The Roadmarian Rhapsody Part 2

The third Golem raised its arms and sprouted what looked like ivy vines,

attempting to bind Gerhilde with them. In a flash, Gerhilde's arms were both

tied together.

"Outta... my way!" Gerhilde forced its arms apart and yanked, pulling the

massive Golem toward it, and then began swinging the creature around in the

air. After a few swings, she let go, sending the Golem crashing into a crowd of

its peers. Holy shit!

"[Boost]!" A magical crimson flame engulfed Gerhilde, signifying its shift into

high power mode. After that, it began splintering the Golems one after the

other. Her pile bunkers drove one after the other into the Golem cores, causing

their massive bodies to wither away in quick succession.

...I made a good call with the pile bunker. I can understand why it's so admired

by manly mecha fans. It's overwhelming everything head-on with sheer power!

There's no trickery, there's no jokes! It's just raw penetration, over and over

again!

"Die, die, die! Get crushed, trash! If you're just gonna stand around, then you

deserve it! Ahahaha!"

Wow. She's uh, really getting into it.

It didn't seem like there was anything those crystal stakes couldn't break.

Gerhilde was like a crimson goddess of death, exuding raw power on the field.

The Golems rotted one after the other, becoming scraps of worthless wood.

"Smaaash!" Gerhilde stood atop the mound of decaying wood, fist raised into

the air. She'd done it. She was undefeated.

We didn't even get a chance to see what Bowman had added. Not that it

mattered, since it was clearly a failure.

Still, Gerhilde had exceeded all expectations. Without using its full power,

too...

This deadly Frame Gear would be a powerful boon indeed against the Upper

Constructs.

I looked up at the shining red robot with a smile on my face. Things were

finally looking up.

◇ ◇ ◇

"I-It's not my fault! It was just a series of unfortunate events! Th-That's all!"

We were all in the royal palace, watching Bowman sputter out his excuses.

He had strengthened the Behemoths by attaching a modified species of

parasitic plant to their backs. The parasites fed on the nutrients of the host and

unlocked their latent potential in exchange. That was what I'd seen when I first

saw the Golems on the plains.

But as it turns out, the parasites were conscious. Conscious enough to usurp

the minds of the Golems and override the control collars that had been imbued

into them. It also rendered any conditioned commands useless. The Golems all

went berserk as a result, resulting in the rampage.

"Golems aside, those parasitic plants were highly experimental! You did

something horrendously dangerous by forcibly modifying them and attaching

them to the Golems. Not only that, but you deliberately ignored your own staff

and went ahead anyway." Knight Commander Limit flicked through various

laboratory notes as she made her commentary. It seems they'd been seized

from Bowman's lab.

"Goodness gracious... Did you not consider that this might come with risk? Do

you even know how many you've victimized through your own

thoughtlessness?!"

"Now you listen here, Governor Audrey! The risk was calculated! It wasn't

highly likely to occur at all! I would've never expected them to take over the

Golem's minds! Nobody would've! This rampage was just an accident, a

misjudgment. I certainly can't be blamed for it! I didn't destroy the city!"

Bowman glared at Audrey as he spat his words out. It just felt like a bunch of

excuses to me. He was one of the first to flee from the lab after all. Commander

Limit found him cowering in the storehouse.

"Did you even need to improve the Golems? Our official talks were

converging on accepting Brunhild's aid. We were set to announce it officially

tomorrow. Why did you do something so reckless when our course of action

was already settled?!"

Oh, that's good at least. According to Audrey, four of the seven provinces that

made up the Roadmare Union agreed to cooperate with Brunhild.

Roadmare was made up of the Central Province, the Highland Province, the

Mountain Province, the Lakeside Province, the Riverside Province, the Great

Plains Province, and the Forge Province. Of those, the highlands, mountains,

lakeside, and forge were all in support of accepting Brunhild. Central and the

great plains opposed it, while the riverside remained neutral.

An official democratic vote of province representatives was to take place the

following day...

"Lady Audrey, I'm willing to bet it was because people started to doubt his

Golems after Brunhild's Frame Gear defeated one in combat. There were many

that said our budget should be diverted elsewhere after that incident. He likely

made a desperate attempt to strengthen his Golems in order to retain

laboratory funding and also save himself from being publicly shamed." As Limit

spoke, Bowman keeled over and began to shudder in irritation, sorrow, or

anger.

That's how it is, huh...? All that to prevent budget cuts?

"Those Golems of yours were total trash, by the way. I took them all out by

myself. Pathetic..." Elze sneered at Bowman, which made him look up at her.

His expression was one of combined shock and grief.

"Y-You... You defeated my enhanced Golems... a-alone...? B-But...."

"You shouldn't have attempted to employ something beyond your control.

This is a serious crime, Doctor Bowman. You modified them for no good reason,

which makes you accountable for their rampage. We're revoking your degree

and formally dismissing you from your post. We'll also have you serve time in

the Mountain Province's mines. Is that acceptable, Doge?"

"A-Ah... Y-Yes, of course... He must take responsibility, o-of course." Audrey

spoke sternly and confidently. In contrast, the Doge muttered and shook his

head quietly.

It was obvious why. The one who had given Bowman the power he wielded

was the Doge, after all. In a way, he too was partially responsible for this mess.

Bowman was taken away by a few knights. There had been victims during this

tragedy, resulting in several deaths. They probably hadn't executed him due to

his prior services to the country.

"Now then... Doge. Have the town of Recept evacuated. The situation is

urgent, and the invasion should begin soon. Send your fastest messenger."

"W-Wait just a moment... What if we have them evacuate and nothing

happens? What do you propose we do then, hm?"

"Are you really still babbling on at this point...? If nothing happens, we'll

formally apologize and compensate them for time and effort wasted. Would

you rather we left them there to be slaughtered? I don't think that'd look very

good either." The Doge flinched slightly as Audrey reprimanded him. He did as

she asked and sent his fastest horse toward the town. Quite rightly, I believed.

"Grand Duke. Please oversee the evacuation of Rimroad, Emynas, and Recept.

We'll also permit the deployment of Brunhild's Frame Gears within our

territory. Isn't that right, Doge?"

"A-Ah... Y-Yes." The Doge stood there nodding at everything Audrey told him.

It was hard to tell who the actual leader was supposed to be.

Either way, we were permitted to intercept the incoming Phrase invasion.

"Thanks for your help. We'll do our best to deal with what's coming. We're

going to start deploying our Frame Gears around the area we expect the Phrase

to emerge, then." It was likely they'd start appearing in under a day, so I had to

make haste.

