Chapter 12 - Let’s have a mock duel
Translator: Skythewood
Editors: darkdhaos, Fate Trooper, Chris S, alkin
On the training ground of the Laihiala Pilot Academy, two
giants faced each other with swords in hand. The iron armour reflected a dull
gleam and the sound from the friction of the crystal tissue reverberated in the
entire field.
What follows next would be a mock duel, which is part of
training and testing. But for the two pilots riding in the strongest weapon of
humanity, this was definitely a battle. The atmosphere wasn’t relaxing at all,
as the pilots are burning with fighting spirit in the gradually rising tension.
“Okay, are you ready? We will be having a duel next!! Both
of you have to adhere to the rules of a mock duel. Bow! Ready!... Begin!!”
With the cue of the referee’s command, the two iron giants
charged out with a roar.
Basically, a battle between Silhouette Knights starts with
firing off Silhouette arms. When they close the gap, they would switch to melee
weapons. Because the Silhouette arms were dependent on the emblem graft
engraved on them, they were structurally weak and would be destroyed easily in
melee combat, depriving the pilot of the means to attack.
Edgar had seen Tellestarle’s back weapon in action. Using
two Silhouette arms at the same time and attacking from a distance was a big
threat. That was why Edgar wanted to do away with the long distance battle and
moved into a melee battle immediately.
But contrary to his expectation, Tellestarle moved forward
immediately after the battle started, gradually closing the distance.
What is she thinking? Doesn’t she want to use the advantage
of a ranged attack? But that suits me just fine!
Earlecumber took a strong step forward, wanting to give it a
headstart on the slash. But as he was swinging his sword, Edgar realised he
misjudged the functionality of the back weapon.
As the two machines were about to collide, Tellestarle
suddenly deployed the Silhouette arms onto its shoulders. Helvi, who was
looking at the reticle displaying before her in the cockpit smiled as her plan
worked.
“I will use this in place of a greeting. The ability to
shoot magic rounds even at close distance— the real value of the back weapon!”
The dual Silhouette arms on Tellestarle’s back fired off
simultaneously. Even the tough Earlecumber couldn’t evade the attack at such a
close distance. Its shield blocked one of the shots; the other hit the right
shoulder which wasn’t covered by the shield. The training shot wasn’t strong
enough to blow the right arm off, but Earlecumber still lost its balance and
its advantage in pressing the attack.
“That’s not all!”
Tellestarle swung its blade as it retracted its Silhouette
arms. Using the momentum, it attacked the unbalanced adversary. The movements
were rough, but it was more terrifying than a half assed attack.
Edgar didn’t resist the falling motion. He spun to the right
and pushed out the shield on its left arm to block Tellestarle’s blow.
Earlecumber managed to defend the attack, but was almost sent flying as it
staggered backwards. Earlecumber was in such an awkward position because it was
unbalanced, and also because of the power behind Tellestarle’s strike.
“....!! What terrifying strength, so this is the power of
the strand crystal tissue!?”
Edgar groaned and leaped backwards to pull away. The back
weapon could attack from unexpected angles, and the strand crystal tissue
displayed overwhelming strength. Edgar repositioned himself as he threw away all
the known tactics of dueling.
“Eh, really, I am getting used to abandoning common sense,
how unpleasant!”
The holo monitor showed that Tellestarle had started to
advance, coming after Earlecumber. It had given up the idea of a surprise
attack, deploying its Silhouette arms onto its shoulders as it forged ahead.
“But I won’t back
down so easily!!”
Simple back and forth movement will just make Earlecumber
the target of magic shots. Earlecumber started moving sidewards, escaping out
of Tellestarle’s attack range.
A heated battle started from the very beginning, which
pumped up the audience in the training ground. Cheers erupted every time the
iron giants crossed swords. Unlike the audience immersed in the heat of the
battle, the maintenance students analysed the battle in low voices.
“As expected of Edgar, most pilots would have fallen from
the first attack.”
“Helvi-senpai is piloting really smoothly.”
“Being the test pilot wasn’t just for show.”
The ones conversing were Eru and the Boss. For these two,
Tellestarle moving in a situation close to actual battle was as valuable as
gold. They observed carefully, analysing their every move.
The two machines clashed right in their field of vision.
They thought the machines would struggle for quite a while with swords, but
Tellestarle had an advantage in power, pushing Earlecumber’s sword back; but
Earlecumber wasn’t a pushover either, pulling away from Tellestarle as if he
had expected it, not letting Tellestarle gain the upper hand.
“Helvi seems to be relying heavily on the ‘power’
advantage.”
“The difference in power output is significant after all. I
think this is the best way to gain the upper hand. To be honest, the controls
have not been optimised yet, so she will lose if she relies on delicate controls
to fight.”
The Boss accepted Eru’s commentary. Tellestarle had
overwhelming energy and excellent explosive power. But as the control system
had not been calibrated perfectly, it couldn’t perform delicate movements, and
could only attack with crude steps. Edgar could see this and didn’t take the
hit head on. Even so, Tellestarle, who could attack with the sword and back
weapon simultaneously had the upper hand.
“How dangerous! I have to stop the Silhouette arms, it's too
powerful!!”
