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Mobuseka Volume 11 Chapter 9
🕑 Added 2023-02-27 06:43:33 +0000 UTCThis is MTL. So, I cannot guarantee that the translation 100% contextually accurate or appropriate.
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TLN: Demonic change magic. Following the previous translator. Sorry for the late noticing it.
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Chapter 09 "White Whale"
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Part 1
Inside the Fraser family's castle.
Ivan ran up to Milene, who was busy preparing for departure, and tried to persuade her.
"Milene-sama, please stop. You promised to bring down Raschel in this war for the sake of the United Kingdom of Reparto."
The original plan was to destroy the Holy Kingdom of Raschel, ignoring the damage done to the Kingdom of Horfalt.
It was not the exhausted Kingdom of Horfalt that was to take the Holy Kingdom of Raschel, but the United Kingdom of Reparto.
In any case, it was difficult for the Kingdom of Horfalt, which was still exhausted from the war with the former Principality Fannos, to govern Raschel.
Milene walks quickly down the hallway, but Ivan chases after her.
"The Duke promised to minimize damage in the short term."
"Do you believe such ramblings?! Milene-sama, please wake up. You have been deceived by that man!"
Milene stops because Ivan keeps chasing her.
"If I've been deceived, then that's as far as I'll go. Besides —— No, I don't have to tell you any of this."
Milene certainly expected Leon to have a chance to win.
She will not reveal the reason for this on this occasion.
Milene says to Ivan.
"The trump card of Raschel, who has been tormenting Reparto for years, will be eliminated in this battle. Tell that to our homeland."
Ivan, who had decided that Milene could not be persuaded, replies with a drooping head.
"——Yes, ma'am."
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Part 2
At that time, Finn was visiting Mia's room with Brave and Karl.
The door is closed, so he talks through the door.
Finn had not been able to talk to Mia face to face since her confession.
"Mia—— I'm going to help Leon and the others."
Brave watched with concern as Finn conversed to the room, which had not responded.
However, Karl gives him a bloodshot look.
He seems unable to forgive Finn for hurting Mia, but he must have mixed feelings when he hears that it involved a confession.
If Mia's wishes come true, Finn and Mia will be dating.
If it doesn't come true, it will be happy for Karl, but he doesn't want Mia to be hurt.
"They are going to examine you when Licorne comes back. Apparently you will be examined with Princess Erika, so you'll have to wait at the castle for a while."
—— So far, no response.
(What am I doing? I decided to protect Mia, but I hurt her ——)
He doesn't think he made the wrong decision, but he still hurt her.
As Finn is about to leave the door, he hears footsteps in the room.
Mia, who seems to have leaned against the door, speaks to Finn.
"Will Knight-sama come back properly to Mia? Do you hate Mia?"
"! Aa, of course! Mia is still the most important person to me. So I'll definitely come back."
Then the door opens and Mia comes out from inside.
Finn and Karl were shocked to see a slightly emaciated Mia.
As Karl was about to say something, Brave reached out and covered Karl's mouth.
Apparently, he won't let him interrupt the two of them.
Finn hugs Mia.
"I'm sorry. I cornered you until you became this way."
Mia puts her arm around Finn and grips his clothes.
"You don't have to like Mia, but be sure to come back."
Finn replies to a tearful Mia with his current feelings.
"—— I can't give you an answer right now. But I will face your feelings someday. Until then, will you wait for me?"
When Finn asks for time to face his feelings, Mia responds in tears.
"Unn."
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Part 3
Military port in Fraser territory.
As supplies were being loaded onto Einhorn and Licorne, Eriya was closing in on me.
"Duke-sama, I will also participate!"
Eriya also came on board Einhorn and volunteered to participate in the war.
I think I made a disapproving expression on my face.
"No. You're a heir of the Fraser family, right? I can't be responsible for anything that happens to you."
I told him not to come because it would be a nuisance, but Eriya didn't back down.
"I heard that the Queen will also board. So there should be no problem if I on board too!"
"There is. I don't like it."
When I state the reason straightforwardly, Eriya turns his head down.
As it is, he tells me why he wants to join the war.
"I know the Duke hates me. But I —— I want to be a man worthy of Erika."
I think he realized that he was not liked by me and Marie, who care for Erika.
Well, it was a blatant attitude, so it's no surprise.
The reason why he bowed and wanted to participate was apparently for Erika's sake.
"I know that there was talk of an engagement between the Duke and Erika. I know that it would be better for the country if I broke off the engagement between me and Erika and let her marry the Duke."
"There is that talk before."
Although I had turned it down, it seems that Eriya has not been informed of the details.
At best, he was told that the engagement had been broken off at the royal court.
"Why don't you ask Erika?"
"——I'm scared."
"Ha?"
"If Erika says she would rather marry the Duke than me —— I don't think I'll be able to get over it. So I wanted to be more worthy man for Erika."
He doesn't want to hear about her engagement with me from the person in question, so he wants to join the fight? I think this guy is fundamentally wrong.
Luxion calls out to me.
[Master]
"Hmm?"
Looking beyond Luxion's gaze, I saw a girl standing there.
She looks worriedly at Eriya, and I let out a big sigh.
——Apparently, this is where the cold shoulder ends.
Any more than this and I would be seriously pissed off.
"Eriya Rafa Fraser!"
"Y-Yes!"
"I'm not going to have you on board my ship."
When I told him firmly, Eriya bit his back teeth and clenched his fists tightly.
While looking frustrated and pained, he still keeps persisting.
"T-Then I'll follow you with the Fraser family's airship."
"You can't. You'll never catch up with my airship."
Even with the excellent airships owned by the Fraser family, it would be impossible to keep up with Einhorn and Licorne.
In the first place, the basic performance is too different.
As Eriya begins to cry from frustration, I let out a deep sigh.
"You are a heir of the Fraser family, aren't you? Then do your duty."
"My duty?"
I point to the girl who is watching us in the distance.
Then Eriya's gaze turned there, too.
"——Erika."
Having noticed Erika watching over him with concern, I continue with my talk.
"Both the princess and my guest, Mia-chan, are staying here. You stay and protect them at all costs. If they get even a scratch, I'll beat you to a pulp."
