Chapter 155 : Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Time flew by, and six months had already passed.
Since I had ordered the research of a new weapon that had never appeared in the <Future Diary>—the ‘hand grenade.’
During that time, I wanted to ask about the research progress every day. Of course, I did.
But I didn't. Even though I hadn't been in power for long, there was something I had realized.
That it wasn't very good for a superior to pressure their subordinates.
‘The elders of the Mage Tower are people who have the will to do things. They are artisans who have pride in their careers and skills.’
It might be different if they were people without the will to do things, but there was no need for me to interfere in every little thing with the elders of the Mage Tower.
‘That may be so… but it’s about time some kind of report came in.’
According to the <Future Diary>, Seria sent me a report six months after the new weapon research began.
It didn't say exactly which day she would give it, but it should be about time.
‘Let's just wait a little longer, calmly. The report will come when the time is right.’
Thinking, I gathered my thoughts and sat up straight in my chair.
On my desk today, there was a high pile of various documents for approval. Most of them were about war preparations, but there was some other content mixed in.
[Biannual Report on Military Weapon/Equipment Stockpiling: Yoanna]
It was Yoanna's report. Was it from two months ago? From then on, Yoanna also started submitting her reports directly to me.
I don't know why Yoanna, a low-ranking knight, was submitting reports to me.
However, since it was a report with the signatures of Jereuth and Hagen, I could only guess that the two of them had told her to report directly to me.
***
About three hours into my work.
“Hoo… I'm finally almost done.”
My body was stiff from looking at documents without a break.
‘Come to think of it, there’s the ‘Gryphon Knight Order’ founding ceremony this afternoon.’
There was still some time left. Still, I couldn't afford to be leisurely if I wanted to finish checking the documents before then.
Ssk—.
Thinking, I checked the last bundle of documents—very fortunately, the last remaining bundle of documents.
[Madan Research Report: Seria]
‘Madan Research Report.’
As soon as I read that title, I forgot my fatigue.
‘Madan… that must mean the hand grenade, right? The report was here?!’
Of all things, this important report was at the very bottom of the pile of documents. If I had known it was here, I would have looked at it first.
Chwarak—!
I immediately opened the report.
[Madan Research Report: Seria]
As Your Majesty previously instructed, I will provide a three-line summary first.
Research and prototype development have been completed. The prototype of the Madan that ‘explodes a few seconds after the safety pin is removed’ has been successfully developed.
However, it was impossible to create the exact same Madan (hand grenade) that Your Majesty initially envisioned.
*Only intermediate or higher-level mages can handle this magitool.
*It is impossible for ordinary soldiers who cannot use magic to handle it.
*For intermediate or higher-level mages, it seems more advantageous to cast their own magic rather than using the magitool. The Madan is quite heavy, making it difficult for mages to use it freely.
Elder ‘Chomsky’ became angry with himself for not being able to perfect his specialty, ‘explosion magic.’
*For this reason, he experimented with various things and created a ‘Madan that explodes upon receiving a strong impact.’ Please take note.
Elder Council's Opinion (P.S.): The official opinion regarding Chomsky's ‘Madan that explodes upon receiving a strong impact’ is that it is a ‘completely useless failure.’
Unless it is to be detonated by infiltrating the enemy camp and risking one's life, it is utterly useless. Detonating it by holding it in one's hand and giving it a strong impact is a suicidal act.
[Main Body]
Overview of Madan Research.
…….
I only read the three-line summary at the beginning of the report and did not read the rest.
It wasn't that I was trying to ignore the report Seria had worked so hard on. It was because I had gotten all the information I needed from the three-line summary.
‘As expected, they couldn’t make the original hand grenade.’
I already knew from the <Future Diary> that they wouldn't be able to create the ‘hand grenade’ they originally intended to develop.
So, my disappointment wasn't that great.
More importantly—
‘The one Seria called a failure, Chomsky's ‘Madan that explodes when given a strong impact.’ That must be the 'unexpected byproduct' mentioned in the <Future Diary>.’
“A Madan that explodes when given a strong impact…”
As the elders wrote in the report, if the shell needed a strong impact to explode, it didn't seem very useful.
