Duke and Enlil"s special training was going well.
Both were on the verge of having the standard levels for an S rank monster.
They were tirelessly power leveling by making use of the [Crimson Cavern] as well as Stolas"s [Omnipresence], but in the short span of just one month, that was the most they could do. If anything, that was amazing already.
As for their cooperation, it was perfect.
This was the only way we could stand a chance at winning. For if we challenged Caesar head on, it would be our ma.s.sacre.
"I"ve also gotten a new [Creation] medal."
Between setting up the casino, taking care of Tiro, and Duke"s special training, a month pa.s.sed by just like that.
It was a little perplexing how to use this new medal, to be honest.
Along with the earnings of her dungeon, Marcho had also given me this month"s [Beast] medal.
Combining [Beast], [Creation], and even just an imitation medal, I could make an S rank monster and bolster my war potential.
However, no matter how versatile the [Beast] medal was, how useful would a new S rank monster be right now without a purpose in mind?
Even if I made a new monster now, I couldn"t afford to level it up because most of the limited monsters that could be turned into experience points were being given to Duke and Tiro to defeat.
On the other hand, making an S rank monster with a static level was unappealing to me and I would rather avoid it if I had a choice. I wanted my S rank monsters to be true trump cards and the only way to achieve that—eventually—was giving them the ability to level up.
"Just holding onto it makes sense too."
My [Creation] medal was highly valuable.
It could prove itself useful as a bargaining chip.
I wanted to increase the number of Demon Lords in my faction even by just a little. The [Creation] medal would surely be useful in convincing them. Moreover, trading my [Creation] medal to them so that they could buy B-rank-producing Maelstroms would be more meaningful to us as a faction than using it myself.
There was also a chance I could obtain some other medal later, giving me the choice to make a powerful monster that I couldn"t with the medals I had at hand.
Besides, I could always make an S rank monster with a static level anytime. Since it had a static level, it shouldn"t matter much if I did it now or later. Like I said, I didn"t prefer it, but in times of emergencies, it might just be the key.
For those reasons, I decided to hold back on using the [Creation] medal. A wait-and-see approach, so to speak.
Anyway, today, I was taking a walk around Avalon.
Soon enough, I would be gone for two days. My destination was the [Time] Demon Lord"s dungeon.
The [Time] Demon Lord was hosting a sending off party and invited [Beast] and [Dragon] as well as myself and Stolas. On the second day, we were going to have the Dragon"s Trial.
"Oto-san, Avalon"s peaceful today too!"
"Yeah… but I"m quite concerned about Rue and the others" reports."
"You"ve remembered our reports properly, huh… that"s right, patron, Avalon is being targeted!"
While imitating some kind of sound effect, Ruhe pointed at me.
…this girl, is she imitating the anime she saw?
A while ago, Rorono got stuck in a rut in the development of the new Avalon-Ritters. As such, she requested that we watch nothing but robot anime for a while during our after-dinner bonding time.
Kuina really enjoyed galactic pretty boy; Rorono liked absolute obedience; Aura was pleased with the vision; and Ruhe loved blue comet.
"There"s no way you"re joking, is there?"
"I"m absolutely serious. Numerous spies have been sent to Avalon to gather information. Without killing any of them, we have managed to capture them. We have tried to turn the tables and get information from them instead, but somehow, each of them has actually, genuinely forgotten who their Demon Lord was… I can see how this can be helpful for intelligence gathering, but I hope you, patron, don"t copy this tactic."
It was very much possible that among the enemy forces was a monster that could manipulate memories. And when we captured the spies, it must have triggered the wiping of their memories.
"Don"t worry, I won"t copy it. I love all of you too much to do that."
"I"ll believe you. Patron is an overly soft Demon Lord, after all. Well, that aside, the abyss puppies sure are very helpful."
Recently, the Ocean Singers, Ruhe"s subordinates, had been partnering up with Abyss Howls. Thanks to that, our intelligence corps was stronger than ever.
Many monsters could conceal their forms or the sound they made, sometimes even both, but rarely if ever could these monsters hide their scents as well. For that reason, the Abyss Howls and their excellent noses proved useful inside and outside of the other dimension.
"Ruhe, can you confirm that the number of spies being sent here is increasing by the day?"
"Yup, that"s our a.s.sessment of things."
The Abyss Howls" noses were so good that it could pick up an intruder"s lingering scent as well as ascertain how many days had pa.s.sed since the intrusion. So, even if they couldn"t catch the intruders, they could still find clues.
"I see…"
"And no matter how we look at it, they"re definitely targeting Rorono-chan."
