In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 3

Chapter III: If You’re Prepared, There’s Nothing To Fear! 

“Aha, so this is the Ether Liquid...” Flora had handed me a clear plastic bottle containing about 500ml of emerald-green liquid. It kinda looked like melon soda. Honestly, if it had ice in it, I definitely would’ve chugged it down without any questions. 
“So, how long will this much power a Frame Gear for?” 
“This much should last about a month, you know?” 
“Wow, that long...? I thought it’d be closer to a couple hours or something.” I guess it’s more fuel-efficient than gasoline or kerosene... Actually, that probably wasn’t the case. Given what it took to produce such a small amount, it was unreasonable. 
“I did say that Ether Liquid was a fuel, you know? But it’s actually more akin to something like the human nervous system. It’s a catalytic fluid that spreads the intentions of the pilot throughout their frame gear, you know?” 
“Huh... if it’s really like nerves or blood vessels... is such a small amount really enough?” 
“That’s not a problem, you know. It’s not like the liquid spreads out across the entire machine frame, you know? There’s a thin tube skeleton that stores and spreads the fuel.” Frankly, I didn’t understand. But it didn’t really matter. A Frame Gear was no different to a handy tool in the end. I could operate it despite not knowing precisely how it worked. I decided I should only worry about it when it breaks down. 
“So, how many bottles did you make?” 
“Just this for now, you know? But starting tomorrow, I should be able to make about ten. As for the Ether Ore... I can probably make a further ten until the spellstone wears out, you know?” So if I have ten frame gears... I’ll get a good few months out of that. Yeah, that seems about right... They’re not gonna be moving every day, after all. 
I left the alchemy lab behind and took the Ether Liquid over to Monica in the hangar. 
I passed the liquid to her, and she immediately went over to the Chevalier, my mass-produced Frame Gear. She opened up some of the armor on the rear and pushed the bottle against it. With a sucking kind of clunk noise, I heard the sound of rushing air, and the bottle was swiftly drained of its contents. 
“Woohoo! Like, you can totally start your Frame Gear now if you want! But I must implore you, refrain from activating it within this area, master. You’ll totally damage my precious hangar if you fall over or something!” Aren’t you the one damaging your “precious” hangar with a wrench all the time?! 
Still, she had a point. Activating it in the hangar would be problematic. It’d be easiest to take it back to the Duchy and run the test there too, but that opened up its own set of problems. 
I didn’t think it’d be wise to make the Frame Gears public knowledge just yet, but at the same time it might be prudent to announce they exist so we could better prepare for the Phrase invasion. I didn’t want to think about it too much, but there was a good chance that I’d only be able to defend Brunhild. For that reason, I figured I should get the other nations to cooperate. 
At the very least, I didn’t need to tell anyone about the Phrase just yet. It would only cause unneeded panic. I decided that I would let the other nations know about the Frame Gear. It would be fine if I announced it as an Artifact or something. In that case, they probably wouldn’t find it too strange. 
The primary concern was that other countries might seek to interfere or meddle with my affairs after learning about the Frame Gear. 
I don’t think I needed to worry about the western alliance leaders. They were well aware of what I was capable of, and wouldn’t be inclined to betray me. They’d probably end up nagging me to let them try the Frame Gear, if anything. 
In all honesty, any country that messed with me would sorely regret it, so I didn’t worry very much. It wouldn’t be possible for them to steal it, either. My Frame Gears would be safely stored within the Hangar of Babylon. 
Alright, guess we’ll bring this thing topside and start the testing. I won’t hide it or anything, but... I guess I can afford to show my retainers and knights. 
“Milord... what is this...?” 
“Whoa! Amazing! It’s a real Frame Gear!! Did you make this, Your Highness?!” 
“This... is real? Really? This isn’t an illusion?” The Commander and her Vice-Commanders gathered around, mouths agape as they stared at the Chevalier. Various citizens and knights, equally dumbfounded, were also standing around. That made sense, given how much of an eyesore it was. 
“H-Hey, what the hell is that thing...? Can it move? Can it?” 
“I’d wager he’s tryin’ ta test that out now. Goodness me, squirt. You’ve gone an’ made somethin’ outrageous...” Yamagata and Baba both stared at Chevalier. They, too, were amazed by its very presence. I wanted to take credit, but it wasn’t like I was the creator or anything. 
They probably just assumed I built the Frame Gear because I’m always using [Modeling] to craft this that and the other. I decided I wouldn’t correct their mistake. For the time being at least. 
Kougyoku... is everything prepared properly for Yae?? 
That it is, my liege. She’s ready and waiting to go.? Yae and Kougyoku were both aboard the Chevalier. I hadn’t installed any kind of communication relay, so I was using my summoned beasts for the time being. It wasn’t exactly a big deal to do, so it was a fine workaround. 
I wondered if external speakers and communication devices would be possible upgrades for the Frame Gears. I decided to ask Rosetta about it later on. 
Roger, in that case... Chevalier, launch!? With a rumbling noise, I heard something begin to whir. Lights appeared on the outside of the Frame Gear. I figured it was in the power-up stage. Hot air blew from the exhaust vents on the legs and chest. 
Slowly, but surely, the Chevalier’s right leg moved forward, taking a heavy, thudding step. 
“It really moved...” I didn’t quite hear who said that, but they summed up the feelings of everyone in the area. 
Chevalier took a second step. It began walking forward at a regular pace, took a U-Turn, and returned to its starting position. 
It repeated the motion, but this time moved even faster. Each time it took a crashing step, new vibrations shuddered through the ground. 
Alright, looking good for leg movements so far. Try the upper body now.? On my command, Chevalier stopped in its tracks. Slowly it pulled out the blade attached to its waist. It took several martial stances, cycling between three in quick succession. It moved seamlessly. It didn’t seem there were any issues. 
I chose Yae as the initial test pilot because she was the least magically-attuned person that I knew. I knew that if Yae would be able to move around freely in it, then anyone could. 
Just as I was thinking that, Chevalier suddenly became unbalanced and toppled over on its side. An incredible shock rumbled the earth as it impacted the ground. 
Yae, Kougyoku, are you okay?!? 
O-Owowow... I-I am quite fine, I am. It seems this device absorbs shock quite well. It was quite the fall, and I surely would have hurt myself otherwise. As it stands, my only injury is a slightly bashed elbow, it is.? Yae’s voice was transmitted to me through my connection to Kougyoku. I was glad she wasn’t seriously hurt. 
Rosetta had made a point to mention to me that when the Frame Gear starts up, various magic shields are erected around the cockpit to mitigate damage done to the pilot from jostling. I didn’t realize quite how effective they were until just then. 
The Chevalier stood back upward and began to walk again. Its exterior armor had neither crack nor dent. It was remarkably durable. 
The Frame Gear stopped just before reaching us again. The chest plate folded outward, and out popped Yae and Kougyoku. In tandem with their escape, a cheering applause broke out from all the gathered knights. Gah, you scared me! Yae began to slowly wave to all the cheering people. Don’t let it get to your head, now! 
“So, how was it?” I turned and asked Yae about her first impressions with the thing. 
“It was far easier to move than I had expected, it was. I also thought that it would shake around more, but I was quite stable. It was not much different to the Frame Unit at all, it was not.” Made sense enough to me. The shock absorbers around the cockpit must even suppress the subtle motions of walking. At least that would probably be enough to relieve Linze. She got terrible motion sickness. 
As I was pondering, I heard the start-up sounds coming from the Frame Gear again. I turned around to find that Chevalier was active and strolling about. 
“Wha- Who?!” 
“I-I’m sorry... sis just went and...” Linze, whose face was terribly flustered, began profusely apologizing to me. Damn you, Elze! It’s supposed to be my turn! She was robbing me of a man’s romance. It was the dream of all young men to ride around in a giant robot! It was true that I had given up the first time to Yae for testing purposes, but that didn’t mean I wanted to give up the second time, too! I looked over at the now-running Chevalier, and stomped my foot a little bit. It was... really cool, though. Its movements were super intense. The Chevalier started doing acrobatic leaps alongside deft punches and kicks. It didn’t seem to move with any difficult at all. It was at that moment I realized just how cool Frame Gears were. 
After a short while, Elze was seemingly satisfied. She leaped out of the chest covering with glee. 
“Whoa! That thing was so much fun! It moved just like how I thought it would! Looks like all that practice in the Frame Unit paid off, eh?” 
“Yeah, you did great! But it was my turn, you know!” 
“Pssh... don’t sweat the small stuff. Shouldn’t you be acting a little more regal? You are the grand duke, after all.” 
“Sh-Shut up! You knew how much I wanted to ride it, damn it! You robbed me of my rightful place!” I was reminded of an incident that had occurred once at the bus stop. An elderly woman cut in from the side and got on the bus ahead of me. She pretended to look at the timetable until the last minute. What a horrid old hag. Nobody should ever, ever cut in line. Cutting in line is what evil people do. Even babies know that! 
As I lost myself in that unpleasant memory, I once again heard the whirring start-up noise of the Chevalier. “Wh— Hey— No!!” I turned around and, sure enough, the Frame Gear was fully operational again. Why is this happening?! It’s my robot! I wanna ride it! “Who the hell is riding that thing?! Answer me!” 
“...It is Norn, it is. She suddenly yelled something about her being next, and charged on ahead, she did.” Yae apprehensively answered me, backing away a little as she spoke. 
Gaaah! Damn you, you wolfy bitch! You’re a lowly Vice-Commander, how dare you?! As I indulged myself in angry thoughts, I turned and noticed everyone was lining up and waiting their turn. Hey, what?! What the heck?! What about my turn?! 
I’d just educated everyone on the importance of never cutting in line, so I’d be damned if I used my kingly presence to disobey my own rules... even if it was frustrating. Thus, I joined the line like everyone else, taking my place at the back. Everyone trailed me with their eyes, it was super goddamn embarrassing. 
Don’t look at me like that! I’m not pathetic, I’m just waiting my turn! Guess I don’t really have any choice here, huh... Damn it... This sucks! 

After I first debuted the Frame Gear, the number of people lining up to use the Frame Unit became unreasonable. 
Not that I could do too much to change the situation, since the game room was a prescribed place for the knights to spend their free time. Unanimously, they all decided that they’d train in the simulators immediately after their regularly scheduled daily training. 
If this world had something akin to workers’ rights and standards, then I might’ve had to worry about having formal action taken against me. Then again, it’s not like I was forcing them to do anything. Everyone was training of their own free will. 
There were also others like Baba and Naito, who weren’t especially interested in piloting anything. They saw it as more of a game than anything else. Plus, the Frame Gear itself was my personal property, rather than something owned by Brunhild, so they weren’t sure if they were even allowed to pilot it. 
I reassured myself by rationalizing that we wouldn’t need to use the Frame Gears unless an Intermediate or Advanced Phrase broke through, and that was surely unlikely. 
It didn’t shake the fears deep inside me, however.

