In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 9 Read online

  Oh geez... A-At least I managed to stop it in time!

  “Th-There you go... N-No more fire! Now all we need to do is recover the injured. I’ll go and take care of the Golems in the meantime.”

  “Ah... Y-Yes. Very well. Please be careful.” Governor Audrey waved us off as we headed to the plains. The group of Golems were there, already advancing toward civilization once again. They were stomping pretty loudly, too.

  I got a closer look and noticed there was something strange on their backs. I couldn’t really see it properly from the front, but it seemed plant-like... Like something had been fused to them. It was probably Bowman’s final modification. I opened up a [Gate] and summoned Gerhilde from the Hangar. The crimson Frame Gear set foot upon Roadmare’s territory with a terrifying thud.

  “You gonna be alright?”

  “No problem. This is just the right amount of enemies. I’ll turn them into splinters.” Elze grinned, ran up the Frame Gear’s side, popped open the hatch, and climbed into the cockpit.

  I’d installed an automatic eject magic in case of emergencies, so I wasn’t too worried.

  Gerhilde began spinning up. I could tell because of the whirring noise that filled the air.

  “Let’s kick some ass, Gerhilde!” Gerhilde turned toward a group off three Golems and, with a loud sputtering noise, engaged its thrusters. The backdraft kicked up a whole cloud of dust into the air.

  Hey! I’m here, y’know?! Blegh, it’s in my mouth!

  “Take this!” Gerhilde jumped into the air and pulled back its fist, sending a punch into one of the Golem’s throats. The pile bunker followed the strike up and obliterated the core.

  “One down!” Then, it spun around and violently kicked another Golem, splitting it into two pieces. The leg doubled back and annihilated the exposed core.

  The third Golem raised its arms and sprouted what looked like ivy vines, attempting to bind Gerhilde with them. In a flash, Gerhilde’s arms were both tied together.

  “Outta... my way!” Gerhilde forced its arms apart and yanked, pulling the massive Golem toward it, and then began swinging the creature around in the air. After a few swings, she let go, sending the Golem crashing into a crowd of its peers. Holy shit!

  “[Boost]!” A magical crimson flame engulfed Gerhilde, signifying its shift into high power mode. After that, it began splintering the Golems one after the other. Her pile bunkers drove one after the other into the Golem cores, causing their massive bodies to wither away in quick succession.

  ...I made a good call with the pile bunker. I can understand why it’s so admired by manly mecha fans. It’s overwhelming everything head-on with sheer power! There’s no trickery, there’s no jokes! It’s just raw penetration, over and over again!

  “Die, die, die! Get crushed, trash! If you’re just gonna stand around, then you deserve it! Ahahaha!”

  Wow. She’s uh, really getting into it.

  It didn’t seem like there was anything those crystal stakes couldn’t break. Gerhilde was like a crimson goddess of death, exuding raw power on the field. The Golems rotted one after the other, becoming scraps of worthless wood.

  “Smaaash!” Gerhilde stood atop the mound of decaying wood, fist raised into the air. She’d done it. She was undefeated.

  We didn’t even get a chance to see what Bowman had added. Not that it mattered, since it was clearly a failure.

  Still, Gerhilde had exceeded all expectations. Without using its full power, too...

  This deadly Frame Gear would be a powerful boon indeed against the Upper Constructs.

  I looked up at the shining red robot with a smile on my face. Things were finally looking up.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “I-It’s not my fault! It was just a series of unfortunate events! Th-That’s all!” We were all in the royal palace, watching Bowman sputter out his excuses.

  He had strengthened the Behemoths by attaching a modified species of parasitic plant to their backs. The parasites fed on the nutrients of the host and unlocked their latent potential in exchange. That was what I’d seen when I first saw the Golems on the plains.

  But as it turns out, the parasites were conscious. Conscious enough to usurp the minds of the Golems and override the control collars that had been imbued into them. It also rendered any conditioned commands useless. The Golems all went berserk as a result, resulting in the rampage.

