Kuro no Maou

“But, Kurono Mao, you can kill people while staying true to yourself, without running away, or forgetting about stuff, or going mad . You may suffer from worry, but those hands can kill both enemies and innocent people alike . ”

“Even though I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not . ”

“No, you’re doing the right thing . But that’s not it–”

The white breath coming out of her mouth was proof of just how cold this place was . But at that moment, the ancient demon Mia’s face seemed colder than that .

“You can’t kill the apostle . ”

I didn’t ask what she was talking about . Or should I say that I couldn’t?

I couldn’t do anything aside from quietly reflect upon her words .

“Hmm, I think you did the right thing refusing their offer . After all, you should focus on killing that apostle . ”

“But I don’t know when he will appear next, or if he will at all . Wait, could it be that you know, Mia?”

“Oh, I don’t . The apostle’s movements are impossible for me to predict, even with the Black Gods’ blessing of prediction and foresight . ”

Were the White Gods intentionally hiding the apostle’s movements? Either way, there’s no point thinking about it since it then would be a conflict between gods, and would have nothing to do with us humans .

The bottom line is that the obvious consequence is that there is no convenient way to predict his movements .

“Well, even if the apostle does not make a move now, it still looks dangerous . ”

“But I was surprised to see that that Power Loader . I had thought it would still be a long time into the future before I saw such a thing on this earth...”

“Is it beyond the current magical technology?”

“It’s just a matter of how it operates . But to be able to restore those “Fulltune” to full functionality... if magic continues to develop at this rate... it would take 30 more years to do something like that . ”

So those high-speed boosters are technology from thirty years into the future . That means that some kind of magical breakthrough must have happened two or three times in order to obtain such technology so soon . They must certainly have such superior abilities .

“Can I ask you about the Taurus?”

“I’m not supposed to talk about them, but I’ll still tell you a bit . I don’t know the details of how exactly they were able to restore the Fulltunes, but can still give you a general idea . ”

It seems that the gods’ rules regarding information sharing have become lenient . Could it be some sort of system where the information on the real world was revealed according to our discoveries and inventions? It may be just a hypothesis, but I can help but think that I’m not too far off .

“Does it have any weak points?”

“The Taurus weren’t meant to be used for combat, but they have been built to be sturdy enough to be used in harsh environments . It hasn’t been so poorly designed to have its weak points so easily noticeable on the surface . ”

Well, it made sense . Realistically speaking, I wouldn’t go and build a digger or a dump truck with parts as thin as paper on purpose . The only convenient weak point we could aim for was to defeat some sort of predefined ‘Game Boss’ .

“They really keep on moving even if you handle them poorly . They’re famous for being hard to break, too . ”

“Have you been in one of those before?”

“Oh, many times! I have an Omega Rank Power Loader driver’s licence!”

I... didn’t know what was so amazing about that, even after seeing her puff up that tiny chest of hers . Sorry, Mia . Was it like having something like a freight’s license or a bus driver’s license?

“Ah... I see, that’s great . ”

“Yeah! I can turn that Galahad Fortress into rubble in five minutes if you let me ride one of those Taurus!”

“Please don’t . ”

“But it’s really cool . It’s pretty rare to see someone who can control both a Power Loader and a Night Frame . ”

“Night Frame? What is that?”

“...Ah!?”

Mia’s face had “Whoops” written all over it . Perhaps she had said something that was against the gods’ rules .

“I heard from Lily that, as the name implies, the ‘Power Loaders’ were built for working . So I guessed that there would be others that had been built for battle . ”

That wasn’t my question . That made me even more intrigued about them .

“But what are those Night Frames you mentioned?”

“P–please pretend you didn’t hear anything! Please!”

Her lowered face and teary eyes suggested that she’d do anything to keep my silence, and for a moment I felt the impulse of pulling a prank on her because of it– but no . If I did, it would be something irreversible against both gods’ and earthly laws alike .

“Got it . I just hope there are no combat robots about to enter the stage for now . ”

“At the very least, there are no historical records of one of those having been excavated . Only random parts at most . ”

“So there are none of those left?”

“I think there are lots of them, only they’re still buried under ruins everywhere . It’s just that no one has been able to find the special access to their craft hangars– no, I can’t talk about that!”

I wanted to say something, but couldn’t come up with anything . I could only stand with a bitter laugh as Mia frantically said something like “Yes, let’s stop talking about this” .

“But yeah, there must be lots of undiscovered ruins all over the place . Maybe you know whether or not there are some ruins like that in this Galahad Fortress, I mean, what this place originally was in the past?”

“Yeah, I know, but... that’s a secret . ”

So that means that there wasn’t anything like a mountain village or a checking station here .

I had heard that the gates on the castle walls were part of some historic ruins . There was no other building, only a huge door and some walls remaining . Such a strange structure had been built in this remote place .

Though I secretly felt that this had once been a prominent fortress that blocked access to the Galahad Mountains at the time .

Something like that experimental facility that remodeled my body .

It’s not like I saw some relation between here and that place, it was just a strange feeling . The huge gates and walls were not to prevent enemies from entering, but rather for keeping them locked inside . That thought suddenly passed through my mind .

Well, whatever this place used to be in the past, it doesn’t matter now .

“Everything’s secret with you, huh?”

“I’m sorry . ”

“Don’t worry about it . So, how much can you tell me about the Taurus?”

“Hmm, let’s see, first of all–”

And so, I was given lessons on how to pilot a Taurus from the Omega-Rank License-holding Mia .

“–Then, at that moment, you can swiftly pull that, and you’ll go ‘vrooom!’, so you’ll be just fine!”

I’m sorry, but I could not understand a single word you were saying .

Please, dear goddess, give me some information that is actually useful...