Frame Gear

"Mmmh...?" I sleepily opened my eyes, only to be greeted by the blurry image

of a girl's face. The early sun shone into the room and illuminated her form. The

girl was fast asleep, breathing to a gentle rhythm.

"...Yumina...?" Seeing my fiancee's face caused a sense of calm to wash over

me. I closed my eyes.

She reached out both of her hands, contorting herself a little as she pulled me

into a soft embrace. I didn't put up any sort of fight, instead returning the hug. I

smiled. Mmmh... She smells like home... All my troubles are gonna melt away... I

squeezed her a little tighter, and she made an adorable little sound. Ah, this is

so nice... I wouldn't mind staying this way forever... Wait a second.

What is Yumina doing here, exactly?! I know for a fact I went to bed alone last

night! I-I mean I go to sleep alone every night! E-Everyone has separate rooms, I

don't do that kind of stuff with them! I'm not a weirdo, I'm not a lech! Cold

sweat began to bead all over my body, forcibly ejecting me from the peaceful

slumber I'd just been wrapped in.

"Aaaaaagh!" I leaped out of bed and fell violently to the ground. Even though

I'd thwacked the back of my head pretty hard, I didn't really feel the pain due to

my panicked state.

"Hmm... Eh? Ah... Touya. G-Good morning..." Yumina sleepily rubbed her eyes

as she sat up on the bed. Those silky pajamas really look good on you, Yumina...

Then again, you look good in anythin— CONCENTRATE, TOUYA! FOCUS!

"Wh-Why are you here, Yumina?!"

"...Is it not normal for a married couple to share a bed? Touya, you've been

rather busy with affairs related to the duchy lately, so you haven't paid much

attention to me at all. This was the very least I could do to get some of your

company, no?" She spoke with a smile on her face, punctuating her sentence

with a little giggle.

W-We only recently went on a date with everyone, didn't we?! You're gonna

give me a heart attack if you keep up these antics... P-Plus, we aren't even

married yet!

A twelve yea— Wait, no... she's thirteen already. A thirteen-year-old girl can't

be sharing a bed with a boy my age... If this was my old world, I'd have been

branded a social pariah without trial regardless of whether I touched you or not!

"Well, that aside, shall we go to Belfast? We did arrange it. I'll get ready, see

you soon!" Yumina hopped off the bed and walked over to me. Before I could

process what happened, she had leaned over and given me a peck on the

cheek.

Uwaah! Taking advantage of my daze, Yumina merrily sauntered out of the

room. She was fast...

...Let me just make one thing clear, though. I didn't lay a hand on her!

We hadn't been to Belfast in quite a while. The only real change was that the

knights on guard duty in the castle kneeled when greeting us this time around. I

didn't really feel comfortable with it, but I didn't speak up because it was likely

they'd already gone and decided that was how they had to behave with me.

I'd been the grand duke of Brunhild for months at this point, but I still wasn't

accustomed to the way people treated me as a result.

We went further into the castle and finally met with Queen Yuel. She was

sitting on a couch and seemed fairly relaxed. The bump on her belly was huge!

She had to be in her eighth month of pregnancy.

"Ah, Yumina, Touya... welcome."

"How are you, Mother? You don't feel ill at all, do you?" Yumina carefully

approached her mother before gently touching her stomach. A baby was going

to come out of there in one or two months... It felt pretty weird to think about.

Still, that was the miracle of life.

"Where's the king?" I looked around, but I couldn't see hide nor hair of him.

I'd told him well in advance that we'd be visiting, so it seemed a little strange.

"Hmph... If you're looking for him, you'll find him on the baseball field."

"Huh?"

"They took down part of the castle wall in the western district, then leveled

the grounds out and built a full field." Queen Yuel explained, a bemused smile

on her face. So they made a baseball field... Damn, I wish I could motivate

people that well. I had a feeling that the project was less out of concern for the

people's entertainment, and more because the king just wanted to play around,

though.

I was interested in checking it out, so I left Yumina behind and moved through

a [Gate]. Sure enough, there was a wonderful baseball pitch occupying some

land that didn't have much of interest on it before.

"Wow, it's like the real deal..." His Majesty and several of his teammates were

all huddled around the mound, chattering. What're they going on about?

"Oho, Touya my boy! You're right on time, get over here!"

"What's going on here?" The king noticed me right away and ushered me

over. I wondered what he wanted.

"If the ball enters the home run zone after a bounce, is it still a home run?"

"Huh?" What're you asking, exactly...? Why this all of a sudden? It's not like I

know... I only really played baseball in elementary school anyways. I took my

smartphone out and searched for whatever he meant.

"Uh... let's see here... Baseball rules... a bounce... a home run... Ah, got it. It's

a, uh, ground rule double."

"What's that?"

"Y'know, it's a two-base hit."

"Oh? Got it, let's carry on then!" What? You just understood that? Even I

barely understood! Regardless, the game continued.

I sat on a bench with His Majesty the King and watched the team play.

"They're pretty darned enthusiastic, huh..."

"Well, we've got a friendly match with the Refreese Imperium coming up next

week. They're pretty tense and determined."

Wow, they're doing that kind of thing already. I didn't expect international

games to begin so soon... Welp, this is already well and truly out of my control, I

just hope it stays a public entertainment, and not some weird way of

determining war outcomes or whatever.