  “Golems aside, those parasitic plants were highly experimental! You did something horrendously dangerous by forcibly modifying them and attaching them to the Golems. Not only that, but you deliberately ignored your own staff and went ahead anyway.” Knight Commander Limit flicked through various laboratory notes as she made her commentary. It seems they’d been seized from Bowman’s lab.

  “Goodness gracious... Did you not consider that this might come with risk? Do you even know how many you’ve victimized through your own thoughtlessness?!”

  “Now you listen here, Governor Audrey! The risk was calculated! It wasn’t highly likely to occur at all! I would’ve never expected them to take over the Golem’s minds! Nobody would’ve! This rampage was just an accident, a misjudgment. I certainly can’t be blamed for it! I didn’t destroy the city!” Bowman glared at Audrey as he spat his words out. It just felt like a bunch of excuses to me. He was one of the first to flee from the lab after all. Commander Limit found him cowering in the storehouse.

  “Did you even need to improve the Golems? Our official talks were converging on accepting Brunhild’s aid. We were set to announce it officially tomorrow. Why did you do something so reckless when our course of action was already settled?!”

  Oh, that’s good at least. According to Audrey, four of the seven provinces that made up the Roadmare Union agreed to cooperate with Brunhild.

  Roadmare was made up of the Central Province, the Highland Province, the Mountain Province, the Lakeside Province, the Riverside Province, the Great Plains Province, and the Forge Province. Of those, the highlands, mountains, lakeside, and forge were all in support of accepting Brunhild. Central and the great plains opposed it, while the riverside remained neutral.

  An official democratic vote of province representatives was to take place the following day...

  “Lady Audrey, I’m willing to bet it was because people started to doubt his Golems after Brunhild’s Frame Gear defeated one in combat. There were many that said our budget should be diverted elsewhere after that incident. He likely made a desperate attempt to strengthen his Golems in order to retain laboratory funding and also save himself from being publicly shamed.” As Limit spoke, Bowman keeled over and began to shudder in irritation, sorrow, or anger.

  That’s how it is, huh...? All that to prevent budget cuts?

  “Those Golems of yours were total trash, by the way. I took them all out by myself. Pathetic...” Elze sneered at Bowman, which made him look up at her. His expression was one of combined shock and grief.

  “Y-You... You defeated my enhanced Golems... a-alone...? B-But....”

  “You shouldn’t have attempted to employ something beyond your control. This is a serious crime, Doctor Bowman. You modified them for no good reason, which makes you accountable for their rampage. We’re revoking your degree and formally dismissing you from your post. We’ll also have you serve time in the Mountain Province’s mines. Is that acceptable, Doge?”

  “A-Ah... Y-Yes, of course... He must take responsibility, o-of course.” Audrey spoke sternly and confidently. In contrast, the Doge muttered and shook his head quietly.

  It was obvious why. The one who had given Bowman the power he wielded was the Doge, after all. In a way, he too was partially responsible for this mess.

  Bowman was taken away by a few knights. There had been victims during this tragedy, resulting in several deaths. They probably hadn’t executed him due to his prior services to the country.

  “Now then... Doge. Have the town of Recept evacuated. The situation is urgent, and the invasion should begin soon. Send your fastest
messenger.”

  “W-Wait just a moment... What if we have them evacuate and nothing happens? What do you propose we do then, hm?”

  “Are you really still babbling on at this point...? If nothing happens, we’ll formally apologize and compensate them for time and effort wasted. Would you rather we left them there to be slaughtered? I don’t think that’d look very good either.” The Doge flinched slightly as Audrey reprimanded him. He did as she asked and sent his fastest horse toward the town. Quite rightly, I believed.

  “Grand Duke. Please oversee the evacuation of Rimroad, Emynas, and Recept. We’ll also permit the deployment of Brunhild’s Frame Gears within our territory. Isn’t that right, Doge?”

  “A-Ah... Y-Yes.” The Doge stood there nodding at everything Audrey told him. It was hard to tell who the actual leader was supposed to be.

  Either way, we were permitted to intercept the incoming Phrase invasion.