Edgar, who was trapped, analysed the situation calmly. His
opponent, Helvi, had grasped the feature of Tellestarle, and used the most
effective ways to attack, to cover its weakness. Even though Edgar had noticed
that the movement of Tellestarle wasn’t polished, but he couldn’t take
advantage of it. If this was a fight between normal Silhouette Knights, Edgar
would be about to lure the opponent to attack and counter. But it's another
matter when battling Tellestarle.
The most crucial factor was the back weapon resulting in the
difference in means of attack. The opponent could attack and restrain Edgar’s
movement with unexpected timed attacks. He had less ways to attack, and will
lose in terms of strength in a wrestle. It had nothing to do with skill; that’s
how big the difference in machine performance was.
The students watching knew that Earlecumber didn’t mess up
or was giving a handicap. Hence, even though its movement was still crude, the
new model that was overwhelming the strongest man in the faculty brought the
excitement of the crowd to the boiling point.
Earlecumber was gradually forced into a corner. If he
doesn’t take a gamble and take out the back weapon, Edgar will definitely lose.
“I don’t like gambling… but it would be pointless if I lose
without trying anything.”
Seeing Earlecumber in her holo monitor stopping, Helvi
mumbled:
“... He is getting impatient. Edgar wants to bet everything
on the next attack.”
Helvi knew her skills were not at his level, so she had to
fight by relying on the performance of the machine. It was easy for Helvi to
guess Edgar’s objective.
“He can’t make up for the power output of the strand crystal
tissue… he is probably aiming for the back weapon.”
If Edgar takes the back weapon out, no matter how vast the
gap in the power output was, he had a chance to aim for the weak point with
precision and turn the situation around with his skills. Because both pilots
knew this, the main objective of the upcoming scrimmage was decided.
The two machines pointed their swords at each other and
stopped moving. The silence after the heated exchange was like a tightened
string, and the tension grew with it. Before they realised, the audience had
turned quiet, waiting for the end of the battle with bated breath.
The sharp sound of intake of air was suddenly heard, it was
Earlecumber revving the ether reactor at full power. That sound was akin to the
battle cry of the Silhouette Knights, and the tensed situation changed—
Earlecumber charged. Out of all his choices, Edgar chose a direct assault. The
iron Knight dashed with heavy steps which almost shattered the stone paved
ground.
“Going head on in such a situation, that’s just like you!
Good, I will do my best too!!”
No matter how wide the power difference was, if its momentum doesn’t match her opponent, Tellestarle won’t be able to take the hit. That’s why Helvi ordered Tellestarle to advance too. The scene of both machines clashing with a charge was reminiscence of the opening of the battle.
No matter how wide the power difference was, if its momentum doesn’t match her opponent, Tellestarle won’t be able to take the hit. That’s why Helvi ordered Tellestarle to advance too. The scene of both machines clashing with a charge was reminiscence of the opening of the battle.
Tellestarle used the attack which was to her advantage, the
two Silhouette arms on her shoulders fired at Earlecumber. Earlecumber used its
shield to defend while swinging its sword to deflect the shot. The sword
mastery capable of deflecting magic shots was commendable, but swinging his
sword right before clashing with the enemy meant giving up the chance to
attack. Even the audience could tell. Tellestarle closed in on Earlecumber at
this moment and was about to give a mighty blow. Everyone, including Helvi,
thought that this ending was a letdown when Edgar, who took the initiative to
attack, is being cut down like that.
Of course, Edgar didn’t swing his sword because of
carelessness. He had decided to use the sword for defense right from the start.
Gripping the crucial shield, it moved its fist near its shoulder to secure its
hold. Earlecumber lowered its posture and threw the left side of its body
forward.
“... What!? Shield
bash!! He wants to clash head on!?”
Helvi sensed Earlecumber’s intention at the last moment and
kept her sword. She would be at a disadvantage if she used her sword against
Earlecumber’s shield.
Edgar’s plan was simple, even if his means of attack and
pure power output loses to his adversary; Earlecumber still had an advantage
over his opponent, which is ‘weight’. He used speed to make up for the
difference in power and charged at Tellestarle like a bullet.
Piloting skills aside, Tellestarle had the advantage in
terms of strength— Helvi had absolute confidence in this and decided to take
the attack head on. When she discovered Edgar’s motives, it was too late for
Tellestarle to dodge. She had already started to accelerate, and had to take
the same actions.
Tellestarle raised its shield and the two Silhouette Knights
collided shortly after.
At that moment, the loud bang of the collision reverberated
through the entire training ground. The shields taking the full brunt of the
impact deformed, splitting the two machines to the side on offense and defence.
Helvi, who hesitated because of the unexpected attack and
Edgar, who was aiming to clash from the very beginning— His objective was to enter
the melee range, that’s why he threw himself into this attack. Earlecumber
didn’t forego the chance it gained after its heavy sacrifice, lifting its right
arm which was still mobile, and stabbing into the Silhouette arms on
Tellestarle’s shoulders.
“You are good!! But I won’t fall for that again!!”
Earlecumber’s left arm was heavily damaged and couldn’t move
freely. But surprisingly, Tellestarle’s left arm was still working after that
collision. The strand crystal tissue was damaged, but still showed its
strength, pushing Earlecumber easily.
“What!? Not just the power, even the toughness was
enhanced!? But I can’t miss this opportunity…”
“Just a bit more!! Tellestarle!!”