"Will the intelligence corps be able to provide enough security for Rorono?"
"Yes, and we already are. Rotating teams that each consist of two Ocean Singers and 8 Abyss Howls are watching over her from the other dimension. Meanwhile two Abyss Howls guard her in the surface world. After getting her approval, a golem that has a function to produce light and water is also near her. Because there will always be a light and water source near her, the rest of us will be able to reinforce her and her guards in case something does happen. But I think the 10 puppies will be enough for most cases."
It would seem that the enemy forces were particularly interested in Rorono"s workshop.
They might have realized that I relied heavily on Rorono to the point that she was Avalon"s lifeline.
If we lost her, Avalon"s war potential would be decreased by half. From the enemy forces" perspective, she would be the monster they would want to kill first and foremost.
As part of my war potential, she was valuable, but she was much, much more than that: she was my precious daughter. There was no way I was going to lose her.
With several Abyss Howls guarding her, I was able to have some peace of mind. Their ever-vigilant ears and noses would make it hard for any intruder to get close, much less slip through.
But if the intruders were somehow able to, a group of ten Abyss Howls meant that their [One with the Pack] would activate. They were high-end B rank monsters to begin with, but with improved attack power and endurance as well as shared senses which allowed for better teamwork, they should be able to deal with most monsters.
And, if ever they still couldn"t take down the intruders, at least they could help stall for time.
I would be gone for two days.
For the sake of security, I had commanded Ruhe, Kuina, Rorono, and Tiro to stay in Avalon. That was four S rank monsters that would be supported by Avalon-Ritters and B rank monsters. As long as they could buy some time, all the rest would be manageable.
At the very least, they would be able to prevent the a.s.sa.s.sination or the kidnapping of Rorono.
"Ruhe, that"s an impressive setup."
"Well, you know… Besides, we owe Rorono-chan for the good number of new a.s.sault rifles we made her make for us. We"d like to repay that favor, at least… we, Avalon"s intelligence corps stake our pride on keeping her safe."
Ruhe, who was usually quite aloof, looked very serious as she said so.
Being so resolved to protect Rorono, I was convinced she cared deeply for her allies and had a strong sense of responsibility.
"Then, I"ll entrust the protection of Rorono and Avalon to you."
Looking at both Ruhe and me, Kuina swelled up her face and spoke.
"Kuina will be guarding too! Oto-san can rest a.s.sured all will be fine!"
It seemed like she was slightly jealous.
Seeing her all childish like this was so cute too.
"Yup, that"s right, sorry. With you here, I have peace of mind. I really wanted to take you with us, though."
Kuina, being Avalon"s strongest monster, was my bodyguard. She was supposed to be always by my side.
However, there was a clear threat of military action against us and what better opportunity could they find than my absence. Duke would usually be in charge of our defense while I was away, but he was the reason we were going in the first place. So, for insurance, I was forced to make Kuina stay behind.
As for the duty of my bodyguard, I could entrust that to Marcho.
"Kuina will protect Avalon as much as Oto-san and Duke will. So, be at ease and go."
I brushed Kuina"s head and she squinted her eyes as though she was pleased.
So long as Kuina was here, Avalon wouldn"t fall.
Alright, it"s almost time to go. But before that, there"s a girl I have to greet first.
◇
The next place I headed to was Rorono"s workshop.
When I entered, I was greeted by two Abyss Howls. While swinging their tails, they were rubbing their heads against me, so I decided to pet them. When I did so, they seemed nothing more than just oversized dogs.
After that, I entered the laboratory room where Rorono was.
She was so absorbed in using her LCD tablet to draw a blueprint, she didn"t notice me come in. Beside her, a computer that was running some kind of simulation was whirring.
Seeing how much she was concentrating, it felt bad to disturb her and thus I decided to just watch her work in the meantime.
While waiting, I thought to myself that it was clearly a good idea to a.s.sign Abyss Howls to guard her while she was like this. She was an S rank monster and had the ability to protect herself, sure, but when she focused on something, she tended to ignore everything else, even her surroundings. Even if I tried to hug her from behind, there was a real chance she wouldn"t notice until we had made physical contact.
After about 30 minutes had pa.s.sed, Rorono raised her head and took a sip of her now-cold coffee.
"Rorono, is the development going well?"
"Ah! Master. Welcome."
She finally took notice of me.
"I wanted to see you before I left."
"I"m glad to hear that. I wanted to see you too… it"s just a shame I can"t show anything before you leave."
The completion of Rorono"s new models had been delayed. Which wasn"t surprising considering she was developing three technologies at once. Their base parts were similar, but for each of the unique parts the three would have, she had to design those from scratch. That was definitely time consuming.