When I say this in annoyance, Luxion teases me.
[You still do not approve of their relationship? It's a marriage that they both agree on and that is politically correct.]
"Understanding and accepting are two different things!"
"A-Ano"
After yelling at Luxion, I say to Eriya, who looks troubled.
"Honestly, I don't approve of you, and I don't want to. But, but, since she approves of you, I had no choice. I had no choice! I approve of you."
Place my hand on Eriya's shoulder and grip him tightly.
"You stay and do your job. We'll do ours. Also —— Take care of the princess."
Eriya replies with a clenched fist and a strong nod.
"Yes! Please leave it to me."
"But if anything happens to the two of them, I'll never forgive you."
Just to be sure, I threatened, Eriya was in a cold sweat and shaking a little.
"Y-Yes."
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Part 4
On the bridge of the Licorne, in addition to Creare, there were other robots working.
Other than that——.
"Isn't Leon supposed to ride Einhorn?"
——Noel and the others were there.
I let out a small sigh as Noel tilts her head.
"Even though I never wanted all three of you to accompany me."
I wished the three of them would stay in a safe place, but they boarded the Licorne together.
Ange puts her hands on her hips and gives me a sullen expression.
"Are you saying that we are useless?"
"No, that's not what I meant."
When I fail to answer, Ange crosses her arms and lets out a small sigh.
"Well, I won't be much use to you as far as I'm concerned. But Livia and Noel are different."
When Ange turns her gaze to the two of them, Noel taps her chest with her right hand.
On the back of her right hand is a crest that identifies her as a priestess of the sacred tree.
"Leave it to me. I'll still be useful. Well, I'm just the support."
Noel's gaze went to Livia, who was clutching her right hand on her chest.
She looks nervous, but smiles when she catches my gaze.
"I've been discussing what I can do with Are-chan for some time now. Don't worry, I won't get in your way, Leon-san."
Hearing that, I turned an accusing gaze on Creare.
She is as calm as usual when she sees me looking at her.
"You've done unnecessary things"
[Ara? I heard their wish to be of help to Master. Master must be so loved by them. And yet, not letting them do anything, Master is the worst~]
I'm glad they want to do something for me, but am I wrong in wanting them to stay safe?
As I am complaining, Livia comes up to me and grabs my arm.
"Leon-san. We will show you how helpful we can be. Can't you trust us just a little bit more?"
"I believe in you, but... War is a little different."
If this was just an adventure dungeon expedition, I wouldn't have stopped them either.
But when it comes to war, it is a different story.
I don't think the three of them are weak, but when they had to kill others in a war, the mental toll would be huge.
The kinder you are, the more tender you are, the more your heart will be hurt.
It would be better if they were as insensitive as I am, but the three of them are all sensitive.
Livia looked at me and smiled troubledly.
Apparently, she has guessed what I'm worried about.
"I know Leon-san is worried about us. But we will be fine, right? Because Leon-san is going to stop the fight."
"——Livia"
I'm surprised.
Yes, I'm going to stop the fighting, not fight the war.
If possible, I will even try to reduce the damage inflicted on the enemy.
Livia wraps her hands around mine and squeezes them gently.
"I believe in you. So let me help you with that."
"—— I get it."
As I was staring at Livia, I saw a group of people looking uncomfortable in the corner of the room.
It's Marie with Kara and Kyle.
Marie looks at us with an exasperated look on her face.
"I hope you're not flirting on the bridge when we're about to fight."
Kara let out a small sigh.
"I'd like to have an encounter too."
Kyle comforts Kara.
"You can look for them at the school when things settle down."
"I wish that could be true, but boys nowadays are so cold to third graders."
Kyle is desperately trying to soothe Kara, who is in tears over the current situation.
As Livia and I hold hands, I look toward Marie and the others.
"Are you guys boarding on this ship too?"
When I show them my reaction that I just noticed, the three of them are blatantly displeased.
Marie puts her hands on her hips and rolls her upper body forward.
"I'm sorry about that! In the first place, you're the one who asked me to help if I could use recovery magic, right? Why do you say that like you don't know?"
"I'm sorry. But I usually feed you, so you should work for me once in a while."
"I'm working! I'm working so hard, but you're the one who doesn't appreciate me!"
Noel laughed in trouble at Marie, who was screaming.
"Marie-chan is having a hard time too, isn't she?"
Marie, out of pity, speaks ill of me to Noel.
"Noel better keep this in mind too. Because he's the worst guy who doesn't feed the fish he catches. He needs a good smack once in a while."
"——I'll think about it"
Noel looks at me, thinks for a moment, and then reacts as if she is following Marie's opinion.
Noel's reply surprised me.
"Eh!? Do you take Marie's words seriously!?"
As I am surprised, Livia increases the strength of the hand she is holding with a smiling face.
Ange was also looking at me as if she wanted to say something.
—— For some reason I feel like I'm the one being backed into a corner.
Luxion and Creare see the situation and start talking.
[Why can't his dullness just be cured?]
[This is already a weakness of Master's personality.]
Artificial Intelligences that can say whatever they want.
And my fiancées who seem to want to say something.
Furthermore, Marie and the others, three of them seemed happy to get back at me.
I retreated from Licorne as if to run away.
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Part 5
The residence of the Holy King in the White City.
It was a blue sky today, and the Holy King was feeling so good that he went out on the balcony to look down on the castle town.
The Holy King says as he strokes his proud white beard.
"It feels good to look down on those who work so hard."
He had no heart of compassion for his people.
Rather, he has a personality that finds pleasure in the sight of people suffering.
For the Holy King, even human life is his own.
Even making the Holy Knights disposable did not hurt his heart.
Surrounded by beautiful women, they are devoted to pleasing the Holy King.
It was at that moment.
Rushing onto the balcony was a knight of Royal Guard protecting the Holy King.
The bearded knight approaches the Holy King and kneels down to apologize for his rudeness.
"Your Majesty, the Great, please forgive me for my rudeness!"
"What?"
When he turned his head with only a displeased look on his face, the knight's face had turned pale.
"An urgent report from our ally! We have received word from the Fraser Territory that two flying battleships belonging to the Fiend Knight have sailed!"
