CH 268

Chapter 268 – The Black Steel Giant

“The potatoes are good.”

“Gabbage is good, too.”

“But sausage is the best.”

A few days after being carried around the base by the oni girls, I was sitting around a pot of pot-au-feu with Sylphy, Isla, and Melty, and we were enjoying it together. The oni girls eat a lot―they could easily eat this entire pot – so I have a small pot on the table next to us and have them eat it over there.

“I didn’t expect you to come on a business trip.”

“If the base has taken shape to some extent and the operations are on track, it’s only natural that I would come to inspect it.”

Sylphy, who chewed and swallowed a moderately cooked cabbage (gabbage), made a face, saying that it was a matter of course.

“Besides, I’d be worried if I heard something like that from Kosuke.”

“Not only that, but you were also interested about the enchantment, weren’t you?”

“Of course there’s that too. Eleonora wanted to come too, but her schedule didn’t allow it, so she got stuck in a dilemma.”

“Ah, Ellen certainly seems to want to hear what you have to say.”

As for me, all I can say is that it was tricky, but it was definitely a supernatural being, that one. It completely stopped time except for me, and it said and did things like giving me abilities. In addition, he said, “If I take that route, there is an 80% chance that I will die protecting the saint.” It is a statement that could only be made with the ability to predict the future with a certain degree of accuracy. Perhaps he is an existence that can even transcend time and space.

“But in the end, you are saying that we should just keep on doing what we are doing, right?”

“Yes, well, I guess so.”

Personally, I thought he was suspicious, but the summary of what he was saying was that he wanted to crush the Holy Kingdom, which was getting carried away and ostracizing the subhuman race. He seemed to want me to push my abilities to the forefront and go for it.

“So there’s no need to take it too seriously, huh?”

“I’m thinking now that the frivolity and suspiciousness will not come across unless you actually talk to him.”

“That’s that, and this is that. If that person has no intention of being hostile, then leave it alone. Rather, his presence is sending us Kosuke and supporting us by giving us Kosuke’s abilities. It is not a good idea to unnecessarily provoke him by antagonizing him.”

“Won’t you be cursed if you touch the god?”

“Something like that. I wouldn’t want to go to the trouble of stepping on a sleeping dragon’s tail.”

Sylphy then turns her attention to Grande, who is sleeping, buried in a pile of cushions in the corner of the room. Grande, who had just arrived back with Sylphy and the others, was sleeping contentedly after a hearty meal of cheeseburgers and pancakes filled with cream and jam.

“In the meantime, I want you to show me that tomorrow. Everything.”

“Yes, yes, tomorrow.”

☆★☆

And the next day.

“This is outrageous.”

“Isn’t that all we need any more?”

“…..”

We were now in the woods, about an hour west of the base by air board.

More precisely, we had come to a place where the forest was in sight.

This forest is a place where many monsters abound, and it is considered dangerous to enter, and even among the locals, only adventurers looking to make a fortune are known to set foot in the forest.

“””VUOOOOOOO!”””

The place is now being overrun by three black steel giants with the force to blow away the entire forest. A total of four heavy machine guns with infinity rounds equipped on both arms reap trees with each monster, and automatic grenade launchers with infinity rounds equipped on both shoulders blow away the forest with their relentless fire.

The monsters that barely managed to get close enough to the giant to fight with it were crushed, and even those that did manage to fight with it were ripped from its body and slammed to the ground by the steel giant’s hands.

“There is nothing we can do about that…”

“I don’t see any way to win.”

“It’s going to take a whole bunch of dragons to get that thing off the ground, isn’t it?”

“I doubt even me… could win a one-on-one fight.”

The oni girls and Grande are also donning and roaring in frustration at the black steel giant’s rampage. Grande would have a chance with that dragon breath she showed me some time ago. But that black steel giant has black steel surface armor and a magic mithril-copper alloy inside, so it’s pretty well protected against magic. Even Grande’s breath might not wreck it with a single blow.

“But that golem moves nimbly for its appearance…”

“It’s made of good materials.”

“What are you using?”

“Magic mithril copper alloy.”

