The Wicked Devout

Come to think of it...what Null magic can you use?"

It'd been a day since Arcia had arrived at the castle. She'd hounded me to

take her to the nearby market, so that's where we were.

"My Null magic? I can use [Search] and [Apport]. The range on them is rather

short, however, so there's little to no tactical application. Therefore, I mostly

use them for easy access to ingredients while I cook."

"Huh, that's a pretty novel usage..."

[Search] was handy for foraging in the wild, while [Apport] made it easy to

harvest fruit from high places. If she was finding use out of it in such a simple

way, that was fine... Probably.

"I can also use it to identify poisoned or rotten ingredients."

That seemed smart. I'd used [Search] to find poison before. It actually

seemed like a pretty useful spell for a cook to have.

"Ah, father! They have apples! I'd like to make an apple pie, so let's buy

some!"

"Do you make a lot of desserts, Arcia?"

"If anything, I'd say they're my specialty! You're not the biggest fan of sweet

treats, but my siblings constantly ask for them."

It's not that I don't like sweet stuff, I just can't eat too many of them...

If I were able to, I'd certainly have eaten a great many cakes. But there simply

reached a point where my stomach and tongue could take no more. The

mystery of how women could consume dessert after dessert boggled my mind,

even now.

Yae was capable of eating a whole cake in one fell swoop... Though that was

more on account of her being a Yae than her being a woman.

Maybe I should buy something to bring back for the kids?

Just as I was wondering what to buy, the crowd around me started to murmur

and stir. What were they getting so worked up about?

"Huh? What's that up in the sky?"

"Beats me. One of the grand duke's newest magic whatsits, probably?"

I glanced upward and, sure enough, there was some kind of flying object far

off above the clouds... It was slowly moving forward.

"[Long Sense]."

I projected my vision into the air to try to make some sense of this

unidentified flying object.

Is that...an airship?

Beneath the rugby ball-shaped gasbag, I could see a flight deck flanked by two

winged propellers. The hull had a pair of long armlike parts protruding from the

front.

It wasn't a magical artifact like people around here expected, but an invention

from the western continent, the former Reverse World. It was probably a

Gollem of some sort.

I wondered what they wanted from me... I didn't like taking new arrivals

without advance warning, but we didn't really have any set precedent when it

came to airspace violations.

Gollems that large were usually exclusively owned by the rich and powerful,

or states themselves. Either way, it meant whoever was in that thing was

probably a big deal.

I'd heard Gollem airships weren't capable of traversing huge distances

either...so I couldn't help but wonder where this thing was from. One thing was

clear, though. I couldn't just stand by and wait to see what it did. I didn't think

they were hostile, but I also couldn't really afford to gamble.

"Let's go, Arcia."

Arcia was still looking over the apples when I grabbed her hand and invoked

[Teleport]. We vanished, then reappeared at the northern training field.

I pulled Reginleif out of [Storage] and clambered up to the cockpit. It was

designed for a single pilot, but there was enough room for a small child to

squeeze in with me.

Well, I was hardly gonna leave her behind...but why's she sitting on my lap?

It's hard to see the monitor from here...

I activated Reginleif and launched up into the sky. In a flash, I flew in front of

the airship and activated my [Speaker] spell to project my voice ahead.

"Attention, incoming airship. This airspace falls under the territory of the

Duchy of Brunhild. Disembark immediately and make your reasons for entry

known. Should sufficient time pass without a response, we will be forced to

remove you from our airspace."

I figured I'd just issue a warning. It could lead to them becoming hostile, or

maybe they'd change course. It'd be annoying if they went to a different

country, though... Air travel was still a relatively unknown thing on the eastern

continent, so I figured I'd make it a topic of discussion next time all the world

leaders gathered.

To be honest, one [Fireball] shot would be enough to bring the whole thing

crashing down... Provided it didn't have some kind of protective barrier,

anyway.

"Father, it's making a descent."

"Oh, guess they're listening."

I brought Reginleif down to the ground, parking it in tandem with the airship.

A long, leglike landing gear emerged from the hull, allowing the airship to

quietly settle on a nearby hill.

I left Arcia in the cockpit and hopped out, ready to greet whoever was inside

this thing. The hatch opened...and various people came out. A few of them

even looked like dwarves. I wondered if they were the ship's mechanics.

Huh? What the...?

An old man with a bushy, bearlike mustache was sprinting toward me at full

pelt. His eyes were glimmering and he was yelling incoherent stuff.

The hell is he doing?!

"[Shield]!"

"Gwaugh!"

The old man collided with the invisible barrier and fell backward. His nose was

completely busted, his mustache soaked with blood.

What the hell, man?! How fast did you wanna run into that thing?

"Don't just start chargin' at them outta nowhere! Ya got rusty parts fer

brains?!"

A gorgeous woman suddenly appeared, kicking the old man repeatedly in the

side. She looked to be in her thirties.

...What is going on?

"Sorry for the shock there, partner. This moron saw that fancy Gollem of

yours and couldn't help himself."

"R-Right..."

Reginleif's not a Gollem, but I'll put that aside for now.

The woman chuckled slightly as she stomped on the man some more. It

was...quite the sight to behold, honestly. Her light brown hair was tied up and

she wore coarse-looking gray coveralls. She had a greasy towel at her waist and

a leather bag of tools tied to her side. She was the very picture of a

craftswoman.

I glanced down at the mustached man again and noticed that he was dressed

the same. The two were likely Gollem engineers.

"The rumors about this place really were true, eh? Worth the trip from

Gandhilis, that's fer sure!"

"Gandhilis? So you're envoys from the Steel Nation?"

Gandhilis, the Steel Nation, was a mining country south of Allent and east of

Gardio. It was abundant in natural resources, so they exported a lot of the

materials required to make Gollems.

"Naw, not quite. We're just from Gandhilis. Ain't here on nothin' official.

We're a group called the Seekers."

...Seekers? Think I've heard of that before... Oh, right! They're that group on

the same level as Elluka! One of the five great gollemancers!

"We're an engineerin' guild. Since we're a collective, our title applies to the

group an' no one person. By the by, that sorry sack'a screws on the floor next to

me is Mario Phalanx, of Gilmouth. I'm Ripple Phalanx, his lady fair."