“It is a most esteemed pleasure to make your acquaintance at last, Grand Duke of Brunhild. My name is Relisha Millian. I’m the Guildmaster, and as such I take charge of all formal guild operations throughout the land.” I was faced with a young woman, around 20 years old or so. She was standing in my throne room, bowing her head. Her hair was a dazzling golden-blonde, quite long too. Her skin was remarkably pale, and her shoulders were adorned with a green mantle. The girl held a silver sword about her waist. 
She was definitely attractive, but what had captivated me was not her stunning face. It was her long, knifepoint ears. 
“...Are you as of yet unacquainted with Elvenfolk?” 
“Ah, sorry... excuse my rudeness.” I smiled bashfully as my apologetic reflexes kicked in. My suspicions had been confirmed, an elf she was indeed. I didn’t even know that this world had elves. 
I didn’t really have much knowledge of fantasy settings, but as I recalled the Elves were haughty folk with bows, often proficient in magic. They tended to inhabit the forests as well. That being said, conventional fantasy knowledge from my world wasn’t all that relevant here. The rules could be different. 
It was possible this woman was quite old despite her young features, even. Leen the fairy, for example, looked years younger than her real age. 
“Our guild takes great pride in knowing that one of its members is not only a monarch, but one of our rare silver-rank adventurers.” 
“A-Aha... Well, it wasn’t all me, there were a lot of circumstances that ended up superimposing, and...” Forget it. I’ll just leave it... Kinda feels like she’s sizing me up like a pretty gem, though... Not that I dislike her looking or anything. 
“Well then, what’s your business here today?” 
“Ah, yes. I’ve arrived in your most beautiful Brunhild with a glowing opportunity. I would very much like to establish a branch of the Adventurer’s Guild here.” 
“Huh? But why? You know there aren’t any magic beasts or monsters around this area, right?” I’d pretty much hunted every local creature to extinction during the country’s founding. Then again, it had been a while... no telling what manner of beasties might’ve crawled over. 
“Pardon my rudeness, but if I might be frank... the slaughter of outrageous beasts is not the primary function of the Adventurer’s Guild. Nay, what marks the true essence of our guild is the spirit of camaraderie, helping out troubled citizens in their day-to-day lives.” 
“Oh, I see...” She raised a fair point. It wasn’t just monster-hunting quests on the guild board. I just happened to avoid looking at the miscellaneous requests. It was likely that a lot of adventurers were helping fetch things for needy people in their daily struggles. After all, helping out the common man is what spreads your name around. 
If all the Guild dealt in was slaughter, it wouldn’t really be convenient to open up a Brunhild branch. 
“Alrighty then. I don’t think it’ll be a problem. If you could consult with old man Naito on the finer details like placement, I’m happy to have you.” 
“Aha! Thank you so much! Now... if I might make one other request.” Hmm? There’s something else? The Elven Guildmaster slowly raised her head, smiling softly as she did so. 
“I’m here to deliver a personal quest from the Guild to you, dear Silver-rank adventurer, most esteemed Mochizuki Touya... There is a Behemoth that we require you to destroy.” 
“A... Behemoth?!” Kousaka, who had idly been standing by my throne until that point, suddenly lost all his composure. I had no idea what they were talking about. I decided to ask him. 
“Sorry, what’s a Behemoth?” 
“...A Behemoth is, as the name suggests, an enormous magical beast. I suppose you could consider it an aberrant or a mutation. Every so often a beast of this type will appear. Their size varies, but most become considerably larger than buildings.” Wow, holy shit. Sounds kind of like a kaiju... I’d never even heard of these things before... Then again, if they were a rare mutation that shouldn’t be all too surprising. 
“Behemoths are typically killed in infancy due to their horrendous growth potential. But, in some rare instances, the creature may grow to full maturity beyond the prying gaze of civilization. This usually happens if the creature is born atop a high mountain, deep below the sea, or simply in uncharted territory.” Relisha continued the explanation. You’d expect that kind of thing to stand out a bit, but the total population of this world wasn’t that great, so it only makes sense that there’d be places where monsters could grow undisturbed. 
“We’re usually fine if the creature simply lives quietly in uncharted areas away from mankind, but now and then they’ll come across civilization and begin ravaging towns. When this happens, it’s not unusual for an entire country’s military to be mobilized in an attempt to suppress the beast. In cases like this, casualty rates are abhorrently high, and even after defeating the monster, the country affected is put into dire straits.” 
“So, where is this thing?” 
“Ah, yes. The Behemoth has appeared in the Sea of Trees. But, according to eyewitness reports, it is barreling due east and is on a direct course to meet the Kingdom of Ryle. Its current trajectory also means that, en route, it will rampage through and annihilate a small town, Tem.” Ryle... if I remember right, that place borders the Sea of Trees directly... If that monster bursts out of the forest and attacks, they’ll be completely done for. I had doubts that I could actually take it down solo, but it seemed I was without a choice... 
“So wait... why have you come to make this request of me, specifically?” 
“With all due respect, your Grand Dukeliness... we’ve heard rumors that you have something that could fight on par with a Behemoth. Rumors that the grand duke of Brunhild has a mighty giant serving his army, an enormous knight.” 
Oh. She’s totally talking about the Frame Gear, huh. I should’ve expected someone to notice soon, but I didn’t know the Guild would be the first ones to bring it up. 
Hrmph... what to do. My country’ll be fine if I say no, but I’ll be kind of uncomfortable if that town gets annihilated. 
“Is this request straight from the Ryle Kingdom?” 
“It is. Naturally the reward would be plentiful.” 
“Open Map. Region around Ryle. Search, Behemoth.” 
“Understood. Displaying Map.” The map was projected before my eyes, and a single pin fell down. I’d never seen a Behemoth before, but the search spell worked because I knew what to expect. 
The Kingdom of Ryle was a nation just to the southeast of Ramissh. According to the map, the Behemoth was absolutely on the way to Tem. 
Hm... this might be a good chance to test out the Frame Gear’s capabilities, but... Oho... 
“Excuse me. In regards to the reward... I’d like to make an additional request.” 
“...Yes, and what would that be?” I ran a small search on my Map, then turned to the now-confused Relisha. 
“In the Kingdom of Ryle... uhm... yeah, here. I’d like permission to excavate these three spots as my reward. There are spellstones buried here, and I want them.” 
“Hm... They don’t seem to be too large, so I could probably get permission. Give me a moment to ask them.” Huh? Give you a moment? What’s that supposed to mean? Relisha brought out a small black B6-sized slate and started writing on it with a pen. After a short while, it shone with a dim light and the words faded into it, vanishing. 
“What’s that?” 
“It’s an Artifact known as a Tracebook. It’s actually part of a set. Any words you write on one will be delivered to the matching Tracebook. It’s a powerful tool that allows the rapid exchange of information... My guilds use them to coordinate. But it’s only really valuable to those that hold managerial positions such as myself and the respective branch managers.” Heh, that’s cool. Kind of like a rudimentary e-mail. It’s actually more convenient than my Gate Mirrors, since the messaging is instant. I wonder how rare these are... probably aren’t many. 
The Gate Mirrors were convenient in that they could be mass-produced, though. So they had that going for them. Also only I could create them. It’s likely that the Tracebook artifact was used during the days of Partheno, the ancient civilization. 
I took Relisha to the guest room rather than the audience hall, since there was no telling how long a reply might take. The guild contact in Ryle probably had to run off to the royal castle and relay the request. In the meantime, I decided to probe more about this Behemoth. 
“So, this Behemoth... what kind of monster is it?” 
“To put it simply... it’s an enormous, twin-tailed scorpion. It has been given the name ‘Scorpinas.’ We’ve heard that it moves slowly due to its lumbering form... The same can be said of all Behemoths, regardless of type. But its pincers are supposedly sharp as razors, and it can fire venom from its tail.” Venom? Goddamn... Well, from what I understand the Frame Gear deploys a basic protective barrier around the cockpit... but maybe I should see about bringing over a shield or something. 
I called over Naito and consulted with him on the construction of a guild branch. It’d be good to get some adventurers rolling in, but I didn’t want any altercations or incidents going on in my town, so we decided to build it in the west side of town, rather than dead center. 
Apparently a guild-endorsed bar also needed to be built alongside the guildhall. After hearing that, I finalized plans to install a knight order guardsmen post in the area. Didn’t want any drunkards causing trouble, after all. 
After we got all that sorted, the Tracebook suddenly started glowing. Relisha had her response. 
“Your request has been approved. They’re absolutely fine with relinquishing the spellstones in those spots to you. Only after the quest is fulfilled, of course. We, the guild, will also act as witness to this.” Alright! We’ll be able to create more Ether Liquid after this... that’s a net positive. I had tried to use [Modeling] to clump a bunch of smaller spellstones together... but the carving incantation didn’t work at all, so that approach was useless. Even spellstones of the same type wouldn’t resonate together and make the Ether Liquid. The differences between them, however subtle, were enough to disturb the flow of magical energy between them. 
To put it in simple terms... mincemeat will turn into a hamburger if you mash it all together, but it will never become a sirloin steak. 
“Alright then, challenge accepted. I’ll deal with it right away.” 
“Thank you.” I parted with Relisha and went up to Babylon. I told Cesca to move fast in the direction of the Behemoth. I didn’t want it reaching Ryle. I figured it would be better to get Babylon moving there sooner rather than later, in case unforeseen events ended up complicating things. 
After leaving the garden, I walked over to the hangar. 
I passed Chevalier’s garage and went to the next one over. This one held a dark black knight with a mace and heavy shield. 
This one was a tad larger than the Chevalier. It was a commander-style unit known as the Knight Baron. The most eye-catching thing about it was its big horn that jutted out from the forehead. It wasn’t there originally, but I put it there. I thought a commander-style unit should look a little cooler. 
Rosetta told me that it was about one and a half times as strong as Chevalier. That was a pretty precise number. Made me wonder if it’d become three times as strong if I painted it red. 
“Hm...? Master? Like, Babylon is totally moving and stuff...” Monica, up on Knight Baron’s pauldron, was making some adjustments as she called to me. 
“Hey, Monica. Can Knight Baron deploy?” 
“I see no matters of concern, master. I’ve made all relevant modifications. It’s like, totally fueled with Ether Liquid, too!” Great. Then we’ll give it a try, the Behemoth can be its first foe. Finally I get to try a real combat test with this thing... 
Oho, that actually makes me wonder... Will the Behemoth’s raw materials after its death be useful? I’m willing to bet it’ll provide a pretty penny, plus the carapace should be good for defense. I’m an adventurer on a mission! A mission for pocket change! I’ll do my best, darn it! 

After a while, Babylon found itself floating above the skies of the Ramissh Theocracy. We were well on our way toward the Sea of Trees, and the Behemoth. 
“Rosetta, did you install the communication device like I asked?” 
“Bet your butt I did, master! With this device, you’ll be able to transmit messages between individual Frame Gears, as well as directly to Babylon itself, indeed. Uhm, there’s like, a private channel and a loudspeaker as well!” 
The Frame Gear’s chest hatch closed, and I found myself tuned to three channels. All three were connected to Monica’s receiver, outside. 
“Do you read me, Monica?” 
“Loud and clear, my master. Pitch-perfect, even!” Monica waved her arms for the camera, and I heard her voice too. That was good, there were no issues with the audio channels. 
Well, I guess we’d see how it fared outside properly later on. It was a solo mission though, so it’s not like we’d be able to test out communication between individual Frame Gears either. 
“Master. We’re steadily approaching our target. The beast is in my sights. It has emerged from the trees and is rampaging amidst the woodlands on Ryle’s outskirts. Once I’ve brought us right above it, prepare to drop.” 
“Gotcha.” Cesca’s voice rang out through the cockpit. I checked all the meters, gauges, and monitors before channeling magic through the operational device. The engine fired up. 
With a rumbling sound, the Knight Baron finally woke up. 
Monica, reflected on my monitor, guided me over to the elevator. I walked the Knight Baron there with little difficulty. The elevator slowly descended to the hangar’s lowest level. 
If this was an anime, I might’ve said a cliche line like “Lift-off!” or “Launch!” and fired off with a catapult-like device, but... I wasn’t firing off into the void of space, and Knight Baron wasn’t equipped to fly. 
In a rather undignified manner, I simply jumped out of the hangar from an opening on its lowest level. We were flying at a low altitude by a plane’s standards, but we were actually pretty high up in the air. In all honesty, I did sort of get cold feet just before I jumped, but don’t tell anyone that. 
My rate of descent began to rapidly decrease. I noticed after a little looking around that it was due to thrusters on the legs and the back of the Frame Gear. It made me wonder if it worked similarly to [Levitation]. 
I carried on dropping to the ground, my fall slowed by the thrusters. Once I landed, there wasn’t much in the way of an impact. Apparently I was gonna get winched back up to Babylon with a wire when this was all over. I wasn’t sure if that was the most efficient way to go... I figured I’d be fine using a [Gate] to return. 
From my position on the field, I saw the two-tailed scorpion. It was rampaging right in my direction. It was big. Bigger than I thought. 
Scale-wise... if the Frame Gear was a person, then the creature was surely the size of a double-decker bus. 
In stark contrast to its low, flat body, its two pincers were bulging and enormous. I knew I’d be blasted away if one of those things hit me, Frame Gear or not. ...It’d be even worse if one managed to catch me. 
“...I guess this’ll be decided by whoever strikes first.” I gripped my mace firmly in my right hand, and established a heavy stance with the shield in my left. The Black Knight Frame Gear, Knight Baron, valiantly charged toward Scorpinas. 
Suddenly, the Behemoth stirred, as if noticing my advance. It pointed two tails in my direction. In a manner reminiscent of a water gun, two streams of purple liquid came spraying out of its tails. 
Luckily I’d expected that kind of move, and deftly raised my shield to block it. 
“If you’re prepared, there’s nothing to f... Wh-What?!” A smoldering, foul smoke was emanating from my shield. W-Wait a sec... it’s melting?! This isn’t just venom... it’s acid! Another few blasts of that’ll take out my shield entirely! 
Fortunately for me, the attack had slowed the creature a bit. I ran along its side and aimed at one of its tails, bringing down my mace with all my might. 
With a cracking noise, the carapace sort of splintered a bit, but that was all. What, it’s that tough?! Scorpions are more related to spiders than crayfish, aren’t they?! Why is its carapace that hard?! Is evolutionary biology different in this world or something?! As I was taken by surprise by the Behemoth’s firm carapace, it attacked the Knight Baron with its pincers. 
“Oh geez!” As the creature lunged, I swung a mace down onto its head. Once again its armor absorbed most of the impact, but it was still staggered slightly. Before I could make a follow-up attack, it blasted acid out of its tails again. 
“Damn it...” I raised my shield again to block, but it was severely weakened. Taking advantage of a blind spot, the creature followed up with a strike from its pincers, and I reflexively moved to block it with my shield as well. 
“...Damn it!” The scorpion had caught the shield in its pincers. Sensing danger, I let go and jumped back. 
The half-melted shield was easily crushed beneath the menacing pincer. That thing was gonna be a serious issue. “Guess I’m gonna have to go all-out... Monica, drop down the battlehammer!” 
“Yessir! Like, totally dropping the battlehammer now and stuff!” A massive black warhammer dropped from the sky. It caused a heavy impact as it smacked into the ground, and I cast aside my mace while deftly dodging the Behemoth’s blows. I grabbed the heavy instrument with both hands. 
“Magic Finetune. First Slot, Release!” I turned a switch next to the control joystick, slowly tuning my magic out into the Knight Baron’s hands. It flowed from those hands straight into the battlehammer. 
“[Gravity].” The battlehammer had its weight mostly reduced, allowing me to dexterously shoulder it. I saw my chance and made a running jump toward the Behemoth. As I fell toward it, I inverted my magic, amplifying the default weight of the battlehammer several times over. 
With a boom and a sickening crunch, the earth rumbled. Scorpinas was no more. Its body convulsed as its internal organs furiously burst out from its carapace. It was goddamn hideous to watch. 
“...Outstanding. You’ve done it, master.” Monica spoke quiet, amazed words. It ended up being way tougher than I expected. Still, not a bad result at all against a foe that was meant to be challenged by far more people. My shield was also completely busted. Rosetta was definitely gonna yell at me. Whatever the result, I had won. That was all that mattered. 
...Might’ve overdone it a little bit, though... is anyone even gonna want to buy this gross stuff? I heaved a defeated sigh as I looked out over the mangled, misshapen remains of what was once Scorpinas. 
“What... I... I simply can’t believe you’ve defeated it already.” I’d used [Gate] to bring Relisha over to Scorpinas’ corpse. Mostly because she had difficulty understanding that it was dead. 
It seemed that there were no firm rules on what part to bring the Guild in the event of destroying a Behemoth, because the very idea of it being a solo job was something unthinkable. It was originally a scorpion, though... so I figured pincers would probably be enough. 
With the guildmaster as my witness, there wasn’t likely to be much in the way of trouble. Relisha called out some guild staff from Tem using her Tracebook, and they began to appraise and purchase the raw materials left behind by the carcass. Thankfully, they were handling the harvesting part as well. Honestly it was damn disgusting, I didn’t wanna touch that gooey stuff. 
“Well... It is done.” 
“Hm?” Relisha handed my guild card back to me. It was pure gold. It looked pretty, but maybe a little unnecessarily gaudy. 
“You’ve attained the highest rank possible. Gold-rank. The only people in the world who hold this title are you, Grand Duke, and the former King of Lestia, the Knight Kingdom.” 
“Lestia? There’s a Knight Kingdom?” 
“Indeed, it’s a military kingdom of knights. Just to the east of Ryle.” Hoho, that sounds interesting... The other Gold must be extremely strong. He must be a Warrior King or something. But she did just say he’s the former king, so maybe he’s retired. 
I was reminded that my guild card also had three titles tied to it. Dragon Slayer, Golem Buster, and Demon Killer... But nothing got added this time around. 
Well, it’s not like this is a quest people would ever reasonably be expected to do solo, so they don’t have a title for it. Plus, Relisha definitely wouldn’t have asked me if she didn’t know about the Frame Gear. Well, I guess something like Behemoth Hunter wouldn’t sound that cool anyway. 
“By the way... your warrior. What a frightening Artifact it is. With power like that, invading a foreign nation would prove little concern.” Relisha muttered as she looked over at the Knight Baron. As I’d expected, the people of this world wouldn’t consider it too lightly. 
“It’s called a Frame Gear. It’s the creation of a genius (pervert) doctor from an ancient civilization. It was created to save the world.” 
“To save the world...?” 
“You’re the guildmaster, so you should know about them... the strange crystal creatures that have been popping up all over the world lately, as if from nowhere.” 
“Kh...!” Relisha’s expression grew darker. As I’d thought, she knew about them. The adventurer’s guild was an organization that spanned the world, so if anyone knew it’d be her. Plus, with the Tracebook keeping her updated about all the happenings, there’s no way she wouldn’t know. 
“...You are correct, yes. We’ve had reports of them from pretty much every branch. Swords cannot slice them, magic does nothing... they regenerate, with bodies of pure crystal. They destroy bands of mercenaries and villages with ease, and they’ve been growing stronger with each appearance.” 
“Those creatures are the Phrase, Relisha. They’re beings that appeared once before, and destroyed the ancient world.” 
“What?!” Relisha’s entire body stiffened, and her eyes surveyed me with cold surprise. I wanted to avoid widespread panic by revealing the Phrase to the world, but Relisha and her guild would be a powerful asset. If I had her cooperation, it would become easier to coordinate, so I decided to let her in on it. 
With a calm tone, I slowly disclosed carefully-chosen bits of information to the guildmaster. 
“The world’s boundaries... invaders from another world... S-Surely if I didn’t know about those crystal creatures, I’d treat this as a bad joke, but...” Relisha gulped and muttered to herself after hearing my words. Naturally I neglected to mention Babylon and the Sovereign Core, such matters were unnecessary for securing her aid. 
Still, she seemed to believe me. Rather, it was better for her that she believed me, since the Phrase were causing considerable trouble all over for the guild. 
“I don’t know if the Phrase will begin a large-scale invasion, nor do I know when it would happen. What I do know is that if it does happen, we will be annihilated. For that reason, I’m reviving the Frame Gears in the current age.” ...Also robots are cool, and I wanted to ride one. 
I didn’t think it was possible to take out intermediate or advanced Phrase without a Frame Gear. Plus, in the case of the advanced ones, I wasn’t even sure a whole squad of Frame Gears could stand against them and win. That’s why I had to start preparing things faster. We didn’t know how much time we had left to do any preparing, after all. 
After a while spent staring at my black knight, Relisha turned to me and spoke up. 
“Very well. I will report this information to the central guild headquarters. I will obtain as much information about these creatures as I can, and I will report them to you, Your Highness.” 
“Thank you so much. But please, keep the information about the impending invasion to yourself. It’s not certain yet, after all.” 
“Yes, of course. There’s no reason to begin an unnecessary large-scale panic. All this information will stay with me.” Now that I’d secured the guild’s cooperation, I’d be able to know about incidents as they happened. Not that I wanted to hear incidents were actually happening, I’d prefer the Phrase to stay home. 
Due to the massive amount of material processed, the guild worked out a deal with me to pay me the cash a bit later on. 
Relisha decided to remain at the guild hall to handle the paper pushing side of things, so I returned the Knight Baron to the hangar using [Gate]. 
After that, I used [Fly] to head to the excavation sites and dig out the spellstones one by one. There were three spellstones. One blue, one green, and one yellow. With those spellstones secured, I’d be able to create more Ether Liquid, and create more Frame Gears. 
I placed all three of them into [Storage], and opened up a [Gate] back to Babylon. 

