It Couldn't Be... Right?

No way. It couldn't be... right?

Proiden Kingdom, home of the Magitech Guild, was crowned by three spires that pierced the very heavens. The tallest of them belonged to the Guild's Guild Master; the second tallest, to the Proiden royal family.

"Whew..."

And in the lowest spire of the three resided the five Elders of the Magitech Guild.

Among them sat Golem Lover — the originator of golem crafting, level 85 — hunched in a colleague's private office, working through the records at a feverish pace.

From the medium-class ships upward, everything fell within the Guild Master's sphere of influence; hiding or smuggling those out was impossible. But the small ships were mere mass-produced stock. Even within the Guild, hardly anyone paid attention to them, which meant the Elder who managed administration held the final say over everything.

Ta-da-da-da-dak...!

I have to finish all of it before Cais gets here...!

Cais was the Elder who managed the bulk of the Guild's personnel and assets. To falsify the number of small ships, one inevitably had to pass through the database housed in Cais's own office — a repository of magical information built with the arts of magitech, accessible and editable only from Cais's office and the Guild Master's.

He never logs in before seven in the evening at the earliest! It's five o'clock now, so there's plenty of time.

There was time to spare, but who knew what variables might arise, so he pushed his speed to the limit.

And how long had passed like that?

Tap.

At last, the tampering was flawlessly complete.

"Hooah... thank goodness I learned this by watching over someone's shoulder."

Golem Lover slumped back into the office chair, the tension draining out of him at last. It hadn't been simply a matter of changing the numbers — erasing the record that a modification had occurred, and his own access trail along with it, had eaten up a fair amount of time.

By rights, the proper course was to follow procedure and file an official report. A bandit had broken in, smashed his golems to pieces, and stolen a ship — as far as the Guild was concerned, that was a matter of grave importance.

But the timing couldn't be worse.

They were in the middle of throwing everything into large-ship production, straining to display their superiority over every rival guild — and now word got out that they'd been robbed blind? That would be tantamount to burying every ounce of propaganda the Magitech Guild had built up straight to the bottom of the abyss.

Granted, if the Guild had suffered more damage than necessary, the calculus would change, but...

...The damage was less than I expected.

True, a few golems had been broken, but aside from one, every power core was perfectly intact — all that had been taken was a single mass-produced unit. For a golem crafter like Golem Lover, that much was more than easy enough to cover. If the thief had crushed all the magic stones or demanded a medium-class ship, he'd have alerted the Guild Master on the spot.

More than anything, the fact that his golems had been trampled without accomplishing anything wounded his pride considerably.

"......"

Creeeak.

But then — why on earth would anyone raise such a ruckus just to steal a lousy small ship?

"...Don't tell me they took it to try and copy it."

Ridiculous. Countless top-tier guilds had looked at the floating ships and tried to build their own, or farmed the work out to outside shipwrights, and not a single one had ever succeeded.

Even the mighty Imperium had failed to produce one.

Though I suspect they simply never tried.

In any case, a floating ship wasn't merely a vessel — it was the product of a hidden piece, something absolutely impossible to replicate─

KWAAAANG!!

"WAAAH!"

"Cais! Something incre— Huh? Golem-Basher? What are you doing here?"

The door to Cais's office split half down the middle, and a woman with long black twintails strode inside. She wore the Elders' uniform, and her eyes gleamed golden. She looked to be somewhere between middle school and high school age, and she was scowling as she glared at Golem Lover.

"What?"

"Don't call me Golem-Basher. I just like golems, that's all, so what's with the—"

"That's not what I asked. Why are you here?"

"Uh..."

Ino-o. One of the five Elders of Magitech, the woman who created the guild's very buildings. Most of the Magitech Guild's structures had been born from her hands, and she was popular within the guild to boot — one of the Elders in whom even the Guild Master placed deep trust.

And above all — that woman was in love with Cais.

"You wanna die? Who gave you permission to sit in Cais's office?"

"I had business with Cais, so I came by for a moment. He hasn't clocked in yet, so I was waiting."

"Business? What business?"

"...I got asked to cover a shift for the Empress of Engineering, and while I was doing it I got curious about how the floating ship operations are being managed. Cais handles the labor records, you know."

"For Empress unnie? Why would unnie ask you to cover for her?"

"Beats me. Maybe she's got a boyfriend now."

Golem Lover answered breezily, all the while carefully reading Ino-o's mood. Fortunately, perhaps because there was a grain of truth in it, she didn't seem suspicious.

Unnie, of all people... Ino-o muttered to herself, then nodded.

"Well, if it's unnie, I suppose that tracks. Her mood's been off lately, come to think of it. So that's why you're here?"

"That's right."

"What're you curious about? I help Cais with his work sometimes, so I can answer."

"The laborers we bring in as window dressing. I was wondering whether they're actually being managed properly."