Earlecumber’s quick attack went over its opponent’s
shoulder, destroying the Silhouette arms. But that’s the limit of his all out
counterattack. Tellestarle’s seemingly endless strength pressed back at
Earlecumber, pushing Earlecumber, who was in an unstable position due to the
previous attack staggering backwards.
“Ugh! Did I push it too much?!”
“I got this! Edgar-!!”
Tellestarle charged at Earlecumber mightily. The off
balanced Earlecumber couldn’t evade the attack, its wounded left hand was unable
to lift its shield. Tellestarle raised its sword high, and was about to hack at
the helpless Earlecumber—
But
the sword didn’t fall, and Tellestarle knelt onto the ground.
It was hard to described the atmosphere in the training
ground, maybe ‘dumbfounded’ and ‘stunned’ would be appropriate. Why did
Tellestarle, which was about to deliver the final blow kneel down? Just by
looking at the stunned reaction of Earlecumber, it was easy to tell this wasn’t
the result of Earlecumber’s timely counterattack. No one expected this result
just as the match was about to be decided at the very climax. No one knew how
to react to this finale, and the entire training ground was shrouded in
silence.
“...Ah! The mana had been exhausted!”
The shout of Eru, who figured it out echoed through the
silent training ground.
“Well then, time for the maintenance department’s first after
action review.”
Eru announced the start of the meeting with a serious
expression. Inside the workshop, Eru, the Boss and their merry friends were all
gathered here, everyone had an awkward expression. Even Eru who always does as
he pleased looked distracted— he hesitated a moment and peeked at the reason of
the awkwardness. What he saw was Helvi, who was squatting gloomily in a corner
of the workshop.
The kanji ‘awkward’ could almost be seen coming out of her
body. It wasn’t her fault, but ending it so abruptly after such a stellar performance,
she would rather be defeated in battle. It’s no wonder she was sulking.
It was within their expectations for the prototype to have
flaws, but it picked an awkward time to act up— That’s how one would frankly
describe the feelings of the audience. No, the problem only surfaced because of
their fierce fight before the conclusion of the battle. But these facts
couldn’t console Helvi.
“Ed, Edgar-senpai, could you please cheer Helvi-senpai up…”
“Hey, why me!? Ugh, ahh, I will do my best…”
Eru, who couldn’t stand it any longer forcefully pushed
Edgar to Helvi’s side. After seeing him go with a selfless expression, Eru
turned his head back refreshingly.
“Phew, that should do. Let’s think about tackling the new
problem that surfaced.”
“Don’t die, Edgar… Well, the problem is obvious. The greater
the output, the bigger the consumption rate, it’s very logical.”
Everyone looked at Tellestarle which was placed on the
maintenance platform and thought hard. Using strand crystal tissue to increase
the power output led to a higher mana usage rate, depleting the mana reserves
at a faster pace.
With the Silhouette arms being easier to use, the mana
consumption rate was higher than expected. On the other hand, the amount of
crystal tissue didn’t rise by much after implementing the strand crystal tissue
method, so the mana reserves only increased slightly. This resulted in the flaw
of shorter operational time for Tellestarle. The timing of this problem was
bad, but it made sense when you think about it.
“Considering all these factors, the operational time is about
half of a normal machine… This is very bad, right?”
“The worst. It could be considered a fatal flaw…”
The point of emphasis for this modification was the increase
in power output, installing Silhouette arms and aiming functions and such.
Anyway, they were all things that consume mana, so the imbalance of the
modification rose to the surface. After years of tweaking, the Silhouette Knights
were designed to store as much mana as possible, but it also meant the design
couldn’t be changed easily.
That might be so, but sitting here sighing wouldn’t help
either. In order to not let Helvi’s honourable sacrifice go to waste, they had
to think of something to overcome that flaw.
“The main point is that the mana supply couldn’t keep up
with the consumption rate… But it’s difficult to modify the source— the ether
reactor. Or rather, it’s impossible.”
Even Eru couldn’t do anything about the mysterious reactor.
His words made the students around him relax secretly. If Eru could customise
that too, they would have all fallen over in shock.
“What about lowering the output? But, even so, it wouldn’t
change the fact that the structure burns a lot of mana… and lowering the output
would be putting the horse before the cart.”
“Another way would be increasing the mana storage capacity…
How is the capacity increased?”
“Simply put, by increasing the amount of crystal tissue.”
“Can’t we do that, then?”
“If we increase the crystal tissue, the consumption rate
would increase too.”
There would be no end to this.
“The strand crystal tissue has an intangible flaw. The
amount of tissue didn’t increase much, that’s why the power output and capacity
is unbalanced.”
This serious issue gave everyone a headache; this wasn’t
something that could be resolved easily. But hope came from an unexpected source.
“How about using your idea?”
As everyone was silent in thought— Ady who didn’t say
anything spoke up. Hearing Ady, who was usually quiet during conference voice
her opinion, Eru asked:
“My idea?”
“That’s right, ‘it’s fine even if the appearance is not human’!
We can increase the tissues, but we don’t need to stick with the human form,
right?”
“It’s fine… even if it’s not human… I get it. Correct, you
are correct.”
