Chapter One: Watt in the Frontier City

Just as the sun had begun to rise, clamorous footsteps rang out through the dimly lit forest. Their source was the engine running along the tracks that pierced through the forest, sounding out alongside a cloud of dust each time one of its eight massive legs hit the ground.

“We’ve made it this far already...”

Rocking back and forth in the passenger car, the girl had been absentmindedly staring up at the sky as dawn broke through. The Trailmarcher she was riding in had been traveling through the night and was set to arrive at the terminal station in the morning. Judging from the look of the sky, their destination would be coming into view any minute.

Just as the girl was thinking about this, the horizon stretched open before her as the Trailmarcher exited the forest. The next thing she saw was the massive guard wall that surrounded the city. The vehicle’s brakes let out a piercing shriek as it slowed down, puffs of steam erupting from each of its sections.

The station was right in front of them once they were past the wall, and the girl’s long Trailmarcher journey finally came to an end. This was Front-Edge City, the southernmost frontier at the farthest reaches of the Kingdom of Ogdenn and the terminus of the Kingdom’s Trail.

“He’s out there somewhere in this city.”

By the time the steam hanging overhead had dissipated, passengers had begun to exit the vehicle in scattered groups. Once the majority of the passengers had disembarked, the girl made her descent out of the Trailmarcher and into the station.

There were all sorts of reasons people visited this area, but the majority of the individuals on the first arrival of the day were merchants. Surrounded by weary men, the girl seemed to be quite out of place.

Her clothes were simple at first glance, but actually well tailored. She had long red hair, beneath which she’d stiffened the expression on her still rather childlike face.

“I’ll do my very best, mother!”

With her mind made up and her suitcase in her hands, the girl stepped forward, only for her surroundings to suddenly grow dark.

“Outta the way!”

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden shout, the girl looked up, only for her vision to be engulfed by a massive shipping crate.

***

“Aaahhh, morn’n.”

“Good morning, Chief Watt Sears! Come on now, time to get up and at ’em!”

“That’s easy enough when you’re as young as you are! But when you’re almost forty, this sort of thing is rough in the mornings, you know.”

Humanity wasn’t made to get up before the sun! Thinking about nothing of any particular value, Watt Sears had made his way to his workplace, Front-Edge City Central Station, for yet another day on the job.

Looking down at the whorl of his subordinate’s hair as he greeted them, Watt gave his reply quietly under his breath. After all, he was well-built and stood nearly two meters tall in height. While his appearance might’ve otherwise come across as threatening, the air of absentmindedness he was cloaked in just barely managed to offset it.

In light of a certain reason, his workplace was more or less filled with twenty-somethings. Sadly enough for Watt, at thirty-nine years old this year, he’d single-handedly raised his workplace’s average age. What’s more, as the only ten-year veteran on the job, he’d been given a management role as chief.

“Oh, it’s about time for the first arrival to come rolling in!”

At practically that same moment, the Trailmarcher slid into the station with a lively clatter. The eight-legged lead car passed right before their eyes before stopping.

“This thing gives me the creeps no matter how many times I see it,” his subordinate remarked.

“Ha ha, creepy or not, it’s the poster child for the Kingdom’s Trail, inspired by the eight-legged Sleipnir.”

“The thing’s a spider any way you look at it.”

“Having the legs face out wasn’t the brightest choice, was it?”

Pulling a trail of numerous cars behind it as it dashed across the kingdom, the engine car at the front of the Trailmarcher was a splendid vehicle, excelling in both power and durability. Its appearance was just ever so slightly hopelessly unsettling—that was all.

“All right now, everybody!” Watt said. “Let’s do some good work out there today. Safety first, same as always.”

Watt clapped his hands to prompt them to start, only for the young workers to give scattered replies as they started to move. Their job was to unload cargo from the freight cars, so they headed off to where the tools they’d need for the job were. Awaiting them there were massive humanoid machines. To be precise, they were better described as massive humanoid magical instruments. They were commonly known as “Mechsteels.”

“Now, go ahead and feed them the junk magicyte,” Watt instructed.

“Roger.”

Proud of their own strength, the young workers carried bags filled with magicyte over to the Mechsteels, opened the hatches on their abdomens, and filled the Mech-Hearts—the Mechsteels’ power reactors.

“Phew, this really gets your shoulders,” Watt said. “It’d be a whole lot lighter if they went with something better than junk magicyte.”

“Do you hear how old you sound? There’s no way they’d ever fork out for the expensive stuff when it’s just going in a Mild Bull—they’re made to be cheap!”

These “Mild Bulls” stood eight meters tall from head to toe. They had chunky frames and short legs, which paired with arms as long as the machines were tall—so much so that they sometimes even touched the ground. What’s more, a bull monster’s skull that was massive in its own regard was embedded in each Mechsteel’s chest.

Mechsteels were a type of magical instrument that were powered by magic energy. Mild Bulls belonged to the so-called Livestock-grade of Mechsteel, mass-market products made at a relatively low cost. Even though the magicyte fueling them was of the lowest quality, this was offset by the sheer quantity required.

“All right, start boarding!”

After giving the order to the workers around him, Watt himself stepped into one of the Mild Bulls lined up in a row. Sinking into the enormous cavity in the middle of the Mechsteel’s chest, Watt steadied his breathing.

“Harmonizing... Start-up is check! No problems with response. Machine check is a go. All right, here I go. Watch where I’m stepping!”

A half-hearted warning whistle rang out as the individuals standing at the Mechsteel’s feet quickly dispersed. Getting sent flying by an eight-meter-tall giant would’ve left more than a scratch. The Mild Bulls checked the safety of their surroundings before they began to walk.

“Wh-Whoa...!”

“Hmm... I guess new recruits are bound to be a bit wobbly! Here—ease up. If you get too worked up, you won’t be able to move the way you need to. Doesn’t matter what it is—the real trick with anything is to not go overboard.”

“Th-Thank you, sir!”

Watt grasped the shoulder of a new recruit’s Mechsteel to steady it. By harmonizing their senses with those of their Mechsteels, pilots were able to move their massive, humanlike frames as if they were their own limbs. However, as the Mild Bulls had a drastically different balance than that of the human body, the uninitiated often failed to harmonize well.

“Though it’s cruel to expect too much out of a Bull when they were made to be cheap,” Watt added. “But hey, you youngsters can just count on this old man for all that.”

After all, Watt was the only ten-year veteran on the job. Lending a helping hand to the wobbly new recruits, Watt set about work himself. His Mild Bull’s massive frame headed toward the freight car before hefting up one of the shipping crates that had been loaded onboard.

While the Mild Bulls had ultimately become commonplace due to their affordable price, out of their rather devastating capabilities, the sole element that was truly eye-opening was their sheer strength. The way they safely lifted and carried the weighty shipping crates was a testament to their status as work machines.

Watt heard the shout as he was making steady progress unloading the crates.

“Oh no...!”

The frantic voice echoing in his ears, Watt instinctively spun around, only to see a shaking Mechsteel and a rapidly tilting crate. The crate finally went flying through the air. There, right where it would land, was a passenger who’d disembarked onto the station platform that very moment—a young girl.

“Watch out!!!”

Watt was already moving by the time he shouted, but he could only go so far running with a Mild Bull’s short legs. Instead, he decided to stake his luck on the Mild Bull’s one forte: its strength. Slamming against the ground with all his might, Watt used the recoil to send himself bolting forward. He didn’t even have the time to slow down after that. Watt stretched out his arms, falling forward into a slide. He caught the crate right above the girl’s head, just in the nick of time.

“Hrrr-mmmph!”

It was too soon to let his guard down, but it was another chance to show off the Mild Bull’s strength. Squeezing his extended arms tight, Watt sank his palms into the crate, which let out a creak as he fixed it in place. After waiting a moment to make sure it wouldn’t fall, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Chief Sears! Are you all right?!”

Giving a nod to his coworkers who’d gathered around, Watt slowly moved the crate out of the way. Dismounting from his Mechsteel, he ran over to the young girl who’d very nearly been flattened as quickly as his legs would carry him, gliding into a ninety-degree bow on the spot.

“My deepest, utmost apologies, ma’am! Have you sustained any injuries?!”

Bow your head the moment something happens. That was the indispensable technique for avoiding any sort of trouble. Kid or not, don’t let your guard down! Mid-level managers were truly pitiful creatures.

Lifting his head up a bit after, Watt saw the girl was frozen there, eyes round. She was well-dressed. Likely a young woman from a well-to-do house—there was even the chance she could belong to the noble class. The fact that she had no one accompanying her did make that possibility seem a bit unlikely, though.

After thinking that far, however, Watt felt an odd sense of déjà vu fall across him. He’d seen those jade-colored eyes of hers somewhere before... With Watt dazed, the girl gave a warm smile and opened her mouth.

“You’re... No, I’m fine. I’m not injured. That could’ve gone much worse. I truly appreciate you saving me.”

“N-No, think nothing of it! It was our blunder that caused this in the first place!” Watt replied. “All that matters is that you’re unharmed.”

Flustered, Watt bowed his head again, secretly breathing a sigh of relief that the girl was more mild-mannered than he’d feared. It seemed he’d be able to avoid the worst-case scenario now.

“I’ll see you later, then,” the girl said. “Good luck with your work.” No more upset than that, she gave an elegant curtsy and left.

Just as the girl disappeared behind the ticket gates, the newcomer who had caused the accident made his way to Watt.

“I’m so sorry, Chief Sears! I just...!”

“Real dumb of you biting off more than you can chew like that!” Watt said. “How many times have I told you that new recruits should start with the smaller crates?”

The newcomer paused. “It’s just, I wanted to make money, so...”

Watt gave an especially large sigh and swallowed the urge to say anything further. Yeah, that’s right—they earn more the larger the crates they haul. He understood the newcomer’s feelings so well it hurt, but if that ended up causing an accident, it’d all be for nothing.

“We really lucked out that she was such a kind young lady, though,” Watt said. “For now, can I leave the cleanup here to you? I’m gonna go have a chat with the boss.”

“Ah! Does this mean I’m getting fired after all?!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Watt said. “Nobody’s comin’ to bite you, okay? I’d just be more scared trying to keep secrets from the boss.”

Reassuring his young subordinate, Watt walked off, waving as he went.

“Ahhh...” Watt sighed. “My little Bull got all banged up too. No tellin’ what kind of lecture I’ll be in for...”

All on his own with the station building behind him, Watt’s shoulders sank dejectedly. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but even then, that didn’t mean he could just run away. Mid-level managers truly were pitiful creatures.

***

The largest building in the center of the city was the main office of Socom Co.

It was also known as “Baron’s Company.” Its president, the baron Otto Socom, also served as the lord of the city. Front-Edge City Central Station itself belonged to the kingdom, but its employees belonged to Socom Co. In other words, that made Socom Co. Watt’s employer.

Inside, there was a tidy reception desk with a handful of attractive women sitting behind it. As soon as one of the receptionists spotted Watt, she bolted to her feet.

“Why, if it isn’t Mr. Sears!” she exclaimed. “You don’t come around all that often! Did you come to see me?”

“Wish I could say ‘of course’ to that, Miss Turqis!” Watt said with a laugh. “But I’m afraid it’s nothing too pleasant today. One of the newcomers screwed up. I’m hoping to speak with the president—that okay?”

“Hrmm, what a shame! Well, let’s just take our time catching up next time! I’ll go ask the president.”

Watt chatted with the remaining receptionists and waited for Turqis to come back. Despite the fact that Otto was extremely busy working in two capacities as both president and lord, Watt found himself readily ushered into his office.

“Another accident, is it? The quality of our recruits has been dropping as of late,” Otto said.

“No, the fault’s all mine,” Watt answered.

Sitting at his office desk, Otto looked somehow nervous as he narrowed his gaze. Given that they’d known each other for a long while, and that Otto wasn’t that far apart from Watt in age, they could speak in friendly terms in private.

“But at the end of the day, that’s what they all really want,” Otto said. “I don’t like saying this, but it’s only the dropouts that come here to work.”

The two stared out the window, watching a Mechsteel walk past. It was a more premium model that couldn’t even be compared with a Mild Bull, boasting a sturdy frame and well-balanced proportions—a Brute-grade Mechsteel.

“Steelriders are the stars of the city, after all,” Otto said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be able to keep the company going.”

“Steelriders” referred to those who piloted Mechsteels to fight against monsters. Normally, the term referred to Mechsteel pilots in general, but the term had taken on a slightly different meaning that was likely exclusive to Front-Edge City.

“I know,” Watt replied. “But thanks to that, they all think handling freight for us is a good way to make money—they might even think of it as some sort of pilot training.”

“I’ve heard the rumors,” Otto said. “You’re too good at looking after them—that’s why they lean on you so much, no?”

Watt paused. “I don’t think that’s it.”

Watt looked away, but it was hard to hear nonetheless. At first, the typical pattern for recruits had been to save up money hauling freight before purchasing a Mechsteel on their own and making their debut as a Steelrider. However, thanks to Watt’s various displays of parental love and the visible strides the recruits had begun to make with their skills, Socom Co. was now completely overflowing with youths joining solely for training.

“It’s only natural for an old man my age to want to give promising kids a leg up, don’t you think?” Watt said.

“You do a good job training them, though,” Otto said. “Still, if you ask me, it’d be more reassuring having you as a Steelrider.”

“C’mon now, Mr. President! You know I’m too old to push my limits like that. And besides, I like my job now! It’s like I’m supporting everybody from the rear. Anyway, that’s all I have to report on, so I’ll be off!”

“Where do I even start with you, Watt?” Otto paused. “Put the recruit that messed up through the wringer.”

With a hasty bow, Watt made his exit, going back the way he’d come. Watt heard a heavy sigh from behind him but decided he hadn’t heard anything after all.

Running out of the main building, Watt found himself enveloped in a commotion.

“Check the day’s rates right here! Come on, grab these bounties before they’re gone! First to claim ’em gets ’em!” the girl yelled.

Standing on a balcony as she spoke, each of the girl’s shouts were met with angry-sounding war cries from the crowd.

“This monster’s all mine! Gonna earn me some coin!”

“This one’s a small fry, but it’s been going up in price. I’ll snag a few of ’em, then.”

“Ahh... If I can bag this monster, then all that debt’s as good as settled...but I don’t like my odds one bit...”

Beside the main building was an establishment for Steelriders and yet another of the city’s important facilities: the Hunters’ Guild Hall.

In front of the guild hall were several bulletin boards, with both the monsters’ likenesses—and the prices they fetched—posted together. Hanging beneath them were wooden tags known as bounty tags. There, fighting to claim the tags for themselves, were men and women dressed in pompous attire.

“Already posting time? I musta gotten carried away talking,” Watt said, skillfully slipping through the crowd. It was common to see Steelriders fight over bounty tags—it could even be considered one of the early morning attractions of Front-Edge City. You could hardly live in the city if something like that was enough to stop you in your tracks.

“Hey, we had our eyes on this bounty first!”

“The hell are you getting at? Not my fault you’re slow to the draw!”

In most cases, bounty tags went to whoever claimed them first. What’s more, given the hot-blooded nature of the Steelriders, it was hardly uncommon for them to clash over the tags. That was just another part of what made it an attraction...at least, that’s what Watt wanted to say. However, if a fight that would block his way were to break out, he couldn’t keep quiet. Silently drawing close to the arguing duo, Watt grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks and lifted them into the air.

“All righty, that’s enough. There’s a ban on Steelriders fightin’ in the city—you both know that.”

“Who the hell do you think you are, buttin’ in when...” the man froze. “M-Mister Watt?!”

Watt was every bit as strong as his large frame would suggest. No matter how much the men squirmed, he didn’t budge an inch.

“You there! You’ve got a lot of nerve, fighting right in front of me!”

Having noticed the commotion, the girl who’d been shouting in front of the guild hall had made her way onto the scene. The next moment, the men’s faces went from bright red to pale white.

Meddié Socom was the only daughter of Baron Socom, the president of Socom Co. who ruled Front-Edge City—and the poster girl for the Hunters’ Guild. Simply put, she was one of the most powerful figures in the city.

“N-No, no, miss!” one of the men stammered. “We were just encouraging each other a bit, that’s all! There’s not an ounce of trouble here, not one bit!”

“Yeah, that’s right! Just peppin’ each other up!”

Steelriders who belonged to the guild were permitted to wield tremendous power in the form of Mechsteels. In exchange, they were strictly prohibited from any form of violence in the city, and if they broke this rule, they would be deprived of both their Mechsteel and their Hunting License. If that happened, they’d have no way to put food on the table. It was quite understandable, then, that the men desperately rushed to string together excuses.

“Hmm? Is that so?” Meddié asked. “If you two can get along like that, I’ll write this one off as a misunderstanding on my part.”

“Of course, miss! We’ll go grab bounties like the good pals we are!”

The moment Watt let go of the napes of their necks, the two bolted off instantly, only for Meddié to walk over in their place. In contrast to the beaming face of the girl before him, Watt’s face stiffened a bit.

“I’d expect nothing less of my master! You put a stop to that fight just like that!”

“Ha ha ha...” Watt laughed. “I just happened to be passing by.”

Watt had given Meddié just a few pointers on piloting a Mechsteel when she’d been small, and ever since then, she’d taken to calling him her master. As a nearly forty-year-old man, his only option was to stifle the tinge of embarrassment he felt.

“Did you have something to do at the main building? Oh, don’t tell me! You came here to train me?” Meddié asked.

“No, it was for work,” Watt answered. “There was a problem down at the station, so I let the president know.”

“That’s what it was?” Meddié asked back. “Well in that case, you’ll watch me practice now, won’t you?”

“Hold your horses, there,” Watt said. “I’m heading straight back to work. I’m the chief, after all. I’ve gotta be around, see?”

Like father, like daughter. And just why did both Otto and his daughter alike have so much to ask of him? His job might’ve been hauling around freight, but their expectations were too heavy for him to shoulder. Having wiggled his way out of the situation somehow, Watt finally made his way back to his workplace.

***

“Phew, today really tuckered me out!”

Watt was leaving work just as the sun had started to go down. There’d been all sorts of commotion today, but it was all over now. Going back home was a mercy granted to all workers. Watt couldn’t quite pin down why, but he didn’t feel like having a drink, so he decided to look for a restaurant to eat at on his way back. There were many workers in the city, so there was a wide variety of restaurants and food stalls to choose from. Sniffing out a new joint and treating myself to a meal might not be a bad idea!

At least, that’s what he was thinking before he met the bright and cheery girl.

“I was waiting for you, Mr. Watt Sears.”

Watt blinked at the figure standing before him.

It wasn’t even a question of whether he’d seen her before—it was the girl he’d saved from the accident that morning.

“Did I introduce myself earlier?” Watt replied. “Oh, that’s not important! Were you injured after all? In that case, if you just go to the station building—I’ll get all the details, so...”

“That’s not it. I came here to see you.”

Paying no mind to Watt’s attempts to change the topic, the girl simply stared at him. Her eyes were strong and straightforward. Watt felt an overpowering sense of déjà vu rise up within him. He remembered someone looking at him the same way a long time ago—he was sure of it. But before he could remember who it was, the girl’s next words shattered his attempts to think.

“My name is Anna Turris,” she said. “And my mother’s name...is Cullinagemia Turris.”

“Are you...Cullina’s daughter?!”

Watt had been bombarded with the cause of his déjà vu far sooner than he’d expected. That’s right—he’d locked eyes with those same jade-colored eyes over a decade before! But she’d vanished before him...

Not even waiting for Watt to calm down from the shock, Anna continued. “I am. And, according to my mother, my father’s name is...Watt Sears.”

Watt froze firmly in place this time, his mouth wide in shock.

“In other words...you.”

Her words shot through his heart like an arrow.

Chapter Two: Where I Belong

After being stopped on his way back from work, Watt found himself suddenly face-to-face with his real daughter whom he’d never seen before.

This is flat-out nuts!

Watt couldn’t have been more confused. He didn’t have a clue what was going on. His good mood and dinner deliberations had already flown far from his mind to the edge of the world. Now it was all he could do to rack his brain trying to figure out just how he should make sense of the situation.

“So, erm... I beg your pardon, miss—and I do apologize—but I was hoping you wouldn’t mind sharing your age with me for reference?”

“I’ll be sixteen this year,” the girl answered.

“Ngggh!”

Bingo! Jackpot! It had indeed been seventeen years since “Cullina” Turris had been with Watt. While there’d been a number of reasons—a slew of them, really—that had forced them apart, who would’ve thought that what they’d done back then had turned into something?! At any rate, Watt had no shortage of occasions with her that sprung to mind.

I kind of feel like bursting out crying right now, you know! There’s no way an old man my age could even start to talk about all that in front of a young lady, though!

Never once for any soul out there had it ever paid off to be a man. There were times when a man had put on a bold front even though he knew he was on the losing end—not that that would keep his legs from shaking, though.

“Hah. Ha ha! Is Cullina doing well?”

“She is,” the girl answered. “Exceedingly well.”

“Wonderful to hear,” Watt replied. “Now, this is the last point I’d like to confirm, but...do you know the name of Cullina’s current husband?”

In response, Anna looked down, showing an expression other than a smile for the first time.

She paused. “Of course I do. My adoptive father’s name is Lezamer Ogdenn.”

“No changes there, huh...?” Watt replied. “My apologies for doubting you.”

Watt looked up at the starry sky, as a long—excessively long—sigh flowed out through his lips. The sigh was so heavy that it sounded like his lungs were being squeezed out, as if all the needless feelings in his chest were flowing out alongside it.

Think she’s the real deal? Just listen to yourself—you knew she was right from the start.

It was immediately clear to Watt and Watt alone, and looking into those same jade-colored eyes from seventeen years ago—eyes like polished gemstones—there was no room for him to doubt it. He’d only wanted a little bit of time to come to terms with it, that was all.

“That’s right, Lezamer Ogdenn...” Watt said. “The bastard who stole Cullina away from me is none other than His Highness...this kingdom’s oh-so-esteemed first prince. So that’d make you a member of the royal family too.”

“Indeed.”

Watt didn’t feel like trying to conceal it from Anna at all, although he didn’t know whether it was simply because he was a terrible liar, or because she was just like her mother and so straightforward that he couldn’t.

A new question had emerged in his mind alongside it.

“Why’re you here?” Watt demanded. “I might be your father, but what reason could you have to come looking for me now?”

Even Anna found herself somewhat hesitant to answer. But with her characteristic straightforward nature, she regained her composure before soundly staring back at him.

“Legalisbelm—the war for succession—has begun.”

Watt took a breath, his expression growing firm. “Did something happen to His Majesty?”

“He has fallen ill in his old age... His physician says he doesn’t have much time left.”

“I...see,” Watt replied. “Still, His Majesty...” He looked up into the sky and sighed, as all sorts of feelings dashed back and forth through his heart.

Legalisbelm was a custom that had been carried out in the Kingdom of Ogdenn since ages past. It was a competition among candidates with a right to the throne, determined by the votes of the Selecting Nobles so that the current ruler might step down and the next ruler be established. It was a bloodless battle...on the surface, at least.

Watt stared off into the air for a moment before returning his gaze to Anna. “They make out like it’s a bloodless battle, but underneath, it’s all scheming and tricks—anything goes. Since there’s no way that royal bastard Lezamer wouldn’t throw his hat in the ring...does that mean you’re being hunted too?”

Anna paused. “That’s likely the case. Mother didn’t explain in much detail. She had me escape when no one was watching and told me to count on you for the rest—that was all.”

Watt’s mind was full of all sorts of complaints and grievances toward Cullina, despite her absence. Even if she were going to do something like this, there had to be any number of wiser ways to go about it.

“Mister...” Anna started. “No, father...you’re still mother’s trump card, even now. Please, might I implore you to come to my aid?”

Watt lifted both his hands into the air without so much as a pause.

“All right, you win! You’ve got my complete surrender,” he said. “They weren’t kiddin’ when they said karma comes back for you, were they? Still, it’s a man’s place to take accountability when all the mischief he got into in the past comes knocking. So with that in mind...as your father, I’ll do everything in my power to help you. You just leave it to me.”

“Wha...? Huh?”

Watt’s answer came so quickly that Anna could only stand frozen in place, her mouth agape. After a moment, however, a look of confusion emerged on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Watt asked. “You still not satisfied?”

“No, that’s not it!” Anna replied. “Far from it! It’s just... I wasn’t expecting you to agree so quickly.”

Watt couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Sorry ’bout that—I’m not the best when it comes to thinking. I’m all action, you know? And besides, when you get some years under your belt, you wanna help youngsters out however you can.”

That wasn’t the only reason he’d agreed, but he didn’t venture to tell Anna that. So long as he knew it in the depths of his own heart, that was all that mattered.

Watt turned around, as if to say the conversation had come to an end. That was the last part that went as planned, however.

“Well then, I think that’s enough chatting in the streets,” he said. “Is that your only bag? For now, why don’t I carry it to the inn for you and—”

“No, that’s all right...” Anna replied. “Um, I’m ashamed to say I don’t have much in the way of funds for the road, so I haven’t gotten a room anywhere.”

“Oh?”

“That’s why I was hoping to join you at your home, father.”

Uh-oh. Watt felt a bead of cold sweat steal down his spine right away. “Well, uh... It’s just, my place is...”

“Yes, it’s right this way, isn’t it? I know. Now, let’s be on our way.”

And with that, Watt hurried off after Anna as she briskly walked away.

***

Sure enough, Anna froze once again with her mouth open wide when she opened the door to Watt’s home.

That’s why I wasn’t a fan of this! Watt thought. While taking in a girl who claimed to be his daughter sounded simple enough, it was incredibly difficult in practice. After all, he was divorced and living on his own. He’d never dreamed he’d find himself living with a teenage girl.

Given that he carried freight around all day for a living, Watt’s life revolved around the station and the company, so he treated his home as just a place to sleep and store things. It wasn’t just him in particular—others living similarly in the city were far from uncommon. As a result, the monstrosity that had exploded into existence was a splendidly messy room. While he’d at least tidied up his trash, his room was so messy it was easy to lose track of where he kept his bed. As Anna looked across the room, her eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

“We need to talk, father.”

“Hold on now. It’s just—you know! Gimme a minute, I can explain! See, normally I’m just fine at the station, so it’s not all that often that I go inviting guests here and—”

“I’m going to clean this place up.”

“Wha?”

“Naturally, the blame falls on me for being so rude as to suddenly impose on you. I hardly think the blame rests solely with you. That’s why I intend to make a place for myself on my own. You don’t have any objections, do you?”

“N-Not a one. Make yourself at home...”

The expression on her face made it clear that she was so strong-willed that once she’d made up her mind— In other words, she looked like the poster child for a stubborn ox. It was the first time Watt thought she might’ve taken after him, and he couldn’t help but feel just a bit delighted.

“What do you use this for?” she asked. “It doesn’t show any signs of use at all.”

“Hey, hold up! Wait—please! I can still use it, and I just might need it down the roaaa...!”

“Even assuming you could use it, whatever you have in the bottom of this closet isn’t coming out. In that case, now’s a perfectly good chance to dispose of it.”

“Everything’s disappearing! It’s all disappearing on me!”

It was only at the very start that Watt had the luxury to be thinking idly around her. Anna was a force to be reckoned with after she started to clean. Watt could only watch as his belongings steadily disappeared from his home.

“Oh? Maybe I got a little carried away...” she muttered.

It hadn’t even been a day since they’d met, but Watt had already arrived at a universal truth: There wasn’t a single father out there who could win against an angry daughter.

Desperately trying to calm down his daughter before him, Watt had forgotten all about it in the moment—forgotten what would happen if he caused such a stir on his way back from work.

And so, all those around found out right away about the young girl with a looming giant of a man at her beck and call. In a provincial city lacking in recreation, nothing was more enticing to the people than a good scandal. The rumors rippled throughout the city until both the facts and the fiction of the matter had sprouted a dazzling set of embellishments and frills.

***

“Master! You must explain! What’s going on?”

“Well, you see...”

That was the question that had been tossed at Watt when he visited the company building the very first thing the following morning. He’d wound up spending the previous night scrambling about with cleaning and meals and such. After having yet another dispute, this time over where she’d be sleeping, it was far later than usual that Watt had finally fallen asleep...which was likely part of the reason he was clutching his head so lifelessly.

“I can’t believe it! You’ve got me, don’t you? Did you make a pass at little miss stumpy there?!”

“Excuse me?! Where do you get off hogging master all for yourself!”

“And might I ask that you refrain from butting into employees’ personal affairs, ma’am?!”

With Meddié and Turqis exchanging death glares at the front desk, Watt didn’t even know where to begin. While he could understand Turqis being there at first—he’d decided to ignore what she’d said then—what on earth was Meddié doing here? Shouldn’t you be out there cheering on the Steelriders? Watt wondered, as that and other pointless thoughts crossed his mind.

“All righty, that’s enough now,” he finally interrupted. “Listen to what I’ve got to say first, please.”

Although at this rate, he’d collapse out of sheer exhaustion before he could ever get to the point. Pressed, Watt practically squeezed himself into the conversation before pointing to Anna, who was standing behind him.

“This is Anna!” he explained. “She’s been living apart from me, but she’s actually my daughter! There’s a lot going on, so she’ll be staying here with me for a while.”

“Wugh?!”

The moment Watt spoke, Meddié and Turqis froze. Considering he’d never mentioned a daughter once in the ten years he’d lived in the city, of course they were flabbergasted at her sudden appearance. After all, Watt gave no hints that he himself had only found out yesterday.

“She’s your d-daughter?! What’s she doing showing up here all of a sudden...?”

“About that, Miss Meddié—I’d appreciate it if we could just leave it at that. I’ve got a reason or two myself.”

Meddié started to say something but stopped. “Okay.”

Front-Edge City lay at the furthest edge of the kingdom. Many of the city’s inhabitants had wound up there with a helping hand from their pasts. Not all tales from the past were as riveting and fun as one might hope. That was exactly why refraining from unnecessary questioning was an unspoken understanding in the city.

Sighing, Watt finally launched into the topic at hand.

“But even with her living here, I’ve still got work myself,” he explained. “And of course I can’t just leave her at home all day either.”

“You’ve got a point there...”

There was no need to ask about what housing looked like for a worker—she already knew full well. A bit of tidying up wouldn’t fix the fundamental problem that it wasn’t the sort of place one could just leave a child.

“Sorry, but do you think I could meet with the president? I’ve got a lot to discuss with him about Anna here.”

Lead back into the rear, Watt found Otto sitting at his desk in his office. Otto stared at the girl Watt had brought with him, as if he were trying to size her up.

“Apologies that this is so sudden,” Watt began. “Is there any way you could hire her to work here?”

“Sudden’s not the half of it,” Otto replied. “Rumor has it that you’re Watt’s daughter. Tell me, is that true?”

“It is,” Anna answered. “My name is Anna. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“C’mon, I’m begging you! If she’s working here, she’d be close enough for me to just barely keep an eye on her.”

“Hrmmm. And are you okay with that?”

Otto had been able to surmise that Anna was no mere commoner with only a glance. The way she carried herself was too polished. If she were a commoner carrying herself like that, then she was sure to hail from a merchant family of considerable wealth. Whatever the case, she might very well be reluctant to be employed as an underling—that had been the concern behind his question. And yet...

“Yes, I am,” Anna responded. “I’d like to request the same of you myself. Imposing on my father as I am, it would pain me to do nothing at all.”

“Considering she’s your daughter, Watt,” Otto replied, “that’s quite a good head she has on her shoulders.”

“There’s not a thing I can say back to that.”

“Very well, then. We were looking for help in the office. We’ll have her start off as an intern.”

“Thank you ever so kindly, sir,” Anna said.

A sixteen-year-old made for a wonderful worker in the city. Watching over them as an intern was hardly a tall order, and even if they weren’t suited for the job, there were bound to be some odds and ends for them to do. And so, Otto gave a nod of approval, worrying no further than that.

Then, a few days later, Watt found himself summoned to Otto’s office.

“You know exactly what I want to talk about: your daughter, Anne.”

“Erm... Did she mess something up?”

Considering the environment Anna had lived in, Watt had imagined working might’ve been difficult for her, only for Otto to shake his head.

“Far from it. The girl’s amazing. Reading, writing, and arithmetic! It doesn’t matter what she’s doing—her work’s superb! She’s not the sort of talent to waste on odds and ends.”

“Really? She’s that good?”

“Actually, I even had her get a feel for a Mechsteel, just to try.”

“H-Hold on, just what are you doing when I’m not around?!”

“She managed her way around a Brute on the first shot. She moved like she pilots them all the time. I’m having her do clerical tasks since I said I’d take her in, but it’s enough to make me want to entrust her with more sizable jobs if possible.”

It seemed she’d made her way into his good graces and then some. Even then, Watt himself hadn’t anticipated that Anna would be so capable. He’d only thought to entrust her to Otto’s care because he knew there wasn’t a soul in the city foolish enough to pick a fight with Baron’s Company—and because he could step in to help her if, worst-case scenario, something were to ever go wrong. That was all he’d considered.

“She’s a gem worth polishing, that one,” Otto said.

“While I’m thrilled you think so highly of her, it’s not like she’s going to be staying in this city forever. The best option will always be for her to go back if she can.”

“Ahhh...she’s your daughter through and through,” Otto said with a sigh. “You’ve got more talent than you know what to do with, but you never apply it where it’s needed.”

There was nothing Watt could say back. Otto helped him out with this and that on a daily basis, and Watt had made up his mind that he’d repay him properly someday—in some other way aside from being a Steelrider, that was.

Just as Watt was thinking about that, Otto dropped a bomb on him as if it were nothing.

“And besides, Turqis has been awfully insistent about wanting to look after her.”

“Wha... Otto, please! You’ve gotta keep my daughter safe!”

“I made it clear enough to her in my own way,” Otto replied. “Don’t worry—so long as she’s at the company, she won’t do anything unwise.”

After everything Otto had said, Watt’s only option was to stand down. He quietly decided that he’d accompany Anna to and from work each day.

***

“Hey there, Anna! We got some real tasty gems in today’s shipment. Wanna try one?”

“Thank you! My, what lovely vegetables!”

“Why thank you! Here’s another one on the house!”

“Say, have you already made your plans for dinner, miss? Why don’t you eat at my restaurant tonight—what do you say?”

“I’m planning on eating with my father after we get back tonight.”

“Is that so? Well, you’re welcome any time!”

Just as the sun was setting, Watt was making his way back home with Anna after work. The city was filled with the appetizing aroma of cooking dinner, launching a direct onslaught on the stomachs of the workers making their ways home from the job. There were all sorts heading back: Some quickly scurried back home with groceries in their arms, while others yet followed their stomachs, funneling inside the city’s restaurants. Back when Watt had been living on his own, he’d always patronized the restaurants. Now that he lived together with his daughter, though, his day-to-day life had begun to change immensely.

“Look how much I wound up with,” Anna said. “Could you hold some, father?”

“S-Sure thing.”

Merely walking down the street alongside Anna was enough to summon voices calling out to them from every direction. The storekeeps had urged them to buy fresh vegetables and meat and such, but then they’d gotten free bonuses to boot. And when Anna smiled back at them, they all just nodded, brimming with satisfaction.

Just when did she get this popular? Watt didn’t know if he should be pleasantly surprised or appalled, so instead, he devoted himself to carrying around the goods with an ambiguous look on his face.

Being Cullinagemia’s daughter also made Anna a member of the royal family. She should’ve lived a life free of chores or labor, but there she was, going about life with far more resilience than the likes of Watt could muster—right before his very eyes.

“All of these ingredients look delicious, father! Let’s make dinner when we get back!” Anna said.

“Mmm... Kind of a pain though, don’t you think? Why don’t we just pop in somewhere to eat and then head back?”

“Getting sloppy like that’s a surefire way to chip away at your health,” Anna said. “You’re not getting any younger—don’t you think it’s about time to reconsider your eating habits?”

It was a wonderfully sharp-edged observation that tore clean through Watt’s chest. Wow. It hadn’t even been a week since Anna had started living with him, but he already couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d never win against her for the rest of his days.

So this is what it feels like to be father and daughter, huh? Watt, however, didn’t have time to wallow in such profound emotions.

“Oh! On your way back, master? What a coincidence!”

“You were waiting for me right smack in the middle of my way back—I don’t think ‘coincidence’ is the word you’re looking for.”

Meddié Socom had been standing right there in the middle of the road with her chest puffed out. Just what is she trying to pull?

Watt was at a loss, but Anna wasted no time in addressing her. “Are you on your way back too, Meddié? We’re about to have dinner ourselves. Care to join us?”

