Change of Plans (1)
[Winchester Castle]
Whirring! Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Move carefully."
In sync with the soldiers' hand signals, the seven Gigants of the squad filed into the castle one by one. As Wayne's Gigant brought up the rear, the Gigant cadets training nearby began buzzing with chatter.
"He rode a Gigant on his first mission and racked up merits?"
"Yeah, that's what I heard. They say he killed the orc chieftain and rescued the maintenance officer too! Everyone opposed it as too dangerous, but he snuck along on the subjugation and made his mark."
"As expected of Young Master Wayne— the Stein blood runs true."
"What's the point? He's just a candle in the wind now."
"What?"
"Forgot who the acting lord is?"
"Oh! Yeah, with the marquis away..."
The cadets gazed at Wayne's Gigant with pitying eyes.
'I can hear all of you, you idiots!'
Wayne wasn't displeased by the whispers aimed his way. No, being at the center of attention sent a subtle thrill through him.
'So this is what it feels like to have the royal family's interest...'
Wayne let a relaxed smile play across his lips.
The world of Odd was boundless. Just moments ago, he'd overheard the Gigant cadets murmuring from fifty meters away—a new ability born from diligently training in Karian's Odd breathing technique over the past twenty days. The Gigant's frame resonated with Wayne's Odd, amplifying air vibrations like an eardrum and delivering them to his ears far more clearly than human hearing alone.
And one more thing!
'Tsk tsk. Every last one of them has such weak Odd.'
These weren't full-fledged mech warriors yet—just cadets in training—so their Odd veils looked paper-thin. This was another skill honed through Karian's breathing method. When Wayne used his Odd Eye on other mech warriors or Odd-infused objects, their Odd appeared semi-transparently in his vision. For someone like Snow, a mid-tier warrior, the Odd's color was vivid and its veil thick. He didn't have many comparisons yet, so its practical uses were limited, but being able to roughly gauge others' Odd would prove invaluable down the line.
The Karian king had reached the pinnacle of Odd. Incredibly, he could even communicate emotions via Odd to converse with dragons and wield telekinetic powers to lift and manipulate objects from afar. Yet even with such superhuman abilities, right up to his deathbed, he'd relentlessly researched Odd, often lamenting how much there still was to learn.
'The world of Odd truly has no end!'
In the end, pushing himself to follow Snow had been the right call. He'd earned merits, uncovered a trove of ancient Gigants, and mastered Karian's breathing technique—a triple win.
"Halt!"
At the soldier's signal, only Wayne's Gigant came to a stop in the training yard. Captain Jamie approached, gesturing for him to dismount.
Wayne hopped down and shrugged.
"Why? Everyone else is heading that way."
"That's the Blue Knights' hangar. No outsiders allowed."
"Outsiders? Me?"
Wayne feigned disbelief, and Jamie gave an awkward smile.
"Sorry. Clearance for you hasn't come through yet."
"Tch. So I have to leave my Gigant here?"
"I'll move yours to the 7th Squad hangar myself, Young Master."
Wayne had hoped for a peek at the Blue Knights' underground hangar and smacked his lips in disappointment.
"What if I want to train in it later?"
"Ask me or Lieutenant Adman."
Bothering them seemed like a hassle, so leaving it in the yard felt easier.
"Nah, I'll just leave it here."
"Um... about what you mentioned a few days ago."
"Huh? The armor?"
"Yes! And you said you needed a scabbard too."
"Right."
Gigant swords were huge and intimidating, so they came with scabbards made of monster hide or back-mounted holders. But Wayne's lacked those, forcing him to carry the blade during marches—which made a scabbard his top priority.
"Squad Leader Snow said that since you contributed to the subjugation, she could pull strings for basic armor and a scabbard."
"Oh? Snow said that, huh."
Snow wasn't one for overt displays, but Wayne could sense her genuine gratitude.
"We'll handle the materials and work. Just lend us your Gigant for a few days."
Wayne nodded and pulled something from his pocket.
"About the scabbard—could you make one like this?"
He handed over several sheets of drawings.
"What's this?"
"This part's the Gigant arm, and this is the sword."
"...?"
"So it folds like this."
Flipping through the pages rapidly, Jamie finally let out an admiring gasp.
"Ah! I get it now."
"Think you can do it?"
"Well..."
Jamie looked more tormented than thoughtful.
"If it's too hard, forget it..."