I returned to Brunhild castle and organized my troops. Knight Commander

Lain and her Vice-Commanders Norn and Nikola would be leading nineteen

troops each. That would make up three platoons of twenty, commanders

included. They'd be stationed as sentries, taking shifts to keep watch on the

area.

Brunhild would be left mostly defenseless, but the old men and the remaining

soldiers would be more than enough to take care of the place.

I was lending eighteen Chevaliers and two Knight Barons to each of the allied

nations. I had them waiting on standby in their own territories. I didn't want a

bunch of different nations sitting around in Roadmare's territory during the

waiting period, after all.

My fiancees all said they wished to sortie in battle together, but I decided not

to let Leen and Sue participate.

I was uneasy about having Sue participate in such risky combat for no reason,

and Leen had yet to master the basics of Frame Gear piloting.

Elze would be piloting her Gerhilde, and everyone else would be in Knight

Barons fitted with their respective weapons. Yae's would have a Phrasium

Katana, Hilde's would have a Phrasium Sword, Lu's would have two Phrasium

Daggers, and Yumina and Linze both would be equipped with the long-range

Fragarach weapons.

I also asked Rosetta and Monica to sortie in the rear just in case of

emergencies like minibots or Frame Gears getting trashed.

"Sir! All the Frame Gears are equipped with crystal weaponry this time, sir!

That puts us at a considerable tactical advantage!" There was a lot of crystal

debris after the battle at Yulong. I expected this battle to be a lot cleaner.

I took Brunhild's Frame Gears with me through a portal and we came out by a

forest that was a little bit away from where we expected the Phrase to emerge.

There were plains as far as the eye could see, with a few mountains in the

distance. Clouds blew by in a gentle breeze, and I could hear gentle birdsong. It

was hard to believe this place would soon become a hellish battlefield.

"Alright, this'll be our HQ." I smoothed the ground using magic, and

teleported in a few mobile homes from Babylon's Hangar.

These buildings were imbued with a similar effect to my [Storage] spell,

making them bigger on the inside. They were kept at an ambient temperature

too, so they made a good place for the knights to relax. Plus, I'd prepared

blankets and beds, so they'd have a place to rest if need be.

I numbered the buildings, as well. Building 1 was for the meeting hall, and

Building 2 was the cafeteria. I also called in a third building that women could

freely use.

So long as Roadmare was evacuated properly, then the citizens would find

themselves heading right our way. Then we'd be able to keep them safe.

We'd also be able to easily spot if the Phrase appeared thanks to the longdistance lenses on the Frame Gears. We were in a vast plain, so there were no

obstacles to worry about.

"Think they'll come?"

"I'd prefer it if they didn't, honestly. But it'll be awkward if they don't... I'd

have a lot of explaining to do." I was playing a game of shogi with Nikola on the

roof of one of the buildings. There was little else to do while we waited, after

all.

I opened up my map and saw that the evacuation was proceeding as planned.

"Is Lady Moroha participating this time?"

"Mm, well... Moroha can't operate a Frame Gear at all. It's beyond her, really.

She's only good with swords." In truth, she just wasn't all that interested in

piloting them. I bet if she managed it, she'd be a serious asset, though...

"Either way, she said she'd fight. I gave her a crystal sword, so we'll see how it

goes."

"She'll... fight?"

"Yep. Boots on the ground." Nikola stared at me blankly for a few moments

before shaking his head and muttering.

"Well, I suppose anything's possible for your family..." He spoke in a halfwhisper, seemingly amused.

She's not my blood-related sister or anything...

In truth, I wasn't all that worried about the upcoming battle. We'd had time

to prepare, and there wouldn't be as many as there were in Yulong.

I was nervous about the Upper Construct, though. If it was similar to the

Crocodile Phrase we'd fought before, we'd probably be able to manage fine,

but if it had a beam attack we'd be in serious trouble. I vividly recalled how it

blew away Yulong's capital despite being miles and miles away from it. I was

pretty sure I had a good way to counter it, but I couldn't be sure until it

happened.

I'd also collected the necessary materials for a Meteor Rain attack, since that

helped greatly the last time.

Still, it was an inaccurate attack that couldn't tell friend from foe, and it ate up

magic like crazy. It would also do serious damage to the ground.

True, it made for a good pre-emptive strike against the initially emerging

Phrase, but I wanted to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.

And so, we waited as almost an entire day passed. The evacuation had pretty

much completed. I looked on my map and found no signs of human life in the

nearby towns. It was just a waiting game at this point... Waiting for the

invaders.

Nothing happened on the second day, either. I really didn't want them to

show up in the middle of the night. They were hard to see in the dark due to the

material their bodies were formed out of. As I pondered the best way to fight

them in the cover of darkness, the third day came.

As we were eating breakfast, we finally heard news from one of the

watchmen.

"There's a crack in space! The Phrase are starting to emerge!" The warning

rang out through the headquarters, and the sleeping soldiers got up to climb

into their Frame Gears.

There was still some time left. I used it wisely, hopping from portal to portal in

order to inform each nation's army of the emergence. Then, I brought them all

back with me.

There were a total of two-hundred Frame Gears all lined up, facing the crack.

They were prepared to intercept.

"Milord! It's getting bigger!" I used [Long Sense] to peek at the crack, and

sure enough I could see part of a crystal body poking its way out.

A loud noise rang out, kind of like shattered glass, and Phrase began to pour

out of the crack, almost like they were rolling down a slope.

After a while they all tumbled out, and space returned to normal.

"Most of them look like Lesser and Intermediate Constructs... Where's the

Upper?"

"It takes a while for the Upper Constructs to pass through. It was the same

last time, remember?"

"Oh, yeah... That's ri— Wah!" I was using [Long Sense], so I hadn't noticed

Ende standing next to me. This guy... He sure is good at popping up without

warning.

"It'll take about thirty minutes until it gets here, I think. We should mop up

these guys before then." Ende split the slide in his hand, and his monochrome

Dragoon appeared. He hastily boarded it. Man, this guy...

"Search. Total number of Phrase."

"Searching... Eight-thousand-one-hundred-and-forty-one in total." That

meant there were around sixty percent of the amount in Yulong. "How many

are Intermediate Constructs?"

"Searching... Complete. Eight-hundred-and-nine." So about ten percent of

them... Just like last time. I wonder if there's some kinda rule here...

I summoned forth Valkyries and had them carry cameras to serve as a live

feed. The rulers of each nation in the command center would know the

situation of the battle thanks to that. I had the leaders of Roadmare's provinces

there as well. I didn't want them blaming me for anything like in Yulong's case.

