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"Colonel Piel, how long are you going to keep feeding him beans?"
"I plan to just keep feeding him."
"So you won't give up until you bear fruit."
"I've already borne fruit. Just hauling beans is talent enough."
As I talked with the two women, I subtly kept an eye on the Unicorn.
Its ears pricked up every time I spoke, like it genuinely understood me.
'They say you're not supposed to talk about eating someone in front of a sitting hen.'
I had the palanquin soldiers build a temporary stable.
I set up two caldrons for boiling beans, a field kerosene burner, and a manure transport cart beside it.
"Even if the Unicorn won't eat, always keep the manger full of beans. That one might eat a lot of eye-watering meals and not show hunger."
"Understood, Colonel-nim."
Palanquin soldiers are great for running menial errands.
With thousands of them, my life is very comfortable.
"Unicorn, if you're hungry, tell these soldiers to give you food. Understand?"
-Hi-hi-hi-hing! Purureuk!
A light snort.
Does it really understand me?
Beside the stable, I piled up heaps of soybeans, large water jugs, salt, protein, and psyllium husk.
"Colonel-nim, while we boil the beans, would it be alright if we nibbled a bit?"
These guys are crazy. Eating horse feed while boiling it.
"...Five sacks of beans are for you men to eat separately."
"Thank you!"
The eight palanquin soldiers were delighted, but I felt a twinge in my chest.
'Soybeans are used for feed and eaten by people, but you don't normally eat them boiled....'
You make tofu, fermented foods like doenjang/soy sauce, or press bean oil to eat.
Who boils and eats those....
"Don't touch the Unicorn's feed. Understood?"
"Don't worry! Embezzling supplies is punishable by summary execution!"
What kind of lunatic commander would actually carry out a summary execution over someone nibbling boiled beans, not even weapons or ammunition?
It'd be a one-time dressing-down and that's it.
***
"Eomeoni, this person here is the Colonel Marshall I wrote about in my letters. And over here is Count Balckenhardt."
At first, I thought she was Rebecca's older sister, not her mother.
She looked like she was in her late twenties or about thirty.
Anyway, isn't the order of introductions reversed?
"I've heard a lot about you. You're the war hero who shoulders my daughter's life and the entire North's future."
"You're too kind."
I was slightly nervous, but the former Marquis Carlton smiled warmly as she looked at me.
"Marshall Stew was a dreamlike delicacy. I'm convinced even the Nelssmill Empire's Emperor would fall in love with a single bite of Marshall Stew."
I'll concede that.
"Treat this as your own home and stay comfortably. You're welcome to stay all year round, and you can drop in anytime."
"Thank you."
While I was chatting amicably with Rebecca's mother, Hildea kept poking me in the side.
Is she hungry? Has she run out of Calova CX bars from her subspace necklace?
I deliberately didn't ask about her father.
I could kind of guess.
The reason Rebecca became the current marquis at the young age of 22 is probably....
"What about your father?"
"Same as always. He's on a pleasure tour in the capital with his concubines."
"What a shame. I wanted to introduce Colonel Marshall."
"There'll be another time."
'Almost had a total Tallulah moment.'
Anyway, my heart nearly dropped.
Is that a conversation a mother and daughter naturally have about their husband and father?
After the audience, Rebecca chuckled and whispered to me as we left.
"The Carlton Marquis family doesn't get jealous over concubinage. We know very well that men are just that kind of animal. I've been raised that way by my mother since I was little, too."
"Is the Carlton Marquis house a matrilineal family, by any chance?"
"Yeah, that's right. Sons just strangely aren't born. I think the last son was born about 200 years ago."
"...."
"There's a custom of passing down the marquis title to a daughter when she reaches the master realm. From then on, the former marquis devotes herself to managing the estate's finances."
Rebecca guided us to the rooms Hildea and I would use.
The two rooms were side by side, and each had its own private bathroom inside.
"The front has stabilized, so think of it as a vacation and get a good rest for a few days. Still, our marquis castle is the most developed place in the North, so there are plenty of places to have fun."
"Then we'll take you up on your hospitality."
"Hospitality, what hospitality. Thanks to the triumph ceremony, I've saved great face with the territory's residents. I'm the one who's more grateful."
