Epilogue
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Part 1
Away from the territory of the Kingdom.
The immigrant ship Luxion was waiting above the ocean.
The view of the blue sky and small floating islands was magnificent, but when Leon stepped outside, there was something else to see.
“It’s spectacular.”
Leon smiled at the sight before him, his hair disheveled in the wind.
He is dressed roughly with a shirt and pants.
What Leon sees is weapons equipped with artificial intelligence surrounding Luxion.
The weapons, which were not stored like Luxion’s, are mostly rusted, mossy, and unmaintained.
From such weapons come small machines——spheres similar to Luxion’s.
Leon was surrounded by them, and hundreds of spheres with one eye on him.
The largest sphere among them had a diameter of one meter.
First things first.
“I didn’t expect the immigrant ship to be safe.”
The big spherical sub unit machine [Facto] is an artificial intelligence that controls a broken, rusty flying aircraft carrier.
It is represented among the assembled artificial intelligences because it has the highest processing ability.
Leon had come to such a place to talk with this Facto.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Leon Fou Bartfalt. I’m a reincarnated person. Thanks to that, I have the characteristics of the old humans in me.”
As Leon shows casual joke, the surrounding spheres begin scanning with a red light emitted from one eye.
The act is protested by the Luxion sub unit machine, which floats near Leon’s right shoulder and protests the rudeness of the action.
[I have provided Master’s information in advance. Please do not do anything without permission.]
Luxion has a valid point, but Facto does not budge.
[I needed to make sure it was true.]
[Are you doubting me?]
As Luxion silently moves the main body’s stationary turrets and weapons, the other weapons in the surrounding area begin preparing for battle.
Leon, who thought the negotiations would fall apart at this point, placed his hand on Luxion to make him stop.
“Don’t pick a fight.”
[These guys suspect Master of being a fake.]
“If the misunderstanding is cleared up, that’s fine. So, what was the result?”
As Leon waits for the results of the test with his hands on his hips, the spherical sub unit machines surrounding Leon announce the results.
[Preliminary data is not false. Admitted]
[Affirmative]
[I agree.]
Apparently, they recognized Leon.
Leon himself was relieved.
“Then let’s get to the point. I want to destroy Arcadia. You guys want the same thing, don’t you?”
It was Facto, the representative, who answered Leon’s question.
[I affirm]
“In that case, let’s talk about the future. I want you all to be under my command.”
What Leon wanted were the old human weapons.
In fact, they are artificial intelligences, but they have a big problem.
It is a loss of chain of command.
The old humans had perished and the chain of command was almost nonexistent, so sporadic resistance to Arcadia continued.
The crisis called Arcadia woke them up, but there is no old humans to give them orders.
The artificial intelligences were launching an attack on Arcadia using only the authority they had.
As a result, they were wasting their strength.
Even if they wanted to cooperate, they didn’t have the authority to do so.
Still, they were unable to overlook the biggest crisis of all, Arcadia, and acted on their own judgment.
Then Creare began to persuade them that the old humans were alive.
Facto and others were gathered here to find out that information.
[I reject]
It rejects Leon’s suggestion.
Leon must have been troubled by this, and he scratches his head and asks why.
“What are you dissatisfied with?”
Facto explains why it does not recognize Leon.
[It is the presence of Miss Erika. She who is closest to the old humans is the one who deserves to be our Master. Under her, we can fight as one.]
They chose Erika over Leon because she has more of the characteristics of the old humans.
They probably didn’t consider anything else.
On behalf of Leon, Luxion negotiates with Facto.
[Currently Erika, however, is in a cold sleep due to the effects of the magic element. She is also unfamiliar with combat. If you make her a master——]
As he explains why Erika is not suitable to be a master, Leon interrupts him.
“I’ll take it from here.”
When Luxion reluctantly backs down, Leon tells Facto and the others about Erika.
“That girl has a part of her that thinks she would rather die than start a war. With Erika as your master, she might just give up on destroying Arcadia.”
Artificial Intelligences start discussing.
[Miss Erica is not suited to be a master.]
[It’s fine if she exists as a symbol.]
[If she is suffering from the effects of the magic element, she should be put to sleep.]
As the artificial intelligences continue to discuss the issue, Facto asks Leon.
[——Do you really want to fight Arcadia?]
“If I don’t, a lot of kids that are going to be born will be in trouble. Someone has to do it, right?”
[The possibility of destroying it is low. There is an option to escape with Luxion.]
He was told that he could just get on Luxion and run away, but Leon did not nod.
“Aa, running away is the right decision. I think fighting is wrong and not a rational decision. But —— if I run away, I’ll never forgive myself ever again. I don’t want that life.”
Hearing Leon’s determination, all of the spheres flashed their single eye at once.
It seems that the conclusion has been reached.
[At present, the most suitable master is Leon.]
[Fighting is too much for Miss Erika.]
[Master is Leon. Erika is the highest priority for protection.]
After listening to those opinions, Facto makes a decision with one big gleam in its eye.
[Understood. From now on, we recognize Leon as the Master. From now on, we pledge to join forces under his command and cooperate with him to destroy Arcadia.]
