It had been well over a month since Lord Arclight had decided to be absent for around two months.
Mark Arclight was spending his days as acting lord.
‘That damned freeloader has to be driven out of the domain, no matter what…!’
As he roughly pushed aside a report stating that something enormous was moving in the forest near the lord’s castle, Mark ground his teeth.
It had happened quite some time ago—more precisely, a few days before he became acting lord.
That time when he had tried to drive Aizen out, only to nearly be beaten by him for some reason in a fit of rage.
Since then, Mark had tried again and again to expel Aizen, but every attempt had been thwarted by Aizen resisting in various ways. The fear and hatred of Aizen that had been piling up in him since before had now exceeded its limit.
He had never liked the fellow much to begin with.
Aizen, the son of the current Arclight family head Edmund’s younger brother, was, to put it bluntly, nothing more than an impurity that should never have been in this household.
That so-called uncle had been a member of the Arclight family, yet had left home claiming he would become something as lowly as an adventurer, only to die while exploring some labyrinth somewhere with his wife. And apparently, the servant who served him had brought Aizen all the way here before collapsing from exhaustion and dying.
Aizen had remained as a dependent guest, living in a position akin to a servant of the household.
But objectively speaking, that had been far too merciful a measure.
Such illegitimate children of nobles—though in Aizen’s case, his misfortunes had simply overlapped and made him an orphan, so by the strict definition it was difficult to call him illegitimate—at any rate, those who carried noble blood yet were difficult to treat as nobles were usually disposed of for the sake of the future.
They might be sent off as soldiers to regions where monsters frequently appeared, with the family collecting condolence money upon their deaths, or sold off to another household.
That was usually the fate of nobles with ambiguous bloodlines.
And that was what dissatisfied Mark.
If, just if, by some chance—truly, by the slightest chance—
Someone suddenly lent Aizen their support?
And if that person possessed even greater authority than the current family head, or was stronger, and chose to back Aizen?
The moment that happened, Mark’s future would become unstable.
That was why he had to use this opportunity to drive Aizen out completely.
“…You don’t look well.”
At the words of the customs officer from the Kingdom of Vespia, Mark flinched without realizing it, then smiled.
He immediately bowed and said,
“Ah, yes, my apologies. There are some matters in the domain, and while worrying over them, I became a little…”
They were called customs officers, but they too were unquestionably nobles, and their position was no different from having come as representatives of the kingdom.
Naturally, as acting lord, Mark had a duty to receive him and deal with him earnestly.
Looking at the tremendous quantity of potatoes, the customs officer scratched his cheek and spoke quietly.
“In any case, it’s an impressive amount again this time. The potatoes of the Arclight domain are exceptionally delicious, so they’re always included in meals at the royal palace.”
“It is an honor for our family simply that they are placed upon His Majesty’s table.”
Then couldn’t you pay a little more for them? Mark thought inwardly.
At any rate, the customs officer seemed satisfied now and was nodding.
Once he got through this matter, only the ordinary duties of the domain would remain.
And when that time came, he could devise a plan to banish Aizen and send him away.
There were still several weeks left until the head of the Arclight family returned, and since he neither particularly liked nor disliked Aizen, even if Mark drove him out, he might scold him for acting arbitrarily, but he would not make an issue of it.
After all, the other party was a madman who had tried to throw a punch at the next lord and even attempted to summon a demon!
‘But that ends now.’
Thinking of the royal knights who had supposedly been dispatched somewhere near here for some reason, Mark grinned.
The customs officer had not revealed the exact details, but apparently there had been a reason for the knights to come to this rural domain.
‘Once things are settled and calm down a bit, I’ll report him at once.’
Relations with the Argent Empire had recently worsened, and the royal palace of Vespia was said to be increasing its military strength and eliminating unstable elements accordingly. Mark was indulging in the pleasant fantasy that they would surely take Aizen’s matter seriously as well, when—
“T-Terrible news! Lord Mark! Looord Maaark!!”
“What is it!”
He had been in the middle of a very enjoyable fantasy, and on top of that, the customs officer was present. When someone burst in, Mark immediately flew into a rage.
The old knight who had entered shouted while gasping for breath.
“T-Terrible news! A monster, a monster!!”
“A monster? What sort of monster?”
“A chimera, a chimera is attacking us!!”
“If it’s only a chimera, shouldn’t you be able to deal with it normally!”
Mark shouted angrily.
But the old knight desperately shook his head and cried out,
“It’s different from an ordinary chimera! Whether it’s some kind of leader specimen, its size is…!”
Thinking that things always twisted just when they seemed to be going well, Mark quickly put on his coat and said,
“Administrator, it seems I must go and deal with the monster immediately. Please rest for a while…”
“…A chimera? No way!”
