In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 1

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 jussst a while ago. We were walking home, but when we got here, the girl sssimply ssstopped moving and began ssstaring.” 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 her 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! Hail of Red Stones: [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 Darkness. She was attuned to all other 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...? 
A visitor?? 
Er, yes... She’s calling herself your older sister...? 
Excuse me?!? 
What older sister? I don’t have any sisters... I don’t even have any brothers! I’ve got cousins from my mother’s sister, and my dad’s older brother went through that wedding and divorce, but none of those people would be in this world, either. 
What does the person look like?? 
Ah, well... She’s pink-haired and looks to be around half a decade older than you, and she— Wh-Wh-What is she doing?! Agh!? 
Hmhm? What’s this, Kohaku? Ehehe, it’s a telepathic connection, is it? Then I’ll talk with Touya too, get it? Heeey, can you hear me, dear?? The amused voice of a young woman came mixed in on Kohaku’s wavelength. The voice was strangely familiar. 
Wait... no. Oh no... What the hell are you doing here?! I opened up a [Gate] and rushed to the castle immediately, dragging Linze off with me. 
“I’m Touya’s biiig sister! You can call me Karen, get it?” 
“Karen, was it?” She spoke up, greeting everyone like it was no big deal. What the hell are you saying? You’re not even a human! 
I approached her and let out a quiet whisper. 
“...God of love, what exactly are you doing in my castle?” 
“I’m not the god of love, get it? I’m Karen! It’ll be fine if you call me big sis... Actually, make sure to call me that, get it?!” 
That’s not an answer to my question at all! 
“I’m so happy to see you after so long! Hehehe, hurray!” 
“Gaugh!” She suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. Hey now, everyone’s watching! I glanced over at Yumina and the others, but they seemed to be touched. From their perspective, it was the long-awaited reunion of a brother and his beloved sister, after all. Yae was even shedding a few tears. This was bad... 

“Well then... venerable sister-in-law, allow us to take our leave. We’ll ensure you’re fed well tonight, so please look forward to it.” 
“Oh my! I am looking forward to it, get it?” I guess they wanted to give the ‘two siblings’ time to reconcile. Eventually it was only the god of love and myself. 
“So, what’s going on? Why’d you come down to the mortal realm?” 
“Huh... Shouldn’t I have come?” 
“No! I don’t mean like that, I just wonder why you’re posing as my sister!” 
“Oh, it was just an idea of mine, get it...?” The god of love reclined on the couch with a little chuckle. I was mentally exhausted at this point, so I sat down too. This is bad... This girl isn’t the kind of person I handle very well... 
“So, what’s the deal? Why’re you here?” 
“Hoho... I came to catch someone, get it?” 
“Huh? You mean like capturing someone?” 
“That’s right! We’re lesser gods, but I’m here to capture a god even lower down the ladder! A servile god, to be precise! The naughty little fellow escaped and came down here, get it? So I came down to get them back, get it?” A servile god? Didn’t know you could get lesser than lesser. 
From what I understood the gods had a strict hierarchy, so servile gods must have been placed under gods of specific concepts. This one must’ve ran away and come to this world for whatever reason. 
“You said he escaped? Did he commit a crime up there or something?” 
“Nope! There wasn’t anything like a crime, get it? I’ve no idea why the little dear came down here. That being said, coming to a lower world without the World God’s permission is actually a crime in and of itself, but it should be fine so long as the god in question doesn’t influence the world with their divine powers. That’s why I’m worried, get it?” 
...I think you’re interfering plenty already in a broader sense... You’re the one who made me peek on Yumina and the others when they were changing! 
“Gods like me can come and go without an issue. If you want me to put it in easy terms, I’m a driver with a perfectly valid license, get it? But a servile god isn’t licensed, nor do they have a temporary license, so they’re like a child in the driver’s seat! It’s quite a dangerous situation, get it?” 
I guess I get it, but at the same time I don’t fully understand. In the end, it’s bad not to be licensed, I guess. 
“Then go out and catch the guy already. I don’t want any trouble.” 
“That’s the plan, geez! But I haven’t been able to feel any of their Divine Essence since I got here... They probably transformed into something that exists here already.” 
“Eh? Transformed?” 
“Yep! Could be a person, an animal, or maybe even something like an object or plant! It’s a technique to blend in. So long as it’s active, the natural divinity they emanate is inert, get it?” 
Huh, weird. That’s definitely troubling, though... 
It would be bad news for everyone if the god started using his powers. A god was still a god, no matter the tier. I hoped he’d be caught and brought to justice swiftly. Still, the fact that we didn’t know why he’d come down to this world, coupled with the fact that he was concealing himself was definitely troubling. 
“So what’re you gonna do to find him?” 
“The moment that servile god uses a single bit of divine power, I’ll know where they are! Then, we can undo the transformation with our own divine power after finding out where they are, get it?” 
“Uh, our?” 
Hey hey, you didn’t bring ANOTHER god down here, did you? I remember the god of swords, the god of agriculture, and the god of music being mentioned... Curse that careless old man! 
“What do you mean? I’m talking about you, get it? You have magical power and divine power, silly. How do you think I even found you in the first place? I can smell the godliness on you as well as I can see the cleanliness!” 
“Seriously?!” Wait a sec... Is this one of the bodily changes I’ll be undergoing? I didn’t even know about it! 
“Well, I won’t be able to do anything until they make a move, get it? So... with that saiiid... thanks for having me here, little bro.” 
“Wait, you’re gonna stay here?!” Seriously? Well, I mean... I’ll be worrying about that god until he reveals himself, so having her here might not be the worst thing... But I don’t really trust having this girl of all people hanging around! 
“There’s no problems with an older sister coming to stay with her younger brother, get it?” 
“Hm, older sister, eh? Makes me wonder just how old you are...” I tried to tease her, but she just puffed her cheeks out and glared daggers at me. Asking her age seemed an unwise idea, so I decided not to push it, lest she cast me into a living hell. 
“Anyhow, just call me Sissy-wissy. That’s the best way, get it?” 
“...No way am I calling you that.” 
“If you don’t, I might accidentally tell Yumina and the others all about that time you came to ask me for help with your love troubles... get it?” 
“Ah, please accept my apologies, S-Sissy-wissy...” Curse it all... Is this the legendary power of a god at play? Calling her... that, was far too embarrassing, so I got her to compromise on calling her Sis instead. The god of love... or well, Karen, seemed a little disappointed, but she accepted my terms. 
I kinda wondered what was going through the old man’s head when he assigned her to this job, though. I had no idea if she was the right kind of person for it. 
The meal that evening was nothing short of extravagant. Crea had clearly put her all into making it a grand feast. 
But then... during dinner, something bad and uncomfortable happened. They started asking her for love advice. She was a pro, after all... No, beyond that, really... but it didn’t make it any less unpleasant to endure during my meal. Yumina and the others began to ask her things, one by one. 
“Touya’s the kind of person who’s inherently kind, get it? From a woman’s perspective, that can be kind of cruel, though... They might see it as him hitting on them, or displaying interest when really he’s just a gentle soul... It’d be bad if they misunderstood his intentions, get it?” 
“B-But doesn’t that mean he’s not especially fond of us either? He treats us all so kindly, but it’s all the same...” Linze muttered. 
“No no, that’s not the case... He considers all of you to be precious, get it? But it’s up to you girls to decide how that progresses. He’s not the kind to make a move on his own, so you’re the ones who have to gently push.” 
“So we just need to be more aggressive?” Elze asked. 
“In moderation... He’ll only become more flustered if you attack too strongly, get it? Touya’s the kind of boy who gets very shy very easily.” 
“Th-Then just how far is far enough...?” 
“First thing’s physical contact... Hugging, kissing, and holding hands is good, get it? Slowly whittling away at his shyness by doing stuff like this often is key. It’ll eventually become second nature, get it? My my, you must all be having a tough time, eh? What inexperienced girls you are... It’s so cute.” 
“Wh-What about, erm... seduction...?” Yumina inquired. 
“Be careful about how far you go, there... Too many naughty things might end up giving him mental fatigue... Start up by wearing shorter skirts to tease him... But only do that in front of Touya! If another person gets a peek of your panties, he’ll hate it for sure!” 
“I see... This is most intriguing...” Yae mumbled. Please put an end to this, I’m begging you! What the hell kind of shameless conversation is this?! This isn’t romantic advice anymore! I looked around the table and noticed Renne was also listening attentively. Meanwhile, the men at the table just looked at me with solemn eyes. They seemed to understand how tough I had it. 
I’m getting embarrassed here, come on! Get me outta here! And that’s how one of the very worst people possible became my older sister. 
 
“Wait, Yulong declared war?” 
“That’s correct, yes. They declared war on their neighboring nation, the Hannock Kingdom, and are currently planning to mount an offensive.” As Tsubaki gave me her report, I took my smartphone out and got a good look at the area around Yulong. 
The Kingdom of Hannock was west of Yulong, and bordered Regulus along a large river. On the map, I could see that the territory they controlled was more horizontal than vertical. 
“Run search. Display Yulong’s forces in red, and Hannock’s in blue.” 
“Understood. Displaying.” Just like that, it showed the lot. They were split up into a neat color code. 
My search magic was definitely a handy information gathering application. It couldn’t be used on people who disguised their features or changed clothes, like the masked assailants from the other day, but it was pretty easy to look for general concepts and locations. 
We didn’t find a single trace of those black masks, either. I figured they’d blown up to the last trace in order to prevent any possibility of being identified. 
According to the map, there were two Yulong war camps within Hannock’s territory. There was another large group of Yulong forces headed toward both camps, which I figured was probably a resupply unit. Either way, the situation seemed to be in Yulong’s favor. They were advancing forward with overwhelming numbers. 
“Why did war even break out?” 
“Yulong’s official stance is that Hannock was originally Yulong’s territory, and that refugees had settled there and made their own kingdom many years ago without proper permission. They’re stating it’s not war, just a reclamation of rightful soil.” 
“...Is that how it works?” 
“That’s how they’re saying it works. They say that Yulong has prospered since before recorded time. They claim that Yulong has an empire spanning 7000 years. It’s handed down as an oral tradition over there.” 7000 years? That’s crazy. Even Egypt only has a history spanning 5000 years, right...? I could understand that they were trying to take back their ancestral territory, but there was already another country there now with people living peacefully in it. I couldn’t help but wonder why they chose now of all times to reclaim it. And I didn’t quite understand the whole oral tradition thing, either. I turned to Cesca, who was standing by my side, and spoke to her in a quiet voice. 
“...Hey uh, during the ancient era 5000 years ago... was there a country called Yulong?” 
“Nope. I haven’t heard of anything like that. All human nations were ravaged by the Phrase and rendered uninhabitable during their final push.” 
Hmhmhm... So Yulong’s proud 7000 years of tradition doesn’t sound so legit after all. If I have to hazard a guess, I’d say some influential people started a cool story about their history and spread it to future generations as the truth. But if that’s the case, then it casts the entire Hannock situation into doubt, too... Well, I can’t discredit everything Yulong says based on this. They probably actually believe this stuff because they were taught it for so many generations. 
“If you’d like my opinion, the war was begun under false pretenses. Over the last few years, Hannock has discovered a wealth of ore. They’ve become much more economically powerful due to their mithril and orichalcum reserves. In my humble opinion, it is this wealth that is driving Yulong’s bloodlust.” 
Wait, they’re being aggressive for resources? Surely Yulong isn’t seeing it as some bounty to be claimed, right...? Though it does add up... They allegedly attacked me looking for the Frame Gear the other day. Are they the kind of people that pump money into their military, trample the enemy, and then use their resources and technology to bolster their own might? 
“Guh... A war is kind of a first for me... How does the situation look?” 
“Yulong has the advantage when it comes to raw military might. If it continues as it is, Hannock will likely be destroyed. It might be possible for them to bolster their troops using the funds from their ore mines, but the difference in strength between Hannock and Yulong is just too big for it to even be a fair contest.” 
If they destroy Hannock, would Yulong go after Regulus too? That definitely wouldn’t be good news... 
This coupled with the attack on Brunhild the other day wasn’t painting me the brightest picture of Yulong. Though it wasn’t confirmed that they were the attackers, so I reserved judgment. 
“Does the Kingdom of Hannock have much in the way of relations with Regulus?” 
“They’re associated, but not allied. They definitely maintain a friendly relationship. In regards to the current war, however, Regulus will not intervene. They may provide aid in the form of food or arms, but not much else.” 
Hmph... If it goes on like that, the war will just be prolonged. Even then, it’s not like it’d be hard for Yulong to win if Hannock had more support. 
It’s a foreign, unrelated war... It has nothing to do with me... If I could think with that mindset, it’d be easier. 
A lot of people are gonna die... I’m hardly a humanitarian, I have my own things to take care of... But I can’t help but feel rotten when I imagine the deaths of those people, regardless of whether or not they know me. 
I couldn’t decide if that was hypocritical or heroic. 
My late grandfather once told me “Better a hypocrite than a bystander!” and that “If you stand and stare like a monkey, you might as well be one!” 
...And honestly? I don’t want to be a monkey. 
“Oh, that reminds me. Weren’t there members of our knight order from Yulong or Hannock?” 
“We have nobody from Yulong amongst our ranks. However, there is one soldier who was born in Hannock.” 
“Call him here, then. I wish to speak with him.” 
“As you wish.” Tsubaki swiftly left the room. 
If he’s from Hannock, then he might have family still living there... It’d be better to bring them here to Brunhild if that place is gonna get wrecked soon. 
“Knight Paolo reporting for duty, sir!” The knight I had called over bowed his head to me and stood on one knee. He was a young man with short, auburn hair. I’d seen him a few times here and there. If I recalled correctly, he was fast on his feet, but not especially skilled at swordplay. Either way, he was diligent, so Nikola had remarked on his abilities every now and then. 
Apparently he was originally a regular adventurer, and came here to sign up after seeing a recruitment flyer. 
“Paolo, you hail from Hannock, yes? Where is your hometown, exactly?” 
“Er... Ah, well. My hometown is a small village named Quint, which is on the eastern side of Hannock. Why do you...” Quint Village... I called up my map and displayed the location. 
