Cardio Avatus was furious.
As befitted the idol of high society, he was treating the women of the Academy who approached him for his wealth, status, and looks with a gentle smile and tone, but Gilford had noticed that, inside, he was not merely in turmoil—he was overflowing with killing intent.
‘It must be because of Prince Rial.’
A few minutes after the information came in that Aizen had returned.
Prince Rial, who had come to the Academy a few days earlier, had spoken cheerfully with Cardio before soon moving on to business.
—“I was truly grateful for the chimera you sent last time, my friend!”
—“However, it seems our kingdom’s military has its eyes on the Cyclops. They say the chimera is a fine weapon with a high degree of autonomy, but that accidents are to be expected.”
—“So I went to the baron and proposed a deal, and wouldn’t you know it, the baron took it positively and said he would hand them over at a slight discount? Since things have turned out that way, well…”
—“Hahaha. Half price, you say. If it is my dear friend’s goodwill, how could I refuse? In return, I shall purchase quite a lot. Indeed. I will make it clear that chimeras are more efficient in the desert.”
At the hearty words of the prince, a large, muscular man with blond hair fluttering, Cardio had been smiling while seething with rage.
The cause, needless to say, was Aizen and the Cyclops.
Even within the kingdom, the tide of competition was already turning toward the Cyclops.
He had tried to find a breakthrough by providing chimeras to the Kingdom of Gandharva, with which they had long-standing dealings, thereby raising their reputation and results. Yet all of a sudden, there were signs that even they were planning to operate Cyclopses.
The House of Avatus had acknowledged that it would be difficult to face them head-on in terms of performance and efficiency, and while continuing to improve their own product, they had intended to use the connections built up over long years to keep the Cyclops from running away with the field. But the very first button, which had been half-fastened properly, had suddenly slipped out of place.
With no other choice, Cardio had decided to accept heavy losses and provide chimeras at half price. In the midst of making that move, news had also arrived that the prince had made contact with Aizen.
‘They said the talk of a deal was last time, and that this time was their first official meeting. Is that true?’
For some reason, he had the feeling that the prince’s first visit had been a lie, but the problem was that he could not exactly accuse him of fraud.
The other party was the prince of a kingdom.
To recklessly question him by saying he was lying would itself be the greater discourtesy.
If he said it was the truth, then unless one probed him with definite evidence and witnesses, it had to be treated as the truth for the time being.
And even if it was a lie, Cardio had already climbed onto Prince Rial’s board, and rumors were spreading that Aizen’s side was also moving actively, so it was clear that he, too, had been placed on that board.
Once matters had progressed this far, the circumstances no longer mattered.
Until now, only the House of Count Phoenix had experience operating both sides at the same time, but now an official stage had been set for chimeras and golems to compete in military performance.
And it was an exceptionally well-prepared stage at that.
‘The Academy pilgrimage a month from now, is it?’
Before the year changed, they would visit the holy land of the Saras Order in the desert, confess the sins of that year, and then welcome the newly changed year at the Academy to make a fresh start. Frankly, it was an event whose significance seemed to have been attached rather loosely, but what mattered was that most of the Academy’s students and professors would be visiting the Kingdom of Gandharva.
The Academy, where the overwhelming majority were nobles, was a place that could fairly be called a miniature version of the Kingdom of Vespia.
And the Kingdom of Gandharva in the desert was a kingdom with countless trade routes.
In a place where even the Empire’s great merchant companies came and went, an enormous number of nobles and people from across the continent would be able to witness the clash of the two military weapons.
The stage was far too large, and far too tempting.
In the end, Prince Rial had devised a board that both sides had no choice but to climb onto.
‘He must feel as though the prince has dared to betray him.’
There was no way Cardio did not understand Prince Rial’s attitude, that despite their long friendship, he seemed to be paying attention to the Cyclops as well.
However, Cardio, who had been continually pushed back, was in no position to take a hard line.
The very fact that a client he had thought was already secured was now taking a neutral stance must have been unpleasant for Cardio.
There was no one who did not know that Cardio and the House of Count Avatus were seething inside.
‘This match will effectively be the decisive point.’
Even if it was a small country compared to the Empire, the impact of the title “a weapon deliberately purchased by the prince of a kingdom” was immense.
It could become the turning point that stopped the Cyclops from expanding, or conversely, the turning point that caused everything Avatus had to collapse.
‘How will it turn out?’
A faint shadow fell over Prince Gilford’s face as he looked toward the direction of the lodging where Prince Rial, who said he would return in time for the Academy’s pilgrimage, was staying, and toward the direction where Aizen’s workshop stood.
****
For now, I had succeeded in making an outrageous profit off Prince Rial.
“He’s getting cocky.”
“You must have found him very unpleasant.”
At Noel’s words, I nodded immediately.
