Chapter I: Calamity

  In total, I’d gathered together six Babylons. They were the garden, the workshop, the alchemy lab, the hangar, the rampart, and the tower.

  Initially there were fifteen mini-robots working in the rampart, but I diverted ten of them to the hangar in order to give Monica and Rosetta some much-needed aid. They were thankful for the reduced workload.

  I brought Liora and Noel to Zanac’s dressing room, and told them they could choose anything they liked. Liora picked a blazer, while Noel chose a jersey. Why’d you choose that of all things? Ah, whatever... I guess if they like it, then that’s fine.

  The day had finally come for Brunhild’s guild hall to finish construction, so I wandered over to give it an inspection.

  For the most part, the place was ready for a grand opening. It just needed furniture and decorations on the inside. I was especially impressed with the craftsmanship. Apparently people were quite eager and passionate about the guild hall being opened, because it was one in a territory belonging to a grand duke who had his roots in guild adventuring.

  I thought that was fine, but I didn’t really expect too many adventurers to show up. Brigands and monsters weren’t common in Brunhild, so I figured most of the quests wouldn’t be anything adventurous.

  Hell, the place was smack-bang in the middle of Regulus and Belfast, so it wouldn’t have surprised me much if we didn’t get any monster-killing quests at all.

  Samsa the ogre was still hard at work, this time helping to build the nearby bar. Only the bar’s framework was built, so there was still a fair bit for him to do. He was much too big to help out with any of the guild hall’s indoor furnishing, after all.

  “Hm...” I suddenly looked over to see Sakura gazing at the construction works. Sango and Kokuyou were by her side, swimming through the air.

  “Heyyy! Nice to ssseee you, darling.”

  “...Lord.” Sakura still hadn’t recovered her memories, but I could hardly just kick her out. I decided it’d be best to let her stay in the castle as my guest.

  Despite her quiet nature, she was actually quite active and outgoing. I asked Sango and Kokuyou to accompany her just in case she found herself in trouble or wandered off too far.

  “What brings you guys here?”

  “We were at Moon Reader until just a while ago. We were walking home, but when we got here, the girl simply stopped moving and began staring.” Kokuyou answered my question, rather than Sakura.

  “You guys were at Moon Reader? Who paid for the food?”

  “The manager just said it’d be fine putting it on your tab.” Tsk... That’s annoying, even by Micah’s standards. Then again, the Moon Reader branch over here is pretty much a store operated by the government, so it’s fine...

  “So what’s Sakura doing now, exactly?”

  “Watching...” Sakura suddenly murmured something, and pointed over at Samsa the ogre. He was hauling timber with a big smile on his face. What, something on his face?

  “He’s demonkin... but nobody minds... It’s strange.”

  Ah, I see... so that’s what’s got her curious. I’ll admit, it’s definitely weird for demonkin to work together peacefully with humans. In most cases, humans are scared of demonkin and their ilk, which makes both species avoid the other.

  Outside of Brunhild, I hadn’t witnessed another place where man and demonkin laughed together, or shared drinks together. Whenever I saw demonkin in other countries, they were mostly on their own, in the corners of bars and such.

  “Demonkin or not, my country doesn’t tolerate discrimination. It’s true that travelers from other countries might steer clear of them, but there are even five demonkin members of my knight order. We’re quite diverse.”

  “This country is strange... It shifts to the whims of its leader... Still, it’s nice here... Everyone here wishes to work in harmony, together.” I got the feeling she wasn’t really praising me, but I was happy nonetheless.

  Well, Brunhild was a rather small country, so it was only natural that everyone worked hard together to make a future.

  I decided to take Sakura over to look at the agricultural project in the east of Brunhild. Lakshy the alraune was hard at work in the fields as usual. She was demonkin, too.

  “What’re you raising here, then?”

