Arc 23: Incoming New Threat
Chapter 199: The New Frame, and Invasion Prophecy
「So, are you saying that you can do it with this thing?」
「That’s right… First of all, it’s possible to make Ether Liquid unnecessary. Ah, no, it’s not that it won’t be needed any longer, I mean it won’t be a necessity to have it changed」
(TL: shouldn’t laboratory do that?)
(TLC: guess she invented something)
(Black: Probably a toned down version similar to what Flora did)
Rosetta proceeds to explain as she spreads the blueprint acquired in [Warehouse] on the [Workshop] desk. The role of the Ether Liquid is to amplify the pilot’s magic power and to spread it to every corner of the frame. Until now, the Frames used the magic powered liquid to move, but it appears that the cores of the new models capture the magic power from light or the atmosphere and amplifies it due to the installed device. I wonder if it’s like upgrading from batteries to solar cells.
However, the raw materials used in this new device are the crystal materials gathered from the remains of the fallen Frazes. I’m wondering if the professor has also noticed the special characteristics of the crystals and has thought of a method to put them to practical use.
「The new model is a concept on how to construct and a.s.semble various parts with their respective characteristics into central cores and Bone Frames. The former will become the main systems while the latter will be the skeletons with different varieties. In other words, what I’m saying is that it doesn’t have a predetermined shape 」
「Being able to build them freely… No, conversely speaking, if you don’t decide on what kind of frame to build, there is no way to build one. Is that what you mean?」
「Correct. It’s possible to build one if you say “create anything”, but it will just result in an unusable piece of metal」
I cannot allow such wasteful squandering. That may be right… I want to build the new model which is easy to deal with to start with, but…
「We have to take into consideration various aspects such as mobility, output, armor, magic power conversion ratio, preciseness, and equipment. What I say may be obvious, but if we make the armor thick, we will part with mobility; if we raise the output, the magic power conversion ratio will be inferior. If we consider Master’s stupidly… no, eeh… amazing quant.i.ty of magic power, it would be possible to activate various auxiliary magics. The result can then become whatever 」
I’m sorry for having a stupid amount of magic. However, what am I supposed to do? The quant.i.ty of my magic seems to have become quite large, but it might be better for everyone else to have a frame which utilizes their special attributes. For example, Elsie’s frame should place importance on power and speed or something.
Other people won’t be able to pilot these new frames that are individually suited even if they want to. Conversely, we are boosting the reaction time of the frames and aligning the pilot’s magic power to them, so this feature will surely be an additional trouble for others who may try to move it.
「First of all, we are going to call out the mini-robots inside the [Warehouse] and have them help us. Otherwise, we won’t be able to manage it well with just me and Monica」
Sounds reasonable. I saw the two helper robots walking all around [Workshop]. These guys are unexpectedly skillful and they can flawlessly handle almost everything if they are made to memorize it. Their defect is their incapability to think for themselves and for them to move in new ways, but they are still considerably priceless as helpers.
Ma.s.s production of the heavy knights and everything else will be postponed for a short while since [Workshop] will be creating the new frames. It won’t be a problem though since the ma.s.s production is finis.h.i.+ng to some extent.
「That’s right… let’s try making one from Elsie’s frame. Prioritize power and speed, and add st.u.r.dy armor to the arms and legs. It’s fine not to mind the magic power conversion ratio that much. We will adjust it after making the frame」
「I understand」
We will start with Elsie’s frame because that fighting style is the easiest to understand. It generally consists of kicking and punching the opponent until it’s destroyed. I believe that there won’t be a need to balance it that much considering its fighting style. It can be called a “single specialized model”.
I head towards [Warehouse], entrusting the development to Rosetta.
「Oyo? Master, thanks for your hard work ~ssu」
I enter [Warehouse], and Palshee greets me while facing the monolith. Her appearance is that of a typical shrine maiden, the one wearing a red hakama over a white robe with a tabi in a zori. If I’m not mistaken, isn’t having a ponytail no good for Shrine Maidens?
