The whale-shaped Over Gear, Val Albus, emerged from
Babylon's hangar and set sail through the clouds.
"It's not as fast as I thought."
"It could go as fast as Gungnir if I wanted it to, but we
need to be mindful of the spirit energy and ambient magic
we're drawing in. If we go too fast, it will put too much of a
strain on the system and we'll probably lose other
functionality like cruise control."
"Wait, we're not gonna crash if we run out of ambient
fuel, are we?"
"No, don't worry. We'd fall like a feather if that happened,
just slowly losing altitude."
...Yeah, but we'd still fall, right? What if we came featherfloating down on top of a city? That'd be bad!
I made a mental note not to go too fast unless it was an
emergency.
"So, we're out of Babylon for now...but where should we
go?" Yumina, still seated in the captain's chair and wearing
her navigation visor, asked Doc Babylon for further
instructions.
"South for now. Let's move between the borders of
Mismede and Ramissh. We'll do a submarine test there."
Oh yeah, there's that inland body of water between those
two countries, right? The Sapir Sea.
I suggested opening up a [Gate] and taking us straight
there, but it was flatly rejected. Apparently, they wanted to
do a flight test. After hearing that, I decided to just suck it up
and wait. We weren't going super fast, but we were certainly
faster than a carriage.
I guess it'll take a couple hours at this rate...
Yumina continued giving instructions to Albus, the two of
them learning more about how to pilot Val Albus at the same
time. The vehicle ascended, descended, came to a halt,
reversed, then sped forward again. I was a bit surprised,
since I'd expected to get motion sickness...but I was
completely fine. Even though we were jerking around, I
didn't feel woozy or anything.
Doc Babylon, Elluka, and the professor were all tapping
away at various consoles. Quun was helping them here and
there. Kuon and I weren't doing anything at all, however. We
were just kind of staring at the big monitor, slowly getting
bored at the unchanging scenery.
My son eventually grew bored enough to pull out diorama
parts from his smartphone's [Storage] app. He set them
down on the floor and started putting them all together.
You brought your hobby out with you? You really do
march to the beat of your own drum, kid...
I was kinda bored too, so I shrugged and started to help
him.
Kuon started assembling small blocks, gluing them
together to create walls. The castle Kuon was working on
was the Regulus Empire's. It was a sturdy castle with a
rugged exterior that betrayed a long and storied history. I
wasn't confident enough in my diorama skills to help with
the actual assembly, so my work was mostly relegated to
preparing the pieces for Kuon.
I kept on stirring a slime-based material in a pot. If I
didn't keep it viscous, it'd get bubbles trapped in it. I
wondered what it was used for.
"When it's hardened properly, it'll serve as water for the
moat."
Kuon must've sensed my curiosity, since he took the pot
from me and started pouring it into a little moat he'd dug
out.
Oh, so it's for water...
Once he was finished pouring it out, he used a toothpicklike tool to draw little streaks across the surface. At first I
didn't really know what it was he was doing, but then I
realized he was creating little waves to show the movement
of the water. The intricacy of his craft was nothing short of
amazing to me...
"The Sapir Sea is coming into view, Touya."
Yumina's voice prompted me to glance up at the monitor.
Sure enough, I saw glistening waters on the horizon. The
Sapir Sea was about the size of a country all by itself, and the
Great Gau River flowed into it all year round. There'd be no
issues for Val Albus diving into it, at least as far as I could
see.
"All right, time to start the dive. Go slow at first."
"Got it. Albus, commence diving."
"Acknowledged."
At Yumina's command, Val Albus began to slowly descend
until it breached the water's surface and sank beneath it. The
image on the monitor was briefly blurred, but it quickly
showed a clean feed of fish scattering away through the
water.
"Monitor switched to submersible mode. Visibility all
clear."
"Water pressure nominal. Underwater navigation systems
also fine."
"No aquatic Behemoths detected. Continuing scan."
Val Albus was diving without any issues. I was a bit
surprised by how bright the monitor was, since I always
thought it'd be darker underwater.
"The feed is adjusted to look that way. In actuality, it's
fairly dark outside the vehicle. If you were to go to the
absolute deepest points, there'd be no light there at all."
Doc Babylon had read my mind. I had no way of checking
just how dark it was outside right now, as there were no
actual windows on Val Albus.
We made it to the bottom fairly fast. It was about three
thousand meters below the surface.
Hmm... I'm not really an expert or anything, but I don't
think the Sapir Sea is all that deep, is it? I think the deepest
part of the ocean on Earth is the Mariana Trench. If I
remember right, that one's around ten-thousand meters
deep, so this one doesn't even scratch that.
"Diving all good. Let's initiate an exploratory test.
Yumina, release the unmanned probes."
"Okay. Ummm...let's see... Albus, launch unmanned
probes A00 through A99."
"Understood."
...Probes?
I glanced up at the monitor and saw a large number of
small spheres streak through the water ahead of us.
Oh. Those probes.
They were about as small as ping-pong balls, but they sure
seemed to move faster.
"So we use those things to explore the water?"
"The fact that your [Search] doesn't work when trying to
trace the Ark tells me that it's probably blocked by some
manner of ward. That's why direct visual confirmation is the
best way to go. My probe spheres were engineered to do just
that. They can cover a wide range and detect anything
enchanted with invisibility. Heck, they even have the same
cloaking device that Val Albus does. We can see them, but
they can't see us!"
Damn, they've got stealth too? I guess that makes sense, I
wouldn't want any giant underwater monsters thinking
they're tiny morsels to chase after or something.
Medium-sized monitors jutted out from the left and right
of the main monitor. The two monitors were each split into
fifty different segments showing a different camera feed on
each. It kind of made me feel like I was in a stereotypical
security guard room from a movie or game. Those feeds
were obviously artificially lit up too. The surroundings
looked a little gloomy, so I could tell it was actually darker
on the outside...
"How can you keep track of all the video feeds?"
Just staring at a hundred simultaneous videos of fish and
rocks for a minute was enough to make me wanna zone out.
"Obviously, the human eye can't pay attention to all of
those things at once. That's why we have Albus here. He can
process all of it and notify us if anything unusual comes up."
"Unidentified object detected on feed A42. Responding."
At that exact moment, Albus notified us about something
strange.
...It isn't the Ark, is it? That'd be mighty convenient.
The video feed from A42 was enlarged, and we saw the
image of something on the seabed.
Damn, it's big... Wait, what is that?
"Is that a shipwreck?"
There was a sunken ship on the feed, split down the
middle, but something was off about it. It had all the
features of a regular ship, but there was a propeller attached
to one of the masts. Something told me it wasn't an ordinary
seafaring vessel.
"Wait...is that a skyskipper?"
"A what?"
