The White Whale

The whale-shaped Over Gear, Val Albus, emerged from

Babylon's hangar and set sail through the clouds.

"It's not as fast as I thought."

"It could go as fast as Gungnir if I wanted it to, but we

need to be mindful of the spirit energy and ambient magic

we're drawing in. If we go too fast, it will put too much of a

strain on the system and we'll probably lose other

functionality like cruise control."

"Wait, we're not gonna crash if we run out of ambient

fuel, are we?"

"No, don't worry. We'd fall like a feather if that happened,

just slowly losing altitude."

...Yeah, but we'd still fall, right? What if we came featherfloating down on top of a city? That'd be bad!

I made a mental note not to go too fast unless it was an

emergency.

"So, we're out of Babylon for now...but where should we

go?" Yumina, still seated in the captain's chair and wearing

her navigation visor, asked Doc Babylon for further

instructions.

"South for now. Let's move between the borders of

Mismede and Ramissh. We'll do a submarine test there."

Oh yeah, there's that inland body of water between those

two countries, right? The Sapir Sea.

I suggested opening up a [Gate] and taking us straight

there, but it was flatly rejected. Apparently, they wanted to

do a flight test. After hearing that, I decided to just suck it up

and wait. We weren't going super fast, but we were certainly

faster than a carriage.

I guess it'll take a couple hours at this rate...

Yumina continued giving instructions to Albus, the two of

them learning more about how to pilot Val Albus at the same

time. The vehicle ascended, descended, came to a halt,

reversed, then sped forward again. I was a bit surprised,

since I'd expected to get motion sickness...but I was

completely fine. Even though we were jerking around, I

didn't feel woozy or anything.

Doc Babylon, Elluka, and the professor were all tapping

away at various consoles. Quun was helping them here and

there. Kuon and I weren't doing anything at all, however. We

were just kind of staring at the big monitor, slowly getting

bored at the unchanging scenery.

My son eventually grew bored enough to pull out diorama

parts from his smartphone's [Storage] app. He set them

down on the floor and started putting them all together.

You brought your hobby out with you? You really do

march to the beat of your own drum, kid...

I was kinda bored too, so I shrugged and started to help

him.

Kuon started assembling small blocks, gluing them

together to create walls. The castle Kuon was working on

was the Regulus Empire's. It was a sturdy castle with a

rugged exterior that betrayed a long and storied history. I

wasn't confident enough in my diorama skills to help with

the actual assembly, so my work was mostly relegated to

preparing the pieces for Kuon.

I kept on stirring a slime-based material in a pot. If I

didn't keep it viscous, it'd get bubbles trapped in it. I

wondered what it was used for.

"When it's hardened properly, it'll serve as water for the

moat."

Kuon must've sensed my curiosity, since he took the pot

from me and started pouring it into a little moat he'd dug

out.

Oh, so it's for water...

Once he was finished pouring it out, he used a toothpicklike tool to draw little streaks across the surface. At first I

didn't really know what it was he was doing, but then I

realized he was creating little waves to show the movement

of the water. The intricacy of his craft was nothing short of

amazing to me...

"The Sapir Sea is coming into view, Touya."

Yumina's voice prompted me to glance up at the monitor.

Sure enough, I saw glistening waters on the horizon. The

Sapir Sea was about the size of a country all by itself, and the

Great Gau River flowed into it all year round. There'd be no

issues for Val Albus diving into it, at least as far as I could

see.

"All right, time to start the dive. Go slow at first."

"Got it. Albus, commence diving."

"Acknowledged."

At Yumina's command, Val Albus began to slowly descend

until it breached the water's surface and sank beneath it. The

image on the monitor was briefly blurred, but it quickly

showed a clean feed of fish scattering away through the

water.

"Monitor switched to submersible mode. Visibility all

clear."

"Water pressure nominal. Underwater navigation systems

also fine."

"No aquatic Behemoths detected. Continuing scan."

Val Albus was diving without any issues. I was a bit

surprised by how bright the monitor was, since I always

thought it'd be darker underwater.

"The feed is adjusted to look that way. In actuality, it's

fairly dark outside the vehicle. If you were to go to the

absolute deepest points, there'd be no light there at all."

Doc Babylon had read my mind. I had no way of checking

just how dark it was outside right now, as there were no

actual windows on Val Albus.

We made it to the bottom fairly fast. It was about three

thousand meters below the surface.

Hmm... I'm not really an expert or anything, but I don't

think the Sapir Sea is all that deep, is it? I think the deepest

part of the ocean on Earth is the Mariana Trench. If I

remember right, that one's around ten-thousand meters

deep, so this one doesn't even scratch that.

"Diving all good. Let's initiate an exploratory test.

Yumina, release the unmanned probes."

"Okay. Ummm...let's see... Albus, launch unmanned

probes A00 through A99."

"Understood."

...Probes?

I glanced up at the monitor and saw a large number of

small spheres streak through the water ahead of us.

Oh. Those probes.

They were about as small as ping-pong balls, but they sure

seemed to move faster.

"So we use those things to explore the water?"

"The fact that your [Search] doesn't work when trying to

trace the Ark tells me that it's probably blocked by some

manner of ward. That's why direct visual confirmation is the

best way to go. My probe spheres were engineered to do just

that. They can cover a wide range and detect anything

enchanted with invisibility. Heck, they even have the same

cloaking device that Val Albus does. We can see them, but

they can't see us!"

Damn, they've got stealth too? I guess that makes sense, I

wouldn't want any giant underwater monsters thinking

they're tiny morsels to chase after or something.

Medium-sized monitors jutted out from the left and right

of the main monitor. The two monitors were each split into

fifty different segments showing a different camera feed on

each. It kind of made me feel like I was in a stereotypical

security guard room from a movie or game. Those feeds

were obviously artificially lit up too. The surroundings

looked a little gloomy, so I could tell it was actually darker

on the outside...

"How can you keep track of all the video feeds?"

Just staring at a hundred simultaneous videos of fish and

rocks for a minute was enough to make me wanna zone out.

"Obviously, the human eye can't pay attention to all of

those things at once. That's why we have Albus here. He can

process all of it and notify us if anything unusual comes up."

"Unidentified object detected on feed A42. Responding."

At that exact moment, Albus notified us about something

strange.

...It isn't the Ark, is it? That'd be mighty convenient.

The video feed from A42 was enlarged, and we saw the

image of something on the seabed.

Damn, it's big... Wait, what is that?

"Is that a shipwreck?"

There was a sunken ship on the feed, split down the

middle, but something was off about it. It had all the

features of a regular ship, but there was a propeller attached

to one of the masts. Something told me it wasn't an ordinary

seafaring vessel.

"Wait...is that a skyskipper?"

