“So it’s fast, but when it comes down to it, it can’t transmit power properly….”
That was the simplest way to summarize the problem Reina had pointed out.
After applying the Department of Alchemy’s newly acquired technology—a friction-reducing coating—to the joints, the response speed had increased. However, because friction had been reduced, the force that should have been transmitted to the machine’s arms ended up slipping instead.
Even though its output and mobility had improved compared to the Cyclops, if the machines ended up contesting strength against each other, the paradoxical result was that the Cyclops was actually stronger.
“If I sort out what I can do right away….”
I wrote down the things that came to mind and began stacking up realistic methods one by one.
This place had technologies I’d never imagined and genuine geniuses besides, but when it came to piloted golems, the one who knew the most about them—and the one who had to coordinate that knowledge and those technologies into results—was entirely me. So I had to think as carefully as possible and experiment just as thoroughly.
Just as I was thinking that I probably wouldn’t be sleeping for the next few days, Mina had somehow come up behind me and was looking down this way.
“So Aizen fails too.”
“I’m human too. Who only ever succeeds?”
For some reason, Mina looked as if she’d come to tease me for all she was worth, so I grinned at her.
“Even the Caterpillar was made through an incredible amount of trial and error in the first place. It was the result of failing over and over again before finally succeeding.”
“That’s a relief. I came because I thought you might be on the verge of dying after failing so spectacularly this time.”
Mina let out a small sigh and spoke with an expression of relief.
“I can’t look kindly on someone who only ever fails, but I can’t look kindly on someone who’s afraid of failure either.”
“You’ve never tried comforting people before, have you?”
“When I told them the Order charged money, they didn’t come. Since you didn’t seem to need it, I’m half relieved and half disappointed.”
The half disappointed part was probably because she’d been planning to use that as an excuse to squeeze some money out of me, only for it not to go her way.
Once she realized I hadn’t shrunk back even after recognizing the failure, Mina seemed completely at ease and grinned.
“Then if you have anything to report to your financier, report it.”
“For now, I’m thinking of experimenting by slightly changing the arm structure or adding a support method. I’ll do it with my magic first.”
When I pointed to one side of the workshop, Mina nodded.
Several rocks I’d made with my magic were lying there, modeled after the arm structure of the technology demonstrator.
If I received support from Mina, I could make them out of metal from the start, but for now, I was testing them with my magic first. If there was potential, I’d then produce them in metal and test them that way, so it was a common sight for people coming and going through the workshop.
“Golem magic really is useful.”
“I’ve been wondering why the people who could use golems never researched joints until now.”
“That’s because you’re weird. More importantly, if you put it that way, there’s another problem, isn’t there?”
As expected of Mina, perhaps.
She seemed to have realized something from the problem discovered this time.
“It seems like we won’t be able to use a method like producing a lot of this one and selling them.”
We were already getting something of an estimate from the technology demonstrator alone.
If we kept improving it, we could reduce the unit cost as much as possible, but even that had its limits.
“If it were just a matter of using the coating agent sparingly, that would be one thing, but if we have to change the basic structure significantly, it’s something we need to think about.”
“Wouldn’t it be fine to change it a little?”
“We can’t expand the production plant every time we make a change.”
Maybe it was because I’d seen things in mecha works, but I wanted to avoid, as much as possible, ideas like completely overhauling the structure and creating an entirely different production line.
Of course, if possible, I’d want to do that, but this wasn’t something I was doing entirely on my own from the beginning and profiting from myself. I was clearly in a position where I’d received investment, so I couldn’t just spend a huge amount of money recklessly.
If the technology had been completely improved and we were talking about laying down a new line, that would be one thing. But when we had only just started building factories for the Cyclops, we couldn’t propose creating another completely different production line.
“What a strange stubborn streak.”
“Even if it’s something I like, if I think it’s a bad point, I need to know to avoid it. And if I think it’ll cause harm, I need to know to decline.”
“If Professor Reina heard you say that right now, she’d start re-verifying whether you really are Aizen.”
…But if I thought it could be used for golem development, my body moved first, I couldn’t answer.
Because it had been quite some time since Professor Reina hit me for that.
Still, Mina seemed even more pleased.
“In other words, you’ll improve it as much as possible, but in a way that puts less burden on me?”
“I can’t go offending my financier and have my future development funds cut off.”
“You understand well. That’s why you’re easy to deal with.”
Mina sat down comfortably beside me.
“Isn’t that common sense?”
“It depends on the person. There are plenty of people who think it’s fine to spend other people’s money carelessly.”
Mina grinned.
“I’m glad Aizen knows that other people’s money has to be treated even more carefully because it’s other people’s money.”
“Judging by the look of you, someone must have come to borrow money recently with some ridiculous plan.”
“Since my eyes have already been ruined, I was hoping to see a proper proposal I could actually accept.”
Mina, Noel, and Erika all came to the workshop every day and stayed with me, but since they were famous people, there were often times when they arrived late.
In Mina’s case, she could be late because of merchant company work, and from the looks of it, some strange noble must have come asking to borrow money and ruined her mood.