“Huh? Really? Can’t say no to that, then!” Meddié replied. “Not with a proper invitation like that! Hee hee hee!”

“Ah, h-hold on just a sec, Anna! Just hold on now!” Watt stuttered.

“It’s fine, right, father?” Anna said. “The more the merrier, right?” She paused for a moment. “And besides, I really want a friend around my age.”

No. One look from his daughter was all it took to send the word flying far off into the distance. Meddié was the daughter of Watt’s boss-slash-lord of the land, but it would all be completely fine. Everything would be just fine. And it was true that Anna would be better off having a friend her age. Watt didn’t know how long she’d be in the city, but it’d be far too cruel to ask her to focus on her work the whole time.

In light of all that, their stroll home had taken a rather colorful turn of events. It was a day-and-night difference from all those times the old man had made his way home all alone. And with two teenage girls together, the conversation continued boundlessly without an end in sight. While it was more Meddié talking and Anna listening if he had to say one way or another, the fact that they kept up an uninterrupted stream of chatter was quite impressive.

“Well, how do you like it here?” Meddié asked. “Yeah, maybe it’s a bit far from the capital, but it’s not half bad, right?”

“It’s great! There’s not a bad soul in sight—and everyone’s so nice! And it’s such a new experience to do my best at the job they give me and then head back home together with my father...”

Anna’s jade-colored eyes squinted happily. Just what sort of life had she lived back in the Centre—back in the capital? Watt had left it behind seventeen years ago. The years had done a fine job dulling his imagination to envision what it might be like now.

“Not to mention that I got to make friends with you, Meddié!” Anna went on. “I’m having a marvelous time every day!”

Meddié chuckled. “Is that so? You just tell me if you ever run into any problems, you hear? After all, I can make anything happen in this city!”

“Hold on, what are you even talking about, miss?” Watt interjected.

“Well, in that case, could you tell me what my father’s been doing here in the city? I hadn’t seen him in so long, so...”

“Hold on, what are you even asking, Anna?”

“You want answers, I’ve got ’em!” Meddié replied. “After all, master here is the finest Steelrider in the city! And there’s loads of stories about him!”

“No, listen—I’m just a station worker,” Watt objected. “And don’t you think the whole ‘finest Steelrider’ business is giving me too much credit?”

“You think?” Meddié asked. “Well, for starters, the city’s at the far edge of the kingdom! The forest around it’s called the ‘Forest of No Return,’ and it’s just brimming with monsters! So unless you’re in a Mechsteel, you’re not getting in!”

“Well, now!” Anna replied. “I guess that explains why there are so many Steelriders here, doesn’t it?”

“Yup, but even then, every now and again, a monster that slipped past the hunters makes its way to the city! We had a throng of scorchscales advance on the city one time, and master here swept ’em all up!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Watt said. “My workplace got caught right in the middle of it all!”

“And he’s the first one to go looking whenever a hunter doesn’t come back from the forest!”

“Well, that’s just...because I looked after a lot of them on the job when they were just starting out. I couldn’t sleep at night if I just left them!”

“And that’s exactly why pops tells him he should quit at the station to be a Steelrider!”

“Yup, that’s plenty! The topic’s closed for discussion now. That’s more than enough about this old man, so you two can talk about yourselves instead.”

“Whaaa?” Meddié whined. “C’mon, no harm in telling her!”

“I wanted to hear more about you, though, father...”

In the end, Meddié wound up accompanying Watt and Anna back home, joining them for a hearty dinner before returning home herself. The dinner that Anna prepared was delicious. Meddié was tremendously fond of the meal and made sure to emphasize over and over again that she’d be coming back.

Watt’s life now was a far cry from what it had been only a week ago. Whether that was a change for the better or worse, Watt had no way of saying. But even then, there was no denying that he found himself enjoying the ride.

***

The Trailmarcher had come right on schedule today, same as always.

There were few lines that arrived in or departed from Front-Edge City. After all, this was the terminus of the Kingdom’s Trail, and with nearly all of the Trailmarchers used for hauling freight, there were only so many passengers.

In the mix, a pair of unusual passengers had gotten off at the station.

One of them coughed. “Could this city get any more dusty? And just why did we have to come all the way down to the frontier like this again...?”

“Because it’s an official order, Centurion.”

“I know that! No way in hell I’m gonna get through this sober.”

They were both men. They were wearing plain clothes, but the guarded manner in which they carried themselves bespoke the fact that they were of considerable standing.

The first thing the man saw as he and his companion made their way out of the station was a crowd of Mechsteels carrying freight and nothing more. It was as tranquil as a painting—and enough to make him even more sick of the place whether he liked it or not.

“We’re going to find our target right away and leave this city in the dust where it belongs.”

The man snatched a sketch on a piece of paper from his coat pocket. There, drawn on the paper, was a young girl with unmistakable rich, red hair and jade-colored eyes.

Chapter Three: The Impermissible

A number of Mechcoaches were parked outside of Front-Edge City Central Station.

They looked like normal carriages pulled by a single horse, but upon closer inspection, the Mechcoaches were led by neckless horses, making for an unsettling appearance. The men didn’t seem particularly bothered and called out to their coachman, who was waiting nearby.

“To the city center.”

The coachman nodded as the men took their seats in the gaping opening where the horse’s neck should’ve been.

With the coachman’s upper body sticking out of the horse’s frame, he looked just like a centaur. This odd vehicle was also a type of Mechsteel, in a broad sense, and used as a means of transportation throughout the city.

With the men on board, the Mechcoach dashed off. While they were a frequent sight near the capital, there weren’t that many passengers taking them in this city. The well-maintained main roads were dominated by the freight handlers. The Mechcoach pulled past a group of Mild Bulls struggling as they walked along with massive shipping crates in their arms.

“Tsk. Compared to the capital, this city suffers from a terrible lack of refinement.”

“Presumptuous to be comparing them in the first place, don’t you think?”

They arrived at the city center not long thereafter. Disembarking from the Mechcoach, the men set out walking. Looking around their surroundings, they strolled into a restaurant-and-bar they’d noticed. It was still a bit too early for lunch, so the restaurant was deserted—the majority of the city’s inhabitants’ work revolved around Socom Co., and with it, the routines of their daily lives were more or less set.

The men called the owner over, who was zealously preparing food in the rear of the kitchen.

“Hey, we wanna order. Get over here already.”

“Customers? At this hour? Just a moment, please.”

The owner made no attempts to conceal that the men were inconveniencing her. She stared at the men, sizing them up. Despite the sizes of their attitudes, they were far from crude—rather, they carried themselves so tightly it was a wonder they didn’t snap. She surmised that they weren’t from the city, but from somewhere near the Centre.

“Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of preparing, so there’s not too much I can offer menu-wise,” she said.

“That’s fine. Just bring us a few bottles of booze.”

Just when the owner was about to pull back after taking the men’s order, they stopped her in her tracks.

“And we’re looking for someone. Have you ever seen this girl around?”

The owner sighed. “Let me take a look.”

She looked at the sketch the men had presented her with and squinted. Right away, she bluntly shook her head.

“What a pretty young lady,” the owner remarked. “I can’t say I know her, but as you can see, it’s rough around these parts. If she were here, I’m sure you’d find her right away.”

“Hmph! Obviously. Now c’mon—hurry up with our order.”

“Okay, okay...”

After swallowing down their spirits in a single gulp, the men immediately left the restaurant. Once they’d made their way out, the owner called her assistant over.

“Run to the station and get Watt,” she ordered. “Tell him it looks like there are folks going around looking for Anna.”

Watching her assistant nod before dashing off, the owner couldn’t help but pray that nothing unsavory came of all this.

***

“Hey, you. There’s something I wanna ask you.”

“Do you know the girl in this sketch? Know anyone that fits the bill?”

“Let us know if you spot a girl you haven’t seen before. We’ll make it worth your while.”

“You sure you don’t know her? Just look how much she’d stand out.”

The men had been going around, probing for information here and there. They’d show people the sketch, pile on the questions, and poke around, determined not to let even the slightest sign of the girl’s presence escape them. But even then, the inhabitants’ reactions had all been less than they’d hoped for. They merely gave the men ambiguous grins and let them know they didn’t know the first thing about the girl. With a mounting pile of wasted time under their belts, the men were still unable to find any sort of decent clue.

“What’s the deal with this? Is she even in this city?”

“Coming up as empty-handed as we are, there’s a chance the information we received was wrong from the start.”

The men grew more and more irritated, feeling that their time had been wasted. They felt like downing buckets of booze, but they held back, since getting sloshed in the middle of a mission wasn’t the best idea.

“We come all the way out to the boonies, and for nothing! I can’t stand it!”

“What do you want to do? Should we report that to the squad?” the younger man asked, addressing his superior. The older man thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“The higher-ups must’ve been sure about their info to give us this order. Our only choice is to stick with it a while longer.”

With heavy steps, the men set out walking again. Still, it was apparent that searching blindly was terribly inefficient. They’d received a certain amount of funds for their mission, so perhaps they’d be better off setting aside prize money for the search.

“No, I’m afraid I haven’t seen her!”

Just as the man was considering the situation, their latest interview had once again ended in failure. That’s when it happened.

A flash of red stole gracefully past the disheartened men. The girl had poked her head in the restaurant, peering inside.

“So, about dinner tonight, auntie...”

“No! Wait!”

The restaurant owner rushed to stop Anna, but she was a moment too late. The men’s eyes opened wide. Noting the gentle wave of her red hair and her jade-colored eyes squinting as she smiled, the men couldn’t help but shout.

“Anna Turris...?! You bastards—you were hiding her!”

Shocked to hear her name called so suddenly, Anna spun around. One look at the men’s attire was all it took to understand the situation, however. Their clothes weren’t from the city—their whole air smacked of the capital that Anna had long cherished.

“Run, now!” The owner sprung into action before anyone else. She suddenly toppled over the restaurant’s counter, sending the piping-hot soup flying through the air and onto the men’s heads as they screamed.

“Um, I’m really sorry!” Anna cried.

“It’s fine—now go!”

Anna hesitated for a moment before spinning around in the opposite direction. The owner herself wasted no time in running off in a different direction as fast as her legs would carry her.

“Dammit to hell! These damn hicks don’t know who they’re messing with!” the man howled, wiping the soup from his face. It wasn’t clear whether his face was red from the heat or from anger—likely both.

“You’re not getting away!”

The men dashed out after Anna, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. They looked around the surrounding streets but gave up immediately. They didn’t know the first thing about the lay of the land, and the incident just now had made it clear that the city’s inhabitants were less than cooperative.

“What should we do, Centurion? Do you want to split up?”

“There’s no point in it! It’s clear asking questions is getting us nowhere. Too many of these lowlifes don’t know their place. This is why I hate it out in the sticks! They’re going to pay for this...in blood!” The older man gave a sinister smile, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

“You’re going to use that, then?”

“This city’s too cramped and gloomy for my tastes—I’m just going to let a little more of a breeze in. Let’s go!”

The men dashed away, heading outside of town.

***

Watt was at the station carrying around freight when the assistant from one of the city’s bars came to meet him. Why from a bar? Can’t remember racking up a tab, though... Watt thought to himself. After hearing out the assistant, however, his expression stiffened.

“There are people looking for Anna?”

“From the look of them, it seemed like they weren’t from around here!”

So they’ve finally come. Should’ve known. Honestly, that was the first thing that had sprung to Watt’s mind. They’d taken action far quicker than he had anticipated, but the circumstances surrounding Anna were enough to convince him.

“Appreciate it. I’ll work something out here for the rest of the day. Tell the owner thanks for me.”

Sending off the assistant, Watt swung his arms and popped his shoulders.

“Welp, looks like today’s gonna be busier than I thought. First things first...I’ve gotta ask to leave early!”

Even though it was an emergency, as chief, just chucking off his duties and leaving wouldn’t cut it. Now, just what sort of excuse would get me out the door as soon as possible? While he was thinking about just that, without so much as a warning, part of the wall that surrounded the city went flying before Watt’s very eyes.

“What?”

It wasn’t just Watt either. The other station workers and passengers were all standing in disbelief with their mouths agape. With all eyes on the wall, a massive figure slowly came into sight, passing through the enormous hole.

There, distinct from the cloud of dust hovering in its wake, the figure’s full frame was revealed. The first noteworthy thing that came into view was its abnormally robust build. Standing at twenty meters tall in full, its massive frame was supported by limbs like gigantic trees. The heavy armor wrapped around its body was the very definition of sturdy, with the skull of a rhino monster embedded in its chest.

“It’s a Mechsteel! This must be a new model...!”

Not only was it a Mechsteel—it was a model that Watt, despite knowing his fair share about Mechsteels, had never seen before. A moment later, the mysterious Mechsteel swung its muscle-strapped limbs and started to walk, shaking the ground as it went.

“You dumb hicks! It’s time I taught you a lesson—and it won’t be cheap! I’m gonna make you pay up...with the help of my Tyrant Rhino!” the man shouted excitedly, as the Tyrant Rhino began to charge forward. Leveling anything and everything in its wake, the Mechsteel made a beeline for the city center.

“C’mon now! You’ve gotta be kidding!” Watt gasped. “Those damn knights... What sort of idiot did they send over?!”

Dumbfounded, Watt watched the Mechsteel advance for a moment before snapping back to his senses and running off. He didn’t have any time left to think up an excuse.

***

The gargantuan Mechsteel ran around, crushing buildings as it sent Mechcoaches desperately trying to escape flying through the air with a kick. The Tyrant Rhino was overwhelmingly powerful, destroying everything before it as it continued to charge ahead.

“The hell is that Mechsteel?!”

“This ain’t good! Run!”

The city’s inhabitants screamed as they scrambled to run away. The day had been peaceful like any other, but now that same peace was being smothered by the echo of piercing screams and the cacophony of destruction.

The Tyrant Rhino tore through both brick and stone with no regard, let alone the numerous wooden buildings. Mechsteels were magical instruments made from the corpses of monsters. In the process, Brute-class Mechsteels and above inherited the power of the monster they were formed from, which they could then use in the form of a powerful Magi-skill. The Tyrant Rhino’s Magi-skill was “Mighty Bunker,” a formidable rush attack. While the attack’s drawback was the large amount of magicyte it consumed, it arguably boasted just as much power.

“Heh heh heh, this is amazing! Just what I’d expect from a new model! This was the perfect field test!”

“Centurion, we’re almost at the city center.”

Its heavyweight frame swinging as it moved, the Tyrant Rhino arrived at the city center. Behind it was a line of wreckage stretching out in its path. Stunned at the sudden chaos, the city’s inhabitants could only breathlessly watch the situation play out before their eyes.

“Good day, everyone! I do appreciate your help earlier!”

Several of the city’s inhabitants recognized the voice echoing from the unfamiliar Mechsteel—it belonged to the man who’d been trying to sniff out details on Anna.

“It pains me to say this, but it seems you all were trying to dodge our questions.”

Hot steam burst from every limb of the Tyrant Rhino. It had heated up from using its Magi-skill several times in succession, and now it needed to cool itself off. This was a momentary break to do just that.

“And that’s a state of affairs that we just can’t have,” the man went on. “So try thinking about what we can do to skip all the trouble. I’ve decided not to let myself be bothered regardless of whether you talk or not.”

No sooner had he spoken than he swung his arm, crumbling a roof with a mighty blow and sending the debris flying.

“Because if I just level the whole city, our little mouse is bound to come scurrying out!”

There was no logic or anything resembling it left in the destruction. The giant of a weapon resumed its onslaught, summoning screams of terror and howls of anger in its wake.

“Someone hurry and tell the baron!”

There was no one around to obstruct the atrocities. Making matters worse was the fact that the majority of the Steelriders in the guilds were away on the hunt at this time of day. It was a complete coincidence that the attack had come when the town’s defenses were at their thinnest.

“How could they...?” Anna was torn, hiding away in the street. She was the one the men were after. The others had finally started taking action to turn the tides of Legalisbelm in their favor. But Anna had never imagined they’d take such a violent approach so suddenly.

“It’s all my fault... The city...and everyone in it’s just going to suffer...”

Anna closed her eyes and clenched her fists. There was a way to put a stop to the destruction at once: to let them get what they wanted. Anna knew it in her mind, but she still couldn’t muster the resolve to do it.

Just then, a new band of titans appeared on the scene. The baron’s Mechsteels had finally rushed back.

“Hey, punk! What the hell do you think you’re doing in our city?!”

Anna recognized the voice coming from the slender Mechsteel standing at the front of the group. She swallowed the urge to shout. It was Agile Gazelle, a Brute-class Mechsteel, piloted by none other than the lord’s daughter, Meddié Socom.

Behind Agile Gazelle was a line of Raging Bears piloted by her subordinates. Even at a six-to-one disadvantage, the Tyrant Rhino didn’t seem bothered at all, instead remaining completely undisturbed. It was Meddié who grew impatient first.

“Don’t have anything to say for yourself?!” she barked. “I don’t care what your reasons are—you’ll pay for harming the city! I don’t care if they’re alive or dead—show those criminals how this city works!”

“Roger!”

The Raging Bears leaped on the Tyrant Rhino all at once. While the Tyrant Rhino stood a head taller than them, their aim was to use their strength in numbers to surround and defeat the Mechsteel.

“You damn hicks think you have a chance? Don’t make me laugh!”

Their plans were crushed far too easily, however. The Tyrant Rhino burst out and struck one of the Raging Bears. Using its extra bulk to its advantage, the Tyrant Rhino brought its fist down on the Raging Bear’s head, crushing it with a single blow. With the cockpit directly beneath the head crushed as well, the Raging Bear spewed out coolant as it fell to the ground.

“Wh-What the hell?! I’ve never seen a Mechsteel that powerful!” one of the pilots exclaimed.

“That’s just a taste of what the latest model can do! Common rabble like you don’t stand a chance!”

The Tyrant Rhino took a step forward as the circle of Raging Bears took a step back in turn. They still had the advantage in terms of numbers, but it was clear they were intimidated.

“Stand down, everyone!”

A gale-force wind tore through as Agile Gazelle leaped forward to stare down the Tyrant Rhino.

“But Miss—!”

“I hate to say it, but it doesn’t matter how much you struggle against him with a Raging Bear—he’s got you outpowered!” Meddié replied. “But it’s a different story with my Agile Gazelle!”

Without even waiting for her subordinates’ response, Agile Gazelle leaped into action. Dodging the fist the Tyrant Rhino tried slamming down on it, Agile Gazelle broke into a dash at a speed the Raging Bears could never hope to match.

“Hrm?! You impudent little—”

“Doesn’t matter how strong you are if you can’t hit me!”

Agile Gazelle dashed through the street, kicking off the wall to run along the roof of a building. Darting around without any constraints, Agile Gazelle made its way behind the Tyrant Rhino, who’d been unable to follow Meddié’s movements, before landing a mighty dropkick with all its might.

That same moment, the Tyrant Rhino spun around and grabbed Agile Gazelle’s foot.

“Heh heh heh... How unfortunate. You know how to move, but I could see where you were aiming from a mile away!”

“Ngh... Let me...go!”

Once it had grabbed her, all of Agile Gazelle’s speed meant nothing. The Tyrant Rhino spun her around before throwing her off. Cutting a U-shaped arc in the air, Agile Gazelle wasn’t even able to brace itself before blasting into a building.

The Tyrant Rhino took a thunderous step forward. Agile Gazelle was still stuck in the building, completely motionless, and the Tyrant Rhino was just about to finish the job.

“Protect Miss Meddié!”

With their minds made up, the remaining Raging Bears desperately flung themselves into the fray. They were determined to retaliate even if it meant they all lost their lives. With their Mech-Hearts boiling hot, they burned through their magicyte at full power. In an attempt to cool their rapidly heating frames, the Mechsteels belted out puffs of steam.

“Hmph! You’re as foolish as they come if you think you can stop me! You weak little knightlings! I’ll show you how stupid it is to stand against me!”

The difference in power between the Raging Bears and the Tyrant Rhino was painfully obvious, however. He plucked up the enormous Mechsteels as if they weighed nothing before throwing them off to the side one by one. The baron’s forces had been obliterated in face of the Mechsteel’s overwhelming might. There wasn’t a soul left on the spot to put an end to the Tyrant Rhino’s cruelty.

Except for one.

“That’s quite enough!”

A dignified voice pierced through the street. The Tyrant Rhino abruptly stopped the hand it had been wreaking destruction with. It slowly turned its neck around before its eyes found a small figure before it.

“Well, now! It looks like we’ve finally smoked out our little mouse!”

Anna stood firmly in the middle of the freshly ravaged main street. She clutched herself to stop from shaking, before resolutely staring back at the violent titan before her.

“It’s me you’re after, isn’t it? Then stop all this needless destruction at once, and capture me instead!”

“Hmph! We never would’ve had to waste all that effort if you’d just done that right from the start!”

The Tyrant Rhino began walking toward her with an especially menacing gait. The sound of its footsteps echoed in her chest, but Anna refused to look away.

“An...na! You can’t...! Trust a word this lowlife says...!” Anna heard Meddié’s feeble voice echo out from Agile Gazelle. It seemed she was alive—but she was almost certainly injured to some degree. Anna didn’t know if Meddié could see her, but nonetheless, she smiled at her friend reassuringly.

“It’s okay. Just leave the rest to me!”

“No... Stop...!”

The Tyrant Rhino now stood right before Anna’s eyes, peering down at her.

“Listening’s a good thing—for yourself, and for this city.”

The Tyrant Rhino extended its gigantic hand before carelessly grabbing her and lifting her into the air. While it was likely holding back, Anna couldn’t contain the moan of agony that escaped her small lips.

“You can rest easy. We’ve received strict orders to capture you alive...but in other words, that means that as long as you’re fine, nothing else matters one bit!”

As soon as the man spoke, he plunged the Tyrant Rhino’s other arm that wasn’t holding Anna into a building. The stone building fell apart far too easily, sending fragments flying through the air. The inhabitants that had been hiding away inside screamed and scrambled to run away.

“B... But why?! This isn’t what you promised!”

“A promise?” the man replied. “Let’s be clear here: That’s what you said. And besides, these filthy hicks made fools out of us. Don’t you think they could stand to learn their place just a bit?”

Raising the hand clutching Anna far into the sky, the man roared with laughter as he gave himself over to destruction. The store that always gave Anna freebies, the restaurant she’d eaten at alongside her father... It all turned to rubble. Anna’s vision blurred as a tear slid down her cheek and onto the Tyrant Rhino’s fist.

“I’m so sorry, everyone... All this is because I was here. I’m so sorry...for dragging you into this!”

The massive metal fist that the Tyrant Rhino brought slamming down suddenly stopped in place. Suspicious, the Tyrant Rhino flexed its arm, but it didn’t budge.

“Sorry ’bout that! Getting off work took a little longer than I wanted!”

Anna’s eyes burst wide open the moment she heard that voice.

The Tyrant Rhino had crushed everything with its fist of steel, but there, holding that same fist, was a small-framed working machine Mechsteel.

“Your old man’s here to save the day!”

A burst of steam erupted from the Mild Bull’s whole frame.

Chapter Four: No Concern of Mine

“And who the hell are you?”

Watt found his entrance greeted by only an outcry of confusion.

The Tyrant Rhino had destroyed anything and everything in the city as it saw fit, transformed into the very embodiment of cruelty as it crushed all those who dared stand before it. And there, standing against the towering, massive Tyrant Rhino that looked down on it, was a much smaller Mild Bull whose entire length was only the size of the larger Mechsteel’s chest. The sight of it was so absurd that it could only be taken as some sort of joke.

“Father!” Anna shouted.

“Master...you...can’t! He’s really...tough!” Meddié said painfully from Agile Gazelle, lifting her torso up from where she lay.

“You did a great job, Meddié. You just leave the rest to this old man,” Watt said, addressing her from the Mild Bull he was piloting.

“What absolute nonsense.” The men piloting the Tyrant Rhino were stunned. It wasn’t even a Brute-class Mechsteel he was piloting—it was nothing more than a mere Livestock-class machine! What was the fool even blabbering on about?

It wasn’t just a matter of being larger than the Mild Bull—across each and every metric, the Tyrant Rhino was crushingly superior. It would’ve been more accurate to say that even attempting to compare them in the first place was wasted effort.

“Hmm... Yup, can’t say I’ve seen that model before! Guess it’s a new one they just deployed, huh? Gotta admit, it does look pretty tough.” Any proper attempt to think about it would make it painfully clear that he had no chance of winning. And yet, even then, Watt continued to speak, entirely unbothered. “But you went and made my daughter cry. You can apologize all you want, but I ain’t lettin’ you off the hook!”

There was nothing difficult about it. The Mild Bull was nothing more than a mere work machine—if they just flattened it without a second thought, it’d all be over. The Tyrant Rhino placed its weight on the arm Watt was holding only for a violent cloud of steam to burst out from the Mild Bull. With far more than the standard amount of magic energy circulating through it, its power output spiked in an instant.

“Down ya go!”

Alongside the comically out-of-place remark, the Mild Bull stepped out of the way of the Tyrant Rhino’s fist, with the full weight the Tyrant Rhino had been placing on it now driving it off-balance. While the Tyrant Rhino’s massive body stumbled forward, the Mild Bull took a single step forward as well before dropping its small frame down and taking an even lower stance. It leaped forward, reaching for one of the Tyrant Rhino’s tree-sized legs with both hands.

“Right here—that’s every Mechsteel’s weakness...and don’t you forget it!”

The Mild Bull charged forward, adding momentum behind its own weight, slamming all of the force into the Tyrant Rhino’s knee joint. It didn’t matter how impenetrable its armor was—the joints were moving parts and couldn’t be protected. In fact, the armor constantly weighed heavily on the Mechsteel’s joints, a fact that Watt took advantage of.

With an enormous weight cast upon it all at once, the joint gave a piercing snap before shattering. With one of its legs destroyed, the Tyrant Rhino staggered to one side before being forced to kneel down.

“What just... What did you do?!”

The men in the cockpit were frantic. They still had no idea what had just happened. There shouldn’t have been a single reason why their state-of-the-art Tyrant Rhino had just had its knee broken by the lowly likes of a mere working machine.

“How dare you!!! You’re just some pathetic little nobody!”

Indignant, the Tyrant Rhino swung its arms around, only for the Mild Bull to calmly keep its distance. For all the destructive force its fists carried, not a single blow landed, leaving only the hollow sound of its swings tearing through the air in their wake.

“Impossible... What the hell’s going on?! This can’t be happening!”

After finally beginning to regain their composure, the men were in the process of realizing their current predicament. A Mechsteel with its leg destroyed couldn’t move. While it could still crawl, what would be the point? It didn’t matter how much the Tyrant Rhino outclassed its opponents in specs—a Mechsteel that couldn’t move had no hopes of winning.

The word “failure” flickered across the men’s minds.

Despite having secured their target at one point, they had not only suffered the loss of their new Mechsteel—at this rate, their target would be snatched away from them as well. It was a terrible, inexcusable blunder.

It was then that an idea crossed the desperate men’s minds.

“That’s right... We’re not done. This isn’t over yet!”

Forcing the Tyrant Rhino up, the men raised the hand clutching Anna high in the air.

“Look at her! Don’t you care what happens to the girl?!”

“Hey, hold on now! I’ve heard of being a sore loser, but...!”

Watt had a good enough idea of what the assassins after Anna had been charged with doing. If Anna were to be injured, they wouldn’t just lose any chance at success—they’d only make their failure even more colossal. But with the men having now transformed into cornered, reckless beasts, anything else besides what was immediately in front of them didn’t matter at all.

“It doesn’t matter what happens to me!” Anna shouted from the Tyrant Rhino’s grip. “But you have to defeat these bandits!”

“Urgh... Enough out of you!”

In that very moment, right when the men were distracted by Anna’s pleas, Watt burned through the whole reserve of magicyte left in the Mild Bull, its Mech-Heart growing so burning hot that it was moments away from bursting apart. Suddenly filled with an abundance of magic energy, the Mild Bull began to surge with an unusual amount of power.

“’Fraid I can’t go along with that idea. What kind of parent could ever sacrifice their daughter?!”

The Mild Bull slammed into the ground with all its might, propelling itself forward all at once with the recoil from the impact. Thrusting out the Mild Bull’s disproportionately long arms, Watt reached out with the Mechsteel’s gigantic hands, just as he had when he saved Anna from the collapsing freight. The Mild Bull was small and weak, but in that moment, Anna couldn’t imagine a more reassuring sight.

Sharply thrusting its palms forward, the Mild Bull’s hands pierced the Tyrant Rhino’s wrist. While the force from the blow destroyed the Mild Bull’s own hands, it tore through the Tyrant Rhino’s wrist, sending its fist flying into the air.

“There!”

The Mild Bull continued forward, dashing off after the fist clutching Anna that was now soaring through the air. Trying to catch her before the fist slammed into the ground, the Mild Bull stretched out its hands—only to lose power and suddenly topple over from its knees and sink to the ground.

“Bwuh?! Now’s when you decide to give out on me?!” Watt exclaimed.

He’d continued to drive the Mechsteel to its limits, and now there wasn’t so much as a drop of power left in it. Looking out through his machine as it crumbled, Watt could only watch as the fist clutching his daughter plunged to the ground.

“I was so close!” he cried.

“Leave it to me!”

A shadow darted past. Transforming into a swift gale, Agile Gazelle slid along the ground to catch Anna and the fist holding her.

“There! Made it just in time!” Meddié said.

Seeing Agile Gazelle hold on to Anna with care, Watt finally let out the breath he’d been holding in. “Phew! That was way too close! Looks like I owe you one, Miss Meddié...”

I was too confident there at the end. Watt came face-to-face with just how long he’d been out of action. Merely falling back on his old experience could spell trouble from here on out.

“Guess that’s about all you can handle, huh?” Watt said, patting the surface of the Mild Bull’s cockpit. “Nice work out there. I appreciate it.”

After expressing his gratitude to the Mechsteel, Watt opened up its armored shell and stepped outside. No sooner had he done so than he heard a heavy scraping sound echo in his ears. Watt looked at its source only to see the Tyrant Rhino clumsily trying to crawl away and make its escape.

“Centurion, we must escape at once!”

“Nonsense! We’ve been given a state-of-the-art Mechsteel, and you think I’ll just accept such a wretched defeat?! We’re taking her back no matter what it takes!”

They were such poor losers that it was almost shocking, but then again, perhaps that made the victory all the more satisfying. But either way, their fates were already sealed; all their efforts were nothing more than meaningless floundering. After letting Anna down, Agile Gazelle walked over before stepping on the writhing Tyrant Rhino’s back.

“The choice is all yours,” Meddié said. “Either I crush the whole cockpit with you in it, or you come along quietly.”

With not so much as a word left to say in response, the Tyrant Rhino froze in place. As if they’d finally come to terms with their defeat, the Mechsteel’s armor opened up a short while after, revealing the two men with their hands in the air.

***

“Man, they really did a number on the city, huh?”

They were in the center of Front-Edge City the following morning. Despite pulsing with life only the day before, the city had now been reduced to a pitiful state. All over, the city bore scars: whole portions of buildings planed away and stone pavement smashed to pieces. All throughout the city were piles of rubble that couldn’t be cleared away.

With the city like this, even just walking around would be a challenge for a while.

I used to love this place... Watt thought to himself, silently cursing the bandits.

“This is...all my fault.”

Hearing the words that escaped Anna’s lips behind him, Watt turned around, only to see her staring at the ground and clutching the edge of her skirt.

“It’s all because I drew them here!”

“You didn’t do a thing! It’s all their fault for attacking you in the first place!” Watt replied.

“But I...”

Anna was clearly nowhere near convinced. Seeing her like that, Watt couldn’t help but feel exasperated and nostalgic at the same time. Now that he thought about it, her mother, Cullina, had been the same way back then, more than a decade ago. She’d had a tendency to keep what was bothering her to herself, while Watt had always stepped in to make things right. That was probably part of the reason Watt had become so overly attentive to the needs of others.

“And besides,” Watt went on, “just take a look over there.”

He was pointing at a group of residents who’d come together to distribute provisions. There were many restaurants that had been left unable to do business with their buildings destroyed, so rather than see it go to waste, they’d unearthed the foodstuffs that hadn’t been harmed and boiled them all together before passing out servings for free.

“Oh, wow, that’s outta this world! This is even better than what you normally make!” one man remarked.

“I tossed in top-shelf booze for the stock,” the cook answered. “Those damn bandits—I was savin’ that for the right occasion!”

“Well, now!” the man said. “That’s the only thing I’m grateful to those bandits for!”

“Grateful?” the cook huffed back. “You still grateful even though there’s no booze left to drink?”

“Agh, that ain’t good! On second thought, those bandits can go to hell!”

Seated around a dining table, the residents burst into laughter.

There wasn’t so much as a hint of stoic grief in their voices—in fact, they were so lively and rambunctious it was as if they were in the middle of an exuberant celebration.

“It takes a whole lot more than that to get the people in this city down,” Watt explained.

“B-But I...” Anna stammered. “They all stood up for me back there—they were all so kind to me. There’s not a thing I can do in return... I don’t even know what to say to them.”

“‘Thank you’ oughta do the trick,” Watt replied.

“That’d be far too careless of me to say!”

“And what’s careless about it, huh?” Watt replied. “They did what they thought was right and helped you. And when someone helps you out, you thank them, don’t you? Even if it was a mistake, you don’t go tellin’ them sorry.”

“Is that...really enough?” Anna asked.

“’Course it is! And besides, none of ’em’d be happy to see you down an’ out after they went to all the trouble of helping you!”

While Anna still probably had a few reservations, a bit of life had returned to her expression, at the very least.

Good enough for me, Watt thought with a sigh. And besides, this isn’t over. I figured they’d make a move sooner or later, but I didn’t think they’d go in with guns blazing like that. We’ve gotta be prepared.

Watt secretly pulled something out of his inner pocket—a key. The key’s handle boasted a lavish design, carved into the shape of an eagle.

Watt toyed with the key in his hand. “Guess it’s time to dust him off!”

“Maaaster!”

Watt spun around at the familiar voice calling him. There was only one person in the whole city who called him that. Sure enough, standing there before him was none other than Meddié.

“Pops is calling for you! Says he wants you to bring Anna too!”

“Welp,” Watt replied. “Guess we’d better hit the road.”

Bolstering his resolve once more, Watt walked off with Anna at his side.

***

“So the two of you made it.”

They’d made their way to the president’s office inside the Socom Co. main building.

Despite looking like he might be crushed beneath the mountain of papers stretching even taller than usual across his desk, Baron Otto Socom offered a welcome to the two of them. The even-sterner-than-usual look on his face readily revealed the worries he was plagued with. Meddié showed no signs of leaving after guiding Anna and Watt to the office, instead cleverly positioning herself near the door.

“It was only yesterday that all this happened,” Otto began. “There’s still plenty that we don’t know. But at the very least, what we do know is that the Centre has decided to pick a fight with us.”

The Steelriders who had piloted the defeated Tyrant Rhino had been apprehended by Otto’s subordinates after their surrender. They’d been continuing their investigation day and night since then, but the two showed no signs of breaking, instead remaining silent.

“To think those dogs would dare besmirch me after I was named baron for my contributions to the kingdom by cultivating this land—it’s a brazen insult...and one they must pay for in full.”

In his words resided a quiet yet unmistakable anger.

Otto hesitated for a moment. “And that’s yet another reason I need to ascertain just what those scoundrels were after. With that in mind, Watt, I received reports that they were looking for Anna before they began their rampage.”

Watt gave a nod back to Otto’s questioning gaze. “That’s right. It was Anna they were after, no doubt about it.”

Anna looked down at the floor, her knuckles clenched so tight they’d turned white.

“And yet I can’t make sense of it,” Otto said. “Even if it were her fortune they were after, their methods were just a bit too extreme. To plunge into the city with a Mechsteel that hasn’t been deployed anywhere... I can’t imagine they were in their right minds.”

“It’s par for the course for them,” Watt replied. “After all, it’s not chump change they were aiming for...”

“...It was victory in Legalisbelm.” Anna lifted her head and finished Watt’s sentence. She was where it had all started; she couldn’t leave the entire explanation to him alone.

Legalisbelm—hearing the word, Otto raised an eyebrow as he sank into thought. As one who’d been conferred a barony, he naturally knew of Legalisbelm well enough. And yet, he still hadn’t completed the mental connection between Legalisbelm and the current situation. Some vital piece was missing.

That’s when Meddié spoke up.

“Whaaa? Legalisbelm...? What’s that supposed to be?” Without missing a beat, Meddié’s head whipped around as she turned to face her father. Explain away, Otto.

