Chapter 54
As the development and improvement of the stab-resistant, slash-resistant maid uniforms continued in secret from Akion….
- Brrrrr…!
“Oh, Young Master, what’s that?”
When Goldie visited the workshop, Akion was playing with something.
“Oh, this?”
It was an iron rod floating in midair.
Since it floated without any force acting on it, the phenomenon seemed like magic from Goldie’s perspective.
Though she was a mage herself, of course.
“A maglev train using electromagnetic force…?”
“A train?”
“Or you have that, that telekinetic magic, right? That might be easier for you to understand.”
Telekinetic magic.
As its name suggested, it was magic that consumed mana to shoot or hurl objects at high speeds.
Aside from what Akion had used during the water-tank construction, it was a field whose usefulness had not been particularly proven….
“But this, Goldie, uses lightning, your specialty.”
“Lightning?”
“Yep. This electromagnetic force generates a Lorentz force…. You learned about the Lorentz force before, right? They must have taught it at the Tower.”
“Yes. But this is the Lorentz force?”
In short, the Lorentz force caused a conductor carrying an electric current to receive force in a perpendicular direction.
“With this kind of force, we could levitate and transport a huge iron carriage. Conversely, if we made it go fast─.”
And it had two possible applications.
Akion, who had just shown it moving little by little, increased the mana-stone output,
- Thunk! Crack!
“Whaaat?!”
“You can shoot it this fast, too. If it gets any faster, it’ll become a weapon called a railgun.”
It was not especially fast, but the iron ball left a mere scratch in the wood before falling.
These days, the maid-uniform enhancement workshop was suffering from the absence of a groundbreaking attack─no, defensive weapon.
But here they had… the Lorentz force?
“If you shot this at a person, they could be seriously injured.”
“D-Definitely.”
“And it’s surprisingly resource-intensive, too─.”
To Goldie, this scientific principle looked like the perfect thing to turn into a weapon.
The problem was Akion’s perspective.
“Goldie’s reaction means it must have been pretty powerful. As expected, science and technology shouldn’t be used as weapons.”
He was reluctant to see the science and engineering techniques he had taught and generously shared used for violence.
He had allowed things like the holy-light surveying device and flashlights because they were essentially effective only against demons and monsters,
but Akion’s position was that anything beyond that was questionable.
But… even Goldie’s mouth watered at the sight of this weapon.
“Th-Then, Young Master… if it were used only for defense, what would you think?”
“……You’re thinking something weird.”
Goldie had tried sounding him out, but he had caught her immediately.
Startled, she busily looked away like a guilty puppy.
“Sigh. Well. An offensive measure for defense is fine. But I won’t tolerate it being wielded for personal gain.”
Ironically, science and engineering had advanced enormously through war.
The magic of this world was also developing endlessly with a focus on combat for the same reason.
Akion was not unaware of that.
That was why, as mentioned earlier, he allowed things up to the level of the holy-light surveying device and the like.
“Hehe. Young Master, you really are kind.”
“All right. I’ll pet you.”
“Heehee!”
That permission sounded to Goldie like this:
‘Unlimited use for defensive purposes.’
In other words, its use was permitted, within limits, for a bodyguard.
And Goldie also served as Akion’s bodyguard.
Could there be a more mouthwatering situation?
*
“The Lorentz force?”
The maids had also attended the lecture on the Lorentz force, so they all understood the principle.
“Yes!”
“Hmm. But would it produce enough force?”
Of course, the maids who heard Goldie’s suggestion were mages as well.
Thinking back to the Lorentz force Akion had explained at the time… they were unsure whether it would actually be useful.
That was why even the maid mages in the workshop immediately began to ponder the matter.
However,
- Crackle!
“Huh.”
Goldie generated electricity in both hands to form a powerful magnetic field,
and a small iron ball floated between them, suspended by electromagnetic force….
“Take that!”
- Boom!!
It shot away like a bullet with the sound of exploding air.
- Crash!!
“Whoa?! Did I make it too strong?!”
Then it smashed the desk to pieces.
Goldie was immediately flustered, wondering if she had fired it too powerfully, but….
“……Isn’t this stronger than Stone Piercing?”
“It seems a little stronger, but it probably uses only a quarter of the mana…?”
All the maid mages participating in the manufacture of the special maid uniforms could tell how powerful it was.
Moreover, they knew Goldie’s abilities well.
She had used fifth-circle lightning magic to smash a hardwood desk that was sturdier than a human being?
At that level, it would be far more efficient than the Stone Piercing they had used to test the maid uniforms’ durability.
“This… could be useful.”
“Iron balls are easy enough to make. Yeah….”
This would definitely work!
…Or so they thought. They were mistaken.
- Tap, tap.
“Ugh. This is trickier than it looks…!”
When the others who could use lightning magic tried it, they managed to launch the iron balls.