"Queen Yuel looks healthy, I'm pleased."

"Aye. The child's growing well, and fast! I just hope she gives birth safely and

healthily. I initially thought it'd be fine if the child was a girl, since I'd just bring

you into my household as Yumina's fiance, but... I think I'd quite like a son now.

Someone to play catch with, you know?" It was definitely a good bonding

experience for a father to play catch with his son. I was fairly sure it was the

kind of thing most fathers wished they'd get a chance to do. Along with other

stuff, like drinking booze with their son and celebrating.

...Come to think of it, I never got a chance to drink with him, did I...? What a

horrible son I am... I'm sorry, Dad.

"The team's a little worried, I'll admit... they don't think their defense is up to

scratch. The other team has a lot of power going for them."

"You need a finesse pitcher to throw them off their game. Throwing

curveballs would be your best bet."

"Curveballs?" The king's eyes glimmered with devious sparks. Crap... Why'd I

run my mouth?

It was too late, the damage was done. He was asking me about curveballs. I

broke, and I explained that a ball could be curved without magical interference.

The people of this world had already established an unspoken rule of never

using magic in a contest of physical prowess. They used magic-detecting items

to sense for spells and enchantments during sports matches. It was basically an

anti-cheating measure. Nobody had considered you could throw a curveball

without actually using magic.

I explained the curveball, the fastball, the forkball, and the change-up. His

Majesty the King and the pitchers looked at me with great skepticism, so I

ended up looking up an instructional film on the internet. After they saw it in

action, they believed it could be done.

Naturally, they asked me to teach them, but I completely lacked the skill level

for such a maneuver. I just taught them the basics about how to put a little spin

on the ball, but nothing too complex. Then, I told them a white lie about how

they'd master it if they practiced it over and over.

...But even though I used such a half-assed teaching method, they still figured

out how to do it! That gave them an unfair advantage over Refreese, so I

figured I'd have to go and teach the Imperium players how to do it as well.

What a bother.

When Yumina and I returned from Belfast, we were greeted by Kougyoku. The

bird swooped down and perched on my shoulder.

"My liege, an update has come in from one of my scouts."

"Oh? Did they find something?"

"I am unsure whether or not that is the case. They have found a four-sided,

triangular structure. It's made of strange material, black as pitch." Four-sided

triangular structure...? Does she mean a pyramid? The black material she

mentioned definitely rings a bell... The cylinder in the Elfrau Kingdom was the

same kind, wasn't it? That means this could actually be good news!

"Where is the ruin?"

"It's on a lone island far to the southwest of us. It's due west of the Sandora

Kingdom." That was pretty far, but it wasn't a distance we couldn't traverse. I

wondered whether we should go there with the Babylon, or if I should just use

the [Fly] spell instead...

I summoned the usual party. When it came to discussing Babylon, only Leen

and my fiancees were privy to the details. I didn't plan to let anyone outside of

my duchy know about it. I had no intentions of people murmuring about me

suspiciously before the Phrase came knocking at our door.

I pulled up the map app and confirmed the position. Leen looked over the

map, mumbling something as she checked the island's location.

"It's a rather small island... It may even be smaller than Brunhild."

"Does anyone live there?"

"I've no clue. We have no diplomatic relations with anyone in that area, at

least. I've never heard of such an island before, to be frank." If it was on such a

remote island, I definitely wouldn't have been able to find it just by randomly

exploring. I was instantly filled with a newfound appreciation for my little bird

friends.

"This'll be the fourth Babylon, then! If I'm lucky, it'll be the hangar or the

storehouse."

"Hmph, well, I'd prefer it to be the library, since that falls in much more with

my interests."

"I am actually rather curious about the tower, I am."

"I-I think it'll end up being the research laboratory..."

"Psh, if you guys all think that, then I'll hedge my bet on it being the rampart."

Apparently we were betting, all of a sudden. I personally thought we should

confirm whether or not it actually was a Babylon ruin before getting too

excited, though.

With that, we set off. I desperately hoped it would be the hangar or the

storehouse...

◇ ◇ ◇

The location definitely fit the "deserted island" image pretty well. That much

was obvious from my viewing platform up on Babylon.

I tried using my search magic to look for people, but it was barren. The whole

place was devoid of life. We moved down to a wide, sandy beach. I had a good

view of it from the air. The summoned bird that had found the island took

notice of me, then swooped down. Whoa, you're a big bird. It was large, with

wispy emerald feathers, and resembled a crane.

"The ruins are in the forest, not too far from here." Kougyoku, perched on my

shoulder, spoke up. I looked ahead and saw nothing but a dense cluster of

trees. I wasn't too worried, though, as the island wasn't especially large.

"Touya-dono, are there really no people here, are there not?"

"Well, judging from my search... There definitely aren't any humans here."

Yae led the advance, cutting a path through branches and vines that blocked

our path. A lack of human activity could've allowed for monster or magical

beast activity to thrive. With that thought in the back of our minds, we

advanced cautiously. Yae suddenly held up a hand, causing us all to freeze in

our tracks.

"...There is something strange nearby, there is." Yae readied her sword as she

spoke. As if following her lead, everyone readied their weapons and gazed

around the area with trained, suspicious eyes.