Doc Babylon opened her mouth wide in shock as she
watched the live feed.
"It's a type of flying ship that was fairly common in my
era. I had no idea one had crashed in a place like this... I
imagine it must've been downed during the Phrase War,
some five thousand years ago. It doesn't seem to be militarygrade, though..."
"You mean to say this is a legacy of the ancient magic
kingdom?!"
"Oooh! If it's enchanted with preservation magic, then it
should still be good for analysis."
"Oho ho! Most interesting."
Quun, Elluka, and the professor all responded excitedly
upon hearing Babylon's words.
...Damn nerds.
"Yumina, change course for A42's location."
"Got it."
Val Albus turned and continued through the sea. After a
short amount of time, the front monitor showed the wreck
that A42 had found. It was pretty huge. Not as big as Val
Albus, of course, but it was easily fifty meters across. Two of
its three masts were broken off. There was a large propeller
at the back, as well as large oars sticking out the sides of the
hull.
...If it can fly, why does it have oars?
"The oars are for capturing ambient magic and using
them for propulsion. It functions just about the same as an
average ship's oar."
...Huh, so are they powered automatically, or would
people actually move those things like a galley?
"So what's our plan here?"
"We'll recover it, of course! It's a precious relic from an
ancient kingdom! You think we'd just leave it at the bottom
of the sea?!"
"R-Right..."
Quun shot me a menacing glare. Apparently, she'd already
decided the course of action before I'd even raised the
question. Doc Babylon also seemed fine with retrieving it, so
I just shrugged. The only question was how.
"How? Don't you have [Storage], Touya?"
"Oh yeah."
Doc Babylon's incredulous sigh made me realize the
stupidity of my own pondering. Here I was thinking about
some specialized diving robot or a retrieval-specialized
Frame Gear. But yeah, just using [Storage] was the obvious
solution...
I went with what Babylon said and used [Storage] to
recover the skyskipper.
"Okay, I got it...but where should I put it?"
"Val Albus's hangar should be fine. This way."
We left Yumina, Albus, and Kuon on the bridge and
followed Doc Babylon through another teleporter. The
hangar was ridiculously big, so I could only speculate that it
was another "bigger on the inside" situation.
I pulled the skyskipper out from [Storage]. Thankfully,
none of the seawater or other residue was included in that,
so the hangar remained completely dry. The ship had not a
trace of wear and tear on it. In fact, it looked brand-new.
There wasn't even any rust. Just as Elluka had assumed, it
had protective magic enchanting it. It was the same as
Babylon in that regard.
Speaking of Babylon, the doc tapped her chin as she
looked up at it.
"Hrmm... It seems to be a mercantile vessel from the
Talwes Commonwealth. Must've been caught in the crossfire
of combat."
Talwes? Never heard of it. Guess it must've died out
thousands of years ago.
"If it's a merchant's vessel...then what's the cargo?"
"Oh, perhaps it could be interesting artifacts from the
ancient era..."
"Even if there aren't any interesting artifacts aboard, the
ship itself is a treasure! What a fascinating vessel..."
The magitech geeks were getting hyped up again.
Don't you guys have any other interests?
I walked up to the skyskipper and tapped its side. It
looked like it was made of metal, but it felt different. If I had
to guess, it was some kind of hard rubber.
I ignored the entrance hatch and walked through the
fractured midsection.
"Gah!"
The interior was filled with what seemed to be wood
shavings and sand. It was presumably the result of stuff on
the inside of the boat that hadn't been enchanted with
protective magic. Since I'd pulled the boat into [Storage]
with the explicit rejection of seawater, anything inside that
was muddied or waterlogged must've instantly dried out and
collapsed into a heap.
Wait, there were people on this boat, right? I hope their
bones aren't mixed in with this sand and stuff.
I gave a silent prayer before stepping deeper inside. It'd
been five thousand years or so since they'd died, so I could
only hope they'd found peace by now.
I searched through the front half of the broken ship, but I
couldn't find anything notable inside. The cargo must've
been perishable, like food or something. It could've been
that they'd loaded up a vessel with food to escape the Phrase
invasion but got shot down.
I came out of the broken skyskipper and noticed Quun
excitedly running out from the back half.
"Father, father! The reactor is still intact! We could
restore the ship if we reactivate it!"
Hmm? It's kinda cool that the reactor's still in working
condition, but aren't you a little too excited for something
that minor?
"Well, we're not all that interested in the boat, so we
brought up the idea that the young miss could have it..."
"She got awfully excited when she heard about that."
"Well, Touya? Whaddya say? Gonna give your girl an
airship?"
Huh? Why's this on me?
I looked at my excited daughter, and in that moment, I
knew I couldn't say no! If Leen had been there to support
me, I might've been able to offer up a little resistance, but I
was on my own.
"...You can have it if you manage it carefully. Don't get too
drawn into it and upset Leen, okay?"
"Thank yooouuu!"
Quun smiled wide and gave me a big hug.
...She's not planning to fix it up all on her own, is she? It
might be too big a gift for just one child.
"Warning. Enormous life-form detected. Approaching
starboard," Albus's voice reverberated through the hangar,
accompanied by red lights and a warning klaxon.
"Hm. Seems something's happening. Let's return to the
bridge at once."
We followed Doc Babylon back through the teleporter and
met up with Yumina and the others on the bridge. The
monitor ahead of us showed an enormous sea snake
swimming in our direction.
"Oh, a Leviathan?"
The Leviathan was a sea creature that could grow
hundreds of meters long. It was one of the most feared
creatures in all the seas, along with the Kraken. I used both
as casual summons, though.
This one seemed a fair bit bigger than your usual
Leviathan, however. The monitor display estimated its size
at three hundred meters, but it looked like it was double that
to me.
"That's not just any Leviathan. It's a variant species, the
Leviathan Lord."
...Leviathan Lord? I guess it's bigger, and now that it's
getting closer, it looks like it has spines along its scales. It's
also a deeper blue hue. Huh, how about that?
The Leviathan Lord fired off a vibrating ring in our
direction, blasting the side of the hull.
Val Albus shook slightly.
...It's attacking us?
"It's hostile, apparently."
"It must be the biggest fish around here. Maybe it's mad
that we intruded on its territory?"
Kuon and Quun talked among themselves, and I was
inclined to agree with their conclusion. It clearly saw us as a
big intruder.
Just as I was thinking about that, I noticed the massive
grin plastered across Doc Babylon's face.
What are you planning, you witch?
"Perfect. We'll have this be Val Albus's first opponent."
"We could certainly process a dead Leviathan Lord into
raw production materials."
"This is a finer treasure than the skyskipper, that's to be
sure."
"Mother Yumina! Let's fight that thing!"
