Calamity

In total, I'd gathered together six Babylons. They were the garden, the

workshop, the alchemy lab, the hangar, the rampart, and the tower.

Initially there were fifteen mini-robots working in the rampart, but I diverted

ten of them to the hangar in order to give Monica and Rosetta some muchneeded aid. They were thankful for the reduced workload.

I brought Liora and Noel to Zanac's dressing room, and told them they could

choose anything they liked. Liora picked a blazer, while Noel chose a jersey.

Why'd you choose that of all things? Ah, whatever... I guess if they like it, then

that's fine.

The day had finally come for Brunhild's guild hall to finish construction, so I

wandered over to give it an inspection.

For the most part, the place was ready for a grand opening. It just needed

furniture and decorations on the inside. I was especially impressed with the

craftsmanship. Apparently people were quite eager and passionate about the

guild hall being opened, because it was one in a territory belonging to a grand

duke who had his roots in guild adventuring.

I thought that was fine, but I didn't really expect too many adventurers to

show up. Brigands and monsters weren't common in Brunhild, so I figured most

of the quests wouldn't be anything adventurous.

Hell, the place was smack-bang in the middle of Regulus and Belfast, so it

wouldn't have surprised me much if we didn't get any monster-killing quests at

all.

Samsa the ogre was still hard at work, this time helping to build the nearby

bar. Only the bar's framework was built, so there was still a fair bit for him to

do. He was much too big to help out with any of the guild hall's indoor

furnishing, after all.

"Hm..." I suddenly looked over to see Sakura gazing at the construction works.

Sango and Kokuyou were by her side, swimming through the air.

"Heyyy! Nice to ssseee you, darling."

"...Lord." Sakura still hadn't recovered her memories, but I could hardly just

kick her out. I decided it'd be best to let her stay in the castle as my guest.

Despite her quiet nature, she was actually quite active and outgoing. I asked

Sango and Kokuyou to accompany her just in case she found herself in trouble

or wandered off too far.

"What brings you guys here?"

"We were at Moon Reader until jussst a while ago. We were walking home,

but when we got here, the girl sssimply ssstopped moving and began ssstaring."

Kokuyou answered my question, rather than Sakura.

"You guys were at Moon Reader? Who paid for the food?"

"The manager just said it'd be fine putting it on your tab." Tsk... That's

annoying, even by her standards. Then again, the Moon Reader branch over

here is pretty much a store operated by the government, so it's fine...

"So what's Sakura doing now, exactly?"

"Watching..." Sakura suddenly murmured something, and pointed over at

Samsa the ogre. He was hauling timber with a big smile on his face. What,

something on his face?

"He's demonkin... but nobody minds... It's strange."

Ah, I see... so that's what's got her curious. I'll admit, it's definitely weird for

demonkin to work together peacefully with humans. In most cases, humans are

scared of demonkin and their ilk, which makes both species avoid the other.

Outside of Brunhild, I hadn't witnessed another place where man and

demonkin laughed together, or shared drinks together. Whenever I saw

demonkin in other countries, they were mostly on their own, in the corners of

bars and such.

"Demonkin or not, my country doesn't tolerate discrimination. It's true that

travelers from other countries might steer clear of them, but there are even five

demonkin members of my knight order. We're quite diverse."

"This country is strange... It shifts to the whims of its leader... Still, it's nice

here... Everyone here wishes to work in harmony, together." I got the feeling

she wasn't really praising me, but I was happy nonetheless.

Well, Brunhild was a rather small country, so it was only natural that everyone

worked hard together to make a future.

I decided to take Sakura over to look at the agricultural project in the east of

Brunhild. Lakshy the alraune was hard at work in the fields as usual. She was

demonkin, too.

"What're you raising here, then?"

"Radishes and turnips! They'll be ready for harvest soon, I'm sure. We should

pickle 'em. They're super yummy when you do that." Lakshy smiled as she

spoke. Apparently the pickling method was something unique to Eashen, but it

was spreading across Brunhild quickly due to most of our citizens being

Eashenese.

The rice paddies were coming along well too. I wanted to expand the project

until spring. I was looking forward to chowing down on some rice.

After that we should grow miso and soybeans, all the good stuff for natto.

Tofu and green beans sound good too. I was getting a bit excited, so I hoped for

spring to come a bit sooner.

We said our goodbyes to Lakshy and started back down the road to the castle.

After a while of walking, something felt strange. There was nobody around,

nobody in the area but us.

"Massster..."

"I know." Sango spoke up to warn me, but I was already deploying a [Shield].

It was just in time for an arrow to come flying at us from a nearby tree.

"Ah...?!" Sakura took a sharp, surprised breath, but the spell successfully

deflected the attack. I looked up to the place the arrow came from, and saw

someone clad in a black mask, kind of like the type used in traditional Chinese

theater.

That's a weird-looking mask... It's definitely suspicious. I walked toward the

tree, only to be ambushed where I stood by three similar, black-clad men from

the ground. I'd sensed several presences in the area, but I was surprised they'd

been buried in the soil. They carried curved shortswords. I narrowed my eyes

and took a closer look at the unusual blades. They were slicked with a liquid,

likely poison.

There was no mistaking it. I was face-to-face with a group of assassins.

"Tell us the whereabouts of the Giant Warrior."

"...The Giant Warrior? You mean my Frame Gear?"

"Silence. Answer."

"No. I don't answer to you. What country are you from?" I spoke clearly to

the three in front of me, but they didn't respond. It would've been fine if they'd

just been obedient and answered me, but they had to make it hard. I walked

over and quickly tapped all three of them on the shoulder.

"[Gravity]."

"Guwagh?!" I made them bow at my feet using my weight-altering magic.

Horrified by the display, the fourth assassin leaped out of the tree and started

running away.

"[Slip]."

"Guwah?!" The fourth assassin fell to the ground immediately. He smacked

the back of his head pretty hard. Ouch, poor timing...

I decided to leave that guy for now, and focused my attention on the three

men in front of me. I reached down to pull their masks off. Let's see what you

look like...

"Don't!" Sakura suddenly charged toward me and yanked my arm away. I fell

flat on my back... just as the three men burst into flames. Their masks

detonated.

"A-Ah..." The three men slumped to the ground, motionless. Chunks of flesh

danced through the air alongside smoke. Their heads had been blown off

completely.

What the hell was that? A suicide bomb tactic in case they got caught? I'd

seen some historical plays where ninja would bite their tongues out if they got

caught, but this was a little much...

Then again, suicide bombing pretty much guaranteed death. If their tongues

came off, they could still be kept alive and tortured.

I looked over at the guy I'd tripped over, but he wasn't there anymore. A

weapon similar to a kunai dagger attached to rope was lodged into a nearby

tree. [Slip] affected an area on the ground, so he must've pulled himself out of

the operational area.

I looked around for his mask, but I didn't find it. He'd likely disposed of it and

made his getaway. I didn't understand what had just happened, but I knew I

needed to take countermeasures before they came back for a second go. I

decided to meet this mysterious challenge head-on.

"I didn't find any identifying documents or features on the three corpses, and

one of the men got away. Thus, he is unaccounted for." Vice-Commander

Nikola read his report out to me. I didn't want it to become an especially major

matter, but it was true that the monarch of a nation had come under direct

attack, so I couldn't keep quiet about it.

The people joining me in the conference room were the top three members

of the knight order, Prime Minister Kousaka, the old men from Takeda, and

Tsubaki of the intel corps.

