Chapter 5:
The Avid
WHEN I REACHED my mid-thirties, the mobile knight my great-
grandfather had used was returned to us, fully repaired. It was a humanoid
weapon with an extra pair of arms holding huge shields at both shoulders,
otherwise covered in knight-like armor. I'd previously thought the humanoid
design made no sense, but in this world, it seemed easier to maneuver huge
weapons if they were in human shape since magic was employed in their
operation.
Fantasy worlds sure are crazy.
In the storehouse, I gazed up at the Avid and thought the thing really
made an impression. Before, it had just been an immobile decoration, but
now it practically sparkled like new.
"This is amazing. I'd heard it was old too; you did a great job repairing
it."
Beside me stood an engineer officer of the Empire's Seventh Weapons
Factory. She wore orange coveralls and had an ID card pinned at her left
breast, with glasses and dark hair that fell to her shoulders. This beautiful girl
with an intellectual look was the engineering lieutenant. Her name was Nias
Carlin.
She explained to me with a smile, "It was a pretty tough job, to be
honest. I never thought I'd be repairing this unit."
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"You were familiar with it?"
"Well, it was a model developed by our factory—there's one just like it
in our filing vault. Our most experienced techs said it was like going back to
the old days."
Extra-large units like these weren't common these days, but I figured
too big was better than too small. As I admired the Avid, satisfied, Nias shot
me a troubled look.
"Is this really going to be all right, though? All the assist functions
were removed, so I think it'll be pretty difficult to pilot."
Is it like the difference between a manual and an automatic car?
Nias seemed to want to add assist functions to the Avid to lessen the
burden of piloting it. My master, who was also standing there with us,
crossed his arms and smiled.
"There's no need to worry—Lord Liam will master this in no time. But
I'd like to go over some of the details of the craft, so if you could come to my
room..."
Master reached out to Nias's shoulder, but she dodged him with a grin.
"It's all in the manual, no need to worry. And it's the count who'll be piloting
it, right? If I'm going to give anyone pointers, it should be Lord Liam,
shouldn't it?"
"I-I guess you're right."
Master's shoulders slumped at this rejection. I guessed Nias was his
type. For a moment, I thought maybe I should order her to spend some time
with him, as an evil lord would, but I quickly discarded the idea. Master was
a skilled swordsman; if he'd been serious, Nias wouldn't have been able to
dodge him. The fact that she had obviously meant that he had let her go, so
he'd probably only been joking.
Anyway, Master was probably too upstanding to appreciate a gift like
that. Plus, Nias was an Imperial officer, not merely one of my subjects, so
that made me hesitant to lay a finger on her. Also, it probably wouldn't be
wise to get on the bad side of the person performing maintenance on my
craft. If something ever went wrong with the unit, I'd be in trouble.
"Let's get into the cockpit. I'll join you, if you don't mind, so I can
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explain how to operate it."
Guided by Nias, I headed for the cockpit with a smile. Piloting a
humanoid weapon... I'd been greatly looking forward to this moment.
***
The Avid stood outside the storehouse now, some distance from the
mansion. I'd been expecting the cockpit to be cramped, but it was a lot more
spacious than I'd anticipated.
"It's pretty big in here."
"This cockpit was expanded using special magic. Its seat is made of the
highest-quality materials for maximum comfort as well. There are no assist
functions, but other than that, every aspect of the unit is top-class."
I sat down in the cushioned seat. It felt almost as though it wrapped
around my body, the way it supported me—and just as I thought that, it
actually did wrap itself around my body. The seat moved and restructured
itself to match my form. The control sticks moved automatically to where my
hands were, positioned perfectly for my access.
"Very nice. Looks good too—the black armor is badass."
"Guys really like black, huh? There are a lot of black units."
To nobles, mobile knights were a symbol of military power. Many of
them owned personal units for this reason, and because they just looked cool.
They even used them for decorations, decking them out as they pleased.
"It's rare for people to spend so much money fixing up one unit,
though."
"Is it? I hear some people make them super flashy."
That was why Master had said we should spend as much money as
needed. To compare it to something from my last life, it was like owning a
car. Well, if anything, a battleship is probably closer to a car than this.
Anyway, mobile knights were a status symbol for nobles.
"Well, a lot of them are mass-produced units that have simply been
modified, but since we had such a sizable budget, our engineers really went
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all out. Everyone had a lot of fun since it's rare for a noble to care more about
the inside of a unit than the outside. Now, why don't you start the engine?"