While the Frame Gear and Ether Liquid continued their production, my daily life didn’t change at all. That was normal, of course. 
After a few days had passed, the guild paid out the reward money and the money I gained from selling off the raw materials. Honestly, the amount was frankly obscene. I decided to keep it as an emergency reserve, in case there was an issue with the Frame Gears or something. 
I used my [Gate] to head right for the hangar. Once I got there, I peeked my head into the Knight Baron’s hangar, only to find Rosetta and Monica grumbling as they removed its armor plating. 
“What’s up?” 
“We’re working uhm, pretty hard, master! The Knight Baron’s arms are damaged, so we’re repairing them.” Huh? But it’s only deployed once. I didn’t even notice the arms take damage. 
“Sir, this Frame Gear is not damaged due to damage sustained from the enemy during battle, sir! This Frame Gear was strained and warped due to the burden of your magic, sir!” 
“Huh?” 
“Uhm, like... your magical output is way too overpowering and stuff. Your magic is tremendously pure, so when the Frame Gear amplifies it... Well, the parts affixed to the Knight Baron simply can’t endure it.” Huh, so that’s how it works? Does this mean I can’t go all-out? “The Chevalier and the Knight Baron are both old model Frame Gears, sir! We would be able to improve that on newer models, sir!” 
“Newer models?” 
“The uhm... models that were left behind by the professor as planning documents, and stuff. We have basic models that serve as the foundation for other planned units, the Skeleton Frames. There were plans for a close-combat Gear, a ranged Gear, a reflexive Gear, and various other different types using the Skeleton Frame as the base. And, uhm... it would be totally customizable and stuff! That way you could make it super-duper unique and specialized for individual pilots! These things hypothetically wouldn’t even need Ether Liquid to function. But not a single one of these reached fruition. They’re mere designs, after all.” Well, that sounds awesome. Having a Frame Gear specifically attuned to my style would be cool. So would the ability to swap out parts... It’d be cool to make at least one. 
“So, where’s the blueprint for this one?” 
“Like, totally in the storehouse...” Yup. Sounds about right. If I recall correctly, the storehouse gynoid is some kind of a klutz, too... Makes me wonder if such blueprints even lasted this long... 
Considering so many artifacts are scattered across the surface world already... It’d be a wonder if the thing wasn’t burned to hell. 
“Well, my master... I think it prudent for the time being that you refrain from using magic inside a Frame Gear.” 
“Seriously?” 
“Totally seriously! I don’t wanna, like, have to repair or toss out a Frame Gear every single time! There are only the two of us here as maintenance staff, after all.” Hmph... I guess I can’t say anything when she puts it like that. Even though Frame Gears are being produced constantly at the workshop, I still need to count on these two to maintain the stuff at the hangar... Wait, hold on. “Couldn’t we just use the workshop to make a new Frame Gear from the busted remains of the black knight one?” 
“You’re like, suggesting we use production materials for, uhm... other Frame Gears and use them to beef up the Knight Baron? That’s somewhat of an unorthodox treatment...” 
“Oh, no... I mean just toss this broken one into the workshop and break it down for parts, then...” 
“Sir! With all due respect, sir! If we dismantled this Frame Gear in the workshop all of its battle memory and tuning data would be completely lost, sir! Do you really want to fight over and over with a low-tier level 1 Frame Gear for the rest of your miserable days, sir?!” The two of them looked at me with scorn. Seems I’d said something I definitely should not have. “Th-Then... what if we just extract that battle data and transfer it over to a new frame...” 
“And like, just who would be handling that job, y’know? I don’t believe you’re quite aware of the painstaking process, nor how long it would take to transfer the data from a mere level two frame.” 
“Excuse me, sir! And with all due respect again, sir! It must be mighty fine to drill sergeant yell at us about something you’re completely ignorant about, sir! When we replace even one part, we have to restore all the mana circuits and fine-tune all the settings... and now you’re asking us to completely do everything from the ground up every time your sorry ass goes out and wrecks our creations... sir?!” Warning sirens were blaring in my head. The two of them stared at me with cold, dead eyes. In the end, they quietly pressured me into shutting up. Their eyes were pleading with me not to break the machine. Battle damage was fine, but what I was doing was the same as trashing my own toys. 
I quickly ran away before they beat me up or something. 
I guess even they had their limits. Naturally they’d be mad, it was like telling your PC repairman what was wrong with your computer while insisting you needed all those freeware toolbars on your internet explorer browser. It was true, all I had was knowledge of modern-era Japan. I was speaking out of my ass, and really should’ve held my tongue. 
I decided to leave the hangar alone for a little while. Didn’t want those two blowing up at me again... 

After fleeing Rosetta and Monica’s ire, I decided to have a little walk about. There were many rice paddies and patches of cultivated agricultural land in the eastern part of Brunhild at this point, so I paid them a visit. 
“Oho, Your Highness?” I turned toward the voice, and found myself face-to-face with a young woman. 
She was a woman, but not a conventional one by any means. She stood with ivy twined around her body, flowers adorning her green-colored hair, a petal-like skirt adorned her waist, and leaves flowed down her back like wings. This was a woman, but not a human one. She was an alraune. 
She was one of the five demi-humans I had recruited to my knight order. 
“Oh hey. Your name was... Lakshy, right?” 
“It was! A member of the knight order, Lakshy the alraune.” She flashed an innocent little smile, and then saluted at me. ...You aren’t a policewoman, you know. 
“Why are you here, my liege?” 
“Oh well... I was just here for an inspection of the place. What about you?” 
“Well, today’s my day off so... I was helping out around the field!” Wow, that’s impressive. Alraune are demonkin... but they’re also plants. I guess farming is a good vocation for them. 
“How have you adapted to living here, Lakshy?” 
“Very well, thank you. Everyone is very kind toward me. I’m doing very well, and trying my best. Now and then I get travelers who are frightened to see me, but it’s not so bad!” Demonkin and their ilk were the subject of extreme prejudice. In some countries, they’re even segregated and ostracized. Though, they’re rarely the subject of physical abuse. Demonkin are far stronger than the average human for the most part. 
People tend to avoid them, just because of how they were born. In some especially cruel places, there are even rumors that touching someone of demonkin ancestry will kill or curse you. It was pretty messed up. 
“If I recall... you come from the demon country, right?” 
“That’s correct. I hail from a place far across the sea to the north-east. The country is called Xenoahs. The environment is harsh, but my kind aren’t too bothered by things like that.” The Demon Kingdom, Xenoahs... From the name alone, it projected the image of a wicked nation that sought to dominate the world, but apparently it just functioned like a regular nation. 
The citizens there were demonkin, and they largely didn’t interact with human nations. It wasn’t that they were naturally isolated or anything, they just didn’t seem all that interested in opening dialogue with the other nations. Due to this, not a lot is known about the country itself. 
The leader of the country is known as the overlord, and his closest aides are known as the four lords... That doesn’t really help their image, at least in my mind. Lakshy told me that it was quite a pleasant place, though. 
To be honest, I didn’t really think humans and demonkin needed to be so worried about each other. The biggest issue was just that a good chunk of humanity was fearful of the demonkin for no good reason. I was pretty sure if they interacted normally, there’d be nothing stopping members of the two species becoming friends. 
Well, you could also say the problem was on the demonkin’s part, for not trying to be more open with humanity... They were probably more cautious and shy, rather than actively disliking mankind. 
“This country is quite pleasant, as well. I’m happy I took the plunge and applied for the order.” 
“I’m happy to hear that, Lakshy. I’ll be counting on you.” 
“Yes, my lord!” I didn’t want to interfere too much in the fieldwork, so I left Lakshy to her duties and went back to the town. There I saw another demonkin. He was standing where the guild was being constructed. 
He was about three meters tall and had a red-brown body. His arms were like tree trunks and two horns protruded from his white hair. He was an ogre. 
He was lumbering around, completely bare-chested. It seems he was hauling lumber for the construction team. His power was that of five well-trained men. A frightful fellow indeed. 
“Och, boss-man. Good ta see ya.” 
“Hey there, Samsa. You off-duty as well?” 
“Sure am. I eat about as much as three fellers, though... so my wages from work ain’t much ta go on, aye? I spoke ta Naito aboot it, an’ he fixed me up with this job. Now me belly’s fuller’n ever!” Samsa the ogre smiled as broadly as he could, which... was quite broad. He certainly was the right man for the job. His strength wasn’t something to scoff at. I had no doubt that he’d be able to eat plentifully at the guild bar too, since he’s clearly gonna be the one building most of it. 
Apparently Samsa wasn’t much of a combat-oriented person, which surprised me a bit. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the body for it, he most definitely did... it was that his character wasn’t well-suited for it. To put it bluntly, there was a part of him afraid of fighting. 
Still, I didn’t see that as a fatal flaw for a knight like Samsa. The knight order wasn’t solely a force for war, they were also meant to be there to help the people, and that’s something the friendly ogre was more than willing to go above and beyond to do. 
His strength right now was benefiting the entire nation, and there was not an injured enemy in sight. 
“Keep up the good work. Here, take this... Make sure to enjoy it with everyone when today’s work is over, okay?” I pulled out two enormous chunks of cloth-wrapped boar meat from [Storage], then set them on the ground. 
“Astoundin’... Thank ye kindly, boss. I’ll give it me all, aye?” Samsa lugged his timber and flashed me a sincere smile. He certainly was industrious. I pondered a little about him, figuring his large frame must cause trouble now and then. I doubted he’d be able to enter most buildings, given he was wider than a door... But he seemed happy, so I didn’t dwell on it too much. 
I decided there and then that I wanted to make the country better for my people. Some more civic buildings would be a wise idea. A school was definitely necessary. I couldn’t go about neglecting the youth of tomorrow. 
I slowly walked home to my castle, pondering what more I could do for my people as I watched a group of kids all run home. 

