Change and Recognition (1)
Lostwood.
Erdin's subjugation force had joined up with the Principality's knight order.
"You look a wreck, Sir Erdin."
Diallo, commander of the Principality's Guardian Knights, stroked his mustache as he asked.
"Still no sign of Sir Gast?"
"No, sir."
"Sir Sernia is missing as well."
"…There's been no word since he went after the black panther."
At Diallo's hardened expression, Erdin dipped his head slightly.
He might have been captain of the subjugation force, but the man before him was the commander of the Principality's Guardian Knights. Erdin found him difficult to face.
"Sir Sernia's independent judgment, then?"
"Yes. He must have realized the black panther was exhausted."
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Diallo swept his gaze over the subjugation force.
Morale was visibly low across the ranks. With two of Lobel's core knights missing without a trace, it was hardly surprising.
This is the man leading the subjugation force… Why on earth did Lobel put someone like him in command?
Diallo thought it to himself.
Something had gone wrong with this expedition. The magic beasts' behavior and movements had far exceeded their expectations.
Even the Guardian Knights, when they first joined the force, had expected to clear out the magic beasts and be home in less than four days.
Instead, they had been stuck in Lostwood for over a week already—and with precious little to show for it.
In the end, they had failed to catch the black panther. Losing a five-star knight and a six-star knight under those circumstances was a bitter blow.
"You're the captain of the subjugation force, so the call is yours. Do we abandon the black panther and search for Sir Sernia and Sir Gast—or do we turn back as we are?"
Erdin trembled. A searing heat flushed his cheeks, turning his face red.
"We turn back."
A crushing sense of defeat pressed down on his whole body. Rage boiled inside him, but he had no outlet for it.
"Very well."
Diallo turned away, disappointed in Erdin's choice to the last.
The subjugation force began its retreat, staying alert for magic beasts. They fully expected another ambush of bone arrows to come flying from somewhere at any moment.
But the beasts never appeared—not even when they reached the edge of Lostwood.
The force was just starting to find that strange when—
Vwoooom… vwoooom.
A clattering noise accompanied by a somewhat rough exhaust note drifted toward them.
Parting the undergrowth, the Black Terahole R1 came into view.
"There they are."
"It's the subjugation force!"
"…They were already withdrawing."
Sernia spotted the force and clenched his jaw.
The soldiers of the subjugation force had barely a moment to gape at the sudden appearance of the Black Terahole R1 before Gast climbed out of the vehicle with the black panther's carcass slung across his back—and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
The returned Gast Lobel dropped to one knee before Erdin.
"Knight Gast Lobel. Following the Subjugation Captain's orders, I have slain the black panther and returned."
Erdin's pupils wavered.
Killing the black panther was the single most distinguished achievement of this entire expedition. And for a knight to offer that achievement to him elevated his honor as commander.
The way the soldiers looked at Erdin shifted, just a little.
"Well done, Sir Gast Lobel."
Doing his best to look calm and composed, he acknowledged the feat and raised Gast to his feet.
"How did you catch the black panther?"
Commander Diallo asked, and Gast answered.
"Following the Subjugation Captain's orders, I went to the Blædwin territory and obtained a weapon capable of killing it."
Erdin had never given any such order. His eyes met Gast's.
He wanted to ask why—but he couldn't.
"Is that true, Subjugation Captain Erdin?"
"…Well."
"Come to think of it, it was Subjugation Captain Erdin who brought this many Robon-001s in the first place, wasn't it?"
"Whoa, you're right. So that was the plan all along?"
"Insane—I never even thought of that. He already had some deal worked out with Blædwin? Wow."
"So the reason he never gave up on the black panther was because he had a plan… Guys like me can't keep up with that kind of thinking."
Talk about him spread among the soldiers. With the atmosphere flipped so completely, Erdin couldn't bring himself to deny it in time.
"That's correct."
"…Then why were you withdrawing?"
"I considered the possibility that the operation might fail. I intended to fall back and then send a letter to Blædwin."
"I see. It seems I pressed you too hard earlier. My apologies."
Diallo's expression toward him softened.
"Not at all. I understand why you would."
"In the end, things worked out."
The subjugation force that had looked like a band of defeated stragglers when they reached the edge of Lostwood was transformed. They had killed the black panther. That alone made this expedition a success.
"So this is the Black Terahole R1 I've only heard about?"
Dariel eyed the vehicle Burgess was driving with open interest.
Clunk… clunk… clunk…
But the engine sounded wrong.
"What's going on?"
"Is there a problem, Burgess Blædwin?"
Burgess fiddled with the instruments inside—
Clunk… pssssshhhhh—
The engine died.
"Ah……"
A low sigh escaped him as his face went rigid.
"…This thing's broken?"
I'd been running the training grounds with the knights since morning when Father called for me.
"Haaah… haaah… haaah…"
Even though Brother Gain had deliberately slowed down a little out of consideration for me, keeping up with the knights had completely drained my body.
I'd been desperately hoping we'd stop anyway, so I was glad for the excuse as I slipped out of formation.
"Hah… hah… Father? Why?"
Rachel's expression was grim. The moment I remembered that Brother Burgess had the Black Terahole R1, I forgot how exhausted I was and sprinted for the garage.
"Hah! Father! I'm he—re."
"Robon. What is the meaning of this? Where did you take the Black Terahole R1 without my permission?"
A bone-chilling cold radiated from Father's body. So this was the Knight of Iron and Blood. Just standing before him made me shudder.
"I'll explain everything. What happened was…"
I carefully walked him through the events of the past few days.
"…From now on, do not touch it without my leave. Understood?"
"Yes, Father."
That frigid white chill seeming to pour from Father's expressionless eyes—that was just my imagination, right?
