v2c2 - 1

CH.2 - RETIRING PALADIN

Fundamentally, a mechanized vehicle is a large-scale Gundo. Or rather, all magical engines are merely variants of the Gundo—conversely, one could say that the Gundo is a device designed to simplify the extraordinarily time-consuming and complex art of magic. The reason it takes the form of a staff is simply that, when extraneous functions are stripped away, a certain length is necessary, revealing the basic shape.

Much like how the most primal and fundamental tool was the “stick.”  

“This is kind of a hassle, isn’t it?”  

Toru said, gazing ahead while seated next to the driver’s seat.  

Their mechanized vehicle—the Svetlana —had a large windshield attached to the driver’s seat, which could be covered with a canopy if needed, but was generally left open to the outside.  

Even though it was a former military vehicle, it wasn’t a tank meant for the front lines but a transport model which meant it prioritized ease of boarding and visibility over defense and as a result, both the driver’s seat and the assistant’s seat beside it offered an unusually wide field of view. Crossing his legs and looking up, Toru could see the starry sky beyond the treetops.  

The time was already midnight. The place they were travelling through was a forest path.  

Normally, it would be far too dangerous to drive at such an hour. Poorly maintained side paths could have rocks or fallen trees scattered about, risking the vehicle hitting something and overturning. They had a lamp lit to illuminate the road, but it was little better than a bonfire, hardly expanding their visibility.  

Even so, the reason Toru and his group were pushing through the night in this forced march was, needless to say, to put as much distance as possible between themselves and that knight, Alberic Gillette, and his crew. Even with their newly acquired “means of movement”—considering the other side likely had a mechanized vehicle, probably a high-performance modern model would make their traveling easy at roads at convenient times would surely get them caught.  

Nighttime travel also had the added benefit of reducing the chance of being spotted.  

“Even magic isn’t all-powerful, huh.”  

“Strongly agree!”  

The silver-haired mage perched atop the driver’s seat responded, sounding rather cheerful.  

It was Chaika.  

“You’re the only one among us who can use magic, after all…”  

Since a mechanized vehicle was a type of Gundo, it required a mage—a person specialized in magical techniques—to be connected to the engine’s core.  

In other words, to operate the vehicle, a mage was essential. While it was great that Toru’s group had secured their “means of movement,” it meant Chaika was the only one who could actually drive it among them.  

“Should we take a break soon?”  

“…Mm.” As if reminded of her sleepiness, Chaika yawned. “Rest, rest.”  

Saying this, Chaika brought the vehicle to a stop, released the control lever, and removed the connection cord wrapped around her neck.  

“Come to think of it, mages use that emblem, don’t they?”  

Toru said, glancing at Chaika’s neck.  

When a mage connects themselves to a Gundo, they use an emblem etched on their neck. A mirrored version of the neck emblem is engraved on the connection cord, and by aligning them, they link their nervous system to the magical engine.  

“Can I have a look at it?”  

“…?”  

“The emblem.”  

“Oh… A-Approved.”  

She seemed momentarily taken aback, stumbling over her words, but Chaika nodded.  

Without hesitation, Toru took a strand of her hair in his hand, lightly lifting it to examine the small emblem etched on her nape.  

“…”  

For some reason, Chaika’s cheeks flushed slightly, but Toru didn’t notice.  

“It’s pretty intricate. Kinda like our binding emblems—”  

Toru was referring to the emblems etched on his palms, used to connect to his mechanical swords.  

Though there was a difference between mana and ki channels, the concept might be similar. Toru, neither a magical engineer nor a technician, didn’t know the details, of course.  

“Can I touch it a bit?”  

Curiosity piqued, Toru asked.  

“U… Uh!?”  

Chaika flinched, her body tensing.  

“Oh, is that a no?”  

“…A-Approved.”  

Her face grew even redder as she said this.  

“Nah, I am not actually forcing you if you’re not okay with it.”  

“…Approved.”  

She repeated, her expression almost defiant, as if she’d gotten stubborn.  

“Hm…”  

Thinking it might be more delicate than their binding emblems, Toru avoided touching it roughly and gently brushed his fingertip against it.  

“Hyaa!?”  

“Wah!?”  

Chaika’s body jolted with a bizarre squeak, startling Toru into pulling his hand back and staring at her.  

“W-What’s wrong?”  

“I-It’s fine!”  

Chaika said, but she didn’t look fine at all. She shrank into herself, cheeks flushed, as if embarrassed by something.  

And then…  

“—Anii-sama.”  

A voice called from behind.  

“Oh, Akari, time to switch—”  

Toru’s words cut off mid-sentence.  

Akari’s war hammer came swinging in a horizontal arc.  