One switch fired up the engine, and the craft began a scan of my body.
It confirmed me as its pilot and set itself to prevent being piloted by anyone
else.
"You're designated as the pilot now, my lord; this unit won't move for
anyone but you. It's your own personal craft."
"That's got a nice ring to it."
I gripped the control sticks and moved them, and the view around
me...changed. The cockpit only shook a little, though.
"H-huh?" The Avid was now lying on the ground, but artificial gravity
kept me feeling correctly oriented. It was a strange sensation.
Nias had a look on her face that said, Thought so.
"All the assist functions, like the auto balancer, have been removed
from this machine. That means it'll be a lot more difficult to control. If you
master it, though, you'll be able to move it just like your own body."
I caught on to what Master wanted for me.
"If I can master this, then I'll be on my way to becoming a top-notch
pilot."
"I'd say if you can use this thing, you'll already be a top-notch pilot.
But if you can't control it, you'll lose to any mass-produced model. If you do
master it, it's possible you could be stronger than any other unit out there—
depending on the pilot, anyway."
"Perfect!"
I gripped the control sticks and concentrated. I had to start by standing
Unlike a video game where you could just enter simple commands, to
stand in this machine, you had to move the unit's arms and legs
simultaneously. Each individual motion had to be controlled manually, which
was incredibly difficult to do, and this was why they used magic in the
process. In fact, you could say that was the main reason people learned
magic. With magic, you could visualize the delicate movements of a human
body and transmit that imagery to the machine. That was why humanoid
weapons were easier for the people of this world to use than they would've
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been otherwise. With non-humanoid weapons, it was harder for the user to
envision the movements, which would in turn confuse the machines.
The Avid slowly stood, and Nias was impressed.
"You're very good for a first-timer."
"Of course I am—I've practiced in a simulator."
"That's not what I mean. This unit's much harder to control than a
regular mobile knight. If you're doing this well on your first try, my lord,
you've got a real knack for it."
"And you're a real flatterer."
"It's not flattery," Nias said with a slight frown.
Meanwhile, I concentrated as hard as I could on moving the Avid. It
slowly raised one leg and took a step forward. That movement alone was
incredibly complex. I was beginning to worry whether I'd even be able to
walk in this thing. I started breathing heavier from the effort, and Nias placed
her hands atop mine on the controls. She leaned forward, and I experienced
the gentle scent and warmth of a woman.
"It's very important to maintain a strong mental image to control this
unit. You'll have to concentrate on your magic the whole time. Now, move
the control sticks slowly. It'll be easier if you think of the whole craft as your
own body."
I moved the craft slowly at first, one step at a time, gradually upping
the pace. One wrong move could send it tumbling to the ground again. Nias
was giving me a rundown on the Avid, so I listened to her as I focused on
moving.
"This baby's real strong and sturdy. Your average unit won't be a
match for it, but that makes it all the more difficult to maneuver. Keep that in
mind. He'll be tough to master."
Nias was so concentrated on her explanation that she got a little too
close to me. One of her breasts touched my shoulder, and I suddenly found
all my attention drawn to that spot.
"Also, here—"
I focused on Nias, and the Avid came to a halt. Her body was toned, as
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if she worked out, but had fat in all the right places. I hadn't noticed before
due to her coveralls, but she had a pretty good figure. All my attention was on
her chest where it pressed against me.
Then, sensing my thoughts or in tune with my magic, the Avid started
moving its hands without my conscious command.
"Oh? What's wrong? You should start from walk—wait!"
Nias figured out what the movements meant and pulled away from me,
covering her chest with her arms. Her cheeks had flushed red.
"N-no! That's not what I—"
The Avid was moving its hands as though it were groping a woman's
breasts.
"Let's take a break. Huh? Communications are cut off. Is that a mistake
with the settings?"
***
Brian watched the Avid from afar. It was as if the mobile knight of
Lord Alistair, whom he had respected so much, had come alive again. The
sight moved him. Its parts might have been different, but it was still Alistair's
Avid.
"Lord Alistair... Lord Liam is piloting your unit. It moves me to te—
huh?"
His tears dried when the Avid, the craft of the honorable Alistair,
started making improper movements with its hands.
"Lord Liam, what in the world are you doing?"
