Chapter 255: Black and Blue, and the Fishery
A countless number of bullets explode on the wreckages of the iron machine soldiers left in the wasteland. The one firing hundreds of those per second from a Gatling gun equipped on its right arm is [Grimgerde], Rin’s black frame. Nicola-san’s Night Baron has a similar Gatling gun, but it should be okay since their shapes are quite different.
The chest armor of Grimgerde unfolds, and a pair of Gatling guns installed inside blow fire.
Following it, both shoulders open in a manner similar to a gull-wing door, and six missile pods start firing their payloads. At the exact same time, the legs also open their missile pods in a similar fas.h.i.+on and fire away.
The fingertips of the left hand are shooting bullets too, along with the Vulcan cannon installed into the head. It totally looks like a rain of bullets.
「Uhiya… how dreadful…」(Touya)
The broken iron cavalry which I had taken out from [Storage] and used as targets are, far from being turned into a beehive, changed into scattered iron sc.r.a.ps in a blink of an eye.
Grimgerde then stops, having finished shooting. White smoke rise-up from all over its body indicates just how high its temperature has risen.
「How many bullets have been fired just now?」
「I suppose a meager 50 000, rounding it up」(Rosetta)
That many, huh? I’m speechless toward the reply of Rosetta who’s standing next to me. How should I say it? Doesn’t that mean that it’s invincible in some sense? Won’t Elzie’s Gerhilde or Yae’s Schwertleite be helpless if they take those attacks head-on… Even if the armor made from crystal materials could withstand that barrage, the damage taken should still be great.
Though I’m guessing Suu’s Ortlinde Overhold should be able to defend against that one way or another.
「However, it does have its own weaknesses, you know? First, the frame itself won’t be able to withstand consecutive shooting even if it can shoot bullets as long as the magazines being transferred from Babylon aren’t exhausted. It’s necessary to enter a “cooling mode” for several minutes after firing a volley with full power, which will create an opening」(Rosetta)
「Additionally, the frame itself is designed in such a way wherein it consumes a considerable amount of magic power, so pilot’s fatigue will likely be considerable as well. It will probably be somewhat operable if it’s someone on the level of Rin or Touya-kun, or Linzie」(Regina)
I agree with what Rosetta and the professor said. That outcome might be natural. It’s like continuously invoking [Explosion] while the person in question is shooting.
「So hot!」(Rin)
Having opened the hatch on the stomach of the frame, Rin and Pola jump out of the frame. With the power of her jump, Pola falls down from the c.o.c.kpit and crashes into the ground. Oi, are you okay?
「Hey! That place is just like a steam bath, mind you!」(Rin)
「Aah, I’ve forgotten to install a cooling mechanism around the c.o.c.kpit」(Rosetta)
Rosetta folds her arms while groaning. That would be lethal. Isn’t it an absolute necessity to apply temperature isolation magic on the c.o.c.kpit?
「Moreover, I don’t think it’ll be possible to hear a transmission with all those terrible explosive sounds, you know」(Rin)
「I see. A soundproofing barrier is also necessary in all likelihood. It’s better to be able to have it turned on and off if the need arises」(Touya)
After all, the c.o.c.kpit is located right below the pair of Gatling guns installed in the chest. No wonder it would be noisy.
In terms of destructive power covering a wide area, the current frame gear takes the cake, but friendlies will likely going to end up being swallowed in its barrage. Therefore, it can’t be used during group battles. If I’m to say which type of battle it’s most suited for, it would be the one versus many extermination type of battles.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiin…
「Oh?」(Touya)
As I look up to the sound of a moving aircraft, I see a blue fighter flying toward us.
The said aircraft starts to transform in midair after it has dropped down its speed during its descent, changing into a slender human-type form upon landing.
It’s Linzie’s convertible type frame gear, [Helmwige].
Having opened the chest hatch, Linzie then comes down. Helmwige is a frame gear with acute lines. Its transformation mechanism to a fighter aircraft is referenced after the machine piloted by a protagonist from a mecha anime, so it’s equipped with a long s.h.i.+eld on its left hand.
That s.h.i.+eld will transform into the bottom part of the aircraft, so getting it destroyed will prevent the frame gear from transforming, which in turn is its weakness. For that reason, Helmwige’s s.h.i.+eld is made from a larger amount of crystal materials and poured with a larger amount of magic power than usual, making it considerably solid.
「How was it? Have you gotten used to flying yet?」(Touya)
「I guess so. Well, somewhat. Though I wasn’t been able to raise the speed that much」(Linzie)
Linzie answers with a stiff-looking smile. If she gets used to piloting Helmwige, I should surely be able to [Fly] through the skies with her, shouldn’t I?