"A what?"

Doc Babylon opened her mouth wide in shock as she

watched the live feed.

"It's a type of flying ship that was fairly common in my

era. I had no idea one had crashed in a place like this... I

imagine it must've been downed during the Phrase War,

some five thousand years ago. It doesn't seem to be militarygrade, though..."

"You mean to say this is a legacy of the ancient magic

kingdom?!"

"Oooh! If it's enchanted with preservation magic, then it

should still be good for analysis."

"Oho ho! Most interesting."

Quun, Elluka, and the professor all responded excitedly

upon hearing Babylon's words.

...Damn nerds.

"Yumina, change course for A42's location."

"Got it."

Val Albus turned and continued through the sea. After a

short amount of time, the front monitor showed the wreck

that A42 had found. It was pretty huge. Not as big as Val

Albus, of course, but it was easily fifty meters across. Two of

its three masts were broken off. There was a large propeller

at the back, as well as large oars sticking out the sides of the

hull.

...If it can fly, why does it have oars?

"The oars are for capturing ambient magic and using

them for propulsion. It functions just about the same as an

average ship's oar."

...Huh, so are they powered automatically, or would

people actually move those things like a galley?

"So what's our plan here?"

"We'll recover it, of course! It's a precious relic from an

ancient kingdom! You think we'd just leave it at the bottom

of the sea?!"

"R-Right..."

Quun shot me a menacing glare. Apparently, she'd already

decided the course of action before I'd even raised the

question. Doc Babylon also seemed fine with retrieving it, so

I just shrugged. The only question was how.

"How? Don't you have [Storage], Touya?"

"Oh yeah."

Doc Babylon's incredulous sigh made me realize the

stupidity of my own pondering. Here I was thinking about

some specialized diving robot or a retrieval-specialized

Frame Gear. But yeah, just using [Storage] was the obvious

solution...

I went with what Babylon said and used [Storage] to

recover the skyskipper.

"Okay, I got it...but where should I put it?"

"Val Albus's hangar should be fine. This way."

We left Yumina, Albus, and Kuon on the bridge and

followed Doc Babylon through another teleporter. The

hangar was ridiculously big, so I could only speculate that it

was another "bigger on the inside" situation.

I pulled the skyskipper out from [Storage]. Thankfully,

none of the seawater or other residue was included in that,

so the hangar remained completely dry. The ship had not a

trace of wear and tear on it. In fact, it looked brand-new.

There wasn't even any rust. Just as Elluka had assumed, it

had protective magic enchanting it. It was the same as

Babylon in that regard.

Speaking of Babylon, the doc tapped her chin as she

looked up at it.

"Hrmm... It seems to be a mercantile vessel from the

Talwes Commonwealth. Must've been caught in the crossfire

of combat."

Talwes? Never heard of it. Guess it must've died out

thousands of years ago.

"If it's a merchant's vessel...then what's the cargo?"

"Oh, perhaps it could be interesting artifacts from the

ancient era..."

"Even if there aren't any interesting artifacts aboard, the

ship itself is a treasure! What a fascinating vessel..."

The magitech geeks were getting hyped up again.

Don't you guys have any other interests?

I walked up to the skyskipper and tapped its side. It

looked like it was made of metal, but it felt different. If I had

to guess, it was some kind of hard rubber.

I ignored the entrance hatch and walked through the

fractured midsection.

"Gah!"

The interior was filled with what seemed to be wood

shavings and sand. It was presumably the result of stuff on

the inside of the boat that hadn't been enchanted with

protective magic. Since I'd pulled the boat into [Storage]

with the explicit rejection of seawater, anything inside that

was muddied or waterlogged must've instantly dried out and

collapsed into a heap.

Wait, there were people on this boat, right? I hope their

bones aren't mixed in with this sand and stuff.

I gave a silent prayer before stepping deeper inside. It'd

been five thousand years or so since they'd died, so I could

only hope they'd found peace by now.

I searched through the front half of the broken ship, but I

couldn't find anything notable inside. The cargo must've

been perishable, like food or something. It could've been

that they'd loaded up a vessel with food to escape the Phrase

invasion but got shot down.

I came out of the broken skyskipper and noticed Quun

excitedly running out from the back half.

"Father, father! The reactor is still intact! We could

restore the ship if we reactivate it!"

Hmm? It's kinda cool that the reactor's still in working

condition, but aren't you a little too excited for something

that minor?

"Well, we're not all that interested in the boat, so we

brought up the idea that the young miss could have it..."

"She got awfully excited when she heard about that."

"Well, Touya? Whaddya say? Gonna give your girl an

airship?"

Huh? Why's this on me?

I looked at my excited daughter, and in that moment, I

knew I couldn't say no! If Leen had been there to support

me, I might've been able to offer up a little resistance, but I

was on my own.

"...You can have it if you manage it carefully. Don't get too

drawn into it and upset Leen, okay?"

"Thank yooouuu!"

Quun smiled wide and gave me a big hug.

...She's not planning to fix it up all on her own, is she? It

might be too big a gift for just one child.

"Warning. Enormous life-form detected. Approaching

starboard," Albus's voice reverberated through the hangar,

accompanied by red lights and a warning klaxon.

"Hm. Seems something's happening. Let's return to the

bridge at once."

We followed Doc Babylon back through the teleporter and

met up with Yumina and the others on the bridge. The

monitor ahead of us showed an enormous sea snake

swimming in our direction.

"Oh, a Leviathan?"

The Leviathan was a sea creature that could grow

hundreds of meters long. It was one of the most feared

creatures in all the seas, along with the Kraken. I used both

as casual summons, though.

This one seemed a fair bit bigger than your usual

Leviathan, however. The monitor display estimated its size

at three hundred meters, but it looked like it was double that

to me.

"That's not just any Leviathan. It's a variant species, the

Leviathan Lord."

...Leviathan Lord? I guess it's bigger, and now that it's

getting closer, it looks like it has spines along its scales. It's

also a deeper blue hue. Huh, how about that?

The Leviathan Lord fired off a vibrating ring in our

direction, blasting the side of the hull.

Val Albus shook slightly.

...It's attacking us?

"It's hostile, apparently."

"It must be the biggest fish around here. Maybe it's mad

that we intruded on its territory?"

Kuon and Quun talked among themselves, and I was

inclined to agree with their conclusion. It clearly saw us as a

big intruder.

Just as I was thinking about that, I noticed the massive

grin plastered across Doc Babylon's face.

What are you planning, you witch?

"Perfect. We'll have this be Val Albus's first opponent."

"We could certainly process a dead Leviathan Lord into

raw production materials."

"This is a finer treasure than the skyskipper, that's to be

sure."

"Mother Yumina! Let's fight that thing!"