It only took one mention of raw production materials to
hype Quun up beyond the limit. I was a little concerned
about how gung-ho she was. I didn't want her getting tricked
by some shady guy who enticed her away with engineering
equipment or research stuff in the future...
Yumina slid her fingers across the console by the captain's
chair.
"Attack, then? Uhhh...Albus, use the fire manastorm
missile #36...?"
"W-Wait! Don't use that! It's too powerful! You'll turn the
Leviathan Lord into unsalvageable scrap!"
"Not that one, Mother Yumina!"
...Just how absurd is this thing's power level?
While Yumina and Doc Babylon spoke, the Leviathan
Lord kept on rocking us with shockwaves. Fortunately(?) the
ship didn't really take much damage. Though, that didn't
mean it was good for us to just take a beating.
"Albus, fire manastorm missile #6."
"Understood."
I heard a small beeping noise, then I saw a missile come
through on the monitor. It zoomed toward the Leviathan
Lord at incredible speeds.
A flash sparkled across the monitor, lighting the display
up for a few moments. Once it had cleared, the feed
displayed live footage of what had once been the Leviathan
Lord. It was almost bisected, viscera and other giblets
spilling out from its inside into the sea.
"Oh, darn it. Seems even that one packed too much of a
punch..." Doc Babylon grumbled quietly to herself. The
missile found its mark a little too well, killing the Leviathan
Lord instantly. I knew regular Leviathans weren't exactly
built for defense, but I couldn't believe we'd just killed this
thing in one hit...
I sighed and collected the remains with my [Storage]
spell. I didn't want to dump it out in the hangar and have it
stink up the place, so I just kept it in stasis for later. I could
have the guild help me dismantle it later. Given the size of
the thing, though, I'd probably have to have them do it in a
field outside town. It'd take a lot of time, and they couldn't
afford to slack off or the carcass would start to go bad. I
couldn't help but feel sorry for the guild workers, since they
had a long day and night ahead of them...
"Well, that's enough combat data for one day. We'll head
back to Babylon, fine-tune it a little bit, and then we should
be able to begin our exploration in earnest."
"You mean like sending it out into the oceans to find the
Ark? Yumina can't sit in the ship all the time, you know...?"
"Don't be absurd. Just Albus is enough for probe
operation. We'll only need to contact you if we find
something, or if an emergency happens."
So Albus is gonna be in charge of the underwater search?
I guess he can work all day, every day, but it's gonna be a
hell of an effort scouring every single body of water in the
world...
"We'll also establish markers around the coastlines of our
allies. If any of the wicked devout decide to come out of the
water, we should be able to detect it. Be sure to brief the
world leaders on this at your next conference."
"Gotcha."
We'd delayed long enough, thereby letting the wicked
devout just do whatever the hell they wanted. It was time to
find them, crush them, and put an end to this annoying
game of cat and mouse.
◇ ◇ ◇
The search for the Ark was ongoing. It was a slow, but
sure, process. It wasn't an easy task, of course. Val Albus had
to scour all the bodies of water in the world, so I knew it
would take some time. We hadn't found our quarry, but we'd
found no shortage of wrecks and undersea treasures.
According to Doc Babylon, the ancient war against the
Phrase saw the use of magical weapons that transformed the
very landscape. Some of those weapons even sank entire
cities deep into the seabed, and we'd ended up coming
across some of those ruins. There was a similar situation on
the western continent, with ancient cities having been
leveled and sunk during the Great Gollem War.
We'd also found various spots where there was clear
evidence of mining operations having gone on. We could
only assume that it was the work of the wicked devout
digging up seabed resources. They were probably gathering
materials to make more of those one-eyed Gollems like the
one they'd used in their most recent attack. Even though the
Ark was Chrom Ranchesse's personal Gollem factory, they
still wouldn't have much in the way of mass production
capability...or so I hoped, at least.
In any case, I didn't think this would be a situation like
the Phrase invasion with tens of thousands of them coming
after us, but they could still attack us at any point and any
time, which was a scary thought.
We'd placed hidden markers to alert us of activity in all
the areas Val Albus had already surveyed, but that only
covered Belfast, Refreese, and some parts of Panaches.
Setting them up on the coastlines was deemed too
inefficient. Ideally, we wanted to know if they were on the
approach before any settlements were attacked, not during
the attack itself.
Still, there was no point in worrying about things beyond
my control.
"Wooow! Ed's so little! So cuuute!" Steph said, smiling
wide as she peeked in on Edward, Duke Ortlinde's heir, who
was napping in his crib. Much like Kuon, Steph referred to
her uncle rather casually.
"He he... Ed's getting some rest now, Steph. Come here,
would you?"
"Granny!"
Steph ran over and hugged Ellen, Sue's mother.
Sue smiled over at the two, but she couldn't help but
heave a small sigh.
"Steph's quite the spoiled child, isn't she?"
"Well, she is the youngest. It's just one of those things. I'm
sure there are plenty of people in the family who fawn over
her."
"Are you sure you're not the one who does that the most,
Touya?"
I ignored Sue's cutting clapback and took a sip of the
black tea in front of me. Duke Ortlinde had very good taste,
apparently. It was wonderful.
"Ellen! You're not the only person here! Come, Steph! I've
got some treats for you!"
"Thanks, Grampy!"
Duke Ortlinde normally had such a stoic and respectable
air about him, so seeing him all lovestruck by his
granddaughter was a rare sight indeed... In fact, I was pretty
sure I hadn't seen him act this doting before, not even with
Ed or Sue. Was this one of those things where it turned out
grandchildren are even more lovable than children?
Maybe I'll get like that when I have grandkids. Wait,
won't my girls be married and in their own relationships if
that happens? Unacceptable! Wait, no... I can still have
grandkids if Kuon finds a wife. That would be fine, I think.
But wait! Won't any of those grandchildren be one of Allis's
children too? Then the kid would be Ende's grandkid as
well...and if that happens, things'll get dicey, I bet... What if
the kid says "I like Grandpa Touya better than Grandpa
Ende!" or something?! It'd be an all-out war!
"...Are you okay, Touya? You've been making an awful lot
of weird faces..."
"Oh... Um, I'm fine. Just fine. Just thinking about the
future a little."
Sue narrowed her eyes slightly, and I realized I'd gotten a
bit too lost in my own fantasies.
Steph was sandwiched between Ellen and Duke Ortlinde,
chowing down on a tasty-looking cookie. They looked more
like parents with their child, rather than the grandparents
they actually were. Though that wasn't too surprising, given
that Steph and Sue weren't even ten years apart in age right
now.
"...Something's annoying me about this. Steph's my
daughter, not theirs..."
"Yeah, I get it. I sorta feel the same."