"What did you say?"
At the important news, the Holy King turns his body to the knight.
The knight gives a more detailed report.
"I have heard, though uncertain information, that the Fiend Knight was impudently talking that he was going to invade this Holy Kingdom of Raschel. Your great Majesty, prepare to evacuate immediately."
The waiting beauties are also upset when they learn that the Fiend Knight are going to attack Raschel.
They are all trembling and pale-faced.
That is how feared Leon's name was in Raschel.
The Holy King clicks his tongue, but quickly switches his thoughts.
He puts his hands on the balcony railing and smiles at the line of flying battleships he can see before him.
"Where is the need to flee? More than half of the army is here. Besides, it's the loss for the kingdom of Horfalt to take a short-term action. Send an envoy to the Empire immediately. The Emperor will be moved if he knows that Horfalt has revealed his ambitions."
When he behaved with dignity, he somewhat eased the anxiety of those around him.
Even the knight is impressed by the Holy King's behavior.
"S-So, are you going to stay in this castle then?"
"Obviously. No matter how strong the Fiend Knight may be, the Holy Knights are all here. It is not one or two. There are dozens of them."
The knight bowed deeply.
"I beg your pardon. I will now return to my post."
"Umu."
As the knight runs off, the Holy King mutters to those around him.
"—— Let's get ready to make our escape."
Surprised, the beautiful women around him blinked repeatedly. Isn't that different from what you just said? The Holy King did not care about such a look.
(Well, at least they'll buy me some time while I run away.)
Both the army and the Holy Knights who lay down their lives to fight are mere pawns for the Holy King.
As long as his own life was safe, he was willing to rip off as much as he could from the kingdom of Horfalt after the war.
As the Holy King, stroking his proud white beard, was making plans for the future, one of the beautiful women cupped her mouth with both hands and exclaimed.
"I-I saw something shining up there!"
As everyone's gaze turned to the sky, they saw something behind the sun.
The Holy King rolled his eyes and felt his own heart beat faster.
When he tried to give the order, he was more upset than he thought he was.
It almost becomes a scream.
"A-All troops, interceeept!"
At the too sudden appearance of the enemy, the Holy King shouted and immediately rushed into the castle.
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Part 6
Einhorn and Licorne flying at high altitude.
Licorne was ahead, and I was not in a good mood on the bridge of the Einhorn.
"Why don't you pull back the Licorne when we reach the target?! There are Ange and the others!!"
I yell at Luxion, but he doesn't seem to mind.
He replies to me in his usual nonchalant manner.
[There was a proposal from Creare. She said that Licorne would lead the way and prevent the enemy from attacking. I decided it would be effective, so we adopted it.]
"Don't do anything rash! Are you going to use Licorne as a shield?"
[Yes.]
I swing to hit Luxion, who affirms, but Finn grabs my arm.
Now Finn was dressed in a black pilot suit.
"This is no time for quarreling! I'll go out and protect the ship, you get ready to go. Kurosuke, you're always ready, right?"
Brave, who is called by Finn, looks dissatisfied but seems to be ready.
[Anytime. But, buddy. I wish you'd call me Brave once in a while.]
"Aa, next time."
[You say that but you always don't call me so!]
As Finn is about to leave the bridge, Luxion stops him.
[Don't get in the way. In the first place, you all underestimate Licorne——those three.]
Then, Licorne, who had been ahead, began to descend towards the White City.
The way it thrusts downward diagonally is more of an assault than a descent.
[Licorne, descending.]
"Damn!"
I was able to confirm it.
As we were about to jump off the bridge, a Raschel flying battleship noticed our approach and came up.
Hundreds of armors sail out from there, and among them, the pseudo-magic equipment can be seen on the deck of the flying battleship, with their rifles.
Flying battleships carrying dozens of armors rose and took aim at Licorne.
Luxion says.
[Enemy fire coming. Licorne, deploy the Field]
"——You're lying, right."
I couldn't believe the scene in front of me.
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Part 7
The bridge of the Licorne.
Sitting on the seat provided, Milene's gaze is caught by the figure in front of her.
"Is this the kind of magic a person is capable of?"
Armor and rifle bullets rushing in.
The person who was guarding against them was Livia, who performed magic on the bridge of the ship.
Livia, standing on a circular device prepared for her, is surrounded by a pale white light.
There were slight golden particles mixed in with the white light.
Perhaps the reason why Livia's hair spreads out like it's floating is probably due to the flow of magic power.
Creare, who provides support, cheerfully informs the situation.
[The Field has been successfully deployed. Since it seems to have a holy attribute, why don't we call it a Sanctuary?]
The Sanctuary —— a pale, shiny, spherical field envelopes Licorne.
The magic-created field has a magic circle pattern on its surface.
Answering the cheerful Creare was Ange, who is in charge of fire control.
"You can decide the name as you like later. For now, keep the enemy at bay! A group of armor is coming from the right starboard side, led by a pseudo-magic equipment."
[I'm aware of that, but the question is, how do we blow them up?]
"Shooting them down is the least we can do. Stop at intimidation."
Following Ange's orders, Creare operates Licorne.
[That's a ridiculous order, but since Master wishes it, I'm going to follow it.]
A multibarreled machine gun for interception, which was stored in Licorne, appears.
Gatling gun——As the barrel begins to rotate, it sprays bullets one after another.
In this world, machine guns for armor still do not exist.
The reason for this is the high cost of manufacturing bullets.
The bullets for armor are magic bullets filled with magic power intended for anti-aircraft and anti-armor on the battlefield.
Because a common bullet would lose much of its power in the magic field.
As a result, costly magic bullets are consumed like hot water on the battlefield.
Rather than machine guns, it was a natural idea to aim and shoot one shot at a time.
The act of ignoring it and scattering bullets must have made them think they were using ordinary bullets.
The pseudo-magic equipment tries to protect his allies from a hail of bullets by stepping forward to protect the other armors.
Ange was biting her back teeth at the action.
"Those fools"
Creare doesn't care what the future holds for those involved with magic equipment.
As always, she speaks cheerfully.
[Ara ara, you thought they were ordinary bullets. But it's actually a first-class magic bullet.]