Oh, that’s not good. Yulong’s army is a little close for comfort... Are they gonna conquer this village and use it as their base of operations or something? They’re aiming for Hannock’s capital for the most part, but there’s a smaller group heading for Quint... Are they trying to make a pincer attack or something? Invading army or not, surely they won’t kill villagers. But that doesn’t mean they won’t take provisions and general supplies... It’s just a matter of whether the villagers give them over peacefully or not. 
“Er, sorry... What is this?” Paolo stared at me with a look of anxiety on his face. He looked between me and the map, then pointed at the location of his town on the projection. 
“The news isn’t formally out yet, but... Yulong has declared war on Hannock.” 
“What are you saying?!” Paolo stood up straight, clearly shocked. He had anxiety, surprise, and a twinge of horror painted on his face. 
“This here is Quint Village... And the red marks here are Yulong’s forces. It’s looking like they’ll reach Quint by morning.” 
“B-But...” Paolo stared at my map, equal parts horrified and amazed. 
“So long as the villagers don’t act rashly, I’m sure things will be okay, but—” 
“...No, you don’t understand. E-Everyone in Quint, my family... and friends... They’re all going to die, or worse. The men will be slaughtered, and the women and children will definitely be taken to be slaves and playthings...!” 
“What?!” 
Hold on a sec... is he kidding? They’re formal soldiers, right? If they acted like raiders, they’d just be common criminals. They can’t seriously get away with that, right? 
“Yulong’s army is infamous for their heinous behavior, Milord... When they invade another country, they’re permitted to pillage at their own discretion. They can take weapons and armor from fallen foes, they can take money and jewels that they find in people’s houses.. They can even take women to claim as property... It’s because of this reason that Yulong’s army has some of the highest morale in the world.” 
He can’t be serious... If they act like that, they’ll just make the locals hate them! If they’re invading to make the land theirs, then what are they planning? 
“Twenty or so years ago, there was a country called Zaram between Hannock and Yulong... It was savagely destroyed by Yulong’s forces. There were widespread reports of pillaging and rape during that time.” 
...No matter the circumstances of war, there’s no need for soldiers to go that far! 
According to Tsubaki, Yulong held a strong caste system, and your social status was determined by one simple detail, whether or not you’re a native Yulongese person. Their xenophobia was extremely strong, and they viewed outsiders as lesser beings. 
Slavery was apparently common in Yulong as well, much like Sandora. But they didn’t use collars. Instead, they denoted slaves with special tattoos. 
“It’s likely that Quint village will be completely ravaged, just as Zaram was before... Gh... Milord, I-I’m so sorry to speak out of line like this, but... I beg of you! Please, use your power to save my home!” Paolo knelt down again, bowing and crying out to me. 
“Sure.” 
“Milord, I know... I know how rude this is, but I beseech you, please! Give your most honorable of considerations to saving m— Wait...” Paolo raised his head, dumbfounded. 
“What’s wrong? I said I’d do it, didn’t I? The only reason I called you here was to help anyway.” 
Well, the original plan was just to evacuate Paolo’s family. I figured that would be an easy enough job, and I didn’t really expect the village to be in any real danger... 
“I don’t know if they’ll believe me even if I explain it outright, so could you come along to the village with me?” 
“Y-Yes sir, of course!” I used [Recall] to receive Paolo’s memories of Quint, and we went there immediately through a [Gate]. 
It was just the three of us. Myself, Tsubaki, and Paolo. 
I opened my eyes to see a peaceful and beautiful little village. 
“This is Quint, then?” 
“Y-Yes, it is... This is definitely where I was born. Your magic is incredible... To move so far, so quickly...” Paolo made a dumbfounded face at his surroundings, but he seemed relieved. 
A young man, who looked like a farmer, called out to us. 
“Paolo? Huh, that you, Paolo?” 
“Holy cow! Lent? It’s been forever, man!” Paolo ran over to the young farmer. They seemed to be friends, or at least acquaintances. 
“What’s with that getup? Did you loot it off a dead guy or something?” 
“You dumbass! I’m totally a knight of Brunhild, bro. I didn’t steal a thing. I’m a certified soldier under a grand duke!” 
“Whoa, for reals?” Paolo proudly jerked a thumb toward his mithril armor. I noticed that his way of speaking had switched pretty quickly. He sounded a lot more casual and confident in himself. 
“Pfft. You used to be famous for your getaway speed. You doing well in your new job with those skills, wahaha...” 
“Heh, maybe, maybe... Wait, there’s no time for idle banter! Yulong and Hannock are at war with each other now!” Lent’s face suddenly grew sullen at Paolo’s proclamation. 
“Yeah, we know... Everyone’s worried. We should be alright since we’re quite a way off the main highway, but if the capital falls and Yulong takes over, life’ll change a lot...” 
“No, that’s not it! Yulong’s army is coming here right now! They’ll be here before the morning!” 
“What the hell are you even saying?! That’s impossible! There’s no reason for them to attack a little village like this... We have barely any food or goods as it is.” It was as I’d expected. The army en route to the village was a detached force, likely part of some grander strategy. While the two main forces stared each other down on the highway, Yulong had support armies going the long way around... probably. 
“Bring us to the village chief. His Highness here’ll help us!” 
“Er, His Highness?” 
“I told you, I work for a country now, the Duchy of Brunhild. This man here is the grand duke himself!” 
“Uh, hi...” Paolo made several exaggerated hand motions as he introduced me. However, his actions were too sudden, so I just gave a small nod. 
Lent blinked slowly, and then turned to face Paolo with concern. 
“Paolo... Are you okay?” Just as I’d expected, he didn’t believe me. I began seriously considering constructing a crown just to wear for such occasions. 
Either way, eventually we got Lent to take us to the village chief. I wasn’t too surprised he doubted us. It was a lot to stomach after all. 
When I went out, I typically dressed in adventurer clothing since it was easy to move in. Plus, wearing gaudy royal clothing wasn’t really my scene. Frankly, that stuff made me embarrassed. 
We met with the village chief, but he didn’t believe us either. He accepted that I was Brunhild’s leader, but he just couldn’t believe that Yulong’s army was headed this way. 
I used [Levitate] alongside [Fly] to bring the chief up in the air with me. Then, I flew toward the approaching forces. 
We looked down from the sky, giving him a clear view of the incoming Yulong army. There were a lot of them. I’d have wagered around 5000 or so. At the sight, the village chief shivered and groaned. I couldn’t tell whether it was out of shock or fear of heights, though. 
We landed, and I used [Gate] to send him back to the village. I asked him to talk to the other villagers while I flew around the surrounding area. 
I pulled out my map and noted my observations. There was the main force on the highway, and the detached unit headed for the village, but there was also another separate unit trailing behind the main one. I assumed them to be the resupply unit, but there were a lot of them too. 
I looked over at Hannock’s forces, and they simply paled in comparison. There weren’t many troops that weren’t already part of the main group. I zoomed the map out and saw another force coming from behind Hannock’s main army. They looked like reinforcements coming from Hannock’s capital. By my estimations, it’d take about two days for them to reach the main forces. They seemed to be wanting to hold the front line... 
What should I do about that... I kind of need a just cause if I want to interfere with a foreign war. I’d prefer to make the Yulong army retreat, but that won’t end the war. They’ll just come back. It’d be easier if they were attacking Brunhild... Then I’d be able to... Oho, hold on... Yes... That’s right...! There’s certainly that method... 
I descended to the ground and opened up a [Gate] to the Regulus Empire. The emperor’s palace, to be precise. Suddenly appearing before the king of Hannock wouldn’t be smart, so I decided to have the emperor of Regulus introduce me to him. 
After hearing that the emperor of Regulus supported me, the king of Hannock accepted my proposal. The Kingdom of Hannock was going to be destroyed and made part of Yulong, so he agreed to my outlandish idea because it was the only way to save his people. 
Alrighty, I’ve got the king’s signature... After getting what was needed, I left the castle with the emperor of Regulus. 
“Goodness me, you’ve really gone and done something incredible now...” 
“It’s just a temporary measure. After I’m sure everyone’s safe, I’ll get rid of it.” The emperor spoke to me in disbelief, shaking his head as he looked over the paperwork. 
“Well, Touya. I don’t really mind, honestly... I’m just glad this stupid war will end before we have to send even more supplies.” I didn’t know if it’d go over too smoothly, but there was only one way to find out. I decided to go all-out in my plan. 
“What do you mean we don’t need to take shelter...?” 
“It’s fine. I’m going to drive every single Yulong soldier out of Hannock.” I showed the king’s documentation to Paolo, who had been waiting back at the village for me. He opened his eyes wide in shock as he read it, though I was sure he couldn’t quite understand all of it. 
“Th-That... A-Are you serious?!” 
“Sure am. You can see the king’s signature there, yeah? The national seal of Hannock’s stamped there, too.” Tsubaki peeked over and stared with wide eyes as well. 
“I-I’m glad we have the king’s approval, but... Well, looking at the way things are going, the country will fall to Yulong soon...” Tsubaki muttered quietly, seemingly not fully understanding the plan. Geez, what a ditz she could be. 
“Hey, Tsubaki. Return to the castle and give the following orders to Kousaka and the knight order. While you do that, I’ll drive out the Yulong army within Hannock.” 
“You’re going to drive them out...?” I opened up a [Gate] and sent Tsubaki back to Brunhild, completely ignoring the flabbergasted Paolo. 
Then, I soared up into the air with [Fly] and blasted off. Within a few moments, I was at Yulong’s Capital, Shenghai. 
The place looked kind of how I imagined it to look after seeing those masked guys. It was pretty oriental overall. I noticed a huge building which I assumed to be the royal palace. I saw scarlet roof tiles all over the place, and whitewashed walls. Plenty of gold leaf all over as well. Golden sculptures of animals were embedded in pillars, too. 
It felt flashy... It was unreasonably bright, like the incarnation of gaudiness itself. It was probably made using people’s taxes... If this kind of thing was in Japan, I had no doubt that everyone would hate it. It was just a hunch, but I had a feeling that only the capital looked this nice. 
Alright, better go back. 
I used a [Gate] to return to the skies above Hannock, surveying the Yulong army there. 
“Map. Display. All Yulong military members within Hannock territory.” 
“Understood. Displaying.” With a few little ping noises, the red light on my map showed Yulong’s military presence in Hannock. 
“[Multiple]. Target Lock.” 
“Understood. Targets locked.” Naturally, my targets were every single Yulong soldier within Hannock. 
“Invoke [Gate] beneath the feet of every Yulong soldier.” 
“Understood. Invoking [Gate].” With that, the red lights signifying Yulong’s military presence in Hannock began to fade, bit by bit. 
The soldiers of Yulong would at that point begin to appear one after the other inside the royal palace. There you go, heavenly emperor. Enjoy your soldiers. 
After making sure every single Yulongese soldier was gone from Hannock, I stepped through a [Gate] and came out at the border between the two nations. The real work was about to begin... 
 
“Wh-What the hell is this?!” I heard a voice from down below. It was no surprise that they were shocked. They’d been warped back to their capital city with no explanation, and then they took the ten-day journey to attempt the invasion again... only to find an enormous wall along the border of Hannock. 
Furthermore, the flag atop the wall wasn’t Hannock’s national elk, but Brunhild’s glorious shieldmaiden. 
The man on horseback, presumably Yulong’s general, yelled up at me. I was standing on the wall next to the flag. 
“What is the meaning of this?!” 
“Ah, my dear Yulongese soldiers, it’s my regretful duty to inform you that your long journey has been wasted. This land here belongs to the Duchy of Brunhild, you see... I can’t have anyone crossing it without express permission.” I faced the confused army and projected a magnified image of some paperwork for them all to see. 
“Wh-What is... No, that can’t be...!” It was paperwork approving the transfer of a piece of territory from Hannock to Brunhild. The territory was one kilometer in width along the border of Hannock and Yulong. In other words, the land bordering Yulong was no longer Hannock, but an extension of Brunhild’s territory. 
So if Yulong’s army wanted to invade Hannock, they’d have to pass through Brunhild’s land. And we had absolutely no intention of allowing them through. 
“Oh, just in case you wanna check, I’ll save you the journey. This big old wall spans the entire border.” I’d done it. Using the workshop, earth magic, and a mere six days of effort, I’d reconstructed a certain ‘great wall’ from another world. Well, it was actually a tad higher than the one from Earth. 
The wall was about one kilometer wide, all the way down the border line. It was about as wide as the Brunhild territory itself, in fact. 
“This is idiotic! We’ll just destroy your miserable wall! Charge, men!” At their General’s order, the Yulongese soldiers charged on against the wall. 
Wow, they’re actually doing it... Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t you at least talk with your emperor before declaring war on another country? Well, it’s equally possible they don’t believe me. I don’t really care either way. 
The Yulong army approached the wall and began to clamber up it... However, they didn’t get far. The moment they started to climb, the ground opened and swallowed them up. 
“Whuh?!” The soldiers who made contact with the wall all began to vanish. Everyone behind them stopped marching, seemingly surprised. 
I’d set it up so that once the wall was touched, a [Gate] would open up beneath their feet, safely sending them back to Shenghai. Right into the royal palace. Not that I owed them an explanation. 
The soldiers took a different approach and began firing arrows up at me. It was all reflected in seconds flat. I’d enchanted the wall with wind magic in such a way that would repel incoming arrows, but would allow outgoing arrows to pass through just fine. 
“Oh, here’s a little warning. You better not unleash any magic spells. Any offensive magic you fire on the wall will be teleported straight to your capital city.” I decided to give them a warning since I saw a few mages in the crowd raising their staffs. Upon hearing my words, they lowered their weapons. I didn’t know if they believed me, but they sure weren’t gonna risk it. 
I was telling the truth, though. Any magic on the wall would’ve gone right through and ended up in Shenghai. Right in the middle of the capital city to boot. 
“Now, I’ll say it one more time. Go home. Any further acts of aggression will be considered a formal declaration of war.” I snapped my fingers and a [Gate] opened in the sky. Ten Chevaliers fell down from the sky, landing just before the wall with a crushing impact. Finally, two black Knight Barons and one white Shining Count descended from the sky as well. 
Our Vice-Commanders, Norn and Nikola, were in the Knight Barons, while Lain was riding the Shining Count. The black and white ones were functionally identical, but Shining Count just had a different paint job. I’d painted it a pure and shining white. I figured it’d be better this way, since the commander was supposed to look unique. 
