The Golden Gollem And The Littlest Lady Part 3

"Hm... Yes, there's no mistaking it. It's the army we saw

on the way here. Like, the number or whatever?

Umm...twenty thousand three hundred and forty-eight. Of

them, uhhh...two thousand and thirty-seven are equipped

with Gollems. They all seem to be of the same type, color

aside, so it's fair to assume they're factory models. There's,

like, no flying types among 'em. Estimated time of arrival,

ten minutes or so."

"Got it. Stay on standby for now."

I ended the call with Monica, who was still floating above

us in stealth mode. Then, I shook my head over at the queen,

who still sat anxiously on the nearby couch.

"There's been no mistake from your men. There's a

twenty-thousand-strong army heading our way right now.

They'll be here in around ten minutes. Oh, and the banner

they're hoisting has some kind of purple serpent on it."

"Then it is Marquis Bellius. He's an ally to Duke Blueson,

the man who currently occupies the capital. Well, ally may

be overselling it. Bellius is effectively Blueson's

subordinate."

Apparently, this Duke Blueson was the leader of the

largest clan that opposed the queen, contesting her claim

with the fact that royal blood also flowed through his veins.

He took over the royal capital, ousting the queen in the

process, and now the citizens there were being oppressed

beneath his tyrannical rule. He probably wanted to make a

show of things for any other clans who might've sought to

take the city from him.

"How many men do you have here?"

"Five thousand or so. It would take at least two days for

reinforcements to arrive," the guard captain answered my

question. That meant we only had about a quarter of the

enemy's forces. If we had reinforcements, we could probably

handle a siege...but it didn't look likely.

"That sirpent man again? He tries too hard!"

"What's that, Steph? You know him?"

Steph, who had been listening in on our conversation,

finally let out a little grumble during a lull in the discussion.

"He tried to attack the queen earlier! But we all grouped

together and chased him away. He yelled at me, though!

Said, um...die, you little shit? Fack you! Or something..."

"Okay, he's dead."

...He called my five-year-old daughter a little shit AND

said 'fuck you'? I'll kill him. Wait, no. He can't repent if I

just murder him... I should give him a taste of hell first,

really grind that punishment into him...

"Grand Duke, please calm down. I can sense your childish

bloodlust from here... It's not good for the children."

"...H-Huh? What bloodlust. H-Ha ha, just kidding...

Whatever I was thinking, I was just kidding..."

"A-Ahem..."

Sakura's words made me notice that both the queen and

my children were leaning a little bit away from me. My

thoughts must have been clear on my face.

Gimme a break, guys... I wouldn't really do anything

crazy to him just for swearing at my kid... Well, maybe I

would. Just a little. Only a little, though.

"I'll fight him again. Let's go, Gold!"

"Understood."

"Hey, wait!"

Steph began toddling out of the room with Gold in tow.

"I can take care of this. Steph, you wait with Sue."

"You can, dad?"

"Father, don't go overboard..."

I wanted to show I was a dependable dad, but Yoshino's

comment kind of made me feel like I was being doubted.

I won't go overboard. I'll just drive him off, it's fine.

"W-Will it be all right with you just going on your own?"

"Don't worry about that. I've driven off armies like this

before, so it's not something I'm unfamiliar with. Give me a

little bit, I'll be back soon."

I brushed off the queen's concerns before projecting my

phone's map into the air in front of me.

"[Multiple]. Target lock. All members of Marquis

Bellius's army."

"Understood."

Small red dots started appearing on my map as each

individual member of the army was targeted. Given how

many of them there were, it took a little while. Thankfully, it

was pretty easy to track them all, since they were all

marching in formation.

"Target lock complete."

"Hmm... Activate [Gate] beneath their feet. As for the

destination... Let's drop them by the plains near Primula's

border."

"Acknowledged. Awaiting input."

I retraced Gungnir's path along the map, determined the

right spot near Primula's border, then tapped where I

wanted the portal to open.

"That should do it."

"Hm?"

The queen raised a curious brow. It wasn't unreasonable.

I doubt she could even wrap her mind around what I'd just

done.

After a few moments, a flustered messenger charged into

the room.

"Y-Your Majesty! News from the scouts! Th-The enemy

army has...vanished! They're no more! Swallowed up by the

ground itself!"

The queen, along with the knights who'd been in the

room, slowly turned their heads toward me with slack jaws.

"E-Erm... Grand Duke, did you...?"

"Yep. I sent them somewhere closer to the mountain

range that borders Primula. It'll take them a few weeks to get

back here, most likely."

"Well, that's not overboard by your standards."

"See? Told you..."

Sue giggled slightly, and I took a small sip of my tea. It

was quite nice.

"I thought Steph's magic was obscene...but I see now that

yours is far beyond even hers, Grand Duke..."

The queen seemed completely stunned, but she turned

and advised her soldiers not to completely lower their guard.

Heh. You're finding it hard to believe, right? That's fine

by me. This kind of thing happens all the time.

"So, about that regalia of yours..."

"Oh, yes. The regalia is the proof of rule in Rephan. It's

been handed down from each monarch to the next, as is

tradition. Unfortunately, two generations before me...during

my grandfather's time, there was a dispute over the throne.

The regalia vanished during this dispute, and it hasn't been

seen since."

"If you had it, would that Blueson guy leave the capital?"

"If I hold the regalia, then the clans currently neutral to

my plight will pledge their support to me. With that

overwhelming support, Duke Blueson will have significantly

less power in comparison. I'll request his surrender at that

point, and I'm sure he'll accept the offer."

The regalia was, in effect, symbolic of the monarch's right

to rule. Its absence gave more credibility to Duke Blueson's

rebellion, so its return would hypothetically be enough to

make him fall back into line.

But what if I couldn't find the regalia for the queen? It

wasn't like I was capable of finding everything in the world,

after all. If it was gone from the world entirely or masked

with some kind of ward, I wouldn't be much help.

"What does the regalia look like? Is it a holy sword or jade

seal, maybe? Or some kind of sparkly tiara?" Sue asked the

question that was on my mind. I needed to know what it

looked like before I could even think about finding it.

"Oh, no. The regalia of our nation is a musical

instrument."

"An instrument?!"

Those words suddenly brought Yoshino snapping to

attention. Sakura, who was sitting right next to her, quirked

a curious eyebrow as well. I could understand their interest,

given their passion for music, but they were freaking out the

queen, so I had to quietly gesture for them to calm down.

"By musical instrument...do you mean a functional

instrument? One that actually makes sound?"

"Yes. It's a small metal instrument, a vertical flute. It's

known as Stella's Flute."

"Stella sounds like me! Steph!"

"He he, it does sound like that a little bit."

