The Phoenix County.
I’d heard it was a domain that ruled the borderlands between the Argent Empire and the Kingdom of Vespia, claiming the entire region as its territory—a march with an independent military authority.
In short, if they so much as entertained disloyal thoughts, that entire region would become enemy territory and come pouring straight in. That made it one of the domains the kingdom paid the most attention to, and in terms of influence, it was practically on par with a ducal house.
In fact, I’d heard it was considered even more important than a ducal house.
“But even if they consider it important, I’m not really sure what that means in practice.”
“To be specific, they cut their taxes in half and let them use the rest however they want. The knight orders are constantly dispatched and rotated there, the royal family sends royals four times a year to encourage them, and sometimes they send people to propose marriages and shower them with gifts.”
So they just hand everything over, huh.
After hearing Erika’s explanation, I could see just how desperately the kingdom was trying to keep them from getting any funny ideas.
“House Phoenix is a family with powerful soldiers who have repelled three large-scale attacks from the Argent Empire on their own. As you heard earlier, they very often form blood ties with the royal family.”
I nodded at Mina’s explanation.
If the Nexia ducal house was one of the branch families, then I guess the Phoenix count family was similar.
Well, considering I’d never heard that stated outright, it probably meant they weren’t treated as a branch family, but rather that royal blood had mixed in.
That sort of thing seemed like a tradition nobles were well-versed in, but I didn’t care, so I had no idea.
“By the way… you’re all awfully calm. Has it not occurred to you that if something goes wrong on the way, you could die?”
Professor Raina, who was sitting in the back, spoke quietly.
Seeing how uneasy she looked, I figured I should calm her down a little.
“We’ve already been through all the things that might suddenly explode while moving, so it’s safe now.”
“The fact that it nearly exploded before is the problem! It is safe, right? I’m talking about the inside of this golem!”
When Professor Raina shouted, her voice echoed through the cramped interior.
And Mina opened the cockpit window with satisfaction and smiled.
“As expected, investing in this was the right answer.”
—Gwadudududu.
The sound of caterpillar tracks was coming from outside.
Mina spoke as she enjoyed the breeze, looking satisfied.
“While we’re at it, how about mass-producing Caterpillar Golems for transport? It’d make money.”
“What can you do if I, the one who made it, don’t want to? Also, aren’t you going to wear your mask?”
“These people already know enough about me. It’s a pain.”
I chuckled at Mina’s words and continued driving.
The current Caterpillar Golem had been modified for transportation.
It had all started a week ago, when we were told to go to the Phoenix County.
While I was marveling at the academy’s lax rule that as long as attendance was acknowledged there, it wouldn’t matter if we stayed for several months, I said something to Mina.
—“We have to build three Cyclops units to deliver to the Phoenix County anyway, so what do you think about taking all the materials and the technicians we’ll be teaching with us?”
—“Who are you? Are you telling me Aizen knows how to say something like that? You wicked bastard, do you dare try to deceive a saintess?”
There was the unfortunate incident of Mina using holy arts on me, but our patron agreed with my proposal that instead of only testing weapons once we got to the county, we should also establish mass-production techniques.
We immediately had to prepare a large trailer that would connect to the Caterpillar Golem’s frame, but honestly, it could be made with leftover materials, so it was produced right away.
The area around the capital and outside the academy had roads laid out that made it easy for carriages to travel, but there was no way the road to the Phoenix County on the front line would be smooth. Besides, we also had to transport bulky things, so using this guy was the easiest option.
“This guy really is a prototype among prototypes, so it can move if someone directly pours mana into it. That means anyone can be the driver.”
And so, large trailers were attached to the Caterpillar Golem, and we were able to slowly pull everything along.
One trailer carried the Cyclops and the trial-produced Rodelini machine gun, while the ones behind it carried materials for three Cyclops units, as well as people from Mina’s merchant company and the church.
Apparently, they were people Mina had carefully selected, then selected again.
Their luggage was loaded too, which made the trailers unbelievably heavy.
Because of that, I’d been a little worried the Caterpillar Golem might break down, but our patron, who had been enthusiastic about my proposal, immediately came up with a good idea.
—“If we attach floating stones to those trailers and make them hover just slightly in the air, wouldn’t they be easier to pull?”
—“If you had something like that, you should’ve said so earlier.”
Those were also among the materials Mina had procured, so they were put to use right away.
There wasn’t a large quantity of them, so in the end, all they accomplished was slightly reducing the weight placed on the wheels, but even that was an excellent and sufficient result.
And so, we solved the tremendous weight problem and were able to travel comfortably.
“…There’s no need to ride carriages or horses from village to village, it can move all night, and it can even climb mountains… I feel like mass-producing this would be even more frightening….”
“It’s not bipedal, so I plan to think about it later.”
“Don’t forget what you just said. I get the first contract.”