“Whoa, amazing! It’s seriously flying?!” 
“Hey, hey... Milord! Is this some kind of magic?! Is it?!” 
“Nope, no magic at all. It’s just basic dynamics, using the wind to fly.” Well, what I was doing was sort of like magic, I supposed. I tugged a string in my hand, causing a kite to smoothly rise up into the air. The children gazed up, completely awestruck as it sailed on the winds. 
After a while, I handed over the kite to one of the kids, and quickly made a ton more to prevent their envious eyes growing ever-greedier. 
All of them began to manipulate their kites with a surprising level of finesse. I didn’t even have to show them much. 
As they played, my eyes instinctively scanned the surrounding area for Olba the merchant, I half-expected him to appear as if from nowhere and ask for the rights to the product. But alas, he did not. Well, it’s not like it would’ve been reasonable for him to just pop up out of thin air. 
I sat beneath the shade of a tree and cast out my kite, taking care not to tangle the string in any branches. I’d moved to a secluded spot away from town, so as to not disturb the people with my playing. 
Man... it’s peaceful... It’d be nice if every day was as peaceful as this. 
Rosetta and Monica were hard at work fixing up my broken Knight Baron. They quite menacingly rejected my idea to just build a new one every time. 
Apparently, if you continued to use the same Frame Gear in battle, its response time and magical affinity would become more attuned and acute. I figured it might be a good idea to accumulate a lot of experience and maneuvering data in one frame, then port it to another personal frame at some point in the future... If we managed to make any of the new types, that is. 
In game terms it’d be like... leveling up a character in one game, then being able to use his stats in the sequel. 
We didn’t have much in the way of repair staff, so that’d probably be the best way to go about it. 
I voiced my concerns about the staff limitations to Rosetta, and she told me there were miniature repair robots that were designed to autonomously repair damage done to the Frame Gears. Apparently there were quite a lot of them, and they repaired stuff in a flash. 
“Robots like that would solve all our problems! Where are they, then?” 
“The storehouse, sir!” 
“Gah!” That Doctor Babylon was too protective of her stuff... It was annoying that she’d put so many important things in the storehouse... she really didn’t seem the methodical type. 
As I absentmindedly sulked about that irritating doctor, I heard a pair of voices calling out to me. 
“Touyaaaa!” 
“T-Touya...!” 
“Hm? Yumina? And Lu, too?” I rose from the ground and dusted myself off, only to find myself immediately assaulted from both sides by their embrace. 
The two were now formally announced as engaged to me. Since our relationship had officially been made a matter of public record, the two tended to clamp on to me without reservation whenever they could. I was a little embarrassed about it, in all honesty, but I also didn’t see the need to ruin their fun. 
“I-I was wondering where you’d ran away to... But then I saw that strange thing, and knew you must be here!” Lu pointed up at the kite, still sailing freely in the skies. That made sense enough to me. I was pretty much known as the guy who made unusual stuff around here, after all. 
“You know, Touya... it’s no good of you to leave us behind and go play with kids. Shouldn’t you be spending a little more time with your wives?” 
“I-I mean technically you aren’t my wives yet, but, uh...” 
“But we will be soon, y-yes? That’s the dream... to be happily married with you, Touya... In loving, monogamous matrimony. Ah... well, not monogamous. The point still stands.” That it did. Monogamy and polygamy weren’t really that different in this world, after all. Just as I flashed Lu a wry smile, the heavy jostle of thumping hooves came by. A merchant caravan was passing us by at high speed. 
A whole line of coaches passed us as we watched them trot on their way to Belfast. 
The merchants sat atop the coaches, all gazing at the kites as they went by. That definitely didn’t sit well in my mind. I was more than sure at least one of those greedy types would try to emulate the idea before long. 
“It’s a merchant caravan from Regulus. Hoh, they even have an armed escort trailing behind.” 
“There sure are a lot of them... Wonder if they’re carrying anything important.” Given the amount of guards, they were probably transporting luxury goods or fine art. This much security was excessive for regular merchandise. It certainly wasn’t an issue I’d considered, since I had [Gate]. I’d definitely be able to make a lot of money if I opened up an express [Gate] delivery service or something. But I’d only be able to deliver to places I’d visited. 
It’d be better if they had delivery trucks or something, they’re useful for all sorts of stuff. Oh, actually... a freight train might be even better... 
“A... train.” 
“Touya?” A train... a train! Wouldn’t making some kind of railway change everything for the better? Rosetta could totally make a rudimentary steam train if I asked... Although... hm. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Would it be wise to introduce trains into a world like this? People ignorant about railways might end up playing on the tracks... Highwaymen and train robbing gangs could crop up... Stones and debris could get on the tracks and cause derailments, too... 
Bah, thinking about these issues is a hassle. Not like I can solve them. Whenever I think of a new concept, I guess I have to consider the associated safety risks as well. But I suppose that’s a little rich of me, since I recklessly introduced the Frame Gears to the world. 
Hmph... Guess the train plan is dead before it even lived. Ah well... 
“Ow, ow, ow!!” 
“...Just what do you think you’re doing? Why are you daydreaming instead of paying attention to us?!” While I was in health-and-safety dreamland, Yumina took the opportunity to brutally pinch my cheek. Totally uncalled for, if you asked me. 
My lord, are you available?? 
Hm? Kohaku?? As I rubbed my injury, a telepathic message beamed right into my brain. Yumina saw me stop in my tracks and puffed out her cheeks. She seemed a bit annoyed, probably because she thought I was daydreaming again. 
“What’s wrong? Is something up?” I audibly answered, in order to show the two of them that I wasn’t just ignoring them. 
Master sir! It’s Rosetta here, sir! We’re all outta Orichalcum, sir! The amount you got for Frame Gear production is all dried up, sir!? I heard Rosetta’s voice through Kohaku’s telepathic link. She needed more Orichalcum. It seemed that the amount Olba had gotten for me was already depleted. 
That was irritating: now I needed to find another source. 
“Got it. I’ll sort it out, then.” 
Thank you very much, sir!? 
“Did something happen, Touya?” Lu suddenly came up to me and questioned what had happened. 
“Rosetta asked me for some more Orichalcum. Not entirely sure where to get some, though...” 
“We could probably find some at the ore market, but... I suppose that wouldn’t be enough, would it?” 
“Orichalcum is a very rare metal as it is... It’ll definitely be pricey to acquire in bulk.” Not that money was too much of an issue. The Behemoth slaughter I’d indulged in just the other day ended up paying me a hefty sum. Ideally I’d have liked to save that kind of cash for emergency situations, though. Well, we have some mithril left, maybe we can... oh... oho... 
“Do either of you know if an Orichalcum Golem exists?” Thinking about Mithril reminded me of the Mithril Golems, so it couldn’t hurt to ask. 
“An Orichalcum Golem? I can’t say I’ve ever heard of something like that...” 
“Me neither. Even if something like that exists, it probably wouldn’t be a walk in the park to fight...” Hmph... I guess having an Orichalcum Golem strutting around when I needed it would be a tad too convenient, huh. Just to be sure, I fired up my map and tried looking it up. I’d never seen an Orichalcum Golem before, but it was easy to imagine a creature like that. Just a big rocky monster, covered in gleaming Orichalcum. I could surely recognize something like that, so it’d be easy to search. 
“Search. Orichalcum Golem.” 
“Searching... Search complete. Displaying results.” Several pins fell down on the map, one after the other. 
“...So they do exist.” 
“...I suppose they do.” We were all caught by surprise for a brief moment. The world was larger than any of us knew, after all. Well, there were many places that humanity had yet to visit in this world. Deep and vast canyons, wide stretching valleys, enormous peaks... It was entirely possible that they lived in places human hands had never touched. 
“Alright, I guess I’ll go kill one.” 
“Ah... could we come too, then...?” 
“No, I’m going on my own. It’s a place I’ve never been before, so I’ll be using [Fly] to get there.” The moment I mentioned my flight spell, they stopped protesting. They really disliked that thing. I sent the two of them back to Brunhild Castle with a [Gate], and then fired my map up again. 
“Hm... I guess the closest place I’ve been to is... in Eashen.” The Golems were located in the mountains just a little bit west of Oedo. Eashen resembled Japan in many ways, so I wondered if it had its own version of Mt. Fuji, as well. 
Flying there from Oedo seemed like it would be simple enough. Alrighty, let’s do it. 
As I jetted off, I fantasized about using a vast amount of Orichalcum to plate a Frame Gear in gilded armor. Making a Golden Knight might’ve been a tad too gaudy for my tastes, though... 

“Wow... It really is shiny and gold...” Far to the west of Oedo, I’d found the Orichalcum Golem resting in a deep valley, snugly nestled between a few giant mountains. 
It was a bit bigger than a Mithril Golem, and its golden body reflected the sun’s rays as they came down through the valley. It shone magnificently as it walked around. I knew what it was the moment I saw it. The creature was about the size of a Frame Gear. 
It likely had a core inside it, much like a Mithril Golem. 
Its rugged, stony body had two large arms. It had tiny little legs and a broad torso. All-in-all, it looked pretty similar to a Mithril Golem, so I assumed the core would be in the same place. 
“All I gotta do is trash its chest, this should be simple enough. [Slip].” With a grand crash, a mighty tremor rocked the valley. The gilded Golem crashed to the ground. 
“[Gravity].” I wasted no time pinning it to the ground with a follow-up spell. I quickly used [Storage] to pull out a small Phrase fragment. I poured magic into it, reshaping it to the size of a baseball, and increasing its toughness until it was denser than Orichalcum. 
“[Gate].” I called a portal forth and leisurely lobbed the little ball through it, applying [Gravity] in the process. 
The connecting portal was just above the Golem’s chest, and in seconds flat, the tiny crystal ball fell through it and landed on its mark. The ball, which was several hundreds of times heavier than it should’ve been, completely obliterated the Golem’s body. A monstrous crash rang out, and the Golem fell silent at last. 
It was my patented [Slip], [Gravity], and [Gate] combo... Perhaps it was a little overpowered. 
I cautiously approached the Golem’s body to confirm it was dead. As I’d suspected, its core was located in the chest. 
I opened up my [Storage] again and began to harvest the Golem’s corpse. Mission complete! Man, that was simple. 
Suddenly, a noise came from nowhere, and I turned to see a deer run out from the underbrush. I was almost startled, but it certainly wasn’t unusual to see a deer cavorting around. 
The deer didn’t give me a second glance, instead trotting over to a nearby river. It didn’t seem to have any fear of people. 
A deer, huh... Maybe I should take some venison home... No, no, control yourself, Touya. This is a cute little deer with no fear of humanity, I shouldn’t cut it up and eat its tender flesh... 
As my attention was focused on the deer, I suddenly noticed something laying on the riverbank. Huh, what’s that...? I took a step forward in an attempt to get a better look, and slowly I realized what it was. I started to run faster. It was a person. A wounded person. 
“Hey! Hey there! Are you okay?!” I bounded over to the riverside. The collapsed person seemed to be a young woman. 
She looked around the same age as Elze and Linze. Her clothes looked tattered and bedraggled, but her hair was long, pure and white. She was covered in grazes, cuts, and wounds all up and down her body. I briefly wondered if she’d been washed up by the river’s current. 
I held her in my arms and pulled her up from the bank. Immediately I noticed something unusual about her right leg. Huh... is it broken? Oh... Oh no... I rolled up her hakama to inspect her leg, only to find it... wasn’t really there from the knee down. It was shredded and pulped, like a piece of raw meat. I quickly found that her right hand was in a similar condition, sliced at the wrist. 
I looked over her properly, finding huge slash-marks down her back. She had distinctly been sliced with a sword. 
I’d assumed she was dead, but I could hear her breathing faintly. If I hadn’t stumbled upon her, she likely would’ve drowned. But to survive this far made her tenacious indeed. 
I decided to stop pondering and start healing! 
“Come forth, Light! Calm of the Goddess: [Mega Heal]!” I cast my most powerful recovery spell, and all the wounds on her body closed up at the same time. Her bruises also faded. Her leg wound also sealed itself up, but the missing flesh didn’t regenerate. I decided to cast [Recovery] while I was at it. Didn’t want to find out she’d been poisoned or anything as well. 
“...Gh...” 
“Hey! Are you with me?” Her eyes slowly opened, purple orbs trained on me. 
“...Ah...” She was trying to speak... but she quickly closed her eyes and fell unconscious again. 
“Guh... I’ll take her to the alchemy lab. Flora said it’d be possible to regenerate limbs there or something, I think... Hopefully we can restore her leg.” I cradled the girl in my arms, opening up a [Gate] toward the alchemy lab in the process.

“Where’s the girl?” 
“She’s asleep inside a Lazarus Capsule in the alchemy lab. Flora and Lu are seeing to her right now.” I answered Linze’s question as I sat back in my chair. I wanted to tend to her as well, but Yumina and Lu quickly kicked me out. It’s not like I wanted to ogle a naked girl who was having her body repaired as she floated around in a regenerating liquid capsule... Honest. 
Apparently she was right on the cusp of death. Flora said that if I’d found her even a few minutes later, she wouldn’t be in this world any longer. Perhaps that deer was a guide from up above... 
“And how long will the regeneration process take, Touya-dono?” 
“Seems it’ll take about a day.” 
“It is truly amazing that a missing hand and leg can be regrown in a mere day, it is...” It really is. Babylon’s technology is a force to be reckoned with. Crazy to think that it can even make stuff like clones or homunculi... But I guess I’m looking at something like that right now... 
My eyes were steadily trained on Cesca as she poured me a cup of tea. Those terminal gynoids had biological parts and mechanical parts, so they seemed more like cyborgs to me. Or maybe they were closer to mechanical lifeforms, from that old TV show and toy line where the robots could turn into cars and stuff... Hm... It’d be weird if they could do that. 
“...Master, I can feel your keen arousal as it pierces me and massages my very skin. I understand, you’re silently ordering me to present my body to you for ravaging this evening...” I didn’t think I had anything to worry about with her. She was a useless piece of junk excuse for a robogirl. 
She held her body close to mine, and I got up to leave the second she started to writhe and grind up against me. I went off to the workshop. I had to hand over my hard-earned Orichalcum to Rosetta, after all. 
As I arrived, I found Rosetta making a few adjustments to the newest Chevalier. Rosetta sure was handy, she applied the latest tweaks and upgrades to any robot that finished production and assembly. 
“Heyo, got you some Orichalcum.” 
“A speedy job indeed, sir! Apologies, sir! I ceased mass production operations because I believed it would take longer, sir!” 
I pulled the Orichalcum Golem’s body out of [Storage], making sure to slice off the part just below the right elbow to keep for myself. 
With that, mass production could begin anew. 
“Goodness me, sir...! That’s an awful lot of Golem! Too much, even!” 
“Huh? Really?” 
“Yes sir! Compared to other materials, we don’t quite need so much Orichalcum! No matter, no such thing as too much I suppose, sir! We can likely produce many a Frame Gear from this thing, sir!” As she spoke the workshop’s floor opened up around the Golem and swallowed it whole. 
“Now, master sir! I’d like to talk to you about the heavy knight, the Chevalier! Specifically, sir! Its equipment! By default it is equipped with a sword, but it has additional equipment as well! A buckler-style shield, a mace, a battlehammer, a lance, a halberd, and a battleaxe! Is this sufficient, sir? Or should I drop and give you twenty more?” 
“Uh, no. That sounds pretty good. I guess fighting the Phrase will be more like a game of smacking, since they’re resistant to magic and all.” I figured a solid strategy was just wailing on them with the battlehammer, but I wouldn’t have minded long-distance capabilities as well. That being said, the amount of gunpowder necessary for a gun that large was just unfeasible... Then, I had another thought. 
“Could you make like... ranged weaponry? Like a bow?” 
“I could, sir... but I sincerely doubt it’d do much against the tough carapace of a Phrase, with all due respect sir. It might work if you get in close and fire full-force, sir! But that would defeat the point of range.” Oh, good point... guess long-range is useless. Well, that sucks. 
“Then how about a melee weapon with long-range capabilities? Like a weapon with a big iron ball on a chain that you can wave around or something.” 
“You mean a morning star, sir? That’s doable.” I was pretty sure that morning stars weren’t that flexible and were kind of more like melee weapons, but I let it go. It was probably just how it was in this world. 
After leaving the workshop, I headed off to the alchemy lab to check on the Eashen girl. 
But, as fate would have it, Lu denied me access. 
“Her injuries will likely be cured by tomorrow, but... It’s uncertain when she’ll regain consciousness.” 
“Hrmph... it’d be bad if she was traumatized or something...” Judging from those wounds, she’d definitely been attacked by somebody. In an ideal world, being brought so close to death wouldn’t leave any lasting mental scars, but... I knew it likely wouldn’t end that way. 
“Ah, Touya. Take this.” Lu passed me an object. It was a small medallion, about ten centimeters in diameter. It was made out of a shining metal, and looped around it was a silver string. 
“The girl was wearing it around her neck. It might help us identify her, somehow...” The medallion had a complex engraving on it, which had clearly been done by someone with extreme skill. The other side was completely flat and unblemished. On the front side, I couldn’t really make out what the carving was, but it kind of resembled the sun. It didn’t seem like a family crest or coat of arms, at least. 
I decided to hold on to it for the meantime. 
There was nothing much more to do, so I returned to the castle. As I wandered through the halls, Lapis showed up. 
Lapis and Cecile had been serving my family since way back when we were living in the Belfast mansion. They were formal residents of Brunhild now, of course. 
While the two served us in Belfast, they stayed with us ostensibly in the name of the Belfast Secret Service, Espion. But when my engagement to Yumina was formally announced, they quit and became our full-time maids in Brunhild. For now, Lapis was Brunhild’s head maid. 
“Your Highness, we need to talk.” 
“Hm? What’s up?” 
“I’d like to see about increasing the staff here. Myself, Cecile, Renne, and Cesca are not enough to properly clean all the quarters and entertain all possible guests...” That was reasonable. I could see where she was coming from. It was unreasonable to expect the four of them to take care of every duty from cleaning, to entertaining guests, to taking care of us. From what I’d heard, some members of Tsubaki’s intelligence corps helped out here and then, but they also had their own jobs to do. 
“Sure thing, then. I’ll see about getting some more staff. How many were you thinking of?” 
“We’d need to hire about ten more maids, I think. We need servants to take charge of laundry, the women’s quarters, parlor maids, and kitchen duty. The ones assigned to the kitchen will directly serve Head Chef Crea, and the ones set to work in the parlor will directly serve Cecile.” That was quite the increase in staff, but I felt it was well-warranted. 
“We won’t be hiring through the Maid Guild, either, but going through personal hiring and referral. We’d like for you to conduct the final interviews, Your Highness. In addition, Renne and Cesca will be assigned as the maids responsible for serving your needs directly.” Hm... Renne I don’t mind, but... I’m a tad uneasy having Cesca with me. Then again, it’d be better to have that pervy robo-maid serving me directly, rather than having her bother guests. 
“I’ll also take charge in regards to training the staff in necessary combat measures.” 
“Wait, combat training?! Is that a thing you guys need?” 
“We can never know where the enemy may be, Your Highness. A weak-willed girl who can’t provide support is a failure of a maid. A true maid is equipped to deal with every possible situation.” Lapis bowed her head, smiling softly. Maids sure had it rough, apparently. 
I suddenly remembered that Angie from Lihnea was also a skilled melee fighter, so I wondered if studying battle tactics was just something maids did around here. 
Well, it was good to have maids that also knew how to take care of themselves, so I gave it the go-ahead. 
I wondered about Renne participating in such things, so I asked just to be sure. 
“Renne is being taught well by Cecile already. The ruffians around here won’t be able to hold a candle to her splendid dagger technique.” Just what are you training her in?! Have you been teaching her weird stuff while I had my head turned? What a frightening bunch they were... 
I had a sneaking suspicion that maids in this world were something else entirely. 