Inside, he already knew. The officer who'd accompanied the Avid here
was an attractive woman, and they were alone together in the cockpit. He'd
worried the moment he saw her that Liam would try putting his hands on her,
as he'd always been quite physical with Amagi. Though, he'd also worried
that maybe Liam didn't have an interest in anything other than dolls; he had
never pursued a living woman before. Now that his interest in real women
had been made clear, Brian was relieved for multiple reasons, one of which
being the question of whether Liam would ever produce an heir.
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However, Brian couldn't condone the hand movements the mobile
knight was making. The thought that the beloved craft of his Lord Alistair
was gesturing in such a shameful way almost brought him to tears of another
kind.
To see Master Alistair's craft making such lewd movements... I just
can't bear it.
The Avid was replicating detailed motions with its fingers, as if there
were breasts in its grasp. At least cut the power before you do that! Brian
thought, but he had no choice but to watch from a safe distance. There was no
telling when the craft might topple to the ground. To make matters worse,
communications were shut off, as Liam wasn't responding to any outside
calls.
Was this his plan from the start?
While Brian agonized, Yasushi was making a racket, a blue vein
popping out on his forehead. "That brat's groping the lieutenant's tits! Are
they soft? Huh?!"
The machine's fingertips made a motion as if they were pinching
something, and Yasushi reached a tipping point, frantically calling out to
Liam over and over again.
"Lord Liam, get out of there right now! You can't do something so
exciting—er, so disgraceful in the cockpit! Get down here! Lord Liam? Can
you hear me?"
Yasushi played his part when in Liam's presence, but as soon as the
count was out of sight, his attitude changed dramatically. Like Amagi, Brian
didn't trust him.
How is Master Liam showing such impressive results when he's
learning from a man like this? With Liam making such progress, they
couldn't just kick Yasushi out, and every time Brian reported the man's poor
behavior, Liam just wrote it off out of respect for his master. Eventually
Brian had decided to just keep quiet. Yasushi wasn't doing any actual harm,
and Liam was constantly improving. Brian even felt somewhat indebted to
the man for having Amagi restore the Avid. With her preference for
efficiency, she would never have done it otherwise.
"Get down here, you stupid brat!" Yasushi shouted.
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Amagi narrowed her eyes at him, and he hastily apologized.
"Oh, sorry about that. I just got a little emotional." He offered an
obsequious bow to the doll, sweat beading his forehead.
Is this man really a master swordsman and martial artist? Brian
couldn't help wondering.
***
I'm never forgiving that bastard! Yasushi was enraged at his apprentice
for putting his hands on Nias, whom he desired himself. He was too afraid to
actually scold Liam and make him angry, however, so he decided to get back
at him by making his training even more grueling. A man of small character
—that was Yasushi.
The revenge he came up with was harsher training than Liam had ever
experienced.
"You're beginning to tremble, Lord Liam." Arms crossed, Yasushi
glared at the sweating Liam.
"I-I'll try harder." Blindfolded, Liam stood atop an unstable log,
holding an extremely heavy sword. He'd already been made to undergo
several other acts, such as walking a tightrope like some street performer.
Yasushi forced upon Liam whatever harsh training he could think of to get
back at him.
"What are you going to do when you have to wield your sword on
unstable footing? Now, again."
Liam was sweating, exhausted. If Yasushi pushed him too hard, to the
point of injury, it would be all over for him, so he did his best to gauge
Liam's limits and dole out punishment accordingly.
"Once you're finished with this, it's back to pilot training. No time for
rest."
"Understood, Master!"
Liam listened well and worked hard, but he'd put his hands on a
woman Yasushi had wanted for himself, and the man just couldn't get past it.
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Now that it's come to this, I'm gonna keep demanding harder and
harder training. I'm gonna give you one trial after another that even you
can't handle, and it'll grind that pride of yours into dust! You'll lose all your
confidence, kid!
Nias stayed on for three months, leaving only when she'd finished
instructing them on maintenance and explaining the ins and outs of the craft.
She would return eventually, and Yasushi vowed to get her contact
information when she did.
"Your legs are shaking, Lord Liam. You haven't trained enough!"
"I-I'll redouble my efforts."
"Of course you will. Starting today, we're going to pick up the pace."
And so, Yasushi trained Liam much, much harder out of a personal
grudge.
***
I'll make your training impossible and break you! So Yasushi thought
as he devised all sorts of new training methods.
"Drop deaaad!"
He had set up pitching machines that shot rubber balls at a blindfolded
Liam from every angle. They were only rubber balls, so they wouldn't
seriously injure him, but they still hurt when they hit him.
"Ack!"