“Wh-Wha... No... What?!” The Yulong General fell from his horse, which was bucking and panicking due to the sudden tremors. The horse deserted its master and fled for the hills. 
“If you wish to engage us in battle, then the Brunhild knight order will be your foes.” At my words, all Frame Gears drew their swords and plunged them into the ground. It was enough for the entire enemy army to completely lose their morale. 
“R-Retreat! Get out of here!” 
“Get to safety, they’ll crush us!” 
“Uwaaah!” The entire Yulong army scattered to the winds. 
Geez guys, if you wanna get to safety, just touch my wall... You’ll be back in Shenghai in seconds, ahahaha! 
As I watched the fleeing army, the chest hatch on the black Frame Gear by my side opened. Vice-Commander Norn leaned forward, getting my attention. 
“Hey boss... We can definitely defend the land routes like this, but can’t they invade Hannock by sea?” 
“That’ll be fine too. I summoned ten krakens in the seas around Hannock as extra defense. I told them only to attack warships, so it should be fine.” 
“Wowee... That’s pretty mean...” What do you mean?! It’s just basic precaution. At least I don’t have to worry about the sky. 
Now all I had to do was check on the state of affairs. I’d laid the bait, so I just had to wait. If the assailants the other day were from Yulong, then they’d definitely use this as a new chance. I expected new movements from their end soon. 
All that was left was to apply the finishing touches. 
 
Everything I expected to happen, ended up happening. 
We received a formal letter from Yulong. The text was fairly long-winded, but it went like this: “That territory was originally ours, so give it back to us immediately. You have no right to build a wall there. If you do not comply, you will surely be the laughing stock of the world, and your wretched attitude will be exposed. In compensation for the trouble you have caused us so far, we will gladly accept several of your Giant Warriors. The things you call Frame Gears. It’s extremely shameless that you use these weapons, as they were originally created by Yulong’s forefathers, centuries ago. Have some humility and hand over our rightful technology, you insolent thief.” 
“They’ve got some goddamn nerve to say that...” 
“They’re just attempting to justify themselves. They seem to enjoy twisting stories like that,” Kousaka responded with a small shrug and a wry smile. We were both within a guard tower on the Great Wall. 
The Great Wall between Yulong and Hannock naturally had a side facing Hannock as well. There weren’t any traps or countermeasures on that side, however. The way it was structured was Hannock territory to the west, then the western side of the wall, then Brunhild’s territory, then the eastern side of the wall facing Yulong’s territory. 
I was thinking I’d just give the whole thing to Hannock once the situation died down. I’d give them the Great Wall too. 
I didn’t really mind because it wasn’t like it cost a lot in the grand scheme of things. I would have to remove the traps, though. 
“So, what should we send them in response?” 
“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. There’s no way they could beat us through raw force, but they certainly might try. In the end, I’m their enemy. If it comes down to it, I’ll fight against Yulong myself.” 
“...It’s amazing, really... I can’t even laugh because I know you’re not joking. You’d be a magnificent tyrant, Your Highness.” I couldn’t deny that I acted selfishly now and then. I didn’t even want my own country to begin with... I would’ve been happy with a simple home with a big garden, honestly. I didn’t want to be saddled with national responsibilities. 
I wasn’t even good at collecting taxes or other stuff like that. The knight order and my maids were paid out of my own pocket, rather than a government wage. 
Half of the money I got from Olba I spent on Frame Gear materials, and the other half was more than enough to cover my staff. If I had to describe my knight order, I couldn’t call them a national army in that regard. They were kind of more like my personal army. 
Still, even if Yulong did wage war with us, they’d really only be marking me as an enemy. 
“Tyrant or not, I’m self-aware. Besides, I’ve been saying this for a while, but... shouldn’t you be the grand duke instead of me, Kousaka?” 
“I must decline. I honestly believe that if I stay at your side, I can live to see the entire world conquered.” 
“I don’t intend to take over the world, though...” 
“That doesn’t really matter. Often men find themselves in situations they never intended once it’s already come to pass.” He had a point. I’d be able to conquer the world fairly easily with the combined power of Babylon and my Frame Gears. But in all honesty, I didn’t want to do that. It would’ve just been me suppressing everyone with overpowering force. 
I’d have preferred it if Yulong listened to me and just pulled back. 
Someone suddenly knocked at the door. After a few moments, Tsubaki entered the room. 
“My liege... We’ve captured a Yulongese spy.” 
“One of those masked guys? Good work. Did you get anything out of him?” 
“We’ve been subduing him with some paralyzing poisons that are a bit weaker than your [Paralyze] spell. Flora-dono gave us a truth serum, so we’ve been interrogating him with that.” 
What’ve you been giving them, Flora... I’m sure it’ll be fine since it’s a Babylon-made medicine, but that’s still scary... Apparently they managed to pin him down before he detonated, removed his mask, and used the truth serum on him. He was obviously a spy from Yulong, but I was still squeamish about asking details of his interrogation. 
“They’re employing various methods to steal the Frame Gears. Plans included assassinating you, kidnapping your fiancees, bribing members of the knight order, and other dubious tactics. It was all approved by Yulong’s heavenly emperor.” 
“Seems we caught them at just the right time, then...” Kousaka muttered quietly. I’d been going easy on them since I had no definitive evidence so far, but now it was different. I had no plans on holding back. I realized that if I didn’t do something drastic, they would just keep coming. 
“I’d say it’s time we became a tad more aggressive, no?” 
“Well, I suppose so... If they were planning an assassination, ordinarily that’d be grounds for war. But you don’t plan on waging war, do you?” Kousaka looked at me with a knowing grin on his face. It seemed he knew what I was thinking. I was happier than ever to have him serving Brunhild. He was remarkable. 
“If we wage a war, the foreign innocents will suffer too. Ideally, I’d want to avoid that. So in this case, I think I should wage a personal war.” 
“And how do you intend to do that?” 
“I want to terrorize their heavenly emperor.” I didn’t want to cause full-scale panic or actually affect Yulong. Instead, I wanted to show them that I was capable of retaliating with force if they messed with me. I didn’t actually want to retaliate, I just wanted to prove a point. 
“How, specifically?” 
“Well, I was thinking... I could have a knife jabbed in the wall by his bedside, mix something bitter into his food and drink as if to simulate poison, maybe make everyone in the palace vanish for a few hours except for him... Just so he knows that I could have him stabbed, poisoned, or spirited away to nowhere, but I’m actively choosing not to.” 
“G-Goodness me, that’s... certainly some extreme harassment.” 
“...I’ve heard rumors that this is His Majesty’s true nature, Kousaka-sama.” 
“Psh... It’s not that extreme. It’ll just make him paranoid, thinking he could be killed any time in any way. The best part is he wouldn’t even know if he did die, he’d simply stop existing, so he’d live in constant fear... I’d keep it up until he apologized.” 
“Well, we shouldn’t get into something that extreme right away. For the time being I might suggest that we send a letter back with a tiny implication that suggests we know he’s the one responsible for our troubles.” 
“By the way, what will you do if I get assassinated?” 
“I haven’t made a plan for that, as I simply don’t see it happening.” 
Tsk, come on now... Don’t treat me like I’m immortal! Although, I mean... I guess I might as well be, with all this divinity and stuff. If we’re talking about my body, I might slowly actually be turning into a full god or something... 
I decided there was no point in worrying about that for the time being. 
“Alrighty, then. Send off that letter. It’d be better if we got this matter sorted out as soon as—” 
“Milord!” I jumped a little in surprise as Paolo barged into the room. Don’t scare me, damn it! 
“You’re feeling rowdy. What’s going on?” 
“I-I’m s-sorry, Milord! P-Please excuse me, but... there’s smoke in the distance, r-rising up on Yulong’s side! D-Doesn’t that mean the Yulong army is coming in to attack us?!” That didn’t sound good, so we rushed up to the top of the guard tower. Looking over Yulong’s territory, there were plumes of smoke rising from all over. The carnage was both near and far, on the horizon and more immediately visible too. 
“Is it a smoke signal system, or a bushfire...? No, it can’t be that...” There was no way a bushfire could be that widespread. I had no idea what was going on, but there was chaos erupting everywhere. Fire and smoke dotted the scenery. 
“Wh-What... What’s that in the distance? It’s... glimmering?” 
Glimmering? What’s he talking about? I narrowed my eyes, looking over at what Paolo pointed out. It definitely looked like something shiny... Though as it came closer, I noticed it was more reflecting the light than shining itself. 
Seconds later, the truth clicked in my mind. I was already screaming. 
“G-Get in the Frame Gears, now! Action stations, people! We have an incoming assault!” I immediately invoked [Fly] to soar over there and confirm the reality of this nightmare. 
“Ghah... Wh-What the hell kind of timing is this?!” A roaring crowd of Phrase were charging toward my wall. 
There were various shapes and sizes, several small and medium-sized ones, with a few larger ones as well. The majority of them were Lesser Constructs, but there were a few Intermediate Constructs in the mix. Some were shaped like ants, some like centipedes, others had funnier shapes, like that of an ostrich. Overall, there were ten Phrase lifeforms larger than my standard Frame Gears. 
They weren’t running especially fast. However, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that there were around one-hundred of them. 
“Target Lock! Phrase Cores! Invoke [Apport] now!” 
“Understood. Invoking [Apport].” A large Phrase Core around the side of a softball appeared in my hand. 
Shit, this is bad... I can’t pull out more than one at a time, since the spell’s limited to whatever I can fit in my palm. Pulling them out one-by-one is gonna take too much time, and I’ll only be able to kill the small ones this way! What do I do?! 
“Entwine thus, Earth! Cursed Soil: [Earthbind]!” Tree roots burst from the ground and snared the legs of the incoming Phrase. Just as I thought that would buy us a little time, the creatures easily broke free. 
They’d sliced their own legs off... They could regenerate them instantly, so they simply discarded them and advanced. The Phrase were truly monstrous in their actions. 
From behind me, Lain arrived in her Shining Count, and Nikola showed up in his Knight Baron. A few Chevaliers appeared alongside them, too. They’d left a few units behind to protect the wall. 
I flew to the side of the white knight and relayed orders to Lain. 
“Take out the larger ones while I destroy the smaller ones! They can regenerate, so focus on the core inside their body! Make sure everyone on the comms channel gets that info!” 
“Roger!” Lain replied through the speakers. Satisfied she understood, I moved to take my Phrase Greatsword out of [Storage]. It was about two meters long and thirty centimeters wide. I hefted it in both hands. 
If I hadn’t applied [Gravity] to reduce the weight of it, there was no way in hell I would’ve been able to lift it. 
“Charge!” I barreled toward a group of nearby Phrase. I aimed straight for the core of my first target, and was able to split it in two with little resistance. My sword was sharper than it had any right to be due to all the magic energy I’d poured into it, of course. 
In a similar fashion, I began to cut down more of them, one by one. I dipped and dived between their extending, sharpened crystalline tentacles, and got a good glance at an enormous Intermediate Construct facing off against a few heavy knights. 
They lunged forward, shields raised to defend against lance-like limbs, battering away at it with their weapons. 
But the Frame Gears I’d had stationed at the wall were not equipped with specialized weaponry, so they were having a tough time of it. The broken pieces of the Phrase just kept regenerating, so they had to constantly attack in quick succession to make any of their hits matter. 
Only Nikola in his Knight Baron had anything special. It was a halberd. He was fighting solo against another Intermediate and actually managed to shatter its core. Then, he immediately went to support the struggling Chevaliers nearby. 
There were about ten Intermediate Constructs. We had five Chevaliers, one Knight Baron, and one Shining Count. I wondered if it’d be enough. One of the heavy knights that Nikola rushed to aid managed to shatter an Intermediate core. Working in tandem definitely had its perks. That knight then went on to support another struggling knight, and Nikola turned to support another of his comrades as well. 
And that was when I realized our advantage. The Phrase were not coordinated creatures. From a Phrase’s perspective, each battle was a solo battle. If another of their kind nearby was in trouble, they wouldn’t rush to support them. That was the point where we had a clear advantage. I decided to entrust the Intermediate Constructs to the knights in the Frame Gears. There were close to nine times as many Lesser Constructs, after all, and I needed to wipe them out fast. 
I sliced through the Phrase like butter, one by one. 
And then, by a strange stroke of luck, if you wanted to call it that, the Phrase finally stopped charging toward the wall. They stopped and turned to me, seemingly recognizing me as an enemy. 
The fact that Phrase operated in such a rigid, mechanical manner could be considered a weak point. They operated on basic instinct, so you could say they were easier to guide in the heat of battle... But it also makes them deadlier, and efficient. The threats I’d issued to Yulong the other day wouldn’t work on an enemy like this. The Phrase knew no fear. Instead, they just advanced onward without feeling. They were like harvesters, terminators. 
There was certainly no time for me to rest, either. Most of the attacks were from their spear-like limbs, but now there were some of those crystal missiles coming at me, much like that time I faced off against the Manta Phrase. I defended against it with [Shield] and took out the one responsible. 
“G-Geez... Fighting this many at once is nuts...” The enemies were acting so disorderly, too. There was no method to their madness. I couldn’t invoke something like [Ice Rock] or [Gate] since they needed to stay in place. [Paralyze] and [Gravity] were ineffective, as well. I couldn’t use [Slip] for fear of affecting my allies either. 
I briefly considered using [Gravity] to make my allies’ swords heavier, but it would’ve been too much to explain in the heat of the moment. 
All I could do was kill, kill, and kill some more. Until eventually... 
“...Alright, that’s it!” Around ten minutes later... or maybe even less than ten minutes later, there were no more Lesser Constructs remaining. 
Lain killed the final Intermediate Construct around the same time. At least, it looked like she’d killed it. 
I didn’t see the moment she crushed the core, so I kept my guard up for another ten minutes. That time passed by without any movement from the broken fragments all over the place, so it looked like it was really over. 
There wasn’t too much damage to our side. Two Frame Gears had broken blades, and one had a shattered shield, but the rest had minor scuffs and scrapes all over the Frames. I knew Rosetta would cry upon seeing it, either way. 
“Milord... Just what were those things?” Lain opened up the white knight’s chest hatch and spoke to me. It actually reminded me that I hadn’t explained anything about the Phrase to the knight order yet. I invoked [Fly] and hopped up to the Shining Count’s shoulder. 
