528 Knight Golem, and the Extinct Species.

The diorama Kuon made was a big hit. It wasn't just the people inside the castle—it also gained a good reputation among the other nobles and royalty gathered at the World Conference.

And of course, as expected, Kuon's grandfather, the King of Belfast, said, “I want one at our place too!” So Kuon ended up making a diorama of Belfast Castle as well.

Originally, Brunhild Castle was built based on Belfast Castle, so it didn’t seem to take that much effort. Kuon managed to complete Belfast Castle’s diorama in just a few days.

Naturally, the other kings started saying, “Me too, me too!”

We told him it was okay to decline—after all, we didn’t want to burden him—but he happily accepted. What a good boy...

That said, it would be troublesome if he got so absorbed in it that he forgot to eat or sleep, so we decided to set a relaxed production schedule that wouldn’t push Kuon too hard.

It’s not quite the “one hour of gaming a day” like the old gaming experts used to say, but we figured setting a certain amount of time to work on it would be good.

Alice complained that her time to play with Kuon was being cut down, though.

“I mean, in the future, those castle dioramas are displayed in the entrance halls of most countries. Who would’ve thought Kuon was the one who made them in the past…”

Yakumo said that while gazing at the completed diorama.

Kuon himself said he never imagined that the dioramas he was so fascinated by as a child (though he’s still a child now) were actually his own creations.

If he hadn’t made this castle diorama, the future Kuon might never have developed an interest in them.

Funny how it’s affecting the future in such a roundabout way. Isn’t this one of those time paradoxes? Maybe the Spirit of Time has a hand in this too?

“The Spirit of Time is a hard worker. It probably manipulates causality in various ways to guide things toward the planned future.”

Sitting beside me while we watched Yakumo and Kuon’s match, Moroha-neesan murmured this.

“So does that mean no matter what we do, we can’t change the predetermined future because of the Spirit of Time’s power?”

“Not quite. It can change through divine power, or the ‘miracles’ granted to people. Or through the Spirit of Time making a careless mistake. We just call those things ‘coincidences’ or ‘accidents’.”

“Even the Spirit of Time makes mistakes, huh. I always imagined it being strict and precise, like a clock.”

“Hahaha. Even the highest gods sometimes mess up and accidentally strike humans with lightning.”

Whoa, that makes total sense. Yeah, even gods make mistakes. So, spirits making mistakes isn’t that surprising.

“Well, as long as it’s not related to evil gods, it probably won’t affect the future too much. Oh, looks like it’s about to end.”

When I turned my gaze forward in response to Moroha-neesan’s comment, I saw Yakumo’s upward swing with her wooden sword sending Kuon’s wooden sword flying through the air.

They’d been clashing for quite a while now.

“Without using his Magic Eyes, Yakumo really is better when it comes to swordsmanship. Though it looks like Kuon put up quite a fight.”

Even though Kuon lost to Yakumo, he’s still plenty strong. If he used his Magic Eyes too, he might even rival Yae.

Among the kids, Yakumo and Frey are Gold Rank. The rest are all Silver Rank, apparently.

If we’re only talking about pure combat ability without using magic, then Elna is probably the weakest among the current group of children.

But even Elna is stronger than our regular knights.

It really hit me again how ridiculous these kids are. Well, they are demigods who have been trained by the gods since they were little, so I guess that’s to be expected.

“Muu... Yakumo-san is an oneechan, so I think she should go easy on him a little.”

“Nay, that wouldn’t make for proper training.”

Kuon’s loss earned a bit of a scolding from Yumina-okaasan, who voiced her complaint with a strained smile toward Yae. Sitting next to her, Albus remained silent and uninvolved. The white “Crown” is the quiet type.

“Kuu~! If I had been used, there's no way he would've been deflected so easily! I could’ve brought out Young Master’s full potential way better than that shabby old wooden sword!”

On the other hand, the silver “Crown,” Silver, was as talkative as ever. But using golem power wouldn’t make for much training, now would it?

As Kuon returned this way, Linne headed over to Yakumo. So full of energy.

“Good work.”

“Phew… Sparring with Yakumo-oneesama is seriously exhausting… I really think she could ease up just a bit…”

“Pfft.”