...Paula, you don't have to fight.

I stared at the animated stuffed bear, who was inexplicably shadow-boxing

the air. Just as my attention was held by her, I felt a presence coming from

ahead of us in the underbrush.

A monstrous demonic beast, similar to a rhino, slowly stomped out from the

shadows. Well, I said it was like a rhino, but it actually had three horns. In that

case, I suppose calling it a triceratops would be more appropriate. It had a

single horn in the middle of its nose, and two smaller horns rising from its

forehead. It had four big, fat legs, and a tough hide that resembled an

armadillo's. Its eyes shone red as blood, its chest rose and fell in an unsteady

rhythm—there were no two ways about it. This thing was hostile.

With a sudden grunt, it bowed its horns and charged toward us with

incredible speed.

Before I could fire my Brunhild, Yumina reacted fast and fired her Colt Army

Model 1860 off at the beast.

The bullet she fired burst the rhino-thing's right eye. An incredible shot, given

that she didn't have time to aim. The beast staggered and its charge slowed.

Sensing her chance, Linze cast a spell.

"Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!" The rhino-beast's legs were

frozen to the ground, and its advance was halted completely. Lu jumped out

toward it and administered a few slashes to its knee. The beast began to strain,

attempting to shatter the ice through sheer strength alone.

Following Lu's motion, Elze jumped out and gave the monster a vicious right

hook, dazing it. Yae, on the other hand, used her Touka to put an end to it all,

cleaving through the monsters neck in one swift motion. Its head slid from its

body, decapitated.

"W-Whoa..." They killed it in seconds! What's with this teamwork?!

"It was no challenge at all, it was not."

"It was probably around Green rank... I guess."

"Hmm, I wonder about that. I think the Phrase weaponry definitely gave us an

edge here. If it was just a regular blade, then he'd have been a much bigger

deal. Probably a Blue rank."

"You're right, it has pretty tough skin."

"I'd suggest harvesting it, or saving the corpse for later." Everyone was idly

poking at its corpse with their weapons. I didn't even get a chance to touch it...

"It kind of looks like an armored rhino, but... I've never seen this kind of magic

beast before. Is it a new species, perhaps?" As Leen mused such things, I

grabbed the dead body and tossed it in [Storage]. I decided to investigate it a

little more thoroughly later on.

After that, we continued on. We faced off against a two-headed snake, a sixlegged wolf, and a long-limbed monkey. The girls mercilessly slew each beast

without me getting an opportunity to lift a finger, and each beast we

encountered made Leen comment on how unusual each particular specimen

was.

They seemed similar to known species, but little details were just a tad

different. I wondered if it was a result of the island's environment influencing

their evolution, somewhat like the Galapagos Islands back in my world.

The island was completely isolated from the outside world, so it would make

sense to assume the creatures living on it would develop different needs to

those living in more populated areas. That made me a little worried, because it

would've probably meant the magical beasts we'd killed so far were

endangered species. But, apparently, the conservation of species like that

wasn't considered a major priority in this world. I couldn't blame them. Beasts

like those threatened human lives often, so it was an "us versus them" scenario.

The common animals such as lizards, native birds, and rodents generally kept

their distance from us. I assumed it was due to Kohaku and the other Heavenly

Beasts being with us. Their effects didn't extend to magic beasts, however.

As we continued, we were attacked several times by yet more beasts. Elze

and the others took care of them without a hitch. Don't get me wrong, I was

happy they could take care of themselves and me, but... I felt kind of left out.

"Oh." Eventually we came to a clearing in the jungle growth. Right there, as if

it was waiting for us, was an obsidian pyramid.

It looked to be about eight meters high, and every side of it was around ten

meters long. It was covered in vines and ivy, as if it hadn't been touched in a

great many years. The actual structure was completely unharmed, though.

"Yup, got no idea where the entrance is on this thing..." I walked around it,

but I couldn't make it out too much due to the dense plants covering the

structure. This is annoying, I'll just take care of it...

"Come forth, Fire! Whirling Spiral: [Fire Storm]!" A vortex of flame hugged

itself around the pyramid. I took control of it, taking care not to burn any trees

in the surrounding area. The vines were reduced to ashes with little resistance.

All that remained now was the large, black pyramid.

I looked at it closely, and noticed a thin, seam-like groove running along its

surface. I reached my hand out to run a finger along it.

"YYYOWCH!!!" IT'S HOT, AH CRAP! WHY DIDN'T I WAIT?! I quickly looked at

my hand. Thankfully, it wasn't burned. I'm a total idiot...

I poured cold water down the pyramid from the top, and steam began to

rapidly rise from the structure.

Huh, wait a sec... Was it seriously that hot? I'm lucky I wasn't burned... But

wait, I didn't get a single mark on my skin? My hand isn't even a little bit red...

I figured it was probably related to the fact that I technically had an infant

god's body.

Welp, whatever. This time I'll be thankful for it, I guess.

I thought maybe the rapid difference in temperature would cause cracks or

fissures across the surface, but nothing happened. I put my hand on the nowcooled surface of the pyramid, and felt along the groove. It was at about

shoulder's height. I felt along the groove until I reached a part that was wider

than the other sides. It was just wide enough to fit my hand inside.

This is kinda like that Mouth of Truth thing in Rome, isn't it? Am I meant to put

my hand in it?