“They’re called the Phrase. They’re invaders from another world. They once destroyed civilization during ancient times... The Frame Gears you’re piloting were originally weapons designed to combat them.” Calling them invaders wasn’t quite right, in all honesty. They were more like exterminators. And we were the vermin that they so viciously sought out. 
This is the first time I’ve seen so many at once... I don’t even want to think about what might’ve happened if Hannock hadn’t given me this plot of land. 
“Then... does that mean the smoke plumes we saw earlier were caused by these guys? Were they attacking Yulong villages or something?” 
“That’s possible, yeah... Oh... Shit, wait! All troops, move back! We’re in Yulong’s territory right now, as a full fighting force! We can’t risk being sighted by their intelligence corps or anything like that!” It was entirely possible they’d blame all the destruction on us. 
I was about to collect the Phrase fragments, but hesitated and only ended up taking about half. It would’ve been suspicious if all the evidence of Phrase activity here was erased. At least leaving half meant the Yulong government would have to accept we weren’t the attackers here. 
“Politics really is a pain in the ass sometimes...” As I grumbled about the state of the situation, I pulled up the map on my phone. I had it display places with rising smoke and recent destruction. As I’d expected, there were a few places in the area. The Phrase must’ve done it. 
Unfortunate as it was, there didn’t seem to be any survivors. Phrase could hear the beats of a human heart, after all. Hiding did nothing, since they could track you no matter what. 
As I quietly lamented the dead, I zoomed the map out until the entirety of Yulong had become visible. 
“Hold on... What’s... What’s going on here...?” Aren’t there a little too many damaged markers? Why’s there smoke rising up in the south? That’s way away from here... W-Wait, Shenghai too? What’s going on? N-No, it can’t be... 
“Run search. Display Phrase.” 
“Understood. Displaying.” 
Thud. A pin fell down on the map, indicating the presence of a Phrase. 
Thud. Another fell. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud. 
Countless red pointers fell down upon Yulong, almost obscuring the country itself. 
“No way...” I could only watch on in horror, letting out a small gasp as the pins kept falling. 

I briefly lost my composure and didn’t know what to do. The pins kept dropping until the entire map was almost completely covered. 
“...How many Phrase in total?” 
“Thirteen-thousand-one-hundred-and-sixty-nine Phrase lifeforms in total.” That number was simply unfathomable. I had no idea how to respond to that. Defeating them could be possible, but it would take a long time. And each minute I wasted, more of Yulong’s citizens would die. It was none of my business... I just had to reinforce the idea that it had nothing to do with me... But I couldn’t. 
“Gh... Wh-What the hell do I do?!” 
“Ah, Touya... Just as I’d expected.” I turned around in shock at the sudden voice, only to find myself faced with a pale young man. 
“Ende?!” 
“Yeah... A lot of the ‘noise’ I’d been hearing from Phrase cores were being snuffed out in this area... I was looking for the cause, and... It seems like I’ve found it, hm?” With a huge smile on his face, Ende walked my way. He was clad in his usual outfit, complete with his white scarf. He looked at the Shining Count behind me with very curious eyes. 
“Now that’s something special... Are these of your design, Touya? Would you mind if I rode around in one?” 
“Ah, well... I didn’t really make them or anything, but... Hey wait, more importantly than that... there are Phrase everywhere! Do you know what happened?!” 
“Yes, I do... You do too. The boundary’s torn.” 
The dimensional boundary. The invisible fabric that separated this world from others. The unthinkable had happened. The Phrase had ripped it apart and poured through. 
“Wait, you’re saying the boundary’s gone?!” 
“Mm... Not exactly. This particular incident is an accidental occurrence. The Phrase in this country simply ‘fell’ through an area where the fabric was particularly thin. The boundary isn’t torn all over, it’s just strained.” 
Oh, wow... That means if we can take care of the ones here I can rest easy a little longer... I don’t even know if I can take care of them all, but... It’s not like I really have a choice, is it? 
“Is there a way to kill them all fast? Or all at once?” 
“Hm... I wouldn’t say it’s possible to kill them all at the same time. That being said, we could definitely draw their attention...” 
“How?!” 
“We could draw them here with the Sovereign’s voice.” 
The Sovereign’s voice...? What does the Sovereign Phrase have to do with this? 
“Phrase cores produce noise. Each operates on a unique and distinct wavelength, and the Sovereign Core is no exception to this rule. The Sovereign Core currently exists within a living creature in this world, so its noise is obscured by the heartbeat of its host. So... what if we were to emit the ‘noise’ of the Sovereign Core right here?” 
“All the Phrase in the area would come this way...” 
“Bingo.” It seemed like a sound plan in practice, but I was amazed Ende had such a method. 
Luring them here with a fake noise is one thing, but... can we really take on over ten-thousand of these things without serious casualties? 
Well, if I think about it this way, they’ll all be in various villages and towns... Places where humans are. We won’t have to fight all of them at the same time, since they’ll come here in staggered formation. But if we can’t beat them fast enough, the numbers will just pile up... 
“Can you really bring them here?” 
“I can. I have an item that has the Sovereign’s wavelength sealed within it. Within the wavelength is the ‘noise,’ which is indistinguishable from the real thing.” Ende suddenly pulled out a long, thin glass slide. He held it between his index and middle finger. It looked like a slide used on a microscope, or for storing scientific specimens. 
“This is one of my personal storage devices. I can keep various things inside them. Using them, I can preserve things from large living specimens to noises. If I open this, the Sovereign’s noise will ring out, so the nearby Phrase will hear it and charge toward us.” 
Wow, that’s pretty damn impressive... Well, he’s wily, I’ll give him that, but... What’s with this guy? I don’t get his angle at all. He can’t be called an ally of the Phrase, but still... 
I reached my hand toward the slide he held out, but moments before I touched it, he pulled his hand back. 
Wait, what? You’re not sharing? 
“But... I don’t think I want to.” Ende grinned wide as he spoke. 
What the hell are you playing at... 
“Why?” 
“I want that.” He pointed to the Frame Gear. 
What... Ghh... What the hell? You’re getting all googly-eyed over a Frame Gear at a time like this? What are you, a kid?! 
“...Do you promise not to use it for anything weird?” 
“I totally promise! Have a little faith in me.” It wouldn’t be possible for him to use the Frame Gear against us, since there were emergency protocols and all to prevent that. I couldn’t understand his motives at all, but he seemed to have a personal vendetta against the Phrase. I didn’t really think he was fully on our side, but I could hardly consider him an enemy, either. Even so, I wasn’t sure if it’d be smart or not to hand a Frame Gear over to him. But if I didn’t give him one, he wouldn’t give me the Sovereign’s noise slide. I was in a predicament I never thought I’d be in to begin with. But I knew I needed him to come out on top in this situation, so I was out of options. I decided to add in a caveat, at least a small victory. 
“If it’s stolen, given away, or sold to a foreign nation, I wouldn’t appreciate it...” 
“I won’t sell it, or hand it over, or let it get stolen, promise! Please, please, lemme have it. I’ll treat it right. I’m begging you, Touyaaa... Look, I’ll kill all the Phrase around here too, okay? How about it?” 
What’s with this guy? He’s acting like he’s just gonna hop in and have full control. Then again, knowing this guy’s overpowered nonsense, I guess he probably could... He’s way abnormal by this world’s standards... I actually find him a little obnoxious... Damn him to hell, how come he’s better than me?! 
I’ve met him a few times, and I don’t think he’s a bad guy... That’s just my intuition, though... If only Yumina was here! 
His offer of helping me fight the Phrase was tempting... After all, I knew it would save me a lot of time and effort. 
I invoked [Gate] and summoned the Red Dragon Knight, Dragoon, from the hangar. 
“Here, it’s a Frame Gear with a focus on mobility. I call it the Dragoon.” 
“Whoa! It’s red! That’s, like, super cool.” The Frame Gear I’d chosen was one that was particularly hard to control. I decided to just push it onto Ende because nobody but me could handle it anyway. 
Ende lazily tossed the slide over to me and climbed up onto the Dragon Knight. The hatch opened up and he clambered on in. 
He started it up immediately and the Frame began to walk around. After a while he had it running, and moving its arms with surprising dexterity. Then, he deployed the wheels and moved as gracefully as he could in its high-mobility mode. 
Wh-What the hell... Why’s he better with it than me? 
“Oh, this is pretty simple to maneuver. I like it.” 
“...Hah, yeah... G-Good for you.” I reluctantly answered Ende with stiffest smile I could muster. That bastard had no business being more overpowered than me. 
“But, uh, doesn’t it have any weapons?” 
“Oh... Right, I forgot to prepare any.” The Dragon Knight didn’t have a lot of power, so it couldn’t really handle heavy weaponry. I had intended to make a lightweight weapon for it from Phrase fragments, but never got around to the actual deed. 
Luckily for me there was a veritable mountain of dead Phrase nearby. 
I used [Modeling] to craft two shortswords from some fallen Phrase appendages. Then, I made two sheaths, and fitted them onto the Dragoon’s back. 
“Alrighty! I’ll go kill a bunch of Phrase, just as agreed.” 
“Hey, wait! Before you go anywhere, tell me how to use this thing!” I hurriedly waved the slide at Ende. 
“Oh, right. Just smash it and the sound should echo out. You can’t copy the noise through technology or magic, so don’t go getting any ideas.” 
Oh, really...? Well, there goes my plan of recording it on my smartphone. 
As I lamented my ruined plan, Ende took another two slides and tossed them at me. 
“Here, these two are identical. If you use them all at the same time in different places, you can scatter the Phrase to your advantage.” Ende clambered back into the Dragoon and sped off. The guy was an efficient Phrase-killer, so I was sure he’d do well. I’d prefer him to just kill all of them, though... 
His Frame Gear was red, so it gave off a pretty powerful vibe. Heh... It’d be funny if he came back wearing a mask next time... 
Enough of that... Don’t have time to think stupid thoughts! I’ve got plenty to do, after all. 
I returned to the Brunhild castle and explained everything to the people there. The situation in Yulong, the Phrase, the dimensional boundary, and why I had the Frame Gears to begin with... I came clean about it all. 
“...The scale of our conversation just became... considerably larger...” Old man Yamagata breathed out heavily after I spoke. Baba, standing next to him, folded his arms with a soft frown on his face. 
“I understand if you don’t believe me, but...” 
“No, I’ve no reason to doubt you. Creatures from another world... Surely if we do nothing, then the tragedy of the ancient kingdom will befall us as well.” Kousaka readily believed me, but that was probably because he saw all the smoke back in Yulong. 
“Putting that aside for now, we need to figure out the situation fully. The priority would be the current invasion of Yulong. Your Highness... Do you want to save their citizens?” 
“If I can, yes. We’re the only ones who can oppose the Phrase.” 
“You shouldn’t.” Kousaka immediately shot down my idea. He basically spoke words that would sentence Yulong’s people to death. They didn’t have any method to oppose the Phrase. If they pulled out all the stops of their military might, maybe they’d do okay, but there was no way they could survive such a horde through conventional means. 
“I will readily fight if my country is under attack. However, I see no need to risk life and limb for a country that is not only unfriendly with us, but actively hostile.” 
“But... if it keeps up like this, the casualties won’t stop at Yulong alone. This isn’t a situation where you can just worry about a certain nation’s attitude. People are dying even as we speak. Are you saying we shouldn’t help them?” 
“Your Highness... You are a tremendous man with an equally tremendous heart. But you can’t just...” 
“Kousaka, listen up.” Baba, who had been quiet up until this point, finally spoke up. 
“We know more’n anyone about what our leader is like, aye? Didn’t he help us, despite Takeda being his enemy back then?” 
“I... But... the situation is different now. He has an entire country on his shoulders.” 
“An’ that’s where yer wrong. He ain’t burdened. I climbed up onto his shoulders at my own leisure. If he shakes me off, then I fall off. If I don’t like it, then I can climb off. Didn’t we come here to see where the wind would blow?” 
“...That we did.” Kousaka exhaled quietly as he spoke. He was likely just nervous, so I knew I wouldn’t hold his pragmatic speech against him. 
“Given the course of action you desire, even if I disagree, we should make our move soon. But if we are to intervene, you should inform the western alliance first. We must formally let them know our intent.” He was right about that, at least. I had no idea just what the ramifications of this invasion would be on the global stage. It was important to get the whole thing ironed out before I made my move, though I couldn’t afford to waste any time. 
I was in a rush, after all. People were being systematically slaughtered one after the other as I played politics. Ordinarily I’d send the other monarchs letters, but I decided to appeal directly to them at their homes. I needed to hurry, and they needed to learn the truth immediately. 
 
“I see... The Phrase, hm... If those fiends are truly our enemies, then I see no problem with you creating those Frame Gears, Touya.” The king of Belfast leaned back in his chair, which lightly creaked. Well, it’s not like I invented them or anything... 
I was in a meeting with the leaders of the western alliance. The king of Belfast, the emperor of Regulus, the emperor of Refreese, the beastking of Mismede, the pope of Ramissh, and the newly-crowned king of Lihnea. There were six national representatives in total present. 
First, I explained everything about the Phrase to the gathered rulers. That they were invaders from another world that had appeared long ago to destroy the world. Then, I explained the current situation in Yulong. I did not tell them about the Sovereign Phrase or Babylon, however. I tweaked the story to one about me discovering the Frame Gear in some ancient ruins, learning how to repair one, and then replicating the process to manufacture more. It wasn’t strictly a lie, all things considered. I just felt they didn’t need to know everything. 
“These... Phrase, was it? Are they all that strong?” 
“They’ve appeared in my country before, lad. Well, just one of them... From what I heard, magic didn’t affect it, it could regenerate, and its skin was tougher than old boots!” The beastking of Mismede answered King Cloud. He must’ve been talking about the Snake Phrase that Leen took care of some time ago. 
“But still, for ten-thousand, or rather, more than that... to come out in Yulong... Touya, is this a special case? Or are we to fear this happening again in the future?” 
“This is a very rare set of circumstances, I assure you. That being said, they still may appear now and then, but not nearly as many as this. Still, I do need to be honest with you all. There is the possibility of a massive invasion occurring sometime in the future. As to when or where they’d come through, I cannot say.” 
“Goodness me... I-I suppose we shouldn’t worry about such things for now, though.” The emperor of Regulus quickly quieted down. I was hardly what you could call a Phrase specialist, but I was probably the only person in the world other than Ende who knew much about them. 