"Wait, you're married?!"

Why were you kicking him, then?! That's domestic abuse!

I felt a little sorry for the guy, honestly.

Mario, huh? With that mustache? Yeah, that tracks.

"Wait...are you two Parullel's parents?"

When I said that, Ripple's eyes went wide.

"You know our daughter?"

"Well, I met her once. She was with the princess of Gandhilis..."

It was back when we held that matchmaking party in Refreese. Parullel and

Princess Cornelia had masterminded a plan to switch out one of the attendees

with a Gollem replacement. And that meant these two were the ones who

created that Gollem... Or rather, they were the two who'd restored it.

"By the way, you ain't introduced yourself yet."

"Oh, my bad. I'm Mochizuki Touya, the grand duke of Brunhild. I run things

around here."

"Y-Yer the ruler'a the country?!"

When I mentioned who I was, she started freaking out. It was a sight I'd seen

many times before, so I wasn't surprised... I just wondered when I'd have the

presence or royal air required for people to know at a glance. Maybe I needed a

beard...

"...Uhhh, well, please fergive my hubby's disrespectful conduct... An' my own,

obviously."

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about that. I was originally an adventurer, so you don't

need to put on airs with me."

"Whew! S'a relief to me. Our lot don't got much in the way'a decorum an'

whatnot. S'why I left our little lass with the princess."

Ripple looked more than relieved by my words. Did she think I was gonna

arrest her husband or something?

"So, uh, what brings you guys to Brunhild?"

"Oh, aye. Two reasons. One, to see yer giant Gollems like that one up close.

Two, we heard Elluka's kickin' about here. Can we see her?"

They know Elluka? Guess that makes sense, since she's one of the five great

gollemancers... The Restoration Queen, as I recall. What do they want with her,

though?

"Before that, though...I'd love to take a lookit this thing up close an'

personal," Ripple said as she suddenly pointed over at Reginleif, her eyes

burning with all the same fervor I'd seen in Mario's earlier.

W-Welp... She's clearly just as nutty about tech as he is.

"Well, I guess you can take a look..."

"Hear that, lads? We got consent!"

"HOOOOOOOOOH!"

The ground rumbled as dwarves and men charged full steam ahead toward

Reginleif.

"Wot's it made of? Ain't mythril're orichalcum, izzit?"

"Hey! The armor plating has magical stuff coated right over it!"

"How's it supportin' all that bulk on these slim legs?!"

It was a weird sight, seeing a group of mostly middle-aged men clinging and

scuttling around Reginleif's feet like they were ants. I wondered if all tech

fanatics were like this...

"E-Eek! Father! Th-This is scary!"

"Oh, oops..."

I looked up at Arcia, who was sitting in the cockpit and trembling at the sight

of the weird old guys crawling all over the mech. She was a gold or silver rank

adventurer, so she was hardly in any danger, but she was probably too

understandably freaked out by the situation to think like that.

I used [Fly] to zoom up and rescue Arcia, and the moment we came down, the

hungry-eyed mechanics started crawling up even higher...

Damn it, guys. I thought you just wanted to look!

I quickly packed my Reginleif back into [Storage] and pulled out a Chevalier in

its place. I didn't want them damaging my masterpiece.

"There's another one?!"

The men immediately started swarming the Chevalier. They were like ants.

Even Mario scrambled up, apparently having fully recovered from his busted

nose, to clamber over the Chevalier's foot.

"Gosh, son... This is plenty crazy. How many'a these things you got?"

"You mean, like, how many Frame Gears? Probably a bit less than a

thousand."

"A th-thousand?!" Ripple roared, then froze in disbelief.

I'd stopped mass-producing the Frame Gears after we beat the wicked god, so

it wasn't as many as there could've been. The main thing Brunhild used them

for nowadays was killing Behemoths, since they'd started popping up a little

more frequently all over the world. They were also used for disaster prevention

and general relief efforts. I had a feeling that if the engineers from both east

and west put their minds together, they'd be able to make something good

based on the technology... Nothing like those shoddy knock-offs I'd destroyed a

while back at least.

I had a feeling these guys were itching to put their creative minds to use. But

there was no point pondering on their intentions just yet. I decided to call up

Elluka and see what she had to say first.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Hm? What's going on here?" Doc Babylon, who'd come down with Elluka

after I'd called, couldn't help but mutter in disbelief upon seeing the group of

engineers crowding around the Chevalier.

"Don't ask me, they're just doing what they want..."

"They're just excited to see some rare magitech. They're like little kids, really.

It's cute. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Mh... If it's botherin' ya that much, I can always make 'em knock it off."

At Elluka's words, Ripple grinned and waved around the wrench in her hand.

...Don't think you need to go that far, right? You don't need to beat them up!

"Ohoooh! This is a very rare Gollem airship! Is this mithril?! Wait, it's partially

composed of high-mithril, isn't it?! That's genius! It'll help absorb impacts

considerably..."

My daughter, Quun, was freaking out about the Seekers' airship. It didn't

seem all that different from how they were freaking out about our Frame Gear,

sadly.

That was definitely like her... The moment I'd mentioned the group had come

here, she'd charged down from Babylon with the others.

"She's always the same, that girl..." Arcia mumbled as she gazed over at her

sister and shook her head.

Quun, snap out of it... You're gonna lose some of your sister's respect!

Elluka glanced over at me with a shrug, then turned to Ripple.

"So, why Brunhild? You didn't come this far just to see little old me, did you?"

"Oh, yer sayin' we oughta not've come to see ya, then? Psh... Well, it ain't a

leisure visit. There's somethin' we need you to look at," Ripple said, then

reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a few sheets of paper. They

looked to be photographs...or at least very photorealistic sketches.

"Oh my..."

"Mhm. These're the latest excavations from our Gandhilis dig. Know anythin'

about it?"

"It's some kind of ship, surely... But that size..."

I glanced over from behind Elluka to get a good look at the pictures. The

snapshots showed what appeared to be some kind of massive underground

dock, and docked there was an equally massive ship. The person standing next

to it in the photo was so dwarfed by it that it had to be half the size of one of

the Babylon islands.