Suddenly, I recalled Luna's report from a while back.
That they'd caught an ivory whale with mortar bombardment from 5km away, and surviving organisms had circled around south of our place and infiltrated the interior.
Those infiltrated Ancient Tree organisms had caused a suitable amount of chaos and terror inland, then were supposedly all sliced up by Luna's airborne unit's machetes.
From our perspective, the front has stabilized.
It seems fine to enjoy a vacation for a while?
"Colonel Piel, where are you going?"
The moment I stepped out of my room, Hildea's door immediately opened.
Did she hear all the noise while I was moving inside?
"I'm going to see the Unicorn."
"Already?"
"Yes. Of course."
What's going through the mind of an ordinary citizen who happens to win a limited-edition Ferrari as a prize on the road?
Sleeping and waking, all they'd want is to check that their Ferrari is okay inside their head.
That's me right now.
"Then I'll go with you."
"Let's go together."
It hasn't even been two hours, and I already miss it.
When I went to the stable with Hildea, the Unicorn was diligently eating boiled beans.
The palanquin soldiers had set a small pot over a campfire and were boiling their own beans to eat separately.
-Hi-hi-hi-hing!
Seeing me, the Unicorn fluttered as if happy.
Its single horn on its forehead glowed white, and the beans performed a spectacular dance in the air.
"Chung! Colonel-nim, this creature amazingly practices toilet habits."
"Practices toilet habits?"
"It puts its rear against the manure cart and does its business, using psychokinesis to place it neatly inside the cart. It no longer eats and defecates at the same time."
Earlier it was too hungry and did that, but now that its belly is full, is it cleaning up?
I stroked the Unicorn's horn.
"Well done. Hygiene and cleanliness are important. Keep doing just that from now on."
-Hi-hi-hi-hing!
This adorable Ferrari being born only in the North feels like too much of a cheat.
Is it the climate?
'I'll have to tell them to bring me any other foals that awaken mana in the future.'
If I offer one can of meat stew as a reward, they'll all come running to get the reward, right?
"I intend to see just how far this Unicorn's psychokinesis can grow, so be mindful to provide feed around the clock."
"Understood!"
***
I rested comfortably at the marquis castle for about three days.
Rebecca was extremely busy, probably because she'd returned to the castle for the first time in a while, so it was hard to see her face.
Still, she came to my room every single evening and gave me mana massages together with Hildea, and I would often fall asleep feeling the touch of the two women's hands.
"Piel, how about sightseeing around the castle and going out into the streets to have some fun? The Commander-in-Chief too."
"I find just watching the Unicorn eat bean feed entertaining."
"Piel, really.... Truly like Piel."
It's true that the marquis castle is a developed city, but honestly, it's not as good as our hometown.
And who am I, anyway?
A modern person who used to rotate through Insadong, Hongdae, Gwanghwamun, Gangnam, and so on every weekend.
Right now, there's no content more entertaining for me than my adorable pet Ferrari—I mean, Unicorn.
"Unicorn, you've eaten well and rested well for three days, so shall we slowly start training now?"
-Hi-hi-hi-hing!
The fellow fluttered as if excited.
After feeding it over several tons of beans over those three days, the Unicorn's coat color had changed first.
Originally a dull ashen gray, its shabby fur was shedding in patches and new white downy hair was growing in.
Its single white horn was also slightly bigger than before, and its shape was transforming into something more imposing.
I led the Unicorn out to the wasteland fields.
I didn't ride the palanquin; instead, Hildea gave me a piggyback ride.
'If I keep living like this with a three-step human taxi, I wonder if my lower body will degenerate.'
"Colonel Piel, what are you going to do from now on?"
"I'll test the Unicorn's psychokinesis. Hildea-nim, would you gather stones in various sizes for me?"
"Got it."
My conscience prickles a bit, as if I'm a bad duty officer exploiting a 4-star....
I'll just feed her something tasty after training.
And I mustn't forget to radio call Rebecca too.
"Unicorn, first, throw a stone as hard as you can. Do your best."
Syung! Syung! Syung! Syung!
When I pointed at the stones and gave the order, astonishingly, it lifted all the dozens of pebbles simultaneously and threw them with force.