  “Thanks for your help. We’ll do our best to deal with what’s coming. We’re going to start deploying our Frame Gears around the area we expect the Phrase to emerge, then.” It was likely they’d start appearing in under a day, so I had to make haste.

  I returned to Brunhild castle and organized my troops. Knight Commander Lain and her Vice-Commanders Norn and Nikola would be leading nineteen troops each. That would make up three platoons of twenty, commanders included. They’d be stationed as sentries, taking shifts to keep watch on the area.

  Brunhild would be left mostly defenseless, but the old men and the remaining soldiers would be more than enough to take care of the place.

  I was lending eighteen Chevaliers and two Knight Barons to each of the allied nations. I had them waiting on standby in their own territories. I didn’t want a bunch of different nations sitting around in Roadmare’s territory during the waiting period, after all.

  My fiancees all said they wished to sortie in battle together, but I decided not to let Leen and Sue participate.

  I was uneasy about having Sue participate in such risky combat for no reason, and Leen had yet to master the basics of Frame Gear piloting.

  Elze would be piloting her Gerhilde, and everyone else would be in Knight Barons fitted with their respective weapons. Yae’s would have a Phrasium Katana, Hilde’s would have a Phrasium Sword, Lu’s would have two Phrasium Daggers, and Yumina and Linze both would be equipped with the long-range Fragarach weapons.

  I also asked Rosetta and Monica to sortie in the rear just in case of emergencies like minibots or Frame Gears getting trashed.

  “Sir! All the Frame Gears are equipped with crystal weaponry this time, sir! That puts us at a considerable tactical advantage!” There was a lot of crystal debris after the battle at Yulong. I expected this battle to be a lot cleaner.

  I took Brunhild’s Frame Gears with me through a portal and we came out by a forest that was a little bit away from where we expected the Phrase to emerge.

  There were plains as far as the eye could see, with a few mountains in the distance. Clouds blew by in a gentle breeze, and I could hear gentle birdsong. It was hard to believe this place would soon become a hellish battlefield.

  “Alright, this’ll be our HQ.” I smoothed the ground using magic, and teleported in a few mobile homes from Babylon’s Hangar.

  These buildings were imbued with a similar effect to my [Storage] spell, making them bigger on the inside. They were kept at an ambient temperature too, so they made a good place for the knights to relax. Plus, I’d prepared blankets and beds, so they’d have a place to rest if need be.

  I numbered the buildings, as well. Building 1 was for the meeting hall, and Building 2 was the cafeteria. I also called in a third building that women could freely use.

  So long as Roadmare was evacuated properly, then the citizens would find themselves heading right our way. Then we’d be able to keep them safe.

  We’d also be able to easily spot if the Phrase appeared thanks to the long-distance lenses on the Frame Gears. We were in a vast plain, so there were no obstacles to worry about.

  “Think they’ll come?”

  “I’d prefer it if they didn’t, honestly. But it’ll be awkward if they don’t... I’d have a lot of explaining to do.” I was playing a game of shogi with Nikola on the roof of one of the buildings. There was little else to do while we waited, after all.

  I opened up my map and saw that the evacuation was proceeding as planned.

  “Is Lady Moroha participating this time?”

  “Mm, well... Moroha can’t operate a Frame Gear at all. It’s beyond her, really. She’s only good with swords.” In truth, she just wasn’t all that interested in piloting them. I bet if she managed it, she’d be a serious asset, though...

  “Either way, she said she’d fight. I gave her a crystal sword, so we’ll see how it goes.”

  “She’ll... fight?”

  “Yep. Boots on the ground.” Nikola stared at me blankly for a few moments before shaking his head and muttering.

  “Well, I suppose anything’s possible for your family...” He spoke in a half-whisper, seemingly amused.

  She’s not my blood-related sister or anything...

  In truth, I wasn’t all that worried about the upcoming battle. We’d had time to prepare, and there wouldn’t be as many as there were in Yulong.

  I was nervous about the Upper Construct, though. If it was similar to the Crocodile Phrase we’d fought before, we’d probably be able to manage fine, but if it had a beam attack we’d be in serious trouble. I vividly recalled how it blew away Yulong’s capital despite being miles and miles away from it. I was pretty sure I had a good way to counter it, but I couldn’t be sure until it happened.