HQ was also equipped with spare Frame Gears, and Rosetta, Monica, Flora,

and Leen were on standby too. The emergency escape magic also had HQ as the

primary target.

"Touya, they're on the move." I heard Yumina's voice through the

communicator. I'd set it so Elze's Gerhilde and the Knight Barons all had a direct

line with me. I'd found stuff in the storehouse that let me upgrade my comms,

which was nice.

I invoked [Long Sense] once more to check on the front lines. It was just as

Yumina had told me, they were marching onward.

Oh, there's flying ones... Manta Phrase, and... Oh, that's new. A dolphin...?

No... It's an Orca Phrase... Flying here, too. That's definitely an Intermediate

Class.

"Alright, let's get this started." I opened up [Storage] and took out two

greatswords. Naturally, I held one in each hand.

"All units! The battle begins now! Follow your respective commanders! Let's

send these Phrase back to hell!"

"HOO-AAAH!" The very earth rumbled as the Frame Gears charged toward

their targets.

I used [Fly] and went off to wipe out the flying ones.

◇ ◇ ◇

The Manta Phrase and Orca Phrase were approaching from the front.

However, the Manta was moving a bit faster. It swerved, attempting to cleave

at me with its body.

I wasn't going to be beaten that easily, though. I swerved to the side and cut

it in half as I flew by.

Suddenly, an orb of light appeared around the Orca Phrase's head. Crap.

After a couple of moments, it fired the orb at me. So it's another ranged

attacker... I slashed this one too, destroying its core as well.

There were more Mantas and Orcas, though. They came at me one after the

other. They were really easy to read, so I made short work of them.

I wasn't just confined to the ground, so I could attack and defend at all angles.

I looked down at the battlefield and noticed that the fight had already begun.

The northern area was being spearheaded by Elze, who was taking command

of Brunhild and Lestia, while Mismede and Refreese were in the middle.

Regulus, Lihnea, and Ramissh were in the south. I noticed Ende in the southern

area, too.

They were holding back the Phrase pretty efficiently. All their movements

seemed much better than they were during the Yulong battle. Even the Lestian

Knights were doing great, despite it being their first time.

"Smash! Crash! Bash! Just try and take me, you brittle jackasses!" Elze's

Gerhilde smashed into an Intermediate Construct, firing a pile bunker to finish it

off. Behind her, Brunhild's knights were making swift work of the Lesser

Constructs.

The knights were wielding crystal weaponry. Hammers, swords, spears, and

so on. It made fighting the Phrase a total breeze. I'd also enchanted them with

[Gravity] to give them a bit more weight.

They couldn't just wildly swing, though. If they wanted to smash the cores,

they needed to attack properly. The adept knights were outfitted with spears,

while the knights who were less confident in their skills were given broader

weapons like hammers and maces.

"Huh, is that all the flying ones?" I couldn't see any more Mantas or Orcas

anywhere. There weren't many flying ones at all. My work complete, I decided

to head to the ground.

Just as I decided that, I saw a Chevalier being attacked by two Lesser

Constructs at once. Its right arm and left leg had been completely annihilated.

It fell to the ground and changed color from light gray to a deeper gray...

Looked kind of like going from a moon gray to a standard gray. That was the

best way I could describe it.

I'd made it so Frame Gears changed colors on successful activation of the

emergency escape spell. That was all thanks to a new paint I'd created by using

[Program]. It was a special paint imbued with Ether Liquid, allowing it to

respond to the use of magic on the Frame Gear.

I wanted to make a paint that got darker to highlight the effects of my

[Gravity] spell, but it didn't end up working out.

[Gravity] was a spell that, contrary to its name, actually just controlled

weight. I couldn't use it to make things float, though. I had the [Levitation] spell

for that. Still, my weight-altering magic made things lighter or heavier.

All I ended up making was a paint that made things heavier or lighter. It didn't

have a lot of use. Or maybe it did...? I wasn't sure, actually.

Either way, I was getting off-track.

"Come in, come in. Do you hear me, HQ? Did that pilot come in safely?"

"Safe and sound, sir! Minor arm damage, but this maggot can suck it up!" The

pilot was fine, then. That was a relief... Still, it seemed like he was from Lestia. It

wasn't all that surprising. They were the least prepared, after all.

I saw three crystal blades floating around in the northern area, slicing through

several Lesser Constructs. Their cores were all destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Oh... Yumina!

The Fragarachs roared across the battlefield, shattering core after core. They

gracefully returned to Yumina's Frame Gear after completing their tour of duty.

Fragarachs were definitely hard to control. If they weren't used right, they

could harm your allies. Yumina had been training hard, though, so she was

capable of handling three at once.

Linze was a much more proficient mage than Yumina, so she masterfully let

four of them fly around at will. She had some issues taking out distant enemies,

though.

Yae and Hilde were nearby, completely destroying an Intermediate Construct.

And Lu was wildly swinging her twin blades against the Lesser Constructs.

Seemed like I didn't have a thing to worry about in the northern sector.

In the south, the monochrome Dragoon was freely darting around and

slashing Intermediate Constructs to pieces. Ende glided around like a figure

skater, spinning and slicing at his own discretion.

The Phrase continued to attack him over and over, but he didn't pay them any

mind at all.

The Dragoon was built for mobility, so it didn't have much of a focus on

defense. That meant if even a single shot got through, it could be seriously bad

news. Even so, Ende continued his reckless dance, not letting a single one of

them land a shot on him.

The southern area also seemed well-defended...

Alright, what about the middle grounds... W-Wait a sec... The Phrase hordes

in the middle were being mowed down one after the other as well. A single

woman darted between them, a greatsword in her hands. She sliced Lesser and

Intermediate Constructs like butter. Her power was insane, comparable to Ende

or Elze's efforts... And she wasn't even in a Frame Gear.

It was, of course, Moroha. She was wielding a crystal greatsword much like

mine, and used it to its full strength. Her movements were intense, like a

ferocious goddess... Or rather, she actually was a goddess. Just watching her

felt overwhelming... I wondered if there was even a chance she'd lose.

Hmph... I actually feel like I'm not really needed here...

When I heard something breaking nearby, I turned to see a Chevalier lose its

head. The Frame Gear's color changed as it fell to the ground. He was attacked

from behind because he was too focused on the enemy ahead.

"All units, be mindful of your surroundings. Fight while covering each other.

The Phrase want to kill us, remember? Try to buddy up and watch each other's

backs." I spoke over the general channel. An attack would come regardless of

direction. It was wiser to wait for the enemy to seek you out.

"How many Phrase are left?"