“To be honest, it’s possible they may start appearing in your countries too. For that reason, I’d like you to take a look at this.” I projected a video onto the wall of the conference room. It was a video I had a summoned bird record as it flew across Yulong’s skies. 
The video, taken from a very high vantage point, clearly showed a massive army of Phrase annihilating a village. They hunted down every human without end, mercilessly slaughtering them with incredible precision and efficiency. The six leaders had their eyes trained on the video, watching in horror as sweat beaded upon their brows. 
“So these are the Phrase...” 
“Yes. This video isn’t a live broadcast, so it’s not happening right now or anything. This particular incident happened about an hour ago. After the Phrase destroyed this village, they continued their march and proceeded to kill everyone in the neighboring village.” After the bird had returned my smartphone, and I’d seen the video, I felt absolutely hopeless. I’d initially intended just to get some shots of the Phrase, so I didn’t think we’d actually catch an attack in progress. My heart ached to think about how they could’ve been saved, but I knew I needed to show it to the rulers of the western alliance. They had to understand what they were up against. 
I wanted them to understand just how dire the situation was. I also wanted them to imagine this happening in their own nations. 
“What of Shenghai, Yulong’s capital?” In response to the emperor of Refreese’s question, I stopped the video and pulled up the map. The red lights that represented the Phrase were crawling around Yulong. They were likely following their instincts and heading toward towns and villages in order to kill every human being in the area. 
Shenghai was completely dyed in red. 
“There’s some resistance going on, but it’s only a matter of time before they all die. The Phrase have one purpose here. Our extermination. They won’t leave Shenghai until everyone in the capital city is dead.” 
“God save us...” The pope cupped her hands over her mouth, clearly horrified. The Phrase moved like machines operating solely to hunt and kill humans. They massacred everyone in one area, and then immediately locked on to the next signal. They were like locusts hopping from crop to crop, devastating the harvest in their senseless hunger. 
“Touya... Over here... in southern Shenghai, are the Phrase not vanishing one by one?” 
“Huh?” Lihnea’s king pointed out an area on the map where the red lights were rapidly going out. Huh, what could... Oh! That’s Ende! 
“That’s the result of someone currently working with me. I granted him a Frame Gear for personal use. What you’re most likely seeing here are the fruits of his labor.” 
“Oh, I see. It’s certainly killing them at great speed... Well, this definitely shows the efficiency of your weapon.” Ende was probably strong enough to kill them alone, but that was a different matter entirely. We needed to focus on the extermination of the Phrase. As if to briskly change the subject, I clapped my hands together. 
“Brunhild will engage the Phrase in Yulong using our Frame Gears. As leaders of the western alliance, I’d like to ask for your approval.” 
“Wh-What?! Wait a minute... Are you saying you plan on opposing those things?” I’d caught the beastking by surprise. That was slightly amusing, but understandable. Even if I made use of every single person in Brunhild who could pilot a Frame Gear, like the knight order, and Yumina along with the other girls, it would only be around one-hundred fighters on the field. In that case we’d be able to win if each pilot took down around one-hundred Phrase, but it was still a senseless course of action. 
“The Frame Gears have an emergency eject magic in case of serious damage. The magic sends the pilot off to safety. It can do this if it detects the cockpit being crushed, pierced, or damaged and so on... However, in the case of instant death scenarios, it might not have time to activate.” Thanks to the mass-production I had going on, we had a lot of Frame Gears to spare. In the worst-case scenario we simply had to perform a lot of repairs one-by-one. 
The pope suddenly raised her hand, looking right at me. 
“Touya... I have a question. In regards to our dear old friend... Are the Phrase His enemies as well?” 
“...I’m not sure if they’re His enemies or not. He told me that He didn’t know much about them. But our dear old friend won’t be interfering with what happens here. The Phrase are our problem, not His.” 
“What are you two going on about?” The emperor of Refreese tilted his head in bemusement. He couldn’t understand what we were talking about. That was only natural, since our dear old friend was God Almighty after all. 
“Very well, then. The Theocracy of Ramissh stands with Brunhild. Many of our Knights Templar have made use of the Frame Unit simulation you loaned to us, Touya. Our nation can spare a few capable pilots.” 
“Huh?” Huh, so the templars are helping me as well? That’s actually a great relief... I hope they understand what they’re getting into, though. Seeing the pope’s brazen proclamation, the beastking suddenly raised his hand. 
“Hey now, Mismede also offers its support to Brunhild! I definitely can’t leave a situation as interesting as this one alone.” 
“Belfast will naturally participate as well.” 
“And Regulus.” 
“Refreese, as well.” 
“L-Lihnea stands with Brunhild, too!” 
“Uhm... Are you all sure? This situation’s pretty dangerous, you know...” Just as I was about to explain the dangers again, they all drowned me out with protests that basically amounted to “We’ve made our decision, deal with it.” These guys were a real handful. 
Still, the mission was basically all risk for no benefit. I couldn’t understand why they’d join. When I mentioned that detail, the king of Belfast spoke up. 
“We have our reasons, believe me. To begin with, Yulong’s national power will decrease after this, so they’re going to need to rely on foreign aid. It’s better to curry favor with them now to put them in our debt. Secondly, we would like our own knights to gain experience in combat against the Phrase. We know not when or if our nations might end up in the same situation as Yulong. Third, we wish to make sure Brunhild is protected. Or more specifically, you. The products and culture of your nation are a treasured thing, my boy. If you were to die during this incident, we’d lose a revolutionary figure. That’s how I see it, at least.” 
That made sense. It was a pretty cunning way of operating. Even if Yulong survived this, we had no idea what would happen afterward. And we had no idea if the heavenly emperor was still alive, either. 
I personally didn’t care if the heavenly emperor was dead or not. Probably because he’d tried to kill me. I just wanted to help the people of Yulong. 
“The issue is the situation that’ll develop after this is over...” 
“Do you think the neighboring countries might invade the weakened Yulong?” 
“Would they? If that happens, then the Brunhild territory at Hannock’s border might come in handy.” Let’s see... Currently, the nations bordering Yulong are... One, two, three... Six. If Eashen enters the situation, then that’s seven potential risks. 
To the west was the Kingdom of Hannock. To the north was Xenoahs, the Demon Kingdom. The Nokia Kingdom was to the north-east, and Eashen, the Divine Nation, was over the sea to the east as well. The Horn Kingdom and the Kingdom of Felsen were to the south. Then across a river, the Roadmare Union was to the south-west. 
It was almost impossible to predict what would happen to such a massive country with so many elements surrounding them. 
For now, we decided to deal with the matter at hand. 
“Since you’re all cooperating with me, I’ll send you twenty Frame Gears each. Eighteen Heavy Knights, and two Black Knights for your commanders. Please take care in selecting your pilots. There’ll be around ninety Frame Gears from Brunhild, and one-hundred-and-twenty from the other allied nations. We’ll face them down with a combined force of around two-hundred-and-ten.” 
“Our numbers pale in comparison... I suppose each soldier will have to kill around fifty of them to even out the odds. Honestly, I doubt our chances, but... Do you perhaps have a plan?” 
“At present, the Phrase types making up the invasion are Lesser Constructs and Intermediate Constructs. The Lesser Constructs should be a piece of cake if we use the Frame Gears properly. Run search. Display Intermediate Constructs. Denote with blue markers.” Suddenly, several red lights on the map changed into blue ones. 
“Beginning search. Search complete. Displaying. Total Intermediate Constructs: One-thousand-and-thirty-five.” 
“...So, about ten percent of them. Even if each person takes down five of them, we should be alright. We might be able to manage it, after all...” The emperor of Refreese muttered, glaring at the screen and patting the top of his shiny bald head. 
“Well, in theory... But in practice there’ll be a lot of Lesser Constructs around, so it’ll be a bit more complicated to take them on. I do have a plan, though.” I began introducing my strategy. It wasn’t an especially complex one, either. The plan was to use the Sovereign noise I’d received from Ende to have the Phrase split and travel in three directions. 
Then, I would actively use my [Gate] magic to send fighters around the battlefield as they’re needed. We simply had to balance our units and deploy them to the relevant areas at the right times. 
“Ah, wait a moment... Does that mean you won’t be piloting a Frame Gear, Touya?” 
“That’s right, yes. I’ll be using my flight magic to soar high above the battlefield. I’ll provide support and basically be your backup unit.” I answered the pope’s inquiry confidently. Having me as support was probably the wisest choice. There was no telling what kind of unexpected trouble could pop up out of the blue. I had to be in a position to move freely and respond to danger. 
“Indeed, that’s only sensible. In a battlefield divided in three, only Touya can see the full scope of the field. And only he can send people to and fro using his magic.” 
“That’s right. Plus, I have combat capabilities to oppose the Phrase hand-to-hand.” 
“Hrmph... But if you can fight them without a Frame Gear... why bother having one in the first place?” 
“It’s true that I can take them down as I am, but it takes time. More time than it should. If I pilot a Frame Gear, I can smash them freely.” I answered the emperor of Refreese’s inquiry and hurriedly ended the meeting before more stupid questions popped up. Yulong was in the midst of crisis, so I had no more time for chitchat. We needed to hurry. 
“I’ll gather you all in one hour. Use this time to pick out your pilots and explain the situation.” 
I opened up a [Gate] and sent the leaders, along with their escorts, back home. 
We had a lot to do. A lot to do and not nearly enough time. We had to hurry. 
 
“Oh gosh... Something bad happened and I didn’t even notice, huh...?” The god of love... Or, uh, Karen, my sister... munched on a cookie as she heard me explain everything. ...You’re getting crumbs all over the carpet. 
“Yeah... So... I was wondering if you’d be able to help us out.” 
“Ohh... No can do, little bro. My powers are free-to-use if it’s a love-related matter. But I can’t do anything unrelated to love unless it’s to do with catching that servile god, y’know?” 
“Love-related matters... Like what, exactly?” 
“Hmhm... I mean something like... bringing a boy knight and a girl knight together on the battlefield. And splitting them up, all the same...” 
Kind of useless... Lovey-dovey matters won’t mean anything against the Phrase. Guess it was pointless asking her for help. 
“You were thinking something impolite just now, weren’tcha?” 
“Owh... Sh-Shorry! Lemmeh goh... Thaht hurhts!” I sputtered out a frantic apology as Karen pinched my cheek. 
Damn it, even this god’s a bully...! She sits here casually and only gets serious for stupid stuff! 
“...You thought something rude again, y’know?” 
“E-Excuhse me! Owh! Owwwh!!!” I could tolerate the pinching because I was, well, me. But if she did that to a regular person they’d have probably died... She was a truly terrifying force. I rubbed my pained face as I shuffled off to Babylon. 
Rosetta, Monica, and the mini-bots were in the middle of applying some last-minute adjustments to some Frame Gears. 
“What’s going on?” 
“Well, we’ve somehow managed to make a go at it... There’s two-hundred-and-ten Frame Gears here, sir! We have forty spare units, making two-hundred-and-fifty in total, yessir! They’ll be ready to deploy in thirty minutes on the dot!” 
“Master... You should, like, totally take me to the battlefield and stuff... I will show those Phrase a monstrous death unlike any they have known thus far!” Monica yelled loudly as she hefted her wrench over her shoulder. It was undeniable that out of all the Babylon Gynoids, she was the most attuned to combat. I actually wanted her to focus on maintenance though, so we didn’t have the luxury to send her out like that. 
“Do you see the details I’ve added here, sir?! The pauldrons are a different color depending on the nation! I’ve also added the royal crest of each country to the respective Frame Gears, sir!” 
“Good work.” The right shoulders of each Frame Gear were painted in different colors depending on the nation they were assigned to. Belfast was red, Refreese was blue, Regulus was purple, Mismede was green, Ramissh was yellow, and Lihnea was orange. The left shoulders were also painted, but had numbers denoting which unit they were. It didn’t exactly look too aesthetically pleasing, but it was necessary to tell who was who on the battlefield. 
It was a quick job though, so it wasn’t like we could do much to prevent it. 
“What about weapons?” 
“They’re being manufactured in the workshop, sir! But the amount of Phrase weapons is limited!” 
“Well, I guess we’re lacking materials... Still, can’t the workshop make weapons for the Frame Gear out of smaller chunks?” 
“Master, sir! The workshop isn’t quite like your [Modeling] spell! We can’t just slap small fragments of Phrase together to make big stuff! Making small weapons for humans is fine and all, but making Frame Gear sized stuff en masse is inefficient and largely wasteful, sir!” 
“To like, use an example and stuff... mass-producing stuff in the workshop is, like, uhm... using a dagger as a replacement for a spear tip. It’s quite fine for mass-producing arrowheads and such, but you still have to aim properly to get them to work. The weaponry you’ll produce here may end up hindering your men rather than helping them. Plus, like, without your magic pouring into them, the stuff’s all brittle and dumb...!” I got the picture, at any rate. Without my magic going into them, phrasium weaponry was as good as glass. 
The Frame Gears and their weapons all seemed sorted. Now all I had to do was look over the knight order. 
I didn’t even make it to the barracks before they all came anxiously running toward me. 
“Milord... We’re done preparing. We can deploy at any time.” Rebecca spoke up confidently. Logan, who was standing next to her, also nodded firmly. Neither displayed even a hint of fear. 
Not every member of the knight order would be boarding Frame Gears and joining the fight. Certain demonkin, like ogres and lamias, couldn’t board them, for example. Plus, a few members of the knight order simply couldn’t ride Frame Gears due to claustrophobia, motion sickness, and other various reasons. 
Those members would stay at the base and offer support in whatever ways they could. 
“That’s good. Listen, don’t worry. Also, don’t try to be a hero. Your lives are the most important things here. If you think you’re in danger, there’s no shame in fleeing. There’s no honor in dying to one of those, I promise you. Once we all get home safely, we’ll celebrate, okay?” I found myself speaking to them all, reminding them that they were important. I didn’t want a single one of them to lose hope. I didn’t want a single one of them to die. 
“Don’t overestimate your own capabilities. You must never make light of your foes, either. There’s no shame in a little bit of fear. If one isn’t enough, then make use of the power of two. If that’s still no good, then three. You cannot afford to fight these monsters fairly.” I planned to support them as much as I could, but there’d naturally be times I couldn’t be there. The Frame Gears had an emergency escape option, at the very least. Still, if the cockpit were crushed, there wouldn’t be any saving them. 
