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Vol. 10 Chapter 9 - Gerbera
🕑 Added 2022-05-02 11:12:37 +0000 UTC-Near Baron Gurin's home planet-
I'm currently sitting down on my chair, overlooking the battle from space as light flashes by here and there on the battlefield.
Below us, our troops have descended upon the enemies and are defeating the Calvinists left, right, and center.
As for the enemy fleet that was loitering around the planet, we've already turned them into space debris.
The only ships remaining are from those that should have left our camp--in other words, they're allied ships.
We banded together to attack the enemies once they were all nicely gathered in one place, and we're now spectating the battle on the ground.
“Kurt sure seems enthusiastic about this.”
I'm watching Kurt's performance through a monitor, but Theodore, who's been panicking for a while now, demands an answer from me.
“Count Banfield, what's the meaning of this!!”
“What do you mean?”
“It's already clear who won the war! This is foul play!”
Calling it foul play is a bit upsetting, but I'll pretend like I don't know what he's talking about to spite him.
“Is it? Then I must apologize for my transgression.--Having said that, this would surely deal a big blow to the Calvin Faction, ensuring His Highness Cleo the position of Crown Prince.”
Theodore's face turns bright red as he argues against my logic of “His Highness Cleo has won, so what's wrong?”
“No one will accept His Highness Cleo as the Crown Prince if he achieves victory through such underhanded means! Count Banfield, I'll have you take responsibility once we return.”
Agitated, Theodore's nostrils enlarge, revealing his nose hair.
I turn towards Klaus who's standing next to me.
Obviously, the act of dismissing him was a ruse.
“Klaus, I'll apparently be held responsible.”
“--It's true that we were defeated, at least on record. So there's no helping it.”
“How cruel. I've sacrificed so much to assist His Highness Cleo, and yet he doesn't approve of my effort. T'is a tragedy. Sniff.”
I direct a grin towards Theodore, but the man himself appears shocked by Klaus's presence.
“Why is he here!? Didn't you dismiss him from the battlefield!?”
I reveal the truth to him.
“Oh, that was a lie. After all, I knew that you were sending information to the enemies.”
“W-what!? T-there's no way that's true. You're making things up! To begin with, I don't have a motive to betray--”
“--That doesn't matter. You betrayed us, and that's all I need to know.”
“Have you lost your mind, Banfield!?”
I can't concentrate on the conversation because of his nose hair.
Even so, to think he'd start calling me without honorifics...
I turn my gaze to Klaus.
“You should say something to him as well.”
“So you've noticed, Lord Liam?”
Klaus keeps glancing at Theodore's nose.
Is he referring to his nose hair?
“That's right, what do you think we should do with him?”
Perhaps coming to the conclusion that there was no more room for negotiation, Klaus suggests a drastic measure.
“--Getting rid of it would be the most appropriate.”
Well, well, well. Color me surprised.
I thought Klaus would advise me to get rid of him behind the scenes, so I didn't think he'd make such a suggestion.
“I certainly didn't expect this from you. Was he bothering you that much?”
“Not really, but--”
Klaus seems to hesitate a little.
Traitors must be disposed of. That must be what he's thinking.
What a decisive fellow.
He's merciless towards his enemies, but that's what makes him an ideal subordinate.
As one would expect from my Head Knight.
“You're right. I'm glad we're on the same page. Now then, it's time to dispose of some trash.”
Eulisia who's been watching from the side hands me my sword.
Realizing the fate that awaits him, Theodore turns around and tries to escape.
“Someone! Stop this mad...man?”
Theodore falls to the ground immediatley after.
I've cut off the tendons in his arms and legs.
Standing up from my seat, I approach Theodore and stomp him.
“I'm still miles off from reaching the realm where Master's at, but I'm starting to see his silhouette now.”
I'm starting to understand how strong Master was at his peak.
Theodore doesn't seem to understand what's going on, but he becomes cocky once he realizes that I haven't killed him.
He probably thinks I don't have the guts to kill him.
“You think you'll be forgiven after doing this? With this, you've drawn your sword against His Highness Cleo! You better not think this is over!”
Seeing how aggresively he's behaving, I consider toying with him for a bit.
However, I ultimately decide against it as it would dirty the floor of the bridge.
“You seem to be under the wrong impression. I didn't kill you 'cause it would dirty the bridge. Men, throw him out of the ship.”
“A-are you serious? There's no turning back for you if you kill me!”
I respond to his threats while still carrying my sword.
“Trust me. We've already crossed the Rubicon.”
Theodore seems to understand what I'm saying, but he probably didn't expect me to go so far. He's visibly confused.
“Y-you couldn't be--”
“Take him away.”