It was just as Creare said.
The magic bullet damages the magic equipment.
If it had been ordinary armor, it would have been shot through with a single bullet, but the opponent was a magic equipment, even if it was a pseudo.
The armor surpasses that of ordinary armor and is protected by strong magical powers.
Even if it is a magic bullet, it is not easy to shoot through, but after being hit by dozens, or hundreds of bullets, it will be chipped away, even if only little by little.
Soon the pseudo-magic equipment cannot hold out any longer and falls, spewing out black liquid as its armor is pierced.
The other armors that had been following were scattering and fleeing in confusion at the sight of the falling pseudo-magic equipment.
[Hm~m, if it's armor, it will be fine, but if it's airships it's troublesome. If I'm not careful, I might drop it.]
The battle is being fought right above the White City.
If the airship were to fall, it would fall directly on the castle town and cause extensive damage.
Noel, who could not allow that to happen, looked flustered and pointed her right hand at Livia.
The crest of Noel's priestess emits a green light.
The stored energy of the sacred tree flows into Livia with a pale green light.
What Noel is doing is supplying Livia with magic power.
In order to deploy the Sanctuary, she supported Livia, who consumed a large amount of magic power.
"It would be inappropriate to do that, so I'll leave it to Olivia."
When told that she would leave it to her, Livia nodded slowly.
"Got it!"
Livia, looking ahead, pointed her right hand forward and hundreds of magic circles appeared around Licorne.
When magic circles with a total length of several tens of meters appear, they turn around but the magic circles point downward.
Milene looked at the scene and wondered what she was going to do.
(Attack from the magic circle? No, that would burn the capital of Raschel, which is right below us.)
Although it was hard to believe that Livia would make such a choice, Milene's hunch was correct.
But she could not even guess the use of the magic circle.
Livia pulls back her right hand and swings it down to strike from above.
It's a gesture like a fist swinging straight down.
"It's going to be a little shaky, but bear with it!"
Although she probably knew they could not hear her, Livia was apologetic to her enemies.
Milene raises an eyebrow at the soft-hearted——.
"What!?"
—— The immediate aftermath of the scene made her less likely to blame Livia's naivety.
As soon as Livia swung her arm down, the magic circle began its descent all at once.
The one to which they were headed was Raschel's flying battleship.
When the magic circle made contact with the flying battleship, their upward movement stopped.
Then the enemy slowly begins to descend.
Milene's hips had lifted off the seat before she knew it.
Realizing what Livia has done, she breaks out in a startled cold sweat.
"Using a magic circle to hold down a flying battleship from above? That's absurd."
Milene was born into a royal family.
She has been trained in magic since she was a child, but even if she were asked to do the same thing as Livia, she couldn't do it.
In fact, if someone were to ask her to do the same thing, she would question their sanity.
Such an incredible sight was spread out before her eyes.
Ange, who was standing beside Milene, bragged a little proudly.
She must be happy that her best friend, of whom she is so proud, is doing so well.
"What do you think, Milene-sama? About the ability of the special students you admitted to the school?"
When enrolling a commoner as a special student, Milene didn't object.
She did not go so far as to select people, but she remembers signing a form requesting permission to enroll.
"I didn't directly select her. I just gave her the green light because she came highly recommended. I never thought it would be possible to find someone as good as she is."
Milene has a mixed feeling in her heart that she has found a tremendous talent.
If she was just strong, she would have been happy with all hands, but now Livia is so much more than that that she feels it is threatening.
If it weren't for Leon and Luxion, Milene would have been wary of Livia.
Ange looks at Livia's back.
"Livia, just hold them off. Leon and the others will do the rest."
Livia, who received the voice, replied while looking ahead.
"We will buy you the time you need to get things done, Leon-san."
We. It's a line that understands that they are not fighting alone.
Milene feels dizzy because the results of the collaboration between the three of them —— and a single artificial intelligence are so amazing.
"I must have underestimated you guys too. No, I didn't properly evaluate your abilities."
"Milene-sama?"
"——Ange, you grew up strong. I really regret losing you."
Milene said she regretted the talent, but Ange shook her head.
"Rather, it's Livia and Noel who are amazing, not me."
When Angel says she is inferior to the two, Milene smiles and tells her.
"It's also strong proof that you can recognize the strengths of others. And the bonds that allow you to accomplish so much by working together are hard to get. Cherish it."
When Ange nodded silently, Milene said the last thing.
"I don't have anything left to teach you. Before I knew it, you were already ahead of me."
She mocked herself, but Milene's voice was drowned out by the sounds of battle at poorly timed moments.
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Part 8
Milene was not the only one who saw Livia's magic.
Marie, who was ashamed on the bridge in the presence of Milene, was in the corner watching the battle.
Marie is often looked upon with a fierce gaze by Milene for seducing Julius and the other young nobles.
So she kept quiet, but even there she sensed something extraordinary about Livia.
Kara points outside.
"Marie-sama, please look. The enemy airship is being held down and losing altitude."
Kyle sticks to the window and watches as the enemy is moving left and right.
"The enemy is surprised and panicking. I think the battle is going to be won. What do you think, Goshujin-sama?"
When asked, Marie couldn't answer anything.
Her gaze is fixed on Livia.
(As expected of the protagonist of the first work who was called a cheat because she was too strong. She was unpopular because of her words and actions, but she's still friggin' strong and dependable.)
In that otome game, she was treated as an official cheat just like the Black Knight.
Although Marie knew she had that much ability, Marie couldn't help but be surprised when she was shown it in real life.
Having learned and mastered magic, she understands the extraordinary of Livia.
(No matter how hard I try, I'm still not as good as the protagonist.)
Marie is able to use recovery magic, but it is the result of her bloody efforts, relying on the little talent she had.
While she thinks she did a great job, Livia's magic showed a gap in talent that could not be filled by hard work alone.
(Come to think of it, we were the ones who were picking fights with this girl)
If they had taken a wrong turn somewhere, the protagonist, Livia could have seriously become their enemy.
When she thinks of that, she shudders.
(I'm so glad aniki did something about it!!)
Marie was grateful to Leon at this time.