"So then... were they after somethin' of yours, squirt?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah... I have no doubts they were after the Frame Gear."

"Guess that means we gotta suspect every other country, then." Old man

Baba sighed and folded his arms as he leaned back into chair.

I could understand where he was coming from. The Frame Gear was

something seen as a potent weapon by other countries, so I wasn't surprised

another group finally made a move to try and gain it. They were likely aiming to

kidnap and torture me until I told them where it was.

The arrow the fourth guy fired was probably coated in poison, too. It was

probably paralysis-inducing, and they'd smeared it on their swords to make

sure they could cart me off easily.

"It's unlikely that a nation affiliated with our western alliance would've done

such a thing. And even if it was, it's entirely possible that it was the careless

action of an influential noble, rather than the government of the country itself.

We must not take brash action without understanding full well who the culprit

is." I agreed with Kousaka's assessment. If a country from the western alliance

tried to steal from me, the other nations would vilify them. It would've been

suicide to make a move like that.

Plus, they'd called it the Giant Warrior. That meant they didn't know it was

called a Frame Gear. It was far more likely that the assassination attempt was

performed by a country I hadn't involved myself with yet.

As I pondered, Tsubaki raised her hand.

"Excuse me, there's a matter I was concerned with. You said they were

wearing masks, which stood out to me a tad."

"Why's that strange? No matter the era, spy groups and assassination teams

always wear masks. Is there something odd about it?"

"No, I was just thinking... If we knew a bit more about the mask, it might help

us identify them..."

Well, that's a fair point... But those masks have all been blown to smithereens.

Lapis and Cecile used masks when they worked for Belfast's Intelligence Task

Force, Espion... If what Yamagata had said was true, and every organization

used a mask... Then it may have been possible to identify them from the mask.

"What did the masks look like?"

"Uh... kinda similar in style to those used in traditional Chinese theater."

"Chinese?" Commander Lain tilted her head in confusion. Her rabbit ears

twitched just as curiously. Oh, right... other world. Oh, I know.

I took out a piece of paper from a desk and used [Drawing]. I depicted a

perfectly accurate replica of what the masks on my assailants looked like.

"...Feels a tad late for me to say it, but you sure have a lot of convenient stuff

at your disposal, Milord." Vice-Commander Norn muttered quietly. Well, just

call it Your Majesty's magic... heh.

"That's the mask, anyway. Recognize it?" Everyone stared down at the image,

until eventually Tsubaki spoke up.

"I've no proof, but the coloring and markings here are... reminiscent of

Yulong's national symbols. I'd heard rumors that there's a spy organization

named "Qulau" operating out of that nation."

"Yulong?"

"Yulong, Empire of Heaven. It's a country west of Eashen, over the sea.

They've warred against Eashen many a time, and are governed by the heavenly

emperor." Huh... Yulong, Empire of Heaven? They're Eashen's neighbors from

across the sea, eh? It's quite a way away... If the assailants did come from there,

they traveled far.

Well, not like I have any proof it's them. It's probably better to act cautiously

though... I doubt they'll give up after one attempt.

For the time being I decided to bolster defenses and make sure people paid

attention to suspicious things. I assumed their plan was to steal the Frame Gear,

and there was no way in hell I planned on letting them have it.

The only way to Babylon was either through one of my portals, or the shortrange recall teleport that Cesca and the other Gynoids had.

There was always the chance they could get there by launching into the sky

and hoping for the best, but that wouldn't be an issue. Ever since I obtained the

rampart, directly invading from the outside had become an impossibility.

I didn't much care if they sent people after me, but I couldn't avoid the

possibility of them targeting my loved ones. To that end, I decided it'd be better

to send them a message suggesting I wasn't to be messed with.

If they did end up going after the people I cared about, then I wouldn't forgive

them. I'd mercilessly hunt down the ringleader and make him wish he was

dead.

Still, the people who came after me blew themselves up to conceal their

identities. The guy in charge was probably a real monster.

Come to think of it... How come Sakura knew they were gonna blow up? She

isn't from that spy agency or something, is she...? Nah, that can't be. I found her

in Eashen, not Yulong, and Yumina's Mystic Eyes have confirmed her status as

non-malicious.

Though that begged the question, the Mystic Eyes might not be able to

account for bad people who had lost their memories.

It was hard to know if a bad person who, upon losing their memories and

becoming like a whole other person, would still be judged as evil. I had no idea

about the mechanics of it, exactly, and it was a little too philosophical for my

tastes, so I left it there.

I felt a little anxious about the day Sakura's memories would return.

Still, I decided to push those anxieties aside. Sakura wasn't a bad girl, surely.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Alright, here I go..."

"Sure thing." I was at the training grounds with Linze, who pointed a mithril

rod at me. It had various spellstones fit on the tip. Of the three stones, red,

blue, and yellow, the red one shone brightly.

"Come forth, Fire! Hail of Red Stones: [Ignis Fire]!" A flaming orb about the

size of a baseball flew out of the rod. She'd cast a basic fire spell.

I watched it approaching, focused my magic, and cast my new Null spell.

"[Absorb]." The fireball dispersed like a fine mist. It didn't hit me, so I was

completely unharmed.

Another shot came flying at me. However, just like the one before it, it

dispersed into nothingness. Hm... guess it's on a timer, then... This spell eats up

a lot of magic, but it makes up for that by absorbing any offensive magic around

me.

"Linze, step it up a notch."

"Very well." Linze readied her rod once more.

"Come forth, Fire! Purgatorial Pillar: [Inferno Fire]!"

"[Absorb]." Three billowing torrents of flame came at me from multiple

angles. But, once they got about two meters away from me, they vanished as

well.

Hm...? Well, my magic got restored, but... it's only about the same amount as

the fireball gave me. Guess it must return a fixed amount, which means the spell

I drain is irrelevant... The spell gets canceled out, turned back into raw magic,

then part of that is absorbed. Pretty neat.

The effect was similar to the Drainbracer used during the coup, so I was

certain I could enchant items with it as well.

I asked Linze if I could see about making magic absorbing armor, but Linze

said it'd be pointless. Apparently if someone absorbed spells from schools other

than the ones they had the attributes for, then they could get something called

spellsickness.

So if a person had no aptitude for fire magic and absorbed a fire spell, they'd

be negatively affected. It wouldn't be an issue for someone like me, but the

average person wasn't so well-attuned. Apparently the Drainbracer didn't seem

to have that problem, though.

Linze and Yumina were both only attuned to three magic schools, but Leen

would probably be able to absorb all magic except Darkness. She was attuned

to all other schools, after all.

She could also use [Transfer] to give magic to others.

"Guess it won't help much for being caught off-guard, though, since you've

gotta manually invoke it."

"What's the range on it?"

"Uh, it's around two to ten meters, I think. Oh, that brings up an interesting

question... Would an enemy within that range even be able to cast a spell to

begin with?" I kept Linze standing next to me and triggered [Absorb]. She cast

her spell and it activated for about half a second before being nullified.

Huh, so I guess I could preemptively keep it cast on me. When Linze left the

effective range, she could cast normally once more.

The spell was one that completely nullified magic entirely. [Silence] only

stopped spells from being chanted because it stopped the sound itself, and I

could use [Taboo] to seal certain words in advance if I knew what spells my

enemy was using. It was useful if I knew my enemy, but wouldn't be much use

in a real fight.

Then again, knowing my enemy would certainly help in some cases. For

example, if I made [Boost] a taboo word and I had to fight Elze, it'd certainly be

to my advantage.