Sue wedged herself between Duke Ortlinde and Steph
before giving the latter a big hug.
"Oh my. Jealous, Sue?"
"This is not jealousy, mother. It is simply maternal love."
"Maternal love? I shall have to express my grandmaternal
love, then," Ellen stated as she cuddled up against Steph
from the opposite side as Sue. The sight made me feel a bit
jealous. I wanted to hug her too.
Duke Ortlinde, who'd been kicked off the couch by Sue,
walked over to me as I pouted.
"My, I really never thought I'd meet my grandchild so
soon. She's so much like her mother. So well behaved."
"Right? Isn't she? That's my girl. She's perfect in every
way."
"I never would've thought you'd be such a proud and
doting father, Touya."
Huh? I was just stating a fact!
"Incidentally, how long will Steph be sojourning with us?"
"...A while longer, I think? She won't suddenly vanish or
anything, if that's what you're worried about."
Duke Ortlinde looked a little relieved to hear that.
We couldn't return my kids to the future until the wicked
devout had been dealt with. There was a chance their
interference could cause a ripple effect on the future, and it'd
prevent the kids from getting back to the one they'd come
from. Granny Tokie said there was a very low chance of this
actually happening, but I didn't want to run the risk.
With newfound determination, I said goodbye to the
Ortlindes and returned to Brunhild. I then walked down the
castle hall where I bumped into Allis, who was dragging
Kuon by the hand.
"Oh, father. Nice to see you. Mother Sue, Steph. Welcome
home."
"Good to be home. You two going somewhere?"
"Kuon's been in his room all day, so we're gonna go play!"
"But I need to finish my dioramas..." Kuon grumbled
quietly. Even though he'd been commissioned to make
dioramas for various foreign leaders, it wasn't like he had
any hard deadlines. I didn't think he needed to focus on it
that hard or anything.
To be honest, I was with Allis on this one. It wasn't good
for him to remain cooped up in his room all the time. A little
sun would do him some good.
"Me too! Me too! I wanna plaaay! Mommy, can I play?"
"Of course. But don't bother Kuon or Allis, okay? And
come back by sundown!"
"Yaaay!"
Steph bolted down the hallway after Kuon and Allis. I
could only hope she wouldn't cause any collateral damage in
the castle town...
"Kougyoku, could you?"
"Of course, my liege," replied Kougyoku, who'd been
perched on a nearby windowsill, before flying off into the
sky.
It was better to be safe than sorry. I didn't think Steph or
the others were even capable of endangering themselves, but
it was best to keep a watchful eye.
"You're overprotective."
"Am not. Just pragmatic."
Sue didn't seem to mind letting her daughter wander free.
That didn't mean she was completely lax, though. She knew
when to parent as necessary. If I had to guess, Steph's naive
and curious personality, along with her rambunctious and
energetic attitude, was probably from Sue's influence on her.
I started to think more about that when the smartphone
in my pocket went off. It was Doc Babylon.
"Hey, 'sup? Found the Ark?"
"Afraid not. But they're making a move."
...A move? With their one-eyed Gollems?
"Some of our detectors in the waters south of Panaches
recorded movement. There's a group headed toward land
over there as we speak."
"How many?"
"If you include the small fry, about two thousand
detections. The vast majority of the group is made up of
those fish people and those four-armed Gollems. As for the
giant one-eyes? About twenty."
Twenty? Reginleif should be more than enough to take
care of those. I'll stop them out at sea before the first Gollem
makes landfall.
"You want to take Reginleif? That's a no-go."
"What, why?"
"Don't you remember? We're running refurbishments on
it right now. You know, the waterproofing? It's not in an
operable state."
Hmm... It's good that we're getting the waterproofing
done, but the timing's pretty bad. Fine, I guess I can just
take a regular Night Baron...
"Want me to send Val Albus your way?"
"...Nah. I think the longer we keep Val Albus a secret, the
better. We don't want them catching on to the fact we've got
a way to find the Ark."
If they knew about Val Albus, they could start hatching
some plan to counter it. It was always best to keep one's
trump card stashed away.
I ended the call and quickly contacted the King of
Panaches. He said he'd send troops to assist, so I told him to
gather them outside his castle's gates. Then, it'd just be a
matter of taking them with me through a portal.
"Touya! Take me too! If we're defending someplace, then
Ortlinde's perfect!" Sue suddenly butted in, having
overheard my conversation.
Ortlinde Overlord specialized in defensive warfare... We
could use it as a bulwark to keep the giant Gollems from
coming in close, which would allow the soldiers of Panaches
to fight the Fishmen.
I was just planning on going on my own, but it wouldn't
be a bad idea to have Sue ready and waiting in case some of
them got past me. As I'd said earlier, better safe than sorry.
I nodded my head before warping Sue and I to Babylon's
hangar.
◇ ◇ ◇
A large group advanced through the dark of the ocean
floor. The group was a mismatched assortment of half-fish
creatures, mechanical marionettes, giants of stone, and
enormous Kyklops Gollems. And yet, there was one that
stood out among this patchwork band more than any other.
A large Kyklops that gleamed metallic purple.
Given that it was at the very front of the charge, one could
only assume it was the commander. It was slightly larger
than the muddy-gold Kyklops that walked behind it. The one
piloting it was one of the wicked devout, one who kept his
purple spear close at hand. His name was Orchid. The
muddy-gold Kyklops were piloted by Gollems that had been
infused with the wicked god's divinity. They'd all been
programmed to follow Orchid's orders to the letter. Soldat
Gollems had group control systems as their default, but
there were many drawbacks to commanding too many at
once. This problem was remedied by Scarlet, another of the
wicked devout, who had found a way to increase the total
number of Gollems one individual could command.
Now Orchid was leading a group toward the town of
Kwapp, a port town in the Kingdom of Panaches. He aimed
to destroy the place. In doing so, he'd spread the wicked
god's curse and fester it deeper within the hearts of man.
Orchid chose to do this all on his own, but his comrades
had effectively given silent consent. They all knew that
Orchid was brimming with destructive urges. That if he
didn't have a way to vent them every now and then, he could
wind up damaging or even destroying the Ark. All members
of the wicked devout were mentally deranged in some
manner, big or small. Excessive curiosity, abnormal
brutality, fanatical piety... These were only a few of the
symptoms exhibited by their number. To suppress such
urges would be tantamount to denying themselves.
Orchid's destructive impulses were his guiding light. He
took simple, unbridled pleasure in breaking things or killing
others. That was why Orchid marched toward Kwapp. For
personal satisfaction.
"Let's trash 'em in one go, eh?"
As Orchid's Kyklops rose from the waves to descend upon
the harbor, he suddenly spotted something unfamiliar. It
was an enormous golden Gollem, some ten meters taller
than the Kyklops he piloted. And, strangely enough, it was
making a punching motion in Orchid's general direction.
