Knight’s & Magic: Volume 6, page 6
“And so, we’ll be launching you a bunch more!”
“Whaaat?! H-Hey, wait a second, Ernie... You can’t make me do that over and over again!”
She wasn’t the only one who reacted this way. The knightsmiths’ faces also said that they hated the idea, since they’d have to fix the silhouette knight afterward.
Ernie, his expression totally serious, grabbed Addy’s hands. She immediately turned red and flinched, and he didn’t miss that opening. “Addy. Sylphianne is meant to fight high in the sky, unlike any other silhouette knight in history. If you fall, there’s no guarantee for your safety. So I want to run through this to make sure it always goes off without a hitch.”
“Ernie...so you’re that concerned for my safety! Okay, I get it! I’m always going to come back to you, Ernie, no matter what happens, or what situation I find myself in!” Addy was so moved she wrapped up her childhood friend in a big hug. Inside her arms, Ernie nodded while loosely returning her hug.
“Well, er... I guess since the little lady seems to be happy with it, it’s fine,” said the boss. “You guys heard him. This concerns the knight runner’s life. Use this opportunity to train yourselves well.”
The knightsmiths seemed a little fed up, but what the boss said got them to rethink their stances.
With that decided, Addy spent the next while being launched from cockpits or jumping from tall buildings to practice safe landings.
But this was the girl who was intimately familiar with silhouette gears starting with the Motor Beat, and she was even Ernie’s disciple. She could easily withstand a fall from the height of any local building.
But this served as both training for her and tests for the gear ejector. Though, the question remained: What would they do if they actually encountered a problem in midair? The gear ejector had been improved several times over the course of constructing the Sylphianne, and knight runners other than Addy had been caught over the course of this and forced to experience being launched with the device. All those tests added onto each other, raising the quality of the gear ejector.
◆
The lower half was finally completed a while after the upper half, and Sylphianne II could be seen in its full glory. Now, the upper half with its slightly bulging back and the flowing lines of the bottom half were a singular shape. In the midst of construction, a pair of fin stabilizers had been added to either side, and now it looked even more like a mermaid.
No one was currently in it, so the output of the Etheric Levitator was set to its lowest setting, and Sylphianne was floating stably slightly off the ground. This machine had no legs, as it placed the ability to fly first and foremost, according to Ernie.
“The relative etheric altitude will stay stable, so long as the Etheric Levitator is working,” he had said. “In other words, there’s no need to land every single time. In fact, changing the altitude to land every time would be more work.”
That was why it was normally moored to the surface. The fin stabilizers could act as landing gears, and doing so would allow it to also use them to walk, sort of. Even so, that didn’t change the fact that it could only move awkwardly on land.
“Slightly raising ether density in the Etheric Levitator. Everything’s ready, Ernie.” Addy’s voice came from Sylphianne’s megaphone, announcing that she was prepared.
Ernie nodded, and after he made sure Ikaruga was behind the new unit, he passed out instructions to those around them. “We will now start the propulsion test. Sylphianne, release the mooring!”
Knightsmiths in Motolifts undid the mooring, which elicited a shrill sound of metal scraping together. Freed from its bonds, Sylphianne rose, buoyed by its Levitating Field. They’d kept the supply of ether to the Etheric Levitator low for safety purposes, so the ascent was slow. The fin stabilizers were constantly making minor movements to keep the machine balanced in the light breeze.
“Okay then, I’m going to activate the Magius Jet Thrusters!” Addy announced once she’d reached an altitude where the thrusters wouldn’t affect anyone else. “Keep it low at first... Slowly...”
She stepped on the stirrups. The machine responded, its rear shimmering with heat as the Magius Jet Thrusters gradually opened up, the roar of its jets rising in volume. Sylphianne started to slide forward.
Though she was making sure not to go too fast, the silhouette knight was completely stable. It wasn’t just the work of the fin stabilizers—the air currents passing around its entire body helped keep the machine steady.
“I think...this is working?” Addy said, unsure. “Okay! Let’s get a little serious, Sylphie! Time to really swim!”
She’d been keeping the thrust down due to her bad experience with the first generation, but Addy started getting into it once she realized how stable Sylphianne II was. As she got more and more used to flight, she got bolder—or rather, sloppier. Every time she stepped harder on the stirrups, the roaring of the Magius Jet Engines got louder.
Sylphianne cut through the sky. Its thin, long form created the perfect amount of resistance so it wouldn’t suddenly go off-kilter like before. By limiting the thrust to one direction, the controls were also simplified. These design choices were a resounding success.
To move left and right, the machine simply needed to engage its fin stabilizers while shifting its whole body. Then, it would use its entire body to take advantage of the air currents and turn. The lower half helped this, allowing it to move nimbly. The way the unit looked as it flew forward while twisting every once in a while to turn was exactly like a fish swimming in water.
“Hmmm, it feels pretty much exactly like riding Tzenny,” Addy noted. “I think I can do this!”
Addy perceived it as close to riding in a Tzenndrimble. It wasn’t just the thing’s shape, but its controls as well. That meant she was very familiar with it. She got used to piloting the prototype without much trouble, and the Sylphianne swam freely through the skies.