It only took one mention of raw production materials to

hype Quun up beyond the limit. I was a little concerned

about how gung-ho she was. I didn't want her getting tricked

by some shady guy who enticed her away with engineering

equipment or research stuff in the future...

Yumina slid her fingers across the console by the captain's

chair.

"Attack, then? Uhhh...Albus, use the fire manastorm

missile #36...?"

"W-Wait! Don't use that! It's too powerful! You'll turn the

Leviathan Lord into unsalvageable scrap!"

"Not that one, Mother Yumina!"

...Just how absurd is this thing's power level?

While Yumina and Doc Babylon spoke, the Leviathan

Lord kept on rocking us with shockwaves. Fortunately(?) the

ship didn't really take much damage. Though, that didn't

mean it was good for us to just take a beating.

"Albus, fire manastorm missile #6."

"Understood."

I heard a small beeping noise, then I saw a missile come

through on the monitor. It zoomed toward the Leviathan

Lord at incredible speeds.

A flash sparkled across the monitor, lighting the display

up for a few moments. Once it had cleared, the feed

displayed live footage of what had once been the Leviathan

Lord. It was almost bisected, viscera and other giblets

spilling out from its inside into the sea.

"Oh, darn it. Seems even that one packed too much of a

punch..." Doc Babylon grumbled quietly to herself. The

missile found its mark a little too well, killing the Leviathan

Lord instantly. I knew regular Leviathans weren't exactly

built for defense, but I couldn't believe we'd just killed this

thing in one hit...

I sighed and collected the remains with my [Storage]

spell. I didn't want to dump it out in the hangar and have it

stink up the place, so I just kept it in stasis for later. I could

have the guild help me dismantle it later. Given the size of

the thing, though, I'd probably have to have them do it in a

field outside town. It'd take a lot of time, and they couldn't

afford to slack off or the carcass would start to go bad. I

couldn't help but feel sorry for the guild workers, since they

had a long day and night ahead of them...

"Well, that's enough combat data for one day. We'll head

back to Babylon, fine-tune it a little bit, and then we should

be able to begin our exploration in earnest."

"You mean like sending it out into the oceans to find the

Ark? Yumina can't sit in the ship all the time, you know...?"

"Don't be absurd. Just Albus is enough for probe

operation. We'll only need to contact you if we find

something, or if an emergency happens."

So Albus is gonna be in charge of the underwater search?

I guess he can work all day, every day, but it's gonna be a

hell of an effort scouring every single body of water in the

world...

"We'll also establish markers around the coastlines of our

allies. If any of the wicked devout decide to come out of the

water, we should be able to detect it. Be sure to brief the

world leaders on this at your next conference."

"Gotcha."

We'd delayed long enough, thereby letting the wicked

devout just do whatever the hell they wanted. It was time to

find them, crush them, and put an end to this annoying

game of cat and mouse.

◇ ◇ ◇

The search for the Ark was ongoing. It was a slow, but

sure, process. It wasn't an easy task, of course. Val Albus had

to scour all the bodies of water in the world, so I knew it

would take some time. We hadn't found our quarry, but we'd

found no shortage of wrecks and undersea treasures.

According to Doc Babylon, the ancient war against the

Phrase saw the use of magical weapons that transformed the

very landscape. Some of those weapons even sank entire

cities deep into the seabed, and we'd ended up coming

across some of those ruins. There was a similar situation on

the western continent, with ancient cities having been

leveled and sunk during the Great Gollem War.

We'd also found various spots where there was clear

evidence of mining operations having gone on. We could

only assume that it was the work of the wicked devout

digging up seabed resources. They were probably gathering

materials to make more of those one-eyed Gollems like the

one they'd used in their most recent attack. Even though the

Ark was Chrom Ranchesse's personal Gollem factory, they

still wouldn't have much in the way of mass production

capability...or so I hoped, at least.

In any case, I didn't think this would be a situation like

the Phrase invasion with tens of thousands of them coming

after us, but they could still attack us at any point and any

time, which was a scary thought.

We'd placed hidden markers to alert us of activity in all

the areas Val Albus had already surveyed, but that only

covered Belfast, Refreese, and some parts of Panaches.

Setting them up on the coastlines was deemed too

inefficient. Ideally, we wanted to know if they were on the

approach before any settlements were attacked, not during

the attack itself.

Still, there was no point in worrying about things beyond

my control.

"Wooow! Ed's so little! So cuuute!" Steph said, smiling

wide as she peeked in on Edward, Duke Ortlinde's heir, who

was napping in his crib. Much like Kuon, Steph referred to

her uncle rather casually.

"He he... Ed's getting some rest now, Steph. Come here,

would you?"

"Granny!"

Steph ran over and hugged Ellen, Sue's mother.

Sue smiled over at the two, but she couldn't help but

heave a small sigh.

"Steph's quite the spoiled child, isn't she?"

"Well, she is the youngest. It's just one of those things. I'm

sure there are plenty of people in the family who fawn over

her."

"Are you sure you're not the one who does that the most,

Touya?"

I ignored Sue's cutting clapback and took a sip of the

black tea in front of me. Duke Ortlinde had very good taste,

apparently. It was wonderful.

"Ellen! You're not the only person here! Come, Steph! I've

got some treats for you!"

"Thanks, Grampy!"

Duke Ortlinde normally had such a stoic and respectable

air about him, so seeing him all lovestruck by his

granddaughter was a rare sight indeed... In fact, I was pretty

sure I hadn't seen him act this doting before, not even with

Ed or Sue. Was this one of those things where it turned out

grandchildren are even more lovable than children?

Maybe I'll get like that when I have grandkids. Wait,

won't my girls be married and in their own relationships if

that happens? Unacceptable! Wait, no... I can still have

grandkids if Kuon finds a wife. That would be fine, I think.

But wait! Won't any of those grandchildren be one of Allis's

children too? Then the kid would be Ende's grandkid as

well...and if that happens, things'll get dicey, I bet... What if

the kid says "I like Grandpa Touya better than Grandpa

Ende!" or something?! It'd be an all-out war!

"...Are you okay, Touya? You've been making an awful lot

of weird faces..."

"Oh... Um, I'm fine. Just fine. Just thinking about the

future a little."

Sue narrowed her eyes slightly, and I realized I'd gotten a

bit too lost in my own fantasies.

Steph was sandwiched between Ellen and Duke Ortlinde,

chowing down on a tasty-looking cookie. They looked more

like parents with their child, rather than the grandparents

they actually were. Though that wasn't too surprising, given

that Steph and Sue weren't even ten years apart in age right

now.

"...Something's annoying me about this. Steph's my

daughter, not theirs..."

"Yeah, I get it. I sorta feel the same."