...This ship looks...kind of like a spaceship, doesn't it?

"This must be a vessel from an ancient civilization! Wait, that mark... Is that

emblem...?" Elluka trailed off and stared at the image in disbelief. There was an

insignia etched into the ship's hull, and I vaguely recognized what it meant

too...

"That's the same mark all the crown Gollems have!"

"Precisely... This ship may have been built by Chrom Ranchesse, the genius

from the far past. He created the crowns, after all."

Chrom Ranchesse was a brilliant man from the far past who'd used his vast

abilities to create the black and white crown Gollems, utilizing their power to

transcend the space and time barrier between the regular and Reverse Worlds.

What's more, he was the one who'd stopped the Phrase invasion five thousand

years ago, even if it was incidental. However, the white crown going into

overdrive caused him to lose all his memories...

"Don't tell me the ship itself could be a crown... That's impossible, right?!"

"It ain't impossible, but s'hard to say right now. We couldn't get in the ship to

investigate, y'see. S'why I figured we oughta investigate the crowns a bit more

closely an' get some clues. I heard the black, white, an' red ones were here, so

yeah."

Makes sense... So Ripple and the others came here to look into the crowns...

The purple one's here too, but it's not exactly good at communicating.

"The blue an' green crowns belong to royals, so we figured comin' out here

would be our best bet, y'know?"

"The white crown technically belongs to a royal family too, just saying..."

Illuminati Albus, the white crown, was provisionally contracted to Yumina,

which meant it was tied to the Brunhild royal family.

"It's barely been a year since your wife made a contract with it, Touya. The

blue and green crowns have been with their royals for generations. It's hard

enough just meeting a crown, and by requesting an audience, they'd have to

make those royal families privy to the discovery of the great ship. We should be

thankful they came to us, as it means they trust us with the information!"

That made a lot of sense. The ship was a massive discovery, and any country

would probably have loved to have gotten their hands on that kind of

information. I didn't personally have an interest in it, so they were smart in

coming to us. We had similar stuff in Babylon's hangar anyway.

I guess if they wanna talk to Albus, that's fine...

I was suddenly pulled from my inner monologue by a tugging at my sleeve.

"Father! This is incredible! An ancient Gollem...and one created by the

crowns' progenitor at that?! What a discovery!"

Oh crap... Forgot to account for my fanatic of a daughter.

I didn't know how long she'd been staring at the pictures, but Quun's eyes

were brimming with a curious light.

"Hoh... I'm rather interested in this, Touya. I think we should investigate."

I turned toward Doc Babylon and let out a small sigh.

Dammit... Guess I can't just pawn this off and call it a day, huh? Well,

whatever. Time to grab Yumina and Albus, I guess!

◇ ◇ ◇

"A ship? Constructed by Chrom Ranchesse? Probable outcome: The Ark,"

Illuminati Albus, the white crown, said plainly.

"The...Ark?"

"The Ark. Chrom Ranchesse's mobile factory. Crowns such as myself were

produced there."

...So it's a moving structure for creating Gollems? That's pretty similar to

Babylon's workshop...

According to Albus, Chrom Ranchesse was an eccentric wanderer who'd

pledged allegiance to no particular country. Thus, he roamed the land in his

mobile ship-cum-fortress, the Ark.

I couldn't help but notice the similarities he had to a certain annoying doctor

in my own entourage.

"Hey, Albus... There aren't nine Arks, are there? Please tell me there aren't."

"Negative. As far as I am aware, there is only one."

Oh, thank goodness...

"I was scared for a minute there."

Ripple, who was standing nearby with the rest of her Seekers, suddenly spoke

up.

"So, uh, how d'we get inta this ark'a yours?"

"We crowns are the key. Any of us should be able to open it."

I see...

"So the crowns themselves are the only way to access it. No wonder they

couldn't get into it."

"Mister Grand Duke... Wouldja be able to lend us yer white crown? We really

need to start investigating that ship..." Mario, the old mustachioed man, said

and turned his pleading eyes my way. But as sympathetic as I felt, I couldn't just

lend it out to him that easily.

"Well, I'm not sure..."

"Father! I have an idea! Send me over there with Albus as a representative of

Brunhild! It'll be a fine act to benefit our international—"

"Denied. You think we aren't aware of your lustful gaze for all things

technological? I see through you, girl." Leen coldly rejected Quun's proposal. I

wasn't too surprised, to be honest.

"Mother, please!"

I was actually somewhat interested in this Ark, though. If it was the ancient

legacy of the master gollemancer who'd crafted the crowns, then it had to be of

considerable historical value. Though, more importantly than that, the power of

the Ark was a complete mystery, so it felt like I was obligated to investigate in

case it housed some vast and terrible ability that could be misused.

"If it's Chrom Ranchesse's workshop, then I must see it! We could decipher

the mysteries of the crowns!"

"Indeed, I'm rather curious as well. How can you expect us to hold back when

it comes to unknown technology, Touya?"

Elluka and Babylon were both staring at me as if they'd already made their

minds up.

Now hold on! If I let you go, then Quun'll get mad! Agh, whatever... There's

not much I can do here...

I'd been wanting to visit Gandhilis at least once. Princess Cordelia had

mentioned that the ruler of the country was a kind and gentle man.

"All right... We'll escort Albus to the ruins with you. Is that okay, Yumina?"

"Of course. No objections here."

Albus belonged to the Brunhild royal family, but he was still contracted to

Yumina. That was why it was only polite to ask for proper permission.

"Father! If you're going, then I'm going! I can't miss out on this!"

"No fair, father! If she goes, then I get to go as well!"

"You two..." I groaned quietly as Quun and Arcia started bickering right next

to me.

Fine, you can join me... But this isn't a grand day out, you know? It's serious

stuff!

◇ ◇ ◇

"WHOAAAAAA! WE'RE FAST! IT'S CRAZY FAST!"

The old man, Mario, looked out the window as the scenery flew by. He was

hopping up and down like a little kid. And it wasn't just Mario who was so

fervently freaking out either...all the old guys of the Seekers were in the same

boat.