However, contrary to their expectations, they could not match Goldie’s destructive power.
“Hehe, did you really think this would be easy?”
The reason was that manipulating electromagnetic force over a wider area required an incredible degree of delicacy.
Goldie had simply overwhelmed that difficulty with her talent for lightning magic and the power of the fifth circle.
“Come back when you’ve reached the fifth circle!”
“You little…!”
“Um….”
While everyone seethed at Goldie’s bragging and continued working hard, one of the maids raised her hand.
“Wouldn’t it work if we simply made the iron balls smaller and narrowed the area where the force is concentrated?”
“Huh?”
“Oh?”
It was an idea for controlling electromagnetic force more efficiently.
So, without Akion’s knowledge, the maids persuaded the workshop craftsmen to make a long, sturdy barrel with opposing iron rods inside, one that could hold and fire iron balls….
- Thunk!
- Whack!
“Whoa?! It performs almost as well as mine!”
“We did it!!”
The result was a success.
It was crude, but they had completed a railgun.
*
“Bear this in mind.”
The news reached the Tower Master’s ears as well.
She rushed over and marveled at the railgun’s principle and power.
“Akion hates the idea of using this to hurt anyone. Demons, monsters, dark mages, robbers, and murderers are exceptions, of course.”
She also emphasized a warning.
“Under my name, I forbid its use for personal reasons. Use it only for self-defense and repelling intruders. Return this railgun here every day. Understood?”
“Yes!!”
Every maid who had participated in its development knew this and intended to obey it.
After all, how many benefits had they enjoyed thanks to Akion!
They did not want Akion to hate them, nor did they want to disappoint him.
They should have been prepared for that to some extent after committing this research in the first place. In any case.
“And… even if he finds out someday, do not panic. Did we not pledge to use it all for Akion’s sake? Even if matters grow serious, I shall somehow placate Akion.”
“Yes!!”
With the Tower Master herself pushing them forward so enthusiastically, how could they have any concerns?
“Then…!”
“Now let us try it. I cannot hold back anymore either!! Grrr…!!”
Thus, they focused even more intently on their research.
All while increasing it to a scale that would make Akion foam at the mouth.
* * *
A few days later.
“Damn, it’s good that Enersis got involved, but….”
The mercenaries of the small Calypso mercenary company were staying in Lidasid.
“There’s absolutely no opening to get inside.”
“What should we do? Put on masks and charge in?”
“Are you crazy? You want us to charge straight into a prestigious noble family’s estate?”
They had received a commission.
They were to infiltrate the Enersis estate and retrieve something.
“Don’t worry. Who do you think I am?”
“Boss, that’s…!”
Recta, captain of the Calypso mercenary company, had initially been reluctant to accept the commission.
According to the rumors he had heard, Enersis was on high alert because of an infiltration by dark mages.
To commit another offense under those circumstances?
That was practically the same as poking a beehive.
“It’s a blueprint of the estate. It even shows the secret passages.”
“Whoa!!”
But the client had offered far too much money to refuse, and had even handed them blueprints of the estate that would never be shown to outsiders.
“This… it has the secret passages marked, too? Where did you get this─.”
“You do not need to know.”
The client, who had pulled their cloak’s hood low over their face, told them to keep their noses out of secrets and simply follow orders.
“Just shut up and retrieve any traces of Akion Enersis. Clothes, shoes, anything. Hair would be even better.”
“Well… understood. Since you’ve paid everything upfront, we’ll take the job.”
The sum of money was so large that Recta had no reason to refuse.
What about the possibility of being caught and killed?
A mercenary’s life was a campfire burning in the middle of a storm, anyway.
“Let’s all retire after this job!”
“Hehehe!”
More than anything, the Calypso mercenary company’s specialty was…
“Dollipson, Kale, Jekki. Scout around the passage as usual.”
“Yes, sir!”
Stealthy infiltration and assassination so thorough that even knights had difficulty noticing it.
Their thoroughness and brutality were so fearsome that they were known, in hushed whispers, among the nobles who profited from wartime booms.
Of course, they had entered Enersis under forged identities.
“We’ll begin as the night deepens. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
And so, by the time the moon had risen and midnight was approaching,
- Chirp, chirp….
the hour when even the crickets’ cries were gradually dying down,
- Rustle, rustle.
the Calypso mercenaries who knew how to manipulate mana were moving through Enersis’s secret passage.
“The boss really is amazing. Where did he even find out about a secret passage like this?”
“The client gave us the estate blueprint, remember? But this place is insanely complicated… It connects to all sorts of places.”
Their target was a trace of Akion Enersis.
Clothes, shoes, anything. A body part such as hair would be even better.
Some of them suspected it might be a means for dark mages to cast a curse, but they had already accepted the money and could no longer back out.