“I know it’s strange, but it’s simply Touya being himself...” 
“...Good grief... I know that’s how it is, but we should really consider ourselves lucky...” 
“Hm... how so?” I’d accidentally found myself listening in on a conversation between the emperor of Regulus and the king of Belfast. They were both looking up at the Chevalier while chatting with one another. 
“Well, think about it this way. If the lad were too ambitious or reckless, he could’ve easily wiped any of us off the map. He’s in a position of extreme power, and none of us could really resist him if he put his mind toward hostility.” 
“Hm, perhaps, but... I don’t really think he’d be the sort to make a turn like that. Goodness, what kind of person must you be to expect something like that?” The emperor of Refreese and the beastking of Mismede also interjected. It was hard to tell if I was being praised or criticized, honestly. 
“Touya is not the ambitiously hostile type, I can assure you. I know he is kind and just, and he is most assuredly our friend and ally.” Her Holiness the Pope of Ramissh spoke up with a calm expression on her face. In a way, she was the only person in the room to know my true nature better than anyone else. That being said, I definitely wasn’t the holy messenger she thought I was. Unfortunate as it may have been, I was no angel. 
“That aside, this thing is incredible... Can it really move?” 
“Indeed it can. It functions similarly to the Frame Units.” Cloud, King of Lihnea, was gazing up at the Frame Gear with amazement in his eyes. 
I’d gathered all of the western allied leaders in Brunhild to show them the Frame Gear. The knight bodyguards that each leader brought with them stared up at it with amazed or shocked expressions. Wasn’t too surprising, all things considered. 
“So... What is this thing for?” 
“I suppose you could call it a hobby of sorts... for now. But formally, you could consider it an anti-Behemoth measure.” 
“Ah, the Behemoths. Yes, this thing could definitely reduce the damage done by those beasts.” The King of Belfast nodded confidently, as if he agreed with the usage. The reality of the situation was different, of course. 
I couldn’t afford to let the world leaders know just yet, so for the time being I’d only let Guildmaster Relisha in on the truth about the Phrase. Her intelligence network was valuable enough for me to bring her into the fold on the subject. Plus, I saw no point in getting foreign entities involved in situations that may or may not end up actually happening. Not to mention the fact that I had no real proof, either. 
I decided that for now the best course of action was to make quiet preparations, so that if push came to shove... We’d be able to deal with the situation. I had to consider what was best for everyone. 
Revealing the Frame Gear to the public was a necessary step to this end. 
“Hm... Touya... Could we perhaps take it for a ride?” 
“Yes, of course! Riding it is a matter of grave importance!” Both the king of Belfast and the beastking of Mismede stared at me with passion in their eyes. Their unsettling gazes were focused entirely on me, silently screaming “let us ride it” at me. 
“Well... I don’t see why not, but... I believe it would be better to have a guard ride it first, to ensure safety. Don’t you agree, Gaspar?” 
“Hm...? Me?” The one-eyed military commander of the Regulus Empire, Gaspar, looked over at me with a curious expression. All the guards here had ridden the Frame Units in the playroom, after all. It was for that reason that I didn’t think they’d have any issues handling the Frame Gear. 
“Don’t worry or anything. I installed a special feature in case of unexpected circumstances. There’s an emergency stop function.” I had an emergency stop installed on the Frame Gear as a safety measure. It was operated from my smartphone, and functioned by limiting a Frame Gear’s movements. So, for example, if Gaspar were to decide to use the Frame Gear to attack everyone in this room... he wouldn’t be able to move at all. Not that I expected a good man like him to do such a thing. 
Gaspar clambered up and boarded the Chevalier, after acquiring the emperor’s permission, of course. 
“What do you think? Not too different to a Frame Unit, is it?” 
“Yeah... You’re quite right, I’m familiar with the controls.” 
“Well then, by all means. Give it a shot.” I communicated with Gaspar through a receiver module, and told everyone around the Frame Gear to stand back. 
I heard the familiar start-up whirring, and the heavy knight gear sprung to life. 
After Gaspar’s successful run, there was a small dispute about who would get to ride the Frame Gear first, but otherwise there wasn’t much of anything to worry about. All the leaders (with the exception of Her Holiness the Pope) had the chance to pilot the Frame Gear, and... surprisingly, they all operated the thing with a great deal of finesse. 
I also made a promise to loan out the Frame Gear to nations under attack from Behemoths. I also decided to give each nation six Frame Unit simulators each, so the countries could train pilots. That way they wouldn’t have to rely on me. 
The reasoning I gave them was that six simulators each would allow their knights to both relax and practice. 
The real reasoning was, of course, quiet preparation for the potential Phrase invasion. If they were being trained for war without knowing, it wasn’t going to hurt them. 
Because Belfast and Regulus both had vast territories, the appearance of Behemoths in their land had a statistically higher chance of happening. I’d agreed to lend them the Frame Gear in times of need because of that. Ramissh and Mismede also bordered the Sea of Trees, so it was possible a Behemoth could charge out of the woodlands and start wrecking them, so pledging my aid there was fairly logical as well. 
Lihnea wasn’t really likely to come under assault from a Behemoth... so it wasn’t likely they’d ever need my Frame Gear support. But hey, the worst case scenario could always happen, so I pledged to protect them as well. A Behemoth could always rise out of the ocean, after all. 
I was pleased to hear that every country in attendance accepted my terms with little protest, and all seemed content. 
I was worried they might demand I make them their own Frame Gears or try to integrate the technology into their armies or something, but that didn’t seem to be the case. 
I was informed that the girl I’d rescued back in Eashen had finally woken up, so I headed straight for the alchemy lab. By the time I got there, she was no longer in the Lazarus Capsule, and was instead staying in the lab’s bedroom. She was sitting in bed, wearing light, pajama-like clothing. 
Her right hand, resting atop the blanket, had regenerated entirely. I couldn’t see her leg, but I assumed it was in the same pristine condition as well. 
I noticed that her hair, which I had initially believed to be pure white, actually had the tiniest tint of red to it. It made her hair the faintest pink, like the shade of a cherry blossom. I hoped it wasn’t an ill omen, like her hair being sullied by blood or something. 

“...Ah...” The moment she laid eyes on me, a little voice creaked past her lips. She seemed like she recognized me. 
Flora, seated on a chair nearby, waved over and greeted me. 
“She’s regenerated fully, has she?” 
“Ah... S-Sorta... y’know...” Flora frowned softly, and her reply sounded a little off as well. I wondered what was wrong. “W-Well... the girl’s... lost her memories, you know?” 
“What?” According to Flora, the girl had no memories of anything up until the point where I saved her. She couldn’t remember her own name, where she was born, or even why she was so wounded. 
“This isn’t a side-effect of that regenerating treatment, is it...?” 
“That’s impossible, you know?! Maybe if it was her brain being regenerated... But memory loss due to regrowing a hand and a leg?! That’s absurd, you know! Perhaps you’d like to test it out yourself, you know? I know! I’ll chop your little pecker off and dunk you in a Lazarus Capsule!” 
“C-Calm down!” Don’t be a dumbass! I’m not gonna go that far just to test a pet theory! ...Plus if it really was a side effect, I’d lose my memories too! That aside... how much does she know? 
“Do you remember me?” The girl lazily nodded her head forward. So she definitely still had her memories of me saving her. Right after that, she went in for the regeneration treatment, so it was far more likely that the attack on her life itself is what caused the traumatic memory loss. 
“What’s your name?” 
“...I am unsure.” 
“How’d you get hurt?” 
“...I do not know.” Guh... What happened here...? I probed her memory for a bit after that, asking her questions about this and that. Her general understanding of the world, common sense, reading, writing, numbers, and Eashen were all intact. She was also knowledgeable about Belfast and Regulus. 
But all of her personal memories were gone. She didn’t know her name, where she was born, when she was born, her likes and dislikes, or her familial situation. As a last-ditch effort, I tried applying [Recovery] on her again, but it was useless. 
“Hm... I’m sure you’ll get your memories back one way or another.” 
“...You...” 
“Me?” The girl on the bed turned to look right at me, her light purple eyes gazing through my very being. 
“...Who are you...?” 
“Ah, I’m Mochizuki Touya. I’m the grand duke around here... Here being the Duchy of Brunhild.” 
“...Grand Duke...” The girl showed a surprised expression for all of two seconds, then immediately returned to a neutral expression. She didn’t seem to have much in the way of emotional range. 
“...This is Brunhild?” 
“That’s right, yes. I brought you here from a rocky region of Eashen, since your injuries were so great.” 
“How...?” 
“I used transportation magic.” Her eyes once again widened for a brief two seconds. Then the neutral expression set in again. It was kinda funny, in its own way. 
It would’ve been pretty bad to reveal the existence of the alchemy lab to an outsider, so I immediately used [Gate] to transfer the bedroom, everyone, and everything inside it inside a spare room in the castle. 
“What...?” The girl suddenly looked around the room, eyes darting as the scenery abruptly shifted. I figured that’d be enough for her to believe me about my transportation magic. 
With that, I decided that she could stay in Brunhild for the time being. With any luck, she’d get her memories back before long. 
I could always take her back to Eashen, but the fact that she had no memories, coupled with the fact that she was probably being targeted didn’t exactly bode well for anyone. Seemed I had no choice. 
“It’d be bad if you didn’t have a name, you know. Should we see about giving you one just in the meantime?” 
“A... Name... I’m... fine with anything. You decide, Lord.” Hmm... bit abrupt, lemme think here... I think a more Eashen-sounding name would be better than a traditionally western name... Let’s see... Aha, got it. 
“Hm... How about Sakura, then?” 
“Sakura...?” 
“Your hair is a beautiful pink, so I gave you the name of the cherry blossoms in my home country. If you don’t like it, I can think of another.” It was a pretty simple name. But the girl shook her head, regardless. 
“Sakura is... nice. Thank you...” I noticed that Sakura, who seemed rather emotionally muted, was smiling just a little bit. 

Quite a while had passed, but Sakura showed no signs of regaining her memories. 
In terms of physical health, however, she was fighting fit. Not a single blemish or scar remained on her skin. 
I tried to hand over the medallion that she had with her, but she just looked at it in confusion. Either way, it was hers, so I insisted she keep hold of it. I was hoping it might trigger some of her memories or something. 
I had suggested we go back to the valley where I’d found her, but she immediately and firmly refused. Couldn’t say I blamed her. Going to the place where you very almost died was bound to be traumatic. 
It almost seemed like she was actively avoiding having her memories return... I was beginning to wonder if she was actually fine being amnesiac or something... 
I’d never experienced amnesia myself so I couldn’t really put myself in her shoes, but I wondered if her personality right now was the same as it was before, and if that’d cause some kind of identity crisis down the line... Though I suppose that’d be more classed as a split personality disorder rather than an amnesia problem. 
I’d read a book somewhere that personalities worked like this. Let’s start by calling a person’s default personality A. If a person is having an exceptionally difficult time in their life, then A may create an ego named B. B will experience all the rough stuff, and only surface during times of stress, while A is protected from the harsh experiences. In a way you could call it a defense mechanism, something that protects the person by making them feel like it happened to someone else. 
I decided there was no use trying to force her memories back out of her or anything. I was sure that in time, they’d return to the surface. 
Sakura eventually regained enough strength to move around again, and the first thing she said was she wanted to look around my country. I didn’t really have a problem with that, but I assigned Sango and Kokuyou as her bodyguards, just to be safe. 
She seemed to especially enjoy walking out to the construction areas and the farms. I even spotted her walking around with Linze now and then. I figured the two probably got along because they were both quiet and reserved, personality-wise. 
“The girl certainly is something... She’s strong even in the face of lost memories.” 
“I’m not so sure if that’s strength or lack of feeling. She doesn’t know who or what she used to be, or anything about her old life... So I imagine it’d be hard to even grieve.” I casually dug holes in the ground as I replied to Julio’s musings, and then began planting cherry blossom trees in the freshly-dug earth. 
I didn’t think it’d spur Sakura’s memory or anything, but I’d been meaning to bring over some cherry blossoms from Eashen for a while. Winter was coming, though... So they wouldn’t be blooming for a while. 
It was a bit late to consider, but I briefly wondered whether or not they’d actually bloom. Ostensibly the climate in Brunhild was similar to the climate in Eashen... but I couldn’t be certain. I figured if they didn’t work out, I could easily ask Flora to breed a species that would. 
The climate in this world was rather unreliable and generally all over the place. Apparently said instability was the work of spirits. 
On a tangentially related note, I think what the cherry blossoms represented also depended on the region. Cherry blossoms were seen as a symbol of farewell in the west of Japan, but a symbol of new opportunity in the east. The difference between a graduation ceremony and an entrance exam, I suppose. 
I remember visiting a relative in Aomori during Golden Week, and being surprised that the cherry blossoms weren’t in bloom where he was. 
“Julio, have you handled cherry blossoms before?” 
“No, I haven’t. But this country seems to have a lot of Eashen influence to it, so I don’t think I have to worry too much.” That was certainly true. A lot of people in Brunhild were former residents of Eashen, after all. Tsubaki and her ninjas, for one, and also the former members of Takeda’s Elite Four. We certainly were a lively bunch! We even had various beastmen and demonkin working for us. 
Brunhild was pretty multicultural, which allowed people of all creeds and heritages a chance to work and live freely. Getting a job wasn’t difficult due to this. 
“Would you like me to plant a row of cherry blossom trees along the road to the castle? I think it’d look beautiful when they bloomed.” 
“Yeah, sounds good.” I spent my morning with Julio, listening intently to what he had to say. After that, I went to listen to Tsubaki’s report. 
“Relations between Palouf and Lihnea are on the mend. War is extremely unlikely at this point in time.” 
“That’s good. Lihnea’s king is working hard, after all. I hope they can make a peace treaty someday.” Tsubaki’s agents fanned out across the continent and passed on information about other countries through the Gate Mirrors that each of them held. I didn’t have agents stationed in the royal palaces of other countries or anything: it wasn’t espionage. I just had them mingling with the townsfolk, and collecting information as it suited me. 
“At present, I would say the most pressing issue is the growing instability in Eashen.” 
“Huh? What about Eashen?” I asked Tsubaki for more information, wondering if it had anything to do with Sakura. It did not. Apparently there were a bunch of skirmishes going on between the feudal lords and their respective houses. Nothing on a large scale yet, but it wasn’t looking good. 
“Eashen was divided between nine houses. Date, Uesugi, Tokugawa, Takeda, Oda, Hashiba, Chosokabe, Mouri, and Shimazu. Due to the incident you were involved with, Takeda was dissolved. Consequently, Oda and Tokugawa’s power increased. Then Hashiba merged with Oda. Tokugawa and Oda currently have a friendly relationship, but Oda is much more powerful right now.” I wondered how it would turn out. In my world, Tokugawa was the one that seized the power. I wondered if in this case, Oda would pound the mochi, Hashiba would knead the mochi, and Tokugawa would sit on his butt and devour the mochi. 
I suddenly remembered meeting Tokugawa Ieyahsu, and seeing his short, stocky build and little mustache... It made me suspect history may well go the same way in this world as well. But I couldn’t say for sure, it’s not like Eashen was identical to Japan or anything. 
I was concerned about Eashen, but I decided to leave it be for the time being. If Oedo turned into a danger zone, I intended to evacuate it... Yae’s family, at least. 
After Tsubaki was done reporting in, I headed off to the Hangar of Babylon. 
A bunch of Heavy Knight Gears, the Chevaliers, were all lined up in their garages. There were a couple of Knight Barons, as well. As far as ratio went, there were nine Chevaliers to every one Knight Baron. 
It was easy to count off the ratio, but the rate of production was a little more complex. It took a lot more resources to create a Knight Baron, and it was a commander-type gear, so it needed a lot more control to handle properly. If it was simple to control, it would be pointless to make Chevaliers, after all. 
As far as things stood, the Chevaliers excelled in defense, while the Knight Barons excelled in offense. Rosetta and Monica were also hard at work setting up a new gear type. 
I walked through to a garage I’d never been in before, and found myself staring at a slender, red Frame Gear. 
It had massive thrusters on its back and waist, as well as gigantic wheels on its feet. It definitely stood out as far as Frame Gears went. I noticed Monica and Rosetta tweaking the waist thrusters, and called out to them. 
“So, how long’s this one gonna take?” 
“Well sir, it should be done by tomorrow, sir! Have you selected a pilot for this thing yet, master sir?!” 
“This is somewhat of a temperamental gear, so it’s rather much unsuitable for mass production. Like, you really need to pick the right person for the job, and stuff!” This was the Dragon Knight Gear, the Dragoon. If the Chevalier was built for defense, and the Knight Baron for offense, then the Dragoon was absolutely built for mobility. 

