Torn Asunder by War, A Sword Saint for Tomorrow X The Knight Wizards!! – Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Strange Bedfellows?
  “Hello, good work.”
  “Um… are you checking on the progress?”
  
  “Ah, it doesn’t seem to be progressing at all…”
  
  Two days after the battle at the south gate of the city, despite the policy of prioritizing the return of giant knights with minor damage to the front lines based on the concept of triage, and the fact that Mira and Mia had started working on it yesterday evening, I can’t help but wonder about the unchanged state of Belphegor.
  
  Moreover, the twins, who usually spare no time for things they enjoy, look a little worn out, and their beautiful honey-colored hair is disheveled, suggesting they’ve been up all night doing something.
  
  Overcome by an indescribable anxiety, I climb the ladder placed against the chest armor of the lying body and peek into the cockpit to find the control center exposed.
  
  “There shouldn’t have been any problems with the controls… wait, is that the Lion Core lying there?”
  
  “We replaced it with the Swan Core from the captured winged Clawsolas!”
  “By the way, when we examined the recording area, we found some interesting mechanisms! ♪”
  
  As Mira comes out, looking happy, I take the recommended position, and Mia, who was in the back seat, uses the administrator privileges of the dedicated engineer to light the custom-made Magic Furnace, “Lionheart King.”
  
  The familiar low driving sound resonates, and artificial muscles extending from various parts wrap around the body.
  
  『Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve ridden together, isn’t it?』
  『W-well, it feels strangely different when it’s not Revia…』
  
  Mia’s rough thoughts, which are not yet verbalized, and fragments of magical knowledge I’m not aware of, flow into my mind one after another through the Clawsolas.
  
  The thought that this could be an effective means of training new engineers crosses my mind for a moment, but since the number of people with the prerequisite Clawsolas aptitude is limited, the hurdle to introduce it would probably be very high.
  
  As I’m making such random conjectures, Mia plays the two-tiered keyboard console rhythmically and cheerfully, and speaks to me.
  
  『Well, I carefully examined the descriptive formula of the relevant parts and checked the safety devices of the neural transmission system, and then I tried it with Mira… but it contains an artificial spirit modeled after the Great Patriarch. May I activate it?』
  
  『”Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” huh? Do it.』
  『Then, I’ll just give it a click.♪』
  
  The moment the keys are struck briskly, my vision switches to what the Clawsolas’ pseudo-eyeballs are capturing, and a figure-sized lady with both cuteness and allure appears within my visible range.
  
  The elf, with her morbidly pale skin, long, bamboo-shaped ears peeking out from her silver hair, and dressed in an impressive dress, sits cross-legged in the air and gives me a blatant, appraising look.
  
  『Hmm, you are Madarame Kurato, the user of the Mechanical Doll equipped with the Magi Regulus’s Core. I am a spiritual replica created by the White Queen so that she could interact with the Ape-Men without being bound by the “Soul Pact.” You may call me Fau Homunculus.』
  
  『…As someone who knows about the tragedy of the core city of Leipzig, I can’t help but feel aversion towards the intelligent beings belonging to the “Hour of Ruin.” But I’ll at least hear your intentions.』
  
  When I question her, unable to hide my discomfort, in response to the voice that echoed in my chest, she giggles cheerfully, shrugs her thin shoulders exaggeratedly, and speaks to me without a hint of remorse.
  
  『There’s no need to be so angry, is there? Just like the beings of this world, we are merely pathetic pawns on a board, forced to dance with a collar around our necks, in order to ensure the survival of our species.』
  
  The artificial spirit, with a faint smile, speaks frankly, asserting that any nation or community, without pretense, prioritizes itself.
  
  Moreover, it’s unacceptable for a leader to prioritize other races and neglect their own people, and she lectures me that coexistence and co-prosperity all arise from the alignment of interests.
  
  『Your relationship with the White Fox is the same, isn’t it? It’s the height of ignorance and naivety to be driven by meaningless righteous indignation and an inflated sense of human rights, shouting beautiful words and letting soldiers die for the sake of another country… 』
  
  『Indeed, the folly of a ruler is a betrayal of their subjects.』
  『Therefore, I won’t refuse dialogue from the start. It’s a good gesture.』
  
  She nods contentedly, shaking her glossy silver hair with gentle waves, and deepens the degree of interest in her wisteria-colored eyes, but I can’t grasp her true intentions in this encounter.
  
  Just as I’m about to give up and listen obediently, the little Fau makes a teasing expression and relaxes her body.
  
  『Fufu, you’re free to be captivated by me, but it’s pointless to just stare at each other, isn’t it?』
  『I don’t need frivolous banter. State your business concisely.』
  
  『…Even trivial events can, in a roundabout way, bring about change in the distant future. That’s why I wanted to offer you some insights, hoping that it would become a light for the Forest People who parted ways to avoid mutual destruction.』
  
  The Queen’s replica, mentioning what seems to be the “butterfly effect” that I talked about with Nina while eating soba, a chain of unpredictable events, shifts her focus to the main topic and begins to speak eloquently.
  
  First, she starts with the investigation of traces of her fellow elves who are hiding while being involved in the invasions in various places, and then she tells me that many of them, including a new species of “Sand Elf” discovered by chance in the Middle East, survived the “Divine Hammer” and are living their daily lives.