"On this planet Raiden, there's something more terrifying than bandit gangs roaming the wilderness: giant beasts. These creatures can walk on four legs or two, but they're massive, towering over 10 meters tall and weighing more than 50 tons—like prehistoric reptiles. Both herbivores and carnivores exist, but they're all equally fierce.
Moreover, the surface of Raiden is dotted with various metal deposits, so these creatures have a large amount of metallic elements in their bodies. This is true for all life on Raiden, but the giant beasts absorb ten thousand times more than other living beings. They accumulate these metals especially in their skin, tusks, and horns. While normal beasts might be deterred by bullets, I've heard that you need armor-piercing rounds designed for tanks to take down a giant beast.
'It's not a giant beast. It looks like a land vessel approaching at about 20 kilometers per hour. The closest it will get is 500 meters, which will be in one hour and twenty minutes.'
If it were a bandit gang, they would approach faster and head straight here. Are they trying to lull us into a false sense of security?
'We've detected reflected neutrons. The approaching land vessel seems to be conducting mineral exploration. I suspect it's a mining ship from the Knight's Order.'
The Knight's Order, in simple terms, is a group of armed miners. Since we're still north of 40 degrees latitude, it's likely not a major faction. The land vessel should be carrying both mining beasts and defense fighters.
They're likely moving forward while bombarding the ground with strong neutron rays and analyzing the spectrum of the scattered neutrons that bounce off the minerals. They seem to be in the midst of searching for metal nodules rich in rare metals, which are called manganese nodules.
I've helped repair a landship for a minor knight's order at the yard once, so I do know a little about them.
I'm hiding in a small mixed forest, but since Alice is colored red and white... she stands out quite a bit in the wasteland.
While I was inside Alice's cockpit, looking at an enlarged image of the landship on a virtual screen, wondering what to do next, a message came through the general communication line from the approaching landship. It was surprisingly casual: "Wanna hitch a ride?"
"What should we do?"
"Given its size, it seems to belong to a mid-level knight's order. They won't do anything to ruin their reputation. Besides, we're in a tight spot as it is, so let's take the ride. There's no place to leave Alice if we return to the capital's yard, and who knows who might show up."
"Like hiding a tree in a forest... Understood."
Alice sent back a message saying, "Riding along!" which is pretty much the same thing.
Soon, the landship, displayed on the panoramic screen, slowly changed course and headed our way.
The gentle course changes are likely due to the barges being loaded with a lot of ore. Towing several 300-ton barges would make sudden movements impossible.
"I intercepted their internal communications. They seem to be on alert, but the alert level is low. It looks like one fighter pilot has appeared and they've been given standby orders."
"Probably trying to play it safe. The guns on their craft aren't pointed at us. If we're lucky, they might even let us on board."
Small knight orders don't have fighters, and larger ones wouldn't send just one landship. The landship heading our way appears to be a mid-sized one, possibly converted from a medium transport ship. This suggests it's probably a medium-sized knight order, carrying over a hundred knights. I wonder what kind of group they are.
"Voice communication is coming in."
As soon as Alice finished speaking, voice communication came through the speakers. I tried to find where the speaker was in the cockpit but couldn't spot it.
"This is the Viola Knight Order, registered with the Kingdom of Wellington. We've confirmed your fighter. Please provide the name of your knight order and the knight's name. We will escort you back to your order."
They seem to think we're a damaged fighter belonging to another knight order.
The fighter was created by the people from the past immigration ships, and its technology reportedly surpassed that of today. Unfortunately, I've heard that we can't reproduce the fighter's manufacturing process with our current scientific knowledge. As I recall, Grandpa once mentioned that the technology possessed by the immigration fleet that returned after 5,000 years had likely regressed significantly due to a major war on their home planet.
The fighters occasionally unearthed by the knights are incredibly rare. Since the fighters resemble ancient metal armor, the pilots are called knights.
It seems the miners who operate these fighters became known as the Knight Corps because they ride these precious fighters in their landships.
Would they really abandon a knight and their fighter in the wasteland just because it malfunctioned? It sounds pretty suspicious, but considering the saying "Knights must be honest," they probably prioritized protection first.
"The communication line with the Knight Corps is secured. You can speak directly to them now."
I thought a virtual screen would open and show the person I was talking to, but there was no change at all.
"Understood. My name is Rio Schreiding. I don't belong to any knight corps. I managed to survive a pirate attack but can't return to the capital."
"How damaged is your fighter?"
"There's no damage."
"We'll send someone to pick up your fighter. Rest assured, we are not armed."
The landship slowly came to a stop, about a kilometer away from us. By showing its side to us, it seems to be signaling that it has no hostile intentions. This Knight Corps leader must have some serious guts.