"Searching... Four-thousand-and-eighteen remaining." My smartphone

chimed as it spoke back to me. We'd beaten about half. Not bad, considering it

had been around twenty minutes since the fight began.

In order to kill all of them, each Frame Gear needed to kill about forty Phrase

apiece. We'd already defeated half, so that was twenty enemies each in twenty

minutes. This pace was pretty good...

Given that it took us over three hours to take out the thirteen-thousand or so

back in Yulong, we were making great time. The crystal weapons were clearly

an excellent addition. Gerhilde, Ende, and Moroha were definitely major players

in terms of numbers, though.

Still, there was an Upper Construct due after thirty minutes, and twenty had

gone by. I had wanted to kill all the Lesser Constructs before it emerged, but it

seemed impossible.

"Ah, Touya. You there?"

"Ende? Something up?"

"Upper Construct's coming now. North-east. You should be able to see the

warp in space." I looked over to where Ende was talking about.

Let's see... It's... there, right?

I invoked [Long Sense] to check, and sure enough there was a ripple in the air.

It almost looked like a mirage, like the very air itself was swaying in heat.

That meant that cracks would appear in space not long after, and the Upper

Construct would emerge. I decided it'd be a good idea to have the northern

troops fall back a bit.

"This is an order to all Brunhild and Lestian troops in the northern area. Move

west from your current station. And here's a message for everyone else. An

Upper Construct will soon appear to the north-west in ten minutes. Be

mindful." In response to my command, the Frame Gears in the north began

moving west. The deployment before kind of resembled an arc, but now it was

more like a straight line.

To an outsider it'd seem like they were being pushed back, but this was all

part of the plan. The Upper Construct was a more valuable target, after all.

After a while, I heard a cracking and splitting sound.

Just as Ende had predicted, the crack began to form in space around the

distortion. The Upper Construct was slowly forcing itself through, making the

hole bigger.

"The Upper Construct is beginning to emerge. Take care in your movements,

troops. More than before, even. Keep in close contact with one another, and

obey your commanders closely." Ende and Elze moved closer upon hearing the

time was nearing.

The cracks in space were spreading even further.

After a time, four thick crystal arms emerged from the hole in space. The

Upper Construct began crawling out, attempting to break the "wall" before it.

It was huge. Four times as large as a Frame Gear. It had four massive arms,

two on either side of its body. It had short legs, causing it to constantly lean

forwards in a hunch. It didn't really have a neck, either. Its head was closely

connected with its torso. There was also a single massive orange core in its

chest. In short, it was...

"A gorilla?" It resembled a mountain gorilla, except for a few details. Gorillas

didn't typically have four arms. Gorillas also lacked protrusions on their spines

and elongated tails.

I hadn't seen any kind of Phrase that looked like this in the book from the

Library, either. But I guess that was fair, since it'd be too easy if every Phrase

type had been recorded there.

As I stared at it, the Gorilla Phrase started beating its own chest with all four

arms. It's drumming its own body? It really is a gorilla!

"Gh—?!" An impact rushed through my body and I was knocked over. It felt

like I'd been smacked by something invisible, like a shockwave.

I see. It's kinda like the dorsal fin from the Crocodile Phrase in the last battle.

So it beats on its chest to knock back enemies... Interesting. Wait, that means...

"All units, spread out! Keep away from the Upper Construct's front!" Both

sets of the Gorilla Phrase's arms spread outwards, and its chest slowly opened

up almost like a door. It wasn't long before light began to gather in its chest.

Shit, I knew it! It's gonna fire a laser beam like the Crocodile Phrase did back

then! The Frame Gears had all dispersed, but the highland territory was in its

direct line of fire.

Damn it, I'm gonna have to use that...

"[Reflection]!" I made use of a reflective spell I'd recently learned, deploying

it right in front of the Gorilla Phrase. It took the form of a massive blue-white

barrier angled around forty-five degrees in front of the beam.

The blast of light hit the barrier, stopped, and shot off into the sky. The barrier

shattered to pieces as well.

Damn... It was strong enough to break a barrier that thick? The spell could've

caused damage to the Gorilla Phrase if I'd angled it to mirror the attack right

back, but that would've come with the risk of damaging Roadmare's territory.

Not to mention I had no proof that a Phrase could actually be harmed by its

own attack. Knowing them, it'd just end up absorbing the beam and

redistributing it somehow.

Either way, it was a serious problem. It was definitely weaker than the

crocodile, but that didn't really do much to make me feel better.

The Gorilla Phrase's chest closed up once more, and it started beating its

hands against itself. Then, it began charging toward the troops in the northwest.

Goddammit, this guy's a pain! The Gorilla Phrase raged forward with its

mighty arms. Every time it brought its fists down, the earth was ruptured and

split. Its power was immense, to say the least.

"You're mine! [Boost]!" Elze piloted Gerhilde and ran right up to the Gorilla

Phrase, driving a magically-reinforced pile bunker into its side.

The sound of cracking glass filled the area, and one of the beast's right arms

was shattered. That pile bunker is really something...

"Haha! Did it!" Elze cheered, but the gorilla was quick to rise and beat its

chest again. The resulting shockwave knocked her far away.

"Gwaaah?!" Gerhilde successfully readjusted itself in mid-air and landed

safely.

The Gorilla Phrase paid no heed to its broken arm. Instead, it remained still as

the core in its chest pulsed a bright orange.

The annihilated arm was fast to recover, snapping and cracking back into

place as it regenerated. In only a matter of seconds, the arm was back to its

original form. That's gonna be a problem...

The gorilla flexed its new arm and attempted to bring it down on Gerhilde.

Fortunately, Elze had invoked [Boost] just in time, and she strafed left and right

to avoid its blows.

"[Slip]!" I used my magic to make the giant gorilla lose its balance, giving

Gerhilde just enough time to escape.

Moroha suddenly appeared out of nowhere, thrusting her sword toward the

chest of the fallen gorilla. That didn't stop the enemy from being what it was,

though. Even Moroha was limited in what she could do with a mere blade. It

was nowhere near big enough to penetrate all the way through to the core.

Just as I was thinking that, Moroha pulled out a second sword and stabbed

the first sword with it, sending it deeper into the creature's chest. It still wasn't

enough, however.

"Hmph... Sheesh, even two aren't enough? This guy's thicker than I

thought..." Moroha jumped back before the gorilla could swat her like a fly.

I jumped down next to her.

"Touya, this thing's way tougher than me right now. I could smash it if I used

my powers, but obviously that's a no-no."

Wait, that means if you used your divine powers you could sort it out right

away! Do that! Do that, damn it!

