I gave our resident Fenrir, Momo-chan, a treat.
She sat tall, looking remarkably sharp and dignified.
I pulled out some soft chicken tender jerky. When I tried to give her a large piece all at once, she let out a disappointed "Kyuun..." and looked up at me with sad eyes. However, when I tore it into tiny pieces and fed them to her one by one, she was absolutely overjoyed.
...Wait, what exactly happened to the "Fenrir" part of her?
For some reason, she then ran over to Helga and started nuzzling her, acting as if to say, "Look! I got a treat~♪"
...Seriously, where is the Fenrir in this dog?
Naturally, once I gave Momo-chan a treat, the other animals weren't about to stay quiet. Kinako tapped me on the shoulder with a paw.
"Ah, right. Kinako, would you like some jelly?"
"Nyan~♪"
Then One-O-One arrived, with Daifuku perched on top of her head.
"Ah, yes, for you too."
I gave Daifuku some sunflower seeds and handed One-O-One the biscuit I had in my pocket. That biscuit was supposed to be my emergency ration...
I decided I’d give the Wild Hawk some chicken tenders later. If I didn't, Kinako would surely tell on me.
"Hey, Papa gave me a treat~ (Nyan!)" she'd say.
"Is that so~? I didn't get any! (Gwah!)" the hawk would reply.
Sure enough, the hawk spotted me from outside and performed a perfect landing right on my head.
"Give me a treat! (Gwah!)"
He began plucking at my hair. I’d only just managed to get my hairstyle back to normal, too!
His coop was already set up within the Palace grounds. It seemed Helga was more than capable of looking after the hawk as well; she was taking excellent care of him.
If I'm being honest, scouting Helga was one of the best decisions I've ever made...
Anyway, it was time for the operational test. I handed some sweets to Zashiki-warashi, who had appeared out of thin air.
"Thank you," she said, all smiles.
Wifey came over, and I moved to escort her.
"Oof."
Her belly had grown so large that it now took a considerable amount of effort just for her to sit in a chair. It had to be getting close to the day. I placed the Himorogi-chan seedling, which we were keeping in a flowerpot, next to the seat and settled in to watch the experiment on the Palace’s large display.
Zashiki-warashi started dancing, and the Himorogi-chan seedling began to glow. Since it was an Unmanned Machine Test, everything should be fine.
Suddenly, I found myself craving yakisoba. I really should have watched this from the Dining Hall.
The culmination of the engineers' hard work and sleepless nights finally made its sortie. Kyoko appeared in a close-up on the secondary screen.
"How is it, Your Majesty?! This ultimate machine! Isn't it magnificent?! The specs are the absolute strongest!"
Since it was a Prototype Machine, the design reused the frame of an existing model—the Standard Machine. Apparently, because the specs were so high, they were aiming for this to become the Next-generation Standard Machine.
Its response speed was nearly at the level of a human body. Its power didn't just exceed current models; it was greater than the Linear Blazers used by the Massacre Night or even large-scale machines. Furthermore, its fuel efficiency was incredible... or rather, instead of a standard Energy Pack, it used some kind of unknown energy source. It was so far beyond my understanding that the explanation went right over my head.
"High specs are great, but... can any pilot other than us actually handle that thing?"
"That'll come down to the software," Kyoko replied. "Lady Luna is handling that."
"And what about those of us who use manual controls?"
"Please do your best."
Figures.
And so, we watched the experiment unfold. This time, there were no targets for Tatiana's Floating Battery. To be fair, the previous test results had been so good that expectations had been set a bit too high. You don't really learn anything until you hit a failure, anyway.
We conducted the experiment using the drone. First, the machine launched and flew into outer space. It performed a corkscrew roll, likely as a demonstration that it could withstand my specific movements, before coming to a dead stop.
Whoa, now that’s a handy feature.
"We designed it to withstand maneuvers based on His Majesty Leo's piloting data," Kyoko explained.
"Kyoko, you really get me!"
Usually, machines start falling apart once they get near their top speed.
"To prevent it from breaking, we’ve dispersed the impact during movement more effectively than ever before."
"Wow."
That should definitely bring the failure rate down.
"After we advanced our analysis of the alloy used in the machine, this became possible."
"The resin is falling apart, but the alloy is holding up beautifully, isn't it?"
"Yes. The only problem is that the metal can only be mined on certain planets in this sector..."
She was referring to the uninhabited planets near Helga's home world. I see... now I understood the logic behind placing a planet-class battleship in that vicinity. It would have been a disaster if we’d lost control of that area.
"However, relying on rare metals limits our strategic flexibility. We’re currently working on synthesizing a similar metal."
"You're so competent."
As expected of Kyoko. She really knew her stuff.
Next was the shooting test.
"We’ve optimized the Shooting Correction for general pilots."
"Wait, we couldn't do that before. Can you really achieve that with just software?"
"Lady Luna was hiding a certain processor from us."
"What does that mean?"
At that moment, the Fairy made her appearance.
"It's a new material I created by culturing my own nerves."
"Come again?"
Wifey immediately averted her eyes. My God... this girl really went overboard sometimes.
Claire arrived just then, and I moved to escort her as well.
"Thank you... Oof."
It was starting to take effort for her to sit down, too.
"Yes, it looks like Luna-chan's processor was finished in time," Claire remarked.
"Wait. Was I really the only one kept in the dark about this?"
"Yeah, because we knew you'd object."
So I was left out of the loop specifically because I’d protest... How depressing.
"I mean, Luna-chan was the one who came up with the idea," Claire added.
"That's right," the Fairy chimed in. "I created the ultimate processor. Though, strictly speaking, it's something I made a long time ago. It dates back to when my favorite manga ended and I thought, 'Well, I guess I'll just destroy humanity now.'"
Humanity only existed because the Fairy had decided to show mercy.
"But then an anime adaptation was announced right after the serialization ended, so I called off the apocalypse."
Keep it up, otaku industry! The fate of the human race is resting on your shoulders!
"And so you decided to use your special trump card for this, Fairy?"
"I did redesign it to meet current standards, of course~"
This is exactly what I'm talking about! Why does the Emperor of the Galactic Empire treat people so carelessly and end up creating such terrifying enemies?! Are you people insane?!
"I've rewritten the software, too."
The Fairy was officially unstoppable.
"Now, now, Leo-kun, you're so obsessed with human rights. Rest easy!"
"No, I’m obsessed because I really don't want my own human rights to be trampled on down the line..."
"Hush! I just conducted an experiment using my own body. You have no reason to complain, right?"
"I have nothing but complaints! I don't want to be flash-frozen instead of being buried when I die!"
Wifey gave me a coy, enchanting smile.
"That is already the established course of action, you know."
"Stop it! Quit trying to turn me into a Taxidermied Great Ape!"
It was a genuine crisis for my human rights, which had only recently started to be recognized.
And so, under the watchful eyes of Zashiki-warashi, Himorogi-chan, and a group of heartless people who treated their own husband with zero mercy, the Unmanned Machine Test concluded without a hitch.
...Wait, I’m the next one to ride it?
Is it really okay?
I can actually pilot it?
Yahoo!