『おおおおおおっ! 熱い、熱いな! そうだ、こういった戦いを期待していたのだ! 余も参戦したくなってきたぞぉぉぉっ! もしお前達にその意志があるなら、今直ぐにでも――』
「いや、勘弁してください」
「殺す気か!? 無理っ!」
このまま皇帝陛下と連戦なんて真っ平ごめんだ。
気勢を削がれてショボンとした顔をしているが、今のまま陛下と戦っても結果は見えているしな......。
それよりも陛下が勝者を宣言しないとシステム的に相手の二人が戦闘不能のままなので、早くしてやってほしい。
視線でそれとなく訴えてみる。
『......おおっ、そうであったな! 勝者、ユーミル・ハインド! 文句なしの素晴らしき連携であった! これで決勝の組み合わせが決した訳であるが......対照的なコンビに、余も今から高揚が抑えきれぬわ! ワハハハハハ!』
皇帝陛下は勝利宣言を終えると、高笑いと共に上機嫌で舞台から去って行った。
ここから決勝までは、また短いインターバルだ。
そして向こうでは戦闘不能から復帰したローゼが、気遣って手を貸そうとするリヒトの手を振り払って立ち上がる。
立つなり俺達を睨みつけると、悔しそうに歯を食いしばりつつ荒い足取りで舞台から一人で降りて行く。
リヒトは俺達に一礼すると、慌ててローゼを追いかけて姿が見えなくなった。
――まあ色々あるんだろうけど、俺達が気にすることでもないか。
二人だけになった舞台で、俺は無言でユーミルとハイタッチを交わす。
そうしていると鳴り止まない歓声によって、徐々に勝利の実感が膨らんできた。
知らず、互いに笑顔になる......が、まだもう一試合残っている。
「よし、ユーミル。俺達も皆のところに戻ろうか」
「おお、そうだな。次の試合に備えなければ」
席に戻るまでの通路では、出場者は多くのプレイヤーに声を掛けられる。
大体が勝者には祝福の言葉を、敗者には健闘を称える声援といった感じだ。
賭けが絡んでいるので、マナーの悪いプレイヤーは勝者・敗者問わずに罵声を浴びせたりしてくるが......大抵は周囲の冷視線、酷い場合には運営への通報という手段を以って沈黙することになる。
お祭りムードに水を差す人間は嫌われる、ということなのかもしれない。
「勇者ちゃーん!」
「ユーミルさん、おめでとう! 次も頑張って!」
「やったぜ! あんたらはサーラの誇りだ!」
おっ、最後の人は砂漠のプレイヤー? それともNPCか? どちらだろう。
どちらにしても、そういう声を聞くと嬉しくなるな。
この場のほとんどの声援はユーミルに向けられたものだが――
「本体ーっ! 俺も遠隔兵器にしてくれーっ!」
「私もーっ! 一緒にエリアボスを倒してくださーいっ!」
「!?」
このように、ユーミルへの声に混じって先程から理解不能な言葉が俺に対して浴びせられている。
それも男女問わず。
そしてその発言に、ユーミルは不機嫌そうにこう言い返した。
「こいつの遠隔兵器は私だけだっ! このポジション――誰にも渡さん、渡さんぞぞ! 絶対にっ!」
「ごめん、その独占欲はちょっと意味が分からない......」
「何故だ!?」
相棒のポジションって話なら分かるんだが、遠隔兵器のポジションとは一体......?
何かが著しくズレている気がしたが、それに対して突っ込んでくれる人は残念ながらこの場には居なかった。
決勝までのインターバルはログアウトこそしている時間的余裕はないが、気持ちを落ち着ける程度なら充分に可能である。
こうして席に戻って来て、見慣れた顔が並んでいるのを見るとホッとする。
労いの言葉を掛けてもらった後で、話すのは専ら次の試合の対策についてだ。
まず最初にミツヨシさんが口火を切る。
「で、何かアルベルトに対する策はあるのかい? ハインド君」
「一応考えてはあります。綱渡りにはなりますが」
「え!? 有るのでござるか!?」
「策ってほど立派なもんじゃないがな。同じ土俵に上がるための下地作りっつーか」
相手の攻撃をどうにかいなして、得意の持久戦に持ち込む。
強引にでも自分達の方に流れを引き寄せて、ペースを作らなければいけない。
とはいえ、実力差がはっきりしているのでこれは最低条件。
「まずはフィリアちゃんを倒して、二対一の状況を作ります。そうしないと、恐らく勝負にすらなりませんから」
「軽く言ってるけど、ハインド君。その二対一を作るのも結構大変なんじゃないかな。きっと、あの二人は同時に仕掛けてくるよね?」
「大丈夫です、セレーネさん。上手く行けば一度切りですが、数秒間アルベルトの兄貴を無力化できるので。その間になんとかします」
そこから先は
アルベルトの兄貴は俺が中途半端に手を出してどうにかなるレベルの相手ではないので、二対一になった後の俺は後方で支援に集中することになる。
ユーミルがアルベルトとどれだけ戦えるか、にかかっている。
そういう意味では今日のこいつは絶好調に見えるので、もしかしたらという淡い期待もないではない。
そう俺がまとめると、トビが先程の試合を思い返すように左上に目線をやりつつ顎に手を当てた。
「確かに、リヒト戦のユーミル殿の動きはキレッキレでござったな。終盤二対一で相手をねじ伏せる様は、プチアルベルト的な風情がござった」
「私はあんなにマッシヴではないぞ?」
「そういう意味じゃないだろ......」
戦っている様子が似ていたと言っているのだろう。
確かにトビの言う通り彼には及ばないまでも、近い雰囲気は感じた。
「ユーミルさん、格好良かったです! 最後の斬り返しなんてもう......! こう! こんなで!」
「ええ。リコも私も興奮して、思わず立ち上がっちゃいました」
トビの言葉に便乗する様に、二人も試合でのユーミルの動きの良さを称賛した。
ユーミルの動きを真似して手を振り回すリコリスちゃんが可愛らしい。
でも、余り褒めちぎると有頂天になるのでほどほどにしておいて欲しいが。
案の定、もっと褒めろと頬が緩みだして――
「このお二人はユーミルさんのファンですか。物好きな......」
と、ここで冷水を掛けるようなリィズの発言。
ユーミルの表情は一気に怒りへと塗り替えられる。
「貴様、さては私に喧嘩を売っているな? 決勝の前哨戦を今ここでやっても良いんだぞ? お?」
「やめんか、公衆の面前で。見苦しい」
もしかしたらリィズはユーミルの状態をフラットに戻す為に言ってくれたのかもしれないが、半分は偽らざる本音だろう。
しかしもうちょっと言い方がだな......いや、今はいい。後でお説教だが、とにかく時間が無い。
俺は手早く作戦を纏めると、ユーミルに時間が許す限り丁寧に話しておくことにした。
作戦は迅速に二対一の状況を作れた場合、作れなかった場合の二パターンを構築してある。
「......という感じで。成功しなかった場合も考えて、常に――」
「待て待て、ハインド。そこは、必ず俺が有利な状況を作ってやる――くらいは、言って欲しいものだな。私達が後手に回ったとして、本当にそれで勝てるのか?」
確かに序盤の流れは俺次第だが......。
