Epilogue

“Now the final match is nearing its climax! Both fighters have lost their shields—only swords remain! A critical hit could land at any moment!”

In the outskirts of Fatal City, the circular arena was alive with the roar of a packed crowd.

The two Astrades locked in battle at the center drew every eye.

One was the successor to the Abnomyle—a smaller, more versatile model of magic machine man.

And this was the duel competition using Astrades: the First Magic Machine Man Tournament.

A sport safe enough for anyone to follow—winners are determined by how many hits each machine takes before its durability is drained.

Two years since the war with Eld had ended. The neighboring nations, finally settling into the peace that had come at last, had begun to repurpose their magic machines—from weapons of war into tools of entertainment and daily use.

The First Magic Machine Man Tournament, held now, was surely a sign of that shift.

Whether they knew it or not, this event drew in countless entrants.

Of course, pilots who'd seen action in the war, like those from Abnomyle, were here. So were those who'd lost in academy competitions and gone on to become mechanics or senseboard coders. Even current Armunale pilots had signed up.

Naturally, I was among them.

“Eld! Still strong as ever! That slash—just with one arm—what a feat! Batis is fighting hard to defend, but he’s getting overwhelmed… is he done for?!”

You damn Eld! You’re not using full manual control, are you?!

I wanna win! It’s the first tournament! I’m the one who suggested it, I’m the one who smoothed the way for the robot battle! Of course I wanna win!

There was a whole mess of stuff before we even got to the finals.

During qualifiers, my machine had a glitch—couldn’t steer right. In the knockout stage, first fight was against Miss Elecia, second against Mr. Logvel. Semi-final was a death match with Leon. Honestly, when I saw the bracket, I nearly dropped my cup. Everyone I knew—how the hell was I supposed to fight them?

But I pushed through. Made it here. Now I don’t care if they’re old friends. No more nerves.

I’ll go all out. I’ll knock them flat!

“Nyaaaaaargh!”

“Whoa! Batis’s making a bold counterattack! Taking damage, but pushing forward—step by step! Now it’s the tables turned, huh!”

Batis charged in hard, reckless. He’d clearly braced himself for the hit. Didn’t flinch at the damage—just swung his sword down, relentless.

I blocked with my blade, but the force shoved me back a step. From there, I was just taking the brunt of Batis’s relentless barrage.

But I still had a chance.

Stay calm. Parry, riposte—watch the rhythm. Scan the surroundings. Then—just for a flash—my eyes caught a familiar face on the monitor.

The ones I’d already taken down.

Next to Leon is Simeir, his fiancée, whose wedding’s just a month away. Elexia’s watching with her pilot friends, Logvel’s with Orell—retired now, said so after the war ended—and right beside them, the whole squad’s shouting their hearts out.

And not just military types—

I’d sent my parents special seats just for today. And they made it. Safe and sound.

There they are, front row with Ange—watching my fight like it’s their own, hearts in their throats.

My little sister Emi and Ange’s little brother Enje are practically bouncing in their seats, starstruck by Astraide’s presence. Looks like the future’s gonna be fun.

Shift my gaze a little—there, in the royal box, the princess and the rest of the royal family are watching. And beside her, standing straight as a spear, is Second Prince Alt Rino Weria.

The war’s ended, and the princess had wrapped up most of her paperwork—so I came by to check on her.

He’s gotten more of an otaku than ever, even tried to gift her a cosplay outfit. Got shut down hard, though.

Still, Prince Ald’s a bookworm, sharp as they come, and the princess seemed to enjoy talking with him on anything other than otaku stuff. Not such a bad fit, really. Might even be the rare soul who can keep her from running wild.

Well, about time, huh?

Slipping in a small, pointless motion within the evasion.

In front of all those watching, the tide of battle shifted ever so slightly.

“Pilot champion? That title’s mine!”

“Hmph. You’re still dreaming.”

With the formation flipped, Batis, predictably, took the bait and charged right into my trap.

Caught in my deliberately set trap—easy as stealing a cookie from a sleeping child. Still too green at the game, aren’t you?

I deflect Batis’s blade, rushing in from the prepared opening, using the outer edge of my arm. Damage only counts if it’s a clear, visible break—otherwise, it’s nothing.

“Huh!? Wait—”

“Too late!”

He finally gets it—too late, though. On the battlefield, you’d be dead by now. Well, the war’s over anyway.

Smooth as butter—the machines cross paths, and my blade slams home, critical hit dead on the weak point.

The buzzer sounds—match over. The judge’s voice echoes through the arena: victory to me.

“Got it! Got it! The winner of the First Magic Machine Man Tournament—yes, it’s him! The kingdom’s strongest! The Second Princess’s Guard Knight! The man with the strongest wife—Eld!”

In the roar of cheering crowds, I step out of the cockpit and wave from the machine’s shoulder. Ange dives straight from the spectator seats—catching her feels like catching a summer breeze.

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks. That’s what I wanted to see.”

We scan the crowd together—everyone’s grinning. They’d been fully into the robot battle, every ounce of joy poured into it.

Robots for fun, robots for help, robots for pushing progress.

Yeah. That’s right. Robots have to be like this.

The fight’s over. But Overdo isn’t gone, and other nations aren’t guaranteed to stay peaceful.

So I’ll guard this world. The one brimming with smiles. Riding Armunale.

Armunale, the magic-machine man, concludes here.

Thank you for walking this far with me.

If you enjoyed it, that’s all I could hope for.