  I’d also collected the necessary materials for a Meteor Rain attack, since that helped greatly the last time.

  Still, it was an inaccurate attack that couldn’t tell friend from foe, and it ate up magic like crazy. It would also do serious damage to the ground.

  True, it made for a good pre-emptive strike against the initially emerging Phrase, but I wanted to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.

  And so, we waited as almost an entire day passed. The evacuation had pretty much completed. I looked on my map and found no signs of human life in the nearby towns. It was just a waiting game at this point... Waiting for the invaders.

  Nothing happened on the second day, either. I really didn’t want them to show up in the middle of the night. They were hard to see in the dark due to the material their bodies were formed out of. As I pondered the best way to fight them in the cover of darkness, the third day came.

  As we were eating breakfast, we finally heard news from one of the watchmen.

  “There’s a crack in space! The Phrase are starting to emerge!” The warning rang out through the headquarters, and the sleeping soldiers got up to climb into their Frame Gears.

  There was still some time left. I used it wisely, hopping from portal to portal in order to inform each nation’s army of the emergence. Then, I brought them all back with me.

  There were a total of two-hundred Frame Gears all lined up, facing the crack. They were prepared to intercept.

  “Milord! It’s getting bigger!” I used [Long Sense] to peek at the crack, and sure enough I could see part of a crystal body poking its way out.

  A loud noise rang out, kind of like shattered glass, and Phrase began to pour out of the crack, almost like they were rolling down a slope.

  After a while they all tumbled out, and space returned to normal.

  “Most of them look like Lesser and Intermediate Constructs... Where’s the Upper?”

  “It takes a while for the Upper Constructs to pass through. It was the same last time, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah... That’s ri— Wah!” I was using [Long Sense], so I hadn’t noticed Ende standing next to me. This guy... He sure is good at popping up without warning.

  “It’ll take about thirty minutes until it gets here, I think. We should mop up these guys before then.” Ende
split the slide in his hand, and his monochrome Dragoon appeared. He hastily boarded it. Man, this guy...

  “Search. Total number of Phrase.”

  “Searching... Eight-thousand-one-hundred-and-forty-one in total.” That meant there were around sixty percent of the amount in Yulong. “How many are Intermediate Constructs?”

  “Searching... Complete. Eight-hundred-and-nine.” So about ten percent of them... Just like last time. I wonder if there’s some kinda rule here...

  I summoned forth Valkyries and had them carry cameras to serve as a live feed. The rulers of each nation in the command center would know the situation of the battle thanks to that. I had the leaders of Roadmare’s provinces there as well. I didn’t want them blaming me for anything like in Yulong’s case.

  HQ was also equipped with spare Frame Gears, and Rosetta, Monica, Flora, and Leen were on standby too. The emergency escape magic also had HQ as the primary target.

  “Touya, they’re on the move.” I heard Yumina’s voice through the communicator. I’d set it so Elze’s Gerhilde and the Knight Barons all had a direct line with me. I’d found stuff in the storehouse that let me upgrade my comms, which was nice.

  I invoked [Long Sense] once more to check on the front lines. It was just as Yumina had told me, they were marching onward.

  Oh, there’s flying ones... Manta Phrase, and... Oh, that’s new. A dolphin...? No... It’s an Orca Phrase... Flying here, too. That’s definitely an Intermediate Class.

  “Alright, let’s get this started.” I opened up [Storage] and took out two greatswords. Naturally, I held one in each hand.

  “All units! The battle begins now! Follow your respective commanders! Let’s send these Phrase back to hell!”

  “HOO-AAAH!” The very earth rumbled as the Frame Gears charged toward their targets.

  I used [Fly] and went off to wipe out the flying ones.

  ◇　◇　◇

  The Manta Phrase and Orca Phrase were approaching from the front.

  However, the Manta was moving a bit faster. It swerved, attempting to cleave at me with its body.

  I wasn’t going to be beaten that easily, though. I swerved to the side and cut it in half as I flew by.