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Part 9
Einhorn's hangar.
Four people —— the five idiots, minus Julius, who were watching what was going on outside on a monitor amidst a line of armor made by Luxion, witnessed Livia's battle and were surprised.
Brad looks at the other three and his cheeks are pulled back.
"Oi, can we win —— that?"
Chris closed his eyes and made a wry smile.
"If you can bring it one-on-one, you have a chance to win. But if you can't, you'll lose."
Greg crosses his arms and proudly declares.
"I honestly don't want to fight. If we did, we'd lose one way or the other."
Licorne's armaments are mighty, but most of all, Livia's magic is formidable.
Magic is used to unilaterally contain the flying battleship, but if this is done in a real battle, the battleship will be dropped without being able to do anything about it.
Jilk looked pale and put his hand over his mouth.
"It's also quite atrocious that it doesn't let any magic bullets through. There is nothing we can do about it. It's best not to fight."
As the four agree, footsteps can be heard in the hangar.
When they turned around, there stood yet another mysterious figure —— a masked knight.
"The strong men say pathetic things. You seem to be losing your will before the battle, will that be enough to win this fight?"
Although he recognized the four of them as strong, he was somewhat provocative.
Greg points at the masked knight.
"You bastard, where did you come from!"
Chris draws his sword and points the tip at the masked knight.
"You again?"
Jilk was also holding a pistol, muzzle pointed at the masked knight.
"You infiltrate everywhere. Just like a rat."
The masked knight was irritated at being called a rat, and his voice got a little louder.
"You're so rude! I've come all the way here to help you, and that attitude is rude."
The masked knight crossing his arms.
His appearance was more luxurious than before.
In addition to the mask, the clothes and cape she is wearing are new.
He appears to be wearing a pilot suit under his clothes and can get into his armor at any time.
Brad glanced at the entrance to the hangar.
"Leon is here. This time I'm going to unmask you and throw you off the ship."
But the masked knight remains stubborn.
It was as if he understood that Leon would let him off the hook.
"Let's ask Leon-dono. Leon-dono! I would like to be provided with one of those armors. You have a fine armor prepared for His Highness Julius, don't you?"
Julius was not aboard, but the white armor was prepared.
The figure was standing on his knees, waiting for the pilot to board, but the four wondered.
They wondered why load it up if no one is going to ride it.
Leon, who came to the hangar with Finn, takes one look at the masked knight and says without interest.
"Do what you want. But if you break it, you'll have to compensate for it."
Hearing the word "compensation," the masked knight flinches slightly.
"L-Let's swear to not destroy as much as possible."
Leon goes straight to the cockpit of Arroganz.
At that time, he also calls out to the other four people.
"It's an opportunity Livia and her team have created for us. We're going to finish it off."
Brad and the others looked at each other and nodded.
"I don't want to report a failure after having let a woman go this far. I'm going to give it my all, too."
Leon smiled and closed the hatch.
.
Part 10
[Arroganz's body check has been completed. All green, ready to go out anytime.]
Hearing Luxion's voice, I move Arroganz to the hatch of the hangar.
Five idiots also get into the armor, activate it and get behind Arroganz.
"Finn, what are you going to do?"
I asked Finn, who did not deploy his armor, and he shrugged.
"I'll be covered outside, so don't worry about it. You can just throw me out like this."
I didn't understand what Finn saying.
I was not good at skydiving in my previous life, so I respect Finn's courage.
"Aren't you afraid?"
"I've got a partner."
When Finn looked at his partner Brave, he made a gesture of puffing out his chest, as if he was happy to be depended on.
"Haha, good duo. ——Luxion, we'll go out too."
[Understood. Hatch Open]
As soon as Luxion says that, the hatch of Einhorn's hangar is opened.
When the hatches on the left and right sides of the hull open, the wind blows through the hangar.
Even in the midst of all this, Finn stood there with a look of ease on his face.
Looking outside, I can see scattered resistance taking place.
The enemy flying battleships were unable to move, and much of their armor was aimed at Licorne but was blocked by the Livia's Field.
Literally, Licorne —— No, they can't even do anything against Livia and others.
"I'll get out first."
In the midst of all that, I see the shadow of a plane approaching Einhorn.
The booster of the container backpack on Arroganz's back catches fire and I leap out of the hangar as enemy armor closes in on me.
The enemy's voice could be picked up from an external microphone, not a communication line.
"I found you, Fiend Knight!"
"Defeat our Holy Knights' Grudge Enemies!"
"For His Majesty the Great and our Beautiful Country!"
Just by hearing this line, I can guess that the other party is a magic equipment.
They lay down their lives for just one battle, they are literally giving their lives for the nation.
I question that way of life, but I hesitate to mock it.
"You Holy Knights will end up here."
At the very least, let's put an end to the existence of the Holy Knights of Raschel.
Move the control stick and step on the foot pedal to accelerate Arroganz.
In order to keep distance from the holy knights, I descend in a spiral.
"They can't be saved, right?"
[Yes.]
Luxion, who had been so kind as to accompany me in my pointless conversation, was not sarcastic this time.
"I guess so. ——Get the rifle out."
[Rifle discharge.]
A rifle from a container is grabbed by Arroganz in his right hand, and when it is held at the ready, a pseudo-magic equipment figure can be seen on the monitor.
Lock-on——The sights were fixed on the enemy, and when the trigger was pulled, a bullet was fired from the rifle, blowing off the head of the pseudo-magic equipment.
I thought it would regenerate as it was, but when the body of the remaining pseudo-magic equipment cracked, it shattered into pieces.
"It's getting more violent again. You didn't just increase the power, right."
I killed the pseudo-magic equipment who has the ability to regenerate with one blow.
[Based on the data collected so far, we have modified it for anti-demonic use and improved the bullets to be more effective against magic equipment.]
Based on the data accumulated by Luxion and Creare, they seem to have created a more powerful weapon.
When the holy knights saw that their friends had been killed, rather than breaking their will to fight, they became furious and attacked Arroganz.
They were taken in by the magic equipment and were becoming mentally unstable.
"How dare you!"
The pseudo-magic equipment was so furious that they sped up, but I kicked them away with Arroganz.