We were currently aboard the Balmung, a high-speed aircraft built by Doctor

Babylon.

We realized it'd take weeks to return to Gandhilis if we went with the Seekers

in their airship. I'd also never been to Gandhilis, so opening up a [Gate] wasn't

an option. That was when Doc Babylon spoke up, saying she had a little

something in the hangar. It was a high-speed airship built to transport Frame

Gears nearly five thousand years ago. I never had a reason to use it before,

since I could just freely teleport around, but it definitely came in handy when

transporting large groups.

The Seekers were concerned about their airship, so I put it in my [Storage].

Seekers aside, I was accompanied by Yumina, Leen, Quun, Lu, Arcia, Doc

Babylon, and Elluka. Albus, Fenrir, and Paula were also there.

"God... Never thought I'd see an airship kickin' about like this... They got lotsa

these here on yer continent?"

"Not really, no. Only in Brunhild. This country doesn't exactly adhere to rules

of common sense, especially not its crazy leader. It's a rather psychotic nation,

all things considered."

I couldn't help but overhear a rather rude conversation going on between

Ripple and Elluka.

The only psycho in Brunhild is Doc Babylon! Blame her for all this!

As I grumbled internally, Yumina simply sighed and muttered something

about me needing to see things in more objective terms. What did she mean by

that?

"At this speed, we ought to be in Gandhilis within the hour." Doc Babylon had

glanced at the time on her phone before speaking. Balmung operated on a

sophisticated autopilot, so we'd make it there even if we all fell asleep.

It'd have probably been faster if I'd used [Fly] and opened up a [Gate] over

there, but the old geezers were far too enamored by Balmung, so they promptly

rejected that idea. Quun quite passionately rejected my plan as well. An hour

wasn't too much to waste, though, so it wasn't worth throwing a tantrum over.

Doc Babylon and Elluka were chatting about complex stuff with Ripple and

Mario, while Quun listened in with great interest. Albus and Fenrir were also

muttering about something, but it didn't seem all that spirited a conversation.

Paula was just kind of walking around in circles. Lu and Arcia had busied

themselves on Balmung's kitchen deck and had argued with each other over

who would bring me food. They ended up bringing me way too much, though! I

quietly apologized to the girls and shared the vast servings with the old men. I

couldn't help but chuckle at how similar Lu and Arcia were, even as they

grumbled.

"Hm, is this the place?"

"Ayup. That's the Pistes Mountains. We're in Gandhilis territory now," Mario

said and nodded in response to Doc Babylon. We'd clearly been flying for longer

than I'd thought.

We headed toward the bridge and looked out the windows. The mountainous

view fit the rugged descriptions I'd been given of Gandhilis. There were

mountain basins spread out with towns and settlements built into them, as well

as long, winding mountain roads that connected them.

"Wait... Tunnel systems?"

"Built by the dwarves in ages past. Some by hand, but most were done by

specialized Gollems," Ripple casually answered my question.

Dwarves, huh...? Guess they're stereotypically miners, so that tracks... I

glanced over at a group of dwarves among the Seekers as I had that thought.

"Should be coming up right about now... Huh? Wait, that's not right..." Mario

mumbled those words and squinted his eyes as he looked ahead. There was

smoke rising into the air from the foot of the mountain.

"Is that the entrance to the ruins?"

"Sure is. S'where the Gandhilis knights and the exploratory engineers are

stationed... But what's with the smoke?"

"Where there's smoke, there's fire..." Doctor Babylon made a comment that I

very much agreed with.

"[Long Sense]!"

I projected my senses into the smoke. It was far thicker closer to the

entrance. Various tents had been torn open or set ablaze...and there were

various pieces of destroyed Gollems strewn about as well. Presumably, they

were combat Gollems owned by the Gandhilis military.

"I can't get a full read on the situation, but there's clearly been an attack.

There are a bunch of trashed Gandhilis Gollems around the area."

"What'd you say?!" Ripple exclaimed. She couldn't help but express her shock

upon hearing those words.

Doc Babylon moved to Balmung's pilot seat and increased our speed. Once

we got close enough to see the situation out the window, a look of horror

dawned on everyone's faces.

The entire encampment was burning. And it wasn't just broken Gollems

littering the place either. There were fallen people all over the place.

The second Balmung landed, the Seekers dashed out to investigate. There

was no immediate sign of any enemy activity. At first, I wondered if they'd fled,

but it was more likely that they'd proceeded deeper into the ruins. The

entrance was fairly wide, and it led to a cavernous space... You'd be able to fit a

lot of people and Gollems down there.

"Pull it together, lad! Listen to me! Stay with me!"

I came to my senses when I heard Mario screaming as he shook a dying man

in his arms.

Oh, crap. I can ponder later... Need to heal any survivors first.

I quickly cast [Area Heal], targeting any injured or dying individual in the

immediate vicinity. In a stroke of incredible luck, not a single person had died

yet. The man Mario was shaking suddenly blinked in surprise as he stood up,

fully healed.

"Was that...Healing magic? Yer insane..."

I shot an awkward smile at Mario and Ripple, who seemed utterly baffled by

my spell. Then, I turned to question a young soldier.

"What happened here?"

"Huh? O-Oh, um...we were suddenly attacked, sir. By a strange group. I only

saw one man...and he wore a funny mask... He had peculiar four-armed

Gollems that were all lanky and thin... There were dozens of them!"

"Funny masks?"

"Yes, sir. Covered their whole heads, they did. Long beaks on 'em, like

crows..."

Crow-like beaked masks? Sounds kinda like plague doctor masks... That's

certainly weird.

I looked closely at the wreckage around us and saw evidence of the fourarmed Gollems he described. They had round heads and capes on their backs,

which kind of made them resemble scarecrows.

"So, where'd they go?"

"Into the ruins, I think..."

"Then they're after Chrom's ship... Damn it all! Who leaked?!"

I could feel Mario's anger as he kicked a nearby crate. The Ark beneath these

ruins was the legacy of the crown's creator. It went without saying that any

country would probably kill to have its power. There was always the chance this

was some random bandit attack, but it felt much more like the doing of some

organized force.

"The ship's locked though, is it not? You need a crown to get in."