The assembled crowd cheered with relief once they saw the Sylphianne cruising through the air. The failure of the first generation was carved indelibly into their memories. The knightsmiths had poured their hope and effort into the second-generation Sylphianne to redeem themselves.
Even the boss was in good spirits as he stroked his beard. “It probably needs some more adjustment, but it’s looking good. It’s a relief it didn’t end up like before.”
“Indeed. We’ll need to report this to His Majesty sooner or later. And...I think I’ll try getting in that later too.” Ernie’s sights were on something completely different while the crowd was bubbling over with excitement over this success.
After that, many sightings were reported of some sort of strange, unknown object flying at incredible speed over Laihiala Academy City.
◆
Archid “Kid” Alter was walking alone through a noisy crowd.
He was in the capital of Fremmevilla, Konkaanen. The city was already one of the few settlements in the kingdom of appreciable size, and now it was even more lively thanks to the announcement of the levitating ship. After all, the Royal Guards were the only ones with a levitating ship base in the kingdom.
Kid waved his way through the crowd with practiced ease. He was walking toward a small bar hidden in the outskirts of the city. It was a quiet place, almost like it was hiding away from the hubbub. If he didn’t know of it already, he would probably have had a lot of trouble finding it.
Once he got through the door, he found a fair number of patrons inside enjoying their conversations as they ate.
One of these patrons stood out. His almost-two-meter-tall, muscular build was impossible to contain in his seat, and this effect was only enhanced by the mountain of pasta he was shoveling into his mouth. It was basically impossible for him not to stand out, whether he wanted to or not.
This man, who was now looking up from his pasta and waving his hand, was the one who’d called Kid here: Emris Jeijer Fremmevilla. As the second prince, he was part of this kingdom’s most important bloodline, but the way he acted showed none of the elegance and nobility that would be expected of someone of his status.
“Hey, Kid! Well met,” the second prince said. “My bad for calling you out on such short notice. Wanna eat too?! This place’s food is great, and the portions are huge!”
“Why would you even know that, Your H—young master?” Kid replied.
Emris didn’t actually seem sorry at all, and Kid let out a quiet sigh. Emris tended to use brute force in all aspects of his life, so Kid knew that he wouldn’t last if he fought back on every little thing.
“I will respond to your call anytime, anywhere,” Kid said. “But you chose quite a remote spot, young master.”
“Ha ha ha, this place is basically like my home away from home! Or maybe a hideout!”
Kid was unsure how to respond to this bold yet nonchalant statement. So, he chose to sit across from the second prince and order some food for the moment.
“So, what did you need me for?” he asked. “You even went as far as to tell me not to bring Ernie and Addy, which is concerning.”
“Hmmm, well... I guess I’ll just skip the preamble and get to the point.” Emris was being unusually serious. If it weren’t for the pasta sauce smeared around his mouth, he might have seemed a little dignified.
“After we came back, the old man introduced the levitating ship to everyone. And your chief—that dang Ernesti—is making something interesting, isn’t he? Which means this kingdom’s about to take off. So I decided to go back to Kuscheperka! It’s not to study this time, and there’s no need to be sneaky about it. I’m representing my nation. And given the war, I’m pretty widely known!”
He was one of the leading figures behind their victory. There was no doubt that he was the most famous of the royals involved with the war. Even without his contributions, he was still a prince. Kid wondered whether it was really okay to let Emris take on such an important role, but he figured that when it came to Kuscheperka, he’d probably do fine.
Kid had sunk into his own mind, and he was no longer paying attention to what was going on in front of him, but what Emris said next blew all that away.
“So I need to take someone with me... Kid, do you want to be that someone?”
“Huh?! Me?!” Kid shouted hysterically at the top of his lungs. He’d practically forgotten they were inside. “Kuscheperka, again... Um, that’s a little too sudden, I should say. But...why me?”
Emris grinned wide and puffed out his chest for no reason. “Well, I’ve actually been considering it for a while now! You’re well-known over there too, aren’t you? Also, you were with Ernesti; I figured you’d be good at assisting others! By the way, Marquis Serrati agreed to this immediately.”
“Y-You’re surprisingly thorough about this, young master...”
Given that Emris tended to charge forward single-mindedly the moment he’d decided on something, he tended to act very quickly. The fact that he’d prepared all this before even talking to Kid showed his worth as a royal.
“It’s pretty hard to refuse now, but would you at least let me go back and talk this over with everyone first?” Kid asked.
“Sure, of course!” Emris answered. “If anything happens, don’t hesitate to talk to me about it. I have to speak with Ernesti anyway, since I’ll be borrowing somebody from his order! I’ll take care of everything on that front.”
After that, Kid finished his supposedly delicious food—not that he could taste any of it. Then, after finishing up some small talk, he said goodbye to Emris and returned to Laihiala. He was running his Tzenndrimble, but even on the way back he was feeling restless. The reason was obvious. What—or rather, who—was in Kuscheperka? Kid had some lingering attachments to that kingdom.
“And here I thought I could calm down and think about it once I got back...”