“Whoa!?”  

Ducking to dodge, Toru spun to face Akari, shouting.  

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?”  

It wasn’t a killing blow, but that made it all the more dangerous. With a certain level of killing intent, Toru’s body would react instinctively, but without it, his response was slower.  

“And—every damn time, YOU!”  

Why did she always attack out of nowhere like this? Toru could dodge because it was him, but someone untrained in combat would be bleeding—or dead on the spot.  

“What the hell? That’s my line.” Akari said in her usual familiar tone. “What exactly is Anii-sama doing? In the middle of the night—” She looked up at the night sky overhead. “With a girl.” Her war hammer pointed at Chaika she continued. “Such shameless behavior.”  

“Hold on a sec, what’s shameless—”  

“Touching a girl’s hair and neck.”  

“…Ah.”  

Only then did Toru realize, from an outside perspective, what he’d been doing and why Chaika had been blushing.  

“N-No, it was purely—”  

“I understand. You don’t need to explain, Anii-sama. I understand your purity better than anyone. I know every detail about you, down to the placement of your moles.”  

“Since when!?”  

“There’s a rather large one on your left thigh.”  

“How the hell do you even know that!?”  

“Fufufu.”  

“Don’t laugh expressionlessly, it’s super creepy! —No, wait, do you actually understand?”  

“Of course, I’ve always been in awe of the pure lechery in Anii-sama’s heart.”  

“You don’t understand a damn thing!”  

Toru shouted.  

“It was pure curiosity, I’m telling you! Sure, maybe I was a bit thoughtless, but I just touched her hair and neck!”  

“I’m confident I could conceive from that alone.”  

“What kind of superhuman are you!?”  

“If you extinguish worldly desires, even fire feels cool. With my devotion to Anii-sama, I could skip the intermediate steps and create a fait accompli.”  

“Don’t brag about that!”  

“Imaginary pregnancy?”  

Chaika tilted her head, adding to the confusion.  

“That’s one way to put it.”  

“No, it’s not!”  Glaring at his non-blood related sister with half-lidded eyes, Toru growled. “Your worldview, where that counts as a fait accompli, is the real mystery.”  

“A woman is a creature full of mysteries, Anii-sama.”  

“You’re nothing but mysteries.”  

Sighing after his retort, Toru exhaled heavily.  

As usual, he couldn’t quite tell if she was being affectionate or mocking him.  

“Well, putting that aside—”  

Toru pulled a sheet of paper from a small container at his feet. Unfolding it revealed a large, irregular black shape drawn on a blue background.  

A map of the Felbist Continent.  

“Since you’re up, Akari, let’s take this break to discuss our next steps.”  

“…Next steps?”  

Chaika tilted her head with a pure, birdlike gesture, devoid of guile.  

“For now, once we reach the next city—Ratison—we’ll pause our ‘escape.’”  

“…”  

“…”  

At Toru’s words, Chaika and Akari exchanged glances.  

“We can’t keep running forever; it’s getting us nowhere. Assuming we’ve gained enough distance, we’ll return to our original goal. Specifically—”  

“…”  

“…”  

Chaika and Akari stared intently at Toru.  

Neither seemed to have objections, simply waiting silently for his next words, but…  

“Hey, hold on.”  Toru glared at Chaika. “Shouldn’t you, as our employer, be the one taking charge!?”  

“…”  With a blank expression, Chaika blinked several times. “Oh. Forgot.”  

“Y-You…”  

Toru growled, his shoulders slumping.  

As if to comfort him, Akari placed a hand on his back and spoke.  

“Anii-sama… I’m deeply moved right now.”  

Despite her words, she said it with her usual expressionless face.  

“Moved? By what exactly?”  

“That Anii-sama is saying something proactive for the first time.”  

…It wasn’t comforting at all.  

Though, to be fair, just half a month ago, Toru had been a listless wreck, leeching off his sister without a shred of ambition.  

“…Look, I’m not taking charge because I want to!”  

Toru said with an exasperated expression.  

For now, their next objective was to meet the person Guy had mentioned, “Dominica Škoda.” According to Guy, she also possessed a “remains.”  

Of course, he didn’t fully trust Guy himself.  

It was partly because they had no other leads… and partly because, having followed Guy’s information to acquire this mechanized vehicle—named Svetlana—Toru judged that this new information was likely reliable to some degree.  

Still, they decided against heading straight to the forest Guy indicated. Choosing to stop in Ratison City first was a precaution to gather information in a nearby town.  

If a “hero” really lived in the forest, rumors might be circulating in the city.  

“…Hey, Chaika.” Toru said, adjusting his tone slightly. “Your actions could, depending on the circumstances, make you a figurehead for the Gaz Empire’s remnants, right?”  