Window dressing or not — did it really make sense that bandits could slip in among them? Granted, the Veil of Blockade meant they couldn't be identified at a glance, but anyone with a gigant-class weapon would have been more than capable of figuring things out.

Ino-o gave an unconcerned snort of laughter.

"Why are you fretting over that? They're window dressing, literally."

"And if something strange slips in while you're at it?"

"An industrial spy? Pfft. Even if they stole it, they couldn't build one anyway. Do you have any idea how meticulously Empress unnie and our Cais manage everything?"

"......"

"And if someone could, don't you think those oh-so-precious angels and rankers would've done it already? They'd have analyzed everything and be mass-producing their own by now."

True. Every last word of it was true.

Then why am I so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠uneasy?

Something felt fundamentally wrong. Had handing over the floating ships been a mistake after all? But if he hadn't, he'd have lost something far bigger...

"Anyway, you heard what you came to hear, so get out. I'm talking with Cais alone."

"About what?"

"About what I'm telling you — alone."

"If you could've just said it over chat or a call, but you barged all the way here instead? That means it's important, doesn't it? Something guild-related, maybe. If it's guild business, out with it."

"...You're only ever sharp-eyed at times like this. The rest of the time there's not a damn thing going on up there."

"What was that?"

"Fine. I was going to wait for him anyway, alone or not. The Guild Master's probably going to call everyone in regardless."

Flutter.

A pristine white sheet of paper unfolded before his eyes, and Golem Lover's stretched wide enough to tear.

Written across it was Lily's...

No, you have got to be kidding me...

"So? Pretty insane, right?"

"L-Lily's coming? To help with the floating ships?"

"Finally...! Finally! The Magitech Guild sees the light! The great Lily — no, Lily unnie — if she comes, the Magitech Guild will only grow bigger, right?"

"Why all of a sudden?"

"What do you mean, why? Everyone in DeoEn knows unnie's been running all over the place trying to stop the Great Cataclysm."

"......"

"Frankly I was wondering what took her so long. Obviously she'll need floating ships to stop the Kraken. Eheheh."

"W-well, yes. She would."

"Right? Right?! I figure this is our chance to get on our true Rank 1's good side, maybe even gift her a small ship. And if unnie proves the performance herself, they'll sell even better, won't they?"

"R-right. Good thinking..."

"Good good~"

Ino-o giggled, giddy with excitement, but Golem Lover could not bring himself to smile along.

The moment he'd heard the name Lily, some strange, formless delusion had taken root in his mind.

...No way. It couldn't be... right?

The grotesque suspicion that she might be the very same crazed Plunderer who had come calling that afternoon. It was, quite literally, nothing but delusion — and yet an inexplicable unease refused to settle.

"Hey, you'd better prepare properly too. The Guild Master cares about your golems in his own way, so you'll need to look impressive out there."

"...Yeah."

"Go on stream yourself and you'd raise your market value too. Consider this a congratulations in advance — but this time, keep your head down and behave. No funny business. Okay?"

"......."

Eight o'clock in the evening.

People logged off work one by one and connected to DeoEn and their streams, and Lily's broadcast flickered to life.

The chat window flooded upward, rowdy from the instant the stream went live.

─Lilha! Hello, everyone~

And there on screen was Lily, looking somehow especially cheerful today, which only sent the chat into an even greater frenzy.

"Why are your legs shaking?"

"Hold still, would you?"

"......"

─So, today, the Magitech Guild's been making quite a name for itself lately. They've got these ships called floating ships that I expect will play an important role in the Cataclysm raid, so I'm going to try one out today and see if there's any way I can help them out.

"My, Professor Lily is so sweet-spoken, isn't she?"

"She's the #1 for a reason. Hey! Golem! Quit shaking your leg already."

"You were that big a Lily fan?"

"...A little?"

He clamped both hands down hard on his knee.

The Elders were seated together in the central hall of the spire, all watching the same enormous magic screen, and though they kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shooting him odd looks, his anxiety refused to fade.

"'A little,' my ass. You're trembling like a sasaeng fan."

"As expected of the Great-Li-Ly. The greatest GOAT DeoEn has ever produ—"

"You need to stay off those forums."

"......"

─I've noticed quite a lot of people saying the ships are overpriced. But I believe expensive things are expensive for a reason. Hopefully today's test will tell us just how good these ships actually are — and whether the price is fair.

─That's right! Just how good can they be, to cost that much?

KWAAANG!

"Oh! Is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that—Leo's here too?!!"

"Holy shit, chat's lost it!"

"Leo is SO CUTE, I can't!!!!"

The council of elders descended into chaos at the nymph who had appeared on the screen.

And Golem Lover ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— still white-knuckled, gripping his own knee — forced himself to turn his head away from them all.

This... I am seriously, catastrophically fucked.