"Use your head, mother. There's no actual reason to walk in the conventional

way. If you don't fear a little collateral damage, you could easily break in

elsewhere," Quun said plainly in response to Leen.

That was definitely a possibility. I knew graverobbers and certain relic hunters

had a habit of blowing stuff up and asking questions later. Though, there was no

way of knowing if these people would be like that or not. Personally, I hoped

that the creator of the crowns had a more sophisticated security system on his

main production ship.

"Then they might destroy it?! Unacceptable! That Ark's a treasure trove of

ancient tech, I say! We're gonna get those bastards and show 'em what for!"

Both the Seekers and the Gandhilis knights raised their fists in agreement

upon hearing Mario's rousing words.

...Your Gollems are still broken, you know? What're you gonna do?

"Hrm. I'd really prefer there to be no damage done to any valuable data. I'm

of the opinion that we should hurry."

"Yeah, I guess."

I definitely agreed with Doc Babylon on that front. I didn't want these

attackers recklessly trashing vital information.

Mario's men charged on ahead into the ruins, and we followed after.

Apparently, the ruin was made up of seven underground levels and the dock

with the ship was at the lowest point. The structure was surprisingly complex,

so Ripple opened up a map for us to inspect.

"Right about here... I think this'd be the fastest route. Without a map, the

trespassers ain't gonna get too far."

The map reminded me of a subway back on Earth. The area was pretty

intricately designed. I'd definitely have gotten lost without it.

"Master. Requesting permission to interject."

"Hm? What do you mean, Albus?" Yumina asked with a raised brow.

Albus took the map from Ripple and pointed a small mechanical finger at a

point on the top floor.

Huh? There's nothing marked there...

"This area holds a private elevator that leads directly to the bottom floor."

"Whaaat?! How'd you figure that out?!"

"This site was created by Chrom Ranchesse to act as a hideout. I have been

here before."

That made sense. It was only natural that Albus would know about it, being

one of Chrom's creations and all. But if that was the case, why hadn't Albus told

us about the Ark existing sooner?

"The High Master instilled several secretive directives within the crown series.

We are not permitted to speak of them. This goes for all crown models."

"Huh, I see... That Chrom Ranchesse fellow certainly is secretive, isn't he?"

"Can't blame him for that, Yumina. People with top-tier tech often get no end

of hassle from people who want to steal from them. It's understandable why

he'd wanna hide, yeah? I mean, I hid Babylon for the exact same reason," Doc

Babylon said as she nodded her head slowly.

I could understand that. If I remembered right, royals of the past had often

demanded she hand over Babylon, Cesca, and the other Babylon Gynoids.

"All right, let's hurry along, then."

We all headed over to the place Albus pointed out on the map. At first glance,

it seemed to be nothing more than a plain white wall. But then, I noticed a little

spellstone in an alcove. I channeled my magic through it, and part of the wall

split open and pulled apart like elevator doors.

There wasn't enough space in the elevator for all of us to cram in, so once I

and the others from Brunhild got in, Mario, Ripple, some of the Seekers, and a

few Gandhilis knights squeezed between us. Then, we headed straight down to

the dock level.

The doors closed and the box we were in began its descent. There was

nothing inside the box, but I couldn't help but look around for some kind of

electronic display showing the floor number... Seemed I was too used to Earth

elevators.

Eventually, a small ding resounded and the doors opened wide...revealing a

group of several lanky, four-armed Gollems that were scuttling around in the

darkness.

"I-It's them! Those are the Gollems that attacked us!" one of the knights in

the elevator exclaimed.

"VWEEEP. VWOOORP!"

One of the four-armed Gollems charged at us, leaping around like a monkey. I

calmly pulled Brunhild from my waist, shooting it square in the chest. The

gunshot rang out and a tiny whirlwind appeared where the bullet struck the

Gollem, ripping it apart. My bullets were currently infused with the Wind spell,

[Spiral Lance].

"Don't just stand there, lads! Trash them!"

"Aye aye!"

At Mario's command, a group of Seekers charged out of the elevator. They

weren't just engineers, but famed explorers as well. It was only natural that

they were used to a little rough and tumble. They stampeded toward the fourarmed Gollems, wrenches and hammers in hand.

The knights we'd brought with us also stepped out of the elevator, running

after them.

"VWEEEP!"

I quickly transformed Brunhild into blade mode, joining the scuffle between

man and machine. The space was a little too narrow to be shooting, and I didn't

want to risk friendly fire.

Quun, on the other hand, pulled out her spellcaster gun and started aiming

down the sights. A bolt of lightning spewed from the barrel, jumping from

enemy to enemy.

That thing's pretty good... I should make one for myself.

"Hrkh!"

"Gah!"

A few of our allies were blasted back by the four-armed Gollems. They had a

surprising amount of power, given how slim and lanky they were.

"Man, this is taking way too long. [Slip]!"

"VWEEEP?!"

The four-armed Gollems started sliding and falling all over the place, allowing

the old dudes to bash them to bits with hammers until they stopped moving.

"What are these things? They don't look like legacy models."

"Their base bodies are similar to Gollems I've seen in Isengard."

"But the arms and legs're more like Gardio ones..."

The Seekers started poking at the fallen Gollems, trying to ascertain their

origins. I personally thought we could save that for later, however.

"Dead ahead. The dock is approximately one hundred meters in that

direction."

"Got it. Let's roll."

We left some of the old men behind and followed Albus. Our group turned at

the end of the hall, then walked down a dimly lit corridor and headed down

some more stairs. Eventually, we came out into a broad area, which was some

kind of underground lake. The ship was floating atop it.

It was massive. Bigger than I'd assumed, really. No matter how you looked at

it, it was more like a spaceship than any seafaring vessel I'd ever seen. It had no

sails, and there was some kind of huge engine-like thing affixed to the hull.

"...This thing doesn't fly, does it?"

"Negative. The Ark is a non-aerial vehicle. It is a submersible aquatic vehicle."

Oh, damn... So it's a submarine?! Guess it does kinda look like one, now I think

about it... But isn't it too big?

"Hmph... T'would seem we have uninvited guests. Gandhilese dogs are most

persistent, aren't they?"