“What?”

Hearing Kuon say the same thing as his mother, both Yae and I almost burst out laughing. We managed to hold it in after a sharp glare from Yumina.

“Kuon doesn’t seem to like fighting all that much.”

Yae commented while watching Linne gleefully spar with Yakumo, in contrast to Kuon.

“That’s true. He’d rather spend time reading books, I think. But having strength is never a bad thing, so he trains properly. He doesn’t want to be in a position where he can only watch while others protect him if something happens.”

“How admirable! What do you think, Yae-san? That’s my son! He’s so little, yet has such a respectable mindset! Mama is so proud!”

Yumina hugged Kuon and, as usual, started ruffling his hair vigorously. Kuon, with a look of resigned understanding in his eyes, just let it happen.

“Danna-sama, isn’t Yumina-dono becoming more of a doting fool than ever…?”

“Doting fool, huh… Well, I do think she’s been getting a bit carried away lately…”

Among the parents, it feels like Yumina’s doting level has been reaching new heights lately. Maybe it’s because, unlike the others, her child is a son of the opposite sex.

I guess I’m similar—compared to my son Kuon, I tend to be more cautious and sensitive with my daughters.

Well, Yumina knows when to act properly, and she’s not on the level of Demon Lord-sama, so I think it’s fine.

While I was thinking that, Engineer Elka showed up from the castle, bringing along Babylon-Professor and Fenrir, along with Kuhn.

It’s rare for the development team’s professor to come to the training grounds.

“Yo. Sheska said you were over here.”

“Did something happen? Don’t tell me Albus’s Overgear is finished?”

They were supposed to be working on Albus’s Overgear—a submarine-type one that can dive into the sea.

It seemed like they were keeping it secret and didn’t intend to tell me until it was done—but could it be that it’s finally completed?

“Overgear isn’t finished yet. It’s not that. The Knight Golem is the one that’s done.”

“Knight Golem?”

Wasn’t that the golem deployed in the future version of Brunhilde? I remember it being part of the knight order’s sub-unit… Did they actually build it?

“Well, anyway, let’s unveil it. Kuhn.”

“Yes.”

At the professor’s words, Kuhn gave a flick of a “Storage Card,” and two knight-shaped golems appeared before us.

The knight-type war automaton Soldat that Professor brought along before was practically indistinguishable from a fully armored human—it looked just like a man in full plate armor. But these new ones were clearly designed to look inhuman at first glance.

One was about the size of an adult human male, equipped with a sword at its waist and a shield on its back.

The other was one size larger than a typical human—about the same height as an Ogre tribe member. Maybe just under three meters. Its build was burly, very clearly a power-type.

Both were primarily white with black parts serving as accents. They sort of reminded me of a police car.

“Let me introduce them. The Knight Golems, ‘Swordsman’ and ‘Guardian.’”

The professor pointed at each golem in turn. So, the regular-sized knight is ‘Swordsman,’ and the big one is ‘Guardian.’

“Why did you make two types, de gozaru ka?”

“The ‘Swordsman’ is for anti-personnel suppression. The ‘Guardian’ is for rescue operations during accidents or disasters. ‘Swordsman’ specializes in combat, while ‘Guardian’ is better suited for things like carriage overturns or fire rescues. We split them based on their use cases.”

Apparently, Guardian even has fire-extinguishing capabilities. I see—it’s a golem with rescue functions too.

The professor’s explanation was continued by the Professor.

“Now then, as for this ‘Swordsman’ over here, we haven’t finalized the standard strength setting yet. That’s where we’d like help from all the knights.”

“Standard strength? Wouldn’t it be better to just make it as strong as possible?”

Yumina tilted her head in confusion. The professor responded with a wry smile.

“No, see, if we set Moroha-kun as the base, the strain on the unit would be too great, and it’d get worn out in a single battle. Well, even before that, the ‘Swordsman’ doesn’t have the functions necessary to replicate Moroha-kun’s strength...”

Well, obviously. He’s the Sword-sama—the Sword God. You can’t just replicate that.