Regardless, none of these spells would do me any good against a Phrase.

The experiment was complete. I thanked Linze for her help and set off toward

home when suddenly I received a telepathic message from Kohaku.

"My lord, we've a visitor at the castle..."

"A visitor?"

"Er, yes... She's calling herself your older sister..."

"Excuse me?!"

What older sister? I don't have any sisters... I don't even have any brothers!

I've got cousins from my mother's sister, and my dad's older brother went

through that wedding and divorce, but none of those people would be in this

world, either.

"What does the person look like?"

"Ah, well... She's pink-haired and looks to be around half a decade older than

you, and she— Wh-Wh-What is she doing?! Agh!"

"Hmhm? What's this, Kohaku? Ehehe, it's a telepathic connection, is it? Then

I'll talk with Touya too, get it? Heeey, can you hear me, dear?" The amused

voice of a young woman came mixed in on Kohaku's wavelength. The voice was

strangely familiar.

Wait... no. Oh no... What the hell are you doing here?! I opened up a [Gate]

and rushed to the castle immediately, dragging Linze off with me.

"I'm Touya's biiig sister! You can call me Karen, get it?"

"Karen, was it?" She spoke up, greeting everyone like it was no big deal. What

the hell are you saying? You're not even a human!

I approached her and let out a quiet whisper.

"...God of love, what exactly are you doing in my castle?"

"I'm not the god of love, get it? I'm Karen! It'll be fine if you call me big sis...

Actually, make sure to call me that, get it?!"

That's not an answer to my question at all!

"I'm so happy to see you after so long! Hehehe, hurray!"

"Gaugh!" She suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. Hey now, everyone's

watching! I glanced over at Yumina and the others, but they seemed to be

touched. From their perspective, it was the long-awaited reunion of a brother

and his beloved sister, after all. Yae was even shedding a few tears. This was

bad...

"Well then... venerable sister-in-law, allow us to take our leave. We'll ensure

you're fed well tonight, so please look forward to it."

"Oh my! I am looking forward to it, get it?" I guess they wanted to give the

'two siblings' time to reconcile. Eventually it was only the god of love and

myself.

"So, what's going on? Why'd you come down to the mortal realm?"

"Huh... Shouldn't I have come?"

"No! I don't mean like that, I just wonder why you're posing as my sister!"

"Oh, it was just an idea of mine, get it...?" The god of love reclined on the

couch with a little chuckle. I was mentally exhausted at this point, so I sat down

too. This is bad... This girl isn't the kind of person I handle very well...

"So, what's the deal? Why're you here?"

"Hoho... I came to catch someone, get it?"

"Huh? You mean like capturing someone?"

"That's right! We're lesser gods, but I'm here to capture a god even lower

down the ladder! A servile god, to be precise! The naughty little fellow escaped

and came down here, get it? So I came down to get them back, get it?" A servile

god? Didn't know you could get lesser than lesser.

From what I understood the gods had a strict hierarchy, so servile gods must

have been placed under gods of specific concepts. This one must've ran away

and come to this world for whatever reason.

"You said he escaped? Did he commit a crime up there or something?"

"Nope! There wasn't anything like a crime, get it? I've no idea why the little

dear came down here. That being said, coming to a lower world without the

World God's permission is actually a crime in and of itself, but it should be fine

so long as the god in question doesn't influence the world with their divine

powers. That's why I'm worried, get it?"

...I think you're interfering plenty already in a broader sense... You're the one

who made me peek on Yumina and the others when they were changing!

"Gods like me can come and go without an issue. If you want me to put it in

easy terms, I'm a driver with a perfectly valid license, get it? But a servile god

isn't licensed, nor do they have a temporary license, so they're like a child in the

driver's seat! It's quite a dangerous situation, get it?"

I guess I get it, but at the same time I don't fully understand. In the end, it's

bad not to be licensed, I guess.

"Then go out and catch the guy already. I don't want any trouble."

"That's the plan, geez! But I haven't been able to feel any of their Divine

Essence since I got here... They probably transformed into something that exists

here already."

"Eh? Transformed?"

"Yep! Could be a person, an animal, or maybe even something like an object

or plant! It's a technique to blend in. So long as it's active, the natural divinity

they emanate is inert, get it?"

Huh, weird. That's definitely troubling, though...

It would be bad news for everyone if the god started using his powers. A god

was still a god, no matter the tier. I hoped he'd be caught and brought to justice

swiftly. Still, the fact that we didn't know why he'd come down to this world,

coupled with the fact that he was concealing himself was definitely troubling.

"So what're you gonna do to find him?"

"The moment that servile god uses a single bit of divine power, I'll know

where they are! Then, we can undo the transformation with our own divine

power after finding out where they are, get it?"

"Uh, our?"

Hey hey, you didn't bring ANOTHER god down here, did you? I remember the

god of swords, the god of agriculture, and the god of music being mentioned...

Curse that careless old man!

"What do you mean? I'm talking about you, get it? You have magical power

and divine power, silly. How do you think I even found you in the first place? I

can smell the godliness on you as well as I can see the cleanliness!"

"Seriously?!" Wait a sec... Is this one of the bodily changes I'll be undergoing?

I didn't even know about it!

"Well, I won't be able to do anything until they make a move, get it? So... with

that saiiid... thanks for having me here, little bro."

"Wait, you're gonna stay here?!" Seriously? Well, I mean... I'll be worrying

about that god until he reveals himself, so having her here might not be the

worst thing... But I don't really trust having this girl of all people hanging

around!

"There's no problems with an older sister coming to stay with her younger

brother, get it?"

"Hm, older sister, eh? Makes me wonder just how old you are..." I tried to

tease her, but she just puffed her cheeks out and glared daggers at me. Asking

her age seemed an unwise idea, so I decided not to push it, lest she cast me into

a living hell.

"Anyhow, just call me Sissy-wissy. That's the best way, get it?"

"...No way am I calling you that."

"If you don't, I might accidentally tell Yumina and the others all about that

time you came to ask me for help with your love troubles... get it?"

"Ah, please accept my apologies, S-Sissy-wissy..." Curse it all... Is this the

legendary power of a god at play? Calling her... that, was far too embarrassing,

so I got her to compromise on calling her Sis instead. The god of love... or well,

Karen, seemed a little disappointed, but she accepted my terms.

I kinda wondered what was going through the old man's head when he

assigned her to this job, though. I had no idea if she was the right kind of person

for it.

The meal that evening was nothing short of extravagant. Crea had clearly put

her all into making it a grand feast.

But then... during dinner, something bad and uncomfortable happened. They

started asking her for love advice. She was a pro, after all... No, beyond that,

really... but it didn't make it any less unpleasant to endure during my meal.

Yumina and the others began to ask her things, one by one.

"Touya's the kind of person who's inherently kind, get it? From a woman's

perspective, that can be kind of cruel, though... They might see it as him hitting

on them, or displaying interest when really he's just a gentle soul... It'd be bad if

they misunderstood his intentions, get it?"

"B-But doesn't that mean he's not especially fond of us either? He treats us all

so kindly, but it's all the same..." Linze muttered.

"No no, that's not the case... He considers all of you to be precious, get it? But

it's up to you girls to decide how that progresses. He's not the kind to make a

move on his own, so you're the ones who have to gently push."

"So we just need to be more aggressive?" Elze asked.

"In moderation... He'll only become more flustered if you attack too strongly,

get it? Touya's the kind of boy who gets very shy very easily."

"Th-Then just how far is far enough...?"