“…Ah. So that’s why you were grumbling about giving out potatoes, something you normally don’t even care about….”
“Shut up.”
Mina was unexpectedly generous in many ways and wasn’t the type to fuss over every little thing, saying it was a waste, but it seemed she’d grumbled more than usual because she was in a bad mood.
She always grumbled a lot to begin with, but after spending some time together, I could tell there were subtle differences.
“There’s also the matter with the royal palace, so I won’t rush you. Show me the proposal when it’s ready.”
“I’ve got the rough outline. I’ll organize it a bit more and show you once I’ve settled on a plan.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
After saying that, Mina added as if something had suddenly occurred to her.
“So, how long are you planning to keep calling it the technology demonstrator?”
“Until the finished product comes out. …Ah. I should give it something like a development code.”
I wondered why she was suddenly asking whether I was going to name the technology demonstrator… but it seemed she wanted to decide on the machine’s name in advance.
‘As expected, giving it that great name as is would be difficult.’
To me, it was a truly magnificent name imbued with the soul of the Space Principality, but from the perspective of people here, they’d probably say something like, Was that supposed to be some monster’s roar?
So I needed a plausible name that properly expressed that great name….
“The development code should be Ram….”
“I don’t know what a development code is, but make it Knight. If you name it, I feel like it’ll get twisted in some strange direction, so no.”
She wouldn’t yield the naming rights after all.
****
Gilford was trembling.
“Does that monster not even fail…?”
Gilford had watched the Cyclops piloted by Reina and the machine piloted by Aizen fight each other.
He thought that if he approached, he would either be stopped or risk causing another problem, so he had watched by monitoring them from afar with a farsight crystal orb.
Under normal circumstances, the dueling arena was in a position difficult to observe, but by using what little authority still remained to him, he had succeeded in entering a spire that overlooked it and watching from there.
And after watching that battle with his close aides, he had fallen into a shock of his own.
“It’s even faster than back then…?”
Even the Cyclops from that time had been so fast for a golem that Gilford remembered being greatly flustered.
And now, the golem Aizen was piloting had moved far faster than it had then.
In reality, it had been possible because he had applied the Department of Alchemy’s technology and increased the engine’s output, but from Gilford’s perspective, knowing none of that, it could only look as though Aizen had created yet another new golem and made it even faster.
And his close aides were whispering among themselves as they watched Aizen lose.
“—At least he failed. I guess even Aizen can’t beat Professor Reina.”
“—If they’re both piloted golems, does that mean even Aizen, who made it, can be defeated?”
“—Then as expected, without the Cyclops….”
As a result, it had been a battle where Aizen was one-sidedly pushed back and defeated.
Everyone saw it as Aizen losing one-sidedly without ever properly seizing a chance at victory.
But Gilford couldn’t think of it that way.
In any case, Aizen had succeeded in improving something in the golem.
He had proven that he had enough ability for Professor Reina to personally face him.
And even Professor Reina had fought while piloting a golem made by Aizen.
More important than that was the fact that three professors had watched from that place, and that the young ladies of high-ranking noble houses, Noel and Erika, as well as the Saintess, continued to stay by his side.
‘That inhuman bastard…!’
Even after achieving the great success known as the Cyclops.
At the thought that he might succeed yet again, Gilford was once more engulfed in jealousy.
But that didn’t mean he felt like taking action.
‘I’m already firmly marked by the royal palace, so what can I possibly do…!’
Because of the previous duel commotion, he had caused the enormous damage of handing over an entire mana-metal mine owned by the royal family, and because he had tried to crush the other party by pushing his authority forward, Gilford had been severely reprimanded.
He could not make any larger moves.
All he could do was watch Aizen’s success with bloodshot eyes and fret anxiously.
‘I still have to keep him in check somehow…!’
But what method was there?
That monster probably didn’t even know what failure was.
The moment he thought that, one close aide carefully approached.
“…Your Highness. Come to think of it, there was a proposal from the House of Count Abatus….”
“A proposal?”
At the mention of a proposal from the House of Count Abatus, which was also his maternal family, Gilford flinched slightly.
‘Of all places, from there?’
To be honest, they were a side he wanted to avoid getting involved with, much like Aizen… but Gilford had no right to refuse.
Forcing his face into a calm smile, he asked.
“…What kind of proposal is it?”
“It is advice regarding the previous duel commotion, but to state only the conclusion….”
After briefly appearing to gauge his reaction, the close aide respectfully handed over a carefully preserved letter.
On the outside of the luxurious envelope was the seal of the House of Count Abatus….
“An invitation?”
“Yes.”
The close aide continued cautiously, but in a voice that seemed to plead for refusal.
“Lord Cardio Abatus, who is also Your Highness’s maternal cousin, has proposed inviting Lord Aizen Arclight to a party in a few days and creating an occasion to apologize….”
Cardio Abatus.
The heir to the current House of Count Abatus was attempting to bare his venomous fangs at Aizen Arclight.