The queen smiled at Steph's excited interjection.

Steph and Stella, huh? I guess they're kinda similar.

The queen went on to explain that members of Rephan's

royal family were taught to play the flute from a young age.

On the day of crowning, it was customary for the new

monarch to play a song on Stella's Flute for the people of the

nation. Those in attendance would listen to the music and

gain an understanding of what kind of person their new

leader was.

Huh, is it like a pressure test? Like if they botch the song,

then the people will know they've got a weak ruler? Or

maybe it's more of a personality thing...like the song choice

can give you an idea of what a person is like?

"Then, Your Majesty, did you play the flute as well?"

"Stella's Flute was lost by the time of my coronation, so I

didn't play it, no. I can still play the flute, though. I have

been taught since childhood."

Yoshino's question prompted the queen to walk over to

the nearby fireplace and pick up a small instrument that had

been on display above the hearth. It was a wooden flute that

was around thirty centimeters in length. The queen placed

the end piece in her mouth and began to play. The tones she

created were slow in tempo and pleasing to the ear.

Obviously, the song was unfamiliar to me, but I found myself

drawn in and relaxed by the sound.

Once her performance came to an end, everyone in the

room applauded.

"That was incredible. I didn't know you were such a

talented musician."

"Oh, no... Anyone in my family could play to that level..."

The queen was incredibly modest, but even I could tell

with my untrained ears that she was clearly beyond the level

of your average professional.

Sakura and Yoshino were murmuring to each other and

fidgeting. Apparently, the performance had inspired them to

do something themselves.

"We'd love to play for you as well, Your Majesty!"

"Huh? Yoshino? Sakura? I don't think we should..."

"I'd be happy to hear. In fact, I'd be honored to listen to

Brunhild's music."

I tried to tone down my wife and daughter, since they

were teetering close to rude in terms of etiquette, but the

queen allowed it.

Hmm... It's not really Brunhild's music, though. It's more

like Earth's music.

Yoshino tapped a few things on her phone and created

semitransparent instruments from thin air. That was a

feature of her performance magic.

Huh... Guitar, bass, and drums?

"You play too, father!" Yoshino exclaimed as she passed

the bass guitar over to me.

"Huh?! Me too?!"

Wait, I'm not really very experienced with the bass...

Plus, what are we even playing? I can only do the bass a

little, you know?

Yoshino told me that we'd be playing a song I learned

from my grandfather.

Hmm, I can probably do this one. I've practiced it a lot in

the past, so maybe... I might end up messing up during the

quiet parts, though... Okay... Let's try plucking these strings

a little... I should be fine? Maybe?

I glanced up from my bass guitar and suddenly noticed

Sousuke sitting in front of the drums.

...Hey, when did you get here, exactly?

I looked over at the queen, who seemed extremely

confused. She simply shook her head as if to let us go ahead

with our nonsense.

"Let's go!"

I began plucking the strings to form the rhythm. The bass

line was super lively in this one, and Yoshino's guitar

brought out the good feelings of the song even more.

Sakura's vocals added to the mix in perfect harmony.

The song was by a band that the King of Pop was a

member of when he was just a child. It was their debut

single, which rapidly hit number one on the USA's charts.

The band ended up being the first group to debut with four

consecutive number one hits, which was a monumental

achievement. The bass was one of the best parts of that song,

at least in my opinion. It functionally served as the vital

backbone of the whole thing...

Ugh... It's too hard to keep up with Yoshino and Kousuke!

Sue and Steph sat on the couch, clapping along to the

sound of Sakura's voice. The guards and even the queen

began following suit.

The title of the song, "I Want You Back," might've had a

little more meaning in the context of the queen's search for

the regalia. I didn't think Yoshino had thought that far ahead

when she picked this song, though. It was probably just a

funny little coincidence for me to enjoy.

Somehow, I managed to see the song through to the end,

and everyone applauded.

Whew... I could only barely keep up with that daughter

of mine...

"That was spectacular! I didn't understand those words at

all, but I could feel the heart behind them!"

Yoshino blushed as the queen praised her, giggling faintly.

Sakura simply stood and gave everyone the peace sign. I

looked to see what Kousuke was doing, but he wasn't there

anymore. Had he seriously just teleported here, played the

drums, and left without explanation?

"Oh, sorry about the detour there. Back to the main topic

at hand, could you describe the flute to me? If you can tell

me any finer details, I'll have a greater chance of locating it."

"There are actually some photographs of it. Please give me

just a moment."

The queen fumbled around a desk drawer in the room

before producing some photographs. Photos weren't

uncommon on the western continent, as Gollem camera eyes

had existed for centuries. The photos the queen had shown

us were very old, however, as evidenced by their sepia tint.

Given that the flute had gone missing around two

generations ago, though, that didn't surprise me.

There were two photographs. One depicted a young boy

about Steph's age. He held a flute in his hand. The other was

a family photograph featuring a group of people standing

around a flute, which was boxed and in the middle of the

room.

"The boy here is my grandfather. He's holding Stella's

Flute."

Ho ho ho... This is your grandfather as a young boy?

This photo must be a hundred or so years old, then...

Unfortunately, the flute in the boy's hand had no real

defining features. All the picture told me was that the flute

was around the same length as the one the queen owned.

"And what's this family photo?"

"This depicts my grandfather, along with his parents and

his younger brother... My granduncle. It was my granduncle

who would enter a feud with my grandfather for succession

rights to the throne. My grandfather won the dispute, which

resulted in my granduncle setting their estate on fire in an

act of suicide. It was only a while after the blaze that Stella's

Flute was found to be missing."

Hmm... Maybe the granduncle hid it away somewhere?

"Did your granduncle have any children?"

"He did, but they were executed as a result of the political

conflict. The loss of the flute was discovered only after that

purge, so nobody was able to ask his side of the family for

any information..."

Hmm, I get it. Since the regalia isn't the kind of thing

that would be brought out often, I bet the grandfather only

noticed the flute was missing when he needed it for the

coronation ceremony, finding the box to be empty or

whatever.

Apparently, the loss of the regalia caused a huge stir

across Rephan. It was probably the equivalent of Japan

losing the Three Sacred Treasures or Britain losing the

Crown Jewels. No doubt any such incident would incite

mass panic.

I glanced at the flute in the photos. The queen's

grandfather was blocking part of the flute in his grip, and it

was a bit of a grainy image, so I couldn't quite make the

whole thing out. The family photo wasn't much better, but I

could kind of make out the general shape.

"You mentioned it was made of metal, right? What kind?"

"Orichalcum."

Whew, a flute made out of orichalcum? That's definitely

the kind of thing people would consider sacred, yeah...

