it is difficult, just say so. I suppose women might be somewhat difficult for you as well.”
“I can do it.”
“Oh, truly? Again?”
I answered confidently.
There was definitely a game that girls would enjoy.
‘Princess Maiden should be pretty popular with girls.’
Princess Maiden.
The so-called princess-making game.
It was a raising simulation game once remembered as a legendary masterpiece.
“There is definitely something girls would enjoy. However…….”
“However?”
“…No. It isn't really a problem.”
Strictly speaking, I wasn't sure it would be a game that ‘only girls’ enjoyed.
But this was a world without suspicious people who enjoyed games made for young girls, so there shouldn't be any problem.
Surely that won't happen, right?
***
Meanwhile, while the World's Greatest Fighting Game Tournament was in full swing in the Empire, arcades were becoming just as fashionable in the Kingdom of Valentia.
Surprisingly, however, ‘fighting games’ weren't nearly as popular there as they were in the Empire.
“Fighting games may be entertaining, but only those Imperial fellows would become obsessed with something so barbaric.”
The Kingdom of Valentia had traditionally been a cultural powerhouse, so fighting games were regarded as somewhat barbaric.
Of course, they were still popular among knights and commoners.
But the refined nobility were far more enthusiastic about Ian's previous titles than his fighting games.
“Age of Great Voyages is truly a magnificent game. Does each of those countless characters not possess a meticulously crafted story?”
“I believe Honorlord is excellent as well. It allows me to demonstrate my skill at commanding troops.”
“Tsk, tsk. None of you understand true greatness. Witch Hunter is the sort of masterpiece that appears perhaps once in an era.”
The nobles converted the high-class salons that had already existed into private arcades exclusively for the nobility.
There, they arranged for all of Ian's previous games to be available to play.
Whenever they had free time, nobles gathered there to play games, offer advice from behind one another's shoulders, and hold discussions.
Whenever their backseat gaming became excessive enough to require a duel, they simply settled things with a fighting game instead.
Since nobody had to spill blood unnecessarily, it could only be called a good development.
“Gentlemen. Then what do you think of Civilization Development?”
“Civilization Development? Hmm. It is not bad, but since it has no real story, I find it difficult to rate it especially highly. A game needs a narrative.”
“Honorlord has no fixed narrative either, does it?”
“Ah, but that is a game where I create the narrative myself.”
And so they mainly spent their time there reviewing games.
If Ian had witnessed the scene, he probably wouldn't have known whether to be pleased or delighted that those devilish critics had finally appeared in another world as well.
Naturally, their perspectives on games differed greatly.
Some even attempted to discover hidden meanings within them.
“My opinion is somewhat different.”
As discussions continued, one man spoke.
“I believe Baron Ian intended to show us a hidden meaning within this game.”
“A hidden meaning?”
“They call it an ‘Easter egg,’ apparently. Like how he hid ‘Goruki’ within the tournament game.”
“Civilization Development had something like that?”
“Strictly speaking, it is not an Easter egg… but I believe there is a hidden meaning he truly wished to convey.”
“And what might that be?”
The nobles focused their attention on the critic.
He drew a breath before continuing.
“Namely… ideology.”
“Ideology?”
“This game contains… his ideology.”
The critic began discussing the various ideologies that appeared within the game.
“Certainly… such things did appear. But were they not merely fantasies?”
“For mere fantasies… the worldview depicted within that game is far too coherent. It is a world in which such concepts exist as though they are only natural, is it not?”
“That is……”
“Ian Maxwell, a genius of the century, either yearns for such ideologies… or perhaps he has predicted the ideologies of the future.”
“Hmm…….”
The atmosphere quickly turned serious.
Some considered the idea irreverent.
Others seriously contemplated his words.
“Then do you believe… the ideologies within the game should actually be realized?”
“Oh, certainly not. Some of them are… truly irreverent.”
When Ian first created Civilization Development, he'd assumed there would be little problem because the game was only being shown to the emperor and a small number of nobles.
But that had been a mistake.
People in this world were ultimately much the same as people anywhere else.
“However, there are many things worth considering. Particularly… for ‘Enlightenment thinkers’ like us.”
People like that were beginning to be influenced by Ian's games.
Once again, the world was changing in a direction Ian had never anticipated.