Orchid suddenly sensed danger, hitting a control that
made his Gollem duck back down below the waves again.
"Cannon Knuckle Spiral!"
The massive golden Gollem, Ortlinde Overlord, sent its
right arm firing off and rotating in a high-speed rocket
punch. It fired at the purple Gollem, but just barely missed
as its target sank below the ocean water once again. The
rocket punch instead smashed into a regular Kyklops that
stood behind where Orchid had been. The Kyklops fell
backward and sank as the flying fist whizzed back in an arc
and docked with Ortlinde's arm again.
Orchid brought his Kyklops to a standing position again.
"What is this? A Gollem soldier from Brunhild? And some
strange others too..."
Orchid used his Kyklops camera to zoom in on the image
of the harbor. There, he saw multiple black mechs by the
giant golden one, as well as an odd-looking, deer-shaped
machine. He couldn't understand how, but he'd walked
straight into an ambush.
"I don't get it...but this is pretty nice. Oh man, this is real
interesting."
Orchid didn't seem to care about his disadvantage. A
smile crept across his face. He was only thinking about one
thing. It was fun enough trashing weak enemies, sure...but
how fun would it be to trash one of Brunhild's brilliant
creations?
"Wisteria, it's time."
The moment Orchid spoke, a gleaming purple spear
appeared in the hands of his Kyklops. Wisteria was his
wicked treasure, a corrupted instrument of the divine with
the wicked god's malediction buried deep inside. Changing
its size was trivial.
Orchid roared gleefully as his Kyklops twirled the spear,
pointing its tip straight at the shoreline.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Mmm... I missed the purple one..." Sue's frustrated voice
leaked out of the Ortlinde Overlord's cockpit.
I looked over at the metallic purple Gollem from within
my own Night Baron's cockpit.
How'd that thing duck the cannon knuckle? That must've
taken some serious precision. I wonder if it's down to the
mech or the pilot... Given that it's a different color from the
rest, it's either the commander's or a special one. Or well, at
least that's what my gut tells me.
The metallic purple, or just purple for simplicity's sake,
Gollem suddenly held up a weird-looking spear and pointed
it at us. There was something off about the spear. I could
sense a strange feeling of unease immediately.
"I'll deal with the purple one. Sue, focus on defense.
Panaches's soldiers can go on the offensive," I ordered,
opening my comms to tell everyone what to do. The other
Night Barons were piloted by soldiers from Panaches. There
were about fifty of them in total, though mine was the only
one equipped with my remote-controlled fragarachs.
"Leave it to us! Behold the power of Panaches!" Prince
Robert of Panaches, a.k.a. the pumpkin-pants prince,
exclaimed as he stepped forward in his Deer Blau Over Gear.
On the ground, regular Panaches foot soldiers stood ready.
They had the dock secured against the advancing Fishmen
and Rock Giants.
"Charge!"
We began our counterattack, not wanting to lose pace
with the invaders. Two of the four fragarachs on my Frame
Gear's back detached, turning into twinblades that I grasped
in both hands.
The purple Gollem ahead of me came charging in with its
spear. I slashed, but he ducked and came in with a spear
thrust. It was so fast that I could hardly react, but I just
barely managed to step back in time. He followed up the
attack with a sweep, and I ducked sideways.
"He's fast..."
I'd heard it was more important for spear wielders to
learn how to draw back their spears rather than thrust them.
By pulling back fast, you could easily chain attacks into
combos and match pace with your enemy. In that regard, it
was kind of similar to boxing or martial arts, but I was too
much of an amateur to really grasp the nuance. All I really
understood was that it'd be dangerous to get too close to this
guy.
I had to avoid his spear as it came out and use my swords
to parry them. Given that we were fighting mech-knee-deep
in ocean water, I was at a bit of a disadvantage when it came
to fancy footwork.
"Heh, pretty good! You're the first one who's ever dodged
my Wisteria this much!"
A voice rang out from the Gollem in front of me. It was
the voice of a young man.
...There's a human in there? No, I guess it must be one of
the wicked devout. Can't really call them human, can I?
I turned on my Night Baron's external speakers.
"Are you a follower of the wicked god?"
"Guess you could say that. But that's not really important
right now. I'm about to kill ya, anyway."
The purple Gollem kept on thrusting its spear my way. It
moved so fast that it felt like several spears were coming at
me at the same time. I moved backward to maintain distance
between us.
"Ha ha ha! I don't think so! Run him through, Wisteria!"
Lightning began to build up and lash from the tip of the
spear.
Wait, wait. You shouldn't put electricity near water, you
moron!
"[Absorb]!"
I used my absorption magic to dissipate the lightning and
draw it in. It spread out like a mist and evaporated.
That was a close call... If the lightning had hit anywhere,
it would've spread and caused damage I couldn't control.
I needed to take care of this guy before he had a chance to
do anything dangerous.
"Fragarachs!"
The two inert sword pieces on my back came to life and
floated in the air behind me. At the same time, I let go of one
of the fragarach blades in my hands. It floated as well.
"Go!"
The three blades whizzed through the air like missiles,
seeking out their target. The purple Gollem tried its best to
bat them down with its spear, but one of them got through
and sank deep into the machine's shoulder.
My enemy's movement stalled. I saw my chance and
wasted no more time, closing the distance in an instant and
sending my sword smashing into the Gollem's side.
The purple Gollem shuddered, then fell still. Had I really
beaten it so easily?
"Gimme a break... It stops working just when things start
getting interesting? I've gotta get Scarlet to make me
something sturdier next time."
The purple Gollem's chest hatch popped open, revealing
the man inside. His hair was gray, he wore an iron mask
over the lower half of his face, and a tattered, bluish-purple
cape sat on his shoulders. He looked a little bit older than
me... Was this guy really one of the wicked devout?
"Name's Orchid. This here's Wisteria."
In the blink of an eye, the spear in the Gollem's hand
vanished. A smaller, identical spear appeared in Orchid's
hands. What was up with that?
"Gollem fights are fine, sure...but how about we go toe to
toe with our real bodies? That sounds way more
interesting..."
"Sorry, I'm afraid that won't be happening."
A puddle of what looked to be water suddenly spread out
across the Gollem's open chest hatch, and a man wearing
something resembling a full diving suit emerged from it.
Hmm... Isn't that the same phenomenon I saw when I
faced the Gigantes in Gandhilis? He made off with those
machine parts back then.
"Hey, Indigo. You can't just get in my way."
"I can and will get in your way. Look around you, fool."
"Hm?"