By combining with Elzie’s Gerhilde, Helmwige will be able to transform into an aerial support mecha, taking its transformative capabilities further, though we haven’t installed that function yet.
(ED: Basically, this means that Helmwige + Gerhilde = support mecha. Though I find this logic weird since Gerhilde is a melee fighter type mecha. If there’s a support mecha, it should be Helmwige. But whatever. I don’t really know what the author had been thinking when he wrote this part.)
「Linzie-dono’s and Rin-dono’s frames are almost finished, but what shall be done regarding the frames of the remaining Sakura-dono, Luu-dono and Yumina-dono?」(Rosetta)
Rosetta enquires to me.
「Has professor not decided yet which frame will she make next?」(Touya)
「The current candidate is Sakura, I suppose. I’m considering a frame which utilizes support magic using [Sound] as the medium. Magic is ineffective against frazes, but it’s possible to cast magic on friendly frame gears, buffing them with raise of speed or expansion of personal barriers. I believe that it’ll be able to cast magic to them on a wide range if carried by sound」(Professor)
「A support model for group battles, so to speak」(Rosetta)
So are they going to make a framework which can expand onto multiple targets like my [Multiple]? Is that it? Sound… No, it will be music in Sakura’s case. They say she’ll be to cast magic to everyone with it.
I often heard about the effects granted by songs since the olden days, like raising the morale of the troops with war songs. Though in this case, it would probably be called Song Magic.
Yep, not a bad idea.
「Then please start building Sakura’s frame」(Touya)
「Roger」(Rosetta)
I transfer both Grimgerde and Helmwige along with Rosetta and Professor to Babylon and go through [Gate] back to the castle together with Rin and Linzie. Though I return immediately to the wasteland afterward.
I forgot about Pola.
=+=+=+=+= =+=+=+=+=+= =+=+=+=+=+= =+=+=+=+= =+=+=+=+=+=
When I pa.s.sed by in front of the training field after returning, I could see heaps of bodies of our rookie knights rolling about. Once again, the training today seems to be intense, I see.
Although the bootcamp started by Moroha-nee-san for the sake of the newcomers has already finished, they’re still training every morning and evening, naturally.
Some of them are being exempted, but the majority is still being worked hard like that by Moroha-nee-san in the mornings and the evenings. Still, as I would’ve expected, none of them runs away since they’ve already pa.s.sed through that examination.
「[Mega Heal] [Refresh]」(Touya)
On my way, I restore the physical strength and heal the wounds of our knights rolling on the training grounds.
Having been cured of their wounds and fatigue, everyone notices my presence and genuflects.
「Good job, that’s it for morning training. Each of you, orderly take a shower, eat your breakfast and move to your posts」(Moroha)
「「「「Yes!」」」」(Knights)
The knights move to the showers located in the lodging houses separated by gender as told by Moroha-nee-san.
Speaking of our newcomer knights, their a.s.signments have already been decided, and they’re already at the stage where they’ve memorized their duties. The ones standing on the castle guard will deal with visitors or, in extremely rare cases, foes entering the castle; those on castletown patrol duty will be solving troubles and making the rounds; the ones performing espionage will study things like how to gather information and how to talk with contacts.
The others whose abilities lie in fields like construction management, paperwork and agricultural reclamation have been a.s.signed there.
It’s been decided that newcomers will also practice piloting frame gears using the frame units in addition to their regular duties.
Currently, the number of our knights is more than 200 people, and we’ve already had most of them memorize the basics of piloting. Though we’ve exempted those who find it hard to ride inside the c.o.c.kpit like the sisters Murret and Charret from the Lamia tribe or Zamza from the Ogre tribe.
We don’t know when frazes will appear, and it’s ultimately better to be prepared in advance.
LL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL JJJ JJJ JJJ JJJ JJJ JJJ JJJ
「Exploitation of the fishery, you say? 」(Touya)
「Yes」(Kousaka)
As we sit in the office, Prime Minister Kousaka-san broaches a topic like this.
Saying “fishery” he naturally means the method for acquiring fish. Why did this topic come up? Though that reminds me, there are few opportunities to eat fish in our country.
「Do you mean to procure more fish from the river flowing through our country?」(Touya)
Brunhild has no sea borders. The fish we would be catching would mostly be river fish.
「I’m not talking about the river. I mean that we should have the fishermen catch fish in the sea and raise profits with that catch」(Kousaka)
「Eh? The sea isn’t accessible in our…」(Touya)
「Isn’t there one on the other side of the transfer gates?」(Kousaka)
「Ah」(Touya)
That’s right. The seven islands with the labyrinths on the other side of the transfer gates. That territory is within our dominion as well.