Crazy durable too... So we can probably rule out it being

broken or burned. Though it's not impossible that it was

melted down and used to make something else, given how

rare that metal is...

I didn't think anyone who knew the true value of the

nation's regalia would do something as stupid as melting it,

though.

Ahhh, whatever. Let's just try searching for it.

I took out my smartphone and pulled up a map of the

country. It could have been taken out of the nation's

borders, but I figured it would be wise to start local.

"Run search. Stella's Flute."

"Searching... Complete. Displaying."

A single dot lit up on the map.

Hell yeah! Only one hit?! Then it's gotta be it! Wait, but

that location...

The queen must've noticed my unease.

"I-Is there a problem?"

"Well, not exactly. I think I've found it, but... Here. Look

where it is..."

I projected the map into the air so the queen could

understand my reservations. With that, everyone in the

room could see where the regalia supposedly was...

"Th-The capital?! Rephancia?!" the queen shrieked.

Yep. Just as I thought. It's the capital. The regalia's in the

royal capital, enemy territory... But what does this mean?

"Could that Duke Blueson have gotten his hands on it

before you, Your Majesty?"

"No, that's simply impossible. If he had Stella's Flute in

his possession, he'd have made a spectacle of it long ago and

forced me to step down," the queen replied to Sue's

question. That could only mean one thing.

"Stella's Flute is in the capital. It's deep in enemy

territory, right under their noses...and they have no idea it's

there."

"Ugh..."

The queen clutched at her chest as I came to the

conclusion she'd obviously reached as well.

Damn. I shouldn't have said it so bluntly. The queen was

in the capital for years without realizing it too...

"Grand Duke, please have more tact..." Sakura shook her

head and told me off.

"Sorry..."

W-Well, you know what they say...to see what is in front

of one's nose needs a constant struggle.

"Where in the capital, Touya?"

"Hmm? It's, uh... Let's see... Just gotta zoom in... Right

here... Oh?"

My smartphone map zoomed in on the precise location.

The dot of light showed that the flute was in a specific

building...and even I could understand at a glance what the

building was.

"Wh-What?! The royal castle?! A-After all these years of

searching, it was there?!"

The queen stared at the map with an expression that I

could barely read.

Oh crap, she's gonna lose it.

I could understand how she felt, though. It was kind of

like when you lost your wallet, or your passport, and you

started tearing up your house looking for it in a panic. You'd

retrace your steps looking on the streets for it, and you

might have even filed it as missing with the police...and then

it was in your back pocket the whole time.

"Why?!"

"Umm... Sorry..."

The queen cried out, so I instinctively apologized. Still, I

knew she wasn't really shouting at me or anything. She was

just staring at the map in disbelief, yelling out of sheer

exasperation.

"Why didn't we find it in the castle?! Why didn't we just

look harder while I was there?! Why?!"

They were probably looking wherever you told them to

look. I get it, but please calm down.

"Isn't it good we found it, at least? Try to look on the

bright side..."

"I'm happy, obviously! I'm really happy, yes! But, ohhh,

I'm so upset! I'm about ready to flip my lid! Sheesh! Augh!

Raaargh!"

The queen clutched at her own head and stomped her

feet. Not even the guards in the room knew what to do.

"Why is the queen all stompy?"

"These things happen when you're a grown-up, Steph."

"Really?"

"Really. These things and a lot more..."

"Being a growned-up sounds tough..."

Sue and Steph quietly watched the queen have an absolute

meltdown. I felt sorry for her. She'd obviously been under a

lot of stress. She hadn't been the one to lose the regalia in

the first place, and she'd probably been living under

constant scrutiny from others due to her not having it.

The whole thing made me think about Brunhild, though.

We didn't have any proof of royal status, after all...

...Maybe my smartphone? That's kind of a sacred

treasure at this point, though. I guess I can't leave it behind

in the mortal world when I pass on. If one of my

descendants ends up being a jackass, they could spawn a

wicked god with it or something. Oh, you know what would

be a good idea? Brunhild, my gunblade! I'll give it to Kuon

when he inherits the throne. Silver might get a bit mad

about it, but that's not my problem...

I was lost in thought by the time the queen finally

recomposed herself.

"I apologize for that...outburst."

"Don't worry about it."

Seriously. I've been there. Think most of us have,

honestly.

◇ ◇ ◇

Queen Rephan cleared her throat as if to brush away the

entire miserable rant she'd just subjected us to.

"So tell me, where exactly is Stella's Flute?"

I zoomed in a little more to answer her question, but all I

could really see was that it was just in a certain area of the

royal castle. The map was only a map, after all. It wasn't like

I could see any real details about the room just by zooming

in enough. If I went to the capital, I could probably pinpoint

it more directly using [Search], however.

The queen looked over the map, tilting her head in

thought.

"This area... If I recall correctly, it's just a small corner of

the castle... Nothing particularly important, at least. Has the

flute really been there this whole time?"

"Are there any hidden passages or secret rooms there?"

Sue suddenly raised a question. It was a reasonable thing to

ask. Royal families had secret passages and escape routes

built into their homes all the time, so it was practically a

tradition. Even Brunhild Castle had a secret escape route. It

was an underground passage located right behind the

throne. It was placed there so we could make an easy

getaway in case something seriously bad happened right on

our doorstep. Obviously, it was the kind of thing I hoped I'd

never have to use, but I'd be a fool not to have one.

"There are some hidden passages in the castle, but none

in that area... Or at least, not to my knowledge. The maids

would have surely found it though, since they clean every

inch of the rooms they're assigned... I can only conclude it

must be hidden away somehow."

It wasn't exactly a very big instrument. You could easily

stash it in a fireplace or behind a bookshelf, especially since

it was just a small metal tube. Thus, the queen's granduncle

might have had his family stash it somewhere out of the way

in the castle, thinking they could come and get it later on.

But of course, the family was executed in the ensuing

political purge and it ended up being stuck in its hiding place

for over a hundred years. Kind of a pointless story when put

like that, really.

"So we know where the regalia is, then? What next?"

"If we can reclaim the royal capital, we can take the

regalia as well. We must drive out Duke Blueson at once!"

"I've got this! Leave it to Steph and Gold!"

Steph followed the queen's remark with a triumphant

proclamation...but I wasn't so convinced. I didn't really

think it was a good idea for us to get involved in a foreign

civil war, or at least, not involved any more deeply than we

already were.

Wait, though... As far as anyone knows...Steph isn't my

daughter. She's just a relative. In other words, Steph's

involvement isn't Brunhild's involvement. It's just what

she's doing. I guess with that in mind, it'd be fine if Steph

wants to help take part in the civil war... No, no! Hey!