I was snapped out of my surprise by a sudden voice. Then, I turned to see a

figure blocking our path, as if preventing us from reaching the Ark. He wore

black, rounded sunglasses that looked more like goggles. They were affixed to a

metal plague mask with a long, curved beak that had steel rivets fitted up the

side. His coat was long, black, and flowing, complete with a hood pulled over his

head. He also had something that looked like a spray can about his waist, as

well as a thin red rapier at his side. Plus, there was some kind of peculiar

mechanical rucksack on his back, attached to some strange dial on his belt.

Frankly, he seemed more like a retro steampunk cosplayer than anything

else...but something felt seriously off with him. Whatever the case, I had no

idea who this guy was.

"Who are you? A bandit looking for an easy score? Some shadow operative

for another country?"

"Neither, my friend, for I am a mere devout. A follower of the wicked god,

one might say."

"...What?"

The plague-masked man ignored my concerned reaction and casually tossed

the spray can at his waist at me. It rolled toward us, spewing noxious-looking

smoke from inside.

What the—?! Poison?!

"[Prison]!"

I quickly set up a protective ward, saving everyone around me from the

poison. However, the green smoke quickly filled our vision and obscured the

enemy's form.

"I'll be off, then."

In the smoky haze, I saw wing-like attachments pop out of the man's

backpack that propelled him high into the air. I'd never seen anything like it! I

could just barely make him out as he flew over to the Ark and landed atop its

hull... And then, the smoke completely overtook my vision, blocking me from

seeing anything more.

Dammit! What's going on?!

"Spiral forth, O Wind! Raging Sweeping Gale: [Cyclone Storm]!" Leen

exclaimed, conjuring up winds to blow the gas away, which knocked the can

itself into the nearby waters in the process.

With our vision finally clear, we were greeted by naught but the sight of the

calm, underground lake.

The Ark was gone. It had vanished without a trace.

◇ ◇ ◇

"The ship's...gone?"

The massive Ark in front of us had vanished in the blink of an eye. It might not

have been an appropriate thought, but I couldn't help but be reminded of a

magic show... You know, the kind where it'd be all like "Now you see me, now

you don't!" or something along those lines.

"It didn't dive into the lake, did it?"

"No, it vanished far too quickly for that. Plus, the surface of the water is

completely still," I said, shooting down Yumina's suggestion.

It's probably some kinda teleportation magic... Though it might still be there?

Maybe it's just hidden by illusion magic.

I flew over to the dock to make sure it was actually gone. It was.

"Let's see... Run search... Ark. Searching... No Ark found."

Not even my [Search] spell managed to locate it, which meant there must've

been some kind of ward up. I could've always channeled my divinity into the

[Search] spell, allowing me to bypass such contrivances...but that would take

me channeling my divinity outward over the entire search radius. Therefore, it

would only really work if I was looking for things in my immediate vicinity, not

the whole world.

"That masked fellow... His words were somewhat troubling, were they not?"

"...Yeah. He mentioned the wicked god."

Leen's question made me nod along with her. The masked guy had said

something extremely suspect. But was the wicked god he was alluding to the

same one as the NEET I'd defeated? Or was it something else entirely? Wicked

gods could be born from corrupted divinity, usually from sacred treasure... All

they required were enough malice and the right vessel to take on a will of their

own.

As far as I knew, the only sacred treasure on this planet was my smartphone.

Those twin blades that Ende had were in my [Storage], so it couldn't be them

either. I took my smartphone out of my pocket and slowly looked it over.

Seems fine to me?

"The wicked devout... Wasn't that one of the things Granny Tokie was

concerned about? It must mean that— BWUFGH?!"

"Shhh!"

Hm?

I raised a brow and saw Arcia flailing around, her mouth firmly covered by

Quun's hands. Something told me that one of my daughters was speaking out

of turn.

I stared at Quun, but she simply shrugged her shoulders innocently in

response.

Gimme a break... You can't act like that and just start whistling the situation

away.

"...Quun. Do you know anything about this?"

"Not at all, father. We don't know a thing," my daughter said as she smiled

innocently, gazing back at me with innocent eyes. She was just as good as her

mother when it came to playing the fool, apparently.

"You sure about that? I might have to ban you from Babylon..."

"W-Wait, father! Please don't do that! That's no fair!"

Heh... Ye of simple mind... Now I know how to get what I want out of you! WWait, Leen... Don't give me that look!

"Ugh... Think about our company? Can we talk about it later, please?"

"Fine. But let your sister breathe, okay? She's going red in the face."

"Mfh!" Arcia, freed from her sister's grabby confines, took a deep breath.

Quun had a point. It would've been unwise to get into matters concerning

Tokie when we had the Seekers around. I'd just have to probe for more info

once I got home.

"Hm... So what now... Was the Ark really stolen?"

"Seems like it. Teleportation magic of some kind's my best bet," I flatly stated.

I had no other response for Mario's question.

He seemed pretty dejected by my words. And the knights of Gandhilis looked

similarly dismayed. It was no wonder, really. They'd let the legacy of an ancient

genius slip right through their fingers... It was a considerable loss for their

country.

"Hey, Mr. Mario... What was with those four-armed Gollems?"

"Beats me, friend. They're pretty sophisticated stuff. Hybrid models made

outta different pieces are rare. Normally, hybrids like them wouldn't even be

able to move, so their creator's gotta be some kinda crazy genius. If that's the

kinda person who took the Ark from us, well... Tch, we're probably screwed."

I quietly pondered to myself as I heard Mario talking with one of the knights.

Those four-armed Gollems definitely didn't seem run of the mill...which made

his words all the more concerning. If hybrids like that truly required a

sophisticated creator, then we were definitely up against someone who knew

their stuff.

Yumina turned to Albus and asked, "Albus... What exactly can the Ark do?

What is its purpose?"

"The Ark was Chrom Ranchesse's personal production factory. When provided

with raw materials, it is capable of mass production on an industrial level."

"Wait...mass production of what?! Crowns?!"

Albus's answer startled the hell out of me... It was bad enough with a handful

of crown Gollems, but an army? That'd be a nightmare.

