Splooosh… Splash, splash…
There were a lot more waves in the bath that night as everyone filed inside, covered in dirt from head to toe. And the turmoil wasn’t just limited to the water.
“So, hey, Eliza, did you figure out why Claire got so big?” asked Earnest.
Eliza poured a generous amount of shampoo onto her fine, curly hair and started lathering up. How many days’ worth of oil and grime was she washing off? Even she wasn’t sure.
“Well, theoretically, this never should have happened at all. Even if the device malfunctioned, there’s no way it should enlarge someone like that. That machine was actually a prototype of a material teleportation device I was working on. We’d envisioned various risks, like humans getting mixed up with flies during the transfer and creating a new species or something… But making someone huge was completely unexpected. We never saw it coming. It’s given us a lot of new material to research, though.”
Eliza kept her eyes shut and let Earnest wash her hair. Earnest continued to scrub, idly wondering if this was what motherhood was like.
“Um… So she’s like that because of a failed experiment?” she asked. “Do you really think it’s okay to conduct experiments like that on people? Did you get permission from His Majesty? You’ve gotta make him take responsibility for everything. That’s the only thing that guy’s good for, after all.”
“Um, actually, it’s all my fault,” said Claire, her voice booming down from above. “I went into that graduated cylinder without asking and wound up activating it somehow… Eliza didn’t do anything.”
They were all in the academy’s vast open-air bath, a roofless, lakelike structure big enough for the enormous Claire to interact with everyone safely. She was too big to fit inside any building, and while she could stand upright in the Proving Ground, there was no way to cram her through the entrance. She could fit her head, shoulders, and waist through, but her butt had proved impossible. She had a lot of junk in the trunk, as it turned out.
“So, um…how long will Claire be like this?” Earnest asked as she rinsed Eliza’s hair.
“Well, it’ll take some time, to be sure. We’re wading into unknown territory when it comes to physical biology. First, I need to analyze what’s going on; second, I need to formulate a hypothesis; third, we need to create a device that reverses the phenomenon and shrinks her back down. I think we’ll have to tackle several technical challenges along the way, so unless humanity as a whole—and I, in particular—make several scientific breakthroughs, it’ll be simply impossible.”
“Huh? So she’s going to stay like that?”
“…But these are physical laws we’re dealing with, and all such laws must eventually bow at my feet. That, too, is a physical law, for I am Eliza Maxwell.”
Eliza wasn’t making much sense, but it sounded like Claire’s chances of returning to normal were at least somewhat decent.
“So when you say it’ll ‘take some time,’ how much time are we talking?”
“You have to understand that even someone with my talents can’t produce results in a few hours or even a whole day of work. I’ll remind you that my laboratory has been completely destroyed. However, having anticipated this possibility, I procured a second laboratory underground. All my data is protected by at least two layers of security, and so my research has not suffered any setbacks at all.”
Earnest busied herself with washing Eliza’s back. Wow. Look at all this dirt coming off…
“…Okay, so how many days are we talking?” she asked.
“That will depend on how well I can leverage my brilliance. Perhaps a week. Or perhaps a month.”
“All right. Be quick, then. One week. We’re counting on you.”
“H-hey, flattery won’t get you anywhere with me…!”
This girl is so cute, Earnest thought.
“Did you hear that, Claire?” she said, looking up. “One week! Think of this as a little vacation! Have fun with it!”
“Huh? Did you say something?” came the voice from above.
Claire had just picked up one of the male students and laid him down on her shoulder. She had been doing this a lot during bathtime today, the boys constantly begging her for “one more time, one more time!” and never getting sick of it.
“Here goes!” shouted the boy on her shoulder. Then he took off, sliding with a fluid motion down all Claire’s natural curves before splashing into the water.
“Whooo! This is the greatest boob slide ever!”
“…Those stupid kids,” Earnest said, narrowing her eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
It all started when someone blurted out:
“You don’t think it’d work, do you?”
The idea was met with universal agreement.
“You think she could win?”
“Oh, she could totally beat him.”
“Claire Mountain’s got what it takes, yeah.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“She can do it. She can win! It’ll be so easy!”
“You think the human race will finally come out on top?”
“We can finally beat the super-being?!”
And so…
After some hasty renovations, the Second Proving Ground was now large enough to accommodate Claire Mountain. She, along with the rest of the students (including the recently admitted Lunaria), stood together in the arena.
“Um… Blade, I really don’t want to force you into this…”
The fifty-foot-tall giant nervously fidgeted, her multiton ball of divine metal dangling from her hand.
“Mmm,” Blade curtly replied.
“I mean, I know everyone is saying that you have to, but I’m not part of the Super-Being Subjugation Committee or whatever it’s called, so…”
“Mmm.” Another noncommittal reply from Blade. He was holding a plate of katsu curry in one hand and chowing down with the other. “I don’t mind fighting you, but…can you give me a sec? Like, the whole gang dragged me here from the dining hall. I was only on my third helping.”
“Three helpings are plenty. Hurry up and get ready,” Earnest demanded.
“You’re not the boss of me. I haven’t even had a tenth of what you ate, you bottomless pit of an Empress.”
“Whatever, you kid’s meal of a super-being!”
“I’m not a kid’s meal, okay? All I want is to eat my pork and curry in peace.”
“Also, why are you eating a huge meal just before you’re supposed to fight? Are you stupid or something?”
“Oh, right. I guess we won’t be fighting nonstop for a whole week, huh? Maybe I didn’t need to eat so much beforehand.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand you at all. Can you try speaking human for me instead of super-being?”
Blade pointed at Earnest with his spoon. “Hey, Claire! Can you beat this girl to a pulp or something? Pretend it’s a civil engineering project.”
Claire looked down at them with a strained smile. She had spent the past few days living life as a giant, attending lectures from outside the window and remaining totally motionless as she observed her class’s physical training, unable to participate. After school, she’d carefully watch her step as she went to the royal capital to help with this or that civil engineering project—bridge construction and the like.
“Hey, Blade? How about we call this whole thing off?” she said.
“What’s up, Claire? Not feeling it anymore?”
“I mean…like, I’m just worried that if I really tried…you know…”
Claire shot him another strained smile. As she had gotten used to giant life, she had come to understand something. No matter what she did, she always had to hold herself back. She was constantly worried about stepping on something. She couldn’t bust loose and go all out on anything. Once, she’d gone to a remote mountainous region—an uninhabited place where no one would notice if she destroyed a cliff or two—and tried to release some stress. The result? She’d changed the very shape of the mountains.
Over the past week, she’d finally understood what it meant to be a monster. Other people were always treating Blade like a monster, too. But, she thought, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but I really am a monster right now, all right?
“Okay,” Blade said casually after finishing up his katsu curry, “ready to go?”
“The Proving Ground’s magic barrier is running at full capacity,” announced the Empress. “I want to see a full effort from both of you!”
She must have negotiated with the king. Operating the barrier at that level must have involved moving the entire national budget, but that didn’t matter. Blade could just imagine the king bellowing, I don’t care! I want them both to go hard…and whatever happens, I’ll take full responsibility! And so on.
“Ready? And…go!”
At the signal, Claire raised her mace, now sized to match her enormous frame.