Some soldiers drag him away, and I sit back down after returning my sword to Eulisia.
Eulisia pulls a face.
“Did you need a sword in the first place?”
“I can't unleash an accurate One Flash with my bare hands yet. Cleaning up would become a chore if I shredded him, right? --Anyway, it's time. Klaus, attack the Personal Guards. Annihilate them.”
Unlike before, Klaus shows signs of reluctance.
Is something bothering him?
“Are we really to attack the Personal Guards?”
There's no turning back now that we've killed Theodore.
I mean, sure, we can come up with an excuse if we really wanted to, and annihilating the Guards here would ruin any chance of reconciliation with Cleo, but so what?
“Teach them who they've bared their fangs against.”
“--Understood.”
◇
Klaus was freaking out inside.
(I was talking about his nose hair. How was I supposed to know that he'd be killed!?)
From their conversation, Klaus had thought Liam was going to tell Theodore to get his nose hair treated.
For the time being, Theodore was still considered an ally, so he didn't think Liam would order for his death there and then.
There was also the order to annihilate the Personal Guards.
(This is the worst. Sure, they were the ones to betray us first, but if we do this, we'll be burning the bridge with His Highness Cleo. No, but--ah, screw this.)
No matter how much he tried, he couldn't think of an appropriate move in this situation.
After all, the fact that the Personal Guards betrayed them meant Cleo was in on it as well.
(Even if we let them escape, conflict with His Highness Cleo is inevitable.)
Klaus was filled with anxiety thinking about the future, but for now, he decided to carry out Liam's orders.
◇
Around the same time, the Guide was in the hangar of a battleship that Kurt had destroyed.
He had regained his humanoid form and was trying to rescue No. 3588 who had been buried in a pile of rubble.
“NUOOOO! Not like this! You're the ace up my sleeve!”
The hangar was in a mess, and sparks were flying everywhere.
It wouldn't be weird if an explosion occured at any moment.
Fortunately, the mass-produced replicas of Avid which were named Neo were still safe and sound.
The aircraft dedicated to No. 3588 had been painted red, whereas the ones equipped with aritifical intelligence had been painted white.
None of the three had been damaged, but No. 3588 had sustained some injuries.
“Sorry, Mr. Hat. I got hurt.”
Ahaha, No. 3588 laughed powerlessly.
“Don't worry, you'll be alright. Liam's here. I'll guide you to your plane.”
(For real, why are you getting injured!? Even if you couldn't beat Liam, I thought you'd be able to at least deliver a heavy blow!)
From the beginning, the Guide didn't think Calvin and Cleo's strategy would actually work.
Still, he cooperated thinking he could land a hit on Liam.
In a few months, the girl had grown to the point where she looked like a fifteen year old.
However, their secret weapon was now injured, and her performance, diminished.
Her chance would've been slim even if she were in optimal condition.
Now, it was all but hopeless.
(Tsk! Can't be helped. I'll have her stall the ground troops while I hit Liam's fleet with the ones equipped with aritificial intelligence.)
After thinking of a plan, the Guide conveyed his idea to the girl.
“In your current condition, you wouldn't be able to operate your mobile knight well. Since that's the case, please try to stall the enemies on the ground.”
“Stall them?”
“Meanwhile, I'll hit Liam with the knights equipped with artificial intelligence, The longer you stall the ground forces, the more time it will take for the enemies to react to the danger.”
“Okay, I'll do that, Mr. Hat.”
“Good girl. Now, let's go.”
The red Avid replica's eyes glowed when the girl entered the cockpit and sat down.
The other two knights were also activated, and they destroyed the surrounding walls, pushing them away.
“Since it's Mr. Hat's request, I'll make sure it succeeds.”
When the red Avid replica soared into the sky from the space created by the other two aircrafts, soldiers from the Cleo Faction noticed and bombarded it with attacks.
Beams and missiles flew towards it, but the Red Avid brought the shields mounted on its shoulders to the front.
As a result, the missiles exploded before they could land while the lasers were deflected.
“You two, to the sky!”
The other two Neos sped up and escaped the atmosphere.
After seeing them off, the girl directed her attention at the enemies approaching her.
Based on their coversation, her enemies seemed to be in disarray.
'Isn't that Count Banfield's!?'
'That's what the data says.'
'Did the enemies prepare knights of the same model!?'
To fight in the sky, the mobile knights had been equipped with wings.
They flew around the red Avid on which the girl was in and attacked, but to no avail.
All their attacks either exploded before they reached the target or were deflected.
The red Avid's performance was similar to the former Avid, and regular bullets simply could not damage its armor.
'Despite it being a fake, its performance seems to be close to the original.'
