There is a question that has been raised since time immemorial.
In mecha fiction, is there really any point to bipedal walking?
If you already have the excellent means of ground movement known as tracks, wouldn’t it be more efficient to just use those and call it a day?
Honestly, it’s hard to deny.
Which is exactly why it makes me even angrier.
“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to replace the lower half with caterpillar tracks?”
That’s true.
However.
“There are way more cool ones with two legs than there are cool ones with tracks.”
Of course, I admit there are plenty of cool ones among the guys whose lower halves are tracks.
But there are more cool legged ones than tracked ones.
And I prefer the side with more cool stuff.
“If you’re going to talk efficiency in the first place, you shouldn’t be putting a human upper body on it. Just put tracks on a weapon. Then it’s just a tank. What, are you going to chase efficiency until we’re only producing tanks?”
“No, wait, that’s—”
I admit there are people who like that.
Tastes differ from person to person, and even I sometimes try other flavors and enjoy them.
The problem is one thing, and one thing only.
“I don’t like it.”
The moment someone forces their tastes on me,
acceptance is buried under displeasure and turns into rejection.
Maybe because too much blood had rushed to my head, my mind was actually growing clearer.
I didn’t know what tools they might have, so I could be at a disadvantage, but judging by the situation, there weren’t that many of them.
If I used the cards I had now, I could win.
“So negotiations have failed after all.”
“It was such a good atmosphere, but I suppose this was inevitable…”
As I entered a combat stance, the spies also readied themselves.
They looked at the rope that had bound me until a moment ago, then nodded to one another.
“There were reports that he crushed a knight’s armor with his bare hands in the Phoenix County.”
“Do not stand in front of him.”
The enemies immediately began to spread out.
Then they threw something onto the ground at once, and smoke-like clouds began covering the surroundings.
This might reveal their positions, but since it definitely blocked my vision, their aim was clear.
‘They’re trying to end this in one swift blow.’
I had been right to think they would have studied many tactics against Vespia’s nobles, who mainly used magic.
Unless they were ambushing a mage, their positions would be exposed one way or another anyway, so it was better to block vision even for a moment.
Their plan was to obscure my sight, make it difficult for me to use magic carelessly, and launch a surprise attack within it.
If I made even one or two wrong moves, I’d be done for.
‘In that case.’
I instinctively knew it was time to use something I had treasured for a long time, and slipped my hand into my pocket.
And then, realizing that I was calmly preparing to respond within the smoke, the wary enemies began to move.
One of them lowered his body and charged from the direction I was facing, to my left.
The other wasn’t immediately visible, but would ambush from somewhere other than the front.
“I’m sorry, but if you refuse to become a member of the Empire, we were ordered to kill you immediately.”
“You had only one chance. I regret that it has come to this, Baron.”
A spy with something like a cloak wrapped around his hand was using it as a shield as he rushed in with a dagger.
I could hear another enemy rushing in from behind in a similar way.
My five senses, trained from running away from Professor Reina whenever she chased after me the moment I caused trouble at the academy, roughly detected the enemies’ positions.
I smashed the item I had pulled from my pocket onto the ground and quickly rolled backward.
“What? He shouldn’t have had any magic tools…”
The spies swung their cloths in panic, but they were a little too late.
Honestly, it must have come out of nowhere.
They probably thought I would enhance my body with magic or try to dodge somehow, not that I would suddenly pull out the self-defense item I always carried in my pocket.
And to be honest, it was my first time using it too.
“Cough, it’s just… powder!”
“How cowardly!”
“Two against one isn’t cowardly?”
They hurriedly swung their cloaks, but it had happened too suddenly, and it seemed they had inhaled the powder itself.
I let the complaints the two coughing spies spat out pass in one ear and immediately grabbed one of them, lifted him up, and threw him at the other.
Perhaps because I had farmed since long ago, my trained strength sent the two tangling together, and I immediately used magic.
“It’s no use. Magic can be blocked with this cloth—!”
“Try blocking this, then.”
What I was using was attack magic, but not that kind.
When I activated golem magic in midair, mana gathered and became stone.
Then I quietly spoke to them.
“About golem magic. Do you know it has a major characteristic?”
Unlike most magic, which disappears once used and the mana runs out,
the stone created when using golem magic remains even after the mana is depleted.
By making use of that trait, it’s a magic with rather unusual properties, one that can even be used like a 3D printer.
“Go ahead and nullify it.”
The moment they did, they would be hit by a stone shower.
The lumps of rock began falling all at once toward the enemies according to the law of gravity, and the shock of them pounding the ground scattered the smoke screen.
I looked toward the enemies and clicked my tongue.
“Missed.”
Rock attacks always seem to miss at crucial moments for some strange reason.
I thought I had fired immediately, but perhaps because the opponents were spies, they rolled sideways at once and dodged.
I thought I had used it well as a surprise attack, but in the end, it was a wasted blow.
Even so, whether because the impact had made it hard to move properly, one of them threw his dagger while half-risen.
As I dodged to the side, he shouted.
“Fine. We’ll end you here for certain!”
“We soldiers of the Empire always complete our miss—”
I didn’t stay to hear the end of that.
The instant I realized it had missed, I had already started running.
I had no intention of hesitating and getting stabbed after my decisive blow missed in a two-against-one fight against knife-wielding opponents.
“S-stop, you coward!”