The words spoken by the man in the diving suit prompted
me to check my monitor. I saw that around half of the oneeyed Gollems had been trashed by the Night Barons. We had
Prince Robert's Over Gear and more than twice their
numbers, though, so that much was to be expected.
"There's no point in continuing to fight. Our Kyklops are
losing. Let us away."
Kyklops? Is that what those things are called?
"Tch. Maaan... Fine, fine. I did have a little fun, so it ain't
a total wash. I dunno who you are, asshole! But next time I
see ya, I'm gonna—" Orchid brandished his spear toward me
as he spoke, but his words were cut off as Indigo dragged
him into a puddle. They vanished in an instant. It was
definitely the same teleportation magic they'd used in
Gandhilis. I needed to do something about this Indigo guy,
or any of my future encounters with the wicked devout could
just turn into a wild goose chase. The best I could think up
on the spot was putting down wards to counteract his magic
or beating him before he could use whatever ability it was...
As I pondered the matter, I checked my monitor
again...and realized all the remaining Kyklops Gollems had
been defeated. They'd gotten away again, but we were able to
defend the town without any civilian casualties. I could be
happy about that, at least.
◇ ◇ ◇
"They're certainly trying, but it's no match for my Frame
Gears," Doc Babylon spoke pridefully as she finished up her
analysis of the Kyklops wreckage.
Given that our side had suffered basically no harm while
their side had been totally trashed, even I could've said as
much. Well, it wasn't that we'd come to no harm. Some of
the Chevaliers we'd called in for support were a bit bashed
up. But even including that, it was a total victory for our
side.
"One of them called these things a Kyklops."
"Kyklops? Oh, like Cyclops. Cute. It's what they used to
call the Cyclops back during my era. Kind of an uninspired
naming sense, if you ask me."
...Pot calling the kettle black, much? Frame Gear isn't
exactly the most imaginative name.
"It's quite an ambitious construction, I must admit. The
magic engraving here is extremely competent. Without that,
the movement would be dulled by a factor of one or two."
"It's also completely waterproofed. I never even thought
of using slime membrane to achieve this kind of effect. In
fact, the extra viscosity of the coating gives it superior
underwater movement."
Elluka and the professor were both a bit more enthused
about the wreckage, prompting Doc Babylon to mutter
something or other about it not being all that bad.
I suddenly remembered that I needed to ask her
something.
"Is there a way to stop teleportation magic? Or
like...prevent it from starting?"
"Hmm? Why not just put up some wards?"
"Don't wards just stop people from warping to us? I'm
talking about preventing someone from escaping a certain
area..."
"Oh, you mean the wicked devout. I think it's a bit naive
to consider whatever they're using to be magic, don't you
think? Your [Gate] can bypass wards, after all."
Oh yeah, that's a good point. Their abilities are probably
infused with divinity, huh...? Hell, I can use my own
divinity to travel literally anywhere I want.
"I guess your only solution is finishing him off before he
warps?"
"Hmm... I think it only takes him a second or two to
activate it, though..."
If it was anything less than instant death, he could
probably get away. This was a bit tricky... Even if I put a
tracker on him or something, it'd probably go dead if he
teleported back to the Ark.
"Well, there's recorded footage of the phenomenon on the
Night Baron you piloted. I'll check it later, maybe work
something out."
"Thanks. Sorry for the extra work."
I was hoping Doc Babylon would be able to figure
something out, so I decided to leave that to her in the
meantime. There was another place I could go to for advice,
after all...
◇ ◇ ◇
"Stopping someone from warping away, huh? You might
be able to use [Prison] infused with divinity..."
I'd brought my question out to the castle terrace,
questioning Karen and Moroha, who were sipping tea
together there.
"I thought about that too, but wouldn't the guy be able to
use his own divinity to break out?"
"Silly! A fraudulent wicked god's follower wouldn't have
nearly the degree of divinity as you, you know? You're a
dependent of God Almighty!"
"Indeed. It'd be like a praying mantis going up against an
orichalcum shield..." Moroha smirked as she followed up on
Karen's response.
Oh...that actually makes sense.
"But you have to remember, you know? Using your
divinity against denizens of the mortal realm is against the
rules. Now that you're well and truly one of us, you can't use
your power as a god."
Crap. I guess I'm screwed, then. If I don't use my
divinity, he'll just break out of my [Prison].
How come they could use the wicked god's divinity down
here while I couldn't use my regular divinity, anyway? That
hardly seemed fair. Police were allowed to run red lights if
they were in pursuit of a suspect, right? Couldn't we just
treat this situation like a car chase and bend the rules a
little?
"Wait...I've used my divinity to enhance my [Search]
before..."
"That's fine. The specific rule is that you can't use your
divinity to exert influence upon the mortal world. If you're
just using it for little stuff, that's basically fine. Defeating
those wicked whatevers would be pretty easy with your
divinity, but it'd affect the world too much, so you're not
allowed."
...So I've gotta beat them on mortal terms, huh? It's not
like I can't, it's just kind of a pain in the ass...
"What if I weakened them using my divinity, then had
some regular people deal the final blow?"
"I guess we could overlook a couple of divine hits, but if
you do ninety-nine percent of the work, it'd be basically the
same as you defeating them, don't you think?"
Guess that's true... It'd be like a parent showing up to a
dispute between two kids, beating the crap out of one of the
kids, then letting their kid throw the last punch. If they tried
telling anyone that their kid was some kind of badass for
that, nobody would believe them.
"I suppose we could use a loophole, you know...?" Karen,
who'd been quiet for a short time, spoke up again.
"Hm? What kind?"
"We could have someone from the mortal realm wield a
divine weapon capable of preventing any kind of
transportation magic, you know?"
"Wait, there are weapons that can seal stuff like that?"
"I think so. There's probably something like that in the
divine realm treasury...but there are conditions to keep in
mind that make this something of an unideal solution."
Moroha hummed to herself and crossed her arms. She
seemed to agree that it was a possibility, though.
Conditions? Like what? They won't lend it to me from the
treasury or something?
"No, I think they'd be happy to let you take things from
the treasury. The problem is that the treasury itself is a large,
unorganized vault filled with all manner of sacred treasures
that gods either made for fun or completed as their
masterworks. There's so much stuff in there that it would
take a very long time to track down just one item. God
Almighty is supposed to be in charge of maintaining order in
there, but he's not exactly the most organized..."
"So how long would it take to find what I need?"
"At least a thousand years, I think."
"A thousand?!"
How much crap is in there?! I can't wait a whole damn
millennia for it!
"It's officially named a treasury, but...well...it's more of a
junkyard, you know? We use it to throw out stuff we don't
need anymore. Most gods keep the stuff they need to
themselves."
In other words, it was just like my [Storage]. A
convenient space for all manner of junk to get thrown out of
sight and mind... Yeah... That tracked.