"First thing's physical contact... Hugging, kissing, and holding hands is good,

get it? Slowly whittling away at his shyness by doing stuff like this often is key.

It'll eventually become second nature, get it? My my, you must all be having a

tough time, eh? What inexperienced girls you are... It's so cute."

"Wh-What about, erm... seduction...?" Yumina inquired.

"Be careful about how far you go, there... Too many naughty things might end

up giving him mental fatigue... Start up by wearing shorter skirts to tease him...

But only do that in front of Touya! If another person gets a peek of your panties,

he'll hate it for sure!"

"I see... This is most intriguing..." Yae mumbled. Please put an end to this, I'm

begging you! What the hell kind of shameless conversation is this?! This isn't

romantic advice anymore! I looked around the table and noticed Renne was

also listening attentively. Meanwhile, the men at the table just looked at me

with solemn eyes. They seemed to understand how tough I had it.

I'm getting embarrassed here, come on! Get me outta here! And that's how

one of the very worst people possible became my older sister.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Wait, Yulong declared war?"

"That's correct, yes. They declared war on their neighboring nation, the

Hannock Kingdom, and are currently planning to mount an offensive." As

Tsubaki gave me her report, I took my smartphone out and got a good look at

the area around Yulong.

The Kingdom of Hannock was west of Yulong, and bordered Regulus along a

large river. On the map, I could see that the territory they controlled was more

horizontal than vertical.

"Run search. Display Yulong's forces in red, and Hannock's in blue."

"Understood. Displaying." Just like that, it showed the lot. They were split up

into a neat color code.

My search magic was definitely a handy information gathering application. It

couldn't be used on people who disguised their features or changed clothes,

like the masked assailants from the other day, but it was pretty easy to look for

general concepts and locations.

We didn't find a single trace of those black masks, either. I figured they'd

blown up to the last trace in order to prevent any possibility of being identified.

According to the map, there were two Yulong war camps within Hannock's

territory. There was another large group of Yulong forces headed toward both

camps, which I figured was probably a resupply unit. Either way, the situation

seemed to be in Yulong's favor. They were advancing forward with

overwhelming numbers.

"Why did war even break out?"

"Yulong's official stance is that Hannock was originally Yulong's territory, and

that refugees had settled there and made their own kingdom many years ago

without proper permission. They're stating it's not war, just a reclamation of

rightful soil."

"...Is that how it works?"

"That's how they're saying it works. They say that Yulong has prospered since

before recorded time. They claim that Yulong has an empire spanning 7000

years. It's handed down as an oral tradition over there." 7000 years? That's

crazy. Even Egypt only has a history spanning 5000 years, right...? I could

understand that they were trying to take back their ancestral territory, but

there was already another country there now with people living peacefully in it.

I couldn't help but wonder why they chose now of all times to reclaim it. And I

didn't quite understand the whole oral tradition thing, either. I turned to Cesca,

who was standing by my side, and spoke to her in a quiet voice.

"...Hey uh, during the ancient era 5000 years ago... was there a country called

Yulong?"

"Nope. I haven't heard of anything like that. All human nations were ravaged

by the Phrase and rendered uninhabitable during their final push."

Hmhmhm... So Yulong's proud 7000 years of tradition doesn't sound so legit

after all. If I have to hazard a guess, I'd say some influential people started a

cool story about their history and spread it to future generations as the truth.

But if that's the case, then it casts the entire Hannock situation into doubt, too...

Well, I can't discredit everything Yulong says based on this. They probably

actually believe this stuff because they were taught it for so many generations.

"If you'd like my opinion, the war was begun under false pretenses. Over the

last few years, Hannock has discovered a wealth of ore. They've become much

more economically powerful due to their mithril and orichalcum reserves. In my

humble opinion, it is this wealth that is driving Yulong's bloodlust."

Wait, they're being aggressive for resources? Surely Yulong isn't seeing it as

some bounty to be claimed, right...? Though it does add up... They allegedly

attacked me looking for the Frame Gear the other day. Are they the kind of

people that pump money into their military, trample the enemy, and then use

their resources and technology to bolster their own might?

"Guh... A war is kind of a first for me... How does the situation look?"

"Yulong has the advantage when it comes to raw military might. If it continues

as it is, Hannock will likely be destroyed. It might be possible for them to bolster

their troops using the funds from their ore mines, but the difference in strength

between Hannock and Yulong is just too big for it to even be a fair contest."

If they destroy Hannock, would Yulong go after Regulus too? That definitely

wouldn't be good news...

This coupled with the attack on Brunhild the other day wasn't painting me the

brightest picture of Yulong. Though it wasn't confirmed that they were the

attackers, so I reserved judgment.

"Does the Kingdom of Hannock have much in the way of relations with

Regulus?"

"They're associated, but not allied. They definitely maintain a friendly

relationship. In regards to the current war, however, Regulus will not intervene.

They may provide aid in the form of food or arms, but not much else."

Hmph... If it goes on like that, the war will just be prolonged. Even then, it's

not like it'd be hard for Yulong to win if Hannock had more support.

It's a foreign, unrelated war... It has nothing to do with me... If I could think

with that mindset, it'd be easier.

A lot of people are gonna die... I'm hardly a humanitarian, I have my own

things to take care of... But I can't help but feel rotten when I imagine the

deaths of those people, regardless of whether or not they know me.

I couldn't decide if that was hypocritical or heroic.

My late grandfather once told me "Better a hypocrite than a bystander!" and

that "If you stand and stare like a monkey, you might as well be one!"

...And honestly? I don't want to be a monkey.

"Oh, that reminds me. Weren't there members of our knight order from

Yulong or Hannock?"

"We have nobody from Yulong amongst our ranks. However, there is one

soldier who was born in Hannock."

"Call him here, then. I wish to speak with him."

"As you wish." Tsubaki swiftly left the room.

If he's from Hannock, then he might have family still living there... It'd be

better to bring them here to Brunhild if that place is gonna get wrecked soon.

"Knight Paolo reporting for duty, sir!" The knight I had called over bowed his

head to me and stood on one knee. He was a young man with short, auburn

hair. I'd seen him a few times here and there. If I recalled correctly, he was fast

on his feet, but not especially skilled at swordplay. Either way, he was diligent,

so Nikola had remarked on his abilities every now and then.

Apparently he was originally a regular adventurer, and came here to sign up

after seeing a recruitment flyer.

"Paolo, you hail from Hannock, yes? Where is your hometown, exactly?"

"Er... Ah, well. My hometown is a small village named Quint, which is on the

eastern side of Hannock. Why do you..." Quint Village... I called up my map and

displayed the location.

Oh, that's not good. Yulong's army is a little close for comfort... Are they

gonna conquer this village and use it as their base of operations or something?

They're aiming for Hannock's capital for the most part, but there's a smaller

group heading for Quint... Are they trying to make a pincer attack or

something? Invading army or not, surely they won't kill villagers. But that

doesn't mean they won't take provisions and general supplies... It's just a

matter of whether the villagers give them over peacefully or not.

"Er, sorry... What is this?" Paolo stared at me with a look of anxiety on his

face. He looked between me and the map, then pointed at the location of his

town on the projection.

"The news isn't formally out yet, but... Yulong has declared war on Hannock."

"What are you saying?!" Paolo stood up straight, clearly shocked. He had

anxiety, surprise, and a twinge of horror painted on his face.

"This here is Quint Village... And the red marks here are Yulong's forces. It's

looking like they'll reach Quint by morning."

