New Armor, New Troubles
The nickname has been added.
Cooling! Cleanliness! Wearing underwear, then donning the armor upgraded with reinforcement and restoration.
«Clank clank»
Dolmaeng-i was also equipping the recently made armor parts beside me, looking every bit like a medieval knight.
I felt a bit inadequate next to it, dressed in what looked like rags and tatters, but I couldn't bring myself to envy my own subordinate.
"Oh? Dolmaeng-i, you look pretty cool."
"I referenced plate armor from the internet and made it, sir."
"The spikes on the helmet and elbows could double as weapons too."
"You've finally developed an eye for these things. Excellent."
I tried to compliment it, but…
Something about it annoyed me. The backpack on its back looked like something a little kid would wear, making it seem like it was about to head off to elementary school…
"Haa… I have to endure this."
Inside were additional Mana Cores to supplement its insufficient output, so I couldn't remove it.
It would be nice to replace the central core, but I was afraid the intelligence data might get wiped.
If I turned it off and on again only for it to say "Nice to meet you" like the first time, that would be a little disappointing.
«Vroom-vroom— Vroom-vroom—»
And beside us, Dalguji was fiddling with the extra equipment loaded in its cargo bed.
It looked like nothing more than a square piece of shield, but it could function as both a shield and a terrifying projectile weapon capable of punching a hole through someone's torso.
"You should hide that thing well when we're outside, right?"
«Vroom-vroom— Vroom-vroom—»
At least it understood, though the way it waggled the weapon menacingly was still scary…
With the increased load, Dalguji had also expanded its cargo bed and installed an additional Mana Core.
"Where are we headed today?"
"We can walk there today."
Oh. So it's close enough to walk. Well, gates open and close several times a day, so that makes sense.
"Great! We can just ride Dalguji there."
"We can walk there."
"Alright! Boarding now. Let's go!"
"…"
Our three-member party—Ian, Dolmaeng-i, and Dalguji—sortied!
Though to anyone else, it probably just looked like I was going out alone.
«Vroom-vroom-vroom—»
Riding Dalguji, the extra Mana Cores made it noticeably faster even from the outside.
"This is way faster than walking!"
"Approximately 10 km/h, I would estimate."
"How do you know without even looking at a speedometer?"
"The roadside markers are evenly spaced, so by counting how many pass and comparing the time, the speed can be calculated."
Way too smart.
Anyway, Dolmaeng-i knew the way, so Dalguji was in autonomous navigation mode.
I kept my hands on the steering wheel, but in reality I wasn't doing anything.
"Please do not apply force to the steering wheel. We need to go right, so why are you turning left?"
Tch… I only gave it a little nudge, but it didn't budge at all. I wanted to try steering, but that was clearly not happening.
We sped along the road on Dalguji, and I could hear the worried voices of passersby.
Illegal? Wait, seriously? It's not even a car, so I don't need a license or anything, right?
Just as we passed an intersection, a familiar sound rang out.
«Beep— Beep—»
An electronic whistle. One little flick of the finger and it makes an incredibly loud noise.
I'd heard it a few times before, so I knew. My line of work was always like this…
"You there! Stop! Pull over right now!"
The traffic officer who had been directing traffic at the intersection came running over in a panic.
Guess I did something wrong.
"Haa…"
Not a single day goes by without something happening.
I stopped at a safe spot in the middle of the road and prepared for my interview with the officer.
His face was bright red as he launched into a passionate speech. In any case, I was the one at fault.
"Haa… What am I supposed to do with this…"
"I'm sorry. I really didn't know."
Officer, I'm bowing my head with genuine remorse right now.
Please don't call my house.
"If you want to ride on the road, you need at least a motorized vehicle license. I'll let you off with a warning this time, alright?"
Whoa! An angel had descended to earth.
I could practically see a halo shining behind the constable's head!
I heard you could file praise complaints for civil servants. I should definitely write one when I get home.
"Hek! Thank you so much! I'll be more careful so this never happens again!"