...It's not gonna chop my hand off, is it? I cautiously extended my arm and

slipped my hand into the hole, and a part of the groove began to shine a bright

green. A part of the pyramid suddenly shifted and extended into a form much

like a door. It didn't have a doorknob, though. It seemed more like an engraving

of a door than a door itself.

"This again, huh." I reached my hand out and touched the door-engraving.

Just as I'd expected, I managed to pass through it without any trouble. I found

myself in a dimly-lit room with six pillars surrounding a magic circle. Yep, this is

it. It's a Babylon teleporter.

"Found it. I'll be warping off now, okay?"

"Understood. Please be careful." I sent a message to Kohaku and the others

outside, then began activating the pillars.

Just like clockwork, I activated the Null magic last, and a spiral of dazzling light

engulfed me.

As the light faded, I found myself in a familiar-looking scene.

The sky overhead was blue, dotted with a few clouds here and there. The

grass I was now standing upon was a beautiful verdant, and there were trees all

over. The sunlight shimmered in the water as it flowed in a nearby channel. I

was definitely aboard a Babylon.

I looked around and suddenly noticed a black building to my right. It seemed

to stretch out pretty far. I also noticed what appeared to be a school building

nearby.

Geez, is the Babylon facility here as wide as the island itself? I took a step

forward, intending to investigate, when someone jumped out at me from

behind a nearby tree.

"Hiyaaaaaah!!!" The assailant swung down a heavy metal stick at me.

WHAT? I was caught off-guard, but I still managed to just barely avoid the

assault. Still, even then I could clearly see that the end of that weapon had left a

considerable indent in the dirt. I quickly focused to get a look at what I'd just

been attacked with, and... it was a gigantic pipe wrench. Nope. I'm done here.

Nooope.

"Hark, traveler. You've done well to dodge my assault. Like, nobody's ever

been able to do that ever, wow!" My assailant beamed from ear to ear as she

rested herself against the pipe wrench. Her hair was a long, messy bundle of

red. Her eyes were sort of almond-shaped, and her cheeky grin had no hint of

fear behind it.

"Though that may well be because you're the only one I've ever launched a

strike against." She let out a dry laugh at her own comment. This young woman

was surely this Babylon's Terminal Gynoid. She spoke like an older guy one

minute, then seemed to lapse into something more girly. She was wearing a

skirt too, so her general outfit was similar to the ones that Cesca and the others

wore.

But there was something else about her... She was insanely short. She only

looked a little bit taller than Renne. Rosetta was the shortest of the Babylon

Terminal Gynoids, but this one was shorter than even her.

"Er... and you are?"

"I am known as Fredmonica. But you can call me Monica! I'm like, the

Terminal Gynoid of this Babylon and stuff! Name thyself."

"Uh, I'm Mochizuki Touya. Touya's my given name. I'm the, er... master of the

garden, the workshop, and the alchemy lab... Yeah, that's all of them."

"The garden... Cesca's domain! I see, you hold ownership over multiple

Babylons. You are... most impressive. So you gotta, like, show me if you got the

right stuff too!" Monica gripped the pipe wrench and came lunging at me again.

H-Hey, calm down! Don't you have limits here?! "[Slip]."

"Uwhoa!" Monica suddenly flew backward, as if someone had pushed her,

and both legs went sailing up into the air. Oh... nice panties.

Monica quickly scrambled to her feet and held down her skirt.

"D-Did you gaze upon my undergarments?"

"Huh? Ahaha... well, maybe you're a little young to be wearing black." Oh,

come to think of it, if she's the same as Cesca and the rest... then that makes her

about five thousand years old? Guess she's not too young, then. Monica sat

down on the ground, tugging at her skirt. Her face burned deep crimson.

She okay? Every Terminal Gynoid I'd met so far was some kind of weird

pervert, so her reaction was throwing me off. I started to feel a deep fear well

up from within me.

"...Th-Then you've like, totally left me with no other... choice..."

"Huh?"

"I'M GONNA PURGE YOUR FRICKIN' MEMORIES!" Monica started wailing like

a banshee and ran toward me, flailing her pipe wrench. H-Hey, that's

dangerous!

"[Shield]."

"Huoh!!!" I formed an invisible barrier in front of me, deflecting the attack.

Monica struck the front of it and toppled over due to the recoil. She tumbled a

bit and finally stopped, her final position being one of a girl crashed into the

ground, her behind high in the air. Her skirt, naturally, was rolled all the way up,

and her panties were completely exposed to the wide open air. Her underwear

was pretty adult, all-in-all. It was black and adorned with lacy strings.

Eventually she sprawled herself outward, rolled on to her back, and lay there

stretched out like a starfish. Uh... your panties are still showing.

"Truly misfortune shines upon me this day... I'm totally done for!" She sniffled

a little as she declared her defeat. And then, all of a sudden... I felt a wave of

guilt wash over me. From an outsider's perspective it'd totally look like I bullied

a kid, flipped her skirt, and then made her cry. I didn't mean it to turn out that

way!

"V-Very well, uwah... you're accepted as a compatible individual. Henceforth,

Fredmonica, Airframe Number Twenty-Eight, is beholden to your wishes,

waaah." Please stop crying. This sounds terrible while you're crying. Eventually,

the tears did stop. She called out to me from the ground.