That's not a good idea, stop convincing yourself it's okay!

You can't just let your little girl take part in a military

operation... Well, I mean, take part in a military operation

again! She's already done it before, but...she can't do it

again...

I was grumbling quietly to myself when Sakura suddenly

set down her teacup and spoke, saying, "Your teleportation

magic may be getting rusty..."

"Hm?"

"That [Gate] you cast earlier. Are you sure it took your

targets to the right destination? Maybe you should try using

it again."

Huh? No, I'm pretty sure it worked. Why are you

doubting me now? That's one of my most used spells, so it'll

be fine.

"Why not try warping something around the capital?

Many, many somethings. Scatter a bunch of rocks around

the capital, why don't you? It'd be good practice."

A bunch of rocks? In the capital? Why would I do

something dumb like... Oh? Ohhh... I get it.

"Got it. Yeah, you're right... I guess my magic training's

been off a little lately. There are a lot of loose stones around

this fortress that might work well, so how about I practice

and send them all to the capital? I'll need to take care not to

send any people or animals along with the stones, of course.

Wouldn't want to warp them right into the capital."

If I laid it on any thicker, I'd be winking. Hopefully, they

understand what I'm getting at here.

The queen's expression shifted in surprise as she realized

my implication. The guards around her noticed as well.

"G-Grand Duke, when do you intend to practice such a

thing?"

"Hmm, I've got some things to attend to right now. Maybe

three days? Would you prefer day or night?"

"Night might be better, for the sake of the citizens and

all... Would you mind if we observed your training? I

wouldn't want to crowd you."

"Oh, by all means, bring as many soldiers to watch as

you'd like. Just be careful, okay? They'd best keep back. It'd

be awful if they got caught up and warped away with the

stones."

The queen and I spoke in veiled terms, but it was plainly

obvious what we meant. If any of the queen's soldiers

happened to get teleported off, that would be a simple

accident. I warned her that her soldiers had better keep

back, so if they ended up being swept to the capital along

with the stones...well, that was Rephan's business. I couldn't

be responsible for that.

"Mmm... The queen and dad are talking weird. I don't get

it..."

"Steph, there are many things you'll come to understand

when you're an adult."

"Really?"

Sue smiled and brushed a hand through Steph's hair as

she replied, "Really."

With our conversation over, the queen sent out a message

to her soldiers. She ordered her guard captain to rally as

many men as he could within three days.

I had no issue leaving the actual fight to the people of the

country.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Steph! You're back!"

"Welcome home, Steph."

"Home at last, I see."

"Yay! Sisters!"

"I'm here as well, you know...?"

"Yay! Big brother!"

When Steph arrived at the castle, all the children came to

welcome her. They must've all been worried, since they took

turns ruffling her hair and hugging her.

One of my children was more excited by the sight of the

gold Gollem, however, even brushing Steph off to run

toward it.

"Th-This is the gold crown! My goodness, it follows a

similar design specification to the others in its E-series, yet

you can plainly see that the magic engraving is done in such

a way to specifically block magical interference..."

"Why am I not surprised?"

I watched Quun inspect every inch of the gold crown and

raised my brow. To be honest, I was impressed by her

interest. Leen was less enthused, however.

Lu clapped her hands together, catching the attention of

all the excited children.

"Okay! I know we're all excited about our latest addition,

but it's nearly dinnertime! Everyone, go and wash your

hands!"

"Yippee! Mama Lu's cooking, yaaay!"

Steph stomped off to the washroom like a rhinoceros.

...Please don't use [Accel] indoors like that... You're

gonna bump into someone and cause a horrible accident.

I made a mental note to warn the castle staff and

residents about the possibility of being struck in the halls by

a living battering ram.

I was about to go wash my hands when Sue stopped me.

"Touya. Did you recover Steph's phone?"

"Oh, not yet..."

I can't just leave it, but it's a pain to go get... I wish my

kids were a bit more responsible with their stuff. How

many have lost theirs now? Elna, Linne, Kuon, and Steph...

That's almost half of them! Talk about irresponsible.

I briefly considered designing some kind of smartphone

case that they'd be able to wear around their necks.

"Let's see... It should be in the forests to the south of

Rephan..."

I searched for it on my phone and that was precisely

where it was.

Hmm... Never been there, so I'll have to use [Fly] or

[Teleport]. Guess I could use [Recall] on Steph if I

wanna [Gate] there.

I shrugged and decided to just go there myself.

"Oh... Wait a second. Is it moving?"

I zoomed in on the map and stared at the little blip that

represented Steph's phone. It was moving. Someone must've

picked it up, which meant I definitely needed to get it before

it became a bother.

I used [Gate] to warp myself to Rephan again, then cast a

quick [Teleport] to the forest where Steph had dropped her

phone.

Okay, this should be the place... Where's the phone at?

I walked through the woodlands, consulting my map

every now and then. It was almost dark, so I wanted to just

grab it and go.

Steph's phone was moving, just like before...which made

me wonder what kind of person could've picked it up. Why

were they out here in this gloomy place? It was moving in a

bit of an erratic pattern, so was the person lost? Would I

have to save them? I started to pick up speed, running

toward my destination...and the little blip on the map

started moving toward me as well.

"Hey, lucky me. Guess we'll cross paths soon..."

I stopped running as I got closer. There was some kind of

rumbling coming from the ground in front of me... The

ground itself was trembling more forcefully by the second. I

looked up and noticed birds flying away.

Something's coming this way...but Steph's phone is right

on whatever this is... Oh, is it a monster? Did it eat her

phone or get it stuck to its side or something?

I waited in the depths of the tangled forest to see what

would emerge...only to be confronted by a massive spider.

"Kyashhhaaaaaaaaah!" the spider, jet-black and as large

as a bus, screeched loudly as it came barreling toward me.

Spikes were jutting out of its body, and each of its eyes was

deep red. It was creepy as hell.

Get away! Gross!

"[Shield]."

"GFSHAAAH!"

I conjured an invisible wall, bringing the beast's charge

grinding to a halt. It staggered on its long, slender legs, but

gradually regained its composure.

"Shyaaah!"

It spat up some kind of foul-looking liquid from its

mouth, but that was also deflected by the formless barrier in

front of me. The spider seemed frustrated by that. It leaned

back on four of its legs and began to furiously swipe at the

shield with the other four.

Ugh. This thing's disgusting. My grandpa always told me

not to kill spiders because they're helpful little guys, but this

thing? This thing helps nobody.

I decided it had to die.

"Billow forth, Ice and Lightning! Electrifying Ice Fog:

[Voltic Mist]!"

"BYGHAAAH!"