The customs officer hurriedly ran off somewhere.
‘Why is he so serious?’
From the customs officer’s perspective, this was clearly someone else’s domain.
Wasn’t there no reason for him to be that frantic?
Mark was briefly puzzled, but soon turned his attention away.
In any case, a giant chimera had appeared.
And right now, a customs officer dispatched from the royal palace happened to be here as well.
‘This time, I’ll show them my true worth.’
He would make his name known at the royal palace and firmly secure the position of lord.
Mark’s eyes held only that thought.
****
Monsters were, in principle, stronger the larger they were.
This common sense did not always apply, but monsters basically grew larger the more mana they contained, and new abilities sometimes manifested in proportion to that.
Naturally, then, the larger they were, the harder they were to hunt.
If they were small, that at least meant one could stab them with a spear or sword, so mercenaries, adventurers, and knights who knew their way around a blade could handle them well enough. But if that was not the case, then when facing a large monster, a mage was almost always necessary.
And right now, the Arclight domain needed a mage.
—Grrrr!!
“Damn it! When are they bringing Young Master Mark here!!”
At the roar of the chimera, far larger than a normal specimen, a knight shouted.
A chimera with the heads of a lizard and a goat attached where its shoulders should be, and a snake for a tail.
Each head spewed fire, and its tail sprayed poison, so the knights could not approach it at all.
And it was not merely doing only that. Since it was also leaping about here and there with its enormous body, they could not even bring themselves to attempt close combat.
A single swing of its foreleg easily crushed armor, and no blade could penetrate its hide.
‘No matter how you look at it, isn’t it strange that even blades won’t go in?’
If its skin were as hard as stone, that would be one thing, but the hide itself was covered in fur.
If its skin was that sturdy even when they tried to drive a sword into it, there was no way to kill it.
‘More importantly, is this even possible?’
If it were a monster made of stone or ore, that would be understandable, but this was the first time he had seen a monster so clearly made of flesh and hide that even a sword could not pierce it.
‘Did it eat some kind of special magic stone? It feels like something is blocking it…’
The knight could not understand why such a creature had appeared near the domain.
But he could tell that it would be bad if this situation continued.
‘If that thing gets into the middle of any village, the damage will be irreversible!’
They had to slay this monster somehow before that happened.
And what they needed for that was magic.
But right now, there was no one who could use that magic.
Of all times, it was a period when the strongest mage in the domain, the head of the Arclight family, was absent.
The timing was so absurd that it seemed as if this giant monster had deliberately aimed for the moment when the head of the Arclight family, who would have personally stepped onto the front lines if such a beast appeared, was gone.
It was not as though the head of the Arclight family had gone up without thinking; he had at least examined recent trends and judged that things would be fine for the time being, yet still this had happened.
To begin with, this was a domain with nothing to boast of aside from potatoes.
The skilled knights could be counted on one hand, and the number of soldiers was just enough to maintain public order in the domain.
With Edmund gone, there was currently no way to stop that monster.
“Damn it, fall back! Abandon the defensive line and evacuate the people instead! Once Young Master Mark arrives, we’ll reform our ranks from there!”
The knight with the most combat experience effectively gave the order to retreat.
Since it was impossible to suppress this thing with soldiers right now, it would be better to give up what they had to and then reform their lines.
Fortunately, it was a location close enough for someone from the lord’s mansion to arrive without much trouble, so even Mark would come soon.
The only point of concern was whether Mark truly possessed enough power to replace Edmund.
‘Still, he is the successor Lord Edmund trusted and raised. I’m sure he can do it!’
The loyal soldiers of the Arclight domain decided to put their faith in the legitimate heir and look to the next opportunity.
But had it sensed that they were trying to flee?
The chimera looked at the knights and roared.
—Kraaaah!
Whether it thought they were calling reinforcements, or whether it thought its prey was running away, there was no way to know.
The only thing that could be said was that its action was no different from the chimera threatening those trying to escape, saying it would kill them.
And then the chimera began to charge, aiming for the backs of the knights who were already retreating.
“Captain!”
“You go first!”
After giving the order to the knight serving as his adjutant, the knight who had taken command earlier turned around.
At least one person had to remain so the others could escape.
Now that they had decided to abandon this place, what mattered was saving as many lives as possible.
It was impossible for everyone to survive.
It was impossible for there to be no sacrifices.
As he watched the fangs and massive body rushing toward him, the knight of Arclight apologized to his family and wondered how many seconds he would be able to buy.
—Kwaaang!!
That is, if not for the terrifying sound that rang out immediately afterward, and the chimera that was suddenly struck by something and sent flying.
“What…?”