For her, this was just repeating something Eru said. But the
one who said it was surprised with his eyes widening, and he slowly squinted
his eyes.
“Ugh, you are correct, but for Ady to enlighten me… I can’t
believe it.”
“How mean!! Why—!?”
The Boss ignored the raging Ady and Eru, who was being
chased. Ady’s comment reminded the Boss too, and they came to the same
conclusion. Being fine even if it’s not in the shape of a human, doesn’t mean
you had to use a shape that was inhuman.
“That’s it! Increasing the crystal tissue doesn’t mean it
has to move. By connecting the silver nerves to it, and pushing it into excess
space, it would be fine if we could increase the ‘mass’ of the crystal tissue!”
“Ke! I said, I am sorry! Kah!... Sorry, I apologise…
Alright?... Boss, we should maximise the space usage, so we shouldn’t use fibre
form but sheets… I think it would be best to employ the form of a sheet.”
Hearing Eru’s proposal, the Boss lifted his head.
“Alright, it’s decided. Next would be negotiating with the
alchemist faculty and asking for their help. I will go ahead and greet them,
leave it to me!”
After finding a solution to the critical issue, the air
around the maintenance department relaxed. Eru was cracking his head, thinking
of ways to soothe the piqued Ady.
The iron giant made a squeaking sound as it stood up. It was
ten metres tall, more than five times the height of the humans in the vicinity.
The rough armour maintained its original metallic shine, reflecting a dull glow
from the sunlight. The sound of its armour clanking grew louder as it moved.
The giant moved its body to check its condition, and nodded
at the person at its feet. When it had confirmed all the people in the vicinity
had left, it started to move according to the instruction of the people around
it.
The crystal tissue covering the arms of the giant started to
contract from the effects of mana. Its body tensed and lifted both arms with
emphasis and shot its elbows to the side. It stretches its arms, shoulders and
chest muscles, with both feet planted firmly on the ground —’front double bicep
pose’. Next, it took a light step forward, and put down its arms. Its fists
meeting before its abdomen. Leaning slightly forward, it used all its might to
pump its arm and chest muscle— the position that brings out the best of power
and beauty, ‘the most muscular pose’. The iron giant kept on changing its pose.
“... What the hell is this… No, what experiment is this?”
“Hmmm? According to the explanation, it seems to be testing
for crystal tissue parts that aren’t used much.”
“Who? Who set such an agenda?”
Looking at the experiment devised by a certain silvered hair
youth and the prototype that was concentrating on doing all sort of poses,
Edgar complained with a dumb look. Helvi was the one who answered him.
“Well, its fine if it is a proper experiment… Eh, is it
fine? It’s fine, right?...”
“Is that so? Forget about that. Is the testing for unit two
going well?”
“Yes. The pilot just changed shifts, but it is progressing
smoothly.”
Before Edgar was another Tellestarle named as unit two,
which was doing another set of tests. Other than these two machines with
exposed tissues, other Tellestarle could be seen doing all sorts of movement
tests.
The experiment ended with the great flaw of reduced
operational time a few days ago, but new developments had started because of
that mock battle. The flaw aside, because its discovery was too dramatic, it
made everyone wonder if there were other critical flaws. That’s why experiments
with repeated and large movements were set to filter out any more problems.
Everyone agreed to the additional testing, but it couldn’t be done with just
one Tellestarle, so they created more machines of similar models to deal with
that. To do this, the maintenance team worked nonstop after the mock battle,
and some were worried about the students being overworked to death.
In the end, they created five Tellestarle. They weren’t
piloted by a handful of Knight Runners, but by a team working in shifts to
complete the list of experiments. Thanks to this, no major defects were
discovered. They also made improvements during this time period, steadily
improving the level to its perfection.
Edgar and Helvi just happened to be both on break, and were
chatting about how to adjust to the controls. Recently, they had been talking
about the new models every now and then.
“... We need to discuss this part with Ernesti, too. Hmm?
That’s right; I haven’t seen him around lately.”
Stopping his sentence halfway, Edgar remembered because of
the name he brought up. They didn’t see Eru recently, which made Helvi
troubled.
“That boy should be watching the experiments here; you can’t
even drag him away. What happened?”
“... Did he run into some troubles…?”
Edgar’s expression stiffened slightly and he looked up at
the clear sky—
“I’m not usually this free.”
“Really? So, what’s so special about today?”
Ady was hugging Eru and poked her head out from behind. Eru
dodged her gaze with wandering eyes. Before them were the blue Silhouette armour
and many other spare parts.
When Edgar brought up Eru in campus, Eru and his friends
were gathered at the Tymomen Workshop. The development of Tellestarle was
proceeding well with the efforts of the high schoolers. With nothing major
requiring his assisstance, Eru, who was ‘bored’ immersed himself in the
development of ‘equipment for Silhouette gear’.
“That’s right, we are busy; there are tons of things we need
to test.”
“You are that free, but you only play with Batson! You only
train with Chid as an opponent and you don’t go out much, how boring.”
This equipment was designed by Eru and made by Batson. The
miniature armour was different from the Silhouette Knights. The challenge of
making equipment for Silhouette gear spurred their desire for research. The
passion of these two even made Ady, who was given the cold shoulder kick up a
fuss. With Eru and Ady, who were playing casually at one side, Batson deftly
opened the armour of the Silhouette gear to install the internal parts while
Chid watched.