As the fighter ascends onto the front deck of the landship, it waves at us with one hand. It definitely isn't carrying any weapons. I think it's best to go along with this for now.
"Alice, let's move," I say.
"Acknowledged. In case of an emergency, I'll prioritize your rescue, Master," Alice responds.
Does that mean you can operate without me in the cockpit? If so, why did I even need to come all this way?
"If I went to the capital alone, it might cause a commotion," Alice explains.
"True… So, can you read my thoughts?"
"To some extent, yes. I read and control based on Master's thoughts."
I see. There's probably more to it, but that'll do for now.
Standing up from the forest, I raise both hands to show the knights and the fighter standing on the landship's front deck that I'm unarmed. Walking slowly out of the forest, I guide Alice toward the landship.
"So, this isn't because of a malfunction or running out of fuel, right?"
"It's been quite a journey. Should we keep going like this?"
"Just keep moving forward. Alec, the knight in the fighter, will give you instructions; just follow them."
To acknowledge the communication with the landship, Alice lifts one arm slightly.
This landship is massive. The knight squadron that came to the yard where I used to work was small-scale. They didn't have fighters and only had one squad of mechanical beasts. Even then, their landship seemed big, but this one looks nearly three times larger. Could it be over 10,000 tons?
"Rio... was it? Can you jump from there to here?"
"Do I just need to jump there?"
When I responded to the fighter's communication, the fighter, which was on the overhead deck, gave a slight nod.
With Alice's performance, it should be no problem. As the multi-legged walking mechanism of the land ship approached, I took a light jump and landed next to the fighter.
"Looks like a pretty agile fighter. It's a bit small, but if it can move like that, it should be enough. ... Get on that lift over there."
"Got it."
It seems I have no choice but to trust the words of this knight squadron and Alice. When I stepped onto the square platform the fighter pointed to with its arm, it slowly sank into the land ship.
The inside of the land ship looks like an empty space, probably the cargo area for fighters and beast machines. With a gentle thud, the lift stopped, and a few men in gray coveralls approached. They were signaling with their hands, and those signals were familiar even in the Yard—indicating for me to come over.
Three fighters were fixed to maintenance racks. This knight squadron appears to have four fighters. Beyond them, beast machines were similarly secured to racks.
The man below pointed to an empty rack, suggesting that they intended to secure Alice there.
"They seem to want to place Alice here."
"I'll be fine. It's impossible to tie me down with this kind of equipment."
After placing Alice on a rack and turning her body towards the aisle, the men brought in a boarding ramp. Opening the front armor to expose the cockpit sphere, I slowly descended the ramp. As I was looking around nervously, someone patted me on the shoulder from behind. I turned around in a panic and saw a young man standing there.
"Come with me. I want to talk to you for a bit."
Given that I've come this far, it's probably best not to resist. The bulky revolver remains holstered, but it's still noticeable. However, they don't seem to be planning to disarm me.
I started following the man as he led the way. The corridor stretching towards the ship's stern seems to be near the lower deck of the landship. Walking along the long hallway, I glanced at the beast machines lined up on both sides. The man guiding me must be one of the knights who piloted the combat machines earlier. He looks to be in his mid-twenties, considerably older than me.
He has a solid build, though not particularly muscular. Even through his black coveralls, I can tell he has an athletic background.
"This is the hub of the landship. You can use this elevator to get to the living quarters and the navigation area too. Come on, hop in. We're headed to the conference room in the navigation area."
Following his instructions, I stepped into one of the two elevators.
"Hey, I bet more than ten people can fit in this elevator! It's pretty spacious. Just like the cargo area we saw earlier, the inside of the elevator is spotless—not a speck of dust to be found. I thought it might feel cluttered like a yard, but this cleanliness must be part of the quality of this knight's order.
'Here we are. The bridge would be equivalent to the fifth floor in a regular building, but here it's on the third floor. From here up, it's the navigation area.'
'Is it okay to tell me all this?'
'We're both knights, right? Even if we're from different orders, knights are still knights.'
It seems that only those with a special genetic structure can pilot these war machines, and the probability of having that genetic makeup is said to be one in a million. The kingdom's population is around fifty million, but only humans can become knights. Since the human population is about a quarter of the beastkin population, there should be roughly a hundred knights, though in reality, there are slightly more.
The chance of a child inheriting the knight's genetic trait from their parents is said to increase by tenfold. Still, it's rare, and maybe that's why it feels so exclusive.
But... am I really a knight? I've never been told anything like that before.
Stepping out of the elevator, we find a corridor stretching to the left and right. Following the man, we turn right and soon stop in front of a door, where he turns back to look at me."
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