"I look forward to seeing them after my return, then."
"Mhm, please do. They"re the three strongest knights. Actually, I"ve just finished the framework for Black, the most versatile of the three."
That was a nice surprise.
"Are the initial concept ideas still being followed?"
"Mhm. Red is still a heavily armored, one-hit kill unit. White is a long-range attacker with high mobility. It can shoot down its targets before they ever come near… actually, I"ve made it partic.i.p.ate in one of the dragon races recently and it won by a large margin. White has completely corrected the preconception about golems."
When I thought about it, I remembered that there was a commotion in the races recently. Reportedly, the fastest among the Darkness Dragons, the dubbed as the king, had lost.
I was realizing now that it was due to Rorono.
A long-range attacker that could move faster than the Darkness Dragons, of course I was excited to see it.
"Meanwhile, Black is the best in terms of versatility. Its features include humanoid joints, tenacious internal structure, and many high-powered posture-adjusting thrusters, allowing it to move its body in all sorts of ways. It has no fixed armament loadout, instead using whatever fits the situation best. This child"s intellect differs vastly from the others in that it can learn. There"s too much it can do that programming it all beforehand is just impossible."
If it was going to choose and use skillfully the most appropriate weapon for the situation, a more advanced intellect would indeed be necessary.
"That"s amazing. They have flexible movements, plus they have good mobility and maneuverability. It might be simple, but it has all the things important in a fight."
Like what a man who had returned from Jupiter once said, what was important in a mobile suit wasn"t firepower or transformation capabilities, but rather a highly operable and reliable body.
"Please look forward to how Black will perform. Right now, my plan is to put the three knights into the trial phase, a.n.a.lyze the data, and put into ma.s.s production the one that performs the overall best."
When I heard that, it kind of made me want to set up a stage where the three knights would shine.
The one-year grace period given to us new Demon Lords was soon to end and we would be forced into wars with the others. When that time comes, I would entrust my first war to them.
…but then again, there was a chance my enemies wouldn"t wait that long.
"When I return, I want you to show them to me right away. Prepare with that in mind."
"Mhm, I will… and should the results please father, may I get a reward?"
While her face was bright red and turned away, she spoke out loud that she wanted something.
Before replying, I brushed her head.
"Yeah, it"s a promise. Whatever you want."
"Mhm. I"ll concentrate harder for the upcoming two days then."
She"s more eager than ever. …Oh, wait, I almost forgot the most important bit.
"Rorono, I think you might have heard from Ruhe already, but you"re being targeted."
"Mhm, I"m aware. That"s why I"ve taken on guards and have made the necessary precautions. Monsters and adventurers don"t know of electronic devices and thus aren"t vigilant against them. I"ll make them regret underestimating the defenses of this workshop too much… to that end, I want to fight myself and see the performance of the [Mechanical Warmaiden] I"ve continuously been working on. It isn"t that often that I get a chance like this."
Rorono seemed to have given it a lot more thought.
And so, the anxiety I felt before leaving have lessened.
At that timing, I heard a knock from the workshop"s door.
"Come in."
When Rorono said so, the door opened.
"I"ve been looking for you, master! I"m here to pick you up. You better be grateful!!"
It was Fel. A Fel that had a crow monster perched on her head, to be more exact.
It would seem the [Time] Demon Lord had sent them to get us.
"Oh, it"s time to go? Just give me a minute."
I wanted to talk some more with Rorono, but it was time to go, so I went with Fel.
It"s finally here, the dragon"s trial. Let"s clear it with flying colors. And then, when I return, I"ll marvel at Rorono"s newest models. Now, let"s go!
TL notes:
- These are just my guesses, but I think these are the anime the girls liked: Kuina"s is Star Driver, Rorono liked Code Gea.s.s, Ruhe liked Blue Comet SPT Layzner, while Aura liked The Vision of Escaflowne. If you think there are other works that fit the bill better, feel free to let me know. Thank you.
- Also, I believe the line Ruhe said, Avalon is being targeted, comes from Blue Comet"s "The earth is being targeted". I googled and skimmed an episode or maybe it was a movie, I don"t know, and sure enough, a character warns the others that the earth is in danger from outside forces.
- In the raws, Aura liked "Heavens". For those that don"t know, "The Heavens of Escaflowne" is the j.a.panese t.i.tle for Visions.
- Finally, the man from Jupiter is likely referring to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam"s Paptimus Scirocco. I haven"t found the episode being referred in this chapter, so I just translated as is. The actual quote might be different.