Safety was the number one priority. After reminding them of that, I returned to the castle. 
I went to the den and found Elze and the others waiting for me. I asked Elze and Yae to join me in battle. The other three would wait on standby at base and help out those that wound up injured. 
“B-But... I can fight, I really can...!” 
“Lu, you’re the princess of Regulus. We can’t have you fighting alongside Regulus’ knight order. They may prioritize your safety over the mission.” It was mostly the same in Yumina’s case, as well. As for Linze, she wasn’t exactly suited for this kind of combat. The Phrase could absorb magic, and we needed her Light spells to heal any potentially injured people. 
“Elze, Yae, and Lain will be deployed at three different key locations. Also, I’m going to have Kokuyou and Sango join Elze, Kohaku join Yae, and Kougyoku join Lain. That way they’ll be able to stay in contact with me.” Thanks to telepathy, we could talk no matter the distance. Information like that would be vital for me to know how to move around the battlefield. 
“Touya, please don’t overdo it...” 
“It’ll be okay. We’ll all come back safely. It’s getting close to the time, though... We need to head out.” I took everyone with me through a [Gate]. We came out at my wall on Hannock’s border, at a special facility I had come to call... HQ. 
Right on the border of Hannock stood the Great Wall of Brunhild. In front of it stood around two-hundred-and-fifty Frame Gears. The view was incredible. 
Each country’s knights had boarded their vehicles and were waiting to mobilize. At the HQ, the rulers of each country were observing Phrase activity on a large projected board made of several screens. 
There were sixteen different screens and feeds, lined up in a four by four set of rows and columns. Each one displayed different images and video feeds. 
I’d summoned several Valkyries earlier and asked them to fly around with cameras to record the situation properly. 
“I’m glad we’re here. This way we can see the state of affairs.” 
“...The anticipation is killing me, I must admit.” I stood next to the pope of Ramissh, and the emperor of Refreese. I looked around the room a bit, then addressed the Commanders and Vice-Commanders of each nation. 
Belfast’s officers were Commander Neil and Vice-Commander Lyon. Regulus’ commander was the old, one-eyed Gaspar, and Mismede’s Vice-Commander was the wolf beastman, Garm. I only knew those four. 
I vaguely recognized the other commanders and vice-commanders, but I’d never exchanged words with them. 
“Alright, so here’s the general idea. Ninety Frame Gears from Brunhild will divide into three teams of thirty. Then, they’ll deploy at three separate locations that are on opposite sides of the capital of Yulong. I’ve tentatively named these squads A, B, and C. Belfast and Regulus will accompany A Squad, Mismede and Ramissh will accompany B Squad, and Refreese and Lihnea will accompany C Squad. This creates three teams of seventy members, and all you need to do after deploying is wait for my command.” I displayed three markers on the projected map, indicating points A, B, and C. 
“The Phrase should begin moving toward point A when I begin the plan. After attracting the main group there, I’ll move to point B and attract a splinter group of them to that location. Then, I’ll move to point C and perform the same action, effectively thinning them out into three manageable groups.” Lyon tentatively raised his hand. 
“And if they don’t split up evenly?” 
“I’ll be able to use [Gate] to freely send units between points. Ideally, I’ll move ten units at a time as a single team, but I’d prefer for countries not to get too jumbled up.” 
“And how might we communicate?” 
“Each Frame Gear has a short-range communication device. The range isn’t too big, so you won’t be able to communicate with people at other points, but you can freely talk to other people in your vicinity. As for long-range comms... That’s where these three come in. Yae, Elze, and Lain can transmit information to other battlefields, and me, if necessary.” I changed the display and displayed three Frame Gears. Lain’s Shining Count was painted pure white. Yae had a Knight Baron that was painted purple, and Elze had a Knight Baron that was painted crimson. They could’ve had their own comedy routine about three Black Knights that were in no way black at all. 
Yae’s Frame Gear was equipped with a curved crystal blade, and Elze’s was equipped with some crude crystal gauntlets. I’d made both weapons from phrasium. Lain had a similar bladed weapon, as well. 
“So, here’s how we’re going to do this. Assess the situation at your individual locations and act accordingly. If you see anything unusual or suspicious, contact me immediately. In addition, if you see a really fast red Frame Gear, don’t worry, he’s our ally. Any questions?” 
“I’ve heard there are some airborne Phrase. How should we deal with those?” 
“I’ll take care of them. Try to avoid taking damage. There are also certain Phrase that might shoot crystal arrows or missiles. If your Frame Gear gets damaged too badly, you’ll be sent back here. But if your cockpit gets destroyed directly, you won’t be sent back in time, so keep your guard up.” Each commander boarded their respective Black Knights after I explained the strategy. The soldiers split into A Squad, B Squad, and C Squad respectively. Lain then joined A Squad, Yae joined B Squad, and Elze joined C Squad. 
Kougyoku, Kohaku, and Kokuyou and Sango boarded with the three respective people as well. They’d be my way of communicating efficiently to each squad. I also had Norn join B Squad, and Nikola join C Squad as backup. Yae and Elze were going to move freely and not focus too heavily on giving orders. That was why I figured it was smarter to have a vice-commander backing each of them up. 
I had several Frame Gears, Tsubaki, old man Baba, and a summoned Cerberus stationed at HQ just in case. If anything bad happened, they’d be sure to contact me. 
I moved A Squad, B Squad, and C Squad to their respective locations using [Gate]. 
I joined the battle alongside A Squad. It was time to prepare. 
It’s time to begin. I’ll be trusting you guys to relay my orders.? 
As you command.? 
Very well, my lord.? 
Sssure thing, darling...? 
Blessings of luck upon you, my master.? Kohaku, Kougyoku, Kokuyou, and Sango all reported for duty. 
I pulled up my map display and confirmed where the Phrase were on the map. Then, I pulled one of the little slides Ende had given me out of my breast pocket. 
“...This better actually do something.” I knew I’d punch Ende if it was a prank or something. I applied a little force, breaking the slide with a firm snap. 
“Huh...” No sound came out. I began suspecting that I’d actually been tricked. I anxiously looked at the map, and found that all the Phrase in Yulong had stopped moving. After a few moments... they all began charging toward me. It had worked, apparently. It seemed that whatever noise the Sovereign made, it was beyond human comprehension. 
Of all the Phrase headed our way, some of them were moving faster than others. I had a small idea as to why that was. Hm... I wonder... 
“Search. Display any flying Phrase with yellow markers.” 
“Understood. Displaying.” The group of Phrase heading our way was quickly dotted with yellow. Luckily, it was as I expected. There weren’t many flying enemies at all. There only seemed to be about ten. 
Frame Gears couldn’t fly, so I had no choice but to take care of them myself. I took out two phrasium greatswords and readied the weapons. 
Kougyoku, I’m going to kill the flying Phrase headed this way. The first ground group should appear in about fifteen minutes.? 
Understood. Please stay safe.? I sent a telepathic message to Kougyoku, who was with Lain in the White Knight. 
“Alright, time to give them a little show.” I invoked [Fly], leaped up into the sky, and went barreling off to meet the flying Phrase. 
The battle was about to commence. 
 
“Hup!” I passed by some flying Phrase, splitting their cores as I moved on by. One fell, then a second. 
A third, and a fourth... I sliced through several of the flying Phrase. 
I looked below and saw a group of Phrase kicking up dust as they stampeded. I had no choice but to trust Lain and the others to take care of them. My role, first and foremost, was to kill the flying ones. I was lucky there weren’t any flying Intermediate Constructs like the Manta Phrase. 
I soared through the sky, took out another group of flying enemies, then zoomed down and killed a bunch on the ground. I focused on wiping out the Lesser Constructs and ignored the larger ones. 
I kept my map displayed, constantly tracking their movement. The group furthest away had started heading in this direction. They weren’t moving normally... It looked like they were charging full-pelt in our direction. 
“The battle at point A will begin soon. I’m heading to point B.” Judging from the map situation, almost every Phrase in Yulong was going to converge on Lain’s position. 
I opened a [Gate] and came out at point B. Yae’s group was there, currently on standby. The soldiers from Mismede and Ramissh gave me a hearty welcome. 
I’m about to begin calling the Phrase toward me. Get everyone prepared to fight!? 
As you wish.? I sent a telepathic message to Kohaku. The plan was to have Kohaku convey the message to Yae, and then have Yae convey the message to the others. I looked over all the Frame Gears brandishing their weapons and felt a faint sense of pride. With that, I took the slide from my breast pocket and snapped it apart. 
On my map display, the Phrase moving toward point A split slightly, a group of them now charging in the direction of point B. About half of them broke off and started heading to my current location. There were no more flying types, so they were all moving at around the same speed. 
“Search. Display the current number of Phrase.” 
“Understood... Search complete. Twelve-thousand-and-seventeen Phrase.” The number on the display had already begun decreasing steadily. That was because the battle at point A had already started. If I recalled correctly, there were over thirteen-thousand of them when I’d initially ran the search... That meant Ende had killed about a thousand of them on his own. 
I used [Fly] to perch on the shoulder of Yae’s Frame Gear. 
“The Phrase should be here in a few minutes, alright? I’ll be counting on you.” 
“I understand, I do. You can count on me.” I used [Gate] to move toward point C, deciding to check on Elze. 
I was greeted by a trio of robots. Elze’s crimson Frame Gear, equipped with transparent gauntlets. Monica’s scarlet Frame Gear with a huge crystal wrench. Nikola, on the other hand, was piloting a non-custom Black Knight. 
The battle has begun at point A. It’s about to start at point B, too. I’ll lure the remaining ones here.? 
Understood.? 
Ssssure thing.? As Sango and Kokuyou replied, I shattered the third slide. A few of the Phrase headed toward point B split off and headed toward point C. 
“Hrmph... We didn’t attract as many as I expected.” My timing for breaking the slide may have been a bit off... The split between the three locations definitely wasn’t even. 
I looked toward the map and tried to get a feel for the numbers. About fifty percent of all Phrase were headed to point A, thirty percent were en route to point B, and twenty percent were coming toward Point C. 
“It’s looking like Lain’s gonna have the roughest ride...” I decided to send several troops from point C to provide backup at point A. We didn’t need as many here, after all. 
I stood on the shoulder of Monica’s Frame Gear, then barked out commands. 
“Monica and twenty Brunhild soldiers will be going to point A! Brace for teleportation, but be aware that the battle has already begun over there.” 
“Hoh... It’s about time they taste the cold sting of my wrench. Uhm, like, Master! Don’t even worry about it, I’ll kill them all, and stuff!” I opened up a [Gate], sending Monica and twenty soldiers to point A. I came through too, finding them all in the heat of battle. 
The soldiers were trashing the Lesser Constructs and cutting them to pieces with weaponry. Then, they turned toward the Intermediate Constructs, focusing their attacks. 
“Charge!” I jumped down from the shoulder of Monica’s Frame Gear, lunging at an incoming Phrase. The soldiers around me all ran forward into battle, slaying several Lesser Constructs in a flash. 
“Outta the way, and stuff!” Monica swung down her wrench against the torso of an Intermediate Construct. It smashed into pieces, and she stomped its core in an instant. Then, her leg continued its momentum, smashing into several smaller ones. 
I didn’t want to get hit, so I moved away from the middle of the fray and picked off a few smaller ones myself. I looked at the counter on the map and it was already down to ten-thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-two. 
The battle at point B had begun, too. The battle at point C wasn’t far off, either. I needed to wipe out the little ones as swiftly as possible. Suddenly, a telepathic message came in from Kougyoku. 
My liege. Regulus Unit Fifteen has taken severe damage. It has to withdraw.? 
What?! I pulled up the map and headed toward the area. I found a Chevalier with a shattered leg and a sliced-apart arm rolling around on the ground. Its head was completely smashed as well. 
I got closer and opened up the chest hatch, just to ensure the guy wasn’t still stuck in there. Fortunately, it was empty. It seemed as though he had been properly sent back to HQ. 
I used [Storage] to contain the broken Frame Gear. As I did that, I received another message. 
Master, sir! Regulus Fifteen says he can return to the front!? 
What’s his condition?? 
He’s all good! He got up and said he wants to fight again, sir!? 
Got it. Have him on standby to ship out again, then.? The Cerberus I had stationed at HQ relayed Rosetta’s voice. I was relieved to hear the pilot was alright. 
I used [Gate] to summon him and his new Frame Gear back to the battlefield within seconds. 
The Chevalier he was riding was identical to the previous one in every way... Except for one. The purple number on his shoulder had been hastily scrawled on at the last minute. 
Still, current circumstances didn’t call for differentiating people too much, so how he looked wasn’t a big deal. 
Regulus Unit Fifteen bowed to me briefly and went right back to smashing monsters. 
It didn’t take long for all the Intermediate Constructs to fall, and then it was a case of mopping up the Lesser Constructs. If a Frame Gear was the size of a person, then the Lesser Constructs here were about the size of an average dog. Several of them shattered to pieces every time a soldier swung down his weapon. 
The next wave is set to arrive in about five minutes. Everyone can take a brief rest, but get ready to fight again at a moment’s notice.? 
Got it!? I sent a telepathic message to Kougyoku, who was accompanying Lain. Then, I opened up a [Gate] to point C and made my way there. 
In a stark contrast to the other two locations, there weren’t many enemies at point C at all. I considered sending some troops elsewhere. 
But still, the battle as point C had begun as well. Several Frame Gears cornered the Intermediate Constructs and began ganging up on them. The Lesser Constructs had no chances here, either. 
I dived into the fray and took out a bunch of smaller ones as well. Still, for every one I killed, two more took their place. 
My liege... Ramissh Unit Eleven is badly damaged.? Kohaku’s voice echoed in my head. That was all the way at Point B. I was really being pushed hard... I’d only just arrived at point C and I already had to backtrack. 
I flew back to Point B, collected the broken Frame Gear, and redeployed Ramissh Unit Eleven. 
I glanced at the Phrase counter, finding it had decreased to nine-thousand-and-forty-three. That was great news, since it meant we’d already killed over a thousand of them. 
The situation was tough, but it looked like we would surely prevail. 
I killed, killed, and killed some more. I smashed as many Phrase as I could as I soared through the air. 
When I wasn’t killing, I was picking up trashed Frame Gears and sending out the reserve units. 