Sue wedged herself between Duke Ortlinde and Steph

before giving the latter a big hug.

"Oh my. Jealous, Sue?"

"This is not jealousy, mother. It is simply maternal love."

"Maternal love? I shall have to express my grandmaternal

love, then," Ellen stated as she cuddled up against Steph

from the opposite side as Sue. The sight made me feel a bit

jealous. I wanted to hug her too.

Duke Ortlinde, who'd been kicked off the couch by Sue,

walked over to me as I pouted.

"My, I really never thought I'd meet my grandchild so

soon. She's so much like her mother. So well behaved."

"Right? Isn't she? That's my girl. She's perfect in every

way."

"I never would've thought you'd be such a proud and

doting father, Touya."

Huh? I was just stating a fact!

"Incidentally, how long will Steph be sojourning with us?"

"...A while longer, I think? She won't suddenly vanish or

anything, if that's what you're worried about."

Duke Ortlinde looked a little relieved to hear that.

We couldn't return my kids to the future until the wicked

devout had been dealt with. There was a chance their

interference could cause a ripple effect on the future, and it'd

prevent the kids from getting back to the one they'd come

from. Granny Tokie said there was a very low chance of this

actually happening, but I didn't want to run the risk.

With newfound determination, I said goodbye to the

Ortlindes and returned to Brunhild. I then walked down the

castle hall where I bumped into Allis, who was dragging

Kuon by the hand.

"Oh, father. Nice to see you. Mother Sue, Steph. Welcome

home."

"Good to be home. You two going somewhere?"

"Kuon's been in his room all day, so we're gonna go play!"

"But I need to finish my dioramas..." Kuon grumbled

quietly. Even though he'd been commissioned to make

dioramas for various foreign leaders, it wasn't like he had

any hard deadlines. I didn't think he needed to focus on it

that hard or anything.

To be honest, I was with Allis on this one. It wasn't good

for him to remain cooped up in his room all the time. A little

sun would do him some good.

"Me too! Me too! I wanna plaaay! Mommy, can I play?"

"Of course. But don't bother Kuon or Allis, okay? And

come back by sundown!"

"Yaaay!"

Steph bolted down the hallway after Kuon and Allis. I

could only hope she wouldn't cause any collateral damage in

the castle town...

"Kougyoku, could you?"

"Of course, my liege," replied Kougyoku, who'd been

perched on a nearby windowsill, before flying off into the

sky.

It was better to be safe than sorry. I didn't think Steph or

the others were even capable of endangering themselves, but

it was best to keep a watchful eye.

"You're overprotective."

"Am not. Just pragmatic."

Sue didn't seem to mind letting her daughter wander free.

That didn't mean she was completely lax, though. She knew

when to parent as necessary. If I had to guess, Steph's naive

and curious personality, along with her rambunctious and

energetic attitude, was probably from Sue's influence on her.

I started to think more about that when the smartphone

in my pocket went off. It was Doc Babylon.

"Hey, 'sup? Found the Ark?"

"Afraid not. But they're making a move."

...A move? With their one-eyed Gollems?

"Some of our detectors in the waters south of Panaches

recorded movement. There's a group headed toward land

over there as we speak."

"How many?"

"If you include the small fry, about two thousand

detections. The vast majority of the group is made up of

those fish people and those four-armed Gollems. As for the

giant one-eyes? About twenty."

Twenty? Reginleif should be more than enough to take

care of those. I'll stop them out at sea before the first Gollem

makes landfall.

"You want to take Reginleif? That's a no-go."

"What, why?"

"Don't you remember? We're running refurbishments on

it right now. You know, the waterproofing? It's not in an

operable state."

Hmm... It's good that we're getting the waterproofing

done, but the timing's pretty bad. Fine, I guess I can just

take a regular Night Baron...

"Want me to send Val Albus your way?"

"...Nah. I think the longer we keep Val Albus a secret, the

better. We don't want them catching on to the fact we've got

a way to find the Ark."

If they knew about Val Albus, they could start hatching

some plan to counter it. It was always best to keep one's

trump card stashed away.

I ended the call and quickly contacted the King of

Panaches. He said he'd send troops to assist, so I told him to

gather them outside his castle's gates. Then, it'd just be a

matter of taking them with me through a portal.

"Touya! Take me too! If we're defending someplace, then

Ortlinde's perfect!" Sue suddenly butted in, having

overheard my conversation.

Ortlinde Overlord specialized in defensive warfare... We

could use it as a bulwark to keep the giant Gollems from

coming in close, which would allow the soldiers of Panaches

to fight the Fishmen.

I was just planning on going on my own, but it wouldn't

be a bad idea to have Sue ready and waiting in case some of

them got past me. As I'd said earlier, better safe than sorry.

I nodded my head before warping Sue and I to Babylon's

hangar.

◇ ◇ ◇

A large group advanced through the dark of the ocean

floor. The group was a mismatched assortment of half-fish

creatures, mechanical marionettes, giants of stone, and

enormous Kyklops Gollems. And yet, there was one that

stood out among this patchwork band more than any other.

A large Kyklops that gleamed metallic purple.

Given that it was at the very front of the charge, one could

only assume it was the commander. It was slightly larger

than the muddy-gold Kyklops that walked behind it. The one

piloting it was one of the wicked devout, one who kept his

purple spear close at hand. His name was Orchid. The

muddy-gold Kyklops were piloted by Gollems that had been

infused with the wicked god's divinity. They'd all been

programmed to follow Orchid's orders to the letter. Soldat

Gollems had group control systems as their default, but

there were many drawbacks to commanding too many at

once. This problem was remedied by Scarlet, another of the

wicked devout, who had found a way to increase the total

number of Gollems one individual could command.

Now Orchid was leading a group toward the town of

Kwapp, a port town in the Kingdom of Panaches. He aimed

to destroy the place. In doing so, he'd spread the wicked

god's curse and fester it deeper within the hearts of man.

Orchid chose to do this all on his own, but his comrades

had effectively given silent consent. They all knew that

Orchid was brimming with destructive urges. That if he

didn't have a way to vent them every now and then, he could

wind up damaging or even destroying the Ark. All members

of the wicked devout were mentally deranged in some

manner, big or small. Excessive curiosity, abnormal

brutality, fanatical piety... These were only a few of the

symptoms exhibited by their number. To suppress such

urges would be tantamount to denying themselves.

Orchid's destructive impulses were his guiding light. He

took simple, unbridled pleasure in breaking things or killing

others. That was why Orchid marched toward Kwapp. For

personal satisfaction.

"Let's trash 'em in one go, eh?"