  “Radishes and turnips! They’ll be ready for harvest soon, I’m sure. We should pickle ‘em. They’re super yummy when you do that.” Lakshy smiled as she spoke. Apparently the pickling method was something unique to Eashen, but it was spreading across Brunhild quickly due to most of our citizens being Eashenese.

  The rice paddies were coming along well too. I wanted to expand the project until spring. I was looking forward to chowing down on some rice.

  After that we should grow miso and soybeans, all the good stuff for natto. Tofu and green beans sound good too. I was getting a bit excited, so I hoped for spring to come a bit sooner.

  We said our goodbyes to Lakshy and started back down the road to the castle.

  After a while of walking, something felt strange. There was nobody around, nobody in the area but us.

  “Massster...”

  “I know.” Sango spoke up to warn me, but I was already deploying a [Shield]. It was just in time for an arrow to come flying at us from a nearby tree.

  “Ah...?!” Sakura took a sharp, surprised breath, but the spell successfully deflected the attack. I looked up to the place the arrow came from, and saw someone clad in a black mask, kind of like the type used in traditional Chinese theater.

  That’s a weird-looking mask... It’s definitely suspicious. I walked toward the tree, only to be ambushed where I stood by three similar, black-clad men from the ground. I’d sensed several presences in the area, but I was surprised they’d been buried in the soil. They carried curved shortswords. I narrowed my eyes and took a closer look at the unusual blades. They were slicked with a liquid, likely poison.

  There was no mistaking it. I was face-to-face with a group of assassins.

  “Tell us the whereabouts of the Giant Warrior.”

  “...The Giant Warrior? You mean my Frame Gear?”

  “Silence. Answer.”

  “No. I don’t answer to you. What country are you from?” I spoke clearly to the three in front of me, but they didn’t respond. It would’ve been fine if they’d just been obedient and answered me, but they had to make it hard. I walked over and quickly tapped all three of them on the shoulder.

  “[Gravity].”

  “Guwagh?!” I made them bow at my feet using my weight-altering magic. Horrified by the display, the fourth assassin leaped out of the tree and started running away.

  “[Slip].”

  “Guwah?!” The fourth assassin fell to the ground immediately. He smacked the back of his head pretty hard. Ouch, poor timing...

  I decided to leave that guy for now, and focused my attention on the three men in front of me. I reached down to pull their masks off. Let’s see what you look like...

  “Don’t!” Sakura suddenly charged toward me and yanked my arm away. I fell flat on my back... just as the three men burst into flames. Their masks detonated.

  “A-Ah...” The three men slumped to the ground, motionless. Chunks of flesh danced through the air alongside smoke. Their heads had been blown off completely.

  What the hell was that? A suicide bomb tactic in case they got caught? I’d seen some historical plays where ninja would bite their tongues out if they got caught, but this was a little much...

  Then again, suicide bombing pretty much guaranteed death. If their tongues came off, they could still be kept alive and tortured.

  I looked over at the guy I’d tripped over, but he wasn’t there anymore. A weapon similar to a kunai dagger attached to rope was lodged into a nearby tree. [Slip] affected an area on the ground, so he must’ve pulled himself out of the operational area.

  I looked around for his mask, but I didn’t find it. He’d likely disposed of it and made his getaway. I didn’t understand what had just happened, but I knew I needed to take countermeasures before they came back for a second go. I decided to meet this mysterious challenge head-on.

  “I didn’t find any identifying documents or features on the three corpses, and one of the men got away. Thus, he is unaccounted for.” Vice-Commander Nikola read his report out to me. I didn’t want it to become an especially major matter, but it was true that the monarch of a nation had come under direct attack, so I couldn’t keep quiet about it.

  The people joining me in the conference room were the top three members of the Knight Order, Prime Minister Kousaka, the old men from Takeda, and Tsubaki of the intel corps.

  “So then... were they after somethin’ of yours, squirt?”

  “I’m pretty sure, yeah... I have no doubts they were after the Frame Gear.”