Wayne sounded disappointed.
"No, no! We'll give it a shot."
"You will?"
"The maintenance team and I will do our absolute best."
"Thanks."
Jamie mounted Wayne's Gigant with a determined expression. It was uncharted territory for her, and she wasn't confident. But after vowing to repay her lifesaver, failing even this request would shame her both personally and as an engineer. She'd give it everything.
'Not even letting the lord's son in? Kinda stingy.'
Wayne smacked his lips, watching his Gigant vanish into the underground hangar.
"Um, Young Master Wayne Stein!"
"Yeah?"
Wayne turned to see a soldier waiting.
"The acting lord requests you."
His face involuntarily soured at "acting lord," but he quickly composed himself.
"Where's the acting lord?"
"In his office."
"Got it."
Wayne felt reality crash back in.
A destitute nation with nothing to lose starting a war? Absurd.
Modern wars demanded magic weapons like Gigants, arms, trained soldiers and mounts, ample provisions, gear, and logistics. For two centuries, the Barantia Empire had poured its might into defending against the Great Forest and neighboring kingdoms. Monsters spilling from the forest attacked humans, who slew them at great cost. Dead monsters crumbled to spores after forty-eight hours, carried by wind to seed new growth and expand the forest endlessly.
But Emperor Roman Halbert I discovered how to process monster corpses, halting the forest's advance. Now, two hundred years later, they even used byproducts to build Gigants, bolstering the empire's power and population.
Yet the land was too cramped for an empire, and food shortages plagued them. Vassals and lords endlessly griped about narrow territories; the emperor and royals craved more. Thus, over the past five years, they'd fortified internally and prepared for war.
Dresden Grand Territory was no different. No more land to claim within the empire. They couldn't invade allies or pioneer the monster-infested Great Forest. Only foreign neighbors remained.
'War, huh...'
Wayne wasn't surprised; he'd heard en route back that Marquis Frank was absent, leading half the territory's forces to the southeast border.
'The problem's the guy I'm about to meet...'
Knock knock!
"Come in."
The acting lord's office was vast and imposing.
"Big brother, congratulations on becoming acting lord!"
Wayne bowed with feigned cheerfulness.
Yes—the current acting lord of Dresden Grand Territory was Adam Stein.
"Sit."
As Wayne sat, an inexplicable prickling tension rose. Glancing around, he spotted the reason.
Three walls bristled with dozens of massive monster heads, taxidermied. Smaller ones filled the room in full-body mounts. And every gaze fixed on his seat.
'What an intimidating spot...'
Stared down by monsters from all sides, anyone would shrink and feel uneasy. But Wayne steadied his mind with Odd breathing.
"For Father to entrust you with acting lord—surely the full lordship comes next. Congratulations."
Wayne laid on the flattery thick. But it wasn't wrong. Hitherto, when the lord left, the knight commander or Frank's brother, Count Renan Stein, had acted as proxy. But with Adam named heir last year and now proxy, his ascension loomed.
"Cut the nonsense. Why'd you join the subjugation without a word?"
"Sorry. I just couldn't resist following Snow..."
Wayne eyed Adam's face mid-apology. No anger, no displeasure—good.
"Heard you made big merits in the orc hunt."
"Aw, just smashed a few orcs. Hardly merits."
Adam smirked thinly.
"Cassnet didn't just abuse you, then."
"Pardon?"
"They say you handled the Gigant skillfully."
Adam's words stabbed like a dagger to the heart.
'Damn, did I overplay it?'
A wretch with nothing but his body suddenly slaying orcs for merits, finding a Gigant, and riding it home—whatever he said now, Adam's suspicions wouldn't fade.
Wayne decided on brazenness.
"Honestly, I didn't want to boast, but I guess I have a talent for Odd."
"Oh?"
"Yeah! Couldn't even manifest Odd Eye before departure, but now I do it instantly. Hopped on the Gigant and one-shotted orcs. And that's not all—I can march eight hours a day in one now. Might even join the Blue Knights as the youngest ever. Haha!"
Wayne laid out his current state plainly. Adam likely knew it all.
'Better to seem talented but foolish than evasive and hiding something!'
"Want to see my Odd Eye?"
He even flaunted his green Odd Eye for show.
'Huh? What's that?'
In that instant, amid the dozens of monster heads, one was veiled in a thin layer of red Odd.