"B-But..." Paolo stared at my map, equal parts horrified and amazed.

"So long as the villagers don't act rashly, I'm sure things will be okay, but—"

"...No, you don't understand. E-Everyone in Quint, my family... and friends...

They're all going to die, or worse. The men will be slaughtered, and the women

and children will definitely be taken to be slaves and playthings...!"

"What?!"

Hold on a sec... is he kidding? They're formal soldiers, right? If they acted like

raiders, they'd just be common criminals. They can't seriously get away with

that, right?

"Yulong's army is infamous for their heinous behavior, Milord... When they

invade another country, they're permitted to pillage at their own discretion.

They can take weapons and armor from fallen foes, they can take money and

jewels that they find in people's houses.. They can even take women to claim as

property... It's because of this reason that Yulong's army has some of the

highest morale in the world."

He can't be serious... If they act like that, they'll just make the locals hate

them! If they're invading to make the land theirs, then what are they planning?

"Twenty or so years ago, there was a country called Zaram between Hannock

and Yulong... It was savagely destroyed by Yulong's forces. There were

widespread reports of pillaging and rape during that time."

...No matter the circumstances of war, there's no need for soldiers to go that

far!

According to Tsubaki, Yulong held a strong caste system, and your social

status was determined by one simple detail, whether or not you're a native

Yulongese person. Their xenophobia was extremely strong, and they viewed

outsiders as lesser beings.

Slavery was apparently common in Yulong as well, much like Sandora. But

they didn't use collars. Instead, they denoted slaves with special tattoos.

"It's likely that Quint village will be completely ravaged, just as Zaram was

before... Gh... Milord, I-I'm so sorry to speak out of line like this, but... I beg of

you! Please, use your power to save my home!" Paolo knelt down again, bowing

and crying out to me.

"Sure."

"Milord, I know... I know how rude this is, but I beseech you, please! Give

your most honorable of considerations to saving m— Wait..." Paolo raised his

head, dumbfounded.

"What's wrong? I said I'd do it, didn't I? The only reason I called you here was

to help anyway."

Well, the original plan was just to evacuate Paolo's family. I figured that

would be an easy enough job, and I didn't really expect the village to be in any

real danger...

"I don't know if they'll believe me even if I explain it outright, so could you

come along to the village with me?"

"Y-Yes sir, of course!" I used [Recall] to receive Paolo's memories of Quint,

and we went there immediately through a [Gate].

It was just the three of us. Myself, Tsubaki, and Paolo.

I opened my eyes to see a peaceful and beautiful little village.

"This is Quint, then?"

"Y-Yes, it is... This is definitely where I was born. Your magic is incredible... To

move so far, so quickly..." Paolo made a dumbfounded face at his surroundings,

but he seemed relieved.

A young man, who looked like a farmer, called out to us.

"Paolo? Huh, that you, Paolo?"

"Holy cow! Lent? It's been forever, man!" Paolo ran over to the young farmer.

They seemed to be friends, or at least acquaintances.

"What's with that getup? Did you loot it off a dead guy or something?"

"You dumbass! I'm totally a knight of Brunhild, bro. I didn't steal a thing. I'm a

certified soldier under a grand duke!"

"Whoa, for reals?" Paolo proudly jerked a thumb toward his mithril armor. I

noticed that his way of speaking had switched pretty quickly. He sounded a lot

more casual and confident in himself.

"Pfft. You used to be famous for your getaway speed. You doing well in your

new job with those skills, wahaha..."

"Heh, maybe, maybe... Wait, there's no time for idle banter! Yulong and

Hannock are at war with each other now!" Lent's face suddenly grew sullen at

Paolo's proclamation.

"Yeah, we know... Everyone's worried. We should be alright since we're quite

a way off the main highway, but if the capital falls and Yulong takes over, life'll

change a lot..."

"No, that's not it! Yulong's army is coming here right now! They'll be here

before the morning!"

"What the hell are you even saying?! That's impossible! There's no reason for

them to attack a little village like this... We have barely any food or goods as it

is." It was as I'd expected. The army en route to the village was a detached

force, likely part of some grander strategy. While the two main forces stared

each other down on the highway, Yulong had support armies going the long

way around... probably.

"Bring us to the village chief. His Highness here'll help us!"

"Er, His Highness?"

"I told you, I work for a country now, the Duchy of Brunhild. This man here is

the grand duke himself!"

"Uh, hi..." Paolo made several exaggerated hand motions as he introduced

me. However, his actions were too sudden, so I just gave a small nod.

Lent blinked slowly, and then turned to face Paolo with concern.

"Paolo... Are you okay?" Just as I'd expected, he didn't believe me. I began

seriously considering constructing a crown just to wear for such occasions.

Either way, eventually we got Lent to take us to the village chief. I wasn't too

surprised he doubted us. It was a lot to stomach after all.

When I went out, I typically dressed in adventurer clothing since it was easy to

move in. Plus, wearing gaudy royal clothing wasn't really my scene. Frankly, that

stuff made me embarrassed.

We met with the village chief, but he didn't believe us either. He accepted

that I was Brunhild's leader, but he just couldn't believe that Yulong's army was

headed this way.

I used [Levitate] alongside [Fly] to bring the chief up in the air with me. Then,

I flew toward the approaching forces.

We looked down from the sky, giving him a clear view of the incoming Yulong

army. There were a lot of them. I'd have wagered around 5000 or so. At the

sight, the village chief shivered and groaned. I couldn't tell whether it was out

of shock or fear of heights, though.

We landed, and I used [Gate] to send him back to the village. I asked him to

talk to the other villagers while I flew around the surrounding area.

I pulled out my map and noted my observations. There was the main force on

the highway, and the detached unit headed for the village, but there was also

another separate unit trailing behind the main one. I assumed them to be the

resupply unit, but there were a lot of them too.

I looked over at Hannock's forces, and they simply paled in comparison. There

weren't many troops that weren't already part of the main group. I zoomed the

map out and saw another force coming from behind Hannock's main army.

They looked like reinforcements coming from Hannock's capital. By my

estimations, it'd take about two days for them to reach the main forces. They

seemed to be wanting to hold the front line...

What should I do about that... I kind of need a just cause if I want to interfere

with a foreign war. I'd prefer to make the Yulong army retreat, but that won't

end the war. They'll just come back. It'd be easier if they were attacking

Brunhild... Then I'd be able to... Oho, hold on... Yes... That's right...! There's

certainly that method...

I descended to the ground and opened up a [Gate] to the Regulus Empire.

The emperor's palace, to be precise. Suddenly appearing before the king of

Hannock wouldn't be smart, so I decided to have the emperor of Regulus

introduce me to him.

After hearing that the emperor of Regulus supported me, the king of Hannock

accepted my proposal. The Kingdom of Hannock was going to be destroyed and

made part of Yulong, so he agreed to my outlandish idea because it was the

only way to save his people.

Alrighty, I've got the king's signature... After getting what was needed, I left

the castle with the emperor of Regulus.

"Goodness me, you've really gone and done something incredible now..."

"It's just a temporary measure. After I'm sure everyone's safe, I'll get rid of it."

The emperor spoke to me in disbelief, shaking his head as he looked over the

paperwork.

"Well, Touya. I don't really mind, honestly... I'm just glad this stupid war will

end before we have to send even more supplies." I didn't know if it'd go over

too smoothly, but there was only one way to find out. I decided to go all-out in

my plan.

"What do you mean we don't need to take shelter...?"