  “Guess that means we gotta suspect every other country, then.” Old man Baba sighed and folded his arms as he leaned back into chair.

  I could understand where he was coming from. The Frame Gear was something seen as a potent weapon by other countries, so I wasn’t surprised another group finally made a move to try and gain it. They were likely aiming to kidnap and torture me until I told them where it was.

  The arrow the fourth guy fired was probably coated in poison, too. It was probably paralysis-inducing, and they’d smeared it on their swords to make sure they could cart me off easily.

  “It’s unlikely that a nation affiliated with our western alliance would’ve done such a thing. And even if it was, it’s entirely possible that it was the careless action of an influential noble, rather than the government of the country itself. We must not take brash action without understanding full well who the culprit is.” I agreed with Kousaka’s assessment. If a country from the western alliance tried to steal from me, the other nations would vilify them. It would’ve been suicide to make a move like that.

  Plus, they’d called it the Giant Warrior. That meant they didn’t know it was called a Frame Gear. It was far more likely that the assassination attempt was performed by a country I hadn’t involved myself with yet.

  As I pondered, Tsubaki raised her hand.

  “Excuse me, there’s a matter I was concerned with. You said they were wearing masks, which stood out to me a tad.”

  “Why’s that strange? No matter the era, spy groups and assassination teams always wear masks. Is there something odd about it?”

  “No, I was just thinking... If we knew a bit more about the mask, it might help us identify them...”

  Well, that’s a fair point... But those masks have all been blown to smithereens. Lapis and Cecile used masks when they worked for Belfast’s Intelligence Task Force, Espion... If what Yamagata had said was true, and every organization used a mask... Then it may have been possible to identify them from the mask.

  “What did the masks look like?”

  “Uh... kinda similar in style to those used in traditional Chinese theater.”

  “Chinese?” Commander Lain tilted her head in confusion. Her rabbit ears twitched just as curiously. Oh, right... other world. Oh, I know.

  I took out a piece of paper from a desk and used [Drawing]. I depicted a perfectly accurate replica of what the masks on my assailants looked like.

  “...Feels a tad late for me to say it, but you sure have a lot of convenient stuff at your disposal, Milord.” Vice-Commander Norn muttered quietly. Well, just call it Your Majesty’s magic... heh.

  “That’s the mask, anyway. Recognize it?” Everyone stared down at the image, until eventually Tsubaki spoke up.

  “I’ve no proof, but the coloring and markings here are... reminiscent of Yulong’s national symbols. I’d heard rumors that there’s a spy organization named “Qulau” operating out of that nation.”

  “Yulong?”

  “Yulong, Empire of Heaven. It’s a country west of Eashen, over the sea. They’ve warred against Eashen many a time, and are governed by the heavenly emperor.” Huh... Yulong, Empire of Heaven? They’re Eashen’s neighbors from across the sea, eh? It’s quite a way away... If the assailants did come from there, they traveled far.

  Well, not like I have any proof it’s them. It’s probably better to act cautiously though... I doubt they’ll give up after one attempt.

  For the time being I decided to bolster defenses and make sure people paid attention to suspicious things. I assumed their plan was to steal the Frame Gear, and there was no way in hell I planned on letting them have it.

  The only way to Babylon was either through one of my portals, or the short-range recall teleport that Cesca and the other Gynoids had.

  There was always the chance they could get there by launching into the sky and hoping for the best, but that wouldn’t be an issue. Ever since I obtained the rampart, directly invading from the outside had become an impossibility.

  I didn’t much care if they sent people after me, but I couldn’t avoid the possibility of them targeting my loved ones. To that end, I decided it’d be better to send them a message suggesting I wasn’t to be messed with.

  If they did end up going after the people I cared about, then I wouldn’t forgive them. I’d mercilessly hunt down the ringleader and make him wish he was dead.

  Still, the people who came after me blew themselves up to conceal their identities. The guy in charge was probably a real monster.