In the end, he had shaken things up here and there for what he wanted, set the stage, and created a situation where I was forced to climb onto it.
I wanted to refuse, but if I did, it would mean he would bury golems politically, so I had no choice but to accept.
There was no reason for me to look kindly on someone who had engineered such a situation.
On the other hand, he did have the ability to drive people mad to that extent.
“In the end, both I and Avatus ended up moving according to that prince’s intentions.”
I did not know the exact circumstances on Avatus’s side, but according to the logic he had put forward, in this situation where the chimera’s position within the kingdom was already shrinking, they could not choose the option of not getting up on that stage.
On our side, if Avatus succeeded, they would interfere with us again, so we had to stop them.
In a sense, he had struck well at the power relationship between the two sides.
“He isn’t someone I like… but he does feel like someone I wish Prince Gilford would learn a little from…”
Erika’s rude words reached my ears, but even Noel only averted her gaze and could not rebuke her.
Compared to that prince who was dragged around by Avatus and could not do anything about us, Rial, who had drawn both sides into his own pace, did have his better points.
“Even so, he isn’t someone to stay close to.”
Honestly, he had plenty of money and looked favorably on the Cyclops, but he was hard to trust.
What had he said with his own mouth? That his country was one where you never knew when poison might be slipped into your drink?
And considering his behavior now, as if trying to cut ties with Cardio even after saying himself that they were close, and considering that perhaps even that might have been a lie, he might be fine as a business partner, but he did not seem like someone reliable.
“Still, judging by his attitude, I think it’s true that he received permission from the royal palace, but we’ll need to confirm it once more.”
“That’s important too, but there’s something else to think about…”
Gandharva was said to be in the desert.
And if it was a desert, there was a high possibility that the golems’ mobility would become an issue.
“There won’t be a problem on solid ground, but I can’t guarantee there won’t be any issues on sandy terrain.”
They had moved without problems until now, but that was only because Vespia’s terrain posed no issue.
Unlike this place, which had many grasslands and rocky areas, the desert was definitely different, so the Cyclops would have to be adjusted accordingly.
“Just because it’s a desert doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily sink in, so there may not be a big problem.”
“There will be issues from sandstorms and various other things too.”
And while this would be the first time, whether we ended up selling them abroad or golems ended up going overseas, the problem of adapting to the terrain there was bound to arise.
“There’s nothing bad about using this opportunity to prepare local-environment countermeasures for golems, including the Cyclops.”
In a way, it was merely something I had postponed to a later date now coming closer.
Thinking of it that way, I even felt it might be for the best.
“For how displeased you are with that prince, you’re moving rather seriously.”
“If we’re going to compete anyway, I’d rather win decisively… That’s what I’m thinking.”
I answered Mina honestly.
If we were going to do it, it would be better to win properly.
The opponent was none other than Avatus.
I did not want to take it lightly, lose, and give them an opening.
“We may be looking down on them quite a bit, but chimeras are fused living creatures. If they use creatures that live well in the desert, they should be able to adapt to the local environment as much as they like.”
On the other hand, ours were machines, so someone had to adjust them by hand.
It was not as if we had data collected from long ago either, so we would have to start collecting local data immediately and go through trial and error in real time.
There was an enormous amount to do.
If I did it alone, I would definitely be short-handed.
So.
“While we’re at it, I’m thinking of properly expanding the scale. Something like a project done by gathering various people.”
Since a large stage had been prepared anyway, it did not seem bad to use this chance to try spreading golems even further within the Academy.
And specifically, in the direction of researching and developing golems.
“Will that be all right?”
“Of course it will.”
It was something I would have to do someday.
It might not be recommended if I considered monopolizing knowledge or preventing leaks, but still.
“There’s a limit to the ideas I can come up with alone, after all.”
There might be someone out there more outstanding than me.
But if nothing was prepared, then such a person would never appear.
I thought it might be worth trying to sow the seeds for that at least once.
“If it’s a project, what will the name be?”
“Golden… No. There isn’t one yet. The objective is smooth travel for golems over special terrain like deserts.”
“…Come to think of it, you’re not only mentioning the Cyclops’s travel capability, are you…?”
Noel read the meaning hidden in my words.
Mina asked quietly.
“You were planning to use that as an excuse to make another new golem, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
If I was going to do it anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to make a new golem too?
I’m going to build golems. I am.
Mina sighed.
But right away, she grinned.
“I’m not just handing over money, so tell me the goal roughly right now.”
As expected of my patron.
She did not let anything slide.
But the answer was already decided.
“It’s simple. It hovers low above the ground. It travels while ignoring the terrain.”
If it was high-speed travel over the ground, then it had to be that unit.
And I did not think it would fail either.
“Just like Noel.”
“Pardon?”
Noel answered a beat late, then immediately realized.
At last, I had found a pretext to research Noel-style electromagnetic levitation.