"It's fine. I'm going to drive every single Yulong soldier out of Hannock." I

showed the king's documentation to Paolo, who had been waiting back at the

village for me. He opened his eyes wide in shock as he read it, though I was sure

he couldn't quite understand all of it.

"Th-That... A-Are you serious?!"

"Sure am. You can see the king's signature there, yeah? The national seal of

Hannock's stamped there, too." Tsubaki peeked over and stared with wide eyes

as well.

"I-I'm glad we have the king's approval, but... Well, looking at the way things

are going, the country will fall to Yulong soon..." Tsubaki muttered quietly,

seemingly not fully understanding the plan. Geez, what a ditz she could be.

"Hey, Tsubaki. Return to the castle and give the following orders to Kousaka

and the knight order. While you do that, I'll drive out the Yulong army within

Hannock."

"You're going to drive them out...?" I opened up a [Gate] and sent Tsubaki

back to Brunhild, completely ignoring the flabbergasted Paolo.

Then, I soared up into the air with [Fly] and blasted off. Within a few

moments, I was at Yulong's Capital, Shenghai.

The place looked kind of how I imagined it to look after seeing those masked

guys. It was pretty oriental overall. I noticed a huge building which I assumed to

be the royal palace. I saw scarlet roof tiles all over the place, and whitewashed

walls. Plenty of gold leaf all over as well. Golden sculptures of animals were

embedded in pillars, too.

It felt flashy... It was unreasonably bright, like the incarnation of gaudiness

itself. It was probably made using people's taxes... If this kind of thing was in

Japan, I had no doubt that everyone would hate it. It was just a hunch, but I had

a feeling that only the capital looked this nice.

Alright, better go back.

I used a [Gate] to return to the skies above Hannock, surveying the Yulong

army there.

"Map. Display. All Yulong military members within Hannock territory."

"Understood. Displaying." With a few little ping noises, the red light on my

map showed Yulong's military presence in Hannock.

"[Multiple]. Target Lock."

"Understood. Targets locked." Naturally, my targets were every single Yulong

soldier within Hannock.

"Invoke [Gate] beneath the feet of every Yulong soldier."

"Understood. Invoking [Gate]." With that, the red lights signifying Yulong's

military presence in Hannock began to fade, bit by bit.

The soldiers of Yulong would at that point begin to appear one after the other

inside the royal palace. There you go, heavenly emperor. Enjoy your soldiers.

After making sure every single Yulongese soldier was gone from Hannock, I

stepped through a [Gate] and came out at the border between the two nations.

The real work was about to begin...

◇ ◇ ◇

"Wh-What the hell is this?!" I heard a voice from down below. It was no

surprise that they were shocked. They'd been warped back to their capital city

with no explanation, and then they took the ten-day journey to attempt the

invasion again... only to find an enormous wall along the border of Hannock.

Furthermore, the flag atop the wall wasn't Hannock's national elk, but

Brunhild's glorious shieldmaiden.

The man on horseback, presumably Yulong's general, yelled up at me. I was

standing on the wall next to the flag.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"Ah, my dear Yulongese soldiers, it's my regretful duty to inform you that

your long journey has been wasted. This land here belongs to the Duchy of

Brunhild, you see... I can't have anyone crossing it without express permission."

I faced the confused army and projected a magnified image of some paperwork

for them all to see.

"Wh-What is... No, that can't be...!" It was paperwork approving the transfer

of a piece of territory from Hannock to Brunhild. The territory was one

kilometer in width along the border of Hannock and Yulong. In other words, the

land bordering Yulong was no longer Hannock, but an extension of Brunhild's

territory.

So if Yulong's army wanted to invade Hannock, they'd have to pass through

Brunhild's land. And we had absolutely no intention of allowing them through.

"Oh, just in case you wanna check, I'll save you the journey. This big old wall

spans the entire border." I'd done it. Using the workshop, earth magic, and a

mere six days of effort, I'd reconstructed a certain 'great wall' from another

world. Well, it was actually a tad higher than the one from Earth.

The wall was about one kilometer wide, all the way down the border line. It

was about as wide as the Brunhild territory itself, in fact.

"This is idiotic! We'll just destroy your miserable wall! Charge, men!" At their

General's order, the Yulongese soldiers charged on against the wall.

Wow, they're actually doing it... Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't you at least

talk with your emperor before declaring war on another country? Well, it's

equally possible they don't believe me. I don't really care either way.

The Yulong army approached the wall and began to clamber up it... However,

they didn't get far. The moment they started to climb, the ground opened and

swallowed them up.

"Whuh?!" The soldiers who made contact with the wall all began to vanish.

Everyone behind them stopped marching, seemingly surprised.

I'd set it up so that once the wall was touched, a [Gate] would open up

beneath their feet, safely sending them back to Shenghai. Right into the royal

palace. Not that I owed them an explanation.

The soldiers took a different approach and began firing arrows up at me. It

was all reflected in seconds flat. I'd enchanted the wall with wind magic in such

a way that would repel incoming arrows, but would allow outgoing arrows to

pass through just fine.

"Oh, here's a little warning. You better not unleash any magic spells. Any

offensive magic you fire on the wall will be teleported straight to your capital

city." I decided to give them a warning since I saw a few mages in the crowd

raising their staffs. Upon hearing my words, they lowered their weapons. I

didn't know if they believed me, but they sure weren't gonna risk it.

I was telling the truth, though. Any magic on the wall would've gone right

through and ended up in Shenghai. Right in the middle of the capital city to

boot.

"Now, I'll say it one more time. Go home. Any further acts of aggression will

be considered a formal declaration of war." I snapped my fingers and a [Gate]

opened in the sky. Ten Chevaliers fell down from the sky, landing just before

the wall with a crushing impact. Finally, two black Knight Barons and one white

Shining Count descended from the sky as well.

Our Vice-Commanders, Norn and Nikola, were in the Knight Barons, while Lain

was riding the Shining Count. The black and white ones were functionally

identical, but Shining Count just had a different paint job. I'd painted it a pure

and shining white. I figured it'd be better this way, since the commander was

supposed to look unique.

"Wh-Wha... No... What?!" The Yulong General fell from his horse, which was

bucking and panicking due to the sudden tremors. The horse deserted its

master and fled for the hills.

"If you wish to engage us in battle, then the Brunhild knight order will be your

foes." At my words, all Frame Gears drew their swords and plunged them into

the ground. It was enough for the entire enemy army to completely lose their

morale.

"R-Retreat! Get out of here!"

"Get to safety, they'll crush us!"

"Uwaaah!" The entire Yulong army scattered to the winds.

Geez guys, if you wanna get to safety, just touch my wall... You'll be back in

Shenghai in seconds, ahahaha!

As I watched the fleeing army, the chest hatch on the black Frame Gear by my

side opened. Vice-Commander Norn leaned forward, getting my attention.

"Hey boss... We can definitely defend the land routes like this, but can't they

invade Hannock by sea?"

"That'll be fine too. I summoned ten krakens in the seas around Hannock as

extra defense. I told them only to attack warships, so it should be fine."

"Wowee... That's pretty mean..." What do you mean?! It's just basic

precaution. At least I don't have to worry about the sky.

Now all I had to do was check on the state of affairs. I'd laid the bait, so I just

had to wait. If the assailants the other day were from Yulong, then they'd

definitely use this as a new chance. I expected new movements from their end

soon.

All that was left was to apply the finishing touches.

◇ ◇ ◇

Everything I expected to happen, ended up happening.