"Mmm... I mean, I could go all-out, but everyone here would probably die

alongside this guy, and the continent would probably get cut in half as well.

That cool with you?"

"Nope!"

What the hell, can't you adjust how much power you use?! That's insane!

Then again, it was probably like being asked to move an extra millimeter or two

during a walk. It'd be way too easy for my sisters to overstep that because they

weren't used to walking along at a snail's pace.

"Also, if I use my divinity in this realm, then I probably won't be able to

maintain myself down here. I'd like to avoid that if possible."

"Bah, fine! You can go." True strength comes from deploying the right person

at the right time. Since both of my sisters don't have flesh bodies like I do, they'll

be unable to keep themselves manifested if they blow through all their divine

power... They're made out of divine energy right now, so I shouldn't be wasteful

in making use of them.

Plus, they're not even allowed to use most of their powers down here anyway.

Karen's obviously fine with her love consultation and stuff like that, but if

Moroha started going nuts with her overkill swordplay, then we'd have a big

issue. There are a lot of rules in place, but I assume it's for a good reason.

A shrill screeching sound filled the air all of a sudden. The Gorilla Phrase was

emitting the noise. All the protrusions along its back were vibrating intensely.

What the hell?! In a flash, the ground around the gorilla began to distort. It

was like bumps in a carpet. I picked up Moroha and flew back up into the air.

It was almost like waves in the earth. Nearby Frame Gears were being jostled

and bounced around.

Some people had managed to minimize damage by jumping up in time, but a

large amount of Frame Gears were immobilized, their colors changed.

I didn't know it could do this too! That's cheating! Some of the Frame Gears

that had managed to avoid the initial attack were crawling to safety, Elze's

Gerhilde was also fine.

But the Gorilla Phrase wasn't done. It followed up with a mighty tail whip. It

had some kind of heavy weight on the end of its tail, and it used it to smash a

lot of the Frame Gears in the area.

It furiously lashed at the ground, hitting Frame Gears one after the other. The

pilots seemed to have escaped since their mechs had changed color, but I

couldn't determine their safety. Even if they were dead, we still had to

manage...

The Gorilla Phrase moved to open its chest again. As it did so, the light began

to gather around its core.

Crap! Again?! Should I reflect the attack back at it...? No, I can't! If there's any

collateral damage it'd be intense.

I had no option but to reflect the attack skywards once more.

"[Reflection]!" I created a reflective barrier in front of the gorilla again. Just as

before, I angled it to forty-five degrees.

But all of a sudden, the Gorilla Phrase crossed its arms over its chest.

"What the—?!" The beam fired, blasting against the creature's crystal arms.

In a flash, the thick central beam split and refracted into several thinner blasts.

Did it seriously scatter the light using its own body?! The smaller beams were

less powerful, but the attack was still devastating. Various Frame Gears lost

their colors around me, even though their cockpits were spared direct hits. It

was insanity.

Damn it... Guess we've got no choice.

"All troops fall back! Clear some distance between you and the giant Phrase!"

I used [Storage] to open up several pockets of space above the Gorilla Phrase,

then released the contents.

"[Meteor Rain]!" From the portals in the sky came a rain of softball-shaped

Phrasium orbs. I'd used [Gravity] to amplify the weight of each, causing every

one to weigh about a ton.

The Upper Construct could only gaze upward in confusion as they crashed

down upon it.

Shoulders, back, waist. The Phrasium orbs pelted the creature and wound up

lodged inside its body, cracking and penetrating it deeper with every second. I

increased the weight by a further two tons for good measure.

Eventually, the crystal rain subsided. The Gorilla Phrase had been brought to

its knees, crawling weakly on all fours. Suddenly, however, it rolled over on to

its back.

What the...? Wait, no! The heavy Phrasium orbs lodged inside the creature's

body all rolled back out. The gorilla had used gravity to its advantage. I was

amazed it could come up with such a tactic.

Damn it! The cracks are regenerating, too! At that moment, a monochrome

Dragoon came through at high speeds, jumping up from behind me and landing

on the gorilla's upturned chest. It stabbed the blade it was wielding directly into

the crystal beast.

But, just like when Moroha had tried, the blade couldn't cut deep enough to

reach the core.

"[Char]!" Ende yelled something, and the gorilla's chest shattered open in

response. The Dragoon's right arm also split apart at the same time. The Gorilla

Phrase stood up and made an attempt to brush Ende away, but he deftly

avoided it.

Immediately following Ende's retreat, a lightning-fast Frame Gear came up

from behind him and charged toward the exposed core with its fist.

"Single Smasher!!!" It was Elze in Gerhilde, launching a lethal pile bunker into

the exposed core.

The orange thing cracked and then shattered into numerous shards. In

tandem, the entire gorilla body cracked, and then crumpled into an

unrecognizable pile.

"Woohoo!"

"Ahaha... Good work...." Gerhilde raised its arm into the air, proudly standing

over the gorilla's remains.

Geez... I didn't even get to do that much.

"The Upper Construct has fallen. Let's begin mopping up the leftovers now.

Take them out, one at a time." I relayed the message to the other Frame Gears.

There were only a few Lesser and Intermediate Constructs left, so work was

almost over.

"I'll go help too, yeah? Lemme borrow some swords, Touya." Moroha had

used up all her weapons on the Gorilla Phrase, so I gave her two greatswords.

She moved with grace and speed in equal measures as she darted off to the

fight.

As I saw her off, the Dragoon came up to me. The hatched popped open, and

out jumped Ende.

"My bad, Touya. The arm broke."

"No, you were a real lifesaver back there. I'll fix the Dragoon for you, so come

back and pick it up later... By the way, just what did you even do back there?"

"I used a magical 'sound,' or at least a vibration. I was trying to focus it on one

point, but the arm blew off as well. I misjudged how much power to use."

Huh, I see. Kinda like when I tried using the Knight Baron at full power. The

Dragoon's base was, after all, the same as the Knight Baron and Chevalier's, it

was probably a little weak for the full brunt of Ende's strength.

I should probably make him a new one from the ground up. It'd be a pain if it

broke every time he did something like that, since he'll have to come back to us

and get it fixed. Might raise questions, since he doesn't serve Brunhild.

As I was thinking to myself, I looked over at the Dragoon and suddenly felt a

strange sensation wash over me.

What the... hell?

"...I'm sorry, Touya. Things just got a little bit worse." Ende moved up close

to me, staring up at something in the sky all the while.

What is that?

"Hey... Don't tell me another Upper Construct is gonna show up!"

"It's... not an Upper Construct. It's so much worse. I'm sorry." The sky itself

seemed to shatter as a harrowing screech rang out through the land.

