The Sword Saint’s movements were swift once he resolved to flee.
“You think I’ll let you get away!”
Reina immediately broke into a sprint, but the Sword Saint had started first.
In an instant, he cut through the outer wall of the building, leaped over the debris, and put distance between himself and the hangar where the fierce battle had just taken place.
“I feel bad for our kids, but right now, even one of us has to make it back….”
He had already given up on recovering the captured spies.
If all he had to do was trample the kingdom’s promising young sprouts, that would have been possible. The problem was Reina.
One of the kingdom’s five strongest, a knight who charged into the enemy camp faster than anyone else and took the enemy commander’s head first.
Her title, Swift Advance, had been given to her because she had once charged alone into an imperial position and cut down dozens.
Trying to force his way past a knight like that to rescue his allies, only to end up failing to deliver any information at all about the kingdom’s new weapon, the Cyclops, would be an even bigger problem.
The best outcome would have been to somehow steal the actual thing, and failing that, to steal something that could at least be used to reproduce it. But now he was in a situation where he had to deliver the information no matter what, so there was no hesitation.
‘If our positions were reversed, those bastards would do the same. They’ll understand that much.’
Putting strength into his legs, the Sword Saint swiftly raced through the castle.
And then he spotted Reina running along the wall.
“Huh?”
“Did you think I’d gotten slower just because I work as a professor!”
She was not running stuck to the wall the entire time, but whenever an obstacle appeared or the path turned sharply, Reina did not hesitate to run along the wall itself.
The Sword Saint’s eyes widened as he shouted.
“Where the hell did you learn to run like that!”
“Sadly, I have a student who’s an absolute expert at running away!”
Reina thought of the crow who, the moment he realized he had caused trouble, would flee at full speed without the slightest hesitation the instant she appeared.
There were many obstacles inside the academy, and the crow did not rely solely on his physical ability. He made full use of every obstacle and escaped along the optimal route, so the parkour skills she had developed while chasing him were now proving immensely useful.
‘I never thought I’d end up using this to catch an imperial spy!’
In any case, Reina had become someone who could never be shaken off by mere running.
Raising her sword, Reina shouted.
“Resist if you want! Whether it’s pebbles, walls, or potato peel powder, honestly, there have been a ridiculous number of variations on past questions!”
“What kind of den of demons is the academy! And what the hell is potato peel powder!”
Had Reina gone slightly insane while teaching children, or was there some lunatic there spreading madness?
The Sword Saint was honestly curious, but the problem was steadily growing worse.
‘At this rate, I’ll be caught!’
The terrain affected the one fleeing as well.
But Reina had clearly learned how to overcome any unfavorable condition and run without losing almost any speed.
He had no idea what sort of chase she had been engaging in on a regular basis to end up like that, but one thing was certain: even the Sword Saint of the Empire would have a hard time escaping Reina.
‘If someone can force her into chases like this every day, just how much potential do they have?’
Even when he thought it over, no such person came to mind.
The only one he could add to that list recently was the creator of the Cyclops.
The only way the situation made even a little sense was if some powerful figure still undetected by the Empire’s intelligence network was hiding in the academy.
“No choice, then. If it’s come to this, it’s do or die…!”
He absolutely had to return alive, but even that was becoming difficult, so the Sword Saint did not hesitate.
Even while conscious of Reina, who had nearly caught up right behind him, he slipped a hand into his breast pocket.
Soon, he pulled out a small object that looked like a harmonica.
“You think I’ll let you use a magic tool!”
By instinct, Reina felt she must not let him.
Unfortunately, the Sword Saint was faster.
—Piiiiiik!
Perhaps because he blew it roughly, what came out was a rather deflated high note.
But the effect appeared quickly.
—Kiiiii!!
“What, monsters…?!”
Monsters were descending from atop the castle wall, accepting the damage they would take.
Of course, only a very small number of flying monsters were getting in.
Reinforcements that were only possible because he had already come near the wall.
‘But by common sense, there’s no way monsters would ignore the castle wall and dive straight here….’
Reina was startled by the fact that monsters, which usually moved according to instinct, were almost all coming toward this place at once.
And then, she realized something.
“The Empire is using monsters… Don’t tell me!”
“Sorry, but I’m leaving.”
Taking advantage of the moment Reina cut down a monster that had lunged at her while she was distracted, the Sword Saint put distance between them.
Then, grinning, he said.
“Ah, right. You liked the sandworm we gifted you during your class, didn’t you? See you again.”
“You son of a bitch, that was your doing!”
The truth behind the sandworm Aizen had exterminated with the Caterpillar Golem.
“Do you even know how many people almost died! Get back here, get back here right now, you bastard!!”
Amid Reina’s furious roar,
the Sword Saint of the Empire was already slipping out beyond the castle wall.
****
I really did push it a bit too far.
The backlash from using Overload made sudden fatigue and muscle pain throughout my entire body begin to set in.
On top of that, every part of the Cyclops was also complaining from the strain, sparks flying from it.
Ironically, the reason it had not exploded was probably because the mana water had almost run out, weakening its power.