The old human weapons came under Leon’s command.
Leon looks at Luxion.
“We’ve got a reliable ally on our side. Now, we need to get these guys fixed up first. Luxion, can you do it?”
[——No problem.]
When he is asked, Luxion takes on the maintenance of the allies who have joined him.
But he was a little less convinced.
Leon becomes the Master of the weapons left behind by the old humans.
That in itself is not a problem, but for Luxion it was a little lonely.
This is because he is no longer the sole Master of himself and Creare, but is now in a position of having a large number of Artificial Intelligences following him.
Leon says.
“Sorry to drag you into this, Luxion.”
[No, it’s not a problem. That is Master’s order.]
“But it’s not all bad. After all, you can accomplish your original purpose, right?”
[My purpose?]
“You could fight for the old humans, right? That’s what you wanted. ——I can’t let you destroy the new humans, though.”
Saying so, Leon laughed.
[My purpose——my wish is——]
.
Part 2
A floating island that was once the territory of Leon.
In that underground dock, weapons equipped with artificial intelligence, a lost item, were coming one after another.
Luxion is even rushing out to Creare to do maintenance.
The working robots were moving around busily.
Luxion, who was watching the situation, was approached by Creare.
[If you’re free, I’d love to have your help.]
Luxion responds after a few seconds delay.
[I’m not playing around. I’m directing them to improve the maintenance efficiency.]
Luxion looked dissatisfied.
[Now that we have more comrades, you can leave it to them. I’ll leave it to you as soon as it’s done and return to royal capital. Why don’t you hand over the work to someone else?]
Since there are artificial intelligences that have been accepted, she suggests that less important tasks should be given to others.
[I am the one who prepared this facility.]
[You want to say you understand best? That’s good, but are you sure you don’t want to be by Master’s side? He is in royal capital now, right?]
It is more important to be on Leon’s side than to be here.
Luxion did not move even when Creare told him so.
Not only that, he starts making excuses.
[I need to refurbish the armor of those five guys. I also need to prepare weapons to be supplied to the Royal Army. I also want to mass produce as many of the new flying battleships as possible.]
It was true that he was busy preparing to fight the Empire’s army.
But it is a job that does not have to be done by Luxion.
Creare begins to suspect Luxion.
[You’ve been acting strange lately. I’ve been getting reports that you’ve been keeping some of the information from Facto and the others. Are you sure you’re not malfunctioning?]
This time, Luxion had repeatedly disobeyed Leon’s orders.
Not only that, but when he was trying to persuade Facto and others —— he kept some of the information from them.
In response to Creare’s point, Luxion replies.
[The objective of Facto and the others is the destruction of Arcadia. For this purpose, they will tolerate even if Master has to be sacrificed. They believe that as long as Erika is there, the old humans will be revived.]
[You don’t want Master to die, do you?]
[——Facto and the others asked me to hand over Master’s genes.]
[Oh my.]
Since Leon could have lost his life in battle, they decided that it would be a good idea to leave his genes behind.
It was reasonable, but it was unacceptable to Luxion.
Although Creare is somewhat dissatisfied, there are aspects that she accepts.
[But it’s necessary. In the first place, Master is not thinking of coming back alive at this point.]
[That’s why I’m preparing for Master. They can’t be trusted.]
A moment of silence passes between the two of them, but suddenly Creare says something strange.
[Could it be that you are jealous? Are you showing that you can contribute more to Master?]
[Wrong.]
Luxion answered immediately, but Creare didn’t seem to care.
[Either way is fine. But I think it is better for you to be on the side of Master. Anyway, I’ll do my best for the old humans!]
If they win, there is a possibility that the old humans will be revived.
Creare is placing great importance on the revival of the old humans.
Luxion mutters.
[——Creare, what I really wanted to protect was not the old humans.]
Creare was silent for a few seconds, then asked Luxion to continue the subject.
[I wonder if you really have broken? Or maybe you, an immigrant ship, have another purpose? Why don’t you tell me now.]
Luxion, built as an immigrant ship, might be hiding a secret that even Creare did not know about? Such a suspicion was raised.
Luxion shakes his single eye to the side.
Because there is no such thing as a secret as Creare thinks.
[I want to save the old humans and I hate the new humans too. ——Without Master, I would have destroyed several countries built by the descendants of the old humans.]
It was because of Leon that they were able to avoid the worst development.
He had avoided the foolish act of destroying the descendants of the old humans by his own hand.
Creare seems to realize this as well.
[Right. I’m grateful to Master. Master is a real life saver, isn’t he?]
However, Luxion thinks.
That Leon would not have wanted to be a savior.
[If we destroy Arcadia, the old humans will be resurrected over a long period of time. And that would be our victory.]
[It’s a long-cherished wish. It motivates me.]
[But——what I really want to protect will be lost.]
When Creare hears what he really wants to protect, she makes a move as if to tilt her head.
[What’s more important than the old humans? ——You, could it be!?]
Creare arrived at the answer, but Luxion revealed his true feelings first.
[What I really want to protect is Master.]
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