Unless you were a suicide commando who would go into the enemy camp and hit the Madan to detonate it, risking your own life, it would be impossible to inflict damage on the enemy… wait a minute?
‘…If it explodes on strong impact, how strong of an impact does it need? Would the impact of a knight on a gryphon throwing it to the ground not be enough?’
What if the Madan explodes from the impact of being dropped from a gryphon high in the sky?
‘Then… the gryphons would become bombers?’
That's a total game-changer. Bombers in this world—.
When that thought suddenly occurred to me.
Beoltteok!
I immediately grabbed Seria's report and shot up from my seat. I wanted to go to the Mage Tower and check.
How strong of an impact was needed for the 'failed Madan' to explode.
Tatataat—!
I left the room and walked quickly down the corridor.
“Ah, Your Majesty!”
I ran into Elly halfway down the corridor. Elly was with a few other maids, and they all bowed their heads respectfully to me.
“We were on our way to escort you, I apologize for being late.”
“To escort me? …Ah.”
Right. Today was the Gryphon Knight Order's founding ceremony.
The Gryphon Knight Order's founding ceremony was Jereuth's idea.
The reason Jereuth proposed the ceremony was, 「”Any knight order must have a founding ceremony for it to have meaning. Also, by announcing the existence of the ‘Gryphon Knight Order,’ which exists in no other kingdom on the continent, we can boost the morale of the army and the entire kingdom. Your Majesty's great deeds must be known to all.”」
‘It seemed like a valid reason, so I approved the ceremony, but the timing is a bit bad.’
I could go to the Mage Tower and check on ‘Chomsky's failure’ after the ceremony was over.
But I wanted to check on that failure right now.
I was too excited by the idea of ‘gryphon bombers.’
‘No. Just—.’
“Elly. I'm sorry, but could you go to my room and contact the Mage Tower? With my crystal ball.”
“W-With Your Majesty's crystal ball, me?”
“Yes. If you connect to the Mage Tower, Seria or Helena will probably answer. Tell them to bring ‘Chomsky's Madan’ to the training ground. To where the Gryphon Knight Order's founding ceremony is being held.”
“I understand. Then, after I escort Your Majesty to the ceremony venue, I will have another maid—”
Elly was speaking, then.
She lightly covered her mouth and changed her words.
“I will go myself.”
“Yes, I'm counting on you. Ah, and please take this document to my desk as well. It's an important document, so don't lose it.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Elly took the document I handed her—[Madan Research Report: Seria]—and held it to her chest with both hands.
It looked as if she were holding a treasure.
Kkugeok.
Elly bowed to me and gave a look to the other maids. A look telling them to escort me.
I didn't particularly need the maids' guidance, so I just led the way.
At that, the maids were startled and followed behind me.
***
Leonardo's room.
Click—.
Elly entered the room, locked the door, and walked lightly to Leonardo's desk.
As Leonardo had commanded, she neatly arranged the documents she had received and sat in his chair.
‘…It’s warm.’
The chair still held Leonardo's warmth.
This was one of the reasons why Elly had said she would contact the Mage Tower with the crystal ball herself, instead of another maid.
“…I shouldn't be doing this.”
Elly, who had been feeling that sensation for a moment, somehow felt embarrassed with herself and composed her expression again.
Then, she pulled the crystal ball from the side of Leonardo's desk and placed it in front of her.
There was a communication crystal ball in Elly's room as well, so she knew how to use it well.
Ssk—.
As Elly touched the crystal ball as if stroking a child's head.
Chijik—.
「“Did you call, Your Majesty?”」
“Ah, Seria-nim. It's the Head Maid.”
「“…Head Maid-nim?”」
Seria, who had been speaking in a pleased voice, her voice slightly hardened after confirming it was Elly.
「“Yes. What is it?”」
“His Majesty has ordered you to bring ‘Chomsky's Madan’ to the training ground. To where the Gryphon Knight Order's founding ceremony is being held.”
「”Elder Chomsky's Madan? That's a failure… I understand. Did His Majesty say anything else?”」
“No, that was all.”