"Negative. Crowns cannot be mass-produced."

"Don't scare me by being all vague, then..."

Once I calmed down, I realized that if it was that easy to make crowns, then

there'd probably be a lot more around... If it was his personal factory, he'd

probably have made dozens of them with it.

"It's still a factory facility that belonged to one of the greatest gollemancers in

history. It stands to reason that it would contain secrets beyond standard

facilities."

Elluka's right... If it falls into the hands of someone dangerous, we'd be in

some serious trouble. Wait...what am I saying? That guy was talking about a

wicked god. It's already in the hands of someone dangerous!

"We crowns act as keys to the Ark. It can only function with our direct input."

"Huh, really? So their next target might be a crown Gollem..."

If they wanted the Ark for its capabilities, then that was their only option...

Fortunately for me, four crowns happened to be in Brunhild. Well, technically,

there were only three functional crowns. Luna's one had been stripped of its

abilities. There was always the chance they'd turn their eyes toward another

crown, however.

"Negative. The safest conclusion would be that the assailants already have a

crown."

"...What?"

Just as I was thinking of ways to safeguard the blue and green crowns, Albus

took me completely by surprise.

When I asked the little Gollem to elaborate, he simply pointed to the

passageway we'd come through and said, "The door to that passageway will not

open without a crown. We engaged enemy Gollems the moment we came

down the elevator. Conclusion: The enemy brought a crown with them."

"H-Hold up...how many crowns are there, again?"

"Red. Blue. Green. Purple. Black. White. Six in total."

Of the six Albus listed, four were already in Brunhild. And that meant the blue

or green crown was in the enemy's hands!

"This unit surmises you have come to an erroneous conclusion. But it is not

your fault, as you were unaware of the two unfinished crowns created by

Chrom Ranchesse during his ordeal between the two worlds. The gold and silver

crowns."

"Gold and silver...? They sound kinda fancy..."

From what I recalled, Chrom Ranchesse used the power of the black and

white crowns to jump between the Reverse World and the world I was more

acquainted with. And according to Albus, upon discovering the Phrase invasion,

Chrom started creating the gold and silver crowns as a way to get back to his

original world without having to pay the toll for his contract... Unfortunately, he

didn't finish them in time. That left the gold and silver crowns in a dormant,

unfinished state, which meant the masked guy must've gotten his hands on one

of them before he'd arrived.

...This just feels weird, though. Like, isn't their plan really developed? Did he

get the crown first because he wanted the Ark? Or did he target the Ark because

he got the crown? Wait, how'd he even learn about the Ark?

"We should inform the king of Gandhilis about this at once. Grand Duke,

would you mind coming with me? I don't really know how to explain all this..."

"No problem. It only makes sense to introduce myself while I'm here."

I'd been looking for an opportunity to meet the king of Gandhilis, so I decided

to make the most of our visit.

A handful of knights went with the Seekers to board their airship, while the

rest of them stayed behind at the camp. Meanwhile, me and the Brunhild lot

boarded the Balmung.

Thankfully, we didn't have to cover much distance between the ruins and the

capital of Gandhilis. We moved through the air at a relatively slow speed, letting

the Seekers take the lead. We figured it'd be better if they entered the airspace

first, rather than letting the sight of the Balmung freak out the general

populace.

Once I was alone with my family and the Babylon group, I had questions.

"So...I need answers here. What was that guy talking about with that wicked

god stuff?" I narrowed my eyes at Arcia and Quun, who were sitting across the

table from me, as I asked that question. Though honestly, they didn't seem to

be taking the situation all that seriously.

"We don't really know much ourselves, to be honest. But what we do know is

that the wicked devout are vestiges of the wicked god that you once killed."

"Uh...vestiges? What do you mean?"

"They're like residue, father. Think of them as leftover soybean byproducts.

When soy milk coagulates into tofu, there's some goopy runoff that tends to

get squeezed out and left by the wayside. That's what they are," Arcia said,

explaining things in cooking terms, which sort of helped.

So they're like squeezed out bits from that NEET? That's kinda gross...

"So you're saying he's something similar to the wicked god?"

"Not just him, father. There are several. It'd be more apt to say 'them,'" Quun

stated before letting out a small chuckle.

"Granny Tokie didn't exactly tell us much about them, but she said they'd

pose a threat if they emerged. If they don't do anything, we'll be able to return

to our time without a hitch... But if they start causing chaos, then their residual

divinity will complicate the timestream, making the future somewhat less

certain."

"But the wicked devout weren't supposed to wake up... She only really told us

to be on the safe side. We weren't even supposed to tell you about it, since it

wasn't meant to be relevant at all."

Wait, so these things might actually change the future? Maybe not to an

extreme amount, but it'd be bad if my kids can't get back home... I don't want

them creating some kind of alternate timeline that messes everything up.

"I can't say I understand what it is they want, but they certainly seem

unpleasant," Leen said, failing to hold back her urge to sigh.

"They're just residue, right? Can't be that bad..."

"That's a touch overoptimistic, father. Even runoff can become part of a good

meal if used appropriately. The wicked god may have been the finished tofu,

but the wicked devout still came from the same soybeans. There's no hierarchy

there, only a difference in form and refinement." Arcia proudly spoke in

metaphors again, but I couldn't help but feel she was stretching it a little too

far. I still got the gist, however. Essentially, we needed to tread carefully.

Even if these things were false gods, they still had smidgens of muddied

divinity. That meant they could spread that divinity to mortals to create

dependents. I wondered if the plague mask guy had once been human... Either

way, he was one of the devout now. Whether he was that sludge made

manifest or a person corrupted by it didn't really matter.

"So, uh, what do they want? Revenge? Resurrection of the original?"

"Well...it's not really known, I think. I'm sure it's bad news, though."

I didn't think it was possible to resurrect the wicked god, since its soul had

been scattered into oblivion upon defeat. At the very least, that NEET bastard

was never coming back. But there was always the possibility of a new wicked

god rising out of all this. It'd need some kind of divine vessel to grow within,

but...

Whatever the case, all I could really do was shrug. Would've been bad if that

NEET god had ended up leaving some kind of sacred treasure behind...but

surely that couldn't have happened.

