도박사 잭 II/4권

제4회 레이스

레너드와 니케를 따라서 도착한 곳은 도력차의 개방형 서킷이었다. 휴일이라 그런지 차는 한 대도 달리고 있지 않았다.

「굉장해, 여기가 도력차의……！」

개방형 서킷이라고 해도 엄연히 도력차의 서킷. 어렸을 적에 아버지를 따라서 온 기억은 어렴풋이 있지만 제대로 본 것은 이번이 처음이다. 영화에 이어 흥분을 감출 수가 없었다.

「후후, 할은 정말로 귀여워.」

「그래, 예전에 킹의 딸바보 짓도 이해가 가는군.」 니케의 말에 수긍하는 레너드.

「그래 할, 모처럼이니 실제 레이스를 보고 싶지？」

「볼 수 있어！？」

「그래, 이 남자가 고개를 끄덕이면 말이야.」

아마 처음부터 준비하고 있었던 것 같은 전개와 노골적인 유도── 잭은 이런 계산적인 것이 약점이었다.

하지만 킹과 마찬가지로 때로는 그 이상으로 레너드에게 여러 가지를 배웠다. 은혜가 있는 것은 확실했다. 도력차의 운전 기술도 그 중 하나. 여러 가지 놀이나 스포츠에 정통한 선배였다. 그리고 레너드가 계속한다.

「킹이 죽은 이후, 계속 의욕을 잃고 있던 네가 할과의 승부에서 이기고 부활했다는 소문을 듣고 나는 정말로 기뻤어.」

「저기, 잭. 오늘은 부디 그 시절의 너를── 빅토리 잭의 모습을 보여줬으면 좋겠다.」

「……뭐, 그런 거라면야.」

「공백도 있어서 상대에게 통할지 어떨지는 모르겠습니다만.」

「후후, 정해졌네.」

이렇게 잭은 레너드와 도력차 레이스를 하게 되었다.

──우선 머신을 고르는 두 사람. 무엇보다 레너드는 이 서킷의 단골인듯 전세를 내고 머신도 마음대로 고를 수 있는 것 같다.

「그럼 나는── 이 베른사의 구형으로.」

「후후, 그럼 나도 같은 성능으로 고르지. 이걸로 조건은 같다.」

두 사람의 레이스가 시작된다. 스타트 신호를 하는 것은 들떠있는 할이었다.

「레디ー……3・2・1・GO！」

스타트에서 선수를 친 것은 레너드. 잭은 뒤에서 쫓아가는 모양이 되었다.

지금은 어떨지 모르겠지만 7년 전의 시점에서는 잭과 레너드의 드라이빙 테크닉은 거의 호각── 더욱이 머신의 성능이 동격인 이상, 직선에서 만회할 기회는 거의 없다고 해도 좋다.

그렇게 되면 3개의 코너── 여기에서 어떻게 따라잡느냐가 승부의 관건이였다.

제1코너── 아슬아슬한 곳까지 액셀을 밟고 승부를 거는 잭. 하지만 레너드도 그 이상의 테크닉으로 받아넘긴다.

제2코너── 아까와는 미묘하게 다른 커브에 맞춰서 한계까지 스피드를 유지해 승부를 거는 잭. 하지만 앞에 있는 레너드의 절묘한 블록에 막혀 추월은 할 수 없었다.

제3코너── 최후의 난관인 헤어핀 커브가 기다리고 있었다. 지금까지의 공세에 레너드가 방심을 했을지 모른다. 어쨌거나 레너드가 약간의 조작 미스를 했다── 잭은 그 기회를 놓치지 않고 역전에 성공한다.

그리고 마지막 직선 구간── 잭의 시선에 레이스 깃발을 흔드는 니케의 모습이 어렴풋이 들어왔다. 잭은 자기도 모르게 페달을 풀어 버렸다.

결과──승부는 레너드의 승리로 끝났다.

Chapter 4 - The Race

Jack and Halle followed Leonard and Nike out and eventually found themselves at an amateur racetrack. It seemed closed for the day, though, and no cars sped around the grounds or crowds graced the stands.

Halle gaped at the circuit. 'Wow, it's a racetrack!'

All of the excitement that she had felt in the theater came flooding back. It had been years since she had visited one, and the memory of that trip with her father had grown very faint. Seeing this track was almost as if experiencing it again for the first time.

Nike smiled at her enthusiasm. 'You're so cute,' she said.

'Yeah. I can see why King doted on her so much now,' Leonard replied with a nod. 'Well, seeing as you're here...want to see an actual race, Halle?'

Halle's eyes grew wide. 'Can I?!'

Leonard nodded again. 'You can...if the man you're with says yes, anyway.'

Jack shifted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to him.

It was obvious that Leonard's true motivation for the invitation was to get Jack to participate and that he had no qualms about using Halle to that end. King's other former student was still every bit the calculating man that he used to be--and that was something that Jack had never been good at dealing with.

Still, he owed Leonard a lot. He had learned a great deal from his former teacher, but he had learned just as much, if not more, from Leonard. How to drive an orbal car was just one of these things. While King had always been the expert on gambling, Leonard was the authority on sports and all other forms of entertainment.

Leonard turned to Jack. 'I was really happy when I heard that you'd gotten a bit of fire back after that game against Halle. I thought you were a lost cause when King died. All those years wasted just rotting away...' He gestured to the track. 'I want to see the Victory Jack I used to know again. So c'mon. Show me.'

Jack shrugged. '...Well, if you insist. Haven't been behind the wheel in quite some time, though, so I hardly think I'll be a worthy opponent.'

'Heh. That's my man.'

Challenge accepted, the pair set about choosing their vehicles. Leonard, it seemed, was a friend of the track's owner. Not only could they choose whichever cars they wanted, but they had the entire racetrack to themselves as well.

'I'll go with this old Verne model,' concluded Jack.

Leonard laughed. 'I'll use one that has the same specs, then. Wouldn't want to have an unfair advantage against you.'

Cars decided, they moved to the starting line where a delighted Halle was to give the signal.

'On your marks... Get set... Go!'

And they were off, Leonard in the lead and Jack following.

In the past, the two of them had always been equally skilled at driving. In this race, their cars also had roughly equal specs, so the odds of Jack being able to catch up on any of the course's straights were practically zero. As such, the outcome would be determined by how he fared on the course's three corners.

The first corner came.

Jack kept his foot on the accelerator until the last second, trying to seize a chance to overtake. Leonard, however, responded by doing the same and denied Jack his chance.

The second corner came.

Jack followed the bend, conserving as much of his speed as possible, but Leonard maneuvered to block him, and he was forced to remain in second place.

The third corner came.

The last of the corners was a sharp hairpin turn-- a fitting final battlefield to determine the outcome of the race, and it was here that the tides turned. Whether it was due to overconfidence from his earlier domination was unclear, but Leonard made a minor mistake that Jack was able to take advantage of, and he seized the lead.

All that remained was the straight to the finish line. In the distance, Jack could see Nike, racing flag held casually in her hands. Seeing her, he unconsciously loosened his grip on the accelerator. Leonard surged past him and was victorious.

The race was over.

Halle came rushing over and Jack greeted her with a bitter smile.

She clapped her hands together. 'You did really well, Jack! It's just a shame you got passed at the end.'

Leonard and Nike joined them. Nike's expression was impassive, but Leonard's was livid.

'You held back again, didn't you?' he said.

Jack hesitated. 'No, I...'

He hadn't done it on purpose, but he realized that Leonard was right.