「”…Understood. Then.”」
Chijik—.
Seria immediately cut off the communication.
For some reason, Seria's last words sounded a little disappointed.
‘It must be my imagination, right?’
Elly thought for a moment, then pushed the crystal ball back to its original place.
Then, she stealthily, with a very familiar feeling, placed her cheek on Leonardo's desk.
The desk, which was a little cold, but still faintly held Leonardo's traces.
Pressing her body against this place where Leonardo spent most of his day was Elly's little deviation.
A truly trivial, innocent deviation.
“Haa…”
***
The training ground in front of the royal palace.
About 500 soldiers stood in formation with spears and flags on the outskirts of the training ground.
In the center, 41 knights stood next to their respective gryphons, looking at the platform in front of them, and on the platform stood Jereuth.
‘What a sight.’
The founding ceremony of the Gryphon Knight Order.
Their numbers were small, but their dignity was more overwhelming than that of any other knight order's founding ceremony.
Strong muscles and feathers that deflected spears and arrows.
Gryphons with claws and beaks that could easily break even rocks.
It was the founding ceremony of the knight order that commanded those gryphons.
‘Still, I shouldn't be too satisfied. The Gryphon Knight Order still can't move perfectly as one body.’
The strength of a knight order lies in everyone moving in perfect order to penetrate the enemy lines.
That is why one of the key abilities of a knight is ‘horsemanship.’ No matter how excellent one's swordsmanship is, one can never stand at the forefront if one cannot ride a horse well.
Of course, the tactics of the Gryphon Knight Order would be different from existing knight orders.
They could throw spears or shoot arrows from the sky, or sweep through the center of the enemy lines in a chaotic battlefield, such tactics were possible.
‘I'll have to think more about those tactical aspects in the future. It'll have to be perfected before the war with the monster army begins.’
Just as Jereuth was thinking.
—Heok heok!
—We're not late!
—Hey, Chomsky! Go slowly! It'll be a big problem if you drop that!!
—Tsk, tsk! It won't explode if I drop it here! This thing is super safe, you know?!
—What do you mean safe! Right, it's safe because it's a failure!!
—What?! A failure!! This is a work of art! The most beautiful work of art in the world, bestowed upon me by the King!! What work of art is better than an exploding stone?! This is ‘Chomsky's Madan’!!
—Aigoo…
—And the reason this Madan doesn't explode easily is! Huh?! It's because I was trying to make it stable! But it still explodes!!
A knight order's founding ceremony is a solemn and stern event.
Therefore, such a commotion should never have happened.
But Jereuth couldn't get angry at the ones causing the commotion. No, he couldn't even understand why they were here in the first place.
Because they were mages.
As they approached the platform, Jereuth asked with a reluctant tone.
“…What business do the elders have here? At the Gryphon Knight Order's founding ceremony?”
“The King—”
Benjamin, the representative of the Mage Tower elders, tried to answer Jereuth's question.
But his words were cut off by the very excited Chomsky, who was flaring his nostrils.
“The King summoned us!!”
‘The King summoned us,’ what rude elders.
Since it wasn't a one or two-day affair, Jereuth let it slide.
Teolkeok—!
“Hoo… this is tiring.”
“H-Hey! I told you to put that down gently!”
“Aish, really! This thing doesn't explode that easily!! It's really safe, I'm telling you!”
Chomsky took out a fist-sized stone from the box he had brought with great difficulty and continued to speak proudly.
“The King told me to bring this!! The King must have seen the value in this invention of mine! Otherwise, there's no way he would have told me to bring this to the founding ceremony of the kingdom's top knight order!!”
Chomsky's words were rambling from how excited he was.
Still, it wasn't impossible to understand, so Jereuth looked at the stone in Chomsky's hand and asked.
“What is that?”
“A work of art!! An exploding art!!”
“Ah… yes.”
It seemed he wouldn't get a proper explanation from Chomsky. So Jereuth sent a look to Seria, who was behind him.
It was a look asking her to explain the identity of that fist-sized black ball instead.
Seria understood Jereuth's look, composed herself, and said.
“It's a ‘Madan.’ The new weapon His Majesty instructed us to research.”