Thankfully, there were no casualties, but a lot of people had gotten concussions due to the impact of falling in their Frame Gears. Sure they could be treated back at HQ, but our numbers were slowly but surely dropping. 
It was no surprise that our forces grew fatigued as we were faced with overwhelming odds. Every man had to kill fifty Phrase, so the deck was stacked against us. 
The map confirmed that even more waves of enemies were inbound to all three points, as well. The number of Phrase had already been reduced to around five-thousand, but our soldiers were rapidly reaching their limits. 
“Haaah!” Elze’s fist shattered the body of an Intermediate Construct, catching its core and smashing it with a leg sweep. Refreese’s vice-commander, specially equipped with a phrasium spear, pierced another one and skewered its core. 
I hopped on top of the vice-commander’s Frame Gear and called out to him. 
“Ah, pardon me. There aren’t many left here, so I’ll be sending you and the other Refreese units to point B.” 
“Very well. Give us a moment.” The voice blaring through the speakers suddenly paused, then the surrounding Refreese knights piloted their Frame Gears in my direction. 
I moved seventeen of them in total toward point B. I stayed on the vice-commander’s shoulder, so I went through with them. 
Point B was in the midst of a heated battle, and the combined forces of Ramissh and Mismede were giving the Phrase a good run for their money. Refreese’s soldiers wasted no time in joining in. 
A nearby Chevalier struck a Phrase with his mace, deftly blocking a crystal arrow with its shield at the same time. The blow made several cracks along the creature’s surface, and the other heavy knights followed up with swings of their own. It seemed almost cruel to look at, like they were bullying the poor thing... But it was a simple matter of kill or be killed. 
A bunch of Lesser Constructs moved in to jump up at the soldiers. The Heavy Knights repelled them with ease, shattering them with their large weapons. 
They clearly knew how to handle themselves, but the soldiers were showing signs of fatigue. Their movements were getting subtly slower by the minute. 
“Huh?” A red Frame Gear suddenly burst onto the scene at intense speed. It wasn’t Elze. Elze was at point C, and I was currently at point B. I figured it was Ende. 
I thought he’d hide and run away the moment the actual battle began... Seems I’d underestimated the value of his word. 
He danced wildly, flourishing the twin blades and slaughtering every Phrase in his path. He aimed with frightening precision, striking the cores of each deliberately and swiftly. The guy far outclassed every other fighter on the field. 
As I flew over to Ende’s Frame Gear, the hatch opened up and he revealed himself to me. 
“Yo, Touya. I’m thinking about heading off soon, is that okay?” 
“Honestly, you’ve already helped me more than I expected, so that should be fine.” 
“No, no... See, there’s something I have to attend to. I can’t keep helping since I’ll run outta time. Anyway, I came by to warn you.” Ende raised a single finger, smiling devilishly at me as he spoke. 
Huh? A warning? 
“Yeah... An Upper Construct is coming. Y’know, one of the real big boys. It’s not in this world yet, but it’s going to breach in the north-west. I’d expect it to hit in about five minutes. You should probably issue a retreat if you care about your people and their safety.” 
“What...?!” An Upper Construct?! Wasn’t that like one of the strongest of the Phrase?! 
“Why’s there one of those here?!” 
“You know, I’m not actually too sure. It’s probably because so many poured out at once. The tear they made is big enough to allow an Upper through, and... here we are! Don’t worry though, the seam will start getting smaller the moment it passes into this world, so don’t expect another to come through any time soon.” 
His words were hardly comforting. I didn’t know why he was acting so nonchalant. 
“Well, best of luck! Later, Touya.” 
“H-Hey now!” In a matter of seconds, both Ende and his Dragoon vanished into nothingness. He’d used his teleportation magic... But it wasn’t the time to think about that. 
Kohaku! Evacuate everyone in the north-western area! There’s an Upper Construct coming! Hurry!? 
Wha—?! I-I understand!? Kohaku conveyed the information, and all the Frame Gears in the northwest started pulling back one by one. They didn’t waste any opportunity, however, and smashed several Lesser Constructs on their way back. The number on the map had dropped down to two-thousand-five-hundred-and-seventeen. I was honestly impressed. We’d been fighting for around three hours, and everyone was getting pretty damn tired. I had no idea if they’d be able to handle an enemy like this. Without warning, a vibration ran through the air. The atmosphere itself felt as though it were quaking. As the air began to shudder, vibrant cracks appeared in the very space before my eyes. 
The crack ran and spread across reality itself, a two-dimensional pattern somehow imprinting on three-dimensional space. A snapping sound rang out through the area, and an enormous claw appeared out of nothingness. 
Almost as though bursting from the fabric of the sky itself, the beast began to break through. Within the warped reality visible through the crack, I saw it. 
If I had to define it at a glance, I’d call it a crocodile. Well, it was a six-legged crocodile with a giant horn on its head. It also had things jutting out of the tip of its tail, and a dorsal fin on its back. 
It had the same crystalline body as all the other Phrase I’d encountered, but its body structure was clearly far more complicated. There were three glowing cores inside its body, its jagged armor cut clean in straight lines. 
If I were to describe it in one word, I would have used monstrous. It was absolutely goddamn gigantic. The Intermediate Phrase were small compared to it, and it made even Frame Gears look tiny. 
I suppose if I were to make it a metaphor... If the Crocodile Phrase were the size of a regular Phrase, then the Frame Gears would be the size of a small plastic robot. It was the biggest thing I’d ever seen. 
“Th-This is... way too big... C-C’mon now...” I silently swallowed, staring with wide eyes. I didn’t think even for a moment that we could defeat it. 
While we stared at it like gawping idiots, the crystal croc opened its mouth. Light itself began to collect within its mouth, shimmering and shining in a massive ball. Shit! It’s like that time with the Manta Phrase! 
Kohaku! Evacuate everyone in front of its mouth, now!? 
Huh?? 
Shit, there’s no time! 
“Gah!” I invoked [Gate], forcefully and without warning shifting every soldier in front of that thing next to me. 
I did it just in time, as moments later a beam of raw energy shot in a straight line from its mouth. 
SHAKOOOOOOOOOM! The ray shot forward, burning away everything in its path. Even the ground itself was eroded away in an instant. Everything in its path was atomized, burned away without a trace. 
What the hell kind of weapon is that...? It’s just like the Charged Particle Cannon from that anime... Though it’s not powered by electricity... 
It was similar to the Manta Phrase in that it needed time to charge up, but the difference in firepower was nothing to laugh at. If someone was hit by that, there wouldn’t be anything left to recover. 
...This was the fearsome power of an Upper Construct. 
 
I took out a radio transmitter from [Storage] and tuned it to the common channel. I didn’t want to cause any political concerns. I was the head of a nation, so issuing commands to foreign soldiers could be interpreted strangely. For that reason, my radio relayed orders only to the commanders of each nation, and they passed it on to their respective armies. All the Frame Gears were within comms range. 
“Attention all Brunhild pilots! Don’t stand in front of the Upper Construct Phrase! There’s a cue to look out for before it launches its attack, but it could still easily crush you by moving around, so keep your distance!” With a rumbling, the Frame Gears moved from the front of the Phrase to its back. 
Almost as if waiting for that motion, the Crocodile Phrase rolled to the side, cracking its tail like a whip and striking one of the Chevaliers. 
With a tremendous crunching sound, the Heavy Knight was obliterated. It rolled and tumbled on the ground, crumbling to pieces on impact. 
HQ, come in! We have a man down, did the teleport work?!? 
Touya, it’s Yumina. The pilot was successfully sent here, but he’s gravely injured. Flora’s treating him, but he looks like a twisted mess...? Yumina transmitted a psychic message to me through Cerberus, who was guarding her. Thankfully, the man hadn’t died instantly. 
The stupid crocodile wriggled its tail left and right, staring us down as if attempting to threaten us. He wasn’t particularly fast, though. 
If it kept up that pace, it wouldn’t be hard to avoid. 
However, just as I sank into that kind of relaxed train of thought, several spiked protrusions appeared at the tip of its tail, and then they began launching rapidly like missiles. 
“[Shield]!” An invisible shield covered my surroundings, repelling the crystal rain of arrows. All the other Frame Gears held fast with their shields as well, enduring it somehow. 
“Wh-What the hell... It’s got a cluster bomb attack?!” A cluster bomb was designed for focused assaults. Inside the main blast were several smaller blasts. 
It wasn’t an attack that marked targets like aiming with a bow, or the kind where you drew a line on your target like firing a machine gun. It was one that covered a wide area. And there was nothing more troubling in their situation. 
The spines that it had fired out had already begun regenerating. 
That tail’s a real pain in the ass... I should probably focus on taking it out... Wait, no. It’s still a Phrase, so it’d just grow back. 
As I spent my time thinking, the Crocodile Phrase started stomping forward. 
“[Slip]!” I removed the friction on the ground below all six of its legs. In a flash, the Crocodile Phrase tumbled over with a massive crash. But, as it fell its tail started thrashing around and firing out more missiles. 
“Gah, shit!” As we endured the crystal rain once more, it looked right at us. Phrase didn’t have eyes, but I swear we were in its sight. It managed to right itself, and opened up its mouth slowly. Light began to gather inside its gaping maw. Hell no! 
“All units, fan out! Get out of there!” I didn’t even need to say anything. The Heavy Knights were already desperately charging away. 
Just as before, it roared, a condensed beam of light shooting out before our eyes. It dug the ground out for miles in a straight line. I looked in the distance, and I saw a mountain disappear. Just how much power does it have...?! Nobody’s hurt, but... what do I do?! 
How can I beat it...? It’s a Phrase, so I just need to destroy those three cores, but how am I supposed to do that? 
Its body is way too big... There’s too much thick material in the way... I could probably cut it if I made a fifty-meter sword or something... 
There were a lot of materials around, that was true. However, what I lacked was time. Making a blade like that with [Modeling] would definitely take me at least an hour. Plus, I didn’t even know how to swing something so huge. I considered launching it into the sky with a [Gate] like I did with the Mithril Golem, but even if that harmed it, it’d just regenerate again. 
The Crocodile Phrase swept to the side and lashed with its tail once more, swatting at us as if we were ants. Multiple Heavy Knights got caught up in the attack. 
And, like clockwork, a rain of crystal came pouring down at us. Its attack was pretty plain, but effective. Everyone managed to hold out with their shields, but their pauldrons and legs still took minor damage. Over time, it would definitely chip away at them. There was no avoiding that. 
“We can’t keep taking attacks like this...! Everyone, group up and strike as one!” I held crystal blades in both of my hands, soaring through the air to the crocodile’s flank. Through its body I could make out a core, about one meter in diameter. It faintly shone. 
“Take thiiis!!” I struck it in a cross motion, swiping repeatedly with the swords in my hands. Still, no matter what I did, I couldn’t reach the core. If this Phrase was a crocodile, then I was a mere fly attempting to pierce its hide. 
Suddenly, a screeching pulse echoed out from its dorsal fin, and in a few moments I was blown away. 
“Wha...!” I spun around in the sky and recovered my stance. There wasn’t any damage. I wasn’t hit, but it took me by surprise. Apparently it was capable of generating shockwaves, too. Right on cue, the crystal arrows rained down from the heavens again. Everyone’s shields looked close to breaking. The only solace in this attack was that it struck both friend and foe alike. 
Ever since it started using that attack, most of the weaker Phrase in the area had taken considerable damage. 
If I had to classify this one, it was clear it specialized in extermination. The situation wasn’t looking good for us. I had to think of something... 
This crystal rain’s the worst... It’s like a goddamn meteor storm... Oh, wait a second...! 
I looked around the area. There were shards of shattered Phrase scattered all over the place. I wondered if I could do it. 
“Soldiers, do you copy? I need you to buy me three minutes of time. There’s no need to engage the enemy. Just draw its attention and keep it occupied.” It looked like they got my message. All the knights began to move in unison, attempting to divert its attention away from me. 
Alright, better take my shot... I used [Multiple] and [Transfer] to pour vast quantities of magic into the scattered Phrase pieces in the area. I made them considerably tougher than the Upper Construct’s shell. 
“All units, fan out! Get as far away from the big one as possible!” Everyone moved away after receiving my message. Once I confirmed their safety, I opened up a [Gate] and moved all the scattered fragments into the sky far above the Crocodile Phrase. The pieces were dozens of meters up in the air. I didn’t want to make it too high, or the aim would be off. 
“Take this, you bastard! [Meteor Rain]!” 
I applied [Gravity] to the Phrase fragments in the sky. I multiplied their weight by a magnitude of tens of thousands. 
The glimmering fragments of pure destruction rained down upon the massive beast, pelting devastating blasts into its massive body. 
Several fragments embedded themselves in the crocodile’s body, creating cracks along the surface of its back. I kept on channeling [Gravity], making them heavier and heavier. 
The monstrously large crocodile was pinned to the ground, exuding a noise similar to that of nails on a chalkboard. 
The sound of splintering and cracking rang out as more of its body fragmented. Apparently the magic I had poured in wasn’t quite enough. I increased the weight even further. 
The cracks found each other, creating even larger cracks. 
The Crocodile Phrase attempted to open its maw and fire out its light blast, but its mouth was damaged by the fragments as well, so it couldn’t open up properly. I heard loud sounds of creaking and straining from the body of the beast. 
“Break to pieces, you bastard!” I increased the weight once more, just to be sure. The fragments sank in even deeper. Finally, unable to bear any more strain, the crocodile smashed into thousands of pieces like a glass ornament falling from a great height. 
“Now, swarm it! Destroy the cores before it can regenerate! There should be three!” All the soldiers charged toward the newly-exposed cores, striking them with their weapons. One of them shattered almost immediately, vanishing in seconds. The other two quickly followed suit, crumbling to nothingness under the relentless assault. With that, the Upper Construct had been reduced to a mountain of raw materials. 
“Hoooraaah!!!” All the soldiers from Mismede, Ramissh, Refreese, and Brunhild let our cheers, waving their weapons overhead all the while. 
There were still a few Phrase remaining, but point B was pretty much cleared out. 
Somehow, we’d managed. I used more magic than I expected. In fact, it was probably the most magic I’d ever used in a single fight. Still, I knew it was ultimately necessary in order to take care of the Upper Construct. 
“The Brunhild knight order can take care of the rest from here. Mismede, Ramissh, prepare for warp to point A. Brace for transfer... Now’s the time we end this!” 