So what should he do? While feeling himself gradually come to a decision, Kid raised his Tzenndrimble’s speed; he knew he needed to consult his family.
◆
The king, Leotamus, was currently in the audience chamber in Schreiber Castle, the royal palace that towered over the center of Konkaanen. He was crossing his arms, groaning and resisting the urge to clutch at his head.
Olvàr Brommdall, head of the National Silhouette Knight Laboratory, was before him, his hand to his mouth and shoulders shaking. “My word. He’s been quiet recently, so I thought he was just exhausted from the war... I don’t even know what to say.”
“I’ve received reports that he’s up to no good again. I’ve been letting things play out because I thought it would end up in my favor, but...to think he would make a silhouette knight fly after bringing back a flying ship. Damn that Ernesti...but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, even if I don’t know what to do about this.”
The king’s expression was colored with a complicated mix of emotions. It was all because of a sudden report brought in by the Order of the Silver Phoenix: They’d completed a flying silhouette knight. It was truly shocking news.
“‘If a ship is going to fly through the sky, then silhouette knights should too.’ Such an easy idea to have. But being able to turn that idea into reality is what truly makes him so scary.”
“It’s like something created by an innocent child, isn’t it? That’s why his ideas are so uninhibited, and they always end up with silhouette knights that have entirely new abilities. He’s truly as energetic as ever, though that’s no laughing matter.” Olvàr was truly praising him—not as a protector, but as the head of the national lab. The reason it sounded like teasing was because of who he was talking about.
The king scrunched his face up. “We blocked off the Great Bocuse Forest with walls, so I thought our lands were safe, but...monsters are still running rampant within our borders. The sky is wider than I expected.”
There were many monsters within the Kingdom of Fremmevilla’s borders. But with the strength of the new silhouette knights, Leotamus had thought they were doing a much better job of eliminating them. He was correct in a sense, but he was also mistaken.
Back when this kingdom had first been founded, they’d needed to carefully select locations that were relatively safe to establish their villages and cities. That was why these locations had become stepping stones, connected by thin roads. The lands besides these had not been reached by human hands, and thus they teemed with monsters. The Fremmevillans hadn’t even fully seized the ground, let alone the sky.
“Given the mounting losses the Royal Post has been taking, we’ve been in need of some sort of countermeasure. This news is a windfall. Is it possible that he knew this would happen?” Olvàr wondered aloud.
The king could only nod. “At any rate, there’s no doubt this is just a consequence of the times we live in. With silhouette knights, we can reclaim the skies and grow our kingdom ever further. It seems you have your work cut out for you again, National Silhouette Knight Laboratory.”
“If you wish it, it is my pleasure to grant.” Olvàr bowed and left.
Leotamus saw him off before seeming to sink back into thought.
◆
Then, at a later day, a summons from the king came for Ernie. So, he made his way to Schreiber Castle, where Leotamus was waiting for him with a proposal.
“You want to...establish a new squad of these windine-style silhouette knights?”
“Indeed I do,” Leotamus said with a nod. “I think this new creation of yours is wonderful, and it will work wonders when our levitating ships take to the sky. Even so, there are too many problems. First, your manufacturing method is strange in the extreme. But also, and more importantly, no one is willing to pilot them.”
The biggest issue with the new flying silhouette knights was not the materials needed or method of manufacture, but the pilots. Because Kardetolles were essentially regular silhouette knights with enhanced abilities, the knight runners were familiar with their use and had no problems acclimating. When it came to the much stranger Tzenndrimble, the difference in controls heavily limited who could pilot one. And even the centaur knight at least still ran along the ground, making it possible to learn with practice.
However, the flying silhouette knight was different. Its controls were totally alien from any standard silhouette knight. Learning to pilot it would require even longer and more specialized training.
“We’ve already got our hands full looking for levitating ship crews,” said the king. “Throw in flying silhouette knights, and we might as well give up. After all, we can’t even find enough instructors. I decided we might as well recruit completely new pilots; they might learn faster that way.”
“I see. So you’re saying we should get someone new for something new, right?”
Leotamus nodded. With how peculiar it was, any knight runner who tried to pilot a flying silhouette knight would need to learn to pilot from scratch again. The king had figured that having less experienced knight runners learn would be better, since they’d be at an earlier stage of training anyway. Of course, there would be some things seasoned knight runners would be better at, but he was expecting a lot from the more inexperienced ones’ youthful adaptability.
To be fair, that’s not all, but... he thought to himself.
Actually, there was one more major reason for this proposal.
Since its inception, the Order of the Silver Phoenix had been involved in a wide variety of activities, from developing new silhouette knights to using them. They had even served as trump cards against large threats. While being clearly under the control of the king, as implied by their posting directly under him, they’d always been rampaging above and beyond expectations and common sense, moving however their captain wished. Given the circumstances behind their founding, they’d also been doing this with an extremely low influx of new members.
With all that known, there had been quite a few people wanting to join this special order. But that didn’t mean the king could carelessly increase the people at the disposal of the runaway knight captain, so he’d been forcibly suppressing these requests.