In under a second, the "thing" emerged from the gaping hole, and gracefully

landed on the ground.

A crystal... person. A body covered all over in Phrasium, with the exception of

its stomach.

It had piercing red eyes. Its long "hair" crackled and made snapping noises. It

looked like it was based on a female human, judging from its chest and body

shape. The chest was completely covered in crystal as well, coating all the way

along its shoulders and arms. It was around the same size as a regular woman.

"What... What the hell is this?"

"This is a Phrase beyond even the Upper Constructs... A Dominant Construct."

"A what?!" She looked around and, apparently picking up on my shock,

looked right over at me and Ende.

「#om@e€h@...＊e€nd#e!」

"Damn it... For her of all Phrase to come through the barrier..." Ende smiled

wryly as she began approaching him. All of a sudden she jumped into the air

and brought her fist crashing toward him.

Ende caught her fist with his right hand. The shockwave from the impact

nearly bowled me over.

Holy cow, she's strong... Luckily Ende isn't exactly normal, either.

"Wh-What the hell?! Is this a friend of yours?!"

"We know each other, but I wouldn't exactly call us friends. I doubt she'll let

me escape, either." She didn't exactly look like she was happy to see him. The

human features made it easier to read her feelings, and she looked seriously

pissed off.

「#k∋#is@m@$! ouwo＊d◎o kΩo≒hey+@tΣt@?!」

"I don't know, I'm sorry." I couldn't understand a word she was saying, but

Ende seemed to know enough to respond.

The Phrase Woman struck Ende's arm and jumped back, putting a good deal

of distance between them. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth up

wide.

Particles of light began gathering around her open maw, combining together

in a glittering orb.

Oh crap, that's not good!

Moments later, she unleashed a devastating beam of energy toward Ende. I

could tell even at a glance that it was far more powerful than the beams

employed by the Upper Constructs.

"Gh, [Reflection]!" I produced a reflective barrier in a frenzied panic. Due to

the short notice, I didn't have much finesse, and the beam ended up being

reflected at an awkward angle. I watched as the beam vanished into the sky,

after destroying a distant mountaintop. Naturally, the reflective barrier was

annihilated as well.

What... What the hell kinda strength is that?!

Ever-adaptive, the Phrase Woman transformed her right arm into a blade and

came charging forward. Ende deftly dodged her slashes and grabbed her by the

wrists.

"Sorry Touya, I've gotta bail. I'll come back for my Dragoon later on, so I'd

appreciate it if you patched her up. Thanks!"

"Huh? What?!" Ende's body began to evaporate into a fog as he kept a tight

grip on the Phrase woman. After a short while, the two of them completely

dispersed into mist, leaving me alone.

I stood there on the abandoned battlefield, left completely in shock. I had no

way of understanding just what it was I'd seen.

◇ ◇ ◇

In some ways, I am not a fortunate man. For it to have been her... one of the

Sovereign's most trusted aides. For it to have been her... a being that so truly

despises me...

Still, I am fortunate in this instance... Only in that I have managed to lead her

out of the dimensional boundary. My dimensional warp has successfully brought

the two of us to a gap between worlds. It's not a power I can use excessively,

though. It'll take some time before I can return to the world I just abandoned.

There's really nothing at all within the space between dimensions. Nothing but

her, as she glares. A grid-like pattern stretches out in the distance behind us,

above us, below us, and in front of us.

"I wondered why... I wondered why there were so many miserable little

humans on the other side, you wretched cur! Was this your doing, Endymion?!"

"Hey, don't misunderstand me here. It'd be a pain if you guys ended up

breaking through, so I've been killing the ones you sent. Still, the fact that a

Dominant Construct like you made it through only means it's already too late."

It was certainly no small feat for beings like the Phrase to cross worlds. I was

worried they had found the right seam to tear in order to rip their way into the

next world, and it seems that my fears were not unfounded.

"Well, that matters not now. I have questions for you, scum. The Sovereign.

Where is the Sovereign?!"

"Like I told you last time, I don't know. The Sovereign is surely somewhere in

that world, though. But have you never stopped to consider that the one you

seek might not want to see you?"

"Hold your tongue, Endymion! If it weren't for your interloping, our Sovereign

would have never lost their sanity! You dare act self-righteous when you

destabilized our world?!" Interloping... Of course. Her opinion of me was never

high to begin with. But that's simply a matter of opinion in the end. My role as

observer doesn't extend far beyond the act itself. Though I can't deny the effects

of what I did.

"I'll ask, just to be sure, but... I don't suppose you plan on leaving this world

alone?"

"Don't be a fool! We'll never withdraw, not until we've rescued our

Sovereign!"

"Rescued, huh? Seems more like captured to me." The girl, Ney... began to

gnash her teeth in response to my words.

"Don't dare confuse my ambitions with those mongrel dogs! I don't wish to

seize the Sovereign's power! I merely want the Sovereign back!" The Phrase all

hunted the Sovereign. There were some among them that desired to become

the new Sovereign, of course. Ney was different, however. She only wanted to

reinstate the Sovereign to their original position. But she was still my enemy.

"I would like to ask you to withdraw. I have a personal investment in this

world. I even managed to meet an interesting person there." Mochizuki Touya...

A strange fellow indeed. I'm never able to get a proper read on him. He's

abnormal. He resembles a human, but he doesn't smell like one at all. He lives in

that world, but I can tell that he's not from that world. I've never met an

individual like him before. It's possible he's from some kind of mutated or

divergent lineage.

The people referred to as his 'sisters' were also abnormal, though slightly

different. I was fairly sure they were the same species as him, though. Rarities

across the cosmos.

I sensed no hostility from him when we first met. He treated me kindly, and

often meddled in affairs so he could save people. He was a man who often got a

raw deal, but still worked for the sake of others.

I want to introduce him to the Sovereign. If that's possible, at least.

"We will rescue the Sovereign even if we have to vivisect every last human in

that world. Your feelings are irrelevant."

"I see... Are you sure? You may find yourself at odds with one more powerful

than I." That made her angry again, of course. Her anger was justified. I was the

one that snatched their precious Sovereign away.

It's not as if we intended this to happen. We simply thought that the other

Phrase would elect a new Sovereign and carry on with their lives.

But they wanted power. They clung to the old strength, their traditions. They

didn't adapt or overcome. They desired to regain their old power, even if that

meant following it across worlds and wiping out countless lives.

As a result, they spread out across reality and became a great plague. They

had no intention of stopping. The irony isn't lost on me, of course. They're doing

what I do, just on a larger and more destructive scale. The only thing I can do in

my selfishness is mitigate the damage they cause.