"What's wrong, Lord Liam? If you can't handle this, you'll never be
able to call yourself a warrior!" Yasushi cackled. Feeling victorious, he held
up the device that controlled the machines assaulting Liam.
See that, brat? That's 'cause you got too full of yourself!
There was no way for Liam to evade the rubber balls with the blindfold
on.
No matter how strong you are, there's nothin' you can do against this.
Yasushi smirked and increased the speed at which the balls were fired.
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"You must use your mind's eye, Lord Liam. Rely on your sixth...uh,
your seventh sense and swing your sword." He spouted some bullshit, giving
Liam the impression that he was doing all this for his sake. All he had to do
was come up with lines like this and Liam would believe anything he said.
"No! Swing your sword, Lord Liam!"
"B-but, Master, I only have one sword! I can't deal with this many of
them!"
An ugly smile spread on Yasushi's face. "Nothing is impossible in this
world, Lord Liam! Now, find the answer for yourself!"
There was no way he could hit the balls; what Yasushi demanded was
impossible. Nevertheless, a change occurred within Liam at that moment.
The combination of his vastly overdone basic training and all the ridiculous
training methods that Yasushi had sourced from free videos produced an
unexpected result.
Liam held the sword out in front of him, and several rubber balls
moved in a strange way, as though they were being knocked away before
they struck him. At first, Yasushi dismissed it, thinking he was mistaken, but
the number of deflected balls gradually increased.
"Huh?" His jaw dropped. It was as if there were a barrier around Liam.
Eventually, no matter how many rubber balls he fired at Liam, none of them
connected.
Still blindfolded, Liam smiled. "So this is what you meant, Master! I
finally understand!"
You...understand? Huh? Understand what?
Liam relaxed his posture, but the rubber balls still failed to strike him.
In fact, the range of the barrier only increased.
"A wall of magic. You meant for me to protect myself like this, right?"
What is he saying? Can you really just conjure a force field like that?
I've never heard of it before! Is this kid a master magician too?!
Liam had manifested a magical barrier around himself, but that wasn't
the end of it.
"Once you understand it, it's simple: the Way of the Flash is a mixed
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style of swordsmanship and magic. So..."
Liam swung his sword to create a spiral of air that whipped all the balls
upward as though they were caught in a tornado. Just when Liam could no
longer be seen behind the whirlwind, it suddenly disappeared.
"Gah!" In the next instant, one of the rubber balls flew into Yasushi's
wide-open mouth.
Huh? What? What just happened? He looked around and found the
pitching devices plugged with rubber balls. Yasushi let the ball drop from his
mouth, and when it hit the ground, it split in two. All the other balls on the
ground were split in a similar way.
Freed from the rain of rubber balls, Liam walked over to Yasushi and
faced him even with the blindfold on, smiling. The sight terrified Yasushi.
"Well, Master? Did I have the right idea?"
Yasushi trembled like a newborn fawn, his thoughts racing. What the
hell? I don't get it. How did he become so strong just from the basics and
whatever scams I came up with? Is he genuinely a genius? Yasushi hadn't
realized that all along he'd been training a complete monster. This is too
much. I don't want to be involved with him anymore.
He did his best to play his part. "Wonderful, Lord Liam. Now there is
nothing more I can teach you."
"Master?"
Yasushi continued his act even as a cold sweat ran down his brow,
relieved that Liam was wearing the blindfold. "You have only the secret
technique yet to master, but I'm sure you'll manage on your own, Lord Liam.
I leave you to pursue whatever training you desire from here on. The only
thing I have left to teach you is that there is no end to the path of true
swordsmanship. You must simply remain diligent."
He tried to wrap things up neatly, but Liam interjected, "I-I don't want
that! I want you to train me more, Master! I'll even open up a dojo just for
you, here in my domain!"
If you do that, I won't be able to get away!
Yasushi turned him down gently. "I'm honored by your offer, but I
have not yet finished my own journey. It is too soon for me to open up a
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dojo."
"Master... Th-then at least gauge my skill. I just want to know how far
along my secret technique is."
"Of course, I don't mind."
Liam removed his blindfold. "I'll ready the logs, then."
"There's no need to do it just this second."
Yasushi wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched Liam run off to
fetch some logs. "I-I gotta get outta here. If he ever finds out I'm a fake, he'll
kill me. I won't even be able to defend myself."
He made plans to award Liam as a full master of his sword style and
then get the hell off the planet.
***
A door between worlds opened, and the Guide stepped through. He
stood atop the mansion's roof and searched for Liam, feeling excited.