If they are speeding up but coming straight at me, they are not scaring me.
"It's easy to read!"
The magic equipment that I kicked away, pointed the rifle and pulled the trigger as he was trying to regain his position in the air.
Scattered magic equipment fell on the chalk castle, the symbol of the White City, and splashed black liquid on it.
Still, the magic equipment of the holy knights swarms Arroganz with their eyes on me, the so called Fiend Knight.
"For the Great Motherland!"
The pseudo-magic equipment, shouting for his country and coming toward me, was holding a huge hammer in his hand.
He swings it wide in the air, and before it gets close to Arroganz, he swings it down and charges at it while spinning in the air.
What a rough way to attack!
I made light talk and have Arroganz avoid it.
"Sorry, but I'm an individualist, so I can't relate when people say it's for the good of the country."
The spinning pseudo-magic equipment changes direction again in a large circle and comes toward Arroganz again.
"Missile! Just stop the movement."
[Firing.]
When a missile was launched from Arroganz container, it hit the spinning pseudo-magic equipment and shook its axis of rotation.
The rotation speed slows down, and I hold the rifle up and pull the trigger toward the magic equipment, which is dizzy in mid-air.
The pseudo-magic equipment, which had been shot through the chest, falls down and stops moving as it is.
It seems that the next three pseudo-magic equipments will attack at the same time.
Seeing how well they work together, they must be highly competent as holy knights.
I know that they are competent when they don't let their magic equipments go out of control and come to cooperate together.
[If they can't take them down with one plane, they'll take us down with three!]
Sporadic attacks were noticeable in the magic equipment, but when it came to coordination, it was a nuisance.
Arroganz could probably beat them in performance, but I don't like to be damaged.
When approaching the targeted enemy, Arroganz strikes the palm with its left hand.
"First, one down"
Impact —— As the magic equipment blows away, the black liquid splashes down on Arroganz like return blood.
[I'll have to clean it carefully when we get back.]
Luxion says with a truly disgusted expression, but it is strange that the artificial intelligence has a tendency to be a clean freak, or rather, a thorough dislike of magic equipment.
He could have defeated his enemies without hesitation, but for some reason he has something like a heart.
What were the old humans thinking when they gave minds to artificial intelligences?
"How dare you, to my brother!"
Apparently, the holy knights piloting the three magic equipments were brothers. I kicked away the one that was charging at me to avenge his brother's enemy, and I took aim at the other one.
Thanks to the magic equipment who forgot himself in anger, the coordination was disrupted abruptly.
"That is the second one——you're the only one left."
With the goal of avenging his brothers' deaths, the magic equipment became mentally unstable and swelled up, unable to maintain his humanoid form.
When he swells and becomes round-shaped, a large mouth appears.
And on his back were the wings of a bat, small for the size of the ball.
"I'll crush you into pieces!!"
Looking into his wide-open mouth, I saw the saw blade vibrating.
Since he will bite Arroganz, I will offer him its left hand.
The magic equipment bites down from the elbow first, vibrating the blade and making a sickening sound of metal rubbing against metal. Luxion was dismayed when sparks came out of his mouth.
"You play too much. Or did you get upset?"
He's sensitive to my feelings.
The way he wanted to avenge his brother's enemies brought to my mind the faces of Nix and Colin —— my brothers.
If I were in the same position, I would have definitely taken revenge.
When the metallic sound gradually ceased, the magic equipment opened his mouth.
Arroganz's left arm was somewhat damaged but intact, and instead, all of the saw-like teeth of the magic equipment were shattered.
"—— Blow them up."
[Understood.]
When a shockwave is generated from the left arm, the magic equipment bursts out.
With no time for sentimentality, I move my face to look for my next target.
Let's think about it after it's all over.
"Next!"
[A new magic equipment is rising from the ground. It seems that they have introduced low-skilled holy knights.]
It seems that the Holy Kingdom of Raschel, which was impatient after being attacked, has even sent in candidates for the Holy Knights, who are not yet full-fledged.
The reason I know this is because of the appearance of the magic equipment that came up.
All of them have a distorted shape.
"Let's get this over with and destroy the magic equipment."
[——No, that's not necessary.]
Descending swiftly past Arroganz are colorful armors.
Julius —— white armor with a masked knight riding in the forefront, followed by red and light blue armor.
Three machines were slashing at the magic equipment.
And one magic equipment coming toward Arroganz —— is shot through by the green armor of Jilk, who is holding a rifle in the distance.
A communication comes in from Jilk.
"Leave this to us, go ahead."
"You're useful once in a while"
When I make light talk, Jilk goes along with me.
"I wish you would appreciate our work more. When things settle down, please set up a meeting to discuss this so that you can revise my assessment."
It is typical of Jilk that he is the only one who asks me to revise his reputation.
It is like saying that there is no need to re-evaluate the other four.
The armor that Jilk rode in was shooting down the magic equipments one after another.
Apparently, it is equivalent in performance to the rifles held by Arroganz.
As I was about to descend, a true magic equipment, Finn and Brave fused with a magic equipment spreading its wings, was coming up next to us.
The holy knights are surprised at the sight of him.
"How could a holy knight betray us!?"
"No, who is he anyway!"
"Not many people look as beautiful as that."
The Holy Knights were dismayed at the sight of the real magic equipment, but next to us was Finn —— a magic equipment owned by the Empire.
Finn was not dealing with the pseudo-magic equipment.
"Leon, Kurosuke says he feels a strong demonic reaction from below the lake."
"Not from the castle?"
Brave, on behalf of Finn, tells me where I can find the magic equipment.
[There's no doubt about it. It's in the lake.]
Looking over my right shoulder, I saw the red lens of the Luxion flashing.
[I have located the magic equipment, and someone who appears to be the Holy King has boarded the airship to escape.]
"That way first, huh."
[No, it looks like it's going to be troublesome.]
Luxion said it, but his tone was somewhat dismayed.
He is not dismayed at me.
Sounds like a mutter that he thought it can't be helped.
Shortly thereafter, Finn pushed Arroganz away.
"Get down!"
"!"
What I saw before Finn yelled at me was a column of water that had formed from something popping out of the lake.