“I’m fine with it though. But you had made so many. What is
that?”
“This is called ‘Wire Anchor’, ask Eru for a detailed
explanation… As for its uses, see for yourself.”
Although they made about ten ‘first generation’ Silhouette
gears, it wasn’t utilised because of the difficulty in the controls. It had
become Eru and the other’s toy— correction, training tool. Only Edgar or
Dietrich would use them for training. With Eru’s permission, they would visit
every now and then.
“Oh yeah, Edgar-senpai was complaining a few days ago,
saying it was harder to pilot after changing the crystal tissue into the strand
type.”
Of course, the strand crystal tissue had moved on to practical
applications thanks to Tellestarle. It had greater strength, but the controls
were also more difficult, even Edgar had to give up on that.
“Anyway, it’s too pitiful to keep calling them ‘Silhouette
gear’, it’s about time for an official name… right, how about Lucy Kimiko Akie
Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Ayano Tomika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika!?”
“Too long! Pick something shorter.”
“Then, use the short version ‘Motor Beat’.”
“Hey, the short version has nothing to do with the name you
came up with earlier!!”
“Motor beat… nice to meet you.”
After greeting his own Motor beat, Chid’s face stiffened. Oh
no, he might have been infected by Eru. He facepalmed himself and shook his
head.
“Well, since the name has been decided, time to show off the
new equipment. Stop sulking Ady and help, alright?”
Eru finally soothed Ady and got on the blue Motor beat made
to his size. He walked towards the yard of the workshop and pointed the arm of
Motor beat at the wall that was higher than the building, instead of the target
boards.
“Watch carefully… Wire anchor, fire!”
The sound of a shot followed the cheerful shout, an arrow
shaped projectile flew out from the wrist— wires were attached to the end of
the arrow, which kept coming out from the wrist. The arrow defied gravity and
went at full speed towards the top of the workshop, and went over the roof at a
sharp corner. The internal mechanism activated, turning the arrow into the
shape of an anchor. Eru pulled on the wire to check if the anchor was secure.
“It’s stable, next
would be… take off!”
The gears inside Motor beat’s arm made churning noises.
Motor beat was pulled by the wire that was secured and he started running
towards the wall and leaped. After ‘landing’ on the wall, it took several steps
and ran up to the roof. After twisting in the air, the motor beat used air
suspension magic to cushion its landing, stopping on the roof top gently.
Eru commanded the Motor beat to stand up slowly, focusing
his script and mana on the arrow that was still embedded in the roof. The wire
attached to the anchor contained silver nerves, and the script was sent to the
crystal tissue installed in the anchor. The deployed anchor changed its shape,
returning into its arrow form and was stored in its arm.
The arrow head was propelled by the crystal tissue built
into it, using aero thrust intermittently to move. By controlling the direction
of the propulsion, it could even change its flight path to a certain degree.
“Amazing, gear…. no, Motor beat got up onto the roof in no
time.”
Ady and the others, who saw the entire process lifted their
heads and watched. Even with their physical boost spell, climbing to the top of
buildings while wearing armour was a tedious task. And, Eru managed to do that
while wearing Motor beat which was even bigger. It was something that amazed
them.
“Oh— it went well this time, Eru.”
“I had fallen so many times before! Let’s try the next one!”
“Ah, so it will fail sometimes… Eh, so you want to bring
‘that’ here?”
Eru jumped off the roof. Even Motor beat would be in trouble
if it fell from such a height. It decelerated using air compression on the way
down, and used air suspension to absorb the impact, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Once it landed, Chid and Ady started dragging something out of the workshop.
They were holding different items. Chid was holding a giant
bow, built mainly from wood and reinforced with steel. Behind the bow was a
mechanism with gears. Chid looked at the thing he brought out and said:
“Eh, this crossbow is too big… is this a siege weapon?”
“You are right. To be precise, it is the mini version of a
ballista.”
As Eru had described, that bow was large even in the hands
of the Motor beat. It would be too heavy to operate without the Motor beat.
“Why would you want something this big… Ah— I see. You want
to use the Motor beat to operate the ballista.”
“Not only that… Ady? Did you bring the ‘magazine’? Please
put it in.”
Inside the cart pushed over by Ady were several box-like
items known as magazines. It was as thick enough for a man’s torso, and would
protrude out even when held by a Motor beat.
“Simply put, this uses strand crystal tissue on the bow
string and loading mechanism, a weapon known as ‘Mobile Ballista’. By
controlling the crystal tissue, you can shoot out the bolts freely.”
“I see. What about this magazine?”
“There are bolts in there and they would move whenever the
bowstring was retracted, reloading after shooting out one bolt. As for the next
part, it would be quicker to just show you.”
Chid followed Eru’s instructions; inserting the magazine
into the front and centre part of the ballista. The catch clicked, securing the
magazine in place.
After confirming that the magazine has been secured, Ady
started transmitting script and mana to the ballista. The strand crystal tissue
stretched to the limit, making the unique sound of crystal tissue being pulled.
The gear connected to the pulling motion loaded a bolt onto the grove of the
ballista. The next control was special: Since the crystal tissue is the
bowstring, there wasn’t any mechanism like a trigger. Chid could control the
crystal tissue directly in order to fire the bolts.