“Madan? Ah.”
Jereuth had, of course, heard of it.
That the Mage Tower was researching a new weapon by order of the King.
‘I think Olivia was displeased, saying the Mage Tower was spending a huge amount of budget on research funds.’
“But I heard that it was a failure—”
—What, what!? A failure?! Hey, Knight Commander! This is not a failure!! Of course, I couldn't make it exactly as the King instructed, but, huh? This is, huh?! Art!! What do you know!!
—What do you mean, art! That's a failure! How are you going to use a magitool containing explosion magic if it only explodes when given a strong impact! Are you going to hold it in your hand and hit it with a hammer?!
—I'll do just that!! Hey, Jereuth! Let me borrow your sword for a bit! I'll show you! How powerful my work of art is!!
—H-Hey?! Grab that crazy old man!!
The solemn and stern atmosphere of the knight order's founding ceremony was ruined as soon as the elders of the Mage Tower arrived.
Of course, the knights didn't like it, but they didn't show it openly.
Because ‘he’ was approaching the platform, crossing the training ground.
Jeobeok— jeobeok.
“Everyone is here.”
The King.
Cheok—!
At his words, all the knights, including Jereuth, and the soldiers straightened their posture.
Even the gryphons showed respect to Leonardo, the master of the Alpha Gryphon.
The elders of the Mage Tower also cleared their throats and restrained themselves.
Leonardo, who was observing the atmosphere for a moment, smiled and spoke to Jereuth.
“I apologize, Commander. For inviting others to the event. It's gotten a bit noisy.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty. I am just grateful for allowing this occasion.”
“The Gryphon Knight Order is important. To our kingdom, and to me.”
While the two were talking, Chomsky dragged the box containing his Madan with a grunt.
Then, like a child who wants to be praised by his parents for something he made, he pushed the Madan at Leonardo.
“King Leonardo! This is it! The work of art you said you wanted to see!!”
Leonardo had never said he ‘wanted to see it.’
But Chomsky was extremely excited that the King was interested in his research, which everyone called a ‘failure.’
“This is the Madan…”
Leonardo carefully took the Madan and asked.
“Seria-nim's report said it explodes on ‘strong impact,’ but how strong of an impact is that?”
“A-A strong impact? Hmm… it's nothing much! Even if you hit it with your fist—!”
This time, Seria cut Chomsky off.
“That Madan explodes when hit quite hard with a hammer, Your Majesty.”
“I-It's not to the extent of a hammer! You can do it with your fist—”
“Then your fist would break instead of the Madan exploding. How can you activate that with your fist.”
“…”
“Therefore, Elder Chomsky-nim's Madan is indeed a failure. I don't know why Your Majesty had us bring that to this event, but.”
At Seria's words, Chomsky trembled and bowed his head. Because what she said was true.
‘…Actually, I know it too. No, I know it best. That my research is a failure.’
But Chomsky didn't want to admit it. Since Leonardo became king, all the elders had been conducting their own research and producing results, but he had achieved nothing.
All Chomsky had done for the past few years was blow up a few magic labs.
Even in the research and development of the 'communication crystal ball,' the other elders didn't want his help.
It wasn't a matter of honor, but of pride. The pride of an old man who had researched magic his entire life—.
“Then.”
While Chomsky was having these gloomy thoughts, Leonardo picked up another Madan, gestured as if to weigh it, and asked.
“Chomsky-nim. What if I drop this from high up in the sky? Will it explode?”
“…From high up in the sky?”
“Yes. If a knight throws it while riding a gryphon. Or if a gryphon holds a box and drops it.”
As Leonardo spoke.
—…Ah.
Everyone let out a dazed sound.
They all understood.
Why Leonardo had ordered that 'Madan' to be brought to this event, and what he was thinking.
Chomsky, turning all the fine wrinkles on his face into a smile.
And with a smile that felt somewhat wicked, he said.
Ssiik—.
“Hehe… At that height, it will definitely explode. Beautifully and artistically, of course.”
The gloomy Chomsky from a moment ago was gone.
He was certain. That his research would not be in vain.