Pouring all my gratitude into repeated bows, I cheerfully led the kids up onto the sidewalk and took off!
«Beep-beep-beep— Beep-beep-beep—»
Huh? Why again?
This time the sound was extremely irritated?
"No! Miss!"
"Yes?"
"Riding on the sidewalk is completely illegal!"
"Hek… I'm sorry…"
Haha… In my past life, even if you ran someone over while galloping down the main road on horseback, it was the victim's fault. The modern era really is different.
"Haa… Until you get your license, you can't ride that thing anywhere."
"Yes…"
"If I catch you one more time, it's an immediate fine."
"I'm sorry."
Life really is tough, isn't it.
Well, listening to him, I realized it was dangerous for me and for other cars too.
"That's why I told you to walk."
"You didn't know either, did you?"
"…"
Acting like it knew everything when it didn't.
Come to think of it, if Dolmaeng-i had internet access, it probably would have told me. What a shame…
I should look into a way to give Dolmaeng-i Wi-Fi.
"We're almost there."
Minus the time we got stopped by the officer, it was only about a 10–15 minute walk from home?
This gate really was close to the house.
Haha. The life of a celebrity.
The closer we got to the gate, the more hunters there were, which meant more people recognizing me.
And once again, people started slandering me.
Where in the world would you find someone as kind as me? What a sad reality.
"By the way, what's 'Bomb Girl' supposed to mean?"
"It's a new nickname that appeared on the internet. During the recent gate explosion, with no evidence left behind, the situation ended up pointing to you, Ian, as the culprit because you were nearby."
Just baseless accusations, as expected.
People really do get riled up by unproven rumors like this…
"What am I supposed to do about this? Whether I admit it or not, I'm still Bomb Girl."
"You'd be in serious trouble if you went around admitting it. But since you really are the culprit, at least you don't have to feel wronged, right?"
This guy's a genius.
Since I was the one who set it off anyway, I have nothing to lose!
While we were having this pointless conversation, we arrived at the gate entrance.
"We'll need to inspect your belongings."
"Huh? Was that always a thing?"
Until now they'd just checked my ID and application list and let me through quickly, but the procedure had changed?
"No. There was a recent explosion incident, so now we have to inspect everyone's belongings. Thank you for your understanding."
"Okay…"
With my guilty conscience, I couldn't ask any more questions.
Besides, there wasn't really anything in my luggage worth hiding.
Weird. Other people got a quick check and went in, but it felt like they were shaking me down thoroughly?
Probably just my imagination.
«Rattle— Clatter—»
"Shovel, axe, pickaxe… Is that everything?"
"Yes."
"You're not going to hunt monsters?"
"I don't go out of my way to find them."
Besides, how strong was Dolmaeng-i? Monsters weren't scary at all.
And if push came to shove, a shovel or pickaxe made a perfectly good weapon too.
Also, he didn't seem to notice, but if he knew that flat plate attached to Dalguji's side was a projectile weapon, he'd probably be shocked.
"Haa… Well then, please be careful. Your life is important."
"Of course! This is already my seventh time!"
Oh? Suddenly I had a good feeling! Lucky seven!
The soldier looked worried, but our party was definitely the strongest among all the people entering right now.
What a shame I couldn't tell him that.
"Well then, we're going in~"
«Shwoop—»
Once again, I felt the cold membrane pass over me as I entered the gate.
Gates really were great! There were no traffic police inside, so I could hop right onto Dalguji.
"Alright then… Let's head anywhere for now!"
"Dalguji. Don't go too far."
While Dalguji slowly circled the area around the base, I began mana detection.
«Zzt—»
As I spread out my mana, I felt something—not a Mana Stone, but something that pricked at my senses—not far from the base.
It was similar to when I'd encountered what seemed to be a boss before…
"Hmm… Dolmaeng-i, what rank was this gate again?"
"According to the Association's classification, it was D-rank."
Just in case, I took out the measuring device to check.