Chid commanded the crystal tissue that had been stretched to
the limit to retract. The bolt flew out with a mighty sound. As Chid was aiming
from a close distance, the arrow pierced the wooden target dead on. This bolt
was shorter and thicker when compared to its bow. It might be relatively short,
but since it was fired from a (mini) ballista, it was closer to a spear with
fletching rather than an arrow. Utilising the power of the strand crystal
tissue to its limit, while the bolts fired from the ballista couldn’t match
mainstream weapons, they were powerful enough. The result was the bolt piercing
the wooden target and pulverising part of it.
“...Eh, I don’t think we should fire this inside the city.”
“It’s fine; there is a really thick earth wall behind the
range. Unless you use Overt magic and focus at one point, you won’t be able to
break through it.”
Eru and Batson ignored Chid, who froze in place after firing
it and chatted idly. Ady, who was hugging a magazine was looking at the bolt
that demolished part of the target excitedly.
“Oh right, by using the crystal tissue, you can fire
repeatedly. Depending on proficiency, you can fire a shot every five seconds. A
magazine has ten bolts, so it could be depleted in a minute.”
“Phew! Is that so… let me try.”
Chid raised the ballista timidly. Breathing out to calm his
mind, he started firing continuously. The rhythm of the churning and the arrows
flying through the air continued for a moment, the bolts hit the target one
after another. The target fell apart after the fifth shot, so he shot the
remaining bolts onto the wall.
“A portable siege
weapon that can be fired repeatedly, how frightening—”
“But, it is portable after all, though it is heavy and hard
to control. It’s put together with spare parts and has low accuracy, so it
needs numbers to cover for its lack of precision.”
“What do you want to do with this, Eru?”
“... Don’t you think challenging the limits and creating new
things is something amazing?”
“You didn’t think about how to utilise this at all…”
Chid’s questions made Eru avert his gaze and smile
nonchalantly. And so, the Silhouette gear slowly turned into a terrifying
weapon without anyone realising it.
The movement tests of the prototype were about to finish
when the alchemist faculty sent word that the ordered goods had been completed.
Because the crystal tissue was in the form of a sheet, it was dubbed ‘sheet
crystal tissue’. The new material was sent to the workshop one by one.
Past research on crystal tissue focused on how to
effectively increase output from the contraction of the tissue, mana storage
was only seen as a secondary function. But with the development of the sheet
crystal tissue as a catalyst, the alchemist had also started researching
crystal tissue that are used primarily to store mana. Doing the research from a
different angle renewed their motivation; they would definitely come up with a
crystal tissue that has large mana capacity sooner or later.
As for the prototypes that went through a long series of
test, the results showed that there were no major defects except for the
shortened operation period. The sheet crystal tissue became the last piece in the
puzzle to make up for its flaw. In order to finish the project, the craftsmen
started the modification project to increase the mana capacity of the
Silhouette Knight.
“Eh, we are full of drive, but this isn’t working.”
Their original plan was to install the sheet crystal tissue
into the space inside the armour. But, when they started researching it, they
found the space to be smaller than expected. To avoid interfering with the
crystal tissue used for movement, they couldn’t stuff the tissue into any space
haphazardly.
And, so, they removed all the armour, covered the machine
with a layer of sheet crystal tissue, and replaced the armour, using multiple
layers. This was done in order to not affect the tissues responsible for
movement. Increasing the mass of the tissue meant increasing the mana storage.
By extending the operation time, it would be a success. But the results weren’t
as optimistic. The guys moaned at the sight of Tellestarle.
“How fat, how lame…!!”
Even if they put their sense of aesthetics aside, the
multiple layer method posed many problems. It drastically increased the machine
weight and lowered mobility, even the power of the strand crystal tissue
couldn’t compensate for that. The thick armour interfered with movement, and
the melee combat ability. The crystal tissue layer could increase defence as a
secondary armour, but with the disadvantages outweighing its benefits, they
rejected this method.
“Too heavy! Let’s try to ‘slim’ him down.”
The next thing they thought of was to limit the parts with
multiple layers. Considering its detrimental effect on melee combat, only the
armour that didn’t affect the movements of the joints were installed with
multiple layers. This method won’t increase the weight by much, but the crucial
mana reserves won’t improve much either.
But the method of adding multiple layers was preserved, and
was named ‘Capacity frame’.
“This is the limit of adding crystal tissue into the
inside…”
“If we increase it anymore, it would affect the armour.”
The only solution left was to install the sheet crystal
tissue on the outside. In order to avoid the problem with weight, they didn’t
even install armour, covering it with cloth and wires, which was just barely
better than exposing it. After researching where humans could store extra
weight, they decided on the back or the waist, with the back being the best
fit. They thought so, too, but it created another problem.
“Really, what a ‘stubborn machine’! Be more considerate!”
They removed the back weapon to install the crystal tissue,
but the result of a heavy mass on the back was shifting the centre of gravity
backwards, affecting melee fighting ability and control. Silhouette Knights
were built to fight; it would be bad if the pilots couldn’t control it
properly. And, removing the back weapon would invalidate the existence of the
new model. They had no choice but to explore other methods.
“What the hell do we have to do?!”
“Let’s do all we can and test everything out.”