“You’re the ones who ambushed me on our first meeting and hid all sorts of things up your sleeves. Are you really in a position to say that?”
Leaving behind the spies who tried to run after me but slightly lost their balance, I immediately began sprinting.
They truly were trained soldiers, and seeing them chase after me at a fairly high speed, I closed my eyes and hypnotized myself.
‘I caused an incident today.’
‘The one behind me is Professor Reina.’
‘Professor Reina is downing headache medicine.’
In other words, if I’m caught, I die.
“H-how is he running that fast?!”
“He’s kicking off the walls as he runs!”
Having apparently lost the luxury of acting covertly, Professor Reina—no, the spies—were shouting at the top of their lungs as they ran after me.
Maybe because I was chased so often at the academy, I had long since gained confidence in running.
“Damn it, I didn’t think we’d use this here…”
“It’s do or die!”
The spies behind me began taking something from their pockets and swallowing it.
At a glance, I could tell they were about to do something strange.
I increased my speed even more and ran toward the entrance of the factory ahead.
“There!”
The spies behind me suddenly changed direction and began climbing the factory wall.
Even though Mina’s merchant company people and the hired guards were there, which made it a bad idea, they still went through with it, which meant…
“You damn bastards!”
There was only one reason the ones who had so blatantly been after the Cyclops would risk danger and rush into the factory.
The pursuer and the pursued had reversed.
They were prioritizing the seizure of the Cyclops over killing me.
****
The persuasion had failed, and the assassination had failed as well.
If they fought a little longer, if they used every tool they had and took advantage of their numerical superiority, they still believed there was a chance.
But the moment Aizen counterattacked them with golem magic, the spies gave up on killing Aizen, even though they had been prepared for mutual destruction.
“In the end, the core of our mission is to obtain the weapon known as the Cyclops.”
“That is more important than winning over or killing the Baron.”
Considering the combat power the Cyclops had shown in the Phoenix County, they had already concluded that if the Cyclops were properly deployed in the kingdom’s army, it would become extremely difficult for the Empire to lay a hand on the kingdom.
Even from the Empire’s military perspective, the Cyclops was that appealing and powerful a weapon.
That was why, given the various circumstances and the situation, even though they had judged the possibility extremely low, it had been only natural for them to reach the conclusion that they should try to win Aizen over once.
And if that failed, they had to kill him so the kingdom could not gain any greater power, then obtain strength equal to the Cyclops.
“But the situation is not particularly favorable for killing Baron Arclight.”
Perhaps it was true that he was learning from Reina, one of the kingdom’s Five Great Powers, because the Baron’s combat ability was far greater than they had expected.
They had only been able to drag him into a conversation because their surprise attack had worked properly at first; if that surprise attack had failed, the spies were certain they would have been counterattacked instead.
As such, they decided not to cling to an uncertain possibility.
The Baron could be killed at any time, but no one knew when another opportunity to seize the Cyclops would come.
“Now, while the territory is still not properly organized, is the best time.”
If this territory started functioning properly and developed serious defensive capabilities, stealing the Cyclops would become even more difficult.
So the spies had judged this to be their last great chance and made their choice.
And naturally, once they entered, the guards serving as security began rushing at them.
“What the hell, intruders! Catch them! Call reinforcements!”
“We don’t have time to deal with small fry!”
The spies quickly pulled out a scroll and tore it apart.
Then a purple cloud that looked obviously bad for one’s health began spreading.
The nearest guard was caught up in it, and soon his body began twisting violently.
“Uh, uaaah, aaagh!”
“P-poison! Fall back!”
What had been contained in the scroll was a poison mist.
They had considered using it when killing Aizen, but they had assumed he would respond immediately and had saved the scroll for this moment.
Without hesitation, they used it to suppress the surroundings and secure safety.
‘We don’t have time.’
Now that they had caused such a commotion, more security forces would surely gather.
This territory had Nexia of Lightning and Phoenix of Flame.
Knowing that they would definitely be caught if they stalled, the spies continued using tools to subdue people.
And finally, they reached the place where the Cyclops units were located.
There, they discovered something new.
“…There’s a new model…!”
“You get in that one! I’ll take the Cyclops!”
The spies immediately set their targets and began running.
In the meantime, the guards rushed at them again, but the spies began using magic tools at once.
Ropes like the ones that had paralyzed Aizen earlier and drugs that froze the body were poured out, and the guards began being subdued one by one.
“Damn it, there are too many!”
“Just get aboard first! The moment we succeed in boarding, it’s our victory!”
Believing that as long as they could get inside, they would be able to break through this situation, the spies began running.
And then.
“Not happening.”
A slightly cold voice, brimming with annoyance, rang out once.
A golden light swept through the surroundings.
“Ahh, my leg, my leg! …It doesn’t hurt?”
“…It’s healing! Don’t tell me!”
The guards who had been subdued moments earlier began getting up one by one.
Cheers could be heard from outside as well, and people began flooding in.
“All of this costs money.”
The voice full of annoyance rang out again.
“But if you catch those guys, I’ll make it free.”
The spies, searching for the cause,
soon discovered a person slowly approaching from the entrance, and spoke her title aloud.
“…The Fifth Saintess of the Saras Order…”
“Get to work, you freeloaders.”
The guards’ morale began to rise.
Saintess Mina was walking toward the spies.