言われてみれば最終的にはユーミルに任せる形になるので、決勝では唯一の俺の頑張り所と言えるのかもしれない。
「――分かった。失敗した時のことは考えないでいこう。そういうところで実力差を埋めていかないとだしな......任せてくれ」
「うむ。勝つぞ! お前と私の、二人で!」
「おー、凄い気合い。先輩達、がんばー」
シエスタちゃんの間延びした応援に、気合が空回る音がした。
ちょっと脱力したが、入り過ぎていた肩の力が抜けたので丁度良かったかもしれない。
{Oooooooooooh!! Fierce, so fierce! That's right, this is the type of fight I was hoping for! I got the urge to join noooow!! If you so wish for, I could go and join right-}  (Emperor)
[No thanks, please spare us.]  (Hind)
[You plan to kill us!? No way!]  (Yumir)
I would rather not get into a fight with the Emperor right now.
He made a face as if all his spirit had deflated, but even if we fought the Emperor in our current condition, I can already see how it would end...
Besides, if the Emperor doesn't announce the victors, the system will keep those two in their current KO status so I'd prefer if he hurried it up.
I'll try to hint at it with my gaze.
{...Ooh, I forgot! The victors are Yumir and Hind! It was a splendid display of teamwork! With this, the pairs participating in the finals have been decided but...I can't contain my excitement towards these 2 contrasting pairs! Wahahaha!!}  (Emperor)
After announcing the winners, the Emperor left the stage in high spirits along with his laughter.
From this moment until the finals, there will be another short interval.
On the other side, Rose shook off the hand Licht worriedly offered her and stood up.
After glaring at us, she descended from the stage alone as she gritted her teeth in frustration.
Licht bowed to us and disappeared after chasing after Rose in a panic.
...Well, I guess there's a lot going on but we probably shouldn't have to worry about it.
Being left alone on the stage, Yumir and I silently high fived.
Once we did, due to the barrage of cheers, the realization that we had really won started to come down to me.
Unknowingly, we started to smile...however, there's still a match left.
[Alright, Yumir. Shall we head back to where everyone else is?]  (Hind)
[Yeah, you are right. We have to prepare for the next match.]  (Yumir)
On the hallways that lead to our seats, a multitude of players tried to talk to us.
The outline of their comments were congratulating us on our victory and commenting about how our opponents put up a great fight.
Since bettings were involved, there were also bad mannered players that were pouring abusive comments on us...the surrounding players looked at them coldly and for the ones that got out of hand they just reported them to the admins to silence them.
You could say that the players hated cold water being poured on this festive mood.
[Hero-chan!] 
[Yumir-san, congratulations! Good luck in your next match!] 
[You did it! You guys are the pride of Sala!] 
Oh, the last person was a player from the desert? Or was he a NPC? I wonder which one it was.
Regardless, hearing that type of comment makes me happy.
Though in this case, most of those comments are directed towards Yumir...
[True Self! Make me a remote weapon too!] 