The spider was struck by a bolt of lightning from within

the compound spell's cloud of smog. It died immediately.

Damn, did the lightning scorch it black? It's honestly

hard to tell. It was black from the start...

"Well, at least it's dead... But what about the phone?"

I cast [Search] to check the location.

...Yep. Figures... Ugh... I have to fish it out of this thing's

stomach? Annoying...

My mass-produced smartphones were made of a special

alloy and enchanted with [Protection], so it would've

definitely been resistant to whatever kind of acids were in

the spider's guts... But seriously? I was supposed to take

something this disgusting apart and search for the phone

myself? No way in hell.

Oh, wait. I can just take this to the guild and have them

do it for me...maybe?

"Wait, no. I can just use [Apport] to pull it to me."

Obviously! Why did I forget I had that spell? I could've

just done that before the fight even started! What a

dumbass I am sometimes... Okay, hold out my hand and

cast the... Wait, should I? If I use [Apport], will only the

phone appear in my hand? Or...is it gonna come out

covered in juices and other horrible slimy stuff...

I remembered using [Apport] to pull an arrow from a

man's body once, and it came out with the blood still on it...

With that in mind, I shook my head and put the giant spider

in [Storage]. Better to be safe than sorry, after all. This was

a matter better left to the professionals. I then glanced

around for any other creepy crawlies before opening up a

[Gate] to Brunhild's adventurer's guild.

◇ ◇ ◇

"I see you've brought us another ridiculous beast..."

Guildmaster Relisha couldn't help but mutter as she saw me

pull the giant spider out of [Storage]. I'd never seen this

kind of creature before, so I just assumed it was something

native to the western continent. But apparently, it was

another one of those ancient species that had slipped

through time.

Relisha brought out an old scroll and spread it out across

a nearby countertop. The spider illustration on it looked

identical to the dead one I'd just hauled in.

"It's an ancient arachnid species known as the Atla-Nach.

It's a species of monster that was said to cause chaos during

ancient times on account of its rare, yet explosive mating

periods."

"Ancient times? So it really is another one..."

"That's right. It was previously believed to be extinct.

Nobody's seen one of these creatures in the last two

millennia...but now we're getting more common reports of

long-dead creatures resurfacing in every corner of the

continent. Please tell me, Grand Duke... Just what is going

on in the world?" Relisha asked as she looked at me, her

sharp eyes indicating she knew something was afoot.

Hrm... I should probably be honest here. There are

bound to be more weird monster sightings from here on

out, after all.

I explained to Relisha that space-time distortions were

happening and that monsters from the distant past were

now emerging in our era.

"Then you're saying these kinds of sightings will only

increase?"

"It should eventually calm down and subside. We're just

kind of in the thick of it right now..."

My words seemed to put Relisha at ease, if only a little.

Given how frequent the sightings had become, she could at

least take solace in the fact that it wasn't going to last

forever.

"Your Majesty, is this what you wanted?!" a burly guild

member, still in the middle of taking the spider apart, asked

as he held up a phone he'd plucked from the spider's guts.

He'd wiped it down with a cloth and it looked good as new.

What a considerate guy! It still kind of smelled funky,

though, so I cast [Clean] and the smell was gone in a flash.

I made a quiet mental note not to tell Steph where I'd

recovered her phone from...

Once I'd returned to the castle, the children were all

finished with dinner and everyone was relaxing in the living

room. I noticed a distinct absence of Quun, however. Gold

was gone as well, so presumably, she'd taken him up to

Babylon. I could only hope that Doc Babylon, Elluka, and the

professor would keep her from doing anything too out of

pocket...

Hmm, now that I think about it... I found that ancient

monster in the same forest where Steph met Gold... Is that

just a coincidence? Does that mean there's a space-time

disruption in that area, maybe? Wait, could it be that Gold

came through time from the past as well? I should probably

have Doc Babylon investigate this stuff, and then I should

also...

"Welcome back, daaad!"

"GWUBGH!"

Steph catapulted into my stomach, leaving me stumbling

backward and just barely on my feet.

P-Please don't use...[Accel]...at home...!

"Got my phone?"

"...Yep, I found it. Here you go. Don't lose it again!"

"Yay! Thanks!"

Steph took her phone from me, then dashed back to Sue's

side.

Hey! Don't use [Accel]! Someone's gonna get hurt...

"Good work out there, Touya."

I rubbed my sore tummy as I took a seat in the living

room. Yumina smiled and brought me some fruity water

before sitting down by my side.

"Everyone's finally here."

"It sure is noisy with nine more people around..."

"That just means it's lively, Touya. Besides, this is how

things are going to be in the future. Better to get used to it

now, don't you think?"

She had a point. The day was fast approaching when this

kind of hustle and bustle would be an ordinary part of our

life.

I'm glad everyone's here, but we'll have to send them

back to the future at some point... I wonder when Granny

Tokie's gonna let that happen. I should ask...

For the most part, the timequake's effects weren't too bad,

but the wicked devout and their traces of divinity made

some elements too unstable. In other words, I had to take

out the wicked devout if I wanted to safely send my kids

back to the future. It'd be hard to say goodbye to them,

though, since I knew it'd still be a while before they'd

actually be born.

I quietly resolved to make as many fun memories with

them as possible before we had to part.

◇ ◇ ◇

Three days later, I "accidentally" sent over thirty thousand

soldiers directly to Rephan's royal capital during a "training

exercise" that had "gone wrong."

After some time had passed, I flew over to the capital and

found that Duke Blueson and his forces had completely

surrendered to Queen Rephan, giving the city back to her.

What other option did he really have, though? Tens of

thousands of enemy soldiers had basically materialized right

around him in the dead of night...

Under Blueson's rule, the citizens of the capital were kept

under strict curfew. Thanks to that decree, everyone was

indoors and no noncombatants came to harm.

Once the news got out, the night rang out with cries of

freedom and support for the queen. The duke must have

really been putting the squeeze on the people because their

relief was palpable. He'd probably feared some kind of

uprising.

Thus, the capital of Rephan was retaken in a conquest

virtually free of any bloodshed. Though, that wasn't the end

of it. Until the queen held the Rephan regalia in her hands,

history could just repeat itself.

The queen impatiently urged me to help, so I pulled up

my phone map and began to track down the regalia's

location. I walked down a hall in the castle and stopped at

the crossroads of a T-shaped hallway.

"Should be around here..."

There were two rooms near this hallway. One to my left

and one to my right. Further down one side of the hall was a

staircase to the second floor, and further down the other side

was a window that peered out toward a courtyard.

It definitely wasn't out in the courtyard, so I could only

assume it was in one of these two rooms.

I should just use [Search] directly instead of through

my phone.