“Why am I surprised? You were slacking off at your studies again, weren’t you?” Otto asked back. “Put simply, Legalisbelm is a system for determining who will succeed to the throne.”

“Heh heh, I see now!” Meddié chuckled back. “So I guess that means they don’t mind getting their hands dirty if it lands them on the throne, huh?” She paused. “Wait a sec—so what does that have to do with Anna?”

“Leave it at that, Meddié.”

Stopped from asking anything further by her father, Meddié snapped her mouth closed. Otto was deep in thought with a sullen look on his face. That was what really mattered. But at the same time, that wasn’t the sort of territory another person could come barging into.

“So you’re not going to ask then, Otto?”

“That’s just it,” Otto replied. “As both president and the lord of this land, I have a duty to keep this city safe. Perhaps it behooves me to use every means at my disposal to accomplish that. And yet, even then... Watt. Anna. The two of you are reliable employees at my company and friends I’d do well to trust. But above any of that, you are people of my city whom I ought to protect. Your own pride is yet another element I am to keep safe.”

Unable to contain himself, Watt couldn’t help but erupt into a broad grin. Ah... I knew it. This is why it’s so comfortable here. As lord, Otto’s character had unmistakably impacted the city on the whole. And that, in turn, was all the reason Watt needed to give it all he had to keep the city safe himself.

“It’s a good thing you’re the lord of this city,” Watt replied. “And that’s exactly why I want you to ask. We want to keep the city safe ourselves, after all.”

“Agreed,” Anna said. “While I’ve only been here a short while, I feel precisely the same.”

“I appreciate your resolve,” Otto said.

There wasn’t a soul in the world who wanted to see their hidden past brought to light, and that was exactly why Otto had fully devoted himself to accepting the resolution they were displaying—it was his duty as the city’s lord.

Anna lifted her head and straightened her posture. If she were going to tell her tale, then she was going to do it the right way without backing away. “The reason they’re after me is because I’m a royal...and daughter to the first prince.”

Meddié’s eyes opened wide, while Otto himself couldn’t conceal his surprise. He’d predicted that Anna was a royal the moment he’d learned that Legalisbelm was the cause, but it seemed the truth of the matter was far more complicated than he’d imagined.

“Watt, I’d heard that Anna was your daughter,” Otto replied. “Do you mean to say that’s only a guise?”

“No, she’s my daughter for sure,” Watt answered. “It’s just, at the same time, she’s also that bastard’s stepdaughter and a member of the royal family. It’s going to be long and complicated, but can I ask you to hear me out?”

And so, Watt began to speak about the past—how it related to him, and to his daughter...

Chapter Five: Illuminate the Knight in Your Soul

“Whaaaaaa?! You want me to quell a rogue monster?”

It was roughly twenty years ago that Watt Sears was given a single order: to defeat a rogue monster—a monster that had wandered into an area where people had already settled after the other monsters in the area had been exterminated—that had appeared in a certain location within the Kingdom of Ogdenn.

As it was a territory of the kingdom, there should’ve been a noble lord ruling the land. Despite Watt’s insistence that leaving the matter to them would be the proper way of handling things, his superior at the time merely said it was an order and refused to budge an inch. It was an official order from the king, so Watt reluctantly set out with his Mechsteel partner.

“The hell? I was wondering what kinda monster went rogue, but nobody told me it was a dragon! Dammit, those bastards knew and still didn’t tell me!”

Awaiting Watt when he arrived on the scene was a massive dragon that seemed to rend the skies in two. Rushing to ascertain the situation, Watt discovered that the lord’s army had been practically annihilated right away. It seemed true that they had made an emergency request for support to the Centre.

“But still, there’s no way I can be the only reinforcements they sent, right?! I might’ve been born a commoner, but this is no time to try and play some nasty prank on me!”

Watt was indeed born a commoner, and he’d enlisted to join the Centre army. After rapidly distinguishing himself in the army with his skills, Watt found himself disproportionately shunned by those of noble birth around him. He couldn’t begin to count all the minor ways they’d found to harass him, but he never imagined he’d be thrown headfirst into such a dangerous situation. After all, even compared to other monsters, dragons boasted a level of power that was in a class of their own. Even Mechsteels, the massive magical instruments that they were, couldn’t compete with the likes of dragons. Indeed, the lord’s army had now suffered the bitter blow of annihilation before the creature’s might.

What’s more, Watt was shocked to see that, in face of their own doom, the lord and his family had done the unthinkable and joined the fray themselves, prepared to die on the battlefield out of the belief that a noble’s duty was to protect those living in their domain.

“Hold up there, you idiots! Your pride doesn’t mean a thing if you go off and die! Get the injured off the front lines!”

It seemed the nobles of the land were of a different breed altogether than those fools in the Centre—there was no mistaking that they were still fools nonetheless, though. Watt couldn’t stand a single one of them, which was exactly why he angrily berated them...before taking on the ultimate beast entirely on his own in their place.

For three whole days, Watt and his partner waged a vicious battle against the creature before finally succeeding in quelling the “ultimate” monster.

The mere recollection of how flustered everyone around him had been when he returned back to the Centre carrying the dragon’s massive head was enough to make him smile even now.

The days that followed were marked by rapid upheaval in Watt’s life. His feat of “single-handedly quelling a dragon” was far too large of an achievement—he could be mocked for being a former commoner no longer. Soon thereafter, the king himself awarded Watt with a medal for his accomplishment, assigning him to the post of “Top Knight of the Kingdom.” The king had sought to parade his feat in quelling the dragon to the surrounding nations, but to say that it had been a mere knight of common birth that had done so would’ve lacked luster. And so, as if to eliminate any such issues, Watt found himself exalted.

Watt himself had never really cared how others viewed him, so he simply let matters run their course. After all, there was something far more important to him than all that—his encounter with Cullinagemia Turris, the daughter of the lord, who, alongside her family, had avoided certain doom thanks to Watt’s feats on the battlefield.

“Sir Watt, as knight, you have my deepest appreciation for not only quelling the dragon that appeared in our domain, but also for saving the lives of my kin.”

When the two first spoke, the first thing to catch Watt’s gaze was her rich, flowing crimson hair, followed by her jade-colored eyes beneath, glistening with resolve as they peered back at him. Indeed, she’d been ready to lay down her life for the sake of her pride as a noble. Those clear eyes of hers made her inner strength readily apparent. Watt remembered full well how he’d nearly been overwhelmed by how intently she’d looked at him as she spoke.

“So you were granted the rank of Top Knight of the Kingdom, were you? His Majesty has a discerning eye. I’ve no doubts that you’ll go on to become a splendid knight and cement your name in our kingdom’s history.”

Cullina called Watt a knight each time she met him. In her mind, the way Watt had faced off against the dragon with no regard for danger made him a true knight among knights... At least, that’s what seemed to be the case. It was the sort of praise that left him feeling awkward and uneasy. Watt had just been dropped into the middle of it all and snapped out in anger. He hadn’t wanted to square off with a dragon, but he’d been able to save her, so he’d come to believe that the end result of it all hadn’t been bad.

As the two continued to meet in secret, her presence brought about a change in Watt. He’d originally joined the army because he had nowhere else to flex his skills, and after joining, he’d continued on to spite the nobles.

He wielded his blade now not as proof of his own might, but in order to help another. Watt had taken up the behavior of a knight in order to be the knight she believed him to be.

He had the power to best even dragons—and he would wield that same power to keep people safe. It was inevitable that Watt’s renown as the Kingdom’s Top Knight would only grow even further in light of this.

In time, Watt and Cullina’s official engagement was announced. It was more than apt to say that it was all smooth sailing back then.

And yet, in the shadows of it all, the footsteps of tragedy were quietly drawing near.

“Annul your engagement to the daughter of Count Turris.”

The words that leaped from the mouth of Lezamer Ogdenn, the first prince of the Kingdom of Ogdenn, were enough to make Watt doubt his own ears.

“That’s quite the joke to make, Your Highness. Royals though you may be, is it not the rule that marriages between nobles aren’t to be interfered with?”

It was absurd. Lezamer might’ve been royalty, but there were things he could ask and things he couldn’t, and in this case, it was quite unmistakably the latter. Watt was visibly daunted, but Lezamer only cast an unpleasant grin back at him.

“Between nobles? I could’ve sworn I heard something odd there. It almost sounded like the lowly likes of a commoner was convinced he’d become a noble himself just because he can swing his sword around a bit!”

“I was born a commoner, no doubt,” Watt replied. “But even then, I’ve been granted the rank of Top Knight of the Kingdom by His Majesty, you see. My skill with the blade, then, is meant to be symbolic of the kingdom’s might.”

It had been a long while since he’d had others speak ill of him—ever since he’d risen to become the Top Knight of the Kingdom, in fact. He’d never even remotely expected to hear such from the mouth of the kingdom’s first prince. The fact he didn’t just bounce back such verbal attacks as he used to, but was now able to unleash fitting rebuttals, likely meant that he’d grown.

The remaining issue was how he could stay in the narcissistic prince’s good graces. This was exactly why he wasn’t good with messes that couldn’t be swept away with martial might.

At that point, Watt still hadn’t taken the situation all that seriously. And yet, immediately thereafter, his story was about to take a sudden twist in an unexpected direction.

“It’s as you say—royalty or not, I can’t interpose in marriages between nobles just because I’m royalty. However, it’s another matter entirely if I speak as an individual! You’re no more than a single blade—a woman like her would be wasted on you. You’d do well to give her to me.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Watt answered. “And besides, she’s a human first and foremost, well before whether she’s a noble or not comes into play. She’s not some thing to just be snatched up.”

“Heh heh, I should’ve known you’d refuse. Then in that case, let us follow the laws of yore! Watt Sears, I challenge you to a duel!”

“What...did you just say?”

Was this what it meant to be rendered speechless? Without giving Watt so much as a moment to come back from his confusion, Lezamer continued on.

“Heh, what I’m saying is, let’s settle this with a one-on-one fight between you and me with the woman on the line. You’re supposed to be the Top Knight of the Kingdom—don’t tell me you’ll shrink away now!”

That’s absurd... A duel against me? Hey, does this guy even know who he’s up against?

Watt had never even heard so much as rumors suggesting that the first prince was an outstanding swordsman. There was simply no way he could ever hope to fight against Watt, the Top Knight of the Kingdom.

Even then, Watt’s patience was nearing its limit. He’d behaved as a knight would to meet Cullina’s expectations, but there wasn’t a single reason for him to overlook such nonsense. If it’s a duel you want, then it’s a duel you’ll get! And besides, putting that self-absorbed first prince in his place was also his duty as a knight in service of the kingdom.

“Very well, then, Your Highness. I shall accept your challenge. Having received the rank of Top Knight of the Kingdom from His Majesty, I’ll allow you to spar with me.”

At the time, Watt was still convinced that Lezamer would give up right away the moment he got burnt just a bit. While it’d be a chore, and he’d have to half hold back, Watt was confident that he could pull it off, and he had the skill to actually do it and then some.

It was only upon the stage of the duel that he would learn that every last bit of that sentiment was a mistake.

“The duel will be in the form of a one-on-one fight between your Mechsteels! You will both use weapons that have had their edges removed, and note that direct attacks to the Steelriders are prohibited. The duel shall be determined when one of the Mechsteels is incapacitated or when one of the parties yields!”

Sitting in the cockpit of his partner he knew so well, Watt made no attempts to conceal the look of disdain on his face. At any rate, for a fight between Mechsteels, there would be impact on the Steelrider if their machine’s limbs were crushed. It was just right for threatening the prince.

Let’s dance, then! Watt thought, as he prepared to unsheathe the twin blades equipped on his Mechsteel like he always did—

“Hold on! Watt Sears! There’s something suspicious about your weapon! Allow us to inspect it!”

Before the starting signal could even be given, the knight judging the match squeezed in between them. It was a clearly suspicious act, but letting them investigate was no skin off his back.

However, no sooner had they taken the weapon from Watt’s Mechsteel than the judging knight gave an exaggeratedly loud shriek.

“What?! He’s using a weapon that hasn’t had its edge removed! Surely you weren’t plotting to harm His Highness the prince in the struggle of the duel!”

“...What?”

For a moment, Watt couldn’t make sense of what he’d heard. They were the ones who prepared the edgeless weapons in the first place, so there’s no way it could’ve—thinking just that, Watt reclaimed his weapon and inspected it intently, only to discover that the blade’s edge was unmistakably still there.

That was the moment Watt realized: Lezamer had selected the judging knight, and all those around them were unfamiliar faces. Watt was likely surrounded by Lezamer’s lifelong servants.

“You have defiled the sacred laws of the duel and turned your blade against His Highness the first prince! In doing so, you have turned your blade against the royal family of Ogdenn in turn. This is nothing short of high treason against the royal family!”

It was only at that point that Watt finally realized that Lezamer had never had any intention of actually fighting him. In the end, it didn’t matter if Watt was plotting treason or not—Lezamer had merely chosen the duel because it was a convenient premise to trap him.

“That’s nonsense and you know it!” Watt barked back. “You’re the one who suggested a duel in the first place! Fight me fair and square!”

“What an unsavory argument when the proof’s clear as day! Hah! Such insolence for common-born filth like you to call yourself the Top Knight of the Kingdom! Father must be going blind!”

A throng of knights in Lezamer’s service piloting Mechsteels appeared, holding Watt and his Mechsteel down. Lezamer strode over in his own machine and lifted his sword in the air, only to bring it slamming down on the sword Watt’s Mechsteel was holding. With Watt unable to even brace for the impact, the sword snapped cleanly in two, the edge of the blade twirling through the air before plunging into the ground.

“You’re starting to look more and more like a commoner now! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“You bastard... Looks like you’ve got a death wish, huh?!”

“Hmph! It seems you still don’t realize the situation you’re in, do you? Traitorous scum! Why don’t I just crush you now?”

The edge of Lezamer’s blade was pointed directly at the back of Watt’s Mechsteel. If he were to thrust his sword in, the blade would pierce Watt inside the cockpit as well.

Lezamer purposefully slowly pushed into his sword, leaving the armor on Watt’s Mechsteel to give a piercing shriek before—

“Wait, please.”

It was that same moment that the dignified voice blew through the chaos playing out on the duel stage. There was no way Watt could ever mistake that voice. It was none other than Cullinagemia Turris. Walking up to the titans’ feet without a hint of fear, Cullinagemia positioned herself between Lezamer and Watt.

“What is it?” Lezamer demanded. “It’ll all be over soon enough. You’re the trophy—all you need to do is watch in silence from the sidelines.”

“Your Highness Lezamer Ogdenn. I believe your goal for this duel was to win me, not to kill him. If you say that you’ve won, then I ask that you do what the rules prescribe you to do as victor.”

“Well, now,” Lezamer replied. “Unlike that ignorant commoner over there, it seems you’re rather astute, aren’t you? You’ve caught my fancy even more. Very well, then—in that case, come to my hand.”

Lezamer knelt down his Mechsteel, extending its massive hand before her. His interest had already shifted away from Watt and onto the trophy that was within his grasp.

Cullinagemia took a step forward. Watt couldn’t contain himself from screaming.

“Cullina, stop! You can’t go with the likes of him!”

Cullina stopped in place. With her back still turned, Watt only heard her next words to him.

“Watt. I’m sorry this is the only way I could save you.”

“That’s not how it works! I’m supposed to be the one saving you! Just hold on! I’ll get this all sorted out right now!”

Nothing else mattered at that point. They were the one who’d given Watt a blade that hadn’t had its edge removed—all that was left was to wield it just as they’d hoped he would. His partner’s Mech-Heart throbbed, surging its output of power. It was that same moment that Cullina turned around.

“Watt, you can’t. If you just throw everything away here, then you’re only playing into his hands. And if you sink to become a true traitor, Sir Watt...you’ll be an enemy to all.”

The trembling that enveloped Watt’s whole body bound his arms in place. Why on earth had he ever even sought to be a knight in the first place? His boiling rage falling silent, Watt realized it—he realized that a blade wielded only in anger could never save a soul. In fact, worse yet, he might very well harm Cullinagemia, when she meant the whole world to him.

“Watt, would you grant me one last selfish request?”

“Selfish?! I’ve never—!”

I don’t want it to end like this! Watt wanted to burst into an unseemly mess of tears. Cullina carried herself unflinchingly—there was no way he could be the only one to act so shamelessly. Watt’s pride as Cullina’s own knight upheld his heart that seemed like it would shatter at any moment.

“Somewhere out there, I’m sure there’s someone who needs your sword...and needs you to save them the same way you saved me. So, please... I ask only that you stay the virtuous knight that you are.”

“You always asked the most difficult things of me.”

“I know you can do it, Watt. You’re the knight who laid his life on the line to save me.”

And so, Cullina stepped onto the Mechsteel’s hand. Watt could only watch as she was lifted away before him. That moment was the last time he spoke to Cullinagemia Turris.

It seemed the kingdom had covered up the scandal that emerged in the wake of the incident at the duel. Watt found himself presented with a mountain of gold coins to stay silent. He leveled the mountain with a kick then and there, resigning from his post as Top Knight of the Kingdom while he was at it. Leaving the army behind as well, Watt had returned to being “just Watt.” He was a knight no longer. In the end, he grabbed everything he could as a substitute for his retirement pay before running out of the capital.

Afterward, Watt continued to wander here and there throughout the kingdom, eventually washing up in the furthest frontier of the kingdom before he knew it.

“I didn’t see Cullina once in the seventeen years after that. She’s still the first princess, though. So the gist of it is that Anna’s my daughter...and that bastard’s stepdaughter.”

As Watt brought his tale to a close, everyone on the scene had fallen into silence. Actually, Meddié was even sobbing quietly.

“H-Hey, come on now! Don’t look so serious! It’s all in the past. Time’s the cure-all that’ll wipe anything away, see? Too late now to be moping over all that!”

Watt tried his best to act cheery and bright. It was true that he’d bounced back from it as time had passed. Even if his old scar bled from time to time, he’d been able to bolster his heart to withstand it. More importantly, the man Watt was now wasn’t stuck looking back at the past.

“B-Buuut... He got his lover stowen away by that stupid pwince, and still got dwagged into the fight...!” Meddié sobbed, slurring her words.

“It’s fine, Meddié,” Watt replied. “After all, to be honest, I didn’t even know I had a daughter until just a few days ago. But now I’ve got Anna... I’ve got Cullina’s daughter here counting on me. That’s more than enough for me.”

Wiping all her tears and mucus onto her sleeve, Meddié firmly grasped Anna’s hand. “I’m helping you too, master! And the same goes for you too, Anna—if you ever have any problem at all, you can come to me! As master’s disciple—and as your friend—I’ll give it everything I’ve got!”

It was too much all at once—Anna found herself at a bit of a loss, wondering if she should be happy or taken aback.

While the excited young ladies before him were all fine and well, for his part, Otto couldn’t help but give a deep sigh.

“It all fell into place for me as I listened to you,” he explained. “There’s no doubt—it’s either some rival royal or a noble supporting them that’s coming after Miss Anna. They likely can’t send out the Royal Army, but even just their private militias are more than powerful enough.”

“That’s just it,” Watt went on. “And it’s not just one of ’em, for starters. I’m sure they’ve got bucketfuls just waiting in reserve.”

“Almost certainly so. I’d do the same myself.” Otto made his irritation apparent, and uncharacteristically so. After all, it was the highest seat in all the kingdom on the line. Just a little bit of a fumble wasn’t enough to make any assailant give up—a fact Watt knew full well, much to his chagrin.

“This isn’t good,” Otto went on. “In that case, we’ve no hopes of matching them with just our standing forces. We’ve little choice but to mobilize the hunters as well. We’ll send out a notice at once. Meddié, can I leave that to you?”

“Got it, pops. You just leave getting everyone together to me! I’ll show ’em just what this city’s Steelriders can do!” Meddié replied with a nod, suddenly brimming with energy.

Just then, right when the elder Socom and his daughter set about addressing the task at hand, Anna opened her mouth.

“U-Um! If you turn me over to them, you should be able to at least negotiate! If we go that route, perhaps we could keep the city from being attacked!”

Otto opened his eyes just a bit and cast a questioning gaze at Watt.

See what I’m dealin’ with here? She’s just like her mother.

I see.

“Hmm. While it pains me to shoot down your proposal, that’s out of the question, Miss Anna.”

“Why not?!”

“You’re far too kind. We’ve already gotten the better of one of those bandits. Even if those scoundrels were to get you, I find it hard to imagine that they’d back down so meekly. This is already an issue of appearances.”

Seeing Anna’s spirits sink, Watt patted her on the head. Anna felt terribly uneasy with her head hung down. Her stepfather, Lezamer, had never shown her such kindness. The only things he’d given her had been harsh demands and nothing more.

“Don’t worry about it,” Watt said. “Just for the record, your old man’s gonna be doin’ his best too.”

Watt pulled something out from his inner chest pocket—a key engraved in the design of an eagle. It was the start-up key to his Mechsteel—his partner.

“Are you sure, Watt? I thought you threw away all that knight business.”

“The only thing I threw away was the past,” Watt answered. “As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t given up on the future too. And besides, I made a promise—a promise that I’d use my sword to fight for someone who needed it.”

Everyone’s gaze fixated on the key.

The odds they faced were nothing short of monumental, and the city itself was now at risk. But they wouldn’t give up. The key seemed to be a symbol of their own resistance.

Just then, Watt gave a long sigh. “But I’ve got him tucked pretty far away. I’ll hurry and get him as quick as I can, so hang in there for just a bit till I’m back!”

“Bwhaa?!”

Anna’s face bounced up like a spring-loaded toy. Even Otto furrowed his brow.

“What are you saying, Watt? We don’t know when their main forces could attack—we don’t have time for that sort of—!”

“Cut me some slack here!” Watt replied. “I was planning on never using him again!”

Otto glared at Watt for a moment. Watt was wearing the same gentle grin he always did, but Otto didn’t miss the serious glimmer resting in his eyes.

“Then hurry and get it as quickly as possible. We’ll keep Anna safe until then.”

“I really appreciate it! And I’ll work twice as hard to pay you back!”

Watt tried to dash out of the room as if he were leaving that very moment, only to find Anna clinging on to the hem of his shirt. Anna’s body had moved on its own the very moment she’d realized he’d be leaving her side.

“Oh, don’t go making a face like that! I promised I’d help you, didn’t I?” Watt said.

Anna hesitated for just a moment before giving an uneasy nod. He was about to make his stand, despite having endured such a bitter past. Anna knew just what she had to do to respond to his resolve.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Hey, I won’t keep you waiting long. I’ll be back before you know it!”

It was a considerable distance to his “trump card,” however. If he’d known that things would turn out like this, he would’ve hidden it somewhere closer, but it was too late to regret that now.

“All righty! If I’m late after all this, I’ll never be able to look ’em in the eye! I’ve gotta hurry and wake that sleepyhead up!”

Fired up, Watt dashed off as fast as his legs would carry him. This time—this time for sure—he’d keep her safe till the very end.

Chapter Six: My Resolve

It was just when the man was elegantly sipping away at his afternoon tea.

“Reporting in, m’lord! We’ve yet again failed to receive any of the scheduled contact from the dispatched Centurion today!”

“No word, hmm? Thank you.”

Thanking the subordinate who’d come to give his report before sending him away, the man sighed as he laid down his cup. The gentle aroma that wafted up from the tea alongside the steam boldly declared that now was the prime time to drink it, but the man simply couldn’t find it in himself to accept the invitation.

“Er, well, then... And what did he say when he last got in touch?”

“Yessir! He said that he would bring the Tyrant Rhino into Front-Edge City. That was the last message we received from him.”

“Hmm. So that means they’ve made a terrible blunder of things, then.”

The man’s aide nodded. The fact that they hadn’t even made contact meant that they’d either died or been captured. Either way, that meant they’d given their opponent information that they didn’t need to have. It wasn’t the sort of situation that could be washed away with a single sigh.

The Tyrant Rhino was one of the next generation of state-of-the art, officially mass-produced Mechsteels that had been in development. Development was coming to a close, and the first batch had just been delivered, so he’d forcefully pulled them aside for use in the current operation. The man had taken a bit of a look himself just to see, but their capabilities for charging through the battlefield were no joke. They were exquisite Mechsteels that could transform even the most inept of Steelriders into dauntless warriors.

“It’s truly an unbecoming failure,” the aide said, “especially after they were given such a powerful Mechsteel.”

“It doesn’t matter how amazing their Mechsteel might have been. That just means it wasn’t enough to bridge the gap of their own incompetence.”

The tea that the man had left untouched as he focused on the conversation had grown disappointingly lukewarm. The prime time to drink tea was, like everything else in life, surprisingly short.

“We’ve no choice if our attempts to handle this peacefully won’t work,” the man said. “I’m afraid we might have to be a bit rough, but we can’t afford to come back empty-handed either, after all.”

The man stood up. Following his aide’s signal, the forest suddenly filled with noise.

Enormous, human-esque shadows stood up alongside howls of machine exhaust echoing out. Bursts of steam rose up from all over, transforming into a haze that covered the forest.

“You always were such a bothersome nephew,” the man said. “That stubbornness of yours has left me with no choice now but to level a city or two!”

The footsteps of destruction rang loud and clear as they marched toward the city.

***

“Good morning, fa...”

After waking up, Anna had started to mumble her morning greeting—a newfound habit of hers as of late—only to remember that she was all alone in the room.

“Oh... That’s right.”

After yesterday’s conversation, Anna had been led to a room that had been prepared for her in the main Socom Co. building. As they had no idea what form the assailants’ next attack might take, they couldn’t have Anna stay all alone at Watt’s home.

“And here I thought I was used to this.”

Back when she’d been living in the capital, Anna had always spent her time alone. As a royal, while she’d had instructors and people to take care of her needs, she never even saw her stepfather or her half-siblings. Her mother was the only one who was kind to her, and even then, their time together had always been extremely limited. In the words of Lezamer, her stepfather, it had been to equip her with the sort of character that wouldn’t bring her shame as a royal, but she knew well enough it was because they wanted nothing to do with her.

Anna looked back on the week—only one week—she’d spent in the city since her arrival. Her real father was unkempt and rough around the edges, and living together with him had proven a challenge. If she hadn’t said anything, he would’ve tried to go on living in that messy room, filling his belly with whatever he could get his hands on. He had practically no belongings of his own. It was a far cry from her life in the staunchly beautiful and clean palace. It was too much—unable to bear such slovenness, Anna had discarded the humility that had been pounded into her and made her objections known.

“But that’s your fault, father!”

Anna had never planned on butting in like that in the first place. It was only after having come to the city for the first time that Anna realized that she was the type who could put things so frankly. Eating together with someone... Spending time with the people of the city... It was all so colorful and vivid that she couldn’t even start to compare it to the ashen grays of her days at the palace. There were no servants who treated her like a piece of furniture around now. The city had marked her first encounter with others who met her with warm, loving care.

“If I could... I wish I could just stay h—”

Knock-knock-knock-knock!

Anna found her time wallowing in her own thoughts brought to a swift end by the energetic knocks repeatedly sounding on the other side of the door. Anna rushed to the door, but before she could even open it, Meddié burst into the room, smiling from ear to ear.

“Top of the morning! Starting today, I’ll be keeping you safe in master’s place!”

“Good...morning.”

Anna remembered that there’d been talk of such an arrangement. Given that Meddié was also a girl and was close to her age, she’d been recommended as the perfect fit for the job.

“I truly appreciate it. But, now that you mention it... Will everything be okay with your job, Meddié?”

“No need to worry!” she answered. “Pops is the lord of the land, and this is the official role he assigned me to! Not to mention all the Hunters’ Guild members got summoned here! There’s no work for me to do over there now. So let’s go grab some breakfast together!”

Anna didn’t even have the time to nod back before Meddié swiftly grabbed her hand and led her out. Meddié was bold in a different way than Watt was—the type to pay no heed to trivial matters...even though she didn’t have to imitate her master to quite that extent.

“So what’re we gonna go for? Got any favorite foods, Anna? Oh, better yet, anything you can’t eat?”

“There’s nothing I’d rather avoid,” Anna answered. “And in terms of what I like...there’s nothing in particular. Back in the capital, they always told me to eat whatever I must.”

“Whaaaa? Well, I guess we’re fine with my pick, then! There’s a joint with some seriously good soup just up ahead. Oh, actually, the place got caught in the middle of the battle and wound up destroyed, but still!”

Meddié said it so cheerfully that Anna didn’t know quite how to respond. With Meddié leading her by the hand as she went on chatting about this and that, Anna hurriedly proceeded through the city.

All throughout town, efforts to remove the rubble had been underway since the crack of dawn. Even if an enemy were to come tomorrow, it was just as important for the people of the city to live through today. The Mild Bulls were taking charge of the cleanup, making full use of their strength. They were doing a fine job demonstrating just what work machines were capable of.

Watching the stumpy Mild Bulls busily carry off debris from destroyed buildings, a faint pain stole across Anna’s heart. Watt had told her not to let it eat at her, but she still wasn’t quite that strong.

“Um, if it might be all right, could you perhaps lend me a Mild Bull?” Anna asked.

“Whaaa?! I mean, I could pull some strings, but...why?”

With nothing but breakfast on her brain, Meddié was startled at the sudden question. Were they going to go grab food in their Mechsteels? No, surely not!

“I figured I might be able to help them clean up too, so...”

“Oh, so that’s what you were getting at! Hmm... I think that might not be the best idea.”

“Why not?” Anna asked. “Wouldn’t I be good enough?”

Puzzled at the desperate look on Anna’s face as she doubled down, Meddié shook her head. “That’s not it. It’s just, we’ve got all the Mild Bulls out working right now. We’d have to push somebody off the job.”

Anna paused. “I failed to consider that. I’m terribly sorry...”

“H-Hold on just a sec! You don’t have to get so down about it! What’s wrong? Are you feeling really uneasy without master around?”

With Anna’s head hung low as she stared at the ground, Meddié rushed to support her. Even then, however, Anna’s expression remained dark.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just...” Anna started. “Part of the responsibility for the attack on the city rests with me. Everyone here has been so kind to me, so I thought cleaning up the city was the very least I could do...”

“Whaaa? Look, Anna, you’re taking things just a little too seriously!”

Meddié’s eyes were round with surprise, but Anna couldn’t help but wonder if she was truly being too serious. In Anna’s eyes, it would be far more unbearable to do nothing.

“All righty, then! Let’s hurry up and get some breakfast first!” Meddié said. “That just now? You get down in the dumps when your stomach’s empty, see?”

Meddié picked up the pace as she made her spirited declaration. Entirely at Meddié’s mercy, Anna followed after her, only for her eyes to widen in shock at the sight of Meddié’s “pick.” The restaurant had been destroyed in the attack the other day, so they’d set up a simple tent instead. Anna dashed off toward the owner, who was serving up soup, as soon as she laid eyes on her.

“Auntie! So you were safe!”

“My, if it isn’t little Anna! So I guess this means you made your escape yourself! It’s a relief to see you doing so well!”

She was the same owner who’d helped Anna make her escape from the men the other day. Anna ran and leaped straight into her arms, only for the owner to firmly catch her in an embrace.

“Auntie... Something awful happened to you, and it’s all my fault. I’m so terribly sorry.”

“Don’t be so formal, dearie! It’s an adult’s job to keep children safe! You just let us keep you out of harm’s way, okay?”

The owner shook her head, but even from within her arms, Anna looked less than convinced. The owner gave a small laugh.

“Oh, come on now. It’s hardly fitting to have a well-to-do young lady like you worrying about us. Did you take after your father on that?”

Perhaps she had. At the very least, it certainly wasn’t something she’d learned from her stepfather, Lezamer. Had it been him, he’d likely have paid no heed to anything as lowly as the suffering of the common folk.

Just as the thought crossed Anna’s mind, Meddié interjected with a proud look on her face.

“Of course she did! Anna is master’s daughter, after all!”

“You’ve got a point there!” the owner replied. “Everyone who’s lived in the city for a while has had Watt help them out at some point!”

Anna looked at Meddié curiously, only for Meddié to begin her explanation as she waggled her finger. “After all, master really is just too kindhearted for his own good! The moment he sees anyone with even a tiny problem, he comes rushing to the rescue right away. The most impressive part was right when he came to the city! Boy, he sure was strong!”

Strong? Just what was it he’d even done? Even the owner was smiling, as if she were pleasantly reminiscing on the past.

“It’s all calm and settled now,” she said, “but this city was pretty rough and rowdy back in the day. Steelriders went around acting like big shots even more than they do now, trying to be all high and mighty like they ruled the place. ‘And just who d’ya think’s bringin’ money into the city, huh?’ That’s what they’d say!”

“We get a few knuckleheads like that even now,” Meddié remarked.

“Well, now! Wonder if they’re newcomers? We’ll just have to have Mr. Watt take ’em down a few notches!” the owner said as she and Meddié broke into laughter.

“It’s been a bit over ten years since Mr. Watt came to this city, I suppose. He butted heads with the Steelriders as soon as he came, and boy, did he ever make a scene!”

“Really...?” Anna asked. “What did he do?”

“He really was amazing!” Meddié exclaimed. “I was just a little kid, but I still remember it clear as day! One moment he was picking a fight against a Mechsteel with nothing but his bare hands, and the next he’d stolen the fool’s Mechsteel! And then he went on and pulverized all the other Mechsteels!”

Anna didn’t understand it, but if he’d made a proper scene of it, she could certainly see how tales of it could be passed down in the city for years to come.

“That sure was a surprise! Even a whole bunch of Steelriders who knew their way around a Mechsteel were no match for him!”

“That’s master, all right!” Meddié said. “Pops wants him to be a Steelrider from the sound of it, but... Yeah, it wouldn’t do to just force him. I think he’s fine doing just what he does!”

“That’s for sure,” the owner replied. “The fact that he doesn’t get stuck up about it is just like him.”

“You’ve got that right!” Meddié said. “Speaking of which, this next part’s the real masterpiece! He put all the Steelriders through training! Said he was gonna straighten them out! Everyone leveled up their skills because of it, but the ones who’d been in town the longest were the ones who felt the most indebted to him!”

Anna giggled. Even during the short time they’d been together, Anna had gotten a clear sense of just how good Watt was at looking after people. She could practically imagine the sight of him going all out for someone, even if he’d butted heads with that same someone.

“So this is just our way of saying thank you, Anna. Bandits came in and stomped around a bit, that’s all. There’s not a thing you should be worrying over.”

Ah...I get it now. Father was keeping me safe this whole time.

It wasn’t just since she’d arrived in the city. The ways that Otto and Meddié had helped her, the kindness that the city’s people had shown her... It was all thanks to the trust that Watt had built up here.

As far as Watt himself was concerned, he likely thought he hadn’t done anything special. And even from here on out, there was no doubt that he’d go on extending a helping hand to people.

Your judgment was sound, mother. Father hasn’t changed a bit. He’s continued on as a noble knight.

Torn away from him, her mother had continued to trust Watt, even as the years passed. And now Anna could see the reason for herself.

I... I want to help someone too. I want to be the sort of person that someone would trust.

It was such a natural feeling. It was as if strength were gushing out from her chest. She’d found what she had to do. Her head had been hanging low, but now her gaze naturally lifted in turn.

“Thank you. I’ll do my very best!”

“Hmm?” the owner replied. “I’m not quite sure what you mean, but if you’re feeling better, that’s all that counts!”

It was right then that a poorly timed growl rang out from Anna’s stomach. Instinctively turning bright red, Anna found herself presented with a steaming bowl.

“There ya are! A bowl of our top-notch soup! Dig in before it gets cold, now! You’ve gotta eat it this time—not those filthy bandits!”

“Okay!” Anna replied. “This looks great!”

“Oh, save some for me too!” Meddié added. “Your soup’s outta this world!”

Back when she’d still been at the palace, Anna could’ve never imagined eating at the side of the road. But now, that was normal to her—and delicious to boot. The soup was every bit as tasty as its reputation suggested, leaving broad grins to spill across the girls’ faces.

Just as they were savoring their breakfasts, a low sound echoed out from the distance. Anna could see a billow of smoke rising from the other side of the walls that surrounded the city.

“Those bandits really don’t have any manners! All righty, then! Let’s go, Anna!”

“Of course!”

Meddié gulped down the rest of her soup in one go. It was positively unbecoming to do such, but Anna didn’t waste a moment before doing the same herself.

“Thank you, auntie! That soup was wonderful!”

“All right, see ya around!” Meddié added.

“You two be careful out there, you hear?”

The girls dashed away, without even a hint of hesitation.