In the end, they decided to use the capacity frame and
distributed the sheet crystal tissue on the outside. They added tissue that
won’t affect the balance onto the back, and installed pockets of crystal tissue
on the waist, too. They had to make adjustments to the equipment on the waist
and were able to increase the mana capacity. They improved on its weak points,
but there were still some problems with the operation period that remained.
In the end, the Silhouette craftsmen gave up on solving all
the problems at this current stage. With their technology, they needed heavy
crystal tissues in order to ensure a sufficient supply of mana. Everyone agreed
that they should wait for the alchemist to develop a new type of crystal tissue
with large mana capacity, solving the problem at its roots.
The modified Tellestarles were lined up in the workshop in
standby mode. There were five of them with capacity frames, and had a more
solid appearance compared to its earlier days. On its back and waist were pockets
of sheet crystal tissue. It didn’t look like a mechanical customisation, giving
it a feeling of being more human.
“That’s it. It’s not perfect, but that’s the best we can
manage! It’s complete!”
The feeling of it being a rushed job couldn’t be waved off,
but the craftsmen decided to change their thinking. The modification of the
Tellestarle series was enough to cover its critical flaw, the highest level of
completion they could hope for at the current stage. It wasn’t perfect, but
these five machines still had the potential of being more powerful than the old
Silhouette Knights, leading the way to a new generation of Silhouette Knights.
Seeing them lined up like this, the maintenance department
and the pilots finally saw the completion of an entire phase. Everyone had
different reaction when they saw the Tellestarle series; some were immersed in
a sense of accomplishment, some were glad to be free from work, and some were
already thinking about ways to improve the models. But all of them had the same
expression of making it through a tough challenge, basking in the pride and
glory.
The Boss had the same expression and turned to look at
everyone, showing his teeth in a brilliant smile.
“Good work, everyone! You have worked too hard!! We still
have many problems to tackle, but let's celebrate the completion of these
fellows! After finishing such a big project, I don’t need to tell you what we
need to do next, right!?”
Everyone lifted their hands and acknowledged the Boss
loudly. They all came to a consensus, the entire pilot faculty held an
overnight celebration party.
That scene could only be described this way: When the sky
was dim and the surroundings enveloped in darkness, the celebration party
morphed into the Demon realm. By the way, Fremmevira law dictates that only
adults (fifteen years old) could drink alcohol. Eru and his friends didn’t take
part, and the party was exclusive to the entire pilot faculty.
In the raving atmosphere with several people literally
‘flying’ into the air, one figure left silently. He blended into the noisy
atmosphere and kept a low profile, leaving the celebration party which was a Demon
realm in hasty steps and returned to his room in the dormitory.
The sky was dark; a light was lit in a room in the silent
dormitory. After returning to the room, he shook his giddy head, drinking water
to wash away the alcohol. His roommate was probably still drinking in the
workshop. He relaxed and took out a stack of paper from the drawer of his
table. There was an organised report on it, stating technology related to
Silhouette Knights— including the prototype machine and strand crystal tissue.
He added details of the sheet crystal tissue and capacitive
frame onto it. It wasn’t exhaustive, but it was enough for others to understand
the gist of the prototype. As he felt his dizziness fade away, he felt
satisfied with the content he wrote, and placed it back into the drawer.
Thanks for the new chapter
ReplyDeleteYou're the goldest golden. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for the new chapter, Sky!
ReplyDeleteYour the best sky, thanks!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! i have been waiting since morning XD
ReplyDeleteMerci! :3
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter guys
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter
ReplyDeleteJust add another pilot, and you should double the mana capacity ......
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot.
Except that the pilots that control these Knights aren't the mana source used to run them. The pilot merely controls the Knight using their mana, but the mana that actually moves the Knights comes from the Knights themselves (think of a battery).
DeleteSuch a shame, but having another pilot as a navigator isn't a bad thing.
Deletewell only i think about instaling a second ether generetor? ah tnaks for the chapter sky
DeleteThe NEXT advancement that Eru could make for the Knight bodies is to have a Power Gun powered by the pilot's own mana. Unlike the other knight functions powered by mana from the crystal tissues, this would be a limited-use item.
DeleteThe story already mentions the use of wire anchors. So such a thing could be used to anchor a knight temporarily onto the top of a behemoth. The knight could then attack with a specialized armament that breaks thru the armor and sends a device deep inside the monster. This device could be a simple explosive or could have its own magic circuit so that it wanders around chopping organs up and finally exploding.
Is there a spy among the pilot faculty? It has to be from Pilot faculty since Eru and is gang didnt participate
ReplyDeleteWhile that's a possibility, I was thinking rather than him being a spy, it will be someone who sneaks into his room and steals the poorly hidden documents (Note that he put them in a draw rather than a safe or somewhere secure). Maybe related to that noble who fears Eru will get too powerful .
DeleteIs that... is that a Servant x Service reference? Haha! Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Ayano Tomika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika!
ReplyDeletehttp://myanimelist.net/character/81659/Lucy_Yamagami
DeleteIt's (almost) weird for him to be making a normal/mainstream anime/manga reference (and the only one so far? at that) since he's supposedly a mecha otaku.
so there was a spy in the academy
ReplyDeletemaybe they should make a tank version.