The pebbles exactly flew a range of 100 meters.
"Oh...."
"Colonel Piel, but the stone-throwing of mana soldiers is even farther and faster than this. This is no help in battle."
"Unicorn, this time it's a machete."
The machete flew less far than the stones.
There's no problem throwing heavier boulders, but the range was even shorter.
'It's not a lack of power. It's the upper limit of the maximum speed for moving objects.'
As I directly verified various things, I cross-referenced the information I'd heard from Rebecca.
The range within which the psychokinesis acts is about a 5-meter radius centered on the Unicorn.
Within that range, it handles objects very precisely.
The heavier the object, the brighter its horn shines, and the mana consumption is greater.
Same goes for the more moving objects there are.
'Increasing the mass or number of objects can be solved by adding more mana... no, more calories. But the maximum speed doesn't get faster beyond a certain point.'
"Unicorn, can't you move objects faster than this? Is this your maximum speed?"
-Hi-hi-hi-hing!
"I'm not scolding you, I'm trying to confirm what your psychokinesis can do, and to what extent. Answer comfortably."
-Hi-hi-hi-hing.
"...Colonel Piel. Surely you aren't understanding a beast's words?"
"I'm just reading its mood."
Conclusion.
The Unicorn's psychokinesis engine can raise horsepower (HP) in proportion to the fuel (mana) put in.
But the engine's maximum rotational speed is set, and even putting in more fuel doesn't make it faster.
And the Unicorn can fly.
It just needs to apply psychokinesis to itself.
But the Unicorn cannot fly.
Because it has a fear of heights.
"You can do it! Fight on! If you succeed, I'll give you apples!"
The Unicorn, whose eyes had rolled back in ecstasy at the taste of honey apples, struggled and tried to overcome its fear of heights, but rising a mere 20cm above the ground was its limit.
"Colonel Piel, this fruit called apple is truly delicious. Could these be added to my snack basket as well?"
Hildea, who was sitting on a spread-out mat, was crunching on the pile of apples beside her, asak asak.
The Unicorn was sneaking glances at the apples, shedding tears, trying to rise even a little bit more.
But ultimately, failure.
'Because of its fear of heights, I can't use it as a bio-helicopter.'
"Colonel Piel, it's ultimately useless in real battle."
"If you think purely in cost-effectiveness, sure."
Throwing stones or spears is inferior to mana soldiers.
For transporting supplies, considering the feed, it's better to use multiple pack horses.
But I saw potential in the Unicorn's precise psychokinesis control and excellent intelligence.
"Unicorn, this is called a 120mm mortar, and you use it like this. Watch closely and follow."
I gave a demonstration with one 120mm mortar.
The Unicorn mimicked it with psychokinesis.
After it mastered charge 0 minimum range (200m), it exactly performed an 'airborne mortar deployment' and hit the target.
It was so impressive that even Hildea dropped the apple she was eating with a thud.
"Unicorn, can you perhaps handle two at the same time?"
-Hi-hi-hi-hing!
"Well done. Very precise. Now, shall we try ten at once?"
-Hi-hi-hi-hing!
Kugwagwagwagwang!
The Unicorn performed an 'airborne mortar deployment' with a staggering twenty 120mm mortars and completely devastated the target area.
The rate of rapid fire was also incredible.
It would pull the safety devices, queue up shells in midair in advance, and then immediately insert them into the muzzles.
Since the angle remains fixed even immediately after firing, rapid fire is possible without needing to readjust the firing angle.
"Unicorn, is direct fire also possible? Lay the barrel down nearly flat, but it can't be completely horizontal, so point the muzzle slightly upward... yes, like that."
A mortar uses gravity detonation, so direct fire isn't possible.
This is because if the barrel is horizontal, the shell won't slide all the way to the firing pin.
But the Unicorn simply pushes the shell into the airborne-deployed barrel with psychokinesis.
It even grasped the blast radius, and fired on a finely fan-shaped trajectory so the explosions wouldn't cluster together, maximizing the field of fire.
A psychokinesis engine, truly an amazing fire control system.
"It's decided. Unicorn, from now on your name is HIMARS."
This is a complete mobile rocket launch vehicle.