***

A band of Mechsteels were walking through the dense ranks of trees filling the forest that surrounded Front-Edge City.

“You’re saying those bandits from the other day still haven’t given up? Talk about stubborn!”

Piloting the mechs were Steelrider hunters from Front-Edge City. Called to defend the city by Otto, the band of pilots had set out on reconnaissance duty to detect any incoming attacks. One of them had discovered something unusual in the forest.

“Wait! Something’s there! Look at the odd way those trees are swaying—it seems they’ve graced us with another visit!”

Immediately, the pilot blew the whistle equipped on his Mechsteel. Its sharp sound echoed throughout the forest, alerting those in the rear to the enemy’s presence.

“But still, I can’t believe they’d actually come out here. Looks like those prim-and-proper types in the Centre don’t know when to quit!”

“They got in the way of our work, so now it’s time to have ’em pay up...in full!”

The Steelriders awaited their foes, bursting with fighting spirit. The hunters were at their best when it came to open warfare in the forest, howling on about how they’d crush those bandits themselves for picking a fight with the city. But the moment the hunters caught sight of their foe, their expressions stiffened.

The Mechsteels appeared alongside the heavy thud of footsteps. It was only a few mechs at first, but their numbers immediately swelled to over ten. With their foe’s vast forces upon them like a tidal wave enveloping the forest, the hunters quickly made an about-face.

“This isn’t good! There’re more of the bastards than I can even count!”

“Hurry and fall back to the wall! If we fight outside, we’re as good as rag dolls for them to tear apart!”

It didn’t matter how much the land worked in their favor—their advantage was exactly what made it wise for them to flee from ill-considered battles. The hunters hurriedly pulled back to the walls that kept the city safe. They hadn’t made their retreat without a plan, however. Defensive encampments had been constructed just outside the walls, allowing them to form an iron barrier.

“The lot of ’em are comin’ our way! Let’s give ’em a real welcome!”

From the encampments, a group of Strike Hawks—Mechsteels bearing vivid plume adornments—stood up and notched arrows in their massive bows.

“Magi-skill, activate! Long-Range Bolt!”

Mechsteels that were Brute-class and higher were able to burn through the magicyte they used as fuel to unleash powerful attacks that reflected the characteristics of the monsters they were formed from. Magi-skills suited for long-range combat were particularly common in Mechsteels formed from bird monsters. Landing the first blow was the hunters’ go-to strategy when it came to combat.

“Awfully kind of you coming out all this way just to see us, you bandits! But it’s time for you to die now!”

The Mechsteels’ arrows went flying alongside a wave of insults. The magic energy imbuing the arrows amplified their might and stabilized their trajectory. It was a mighty attack, powerful enough to defeat even a Brute-class Mechsteel if it landed a direct hit on its target.

Their foe was not to be underestimated, however—no sooner had a line of Mechsteels bearing shields proceeded to the front of the ranks than they blocked all of the hunters’ arrows with their faintly glowing shields.

The hunters were shaken.

“Urgh! I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the Fortress Bisons’ Magi-skill: Interlocked Plate! Don’t tell me these bastards are planning a full-on siege!”

Due to their Magi-skills, Fortress Bisons were also known as “roving ramparts,” and sure enough, their specialty lay in siege warfare. They were mighty mechs that blocked long-range attacks while boosting the front lines.

“Those are official Mechsteels from the Royal Army! What’re we supposed to do against these?!”

“Save your groaning for later! They’ve closed the distance—it’s almost time to fight them head-on!”

Giving up on their attempts at long-range combat, a band of Raging Bears piloted by hunters leaped out instead, dauntlessly approaching the encroaching forces.

“Magi-skill, activate! Fang Slash!”

Fang Slash was the Raging Bears’ Magi-skill that saw them coat their weapons in magic energy for an explosive increase in power.

A Raging Bear’s glowing hammer pierced a Fortress Bison’s readied shield. While the shield was able to withstand the attack, the resulting impact was too much, destroying the Fortress Bison’s arm in the process. One after another, a number of the opposing Mechsteels dropped their shields.

“That’s right! Push ’em back!”

Without wasting a moment, the Fortress Bisons unsheathed their weapons in reply. The Mechsteels began to exchange attacks, the heavy impacts of their weapons colliding swaying the ground beneath them.

With each side advancing only to step back the next moment, one of the hunters that’d been watching the battlefield from the rear noticed their presence and shouted.

“There—the enemy’s reserves! Those... Those are the massive mechs from the other day! And there’s more than one of ’em too!”

Shaking the ground with each step, the massive Mechsteels made their appearance on the battlefield. Five Tyrant Rhinos, titans of atrocity, set off into a dash to slam Front-Edge City into the very depths of despair.

Chapter Seven: Weeds Not Only to Be Trampled

The luxuriantly dense forest spread out to the north of Front-Edge City. Originally, the whole area had been known as the Forest of No Return—a dangerous strip of land teeming with monsters. It had been a young Otto Socom who had set his eyes on the land. Otto’s own Socom Co. had brought in masses of Mechsteels that hunted and collected monster materials, all the while building a city so that the people could live in the middle of the forest.

Front-Edge City, as it was called, became a major hub for acquiring monster materials. It wasn’t long after that the terminal station of the Kingdom’s Trail had been established in the city, ushering in an age of prosperity.

“Argh! Dammit! Everywhere you look, it’s nothing but trees, trees, and more damn trees! And the ground’s in terrible shape too!”

The forest to the north had been left as a buffer zone on the kingdom side. Racing between the trees piloting a Mech-steed—the horse portion of a Mechcoach—was Watt Sears.

Watt was confident in his ability to pilot Mechsteels, but Mech-steeds were outside of his area of expertise. Add in the rough roads that hadn’t been touched by human hands, and it was enough to make him want to grumble out a complaint or two. The fact that he’d been able to keep on running without stopping for even a moment was nothing short of a testament to his distinguished skills.

“Would it’ve killed me to store him a little bit closer?!”

Whoever said there was no point crying over spilled milk was right on the money. But even then, Watt knew he couldn’t afford to have his partner discovered so easily, bringing him back to the same conclusion he reached every time: He had no choice but to secure his partner in the depths of the forest where no one ever stepped foot.

After mercilessly driving his Mech-steed for a whole day and night, Watt finally arrived at his destination. It was far removed from both the kingdom side and Front-Edge City alike, the innermost depths of the forest with no traces of human activity. There before him was a large, gaping entrance to a cave: his destination.

Even though Watt took a brief look around just to be sure, he discovered no traces of human presence in the surrounding area, seemingly confirming what he’d already suspected. Even hunters wouldn’t dare venture into such depths in the forest unless there was considerable gain in it for themselves, so it only made sense. Holding up the torch he’d brought along with him, Watt stepped foot inside the cave. Deep inside the cave was a wide expanse, and enshrined there in the middle of it was just what he’d been looking for.

“It’s been a while, partner.”

Crouched there was a gigantic humanoid frame. With a cover cast across it to keep dust from accumulating, it even looked as if the giant was sleeping. Moving to the wordless mech’s side, Watt ran his hand across its surface, the layer of dust that had developed on top of it clinging to his hand.

“Real sorry ’bout that, getting so worked up I said I’d never pilot you again. I was an idiot back then. I thought I could actually do that.”

Watt went about swiftly confirming the state of each section of the machine as he spoke. Thanks to the maintenance he’d performed here and there, it was still in operating shape. There was no denying that the years had taken a bit of a toll on it, but a good romp around was all it would take to fix that.

“I was just a youngster without his head screwed on straight back then. It sounds like a joke, right? I mean, it’s been over a decade, and now all of a sudden Cullina’s daughter—our daughter—showed up. It looks like she got her mother’s kind heart and my own stubbornness. She grew up to be a bit too hardworking.”

Struggling, Watt pulled the covering off the mech. After a coughing spell from the ensuing cloud of dust, he went about performing the final maintenance steps. Watt filled up the mech with the supply of consumables he’d stocked up in the cave before oiling each part of the machine.

“But what really pisses me off is the fact there’s a buncha thugs that won’t let my daughter be. I mean, it’s too late for me to go spouting off about a knight’s vow after all these years, but...I want to keep her safe, for sure this time. So give me a hand here, partner.”

Having finished up the maintenance, Watt pulled a lever, only for the cockpit covering to lift open, just as expected. Without a moment’s hesitation, Watt slid into the jet-black hole that had opened before him.

“Harmonizing, start. Magic energy transmission, start!”

After harmonizing with the Mechsteel, the sensation that greeted Watt was even nostalgic somehow. The mech rose to its feet in a smooth motion without any indication of the years it had been inactive.

He’d once thrown the Mechsteel away alongside his past, distancing himself from it. But the training ingrained in him pulled Watt back into the past in the blink of an eye. Now that he was piloting the Mechsteel, there was no way he could fail. That was how he’d been back then, and that hadn’t changed, even now.

“All right, here we go, partner! Gotta show my daughter what her father can do!”

With a mighty roar, the beast arose from its slumber. As if completely unfazed by the cave crumbling behind it, the Mechsteel burst onto the scene, flying out like a flash of light.

***

“So the wall’s been breached, then?”

Even after listening to the report his subordinate had brought to him in a panic, Otto’s only reaction was a muted whisper. Baron Socom’s army headquarters were in the main Socom Co. building, located in the heart of the city. If the defensive walls surrounding the circumference of the city had been breached, the city proper was right at hand. If they were unable to contain the enemy forces advancing through the city, then there was a chance their headquarters, lying directly on that same line, could be attacked. And yet, the situation was just what they’d anticipated.

“That massive mech from the other day... Apparently it’s called a Tyrant Rhino, but sure enough, it wasn’t the only one. What can be done against five of them?” Otto mused.

While the ranks of Baron Socom’s army had been filled by asking the hunters to serve as reinforcements, unfortunately, there was a large gap in terms of the capabilities of their Mechsteels. While the Raging Bears that comprised their main force were respectable machines despite being easy to acquire, they were known for only offering middle-of-the-road performance.

“The bandits are sending their Tyrant Rhinos ahead while the remainder of their forces continue their by-the-book siege. I don’t like their tactics—it leaves us no choice but to divide our forces in two.”

Otto was confronted with the question of whether dividing their forces would be enough. Tyrant Rhinos were tremendously powerful. As sudden as the attack the other day had been, they’d surrounded the Tyrant Rhino with six Mechsteels of their own and had still been overwhelmed. It wasn’t hard to imagine how much more extensive the damage would’ve been had Watt not been there. There was little choice but to allocate sufficient forces to eliminate the Mechsteels that had invaded the city.

“My lord, it’s not safe here. Please, you must evacuate.”

It was then that Otto’s subordinate offered the suggestion. It made sense. If they were unable to stop the Tyrant Rhinos, then their current location would soon turn into a battlefield.

“And just where would I run off to? The Forest of No Return?”

“Indeed,” the subordinate replied. “Dangerous as it is, I believe it somewhat preferable over remaining here.”

“Even if I were to flee, unless the Tyrant Rhinos are defeated, they’ll only chase me down to the ends of the earth. There’s no real point in only putting it off.”

Even supposing Otto were able to make his escape, there was no guarantee that the city he left behind would be unharmed. Far from it—after witnessing the lack of hesitation to destroy the city the bandits had displayed during the previous attack, it was clear. They had practically no choice but to beat the bandits back. Whether that could be accomplished easily or not was another matter entirely.

It was right then that, alongside the patter of lively footsteps, his beloved daughter came bounding in with Anna in tow. Otto had expected they’d come. And yet, after seeing them before him as they were now, he couldn’t help but feel a weight in the depths of his heart.

“Pops! We’re under attack! They’re here!”

“You two shouldn’t... No, you came at a good time. Listen well: The two of you are to go ahead to the Forest of No Return. As soon as the situation here’s settled down, we’ll be right behi—”

“Nope, I don’t think so!” Meddié said.

Unable to process what he’d been told for a moment, Otto could only blink. Meddié might have been a tomboy, but even she had to grasp the situation at hand. His expression grew stern before he realized it, but Meddié only stared straight back at him.

“We’re joining in too.”

“And what on earth...do you plan to do?”

Even without Otto’s favorable perception of Meddié as her father, she was far from unskilled as a Steelrider. And yet, in the end, she was just a lone fighter—it would be impossible for her to turn the tides of the battle all on her own. The girls knew that full well themselves, and it was with that same understanding that they’d set out with such resolve.

“Just look at how quickly they got through the wall—it has to be those massive Mechsteels we’re dealing with,” Meddié said. “I don’t know if the hunters could win, even if they all attacked at once.”

“And that’s exactly why I’ll draw them after me.”

Anna’s jade-colored eyes were brimming with strength. The uncertain girl from only a few days ago was gone. Just what had happened to her in such a short span of time? It was shocking on its own, but even then, Otto couldn’t go about approving such a bold request so easily.

“Don’t be foolish, Miss Anna,” he replied. “I thought I already explained as such: At this point, it’s not just you they’re after, it’s—”

“Are you sure you’re not the one forgetting, Sir Otto? All said, their ultimate aim is to capture me...given my royal status. It’s the attack on the city that’s the real afterthought here.”

Anna’s words rang painfully clear. It was indeed the truth. The fact that the city was being attacked was nothing more than an expression of the bandits’ prideful lust to punish the hicks who’d gotten in their way while they were carrying out their mission. Speaking in terms of simple value, as a royal, Anna far outweighed any such desires.

“And that’s exactly why there’s no way those bandits will ignore me when I call out to them,” she said. “I’ll draw the enemy toward me and split them up.”

“Even if you were to draw them after you as you’d planned, what would you do then?” Otto demanded. “I hardly need to remind you—it’s Mechsteels you’re up against. Don’t be so optimistic as to think you can flee on foot just because you’re here in the city.”

“And that’s why we’re going to run away in my Agile Gazelle!” Meddié chimed in. “I’m the fastest in the city!”

It was true that Agile Gazelle derived its greatest strength from its movement capabilities. It seemed their plan was to dangle a royal before the bandits as bait in a life-and-death game of tag.

I see now. It seemed the girls had already polished the details of their plan before they’d arrived. Otto’s emotions had begun to grow heated. Forcing the feelings down within himself, he coolly evaluated their strategy. The plan’s logic was sound—and there was gain to be had in drawing them after her. And yet...

“I can’t approve of this. It’s too reckless,” Otto said. “There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to outrun them, and heavens forbid you were to be captured—the situation would only worsen.”

After all, that would mean the sort of person who had no qualms attacking a whole city for the throne would be one step closer to attaining their goal. It wasn’t just a matter of one city—it would inevitably cast a towering shadow of worry across the future of the nation.

Even as the humblest among all his peers, as a noble of the kingdom, Otto could not bring himself to accept such a terrible state of affairs. He was filled with dignity in his role as the city’s lord, and Anna stared straight back at him.

“Baron Otto Socom,” Anna began. “Allow me express my deepest reverence for your efforts in proudly building and ruling this fair city. However, speaking as only a humble royal, I cannot allow myself to tremble and yield to these violent outlaws.”

After saying her part, Anna’s expression softened. “And that’s why I’ll fight. And I’m certain if it were my father...he’d do exactly the same.”

Even though they were in such a crisis, Otto had to catch himself from bursting out laughing. Anna was supposed to have grown up without any contact from Watt, so it was humorous to see her saying things that made her sound like the spitting image of her father. But laughing here would’ve called his reputation into question. It took Otto a considerable deal of effort to open his mouth while stiffening the muscles in his face.

“I see your resolve clear as day,” he said. “But I can’t give your plan my approval as it stands.”

“What?! Don’t be such a hardhead, pops!” Meddié objected.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Otto replied. “What I’m saying is that there’s no need to go alone. I’ll assign some of my skilled subordinates to act as your bodyguards.”

Casting Meddié a faint smile to put her mind at ease, Otto turned back toward Anna once more. “Miss Anna, allow me to apologize for my discourteous behavior until now. I fully accept your determination and resolution to fight alongside us. As the current head of the Socom barony, I shall respect your wishes.” He paused. “Still, it is most regrettable that you yourself aren’t competing in Legalisbelm.”

“I, umm... Thank you ever so much!”

“However,” Otto went on, “no matter what happens, should the odds turn against you in the slightest, you are to flee into the forest. We’ve a far better sense of the land than they do—I’ve no doubts Meddié could escape them. We’ve no need to worry about anything after that. We’ll just have Watt clean up the mess.”

As stern and unbending as he seemed, the lord of the land had a mischievous streak in him. Anna and Meddié joined hands.

“All right, I’ll give it my all too!” Meddié declared. “Nothing to worry about—those slowpokes can’t even hope to keep up with me! I’ll be back, pops!”

“I’ll be praying for your success.”

“Thank you!”

Watching the girls dash off, Otto sighed, mumbling to a certain someone who wasn’t present in the room.

“Having a tomboy for a daughter will put you to the test, Watt. You’d best prepare yourself now. Still, relying on those girls like that... I’ve hardly any right to call myself a lord or a father. We’ll reorganize our forces—it’s time to divide the enemy that’s entered the city and strike them down!”

***

The wall protecting Front-Edge City crumbled with an earsplitting roar. The Tyrant Rhinos’ massive frames slowly pierced through the thick cloud of dust enveloping the area.

“We’ll go on trampling the city underfoot. Magi-skill, activate!”

Pushing through the dust, the Tyrant Rhinos resumed their charge. The incomparably powerful dash was their trademark Magi-skill: Mighty Bunker. With their Mechsteels overflowing with magic energy during the attack, not only was the charge immensely destructive, but it also had the added effect of strengthening the Mechsteel’s defense as it did so. It served as offense and defense alike.

The way the Mechsteels demolished anything and everything in their path as they surged ahead could only be described as the defining highlight of the attack. It was as if they were advancing through an abandoned field. The commander leading the squadron of Tyrant Rhinos, however, felt something wasn’t right.

“Something’s off. There should be more resistance than this. I figured the fear of death would have them tossing themselves at us like madmen once we entered the city.”

“All that means is that they’re nothing more than a bunch of cowardly bumpkins.”

Was that truly it? The commander couldn’t agree with his subordinate’s answer. If they’d been creatures true to their instincts, then perhaps that might’ve been the case. But humans were every bit as cunning as they were cowardly. It would only be natural to imagine that there was something they were after.

“It might be a trap—don’t let your guards down. Stay close together and make your way to the heart of the city as planned.”

Just as they were about to advance, they heard the girl’s voice ring out.

“That’s quite enough, you ruffians!”

Swiftly looking around their surroundings, the pilots noticed it: a Mechsteel—Agile Gazelle—standing boldly on the roof of a building, looking down on them.

“I cannot sit by and allow you to torment these innocent people! It’s me you’re looking for—Anna Turris! Now put an end to this needless destruction!”

Even the band of elite forces didn’t know how to respond. They’d indeed been ordered to secure Anna Turris as their most important goal, but to think they’d be told so by the target herself!

“Commander, what should we do? Just what on earth is our target doing revealing herself like that?”

“Hmph, it’s clear she’s trying to lead us. But if she’s going to come to us, then all the better. These Tyrant Rhinos can crush any trap they might’ve sprung!”

The commander swiftly gave his orders, splitting his squadron into one group of three and another of two. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, it was the group of three that came bounding for Anna.

“Whoa! Don’t you think three’s a bit much?!”

Agile Gazelle sprang out of the way as a Tyrant Rhino crashed into the building beneath with a thunderous sound.

“Leave this to us, miss!”

The mechs accompanying them as bodyguards boldly advanced toward the Tyrant Rhinos, but even then, they could only stop one of them. Pursued by the two other mechanical tyrants, Meddié licked her lips.

“Anna, I’m gonna run Gazelle here to the max! Apologies in advance, but I think you’re in for one helluva ride!”

“Don’t worry about me! It doesn’t matter how scratched up I get—please, run to your heart’s content!”

“No, it’d break master’s heart if you got too battered up because of me! I’ll do the best I can, but it’s no bunch of pushovers we’re up against, after all!”

Meddié pushed Agile Gazelle to its top speed. The monster it was originally formed from excelled at running, and Agile Gazelle had been constructed around that same inherited ability. If Meddié actually set out to run as fast as possible, leaving the Tyrant Rhinos in the dust would be no issue.

“Uh-oh! Looks like I’d better hold back, or I’ll lose sight of them before I—”

That was as long as Meddié’s relaxed confidence lasted.

As she ran down the street, the building just beside her suddenly went flying, as if it had exploded. There, forcing its way through, was a Tyrant Rhino, reaching out its hand toward her.

“No way!”

Ducking low, Meddié dodged her foe’s grasp as if she were about to fall to the ground. Despite Agile Gazelle accelerating as if it were making a runner’s crouching start, there was no sign that Meddié was going to be able to create the distance between herself and the Tyrant Rhino that she’d hoped to.

“Looks like you made light of us just because we’re heavyweights. Time for you to find out firsthand just what a Tyrant Rhino’s charge can do!”

“Is that even allowed?! That’s not fair!”

Complaining about her foe would do no good—thanks to its Magi-skill, Mighty Bunker, the Tyrant Rhino had gained a level of speed that proved a fair match for Agile Gazelle, so long as it was moving in a straight line.

Screaming was all Meddié could do.

Fortunately, it was only when rushing straight ahead that her foe could output such speed—it seemed the Tyrant Rhino couldn’t make sharp turns. Meddié deftly dashed through the city to the left and then to the right, toying with her foe. Even then, the looming threat of the Tyrant Rhino, charging forward without so much as an acknowledgment of the obstacles in its way, placed an unmistakable pressure on Meddié.

“There are too many straight lines down this street! They might catch up with me, so I’ll just go one more to the rear and—!”

Meddié’s haste led her to choose the wrong option. The moment she tried to change streets, she found herself confronted with the massive frame of another Tyrant Rhino bursting through a building.

“Oh n—!”

“Time to put an end to your stupid game of tag!”

It was the moment her speed couldn’t deliver her from—the very moment Meddié was certain the Tyrant Rhino’s outstretched arms had captured Agile Gazelle.

At practically that exact same moment, a cart loaded full of cargo went hurtling toward the Tyrant Rhino’s feet.

Chapter Eight: The Blade Hath Come to Fell Its Foes

The sound of the massive titans battling against each other rang out.

Front-Edge City, located in the farthest reaches of the Kingdom of Ogdenn, now faced its greatest crisis since its founding. The invaders had torn a massive hole in the outer walls protecting the city, with buildings in the urban area continuing to crumble even now with no respite. The enormous magical instruments—the Mechsteels—fighting each other were the cause of the destruction, but their battle was only growing more and more fierce.

Baron Socom’s army continued its bitter struggle to keep the city safe. The cutting-edge, heavyweight Tyrant Rhinos that had invaded the city boasted overwhelming performance that easily held the baron’s forces at bay. The army’s efforts to use their strength in numbers to encircle and confront the Tyrant Rhinos had fallen disappointingly short.

A band of individuals recklessly darted across the site of the titans’ battle, despite lacking any Mechsteels to pilot that would keep them safe. Pushing a cart loaded full with bricks, they concealed their own terror at plunging headfirst into the jaws of what was almost sure to be their own deaths with wild laughter as they charged ahead.

“Yeah, there we go! Our mark’s right where we want it! Charge, lads!”

Agile Gazelle was trying to dash through the street, and the Tyrant Rhino that had made its appearance tearing through the building was directly beside it. It was a complete coincidence that the men had encountered them at that very moment. They’d never had any dreams of aiming properly with a speeding cart—all they could do was toss the bricks at their foe’s feet—but that was enough.

“Here! Got a delivery for ya!”

“What?!”

Just when the Tyrant Rhino was about to bring its foot down, the cart slammed into it from the side. Normally, a cart or two would be no concern at all for a Tyrant Rhino, but it was in an awkward position when the cart struck. Losing its balance and lurching forward, the Tyrant Rhino rushed to regain its posture. It was far too large of an opening for Meddié to ignore, however. Agile Gazelle accelerated forward at just the right moment, escaping the ruffian’s clutches.

“That was close! What just happened, though?”

“There were people...pushing a cart into its leg!”

Meddié didn’t even have the time to turn around and see for herself. Behind her, the Tyrant Rhino’s Steelrider was howling in frustration at the loss of his perfect opportunity to capture her.

“Dammit! How dare those bugs get in our—”

Fwoosh! Ker-plash!

Before the pilot could even finish speaking, a wave of porcelain jars of unknown origin hurtled through the air and collided with the Tyrant Rhino’s head. The jars had been filled to the brim with paint, which sprayed all over the Mechsteel and poured down across its eyes, blotting out the mech’s vision in an array of color.

The sound of jars bursting on the Tyrant Rhino continued to ring out incessantly. From the narrow corner of its paint-drenched vision, the Tyrant Rhino could see people running along the roofs of the buildings nearby. They were carrying jars loaded full of paint, shouting excitedly as they threw them at the Tyrant Rhino before running off.

“Ha ha! Don’t go underestimating us! This is our city! An outsider like you doesn’t get to march around all high-and-mighty with that puffed up mug of yours!”

“It’s not his mug that’s big—it’s the whole damn mech! Sure does make for a nice, easy target, though!”

“Ha ha, same thing!”

They were residents of Front-Edge City. Agile Gazelle’s amplifier picked up their voices for Meddié to hear.

“What...in the world are you doing?! That’s way too dangerous! Stand down, all of you! Leave the fighting to us!”

“It’s you two young ladies in there, right? Let us fight too! We can’t just shut up and sit back while our city gets wrecked either!”

It was absurd. Compared to a Mechsteel, a human was as easily crushed as an eggshell. If they were caught up in the Tyrant Rhino’s charge, their lives were as good as gone, no mistaking it. And yet even then, they had stood up to fight. Filled with courage, they had rallied together to face off against the strongest titan on the face of the planet.

It was a shock for Anna, but Meddié understood their feelings so well it hurt.

“Okay, everybody. I understand. We’ll fight together to keep this city safe! Just don’t push yourselves too far!”

“Yeah! Don’t you worry! It’d take an outsider like him a hundred years to catch up with us!”

The Mechsteels weren’t fighting alone. Meddié felt the unmistakable ties between herself and the people of the city as strength surged through her. As if in response, Agile Gazelle filled with magic energy, letting out a hot burst of steam. Mechsteels were operated by harmonizing with their pilots, and thus they harmonized with their pilots’ own surges of emotions. Agile Gazelle’s movements grew even more nimble, its natural speed increasing even further. Meddié set out in a dash, certain that she’d never be caught now.

Behind her, the Tyrant Rhino that had been standing motionless after being robbed of its vision began to sway.

“Oh, I see now! What a touching display, indeed! But your plan was far too shortsighted...if you think that’s all it takes to slow down a Tyrant Rhino!”

Opening the exhaust pipes all across its frame, heated coolant emerged from the mech in the form of a burst of steam. The enormous machine was unfazed, devouring magicyte as it began to run at full power. The steam settled over the area as a haze.

“The hell?! I can’t tell where the bastard’s at!”

The citizens froze, at a loss after having their line of vision blocked off. The next moment, the Tyrant Rhino’s head crept out through the haze, without a single splotch of paint to be seen. It had used the steam to wipe it all away.

The Tyrant Rhino’s face was modeled after a human face—a face that now seemed to be sneering at them.

“You pathetic worms! It’s time you learned your place!”

The Tyrant Rhino lifted its arms before thrusting them through the building, its abundant force shattering the roof as if it were nothing. The moment Meddié saw the fragments—of the building, and of them—topple to the ground, Agile Gazelle slammed on its brakes, skidding along the road.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I can’t run away anymore,” Meddié said. “That scum has to pay!”

“I understand,” Anna replied. “I feel the same way. Don’t worry about me. Do whatever you must!”

“It really is a big responsibility...but I’m not backing down!”

Agile Gazelle had stopped its escape, only to be met by the Tyrant Rhino casting an arrogant glare back at it.

“Hmph. It seems you’re still set on opposing us. Our orders are to take you back alive. We can’t take your life...but it looks like we’ll have to make you a little bit more cooperative.”

Just then, another Tyrant Rhino appeared, leveling a building in its wake. With two titans now encroaching, Meddié, who’d been ready to rumble a moment ago, now found herself having serious second thoughts.

“Oh, so it’s two on one now? This miiight not work out the best for me, huh? Well, I’m gonna try anyway!”

While Agile Gazelle carefully weighed its distance from its foes, the Tyrant Rhinos simply walked toward her with no concern. Perhaps they thought they had no need for strategy as the stronger party. A trace of regret crossed Meddié’s mind, but she boldly shook it off.

While she was focusing so intently, however, she failed to notice something at the edge of her vision: the beam of light that surged across the unclouded, midday sky.

“Something’s...coming?” Anna whispered suspiciously beneath her breath.

No, even then, the movement was too odd. It clearly bore purpose, suddenly changing its path before plunging down toward the middle of Front-Edge City.

Anna caught only a glimpse of its enormous wings. It braked suddenly only a moment before it would’ve crashed into the ground. A powerful gust of wind stirred up a cloud of dust, concealing its form for a brief moment.

“And what’s that supposed to be?! Wait! Did we just get attacked?!”

“I’m fairly certain that’s not the case...” Anna replied. “There’s something moving in there.”

“Don’t tell me we’ve got a monster on our hands now! Of all the times to show up too! Gimme a break!” Meddié moaned, clutching her head in frustration.

Front-Edge City was indeed the farthest frontier in the kingdom—a dangerous area bordering the monsters’ den that was the Forest of No Return. But the area had been cultivated more and more, with sightings of monsters near the city dwindling in recent years.

Rising to its feet a moment later, it finally came into view. Far from what they’d guessed, the first thing they saw was its strong, sharply shaped helmet, and beneath it, a visage modeled after a human face. There was no mistaking it—it was an enormous instrument fueled by magical energy made in the shape of a human. It was a Mechsteel!

There was no telling which side the Mechsteel belonged to. It surveyed its surroundings before gallantly walking toward Agile Gazelle. It was enormous. It was even taller than the Tyrant Rhino, which itself was already large by Mechsteel standards. Now finding themselves being looked down on, Meddié and Anna flinched.

“H-Hold on, what? Are we up against this guy after all?!”

“No...that’s not it. That mech, it... It has to be—”

Making its way over to Agile Gazelle, the mysterious Mechsteel began to speak in an extremely casual tone.

“Sorry there! I came as fast as I could, but it looks like I showed up late to the party!”

“Ah! That voice!”

“I knew it. It’s you in there, isn’t it, father?”

“That’s right!” The mysterious Mechsteel—and Watt from within it—puffed out their chests before realizing something was off and falling into a flustered panic.

“Huh?! Hold on now—why am I hearing Anna’s voice from Gazelle, huh?! That means you’ve gotta be with Meddié! What’s all this about? I told you to stay at Otto’s place!”

“I-It’s just—” Anna stammered before pausing. “I wanted to help everyone too.”

Watt couldn’t help but smack his own forehead. He’d come rushing over, all to find a situation like this? Still, when he thought it through, he should’ve seen this coming. His daughter didn’t have the sort of personality to just quietly sit around while others protected her.

“Man...” Watt started, “I’ve got a good enough idea of what happened. You’re due for a good talking-to, but...I’ve got some chores to finish up first.”

“Master! We’ve got five of those big lunks inside the city! And there’s a whole slew of ’em outside!”

“Got it,” Watt replied. “You two just fall back and leave the rest to me.”

Lightly waving his hand through the air, Watt turned around to face his foes: two of the massive mechs he’d fought the other day—Tyrant Rhinos. And based on what Meddié had said, there were three more of them wreaking havoc somewhere.

“These guys sure do have the whole place staked out!” Watt said. “Guess they must really want those top spots for themselves to go to all this trouble!”

Watt’s Mechsteel began to walk forward completely unguarded. He seemed to be leaving nothing but openings for an attack, but the Tyrant Rhinos hesitated. Just because a tiger was sleeping didn’t mean there’d be anyone who’d go out of their way to step on its tail. Still, if the tiger came at them nonetheless, they’d only be devoured if they didn’t fight back.

“Captain, that Mechsteel, it’s—!”

“I know... And given the fact that it flew through the sky to make its appearance, I’m afraid it’s no paper-mache sham we’re dealing with here.”

The captain leading the squad of Tyrant Rhinos was visibly tense. They all knew that Mechsteel—no, it’d be more accurate to say that there wasn’t a soul living in the capital that didn’t know that Mechsteel.

“You—who are you? That Mechsteel doesn’t belong in a backcountry like this!”

“Good question,” Watt replied. “Who am I, huh?”

He scratched at his cheek, at a loss. He’d thrown away the sort of life that would require introductions over a decade ago. The man living in the city was Watt Sears, just a simple worker. But Watt had brought out the mech after giving up on his attempts to leave his past behind him, so he couldn’t just leave it at that either. And besides, he couldn’t look lame in front of his daughter. Fathers were truly pitiful creatures.

“Nobody important. I’m just a retired knight, that’s all,” Watt answered. “I rushed over here as fast as I could to help out my friend and my daughter when they needed me. Guess that about sums it up.”

“A retired knight...?”

The captain was an old-timer who’d been around for a while—that rang a bell somewhere in his memory. But before he could clearly remember just who that was, his subordinate shouted back at Watt.

“That’s enough of your nonsense! The only ones who can own that Mechsteel... There’s no way they would ever be in a place like this! There’s a heavy price to pay for impersonating them!”

“So you know him, do you? Tch, I’m the one who’s had enough of the nonsense! Can’t believe I’m seeing esteemed knights of the capital acting like bandits all the way out here! You bastards are makin’ your mechs cry!”

“You don’t know the first thing about us!”

“Wait! Don’t go off on your own!” the captain cried.

Shaking off the captain’s restraint, the subordinate leaped at Watt. The Tyrant Rhino rushed forward with a howl, leveling everything in its wake—only for Watt’s Mechsteel to stop it in place with the single arm it had casually left outstretched. Clenching the Tyrant Rhino’s head, the Mechsteel sank its fingers in with a sharp metallic screech. Cracks ran through the Tyrant Rhino’s face as its neck gave a piercing creak.

“Sorry ’bout that. I can’t afford to hold back.”

“Ngwaah?!”

The regulator coordinating the mech’s harmonization with its Steelrider was located in the Mechsteel’s head. Having his connection with the mech forcibly broken off, the Steelrider was struck with a violent recoil. The Tyrant Rhino screamed, writhing in pain, only for Watt’s Mechsteel to grab it and lift its massive frame into the air through sheer force. Tyrant Rhinos were heavyweight mechs, but Watt made nothing of its tremendous bulk.

“There ya go! Take ’im back with ya!”

The captain only barely dodged as Watt chucked his subordinate back at him. He could hear the other man’s dying groans as he crashed into the ground. Even with the Tyrant Rhino’s resilient, heavy armor, having its own weight turned against it was too much to endure.

“Seems there’s no doubting his strength now. To think our Tyrant Rhinos would be overpowered...” The captain gave up searching his memory to confront the hopeless reality now before him. “But I’m afraid we can’t just tuck our tails and scamper away!” His Mechsteel let out a piercing whistle.

Hearing the emergency signal, the other Tyrant Rhinos scattered throughout the city gathered together.

***

“M-Master... This isn’t good any way you look at it!”

Regardless of Watt’s strength, the Tyrant Rhinos were formidable foes. The thought of taking on four of them all alone was nothing short of preposterous to Meddié. In stark contrast, Anna’s voice was filled with assurance as she nodded.

“It’s okay, Meddié. I just know father’ll win.”

“Because he was the Top Knight of the Kingdom?”

“That’s part of it, but... It’s his Mechsteel. It’s called ‘Lord Gryphon.’ Those are reserved for our kingdom’s finest warriors: the glorious Royal Knights in direct service to the king.”

“So what you’re saying is...master’s as strong as they come, and he’s piloting the strongest Mechsteel out there, right?! We might actually be okay, then!”

“Well, um... Yes. I think that’s more or less it,” Anna replied, thinking back to the day she’d fled from the capital.

Her mother, Cullinagemia, had told her about her real father. She’d said it’d be far safer to stay with him than stay in the capital, where they had few allies to count on. While Anna could’ve understood that if it were simply a matter of staying in hiding for a while, had her mother truly meant “safe” in the sense that even if they were attacked, they could drive off the attackers?

“There’s no mistaking that father is far stronger than anyone could imagine. But mother...just what were you planning to do by sending me here?”

After coming all this way, the questions now began to emerge within Anna. Just why in the world had her mother chosen to have her flee here when Watt carried such a past? Anna was certain that there had to have been a reason.

***

While Anna sank into thought, the battle had already begun.

“Now that’s more like it!” Watt said. “I don’t have time to deal with you one by one! Bring it—all of you!”