"Okay, [Search]! Wait, huh?"

"Wh-What is it?" the queen noticed my surprise and

anxiously asked what was wrong.

It's not in either of these rooms at all. It's down this

hall...on the stairs?

The staircase was set in stone with an old wooden

handrail along the side.

It's not on the stairs... Wait, the...handrail?

I narrowed my eyes and carefully looked over the

handrail...and one of the wooden support posts on it

shocked me to the core. I was staring right at it. I twisted the

post, heard something detach, and the rail sank downward

about ten centimeters. I then pulled it upward and removed

the post from the broader structure, which broke off with no

issue.

...Oh boy.

The decorative wooden post was, in fact, completely

hollow on the inside. I had to admit it, this was a creative

hiding place. How would anyone ever even think of finding

something in here?

I handed the broken wooden post to the queen. The

regalia was the symbol of this country's royal authority, so it

didn't seem right to directly handle it as an outsider.

The queen took the post into her shaky grasp, slowly

tipped it upside down so the hollow opening faced her hand,

and then...a tiny metal flute slid out into her palm. It was

exactly the same as the flute I'd seen in the pictures.

"A-Ahhh! This is it! Stella's Flute! F-Finally! It's finally

returned to us! G-Grandfather! We've got it back! We found

the flute!"

The queen sniffled and sobbed as she held the orichalcum

instrument to her breast. The knights around her were also

moved to tears, each of them trying their best to remain stoic

as a flood of emotion overwhelmed them. I could

understand what a big deal this was for them.

I was just glad we'd found the damn thing. With any luck,

this would end Rephan's civil war.

◇ ◇ ◇

The queen stood upon the castle's rampart and began to

play the flute. I cast a Null spell, [Speaker], and amplified

her performance so it could reach the citizens gathered

outside the royal gates.

News spread that Stella's Flute, the royal regalia of

Rephan thought to have been lost for almost a hundred

years, had been recovered. The clan lords of Rephan were all

aware before long. One by one, the neutral clans all swore

fealty to the queen. Her active enemies gradually began to

back down as well.

From what I'd heard, Duke Blueson nearly burst a blood

vessel in the royal dungeons when he found out that the

queen had recovered the flute in the very royal castle he'd

been occupying. He must've been frustrated knowing that it

was right under his nose the entire time.

If the regalia had fallen into his hands, it might've been

the queen who was imprisoned instead... And if that had

happened, I probably would've at least assisted in exiling her

somewhere more comfortable.

Still, that wasn't how things went down, and it seemed

like Rephan's internal war was over.

"Venerable Grand Duke Brunhild. I must give you my

heartfelt thanks for all you've done."

The person speaking to me and bowing their head was not

the queen, but her son. He was a man with dirty-blond hair,

who looked to be around thirty. His tall build and sturdy

demeanor suggested he was a military man.

He'd actually been in the middle of rallying an army to

take back the capital while I was doing my thing. In that

regard, I'd kind of stolen his thunder a little. I felt a bit bad.

"See?! I told you my dad was the bestest, Mister Frank!"

"That you did, Steph. He's certainly a marvel."

I awkwardly cleared my throat as Steph puffed her chest

out with pride and the prince offered up a weak smile. I

wasn't sure what to think about her so casually calling a

member of foreign royalty "Mister Frank," but Steph was

royalty herself...so maybe this was just a normal way of

acting for her.

"I can only hope that this will bring true peace to

Rephan."

"There's still a little issue that needs to be fixed, but it

should all be done away with by the time Frank succeeds the

throne," the queen replied to Sue, smiling and taking a sip of

tea. Her son only looked slightly uncomfortable at the

mention of his future succession.

The issue was that he couldn't play the flute. By the time

he was born, the regalia was already long-lost, so he did not

expect to have to play the flute in order to succeed his

mother. Sure, the regalia was already lost when the queen

was born, but her grandfather still ensured she had the

proper training and education that he'd received as a boy.

Now that the regalia was found again, it would only be

natural that they'd reinstate the tradition of the successor to

the throne playing the flute on his coronation day. If Prince

Frank were to give a horrendous performance, it could break

apart a slowly mending nation with unease. Because of that,

his mother informed him he'd need to play the flute every

single day until he'd mastered it. Traditions sure could be

rough...

"I'd be quite happy to join your alliance, Grand Duke, but

until things are more unified and settled in Rephan's

borders, I'll have to refrain from committing."

"That's fine. It's not like we'd be forcing you to join. Still, I

think it's important that we have a network where we can

exchange information about what's going on around the

world. That way, we can all respond to that information in

whatever way we deem the best. So even if you're not a

member, it's fine if you just want to hear what we have to

offer information-wise. What you do with that info is down

to you."

Though the alliance was an alliance, it was really more of

a conference for gossip or chitchat. Sometimes conflicts

between nations could be avoided with an easy conversation,

so I wanted as many countries as possible to come together

in discussion to make things easier for everyone. Sometimes,

I did have to intervene in stuff with brute force, but I usually

got something out of it, so it wasn't too bad.

I gave a quick primer on the wicked devout to the queen

and Prince Frank.

"Any settlements along the coast should take precautions.

It'll depend on the situation, but if you find yourself

struggling to fight back, then it would just be better to flee.

Otherwise, people will just die for no good reason."

"A coastal settlement destroyed by a massive Gollem, you

say...? How horrid..."

The one-eyed Gollem, presumably created by the wicked

devout, had attacked Rhea not too long ago. This was

alarming to the queen, as Rhea bordered Rephan. However,

it was even more alarming because Rephan's border was

almost entirely coastal. It'd be foolish not to heed my

warning in this case.

I provided her with about a dozen gate mirrors to send

out to coastal settlements in case of emergency, then handed

over two mass-produced smartphones. I didn't know if I'd

make it in time if something happened, but it was better

than them not having a line to me. At the very least, I'd be

able to help them rebuild.

The queen said she'd attend the next international

gathering as a tentative member, advising me that she

couldn't offer much in the way of cooperation due to her

nation's instability. I said that was fine. She'd gain a lot just

by being able to hear from the other countries.

Thus, the Kingdom of Rephan was put in safe hands. And

with that over, I had something I needed to investigate...

Something that had been weighing on my mind for quite

some time...

◇ ◇ ◇

"In summary, this is absolutely the gold crown. But it's

very different from the other crowns, from its construction

to its general vibe. Really, it's a crown in name only," Doc

Babylon puffed a cloud of smoke from her pipe as she spoke.

We were looking at the gold crown, Gold, as it was on the

workbench in front of us.