I deliberately pretended not to hear Mina.
Caterpillar tracks did have a certain heavy charm, but still, bipedal walking was where the real style was.
When I answered calmly, Professor Raina sighed.
“If this was how it was going to be, then I feel like a fool for preparing all night for nothing….”
“So that’s why you were sleeping so well. As expected, bringing in the highest-grade chairs was the right call.”
Mina giggled and sank into her chair.
Then Erika quietly said,
“More importantly, both Lady Saintess and Lady Noel have incredible initiative.”
“I caught it from being next to him.”
“When it comes to initiative, I have to concede to Mina.”
It was something I sometimes forgot, but considering my first meeting with Mina had been when she snuck into my dorm room, wasn’t I on the cute side?
Of course, Professor Raina was looking at me as if asking what nonsense I was spouting, so I didn’t think I’d be getting any agreement from her.
“…I can tell Aizen is thinking something strange, but… to state the conclusion, all three of you have an admirable level of initiative. The moment the trip to the county was decided, you took care of preparations for the expedition, handovers, paperwork, public justifications… even I, a professor, barely finished everything in time, yet you managed it all this quickly.”
“Maybe it’s because all three of us are people who had to do things for ourselves.”
Just as I’d had to grow potatoes and research golems in order to survive, Mina was the type who did things herself to earn money, and Noel was the type who did things herself to prove she could accomplish them.
Now that I thought about it, the reason the two of them had said they felt comfortable around me might have been because we had similar sides to us.
“Well, I think Noel came along this time for a different purpose.”
“I think so too.”
No sooner had Professor Raina finished speaking than a heavy thumping sound began drawing closer from outside.
Before long, the Cyclops was walking right beside the Caterpillar Golem.
—“I’m walking. I’m walking, with my own two feet!”
The one riding it was Noel.
The young lady whose body was so weak she had to use a cane while walking was now riding the Cyclops and moving around to her heart’s content.
“For the official justification, she said she would inspect the situation on the front line and observe the Cyclops’s mobility test, but no matter how I look at it, that young lady came because she wanted to ride it herself.”
“If everyone’s happy, then it’s fine.”
It seemed her extremely weak stamina was a complex for her.
It wasn’t that she was incapable of walking on two legs, and seeing as she actually had decent arm strength, there seemed to be some other reason her stamina was weak. But since she hadn’t told me herself, I hadn’t asked.
Even if I knew, it wasn’t like anything between us would change.
And on my end, I could observe how the Cyclops responded when someone other than me rode it, while Noel got to satisfy her own desire. It was mutually beneficial.
“Though thanks to that, I ended up being dragged along as well.”
When Noel, the young lady of a prestigious ducal house and someone the royal family practically treated like a princess, accompanied us under an official pretext, the academy couldn’t simply stay still.
In the end, Professor Raina had to come along under the pretext of guarding Noel.
“Personally, though, I did want to check it once for myself, so it’s fine.”
Professor Raina said that while looking at the Cyclops.
Then, after calculating the time in my head, I spoke to Mina.
“How long has Noel been riding? About two hours?”
“It’d be better to tell her to get off soon. That young lady got a taste for it once, and now she tries to ride for hours on end. Just like you.”
“Then it’s my turn next!”
When we said we should have Noel get down, Erika looked at the Cyclops with a face full of anticipation.
It wasn’t as if only Noel and I rode the Cyclops.
Erika, and occasionally Professor Raina as well, would ride and move it around.
And perhaps because both of them were people connected to martial arts, they quickly grasped the controls and moved it fluidly.
For me, excellent samples were gathering, so it was all for the best.
“So even that frail young lady can gain powerful strength as long as she knows how to operate it.”
Professor Raina gazed at the Cyclops with a complicated expression.
After looking at the Cyclops, still white because it hadn’t even been painted yet, Professor Raina turned to me and spoke quietly.
“How useful it proves in actual combat—in a sense, this time will be the most important test. Do you understand that, Aizen?”
“I’m confident, but is there something you’re worried about?”
“A weapon does not deliver its full performance the moment it’s made. Problems you never thought of may appear, and we need to see how quickly those can be improved.”
Professor Raina’s words struck me as slightly odd.
“It sounds like there’s something I don’t know.”
“You’ll find out once we get there, since it will end up being compared. However, if I’m being honest…”
Professor Raina looked reluctant for a moment, but somehow relieved as she opened her mouth.
“I’ll just tell you this: I much prefer the golem you made.”
Professor Raina was a knight.
If piloted golems became the main force, she would be among those most greatly affected, yet she was saying something like that.
“It seems all sorts of things have been happening on the front line.”
I could tell for certain that not all of them had been good, but there was no reason to stop.
And some time later.
Large, imposing walls and a moat began to come into view.
It was the Phoenix County.