As Orchid's Kyklops rose from the waves to descend upon

the harbor, he suddenly spotted something unfamiliar. It

was an enormous golden Gollem, some ten meters taller

than the Kyklops he piloted. And, strangely enough, it was

making a punching motion in Orchid's general direction.

Orchid suddenly sensed danger, hitting a control that

made his Gollem duck back down below the waves again.

"Cannon Knuckle Spiral!"

The massive golden Gollem, Ortlinde Overlord, sent its

right arm firing off and rotating in a high-speed rocket

punch. It fired at the purple Gollem, but just barely missed

as its target sank below the ocean water once again. The

rocket punch instead smashed into a regular Kyklops that

stood behind where Orchid had been. The Kyklops fell

backward and sank as the flying fist whizzed back in an arc

and docked with Ortlinde's arm again.

Orchid brought his Kyklops to a standing position again.

"What is this? A Gollem soldier from Brunhild? And some

strange others too..."

Orchid used his Kyklops camera to zoom in on the image

of the harbor. There, he saw multiple black mechs by the

giant golden one, as well as an odd-looking, deer-shaped

machine. He couldn't understand how, but he'd walked

straight into an ambush.

"I don't get it...but this is pretty nice. Oh man, this is real

interesting."

Orchid didn't seem to care about his disadvantage. A

smile crept across his face. He was only thinking about one

thing. It was fun enough trashing weak enemies, sure...but

how fun would it be to trash one of Brunhild's brilliant

creations?

"Wisteria, it's time."

The moment Orchid spoke, a gleaming purple spear

appeared in the hands of his Kyklops. Wisteria was his

wicked treasure, a corrupted instrument of the divine with

the wicked god's malediction buried deep inside. Changing

its size was trivial.

Orchid roared gleefully as his Kyklops twirled the spear,

pointing its tip straight at the shoreline.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Mmm... I missed the purple one..." Sue's frustrated voice

leaked out of the Ortlinde Overlord's cockpit.

I looked over at the metallic purple Gollem from within

my own Night Baron's cockpit.

How'd that thing duck the cannon knuckle? That must've

taken some serious precision. I wonder if it's down to the

mech or the pilot... Given that it's a different color from the

rest, it's either the commander's or a special one. Or well, at

least that's what my gut tells me.

The metallic purple, or just purple for simplicity's sake,

Gollem suddenly held up a weird-looking spear and pointed

it at us. There was something off about the spear. I could

sense a strange feeling of unease immediately.

"I'll deal with the purple one. Sue, focus on defense.

Panaches's soldiers can go on the offensive," I ordered,

opening my comms to tell everyone what to do. The other

Night Barons were piloted by soldiers from Panaches. There

were about fifty of them in total, though mine was the only

one equipped with my remote-controlled fragarachs.

"Leave it to us! Behold the power of Panaches!" Prince

Robert of Panaches, a.k.a. the pumpkin-pants prince,

exclaimed as he stepped forward in his Deer Blau Over Gear.

On the ground, regular Panaches foot soldiers stood ready.

They had the dock secured against the advancing Fishmen

and Rock Giants.

"Charge!"

We began our counterattack, not wanting to lose pace

with the invaders. Two of the four fragarachs on my Frame

Gear's back detached, turning into twinblades that I grasped

in both hands.

The purple Gollem ahead of me came charging in with its

spear. I slashed, but he ducked and came in with a spear

thrust. It was so fast that I could hardly react, but I just

barely managed to step back in time. He followed up the

attack with a sweep, and I ducked sideways.

"He's fast..."

I'd heard it was more important for spear wielders to

learn how to draw back their spears rather than thrust them.

By pulling back fast, you could easily chain attacks into

combos and match pace with your enemy. In that regard, it

was kind of similar to boxing or martial arts, but I was too

much of an amateur to really grasp the nuance. All I really

understood was that it'd be dangerous to get too close to this

guy.

I had to avoid his spear as it came out and use my swords

to parry them. Given that we were fighting mech-knee-deep

in ocean water, I was at a bit of a disadvantage when it came

to fancy footwork.

"Heh, pretty good! You're the first one who's ever dodged

my Wisteria this much!"

A voice rang out from the Gollem in front of me. It was

the voice of a young man.

...There's a human in there? No, I guess it must be one of

the wicked devout. Can't really call them human, can I?

I turned on my Night Baron's external speakers.

"Are you a follower of the wicked god?"

"Guess you could say that. But that's not really important

right now. I'm about to kill ya, anyway."

The purple Gollem kept on thrusting its spear my way. It

moved so fast that it felt like several spears were coming at

me at the same time. I moved backward to maintain distance

between us.

"Ha ha ha! I don't think so! Run him through, Wisteria!"

Lightning began to build up and lash from the tip of the

spear.

Wait, wait. You shouldn't put electricity near water, you

moron!

"[Absorb]!"

I used my absorption magic to dissipate the lightning and

draw it in. It spread out like a mist and evaporated.

That was a close call... If the lightning had hit anywhere,

it would've spread and caused damage I couldn't control.

I needed to take care of this guy before he had a chance to

do anything dangerous.

"Fragarachs!"

The two inert sword pieces on my back came to life and

floated in the air behind me. At the same time, I let go of one

of the fragarach blades in my hands. It floated as well.

"Go!"

The three blades whizzed through the air like missiles,

seeking out their target. The purple Gollem tried its best to

bat them down with its spear, but one of them got through

and sank deep into the machine's shoulder.

My enemy's movement stalled. I saw my chance and

wasted no more time, closing the distance in an instant and

sending my sword smashing into the Gollem's side.

The purple Gollem shuddered, then fell still. Had I really

beaten it so easily?

"Gimme a break... It stops working just when things start

getting interesting? I've gotta get Scarlet to make me

something sturdier next time."

The purple Gollem's chest hatch popped open, revealing

the man inside. His hair was gray, he wore an iron mask

over the lower half of his face, and a tattered, bluish-purple

cape sat on his shoulders. He looked a little bit older than

me... Was this guy really one of the wicked devout?

"Name's Orchid. This here's Wisteria."

In the blink of an eye, the spear in the Gollem's hand

vanished. A smaller, identical spear appeared in Orchid's

hands. What was up with that?

"Gollem fights are fine, sure...but how about we go toe to

toe with our real bodies? That sounds way more

interesting..."

"Sorry, I'm afraid that won't be happening."

A puddle of what looked to be water suddenly spread out

across the Gollem's open chest hatch, and a man wearing

something resembling a full diving suit emerged from it.

Hmm... Isn't that the same phenomenon I saw when I

faced the Gigantes in Gandhilis? He made off with those

machine parts back then.

"Hey, Indigo. You can't just get in my way."

"I can and will get in your way. Look around you, fool."

"Hm?"