We received a formal letter from Yulong. The text was fairly long-winded, but

it went like this: "That territory was originally ours, so give it back to us

immediately. You have no right to build a wall there. If you do not comply, you

will surely be the laughing stock of the world, and your wretched attitude will

be exposed. In compensation for the trouble you have caused us so far, we will

gladly accept several of your Giant Warriors. The things you call Frame Gears.

It's extremely shameless that you use these weapons, as they were originally

created by Yulong's forefathers, centuries ago. Have some humility and hand

over our rightful technology, you insolent thief."

"They've got some goddamn nerve to say that..."

"They're just attempting to justify themselves. They seem to enjoy twisting

stories like that," Kousaka responded with a small shrug and a wry smile. We

were both within a guard tower on the Great Wall.

The Great Wall between Yulong and Hannock naturally had a side facing

Hannock as well. There weren't any traps or countermeasures on that side,

however. The way it was structured was Hannock territory to the west, then the

western side of the wall, then Brunhild's territory, then the eastern side of the

wall facing Yulong's territory.

I was thinking I'd just give the whole thing to Hannock once the situation died

down. I'd give them the Great Wall too.

I didn't really mind because it wasn't like it cost a lot in the grand scheme of

things. I would have to remove the traps, though.

"So, what should we send them in response?"

"Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. There's no way they could beat us through

raw force, but they certainly might try. In the end, I'm their enemy. If it comes

down to it, I'll fight against Yulong myself."

"...It's amazing, really... I can't even laugh because I know you're not joking.

You'd be a magnificent tyrant, Your Highness." I couldn't deny that I acted

selfishly now and then. I didn't even want my own country to begin with... I

would've been happy with a simple home with a big garden, honestly. I didn't

want to be saddled with national responsibilities.

I wasn't even good at collecting taxes or other stuff like that. The knight order

and my maids were paid out of my own pocket, rather than a government

wage.

Half of the money I got from Olba I spent on Frame Gear materials, and the

other half was more than enough to cover my staff. If I had to describe my

knight order, I couldn't call them a national army in that regard. They were kind

of more like my personal army.

Still, even if Yulong did wage war with us, they'd really only be marking me as

an enemy.

"Tyrant or not, I'm self-aware. Besides, I've been saying this for a while, but...

shouldn't you be the grand duke instead of me, Kousaka?"

"I must decline. I honestly believe that if I stay at your side, I can live to see

the entire world conquered."

"I don't intend to take over the world, though..."

"That doesn't really matter. Often men find themselves in situations they

never intended once it's already come to pass." He had a point. I'd be able to

conquer the world fairly easily with the combined power of Babylon and my

Frame Gears. But in all honesty, I didn't want to do that. It would've just been

me suppressing everyone with overpowering force.

I'd have preferred it if Yulong listened to me and just pulled back.

Someone suddenly knocked at the door. After a few moments, Tsubaki

entered the room.

"My liege... We've captured a Yulongese spy."

"One of those masked guys? Good work. Did you get anything out of him?"

"We've been subduing him with some paralyzing poisons that are a bit

weaker than your [Paralyze] spell. Flora-dono gave us a truth serum, so we've

been interrogating him with that."

What've you been giving them, Flora... I'm sure it'll be fine since it's a Babylonmade medicine, but that's still scary... Apparently they managed to pin him

down before he detonated, removed his mask, and used the truth serum on

him. He was obviously a spy from Yulong, but I was still squeamish about asking

details of his interrogation.

"They're employing various methods to steal the Frame Gears. Plans included

assassinating you, kidnapping your fiancees, bribing members of the knight

order, and other dubious tactics. It was all approved by Yulong's heavenly

emperor."

"Seems we caught them at just the right time, then..." Kousaka muttered

quietly. I'd been going easy on them since I had no definitive evidence so far,

but now it was different. I had no plans on holding back. I realized that if I didn't

do something drastic, they would just keep coming.

"I'd say it's time we became a tad more aggressive, no?"

"Well, I suppose so... If they were planning an assassination, ordinarily that'd

be grounds for war. But you don't plan on waging war, do you?" Kousaka

looked at me with a knowing grin on his face. It seemed he knew what I was

thinking. I was happier than ever to have him serving Brunhild. He was

remarkable.

"If we wage a war, the foreign innocents will suffer too. Ideally, I'd want to

avoid that. So in this case, I think I should wage a personal war."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"I want to terrorize their heavenly emperor." I didn't want to cause full-scale

panic or actually affect Yulong. Instead, I wanted to show them that I was

capable of retaliating with force if they messed with me. I didn't actually want

to retaliate, I just wanted to prove a point.

"How, specifically?"

"Well, I was thinking... I could have a knife jabbed in the wall by his bedside,

mix something bitter into his food and drink as if to simulate poison, maybe

make everyone in the palace vanish for a few hours except for him... Just so he

knows that I could have him stabbed, poisoned, or spirited away to nowhere,

but I'm actively choosing not to."

"G-Goodness me, that's... certainly some extreme harassment."

"...I've heard rumors that this is His Majesty's true nature, Kousaka-sama."

"Psh... It's not that extreme. It'll just make him paranoid, thinking he could be

killed any time in any way. The best part is he wouldn't even know if he did die,

he'd simply stop existing, so he'd live in constant fear... I'd keep it up until he

apologized."

"Well, we shouldn't get into something that extreme right away. For the time

being I might suggest that we send a letter back with a tiny implication that

suggests we know he's the one responsible for our troubles."

"By the way, what will you do if I get assassinated?"

"I haven't made a plan for that, as I simply don't see it happening."

Tsk, come on now... Don't treat me like I'm immortal! Although, I mean... I

guess I might as well be, with all this divinity and stuff. If we're talking about my

body, I might slowly actually be turning into a full god or something...

I decided there was no point in worrying about that for the time being.

"Alrighty, then. Send off that letter. It'd be better if we got this matter sorted

out as soon as—"

"Milord!" I jumped a little in surprise as Paolo barged into the room. Don't

scare me, damn it!

"You're feeling rowdy. What's going on?"

"I-I'm s-sorry, Milord! P-Please excuse me, but... there's smoke in the

distance, r-rising up on Yulong's side! D-Doesn't that mean the Yulong army is

coming in to attack us?!" That didn't sound good, so we rushed up to the top of

the guard tower. Looking over Yulong's territory, there were plumes of smoke

rising from all over. The carnage was both near and far, on the horizon and

more immediately visible too.

"Is it a smoke signal system, or a bushfire...? No, it can't be that..." There was

no way a bushfire could be that widespread. I had no idea what was going on,

but there was chaos erupting everywhere. Fire and smoke dotted the scenery.

"Wh-What... What's that in the distance? It's... glimmering?"

Glimmering? What's he talking about? I narrowed my eyes, looking over at

what Paolo pointed out. It definitely looked like something shiny... Though as it

came closer, I noticed it was more reflecting the light than shining itself.

Seconds later, the truth clicked in my mind. I was already screaming.

"G-Get in the Frame Gears, now! Action stations, people! We have an

incoming assault!" I immediately invoked [Fly] to soar over there and confirm

the reality of this nightmare.

"Ghah... Wh-What the hell kind of timing is this?!" A roaring crowd of Phrase

were charging toward my wall.

There were various shapes and sizes, several small and medium-sized ones,

with a few larger ones as well. The majority of them were Lesser Constructs, but

there were a few Intermediate Constructs in the mix. Some were shaped like

ants, some like centipedes, others had funnier shapes, like that of an ostrich.