It did have one weakness. To make it extra speedy, its armor was relatively thin. It was also relatively weak. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if it could pose much of a threat to the Phrase. I was fairly sure it’d fare well against a Behemoth, though. One was already in the hangar, and then I had another made, so there were two in total. 
I tried to give it a test pilot run, but the handling was insanely difficult. When I triggered the Extremespeed Mode and deployed its wheels, it was almost impossible to maintain my balance. It went without saying... fast things are fast. 
I also fell over once my balance reached a tipping point, and the Frame Gear ended up getting damaged as a result. It wasn’t enough to break it or anything, but I could see it happening easily if the pilot fell repeatedly. 
It was a machine that needed finesse to handle. The pilot needed to be skilled, but even then it didn’t boast a lot of power, so it couldn’t use heavy weaponry either. I wasn’t sure how to best make use of it. Hmph... 
It’d probably be able to use a weapon made out of Phrase fragments. It should probably even be able to pierce a Phrase if I channeled enough magical energy into it. 
Well, I said should because I hadn’t actually had a chance to test Phrase weaponry on a Phrase yet. 
If I equipped the Dragon Knight Gear with something like Yae’s Touka blade, then I could best make use of its mobility in combat. 
Still... that would mean having to use Phrase fragments as materials. I still had some left in storage, but I didn’t really have enough to make effective Frame Gear equipment. 
I returned to the castle, only to find Kougyoku flying frantically in my direction. 
“What’s going on?” 
“I’ve gotten a report from my bird scouts. An ancient ruin has been discovered, much like the one on the lone island.” Lone island? Oh... the ruin that brought me to Monica’s hangar...! That’s great news! 
“Where is it?” 
“East of the Ryle Kingdom, within the Knight Kingdom, Lestia. It’s located within an abandoned ruin in the southern portion of the country.” Oh, Lestia... That’s the place ruled by the Knight King, if I recall properly. And his dad is a Gold-rank adventurer, just like me. 
I was interested in finding out more about the enigmatic Knight King, but I had different priorities. Babylon took precedence. If the ruins took me to the Storehouse of Babylon, then I’d have the tactical edge and would be able to improve my Frame Gears in various ways. I might even get to make a plane or something. Man, that’d be nice. My own private jet... 
I wondered about my next course of action. On all my previous excursions, I’d flown Babylon there and taken everyone along with me, but now that I had [Fly] it would be way more convenient to just go there myself. 
In the end, I told everyone that the fifth Babylon had been located, but I intended to go alone. They initially objected, but I reasoned that me flying there would be considerably faster, and I was the only one that needed to go anyway, given my aptitude for all elements. After that, they reluctantly agreed. They did make me promise to bring them over with a [Gate] the moment I set foot on the new Babylon, though. 
That reminded me. Sue had become one of my brides-to-be, but she still didn’t know a thing about Babylon. I hadn’t given her an engagement ring yet, either. 
The ring I’d take care of later, but I didn’t know if she was ready to learn about the floating fortress. 
I wasn’t entirely sure if it was okay to tell Sue. When we first met, I told her a story based on an old anime, and she immediately told me she wanted to hunt for a castle in the sky... So she was definitely eager, but... There was a chance she’d tell Duke Ortlinde, since she was very close with her father. 
I asked Yumina for advice. “Sue’s a smart girl, it should be safe to tell her the basics. But on the other hand, she might get too excited and try to hunt for them herself or something...” That was definitely a possibility. Sue was way too energetic for her own good. That wouldn’t be so much of a problem if she had strength to match her energy, but I could see her getting herself in trouble. 
Thus, I decided to keep my mouth shut for a bit longer. 
I told everyone to look after Sakura, and opened up a [Gate] to the place I’d fought the Behemoth earlier, right on the border of Ryle and the Sea of Trees. 
Using that as a base, I cast [Fly] and bolted due east. Thanks to my [Shield] spell, all the wind pressure was negated. Flying was... a breeze. 
After a while of flying, I paused to pull up my map. I was fairly sure I was in the Knight Kingdom territory, though. 
“Let’s see here... Ah, a little more southern and eastern... Gotcha.” I turned off my map and, just as I was about to jet off again, I caught an unusual sight in the corner of my eye. What’s that... smoke? Something was smoldering in the distance. No, something was ablaze. 
“[Long Sense].” I used my spying magic to check out what was going on way over there. What I saw was a town. A town on fire. There were people fleeing en masse. They were being defended by knights in shining armor. Defended against horrid creatures that were ravaging the place without mercy. 
Monsters of shimmering crystal. The Phrase. 
“Ghah...!!” This may sound insensitive, but the people were quite lucky. They weren’t too big. They looked similar to the Cricket Phrase I’d encountered so long ago. 
But, there were a lot of them. I could see about ten of them in the surrounding area. 
They were shaped similar to beetles. Not the typical Japanese rhinoceros beetle, but closer in form to hercules beetles. 
I saw someone swing their blade in the direction of the Beetle Phrase. They were clad in silver armor, golden hair flowing gallantly behind them. With a flourishing sword strike, the knight repelled a few of the Beetle Phrase, but only caused a few surface scratches. Scratches that very quickly healed up. 
“No hesitation, no surrender! Are you not knights?! We must secure time for the townspeople to reach safety! Do not falter, do not yield even an inch of ground!” It was a girl. She turned her head to the side, barking orders to the knights behind her. She looked to be about the same age as me. I assumed she was the leader. 
One of the Beetle Phrase fixed its aim on the girl, extended its horn, and charged as if attempting to pierce her armor. 
The female knight deftly parried the strike, performing a rolling dodge to the side in the process. 
Now isn’t the time for spectating! I canceled my [Long Sense] and began hurtling through the air full speed toward them. 

The Lestian Knights attacked the Beetle Phrase with all their might. But several of the men were skewered where they stood, powerless against the relentlessly tough carapaces of their enemies. 
“Guh... Wh-Why can’t we pierce them...?!” Moving around behind one of the creatures, the female knight slashed her blade toward its relatively spindly legs. 
But, the leg wasn’t broken. What shattered was her blade. 
“What...?!” She stopped moving, caught by surprise, and another of the beetles took the opportunity to charge horn-first at her. 
“D-Damn it...!” 

I suddenly swooped down from the air, used [Storage] to pull out a crystal Phrase sword and sliced the beast’s horn clean off. 
And, with a chaining motion, I followed up my attack by stabbing my blade straight through the beast’s core. 
The moment I pierced its command center, the creature cracked and crumbled into pieces. 
That was a valuable field test for me: it seemed that they actually were susceptible to the blades made out of their own bodies. Just so long as I poured enough magic into it to make it harder, at least. I’d need to remember that, lest I screw up somehow and hit them with a dull swipe. 
The Phrase here were of the lowest caste in their species, so I could easily kill them by ripping out their cores with [Apport], but I wanted to test the cutting capabilities of the crystal sword a little more. 
“J-Just who are...” 
“Cut the chatter. Evacuate the townspeople. We can talk later. For now, leave them to me.” 
“V-Very well, then! It’s in your hands!” Alright... 
“Run Search. Locate all Phrase within a one-kilometer radius. Excluding any destroyed ones.” 
“Searching... Search Complete. Eleven Phrase in total.” So that means there were twelve... Let’s see, two, four, six... I can only see eight in the immediate area... Alright. 
“Let’s dance! [Accel Boost]!” I used my combination spell, mixing the best of body fortification and speed. I leaped ahead, slicing the cores of two Phrase cleanly in half. I jumped off at an angle, kicked off a house wall and plunged downward, piercing a third core with my blade as I landed. 
I relentlessly stormed through the town, cleaving an attacking Phrase at the horn. I gracefully leaped to the side, slicing through its core in the process. I used my momentum to spin and cut another Phrase much in the same way. 
Three remained. I closed the distance in a second, running through two cores as I charged. The last one was right in front of me, and I simply stabbed it through the front. 
“Run Search. The remaining three Phrase.” 
“Understood. Displaying.” I confirmed the location of the last three on the map, then jumped up and ran along the rooftops. I saw one of them beneath me, caught clashing with a few knights. In a flash, I jumped down and reduced it to pieces. 
Ignoring the confused knights, I charged headlong toward the last two. 
As I deftly dodged their horned attacks, I moved with a spinning flourish and mowed down the last two. With that, it was done. 
There wasn’t even a scratch or chip in the sword I’d used to cut them all down. Just as I’d hoped, the crystal blade was absolutely perfect for the job. 
I stopped supplying magic power to the blade, pulled a sheath out of [Storage], and put it inside. Since the sheath was also made out of a Phrase fragment, the two kind of mingled together in an indistinguishable combo. 
I looked over, and saw the female knight from earlier staring at me. She seemed unharmed, that was a relief. I called out to her. 
“So, what’s the damage?” 
“Hm? A-Ah... Well, there are many dead. Townspeople, and knights alike. Most of the citizens here are severely injured.” 
“I see... It’s a shame so many fell, but I can at least patch up the people who remain.” The girl seemed confused by what I said, and looked over at some of the fallen knights, but I ignored her. With that, I triggered [Multiple] and applied healing magic to all the injured people in a one kilometer radius. 
The wounded were all embraced by threads of light, and their wounds closed up. Some knights who were fallen on the streets also stood up, none worse for wear. The girl stared, wide-eyed at the knights, and then me. 
“...Who are you, strange savior? How did you know we needed help? Just who in the world are you...?” 
“I’m Mochizuki Touya. Touya’s my given name. I just happened to be passing through. What about you?” 
“A-Ah... Please forgive my rude behavior. I am the First Princess of the Lestia Knight Kingdom. Hildegard Minas Lestia. We owe you a great debt this day.” Wait what. She’s a princess? I just figured she was some knight... She sure handles the sword well. I guess that’s what I should expect from a Knight Kingdom, huh. I looked her over again. She was tall and slender, with a body that was proportioned quite nicely. Her hair flowed long and blonde, her eyes were blue as a clear sky, and her skin was fair. She certainly had the elegant looks a princess typically had. 
Her armor looked to be Mithril, as well. It had golden adornments here and there, and if I wasn’t mistaken I thought I could sense some enchantments on it as well. The other Lestian Knights didn’t have the marking hers did, either. What appeared to be the emblem of the Lestian Royal Family was engraved on her breastplate. I did recognize the symbol, since I’d looked a little into the country. She was telling the truth, as far as I knew. 
Welp, guess I better introduce myself properly then. 
“No, I was the one being rude. I didn’t realize who you were. I hail from the west, a country located between Belfast and Regulus. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Mochizuki Touya, grand duke of Brunhild.” 
“Brunhild?! I-I know of such a place... Ruled over by a just adventurer who climbed the ranks from rags to riches... The genius mediator who dabbles in the affairs of the western nations, solving all their woes...” Once my tone changed and I introduced myself formally, Hildegard seemed absolutely bewildered. 
Huh, a mediator? Is that how I’m known, now? I mean, I guess I do whatever I want no matter where I go, and I host the western alliance meetings... But I’m also pretty impartial. It’s not like I pick and choose who I help based on personal ties. 
She asked to see my guild card, just in case, so I took it from my pocket and handed it over. 
“A-Astounding... This is indeed the same type of golden card as my grandfather’s... Please, forgive my impudent request. I profusely apologize for harboring even the slightest doubt.” 
“Don’t mention it, honestly. More importantly... Were you referring to the former king just now? I’d actually quite like to meet the man who holds the same rank as I.” I wanna know what kind of guy he is. He’s probably an amazing fighter. When I mentioned wanting to meet him, the princess made an awkward little smile. It made me feel a tad uncomfortable. 
“W-Well... I’d only ask that you... Reel in your expectations if you do happen to meet him...” 
“Huh?” 
“No, don’t mind my idle musings. You’re quite amazing, honestly. Our entire band could do nothing against those wretched beasts, yet you struck them down in a single blow...” The princess muttered as she looked at the broken Phrase fragments. You stupid? It’s more amazing that you parried them without any magical aid, and you were managing to hold them back. You guys are the real heroes here! 
“These creatures are called the Phrase. They absorb magic, and their physical resistance is unmatched. Despite their tough bodies, they’re still dangerously flexible. They also have the ability to regenerate. In order to kill them, you need to destroy the controlling core within their bodies.” 
“The Phrase...” The princess knight began to tell her story. Apparently she and her band were headed to training. But all of a sudden, she heard news of a town coming under attack by monsters that had just appeared from nowhere. They took a detour and arrived at the town posthaste. But, they found their weapons did nothing to harm the creatures, so they decided to stall them and at least let the civilians get to safety. As she told me her story, her fists clenched just a little bit. 
I only saw a glimpse, but Hildegard was clearly adept at swordplay. I wasn’t so sure she’d lose to someone like Yae, even. 
What happened here was that her opponent was simply too much for a single human to handle. That was all there was to it. 
“Oh right, would you mind if I collected up the pieces of the Phrase?” 
“Hm? Ah... Yes, that’s quite fine. You are the one that killed them after all, Your Grace...” An unspoken rule amongst adventurers was that to the victor go the spoils. Parties often divided their loot up, but solo fighters didn’t need to worry about such things. I gathered up all the broken Phrase fragments at once, and sucked them into [Storage]. A bunch of knights jumped up in surprise as the dead monsters sank into the ground. 
Great. This was an unexpected boon! Sure they’re low-level, but there’s twelve so I can definitely make a bunch of stuff with this. Though... There were twelve. The fact that so many appeared at once is definitely troubling. 
“That blade of yours... Is it perhaps made from the same material as the Phrase?” Hildegard motioned toward the crystal sword. She seemed quite interested. She certainly had a keen eye. But I guess it was kind of obvious, as both my blade and the Phrase corpses were made out of identical crystal. 
“You’re correct. The knights of my country all bear crystal blades and shields as their default equipment. I’m the only one who can make them, using my Null magic.” I decided to throw in that last little comment to subtly suggest that they couldn’t bother trying to replicate it. I didn’t want them suddenly asking me to return the pieces I’d gathered up just now or anything. Even though [Modeling] is needed to create the shapes, you also need a ton of magical energy to make them firm and sharp enough, not to mention the fact that [Gravity] is also needed to make them more lightweight... I was definitely the only one who could manufacture gear like that. 
“Incredible... I’d be lying to you if I said I did not envy you slightly. I hope someday I’ll be able to wield such a magnificent blade as well.” Heh... So she likes the sword that much, huh... Guess it’s why she’s staring so intently. 
Hmm... There’s an idea. I certainly wouldn’t lose anything if I made a good gesture toward the Lestian Princess right about now. 
I activated [Storage] and produced another two sheathed crystal swords. I took the two of them, and the third I’d just wielded, and used [Modeling] to carve the Lestian Royal Emblem into the handles. Then, I passed all three to Princess Hildegard. 
“Here. A way of remembering our chance encounter. One for the Princess, one for her esteemed father, and one for her esteemed grandfather.” 
“No— Wha— Truly?!” Hildegard seemed dumbfounded. She really didn’t expect to ever hold one of these things, let alone three. When I passed them to her, she adopted a really flustered expression. It was cute. 
“A-Are you sure this is quite alright? Are these weapons not a matter of national confidentiality for Brunhild?” 
“Nah. Doesn’t really matter who knows about them since I’m the only one who can produce them. The materials aren’t that common, but every one of the knights in Brunhild wields one. But these three are special. They’re ones I made for my personal use, so they actually outclass the ones my knights wield. Just pour a little bit of magic into them and they’ll operate at their peak. If you place the edge of the blade faintly on something even like a chunk of iron, it should cut through it like butter. Also they shouldn’t ever break. If the rare event comes that they do get broken or cracked, they’ll regenerate in an instant.” The Knight Princess unsheathed one of the blades and held it up to the light. She stared at the shimmering sword, quietly channeled a bit of magic into it, and very weakly hit it against the ruined wall of a nearby crumbling house. The brick wall was indeed cleaved as smoothly as butter. 
“A-Astounding... I can’t even feel its weight in my hand. Th-Thank you so much... If another of these Phrase creatures appears... I will defeat it.” I smiled a little when I saw the princess’ happy face, but a nagging thought at the back of my mind told me it wouldn’t be so easy if she fought a Phrase even one rank above the ones I’d killed today. I killed that thought the moment it surfaced, for I didn’t wish to see her happiness go away. 
Okay, I better make a move on. Don’t want anyone questioning why a foreign monarch is here. Better get outta here before that inevitably happens. 
Maybe I should appoint someone to take care of state affairs while I’m out doing stuff like this... So long as they give the throne back when I get home, I mean. 
Maybe I should see about drafting a law that makes it easy to concede the throne to someone else. Only active while I’m alive, though... Heh, I could even appoint Kohaku as the state leader in my stead. I wonder if people would end up calling Kohaku King Tiger, or something... Like that one German tank. 
I’ll talk to Kousaka about this when I get home... But maybe I shouldn’t... A-Actually you know what? Nevermind. He’ll yell at me. 
“Now, I have business to attend to, so you’ll have to excuse me. It was a pleasure to meet you, though. I’d love to meet again.” 
“The pleasure was all mine, Your Grace. Thank you for your gift to my family. I promise you that I will return the favor to your duchy someday.” I didn’t really mind either way... But I was kind of curious about what she had in mind, regardless. 
I invoked [Fly] and the princess looked even more surprised. I grinned at her, let out a small laugh, and blasted away into the heavens. 
Well, that was fun... But now I’ve gotta focus. Babylon, here I come! 

