Little Pilot Academia

Chapter 135

Ursula and Akko still weren't talking.

Sure, they exchanged words here and there, but...

Ursula shook her head. The race would begin in just eight hours and rules hadn't dropped yet. As always, Croix had refused to let any important data escape her mouth. Still, Ursula tried to focus on Diana, who was clearly distracted by something. She'd been like that ever since the previous night. Ursula was fairly certain it probably had something to do with Christmas. Still, Diana had just been really distracted even before that, and today she continuously made novice mistakes.

Ursula's wand suddenly vibrated, and she took it out. Ah, yes, was about time.

"Ok, break time," she said. The girls were all too eager to pause, and they all but jumped out of their places. They hadn't been going for that long. Ursula suspected it was the tension in the air. Not only because of the coming race, but because of the awkwardness in the group. Ursula hadn't told the others about her identity, and they hadn't figured it out - as she'd discovered during the party - but everyone knew there was something going on between her and Akko. Akko had even missed the gym session earlier on the day.

As the four girls and Ursula met in the place between the ships, Ursula took her wand and did a reading of the rules out loud.

"'Only two of the racers may move on to the finals. Take the fastest route to winning.'"

That was it.

"Huh," Diana put a hand to her chin. "Obtuse."

Hannah closed her eyes and shook her head. She didn't say what everyone was thinking. This is too unspecific.

"We have an advantage!" Akko claimed. "We can just map out the fastest routes with my radar. This'll be easy!"

"I highly doubt it'll be that simple," Ursula said. "There may- No, there is a trick to this. Something we're not seeing."

They all tried to think for a while. "All standard rules stand, so it probably isn't anything like trying to kill each other," Amanda offered.

"Trying to take other ships down may be the fastest way to win, though," Hannah said.

"With the Rods' shields and the maneuverability of the shapeshifters, it's unlikely. In Second Category, maybe, but the Unicorn and the Blood Sailor 2.0 also have shields, if not as effective," Diana shook her head.

Ursula tried to figure it out. Croix had confessed she didn't come up with these, so it was clearly not her. Yet she was one of the people who were supposed to apply their interpretations. How would Croix interpret this? Would she tell Ursula if she asked? Probably not, as it would give an advantage to the humans.

Then again, would Croix tell the daemons? She was also their coach... or something like that. Ursula never quite understood what Croix's relationship to the daemons was, exactly.

Diana let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Again, we have no idea of what to do. We'll just have to assume it refers to the path taken. Which means there won't be a specific route set. They'll probably give us the option to go above or under the surface."

"Maybe we can teleport for this one?" Akko said. "I mean..."

"Unlikely, if standard rules apply. Then again, there is no rule against teleporting," Diana crossed her arms. She looked at Ursula. "Do you think Croix could...?"