"Now, how is little Liam doing? Oh? His domain seems to have
advanced quite a bit." Apparently, Liam was doing better than the Guide had
anticipated, but this didn't bother him too much, considering it would make
his eventual fall from grace all the sweeter.
"And what about that swindler—is he doing his job?" Whether the fake
had been found out by Liam and cut down or was still deceiving him, it
didn't matter. Either way, the Guide was sure to be entertained.
At last, the Guide spotted Liam in the mansion's courtyard. He had
logs lined up all around him, but they were too far away for his sword to
reach.
"Oh, he's training? I look forward to seeing how his skill has
developed."
As Liam had lived a sheltered life, learning swordsmanship from a
swindler, the Guide couldn't imagine he had anywhere near the skill level of
an average knight in this world. If he was satisfied with his meager skill, it
would be amusing.
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There was a significant gap in the ability levels between individuals in
this world. It made quite a difference whether a person regularly spent time in
an education capsule in childhood or just used it once or twice and didn't let
the education really stick after that. This was a world where those born with
talent were seldom given the opportunity to make use of it to get ahead. Only
those who received a solid education—nobles and knights, mainly—were
able to become strong.
Knights were a special sort. With their swordsmanship, they could even
defeat soldiers armed with guns. The Guide thought that Liam, who'd been
educated by a charlatan, would be nothing but a pale imitation, a mockery of
someone with actual skill. Once he went out into the real world, he would
learn how powerless he was and become heartbroken.
However, though the frog in the well knows nothing of the vast ocean,
the one thing it knows perfectly is the beauty of the sky.
Liam pushed up the guard of his sword with his left thumb, then let it
fall back with a clink.
"Oh? What is he—huh?" All the Guide could do in response to the
sight unfolding before him was let out a dumbfounded "Wha—?!"
All the logs around Liam fell to the ground, cut by a sword that had
moved faster than the eye could see.
"Wait, that's—you can't be serious!" The Guide couldn't believe what
he was seeing. During the thirty years that he'd left Liam alone, he had
become incredibly strong.
The doll and the butler who were watching Liam applauded.
"Well done, Master."
"Very impressive, Master Liam."
It was a mind-boggling sight. Even with magic and a superior
physique, there were only a handful of people in this world who could reach
this level. Amagi handed Liam a towel, which he used to wipe away his
sweat.
"I still haven't reached my master's level. I wanted to learn more from
him, but he just disappeared after awarding me full mastery." Though he was
already a first-rate swordsman, he didn't let it go to his head and showed no
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sign of being content with his skill.
The Guide was overcome with bewilderment. What did that man do?
How did this happen? He quickly called up a screen to search for Yasushi
and located him drinking at a tavern on whatever planet he'd fled to.
A woman sat beside him at the bar, keeping him company.
"What is that kid? I just don't get it."
"Are you talking about your apprentice again, Mr. Yasushi?"
Yasushi griped, "I'm a second-rate swordsman... no, third-rate. But no
matter how stupid my ideas were, that kid actually found a way to put them
into practice. In ten years, he'd surpassed me, and in twenty years, he was
just a step away from being first-rate."
The woman laughed, apparently finding this funny.
"And in the last ten years, you made him a first-rate swordsman, huh?
Your jokes are so funny, Mr. Yasushi."
She didn't believe him, but Yasushi insisted that he wasn't joking. "It's
true! In the end, the kid even said he wanted to build a proper dojo for me so
I could teach swordsmanship there. I got so scared, I had to run. There's
something wrong with that kid. I mean, who the hell can cut their opponent
without even drawing their sword? It's crazy!"
Yasushi couldn't believe that Liam had recreated the street magician
act he'd showed him as an actual sword technique. The Guide banished the
image and put a hand to his forehead. He had a headache, and it was all
because of Liam. He could sense Liam's feelings of gratitude and heard his
thoughts as though they were spoken.
I've really been blessed, the boy was thinking. I was able to learn
swordsmanship from such a great teacher, and development in my domain
has come so far from where it was when I took over as lord. At first, I almost
thought I'd been tricked, but that Guide was the real deal. What an incredible
guy.
The feelings of gratitude the Guide had intercepted sickened him. It
was negative emotions he craved, and this sort of goodwill made him
nauseated. Liam's thankfulness was so strong that it was unpleasant for the
Guide to even be in this world.
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"I guess I have some thinking to do."
The Guide knew he had to come up with a way to cause Liam suffering
instead.
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