The Sovereign slowly saps the energy of its host bit-by-bit. When the host dies,

the Sovereign transports itself into another host. In most cases the host never

realizes what's inside them, and lives out their life without any worries. The

Sovereign doesn't harm the one they're infesting, after all.

After repeating that process several times, the Sovereign gains enough energy

to cross dimensions and head toward the next world. The world 'higher up' than

the previous one.

When the host dies, the Sovereign's 'voice' becomes audible for but a scant

moment. Every time the sound resounds, the Sovereign climbs closer and closer

up those stairs. As it changes host in this world, it slowly builds more power.

"Do you think the miserable humans of that world have strength enough to

oppose us?"

"You saw them take out an Upper Construct, did you not?"

"Hmph. I'm sure you had something to do with that. Once this accursed

barrier falls, we'll be sure to annihilate the entire species!" A clanging sound

echoed out into the black as Ney struck the physical boundary of their world.

We were both within the gap between worlds, but she was outside of the

membrane, and I was inside. This girl and her allies... They aren't capable of my

ability, the power that allows one to shift between worlds with ease. They're left

with no choice but to look for loose seams and force their way through.

It would buy us time, at least, but it was still an inevitability. Surely the other

Dominant Constructs were searching for weak points as well.

"I've offered you this chance before, Ney... But how about you just join m—"

"Silence! I shall not be charmed by honeyed words! I'm not like Lycee!"

"What a shame. She'd like to see you again, I'm sure."

"...Is Lycee safe?"

"She is." Lycee's likely waiting for me to come back even as I'm having this

conversation. Though I feel as though I'll be late today. Still, she's tough. I'm

sure it'll be fine.

"...When next we meet, you won't find me so merciful. Hold on to your

pathetic life until then, scum." With those words, Ney faded into the blackness.

Goodness gracious me... She always was a hassle.

It'll take a considerable amount of time before my power returns. I won't be

able to get back to that world for a while... It's why I wasn't keen on using this

ability. Either way, given the hostile nature of Ney's encounter with me, it was

the only thing I could do.

Although... I have a feeling Touya may have done something to surprise me,

like he usually does. It's been so very long since I've smelled a person like him,

after all.

About five-thousand years, I think... He's similar to that interesting woman

who also managed to muster the impossible.

Regina Babylon, I think her name was.

◇ ◇ ◇

That Dominant Construct or whatever vanished, but the fact that something

like that existed was scary. I didn't know we'd be facing something more

powerful than an Upper Construct. Plus, it was the size of a human being, which

meant fighting it in the Frame Gear wasn't wise.

Naturally, the incident was broadcast to the world leaders who were watching

the battlefield, and they had dozens of questions for me. I didn't have any

answers, though. All I could say was that the creature was beyond the Gorilla

Phrase in strength, and it appeared to have emotions.

She spoke in an unusual tongue, but it felt like she was actively

communicating with Ende. I wasn't sure what to make of that.

Either way, the battle was over and we'd already finished cleaning the place

up. The damage to Roadmare was far less than the damage done to Yulong.

Though, one of the mountaintops had been blown clear away. The battlefield

itself was also a total wasteland thanks to the raw destructive power of that

gorilla.

Thankfully, we hadn't taken any fatalities, but there were definitely a lot of

injured. Most of the injuries had come from the earthquake triggered by the

Upper Construct. The wounded soldiers had been sent straight to the HQ,

where Sue and Leen patched them up with recovery magic. Flora also chipped

in with medication.

Even after all our preparation, it ended up like this. Still, we were very lucky to

even know what was happening in the first place.

Roadmare was saved. Though their capital city had incurred serious structural

damage thanks to the Golem rampage. That didn't really have anything to do

with us, though.

Bowman was forced to toil in the mines as punishment for his negligence. His

sentence was a full ten years of hard labor.

The Doge was also struck by several accusations of reckless endangerment

and negligence for funding Bowman's plan in the first place.

Eventually he was stripped of his title, and a new member of the nobility

stepped up to control the central province in his place.

The one to succeed him as Doge of the Roadmare Union was none other than

the diligent Governor Audrey.

She was definitely cunning, and used us to her advantage. That didn't make

her a bad person, though. Just a shrewd one.

Working with Audrey would be much better than that stupid old jerk.

As her first act, she ceased all production and research on the Golems. That

was only natural. They didn't want another out-of-control Golem going wild.

Also, after a discussion amongst their representatives, they all agreed to join

the alliance. It seemed like the main reason for that decision was so they could

borrow our Frame Gears in case of emergency, though. I decided to give them

some Frame Units for practice.

Cleaning up the mess in Roadmare was much easier thanks to the Frame

Gears, but none of their knights were able to pilot them, so I decided to

dispatch various knights to act as instructors. Nikola was among them.

The city was gradually returning to its former glory thanks to the clean-up

operation.

Doge Audrey also started work on repairing the relations between Roadmare

and Regulus, drafting up several agreeable deals in very little time.

Naturally they wouldn't be best friends right away, but it was a sure step in

the right direction.

Roadmare was between the nations of Ramissh, Regulus, Felsen, and Yulong.

It traded with most of those locations via land routes. Well, used to. Yulong's

dissolution cut off that lifeline.

That was why the agreement with Regulus was an unexpected godsend.

Certainly good for the Union on a whole.

"Master, sir! Requesting some of your time, sir!"

"Huh?" Rosetta was in the middle of repairing Ende's Dragoon in the Hangar,

but she stopped me. More specifically, she was attaching a new arm to replace

the one Ende had broken. We'd fit the new and improved Dragoon with a

sturdier endoskeleton. The Dragoon was built for speed over of power, so it was

no real surprise that it had broken so easily. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended

up happening again.

Rosetta hopped down from the crane.

"Something odd happened during the recent battle, sir!"

"Huh? Like what?" During the day of the battle, I asked Rosetta and Monica to

keep watch over the Frame Gears.

They also had the jobs of observing and investigating the movements of the

Phrase. They were basically our eyes in the sky. I definitely didn't want to leave

that to Parshe... Her clumsiness was lethal.

"Well, sir! The numbered of injured soldiers amounted to thirty-six, yessir!

However, there was a major discrepancy! You recovered thirty-five Frame Gears

from the battlefield. That leaves one unit unaccounted for, sir!"

"...For real?" That didn't make any sense. I used [Storage] to pick up all the

Frame Gear debris in the vicinity. The only way it could've gone missing was if it

was already taken before I cleaned things up.

"To be more specific, sir! We're missing a head, a chest, a left forearm, and an

entire right leg! All parts are from a Chevalier, sir!"