"Master, do help me up." I grabbed Monica by the hand and pulled her

upward. She used that opportunity to catch me unaware, wrap her arms

around me, and steal a kiss from my lips.

"Mmmph?!" I've been caught! I was careless and she went and trapped me!

Why can't I learn from my mistakes?! Monica separated her lips from mine after

a short while. A grin spread across her face, along with a pink flush.

"Registration complete. Your genetic information flows within me, Master.

You like, totally own the Hangar of Babylon now, hurray!"

"The Hangar of Babylon?!" Holy shit, it's the hangar?! I did it! Bingo, baby!

◇ ◇ ◇

Monica showed me to the black building, and we entered. More than

anything else, I was surprised by how spacious it was. What the hell? It's wider

on the inside.

Just as the name hangar would imply, the inside of the building looked like a

warehouse. There were metal shutters lining the walls to the left and right.

Seriously though, how far does this hall go? I can't even see the other end...

"What's with this place?"

"You surprised? We used spatial magic and stuff to make it way wider than it

looks. That being said, such broad space is simply unnecessary. We're hardly

fully stocked here, are we?" I figured it was similar to my [Storage] spell.

Though the difference here was that time was halted in my [Storage] space. I

could store a boiling hot soup in it, and pull it out hours later to find it at the

same temperature. I figured [Storage] was more of a space-time magic than

just a space spell.

Still, I had no idea just how broad a storage space could be... Wait, I'm missing

the main point!

"Frame Gear! Do you have Frame Gears here?!"

"Hm? A Frame Gear? Right this way." Monica addressed me a little curtly, so I

strode behind her with little comment.

Monica arrived at one of the metal shutters, and reached over toward a

button next to it. However... try as she might, she couldn't quite reach it.

I reached out to press it instead, and...

"Son of a...!" Monica swung the wrench upward and smashed it against the

button with all of her might. W-Whoa, simmer down... This girl's a hothead. The

button was completely annihilated, by the way, but the shutter began to creak

open. Monica had a smug smile on her face, but all I could do was wonder how

she planned on closing that shutter again.

I peered into the dark interior, and found myself staring at what appeared to

be a giant knight.

It was around ten meters tall. It was gray in color, and looked like it was styled

after a traditional western knight. It wasn't flashy by any means, but it

emanated an aura of reliable sturdiness. It had an overpowering air to it that I

couldn't help but be impressed by.

"So this is a Frame Gear."

"Verily so. However, this one is a particularly archaic model. So like, five

thousand years back, we planned on mass-producing these cuties if the war got

any worse." Wait, this is one of the mass-produced ones? I was surprised, it

didn't seem particularly cheap-looking. They'd probably given up on making

them flashy and instead focused on making them reliable fighters. No point in

mass-producing something if it wasn't easy to control, after all.

"Are there any more?"

"We've, uhm, got a few in storage, yeah! There's a type that prioritizes

mobility, and one that specializes in land-based assault, among others. We also

had plans to construct a more advanced model, but... I think those blueprints're

in the storehouse, yeah!"

Hmph... The storehouse, huh... I hope they're still safe, all things considered.

Well, even if they did fall to the ground, let's hope they're still intact.

"Can I get in it?"

"What, you wanna give it a whirl? Well, I do suppose it'd be fine, but don't

expect it to move."

"...Huh?" What do you mean don't expect it to move?! Hey now, I've come this

far and you're telling me the damn thing's broken?! What's the big idea?!

"Why won't it move?"

"No fuel." Ahaha... Oh, that was simple enough. Fuel, of course! I didn't even

know these things took fuel. I just thought they'd be magic-powered.

"So, what does the big guy use? Gasoline?"

"Gasoline? I'm unfamiliar with such a term. This bad boy like, uses Ether

Liquid, yeah?"

"...Ether Liquid?"

"Ether Liquid is a fuel one creates by mingling their magical energies with a

chunk of specially-treated Ether Ore. After that, it powers itself, understand?

For it would bind the Frame Gear to a magical signature, and then use your own

energies to function."

Ether Ore? I've never even heard of that. Is it some kind of rare mineral?

Whatever it was, the Frame Gear wasn't going to budge an inch without it. I'd

come so far, but made no real progress. It was disheartening.

"Monica, do you know how to make it?"

"I'm afraid not. My talents lie not in the schools of magic." Ugh... So I basically

have a big robot statue. Great. I let my shoulders sag in disappointment, and

the girl suddenly began sputtering at me in an attempt to reassure.

"N-Now wait a moment, please don't be discouraged. There's more than just

the Frame Gears here, I'll have you know. There's like, totally a bunch of other

stuff! We got little floating boats, and automated carriages that move parts

around!" Automated carriages? Like a car? I'd considered making a car in the

past, but my lack of understanding made me give up. My interest was once

again piqued. Oh, wait a sec...

"What kind of fuel do those things run on, exactly?"

"...Ether Liquid..." Goddammit! They won't move, then! Damn you to hell, you

pervy Doc! Why didn't you leave me some full fuel tanks laying around?! I

listened to Monica's further explanation. Apparently the magic within Ether

Liquid diminished over time until there was nothing left. Sort of like how a soda

loses its carbonation if you leave it out after opening the lid.