It’ll be good if we can bring the harvested fish from over there to here. Since there’s no access to the sea around these parts, I suppose fresh fish should sell quite well. It might even be possible to eat sas.h.i.+mi.
「I see. It’s a good proposal. So, you want to develop one of those islands and build a harbor there, right?」(Touya)
「It’s just as you say. Though we probably won’t be able to develop it to the level of a port city since the islands themselves are small. Moreover, there are dangerous magic beasts in those islands, so I’ve been wondering what can be done about them」(Kousaka)
U~mu. I could hunt all of them until they run out, and the materials from those types of magic beasts could also be sold at quite a price. Though taking the adventurers’ bread and b.u.t.ter is kinda… And on the other hand, will there be fishermen willing to catch fish in a dangerous place like that…?
「I wonder, is installing a barrier against magic beasts onto the harbor be sufficient?」(Touya)
「That’s reasonable, I guess. Furthermore, we might have to investigate whether there are any such magic beasts in the sea」(Kousaka)
Certainly. It’s out of the question to have the s.h.i.+p procuring fish be attacked by those magic beasts.
Well, I believe that it will be alright if I summon something like a sea dragon or a kraken and order them to hunt the magic beasts who look like they would attack humans living on the surrounding islands. That should do it.
「How do we gather the fishermen?」(Touya)
「I will do something about it on my side. We still don’t know how much of a haul we’ll be able to acquire, so I can’t say anything. But I don’t think it’ll be a loss」(Kousaka)
If that’s the case, shall we do it then? For the time being, I give out a provisional permission to catch fish.
I will go to the islands tomorrow either way, so I guess I can summon either a kraken or a sea dragon.
The sea serpent that’s protecting the kingdom of Igrett which I visited when I was searching for the ruins of Babylon. I guess I should summon someone like that dragon which should be properly called a guardian dragon, and have it act as a protector. I think I’ll just summon one from Ruli’s dependents.
While I’m at it, I think I’ll command them to stop any suspicious s.h.i.+ps from approaching the islands. I don’t want to deal with any more slave trader s.h.i.+ps coming to the islands similar to the one last time.
I then affirm the pile of reports on my desk after Kousaka-san exits the room. I have to look into the important matters and understand the concerns of those living in this castle town.
Regarding news about the situation of the world and other similar concerns, I mostly receive those from Rerisha-san via mail.
「If it was my former world, it would’ve been aired in the internet news」(Touya)
Nevertheless, various news sent by the rulers of each nation have arrived though. Like about the engagement of the second princess of Regulus Empire and the king of Ferzen Kingdom sent by the Emperor of Regulus; or that prince Yamato can now stand and walk, sent by the Belfast King. Though, that one had a photo attachment to it.
Thanks to such socialization between countries of the East-West Alliance, there will be few conflicts. They’re managing to find a common ground with each other. There are still times when they still can’t reach a compromise, so they then turn to me to talk about their disagreement.
Even now, the exchange between Belfast and Misumido is becoming more profound than before, and the relations between Regulus and Rodomea have improved as well. Ramishu Holy Kingdom stops its isolationist policy, and Rynie Kingdom is in the process of forming a friendly relation with their northern neighbor, Paluf Kingdom. These are good things to happen.
As I read various reports while considering those events, I notice that there’s a considerable amount of news about the appearance of frazes in each country. Most of them are lower cla.s.ses, so it looks like they’ve been subjugated by red ranked adventurers or higher.
During the time when we defeated our first Fraze, our guild ranks must have been… Hmm? Come to think of it…
I bring out a photo I took when we defeated our first Fraze from a folder in my smartphone and project it in the air. The ruins were destroyed, and the article itself has been rendered to nothing, but it’s a pictograph which seems to have been taken more than 1000 years ago.
I couldn’t decipher it at that time, but shouldn’t I be able to do it now with [Reading] or something similar? Though it will be impossible unless I accurately know what kind of pictograph it is. I wonder if Faam knows something it. She might be able to specify it, seeing as she’s the manager of the [Library].
However, there’s a possibility that she might not know the language if the letters didn’t exist 5000 years ago. I was also told that those letters weren’t used in Belfast from 1000 years ago, and it wasn’t the people of Belfast who created those ruins either.
If that’s the case, who created the ruins and for what reason did they create it… It’s also strange for a fraze to be sealed there together with it.
No good. I can’t get it out of my mind now that I’ve started thinking about it.
I then decide to go to the castle library to search for Faam.