"We're at the capital," Doc Babylon said, her voice echoing out from the

bridge speakers. We glanced out the window to look at our surroundings.

The city was surrounded by towering, rocky spires. A river ran through the

settlement, dividing it into north and south. The large, sturdy castle sat on the

north side. To the east of the castle sat an open field with an airship parked in

it, likely an official Gandhilis vessel. I noticed that the Seekers were descending

close to it, so they probably wanted us to follow suit. It must have been a

designated landing zone. Unfortunately, there wasn't really enough space for

Balmung.

"Sorry, guys... Would you mind waiting up in the sky? I won't be long."

"Not a problem. We're in the middle of taking a Gollem apart, so no rush."

I had a feeling the Gollem they were referring to was one of the four-armed

ones from the ruins. They certainly wasted no time in trying to rip it apart.

Quun, having heard the announcement, suddenly jumped for joy. Sparkles

flared up in her eyes.

"Can I assist them, father?!"

"Yep, yep. You can stay behind too."

"Yay! I knew you'd understand!" Quun exclaimed loudly as she jumped about.

Somehow, I'd grown used to her antics already.

Don't despair about our daughter, Leen... I assure you I feel the same way.

"As for Arcia..."

"I'll be staying behind as well. Fear not, father. I'll prepare some food in the

meantime. B-But I'd appreciate it if you could bring some ingredients back."

Hold up...didn't I already eat a home-cooked lunch from you on the way here?

I didn't want to outright reject her or hurt her feelings, so I figured I'd just try

to be as hungry as possible by the next time I saw her.

I looked out the window and saw both Mario and Ripple descend from their

airship, so I used [Teleport] to go down to them. In the end, Yumina, Lu, and

Leen were the ones to join me.

"Welcome to Gandhilis. Step this way to see the king."

I looked over to see a young steward. He'd been talking to a knight, but his

attention promptly switched over to us.

We followed him, eventually coming to a fairly secluded room. Once we

entered, we found ourselves face to face with three individuals. Though they

looked to be of high standing, they didn't appear pretentious or tacky at all.

The first was Princess Cordelia Terra Gandhilis, the second princess of the

realm. The bespectacled maid behind her was Parullel. She happened to be the

daughter of both Mario and Ripple. I'd met the two of them after the

masquerade incident in Refreese. Since it'd been a while, we exchanged a brief

greeting.

That left the third and final person in the room. He stood up from his desk

and walked over to us. He had a big bushy beard, which was white due to his

age. His body was sturdy as a tree trunk.

"Welcome to Gandhilis, Grand Duke of Brunhild. I am the king, Galivan Zila

Gandhilis."

"It's an honor to meet you, and pardon my sudden intrusion. I'm the grand

duke of Brunhild, Mochizuki Touya. I'm accompanied today by three of my

wives, Yumina, Lucia, and Leen."

"Ah, I was wondering who these pleasant young ladies were. Please, be at

ease."

King Gandhilis offered us chairs, which we readily sat down upon. A short

while later, Mario began to explain the situation.

"Your Majesty, I gotta apologize. We lost the ship we were studying."

"I'd say the fault lies with me and my lax allocation of resources. It's a true

pity we were unable to obtain any new information relating to Chrom

Ranchesse, but more than anything, I'm just pleased you're all alive."

Though Mario bowed his head in shame, King Gandhilis simply smiled gently

and shook his own head. It was a plain relief to see that he was a kindhearted

man.

"Now, Grand Duke...do we have any idea where this assailant may have

escaped to?"

"I don't. They used some advanced teleportation spell to escape and

employed similar techniques to cloak their location. Whoever they are, they

know what they're doing."

"Hrm... Then there's nothing to be done, is there?" King Gandhilis said, then

folded his arms and let out a small, tired sigh.

I could see Princess Cordelia fidgeting slightly in my peripheral vision.

What's she doing?

"U-Uh...! If anything comes up then, please, uh... You could contact us?

Directly!"

"Oh, sure. No problem."

"Right, so uh... Uhhh..."

Is she okay? Does she wanna say something?

I briefly exchanged glances with Yumina, but she looked just as befuddled as

me.

After a few moments, Parullel let out a sigh and frankly stated, "What my lady

is attempting to do, Grand Duke, is bait you into giving her one of those

smartphone devices so that she might engage in lovey-dovey conversations

with her beloved Emperor Gardio once the sun goes down."

"D-Don't put it like that!"

Cordelia was close to weeping out of embarrassment. Parullel reminded me

of Cesca in quite a few ways. Though they differed in that Cesca was a clear

masochist, while Parullel struck me as more of a sadist. Either way, they were a

pair of intrusive maids.

"I-It's that little communication device, yes? I know that the rulers of Gardio

and Allent both have one, so...could I trouble you for one as well, perhaps?"

All you had to do was ask. I was gonna give you one anyway.

I opened up [Storage] and pulled out a pair of smartphones. I then slid them

across the table, along with a small instruction booklet.

As I was showing King Gandhilis and his daughter how to use their new

devices, I caught the burning gaze of Mario, Ripple, and Parullel from across the

table. They weren't exactly being subtle...but I figured it was fine, since

Yumina's eye had already vetted them for potential ill will, and they'd come up

clean.

"No taking it apart, all right? You won't be able to put it back together, and I

won't give you a new one."

I had to make sure to remind Mario not to mess with the technology, since I

knew exactly what he was thinking. The mass-produced smartphones were

enchanted with both [Shield] and [Protection], so they couldn't be broken very

easily. That didn't mean they were impossible to take apart, however. I just

wanted everyone in the room to understand that doing so would mean you'd

probably never get the chance to do it again.

Princess Cordelia immediately asked me for the emperor of Gardio's number.

I didn't want to just hand the guy's number off without his consent, so I sent

him a text asking if that was okay.

He sent me a message back, almost immediately, saying "Absolutely!" and

that was that.

But even though Princess Cordelia had his number, she was suddenly hesitant

to actually call him. Probably because all eyes were now fixed on her as she

held the phone in her hands.

"I-I can't call him when you're all staring at me like that!"

Her feelings seemed reasonable enough to me.