Elluka suddenly spoke up and added, "The magic

engravings all over its chassis are remarkably intricate. I can

understand most of it, but some functions are alien even to

me. If I were to put it in metaphorical terms...I guess it'd be

like having a toothbrush for a shoe. It might have some

purpose, but it doesn't quite add up visually."

...A toothbrush for a shoe? What the hell does that even

mean? Aren't you supposed to be some kind of genius

Gollem engineer, Elluka? That just sounded dumb... Well,

whatever. I guess the whole point is that they don't fully

understand what his functions are.

I remembered hearing that there was a fine line between

genius and idiocy, and I couldn't help but feel I understood

that saying as I looked at the supposed geniuses in front of

me.

"Performance-wise, it's no different to your standard

crown Gollem. But the Q-Crystal that operates its Gollem

skill system and general motor control has a unique

structure I've never seen before," Elluka stated as she

pointed toward the Gollem's head.

The Q-Crystal was basically a Gollem's brain. It controlled

skill activation, communication, and movement. In other

words, so long as the Q-Crystal was intact, you could restore

just about any Gollem by putting it into a new body. There'd

still be issues, though, since the machine might not adapt to

its new form very well.

"Q-Crystals typically have quirks that betray who created

them. Thus, there's no doubt to me that this is one of Chrom

Ranchesse's creations," the professor stroked his white

beard as he offered his input.

"There's a part of this Q-Crystal that I can't properly

analyze. It's completely covered up, but it probably pertains

to the Gollem's skill. In your world, I'm pretty sure they'd

call it a black box, Touya."

"Didn't Gold say he doesn't have any crown skills,

though?"

"And he very well may not. A crown skill is something that

requires compensation from the contractor. There's no

reason why he couldn't have other skills available to him.

Norn's black crown has a crown skill that allows it to

manipulate space-time and parallel worlds, but it has an

ordinary skill that functions much like your [Storage] and

requires no compensation."

That made sense. So crown skills were different from

regular legacy Gollem skills, and crown Gollems could have

multiple...

"So there's no skill that needs compensation? Nothing

that would cause harm to Steph?"

"Not that I can see. Though you never know, if the hidden

skill I can't access is something like self-destruct, then there

could always be collateral damage."

That sounds bad!

"I'm sure the young miss was joking. Gold here is still a

Gollem, after all. He couldn't initiate any skill that would

bring his contracted master to harm."

I let out a relieved sigh as the professor spoke.

Damn brat... Don't scare me like that!

"What stands out to me is that this Gollem doesn't have

any past data logs. If it did, we'd be able to learn a lot more."

"The data might have been formatted when Steph

contracted with it... I wonder what kind of things would've

been in there?"

"It could've been valuable data from Chrom Ranchesse

himself... Perhaps this Gollem was something of a research

assistant? Oh, what a horrible waste..."

The three of them moped and sighed as they lamented the

loss of information that may or may not have existed.

Whoops, did my kid do something bad?

"At any rate, she's safe, right? There's no risk to Steph

from being contracted with Gold?"

"As far as I can tell, she's fine. It'd only be about as

dangerous as Kuon's contract with Silver, you know?

Depends on what she does with it."

That made sense to me. In the end, all I cared about was

making sure there was no price my daughter would have to

pay...and it seemed like there wasn't one.

I didn't want Steph to be too worried, so I decided to take

Gold back...but then, a thought struck me. When Steph and

Kuon went back to the future, would they take Silver and

Gold with them? I didn't care if they did, but I wondered if

it'd be an issue... Then again, even if that removed them

from the world for a while, I had a guarantee they'd show up

again down the line...so it was probably fine.

"Silver said the Gold crown was based on artificers, just

like Silver himself, but I can't really see any artificer

elements in Gold..."

"Artificers come in many shapes and sizes. They range

from gargoyles to mimics to slimes. Even Gollems

themselves could be considered artificers, from the right

perspective. If it lives through magic and is an artificial

creature, it's an artificer."

Q-Crystals enabled thought, action, and a simulation of

nervous control. If those were components related to

intelligent life, then a Gollem could be considered an

artificer... That was true. Kind of made them closer to the

regular Golems on the eastern continent than I'd thought.

"In Silver's case, he has a pseudo-personality imbued into

his sword that makes him more chatty than usual... Does

Gold have anything like that?"

"Nothing in my [Analyze] cast dredged anything similar.

The only other thing I couldn't quite wrap my head around

was the material it's made of. They must've mixed

something into the orichalcum plating, something I don't

quite understand."

Doc Babylon tilted her head and crossed her arms in mild

annoyance. So the golden gleam wasn't just orichalcum, eh?

It was some kind of alloyed metal.

"Could it be mixed with a slime, perhaps?"

"...An orichalcum and slime alloy? That's ridiculous... Or

wait, is it? There's the infamous metal slime, after all...so

maybe this world has an orichalcum slime, and then..."

My stupid comment caught the doctor's attention, so I

had to clarify I was referring to something fictional from my

world.

Crap. I've gotta be careful with stuff like that.

"Hey, where's Quun?"

She'd been so interested in Gold earlier, but now she was

nowhere to be found. Just where was she?

"She's in the hangar with Monica. It seems they're

running some fine-tuning on Val Albus."

Val Albus was the Over Gear for the white crown, Albus.

Doc Babylon and the others had been keeping it a secret

from me, so I hadn't even gotten a peek at it yet. Bunch of

spoilsports, they were...

"Actually, now's a good opportunity. Let's give Touya a

proper look at Val Albus. Touya, bring Yumina along, would

you? Albus as well."

Oh? You're actually going to show it to me? I guess

grumbling internally really pays off. That means it must be

close to completion, huh...? And I guess they want Yumina

to come along because of her temporary contract with

Albus.

Yumina would presumably be piloting Val Albus

alongside Albus, much like how Norn piloted Leo Noir...so it

would be better to show it to her sooner rather than later.

I called Yumina on my phone, and it didn't take long for

her to show up with Albus in tow... But for some reason,

Kuon was with them as well. Well, it was less that he'd come

with them, and more like Yumina had dragged him by the

hand. Poor little guy.

"I wanted to work on one of my dioramas today..."

"Hush! It's better to go out and see new things once in a

while! You'll ruin your eyes if you keep squinting at such

small things in your room, Kuon!"

The other world leaders liked the diorama of Brunhild

Castle so much that they'd commissioned my son to make

dioramas for them as well. And so, he spent any free time he

had in his room constructing them. Allis was quite bothered

by this as it took away from her time with Kuon, and she'd

taken to blaming me for it.

Yumina was right, though. It wasn't good for him to be

cooped up in his room all the time. I didn't want him to

become some kind of shut-in.

We headed for Babylon's hangar with a reluctant Kuon

trailing behind us.