Lilly
Oh well, It isn’t logical to mix up the rules of the other world to this world, so it doesn’t really matter.
I wonder if there was a shrine maiden costume among the designs I had pa.s.sed to Zanakku-san… I already forgot what I’ve pa.s.sed to him, but still, what’s with this choice of hers? The clutzy shrine maiden is kinda… I don’t know if Kami-sama would even be ok with this.
「I’ve made a list of things in [Warehouse] ~ssu. There are 1093 items in total ~ssu」
「That’s quite the number, isn’t it?」
I flip through the pages of the list given to me to confirm its’ contents. There are items in this list which I can somewhat understand, but there are also items which I can’t possibly understand. Isn’t it fine to seal certain things like [Underwear for decisive battle], [Overly dangerous bathing suit], or [Armored bikini] that has been made by the professor?
Mn? [Breast enlargement drug]? This is the so-called…. This will likely cause wars to start…
「Palshee, do not reveal this list or any of the items in [Warehouse] to anyone without my permission. I also strictly forbid to hand them over to anyone. Do you understand? 」
「? Roger ~ssu」
Large or small, everyone has them. It has nothing to do with which one is bigger and which one is smaller. For example, It doesn’t mean that if rice is delicious then a bread is not. Both rice and bread are delicious!
(kilroy:I agree, quality over quant.i.ty!)
Well, it’s no mistake that some people love rice more while others love bread more. Speaking for myself, I think that either one is good.
But let’s return to the topic at hand.
「That reminds me, Ether Liquid should also be stored here. Make sure to deliver all of it to Monica from [Hangar] and Rosetta from [Warehouse]」
「Roger ~ssu」
Palshee operates the monolith and then a total of nine cubes raise up from the floor. I confirm the tightly packed containers that look like 500ml PET bottles filled with the familiar liquid which can be mistaken for melon soda.
The mini-robots place those 9 cubes on their heads and trot away from [Warehouse].
「Palshee, the slashes in the list mean that…」
「Yes, it’s the number of items that have been lost ~ssu 」
Palshee murmurs while dropping her shoulders. Things like the [Imbibe demon’s bracelet] and the [Bracelet of defence] are marked, but the [Jewel of Immortality] is not.
… Was this artifact perhaps named the [Eye of the Dead]? The guy who has picked it up must’ve changed the name of the item on his own.
Which reminds me, I feel like there were some letters engraved into the inner sides of those bracelets. Those must’ve been the product’s names.
「Then, I suppose this means that the Holy Sword of Restia is actually the [Recovery Sword], and Ripple would then be the [Alive Frame]」
There are still several unaccounted items remaining even if we exclude those from before. Well, searching for them now is going to be troublesome. They would likely be considerably valuable to the people who possess them. I guess it’s not like they would just be able to return them after I ask them to.
There also seems to be no way for me to search for them. Even if I know their names, my search magic cannot lookup for things I can’t identify at first glance or those I haven’t seen yet. It’s unfortunate, but this list doesn’t seem to have pictures attached to each item.
《Lord》
《Mn? Kohaku? What’s wrong?》
Suddenly, a telepathic message comes from Kohaku who is in the castle. Has something happened?
《I report that there’s a red Frame Gear standing in the plains to the west from the castle》
《A red Frame Gear？》
Ah, then, is it End’s [Dragoon]? Why is he in Brunhild?
I transfer there with [Gate], having confirmed the location with my map. When I come out of it, a dragon knight is there standing alone right in the middle of the plains, and End is lying down on its shoulder.
「End！」
「Ah, Touya. Long time no see. I’ve thought that you would eventually come to me if I wait here」
End jumps down from [Dragoon]’s shoulder while fluttering his long m.u.f.fler. As usual, his body seems light.