It is not one or two, but dozens of them.
Finn's magic equipment draws his sword and holds it up, slashing something that comes out of the lake.
Looking closely, it was a rather large tree seed that Finn had slashed.
About the size of an adult? Such species are being shot out of the lake one after another.
When Luxion saw that, his red lens flashed suspiciously.
[I request permission to use missiles.]
"Do it."
Without hesitation, I give permission, and the hatch of the container backpack opens and missiles are launched from it.
The missiles tracked the seeds that were shot out of the lake.
The hit causes an explosion, and the burned seeds fall into the lake.
"What kind of seed is that?"
Finn seems to have no idea what to expect.
"I don't know. What about you, Kurosuke?"
[It's grown uniquely over the years, so I can't predict it either. Well, I think it's plant-based.]
Ivy grew from the lake where the magic equipment, said to be of plant origin, was sleeping.
What can be seen at the tip is a leaf shaped like a bivalve —— or a shape like the one I saw in my previous life.
Six of these ghastly bivalve shells, each with its own stinger, emerge from the lake.
"I remember now. It's a Venus's flytrap."
I mutter, and Finn, who was listening, agrees.
"When you mention it, it sure looks like that. Well, I guess it's just a resemblance, but it's not the same thing."
Huge flytraps were attacking the surrounding area indiscriminately.
When it attacked the nearest pseudo-magic equipment, it was pinned down and remained there——.
"W-Why? I'm your ——ally——'
They were pinched and melted in an instant, apparently.
"It's out of control!"
"They must have been forced to activate it. It's a really nasty enemy. That said, there's also the matter of the seeds that were shot out."
The seed that was shot off on the monitor had six legs when it fell on the castle town. When the seed cracks open and becomes a large mouth, it begins to attack the people of the castle town.
It is not pleasant to watch as they attack those nearby with their large mouths.
"This way first, huh."
As I moved the control stick to go to the rescue, a purple armor landed on the castle town.
The armor, which poses in vain, bears six spears.
"Let me take care of this"
.
Part 11
The armor that Brad rode landed in the castle town had a cone-shaped spear in his right hand.
The spear on his back has the same structure, but no other weapons are found.
Looking out from the cockpit, he saw Arroganz and Brave shooting down seeds that were being shot out of the lake.
When the unhandled seeds fall into the castle town, they become monsters and begin to move.
Brad thrusts Spear into the ground and rests his hands on the hilt of the stone.
It is an attitude that shows a relaxed attitude in a hostile environment, but he is not doing it for fun.
Around him, people were being attacked by seeds that appeared to have been fired from magic equipment.
He frowned at the sight.
"It's really ugly. As a nobleman —— as a knight, I can't let this happen to the people I am supposed to protect."
Brad's expression is off and he concentrates, but when he grips the control stick, the magic overflows. The magic sensing device in the cockpit receives it and transmits it to the spear on the back of the armor.
Six spears shot out of his back and flew through the air.
It receives commands from the armor Brad rides in with magic power and executes them.
"My armor is unique in that I can outmaneuver many by myself. I'm the worst match for you."
There is no reply, but that doesn't stop him from making self-affirming statements.
The six Spears that Brad manipulated had optical weapons in them. Leon explains it to Brad as something magic-like.
But Brad isn't stupid either.
He guessed that it was not the magic attacking method.
Spears charge at the seed monsters, pierces them and defeat them.
Then, six Spears soared into the sky and pointed their points at the ground.
"I won't let any of them escape."
As Brad said, lasers fired from the Spear burn the seed monsters.
The people of the castle town were stunned to see such a scene.
Some of the people approach Brad's armor for help.
Brad urges such people to flee from inside the cockpit.
"Get out of here while you still can."
.
Part 12
——When I saw Brad down in the castle town posing, I was a little worried.
However, it is a relief to see him defending the castle town from the seed monsters.
"He can do it if he tries."
When I gave him a rare compliment, Luxion was also impressed.
[It's a single piece of armor that can take on a lot of opponents, but it also requires a lot of skill from the pilot. It may be a matter of compatibility, but Brad is doing very well.]
"Leave the rest to the five idiots, and we'll deal with the magic equipment."
Speaking of being able to focus on dealing with the magic equipment, Finn, swinging his sword and slashing through the seeds, confirms to me about securing the Holy King.
"The king is trying to escape, is that okay?"
"I leave him to them, it'll be fine. Now let's see how we can take this down first ——"
It is a demonic device that produces a giant plant that looks like the flytraps from the lake.
I think about how I can drag it out.
"Let's burn down all those creepy plants and see what the enemy comes up with"
The rifle was stowed in a container and a battle axe was taken out instead.
When Arroganz holds a one-handed battle axe in its right hand, Brave makes a disgusted voice.
[Uwh, I hate that axe. It makes a nasty noise.]
The battle axe is made with a high-speed blade, making it a weapon that specializes in sharpness.
It is a noisy weapon because it inevitably produces a high-pitched sound.
Still, it would be the best way to deal with the current enemy.
"If I cut them all down, will they come out?"
[Cannot assess due to lack of information.]
As Arroganz speeds toward the giant flytrap, the enemy reacts by spreading its bivalve-like leaves and attacks.
I accelerate Arroganz to avoid it, but it causes my body to be pressed against the seat.
Intense movement is still a heavy burden on the pilot——.
"First, one down!"
——Cutting off the flytrap when avoiding it causes the bivalve-like leaves to fall into the lake.
The stalks wiggled and flailed around like tentacles, spraying black liquid from the cut ends.
The other flytraps, perhaps rooted to the spot where they were slashed by Arroganz, begin to move. As they come toward Arroganz with their sights set on it, Finn slashes one of them down.
Finn, showing off his beautiful swordsmanship with the longsword, was also cutting down other flytraps.
Finn's magic equipment, Brave, which spreads his wings and flies freely, slashes through the flytraps and tentacles one after the other.
"Magic equipment isn't bad either. If I consider only the armor, that one is better, right?"
[Why don't you stop saying stupid things and do your job? And if you want to compare the performance of Arroganz, judge it by its overall strength. With a wide variety of optional parts, Arroganz can be flexible and adaptable to any situation. There is no way it can be defeated by magic equipment.]