The sound had been so loud that the knight instinctively flinched.
It felt as though he had suddenly tumbled backward from the threshold of death, and he collapsed onto his backside.
Looking into the distance, he saw a boulder rolling about that seemed so heavy even ten grown men working together would struggle to lift it.
Its shape was somewhat unusual, with a slightly sharp end.
That had struck the chimera, and it seemed that even that enormous creature had been sent flying backward by the crushing weight and speed.
‘Could it be Young Master Mark?’
Had he arrived already?
If he could use magic to hurl a boulder of that size—and if the creature could not nullify the impact itself—then there was hope of bringing it down.
The knight turned with a bright expression toward the forest from which the boulder had flown.
And soon, his eyes had to widen.
—Rumble, rumble, rumble!!
The earth was shaking.
Vibrations continued to resound along with a regular thunderous noise, and the trees of the forest began to snap.
‘No way, another one?’
This chimera alone was already a problem, and there was another?
At the despairing premonition, the knight raised his head.
And then it happened.
A crunching sound.
The sound of something heavy being crushed, and stone rolling.
Pushing through the trees of the forest, the upper body of a headless giant began to appear.
The sound was far faster than they had imagined, enough that even in the middle of an emergency, the knights who had been fighting stopped in their tracks to search for its source.
Judging by the fact that it was made of stone, it did seem to be a golem, but its appearance was one they had never seen before. While everyone stared blankly—
“Wahahaha! It moves! It’s moving!”
A laugh and voice rang out with a level of excitement that seemed not of this world.
They saw stone wheels that seemed to have been made by magic, and belt-like bands wrapped around them.
And atop the lower body with those two bizarre legs was an upper body modeled after a human’s, but seemingly covered in thick armor.
On one shoulder was something like a cannon, and as if some kind of joke, its two arms had large pincers attached.
As they had seen earlier, it had no head.
Instead, in a wide-open section of its torso where a window seemed to have taken the place of one, there was someone’s face…
“Aizen?!”
The knight doubted his own eyes.
Aizen Arklight was aboard it.
****
I could feel the tremors of the stone golem.
As if resonating with those tremors, my body was shaking too.
I had run straight here the moment I heard a monster had appeared.
It was a peaceful time when Edmund, both the house lord and territorial lord, was away from his post, with Mark serving as his proxy.
A time when monsters that had frequently appeared until then had, for some reason, stopped showing up as often.
Then, a giant monster had suddenly appeared again.
News that the knights were struggling.
Without hesitation, I started up the golem, burst out smashing through the shed, and rushed straight to the scene.
And there I found a chimera larger than usual.
‘So that’s...’
the first opponent this golem would face.
What I felt the moment I saw it wasn’t fear, but excitement.
Real combat data needed to complete a bipedal golem.
My heart trembled.
The golem’s heart trembled as well.
It was only natural.
Right now, I was riding inside the golem, providing the mana that served as its power source.
In other words, I was practically fused with the golem.
That’s right—right now, I was the golem’s heart.
I couldn’t stop laughing.
Just the sensation of moving the massive golem gave me a pleasure that made my head spin.
“Right now, I’m alive, I’m alive!”
I hadn’t yet reached that moment I had dreamed of.
Still, during this very moment of taking the first step toward that dream, I was alive.
I hadn’t yet achieved my dream of a bipedal golem, so tears of blood were flowing, but wasn’t I already aboard and moving the very golem that proved its possibility?
Wasn’t my body trembling with that joy?
If this wasn’t being alive, then what was?
Of course, my opponent didn’t seem to understand such feelings.
I could feel it charging with its entire body, trusting in its massive frame and muscles.
An attack that an ordinary golem—those hideous eight-legged monstrosities—could never dodge.
But.
“Did you think caterpillars were slow? Being able to maneuver over rough terrain isn’t their only trick!”
Heavy engine sounds rang out as massive clouds of dust billowed up, obscuring my vision, and the golem rotated with a thunderous roar.
This golem might have been made of the same stone as those hideous things, but comparing it to them is practically an insult!
I evaded the charging chimera by moving the tracks to retreat, then quickly swung my arm.
I had only intended to check overall operation, so manipulators shaped like human hands hadn’t been attached, but the arm equipped with a rock gauntlet and pincer was a lethal weapon with a single swing.
-Boom!
The rocky forearm slammed down directly onto the biggest lion head.
It didn’t go flying like it had been hit by a shell, but the chimera began shaking its head as if dizzy, and immediately the two heads on its shoulders spewed fire and tried to resist.
Heat rushed into the cockpit.
But the stone body didn’t melt.
“That only works on unarmored humans!”
Unfortunately, because it was a test model, the cockpit was somewhat exposed, but since I was clearly inside cover, my body didn’t immediately burst into flames.
