Several transport vehicles sped across the wasteland.
The fact that the majority of the planet had become a wasteland was the fault of the planet’s administrator—which is to say, my old man was a slacker.
If he had simply set the terraforming device’s parameters to their proper values, this should have been a lush forest region with plenty of food and a comfortable climate.
That said, within our territory, no one who had actually studied governance had ever served as the lord.
I knew the theory of what needed to be done, but I didn't know specifically which settings to tweak or how to go about it.
The process had been simplified quite a bit in the game, so that made it even harder to figure out the reality.
As we traversed the punishing terrain, the Capital City finally came into view.
A high wall surrounded the perimeter, and at the center stood a tall building that served as the Lord's Mansion.
Beside it lay the ruins of a former shopping mall, now home to a Black Market where the locals had set up their own stalls.
A supermarket barely managed to remain in operation, but it wasn't a chain from the capital planet; it was a local chain from the surrounding area.
In short, there wasn't a single fun facility to be found.
It was the stark reality of a regional planet slowly declining after years of neglectful management.
However, because this was a Marquis territory, it was apparently still better off than most other places.
The Capital City was currently completely surrounded by Zork.
A transmission came in from Sam.
"Wipe out the monsters around us! If you don't, I can't let you in! They'll get in with you!"
For my brother, it was a surprisingly sensible thing to say.
It seemed he possessed enough intelligence to at least grasp the situation.
"You got it!"
The door of the transport vehicle swung open.
"Claire, we're deploying."
"Roger."
I surged out using the Roller Dash.
The sands of the wasteland billowed up in our wake.
The doors of the other transport vehicles opened as well, and Standard Machines emerged one after another.
"Captain! We’re charging in with you!"
Melissa drew her blade.
Melissa Tachibana.
She belonged to a Samurai clan.
Melissa’s family excelled in swordsmanship, and their techniques had once been feared by pirates across the entire galaxy.
...Or at least, that had been the case until about a hundred years ago.
As beam pistols and other light-based weaponry with virtually unlimited ammunition became standard equipment, the tactical importance of close-quarters combat declined.
While CQC still existed as a discipline, the actual opportunities to use it had decreased overwhelmingly.
There might have been a demand for it if they had specialized in pirate hunting like Veronica’s Imperial Guard, but... their pride likely got in the way. They chose to fade into obscurity instead. (Though the fact remained that the Imperial Guard also used beam weapons as their primary armament.)
The Samurai lost their status, and Melissa’s family lost their influence.
The Ultra Metropolis, once a raucous paradise for the strong, was now just as much of a backwater as our territory—maybe even worse.
It had nothing but the Agricultural Cooperative and supermarkets.
Melissa’s greatest weakness was that a standard Trainer couldn't withstand her movements.
The god-speed strike delivered from a traditional low-waist stance put too much strain on the frame.
The current mainstream combat style involved mid-to-long-range firefights.
The machines weren't built to accommodate the range and motion of a sword.
The same went for me.
If I performed my current movements in a standard Trainer, it would probably break apart immediately.
However, we had cleared those hurdles with these Custom Machines.
I had unearthed design blueprints and specifications from the era of sword fighting from the Imperial Library Online.
I swapped out the gears and engine cores and reinforced the armor.
I did the same for the joints of my machine while I was at it.
This was expected to significantly lower the failure rate.
Melissa seemed eager to put the Custom Machine to the test.
She was a member of a warrior race through and through.
Then, even the Imperial Guard veterans joined the fray.
"Lord Groom! We’ve arrived!"
The old-timers were all wielding lances.
"Men, teach these monsters the true terror of the Imperial Guard!!!"
"Oooooh!!!"
Yeah, they were definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with.
"The old men will lead the charge. We’ll follow behind as skirmishers."
"Operation approved."
Claire confirmed the plan and transmitted it to my fiancée back on the destroyer.
It wasn't much of a strategy.
But it was the only option we had.
"Let’s gooooooooo!"
The veterans thundered forward with their Roller Dashes.
The Zork noticed the approach, but it was already too late.
They were scattered and trampled one by one by the lances.
And now it was our turn for skirmishing.
"Gyahahahahaha!!!"
Melissa, her excitement at its peak, charged into the fray.
She leaped high into the air, launching a surprise attack from above.
She impaled a Zork and touched down.
Drawing her sword, she cleaved the Zork in front of her in two with a single strike.
She immediately spun around and cut down the Zork behind her as well.
It was a technique honed to the absolute limit, practiced even while knowing it was considered obsolete.
"GISHAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The Zork let out a screeching howl.
In response, I bashed a Zork with my spear.
I was glad I hadn't chosen a lance.
I didn't have the first clue how to use one.
That said, I had practiced ceremonial spear forms until I was sick of them during my time in the Junior Division.
I could at least manage to use a spear.
To be precise, I was using it more like a staff than a thrusting weapon.
I bashed a nearby Zork with the butt of the spear.
Sliding my hands along the shaft, I mowed down the next one with the blade.
I was actually holding my own without a chainsaw!
"Whoa, that takes me back! That’s the stuff they taught us at school!"
Melissa laughed.
Up, down, up, down!
I kept delivering heavy, thudding blows.
"This is the only way I know how to fight!"
"Ahaha! Sticking to the basics like that—it’s actually pretty cool!"
I felt a bit embarrassed by the praise.
Then, Claire piped up.
"It’s not just the basics!"
With a heavy thump, the Two-seater Battery spat fire.
The Zork caught in the blast was sent tumbling through the air.
The power was incredible!
"I customized the battery, too!"
Still, it was a relief that we were only facing Crab-types.
Since it was still the beginning of the conflict, the enemies were relatively weak.
Once three months passed after the protagonist’s enrollment, the real threats would start appearing.
The Bipedal Giant Type.
They had thicker armor than normal Zork, were far more dexterous, and were much larger.
Yes, just like that creep trying to break down the wall over there...
Our eyes met.
"There's a new type here!!!"
It was an Anti-robot New Species.
"Jester... found you."
"It talked!!!"
An intelligent Zork...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what was going on!?
This wasn't the kind of monster you were supposed to encounter on a pathetic planet like this!
"Jester... kill."
"Lord Groom! This is a chance!"
A transmission came in from my fiancée.
"Assuming the opponent possesses intelligence, you must beat it down completely right here and now. Carve the terror and the sheer stupidity of opposing the Jester into its very soul!"
"Those are totally the lines of a villain!"
"Silence! Lord Groom! You're going to save your family, aren't you!? Then do it!"
She certainly had a point.
I accelerated toward the new species with a Roller Dash.
"Let’s see what you’ve got, Mr. New Species!"
"Follow the Lord Groom!"
"I'm going too!"
That this moment would become the stuff of legend... who could have predicted it at this point in time?