The words spoken by the man in the diving suit prompted

me to check my monitor. I saw that around half of the oneeyed Gollems had been trashed by the Night Barons. We had

Prince Robert's Over Gear and more than twice their

numbers, though, so that much was to be expected.

"There's no point in continuing to fight. Our Kyklops are

losing. Let us away."

Kyklops? Is that what those things are called?

"Tch. Maaan... Fine, fine. I did have a little fun, so it ain't

a total wash. I dunno who you are, asshole! But next time I

see ya, I'm gonna—" Orchid brandished his spear toward me

as he spoke, but his words were cut off as Indigo dragged

him into a puddle. They vanished in an instant. It was

definitely the same teleportation magic they'd used in

Gandhilis. I needed to do something about this Indigo guy,

or any of my future encounters with the wicked devout could

just turn into a wild goose chase. The best I could think up

on the spot was putting down wards to counteract his magic

or beating him before he could use whatever ability it was...

As I pondered the matter, I checked my monitor

again...and realized all the remaining Kyklops Gollems had

been defeated. They'd gotten away again, but we were able to

defend the town without any civilian casualties. I could be

happy about that, at least.

◇ ◇ ◇

"They're certainly trying, but it's no match for my Frame

Gears," Doc Babylon spoke pridefully as she finished up her

analysis of the Kyklops wreckage.

Given that our side had suffered basically no harm while

their side had been totally trashed, even I could've said as

much. Well, it wasn't that we'd come to no harm. Some of

the Chevaliers we'd called in for support were a bit bashed

up. But even including that, it was a total victory for our

side.

"One of them called these things a Kyklops."

"Kyklops? Oh, like Cyclops. Cute. It's what they used to

call the Cyclops back during my era. Kind of an uninspired

naming sense, if you ask me."

...Pot calling the kettle black, much? Frame Gear isn't

exactly the most imaginative name.

"It's quite an ambitious construction, I must admit. The

magic engraving here is extremely competent. Without that,

the movement would be dulled by a factor of one or two."

"It's also completely waterproofed. I never even thought

of using slime membrane to achieve this kind of effect. In

fact, the extra viscosity of the coating gives it superior

underwater movement."

Elluka and the professor were both a bit more enthused

about the wreckage, prompting Doc Babylon to mutter

something or other about it not being all that bad.

I suddenly remembered that I needed to ask her

something.

"Is there a way to stop teleportation magic? Or

like...prevent it from starting?"

"Hmm? Why not just put up some wards?"

"Don't wards just stop people from warping to us? I'm

talking about preventing someone from escaping a certain

area..."

"Oh, you mean the wicked devout. I think it's a bit naive

to consider whatever they're using to be magic, don't you

think? Your [Gate] can bypass wards, after all."

Oh yeah, that's a good point. Their abilities are probably

infused with divinity, huh...? Hell, I can use my own

divinity to travel literally anywhere I want.

"I guess your only solution is finishing him off before he

warps?"

"Hmm... I think it only takes him a second or two to

activate it, though..."

If it was anything less than instant death, he could

probably get away. This was a bit tricky... Even if I put a

tracker on him or something, it'd probably go dead if he

teleported back to the Ark.

"Well, there's recorded footage of the phenomenon on the

Night Baron you piloted. I'll check it later, maybe work

something out."

"Thanks. Sorry for the extra work."

I was hoping Doc Babylon would be able to figure

something out, so I decided to leave that to her in the

meantime. There was another place I could go to for advice,

after all...

◇ ◇ ◇

"Stopping someone from warping away, huh? You might

be able to use [Prison] infused with divinity..."

I'd brought my question out to the castle terrace,

questioning Karen and Moroha, who were sipping tea

together there.

"I thought about that too, but wouldn't the guy be able to

use his own divinity to break out?"

"Silly! A fraudulent wicked god's follower wouldn't have

nearly the degree of divinity as you, you know? You're a

dependent of God Almighty!"

"Indeed. It'd be like a praying mantis going up against an

orichalcum shield..." Moroha smirked as she followed up on

Karen's response.

Oh...that actually makes sense.

"But you have to remember, you know? Using your

divinity against denizens of the mortal realm is against the

rules. Now that you're well and truly one of us, you can't use

your power as a god."

Crap. I guess I'm screwed, then. If I don't use my

divinity, he'll just break out of my [Prison].

How come they could use the wicked god's divinity down

here while I couldn't use my regular divinity, anyway? That

hardly seemed fair. Police were allowed to run red lights if

they were in pursuit of a suspect, right? Couldn't we just

treat this situation like a car chase and bend the rules a

little?

"Wait...I've used my divinity to enhance my [Search]

before..."

"That's fine. The specific rule is that you can't use your

divinity to exert influence upon the mortal world. If you're

just using it for little stuff, that's basically fine. Defeating

those wicked whatevers would be pretty easy with your

divinity, but it'd affect the world too much, so you're not

allowed."

...So I've gotta beat them on mortal terms, huh? It's not

like I can't, it's just kind of a pain in the ass...

"What if I weakened them using my divinity, then had

some regular people deal the final blow?"

"I guess we could overlook a couple of divine hits, but if

you do ninety-nine percent of the work, it'd be basically the

same as you defeating them, don't you think?"

Guess that's true... It'd be like a parent showing up to a

dispute between two kids, beating the crap out of one of the

kids, then letting their kid throw the last punch. If they tried

telling anyone that their kid was some kind of badass for

that, nobody would believe them.

"I suppose we could use a loophole, you know...?" Karen,

who'd been quiet for a short time, spoke up again.

"Hm? What kind?"

"We could have someone from the mortal realm wield a

divine weapon capable of preventing any kind of

transportation magic, you know?"

"Wait, there are weapons that can seal stuff like that?"

"I think so. There's probably something like that in the

divine realm treasury...but there are conditions to keep in

mind that make this something of an unideal solution."

Moroha hummed to herself and crossed her arms. She

seemed to agree that it was a possibility, though.

Conditions? Like what? They won't lend it to me from the

treasury or something?

"No, I think they'd be happy to let you take things from

the treasury. The problem is that the treasury itself is a large,

unorganized vault filled with all manner of sacred treasures

that gods either made for fun or completed as their

masterworks. There's so much stuff in there that it would

take a very long time to track down just one item. God

Almighty is supposed to be in charge of maintaining order in

there, but he's not exactly the most organized..."

"So how long would it take to find what I need?"

"At least a thousand years, I think."

"A thousand?!"

How much crap is in there?! I can't wait a whole damn

millennia for it!

"It's officially named a treasury, but...well...it's more of a

junkyard, you know? We use it to throw out stuff we don't

need anymore. Most gods keep the stuff they need to

themselves."

In other words, it was just like my [Storage]. A

convenient space for all manner of junk to get thrown out of

sight and mind... Yeah... That tracked.