“What we want is a strength level that doesn’t overburden the unit, yet is flexible enough to adjust to the opponent. That’s what we want to fine-tune. That’s why we want it to fight a few people.”

“So, it’s like a final machine check.”

True enough. It would be pointless if the golem meant to support the knights is too weak. But if it breaks after only a few fights despite being strong, that’s no good either.

It also needs adaptable strength so it can hold back against weaker opponents.

And since the plan is to mass-produce Knight Golems, we can’t go overboard on costs. If cost wasn’t a concern, I’m sure they could make a high-end unit with tons of enhancements.

“Sounds interesting. I’ll be the first to test it.”

The person who volunteered after hearing the conversation was Logan-san, captain of the patrol knights.

For the trial, we decided both would use training wooden swords. Even if the opponent is a golem, we’d be in trouble if it broke right after we built it.

“Alright, here I go!”

Logan-san swung his sword. After exchanging a few blows, Swordsman took a hit to the side and lost.

“Eh, kinda weak, isn’t it?”

“It’s currently set to the minimum strength. First, it needs to fight several opponents and learn their movements, techniques, and behavior patterns.”

I didn’t fully understand, but I guess it’s like installing strength or data over time?

Afterward, Swordsman fought several knights but lost most of the matches. However, after a few battles, it started holding its own, and eventually began to win more often.

In the end, Swordsman even defeated Logan-san, who had beaten it in the first round, and managed to win against every member of the knight corps.

“Then next, I will go.”

The one who stood before Swordsman with a wooden sword in hand was Kokonoe Juutarou-san, who had been participating in knight training. He’s Yae-san’s older brother.

Originally a samurai from Eashen, Juutarou-san came to Brunhilde to train under Moroha-neesan in pursuit of greater strength. He’s staying here with his fiancée, Ayane-san.

It seems he came today to take part in training as well. I wonder when he arrived.

The match between Juutarou-san and Swordsman began. At first, Swordsman seemed to have the upper hand, but as the battle progressed, Juutarou-san steadily pushed back and eventually held the tip of his blade to Swordsman’s neck.

“I suppose that’s far enough. Any more and it’ll overburden the unit.”

Engineer Elka halted Swordsman’s combat. Swordsman gave a polite bow to everyone and exited the training grounds.

“So, it’s almost on par with Juutarou-san. That means it’s quite strong.”

Juutarou-san is among the top one or two swordsmen even in Eashen. Though here in Brunhilde, there are plenty of people even stronger than him, so that statement loses a bit of weight.

“I’m thinking of starting by making five of each and deploying them to the knights’ garrison in the castle town. Basically, the master will be you, Touya-kun, but the chain of command will be entrusted to the commander and vice-commander.”

Right. We’ll have to let the townspeople get used to them to some extent too.

In our country, on the Eastern Continent, we actually get to see golems fairly often. There’s Noir from the ‘Crown,’ and also Albus, Rouge, and Viola. Even Orba-san’s Strand Company has started handling them.

Well, people are probably used to Frame Gears by now anyway.

After finishing training, we returned to the castle. It seems Kuon and Yakumo are heading straight to the bath to wash off the sweat.

I thought I’d head to the office to go through the stack of documents I’ve been putting off, when suddenly, from behind a pillar, the head of the intelligence unit, Tsubaki-san, silently appeared.

Whoa—! You scared me. Can you please stop sneaking up on people like that inside the castle?

“I have two reports. First, a port town in the Kingdom of Kyuriera has been annihilated. It appears to be the work of a ‘Servant of the Evil God.’”

“The Kingdom of Kyuriera?”

Hmm, if I remember right, that was a country on the eastern side of the Western Continent. They’re not part of the ‘World Alliance,’ but I think I’d heard that the Kingdom of Panashes—the one with the pumpkin-pants prince—was trying to persuade them to join.

And now that country’s port town has been wiped out by a ‘Servant of the Evil God’?

According to Tsubaki-san, it was suddenly attacked by things like fishmen, four-armed golems, and rock giants.

There were some survivors, but they ended up becoming like the living dead, as if they’d lost their minds—or were cursed by injuries, turning into fishmen and disappearing into the sea. No doubt about it—it’s the work of the ‘Servants of the Evil God.’