Because I praised the magic equipment, Luxion, who had become displeased with me, began to talk fast.
"Sorry, don't be mad."
[I am not mad. ——Master, it's coming from below.]
As Arroganz rose in response to Luxion's warning, tentacles and new flytraps appeared.
They emerge one after another from the lake.
From the looks of it, I realized there was no point in defeating the plant that came out of the lake.
"This is meaningless, no matter how hard I tried."
[I have confirmed regeneration and multiplication. It appears that the enemy has activated the magical device using a method that Master does not like.]
"That I don't like?"
I feel my eyebrows furrow. I guess I was more uncomfortable than I thought.
"What should we do?"
[——Arroganz does not choose the battlefield. Einhorn will eject equipment for underwater warfare. Please refit them in the air.]
"I have no experience in underwater combat."
To my displeasure, the tentacles swarm Arroganz.
I fired missiles and burned them down, and those enemies that still could not be defeated were slashed to pieces with the battle axe.
Finn is also being chased around by tentacles.
"In the water? I've only experienced it once."
"If you have, then good, right. Can I leave it to you? I'd like to go back now."
I don't want to be fighting something like a tentacle-controlling demonic creature in a lake.
When I try to push it to Finn, Brave is the first to respond.
[This is your war! You're not forgetting that my partner is just helping you out, are you?]
To Brave's response, Luxion was cold.
[Even if you don't participate, Master's victory will not be shaken. It would be more accurate to say that I let you help.]
[You're a disgusting piece of iron scrap even at a time like this!]
[I have no intention of getting along with the demonic core. Or, as the humans say, "Tuck tail and run". If you are scared, it's okay to run away.]
[Aaahh!! I hate this guuy! Let's do it, buddy!!]
Brave is so cute when he gets teased by Luxion and shows his motivation in a heated manner.
Finn was stunned.
"Calm down, Kurosuke. Then again, if we go underwater too, we won't have time to deal with those plants. I mean, after all that daring, why don't you take care of it yourself, Leon."
After promising to Karl-san that I would end the war relatively peacefully, I had no choice but not to fight.
If I throw the whole job at Finn, Karl-san will grow distrustful of me.
No, Karl-san hates Finn, so would he rather be pleased?
'I've been annoying the bastard Finn!' If I report back to him, I'm sure he'll be overjoyed.
When Luxion began analyzing the forces, it seemed that Finn's prediction was correct.
[The five guys are currently also busy. We are the only ones who are capable of destroying the magic equipment.]
"As expected, I always play the most troublesome role."
As I was flying around in the air to escape from the tentacles and flytraps, a conversion part launched from Einhorn approached me.
It is very difficult to do the transformation in the air, but it is even more difficult when being chased by the enemy. The parts for transformation follow the flying Arroganz, but there is no time to do it.
"A little tough, isn't it?"
Cutting down the tentacles extending to Arroganz with a battle axe.
However, it regenerates from the cut surface and attacks again.
"Let's take a distance——"
As I try to take my distance, Brave appears between Arroganz and the tentacles, spreading its wings.
He slashed away the tentacles with his longsword, which then became a shield for Arroganz.
"Finn!"
"I'll take care of this. You better finish up quickly."
"Great! I'll thank you when we get back."
"I'll wait and not get my hopes up"
The tentacles that had been chasing Arroganz were slashed apart by Brave's longsword.
As I distance myself from the enemy, Luxion performs the transformation.
"Purge the container backpack and legs"
The legs are purged from the knees forward, and the speed of Arroganz decreases as the container is detached.
When the leg parts that were prepared instead are docked, they are thicker than usual, perhaps for underwater use.
The backpack is like two rockets side by side.
As soon as both docked, Luxion checks them.
[The modification has been completed]
In Arroganz's right hand was a spear gun.
As we descended, leaving ourselves in free fall, I let out a deep sigh.
"If things like this were going to happen, I should have tried it out in the water."
Since the main battlefield is the sky, I've avoided this so far, thinking I'd never fight in the water.
'No use regretting it now', Luxion says as soon as Arroganz hits the water.
[Have you reevaluated the performance of Arroganz a little?]
"You're still upset about it? You're a little persistent."
It is a persistence that one would not expect from an artificial intelligence.
.
Part 13
Around the time Leon and others started the underwater battle.
In the chalk castle, the Holy King boarded the airship that had been prepared for him.
The airship boarding area, built in the basement of the castle, was equipped with airships specialized for speed, which the Holy King had prepared for his escape.
The airship is loaded with treasures, and the passengers are royalty and a minimal crew.
And then there are the beautiful women that the Holy King likes.
The Prime Minister comes to the airship boarding area in the castle to escape with them.
"Your Majesty, p-please let me ride too!"
The Prime Minister clings to the Holy King as he tries to get in on the ramp.
He looked terrified, perhaps in fear of the group of Fiend Knight who suddenly appeared and incapacitated most of the allied flying battleships in an instant.
But the Holy King violently shook off the Prime Minister.
"You must remain in the castle until the end and take command."
As they board the airship, the Holy King tells the sailors.
"Leave now. The destination is the Holy Magic Empire of Voldenowa."
"Ha!"
Presumably the Holy King's attitude of abandoning his allies who are fighting and trying to survive would be the proper form of royalty.
The Holy King looked dissatisfied, but he was not that upset.
"As long as I survive, Raschel will rise all over again. Let the fools of the kingdom rejoice in their victory for now."
The Holy King had been planning to go into refuge in the Empire, where he would try to move the world with a plan to overthrow the kingdom, but as his airship exited through a secret passageway, it was struck by a violent tremor.
"W-What's going on?"
The Holy King shouted, and the sailors looked at the scene outside.
What was there was the second ship of the Einhorn class —— Licorne, shining in white.
They must have been waiting at the end of the hidden passage.
"T-That's impossible. How did they find this place?"
As the sailors buzz around, a voice comes from Licorne.
"This is it. Surrender, Holy King."
The Holy King recognized the voice of the other party, who was advising him to surrender without hesitation.
"B-Black-hearted Princess?"
The Holy King collapses to his knees and sits on the floor.