After separating from Princess Hildegard, I moved southward. Eventually, the ruins came into sight. It looked like a bunch of abandoned buildings. There were a bunch of crumbling stone walls, and rocky pillars here and there. 
I saw what appeared to be various dilapidated castles and fortresses, which certainly caught my eye. All their walls were in a serious state of disrepair. 
When I landed, a tiny blue songbird flew over from the surrounding trees. It was one of the scouts I’d sent out some time ago. 
The songbird flew over my head and went off in the direction of the ruins’ center, chirping as if beckoning me to follow. 
“Huh... What is this?” In the middle of the ruins, there was an unusual object similar in composition to the previous objects I’d encountered at Babylon ruins... But the shape was weird. 
The first was a cylinder, the second was a pyramid... But this one was a ring. It was a huge ring, about four meters in diameter, just sitting there in the middle of the ruins. 
The foundations and bottom half of the ring were completely buried, so it might’ve been more appropriate to call it an arch. The ring’s material itself was around 50 centimeters wide... It was also about 30 centimeters thick. 
I tried walking through it, but nothing happened. I tried touching it, but I didn’t pass through, either. 
“What’s up with this thing?” I wondered if, perhaps, it was just coincidentally similar to the other places I’d been to and didn’t actually have anything to do with Babylon at all. 
Come to think of it... Wasn’t there something like this in a movie I saw once? I remember the ring in that movie was like a dial-based portal that could take you to other planets. 
I thought that might be the key, so I tried turning the whole ring like a dial. It didn’t turn. I was beginning to run out of ideas. 
I walked around the ring, looking at it. Then I spotted a red stone lodged in the side. What’s this, a spellstone? I looked up, and saw a blue spellstone lodged in the side as well. I used [Fly] to check out the ring from all angles, and found even more. Green, brown, yellow, and purple. There were six spellstones lodged in this thing. 
Heh, I get it. So the circle itself is like a gate, and I just have to trigger it in the usual way. 
I poured fire magic into the portion of the circle with the red spellstone, and the space between the two sides up to the stone became red. I repeated the process of pouring magic into each stone, until the entire ring was now a beautiful six-colored rainbow. 
Lastly, I poured out Null magic at my feet, and the six colors were mingled together with the seventh addition. I was enveloped in light, and all went white. 
When I opened my eyes, I found myself surrounded by the ever-familiar scenery of Babylon. A ring, much like the one in the ruins, was behind me. 
“Hoh.” I could see a similar-looking ring nearby, too. This place seemed bigger than a standard Babylon island, for whatever reason. 
I looked up in the distance, and saw an enormous white tower soaring way up past the trees. Well, at least it’s not the Dark Tower. 
Hm... Does that mean this is the tower? I’d kind of prefer it to be the storehouse, though... 
Even though I called it a tower, it didn’t have any visible windows, decorations, or protrusions. And the lower part of it was swollen outward, so it kind of resembled an Erlenmeyer flask. 
“Welcome to the Tower of Babylon. And welcome to my rampart.” A sudden voice rang out, and I turned around in a startled frenzy. A girl stood there, just a bit shorter than me. She was around Flora’s height... But her breasts were nowhere near as impressive. She was flat! 
She wore an outfit much like the one Cesca was wearing when I first met her. A big difference was the pinstriped jumper skirt. From below said skirt were two slender legs wrapped in tights. Her hair was short, somewhat wavy, and very faintly blue. 
“Indeed I am the Terminal Gynoid tasked with managing the rampart. My name is indeed Preliora. You may indeed refer to me as Liora.” 
“The rampart? I thought this was the tower.” Maybe she was defective: I was clearly looking at a tower. As I stared, I let my surprise be known to her. 
“Indeed, that is the Tower of Bayblon. But it’s also true indeed that the rampart is stationed here as well. The tower’s transfer ring was indeed annihilated by an exploding volcano around five hundred and twenty-seven years ago. After that I, the Terminal Gynoid of the rampart, did indeed meet with the Terminal Gynoid of the tower around three hundred and seventy-four years ago. Indeed it was our chance encounter that led to us docking together, and waiting together for the person with the proper attributes.” Liora bowed her head slowly as she spoke. Hm... So the tower and the rampart docked together, huh... That’s super damn convenient for me! Two in one. 
“I do indeed take note of the fact that you are indeed a person with all the proper aptitude for all elements. However, that does not indeed mean you are the proper person.” 
“You sure? The girls at the garden, the workshop, the alchemy lab, and the hangar all recognize me as proper.” 
“If it is indeed the case that you have mastered Four Babylons, then... There is no problem indeed. The rampart is yours.” Huh? That was... easy. Not gonna flash your panties, or make me touch your chest? Not gonna lob a pipe wrench at me? I suddenly recalled all the stupid things I’d done, and wondered if there was even a point. 
...I can’t help but feel a bit unsatisfied, though. N-No, calm down... You didn’t want a weird pervy trial. It’s better this way. 
“Indeed then. Airframe Number Twenty, Preliora, will now be transferred to your care. Make sure you take care of me indeed, master.” Liora bowed toward me. Number twenty? Guess that makes you older than Flora. Or... younger? Monica’s number twenty-eight, so I’m not sure about the rules. I guess the numbers go from twenty to twenty-eight, though. 
“Indeed then, master. I’ll take you toward the tower’s terminal. Right this way.” I followed after Liora, and saw someone sleeping in the shade of a tree. 
For a split-second I wondered if she was injured or incapacitated, but she was definitely just taking a nap. 
She wore a large ribbon similar to Liora’s, and the same kind of uniform as the other gynoids. She was a good deal shorter than Liora was, but her breasts were a bit more developed. They heaved as she snored. She sure was sleeping deeply. 
Her amethyst hair almost reached her waist, and was bunched in two places around the front of her body with little clasps. 
And, there was another matter... 
“Er, her skirt...” 
“Indeed. I wouldn’t mind it. It’s how she usually sleeps.” No I definitely do mind it! Her skirt is completely rolled up, I’m getting a face full of panties here! They’re striped! She’s wearing striped panties! The girl was lucky that only the two gynoids lived here, otherwise she’d be putting herself at risk. “Alright, well uh... Wake her up or something.” 
“Indeed I will. Noel. It is time to wake up. Pamela Noel, wake up.” Liora gently shook the sleeping girl by the shoulders, but she didn’t stir. Liora then placed her hands under the girl’s armpits to lift her up, but she still didn’t stir. 
“...Is she usually like this?” 
“Indeed. We Terminal Gynoids of Babylon had aspects of Doctor Babylon’s personality split across us. Those personality traits manifest and amplify within us, becoming the core of our being. This one... Noel... Is indeed the perfect amplification of the Doctor’s lazy, apathetic, and procrastinatory tendencies.” Oh, so it’s like that, huh... So their personalities are dictated by aspects of the Doctor’s own, and they developed based on those. That explains why they display that wicked pervert’s attitude every so often... 
Liora actually seems pretty good, though... Wonder if she contains the only good part of that good-for-nothing woman’s personality. 
“Master... Do you perhaps have any food?” 
“Huh? I don’t really have anything on me... Why? You hungry?” 
“It is not for me, no. It may indeed be necessary to provide food to this girl.” What? Food to wake her up? I took out some grilled skewers from [Storage] and passed them to Liora. They were still piping hot, since I’d put them into the storage space immediately after cooking them up. 
Liora held them in her left hand, moving her right hand in a fanning motion, wafting the scent over in Noel’s direction. 
The sleeping girl’s nose started to twitch, her head unconsciously craning toward the scent. Eventually she rose to her feet, staggering over in Liora’s direction. ...Her eyes were still tight shut, though. 
“Wake up, Noel. You’ll indeed have some skewers to eat if you wake up.” As if responding on cue to Liora’s words, Noel’s eyes shot open. Her eyes were fierce, locked on to their target. The target being the skewers in Liora’s hand, of course. 

“...Mmh... I’m huNgry... HaveN’t had a good meal in Four thousANd nine hundRed and seven years... Mind if I grab a biTE?” 
“Uh... Go ahead...” As soon as she heard my approval, Noel snatched up the skewer from Liora. She immediately started chowing down on it, swallowing it all up in but an instant. 
...She sounds kinda weird, but damn... If she really hasn’t eaten in close to five thousand years, that’s amazing... Then again, Cesca told me they didn’t feel any hunger when they were put under cold sleep. Apparently they get their energy through a few medicinal mixes and photosynthesis, so they don’t actually have to eat. 
“YuM. This stuff is yummy.” 
“Glad you think so.” I don’t know if it was the good food or just her becoming a bit more comfortable, but the girl turned to look at me. 
“S’your name?” 
“Mochizuki Touya. I was just recognized as a person suitable to control the rampart, so I’d like the tower to do the same.” 
“...Certain conditions musT be met iF you’re to be seen as suiTable for the tower. If you go aLong with thEm, then I’ll accept yOu.” Noel stood up and turned a sharp gaze my way. ...I can’t really take you seriously. You’ve got sauce from the skewer on your face... 
“Alright, what conditions?” 
“YuMmy food. And a wArm bed. GimMe those, and I’lL be fine.” ...Well, that’s... simple. The girl herself seems to be. Wonder if she’ll be okay like this... 
“Sure thing, then. I can have that arranged.” 
“Okey dOke. You’re recogniZEd, then. From now oN, AirfraMe Number TweNty-Five, Pamela Noel, is in your care. Feed me lOts and lOts, MAster.” I see your mind’s in your stomach. But hey, I’m not one to go back on my promises. I opened up [Storage] and took more skewers out. Noel, wide-eyed and smiling, grabbed them and wolfed them all down. 
“IncreDible, MaSter. I knew I coulD trust you. YuMmy...” After a heavy gulp, she started licking sauce off her fingers. Yae ate a lot, but I was sure this robogirl could give her a good run for her money. She kind of brought to mind the image of a bear just before hibernation. 
Noel suddenly turned to face me, gave a little nod, and came closer, like she’d forgotten something. Before I could even begin to ask her what she was doing, she stole my lips from me. 
“Mghh?!” Her tongue began to invade my mouth, swirling and twirling around mine. A-Ah... This taste, it’s so sweet... No, it’s salty, too! It’s that damn sauce! Eventually she parted lips with mine, stuck out her tongue, and used it to wipe her lips clean of any remaining juices. 
“Registration complete. I’ve goT your GeNEtic code now, maSter. The tower is yours to command... NoW fEed me. Feed me moRe.” 
“Geez...” I brought my sleeve to my mouth in order to wipe off the sticky sauce Noel had gotten on me, but Liora appeared out of nowhere. She grabbed me firmly by the chin, and wordlessly stole a kiss from me in much the same way. 
“Mghh?!” She caught me off-guard, I couldn’t free myself. She’d completely seized me with all her might. I was powerless to resist as Liora’s tongue wriggled, writhed, and softly vibrated inside my violated mouth. 
Wh-What the hell...? This actually feels pretty good... This is different, ahh... Her movements alternated between rough and gentle, and she greedily suckled at my lips with a passionate vigor. 
Th-This is taking a while, isn’t it?! It had been going on for a painfully long time, so I tried to pull back harder. She didn’t let me go. Slowly it got to the point where I was bent backward, arm extending toward the sky in desperation. Just as I thought I was gonna pass out, her lips freed mine, and I fell to the ground. She made me fall lower, in various senses. 
“Registration complete. Master’s genes are stored indeed. The rampart is formally yours now indeed, Master.” Liora smiled at me, and tilted her head as if to ask if I was alright. How could I possibly be alright after that?! She almost reunited me with the old man. “Please accept my most indeed-ious of apologies, master. I was simply in a daze, as I had never kissed a male before.” 
“...A male?” 
“Yes, indeed. In the distant past, I was Doctor Babylon’s... Night attendant. If you wish, I could take up the same role with you, Master. I’m fine being penetrated, but I’m indeed fine with doing the penetrating.” 
“WHAAAT?!” Isn’t that a little explicit?! Does she have that technique due to experience, then?! But what the hell did she mean by fine penetrating, how does she plan on doing that?! How could she even do that to me?! I thought you were good, Liora, but you’re a no-good weirdo too! Hell, you’re the most frightening! Wait, does that mean the Doctor swung that way?! Was she into chicks? My head was in an absolute frenzied daze. I wasn’t sure how to feel. This is fine. I’m fine. I pushed the bad thoughts away, and simply convinced myself everything was fine. 