Even so, the steel giant did not collapse, and as the control system moved, it planted its hands on the ground and rose.
“You worked hard.”
I quietly spoke to the machine, which was screaming from all over, and looked around.
In exchange for the two enormous giants waging a bloody battle against each other, most of the invading monsters had been caught up in it and crushed.
It was far too different from what I had imagined, but the Cyclops had held back the monster invasion.
“This is an encouraging result, but there’s a lot to do….”
The blood that had rushed fiercely to my head while fighting the one-eyed giant was draining away, and my mind was cooling rapidly.
No matter what, it seemed unlikely that an individual like that one-eyed giant would easily descend to attack the castle, so why had it come down?
Before repairing the Cyclops, I needed to determine where and how it had suffered load and damage.
With my body and the machine in this condition, I should definitely restrict the Overload function during production, and so on.
And there was the intuition that I was being swept up in something major.
“The House of Count Avatus, was it….”
I had never met them, but would those people who had apparently been obstructing me from beneath the surface all this time really leave me alone until the end?
Not just them. If news of the Cyclops later reached the Empire’s ears, would they truly leave alone a machine that had achieved this much merit?
They would not.
While I was focusing on golems and devoting everything to them, they must have been preparing something in one way or another.
I deliberately banged my head against the cockpit wall to stop thinking.
I was tired of thoughts following one after another inside my exhausted mind.
What I had to do now was first extract the data, write down a few improvement plans, and then….
—Kieaaak!
Monsters were swarming in from the distance.
No matter what, there had been far too little warning.
I could see people on the castle wall moving quickly as if preparing for the next attack.
Meanwhile, I was alone over here.
“This is getting a bit hard now.”
The monsters’ route just happened to be in this direction.
The Cyclops would stop operating from lack of fuel before long.
My own physical condition was not great either.
Fighting was impossible.
The knights on the wall seemed to think they needed to rescue me after seeing that I could not move quickly, and they were hurriedly making preparations, but they would not make it in time.
But I had no intention of sitting still and dying.
“I have to make it back alive if I want to dream.”
With a creaking sound, the machine moved.
It pulled out the dagger embedded in the one-eyed giant’s body.
The blade had melted under the mana of Overload, but I should still be able to swing it.
I moved the sparking machine, thinking I would just have to hold out a little longer.
—Tudadadada!!
Soon, a thunderous burst of gunfire began to sound from behind.
A noise only the machine gun used by the Cyclops could make.
“Unit Two?”
I thought of the most plausible possibility and looked toward the castle gate.
From inside, a Cyclops that had not even been properly fitted with armor yet was walking out.
For a moment, sparks crackled inside, and then voices flowed into the cockpit.
[…This mic… Aizen… safe… Noel, is this right…?]
[Right now… Mina… I’m… the pilot is Erika….]
[We’re coming to keep you from dying, so don’t move from there.]
“Of course only Mina’s voice comes through clearly.”
Did the Cyclops recognize who its patron was?
Judging from the voices I had just heard, it seemed Erika was the one currently piloting Unit Two.
Unit Two, piloted by Erika, approached while driving back the monsters with gunfire. Then the cockpit opened, and Noel, flying through the sky while releasing electricity, came toward me carrying Mina.
Thanks to external operation, the cockpit opened, and Mina came inside.
“You look like a mess.”
“Do I?”
There was no mirror, so I had no idea what my face looked like right now.
“I came to save you, so sleep.”
“No, I have to extract the data….”
“Sleep, you idiot.”
Mina’s golden divine power wrapped around me.
“You worked hard.”
I did not know whose voice it was.
My consciousness sank straight into darkness.
****
“Wow. Good thing I ran.”
A place far from the castle of the House of Count Phoenix.
Having arrived atop a certain mountain, the Empire’s Sword Saint, Zweite, let out a deep sigh.
It was good that he had drawn monsters toward Reina and escaped, but… the losses were too great.
“I lost two skilled spies, and whether through them or because of what I just did, all our secrets will be exposed.”
Looking at the harmonica magic tool resting on his hand, the Sword Saint murmured.
It had been a hastily prepared operation, but one he had prepared on a fairly large scale, and yet rather than success, it had brought only losses.
“The kingdom’s golem is a monster.”
A weapon far too swift and powerful to be called a golem.
Reina had been right to say with confidence that the age of the sword was over.
The first golem had even fought the one-eyed giant in single combat and won, and it had succeeded in repelling a large-scale monster army.
Even the monsters he had hurriedly called in for his escape had been dealt with by the second golem, which had appeared incomplete.
“If I can’t even deliver this information, that will be a serious problem.”
The Empire would be turned upside down immediately.
And it would employ every possible scheme.
The Sword Saint, too, was about to become busy.
That was why, with lingering regret, he looked down the mountain.
“Next time, let’s at least see each other’s faces. I’m not the sort to swallow humiliation, either.”
At the end of his gaze was the first golem, being carried in the arms of the second.
The man who would be riding inside it.
“Aizen of the Golems.”
The Sword Saint Zweite smiled coldly.