Apparently it was fine to last several years or so, but five thousand years was

far too long.

"Is there anyone that can make Ether Liquid?"

"Ah... likely the Gynoid that controls the research laboratory, but she's

troublesome to deal with." Monica frowned as she spoke, then gave a little tilt

of the head.

I'm following the same pattern here... Now I have to search for the research

laboratory? This is a pretty lame goose chase.

"Oh, uhm... there's totally a chance Flora might know, though!"

"Sorry?"

"The alchemy lab and the research laboratory... have a close relationship.

They exchange materials and design notes with one another, as is natural given

their respective fields. I actually had quite a similar relationship with Rosetta in

the workshop, but she was somewhat of a shut-in." That's true. Once Rosetta

goes into the workshop and sets to work, you can't drag her out.

I decided to ask Flora about it. Hopefully it would lead to a breakthrough.

I opened up a [Gate] so I could brief the others on the situation.

"Ether Liquid, I see..." Flora tilted her head as she mulled over what I'd said.

The alchemy lab was a facility dedicated to producing chemicals and new

compounds, so I thought it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask about Ether Liquid

there.

"I think that's possible, you see?"

"Great!"

"But, you see... I think it would be of a lower quality than the Ether Liquid

produced at the research laboratory, you see? If that's fine, I'll be able to make

you some." I didn't really care if the material was lower quality. Just being able

to move around in the Frame Gear would be enough for the time being. But,

just as I was getting ready to dance a merry jig, Flora dashed my hopes with a

simple sentence.

"So, where is the Ether Ore?" Huh? Ether Ore? I looked over at Elze and the

others, and they simply shrugged.

"Never heard of Ether Ore before."

"... Yes, me neither. It certainly sounds strange." Damn it, seriously...? Can't

things just go right for once?

"Ether Ore is soaked through with a specialized liquid during its carving and

processing. The Ether Liquid is finalized after the ore reacts to the magical

power inside, and infuses it into the liquid. You'd need a chunk of Ether Ore

about this size for the Frame Gear you mentioned." Flora mimed out the shape

of a rugby ball with her hands. From the way she described it, it was like

infusing tea into hot water with a teabag. Still, there was no point getting hung

up on the details of the process, as I didn't even have any of the ore to begin

with. Hell, I didn't even know what it was.

"Ether Ore is a mostly transparent ore that appears in many different hues of

color. It can inherently store, release, and amplify magical power. It was quite

readily available five thousand years ago." Cesca spoke up with an explanation,

but I didn't really think it helped. Linze, on the other hand, suddenly spoke up.

Hmm?

"...Uhm... is that what a spellstone does...?" Spellstone? Oh, right. Those little

pebbles I used to check my magical affinity. They're usually little jewels that

magic users adorn their gear with.

Linze rummaged in her pouch and pulled out a few spellstones. Flora picked

one of the little things up and held it up to the light. It was tiny.

"There's no mistaking it now, you see? This is Ether Ore." Huh... I guess the

name changed over the last five thousand years. Wait, doesn't that mean the

problem's solved? Despite the seemingly good news, everyone other than the

Gynoids had awkward expressions all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?"

"W-Well, I... don't know how to put this, but... there's no spellstone that

size."

"Sorry?"

"Spellstones are considered real rarities... Tiny fragments such as these are

fine and all, but... larger ones are more problematic." It was true that the

largest spellstone I'd ever seen was the wind one on Renne's pendant. Laim had

told me it was fairly valuable due to its size, but it was only around the size of a

walnut. Apparently, these things were in short supply.

"Belfast's Royal Treasury has a water spellstone, but it's only about this big..."

Yumina mimed out the shape and size of a softball in her hands. You're seriously

telling me that even a royal treasury doesn't have the size I need?

"...I-Incidentally, how much would a spellstone that size cost, exactly?"

"I'm not sure... I don't even know if you could put a price on something that

rare." This is terrible! Plus, I'd basically be using it as a teabag. If I squeezed it

out to its limit making the Ether Liquid, would it just be reduced to junk? We'd

have to toss out something that valuable?! My dreams were slowly being

crushed. Yae, who saw despair inching its way across my face, suddenly spoke

up.

"Touya-dono, can you not use your search spell to find a stone of the relevant

size, can you not?"

"What?" I wasn't sure about that. Can I search for something buried

underground? Wait, actually, I did find that ruin in the desert, didn't I? That was

buried. Well, guess it can't hurt to try.

"Alright, [Search]... Let's see... spellstones larger than thirty centimeters in

diameter." Several pins fell down on to the map of the western territories.

Huh... That was actually easier than I expected.

I quickly checked if any of those pins fell within Brunhild's territory. As luck

would have it, there was exactly one. I wasn't too keen on digging for insanely

valuable items in the territory of other countries, after all.

Alright, let's excavate the magic stones! Hurrah! To be honest, I was getting

tired of all the running around...

◇ ◇ ◇

"Alrighty, let's start digging." I stood at the spot and rolled back my sleeves.

I'd be digging with magic, but it still felt like the right thing to do.

I knew that this was the location of the spellstone I needed, but I had no idea

how deep down it would be.