“We had asked Panashes to warn the villages and towns around the gulf, but…”

“It seems they didn’t take it seriously. This is the first time there’s been damage of this scale.”

True. There have been cases where a village was attacked, but that’s usually on the level of a bandit raid. No one would have been on high alert for something like that.

But now that an entire town has been destroyed, this is no longer a mere criminal act—it’s more like an invasion or a natural disaster. Hopefully, this will push them to heighten their alertness.

The worst part is we can’t predict their appearances like we could with the Phrase. Well, I guess that’s how it normally is… It’s not like they’re going to send us a message saying, “We’re going to attack here.”

I decided to use my smartphone to send a word to every country in the ‘World Alliance.’

If they detect any suspicious signs or abnormal phenomena, they should report immediately. As long as there’s an Adventurers’ Guild in the area, the news will reach the king’s ears in a day. From there, if they contact me, I can use teleportation magic to send that country’s knights to the site.

“What’s the second report?”

“Yes. Recently, near the borderlands of the Regulus Empire, an unidentified magical beast appeared. The Adventurers’ Guild managed to subdue it, though with heavy casualties. However, this beast has never been recorded before. Some are saying it may be a new species.”

“A new species of magical beast?”

“Yes. Here is a photo.”

Piron—a photo was sent from Tsubaki-san’s smartphone.

Ugh… it’s covered in blood… looks pretty gory.

It’s a full-body shot from a distance. It kind of looks like a lion, but its head unmistakably resembles a bird’s. The limbs also resemble those of a bird. Definitely a chimera-type composite beast.

Could this also be something created by the ‘Servants of the Evil God’?

“No, apparently they didn’t find any of those crystals inside its body.”

The color may be different—red or blue—but the Servants of the Evil God always embedded those perfect octahedral crystals in the four-armed golems and fishmen they controlled. I thought this one had the same, but I guess not.

So maybe it really is a new species. If only we had someone who specializes in this kind of thing… Ah, wait, we do.

After parting ways with Tsubaki-san, I teleported to Babylon.

“Oh my, how rare.”

When she saw me, Fam, the librarian and manager of the ‘Library,’ looked up from her book. Still always reading, huh?

“What brings you here today?”

“There’s something I want you to take a look at.”

I approached Fam, who was reading a book at the counter of the Library, and showed her a magical beast that appeared on my smartphone screen.

“Showing a woman a blood-soaked corpse of a slaughtered animal—what an unusual hobby our Master has.”

“That’s not it. I came to ask if you know this magical beast. It might be a new species.”

Fam stopped with the sarcastic remarks, pushed up her glasses with a kui, and stared intently at the magical beast displayed on the smartphone. Before long, she walked over to a corner of the countless bookshelves, pulled out a book, flipped through its pages, and returned to me.

“It’s likely, though not certain. But I think it might be this one.”

Fam, still holding the thick book open, dropped it with a thud in front of me. There was an illustration rendered in a realistic style that resembled the magical beast shown on my smartphone.

The text was in ancient spirit script, so I couldn’t understand it without using Reading.

“Ipos. In some regions, it was also called Ipes or Aipolos. It primarily inhabited the great Ilpanema Forest. It was a rather aggressive magical beast, but because its meat was extremely delicious, it was hunted to extinction by the border tribes of the Ilpanema Forest 5,574 years ago.”

“Hunted to extinction? You mean it’s extinct?”

“That’s right.”

I thought it might be a new species, but it turned out to be an extinct one. Wait a second, before this too...!

The magical beast Kuon and Alice hunted in the nearby forest... I think it was called Marchosias or something. That one was also supposed to be extinct, wasn’t it?

“What the hell is going on...?”

Magical beasts that were supposed to have vanished are reappearing. Did they come from some isolated place like Palerius Island? No, more like...

“Don’t tell me… across time...?”

Some sort of power is at work, summoning magical beasts from the past? It’s not impossible. After all, our children came here from the future. The reverse might very well be possible too.

Is this another case of a dimensional quake?

“If it’s about time and space, I'd better ask an expert.”

I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket to call Tokie-obaasama.