I definitely didn't have the time to waste trawling through

a place like that. But wait, couldn't I use [Search] to find it?

"Since the treasury is a repository for sacred treasures we

wanted sealed, any kind of tracing magic is nullified inside

it."

"Dammit!"

Guess that makes sense, though... Doesn't matter if it's

the divine realm or a mortal world, sacred treasures are a

big deal. You'd want them sealed away with the utmost

security.

"So I've just gotta be the early bird and get the worm

before it teleports away, I guess..."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. As they say, if they have

no sacred treasure, let them craft one!"

...Huh? I dunno why, but Moroha's words sound close to

Marie Antoinette's famous line there... Actually, wait...

Marie Antoinette wasn't even the original person who said

"Let them eat cake," right?

"Touya, you're a god. You can make a sacred treasure of

your own. You can't use it to defeat the wicked god's

followers yourself, though."

"You'll also have to keep a close eye on whatever it is you

create, lest it become a vessel for more wicked divinity after

being abandoned for too long."

"...Wait...me? Make a sacred treasure?"

I had no idea that was even an option. That'd definitely be

a huge help.

"Touya, why are you acting so surprised? You made use of

that very ability to defeat the wicked god."

"Wait! That's right, I did!"

"That wasn't exactly normal, though. It was a hastily

formed disposable divine tool. It's not really something

regular humans could use either. When crafting a sacred

treasure, you have to think more general, something mortals

can easily make use of."

More general, huh? I don't even know where I'd begin

making something like this, though... Hell, during my battle

with the wicked god, I was so caught up in the moment that

I didn't stop to think about what I was doing...

"I think it'd be better if you were educated properly on the

creation of a sacred treasure. Karen and I aren't gods in the

production sphere, though. We'd surely be bad teachers."

Production? So like...Uncle Kousuke, the god of

agriculture? Surely not Suika... She'd be too drunk.

"Allow me to rephrase. You'll need to learn from a god in

the manufacturing sphere."

Manufacturing? So a god that makes stuff? Do I even

know any gods like that? Should I just ask God Almighty?

"You know one. Lots of gods came down for your

wedding, you know? Including one perfect for what you

need."

"Uhhh... Oh! The god of crafting?"

"Bingo."

This world was ultimately going to become a resort for the

gods, so ten gods had come down in advance to sample the

place before it opened fully. The goddess of dance, the god of

strength, the god of crafting, the god of glasses, the god of

theater, the god of puppetry, the god of wandering, the

goddess of flowers, and the goddess of gemstones. There was

Granny Tokie as well, the goddess of space-time.

If I remembered right, the god of crafting took the form of

a man in his forties with streaked-gray hair and a mustache.

He wore Japanese-style clothing that resembled a samue, a

monk's working clothes. Basically, he fit the image of a

traditional craftsman.

"You could also speak with the god of glasses or the god of

puppetry, but the two of them are...eccentric," Karen

muttered slightly as she gazed off into the distance. I had to

agree. The god of glasses was a little too into spectacles for

my tastes, and the way the god of puppetry spoke via

ventriloquism freaked me out. Compared to those, the god of

crafting was probably the most normal.

"So he'd be able to teach me how to make a sacred

treasure?"

"Not overnight, but he'd certainly be able to teach you in a

shorter time frame than it'd take to rummage through the

treasury."

...Okay, sure, it won't take a thousand years, but is it

gonna take a hundred? Wait, can't I just ask him to make

me the exact kind of sacred treasure I need?

"If he made it for you, he'd be responsible for keeping an

eye on it. It's not right to put that responsibility on someone

else's shoulders, you know?"

"He could probably just toss it in the treasury once you're

done with it, to be fair...but this is a good chance for you to

learn, so you should take it."

My sisters had a fair point. I didn't want to just be

irresponsible and have others take care of my problems for

me. This was a good opportunity. Apparently, responsibility

for sacred treasures could be transferred between gods, but

even with that in mind, I needed to make this one by myself.

"Okay, so we've determined he can help me. Where would

I find him, though?"

"Huh? Can't you just use [Search] for that?"

"Oh...right."

Duh! I've met the guy before, so I can just look him up.

That was a pretty stupid question.

I turned away from Karen, who was staring at me like I

was a moron, and looked over my phone's map for the god of

crafting.

"Hmmm... Oh? He's in Mismede's capital. Guess he didn't

stray too far from Brunhild."

The god of crafting was clearly in Berge, Capital of Beasts.

He wasn't in the central metropolitan area, but he was

definitely in Berge.

"Makes sense. There's plenty of good quality ore, lumber,

soil, and so on in Mismede. It's the logical place for a

natural-born craftsman to settle."

Makes sense. The sea of trees is nearby too, so that gives

him easy access to wood... Probably high-quality wood to

boot. Thank the gods for the gods. I've got a way to deal

with this!

I could use [Gate] to get to him since I'd been to Berge

multiple times in the past.

"Then Ih'm coming witsch ya!"

"Gaaah! Don't just appear outta nowhere!"

Suika suddenly teleported in front of me, scaring me half

to death.

What the hell was that for?! I'm getting real tired of you

people doing that!

"...Why do you wanna go with me?"

"I wanna try sumh Mishmede booze... And get, hic!

Getsch me a new sake bottle and sake cup fromh the god of

crafting..."

Can he make those? I guess they're traditionally made of

ceramics, so they count as crafting work...

He was surely an incredibly skilled craftsman, but part of

me pictured him creating those things for Suika only for her

to smash them while cackling in a drunken stupor...

"Well, whatever. Let's go see him."

I opened up a portal to Berge and stepped on through. As

I passed through to the back alley, the strong glare from the

sunlight caught my eyes.

"Man, it's hot..."

Mismede's climate was far hotter than Brunhild's. It

wasn't nearly as humid as Japan, though. It was a kind of

dry, more bearable heat.

We started walking through the bustling streets.

Mismede's palace, which resembled the Taj Mahal, loomed

over the cityscape in the distance. Mismede's population was

mostly made up of beastfolk, and many different kinds

passed by us as we walked. These streets would become even

busier after the train lines reached the city.

"Let'sch start at the booze stooore..."

"Hey, no way. Why would we?!"

Suika started to merrily skip down the path ahead of me.

Wasn't our priority the god of crafting? Suika swiveled

around and smiled wide before letting out a happy sigh. She

was kinda pissing me off.

"You don't get it, Touyaaa... D'ya think he'll jusht teach'ya

if you barge in withouht a lihttle gift?"

Ugh... I hate to admit it, but she's got a point.

It'd have been rude of me to go to the god of crafting

seeking his assistance with nothing to offer. I should've

prepared a selection of cakes or something.

