Chapter 84: We Gather Under The Black Flag V (1/2)

Words in italics are originally English for this chapter

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Ignoring me, who had fallen, Maria went ahead.

It's a majestic passageway. Am I in a temple of some sort? I never thought that she could teleport me so quickly.

「You’re going to get left behind if you just stay there」

「G, got it」

I followed after her in a hurry.

There are faint lights in this place. It’s the light of Shogaku stones.

It's similar to the dungeon, but the air doesn't smell musty. The cold air from outside is coming in from somewhere.

After walking about 20 meters, we reached an open, dome-shaped space.

It looked very much like the place Crown Princess Amelia had summoned me to. Except that this place was completely in ruins.

I saw a large amount of supplies piled up carelessly.

They were military supplies dating back to around World War II. The letters on the crates had been burned away, but there was no mistaking the design of the firearms and radios.

Maria laid the M1 Garand on top of one of the crates and then drew back a large piece of cloth.

I was astonished by the sight of what was behind it.

It was 4 meters tall. With upper arms that were much larger than its hind legs, its silhouette roughly resembled that of a gorilla's. Deep claw marks had been left on its moss green armor. There were bundles of thick tubes at its joints. On its shoulder was a scraped and faded pattern of stars.

Installed in the place where its head should be based on its torso, was an older model A.I. pod.

「You've got to be kidding me」

An A.I. quasi-humanoid weapon.

Come to think of it, this is something that I've heard about in the past.

Nazi Germany's flying saucers, the Soviet Union's drill submarines, England's nuclear mines with chickens inside them. And America's bipedal tank. The many rumored weapons in the realm of the occult.

And one of them was right in front of me.

The power light in the center of the pod turned on. Nixie tubes glowed brightly like torches.

With dull metallic screeches, the A.I. weapon whirred to life, and stood intimidatingly over me.

『So you've finally managed to meet up with me』

It had a mechanical-sounding electronic voice.

Is this the guy who took control of the shut-down Makina?! The one who sent me here?!

「What are you?」

『I’m a member of the First Alternate World Expeditionary Force ”Seeker Brigade”, a first-generation A.I. Alpha Core mounted prototype bipedal light tank, T37 Phase Seven, nicknamed ”Tortch”. State your affiliation, nationality and rank』

「I'm Souya, dispatched by Sekido Heavy Industries of Japan」

『Question. You aren't a member of the military, then?』

「Yes. I'm an undocumented employee. You hacked Makina, didn't you? Didn't you read the information she possessed back then?」

『No. I‘ve no right to intrude on my sister's mind. Respecting the privacy of others is important』

「There are so many questions I want to ask that I’m at a loss」

An occult weapon that shouldn’t exist, belonging to a wiped-out expeditionary force.

Where do I start?

『I’ve no intention of fighting against you. Neither does my daughter』

「Huh, daughter?」

Tortch held out a rugged and crude palm, and Maria climbed onto it.

『I raised Maria. And I’m against her marriage to you』

「You're telling me that an A.I. raised a person?」

Oh, but I've heard about an abandoned infant being raised by an A.I. It's a story about how it did laughably bad magic tricks in order to afford food for the infant and then became famous for it.

「That’s right. Tortch is my Daddy」

『We have a very close relationship compared to the typical motherless family』

「How on earth did she come to be your daughter?」

『After the brigade was decimated, I was switched over to a suspended state by Captain John Smith. Restarting me required genetic contact with humans. Maria did just that』

「That said, I was also sealed and had my time stopped. Had Daddy's comrades in arms not found me and brought me here, I would probably still be sleeping in a corner of the forbidden forest」

『My restart and my encounter with Maria was guided by God』

「Could it be that Maria’s name is……」

『I'm the one who named her. She remembered her father and mother's names, so I came up with it after Dugan taught me the naming conventions of this world』

「I don’t consider the man who abandoned my mother and me to be my father. Tortch is my Daddy」

『I'm grateful and happy』

When Maria patted Tortch's pod, the display on the Nixie tubes shifted as if they were expressing emotion.

It's like a scene from Beauty and the Beast.

「So you didn't form an alliance with King Dugan only recently?」

『Immediately after my encounter with Maria, we met him. Because this cathedral is a sacred place that was entrusted to Robbs by the dwarves to take care of. From then on, we had been cooperating in secret. Gaining control over the weak Myriad Kings. The gathering of information from the center continent. The planning of the military operations and the training of the army. New agricultural practices. We carried out various activities together. Using the name ”black elf” was also his idea』

That beardy.

Isn't he effectively the commander in chief of the black elf's army?

I kind of understand how the current army came about now. Next is the army of the past.

「What caused the expeditionary force to be decimated?」

『The direct cause is the beasts' attack. However, the expeditionary force was intended to be abandoned in this world from the very beginning』

「Abandoned, you say?」

It’s the first I’ve heard of it.

I have a bad feeling about this. It smells like a secret that should not be known.

『Based on the preliminary inspection carried out by the advance troops in 1947-1949, it was reported that there were no resources in this Outer World that would justify the costs. In 1951, plans were made to send an infantry brigade to the Outer World. At the same time, another plan was also put in motion』