[Me too! Please, let us defeat an area boss together!] 
[!?]  (Hind)
Like that, since a while ago, words for me that I couldn't understand were mixed in with those sent to Yumir.
They were coming from both genders too.
Towards them, Yumir replied displeased.
[This guy's remote weapon is only me! This position...I won't hand it to anyone else, I definitely won't!! For sure!]  (Yumir)
[Sorry, I can't understand why you are having that kind of possessiveness...]  (Hind)
[Why!?]  (Yumir)
I mean, I could understand if she was talking about her position as my partner, but what the hell is the position of a remote weapon...?
I had this feeling that something wasn't right but unfortunately, there was no one here that said anything about it.
This interval wasn't long enough for us to log out, but it was possible for us to gather our thoughts.
We returned like that to our seats and I looked at the familiar faces absentmindedly.
After thanking everyone, our talks were wholly focused on the next match.
The first one to start the conversation was Mitsuyoshi-san.
[So, do you have a plan to deal with Albert? Hind-kun.]  (Mitsuyoshi)
[I've more or less thought of a plan. I don't think the rate of success would be high though.]  (Hind)
[Eh!? You have a plan!?]  (Tobi)
[It's not really something I'd go as far as to call a plan though. It's more like something to make us be able to fight on more even ground.]  (Hind)
We'll do something about their attacks and make it a battle of attrition.
We have to take the flow of the match no matter what and create the flow ourselves.
That being said, the minimum requirement is for us to even out the power difference.
[First off, we'll defeat Philia-chan and make it a 2v1. If we don't, we'll most likely lose after all.]  (Hind)
[You are saying that quite lightly, Hind-kun. Won't it be quite difficult to create that 2v1 situation? Most likely, both of them will come at you at the same time, right?]  (Selene)
[It'll be fine, Selene-san. We have only 1 chance at making it work, but we can make Albert Aniki powerless for a few seconds. We'll do something about it in that time.]  (Hind)
From now on, it all depends on Yumir.
Albert Aniki is not someone at the level I can deal half assedly, so once it becomes 2v1 I'll fall back and concentrate on supporting.
This all depends on how well Yumir will be able to deal with him.
In that regard, I think she's in top form today, so I'm having these expectations that we might be able to do it.
Once I summed up things, Tobi looked upwards while putting his hand on his chin as if he was thinking about the previous match.
[It's true that Yumir-dono's movements in the Licht fight were quite nimble. The way she dealt with those 2 at the end made her seem like she was a mini Albert.]  (Tobi)
[I'm not that macho you know?]  (Yumir)
[He didn't mean it that way...]  (Hind)
He probably meant that the way they fought was similar.
It's true that as Tobi said, getting to the same level will be impossible but it gave the feeling of being something close to it.
[Yumir-san was so cool!! That last counter attack was so....!! Like this! Or maybe like this!!]  (Lyco)
[Yes. Lyco and me were so excited that we even unintentionally stood up.]  (Sai)
As if taking advantage of Tobi's words, both of them started to praise how well Yumir moved in the match.
Lycoris-chan, who was copying Yumir's movements by moving her hands was quite cute.
However, if you praise her too much she'll go into ecstasy so I'd prefer if she kept it in moderation.
Just as I thought, the more you praise her, the more her cheeks loosen...
[So these two are fans of Yumir-san? They sure have weird tastes...]  (Riizu)
Then, Riizu poured cold water over them with such words.
Yumir's expression quickly switched into that of anger.
[Hey you, are you trying to pick up a fight with me? I don't mind doing a preliminary fight here before the finals you know? Ah?]  (Yumir)
[Can you drop it? You are in public now. So unsightly.]  (Hind)
Maybe Riizu did it so that Yumir returned to her previous state, but she probably also meant it.
Though, she could change the way she says things...no, it's fine for now. I'll give her a sermon later but we don't have the time for that now.
I quickly made a strategy and explained it to Yumir as carefully as I could.
It was one in case we were able to quickly develop it into a 2v1 and another one in case we weren't able to.
[...Something like that. Also think of when we don't succeed, always...]  (Hind)
[Wait wait, Hind. You are saying this in hopes that...I'm the one that will be able to make an advantageous situation right? If we lose the initiative, will we really be able to win like this?]  (Yumir)
It's true that I'm depending on how the fight goes at the start...
Now that she mentions it, it'll end up with me leaving it all to Yumir, so you could say that the only part where I'll have to give my best is at the conclusion.
[...I got it. Let's not take the time we fail into consideration. In those cases we would have to make up for the difference in strength after all...leave it to me.]  (Hind)
[Umu, we are going to win! You and me, both of us!]  (Yumir)
[Ooh, you sure are fired up. Senpais, do your best~.]  (Siesta)
With Siesta's lazy way of encouraging us, our fighting spirit vanished in thin air.
It was a bit exhausting, but since we calmed ourselves down a bit, I think it was good for us.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
ＶＲＭＭＯの支援職人　～トッププレイヤーの仕掛人～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vrmmo-no-shien-shokunin-%ef%bd%9etop-player-no-shikakenin%ef%bd%9e/
Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy Harem Slice of Life
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https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都