Even though it was called the tower, it was only six or seven stories high. It didn’t really have much in the way of windows, and a strange pattern ran up along the sides in various geometric shapes. The chalk-white walls reflected the sun’s glare intensely. 
“LemMe explain. The toWer is... Zzz...” 
“Please wake up.” ...You’re napping already? You just ate! You’re gonna get fat, idiot! 
Noel closed her eyes and began to slumber deeply, so Liora picked up where she left off. 
“Indeed, the tower collects mana from the atmosphere and amplifies the accumulated amount. In a sense, please consider it to be a functional magic reactor. It is indeed true that each of the Babylon islands have something similar powering them, but even all of the others combined cannot match up to the tower’s output. You could indeed consider the tower to be the heart of Babylon as a whole.” So if Babylon was a ship, the tower would be the engine. If it docks with the rest of the Babylons, it’ll provide a ton of power. 
According to Liora, Babylon would be able to fly much faster with the tower docked. But more importantly than that, the extra power would increase the efficiency of the other parts. We’d be able to boost the production speed of the Frame Gears, and the Ether Liquid. This was actually quite a valuable find. 
“The toWEr is alSo uniqUe in that it requires verY little maintenance. Just gottA fine-tune the thing now and thEn, so it’s easy-peasy... Which is why it’s fine if I taKe long naps... G’nigHt...” Noel, who was now leaning against a tree, opened her eyes to add that, then fell back asleep again. Hey, now... Is Babylon gonna be okay if the person in charge of its engine is like this? Or... Heh... I guess Noel’s in charge of the tower because of how low-maintenance it is. She wouldn’t wake up even after shaking her around a bit, so I used [Levitation] to carry her with us. 
“Wow... Zzz... This is new... Zzz... Feels nice... Zzz.” Pipe down... If you say you’re sleeping, then sleep! 
Liora guided me elsewhere, and eventually we came to a white castle. It was situated on the opposite side of the island to the tower. It was a little smaller than my castle back in Brunhild, but a castle nonetheless. 
It kinda looks like the castle at Tokyo Disneyland... Which, now that I think about it, shouldn’t be called Tokyo Disneyland. It’s in Chiba. Well whatever... It looks like the Neuschwanstein Castle, from Germany. 
“This is indeed my rampart. It’s Babylon’s central defensive system. It can repel physical and magical attacks alike by deploying a shield. Functions such as temperature control, invisibility shielding, access regulation, enemy detection, and piloting Babylon on a whole are also indeed present here.” Hoho... So, in ship terms... If the rampart was an engine, this thing would be the bridge. 
Still... A shield that can defend against physical attacks? Kinda reminds me of the Blockbracer that ended up being used during the coup in Regulus. 
“Indeed. The Blockbracer was created using a similar principle to the rampart.” So they were related... That’s pretty scary, actually. Still, if I can divert power from the tower to the rampart, I’ll be able to put up a pretty powerful shield. That’s great all-around. 
Oh, come to think of it... There was that Manta Phrase I encountered a while ago. I wonder if we have any countermeasures for stuff like that. “Do you have anything that can intercept flying enemies?” 
“Indeed. The Satellite Orbs should do just fine.” 
“Uh... Satellite Orbs?” 
“Indeed. A Satellite Orb is a spherical weapon around twenty centimeters in diameter. They’re made of Orichalcum and have automated flight functions, automated tracking, variable density, and miniature shields.” ...Huh, that’s pretty big. Kind of like bowling-bowl sized bullets... I guess? 
In short, the Satellite Orbs were spherical weapons that intercepted airborne enemies by ramming into them at incredible speed. It was definitely an efficient way of taking out the Phrase. 
There were twenty-four Satellite Orbs in total, and they all orbited the rampart in a dormant state. In emergencies they powered up and indiscriminately rammed into approaching enemies. 
They kind of reminded me of something out of an old mecha anime. But the function was a little bit different. 
I followed after Liora and walked into the castle. The entrance hall was positively beautiful. It was incredibly well-maintained and held a regal air about it. If I wasn’t aware of where the Babylons came from, there was no way I’d believe it was around five thousand years old. At a guess, I’d say the place had been enchanted with something like [Protection] in order to stop wear and tear. 
Still, it looked like a regular castle. 
That was pretty nice. But what had caught my eye were the tiny things moving around on the ground. 
They had round heads, and cylindrical bodies. They had little round hands and feet with limbs that resembled bellows. Huh, what are those things? Well, I sort of knew what they were. They were clearly robots. About two heads tall. I’d seen something similar in an old anime that was being rebroadcast once. It was a helper robot based on those old karakuri puppet dolls from the Edo period. These little robots kind of resembled that... They didn’t have top-knots, though. 
I don’t think they were quite big enough, either. But it’s not like I had that robot with me for scale or anything. 
There were almost ten of them pottering around, attending to their business. They looked around thirty centimeters tall. They held feather dusters, brooms, and washcloths in their hands. Are they... cleaning? “Assemble.” Liora uttered an order, and the robots all tottered over and gave a small salute. There were nine in total. 
“From now on indeed, the venerable Mochizuki Touya will be our master. Do not be rude to him.” The mini-robots looked my way and gave another salute. I wondered if these things were the little robots that Rosetta had told me about earlier. I thought they were all in the storehouse, though... But I figured it was possible that some had been stationed in the rampart as well. 
“Hey... Can these things help maintain Frame Gears?” 
“Indeed, but only for simple things. They’re incapable of performing too complex or specialized a task.” 
“Is this all of them?” 
“Indeed not. There should be six more in the castle. Including the ones standing here, that makes fifteen in total.” Fifteen, huh... Well, that’ll help take a load off for Monica and Rosetta. I asked if they could be reproduced in the workshop, but apparently that was a no-no. They were enchanted with a special magic exclusive to Doctor Babylon, and programmed with her own personal sequence. That was a shame. Apparently they were at just the right size, too. Any bigger and their autonomous functions might go awry. 
I ordered them to continue cleaning for the time being, and the little drones continued their work. 
I carried Noel, who was still floating by my side, into one of the castle rooms. Then I set her down on a bed. 
The tower and rampart both set off in Brunhild’s direction, and I opened up a [Gate] to meet up with everyone back home.

“This is... quite unreal. I-It took me about two hundred years to program Paula with this level of complexity...” Leen stared down a mini-bot and picked it up under the arms, muttering all the while. 
Paula threw up her arms in despair and crashed to her knees, making a pose as if to say “I’ve been defeated!” She then began to mime crying out to the heavens, but obviously there weren’t any tears. Damn, Paula... You really aren’t that bad yourself, don’t worry. 
The Babylon I found wasn’t the library that Leen so desperately wanted to find, but she didn’t seem too sad because it contained something that caught her interest. 
“...Then you’re the eldest of the sisters, Liora?” 
“I would not put much importance in the sequence of us being sisters, but... Indeed. As far as the Babylon numbering goes, I was the first.” Liora curtly answered Linze’s question. Noel was napping alone inside the rampart castle, so it fell to Liora to explain the finer points about the two new Babylons. After a while, Liora started to ask her own questions, and it felt a bit more like a mutual discussion rather than an interrogation setting. 
I was quite comfortable hanging out inside the rampart. The place had a lot of furniture that reminded me of my own castle in Brunhild. According to Liora, Doctor Babylon had actually peeked into the future, looked at my castle, and copied my aesthetic choices before I’d even made them. 
“So then... Yumina, Lucia, Yae, Elze, Linze... You’re indeed my master’s wives, yes?” 
“W-Wives, ahah... Well, eventually, yes...” Elze bashfully answered Liora’s question. Why’d she ask that...? 
“I count five indeed. Where are the others?” 
“...Others? Aha. You must mean Sue-dono, you must. She is currently living in Belfast, she is.” 
“That does indeed mark six. But what of the other three?” 
“GAAAAH!!” My voice betrayed me, and I blurted out nonsense. Shut up! Shut up, damn it! Don’t say another thing! All the girls suddenly stared at me. 
“...Why did you yell just now?!” 
“N-NO REASON? I JUST... FELT LIKE YELLING. IT’S... HAHA... IT’S NOTHING, LINZE. I PROMISE!” DANGER. DANGER. Even I knew I didn’t sound convincing at all. I could feel their stares turn from confusion to ice cold scorn. I broke out into a cold sweat. Things had suddenly become terrifyingly tense. 
Yumina turned and started talking to Liora. 
“Liora... What did you mean just now when you said ‘other three’?” 
“Ah indeed. This is something I heard from the Doctor, but master will—” 
“No! Nope! Nooo! Time out, Liora! Think it’s time for you to go take a nap with Noel! Let’s not talk about delicate things so hastily and without good reason, okay?!” 
“Yae. Do it.” 
“Very well.” Yumina’s unspoken command was heeded easily by Yae, who bound my arms tightly behind my back. Why the hell are you guys so synchronized?! And why do you work best together when it’s for the sake of abusing me?! 
“So, you were saying?” 
“Ah yes, indeed. The Doctor’s future-sight revealed that master will have a total of nine wives. That is why Babylon is fragmented into nine pieces, after all.” 
“NINE?!” All five of them screeched at once. It was out. The secret was way out. Everyone other than Leen and Liora were screaming. Even Paula. Why was she freaking out?! “I-If Sue’s the sixth, then... That means there’ll be three more?” 
“I-I don’t even know what to say... I simply have no words...” Elze and Lu spoke slowly, as if in shock. Wait, what are you guys getting mad about?! I haven’t done anything yet! “...Touya.” 
“E-Eek!” 
“Genuflect.” Linze’s cold voice pierced through my heart. I could do nothing but what I was told. I stood up from my chair, crouched down to the ground, and bowed profusely. Despite my thoughts, everyone had already branded me a sinner. 
I didn’t agree with it at all. It wasn’t me that had done anything, it was future me! “Stay still, dog.” 
“H-Huh?” The girls huddled together and moved to the far corner of the room, muttering something or other. Hey now... I feel kinda left out here... 
“Heheh... Wonder what punishment they’re deciding on for you...” 
“D-Don’t say that!” Leen whispered to me and laughed slightly. The damn fairy was simply watching everything unfold with a wicked grin on her face. She was absolutely loving it. Paula patted me gently on the shoulder as if to comfort my prostrated self. A-At least you’re good, Paula... 
Just as my social link with a stuffed bear increased, everyone came back over. 
“Well? Is the verdict in? Heheh... What’s his sentence?” 
“D-Don’t say that, damn it!” As I tried to ignore Leen’s cruel words, I patiently awaited my fate. Even I’d accepted punishment at this point. 
Yumina let out a little sigh, and began to tell me the conclusion they’d reached. 
“...Ultimately, there’s not much of a difference between six and nine. We’ve come this far already. I told you to begin with I don’t mind how many mistresses or concubines you happen to have. Not to mention the fact that it hasn’t actually happened yet. Blaming you won’t solve a thing, so... It’s fine.” Oh... Oh God... Oh God, thank you! 
I almost thought I heard God’s voice saying “That had nothing to do with me!” but I was in too relieved a mood to care. 
“...However.” Lu picked up where Yumina left off. Huh? I’m innocent, aren’t I? Discharge me! Discharge me! Linze then picked up the little speech, carrying on. 
“...We realized that you’ve known about this for some time and kept silent, Touya. Keeping secrets like this... Is surely a problem between a man and his wives, isn’t it?” 
“Therefore, we declare you...” 
“Guilty.” What?! No! God, Help me! Help me, God! Take me with you, God! I almost thought I heard God’s voice saying “I told you, it was nothing to do with me!” God, you bastard! Help me, I’ll kill you! I felt like my own personal power diminished with each new wife I obtained... That their combined might was enough to put an end to me completely. It was at that point I began thinking about the benefits of monogamy. Which bastard was it that said having a harem is every man’s dream?! I wished I could bring him here, and show him the brutal reality. 
“Th-Then... What do you want from me...?” 
“We’ll forgive you... If you give each of us a kiss, one by one. Your actions have made us insecure in our relationship with you, Touya... You have a responsibility to make us feel better.” Oh... Oh Geez. I’ve kissed Yumina and Linze, but... N-Not the other three. 
I looked over to see Yumina smiling, Linze blushing, Lu holding her hand to her fast-beating heart, Yae fussing around with her hakama, and Elze fidgeting with her hands. 
In all honesty, I was very embarrassed. I thought this would be the best moment to escape and leave their request unfulfilled, but I had nowhere to run. 
So, with Leen and Paula jeering and yelling at me... I did it. I kissed them one-by-one. It was weird. 
But... After I kissed each of them... Lu turned a shade of scarlet and ran away, Yae grabbed me by the arm and threw me across the room while screaming.... Elze pulled her arm back and pummeled me in the chest, sending me flying backward in a tailspin. Ghah—!! Even if you’re embarrassed, there’s no need for a corkscrew blow! I started to get worried that my life might actually wind up in danger if I didn’t make romantic things a little more regular and casual with my girls. 
As I faded out of consciousness, I asked a small, profound question in my head. Is this misery, or is this joy?