Overall, there were ten Phrase lifeforms larger than my standard Frame Gears.

They weren't running especially fast. However, that wasn't the problem. The

problem was that there were around one-hundred of them.

"Target Lock! Phrase Cores! Invoke [Apport] now!"

"Understood. Invoking [Apport]." A large Phrase Core around the side of a

softball appeared in my hand.

Shit, this is bad... I can't pull out more than one at a time, since the spell's

limited to whatever I can fit in my palm. Pulling them out one-by-one is gonna

take too much time, and I'll only be able to kill the small ones this way! What do

I do?!

"Entwine thus, Earth! Cursed Soil: [Earthbind]!" Tree roots burst from the

ground and snared the legs of the incoming Phrase. Just as I thought that would

buy us a little time, the creatures easily broke free.

They'd sliced their own legs off... They could regenerate them instantly, so

they simply discarded them and advanced. The Phrase were truly monstrous in

their actions.

From behind me, Lain arrived in her Shining Count, and Nikola showed up in

his Knight Baron. A few Chevaliers appeared alongside them, too. They'd left a

few units behind to protect the wall.

I flew to the side of the white knight and relayed orders to Lain.

"Take out the larger ones while I destroy the smaller ones! They can

regenerate, so focus on the core inside their body! Make sure everyone on the

comms channel gets that info!"

"Roger!" Lain replied through the speakers. Satisfied she understood, I moved

to take my Phrase Greatsword out of [Storage]. It was about two meters long

and thirty centimeters wide. I hefted it in both hands.

If I hadn't applied [Gravity] to reduce the weight of it, there was no way in

hell I would've been able to lift it.

"Charge!" I barreled toward a group of nearby Phrase. I aimed straight for the

core of my first target, and was able to split it in two with little resistance. My

sword was sharper than it had any right to be due to all the magic energy I'd

poured into it, of course.

In a similar fashion, I began to cut down more of them, one by one. I dipped

and dived between their extending, sharpened crystalline tentacles, and got a

good glance at an enormous Intermediate Construct facing off against a few

heavy knights.

They lunged forward, shields raised to defend against lance-like limbs,

battering away at it with their weapons.

But the Frame Gears I'd had stationed at the wall were not equipped with

specialized weaponry, so they were having a tough time of it. The broken pieces

of the Phrase just kept regenerating, so they had to constantly attack in quick

succession to make any of their hits matter.

Only Nikola in his Knight Baron had anything special. It was a halberd. He was

fighting solo against another Intermediate and actually managed to shatter its

core. Then, he immediately went to support the struggling Chevaliers nearby.

There were about ten Intermediate Constructs. We had five Chevaliers, one

Knight Baron, and one Shining Count. I wondered if it'd be enough. One of the

heavy knights that Nikola rushed to aid managed to shatter an Intermediate

core. Working in tandem definitely had its perks. That knight then went on to

support another struggling knight, and Nikola turned to support another of his

comrades as well.

And that was when I realized our advantage. The Phrase were not

coordinated creatures. From a Phrase's perspective, each battle was a solo

battle. If another of their kind nearby was in trouble, they wouldn't rush to

support them. That was the point where we had a clear advantage. I decided to

entrust the Intermediate Constructs to the knights in the Frame Gears. There

were close to nine times as many Lesser Constructs, after all, and I needed to

wipe them out fast.

I sliced through the Phrase like butter, one by one.

And then, by a strange stroke of luck, if you wanted to call it that, the Phrase

finally stopped charging toward the wall. They stopped and turned to me,

seemingly recognizing me as an enemy.

The fact that Phrase operated in such a rigid, mechanical manner could be

considered a weak point. They operated on basic instinct, so you could say they

were easier to guide in the heat of battle... But it also makes them deadlier, and

efficient. The threats I'd issued to Yulong the other day wouldn't work on an

enemy like this. The Phrase knew no fear. Instead, they just advanced onward

without feeling. They were like harvesters, terminators.

There was certainly no time for me to rest, either. Most of the attacks were

from their spear-like limbs, but now there were some of those crystal missiles

coming at me, much like that time I faced off against the Manta Phrase. I

defended against it with [Shield] and took out the one responsible.

"G-Geez... Fighting this many at once is nuts..." The enemies were acting so

disorderly, too. There was no method to their madness. I couldn't invoke

something like [Ice Rock] or [Gate] since they needed to stay in place.

[Paralyze] and [Gravity] were ineffective, as well. I couldn't use [Slip] for fear of

affecting my allies either.

I briefly considered using [Gravity] to make my allies' swords heavier, but it

would've been too much to explain in the heat of the moment.

All I could do was kill, kill, and kill some more. Until eventually...

"...Alright, that's it!" Around ten minutes later... or maybe even less than ten

minutes later, there were no more Lesser Constructs remaining.

Lain killed the final Intermediate Construct around the same time. At least, it

looked like she'd killed it.

I didn't see the moment she crushed the core, so I kept my guard up for

another ten minutes. That time passed by without any movement from the

broken fragments all over the place, so it looked like it was really over.

There wasn't too much damage to our side. Two Frame Gears had broken

blades, and one had a shattered shield, but the rest had minor scuffs and

scrapes all over the Frames. I knew Rosetta would cry upon seeing it, either

way.

"Milord... Just what were those things?" Lain opened up the white knight's

chest hatch and spoke to me. It actually reminded me that I hadn't explained

anything about the Phrase to the knight order yet. I invoked [Fly] and hopped

up to the Shining Count's shoulder.

"They're called the Phrase. They're invaders from another world. They once

destroyed civilization during ancient times... The Frame Gears you're piloting

were originally weapons designed to combat them." Calling them invaders

wasn't quite right, in all honesty. They were more like exterminators. And we

were the vermin that they so viciously sought out.

This is the first time I've seen so many at once... I don't even want to think

about what might've happened if Hannock hadn't given me this plot of land.

"Then... does that mean the smoke plumes we saw earlier were caused by

these guys? Were they attacking Yulong villages or something?"

"That's possible, yeah... Oh... Shit, wait! All troops, move back! We're in

Yulong's territory right now, as a full fighting force! We can't risk being sighted

by their intelligence corps or anything like that!" It was entirely possible they'd

blame all the destruction on us.

I was about to collect the Phrase fragments, but hesitated and only ended up

taking about half. It would've been suspicious if all the evidence of Phrase

activity here was erased. At least leaving half meant the Yulong government

would have to accept we weren't the attackers here.

"Politics really is a pain in the ass sometimes..." As I grumbled about the state

of the situation, I pulled up the map on my phone. I had it display places with

rising smoke and recent destruction. As I'd expected, there were a few places in

the area. The Phrase must've done it.

Unfortunate as it was, there didn't seem to be any survivors. Phrase could

hear the beats of a human heart, after all. Hiding did nothing, since they could

track you no matter what.

As I quietly lamented the dead, I zoomed the map out until the entirety of

Yulong had become visible.

"Hold on... What's... What's going on here...?" Aren't there a little too many

damaged markers? Why's there smoke rising up in the south? That's way away

from here... W-Wait, Shenghai too? What's going on? N-No, it can't be...

"Run search. Display Phrase."

"Understood. Displaying."

Thud. A pin fell down on the map, indicating the presence of a Phrase.

Thud. Another fell. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud.

Countless red pointers fell down upon Yulong, almost obscuring the country

itself.

"No way..." I could only watch on in horror, letting out a small gasp as the pins

kept falling.