The silver lining was that Father at least understood my reasoning.
It's not like he couldn't go a day without driving it… His reaction is a lot stronger than I expected.
Lately I'd talked with Father more than anyone else in the family, I was pretty sure. For someone usually so sparse with words and so severe, he always had a little more to say whenever the Black Terahole R1 came up.
Because of that, even Father—who used to seem as cold as if he had not a single drop of blood in him—had started to feel more human. Or rather, I was starting to read his personality a little better.
"When Burgess returns, report to me at once."
"Yes."
He was still terrifying, though.
Click.
Father returned to the lord's manor.
"Whew…"
I'd been shaking for nothing. I'd been worried he might even retract the support he'd already agreed to, but thankfully that never came up.
"Are you all right, young master?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It'll sort itself out once Brother gets back."
Probably. As long as nothing went wrong with the Black Terahole R1.
But what's this uneasy feeling I've been getting since last time?
I only told him to drop Gast off and come straight back. What could possibly go wrong? Right. No way.
I should have known better. The next day, a messenger arrived from Lobel.
Along with their thanks for answering Lobel's request came word that the Black Terahole R1 Burgess Blædwin had driven was broken, and it would take some time to send it back.
Because of that, a freezing wind whipped through the family gathered in the dining hall first thing in the morning.
Only the clink of tableware rang out in the silence.
Father was never much of a talker on ordinary days, but today he was quieter still.
Normally someone else would fill the empty quiet—but today, no one did.
"Ha… hahaha… The soup is really good today."
So I opened my mouth.
I had no choice. The whole family was side-eyeing me.
"Call the cook. Today's soup is rather bland."
At Father's words, everyone glanced at me for cues. I felt like my face was about to be bored clean through.
"My apologies, my lord! I'll remake it at once!"
The poor kitchen cook came out, pouring cold sweat as he spoke. Everyone in the household fell over themselves at a single word from Father. Get on the wrong side of the Knight of Iron and Blood, and your head could leave your shoulders in a single stroke.
Or so people said—though it had never actually happened.
Cold sweat ran down my scalp. When I lifted my head, that blockheaded little sister of mine sitting across from me was bulging her eyes and mouthing words at me.
Do something already!
What am I supposed to do?
Dad's mad because of you, big brother!
Damn it…
Did I think things would turn out like this? And why did Brother Burgess have to go jumping that thing over hills…
"Father! Hah… Actually, I've been preparing a surprise gift to astonish you."
I was the cause of this situation, so I had to clean it up.
Click.
Father's knife stopped. Every retainer around the table tensed in the same instant—wondering if that knife was about to come flying at someone.
"Even I… never managed that."
"Pardon?"
"I drove it quite carefully, afraid it would break."
That cold voice. Was he talking about jumping hills? He was angry because Brother Burgess had done something he himself never had?
Okay, this might actually work out.
I knew what Father wanted. All I had to do was give it to him.
"Father, I've been developing a new automobile. You saw Lady Siena arrive, didn't you? I received a Black Terahole engine from her—in exchange for sharing the production methods for the Robon-002 and Robon-003."
"…A new automobile?"
"Yes. A car brimming with romance that I'm sure you'll love. One that can tear along a rough mountain road without breaking a sweat, you might say."
Father's icy gaze shifted in an instant.
"You're saying such a thing is possible?"
"Yes. There are different kinds of suspension, after all. This time I'm going with four-wheel independent suspension. On top of that, I'll switch from front-wheel drive to four-wheel drive, and use a manual transmission for strong torque—dynamic, full of life! That kind of car, you could say."
Maybe my enthusiastic pitch landed. Father's atmosphere changed noticeably.
"You're also modifying His Excellency's Black Terahole, are you not?"
His voice had softened a touch. The stopped knife started moving again.
"That's almost finished. And the modification work gave me plenty of data for this new one, too."
"You'll be busy, then. Do you need anything?"
In that moment, I could almost hear sighs of relief from every direction.
"Whew…"
Wendy actually exhaled loud enough for everyone to hear. No sense of timing, that kid.
"I'd like to keep up more frequent exchanges with Vulcan through Lady Siena. Combining forces on the business side could create some real synergy, too."
"Very well."
"And soon I plan to run electricity through the entire manor—so I'll need quite a bit of copper and troll hide. Good tailors and skilled blacksmiths as well."
"I'll take it under consideration."
Once that ice-thin meal was over, I put every other project on hold and threw myself back into mana engine research.
The mana engine used in the Black Terahole was basically an inline four-cylinder design.
Simple structure and economical—those were the advantages. The downside was that increasing the number of cylinders was difficult.
But if you shaped the engine into a V, you could put cylinders on both sides and reduce both the length and height of the engine.
It also lowered the center of gravity, improving driving stability.
The heart of an off-road vehicle was a four-wheel independent long-travel suspension stroke that could hold steady even on rough ground, plus solid shock absorbers!
Powerful output and torque that could drag the vehicle up through mindless swampland or steep high ground by sheer force!
Durability that could take a vehicle that was constantly bashing, crashing, and jumping.
I had to build a vehicle that embodied a man's romance—with all of that applied.
I'm already getting excited.
I'd been dissatisfied with the Black Terahole R1's basic foundation for a while now; it had always left me wanting more.
Might as well use this chance to build something entirely new.
Father looks like he'd go for a sports car, but deep down he loves rough driving.
Well—that was a man's instinctive romance, after all.
With excellent materials on hand, developing from them wouldn't be that hard. I'd get the basic design foundation ready, and finish it once Andersen arrived.
"His Excellency said he'd come in person once the modification is done… I wonder if he'll ask me to build him another one."
That would cost quite a bit to produce. No choice but to charge him more, then. Heh heh.