“That’s some nerve!”

Following Watt’s provocation, the squad of Tyrant Rhinos sprang into action all at once. Two of them unleashed their Mighty Bunkers on either side of Watt, trying to catch him between the attacks, while the other two launched a delayed charge. The Tyrant Rhinos had sprung a merciless wave attack on Watt.

In return, Lord Gryphon simply unsheathed the two swords hanging at its waist. While they were on the long side for a Mechsteel, they were otherwise completely unremarkable longswords. One of the blades, however, had been broken off from the middle for some reason.

“Whaaa—?! Master, that’s just way too reckless!” Meddié shouted, leaning forward.

The Tyrant Rhinos’ attack in unison was indeed just like a tidal wave. With the Tyrant Rhinos engulfing and crushing everything in their wake, Watt stood against their brutality with nothing more than his dual blades. In Meddié’s eyes, it seemed like sheer madness. Already imagining Watt suffering a crushing defeat, she couldn’t help but look away. Anna, however, had her hands clenched together as if in prayer, her eyes open wide so she wouldn’t miss a thing.

“You might be my enemies, but I gotta hand it to you—that’s some spirit all right! It’s only fair if I get a little serious and show some myself!”

Lord Gryphon took a step forward before vanishing the very next moment—or rather, it burst out into a sprint at such an astonishing speed that it seemed to have vanished. Drawing close to the two encroaching Tyrant Rhinos, Lord Gryphon swung its blades. In the wake of the beautiful arc the swords drew, the Tyrant Rhinos’ arms danced through the air.

“Wha...?!”

“Have another!”

Watt launched his second attack right on the trail of his first. His blades carved a low arc, severing the Tyrant Rhinos’ legs from the knees down. Having lost all of their limbs, the two Tyrant Rhinos sailed through the air, dumbstruck.

It was no ordinary foe they were up against; after the first group had been defeated so easily, one of the remaining pilots decided that he’d be crushed if he simply charged ahead, instead opting to ball his hands into fists and draw Watt into a fistfight. Thanks to the Tyrant Rhino’s Magi-skill, its hammer-like fists had been bolstered in terms of both might and durability. Even then, however, a glimmer from the twin blades was all it took to lop off the mech’s fists. As if it were an afterthought, Watt severed the Tyrant Rhino’s legs as well, leaving the mech to sink to the ground.

The only one that remained now was the captain, his eyes wide in horror. The Tyrant Rhinos’ armor wasn’t so flimsy as to be torn apart by the likes of a longsword. It was then, looking at his fallen comrades, that the captain realized it: His foe had precisely aimed his slashes for the joints in their armor to sever their limbs. It was absurd! There was no way he could’ve had the time to leisurely aim for their joints. Just what sort of skill could make a feat like that even possible?!

In the midst of the shaking that had overcome him, the captain found his answer within his memory. “You blasted monster... I remember who you are now. You said you retired from being a knight? I know of a Royal Knight who wielded dual blades...a man who was famed as the strongest of them all! The Dragonslayer! The former Top Knight of the Kingdom! You... You’re Watt the Heavensripper!”

“Well, now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while! Who woulda thought anyone still remembered that!”

The captain couldn’t contain the trembling that tore through him from head to toe. He was in a situation he never should have been in, against a monster who never should have been there.

“Your Highness... We may have lost this battle.”

Only one of the Tyrant Rhinos remained. The captain stood frozen in place, having lost all of his subordinates in the blink of an eye. The Tyrant Rhinos were considered unstoppable, but they’d been cleared away like mere insects. That was all the captain needed to realize he was outclassed. He couldn’t see a path to victory anywhere at this point. It was a strange twist of fate; making short work of the city’s defense force had been no bother at all, but now they found themselves in a total reversal of the situation.

“But! No matter how strong of a foe you may be, failure is not an option! We’ll push on to bring victory to our master!”

“And just why the hell can’t you use that pride of yours to protect people?!” Watt demanded. “You’re a knight too, aren’t you?!”

“Enough! All that matters is that you ran away—you’ve no right to talk about what it means to be a knight!”

Thrusting aside his resignation through force of will, the captain broke out in a dash before immediately charging off directly to the side, plunging through a building to disappear into the street beyond.

“Dammit, he just had to go and hit below the belt. I mighta lost, but there’s still things I can’t give up!”

Just where would the Tyrant Rhino attack from? Listening attentively to Lord Gryphon’s amplifier, Watt searched for any trace of the captain, only to hear a string of smashing sounds ring out deathly close to Agile Gazelle behind him.

“Anna Turris! All that matters is that I have you!”

“Whoa! He came over here?!” cried Meddié.

The Tyrant Rhino broke through a building as it leaped at Agile Gazelle. Even with the captain’s best efforts, just one Tyrant Rhino was no match for Lord Gryphon. He had no other path to victory than to capture the girls and use them as a shield.

“Keep yer filthy paws away from my daughter!”

There wasn’t a chance in hell Watt could just sit back and ignore that. Bending his legs, Watt leaped forward with enough force to blow away the ground he was standing on. He closed the distance between himself and the captain in the blink of an eye. Lord Gryphon sped up, and almost as if it were dancing, it brought its twin blades through the Tyrant Rhino’s arms and legs, severing its limbs into the air.

“Bwuuuh?!”

Agile Gazelle leaped out of the way of the Tyrant Rhino’s frame hurtling toward them.

“C’mon, master! That was really close, y’know!”

“Oh, sorry ’bout that! Guess my instincts haven’t come all the way back just yet.”

After voicing her protests, Meddié took a breath and looked at her surroundings. Scattered on the ground before her were the Mechsteels’ carved-up limbs and the Tyrant Rhinos that couldn’t even move any more.

“But...you really did beat all those big lunks, though. That was amazing. So this is what the Top Knight of the Kingdom can do, huh?” she whispered, dumbfounded.

Watt didn’t reply, instead immediately turning back in the other direction. “All righty, then, I’m gonna go help the others outside the city. You two go ahead and tell Otto the party’s almost over,” he said in a carefree tone.

Leaving them with that, Lord Gryphon broke into a run. Anna watched him speed off in a dazzling flash.

Chapter Nine: In the Window of the Capital-Bound Train

The moment he saw it, the commander kicked away his seat and rose to his feet.

“Why... Why on earth are they here?! What’s a royal knight doing showing up in a backwoods city like this?!”

Retightening his grip on the telescope that had nearly fallen out of his hands, the commander stared fixedly into it. His aide stood beside him, biting his lip.

“Does this mean that the Royal Knights have taken action? The only one who can order the Royal Knights is His Majesty himself. If so, then...”

“That’s what’s out of the question!” the commander barked. “Remember! For all intents and purposes, Legalisbelm is only monitored in the capital and the surrounding area. This unwritten rule is precisely why we acted in the first place! The Royal Knights are our kingdom’s mightiest military force—and thus they mustn’t be deployed lightly!”

So then just what were they looking at right now? It had just sprung an attack on the Fortress Bison squadron, running amok as it mowed down the Mechsteels like grass.

The commander’s fingers tightened around the telescope. Searching through his memory, he found his answer.

“Twin blades! And the way he fights! Don’t tell me... Don’t tell me that’s—!”

The commander knew—knew about the dual-blade-wielding man who’d once stood at the peak of the kingdom’s knights. He remembered him—remembered the knight who’d felled a dragon and had been given the second name of “Heavensripper” in honor of the way he had fought. And if that were the case, that meant they were up against the worst foe imaginable. There was no time left to hesitate.

“All troops are to retreat at once! At the same time, form a squadron to the rear and put them up against it! But give the soldiers careful instructions: They’re to accept any damages to their Mechsteels, but the Steelriders are to surrender past a certain point! Once we’re successful, we can free any captives!”

“Yessir...and what about the Tyrant Rhinos that charged into the city?”

“Bwa ha ha ha ha! It’s no use! That’s no ordinary royal knight they’re up against. He’s the former Top Knight of the Kingdom! The Dragonslayer! The famed Heavensripper! Those Tyrant Rhinos were obliterated a long time ago!”

As if smoldering with rage, the commander kicked the tea set beside him—along with the table it was on—away.

“Our defeat was set in stone the moment we went up against him. Now hurry! He’ll reach us if we just dawdle here!”

The aide’s expression was stern, but with no other options left, he followed the commander’s orders. It would be impossible to make a clean escape from a Lord Gryphon. Something had to be sacrificed to keep the problem from getting any worse.

What’s more, the commander hadn’t necessarily been wrong. If they were victorious in Legalisbelm, freeing captives would be an easy task. Even then, given that they’d now failed to secure their main objective in Anna Turris, it was also true that a faint cloud of darkness had now begun to hang over their future.

The large Mech-steed galloped away with the commander and his aide, who’d started the retreat themselves, riding inside. Sitting inside the carriage, the commander was busily interlocking and then loosening his fingers over and over.

“What’s the meaning of this...? If it really is the Heavensripper, then why is he in a place like this? Our target is Anna Turris... Could we have fallen into an ambush? But Lezamer was supposed to have driven him out...”

All sorts of possibilities darted across his mind. The situation had collapsed on them, so they’d put it back together and chosen the strategy that brought at least some benefit.

“I think I’ll leave a little something here for insurance, then. It’s a gift for you, straight from the heart! Enjoy it well, Watt Sears!”

Leaving a parting gift behind, the ruffians’ forces retreated.

And thus, the threat that had assailed Front-Edge City had passed.

The enemy soldiers that fought till the end were trampled before Lord Gryphon’s might, while the foes who fled after being put to rout were met with a follow-up attack from the hunters. The enemy had done a splendid job turning tail. Word had it that they hadn’t gotten the results they were hoping for.

***

“Phew! Well, I guess it all turned out all right!” Watt let out a heavy sigh from within Lord Gryphon’s cockpit. “It’s been a while since we’ve done a job that big—good work out there, partner.”

Watt had kept Lord Gryphon deep within his hideaway for a long while, but he’d won without a single malfunction rearing its head. While his foes had been low-class, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been worried at all.

The enemy had retreated. Just when Watt was wondering what to do next, he noticed there was a commotion outside. Suspicious, he opened up Lord Gryphon’s cockpit, only to see a crowd of people gathered at his feet.

“There he is! There’s Mister Watt!”

“The city’s savior!”

“There’s our knight, right there!”

“Watt! Watt! Watt!”

It wasn’t just the civilians gathered there—there were Steelriders too. As soon as they saw Watt, they erupted into a cheer before beginning to chant his name. It was too much.

“Whaaa?! That’s enough, that’s enough! I just haul cargo, that’s it! I gave up on all that knight business over a decade ago!”

“Sure didn’t look like it from the way you fought back there, mister!”

“Hah hah! So if Watt’s a knight, wouldn’t that make us knights-in-trainin’ since he taught us?”

“You’re a genius...! This just gets better and better!”

They were each still brimming with excitement, with Watt finding himself on the wrong side of their far-too-embarrassing remarks. He’d heard of being drunk on victory, but indeed, there wasn’t much difference in actually being drunk and how they were acting now. No sooner had Watt spoken up to try and put a stop to it than the crowd only bounced back at him even stronger.

Look, I get you’re happy we won, but gimme a break here!

Watt wasn’t cut out for this sort of thing at all. More importantly, there were plenty of others who’d fought for the city besides him. There was no reason for him to be the only one receiving this over-the-top praise.

As Watt was clutching his head thinking just that, the voices around him grew quiet, like the tide pulling away.

The throng of people split cleanly in two, with a dignified figure walking straight through the middle of them. It was Baron Otto Socom—or rather, the company president.

“You’re a truly valiant knight, Sir Watt Sears! On behalf of the city, allow me to extend my thanks to you for your tremendous contributions to our victory!”

“Whaaa?! Oh, c’mon, Otto, not you too!” Watt pleaded. “I’m not a knight or anything like that anymore! You know that better than anybody!”

“Ha ha, that’s right. Well then, I’ll just keep on like I always have. First, there’s much that still needs to be settled. Come with me.”

With Otto immediately back to his usual self, Watt followed his invitation, finally slipping through the wall of people surrounding him. They patted him on the back as he passed through, although Watt didn’t know if it was out of gratitude or excitement.

He sighed, far heavier with exhaustion than when he’d been fighting. “Phew! You really saved me back there, Otto. I just don’t even know where to start with that sorta thing, y’know?”

“So there are things you’re not good at, then.”

“I’m an airhead. There’s only ever been one thing I’m good at, and that’s running wild.”

“Even then, you’d do well to accept their praise without such fuss, Watt,” Otto replied. “You have to understand how everyone feels. You were the one who decided the outcome of the battle, no doubt about it.”

“I’ll try my very best to!”

Otto struggled to contain the urge to burst out laughing. Watt had once been a member of the Royal Knights, having risen all the way to the rank of Top Knight of the Kingdom. There was no shortage of ways he could use his skills. While one might think he’d grown tired of all the praise, he simply seemed truly and wholly uneasy with it. Now that Otto thought back on it, Watt had always been like that, ever since he’d arrived in the city. Despite falling terribly short of what he was capable of, Watt worked hauling cargo while he continued to train up new recruits, despite the fact that it didn’t benefit him one bit.

He really doesn’t know how to handle this sort of thing, does he? Otto thought to himself.

That certainly made things much easier for Otto, however. The fact that they had Watt on their side had been their greatest—and only—saving grace in the trying situation that had befallen them.

Arriving at the company building, the two found Anna and Meddié waiting for them as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Father! Urk!”

“Master! What’d you think of how we— Yowch!”

The girls came bounding over toward Watt like puppies, only for Watt to greet them with his mightiest forehead flick.

“You two have a lot of explaining to do, pullin’ something that reckless!”

“Huh? But master, we gave it our best! We were leading those big lunks along!”

“That wasn’t for the two of you to do! The fact of it is they had you cornered!”

Meddié pouted while Anna clutched her forehead. Even then, the two of them continued to protest.

“I’m sorry for going against your instructions, father,” Anna said. “But there was just no way we could be the only ones just sitting around and twiddling our thumbs!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Watt said back. “You’ve got people like me around to handle all the fightin’.”

Watt had spoken from his experience as both a former royal knight and the former Top Knight of the Kingdom. Listening to him go on from the side, Otto couldn’t squash the sense that Watt must’ve been quite the troublemaker in his days as a knight.

“All that aside, we’ve made it through an attack from the enemy’s main force. But can we really say we’ve won?”

Not a soul present could nod at Otto’s question.

“Those big hunks of metal probably don’t come cheap either, though,” Watt said. “We probably left ’em hurting pretty bad. But it doesn’t matter how many times we win against them—at the end of the day, they’re just a tiny part of it.”

From the perspective of their enemy, all it meant was that one of their plans had collapsed. If they couldn’t do it one way, then they were sure to look for another. They were far removed from solving the root of the problem.

“So to settle this...we’re gonna have to stick our necks straight into Legalisbelm,” Watt said.

The others nodded. It was only after they were standing in the same ring that they could finally fight their foe properly.

“Well, if that’s how it is,” Meddié started in a lively tone, “why don’t we just hide Anna here in Front-Edge City till this whole Legalisbelm thing’s done?”

Otto thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head. “That’s hardly the best move. First and foremost, there’s no guarantee that this attack will be the last. If it were just skirmishes here and there, we may very well be in the right to count on Watt to save the day again. But even then, given that the city will invariably be harmed, our best option moving forward is to avoid that entirely.”

If a battle broke out again, it would be the city and its inhabitants that were hurt the most. In the most recent battle, the Tyrant Rhinos’ rampage had left both numerous destroyed buildings and even casualties in its wake.

Meddié’s expression paled. “You’re...right. I’m sorry. I got a little too carried away since we won.”

“That’s the last thing I want too,” Anna said. “If it seems another battle is at hand, then I’ll just go put a stop to it before it starts.”

“Look, that’s why I’m telling you things’ll only get worse if you just plunge straight in, Anna!” Meddié said.

“And here I coulda sworn I told the two of you to leave all that to us!” Watt barked as the girls shrunk back, only for him to smirk at them immediately after.

“But that ain’t a half-bad idea,” he continued. “And I’m not talkin’ about handing Anna over. This time, we’re going to them... In other words, we’re goin’ to the capital.”

“Whaaa? But isn’t that dangerous?!” Meddié objected. “That’s the bad guys’ base, right?”

“Sure is,” Watt answered. “But if we’re gonna get in the way of their main goal—winning Legalisbelm—then going right smack-dab in the middle of it all is our only choice.”

It was the heart of the Kingdom of Ogdenn and its very capital. Watt had left it behind seventeen years ago—the very place that he’d thought he would never step foot in again. The existence of his daughter had restored his connection once more.

“Hmmm,” Otto said. “You make it sound like there’s enough logic in it, but you’re still planning on going in and attacking them all on your own, aren’t you? You’re hardly in any place to lecture the girls.”

“I can’t help it,” Watt said, puffing out his chest. “This is just how I am.”

Otto sighed, while Anna clasped her hands together. “Legalisbelm... To be honest, I always thought it was far removed from me.”

“Huh?” Meddié said. “But you’re a royal, aren’t you?”

“I am, but my claim to the throne is much further down. Rather, I always thought it’d be my stepfather participating...”

That’s right... Stickin’ our necks in is one thing, but that bastard Lezamer’s in this.

Lezamer Ogdenn, the first prince of the kingdom—the man who’d once stolen everything from Watt and driven him to leave the capital behind. While Watt had thought that being involved in Legalisbelm meant inevitably coming into contact with him somewhere along the way, the occasion might come sooner than he’d imagined.

For now, I think I’ll reach out to one of my old connections. Though we haven’t exchanged so much as a letter for the past decade, so I don’t know how much help they’ll be.

Watt had always been good at dealing with things as they came and acting on the spot. His way forward was beginning to take shape within him.

Just then, Meddié, who’d been thinking about something, spoke up. “I get it, master. I’ll just go with you to the capital, then!”

“Yup, I figured you’d say that!” Watt replied. “You sure you know what you’re signing up for? This isn’t some field trip we’re going on, y’know.”

“I know that!” Meddié rebutted. “But I can’t just do nothing when my friend might be in danger!”

“Meddié...” Anna said.

Meddié took on the task, confidently patting her own chest, only for Otto to interrupt immediately after.

“There’s no way I could allow that.”

“Why not, pops?!” Meddié demanded. “Anna and I fought together!”

“Fighting in this city is one thing, but fighting in the capital is on a different level entirely. What’s more, it’s royals we’re up against...and their might far exceeds our own. Everything that’s happened here pales in comparison to the danger you would face there.”

“But!” Meddié objected. “Anna’s going with master, right?”

“Watt will take care of Anna,” Otto replied. “But that’s the most he can do—he can’t be worrying about you as well. And arranging for guards to watch over you in the capital of all places is no easy task.”

That was hardly enough to deter Meddié, however—the fire in her eyes was still just as strong. “I can keep myself safe, thank you very much!”

“Be sensible about this,” Otto ordered. “And more importantly, there’s no way I could ever wish to subject my only daughter to any more danger than I already have!”

“You don’t get it, pops!” Meddié said. “I don’t want somebody protecting me! I promised Anna I’d help her!”

Had things been as they were until now, Meddié likely would’ve backed down. But this time she refused. Unable to look on any longer, Watt stepped in.

“Don’t give Otto such a hard time,” he said. “You’ve already helped Anna more than enough, Meddié. You just wait here and leave the rest to us.”

“There you go trying to do it all on your own, just like you always do! You don’t get it any more than pops does! There’s a Socom Co. branch office in the capital, and I’ve got connections there. It’ll be way easier to move around if I’m with you—you’ll be able to do things you couldn’t do on your own.”

“Urk!” Watt groaned. “Well...you’ve got a point.”

She’d hit him right where it hurt. Watt was indeed a top-class Steelrider. But at the end of the day, trying to keep Anna safe all on his own when he didn’t know what could happen was a steep task—the more support he could get from the company, the better.

Watt glanced over at Otto to gauge his demeanor. They were family—a father and his daughter—the final decision should be left to them. It wasn’t Watt’s choice to make.

Otto looked down, thinking back on everything that had transpired until this point. After losing his wife too soon, he’d raised Meddié entirely on his own. But even then, he didn’t think he’d been overly protective. He’d permitted her to be a tomboy, let her ride around in a Mechsteel, and even had her working at the Hunters’ Guild at an early age. And yet, at its core, there was no mistaking the fact that he’d felt safe knowing she was close.

I thought she’d stay just a child forever, Otto thought. But...that’s nothing more than a parent’s selfish wish, I suppose.

In time, children grew up to be adults and left the nest behind. Otto couldn’t go on clinging to her forever. In that sense, recognizing her resolve and watching over her was but another duty as her father.

Otto locked eyes with Meddié. “I am the lord of this land,” he proclaimed. “I cannot leave the city unattended. And that is exactly why, Meddié, you are to aid Watt and Anna as representative of both the Socom barony and Socom Co. I trust you are up to the task?”

“You know it!” Meddié replied. “You just leave it to me, pops! I’ll make sure I live up to the Socom name!”

“No, you really don’t have to go and do anything reckless,” Otto corrected.

“It’s fine! It’ll all be just fine! All right, Anna! We’re going together!”

“Of course!” Anna said energetically. “We’ll team up again and give it our very best!”

Watching their daughters lock hands and frolic before them, the two fathers could only sink their shoulders in resignation, the sharpness drained from their expressions.

“I thought it was a parent’s job to keep their child safe,” Otto said, “but it seems the time has come to let them stand on their own.”

Watt sighed. “It’s been all of a week since I’ve known my daughter, though. All this parenting business sure is hard work!”

Both men sighed, before snickering beneath their breath. There was no doubt about it; letting a child follow the whims of their heart was a parent’s greatest—and most challenging—responsibility.

Anna clenched her fists together, bursting with energy. “So now it’s just a matter of figuring out how we get to the capital.”

“We could just fly there on Lord Gryphon, couldn’t we?” Meddié said. “Just jump in the air, and we’re there, right?”

“Nah, flyin’ burns through magicyte like crazy,” Watt replied. “If we tried to fly that far, we’d run out about halfway through and plummet back down.”

“Huh. Guess it’s not so simple after all, huh?” Meddié said.

“Nothin’ to worry about, though!” Watt replied, looking up at the enormous magical instrument—the Trailmarcher—anxiously awaiting its scheduled departure from its platform within Front-Edge City Central Station. “We’ve got this to get us there, after all! It’s our kingdom’s pride, the greatest and grandest form of travel in all the land! So why don’t we treat ourselves to a glamorous trip along the Kingdom’s Trail?!”

***

The mighty steps of the engine car at the front of the Trailmarcher reverberated throughout the train.

The Trailmarcher’s large Mech-Heart provided it with a large but stable supply of power, allowing the gigantic magical instrument to run across the length of the kingdom. The Trail was meant to display the Kingdom of Ogdenn’s might and technological prowess to other nations, and for several other reasons besides that, it remained in service without any lapses regardless of any problems occurring in its surroundings.

“Whew! I ride in freight cars every day, but it’s been a helluva long time since I’ve ridden in a passenger car! Come to think of it, it’s the first time since I came to the city.”

“Father...your posture is rather unbecoming.”

Watt had slovenly cast himself across the seat in one of the first-class cabins Otto had arranged for them. Riding in a first-class car was more than expensive enough to make someone on Watt’s income think twice. The cabin was as spacious as it was expensive, however; the seat offered Watt plenty of space to lounge around in, even with his height.

Despite furrowing her brow at the fact that Watt was a grown man acting like a child, she could only sigh after she noticed Meddié was sprawled out too. As a proper lady, it simply wouldn’t do for her to act unseemly before them.

“It was just the other day that I came to Front-Edge City on the Trailmarcher,” Anna pondered. “It feels like it’s been so much longer than that, though.”

“If that’s how much you liked being there,” Meddié replied, “then I’m just as happy as you are!”

Anna gave a vague smile and nodded back. It wasn’t just that she’d come to “like” the city—after spending almost all of her life around the palace, the city had been her first chance to engage with the outside world. As short as her time there might have been, it had been a meaningful experience for her, filled with all sorts of stimulation and excitement.

“Even on the famed Kingdom’s Trail, it’ll take us a while to get to the capital,” Watt said. “Might as well take it easy and get some shut-eye while we’re traveling!”

“And miss out on this?!” Meddié objected, leaning forward. “It’s your big chance to take a trip on a Trailmarcher! I’m the master of the Trail—you just leave all this to me!”

Meddié leaned forward while Watt tilted his head to the side.

“I help pops, see?” she said. “I’ve been on the Trail several times on Socom Co. business.”

“Guess you were doin’ that, now that I think about it...”

In fact, Watt had even seen Meddié off as a station worker. It finally dawned on him that she’d been going on company business.

“Heh heh!” she went on. “The Trailmarchers running on the Kingdom’s Trail are the largest and most luxurious of all! And there are plenty of other Trails out there too! Don’t even get me started on the amenities. My pick out of all of them is the dining car, though! You can try foods from all over the kingdom!”

“They pay you to say that?” Watt said.

No match for Meddié’s passion, the group followed her oh-so-confident lead and staggered off to the dining car. Along the way, they noticed a bulletin board. These were used to list all sorts of notices from all over the kingdom, and sometimes even messages addressed to certain individuals were attached there.

Noticing a face she could’ve sworn she recognized in the corner of the bulletin board, Anna froze in place, absorbed.

“Umm...is there any chance that...this might be you, father?”

“Huh? Master?” Meddié asked. “Where? Hmm... It’s a lot more sinister than the real deal, but...it does look a lot like him!”

“Hey, what the hell kinda take is that?” Watt demanded. “Actually, wait a sec—did you say that’s me?”

It was enough to make even Meddié stare and nod, leaving Watt to rush to inspect the flyer. It was, without a doubt, a portrait of him. Something about it seemed off somehow, but that was probably because the portrait looked younger than he did in real life.

More than his depiction, however, the real issue was the message written beneath it:

“WANTED FOR TREASON AGAINST THE ROYAL FAMILY”

“Now hold up just one darn minute! There’s no reason to just slap me on a wanted list! Ugh, it’s gotta be those damn ruffians behind this. They couldn’t get the better of me on the battlefield, so this is what they stoop to!”

Unable to hold his tongue, Watt clutched his head in his hands. He didn’t even have to stop and think about who did it or how. The culprit had to be someone who knew Watt, was able to put him on a wanted list, and would want to charge him with treason against the royal family of all things; that narrowed things down tremendously.

“W-Wait, this isn’t good! We’re on our way to the capital! If we get put on a wanted list, then—!”

Meddié grew flustered, but it was already too late for that. A voice spoke up from behind them as they panicked.

“Is something amiss? Some sort of problem?”

They flinched as they turned around, finding themselves greeted by none other than the patrol soldiers making their rounds through the Trailmarcher. Suspicious of the way the group froze and failed to respond immediately, the soldiers’ eyes fell on the bulletin board to their side. The gang rushed to cover up the wanted flyer, but they were too late. The soldiers looked at the wanted flyer and then at Watt, their expressions growing visibly more and more stern.

“Hey, don’t tell me, you’re—!”

“Run for it!!!”

Watt made his decision in a split second. He rushed to grab Anna before dashing off as fast as his legs would carry him, with Meddié running along after him.

“Stop at once!” the soldiers shouted. “It’s a wanted criminal! We’ve got a wanted criminal onboard!”

Behind them, the group heard the shrill screech of a soldier’s whistle ringing out.

“Aaaaaaaaaah, I’m innoceeeeeent!”

“Those charges are egregiously false! We’ll have to officially appeal them and have them dropped!” Anna added.

“That ain’t how this works!” Watt replied. “We could appeal all day, and it wouldn’t do a lick of good!”

As the group darted through the inside of the Trailmarcher as fast as they could, more patrol soldiers who’d heard the whistle began to gather from all over.

“A wanted criminal?! Where?!”

“Keep your eyes peeled! Apparently, he’s vicious scum who plotted treason against the royal family!”

“And he’s taken a young girl as a hostage! The scoundrel’s as cowardly as they come!”

“You gotta be kiddin’ me!” Watt said. “They’re slappin’ even more charges on me?!”

“They’ve got the facts all wrong!” Meddié replied. “But now’s not the time to be worrying about that, master!”

Pushing through the other passengers frantically trying to escape, Watt and the others dashed through the train, with the soldiers forming a single unit to chase after them.

Just as the soldiers had made their way through the gangway and entered the next car, they found the pathway leading farther into the train empty of any traces of their target.

“Where’d that criminal go?!”

“I don’t know, but if we chase him all the way to the car at the end, he won’t be getting away! Now come on!”

The shouts and sound of footsteps sank into the distance.

“Looks like they’re gone.”

Moments after the soldiers left, a passenger cabin door inched open as Meddié stuck her face out to inspect their surroundings. After making sure that no one was following them, she slowly retreated back into the room.

“Whew! Good thing there was an empty cabin, huh?”

“No kidding! Now that was a scramble!”

If they hadn’t found this room along the way, they would’ve dashed to the end of the Trailmarcher only to find themselves trapped. The three of them sighed and quietly discussed their next steps.

“What’re we going to do? We’re still a long way from the capital.”

“Well, too bad for us, it looks like the Trailmarcher isn’t an option. What about renting a Mech-steed or something?”

“The cost is one thing, but more importantly, it’d take way too long,” Watt replied. “It sure wouldn’t look good if we got there and everything was already said and done!”

As they were speaking, the Trailmarcher began to slow down. Now that he thought about it, it was just about time for them to arrive at the next station.

“This is perfect! We can make our break this way!”

Watt opened a window in the passenger car. After seeing that they were close enough to the station, the three of them leaped out the window without waiting for the train to come to a stop. Turning their backs to the hustle and bustle of the station, they dashed away as fast as they could.

“You’d better believe I won’t forget this, you damn bandits! When I get to the capital, I’m gonna punch you into next week with Lord Gryphon!”

“Man, this is the worst! We didn’t even get to eat!” Meddié moaned.

“This is the first time I’ve ever gotten off a train while it’s moving! It’s just so exciting somehow!”

“Like hell it is!”

With a trail of screams behind them, the three shadows disappeared into the trees.

Chapter Ten: Rekindling Explosive Old Friendships

The Trailmarcher sped along, the sound of its many legs in operation echoing through the air as it let out a burst of steam.

Having departed Front-Edge City on the Kingdom’s Trail, the Trailmarcher continued on its way with an increase in patrol soldiers after it came to light postdeparture that a wanted criminal was onboard. A heavy air hung over the inside of the Trailmarcher, with the passengers all groaning about how they hoped the authorities would catch this wanted criminal fellow right away.

“Man, this is the furthest thing from some glamorous trip!” Watt sighed, staring up at the ceiling of the Trailmarcher.

With nowhere to stretch out his long limbs, Watt found himself in a rather tight situation with no way to relax. Anna and Meddié were there beside him, but the two of them didn’t seem to be struggling all that much with their smaller frames.

Meddié puffed out her chest, sitting atop something that clearly wasn’t a seat. “See? Told you it’d be a good idea if I came along!”

“Sure didn’t think I’d be countin’ on you this soon, though...”

“I knew we could depend on you to come through, Meddié!”

Watt could feel the rhythmic vibrations of the Trailmarcher’s legs from where he sat. There was no mistaking it: They were riding on a Trailmarcher. But Watt was a wanted man—so just how had they slipped past the soldiers’ gaze?

“Unloadin’ cargo was how I made my living, but I never thought I’d see the day when I was cargo myself!”

Indeed, thanks to the work of Socom Co., the group now found themselves not in a passenger car but a freight car along with their own cargo. Normally, people were forbidden from riding in freight cars. What they were doing was, in truth, a form of smuggling.

“Still, I just can’t help but wonder if it’s really okay to just chuck him in here,” Watt remarked.

The reason their method of choice would work was tied to the capital’s own distribution network. After all, the capital was the largest city in all of the Kingdom of Ogdenn, and the amount of goods it consumed was nothing to sneeze at. The network supporting the city was massive in its own right—so much so that checking every part of it was out of the question. That was why the usual practice was to inspect all the cargo at once after it’d been unloaded postarrival. It was hardly monitored at all along the way. Sure enough, there wasn’t so much as a hint of the patrol soldiers nearby.

Watt could feel his old sense of industry ethics whispering in his ear about how it was a problem that a wanted criminal could slip through so easily, but he decided to ignore it. They were facing an emergency now; they had to force their way through as if they were operating above the law.

“If I had to point out just a single flaw with all this, it’s the fact that cargo’s only as good as the way you haul it,” Watt said. “And I’m not getting to enjoy our kingdom’s fancy passenger cars one little bit!”

“There’s nothing else to do but deal with it!” Meddié replied. “And hey, I really could’ve gone for some of that fine cuisine myself!”

“Yeah, it’s easy enough for you two,” Watt objected. “But how am I supposed to be comfortable sitting like this?”

“The only reason we don’t have that much space is because your cargo’s absolutely huge, master,” Meddié went on. “Don’t go blaming us!”

“Dammit...”

There, taking up the majority of the space within the freight car, was Watt’s massive partner, which was sleeping away without a care in the world. At the moment, however, Watt couldn’t help but feel bitter toward the mech.

“Hee hee, there’s something novel about traveling like this, isn’t there?” Anna said. “And besides, it feels more fun somehow when we’re all together!”

“More fun than what...?” Watt groaned.

But Watt didn’t have a chance of winning against Anna’s bright, beaming smile. The way she could enjoy any sort of situation she was tossed into might’ve been a talent in its own right. With her there with him, even traveling in the cramped and crowded freight car might have just been a little bit more bearable.

***

The capital of Ogdenn, Oldrock, was the home station of all lines of the Kingdom’s Trail. While Front-Edge City was fairly developed for a city on the frontier, even then it couldn’t even begin to compare to the capital. Oldrock was built using plenty of sturdy, high-quality stone, giving it a fundamentally different air than Front-Edge City, which made notable use of wooden buildings.

Slipping through while the cargo was being unloaded, the group descended into the capital. Their own cargo was hauled away with the help of Socom Co.

“Good thing you were the only one on that list, huh, master?”

“And to think it’d be my own disciple saying something so cruel...”

With a mustache and a hat that stretched far over his eyes, Watt had been forced into a disguise that seemed to shout that it had been thrown together on the spot. He sighed and looked up at the sky. It didn’t matter how it had come to this; since he was on the wanted list, he couldn’t afford to just walk about as he was. But at the same time, he was also the only one who’d had his portrait put on the wanted flyer, which meant that Anna and Meddié were free to walk about just as they were. Feeling like it was all absurd somehow, Watt stepped out onto the stone-paved streets of the capital.

“Ahhh, guess I wound up coming back after all.”

It had been seventeen years since Watt had left the city behind. It was nothing more than a brief moment compared to the lengths of the kingdom’s history, but in the scope of a lifetime, seventeen years was hardly short.

After all, it was long enough for my daughter to grow up so much before I even got to meet her.

Filled with all sorts of emotions, Watt looked down at the whorl of Anna’s hair as she walked beside him. She and Meddié pointed at this and that in the city as they went, completely absorbed as they talked about all sorts of things. C’mon, Meddié! Now’s not the time to be pointing out the best restaurants in the capital!

As they walked farther, the city began to take on an older air. While the station and its surroundings were bustling with new life and activity, their current surroundings seemed more mature and settled somehow.

“That’s the capital for you! No recreating this sort of atmosphere in Front-Edge City.”

“It’s the kingdom’s national pride and star city, the largest in terms of both size and population. I mean, it takes a mountain of supplies to keep it running, so take that as you will.”

Watt stroked his chin. The city consumed an enormous amount of goods day in and day out in order to preserve its splendor, with the Trails running without any break in order to sustain it. The very Trails he’d been so proud of up until now suddenly seemed tremendously pathetic.

A land takes after its leader, isn’t that what they say? Now that I think about it, His Majesty did have a fondness for showiness back when I was serving him too.

The current king had achieved tremendous feats such as opening the Kingdom’s Trail, but he also held a fondness for showing off. He grew too old before that desire could take the form of an invasion into another country; that was all that had preserved his reputation as a wise king.

“Looking at the way Legalisbelm’s unfolding, though, I don’t think deciding the next ruler’s gonna be the end of it.”

“The next ruler...” Anna said quietly.

To Anna, it was far from just someone else’s concern. After all, her stepfather was the nation’s first prince. While Anna sank into thought, Meddié spun around, scanning her surroundings.

“By the way, master, we made it here in one piece to the capital, but what’re we gonna do now? March straight into the bad guys’ base and attack?”