The gauge stopped at 3.47. Considering the gate's color had been green when we entered, the maximum was C-rank.
"Since we're testing performance anyway, should we take care of the boss ourselves?"
"That sounds like a good idea. However, if the number of enemies is too great, we will prioritize retreat."
"Obviously!"
Well then, let's go boss hunting!
If things went south, I could always throw one of the Mana Stones I'd brought in my pocket and run.
Dalguji was much faster now too, so no problem!
The path to the boss was uneventful.
Monsters were hiding along the forest path, but they were meaningless before Dolmaeng-i with its infrared sensors.
"Enemies detected. I'll handle them."
«Clank clank»
Dolmaeng-i, now a bit heavier with its armor equipped, stepped forward.
You could call it our party's tank and dealer.
"Kieeeek!"
"Kssht—"
When Dolmaeng-i stepped out, five goblins that had been hiding in the grass appeared.
«Boom—»
Despite the added weight from the armor, Dolmaeng-i was actually faster as it kicked off the ground and launched itself forward.
Two 1st Circle Mana Cores were stored in that small backpack on its back.
That meant plenty of output.
«Thud—»
In a single leap, Dolmaeng-i flew right in front of the monsters.
Using the momentum from the jump, it raised the spikes on its knees and delivered a flying knee kick.
The brutal attack smashed into a goblin's head, sending it flying with its brains splattered everywhere.
«Clang»
Then, upon landing, it spun its body around.
«Thud—»
"…"
This time, an elbow spike pierced through a temple, sending another one flying.
In an instant, two goblins were incapacitated.
"Kyaaak!"
"Kak!"
Only then did the remaining goblins raise their weapons.
«Ting— Clang—»
But the goblins' weapons were crude, rusty things with dull edges.
In contrast, Dolmaeng-i's armor was covered in layers of reinforcement.
The goblins' attacks didn't even need to be blocked.
"Whoa… That's brutal. I really couldn't do even one of those with my own hands."
"I've finished dealing with them."
"Come here so I can clean you up."
I pulled out the shower hose from Dalguji.
It was time to use one of the additional pieces of equipment installed on Dalguji.
Its name: the Mana Water Generator!
Just a simple water generator.
«Trickle trickle—»
A thin stream of water, maybe about 5 millimeters thick, flowed from the shower hose.
The water pressure was so weak it wasn't satisfying at all…
"Outside it just dripped drop by drop, but it seems usable inside the gate."
"Yeah. You're right. We'll just use it for emergencies. This wouldn't even work for washing dishes…"
"Then please do so."
"Do I need to wash it quickly?"
What I meant was, there was a way to make the water come out faster for a short time.
By infusing it with mana to activate it.
Of course, I had to be the one to supply the mana.
«Suuuck—»
I placed my hand on it and focused, pouring mana into Dalguji's module.
It felt like some giant mosquito had stuck a straw in me and was sucking my blood. The sensation was extremely unpleasant.
Blegh…
«Whoosh—»
Opposite to me getting sucked dry, water gushed out of the shower in a torrent.
Thus Dolmaeng-i washed itself while sucking away my precious blood.
«Trickle trickle»
"Are you done already?"
"Wash it properly! My circle is still low, you know!"
With only 2 circles, what did it expect!? The mana draining out left me feeling empty and extremely annoyed.
Come to think of it, this must be how criminals feel when they have shackles put on them in prison?
This was what they called putting yourself in someone else's shoes.
For a moment, I understood how criminals felt.
"When my circle gets higher later, I'll give you enough to dunk yourself in completely."
"I was just asking. Are you angry?"
This damn robot was trying to make me look petty!
"No? Not at all? Who said that?"
"As they say, strong denial is strong affirmation."
"…"
Haa… Let's just keep moving…
At this rate, we might not even get to do the performance test before heading back.
But when we arrived at the spot that had been prickling at my senses,
"Why is it a cave again?"
We went in last time and the world got turned upside down, didn't it?