Seeing her enemies approach, the girl made the red Avid wield a sword and swung.
“It's not fake. It has a name. I call her [Gerbera]. Make sure to remember it well.”
Immediately after that, the mobile knights that surrounded her were sliced, leading to subsequent explosions.
“--Or not.”
The girl held her injured flank with her hands and looked up at the sky with a bloodied face.
“I want someone to call me by my name as well.”
◇
A red Avid had appeared. Moreover, it could unleash One-Flash.
Kurt's squad rushed to the scene after hearing this.
Not only were they nearby, they were told that their allies were being slaughtered one after another.
Once they were near the red Avid, Kurt squinted his eyes.
“It's been modified, but it's definitely the same model as Avid. And apparently it can also unleash One-Flash. What's going on here?”
Was someone from the same school as Liam in the cockpit?
Kurt decided to warn his comrads from carelessly approaching the enemy.
“Keep a distance and try to attack using ranged weapons! Don't go near it!”
'''R-roger!'''
However, when they took some distance, magic circles appeared around the red Avid, and from within emerged muzzles aimed right at them.
Right after, they were showered with live ammunition and optical weapons such as beams and lasers.
While under heavy fire, Kurt clenched his teeth tight.
(They were able to reproduce these features as well!?)
Kurt was thoroughly impressed by the enemies.
Not only was its design similar, its performance was close to the original's as well.
Avid was a mobile knight that Liam had invested a huge budget in. Hence, it wasn't suitable to be mass produced.
Even preparing just one would be a difficult task, yet there were two more of them.
“So they prepared three and sent the other two toward Liam.”
It was a pity that he couldn't prevent the enemies from heading toward the main fleet, but since their opponents were imitation Avids, there wasn't much he could do.
The red Avid closed in on them, narrowing the distance between them despite their best effort to keep it afar.
“Even its specs are the same!”
Kurt saw the mobile knight of one of his allies get pulverized and decided he must deal with the enemy himself.
Thus, he made his mobile knight draw its sword and slashed at the enemy, only for it to be blocked.
This made him suspect something, and his suspicions were soon confirmed.
“Its skills aren't as refined as Liam's. I can do this!”
The enemy unleashed a One-Flash at him, but as someone who'd known Liam for a long time, Kurt sensed it before it hit him.
“So the pilot's just imitating him.”
He kicked the red Avid away, and by chance, he got to hear the pilot's voice.
Furthermore, the physical contact between them opened up the communication channel, showing him the other party's face.
“T-that face!?”
It's too similar to be a coincidence.
Kurt immediately understood what their enemies had done.
He also noticed that his opponent was injured.
'It's not a fake! Her name is Gerbera!'
Kurt was surprised by her voice.
“A girl!?”
'No. 3588--my mission is to hold you back.'
The red Avid Gerbera tried to forcefully destroy Kurt's aircraft with its power.
However, Kurt had sparred with Liam many times in the past, so he was able to dodge the poorly executed One-Flash.
'Why won't it hit?'
Feeling sorry for the girl who was puzzled, he answered.
“Your skills with the sword and mobile knight are far worse than Liam's.”
'You're lying. I remembered them properly! I practiced a ton and got lots of praises!'
Her behavior and attitude suggested that she was much younger than she looked, making Kurt realize what the Calvin Faction has done.
(They touched upon the forbidden in order to defeat Liam.)
Gerbera unleashed one slash after another, but Kurt's mobile knight kept dodging them.
That said, his enemy was covered in rare metal armor, so he couldn't land a decisive blow either.
As such, he kept dragging on the fight to wear down the opponent's pilot.
Eventually, Gerbera's movements became erratic, and it fell from the sky, unable to remain afloat.
By the time Kurt landed near the girl's aircraft, she was crying.
'M-more...I have to work harder...or else...ster Hat...won't praise me.'
She was desperately calling out someone's name.
Kurt who's been watching her closed his eyes.
His allies surrounded Gerbera and pointed their weapons at it, but Kurt held them back.
“Hold.”
'''But sir!'''
“It's pointless. Our weapons can't damage it, and it's not like it can move in this state.”
After taking a moment to think, Kurt spoke to the girl.
“If you wish to live, open the hatch.”
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Wakagi-chan ( ゜д゜): “Klaus-san's quite scary as well. He killed someone while pretending like he was talking about nose hair.”
Brian (´；ω；｀): “As fellow brothers in ulcer pain, it's painful to see Klaus-dono suffer. It's also painful knowing he's in for even more suffering.”
Brian (｀・ω・´): “Putting that aside for now, Volume 3 of 'I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!' is now on sale. Please look forward to reading the new and improved light novel.