  Come to think of it... How come Sakura knew they were gonna blow up? She isn’t from that spy agency or something, is she...? Nah, that can’t be. I found her in Eashen, not Yulong, and Yumina’s Mystic Eyes have confirmed her status as non-malicious.

  Though that begged the question, the Mystic Eyes might not be able to account for bad people who had lost their memories.

  It was hard to know if a bad person who, upon losing their memories and becoming like a whole other person, would still be judged as evil. I had no idea about the mechanics of it, exactly, and it was a little too philosophical for my tastes, so I left it there.

  I felt a little anxious about the day Sakura’s memories would return.

  Still, I decided to push those anxieties aside. Sakura wasn’t a bad girl, surely.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “Alright, here I go...”

  “Sure thing.” I was at the training grounds with Linze, who pointed a mithril rod at me. It had various spellstones fit on the tip. Of the three stones, red, blue, and yellow, the red one shone brightly.

  “Come forth, Fire! A Hail of Red Stone: [Ignis Fire]!” A flaming orb about the size of a baseball flew out of the rod. She’d cast a basic fire spell.

  I watched it approaching, focused my magic, and cast my new Null spell.

  “[Absorb].” The fireball dispersed like a fine mist. It didn’t hit me, so I was completely unharmed.

  Another shot came flying at me. However, just like the one before it, it dispersed into nothingness. Hm... guess it’s on a timer, then... This spell eats up a lot of magic, but it makes up for that by absorbing any offensive magic around me.

  “Linze, step it up a notch.”

  “Very well.” Linze readied her rod once more.

  “Come forth, Fire! Purgatorial Pillar: [Inferno Fire]!”

  “[Absorb].” Three billowing torrents of flame came at me from multiple angles. But, once they got about two meters away from me, they vanished as well.

  Hm...? Well, my magic got restored, but... it’s only about the same amount as the fireball gave me. Guess it must return a fixed amount, which means the spell I drain is irrelevant... The spell gets canceled out, turned back into raw magic, then part of that is absorbed. Pretty neat.

  The effect was similar to the Drainbracer used during the coup, so I was certain I could enchant items with it as well.

  I asked Linze if I could see about making magic absorbing armor, but Linze said it’d be pointless. Apparently if someone absorbed spells from schools other than the ones they had the attributes for, then they could get something called spellsickness.

  So if a person had no aptitude for fire magic and absorbed a fire spell, they’d be negatively affected. It wouldn’t be an issue for someone like me, but the average person wasn’t so well-attuned. Apparently the Drainbracer didn’t seem to have that problem, though.

  Linze and Yumina were both only attuned to three magic schools, but Leen would probably be able to absorb all magic except Null. She was attuned to all schools, after all.

  She could also use [Transfer] to give magic to others.

  “Guess it won’t help much for being caught off-guard, though, since you’ve gotta manually invoke it.”

  “What’s the range on it?”

  “Uh, it’s around two to ten meters, I think. Oh, that brings up an interesting question... Would an enemy within that range even be able to cast a spell to begin with?” I kept Linze standing next to me and triggered [Absorb]. She cast her spell and it activated for about half a second before being nullified.

  Huh, so I guess I could preemptively keep it cast on me. When Linze left the effective range, she could cast normally once more.

  The spell was one that completely nullified magic entirely. [Silence] only stopped spells from being chanted because it stopped the sound itself, and I could use [Taboo] to seal certain words in advance if I knew what spells my enemy was using. It was useful if I knew my enemy, but wouldn’t be much use in a real fight.

  Then again, knowing my enemy would certainly help in some cases. For example, if I made [Boost] a taboo word and I had to fight Elze, it’d certainly be to my advantage.

  Regardless, none of these spells would do me any good against a Phrase.

  The experiment was complete. I thanked Linze for her help and set off toward home when suddenly I received a telepathic message from Kohaku.

  《My lord, we’ve a visitor at the castle...》

 

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