“Hey, hold up now! And what’s with all the violence right from the start? We’ve got to try and settle this with a discussion like civilized adults first.”

“They’re the ones who came and attacked us first, though,” she replied.

“You’re not wrong there. Well, I’ve got an idea or two about that myself,” Watt said, walking along the streets of the capital with a familiar gait. “First, we’re gonna go say hi to one of my old pals.”

***

Regardless of how much time had passed, it seemed that Watt’s legs still remembered the way to go. He made his way through the complicated streets with no hesitation. The stone pavement was laid out in precise order, but its surface was worn, speaking of the weight of the times it had been through.

The group had made their way to a quiet residential district. It wasn’t just grand mansions likely owned by high-and-mighty nobles; these streets were also home to rows of somewhat plain mansions. The houses in the area were frequently used as second homes for those who enjoyed a certain standing but weren’t based in the capital. Watt had once taken up residence in the corner of the area himself. As a royal knight, he’d walked to work at the palace practically every day.

“It’s so close to how I remember it that it’s scary,” Watt said.

The scenery was just as it had been in his memory, remarkably unchanged. Feeling as if he were walking the streets just as they were seventeen years ago, an indescribable sensation crawled up Watt’s spine.

“Whoa, this place sure looks expensive!” Meddié remarked.

“It’s not expensive by capital standards,” Anna explained. “Some of these are villas for important nobles—and some of them even come with spacious yards.”

“Nope, not the sort of place for me!” Meddié said.

Chattering about as they walked, the girls smashed Watt’s memories of the past to dust. It wasn’t the city in his memories he was walking through—he was walking here, in the present.

“Ah! We’re almost there! Just around the bend, and... Yup, there it is!”

Checking the street name, Watt went past the corner, only to arrive at a home with a quaint yard attached. It was just as he remembered it. The yard she’d bragged about every time she saw him...the manor she’d kept so clean it bordered on the obsessive...it was all just as it had been, as if time itself had come to a halt.

To be quite honest, it had been a sort of gamble as to whether she was even still living there. But one glance was all it took to convince him that the house’s owner remained unchanged.

“So this is where your friend lives, then,” Anna said. “What are they like?”

“She’s a little uptight, but she’s the sort you can count on. She’s actually friends with both Cullina and me.”

“A friend of mother’s...”

Just as he had seventeen years ago, Watt peered into the yard over the hedge. And in nothing short of a pure coincidence, she was right there, tending to her garden, just as she had been seventeen years ago. Everything was exactly as it had been. The only thing that was different, however, was the fact that she’d aged far more than how Watt had remembered her.

Well, guess I can’t be the only one getting older, huh?

The same time had passed for all of them in equal measure.

The woman deftly plucked out weeds from her yard before briskly rising to her feet, only to lock eyes with Watt peering at her from the other side of the hedge.

“H-Heya! Long time no see.”

Drat! Watt hadn’t even thought about what he’d actually say. Right away, he raised his hand in the air as he greeted her the same way a kid might. Freezing in place, she stared blankly back at him—but only for a moment. The woman narrowed her gaze from behind her glasses, as the corners of her eyes rapidly perked up.

“No, it can’t be... Watt... Watt Sears, is that you?!”

“O-Oh, so you remember me, huh? Been a while, Caro!”

The next moment, the woman—“Caro,” or rather, Carome Aestolle—practically leaped across the yard to the hedge before grabbing Watt’s arm with her absurd strength that forced him to remember the old days.

“Watt Sears, wanted criminal on the run...” the woman started, shouting out, “Consider yourself caught!”

“Ugh-yooowch! And just like that too?!” Watt moaned. “C’mon, wait a minute first! I’m an old friend you’re seeing for the first time in seventeen years! Don’tcha think we could spend a bit more time rekindlin’ our old friendship and whatnot?!”

“Can it! I don’t wanna hear it! Not a word! Seventeen years... It’s been seventeen years and you didn’t even send so much as a letter! The next time I heard your name was when I found out you were on the wanted list—I don’t recall ever calling a man like that my friend!”

“Ah, well, sounds like we’ve got a lot to catch up on, doesn’t it?” Watt replied. “Look, I’ll explain everything, but for now, it’d really make my day if you eased up on my arm—it’s startin’ to smart pretty good over here!”

“Explain? Oh, you’re going to explain, are you? Even though you couldn’t bother to explain a thing before you left me...and the other royal knights behind and disappeared? So just what are you going to explain all these years later, hmm?!”

“Well, ermmm... Y’see, I’m terribly sorry about all that.”

“Why?!” she demanded. “Why would you come back...after all this time?!”

Carome’s shoulders sank as she stared at the ground. Watt was overcome with the urge to wrap his arms around her before remembering the situation and putting the idea to rest.

“Sorry ’bout all that, Caro. But for now, I just want you to calm down and listen.”

“I thought I told you...to never call me that again.”

“Ah, well, er, before all that,” he said, “It’s actually hard to come out and say this, but...I didn’t come alone. My daughter and my disciple are right over there.”

Carome’s head perked up so quickly it almost made a snap. Looking around with her now red eyes, she found Anna and Meddié frozen with a look of shock on their faces.

“Ah! No, this...” Carome started to say something right away, curling her lips up before freezing in place.

Caught in the midst of the resulting awkward silence, Anna was the first one to regain her senses. “Um, er... You’re Lady Carome Aestolle of the Royal Knights, aren’t you? I’ve seen you in the castle before. My name is Anna Turris.”

“What, Princess Anna...?” Carome replied. “Needless to say, I know of everyone in the royal family, but— Wait! His daughter? With Cullina...?! H-Hold on a minute, Watt! There’s a whole lot I haven’t heard anything about!”

“Don’t sweat it,” Watt said. “Besides, I just heard about it all around a week ago myself.”

“How could I not sweat it?!” Carome barked back. “You’re on the wanted list! Just what did you even come here for?!”

“Well, it all comes down to how things play out from here, but...from what I can tell, we’re probably in for a fight.”

Looking at the undaunted expression on Watt’s face, the wrinkles splitting across Carome’s forehead nearly doubled.

***

Just as always, Carome’s home was obsessively clean. While the fact that it was adorned with the flowers she’d grown outside was all fine and well, the arrangement and types on display were so strikingly unchanged that it was just a bit frightening. Even the aroma of the tea she offered them was exactly as it had been, so much so that Watt found himself stricken with the strange suspicion that this might all be some big prank.

Just as methodical as ever, isn’t she? She was really popular back then, but most of the guys got too scared at how obsessive she was and ended up running off.

Looking at all this now, I bet she’s still single too. The thought crossed Watt’s mind, but he was wise enough now to refrain from saying that—he valued his life too much. As proof, Watt found himself on the receiving end of Carome’s sharp gaze from behind her glasses.

“You had a rude thought just then, didn’t you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Watt said. “There’s no way I’d ever think anything like that about a friend I’ve just reunited with!”

“You’ve got ‘lying’ written all over your face,” Carome replied. “Looks like you haven’t changed a bit—whether that’s a good thing or not is another matter.”

Watt sighed and took a sip of the tea he’d been offered. It was every bit as delicious as it had been last time.

“So when you say she’s your old friend, you mean you were friends back when you were a royal knight, right?” Anna asked.

“Somethin’ like that,” Watt answered. “But all that matters is that it looks like she’s still at it.”

“And just whose fault do you think that is?” Carome demanded. “More importantly, you have a lot you need to tell me. Like how in the world you wound up on the wanted list, what you’re doing together with Lady Anna, and who that kid you’re calling your disciple is.”

“Hey now, I’m not a ki—!”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya! Look, it’ll be a real pain to explain, so let’s save that for later,” Watt said, gently putting a stop to it when he noticed Meddié about to protest. “To put it nice and simple, Anna showed up outta nowhere—said she was mine and Cullina’s daughter. Some ruffians ended up coming after us ’cause of that, so I beat ’em up and then wound up on the wanted list.”

“There’s not a single part about that that’s even remotely ‘simple,’ just so you know,” Carome objected.

“Well then, maybe this’ll make more sense to you,” Watt replied. “The one who’s going after Anna is almost certainly a certain someone from the royal family.”

“The royal family,” Carome repeated back. “This has to be about Legalisbelm, any way you look at it. There’s no getting around it; we’ve got a headache and a half on our hands here. If you were going to show up out of nowhere seventeen years later, don’t you think you could’ve brought along a bit more of a considerate gift than all this?”

“I’m real sorry ’bout that,” Watt said. “But listen, I never woulda even thought about comin’ back to the capital till all this went down.”

“I figured you’d never come back either,” Carome retorted.

The two locked eyes. The first one to look away, however, was Watt. He knew full well that he’d been the one to leave after defiantly saying exactly what he’d thought. Anna and Meddié, meanwhile, were busy comparing the looks on their faces.

“Hey, Anna,” Meddié started, “master said that she was his peer back in the day, but do you think when it came to him, she...”

“Erm, Meddié,” Anna replied, “I think we shouldn’t say anything based on speculation.”

Anna had only just learned the other day that Watt was the former Top Knight of the Kingdom and had served as a royal knight. She knew of several royal knights, but she’d spent her days unaware of the fact that she had a friend in one of them.

Carome sighed and regained her composure. “And? You said you were attacked by ruffians, so just how big of a foe are we dealing with?”

“Well, we’re looking at a whole army in the service of some high-and-mighty noble,” Watt answered. “They had enough men to crush a city or two at the very least.”

The exasperation emerging on Carome’s face as she listened was clear. “You really haven’t grown up one bit, have you? You leave the royal knights, and what do you do but wind up raging against a whole army again?”

“Spare me the sermon!”

Anna took that opportunity to lean forward. “Oh. Did father always act like this?”

“Indeed he did, Princess,” Carome answered. “This one here? Just because he had some muscle to throw around, he took the bait for every fight that came his way. In an attack, he’d always be the first to charge right in. It didn’t matter whether it was a throng of monsters or a whole squadron—it didn’t faze him one bit. No matter how much Cullina and I warned him, he wasn’t about to listen to—”

“All right, all right, that’s enough! That’s all in the past, so can we leave it there?” Watt replied. “And besides, I was captain of the shock force! Going in first was my job!”

“You weren’t captain of the shock force—you were the captain of the knights,” Carome rebutted. “And everyone had to suffer for it because you refused to do a proper job commanding them!”

“Urk... It’s just, y’know! There were plenty of other people who were more cut out for commandin’ than me! You gotta have people in the roles they belong in, right?”

“Oh, is that so?” she shot back. “But you sure didn’t seem to have any problem butting your head into minor issues that weren’t even deserving of the Royal Knights’ attention! You’d always tell us to just leave everything that could be solved with brute force to you!”

“Hah hah, master hasn’t changed at all!” Meddié chimed in.

“Nah, all that was just the ‘folly of youth’ they talk about, see?” Watt said. “I don’t do anything stupid like that now!”

“But you didn’t even hesitate to come to my aid, father,” said Anna.

“Hey, well, that’s different...”

“I see,” Carome said, addressing Meddié, “Well then, next it’s you, young lady—his ‘disciple’ or whatever it was you were. Tell me about the Watt you know.”

“Ngh, would it kill you to say please?” Meddié said back. “Nah, it’s fine. You want stories about him, then? So, this was back when master had just come to the city, but—”

“Yep, that’s more than enough of that!” Watt said. “That’s plenty about the past, but we’ve got problems right here in the present! And we can’t go forgetting that either!”

Anna couldn’t help but snicker as she watched Watt sulk. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this side of you before, father. Having old friends must be so nice!”

“Urk!” Watt groaned. “If you call watchin’ your old man have his dignity scraped away nice, then maybe!”

“Dignity?” Carome said. “You climbed all the way up to Top Knight of the Kingdom and then just threw all that away. You’re more than a little late to be complaining about your dignity now.”

“Nrghhh!”

Carome knew all about his infamous deeds from the past, and there was no doubt that Meddié had a mountain’s worth of story fodder to share. When the odds are stacked against you, you’ve only got one option: hightailing it out of the situation as fast as you can!

“So by the way, Caro, all this business about the past is fine and dandy, but tell me about what’s been going on in the capital lately! Y’know, it’s just been so long now, I don’t have the first idea about all the details!”

Carome found herself desperately tempted to voice her complaints about the way Watt addressed her, only barely managing to hold her tongue. She knew full well that Watt wasn’t the sort of man who could change his behavior as soon as he was told to.

“Ahhh... Fair enough, then,” she said with a sigh. “As you know, His Majesty grew ill, and it was announced that Legalisbelm would be held. And on the surface, at least, it’s been quiet since then. After all, to the citizens of the kingdom, it’s hardly much of a matter to concern themselves with in the first place.”

The majority of those who were directly involved in Legalisbelm were nobles, and for most of the populace, Legalisbelm was just a matter of being notified of the results. If they were to hold any interest at all, it was likely to be in the ceremony held when the new monarch took the throne and the quality of the spirits to be served there...and not much else.

“And how’s Legalisbelm going now? Just who’s fighting against who? Out in the frontier, you don’t hear a word about any of that.”

“There are two main individuals who’ve announced their participation,” Carome explained. “One is Lezamer Ogdenn, the first prince, while the other is Turk Ogdenn, the king’s younger brother. The two of them emerged as the front-runners right after Legalisbelm began, leading the other royal family members to announce their withdrawals shortly thereafter.”

That bastard Lezamer wouldn’t think twice about laying on the pressure on the common masses. Put another way, I guess that means the king’s younger brother has enough momentum to stand tall in spite of that, Watt thought.

“Based on what I’ve heard, it seems the first prince’s faction holds the advantage,” Carome went on. “Meanwhile, at present, the king’s younger brother is frantically trying to secure the support of the nobles. If Anna’s being hunted, then that means it was the work of the king’s brother and his lot, no doubt.”

It made sense; they’d been trying to turn the tables all at once by taking Anna hostage. It was only natural, then, that they’d bring in much excessive force to do so. Not a single one of them had any sense of reason at all.

“It’s a bit odd, though,” Carome said. “You’d only need to think just a bit to imagine that the king’s brother and his men might go after Lady Anna.”

Participating in Legalisbelm meant fortifying the defenses of one’s family before anything else. It was the most fundamentally basic lesson to learn. While the visible use of military might was forbidden, there was no accounting for what might go on out of sight. Even then, Lezamer had sent Anna away from him right away. It didn’t matter how capable of a guardian Watt might be for her—it was almost as if Lezamer were begging them to attack her.

Carome asked the question with her gaze, only for Watt to nod back. “Well, it’s probably just what you imagined,” he said. “Put another way, Anna...you’re a decoy.”

“I knew it,” Anna replied. “I figured my stepfather would do something like that.”

“That bastard’s just as good at all this shady business as he’s always been,” Watt said.

Anna was shocked...hardly shocked, rather. Far from it, really—she’d just been able to confirm what she’d already vaguely suspected, nothing more. Be it stepdaughter or otherwise, Lezamer Ogdenn was the sort to use every asset at his disposal.

“But there’s a part of it I just can’t crack,” Watt said. “And that’s how in the world doing something like that benefits Lezamer.” Assuming the first prince’s faction already had the advantage, then all he had to do was hunker down and keep on course, right? Even Watt didn’t have any idea what Lezamer hoped to gain by going so far as to put Anna at risk. “And that’s part of it. I came here to do something about that too, so...”

Watt suddenly lifted his head and looked around. Even Carome had a stern look plastered on her face.

“Looks like we’ve got some uninvited guests on our hands,” Watt said.

“Seems so,” Carome replied. “And they’re surrounding us as we speak. It seems to be a fairly sizable operation too.”

Anna’s eyes grew round, while Meddié hurriedly looked back and forth to no avail.

“Whaaa?! But we’re right smack-dab in the middle of the capital!”

“You forget already?” Watt asked. “You’re the one who said this was the bad guys’ base.”

“Well, I mean, yeah, but still!”

Even the girls noticed it now. As they were speaking, the outside of the house grew ever louder and louder.

Chapter Eleven: Prison Rhapsody

The residential area lay in a corner of the capital. Though the area was normally quiet, an unexpected tension now surged through it. Men dressed in imposing gear were gathered together, surrounding a certain residence.

Under normal circumstances, the capital’s safety was left to the Capital Defense Knights, a squadron of the Royal Army. They were effectively police in function, and the citizens of the capital were deeply familiar with the unique uniforms and the badges they wore. The squadron spreading out through the capital now, however, bore unfamiliar badges, making it clear that they belonged to a different group.

In principle, only the Capital Defense Knights could take action inside the capital. The citizens knew full well that permission to deploy other forces wouldn’t be given so easily. But there was no mistaking it: Seeing an unfamiliar group operating in the capital meant that the situation had to be of considerable gravity. Concerned though the residents might have been, there wasn’t a soul brave enough to go up and ask them directly.

The residents gathered around to watch as a large Mech-steed, seemingly custom-made, approached from the rear. It was serious now.

What was even more concerning, however, was the fact that the army was encircling a particular manor. As far as the citizens knew, the manor was inhabited by none other than...

***

Glancing out the window, Watt noticed the armed figures of the soldiers standing out in sharp contrast with their surroundings. Perhaps they’d finished encircling the manor. Either way, it was clear they had no intention of hiding their actions anymore.

“Whew, the king’s younger brother certainly doesn’t have much in the way of patience, does he?” Watt said, hiding in the shadow of the curtain. “He really couldn’t give me just a moment or two to rekindle an old connection?”

“Based on their badges, they’re clearly Duke Turk’s men. It hasn’t been that long since you arrived and he’s already deployed his forces,” Carome said. “I wonder if that means they’d already been keeping an eye on me? That’s certainly no way to treat a royal knight!”

“They didn’t waste any time stickin’ me on the wanted list,” Watt replied. “Looks like they know all about us.”

“Seventeen years isn’t anywhere long enough to put a damper on those rampages of yours. I can see why they’d be so on guard.” She nodded in understanding, but Watt wasn’t convinced.

In contrast to the two oddly relaxed adults, the two young girls were visibly worked up.

“No way! They’ve got us surrounded?” Meddié said. “Master, we’ve gotta run—now!”

“Father, don’t tell me you’re planning on fighting your way out of this too...”

“Whaaa? But we didn’t bring Lord Gryphon here! Master, you can’t be serious!”

“What sorta guy do you two think I am, anyway? Still, no point in just floundering about here. In times like these, there’s only one thing to do!” Watt said before looking at Carome.

Carome appeared to pick up on Watt’s idea right away. She adjusted her glasses and sighed. “Ah. I can’t say I’m a fan of the idea, but it looks like we don’t have much choice. I always wind up with the short end of the stick when I’m with you.”

“Sorry to cause such a headache for ya when it’s been so long,” Watt said.

“It’s fine,” she replied. “Besides, compared to how it was when you were still a royal knight, this is nothing. I’m used to it.”

Watt gave a fearless laugh. Exasperated though she was, Carome nodded back, undaunted. She’d frequently been dragged along on Watt’s reckless romps in her younger years—they’d been so over the top that being surrounded by soldiers now felt like a walk in the park.

You stand up for what you believe in. It doesn’t matter whether you’re up against an army or a mighty noble—you face them without even blinking. You really haven’t changed at all, have you, Watt? Carome thought to herself.

In fact, it wasn’t anger at the situation that Carome felt first; it was a sense of nostalgia—and that was exactly why Watt deserved her trust.

“All righty, then, I’ll be back in a jiffy!” he said.

Watt set off walking without an ounce of hesitation, only for Anna and Meddié to look back at him with a frightened look on their faces. Watt gave a broad grin and patted Anna’s head reassuringly.

“Don’t you worry ’bout me,” he said. “I’m countin’ on you, Caro. Anna, Meddié—the two of you listen to what Caro tells you to do, you hear?”

Without leaving so much as a moment to stop him, Watt walked out the door, humming as he went. Stepping outside, he found a wall of soldiers surrounding the manor. After seeing Watt make his appearance so nonchalantly, a palpable surge of tension ran through them.

“Well now, sure is lively out here! You guys ’bout ta have some kinda party?” Watt quipped with a snicker.

Stepping out from behind him, Carome addressed the men in her most suspicious tone. “And just what is the meaning of this? Royal law prohibits the deployment of armies within the capital.”

One of the military knights—likely the squadron’s captain—stepped ahead of his subordinates and saluted. In turn, Carome gave him the Royal Knights’ own salute back.

“That is indeed the rule for peacetime,” the captain answered. “Yet that is not always the case, under the right circumstances. My men and I are working to apprehend Watt Sears. He is a most wanted criminal on charges of treason against the royal family. We hoped to request your cooperation as well, Lady Aestolle.”

“Watt? A criminal?”

Carome cast a forced glare at Watt. Her gaze was so piercing, however, that Watt almost couldn’t believe it was a performance. Is this actually gonna be okay? A sliver of uncertainty darted across his mind, but he decided to ignore it.

“That’s exactly right,” the captain said. “Watt Sears, you’ll be coming with us.”

The large Mech-steed made its advance from the rear. A hint of surprise crossed Carome’s face after she saw who stepped out of it. The figure made his way toward them, driving a line through the military knights before giving a satisfied nod.

“You’ve done an excellent job apprehending the traitor.”

“I never expected to see His Grace, the king’s own brother, make an appearance for the mere arrest of a criminal,” Carome remarked.

The man was solidly built, with a beard highlighting his face. He was none other than the younger brother of the current king: Turk Ogdenn.

“Take it as proof of the severity of this scoundrel’s crimes,” Turk replied. “He has brought destruction upon the sacred and vital rites of Legalisbelm. Regardless of his past accomplishments, such crime cannot be forgiven.”

Wasting no time ignoring the death stares Watt was sending his way, Turk instead cast a wide-eyed glare at Carome. “I believe you were once his friend, were you not, Lady Aestolle? I should hope you’re not planning on defending the criminal.”

“You must be joking,” Carome replied. “While I had been treating him as an acquaintance, it’s another matter entirely if he’s committed a crime. As a humble royal knight, it is but natural for me to assist with such a criminal’s arrest.”

Carome gave Watt a forceful shove from behind. Huh? That was a pretty strong shove there, y’know! Watt didn’t have to act at all to produce the stern look plastered on his face as he spun around to face Carome.

“Ouch! That kinda hurts, Caro! Little bit much, don’t ya think?” he demanded. “You see your old friend for the first time in years, and now you wanna throw me in the slammer?”

“I’ve never sought to be friends with anyone foolish enough to sink so low as crime,” Carome shot back. “Unfortunately, it seems the years have left you a different person.”

“You’re tellin’ me!” Watt said. “Sure looks like they’ve turned your heart hard as a rock!”

He sullenly walked forward, only to purposefully lean forward and glare up at Turk. “What a pleasure! How terribly kind of you to go out of your way to greet me like this!” he said. “What an absolute delight to lay eyes on His Highness, the king’s very own brother!”

“You’re a fool of a man,” Turk snapped back. “The mere thought of being done in by a knave like you is enough to make my head spin with rage.”

“Hold on now! You’ve got it all backward!” Watt replied. “You’re the one who made a proper mess outta Front-Edge City! And I still haven’t gotten to settle the score for all that. You’ve got a lotta nerve, just strollin’ in here in front of me.”

“My, you really have misunderstood what’s happening here, haven’t you? I came here to apprehend a criminal...and that would be you. Now, take him away!”

At his words, another Mech-steed came forward. This one was a prisoner transport Mech-steed, made to be especially sturdy. Grabbing Watt’s arms on both sides, two soldiers dragged him along before shoving him into the vehicle. After making sure that Watt was inside, Turk drew back with a satisfied look on his face. Only Carome remained, wearing a grim expression.

***

After watching the whole debacle from the shadow of the curtain, Meddié squeezed the window frame so tight it creaked. “This isn’t good—not good at all! But if I ran in there now and caused a racket, then I’m sure master could get away!”

“That’s enough of that, young lady,” Carome said. “Then the whole point of having Watt go alone would be moot.”

Meddié glared at Carome, who’d made her way back inside. “You were friends, weren’t you?! How could you just hand him over like that?!”

“That’s not it,” Anna replied. “You have to calm down, Meddié! I’m sure father stepped out to help us...”

Meddié turned around in surprise. Seeing Anna slowly shake her head, Meddié regained her composure bit by bit.

“This is the home of Lady Carome, a royal knight. They’d have no reason to come here other than to capture father. That’s why he went on his own before they could find us... No, before they could find me. That’s what it was, right?”

Carome nodded, just as expected. “He can’t help but get himself in trouble, that one. Just because he’s strong, he goes leaping off into danger just like that to keep others safe.”

“But you’re not worried about him, Lady Carome?”

“I gave up worrying about him back when I was younger,” she answered. “It doesn’t matter how much you fret about him—he’ll just show back up the next day with everything all taken care of, looking like nothing ever happened. Worrying about Watt’s just a waste of energy.”

“Master might be strong, but he’s right smack-dab in the middle of that army!”

“You’d think that’d be an issue, wouldn’t you?” Carome replied. “But it’s quite the opposite. That army is proof that Duke Turk is terrified of him. Watt’s title as former Top Knight of the Kingdom isn’t just for show. After all, trying to contain him through force alone is impossible. That’s why they had no choice but to make a pretense by putting him on that wanted list.”

Carome’s bittersweet smile spoke volumes of the tremendous trust Watt had built up with her in the past. And that was exactly why Anna decided to trust him as well. Watt had gotten to the heart of the enemy’s forces by fighting his way. If that were the case, then there was simply no way that Anna could be the only one just sitting around quietly.

She lifted her head resolutely, staring at Carome head-on. “Please, Lady Carome, you must show us. Show us how we can fight!”

Carome only barely managed to contain the sigh that threatened to steal past her lips. That firm resolve in her eyes, her unbending trust toward Watt... She’s the spitting image of Cullina. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose.

She couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of déjà vu at Anna’s unfaltering gaze. It was the same gaze as Cullina’s—the very woman who had been both her greatest friend...and her greatest foe in the battle of love. And given the glimpses of stubbornness Carome saw in Anna, there was no mistaking the influence Watt had had on her as well. There was no doubting it: She was indeed their daughter.

Come to think of it...I had those same eyes staring at me back then too.

It was when she’d seen Watt off as he was leaving the capital after having fallen into Lezamer’s trap. At the time, Carome had been on the verge of leaving the Royal Knights behind herself. It was what Watt had told her, however, that had stopped her:

“I’m really sorry ’bout this, but I’m asking you as a friend. Keep Cullina safe. She’s everything in the world to me.”

Watt had thrown away everything to keep what mattered most to him safe, entrusting Carome with his final regrets before he left.

I’d never had my arm twisted like that in all my life.

That day, Carome had resolved to stay in the Royal Knights so long as she lived. And that was exactly why...

I’ll keep Cullina and Anna safe. So do your thing, Watt, and go on one hell of a rampage!

After all, the promise they’d made that day was still in effect. Her mind made up, Carome found herself straightening her posture, before looking at Anna and opening her mouth.

“How to fight? That’s easy enough,” she said. “You’ve held the key to our situation right from the very start, Anna.”

“The key...?”

“Have you forgotten?” Carome asked. “This entire chain of events is all tied to Legalisbelm. Even though you are lower down the line, you still have claim to the throne. You’re the stepdaughter of the current first prince—I hardly know what to call you besides the key.”

“Am I truly that valuable?” Anna asked.

Seeing Carome’s hearty nod, Anna made up her mind. Beside her, Meddié had her arms crossed, still looking displeased.

“Sure, Anna might be amazing, but master wound up getting captured!” she objected. “You’re not planning on going to save him?”

“The Royal Knights’ purpose has always been to protect His Majesty,” Carome replied. “We never handle anything outside of that, nor are we permitted to offer our backing to any other force.”

“So you’re telling me you’re just gonna abandon master because you’re a royal knight?! He left the rest to you, though!”

“You can put your mind at ease,” Carome answered. “There’s no way I could just abandon him.”

Dodging past Meddié, who was wordlessly moving her mouth out of sheer excitement, Carome rose to her feet.

“It’s a different story entirely when it comes to Legalisbelm. Actions taken to determine the next ruler are deeply connected to both His Majesty and this kingdom. And with that in mind... In light of Princess Anna’s accusations, I, Carome Aestolle, member of the Royal Knights, have deemed it necessary to intervene in the present iteration of Legalisbelm! As meager as it might be, I shall render my assistance unto you, Princess.”

“Huh?! That doesn’t sound fair! I mean, aren’t you bringing your own feelings into this?”

“That’s what we call a difference in interpretation.” Chuckling, Carome turned around and opened the door before extending her hand to Anna. “Very well, then, let’s be on our way, Princess. Rest assured, my Royal Knights will make short work of any lowly tricks they might have up their sleeves.”

To Anna, Carome’s smile in that moment looked just like her father’s.

***

Even if Watt were being generous, riding in the transport Mech-steed was far from comfortable. The Mech-steed was designed to be sturdy above all else, and thus it lacked anything resembling decent cushions. It was so cold, hard, and dark that Watt couldn’t help but wonder if his prison sentence had already started.

“If I had to get hauled off either way, I sure woulda loved to go along with His Highness the king’s brother in his! That one looked a lot nicer, don’t you think?”

“Enough out of you, traitorous scum! Be grateful you weren’t cut down on the spot!”

“Oooh, now that’s an awfully scary thing to say!”

“We’re here. Get out—now!”

“I hear ya, I hear ya! I’m gettin’ out! No need to be so rough about it!”

Watt exited the Mech-steed and started walking as the soldiers prodded him from behind. He’d seen the building in front of him before.

“Now this brings back memories!” he remarked. “Who woulda thought I’d wind up in Guillé Prison, right? Never woulda imagined it back when I was a royal knight!”

Watt had used Guillé Prison several times when he’d still been a royal knight, though mostly as a dumping ground for people he’d arrested. As the vanguard of the Royal Knights, Watt had defeated many more foes than his peers, which had naturally led to him growing quite familiar with the prison.

“Come to think of it, are all the guys I caught still hanging in there?” Watt said. “Actually, on second thought, this ain’t good! Don’tcha think they might try and get revenge on me?”

“Enough of your nonsense! Silence!” one of the soldiers shouted, having finally gotten fed up with Watt’s stream of jabber. Watt lifted both hands in a show of remorse before resuming his walk—this time while humming. He was about to be imprisoned in Guillé Prison, said to be the largest in the kingdom, but he was so lighthearted he might as well have been on his way to lunch. If nothing else, Watt’s stronger-than-steel nerves seemed like they would win him the soldiers’ honest respect.

After continuing past the normal block of cells, Watt was led away into the innermost depths of the prison. It was a special location reserved for the most dangerous criminals and he was plenty aware of the fact that it boasted plenty of mechanisms in various locations to immediately execute said criminals if needed.

“Oh, I see what this is about,” Watt said. “They really skimped out on the chair for the guy getting questioned, didn’t they?”

The cheap chair let out a sharp creak as Watt leaned so far back that it bordered on improper. Sitting across from him on the interrogator’s side was Turk Ogdenn, the king’s younger brother, who made no attempt to hide his exasperation.

“You’re being imprisoned in Guillé Prison, and you still act like it’s a stroll through the park. I’d heard you weren’t quite right in the head, but it seems you’ve lost your mind completely. It was more than worth it to put you on that wanted list after all.”

“I’m no stranger here thanks to my old job,” Watt replied. “Now that you mention it, I still have to thank you for sticking me on that list.”

Watt had a whole slew of things to thank Turk for: the attack on Front-Edge City, sticking him on the wanted list when he was innocent, and ruining his trip on the Trailmarcher. The look in Watt’s eyes grew even more vicious.

“Heh heh, and yet that same plot allowed us to calm down and talk here now, did it not?”

“What part of any of this is ‘calm’ to you?” Watt shot back. “If we’re just talking, there’s no need to do it in an over-the-top place like this!”

“I’m rather careful, you see,” Turk said. “I simply detest being interrupted—more than anything.”

“Excuse me? You sure you don’t mean it’s the perfect place for silencin’ me?”

“I’ve no intention of doing anything so alarming,” Turk said, sneering.

Catching a glimpse of Turk’s needlessly white teeth as he smiled, Watt’s face stiffened in exasperation.

“I’ll cut straight to the chase, then,” Turk said. “Let’s make a deal.”

“Oh?” Watt asked. “And just what is it you’re after in this?”

“Serve me, Watt Sears. Do so, and you’ll be a wanted man no more,” Turk said. “And that’s not all—I’ll even prepare you a fitting enough post in the Royal Army. While you might not be a royal knight, you’ll have authority close enough to one. With your skill, it’s not impossible to regain your post as Top Knight of the Kingdom.”

A suspicious look fell upon Watt’s face after that unexpected remark. “Now that’s quite the cushy offer. So what do you hope to gain from this?”

“I know all about you, Watt,” Turk replied. “You were the youngest in our kingdom’s history to ever rise to the rank of captain of the Royal Knights. Not only that, you’re a former prodigy of a knight that slew a dragon to gain the title of Top Knight of the Kingdom. They say that your blades ripped through the heavens themselves, thus earning you the title of Watt the Heavensripper. But seventeen years ago, you suddenly disappeared...”

“You’ve done a nice job digging all that up.”

“I suffered a rather painful loss out there in the frontier,” Turk said. “But after seeing how you fought, I had no doubts left; even after all these years, your skills haven’t dulled at all.”

Watt remained silent.

“And this is the most vital part,” Turk went on. “You’ve a grudge against Lezamer Ogdenn, don’t you? It’s only natural; he caught you in his trap and drove you off to the frontier. He’s my enemy as well...which would make us allies, you see.”

“So let me get this straight, then,” Watt said. “What you’re saying is you want me to be your pawn and bring you his head.”

Turk’s grin grew even broader, as if everything were going precisely as he’d planned—so Watt made sure to give him the broadest grin he could right back.

“I’ll pass.” Watt made his decision without a second thought.

Turk’s expression stiffened behind his unshifting smile. “Are you in your right mind? What on earth could you be unsatisfied with? You could reclaim your old position and have your revenge as well!”

“Where the hell do I even start?” Watt said. “But out of everything you’ve done, what pisses me off the most is the fact that you came after my daughter and hurt her too! That’s more than enough to make you my enemy.”

As if struggling to understand what was going on, Turk put a hand to his temple and shook his head. “Ahhh... It seems you truly are lacking in sense.” He sighed. “They once hailed you as a prodigy, but it appears time’s left you nothing more than a mere fool.”

Watt had no intention of explaining things to Turk any further. The sort of person who judged others based on their standing or how others might serve their own interests had no hope of understanding how Watt felt.

Just as expected, Turk’s expression grew stern as he stared back at Watt. “Then I suppose that’s that,” he said. “I’m far too busy to waste any more time and breath on a fool like you. Our negotiations are over. You’ll be executed for treason against the royal family.”

“You won’t even let me live out my days in peace in my cell?” Watt asked. “Now that’s an awful thing to say. You’re the one who brought the fight to me in the first place.”

“Save your complaints for your own foolishness,” Turk said before taking his leave.

The soldiers led Watt away and tossed him into his cell.

Man, I got a little carried away going tit for tat with that prick. Still, between Lezamer and that bastard, those royals don’t have a decent soul to their name. They’re all way too willing to get rid of anything that gets in their way without a second thought. If guys like these are the only candidates for king we’ve got, then I’m worried as hell for this kingdom’s future.

Legalisbelm was, in the first place, a system put in place by a past kingdom to address concerns that a rambling line of succession would lead to a lower-caliber king. But as Legalisbelm was repeated time and time again, the system had become nothing more than a hollow shell, leading to the absurd premise that you could do anything—so long as you won—to reign supreme.

I don’t like that sleazy bastard one bit. Looks like I still can’t shake off my worst habits from back when I was a royal knight. I’ll get around to all that later, but for now...I’ve gotta think of a way outta here.

Even if he were to try and make his escape, Guillé Prison was a problem in and of itself. It was the most heavily guarded prison in the entire kingdom. He didn’t have a Mechsteel at his disposal either, meaning he had to escape unarmed—a task of utmost difficulty.

This ain’t good. Not to mention it seemed like he was ready to execute me as soon as he could.

After mulling over this and that, Watt decided that his first step would be to get some sleep. He hadn’t succumbed to drowsiness; instead, he was readying himself for the moment he knew was coming. Lying down on the stiff mattress with only a single flimsy blanket on top, Watt immediately fell asleep, snoring as he did.

Yet he would soon find himself met with an opportunity to escape, far quicker than he ever imagined...

Chapter Twelve: Royal Knights, Draw Your Blades

In the depths of the night, when even monsters would sink into sleep, massive shadows proceeded beneath the dim moonlight illuminating their path. Their destination was a fortresslike building: Guillé Prison, the largest in all of the Kingdom of Ogdenn.

