Volume 8 epilogue (2/2)

Seeing her all childish like this was so cute too.

”Yup, that's right, sorry. With you here, I have peace of mind. I really wanted to take you with us, though.”

Kuina, being Avalon's strongest monster, was my bodyguard. She was supposed to be always by my side.

However, there was a clear threat of military action against us and what better opportunity could they find than my absence. Duke would usually be in charge of our defense while I was away, but he was the reason we were going in the first place. So, for insurance, I was forced to make Kuina stay behind.

As for the duty of my bodyguard, I could entrust that to Marcho.

”Kuina will protect Avalon as much as Oto-san and Duke will. So, be at ease and go.”

I brushed Kuina's head and she squinted her eyes as though she was pleased.

So long as Kuina was here, Avalon wouldn't fall.

Alright, it's almost time to go. But before that, there's a girl I have to greet first.

◇

The next place I headed to was Rorono's workshop.

When I entered, I was greeted by two Abyss Howls. While swinging their tails, they were rubbing their heads against me, so I decided to pet them. When I did so, they seemed nothing more than just oversized dogs.

After that, I entered the laboratory room where Rorono was.

She was so absorbed in using her LCD tablet to draw a blueprint, she didn't notice me come in. Beside her, a computer that was running some kind of simulation was whirring.

Seeing how much she was concentrating, it felt bad to disturb her and thus I decided to just watch her work in the meantime.

While waiting, I thought to myself that it was clearly a good idea to assign Abyss Howls to guard her while she was like this. She was an S rank monster and had the ability to protect herself, sure, but when she focused on something, she tended to ignore everything else, even her surroundings. Even if I tried to hug her from behind, there was a real chance she wouldn't notice until we had made physical contact.

After about 30 minutes had passed, Rorono raised her head and took a sip of her now-cold coffee.

”Rorono, is the development going well?”

”Ah! Master. Welcome.”

She finally took notice of me.

”I wanted to see you before I left.”

”I'm glad to hear that. I wanted to see you too… it's just a shame I can't show anything before you leave.”

The completion of Rorono's new models had been delayed. Which wasn't surprising considering she was developing three technologies at once. Their base parts were similar, but for each of the unique parts the three would have, she had to design those from scratch. That was definitely time consuming.

”I look forward to seeing them after my return, then.”

”Mhm, please do. They're the three strongest knights. Actually, I've just finished the framework for Black, the most versatile of the three.”

That was a nice surprise.

”Are the initial concept ideas still being followed?”

”Mhm. Red is still a heavily armored, one-hit kill unit. White is a long-range attacker with high mobility. It can shoot down its targets before they ever come near… actually, I've made it participate in one of the dragon races recently and it won by a large margin. White has completely corrected the preconception about golems.”

When I thought about it, I remembered that there was a commotion in the races recently. Reportedly, the fastest among the Darkness Dragons, the dubbed as the king, had lost.

I was realizing now that it was due to Rorono.

A long-range attacker that could move faster than the Darkness Dragons, of course I was excited to see it.

”Meanwhile, Black is the best in terms of versatility. Its features include humanoid joints, tenacious internal structure, and many high-powered posture-adjusting thrusters, allowing it to move its body in all sorts of ways. It has no fixed armament loadout, instead using whatever fits the situation best. This child's intellect differs vastly from the others in that it can learn. There's too much it can do that programming it all beforehand is just impossible.”

If it was going to choose and use skillfully the most appropriate weapon for the situation, a more advanced intellect would indeed be necessary.

”That's amazing. They have flexible movements, plus they have good mobility and maneuverability. It might be simple, but it has all the things important in a fight.”

Like what a man who had returned from Jupiter once said, what was important in a mobile suit wasn't firepower or transformation capabilities, but rather a highly operable and reliable body.

”Please look forward to how Black will perform. Right now, my plan is to put the three knights into the trial phase, analyze the data, and put into mass production the one that performs the overall best.”

When I heard that, it kind of made me want to set up a stage where the three knights would shine.

The one-year grace period given to us new Demon Lords was soon to end and we would be forced into wars with the others. When that time comes, I would entrust my first war to them.

…but then again, there was a chance my enemies wouldn't wait that long.

”When I return, I want you to show them to me right away. Prepare with that in mind.”

”Mhm, I will… and should the results please father, may I get a reward?”

While her face was bright red and turned away, she spoke out loud that she wanted something.

Before replying, I brushed her head.

”Yeah, it's a promise. Whatever you want.”

”Mhm. I'll concentrate harder for the upcoming two days then.”

She's more eager than ever. …Oh, wait, I almost forgot the most important bit.

”Rorono, I think you might have heard from Ruhe already, but you're being targeted.”

”Mhm, I'm aware. That's why I've taken on guards and have made the necessary precautions. Monsters and adventurers don't know of electronic devices and thus aren't vigilant against them. I'll make them regret underestimating the defenses of this workshop too much… to that end, I want to fight myself and see the performance of the [Mechanical Warmaiden] I've continuously been working on. It isn't that often that I get a chance like this.”

Rorono seemed to have given it a lot more thought.

And so, the anxiety I felt before leaving have lessened.

At that timing, I heard a knock from the workshop's door.

”Come in.”

When Rorono said so, the door opened.

”I've been looking for you, master! I'm here to pick you up. You better be grateful!!”

It was Fel. A Fel that had a crow monster perched on her head, to be more exact.

It would seem the [Time] Demon Lord had sent them to get us.

”Oh, it's time to go? Just give me a minute.”

I wanted to talk some more with Rorono, but it was time to go, so I went with Fel.

It's finally here, the dragon's trial. Let's clear it with flying colors. And then, when I return, I'll marvel at Rorono's newest models. Now, let's go!

TL notes:

These are just my guesses, but I think these are the anime the girls liked: Kuina's is Star Driver, Rorono liked Code Geass, Ruhe liked Blue Comet SPT Layzner, while Aura liked The Vision of Escaflowne. If you think there are other works that fit the bill better, feel free to let me know. Thank you.Also, I believe the line Ruhe said, Avalon is being targeted, comes from Blue Comet's ”The earth is being targeted”. I googled and skimmed an episode or maybe it was a movie, I don't know, and sure enough, a character warns the others that the earth is in danger from outside forces.In the raws, Aura liked ”Heavens”. For those that don't know, ”The Heavens of Escaflowne” is the Japanese title for Visions.Finally, the man from Jupiter is likely referring to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam's Paptimus Scirocco. I haven't found the episode being referred in this chapter, so I just translated as is. The actual quote might be different.