I definitely didn't have the time to waste trawling through
a place like that. But wait, couldn't I use [Search] to find it?
"Since the treasury is a repository for sacred treasures we
wanted sealed, any kind of tracing magic is nullified inside
it."
"Dammit!"
Guess that makes sense, though... Doesn't matter if it's
the divine realm or a mortal world, sacred treasures are a
big deal. You'd want them sealed away with the utmost
security.
"So I've just gotta be the early bird and get the worm
before it teleports away, I guess..."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. As they say, if they have
no sacred treasure, let them craft one!"
...Huh? I dunno why, but Moroha's words sound close to
Marie Antoinette's famous line there... Actually, wait...
Marie Antoinette wasn't even the original person who said
"Let them eat cake," right?
"Touya, you're a god. You can make a sacred treasure of
your own. You can't use it to defeat the wicked god's
followers yourself, though."
"You'll also have to keep a close eye on whatever it is you
create, lest it become a vessel for more wicked divinity after
being abandoned for too long."
"...Wait...me? Make a sacred treasure?"
I had no idea that was even an option. That'd definitely be
a huge help.
"Touya, why are you acting so surprised? You made use of
that very ability to defeat the wicked god."
"Wait! That's right, I did!"
"That wasn't exactly normal, though. It was a hastily
formed disposable divine tool. It's not really something
regular humans could use either. When crafting a sacred
treasure, you have to think more general, something mortals
can easily make use of."
More general, huh? I don't even know where I'd begin
making something like this, though... Hell, during my battle
with the wicked god, I was so caught up in the moment that
I didn't stop to think about what I was doing...
"I think it'd be better if you were educated properly on the
creation of a sacred treasure. Karen and I aren't gods in the
production sphere, though. We'd surely be bad teachers."
Production? So like...Uncle Kousuke, the god of
agriculture? Surely not Suika... She'd be too drunk.
"Allow me to rephrase. You'll need to learn from a god in
the manufacturing sphere."
Manufacturing? So a god that makes stuff? Do I even
know any gods like that? Should I just ask God Almighty?
"You know one. Lots of gods came down for your
wedding, you know? Including one perfect for what you
need."
"Uhhh... Oh! The god of crafting?"
"Bingo."
This world was ultimately going to become a resort for the
gods, so ten gods had come down in advance to sample the
place before it opened fully. The goddess of dance, the god of
strength, the god of crafting, the god of glasses, the god of
theater, the god of puppetry, the god of wandering, the
goddess of flowers, and the goddess of gemstones. There was
Granny Tokie as well, the goddess of space-time.
If I remembered right, the god of crafting took the form of
a man in his forties with streaked-gray hair and a mustache.
He wore Japanese-style clothing that resembled a samue, a
monk's working clothes. Basically, he fit the image of a
traditional craftsman.
"You could also speak with the god of glasses or the god of
puppetry, but the two of them are...eccentric," Karen
muttered slightly as she gazed off into the distance. I had to
agree. The god of glasses was a little too into spectacles for
my tastes, and the way the god of puppetry spoke via
ventriloquism freaked me out. Compared to those, the god of
crafting was probably the most normal.
"So he'd be able to teach me how to make a sacred
treasure?"
"Not overnight, but he'd certainly be able to teach you in a
shorter time frame than it'd take to rummage through the
treasury."
...Okay, sure, it won't take a thousand years, but is it
gonna take a hundred? Wait, can't I just ask him to make
me the exact kind of sacred treasure I need?
"If he made it for you, he'd be responsible for keeping an
eye on it. It's not right to put that responsibility on someone
else's shoulders, you know?"
"He could probably just toss it in the treasury once you're
done with it, to be fair...but this is a good chance for you to
learn, so you should take it."
My sisters had a fair point. I didn't want to just be
irresponsible and have others take care of my problems for
me. This was a good opportunity. Apparently, responsibility
for sacred treasures could be transferred between gods, but
even with that in mind, I needed to make this one by myself.
"Okay, so we've determined he can help me. Where would
I find him, though?"
"Huh? Can't you just use [Search] for that?"
"Oh...right."
Duh! I've met the guy before, so I can just look him up.
That was a pretty stupid question.
I turned away from Karen, who was staring at me like I
was a moron, and looked over my phone's map for the god of
crafting.
"Hmmm... Oh? He's in Mismede's capital. Guess he didn't
stray too far from Brunhild."
The god of crafting was clearly in Berge, Capital of Beasts.
He wasn't in the central metropolitan area, but he was
definitely in Berge.
"Makes sense. There's plenty of good quality ore, lumber,
soil, and so on in Mismede. It's the logical place for a
natural-born craftsman to settle."
Makes sense. The sea of trees is nearby too, so that gives
him easy access to wood... Probably high-quality wood to
boot. Thank the gods for the gods. I've got a way to deal
with this!
I could use [Gate] to get to him since I'd been to Berge
multiple times in the past.
"Then Ih'm coming witsch ya!"
"Gaaah! Don't just appear outta nowhere!"
Suika suddenly teleported in front of me, scaring me half
to death.
What the hell was that for?! I'm getting real tired of you
people doing that!
"...Why do you wanna go with me?"
"I wanna try sumh Mishmede booze... And get, hic!
Getsch me a new sake bottle and sake cup fromh the god of
crafting..."
Can he make those? I guess they're traditionally made of
ceramics, so they count as crafting work...
He was surely an incredibly skilled craftsman, but part of
me pictured him creating those things for Suika only for her
to smash them while cackling in a drunken stupor...
"Well, whatever. Let's go see him."
I opened up a portal to Berge and stepped on through. As
I passed through to the back alley, the strong glare from the
sunlight caught my eyes.
"Man, it's hot..."
Mismede's climate was far hotter than Brunhild's. It
wasn't nearly as humid as Japan, though. It was a kind of
dry, more bearable heat.
We started walking through the bustling streets.
Mismede's palace, which resembled the Taj Mahal, loomed
over the cityscape in the distance. Mismede's population was
mostly made up of beastfolk, and many different kinds
passed by us as we walked. These streets would become even
busier after the train lines reached the city.
"Let'sch start at the booze stooore..."
"Hey, no way. Why would we?!"
Suika started to merrily skip down the path ahead of me.
Wasn't our priority the god of crafting? Suika swiveled
around and smiled wide before letting out a happy sigh. She
was kinda pissing me off.
"You don't get it, Touyaaa... D'ya think he'll jusht teach'ya
if you barge in withouht a lihttle gift?"
Ugh... I hate to admit it, but she's got a point.
It'd have been rude of me to go to the god of crafting
seeking his assistance with nothing to offer. I should've
prepared a selection of cakes or something.