While the prisoners were fast asleep, a sudden impact tore through Guillé Prison. Watt had been snoring away and sleeping like a log, but the moment he felt the vibration of the impact, he immediately leaped up and pressed his ear to the floor to gauge the situation. He was following the habit that had been ingrained into him.

“Aaaaaah,” Watt yawned. “They can’t even let me get a little shut-eye around here? From the shaking, it sounds like there’s something heavy stomping around all over the place. Probably means we’ve got someone launchin’ a raid on the prison with Mechsteels.”

Watt had an unspeakably bad feeling. Guillé Prison was known for being one of the most tightly guarded prisons in all of Ogdenn—there was no way that anyone trying to launch an attack on it could be any sort of decent bunch. The other part that had Watt worried was the fact that this was right after he’d been captured. There was only one answer he could come to from the situation.

“Well, now, this puts me in a bind. I’d love to get a move on as soon as possible, but...”

Watt was being held in a solitary cell—said to be the most strictly guarded section in the entire prison. It would be simply impossible to try and make his escape unarmed with nothing to rely upon. Just when he was considering a number of different ways he might escape, the wall in front of him disappeared with a deafening roar, almost as if to say he’d worried for naught.

On the other side of the gaping hole, Watt was met with a pale beam of moonlight and an enormous face peering inside. He could never mistake the face of his partner, now staring fixedly at him.

“Hey, now, what the hell’s my Lord Gryphon doing here?!” Watt demanded. “Wait, that means it’s you two, isn’t it?! Anna, Meddié, you dumb knuckleheads!”

Lord Gryphon should’ve still been with Socom Co. after it had been hauled to the capital. If anyone was to have brought it out, it was only natural to assume that it was none other than the two girls.

“Caro, you’re tellin’ me you couldn’t stop them?!” Watt went on. “I left ’em with you exactly so this wouldn’t happen!”

Watt had made sure to be captured alone, partially to keep the girls hidden, but even leaving them behind, he’d figured that they wouldn’t do anything reckless under Carome’s care. And yet here they were, showing up and smashing things the very same day he was captured.

While Watt was there clutching his head, Lord Gryphon let its strength do the talking and continued to break through the walls. Before he knew it, Lord Gryphon’s whole upper body was inside. The armor across its chest opened up only to reveal the very two girls Watt had expected.

“Hiya, master! Hanging in there okay?”

“We came here to help you, father!”

“You damn tomboys are gonna be the death of me!” Watt groaned.

The girls’ tone was so overjoyed, however, that Watt couldn’t help but notice his temper subside. The sermon that he’d intended to slam on the girls lost its aim and wandered through the air before finally escaping his lips in the form of a sigh.

There was hardly time to celebrate their reunion, however. An alarm rang out throughout Guillé Prison, only for Fortress Bisons to suddenly appear all around.

“Uh-oh! Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

As the kingdom’s largest prison, the firepower it was equipped with was just as large in scale to match. It was only natural, then, that they weren’t about to let a prison break simply unfold before their eyes.

“You treacherous rat!” shouted a voice from one of the Fortress Bisons. “Not only have you committed treason against the royal family, but now you’re attempting to destroy the prison in your breakout! Sympathy’s too good for the likes of you! We’ll execute you right here and now!”

“Figured you’d say that,” Watt said. “Hey, Meddié, I’ll pilot him from here! Gryphon’s too hard for you to handle.”

He tried to leap up into Lord Gryphon’s cockpit, only for Anna to stop him in a calm tone. “It’s all right, father. Needless to say, we didn’t come here alone. We brought along a friend we knew we could count on.”

“A friend?” Watt asked back. “Wait, don’t tell me, she’s—!”

As they were speaking, the Fortress Bisons rushed forward to hold down Lord Gryphon, now stopped in place, only for a single Mechsteel to suddenly leap into the fray.

“Helping him break out, are you?! Don’t bother defending yourself! Get in our way and we’ll eliminate you on the spot!”

Seemingly unfazed by the intruder’s sudden appearance, the Fortress Bisons charged forward undeterred. The new Mechsteel that now faced them brandished the broadsword in its hands with ease. Stepping forward as if dancing, the Mechsteel channeled its momentum into its blade. The Fortress Bison tried to block the attack, only to be sliced cleanly in half, shield and all. There was no stopping the intruder. In the blink of an eye, the entire squadron of Fortress Bisons had been reduced to nothing more than scrap.

The Mechsteel finally stopped, standing in the middle of the destruction. Seeing the figure illuminated beneath the moonlight, Watt couldn’t help but gasp.

“Hey, what the hell?! You’re telling me there’s another Lord Gryphon here?!” Watt paused. “No, this one looks a little different than mine. Ah, so this must be the enhanced model!”

Following in the footsteps of the original, the mech boasted a further refined design. It was all around larger than Watt’s own Lord Gryphon, and he could tell right away that improvements had been made to its power.

“There’s only one military force in all the kingdom that uses Gryphons! You’re telling me the Royal Knights have been deployed?!”

As if it might have heard Watt’s words, the new Lord Gryphon turned around. It was the current model of Mechsteel reserved for the exclusive use of the Royal Knights: “Lord Gryphon Neo.” Just as Watt had surmised, it was the Mechsteel’s latest model, further enhanced in the span of the decade and more that had passed.

But there was something that caught his attention even more than that.

“I’ve seen that swordsmanship before, though! There’s only one person I know who could swing a blade so mercilessly—isn’t that right, Caro? So this is what an active royal knight can do, huh? She’s gotten a helluva lot stronger in the last decade!”

The way she scattered her foes with her swordplay alone without even activating her Magi-skill was only fitting for the strongest in all the kingdom.

Watt didn’t even realize he was clenching his fists. Carome hadn’t been this strong seventeen years ago. She’d likely continued to tirelessly devote herself to her craft as an active royal knight in the years leading to this very moment. Or perhaps she’d improved her skills beyond Watt’s own in the time he’d spent hauling freight in Front-Edge City. Watt felt a vicarious surge of joy at the thought of Carome’s accomplishments.

Lord Gryphon Neo gazed at Watt. “Good to see you haven’t been executed yet.”

“Look, I’m really glad you came here to save me,” he replied, “but just goin’ off on a rampage? It’s one thing for a quitter like me, but it’s another thing altogether for an active royal knight!”

“Let’s be clear,” Carome replied. “The center of the issue is Legalisbelm. And in that case, it falls under our authority as royal knights. Thus we’ve merely come here to secure you, given your status as an important witness.”

As they were speaking, even more enemy reinforcements encircled them. Without so much as an ounce of hesitation, Carome’s Mechsteel swung her broadsword around into a brandished position.

“If they get in our way, strike them down! Royal Knights, attack!”

Immediately thereafter, a wave of Mechsteels descended from the skies above one after another. There were five in total, all of them Lord Gryphon Neos.

“The captain of the knights has given her orders! Royal Knights, draw your blades!”

Watching the Royal Knights spring into a fierce battle from their rear, Watt latched onto a string of words that he simply couldn’t pass over.

“The hell? Did they say captain of the knights?!” Watt gasped. “Hey, hold up a sec, Caro! You’re tellin’ me you’re the captain now?!”

“That’s right,” Carome replied. “Did I fail to mention that?”

“Ya didn’t say a damn word about it! No wonder you’re stronger!”

Indeed, Watt had left it all to Carome on that day seventeen years ago. He never expected, however, that Carome would take the post he’d left behind as well. Watt couldn’t conceal his exasperation; she really did get far too serious over the most unexpected things.

The prison had fallen into silence. The sheer force of multiple Lord Gryphon Neos could only be described as absolutely overwhelming. Neutralizing the prison squadron hardly took much time at all.

After taking control of the surrounding area, the royal knights gathered around Carome. It was then that they noticed the presence of the older Lord Gryphon holding Watt.

“What’s this? There’s a model of Lord Gryphon I haven’t seen in ages!”

“You’re right! What sort of warehouse did they pull an old model like that out of anyway? More importantly, who’s that piloting it?”

Watt didn’t recognize the voice speaking. Guess that’s about right. It had been seventeen years since he’d left, with members that he didn’t know now likely comprising the majority of the Royal Knights.

“What a surprise... Now there’s a face I haven’t seen in a good while!”

Watt heard a familiar voice, and his head sprang back up. Before him was a Lord Gryphon Neo equipped with a massive halberd. Watt knew just the man who favored that sort of weaponry.

“Why, if it isn’t Watt Sears! Good to see you’re still sticking your neck in all the wrong places.”

“That voice! Papa Soleil, that you?!” Watt exclaimed. “You’re still at it too?! I figured you musta retired a long time ago!”

“Wouldn’t sit right with me to retire while Miss Caro’s leading this bunch,” Soleil replied. “Still, never would’ve thought the day would come where I’d be here fighting beside you again! It’s sure worth it to stay on active duty!”

Soleil Garcia was Watt’s senior in the Royal Knights. While he fell somewhat short of Watt and the other members in terms of his abilities, he had an undeniable eye for tactics that made him a powerful advisor and an irreplaceable member of the Royal Knights. Watt could rest easy knowing that Carome had Soleil supporting her in her role as captain.

Listening to the two of them go back and forth from the side, the other royal knights suddenly sprang into excited conversation.

“Whaaa? Did he say Watt...? Wasn’t that the captain’s imaginary boyfriend?!”

“Huh?” Watt said.

“Wait, that Watt? The ‘you’ve gotta be exaggerating what he did’ Watt?! So he’s real after all...”

“It’s him! The ‘always comes right in the nick of time to save the day’ Watt! Wonder if all that was for real?”

“Hey, hold on! Hold up now, Caro!” Watt demanded. “What the hell were you doing while I was gone?!”

“N-No, it’s not...” Carome replied. “I just... I just wanted to train them up a bit, that’s all! And, well, I...may have told them to get as strong as you, Watt, but still—!”

“From the sound of it, I can tell you’ve done a helluva lot more than that!” Watt barked back.

He clutched his head only to hear laughter erupt from beside him. Watt cast a bitter glance up at Soleil’s Lord Gryphon Neo.

“Don’t just laugh at me—say somethin’, Papa Soleil!” Watt pleaded.

“Ha ha ha! I’ve never exaggerated your feats, I’ll have you know,” he responded. “There’s only one fool I know of to rise all the way to Top Knight of the Kingdom only to throw it all away and walk off with a Lord Gryphon for retirement pay—and that’s you! You’re the first and the last, Watt!”

“My back was against the wall,” Watt said. “And besides, Gryphon’s a different story—I needed him to keep myself safe, that’s all.” Regaining his composure, he rose to his feet with a grunt.

“You can fill me in on all the details later!” Soleil replied. “But why don’t we get the real headache outta the way first? And wouldn’t you know it—right on cue.”

That very moment, a figure leaped onto the scene, as if tumbling out of the prison. It was none other than the king’s younger brother, Turk Ogdenn. Fists quivering with rage at the harrowing sight of the nigh-total destruction of the prison before him, Turk shouted, sending spittle flying from the corners of his mouth.

“You... You damned Royal Knights! What is the meaning of this?! Guillé Prison is one of our kingdom’s most crucial facilities, and you bastards have gone and annihilated its forces! You’re fools if you think such lawlessness will go unpunished!”

Carome’s Lord Gryphon Neo made a show of drooping down to glare at him.

“It’s a matter of priorities, Duke Turk,” Carome replied. “We didn’t annihilate Guillé Prison’s forces just for the fun of it. We were pursuing a criminal who’d broken the laws of Legalisbelm with crimes that amount to high treason against the royal family. In the process, we somewhat reluctantly clashed with the forces here, that’s all.”

“What sort of nonsense is this?!” Turk yelled. “If it’s the criminal you’re after, we’ve already captured Watt Sears! You’ve done nothing but destroy the prison!”

Carome calmly pointed to the older model of Lord Gryphon to her rear, where Anna was peeking her head out of the cockpit.

“I do wish to avoid any misunderstandings here,” Carome said. “You’re the one we’re after, Your Excellency. In light of Princess Anna’s testimony, we’ll be detaining you for violating the ban on the use of military force in Legalisbelm.”

“I’m sorry to say...I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” Turk replied.

It couldn’t have been a total surprise to him. While his words had escaped him for a moment, Turk met Carome’s accusations in an undaunted manner—on the surface, at least. It would take far more than that, however, to escape the Royal Knights’ interrogation.

“It seems I’ve gotten ahead of myself,” Carome remarked. “While I’m sure you hoped to execute Watt quickly to erase any proof of your attack to secure Anna, I’m afraid things haven’t gone as you hoped. We’ll be taking him in as our most vital witness.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen the captain so pissed!” one of the knights said.

“Wonder if all this is because Watt’s involved?”

“Damn, show some tact, man...”

The Royal Knights sank back in embarrassment, but that was beside the point.

“My, what bold claims coming from the likes of a lowly knight like yourself!” Turk said.

“Have you forgotten that those same ‘lowly knights’ must act to keep the royal family in check on occasion?” Carome said. “There’s no point in resisting. Come along quietly before you disgrace yourself any further.”

“I don’t think I will,” Turk replied. “My ambitions are far too great to be stopped by vermin like you!”

No sooner had he spoken than Turk spun around, retreating into the half-destroyed wreckage of Guillé Prison.

“He’s still trapped though, right?” Watt asked.

“It’d be a real pain if he holed himself up inside.”

“I could just smash my way to him with Gryphon,” Watt replied.

“The prison does belong to the kingdom. We can’t go smashing it up if we don’t have to.”

An unnatural vibration made its way through the ground and up their legs. The Royal Knights immediately assumed a defensive stance, only for a corner of Guillé Prison to suddenly crumble away. An enormous figure slowly began to rise from underneath the ground, as if pushing its way through the billowing clouds of dust.

“I see now,” Carome said. “So this is your trump card, then, Duke Turk.”

Splitting through the ground as it made its appearance was an enormous humanlike figure—a massive humanoid magical instrument brought to life by man—a Mechsteel. Yet, its sheer size was far from ordinary for a Mechsteel. Reaching nearly thirty meters tall in total, it was well over double the size of an average mech.

“The slimy bastard sure was hidin’ one helluva nasty surprise, huh? That’s a Crusader-class... No, we might just be lookin’ at a Diviner-class Mechsteel!”

Mechsteels were sorted into different classes based on the strength and additional abilities granted to them by the monsters they were built from. One such class was Diviners: the highest-ranked mechs built from powerful monsters like dragons that were the stuff of legend.

The Diviner-class Mechsteel that had emerged was almost far too grotesque in appearance to be called a humanoid magical instrument, however. Despite its towering height, the mech had a lean frame. What’s more, three sets of arms stretched from its shoulders for a total of six, with three heads sitting atop it. It had birdlike feet and stood solely on its toes. The mech continued to shoot out flickering bursts of flames from all over its body, roasting the wreckage of the prison that stretched out around it.

“What kinda abomination is that...?” While the others around him looked up in fear, Soleil found himself more disgusted than anything. “I’d love to say I’d expect nothing less of a royal, but it takes enough money to put a small nation out of business to build a Diviner—and you had one in secret. I think we’d do well to start by taking a look at how you’ve embezzled funds from the kingdom’s treasury, don’t you agree?”

Turk’s voice rang out from the massive Mechsteel, swelling with pride. “I never planned on bringing it out at this stage. It’s your fault for trying to stick your nose in my affairs! But out of respect for your contributions to the kingdom, I shall grant you the honor of being the first to experience Inferno Cerberus’s power! Rejoice, knaves!”

“With all due respect, Your Highness, I must decline,” Watt replied.

“What a crying shame,” Carome said. “To think that someone who entered Legalisbelm would sink this low...”

Hearing Watt’s and Carome’s icy retorts, Inferno Cerberus’s towering frame took a step forward. Even a mere step was enough to smash the ground beneath its unimaginable weight, further destroying Guillé Prison in turn. Even if the cells had crumbled and the prisoners were fortunate enough to make their escape, they would’ve only met a fiery end caught in the flames enveloping Inferno Cerberus. Turk no longer had so much as a scrap of concern for his surroundings.

“It’s far too dangerous of a toy to give to a fool like him!” Carome said. “Royal Knights, defeat this vile miscreant who’s failed our kingdom! Charge!”

“Roger!”

Watt watched the Lord Gryphon Neos dart off before looking up at Carome’s Mechsteel.

“All right, I’m joinin’ in too!”

“You’re an important witness, so I’d like you to stay right there,” she replied. “And besides, we’ll need someone to keep Anna safe.”

Anna and Meddié were still sitting in Lord Gryphon’s cockpit. There was no way he could just throw them out and go off fighting. Begrudgingly, Watt forced himself to stay put.

At the same time, the Lord Gryphon Neos surrounded the gargantuan Inferno Cerberus, each member leaping forward to attack with their weapon of specialty in hand. Inferno Cerberus lifted its six arms into the air and pointed its fists at its foes.

“You Royal Knights are nothing before me!” Turk barked. “Now witness the power of a Diviner! Magi-skill: Hell Flame!”

A surge of magic energy bolted through Inferno Cerberus, launching out of each of its six palms as a torrent of flames. The fire scorched everything around it indiscriminately. Faced with a whirling tempest of flames, even the Lord Gryphon Neos found themselves changing course to steer themselves away.

“I’ve never seen a Mechsteel put out that much magic energy before! So this is what a Diviner can do, huh?”

“If our only problem is that we can’t get close to him, that’s hardly a threat!”

While the Royal Knights gauged the situation, the Diviner’s gigantic frame shook from behind the flames.

“Hee hee hee! I can’t have you underestimating what my Inferno Cerberus is capable of, now!” Turk said. “There’s more! Magi-skill: Blazing Dart!”

No sooner had the eyes in Inferno Cerberus’s three heads begun to give a suspicious shimmer than they unleashed blazing darts of fire. The flaming projectiles soared through the air at lightning speed, piercing the Lord Gryphon Neos one after another. An arrow tore through one of their legs, leaving its victim to lose balance and fall face down to the ground.

“No way! A Mechsteel’s only supposed to have one Magi-skill, isn’t it?!”

“That’s nothing more than a preconception of the masses!” Turk answered. “It’s all meaningless before a Diviner!”

That was the largest factor that set Diviners apart—the fact that they were equipped with multiple Magi-skills. It could even be said that Diviners had to be made so enormous and grotesque in order to accommodate such jaw-dropping power.

“Why, I should’ve done this right from the start!” Turk went on. “It’s just a matter of burning each and every fool that dares cross me to ashes!”

One of the Hell Flame attacks pressed in on the Lord Gryphon that had been left vulnerable after its leg was pierced. Just when it seemed as if the Mechsteel would be engulfed in flames, the wall of fire encroaching upon it split in two, sliced cleanly in half.

“Any injured knights are to stand down! I’ll join the fray myself.”

“Captain!”

After extinguishing the flames with only the force of her blade’s arc, Carome’s Mechsteel brandished its broadsword once more.

“And this is why things get nasty when you give a small fry power he doesn’t know how to handle!” Watt said with a sigh, before peering into Lord Gryphon’s cockpit.

“Figure it’s my turn now. It’s high time I taught that delusional bastard what a real Steelrider is!”

“Couldn’t you just crush him and be done with it, master?” Meddié asked.

“It ain’t that simple,” Watt answered. “No mistakin’ he’s in the wrong, but if he’s gonna be punished, it’s gotta be under the kingdom’s laws. Ain’t that right, Anna?”

“Indeed it is,” Anna said. “I ask only that you bring my great-uncle the judgment he is due.”

“You just leave it to me. This right here is what the Royal Knights are for!”

“Hee hee, Lady Carome said the same thing herself.”

“Well, we did use to work together.” Watt slid into the cockpit, trading places with the girls.

“We’ll keep the princess and her companion safe, Watt.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Papa Soleil,” he replied. “Take care of my girls, yeah?”

Leaving Anna and Meddié with Soleil, Watt swiftly set about running through his checks. There was no damage to speak of—he had free rein to show off just what he could do.

“Sorry to keep you waitin’, partner. It’s our time to shine! Capturing crooks like this has to take you back to the good ole days too, right?”

Lord Gryphon almost seemed happy somehow, letting off a burst of steam before lining up beside Carome’s Lord Gryphon Neo.

“Looks like you’re all havin’ plenty of fun,” Watt said. “Save some for me!”

“You don’t have to push yourself,” Carome chided. “You haven’t been in action for over a decade, right?”

“Much obliged for the concern, Caro. But I was the first one this bastard picked a fight with. Not fair of ya to snatch him away now!”

“It sounds like you won’t take no for an answer,” she replied. “Well, then I suppose I’ll help you—just like the good old days.”

The two strongest knights now stood side by side, just as they had all those years ago.

Chapter Thirteen: The Advent of the God-Beast

The new and old Lord Gryphons stood side by side. Inferno Cerberus’s three heads turned to scowl at the two of them.

“Hee hee hee! So much for the Top Knight of the Kingdom and the Royal Knights! With Inferno Cerberus, I’ve nothing to fear!”

“Oh really?” Watt asked. “Well then, why don’t you see what real power is for yourself, huh?”

Carome quietly brandished her broadsword while Watt unsheathed his twin blades.

“As you like, then—I’ll scorch you to the bone!” Turk shouted. “Hell Flame!”

The hellfire Diviner unleashed another torrent of flames.

Flying far out of the way to dodge the encroaching wall of flame, Watt and Carome split up, Watt on one side and Carome on the other.

“Scurrying away, are you?! Then I’ll just shoot you down! Blazing Dart!”

A round of fiery darts launched from the Mechsteel’s three heads in rapid succession. The darts flew through the air at breakneck speed—only to be easily knocked away by Watt’s dual blades.

“You think an attack we’ve already seen is just gonna keep workin’ on us?” Watt said.

“Whaaat?!” Turk screeched.

As fast as the darts were, they weren’t so fast that Watt couldn’t track them. From his perspective, he could say the darts were far easier to deal with than the wide-reaching flames burning everything in their wake. But Watt could only conclude that because he possessed the skills he did. Accurately striking down an oncoming Magi-skill was a feat far beyond the reach of any ordinary pilot.

Shaken, Turk froze, only for Watt and Carome to take advantage of the opening to dive forward within striking range. The moment Turk saw the flicker of the moonlight reflecting off their blades, he snapped back to his senses.

“Th-This isn’t over! Magi-skill: Molten Mantle!”

The monster skull embedded in Inferno Cerberus’s chest let out a howl, as the pale film of flames covering its surface suddenly began to grow brighter. Undeterred, Watt charged forward to attack, but the moment his Mechsteel passed through the film, it was scorched by a violent burst of flames. Rushing to pull back, Watt was able to make his escape without sustaining any serious damage.

“Whoa! Flames wrapping around him from all directions? How fancy can this guy’s Magi-skills get?!”

“That’s a bit of a hassle to deal with,” Carome said. “We didn’t bring along any long-range attackers.”

Both Lord Gryphon and Lord Gryphon Neo were weapon-bearing Mechsteels meant primarily for direct combat. Given that Molten Mantle activated with mere contact, the Magi-skill could easily be deemed a direct combatant’s worst nightmare. Had they considered the situation in an orthodox lens, they should’ve been launching ranged attacks themselves.

Regaining his overconfident demeanor after fending off their attack, Turk sneered back at them. “You’ll never make it through Inferno Cerberus’s defenses! It’s my turn now! Have a taste of this: Multi-Cast!”

Inferno Cerberus’s whole body began to shine as a tremendous amount of magic energy surged through it. A wave of Hell Flame spouted out from the Mechsteel’s six arms while its three heads unleashed a continuous volley of Blazing Darts. The flames scorched the surrounding area, and in turn, the darts soared through the flames and into the air. Before such overwhelming firepower, Watt and Carome had no choice but to pull back.

That was exactly where Diviners truly shone; not only were they equipped with multiple Magi-skills, but they were also capable of outputting enough magic energy to use them at the same time. In terms of such destructive capabilities, they were without equal.

“This thing’s attacks are just as nasty as its pilot!”

“If you’ve got time to quip, then it’d be wonderful if you could use that to think of a way to break through this,” Carome bit back.

“Breakin’ through’s easy,” Watt replied. “We just charge the bastard.”

Carome sighed. “I was stupid to even bother asking. Look, I’ll leave the timing to you!”

The Hell Flame pyre raged on while volley after volley of Blazing Darts came flying toward them. Even if they were able to make their way past the attacks, Inferno Cerberus was still protected by Molten Mantle.

“Ha ha ha! Bwa ha ha ha! Burn! Burn it all down!”

“The damn fool’s plastered on power! But it’s time to drag him back to his senses! Here we go, Caro!”

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

Despite her complaints, Carome launched forward in sync with Watt before swinging her broadsword. The overwhelming shock wave from her blade tore through the oncoming Hell Flame, carving a path forward. Meanwhile, Watt cut through the Blazing Darts soaring toward him, as if he’d been expecting each and every one. The duo charged forward until they were right before Inferno Cerberus. Its body, however, was still enveloped in Molten Mantle.

“Struggle all you like, but it won’t work, you foolish royal knight!”

“I wonder if you’ll be saying that after this?”

Carome’s Lord Gryphon Neo bent down. The very next moment, she brandished her broad sword with both hands, dashing forward with a piercing shout. While Molten Mantle scorched her broadsword, she’d kept the damage to her Mechsteel to the bare minimum. Her thrust landed squarely where she’d aimed it: the monster skull in Inferno Cerberus’s chest.

Inferno Cerberus’s massive frame stumbled back, while the veil of flame that had been surrounding it flickered and disappeared in the very same moment.

“Nice! That blow was as clean as your house!”

There was nothing else left to stand in Lord Gryphon’s way. Watt leaped forward with all his might, aiming for Inferno Cerberus’s shoulders as he brought his dual blades down to the ground with him. The next moment, Inferno Cerberus’s six severed arms went spiraling through the air. Without even waiting to see the results of the attack, Lord Gryphon kicked the beast and leaped back once more. As Inferno Cerberus staggered from the recoil, Carome’s Lord Gryphon Neo closed in, her broadsword flashing alongside a wind-rendingly mighty roar and lopping off all three of the mech’s heads at once.

Having lost all of its heads and arms in the span of a moment, Inferno Cerberus awkwardly stumbled forward. With all of the parts it used to unleash its Magi-skills destroyed, it now bore none of the threat of a Diviner-class Mechsteel.

“Whoa.”

The Royal Knights who’d been watching them fight could only mutter under their breath in blank amazement.

“I knew the captain was strong, but Watt’s even tougher than the stories! How in the world does he manage to move like that with an old Lord Gryphon?!”

While the younger knights made no attempt to conceal their surprise, only Soleil gave an unsurprised nod.

“Don’t be so foolish as to underestimate it just because it’s an older model,” he said. “That Mechsteel’s been specially trained to endure the full weight of Watt Sears’s abilities. Take a good look! That’s the man heralded as the strongest knight in our kingdom’s history, the former Top Knight of the Kingdom, and the previous captain of the Royal Knights. That’s Watt the Heavensripper!”

The two Lord Gryphons thrust their blades before the remains of Inferno Cerberus, which was now stuck in place and utterly powerless.

“It’s over, Your Highness,” Watt said. “If you’ve got even an ounce of pride left as a royal, then come along quietly.”

“I-I can’t...! Not like this!”

Crushed with hopelessness, Turk had no choice but to confront the reality of his situation. No choice but to accept that even the power of a Diviner wasn’t enough to win against the monstrously strong pilots before him. At the same time, however, he couldn’t allow himself to give up. Defeat meant losing everything—and not just Legalisbelm. If he were to be interrogated about the costs for building Inferno Cerberus, his downfall was all but certain, even with his status as the king’s younger brother.

“N-No, this isn’t over!” Turk said. “So long as I still live, I haven’t lost!”

It was the sort of hopeless defiance granted to those with their backs against the wall that drove Turk to struggle in vain against the inevitable. However, with complete disregard for Turk’s intentions, the situation spiraled into a direction that no one could have predicted.

A shadow fell across their surroundings.

Blocking the quiet tears of moonlight spilling from the sky, it came down from above. It was enormous. The ground shook beneath it as it touched down, descending from the heavens.

“Man, we get a new guy showin’ up now?”

“Look at the size of it! Is this a Diviner too?”

It was enormous—far too enormous. It stretched even taller than Inferno Cerberus, which was already massive by any standard. It was even more grotesque in appearance too, with a long tail and a lower body reminiscent of a massive reptile. Its torso was humanoid from the neck down, but it bore an outlandish form even for a humanoid design, with a pair of narrow arms closed across its chest as if locked in an embrace. From the same shoulders sprouted another pair of arms, disproportionately massive in comparison to the first. What’s more, two well-placed pairs of enormous wings stretched out from its back.

“You common rabble forget yourselves.”

The new anomaly carelessly swung one of its gargantuan arms. The swing was enough to create a shock wave, sending Watt’s and Carome’s Lord Gryphons flying. The figure then addressed Inferno Cerberus, now practically reduced to a pile of scrap.

“What a pleasure to see you, Uncle Turk. I must say, you’re in a dreadful state.”

“Lezamer, you bastard! What are you doing here?!” Turk demanded, understandably in shock. After all, that was the voice of the very opponent he was vying against in Legalisbelm: Lezamer Ogdenn.

“Why, you ask?” Lezamer said. “You made a splendid puppet dancing about just as I’d hoped you would, uncle. I thought it only fitting to reward you.”

The glow of magic energy surrounding the grotesque titan grew stronger. Lezamer Ogdenn sneered like a child with a toy before him as he declared an end to it all.

“Turk Ogdenn! In spite of Legalisbelm’s ongoing status, you have exercised military might though it is forbidden! That alone is more than enough to constitute treason against the royal family—thus you shall be executed at once! Following my duty as a fellow candidate in Legalisbelm, I shall pass judgment on you myself!”

A strained voice rang out from within Inferno Cerberus. “Lezamer...! That was your goal all along!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha! If you must blame something, then blame your own foolishness, uncle!”

“Nonsense! This kingdom belongs to me! And I won’t be handing it to the likes of you!”

Mustering its final reserves of strength, Inferno Cerberus launched an undaunted tackle ahead—but it was all for naught. Lezamer’s Mechsteel didn’t even bother to dodge. Instead, it grabbed Inferno Cerberus with one of its massive arms and cast it aside.

“It pains me to even look at you,” Lezamer said. “I shall grant you a gift to take with you to the afterlife! Savor the might of my Diviner, Bahamut Dominion! Multi-Cast, Skill Fusion! Activate... Hyper Magi-skill: Dragon’s Roar! Farewell, uncle!”

Each of Bahamut Dominion’s shoulders was equipped with the skull of the strongest monster on the face of the planet: a dragon. The dragon skulls opened their mouths, only to unleash a torrent of blinding light the very next moment, completely swallowing up Inferno Cerberus with Turk inside.

“N-Nooo...! Not here, not like this!”

Turk’s dying screams disappeared into the light—along with everything else. Even after consuming an entire Diviner, the light didn’t weaken at all, instead annihilating everything that lay atop the straight line it carved.

“This is bad! Get down!”

Moments away from being caught up in the attack, the Lord Gryphons rushed to avoid the onslaught. Behind them, the light devoured anything and everything in its wake, completely unfettered. When the light settled a moment later, all that was left was bare earth. There wasn’t so much as a trace left of the facility that had once been called Guillé Prison, much less of Inferno Cerberus. The titan defied the very definition of a Mechsteel as a magical instrument; indeed, the destruction was no less than the work of a god-beast.

“Hee hee... Ha ha ha! Aha ha ha! Brilliant! Simply brilliant form! Did you see that? Did you see my ultimate Mechsteel?! With power like this, the Kingdom of Ogdenn will enjoy a century of security!”

With Lezamer’s maddened laughs ringing in the air, Carome was the very first to return, lashing out at him.

“Your Highness! Why in the world would you kill him?!”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s the Royal Knights. Is there some sort of problem?” Lezamer asked. “I simply brought judgment on that reprehensible scoundrel for violating the tenets of Legalisbelm, nothing more.”

Carome clenched her teeth. The punishment for the use of military force in Legalisbelm was indeed extremely unforgiving. While the rule had been made to deter such, Lezamer had mercilessly wielded the law to his own advantage.

“Even then, he should’ve been apprehended!” Carome objected. “My Royal Knights and I were already at work! He committed a crime, but he should’ve been judged in accordance with the laws of our kingdom!”

“How lenient of you,” Lezamer replied. “A ruler’s duty is to bring swift judgment on crime. What’s more, my uncle even brought out a Diviner-class Mechsteel. I only deemed it too dangerous to leave unaddressed.”

His words were nothing more than sophistry. Lezamer had never had any intentions of listening—he himself had brought out a Diviner-class Mechsteel in the form of Bahamut Dominion. In any case, it was readily obvious that he had come here with every intention of eliminating Turk.

“The only thing in that damn head of yours is what suits you,” Watt said. “Just as simple as ever, aren’t ya?”

Watt couldn’t bear it. Lord Gryphon took a step forward, only for Bahamut Dominion to lean forward as if in response.

“My, my!” Lezamer replied. “How brazen of you to address me as such. It must be you, then... Watt Sears! To think that I’d see you standing again before me after such a wretched defeat! While such impudence deserves death a thousand times over under normal circumstances, I’m feeling rather generous this evening. In honor of your efforts, I shall permit you your life!”

“The hell are you goin’ on about, Lezamer?”

“Hee hee... You played your part just as well, Watt. Do you still not understand?” Lezamer said. “It’s about Anna. It’s about Turk and his string of losses! I knew that if I sent the girl out, the fool would set his sights on her. And last but not least, this was all about you, Watt.”

Lezamer broke into a laugh as if unable to contain himself, with Bahamut Dominion shuddering with laughter in turn.

“I knew without a doubt that if I sent Anna to you, you’d protect her with your life! I also knew that you’d make all sorts of problems for Turk’s army! Isn’t that right, sir former Top Knight of the Kingdom?! Every last bit of it played out exactly as I expected! And sure enough, you marched right into the capital and clashed with my uncle right where I could see! Ha ha ha! You’re as dim-witted and easy to manipulate as they come. After all, you only see what’s in front of you—you could never see the truth lurking behind it all!”

As audacious as Lezamer might have been, he couldn’t turn to force to press ahead everywhere. He needed the bare minimum of a justification, which meant he had to corner Turk to the point that his only option was to bring out Inferno Cerberus. Watt knew full well what had happened from there. After making his careful preparations, Lezamer had struck Turk down.

“Lezamer Ogdenn... To think you’d resort to this,” Carome said, scowling bitterly. Lezamer’s camp had held the advantage in Legalisbelm in the first place. Even then, he’d opted to rely on an atrocious, yet more assured, strategy. By claiming his opponent’s life, he no longer had any need to compete at all. A chill surged down Carome’s spine.

“All that...for somethin’ that silly?”

“Hrmm?”

Watt squeezed his fists tight, clenching his teeth. Making no effort to stop it, he directed the anger surging up from within his gut straight at Lezamer. “All this for somethin’ so damn silly?! You used my daughter... You used Anna for your game...and put her in harm’s way for that?!”

“Oh, that’s what you mean. Yes, indeed I did,” Lezamer replied, as if it were nothing at all. “She made for excellent bait. And when it comes to bait, it’s always best to go with something you wouldn’t mourn too much even if you did lose it.”

“Father... Is that...true?” Anna stuttered.

Soleil’s Lord Gryphon set her down. Steadying her trembling legs, Anna made a show of resolutely rising to her feet.

Bahamut Dominion turned its head. “Hmm? Why, if it isn’t Anna? So that’s where you were. Heh heh, you’ve done a fine job playing your part. I must commend you.”

Watt watched as Anna’s expression contorted. There was no joy in her eyes, yet no sorrow either. Instead, it was simply as if cracks had broken out across her face. Watt caught himself mere moments from instinctively dashing over to her, only for Bahamut Dominion to stretch out its massive hand in her direction.

“Climb on. This show’s reached its end. We’re returning to the castle.”

Anna stayed there for a moment, staring at the ground, before finally lifting her head. The shattered expression that had been on her face only moments ago was gone. Before she began to walk, Anna turned around and sank her head low before everyone else.

“I’ll be going now,” Anna said. “Thank you, all of you...for everything you’ve done till now.”

“Anna! You can’t! There’s no way you can just go off with a dog like that!”

Meddié didn’t waste a moment in grabbing Anna’s hand, paying no heed to her surroundings. Visibly torn, Anna stared down at her own hand being pulled back.