ReplyDeletea t first i thought there was a spy, but seeing how the author wrote it as if he was having fun like eru, he might be another silhouette knight lover like eru, possibilty of a eru fan character?
ReplyDeleteThe spy drank alcohol. However, the author made a point to say that Eru et.al were underaged and thus didn't participate in the drinking party. With all the publicity of the new gear as well as the obvious lack of security, not only factions in the government, but also foreign countries as well as industrial companies would have spies in the academy. But since this is a light novel, logic almost always is not an issue because plots are allowed to have only elements the author allows. Typically, if the author doesn't write about it, then it cannot exist. Thus, neither foreign countries nor business concerns exist and the kidnapping potential for Eru is essentially zero.
DeleteThanks for the chapter.
ReplyDeleteTits... that's human and a great place for storage tissue! The giant robots need tits to solve their woes
ReplyDeleteDaimos Double Blizzard
DeleteThanks for the chapter.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't eru try installing dual ether reactor which working in tandem?
ReplyDeleteI think its because the reactor isn't customizable. Its most likly large and bulky.
Deletedont forget the main issue is that the ether reactor is expensive
DeleteNot only is it expensive, he doesn't know how it works. Even if he installed 2 he probably doesn't have the knowledge to make them work in tandem, they're also likely large so it might be inefficient to install 2.
DeleteIf too large, than it make sense. If the issue is not customizable, make it work like Jaeger ( right & left hemisphere) is the easier way, but how to controlled will be the next riddle.
DeleteThanks for the new chapter!
ReplyDeleteI wish the story would start progressing some more...
Even though they enhanced the Silhouette Knights with the idea of "it doesn't necessarily have to look human" the last time, now they went the opposite way by attaching extra crystal tissues to the body that resembles actual human muscle.
ReplyDeleteCool, now they have white-muscled Titans/Eotens now.
Meanwhile, the Silhouette Gears are moving closer to same levels as powered armor for infantry special forces with Eru's inventions. They might be useless against Demonic Beasts, but against normal human opponents, they'd be overkill in any mission.
Wonder what will Eru think of next...?
Thanks for the translation. Now to wait for next week.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Eru say in the past that only giant robots are allowed to destroy other giant robots? So, he should be perfectly fine with expanding Fremmevira beyond that mountain range, right?
ReplyDeletethanks for all the hard work!!
ReplyDeleteRapid firing balista, isn't that a prelude to machine gun...oh, he also indirectly influencing the creation of energy capacitor..adding 3d maneuver gear to power armor (this image pop-up https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1426099 in my mind lol), holy crap, he just revolutionize warfare in that world way too fast.
ReplyDeleteAre we trying to build a gundam here? (Remember eru was a robots freak before he die)
ReplyDeletethank for the update
ReplyDelete>the two iron giant
ReplyDeletegiants
> battle between Silhouette knights start
starts
>Because the Silhouette arms were dependent on the emblem graft engraved on it, it was
on them, they were
>advantage of range attack
ranged
>blocked one of the shot
shots
>to defend the attack
from?
>the iron giant crossed swords
giants
> Earlecumber didn’t messed up or giving a handicap
didn't mess up or was giving a handicap
> a chance of aim for the weak
to aim
>pointed their sword
swords
> won’t be about to take the hit
able?
>of both machine
machines
>Tellestarle close in
closed
>Everyone - including Helvi,
- including Helvi -
>He uses speed to make up
used
>the two machine
machines
>that’s why he throw
threw
>endless strength presses back
pressed
>Did I pushed
push
>Even Eru who always do as he please
did as he pleased
>he problem only surface
surfaced
>they were all things that consumes
consume
>meant the designed
design
>made the students around him relaxed
relax
>they would had all fell down
they would have all
> I think it would best
would be best
> and ask for their
asking
>made squeaking sound as it sound stood up
as it stood up
> It’s body tensed
Its
>for crystal tissue parts that isn’t used much
aren't
>on doing all sort of pose
poses
>Well, its fine
it's
>doing another set of test
tests
> sorts of movement test.
tests
> It wasn’t piloted by a handful of knight runners, but a team working on shifts
They weren't... in shifts
>Thanks to this, no major defect was discovered
no major defects were
>Did he meet with some troubles?
run into some trouble?
>These equipment were designed
This equipment was
>Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Ayano Tomika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika
add note: name of heroine of "Servant x Servant"manga and anime. Usually shoptened to just Lucy
> still embedded on the roof
in
> to the anchor contains silver
contained
>and was kept in its arm
was stored?
>from such a height
from such height
> bolts in there and would move
and they would
>inserting the magazine to the front and center
into the
>The movement tests of the prototype was
were
> long series of test, the result showed that there were no major defect except the
tests, the results showed that there were no major defects except for the
> it would be success
be a success
>the results wasn’t
weren't
>only armor that doesn’t affect movements of the joints were
only the armor that doesn't affect the movement of the joints was
amended, thanks.
DeleteThank you very much for another translation.
ReplyDeleteOh!! Thank for hard work sky...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter!
ReplyDeleteWell who would have thought the academy would have such poor security ,spies should have already been anticipated with so many influential people there and what is being taught. Security should have been increased the moment they started working on new technologies
ReplyDeleteThxs for the chapter.
ReplyDelete