"So it got stolen in the middle of battle or something?"

"No, sir! I think it's the opposite! I think after some destruction was done,

someone gathered broken-off pieces!" Rosetta turned on a monitor in the

garage. It was the aerial recording that showed the battle a few days ago. In

terms of timeframe, it was just before the Upper Construct had appeared. I

wondered what she was having me look at.

"Look here, sir!" She paused the recording with the push of a button. There

was a broken Frame Gear in the corner of the screen.

She suddenly started the recording again, and the Frame Gear somehow

moved itself off-screen.

"...Huh? What's with that?"

"Let's switch to magic-filtering vision, sir!"

"Eh?" Rosetta pushed a button, and the overlay of the video changed. It

showed the figures of various men carrying pieces of the Frame Gear away.

They had a blue light around them. I couldn't make the details out, but they

looked like humans. It was possible they were demi-humans, but they didn't

have the telltale ears and tails that beastmen had.

"Seems like they're using some kind of disappearance spell or artifact, sir!

They were caught by our magic-detecting overlays, though! See? You can see

them right against the Frame Gear paint, sir!" Our Frame Gears were painted

with magical paint, so the contrast made it easier to detect them through the

special overlay. Still, I had no idea who these guys were supposed to be.

They were hardly likely to be people from the alliance. I was already giving

Frame Gears to them, after all. There'd be no point.

It could've been a foreign country, though. The battle was known about for a

few days. That meant someone could've snuck in to take advantage.

"Geez... It's like petty crooks stealing stuff from the scene of an apartment

fire or something. Fine... Run search, broken Frame Gear parts."

"...Search Complete. Displaying." My map was projected, but no pins fell

down on to it. The broken pieces in Babylon obviously weren't displayed due to

the protective magical barrier around the floating islands, and since I'd specified

broken parts there were no pins in Roadmare either, but still... I was expecting a

few results.

"Sir! It's entirely possible they have a barrier that prevents magical detection!

Possibly like the type we have installed here." Well, that would make sense. But

still, that meant tracking them wouldn't be possible.

"Would it be possible for them to make a Frame Gear out of the parts?"

"No way, sir! The best they could do is crudely re-assemble a broken

Chevalier, but they couldn't mass produce it." That seemed fine, then. They

didn't have the Ether Liquid, either. They lacked the technology to actually

threaten me.

"But it could become a problem if they apply the technology elsewhere, sir!

There's a chance they could produce an inferior version of the Frame Gear."

"Ugh... That sounds like a pain..." Monica, who was also fixing Ende's

Dragoon, sat atop its shoulder and spoke up.

"Would it not be wise to inform each member of your alliance that it has been

stolen? It'd like, totally be a big deal if a fake Chevalier went on a rampage and

stuff! You'd totally get the blame!" She had a point. An imitation Chevalier

wouldn't be easy to operate without Ether Liquid, but I didn't want to take any

chances.

Still... Frame Gear imitations. Some kind of inferior version of the tech... I had

one of my patented strange feelings that something bad would come of this.

"Still, sir! They'd never be able to make something better than our Frame

Gears, so don't worry about it at all!"

"I know that, but I still feel a little funny just leaving it be..." It was too late to

think about countermeasures, though. I should've installed a self-destruct or

something. I remember this awesome mecha anime where the protagonist

blew up the machine along with himself. I wondered if it was for the sake of

style... Could've been for the sake of protecting his secrets, though. But who in

their right mind would get on a mech that'd blow you up just like that...

"Yae and Hilde's Frame Gears are more important right now. Should I base it

on the Frame Gear we made for Elze, sir?!"

"Hm... Yeah, we don't need to tweak much. Just make a general fighting type

for Yae. It doesn't need to be specialized too much otherwise. Hilde's will be

much the same."

"Sir yes sir! And who will we be making Frame Gears for after that?"

"You'll make one for meee!" I looked toward the Hangar's entrance, finding

Sue standing there. She was accompanied by Cesca, who had presumably

brought her up. What a surprise.

Sue then bolted toward me and did one of her famous hug-tackles.

"Isn't it time for me to have a Frame Gear?! Isn't it! I'm tired of just playing in

the Frame Unit, you know?!" She kept headbutting me in the stomach. Guh... A

Frame Gear for Sue...

I was a little concerned, to be honest. It wasn't about her skills or anything.

She'd actually been performing really well in the Frame Unit simulations. She

had prodigal levels of skill when it came to handling it, so I had no doubts in my

mind that she'd become a great pilot.

But it was clear to me she viewed it all as a game. On the battlefield, you had

to be prepared to take lives. I didn't think she was ready for that.

"C'mon Sue... you really wanna do dangerous stuff like that?"

"Don't be stupid! I am your fiancee, Touya! I'll fight when I need to fight, I

say! I'm no trophy wife to sit still and look pretty! I wanna protect the people I

care about!" She glared at me with a serious gaze. Her determination was

palpable. Probably because she'd grown up in a noble house... She really was

incredible for her age.

Maybe I'd been treating her too much like a child.

"...Fine, then. We'll work on your Frame Gear afterward. What kind did you

have in mind?"

"A strong one!" That was a little ambiguous. I decided to ask for a little more

information.

"I want a huge one! I want one that can totally trash the enemy like Gerhilde!

And, oh! Like that one you showed me... The one that can combine and turn

into a bigger one!" Oh... From that anime.

"Then we can deploy rotating arms and rip out the Phrase cores, yeah! Oh,

oh! Make a giant golden hammer for it as well!"

Ah, geez... I guess that's kinda familiar. Hmm... I'll make it built for power,

then. It'll be good for offense and defense alike. But that'll mean I have to

sacrifice mobility. After that... It's just a matter of using Fragarach tech for the

weapons. What about combining and transforming, though... I don't think I can

do it without an AI or something. Maybe if other people pilot the other parts?

Nah, that's too much...

"I think it'll be fine, sir! I think there's something that will suit her needs in the

storehouse."

Really, now... Well, I guess if there was something that could bring a picture

frame to life, an AI might not be entirely out of the question. If there's

something like that, I can use it to support Sue's Frame Gear.

"Hmm... Alright, I have a few ideas. I'll get on it."

"Woohoo! Thanks, Touya! You're the best husband ever!" Sue hugged me

tight and puckered her lips, catching me with a kiss before I could tell what was

happening. Then, she nuzzled her cheek up against mine. She'd definitely grown

a little bit...

Just as I quietly thought about her sudden maturity, Cesca turned to Sue and

gave her a thumbs-up. Did you make her do that?! Don't teach her weird things!