“Meddié... I truly am grateful, but he’s my father,” Anna said. “I’ll be just fine. And since it sounds like my role’s come to an end...there’s no danger left for you to worry about.”

“You think you’re going to convince me when you look like you’re about to burst into tears?!” Meddié demanded. “Master! Why aren’t you doing anything?! You’ve gotta do something!”

“I...!” Watt stammered before gritting his teeth. His heart was telling him to cut the bastard down. But his better sense stopped him. Anna would go back with Lezamer. No matter how hard it was to admit, that was always how things were meant to be. Anna was Lezamer’s stepdaughter and a royal in turn.

Despite his best efforts to tell himself that, Watt’s hand refused to unclench from the control stick. Before his rage could reach its limits, Anna’s shrill voice, almost a scream, echoed in his ears.

“Meddié! Please...you must stop. If Sir Watt were to harm father...he’d become an enemy to all of us here!”

Watt gasped. By strange coincidence, those were the same words that Cullina had told him when he’d fallen into Lezamer’s trap seventeen years ago. The words pierced him like a razor-sharp blade plunging deep into his chest.

As enraging as it was, Lezamer was still the first prince of the Kingdom of Ogdenn, no matter where he was. If Watt were to cut him down, he would reduce himself to nothing more than a terrible criminal, this time truly guilty of treason against the royal family. Had it simply been a matter of bearing his crimes, he still might not have stopped himself. But in the cruelest twist, the Royal Knights would be unable to allow a treasonous criminal to escape. Carome would be left with no choice but to strike him down—a premise that Watt simply couldn’t bring himself to accept.

Lezamer knew that full well. It was the very reason he was able to behave with the utmost composure.

“Please...just forget about me!” Half forcing Meddié’s hand off her own, Anna dashed off before jumping into Bahamut Dominion’s palm and sitting down.

“That’s right. Just as you should,” Lezamer said. “Very well, then, Royal Knights. I order you to clean up this awful mess. Now get to work!”

Bahamut Dominion unfurled its four wings. Just before the enormous Diviner flew away, Lord Gryphon’s eyes caught sight of the girl hanging her head down atop the titan’s palm. She lifted it back up only the faintest bit, but there was no way Watt could miss the movement of her lips.

“Goodbye.”

Leaving her unspoken words behind, the girl flew off into the pale light of daybreak. Bahamut Dominion left the indelible wreckage of the destruction behind, disappearing in a rift between the clouds.

***

At the home of Royal Knight Carome Aestolle, located on a plot of land in the capital Oldrock, Meddié Socom was once again storming about.

“This whole thing stinks worse than a pile of monster dung! Just when I thought we’d laid the smack down on the big bad boss, an even worse baddie shows up and flies off with Anna! Ugh, if I’d just had Gazelle with me back there, I swear I woulda—”

The owner of the home, Carome, brought her tea-filled cup to her mouth, washing the heavy sigh threatening to escape her lips deep down into her stomach. “All I can say is that the sole redeeming factor in that whole debacle was that you didn’t act on that shortsightedness.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?!” Meddié demanded. “Last time I checked, you just watched it happen yourself, old lady!”

“O-Old lady?!” Carome gasped. “Watch that mouth of yours, little miss!”

Paying no heed to the noisy exchange playing out nearby, Watt himself was doing nothing at all, propping up his cheek with the palm of his hand. In the wake of what had happened, Watt had been removed from the wanted list before he even knew it. His quiet life, free from any pursuing soldiers, had returned.

“The problem is that with Duke Turk’s death, the only candidate left to run in Legalisbelm is Lezamer Ogdenn himself,” Carome said. “He will be the next king at this rate.”

“Bleh!” Meddié spat. “You’re telling me he can do something that terrible and still be the next king?! It’s so dumb!”

“Dumb...might just be what it is,” Carome replied. “But that’s just how such rules work. At the end of the day, wreaking havoc because things haven’t gone how we’d have liked makes us no different than Duke Turk and Lezamer.”

“So what are we supposed to do then, huh?! Don’t tell me you just expect me to sit here twiddling my thumbs!”

“I...” Carome found herself at a loss for words. Having taken charge of the Royal Knights in Watt’s stead, she couldn’t simply do whatever she pleased—that would mean breaking her promise as well.

Without even listening to the conversation around him, Watt sank deep into thought. There’s a way I could wreck Lezamer’s plans. But the question is...do I have the resolve to go through with it?

There was a way—but it was something that Watt could never make come together on his own. He instinctively clasped his head in frustration. He’d never been good at problems he couldn’t solve on his own.

I can’t give that bastard free rein to do what he wants either. When it comes right down to it, Duke Turk just wanted the throne—but that won’t be enough for Lezamer. Now that I think about it, he spouted off something weird back there too: “With power like this, the Kingdom of Ogdenn will enjoy a century of security.” Which means...he’s probably hoping to invade other countries.

Thanks to the current king’s policies, the Kingdom of Ogdenn had steadily grown in power. Lezamer, however, was likely to haphazardly burn through that same progress. At some point, he was bound to launch an invasion as if to flaunt his own bloated ego...and shape the world into a living hell with it.

Watt cast his gaze downward before asking a question in the chamber of his thoughts. Which version of me do you think is cooler?

Before he knew it, the figure standing in his imagination had transformed into Anna, clasping her hands tight and nodding.

No point even askin’, huh? Any dad worth his salt can’t go lookin’ uncool in front of his daughter, after all.

Watt surged to his feet, kicking the sofa back.

“What in the world are you doing, Watt?”

“I just figured that if it’ll be a gamble either way,” he said with a sinister grin, “then I might as well go all in betting on what I believe in.”

Chapter Fourteen: What I Want

Oldrock: the capital of the Kingdom of Ogdenn. The city’s center boasted a magnificent and dazzling palace—fitting for the kingdom’s historic capital.

The palace was also home to the royals Lezamer and Anna, and thus they’d returned there with Bahamut Dominion.

Anna’s room in the vast expanses of the palace, however, was small and tucked away from the rest. While it seemed spacious due to how startlingly few things there were inside, in terms of actual size, it might have been even smaller than Watt’s home.

Am I really...back here?

She’d made her way back to her room, but even then, it felt far too strange. Anna was certain that it was because the room was absent of any life. Most of the time she’d spent here had been for sleeping. The rest of it had been learning from her instructors, reviewing, studying ahead, and training herself. It wasn’t because she had some goal or because she was eager to improve herself—she’d done it only because she’d been told to do so.

What in the world have I been doing all this time?

The days Anna had spent in Front-Edge City had been so stimulating that she couldn’t help but wonder. She’d eaten—and not on her own, but with other people. Watt had been there when she’d woken up, and Meddié had shown up by the time midday rolled around. She’d made small talk with her friends at the office, and the people of the city had greeted her every time they’d passed by. To Anna, living with others constantly nearby was both incredibly strange...and incredibly valuable.

After returning to the palace, she had only come into contact with a handful of servants. The servants, both male and female, strictly refrained from chatting on the job. She’d never had anything resembling a decent conversation with any of them. And what about the other royals? Given the fact that even her stepfather, Lezamer, hadn’t so much as shown his face around her, it wasn’t difficult to surmise the answer. She hadn’t even been asked about her time in Front-Edge City—as if what she’d done there hadn’t mattered in the slightest.

So...just what am I supposed to do now?

Even the fact that she was just standing around so blankly in her room was because she didn’t have anything to do. She might’ve returned, but even then there was no way she could just throw herself back into studying day in and day out. In the past, she’d stayed pointlessly busy, yet she’d never imagined that having nothing to do could be so excruciating.

If I were in Front-Edge City...I just know there’d be something for me to do, though.

Working at a job had been a fresh, new experience, but even more than that, it had been something worth doing. Fortunately, her education had paid off, and given that Anna had her fair share of natural talent, she’d been more or less able to deliver results in nearly any task she tried. She’d been complimented when she did a good job, and in turn, those compliments had motivated her even more. It was something so incredibly simple, but Anna had finally discovered it for herself in the very first city she’d visited.

That must be it. No one wants anything from me here...so it doesn’t matter if I’m here or not.

It struck her that there wasn’t any need for her to even stay in her room. She quietly slipped out only to discover that no one was keeping watch or anything of the sort. Perhaps they’d all forgotten about her completely—if that were the case, she couldn’t help but assume she was free to spend her time as she pleased. Living outside the palace walls had imbued her with a surprising boldness.

Anna was right in the middle of wandering about with no particular destination in mind when a voice called out to her.

“Ooooooh? Haven’t seen her around in a while!”

“Ooooooh? I never thought we’d see sister outside of her room!”

“Wonder if that’s okay?”

“Might not be.”

“...Ledo, Leda,” Anna said.

The two blocked her path forward, twirling as if they were dancing. As young and childlike as they were, they had well-balanced features, flowing, silklike hair, and radiantly beautiful, identical faces. Their broad sneers were brimming with a malice that couldn’t be concealed, however. They were Anna’s younger brother and sister and the twin children of Lezamer and Cullina: Leonardo Ogdenn, or “Ledo,” and Leyhilda Ogdenn, “Leda.”

The twins glided over to Anna and looked up at her. While Anna was taller than them, she’d always been less than fond of the way they looked at her; there was something in their gaze that made her feel like they were looking down on her. Anna cast her gaze away.

“That’s right—we heard you were off on a job, sister.”

“Did you do a good job, sister? Did you?”

“A...job? No, it was nothing like that,” Anna replied.

Jobs were supposed to be like what she did in Front-Edge City: a division of labor to allow people to live and support each other. She couldn’t bring herself to call the way she’d been turned into a pawn in her stepfather’s plot a job. The twins, however, seemed confused if anything, tilting their heads to the side in tandem.

“But you were working for father, weren’t you?”

“Did father praise you? Did he tell you you did a good job?”

“He...never...”

That very moment, a sharp, piercing headache surged through Anna’s skull. That’s right. Lezamer had indeed praised her. He’d commended her for proving useful—as if he’d been speaking to a tool and nothing more. But it hadn’t been the way he’d said it that had been truly shocking—it was the fact that that was the first time Anna could ever remember her father praising her. Her stepfather hadn’t shown so much as an inkling of interest in her, no matter how much she had excelled in her studies—but now he’d praised her for being such a useful decoy. His praise had been as cold as ice, readily revealing that he didn’t see so much as an ounce of worth in her as a human being.

“No... That’s not what he said.” Looking down, Anna feebly forced out the words. The twins couldn’t really hear what she’d said, but they didn’t seem particularly bothered about that—after all, what their sister had to say hardly mattered.

“You were finally able to make yourself useful, sister.”

“You’ll have to make yourself even more useful now, sister.”

“If they don’t need you anymore, there you go straight out the door!”

The twins chanted their words as if they were singing, innocently dancing as they left. Only Anna remained behind them, frozen in place.

She didn’t remember where she walked—or how she got there—after that. The next thing she knew, she’d made her way to the palace courtyard.

This is...

She instinctively checked for any sign of others. Anna knew that she was fond of the courtyard. Sure enough, she found her in one of the surrounding gazebos: Cullinagemia Ogdenn, the first princess. Cullina was Anna’s mother...and the sole royal Anna was clearly related to by blood.

“Mother.”

It seemed her mother had noticed her as well. Cullina had the same jade eyes as Anna, softly narrowed in a gentle gaze toward her daughter.

“Anna... Welcome back. So you made your way back unharmed.”

Just as she might with a small child, Cullina softly embraced her daughter.

“Agh... Ugh...”

Anna had tried to respond with “I’m back,” but the voice that escaped her lips was hoarse, hardly forming anything resembling proper words. Instead, a torrent of tears came pouring down with no end in sight. Seeing the tearstains she’d left on her mother’s dress, Anna panicked for a moment, only for Cullina to shake her head unbothered.

“It’s fine, dear,” Cullina said. “Just stay here like this for a while.”

Locked in her mother’s arms, Anna continued to weep, tears rolling down her cheeks.

***

“I’m fine now... I’ve calmed down.”

Some time had passed since Anna had stopped crying. Just when she’d calmed down, however, a wave of embarrassment suddenly fell across her. All she could do was look down to keep her burning hot face out of sight.

“There’s no need to rush, dear. We’re the only ones here.”

Cullina took Anna by the hand and guided her over to a table. Waiting for them there was a teapot and a pair of teacups.

“Um, but why, mother?”

“I heard you’d returned,” Cullina answered. “And I figured you were bound to have some things you’d like to ask me. Besides, there are some things that I have to tell you as well.”

After Anna took her seat, Cullina offered her tea. The tea had gone completely cold, without even so much as a puff of steam left. Had it been a social occasion, it would’ve been boundlessly rude to offer it, but when Anna realized that was how long her mother had been there waiting for her, the cold tea delighted her instead. It was more than enough for wetting her throat and calming down.

Anna took a breath. When she lifted her gaze, Cullina was there, looking right back at her. Out of all the members of her family that treated her as if she hardly mattered—her father, and her younger siblings too—her mother was the only one who always took the time to actually see her. It was fair to call her mother her one and only ally—and that was exactly why Anna had to make certain of things.

“I went to Front-Edge City, just as you told me to. I even met my father...Watt Sears. And...”

Indeed, it had also been Anna’s mother who’d instructed her to go to Front-Edge City. Her mother was the sole person she could wholeheartedly trust, and that was precisely why Anna had done just as she’d been told and set out on her very first journey—and now she had arrived at the end of it.

“My great-uncle was... My stepfather, he...”

“Yes...that’s right. I heard.”

Cullina cast her gaze down slightly. That night, Lezamer had said that it had all played out precisely according to his estimation. If that had been the case, however, that naturally left Anna with one question: Just how much had her mother known?

After a moment, Cullina lifted her head, staring straight into Anna’s eyes as she spoke. “First, allow me to answer your question. I knew everything he was plotting—and I even aided him as his wife.”

Noticing Anna unconsciously start to open her mouth, Cullina softly stopped her. “His original plan was even more careless. You would have only been a decoy and exposed to nothing but danger. But then I realized, dear—I realized that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to let you see what it’s like outside the capital.”

Anna nodded along. She’d set out on a journey on the Trailmarcher, and the city she’d arrived in had given her all sorts of experiences, just as her mother had wished.

“The remaining issue was your safety,” Cullina went on. “That’s why I decided to make one addition to his plan. I decided to send you off to the frontier...to Watt’s care.”

She slowly exhaled. It was a heavy sigh, as if everything she’d been storing up was flowing out all at once. “I couldn’t think up any other means to keep you safe. I can’t put a stop to his plan—and that’s why I had to choose a method that he’d agree to.” Cullina gave a weary smile before slowly sinking back into her chair. “He’s not very fond of you on account of your father. As your mother, I should’ve kept you safe no matter what...but I wasn’t able to. I wasn’t strong enough to push him away.”

She paused for a moment. “No, that’s not right. That’s nothing more than an excuse.”

“No, that’s not true!” Anna objected. “You’ve always helped me—more times than I can even count!”

“Yes, I suppose... I was able to console you, if nothing else. But if he knew I was doing anything further to protect you, he’d never go along with it. That was just the case with his plan, and even for your education. You were raised far more harshly than was necessary. But didn’t you ever think it was strange? Your studies had almost nothing on government or the duties of a monarch.”

Her mother’s words made it all click. While there was no doubt she’d been instilled with all sorts of knowledge, there was a gaping hole in that knowledge for what would’ve been considered necessary for a royal. That was likely why Anna hardly identified as one—it was because Lezamer had hated the thought of her being a proper princess.

“I can’t believe he’d go that far.”

“While it was hardly a replacement, I did make sure that you’d have all sorts of different skills,” Cullina replied. “I thought that it might prove useful should you ever leave the palace behind to live in the outside world. What do you think? Did it, perhaps?”

“It did... Very much so!”

Anna had been able to make excellent use of her knowledge in all sorts of situations in both her job and life in Front-Edge City. She’d never thought about it before, but her mother had kept her safer—and stronger—than she’d realized.

That was all the more reason she had to tell her this right now. Fixing her posture in the chair, Anna opened her mouth. “There’s...something I have to tell you as well, mother. Father... Sir Watt truly was a splendid knight. He braved any danger to help others and wielded his sword to strike down evil. It wasn’t about his standing—it was his heart that was knightly.”

Cullina’s eyes widened for a moment before she cast her gaze down. Unable to conceal her feelings even then, however, a faint smile tugged at her lips. “That’s right... He truly hasn’t changed one bit. He’s managed to stay just as he was back then—so radiantly unchanged.”

The way she spoke almost made it sound as if she herself had changed for the worse, but Anna figured that wasn’t the case. Cullina hadn’t changed at all—she’d continued to believe in Watt after all that time. That was why she had thought to entrust Anna to his care as her last hope. That was why Watt had resolved himself to aid her without any semblance of a reasonable doubt the moment she’d mentioned her mother’s name on the day they’d met. In the very same way, he had continued to believe in Cullina, the same as always. Her unwavering faith in Watt through the years had kept Anna safe all this time. And for some reason, Anna couldn’t help but feel unbearably jealous at that same faith.

“Mother... Is it truly the case that even you can do nothing to stop my stepfather?”

“My very best efforts amount to nothing more than clever sleights of hand,” Cullina answered. “Lezamer has never been the type to listen to others’ opinions. That was what allowed him to triumph in Legalisbelm. Once His Majesty is gone as the final obstacle, there’s not a soul who’ll be able to stop him.”

Anna clenched her fists. If even the words of his own wife wouldn’t reach him, then how was anyone to set about correcting him when he went astray? Fortifying her resolve, she lifted her head.

Her mother greeted her with a nod and the same smile she always kept. “Tell me—tell me what you think.”

“I... I think that what my stepfather thinks...is wrong.”

Cullina merely urged her daughter to continue without any objections.

“He took it upon himself to strike down my great-uncle Duke Turk to secure the throne for himself, yet even my great-uncle launched an assault on Front-Edge City as if it were nothing at all. I do not believe Legalisbelm nor the throne are meant to be won by such measures.”

“Yes, that’s right. If every soul in the world were as kind as you, Anna, then the world would be a truly wonderful place. But...”

But that wasn’t the case. The world was just as cruel as it had always been. The throne was stained from top to bottom with the blood of countless people—as if its authority only grew with the number of lives sacrificed in its pursuit. And that might not have necessarily been wrong either. The individual who could create more bloodshed was the same one who would pursue power with even greater greed.

No... I can’t stand that. But just what am I to do?

This wasn’t the sort of problem that could be solved by Anna offering herself up. Far from it—doing that risked worsening the situation yet further. Anna had no choice but to search for a new way to solve the problem.

“Think well upon it,” Cullina said. “Regardless of whether you can or cannot fulfill it, what you wish for upon reflection will never go to waste. The important thing is to never stop thinking. That is the very moment you run the risk of falling astray.”

Anna paused. “You’re right.”

Perhaps Lezamer and Turk had fallen astray the same way. Yet Anna couldn’t shake the feeling that the direction of their wishes had been mistaken right from the very moment they’d thought to pursue the throne.

“If you’ve found your answer, then all that’s left is to set out on your own two legs. I can only aid you in the smallest of ways. But if you’re about to make your grand debut...then I’m certain there’s nothing left I can do for you.”

Anna clenched her fists tight atop her knees. Her mother had helped her by avoiding confrontations with her father. If she were to face off against Lezamer after this, she could no longer count on her mother’s aid. Without her mother as her sole ally, Anna would be left completely and utterly alone...

Cullina smiled as if to calm the worry she saw in her daughter. “But that’s quite all right, dear. You already have someone who’ll protect you in my stead, don’t you? He was my greatest and strongest knight, but now he’s on your side.”

Cullina cast a wink brimming with so much mischief that Anna couldn’t help but snicker too.

“Heed my words. No matter what the situation may be, you will always have someone on your side. Discern them well. Those who fight alone are riddled with blind spots.”

Anna was quiet for a moment. “Of course! Thank you, mother!”

“Be on your way then, dear—wherever that heart of yours leads. No matter how matters might play out, make sure that you’ve no regrets.”

At her mother’s insistence, Anna set out walking, still stricken with hesitation. She thought to turn around several times, but each and every time, she thought better of it. No longer was she some bird trapped in its cage. She could fly on her own now—wherever her wings might take her.

***

A faint beam of moonlight shone through Anna’s small window. With her room covered in a pale blanket of darkness, she found herself staring up at the ceiling after tossing herself onto her bed. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t readily fall asleep. All sorts of things darted across her mind before she remembered her conversation in the middle of the day.

“Make sure that you’ve no regrets...”

Her mother’s words were engraved deeply in her heart. Anna held freedom in her hands at this very moment. What she did with it from here was up to her.

I can do what I want to do. I... I want to do all I can to ensure that others aren’t dragged into this fight.

Anna recalled the sight of Front-Edge City during the battle. The same people she’d chatted with, who’d treated her with kindness and warmth, had been scattered in the titan’s onslaught with hardly a care. They were the ones who were completely ignored in Legalisbelm and the battle for the throne, but they were the very people she wanted to help.

But if I’m going to do that, trying to help them whenever something happens won’t work. I have to stop the conflict itself.

Until now, Anna had frantically tried to break off the fighting. That wasn’t the right approach, though. She had to start by eliminating the reason for the fighting in the first place. If she didn’t, it’d only be a matter of time before the same tragedy played out once more.

But if my stepfather goes on to become king now, I’m certain he’ll only invite further conflict.

To Lezamer, others were, without exception, nothing more than prey to satisfy himself. If a person who wouldn’t think twice before launching into a conflict were to become king, only tragedy awaited.

That’s why I want to keep him from becoming king. And to do that, there just needs to be a new candidate in Legalisbelm. Someone like...myself, for instance.

As low in the line as she was, Anna indeed had a claim to the throne and all the qualifications to participate in Legalisbelm. But that was all she had. She’d never stood in the spotlight before, which meant that there were no nobles to support her either. In the end, she’d simply lose out on a lack of votes.

Merely saying it was easy enough, but in truth, actually going through with it was boundlessly difficult.

And...even if I were to participate, that would mean facing off against my stepfather.

Lezamer had eliminated the other candidates in his pursuit of the throne. Anna could already see clear as day that she’d be crushed right away if she nonchalantly announced her candidacy at such a late stage. At best, her candidacy wouldn’t be accepted, and at worst, she’d be eliminated after her announcement. Anna knew full well just what her stepfather might do. The merciless scene of her great-uncle’s defeat was still fresh in her mind’s eye.

First, I need to find a place where I can announce my participation without being killed...

Anna turned over in bed only to be stricken with a flash of inspiration.

There was a chance. There was just one chance she’d have to do it where Lezamer could do absolutely nothing to stop her. What was even more convenient was the fact that she might even be able to gain nobles who would support her. While she was being optimistic about the outcome, by Anna’s estimations, her chances of winning weren’t terribly low either. But naturally, it carried a risk as well: Lezamer might very well throw everything away in a mad rage to put an end to Anna himself.

She shook her head, chasing her fears from her mind. If this doesn’t work, then there won’t be any other way to make things right!

But her father had shown her, hadn’t he? If she were going to hope for the best outcome, then her only choice was to make her very best efforts herself.

“I’ll... I’ll fight. In the way that only I can. Please, grant me courage.”

Anna closed her eyes, only to be greeted by Meddié smiling at her. Otto wore a demanding look on his face as he nodded at Anna, while Carome watched over her with a stern expression. And then there was Watt, who’d always pushed her ahead, smiling as he gave her a thumbs-up. She was anything but alone.

And so, Anna found herself venturing into the fray.

No longer was she the child who’d cowered in solitude—she was a warrior now, determined to fight against the madness.

Chapter Fifteen: Kick Off the Crown

The coronation: the ceremony in which the current monarch granted the sole winner of Legalisbelm the crown, proof of their authority, before they officially took the throne as the kingdom’s next ruler.

Even in the context of the competition’s history, the current iteration of Legalisbelm was tremendously exceptional. After the number of candidates in Legalisbelm had dropped to just one during the span of the competition, it had ended without any votes from the Selecting Nobles. Only Lezamer Ogdenn, the first prince, remained. With no other alternatives, Lezamer was confirmed to become the next king.

Next to no one was convinced of the results of the competition, but there wasn’t a soul willing to openly voice their objections. In light of this outcome, Lezamer’s original supporters were suddenly invigorated while the others were left to fear his overwhelming momentum. After all, the fate of his opponent, Turk Ogdenn, was an open secret circulating among the ranks of the nobles. The rumors were free-range for all sorts of embellishments, based in both fact and fiction alike, but all the accounts agreed on one thing: Lezamer himself had mercilessly passed down judgment on Turk. Not a soul sought to make the same mistake themselves.

The former supporters of the king’s brother found themselves in particularly dire straits. They were desperate to win the favor of the merciless new king, keeping a close watch on the situation for any opportunities to flatter him.

With both joy and sorrow intermingling, an unfittingly dark cloud loomed, swirling above the radiant coronation.

***

The palace’s central plaza was decorated with an array of ornate and luxurious adornments indicative of the Kingdom of Ogdenn’s might for the sake of this very day. All of the nobles across the kingdom were required to attend the coronation. Thus it was only natural that Baron Otto Socom was among their ranks.

This whole affair’s nothing but a chore...

Clothed in the official garment of the kingdom’s nobles, which was widely known for being oddly garish, Otto cast a sharp gaze from the rows of nobles he stood among. There, at the end of his gaze, was a man proudly waving his hand from the palace balcony.

That must be the first prince everyone was talking about...or rather, I suppose it’s His Majesty our new king I’m looking at.

Otto was far from where Lezamer stood, and from the new king’s perspective, Otto was just one person in the crowd. While it wasn’t readily noticeable, Otto’s stare was so stern that he might be suspected of hostility should Lezamer notice.

It sounds like it was His Highness the king’s younger brother who launched that assault on my city, though. Still, it’s hard to imagine Lezamer’s any less of a slithering snake.

After all, Otto’s daughter, Meddié, had been there when Turk was defeated, so Otto had been able to learn the details for himself. There was hardly much difference between trying to take an enemy’s daughter as hostage and eliminating a trapped foe. Otto therefore found himself exceptionally hard-pressed to celebrate the new king’s coronation. Now, he was even grateful that his position as baron meant he wouldn’t have to make any fumbling attempts to get close to the new king.

This does put my domain in a difficult position, though...

Otto had originally been granted his barony for fighting off the monsters to cultivate the land. After all, Front-Edge City had been called the farthest frontier of the kingdom, so it held only the slightest sway in the kingdom’s politics. Had things been as they always had, the question of who came to rule would hardly matter—all he would’ve had to do was continue doing business in the form of Socom Co. But now, an unexpected development had plunged the city right into the middle of Legalisbelm. It wasn’t difficult for Otto to imagine that he might be on the receiving end of undue attention from the new king. What’s more, the Socom barony had been neutral in Legalisbelm—it wasn’t as if they’d been supporters of the first prince. Otto could hardly get his hopes up for any sort of cordial relations.

Glaring up at the balcony, it was then that Otto realized: There was a familiar face standing behind the new king. Otto had noticed the girl because, in that very moment, she was just about to move—no longer content to remain in the background.

***

Lezamer’s chest puffed out with pride as he bathed in the unanimous praise of his audience. Anna stood fixed in place behind him, a deeply serious look on her face. The coronation was where Legalisbelm ended. Soon, the current king would give Lezamer the crown, making him the ruler of the Kingdom of Ogdenn in both name and truth. The throne seemed ready to welcome him, regardless of the ignoble means he had used to get there.

Soon thereafter, a messenger appeared to announce the start of the ceremony. “His Majesty, King of Ogdenn!”

The king’s white-clad private doctor led the way, with the king’s bed itself being carried out behind him. Lying in the bed was the current king’s emaciated form. His frame, once touted as hale and hearty despite his advanced age, had now withered thin like a brittle branch. After being ravaged by illness, the king likely couldn’t even move on his own. His attendants lifted him up, supporting him as he finally managed to rise to his feet.

A restrained buzz broke out from the crowd. For many of the nobles, it was the first time they’d seen the king in a considerably long time. His cheeks were sunken in, the shadow of death hanging heavily across his face. Legalisbelm hadn’t started a moment too soon. Even then, as if determined to fulfill his final duty, the king held the crown tight in his skeletal hands.

Facing the king, Lezamer’s eyes flashed full of contempt for a moment, only to immediately dispel it and put on a commendable front as he knelt.

“You must be dreadfully tired, father. I, Lezamer, shall take on your duties in your stead. Now, grant me the crown, and I shall—”

The king mumbled in an attempt to say something, but even Lezamer couldn’t make out what he’d said, despite being so close. His hand trembling, the king slowly lifted the crown into the air, and—

“I must ask that you wait. Legalisbelm isn’t over yet.”

Her voice rang through the silence with surprising clarity. As the nobles in attendance widened their eyes in disbelief at this unusual development, the girl stepped forward with no hesitation. It was Anna.

As she passed by, Anna locked eyes with her mother, Cullina. Cullina remained silent, giving her daughter a subtle nod. Ledo and Leda were there as well. Broad grins broke across their faces, but they seemed completely indifferent, as if it were no concern of theirs.

There was no turning back now. Anna braced her arms and legs and then her core.

“Legalisbelm has only been temporarily suspended due to the fact that only one candidate remains. The laws of the kingdom stipulate that once it’s been confirmed that there are multiple candidates remaining, Legalisbelm is to be resumed...and the monarch confirmed by the votes of the nobles, just as it’s always been.”

Anna faced her stepfather, Lezamer Ogdenn.

“What are you... No, you wench! Don’t tell me you’re—!”

Overcome with shock for a moment, Lezamer immediately arrived at a certain possibility. It was plausible in theory, but why would she? There’d be no point to it. Could Anna perhaps have any odds of winning at all? No—it was unthinkable. Did she have some sort of information that he had no way of knowing about?

All sorts of thoughts surged through Lezamer’s mind chaotically, critically slowing his actions.

The king’s eyes flashed, opened wide, as he stared at Anna.

She made her declaration, her voice ringing out loud and clear. “And so, I, Anna Ogdenn, eldest daughter of Lezamer Ogdenn, hereby announce my participation in Legalisbelm. The number of candidates in Legalisbelm is now two, and therefore...Legalisbelm is to be officially recommenced!”

The silence lasted for only the briefest of moments before exploding into an uproar immediately thereafter. Cries of excitement, shouts of anger, doubts—every conceivable response bubbled up from the crowd to envelop Anna.

There’s no running away now...“father.”

In principle, every noble in the kingdom was required to participate in the coronation—which meant that her words would reach all of the nobles. Anna’s goal had been to recommence Legalisbelm with all of the nobles as her witnesses. Her words had already spread to the nobles close by—not even Lezamer could deceive them now. By all means, the first step of her plan had been a success. It was what happened after this that would be the true challenge, however.

“Such nonsense! Your Majesty! I am ever so sorry you were forced to listen to such foolish prattle. Now, let us continue with the coronation and—”

Despite Lezamer’s urging, the king kept the crown in his trembling hands. Having his attendants carry him, he returned to his bed before faintly moving his mouth.

“Please, wait! What in the world are you doing?!”

“As Legalisbelm has not ended, the coronation cannot be recognized... That is His Majesty’s opinion,” one of the attendants answered.

They gave a courteous bow before making their exit carrying the king’s bed. Lezamer clumsily reached out his hand...but the crown escaped his grasp. He had no choice but to watch the throne that had been only a step away, within his clutches, grow further and further away.

Nonsense... Damned nonsense, all of it! Wh-What in the blazes just happened?! Lezamer thought.

His jaw creaked as he clenched his teeth in rage. It was as if only the air surrounding him had chilled. For a while, he stood there trembling, squeezing his fists tight. It wasn’t long, however, before a guttural laugh began to steal past his lips.

“Heh heh, hee hee hee...! You really did it! I never imagined it—not even once! As brilliant as my mind might be, never once did I ever imagine that you would try to defy me, Annaaa!”

Temples twitching, Lezamer spun around. “You do indeed have a claim to the throne yourself, don’t you? But what of it?! You’ve no supporters at all! Even joining Legalisbelm, you don’t have the slightest hope of winning!”

With the shock from the turn of events subsiding, Lezamer had begun to regain his composure. She’d landed a blow, no doubt. But what did it matter that Legalisbelm had resumed? He had nothing to fear from a wench who lacked any supporters. He felt sick at having his prize postponed a bit, but now he even saw it as punishment for letting down his guard at the last minute.

“Just remember, on the eve of my ascension, I’ll reward you amply for defying me so!”

Lezamer glared at Anna, his eyes flashing. And yet, his estimations of how Legalisbelm would play out were soon to be shattered.

“I assure you, she has her supporters!”

The words rang out from the far distant corner of the courtyard, but even in the middle of the uproar, they were plainly audible. As if to form a path, the nobles around the speaker wasted no time splitting to either side. With his head held high amid the crowd, Otto Socom boldly stepped forward.

“Why, it’s Lord Socom! You’re coming forward in her support?”

“So that’s him—the man they call the Hero of the Frontier. Why don’t we see just what he’s capable of?”

“He’s nothing more than a new-money noble who clawed his way up from a merchant. What in the world does that presumptuous knave think he’s doing?!”

While the nobles around him boisterously said whatever they pleased, Otto ignored it all.

“The Socom Barony welcomes Princess Anna’s participation,” he declared, undaunted. “Furthermore, I hereby announce my support for Princess Anna! To all the strong-willed souls that lament our kingdom’s future...now is the time to rally around the princess!”

“What...?!”

Clenching his teeth, Lezamer couldn’t laugh off the baron’s words. He was quick to realize that other opinions—different from what he’d heard earlier in the coronation—had begun to mix into the stir of the crowd.

“My, this has gotten rather interesting, hasn’t it? Legalisbelm has to end with a choice, no doubt about it.”

“Ugh, she’s certainly a late entry, but she still might be able to aim for the lead.”

“This race just got much harder to call, I’ll say that.”

At the end of the day, all nobles could do in Legalisbelm was choose. If they only had one candidate to choose, they couldn’t do a thing. But suppose another candidate were to appear?

Hoping to make use of their rights as nobles, Lezamer’s defiers sprang into action all at once.

Indeed, prior to this, no one had even thought to consider Anna—but now, it was clear that she had a supporter in the form of Baron Socom. He was only a baron and lower in rank, but even then, there was a tremendous difference from having his support.

The fact that someone had actually stepped forward in her support led to a string of nobles appearing to join Otto. Even the ranks of the nobles who’d resolved to see where the chips landed first were filled with a growing unrest. What’s more, as if sensing that now was their chance, the former supporters of the king’s brother visibly sprang back to life too.

It was a terrible sign. Not only had the girl’s proclamation thrown Legalisbelm right back into the same position it had been in, but now, it even seemed as if the tides of the competition were starting to change.

What... What is this absurdity?! This is my coronation! Why would that lowly rabble seek to avoid my will?! Who gave them permission to act so brazenly before me?!

Indeed, Lezamer Ogdenn’s methods had been both merciless and perfect. But they’d been too merciless. He’d only stifled the opposition by force, and when presented with even the slightest opening, people would rush in to seize the opportunity. Lezamer himself, however, lacked the character to recognize that.

It’s all that wench’s fault—every last bit of it! I should’ve known the daughter that bastard left behind would only get in the way! I went wrong the moment I showed pity to the girl in front of Cullina! How dare she forget the grace I showed in letting her live this long?!

Once something had been said, it could never be taken back. And in that case, there was only one thing for Lezamer to do. Anna had said what she’d said, so now he had no choice but to eliminate her as quickly as possible.

The whole range of possibilities darted across his mind in the span of a moment. Strategizing was his duty. He’d thought only of how he might one-sidedly crush his foes without making himself subject to blame. But unlike how things had been with Turk, it was difficult to charge Anna with violating Legalisbelm’s rules. He didn’t have the time to waste leisurely making his preparations either.

“Ha ha! That’s it... There was indeed one situation in Legalisbelm allowing for combat!”

Lezamer slowly lifted his head up in an arc, leaving Anna to flinch in response.

“You won’t get a drop of pity more from me!” Lezamer said. “It’s laid out in Attending Article 5 of the Kingdom’s laws surrounding Legalisbelm! Anna, you have tried to participate in Legalisbelm without my consent as your stepfather! Such lawless action is unforgivable! Therefore, I shall hereby remedy this error by a direct duel between us here!”

A duel: the sole form of martial force permitted in Legalisbelm. In normal cases, duels were dictated by detailed rules to ensure that none lost their lives in the process.

“The form of the duel shall be a one-on-one match between Mechsteels! Let all of you here witness it with your own eyes! Heh heh! Anna, if you wish to have your way, then take up your blade!”