"Thaaaht's whyyy...we'll give him a lihttle booze frum
Mishmede, and shum booze from Earth that I know you
keep hiding in your, hic! In your [Schtorage]. He likes a
good drinky, so he'll 'ppreshiate it."
You're just looking for an excuse to drink, aren't you? My
grandpa's secret booze stash is limited, you know? I put it
in my [Storage] for a reason... I guess one bottle can't
hurt, though.
She might've been annoying as hell, but she was still the
goddess of alcohol. She had the best intuition when it came
to finding good booze. It was just about her only talent, so I
could afford to let her help this once.
"...You mahkin' fun of me in your head?"
"Of course not."
I ignored Suika's surprisingly sharp senses before
entering a nearby liquor store with her. There were all
manner of drinks lining the walls. The kind of selection
you'd come to expect from a store in a capital city.
Oh, interesting... There are different specialties by
different species. I wonder how the honey wine from the
bear beastfolk tastes... Won't this do?
"Lemme handle this. All you gotta do is, hic, foot the bill!"
Suika said as she toddled off to check more of the goods.
I don't exactly like being her walking wallet, but I have to
defer to her superior taste in alcohol. I might be married,
but I'm still a minor. How am I supposed to develop a taste
for booze?
In this world I was already classified as an adult, but I'd
promised myself that I wouldn't take up drinking until I at
least turned twenty. That being said, I had already had a few
drinks by this point... My wives had drunk their fair share
with me, after all...
After a while, Suika came back and lined up various
bottles on the counter. I shrugged and paid for them all.
Over half of her purchases were for her personal collection,
apparently. I even noticed that she'd bought the honey wine
I'd been eyeing up.
"Thank youuu!"
We left the store, and a very happy shopkeeper, behind us.
"Okay, time to go find the god of crafting..."
"Time for bar snacks!"
"C'mon..."
I stopped Suika from running off to another store. I had
plenty of snacks in my [Storage], so we didn't need to go
shopping.
She sulked, but tagged along behind me as I headed to a
house on the outskirts of the capital. It was a single-floor
home, built slightly elevated and next to a large tree. A man
was sitting out on the front porch, whittling at a piece of
wood with a small knife.
"Here you are, eh?"
"God of crafting! It'sch been too long!"
The god of crafting smiled as he saw Suika run over to
him. Apparently, he'd been expecting me. If I had to guess,
he'd probably sensed my [Search] spell.
"Nice to see you again, crafting god."
"They call me Kraft down here. You're welcome to do the
same, new god."
"Then you can call me Touya."
"Sure thing, Touya."
Even as we spoke, his hand never stopped whittling away
at the wood. Before my very eyes, the rough and raw
material took the form of a little bear with a salmon in its
mouth.
Wait, I've seen something like that at my grandpa's
before.
"What is it?"
"Just a little side fun. Should be worth a tidy sum."
The god of crafting, Kraft, tossed the little figurine my
way. I was shocked by how realistic it looked... The surface
was astonishingly smooth, even though it had only been
whittled with a knife. Just how had he gotten it to this state?
I couldn't wrap my head around it.
"Well, come on in. I take it you need something?"
Kraft's home was filled with all kinds of objects. He had a
potter's wheel for ceramics, a carving chisel, one of those
tubes people used for glasswork, and tons of other things
related to crafting. He even had a weaver's loom in the
corner. Just how many different kinds of crafts was this man
capable of creating?
We set out the alcohol we'd brought as a gift, then
explained what I needed.
"I see... A sacred treasure, eh? I'd be glad to teach you.
Hell, you're one of God Almighty's favored, so it's not like
it'll take you long to pick up. Might take a month or two,
though. Maybe three."
Ho ho ho... Finally, an answer for the time frame.
But...up to three months? That's kind of a long time.
"Normally, it'd take a hundred years or so for a total
newbie to figure it out. If you keep that in mind, I think
you'll find a couple of months is no time at all."
A hundred?! Okay, you're kinda selling it better...
I was basically a brand-new god, so in terms of status, I
was still a small fry. But apparently in terms of divinity, I
was actually on the same level as a tenured senior among the
gods. That was all thanks to the fact that I had God
Almighty's blessing.
One's divinity was a major factor in determining sacred
treasure creation, so my extra divinity lessened the time
severely. It kind of felt like I was cheating, to be honest...but
I decided not to dwell on that.
"So, there are a few restrictions. You can't make a sacred
treasure that's stronger than you. You can't give a sacred
treasure an ability you don't have either. In short, a sacred
treasure is an extension of you. It's just a tool that lets
humans use godlike power."
Huh, really...? I thought I might be able to make a sacred
treasure that tracked down the wicked devout, but I guess I
can't do that. Even if I could make something like that, it'd
only be able to search about as well as I can... Massproducing that kind of thing is definitely off the table.
"Now I'll explain the next bit."
"Thanks."
Kraft popped open a bottle of booze and began to slowly
pour it into a glass. I could only assume he'd crafted it
himself. Suika needily waggled her empty cup, prompting
him to pour some into hers as well.
...She really just came here to drink, huh?
"So, the first thing your sacred treasure needs is a vessel."
"A vessel?"
"Something you pour your divinity into. Could be a sword,
a ring, or a vase. Anything like that can be used as a base
vessel."
Okay, something to pour my divinity into... Noted.
"You've gotta pick the vessel while keeping the kind of
ability you wanna give it in mind. If the ability you want it to
have is, let's say...super sharpness, then it makes sense to
infuse that into a sword, right? Conversely, you wouldn't
wanna infuse that into a wooden bear statuette."
"Uh-huh..."
...A super sharp wooden bear statuette? Would it shred
your hands to bits if you picked it up?
"So if a wooden bear was the vessel, would an ability like,
uh...warding be better?"
"That's right. That fits much better. So in your case, you
need to find a suitable vessel for whatever can prevent
teleportation magic and whatnot. You could do that with a
wooden bear statuette as your vessel, but it wouldn't be
ideal."
Yeah, it doesn't have to be that one specifically. It could
be any other kind of object. If I had to use a statuette, I'd
prefer a carving of a cute girl over a bear, anyway.
"You also need to consider whether the effect you want is
actually based around stopping teleportation magic. If you
ask me, it's not likely that this fella's actually using magic. If
you go to all the trouble of making a sacred treasure, but it's
ineffective... Well, that's just a useless item."
That's true. Like Doc Babylon said, it's probably more a
result of the wicked god's power than magic.
Simply trapping the enemy would be enough, so perhaps
infusing it with the ability to deploy a divinity-charged
[Prison] was what I needed... After all, it wouldn't be me
wielding the sacred treasure, so I wouldn't be breaking any
rules. Clearly, I had a lot to think about.