"Thaaaht's whyyy...we'll give him a lihttle booze frum

Mishmede, and shum booze from Earth that I know you

keep hiding in your, hic! In your [Schtorage]. He likes a

good drinky, so he'll 'ppreshiate it."

You're just looking for an excuse to drink, aren't you? My

grandpa's secret booze stash is limited, you know? I put it

in my [Storage] for a reason... I guess one bottle can't

hurt, though.

She might've been annoying as hell, but she was still the

goddess of alcohol. She had the best intuition when it came

to finding good booze. It was just about her only talent, so I

could afford to let her help this once.

"...You mahkin' fun of me in your head?"

"Of course not."

I ignored Suika's surprisingly sharp senses before

entering a nearby liquor store with her. There were all

manner of drinks lining the walls. The kind of selection

you'd come to expect from a store in a capital city.

Oh, interesting... There are different specialties by

different species. I wonder how the honey wine from the

bear beastfolk tastes... Won't this do?

"Lemme handle this. All you gotta do is, hic, foot the bill!"

Suika said as she toddled off to check more of the goods.

I don't exactly like being her walking wallet, but I have to

defer to her superior taste in alcohol. I might be married,

but I'm still a minor. How am I supposed to develop a taste

for booze?

In this world I was already classified as an adult, but I'd

promised myself that I wouldn't take up drinking until I at

least turned twenty. That being said, I had already had a few

drinks by this point... My wives had drunk their fair share

with me, after all...

After a while, Suika came back and lined up various

bottles on the counter. I shrugged and paid for them all.

Over half of her purchases were for her personal collection,

apparently. I even noticed that she'd bought the honey wine

I'd been eyeing up.

"Thank youuu!"

We left the store, and a very happy shopkeeper, behind us.

"Okay, time to go find the god of crafting..."

"Time for bar snacks!"

"C'mon..."

I stopped Suika from running off to another store. I had

plenty of snacks in my [Storage], so we didn't need to go

shopping.

She sulked, but tagged along behind me as I headed to a

house on the outskirts of the capital. It was a single-floor

home, built slightly elevated and next to a large tree. A man

was sitting out on the front porch, whittling at a piece of

wood with a small knife.

"Here you are, eh?"

"God of crafting! It'sch been too long!"

The god of crafting smiled as he saw Suika run over to

him. Apparently, he'd been expecting me. If I had to guess,

he'd probably sensed my [Search] spell.

"Nice to see you again, crafting god."

"They call me Kraft down here. You're welcome to do the

same, new god."

"Then you can call me Touya."

"Sure thing, Touya."

Even as we spoke, his hand never stopped whittling away

at the wood. Before my very eyes, the rough and raw

material took the form of a little bear with a salmon in its

mouth.

Wait, I've seen something like that at my grandpa's

before.

"What is it?"

"Just a little side fun. Should be worth a tidy sum."

The god of crafting, Kraft, tossed the little figurine my

way. I was shocked by how realistic it looked... The surface

was astonishingly smooth, even though it had only been

whittled with a knife. Just how had he gotten it to this state?

I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"Well, come on in. I take it you need something?"

Kraft's home was filled with all kinds of objects. He had a

potter's wheel for ceramics, a carving chisel, one of those

tubes people used for glasswork, and tons of other things

related to crafting. He even had a weaver's loom in the

corner. Just how many different kinds of crafts was this man

capable of creating?

We set out the alcohol we'd brought as a gift, then

explained what I needed.

"I see... A sacred treasure, eh? I'd be glad to teach you.

Hell, you're one of God Almighty's favored, so it's not like

it'll take you long to pick up. Might take a month or two,

though. Maybe three."

Ho ho ho... Finally, an answer for the time frame.

But...up to three months? That's kind of a long time.

"Normally, it'd take a hundred years or so for a total

newbie to figure it out. If you keep that in mind, I think

you'll find a couple of months is no time at all."

A hundred?! Okay, you're kinda selling it better...

I was basically a brand-new god, so in terms of status, I

was still a small fry. But apparently in terms of divinity, I

was actually on the same level as a tenured senior among the

gods. That was all thanks to the fact that I had God

Almighty's blessing.

One's divinity was a major factor in determining sacred

treasure creation, so my extra divinity lessened the time

severely. It kind of felt like I was cheating, to be honest...but

I decided not to dwell on that.

"So, there are a few restrictions. You can't make a sacred

treasure that's stronger than you. You can't give a sacred

treasure an ability you don't have either. In short, a sacred

treasure is an extension of you. It's just a tool that lets

humans use godlike power."

Huh, really...? I thought I might be able to make a sacred

treasure that tracked down the wicked devout, but I guess I

can't do that. Even if I could make something like that, it'd

only be able to search about as well as I can... Massproducing that kind of thing is definitely off the table.

"Now I'll explain the next bit."

"Thanks."

Kraft popped open a bottle of booze and began to slowly

pour it into a glass. I could only assume he'd crafted it

himself. Suika needily waggled her empty cup, prompting

him to pour some into hers as well.

...She really just came here to drink, huh?

"So, the first thing your sacred treasure needs is a vessel."

"A vessel?"

"Something you pour your divinity into. Could be a sword,

a ring, or a vase. Anything like that can be used as a base

vessel."

Okay, something to pour my divinity into... Noted.

"You've gotta pick the vessel while keeping the kind of

ability you wanna give it in mind. If the ability you want it to

have is, let's say...super sharpness, then it makes sense to

infuse that into a sword, right? Conversely, you wouldn't

wanna infuse that into a wooden bear statuette."

"Uh-huh..."

...A super sharp wooden bear statuette? Would it shred

your hands to bits if you picked it up?

"So if a wooden bear was the vessel, would an ability like,

uh...warding be better?"

"That's right. That fits much better. So in your case, you

need to find a suitable vessel for whatever can prevent

teleportation magic and whatnot. You could do that with a

wooden bear statuette as your vessel, but it wouldn't be

ideal."

Yeah, it doesn't have to be that one specifically. It could

be any other kind of object. If I had to use a statuette, I'd

prefer a carving of a cute girl over a bear, anyway.

"You also need to consider whether the effect you want is

actually based around stopping teleportation magic. If you

ask me, it's not likely that this fella's actually using magic. If

you go to all the trouble of making a sacred treasure, but it's

ineffective... Well, that's just a useless item."

That's true. Like Doc Babylon said, it's probably more a

result of the wicked god's power than magic.

Simply trapping the enemy would be enough, so perhaps

infusing it with the ability to deploy a divinity-charged

[Prison] was what I needed... After all, it wouldn't be me

wielding the sacred treasure, so I wouldn't be breaking any

rules. Clearly, I had a lot to think about.