"Mr. Noldrei? I was introduced by Teacher Otto…"
"My name is Manabu Horikita."
"Hey, hey, I know."
Manabu Horikita had contacted Noldrei, but Noldrei didn't choose a normal place to meet him. Instead, he chose a place that didn't seem very normal.
The Academy City - Kengan Association Arena.
The Kengan Association was a method for resolving disputes between merchants. It originated in the mid-Edo period, and it had been passed down to modern times.
It was something that should have been eliminated in history, but it had been blatantly brought back out again in Academy City.
This was a very typical way of resolving conflicts in a nonsensical manner, where fists were more important than brains.
But now, that place was a place where Valkyries held their competitions, and many Valkyries liked to earn some extra money there.
The place was big enough, and it was enjoyable enough to fight there.
There were many social practice places in Academy City. For example, Manabu Horikita had originally attended a high school for gifted students, a school that was said to have been built with a meritocratic ideology.
And then, a large-scale student poisoning incident occurred a few days after the school started. The suspect didn't run away. Instead, she accepted her arrest very calmly.
Manabu Horikita had a very deep memory of the questioning at that time, because he was also one of the people who had food poisoning.
[…Since this is a meritocratic school, then it's also part of my skill to not get discovered when I poison people…]
[…As long as I eliminate everyone else in school, theoretically speaking, the rest of the students will be eliminated by their own lack of strength…]
What she said made a lot of sense, but it was best not to put that kind of logic into practice again.
Because of the powerful biotechnology capabilities of Academy City, these students were finally saved from being poisoned by a meritocratic idealist.
And then, the school rules were changed in the third week after the school was established.
That was how the school where Manabu Horikita was now was created. The crazy educational ideology had been abolished. It was clear that many teachers had also been affected.
Who would have thought that some students would think that not being caught while poisoning people was also part of their strength?
The teachers also became targets for those who believed in meritocracy.
It seemed that the teachers of this school didn't have a meritocratic ideology either.
As Manabu Horikita was thinking about the chaotic things at his school, he finally arrived at the Kengan Association Arena located at the border wall of Academy City.
The shouts, screams, and various other chaotic sounds echoed in the arena.
This place was like a place to vent chaos, and it had become the most magnificent place in Academy City.
The stalls that were calling out to customers and the various shops had endless streams of people coming and going.
The place that Manabu Horikita needed to go was the highest point of the Kengan Arena, which was also the best place to watch the battles.
Noldrei would come here to stroll around whenever he had nothing to do lately.
Noldrei was researching the art of governance in this era. He found that the people of this era were not unable to accept crude ways of resolving conflicts. What they couldn't accept was often non-transparent and unfair ways of resolving conflicts where they didn't have a chance to make a comeback.
The situations that were hated in the future were completely rare in this era.
Even such a strange thing as the Kengan Association could be brought out and directly used. The primitive fist-to-fist fighting until you couldn't stand up had actually become the best way to stimulate the release of dopamine in humans.
The two sides fighting today were…
Huh? It was a student match? And there were even teachers participating?
Manabu Horikita saw the fighters in the arena, and he silently sized up the seemingly weak high school girls.
"What an absurd scene…"
He exclaimed, but his eyes subconsciously looked at the names of the fighters.
Shizuka Hiratsuka VS Yukino Yukinoshita
They were women that he didn't know.
It was strange to say, but he didn't know if it was because there were too many Valkyries in Academy City. This place felt somewhat yin-dominant and yang-deficient, especially since the desire of women to fight was even higher after Valkyries had appeared as role models.
They quickly adapted to the fighting patterns of the Kengan Association and applied these patterns to various troubles in their lives.
Manabu Horikita continued to walk up.
In such a large arena, he naturally couldn't hear what those two women were saying. The fight hadn't completely started yet, and only the voice collection devices that were implanted into their fighting armor could hear their conversations.
These devices were originally meant to ensure that the 'surrender' voices could be accurately transmitted.
Later, it became an important medium for the audience to watch the dialogue and fighting. So, it was given a more powerful protection design to prevent the voice system from being damaged during battles.
But those requirements were not needed in Valkyrie battles.
And there were two Valkyries who were always on the list in the Valkyrie battles.
Those two Valkyries were Theresa and Wendy.
The main challenger was Wendy.
Noldrei was at the highest point, eating chips while watching these two teachers and students prepare to fight.
What was interesting was that they were actually talking.
Perhaps it was because the voice collection effect was so good, but Noldrei even heard a hint of complicated emotions in the voice of that teacher named Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Shizuka Hiratsuka: "Yukino, I know that you've been bullied, but isn't joining the Kengan Association a bit too strange?"
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at her teacher in confusion and asked, "I should be the one thinking it's strange. Why can the teacher also participate in the Kengan Association and even have a level that's two levels higher than mine? Teacher, isn't that a general-purpose Stigmata battlesuit? I only barely got a trial-type battlesuit..."
The student and the teacher were both confused.
'It seems that this young girl made the same mistake as Raiden Mei. Are you guys so spineless when you're bullying and fighting? You're either in the school toilets or in some hidden corner in an alley. I've opened the Kengan Association Arena, but it seems that you guys are even more afraid to come here.'
Noldrei was still somewhat disappointed. He was speechless about Japan's irresponsible attitude.
Most of the students would only dare to bully those who were outnumbered, rather than simply engaging in a battle of strength. How could that be?
Wasn't that raising people to be sheep? Huddling together and pointing their butts towards the wolves on the outside?
Teacher Shizuka Hiratsuka awkwardly scratched her head and said, "I, I was just itching to fight. I didn't expect that those temporary Valkyrie instructors would be so awesome."
Yukinoshita Yukino hesitated for a long time and still advised, "Teacher, I suggest that you should leave the arena sooner rather than later. I've heard that it's hard for many Valkyries to find partners, you know… you've never been very popular with men anyway."
She wasn't joking. Most people actually found it hard to accept people who drank a lot, had hangovers, and were messy.
If it was inside a 2D screen, you would probably feel like there was some contrast in their appeal.
But in reality, people would only think that this person was hypocritical and could put on an act.
This move of Yukinoshita Yukino directly poked at Teacher Shizuka Hiratsuka's weak spot.
"Okay, okay, is that how you're playing? It seems like I need to let you understand my authority, Yukino!"
Shizuka Hiratsuka's forehead veins were throbbing. Once you were inside the Kengan Association Arena, what difference was there between a student and a teacher?
Yukino Yukinoshita was helpless. She could only prepare to block.