A Wonderful Aspect of Autumn: Action (14)

The 'Robot Fight' we played had no beam weapons familiar from science fiction, but it did have a wide variety of weaponry. From the heavy weapons I used to the melee weapons Jigorou equipped, players could create robots to suit their individual tastes.

The one thing all those weapons had in common was that their ammunition was basically unlimited. If ammunition were limited, weapons that ran dry would become nothing but dead weight, and, more importantly, everyone would start conserving their bullets, making the battles far less exciting.

If ammunition had been limited, the battlefield would not have been filled with bullets flying like a storm and missiles exploding all over the place. I probably would have equipped melee weapons while keeping the possibility of running out of ammunition in mind. The concept of the robot I built would have been completely different as well.

However, everything has exceptions. There were several weapons that could fire only the rounds loaded into them at the start, but had tremendous power. They could be called the ultimate weapons of pure spectacle, but I had no intention of choosing one. The reason was simple: I didn't think they were worth the trade-off.

All of them were enormous and consequently took up three equipment slots. For example, a Gatling gun as large as a robot would require the slots for one arm, one shoulder, and the back. A single shot would certainly be powerful, but the combined firepower of three weapons with unlimited ammunition should be higher overall.

If I had been alone, I might have chosen one. But this time, I was fighting my clan members with a penalty game at stake. I immediately discarded them as candidates for my loadout. Even so...

"I never thought I'd be blown away by one of those weapons of pure spectacle."

"Hahaha! I won this match!"

Ruby was the one boasting about it as the five of us walked through the 'Amusement Park.' She had used the equipment slots on the back and both shoulders of a mobility-focused robot to equip a mortar that could fire only three shots. The mortar shells she launched destroyed every robot in the hotly contested area, including mine. A weapon that was powerful if it hit had performed more spectacularly than anyone could have hoped.

Ruby took up a high position and immediately fired the mortar at the area where the players were concentrated and fighting. Afterward, she removed the mortar, which could no longer be used, and returned to the battlefield...