I’ll do my best for everyone!
Prince Todd was now twelve years old, and his nickname had changed to the “Alchemy Prince.”
He would bring suspicious people into the palace and introduce them to Knight Commander Raienbach of the Royal Guard, then proceed to conduct strange experiments.
The materials from magical creatures were already overflowing his private rooms, so he started storing them in the royal family’s storehouses.
As a result, more and more people took notice, branding him as a disturbing boy who dissected the corpses of magical creatures.
In contrast, Edward’s reputation grew day by day.
Just recently, he had gone on a diplomatic mission to the neighboring country of Rynfelt as a goodwill ambassador and achieved great success in negotiations.
The nobles quickly gave up on Todd and started touting Edward as the next king.
Even the king and queen who could no longer ignore their machinations grew tired of Todd’s refusal to change despite repeated warnings.
They laugh at the fall of a once prodigy, but they do not realize it.
they failed to realize that the reactions they were having was exactly what Todd had deliberately orchestrated…
In the backyard of the main residence was an old storehouse that no one used anymore.
It had apparently been built by the great grandfather.
Since no one had used this place for a long time, it had become a garbage dump filled with random junk that had piled up over the years which no one knew what to do with.
Todd had gotten ownership of it from his father and was using it as their secret lab.
The spacious building was also good for moving around, and the surrounding trees made it an ideal spot for confidentiality.
“Rai, let’s take a short break,” Todd said.
“Hah,” Raienbach responded.
Todd took off his helmet and wiped his face with a towel handed to him.
He was wearing red armor.
But for a twelve year old, he had grown to have strength stronger than even Raienbach. Of course, this was no ordinary armor.
Unlike typical metal armor, only the exterior was metal.
The inside was crammed full of materials from magical creatures.
Larger than the powered exoskeleton Haruto had developed, and smaller in size compared to the mobile armor, this unit was the culmination of their blood and sweat over the past two years.
Enhanced Heavy Armor Mark II, known as “Shiranui,” was the name engraved on the armor Haruto was wearing.
About six months ago, there was a malicious monster called the Red Ogre that had caused chaos within the country.
Ogres, possessing enough intelligence to use magic and command other ogres, had devastated several small villages and killed many people.
Todd and the others had managed to secure his father’s cooperation in subduing the ogres just when they were struggling to obtain magic stones. Using the prototype enhanced weaponry, Todd, Rienbach, and Renge successfully defeated the ogres and exterminated those in the vicinity.
Normally, such formidable enemies would require a full-fledged expedition, but they were no match for Todd and the others using enhanced weaponry.
Research had also progressed, and they no longer needed as many large magic stones as before. Therefore, even ogre magic stones were sufficient, and they currently had a significant stockpile of enhanced weaponry.
With the successful acquisition of a large amount of materials, there was a prospect of mass-producing enhanced weaponry, and they began working on the production of mobile armor.
However, the production of mobile armor seemed to be more challenging than the previous weaponry. Therefore, they were at a stage where they were experimenting with various improvements, aiming to create mobile armor.
The enhanced heavy armor Todd was currently wearing was not designed to use the monster’s body almost entirely, like mobile armor. Instead, it was crafted by shaving and layering muscles and various materials along the wearer’s body, conforming to their physique.
Although the body of an ogre is strong, it has difficulty conducting magical energy from the inside.
Therefore, highly conductive materials like thunder jellyfish and wind eels were used on the interior to cover this weakness.
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By channeling magical energy, effects similar to enhancement spells could be achieved. With the orc muscles providing additional power, the attacks were tremendous.
With the Shiranui armor, Todd could smash boulders. And swinging his sword, even large trees could be easily sliced through.
It hadn’t even been a month since its development, and they were still overwhelmed by its sheer power.
But compared to the enhancement gear, the combat capabilities of this reinforced armor had improved dramatically.
With the Shiranui, Todd could finally match blades with Raienbach.
“How is it feeling, Your Highness? Does it handle well?”
“The ventilation is awful, but the power is good. I can finally spar properly with Rai.
As expected, mind-blowing as always when I’m with you Todd, completely overturning common sense.”
Stroking his beard, Raienbach was covered head to toe in black armor.
This was a prototype made in anticipation of using alloys for the powered suits, the Magical Plate Armor Model B.