“…Mui?”  

Chaika tilted her head as if she were saying, What are you talking about?

Unless she was lying, she didn’t seem to have any real intent to revive the empire.  

According to her, she only wanted to collect her father’s remains and give them a proper burial.  

So—why was that boy, Guy, providing her with information?  

It couldn’t just be out of kindness. There had to be some kind of benefit for him.  

“No, wait… That’s it.” Realizing something, Toru nodded. “There could be people who aren’t enemies but aren’t allies either.”  

Letting her roam freely… only to swoop in later for the spoils.  

Even if someone was serious about reviving the Gaz Empire, it was unlikely they’d be driven by loyalty to the Taboo Emperor. Such devoted vassals would have died in the capital siege or be by Chaika’s side, the emperor’s heir.  

Which meant—  

“You…” Toru said in a thoughtful tone. “You might actually be getting used pretty badly, huh?”  

“Mui…?”  

Still looking puzzled, Chaika tilted her head slightly.  

Watching Chaika, Akari nodded deeply and said: “Indeed, to be so unaware despite the humiliation Anii-sama has put her through—so defenseless.”  

“For the love of...shut up already.”  

Toru shot Akari a glare before turning back to Chaika, but… as expected, Chaika seemed to have no awareness of it. She kept tilting her head left and right, arms crossed.  

“Mumumu?”  

“Well, if you’re not aware, that’s fine, I guess.”  

Was she simply innocent, or just a shallow-thinking idiot?  

Either way, Toru didn’t mind.  

Compared to someone making excuses with half-baked cunning, whether pure or foolish, she was worth helping. He admired Chaika’s straightforwardness, which was her ability to clearly pursue her goal even in desperate circumstances.  

“But you should at least notice what the people around you are scheming.”  

In short—if there really were people, as Alberic and his group claimed, plotting to revive the Gaz Empire, they likely had no intention of placing Chaika, an imperial heir, on the throne.  

On the contrary, Chaika might be left to roam freely as bait—or a diversion—to draw the attention of people like Alberic’s group.  

If that were the case, Guy’s actions made sense.  

He wasn’t banking on Chaika as the “next emperor.” But if she were caught or killed too easily, she couldn’t serve her role as a distraction. Yet, protecting her too directly would risk exposing connections, negating the diversion.  

So, he kept contact minimal, providing just enough information to keep Chaika from being captured—that must be it.  

(But… if that’s true…)  

Toru glanced at the coffin placed beside Chaika.  

(What do they think about Chaika collecting the remains herself?)  

If Chaika were captured, Arthur Gaz’s remains would fall into the hands of enemy nations… or rather, directly to the Post-War Reconstruction Agency, the 〈Kleemann〉, wasn’t it?  

The remains of the 〈Taboo Emperor〉is brimming with immense magical power, could serve as both a significant financial resource and a direct military asset. As the lord of Del Solant City had demonstrated, in the hands of a mage, they could be a powerful mana source.  

Was it really okay to let someone as precarious as Chaika gather such a critical item? Or did those aiming to revive the Gaz Empire have some other means to achieve their goals, regardless of the remains?  

Those finer details, he just couldn’t figure out.  

“Ugh, damn it. What a pain.” Toru scratched his head irritably. “Why do I have to worry about this stuff?”  

Why did he have to fret over such minutiae?  

Saboteurs were, by nature, the battlefield’s dirty workers, its unsavory operatives but precisely because of that, they typically judged things only within the scope of their mission. For a saboteur, who thrived on cowardice and treachery, to act on their own judgment—or for their own desires would make them no different from a common outlaw. Worse, with their specialized skills, they’d be even more dangerous than bandits or thieves.  

“…Toru.”  

Suddenly, Chaika tugged at Toru’s sleeve and spoke to him. 

“Hm?”  

“Thank you.”  

With that, Chaika smiled with her cheeks flushed, a bit shyly.  

“…O-Oh.”  

To that sight, feeling oddly overwhelmed, Toru nodded.  

Chaika’s smile was somehow dazzling.  

A pure, unadulterated expression of gratitude, exactly as her words conveyed.  

Though their time together was still short, Toru knew Chaika was clumsy, not just in dexterity but in personality—she wasn’t the type for cunning acting or calculated expressions.  

She was, for better or worse, straightforward.  

She probably wasn’t thinking about anything beyond collecting the remains and that’s why she genuinely felt gratitude toward Toru for worrying on her behalf.  

“For now…” Looking away from Chaika, Toru said. “That weirdo informant you mentioned earlier, according to him there’s a ‘hero’ living in a forest near Ratison City. We need to confirm whether they’re really in possession of the remains.”