"Welp, guess I've got no choice but to dig." I began digging into the ground

with Earth magic. I cast [Fly], then moved the disturbed soil aside with

[Levitation]. I encountered several thick layers of stone as I dug further down,

but I persevered.

I dug out a lot, but still hadn't reached the spellstone. To be honest, I was

getting a little concerned. I didn't want to hit an underground reservoir or

something.

Eventually, the rocks began to change in consistency. Some of them were

sparkling, so I stopped my digging and moved closer to check. I found small,

reddish jewels mixed in with the stone and dirt. I wondered if they were

spellstone shards. That probably meant I was close.

Guess I'm getting there... I'll be a little more careful from here...

I began digging more slowly, until eventually... I unearthed a big red

gemstone!

Is this it? I didn't want to damage it, so I carefully began to peel away the

earth and stone around it. Little by little, the buried spellstone was freed

completely from its rocky confines. It wasn't too big, all-in-all. I'd designated my

search to cover anything with a diameter larger than thirty centimeters, so it

could've been any kind of size above that. Still, it was better that it wasn't too

massive, otherwise it would've been harder to get out.

I took out the fire spellstone using [Levitation]. It was actually sizable. My

initial appraisal was wrong. It was over fifty centimeters in diameter. It held the

glimmer and beauty of an amazing gemstone.

Wait... couldn't I make a ton of money by digging out precious materials like

this? I reconsidered immediately. I'd remembered what Kousaka had told me

about not relying on my own overpowered abilities to bring in money for my

country.

It wasn't something I wanted to think about, but when I eventually died, the

country would fall into disrepair if it solely relied on me. It'd be better to avoid

making large profits related to my specific set of skills, lest the populace

become dependent.

The development of the nation was going just fine, anyhow.

Maybe I can use this method to find the raw materials for a Frame Gear,

though... Ah, but I can hardly complete the entire process of getting the metal

from the ore.

Selling this would still make us a ton of cash, though... I quickly dispelled such

a thought from my mind: the Frame Gear's power was my priority, first and

foremost. I couldn't be selfish, and we needed the spellstone to get the job

done. With that, I filled the hole back in and went home.

"Wowsers, that's pretty big, you see..." I brought the spellstone back to the

alchemy lab, and Flora was quite surprised. I ended up using [Modeling] to split

it in half, since there was no reason to use the whole thing. I decided the other

half could be kept as a spare in case we messed up somehow.

Flora said it'd take about a month to complete. After that, I made my way

back to the hangar.

I headed toward the garage with the knight-like Frame Gear, and I noticed

that the shutter was still open. The button was broken. I knew it...

I entered the garage, and the gray knight was standing right where I left him.

"Ten-hut! It's Master!"

"Hm? Master?" I turned on my heel in response to the voice behind me.

Rosetta and Monica were there. Rosetta was wearing her usual work jumpsuit,

but Monica had changed into a camo uniform. It wasn't exactly the right size,

either.

That beret on her head made her look like a special forces soldier... As usual,

the logic behind a Gynoid's mind was alien to me.

"What's up, you two?"

"It's been five thousand years, sir! Therefore, I thought it prudent to run some

routine maintenance, sir! There's spells applied to the hangar so nothing would

rust or deteriorate, but dirt, rubbish, and other such dust tends to pile up, sir!"

"How very rude of you... Just where is this alleged dust? I like, totally maintain

the hangar just fine, got it?" Monica did a little pout in response to Rosetta's

comment. I watched you smash a button with a pipe wrench... Are you really

maintaining this place just fine?

Rosetta mulled around the Frame Gear for a bit, and then suddenly called me

over.

"We can't activate this, sir! But would you like to sit in the cockpit anyway?"

"Yeah, I think I'd like to try." As soon as I replied, Rosetta clambered up the

Frame Gear. She climbed from the foot to the knees, then to a foothold on the

side. After she arrived at the chest, she pushed a small panel. A whooshing

sound echoed out, and a chest hatch suddenly opened up. Ooh!

I copied Rosetta's movements and clambered up toward the cockpit. Monica

was already standing at eye-level with me, having made use of a platform

loader nearby. If you had that, why didn't you use it to begin with?

I looked inside. There was a comfy-looking leather seat in the middle, with

one control stick to either side of it. There were some gauges I didn't quite

understand, some panels, and a ton of switches and pulleys. The design looked

pretty retro to me, so I couldn't wrap my head around it.

I clambered inside and sat down. It was actually quite comfy. There were

pedals beneath my feet, which I thought might be for making it walk.

"Once you understand the basics, you should be able to make it move, sir!

After that, you'll simply learn through experience. Drop and give me twenty

minutes of your attention! The unit itself will scan your brainwaves and adjust

accordingly, sir! Even a baby can do it, sir!"

"Yeah like, uhm, so basically the pilot's own thoughts and experiences will

impact how well it can do, get it? If the pilot isn't like, a totally experienced

fighter or whatever, it's not gonna do much more than move, okay?" That made

sense. So even if the pilot became skilled at handling the robot, it would be

limited by their own experiences. In that case, the best pilots would be soldiers

or knights. I asked Rosetta about it, and she said it depended on the Frame

Gear. Apparently there were units that responded better to mages, and so on. It

seemed that I'd have to pick the pilot based on their individual characteristics in

relation to the unit.