The armor was crafted from an alloy mixed with mythril which had high affinity with magical energy, and was designed to embed magically enhanced gemstones to channel power.
Although not visible externally, opening it up revealed magical circuits etched intricately like geometric patterns inside.
This too was planned to be made into a template to streamline and mass produce as one type of armament.
“If we officially outfit the Royal Guard…no, the entire kingdom’s army with these, then not just neighboring countries, but conquering the continent would be possible too. It’s quite regrettable you insisted on the confidentiality agreement.”
“Now now, that’s unrealistic, don’t you think? As insane as we are, I doubt there’s anyone else like us. But if there are skilled magic tool artisans out there, they could probably make degraded imitation versions. With the risks of dead copies and technology leaks, it’s still too early to go public. Rynfelt has the advantage in manpower so we’ll have to beat them with mass production and quality for now.”
Raienbach had been testing various armaments for them like the enhancement gear and magical plate armor.
At that time, Todd had imposed confidentiality obligations on him
- an absolute, legally binding agreement at the level of state secrets.
Raienbach was now stuck between Todd and the king.
Todd wanted to relieve his burden as soon as possible.
But it was still too soon.
Even if they had tremendous technology, it would be meaningless if it was stolen by other nations.
What they needed now was something that would convince the country to properly classify and continue research.
“If we’re doing this, it has to be done in total secrecy with approval from Father, gathering only personnel we can completely trust. What we should be doing now is…”
“Subjugate the mountain tribes, add them to our forces as a war trophy, prove the efficacy of the enhancement gear and other weapons in actual combat to impress the kingdom. And secure funding at the national level… right? Honestly, I can’t see how this will actually work out well…”
Renge made no attempt to hide her unease. As Todd said, she was skeptical they could really suppress the mountain tribes with just a small elite force.
In fact, King Rynsgaya IV, Todd’s father, had taken a negative stance on Todd’s proposed expedition.
Todd’s plan was to challenge the mountain tribes with minimal budget and personnel, something that seemed destined to fail.
The requested budget was only for food and maintenance during the trip, a fraction of what the queen would spend on entertainment each month.
The only personnel being brought along were Todd, Raienbach, Renge, Haruto, and a few others to be dispatched from the Royal Guard.
The king was quite reluctant, but thanks to Raienbach swearing,
[If it comes down to it, I will grab His Highness by the scruff of his neck and drag him back alive]
it looked like persuasion would succeed soon.
To outsiders, such a reckless plan only seemed like Todd had lost popularity and was getting desperate. That’s exactly why Father would likely permit it, Todd calculated.
…However, he had good odds.
Due to his knowledge from the game, Todd understood the temperament of the mountain tribes.
The mountain tribes were basically a nomadic equestrian people who lived free alongside nature.
They offered prayers to nature and the gods, and valued strength above all. Once defeated, they had no qualms about following the victor. Rather, they were grateful to the gods for being able to fight under a powerful chieftain.
But not everyone would know these customs of the mountain tribes. Since they were seen as barbarians, the kingdom’s citizens had no interaction with them. It was only natural that Renge, a native Akitsushiman unfamiliar with these circumstances, would see it as reckless and self-destructive.
This was knowledge only Todd could have, with his awareness of the original work—specifically Edward’s failed coup d’etat and attempt to rebuild his forces with the mountain tribes in the [Usurpation Route – Mountain Tribe Arc].
His body had grown to a certain extent, and with the magical plate armor, he could cross blades evenly with Raienbach.
He was confident they could handle any archer cavalry the mountain tribes had.
Raienbach’s speed already rivaled a horse at full gallop.
Furthermore, without holding back, Todd could reach speeds to lightly outrun a horse in the high output Shiranui armor.
And with his royal bloodline, Todd had quite high magical energy specifications, able to operate the Shiranui at full power for several hours.
What concerned him was the possibility of losing concentration and the awful stuffiness and stench inside from poor ventilation…but solutions for both had been found in the past month of long duration operation training, and Todd’s nose becoming numb.
“Well, we should at least be able to escape mounted archers if it comes down to it. I’m not that used to it yet, but even I can manage to run away,”
But it’s too dangerous for you to go there, Haruto. If you want data, I can take your place. …… “
“No no, that would be such a waste. The moment my inventions see the light of day that I’ve waited so long for—I couldn’t die in peace without witnessing it.”
“Haruto…”
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