Isla looks like a cat rolling her eye in the space background after a long time.

“I mean, isn’t this forest too dangerous? There are monsters coming out of it, one after the other.”

“That’s because if you do it with such flair, you’ll attract them… The sound and the smell of blood are attracting monsters from quite a wide area as a result.”

“I see. So blood attracts more blood.”

The gushing of monsters became sweeter while I was impressed with such things. It’s hard to tell them apart by the sound of gunfire.

Soon after, the outpouring of monsters stopped, and three black steel giants remained behind, slightly dirty but without a scratch. With air boards, I moved to their feet and retrieved the three heavily armed golems and a large number of monster corpses.

“No, I’m glad we have so much monster material. Shall we mince monsters every day from now on?”

If we beat them with weapons that have been turned into infinite ammunition, it’s practically like having zero original cost. No, it costs a lot of money to manufacture, though.

“I don’t think you can get any decent materials from such a messed up monster, though.”

“But you see, that’s what I’m capable of, isn’t it?”

“That’s a complete foul…”

“I envy you…”

The adventurers would love to have my ability to recover materials from monsters, no matter how badly they are killed. I heard that adventurers have to kill monsters ‘cleanly’ in order to get materials from them. Well, that would be the same for hunters and the like. I heard that when Sylphy was killing Gizma, she would aim for the joints or cut off the head from the body, cleanly killing it as if she were dismantling it.

“But I never thought you kept something like that secret…”

“The trump card is only meaningful when it is hidden. But the reason why it has become so good in combat is because of the unlimited ammunition of firearms.”

“I still think it’s extraordinary, though. Just by going wild with that huge body, most of the army will be kicked to the curb.”

“The country would be on its knees just for one piece of material… that mass of magical mithril-copper alloy.”

Isla has a distant look in her eye. What would happen if I told her that I actually have a high-mobility type made of mithril silver alloy ready in my inventory? She’d either have a stroke or she’d be asked me to disassemble it and let her use the material… It’s going to be the latter. Yeah, let’s keep it a secret.

“But maybe I shouldn’t have seen this one… Thinking there’s a hidden gem like this is going to affect my judgment in all sorts of negative ways.”

Sylphy smiles bitterly after seeing the black steel giant’s rampage. It is true that swords, spears, bows, and arrows are useless against such a thing, and even magic is ineffective in front of the black steel and mithril-copper alloy. Moreover, it could unleash a never-ending stream of deadly bullets.

With that kind of fighting power, even the armies of my original world would have a very difficult time with it. Infantry cannot get close enough, and light armored vehicles are likely to destroy them. There are many ways to destroy them, such as main battle tanks, anti-ground helicopter attacks, aerial bombardment, artillery fire from a distance, or… well, there are more ways to destroy them. A guided missile, anti-aircraft defense, or close-in defense… Well, is there anything that can’t be done? Maybe we should start with missiles.

Oops, I got lost in thought.

“If push comes to shove, I’ll use it without hesitation, so you can count on me. I mean, if I don’t use what I’ve made, I never know when some strange thing will come along to mess with it.”

“Is that your usual voicing…? Well, I’ll try not to rely on you too much. As Kosuke said earlier, the trump card is meant to be kept hidden. Just like that bomb.”

“Right. Well, I think it is possible to show either one as a demonstration card.”

“If you want to show it, it would be the golem. That bomb is a bit irritating in many ways.”

“Well, that’s reasonable. I mean, the Research and Development Department will also be studying the golem soldiers.”

“Yes, do that. For those of us with a small population, golem soldiers could be an effective means of compensating for our weaknesses.”

A golem army… Sir Leonard and Ms. Zamir won’t like it. They are followers of their own bodies and their own honed martial arts.

“The magic riflemen are being trained, and the harpy bombers are getting their equipment updated, so I think we can handle the spring battle for now. The problem is next fall?”

“Yes, I think so. It depends on the Holy Kingdom…”

If our side unilaterally repels the invasion from the north in the spring battle, the Holy Kingdom should be hesitant to invade the Merinard Kingdom again. First of all, it is essential to frustrate the other side in the spring battle.