"I hope I can get it moving soon. It'll take some time to get used to it, but I

want to learn the ropes as soon as possible." I hopped out of the Frame Gear's

cockpit and walked over to Rosetta. She had a cheeky grin on her face.

"I was hoping you'd say that, sir! I happened to make something in secret for

you!" Rosetta suddenly struck a pose. I had no idea what she was doing. I

suddenly wondered if this secret was the reason she'd been cooped up in the

workshop so much lately. Rosetta guided us to the workshop. Inside, we found

two strange objects that kind of looked like egg-shaped orbs. They were about

the size of a small car. They looked like white eggs, but they were clearly

mechanical in design.

"If you'd take a minute to hear me out, sir! This is a state-of-the-art Frame

Gear simulation, sir! I call it the Frame Unit!" With a bit of fanfare, Rosetta

explained her creation to me.

Frame Unit? So wait, this is a simulator? That means I can replicate the

experience of controlling a Frame Gear?

Rosetta tapped the side of one of the egg orbs, and the front of it opened

downward. What I saw inside was pretty much identical to the Frame Gear

cockpit back in the hangar's garage.

"And this thing works?"

"Yessir! It's not powered by Ether Liquid! It runs on your magical energy,

because it doesn't have to physically move!" Welp, guess that makes sense.

Apparently the Ether Liquid inside a Frame Gear synchronized the magical

power in the fluid with the magical power in the pilot. It made it so that the

machine would move in tandem with the pilot's thoughts. I guess that made the

pilot the brain of the mech, and the Ether Liquid was like the nerves.

It didn't stop there, either. The liquid was some kind of catalyst for incredible

magical reactions that operated the machine's central reactor, too. Rosetta and

Flora had explained it all to me, but it went over my head. I wasn't very

scientifically inclined. It was best to just say "a wizard did it," and carry on with

my day.

According to the girls, my magic power was vast to the point where it may

have even been possible for me to move a Frame Gear without Ether Liquid, but

in order to test that out they'd need to build a unique model from scratch.

There actually was a Frame Gear with that exact specification, but the

blueprints were... you guessed it, in the storehouse. Still, the prospect of

building my own Frame Gear that worked off my magic alone was alluring.

Alright, let's try out this simulation.

I poked my head inside and, sure enough, it was identical to the Frame Gear's

cockpit. Rosetta closed the hatch, and a dim green light filled the area.

"Do you copy, sir?"

"Rosetta? I read you loud and clear."

"First thing's first, sir! Fire her up! Touch the central panel node right in front

of you." In front of me... This thing? I touched a small panel around the size of a

B5 notepad, and several gauges began to come to life. There were three large

monitors. One was in front of me, and two were to my left and right

respectively. They all began lighting up as well. I was pretty impressed by the

fact that it was touchscreen-operated. The retro aesthetic had thrown me off.

The simulation displayed me at a considerable height. I wondered if Frame

Gears would actually have me being this tall. I looked around and saw a vast

plain, with what looked like a woodland in the distance.

"Did you design this space yourself?"

"No, sir! What you are seeing is a simulated area based on visual information

taken from around this country!" Aha, I was wondering why it looks so familiar.

Despite the fact that it was simply an image on a screen, it felt so real.

"Let's begin with walking, ten-hut! Press your foot down slowly on the right

pedal. Alternate that motion with a press on the left pedal. Walking should

come to you just fine after that, sir!" I did as I was told, and the unit began to

slowly move forward. Whoa, it's shaking and everything!

"If you wish to move, just shift your center of mass. The Frame Gear will move

left or right based on your own motions. If you wish to move backward, then

ease up on the gas. If you wish to dash, then put the pedal to the metal, sir!"

Oho? Oh my... This is interesting... I walked, turned around, and took a few

steps back. It reacted seamlessly, as if responding to my whims. I wondered if it

was already reading my thoughts in order to move more easily.

Gradually, under Rosetta's careful guidance, I figured out crouching, jumping,

and strafing. I then started figuring out how to move the upper body with the

control sticks. Moving the arms up and down, waving them around, turning

around, and so on.

After some time, it felt almost like a second body. If I wanted to turn the

Frame Gear's neck, or move its fingers, or just turn around a little bit, it was all

done by simply willing it. If a person became accustomed to their Frame Gear,

it'd surely move just as easily as their own body. Looks like they weren't wrong

when they said anyone would be able to pilot it.

As I was getting used to the Frame Gear, to the point where I was doing a

hop, skip, and a jump on one leg, another mech suddenly appeared in front of

me.

"Huh? What the heck?" It looked much like the mass-produced gray Frame

Gear I'd seen back in the hangar's garage.

"You like, totally seem used to it now, huh? Shall we swiftly proceed to the

next phase?"

"Huh? Monica?" The voice I heard definitely belonged to her. That must've

meant she was the one in the Frame Gear. There were two orbs, after all. She

must've gone inside the other.

Two plain, gray swords suddenly dropped in front of myself and Monica

respectively.

"Now we'll try a demonstration of actual combat." I see... So the real reason

there were two orbs was for multiplayer, huh?

I reached out to the sword and firmly grasped it.

Alright, let's do it! Despite the fact it was more of a game-like VR setting, it

felt like I was inside a real Frame Gear. It really was the ideal training tool.

This just made me all the more anxious to try the real thing...