"Kuon, is Val Albus around in the future?"

"It is. I've ridden in it a few times, actually."

Really? I thought it could only be piloted by Yumina.

Maybe she let him hang out in the cockpit? I guess there'd

be space in there for a kid.

We headed into the hangar and walked down a different

hallway to the usual one that led to the Frame Gears. I didn't

realize the place had so many hallways... Doc Babylon

opened up the door to a space I'd previously assumed was

simply disused, and the sight that greeted me brought a

single thought to mind immediately.

"A space battleship?!"

I could only describe what I was looking at in those terms.

It was massive. Babylon's hangar was enchanted with

space-time compression, so it was bigger on the inside, but

the vehicle in front of me was far bigger than I could've ever

anticipated. How many hundreds of meters long must it

have been? Surely it wasn't a kilometer long...but it was

massive nonetheless.

Even the galaxy-class space battleships I'd seen in old

American sci-fi dramas weren't nearly as big as this thing.

Why, they rarely topped seven hundred meters in length,

and I was fairly sure this thing was bigger than that. It was a

pure, sterile white. I looked more closely, and then I realized

what it was. It was a whale. A white, mechanical whale.

"This is the Super-dreadnought Over Gear, Val Albus. It is

fully flight capable, fully dive capable, and capable of

transporting multiple Frame Gears within the interior. It's

also outfitted with a variety of armaments, and in theory, it

is our most versatile war machine."

It can fly? Seriously? Wait, I guess Babylon itself can

fly... That was probably really simple to implement...

"I personally wanted it to be able to transform into a

Frame Gear far larger than the Ortlinde Overlord...but that

was ultimately deemed impractical. It would be too much of

a strain on the Gollem and reduce overall durability."

I feel like a Frame Gear that massive would do more

harm than good... It could probably cause a deforestation

crisis or a tsunami just by taking a step... What kind of stuff

could it do if it launched an attack?

"I knew it would be for underwater use, but to think it can

fly as well..." Yumina mumbled as she looked up at the white

machine with awe-tinted eyes. I wondered about the

practicality. Wouldn't something this loud be noisy as hell in

the sky?

"It utilizes the same concealment magic as Babylon, so

you needn't worry about it being noticed. Though we'll have

to deactivate the cloak if we enter a combat scenario."

Can't attack if it's using the cloaking field, huh? But that's

good. We're basically undetectable so long as we don't

engage.

"So wait, does this thing work with G-Cubes?"

"No. Val Albus is primarily powered by a spirit kiln. I ran

an analysis on the one Quun got from Rhea's treasury, then

built an enhanced version for this Over Gear. We take in

ambient spiritual power from the spirits in the atmosphere

around us, and then we amplify that power through the kiln

in a similar way to Babylon's tower for use as a power

source. We do have G-Cubes installed onboard, but that's

really more as an emergency backup."

...So this thing's powered by elemental spirits? Seriously?

Spirit power was definitely more potent than just using

ambient magic. You could easily see that by comparing a

regular fire spell to a fire spell used when borrowing a fire

spirit's power. I guess we needed that kind of extra juice if

we wanted to make something this big move around freely.

"Come this way, I'll show you around."

A ramp jutted out from the whale's belly, and Doc

Babylon led us inside. It was surprisingly bright in there,

probably because the halls and rooms were lined with

lightstones.

I'd originally envisioned a metallic interior like the kind of

bleak metal hallways you saw in sci-fi shows, but it was

actually more like a luxurious hotel on the inside. The

entrance opened up into a big lobby room lined with a

luxurious red carpet. It even had decorative plants. Hell,

there was even a chandelier peering down from the ceiling.

"Step on this."

"A magic circle?"

"It's a big vehicle. Just walking around would take too

long. This'll instantly transfer us to the bridge."

A magic circle stood in the corner of the room. We all

stood on it, and Doc Babylon channeled some magic power

into it via a nearby wall.

The scenery around us changed in an instant. I hadn't

even felt the move, it was that seamless. The area we were

now in was much more like what I'd originally expected it to

be. We were in a room that resembled the command bridge

of your typical space battleship. A large monitor sat at the

front of the room. There was a higher seat in the middle of

the room for the captain to sit facing it, flanked by rows of

seats with control panels and screens in front of them.

Various panels and buttons lined the walls too, some with

faint lights and beeping sounds coming from them.

I knew I shouldn't have shown her so many anime and

sci-fi movies... This is basically just a mishmash of a bunch

of them.

"Oh? Father, Mother Yumina...and even Kuon. So you've

finally come to see it?" Quun, seated in the captain's chair,

said as she turned around to peer at us. The chair was bigger

than she was, so I hadn't noticed her at first.

"Done with the final checks?"

"All done. Just need to do the final process tuning, and we

should be good to go. Oh, is that why you brought her?"

"It certainly is. Let's give it a test run. Come, come.

Yumina, you sit right here. Albus, you sit in the one below."

I noticed a smaller seat immediately in front of the

captain's chair. Albus sat there, and Elluka connected a

plug-like device into his back.

Quun hopped down from the captain's chair and Yumina

took her place. Suddenly, a visor came down from the ceiling

and fit itself around Yumina's head.

"Well? How is it?"

"Huh?! A-Amazing! I can see multiple angles at the same

time!"

"Val Albus has a vast network of cameras. They're

currently linked to your vision through the helmet you're

wearing, Yumina. We can patch the camera feed through to

the front monitor as well."

As if to illustrate Doc Babylon's point, the big monitor in

front of us flashed on. It showed a view of what was in front

of Val Albus, a set of massive shutters in Babylon's hangar.

"No image issues. Very good."

"No problems with the ether lines either."

"Yumina, can you fire up the spirit kiln? Just order Albus

to do it."

Elluka had stationed herself at a nearby console and was

now guiding Yumina on how to get the Over Gear up and

running.

"Um...Albus? Fire up the, um...spirit kiln?"

"Understood. Firing up spirit kiln."

The consoles on the bridge all began to light up and emit a

low whirring sound. I felt a slight rumbling across the room

as the image on the monitor began to shift. Val Albus was

rising.

"Stealth magic activated, field deployed. Monica, open the

shutters!"

"Copy that!" Monica, overseer of the hangar, exclaimed as

she opened up the shutters. The sight of a cloudless blue sky

came into view, along with the Melicia Mountain Range that

straddled Belfast and Regulus in the distance.

"Okay, Albus...start moving forward slowly... Er, he'll only

listen if you tell him, Yumina."

"Oh, um...Albus, slow advance forward."

"Understood. Advancing."

At Yumina's command, the great white whale began to

soar through the sky-blue ocean above the clouds