Besides, they could always wash their identities clean afterward!
“Hehehe, once this job’s over, I’ll have two decent women on my arms….”
“With that face? Give it up.”
The mercenaries seemed unable to focus on their work as they dreamed of futures filled with flower-strewn paths, until….
- Halt!
Recta’s hand signal silenced everyone.
A small door had appeared before them.
- Halt, halt-halt.
‘First-floor corridor.’
According to the map, the door led to the first floor of the Enersis estate.
It was a secret door beside the stairs leading up to the second floor, where the members of the family stayed.
‘We’re going in.’
At their captain’s hand signal, they all drew up their mana and suppressed every sound.
- Creak, creak, creeeak….
The secret door opened very carefully and slowly.
Even though the sound was close enough to be confusing, Captain Recta cautiously opened the door.
And─.
- Click.
“As expected, our fellow guard’s nose was right.”
“Hup?!”
Something was pointed between his brows.
“I heard that several people reeking of blood had been entering in groups for the past few days. Their occupations varied, but apparently the smell of blood was overwhelming.”
“We wondered what was going on after traces of dark magic were found in the estate recently… So they were coming through the secret passage after all. Good thing we’ve been patrolling properly.”
It was a weapon none of them had ever seen before: a long barrel painted black.
The captain hurriedly moved his gaze around.
A beastkin maid was aiming the long barrel at his forehead.
Behind her stood several more maids, some wearing gauntlets and others even wearing breastplates.
And…
“Dra… gon?”
“Hmm. You’re quick on the uptake.”
A black-haired dragon proudly displaying vicious horns above her head.
At this point, the mercenaries besides Recta understood as well.
“I do not know your intent, but you entered through the estate’s secret door in the middle of the night, holding your breath to avoid making a sound? You look like robbers to me.”
“Or perhaps they’re after Young Master.”
“Hmm. You may be right, Goldie. No, you must be right.”
Judging from this vicious atmosphere… they were well and truly screwed.
They were all stretched to the limit with tension. They had heard that every servant of Enersis could use magic.
- Halt, halt!
That meant escape came first.
- Halt, shing!
“Dieee!!!”
They all drew their swords and swung their aura.
Jekki’s aura blade was swung at Goldie, who stood at the front.
And then,
- Clang!
“What?!”
The aura blade failed to pierce the maid uniform, bouncing off without even scratching a speck of dust from it.
- Bang!!!
“Jekkiii?!!”
“W-What kind of magic was that? How did it activate without any incantation?!”
“Freeze. Drop your swords.”
And with a thunderous boom… Jekki collapsed, bleeding.
Recta, who was around the level of an advanced Expert, saw it.
An iron ball had been fired from the end of the black weapon Goldie held, piercing Jekki.
“You dared attack Goldie, you murderous robbers? Heehee, if you resist from this point on….”
- Click, click, click!
“You’ll end up like Jekki. If you don’t want that, drop your weapons and surrender right now. I have a lot to ask you.”
“Ghnngh, Boss, I’m all right, so….”
“What do you mean, all right?! You can’t even move!”
Jekki was a lower Expert.
It was powerful enough to incapacitate him instantly, but a shield reinforced with mana should have been able to block it easily.
And that was a basic skill for every aura user. If they had shields, this was an opponent they could take on.
“Grrr, if only we’d had shields…!”
The problem was that they did not have those shields with them now!
With dozens of black weapons that appeared to be the culprit aimed at them, the mercenaries felt as if they had been left standing on a plain beneath a rain of millions of arrows.
“Goldie is merciful, so I’ll count to ten for you. One, two, three─.”
“Hmm. Goldie. You’ve grown fiercer since taking charge of the patrols.”
“Well, it’s obvious they were after Young Master, isn’t it? Five, six, seven─.”
There was no doubt about it: they were
- Clatter! Thud!
“I-I surrender.”
“Please, spare our lives….”
“Good, good!”
completely and utterly screwed.
*
And the next day,
- Smack! Smack!
Akion slapped Goldie and the Tower Master.
In front of all the maids and the other members of the household.
“……Huh?”
“……Akion?”
“Akion! What do you think you’re doing?! Why are you suddenly hitting us?!”
“If you neglected your responsibilities, shut up, Count.”
“W-What? You called me Count instead of Father again…?!”
But Akion was talentless and had a weak body.
Rather than their cheeks, it was his own hands that swelled up more.
“Right now…!”
In other words,
“Do you even know what you’ve done─?!!!”
“Eeeek….”
“Gasp….”
Akion was so furious that he had been driven to do that.
At the sight of Akion angrier than ever before, Goldie and the Tower Master turned pale.
],
notes
Corrected awkward phrasing, clarified the defense-versus-attack contrast, and preserved neutral references where the client’s identity is unspecified. No accidental adjacent repetition remained after review.
approved
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