「What in the world are you doing here?」
「Well you see, this guy, the dragon knight, has stopped moving all of a sudden. I thought that Touya might be able to cure it」
Stopped moving? … Ah, the Ether Liquid must’ve run out. You can burn through this stuff quite fast after all. The frame will usually stop working in one month even if it isn’t being operated. The effects of the Ether Liquid are expected to gradually fade just like carbonic acid when it comes out of a soft drink.
Could it be that End has stored it in that mysterious slide of his? If I a.s.sume that it has similar effects to my [Storage], then time might have also been stopped for things stored in it.
「Yeah, I suppose I should use this occasion to remodel it so that it won’t need Ether Liquid anymore. It would be troublesome if you come to me each and every time the liquid runs out.」
「I will be grateful if you will do this for me」
「It will take about 3 days to finish. Is that okay?」
「It’s no problem. I will look around this country in the meantime」
I’ll be troubled though if I allow him to loiter around too much. He does sort of help us with the extermination of Frazes, and I’ve come to rely on him as a cooperative worker. I will be bothered if he conquers the innermost floors of the dungeons though. At best, it will only obstruct the business of my country.
「I’ll be grateful if it’s fixed in just three days. That’s because fighting against an advanced level with just flesh and blood is going to be a lot of trouble」
「………………What？」
What did he say just now? An advanced level? Is an advanced level Fraze going to come out?
「Oi… What do you mean by “advanced level”…?」
「I’ve found a s.p.a.ce distortion by chance. It should appear somewhere in between a week or ten days from now with how things are going. I think only a small number of them will appear in comparison to the last time」
No-no-no! I’m not asking if there are going to be a lot or a few Frazes! You are saying that advanced level will appear! Those monsters can destroy towns with a single blow, you know?!
「Wa-wait a minute! Where did you see this distortion?!」
「Eh? E~to, to the east from here…. Ah, do you have a map?」
I hurriedly project the map in the air, and End points to a single location.
「It’s here. It might be slightly away from the precise location, but I think they will certainly appear somewhere around there. If you have acquaintances near that location, I believe that it’s better to have them quickly escape from there」
I’m fortunate enough to not have any acquaintances of mine at the spot End points at.
「Rodomea federation, huh…」
(Map goes here)
A union state consisting of seven provinces to the east from Regulus Empire. End points his hand slightly away from the central province of that country.
That’s bad… Although it’s separated from the royal capital, I a.s.sume that the advanced level that will appear will be similar to that crocodile from the other day. We will be most helpless should it suddenly fires its charged particle cannon…
This is really bad. The damage will certainly be enormous. If anything, I want to throw them down after minimizing the damage a little bit and asking the citizens living nearby to evacuate, but it’s essentially a territory of another country.
Even if I give out a warning, I don’t know whether they will be able to properly take heed of it since there’s a high chance that they won’t believe me. Though I want to think that things won’t result in them being unable to believe me if they take into consideration what has happened in Yuuron.
「… You are sure they’re going to appear, right?」
「They will definitely appear」
I’ve been a.s.serted like that. d.a.m.n it. The things this guy says always happen inevitably.
For now, the king of Rodomea, no, in that country, it’s being ruled by the so-called “Statewide Viceroy”, right? I don’t really have a choice but to ask him to hear me out.
If I ask the Emperor of Regulus to send forth a message…. Ah, which reminds me, Rodomea and Regulus don’t have a very good relations.h.i.+p, do they? If I remember correctly…
In that case… I probably have no other choice but to ask someone like the well-connected former king of Restia or the guild master Rerisha-san.
If I’m to speak with them, then I should probably start with Rerisha-san first. There’s an adventurer’s guild in Rodomea as well. They might be able to evacuate before they receive devastating damage like they did in Yuuron.
Some of the adventurers might be able to escape if I tell Rerisha-san to spread the news.
I better hurry if that’s how I’m going to do this. I send the dragon knight to [Workshop] through [Gate] and turn towards the guild where Rerisha-san resides.