“Hurrah!” Almost every Frame Gear present at point B warped off to point A. It seemed like the troops at point C had everything under control as well. I looked at the remaining Phrase in Yulong. There were only four-hundred-and-seventy-eight left. It was no longer a war, but more a matter of cleanup. 
We’d scaled a mountain in terms of effort. But we’d actually done it. We’d successfully repelled an invasion. Still, I couldn’t get cocky just yet. After all, I definitely couldn’t say I saved Yulong. 
The Upper Construct launched out that beam after I slipped it, so people could’ve been caught up in that. 
“...Thinking about it won’t change anything.” I opened up [Storage] and picked up all the fragments. My spoils of war, the greatest haul yet. 
“Yae, Norn, I’ll leave the rest here to you. I’m headed to point A.” 
“Very well, Touya-dono.” 
“Roger dodger!” I took a detour before heading to point A, dropping in back at HQ. Linze saw me arrive, rushing over to me immediately. 
“Touya, are you alright?!” 
“...Yeah, I think so. I’m just exhausted.” I was pushed to the brink, both physically and mentally. I’d definitely gone a little far with my magical usage. 
Lu brought me a chair, and I sank right into it. 
Ah... I need to clear my head... I can’t think straight right now. 
Touya, do you hear me?? 
Elze? Something wrong?? I raised my head. Please don’t tell me we’ve got two more Upper Constructs or something... 
We cleared out as many Phrase as we could find, but I just want you to check if there are any left...? 
Hm? Ah... Gimme a minute.? I pulled up the map, finding no Phrase presence at point C anymore. There were only Phrase remaining at locations A and B. There were two-hundred-and-forty-seven left in total. 
It’s all good. No more Phrase where you are. Come back to HQ with the rest of your squad.? 
Got it!? All the soldiers at point C were brought back to HQ. As I did that, the Phrase at point B were wiped out, leaving only the ones at point A. 
Slowly, their numbers dwindled too, and it eventually reached zero. Everyone looking at the display cheered. 
At my HQ, borders had no meaning. Soldiers from various countries hugged one another and celebrated with each other. They all cheered as one. 
Attention everyone! Mission success. All Phrase have been annihilated. I’m calling you all back to HQ. Good work!? The Frame Gears all appeared at HQ one by one, opening up so their pilots could clamber out and celebrate. 
Some of them got overexcited and ended up leaping out of the cockpits, hurting themselves in the process. 
“Good work... Everyone... Gh...” I felt like a dead man walking. I was about ready to sleep like a log, but I still had a few things to take care of. 
First thing to do was to collect all the shattered Phrase fragments, then I had to return everyone to their respective countries, and then I had to put all the Frame Gears back in the the hangar... That was all my responsibility. 
What do I do after that again...? Oh, right... I better check on Yulong’s heavenly emperor... I pulled up my map, but for some reason Shenghai wasn’t listed. Huh... What’s the deal here...? Is my app bugged? 
A sudden thought entered my mind, so I moved to look at point B on the map. Then, I calculated the trajectory of the beam the Crocodile Phrase had fired. My discovery was grim. The line of fire overlapped with the former location of Shenghai on my map. 
In other words, as a result of that blast... Shenghai, Yulong’s capital, had been wiped clean from the face of the world. 
 
A few days passed after that. We ended up with thirty-six severely damaged Frame Gears, twenty-four people with minor injuries, four people with life-threatening injuries, and no casualties at all. 
It was great that we hadn’t lost anyone in the fight, but the picture on a whole was rather grim. 
Yulong’s capital was completely wiped out, and various towns and villages were erased from the map entirely. I couldn’t help but feel we could’ve had a better result if we were a little more skilled in our approach. 
“So, what happens to Yulong now?” 
“That’s hard to say. I’d prefer not to get involved any further, though. Ain’t really my business to begin with.” Of all the western alliance leaders, the beastking spoke up half-heartedly. 
“Will other countries start contesting Yulong’s territory now? It’d be bad if wars started happening. The people of Yulong have suffered enough...” 
“Well, with regards to Hannock, they’ve had no interest in Yulong from the start, so they should be fine. Xenoahs has a strict policy about not interfering with human affairs, so that’s also alright. There’s a lot of civil unrest in Eashen, so they aren’t unified enough to start a land grab... And apparently the Kingdom of Horn opposes militaristic invasion as a matter of national principle.” 
“So that just leaves Felsen, Nokia, and Roadmare...” The king of Belfast and the emperor of Regulus both chimed in after the pope’s concern. 
“In my opinion, those three nations will likely play a waiting game and see how things go for a while. Think about it like this... Mysterious invaders simply came from nowhere and delivered sheer devastation to Yulong. Would you want to govern a place like that without waiting to see if it was safe first? Even thinking about that happening within my own territory makes my blood run cold...” The emperor of Refreese raised a fair point as well. It would only be natural to expect something like this to happen again. 
“So... does Yulong currently lack a leader?” 
“No, quite the contrary. The heavenly emperor had three sons. One of those lived in Shenghai and shared his fate. Another was in another city, but it was ravaged by the Phrase and he succumbed. The third son survived and is calling himself the new rightful heavenly emperor.” The king of Belfast turned to the king of Lihnea, answering his question. It hadn’t taken long for a new heavenly emperor to show up. I hoped that he’d be able to set Yulong on the right path. 
But, as I had such hopeful thoughts, the king of Belfast made an irritated face. 
“Unfortunately... according to reports, the new heavenly emperor is claiming that Yulong was destroyed as an act of war by the Duchy of Brunhild... He claims you are directly responsible, Touya.” 
“Wait, what?!” How the hell could he say that?! I silently stared, mouth agape. I couldn’t comprehend why someone would make up a story like that. 
“The story goes that the Phrase are mighty beasts created by a unique summoning spell you employed after attacking Shenghai. He’s using the great wall you built on the Hannock border as evidence of your magical potential. Furthermore, there are people whispering that you fueled your magic with blood... More specifically, the blood of the innocent Yulong citizens. They claim that you sacrificed and harvested the population to create more monsters, and there are even people claiming to have seen you doing this.” 
What the hell?! Come on, that’s total bull! That just sounds like trashy gossip! Who the hell said they saw me summoning those things, huh?! 
“You seem pretty acquainted with the rumors already, how come?” 
“Well, they actually contacted us formally. We received a letter stating that the entire thing was orchestrated by you, and that they are innocent victims of your savage power play. They also claim that you are attempting to showcase your military might across the world, so that none may oppose you.” 
“Indeed, we also received a letter. It said something to the effect of Brunhild cannot be allowed to possess such strength. Therefore, it should be confiscated and safely claimed by larger nations like Belfast, Regulus, and Yulong.” After the king of Belfast spoke up, the emperor of Regulus chimed in as well. I was amazed that the new heavenly emperor was actually trying this kind of underhanded approach. 
“So, what are you gonna tell them?” 
“Nothing, really. If I were to reply, I’d tell them that it wouldn’t be possible for us to rival Brunhild, and that we wouldn’t be prepared to face an enemy that could wipe Yulong’s capital off the map. I don’t really know what they were expecting, but under ordinary circumstances, I would have suggested surrendering.” 
“In my case, I probably shouldn’t leave it alone. I’ll tell them that I’ll show the letter to the grand duke to confirm the truth, but warn them that the grand duke of Brunhild has a terribly short temper and may storm Yulong if there’s a mistake. I’ll just reiterate that it’s my national duty to seek out the truth, and to leave everything to me.” 
These two... Kinda feels like they’re shirking the responsibility here... Well, whatever. I guess I can sympathize, since they didn’t really ask for this nonsense. 
Still, I’m a little worried... I don’t think a standard Yulong citizen would be able to tell it was a lie... 
Now, come on... I guess they might not all be like that. The upper class of Yulong is definitely rotten, but I’m sure their people won’t fall for such nonsense. I hope... 
“In the meantime, we should probably leave Yulong be. In its current state, they won’t be able to take much action, and it’s not like any of us share a border with them.” The king of Lihnea raised a fair point as well. Yulong no longer had the same national or military power as before. 
I didn’t think Hannock had any intention of fighting them, either, so I decided to hand the border wall over to them. Leaving Yulong alone was the smartest course of action. That was what I decided. We were to no longer interfere with that country and generally ignore any nonsense the new heavenly king came out with. 
That guy had pretty much destroyed all credibility with the western alliance thanks to his lies. I wish he’d had some honest people serving him, but I guess the new government was just as corrupt. I suppose the old saying was true, like father like son. 
Two weeks later, the heavenly emperor of Yulong was assassinated. Amongst the remaining nobility of the nation, there was an intense power play ending in several deaths. Many nobles ended up announcing that they were the real heavenly emperor, and ended up killing one another in paranoia. 
Various citizens from Yulong became refugees after the crisis, fleeing the ravaged nation and taking up nomadic lives. 
Ultimately, the assassination of the heavenly emperor was blamed on me. I’d really had enough of that stupid country. 
“So, what happened then?” 
“Nothing. People can say what they want. If you entertain their stupidity, you’ve already lost.” 
“Hmph... But Touyaaa... Taking on a stupid country like Yulong would totally be a piece of cake for a guy like you!” Sue was sitting on my lap, treating me much like a chair. She was acting a little fussy. 
I was hanging out with her since she hadn’t visited in a while, but once I started talking about Yulong she got a little mad. 
“Plus, didn’t you actually save Yulong?! Why are they blaming you? They’re just making up whatever’s best for them! But even worse than that, they aren’t acting on these rumors! They’re just barking without biting!” 
“Well, it’s best to just leave it be... It’ll only get more annoying.” 
“No way! That’s not enough! You gotta get mad at times like these, Touya! If you don’t get serious and show them what you’re made of, they’ll just keep mocking you! If you sit there like a doormat, don’t be surprised when they walk all over you! If you don’t smack them in the face, they’re just gonna think they can keep doing it...!” 
Man, you’re getting pretty mad about it... Guess she learned a lot about diplomacy from her dad. 
“So, what course of action would you suggest?” 
“Strike down all those ‘new’ heavenly emperors with all you’ve got! Publicly humiliate them and tell them to stop those rumors for good!” 
...Definitely not taking that diplomatic approach. It’s a little... childish, to handle things in a manner like that. 
Still, it was a little cute that she got mad on my behalf. I gently patted Sue on the head, smiling softly at her fussy face. 

“Thanks, really... But it’s alright, Sue. I promise.” 
“...You’re way too kind, Touya. It’s one of the loveliest things about you... but don’t let people take advantage of you, okay?” Sue turned around and hugged me tight, rubbing her face against my chest. I smiled, pulling her gently against me and rubbing her back. I felt warm and safe with her. 
I suddenly heard the door creak, and I looked upward. Cesca peeked into the room, strolling in with some tea. 
“...I’ve brought tea for you, my cradle-robbing master.” 
“...I need to talk to you right now, maid.” 
No, this isn’t what it looks like. I swear! Me hugging Sue isn’t anything sexual, it’s entirely wholesome and familial! It’s not perverse at all... For the time being, at least... No, wait! 
“There’s no need to sneak around in private so late, you know? Little old Cesca knows well the naughty disposition of her lecherous master... Please, act as though I’m not here. Indulge your savage urges to your heart’s content.” 
“Come here, damn it! I need to talk to you about your conduct.” 
“Oh, you’re going to teach me a lesson, Master...?” 
“Enough, get over here!” 
I lectured that stupid pervy maid for about an hour after that... But during the lecture, all she did was blush and say stuff like “Berate me harder.” In the end, I got annoyed with her and gave up. I didn’t have any time for her nonsense. 
I left the castle, abandoning Cesca to her delusions. Earlier that day, I’d formally given Sue a ring, marking our engagement, but that wasn’t all I wanted to do with her. I decided that it was time to show her Babylon. I didn’t want her to be out of the loop, and I had no reason not to trust her. Though, I did reiterate how she couldn’t tell anyone at all under any circumstances. Better safe than sorry. 
I fired up a [Gate] and took Sue through. She opened her eyes in wonder as she looked up into the sky from Babylon’s grounds. 
“Ohmygosh! Wow! Wowowow! It’s so cool! The castle in the sky was real the whole time!” 
Well, it’s a little different from that place... For one, it isn’t in ruins. Sue got even more excited once we reached the rampart’s castle. 
“An indeedious welcome to you, master.” 
“Oh, hey Liora. Where’s Noel?” 
“She is indeed in the midst of an after-snack nap.” 
Again...? Man, that girl sure likes napping, I think she only actually wakes up during mealtime. 
“Who’s that, Touya?” 
“This is Preliora. She’s the one in charge of the rampart. She doesn’t come down too often, so I’m not surprised you haven’t met her.” 
“Indeed, I am Preliora. But you may call me Liora, thank you.” Liora gently curtseyed in Sue’s direction with a faint smile. Of all the Babylon Gynoids, she certainly exuded the most dignified air. She was definitely more like an elder sister. 
“Liora. Any word on the new system?” 
“Indeed. I have indeed spoken with Rosetta about it, and implementation seems to be possible. I must confess I never once considered implementing satellite orb technology into the Frame Gears.” The satellite orb was one of Babylon’s primary defensive systems. It was composed of several orichalcum spheres that moved autonomously and intercepted enemies. 
I got the idea of tweaking it a bit and making a localized version for Frame Gears. In other words, it was an attack drone system that individual Frame Gears could deploy at will. I was inspired by some of my favorite anime, of course. 
Rather than orbs, these orbital drones would be in the shape of swords, and they’d be constructed out of Phrase fragments. As an aside, calling them Phrase fragments all the time was kind of a pain, so that was why I’d taken to calling the material phrasium. They were small enough for the workshop to mass-produce efficiently, as well. 
Their combat efficiency would be directly tied to the pilot’s aptitude for magic. How long they could operate for would also be tied to the user’s magic power. Not everyone would be able to make proper use, but the addition of a ranged attack in any form was certainly a welcome one. 
I decided to name my new drone system Fragarach. It was simply the first name that came to mind. I didn’t really need to worry about people questioning it. The origin of that name wasn’t from this world, after all. 
Going by the control systems of all the current Frame Gears, they could handle up to four each at a time. 
Unfortunately, the blueprints for the upgraded Frame Gears were in the storehouse, which I still hadn’t found. What a bother...