I immediately swung my arm to strike the two heads on its shoulders, then lifted the bastard’s torso with both arms.
-Shaaaack!!
The snake head, the only one still conscious, tried to resist by spewing poison, but my movements were faster.
I raised output, lifted it up, and planted it headfirst into the ground.
“Good heavens?!”
“Who made that?! Young Master Mark... No, isn’t he over there right now?!”
“What the hell has that crazy bastard Aizen made!”
I couldn’t care less about the miscellaneous voices.
It was the very moment proving that even a giant of rock—before becoming a giant of steel—possessed sufficient combat power against a giant monster.
I raised the pincer and struck down wildly.
Monsters never die easily, so I couldn’t let up on my attacks until its death was certain.
Amidst screams, cheers of excitement, and shrieks of disbelief, I continued smashing down on its head several times until I heard something crack.
The heavy arm and rock finally completely crushed the goat and lizard heads, cutting off their breath.
At that moment, I thought it would be difficult for it to resist any longer.
-Groooaaar!!!!
The lion’s head and snake’s tail spewed mana, swelling its body to the limit.
Having been left defenseless while continuously striking, I was instead flung back, and the chimera began crouching as if it would pounce at any moment.
Mana continued pouring out, and its appearance changed slightly.
‘The goat and lizard heads on its shoulders are melting, and its body is getting even bigger?’
I didn’t know much about wild chimeras, but no matter how I thought about it, they shouldn’t have such an ecology.
What immediately came to mind was...
“Bio-experimentation?”
An ability far too heterogeneous for a wild creature.
If this thing was truly a specimen born through some experiment, there was no telling what it might do next.
“Quick and decisive!”
Giving it more time was dangerous.
I immediately drove my machine and charged.
The chimera also began to inhale.
Soon, a massive heat ray began shooting from the lion’s mouth.
Against it, I extended the golem’s left arm.
‘It melts even rock...!’
The stone arm began to melt.
I was dumbfounded that it could even melt rock, but then the attack stopped.
Judging by how it was panting, it seemed this wasn’t an attack it could maintain indefinitely either.
However, the impact remained, so the golem’s body shook, and that shock was transmitted to me, who served as its engine.
At the same time, I heard a crunching sound from my arm.
The machine had shaken too violently; it seemed I had been injured as well.
“This bastard dares to break my arm...!”
My arm had been injured from the impact, but that didn’t matter.
I was more furious that the golem’s arm was damaged.
I would heal given time even if injured, but the golem wouldn’t.
“But there’s no helping it now!”
If I couldn’t use it anyway, I had better tear it off now.
I grabbed the melting arm with the other arm and tore it off.
In the meantime, the chimera began gathering mana again.
Mana that looked like it would explode at any moment began swirling, but it was somewhat unstable.
“Seems like that’s your final blow too.”
Before I knew it, the snake head had also gone limp and disappeared.
That unidentified chimera must have reached its limit as well.
It wasn’t a heat ray like before—this time, mana was gathering in its claws.
Its final attack would likely be a finishing blow with its claws.
In that case.
“I’ll gladly accept it!”
I activated the caterpillar tracks and raised an improvised bludgeon with the pincer on my arm.
The claws and makeshift bludgeon swung toward each other.
Attacks that could both be described as devastatingly heavy collided with all their might.
For a brief moment, the two attacks were locked in a deadlock, and...
-Crunch!!
I could see both the arm I had raised to swing and my remaining arm being destroyed by the pressure of the opponent’s mana.
A victorious smile appeared on the chimera’s face.
In the end, I had lost the contest of strength.
I passed by the chimera’s body, exposing my back to it, and it turned around.
And it tried to stab the cockpit with its claw that still had strength remaining.
“If this were just a living creature, this wouldn’t work, but this is a golem!!”
I turned the upper body backward on the spot.
The advantage of this golem was that the upper and lower bodies could operate completely independently.
The tracks and upper body moved in an unusual trajectory as I aimed the remaining cannon at the chimera’s head.
“I may have lost the contest of strength, but golems weren’t specialized for close combat in the first place!”
This thing’s originally intended position wasn’t for close-quarters combat, but long-range fire support.
In other words, a form specialized in artillery bombardment.
“Don’t hold back and try eating this!”
Two rock shells loaded just for test firing.
I had already fired one to start the battle.
And the remaining one...
“One shot to the head!”
The rock shell was fired.
It pierced through the chimera’s head, and a few seconds passed.
A gaze that said ‘this can’t be’ turned toward me.
The chimera began approaching me by inertia for a few steps, and...
-Thud!!
Soon, with an enormous impact sound, the chimera collapsed sideways.