Combat Mechanical Beast

I had long been nurturing a delusion of mine, and now I was going to make it reality.

The fusion of my beloved heavy machinery—Ko○tsu-san—and fantasy weapons.

That was the gist of this plan.

First, I would buy a heavy-equipment attachment called a crusher, used in my original world to demolish buildings.

It was attached to the end of a backhoe's arm and shaped like the pincers of a stag beetle.

Those huge jaws cut through concrete and rebar to demolish buildings.

Since I wasn't going to use this demolition attachment for demolitions, a battered used one would do.

A rust-covered crusher was selling for about ¥100,000. I'd use that.

"Click."

Thud! The heavy mass of steel sank into the ground.

It was far too heavy for one person to move, so I had the strong beastfolk help me.

I planned to combine it with the giant dwarf sword I had bought in Sovana.

I took the greatsword out of my Item Box as well.

"Boss, what are you going to do with a sword this huge?" "Nyaa?"

"I'll attach it to the arm of a summoned beast and swing it."

"Huh?! You mean it?!"

"Serious. Written honki, read maji."

Lilith, who had been silent, came over to me.

"You had a sword that enormous as well?"

"Ah, I never showed it to you, did I? I bought it at a dwarf's shop in Sovana."

I explained that the black blade was made of adamantite.

"What? Adamantite?!"

"The dwarf said it could even cut dragon scales."

"If this is genuine adamantite, then it can."

There was no reason to think that dwarf had lied, so this had to be the real thing.

Lilith gazed at the greatsword with interest and touched it with her hand.

She seemed quite curious, but curiosity killed the cat—I had to be careful.

With the beastfolk's help, I laid the enormous iron jaws and the greatsword down so that the hilt would fit against them.

I took a plasma cutter from my Item Box and cut iron pipes and plates I had bought from Shangri-La.

I would weld them together to make numerous Ω-shaped fasteners and secure them to the attachment.

I took a large generator and a welding machine from my Item Box and got them ready.

I put on a welding mask and warned everyone around me.

"Hey! I'm going to make magical light, so looking directly at it will blind you! Don't look, no matter what!"

"Kenichi, is that true?"

"It is. So don't look. Anemone, heat the iron a little."

"Okay. Warm!"

She couldn't heat the iron until it glowed red, but she could make it hot enough that it was impossible to touch.

When I started the generator and began welding, it emitted a dazzling white flash and sent sparks flying.

For now, this attachment would be used exclusively for this purpose, so I welded it together as securely as possible.

"Good heavens—that really is a light that could blind you!"

"Don't look!"

After welding the greatsword's hilt and the steel jaws together for several dozen minutes, I had them firmly fixed in place.

"Whew—now to see if this really works... I'm bringing out the summoned beast, so everyone stand back!"

My enhanced weapon for Ko○tsu-san was complete, so it was time for a test cut.

If this didn't work, I would have to have custom fasteners made and everything else.

I took the heavy machinery out of my Item Box.

"Ko○tsu-san, summon!"

With a ground-shaking rumble, a gigantic yellow piece of heavy machinery appeared.

With the beastfolk's help, I replaced the bucket attached to Ko○tsu-san's arm with the greatsword.

Naturally, I connected the hydraulic cables as well. When the crusher's jaws opened, they looked like an enormous sword guard.

I sat in the driver's seat of the heavy machinery, started the engine, and checked how it felt.

I could hold the greatsword horizontally, or stand it upright and thrust it down.

This attachment could rotate its tip 360 degrees, allowing me to hold the sword vertically or horizontally.

The arm of this machine reached about nine meters, and the sword added another three meters of blade.

A giant swinging a sword with a reach of twelve meters to the tip.

I felt that I could simply have Anemone's golem hold the sword without going to all this trouble.

"Anemone, do you think you could make a golem hold a sword?"

"Umm, that sounds difficult..."

When I asked Lilith, she said there were no examples of golems equipping swords either.

When used in battle, they apparently attacked by simply throwing rocks or rolling logs.

"So... Boss, are you going to use this in battle?" "Nya?"

"I'm going to test it now."

I drove the heavy machinery toward the forest on the Astrantia side.

I intended to clear this area and build a direct road to Astrantia, so there shouldn't be a problem with cutting down trees.

I held the sword horizontally and swung Ko○tsu-san's arm, lining it up with a tree I wanted to cut down. The tree was about forty centimeters thick.

I adjusted its position while making two or three practice swings.

"All right! Let's give it a try."

Modern science, plus a fantasy weapon.

What on earth would the result be?

"Hey! It's dangerous, so stay back!"

I leaned out of the driver's seat and warned everyone nearby. The sword's fastenings might break and send it flying.

I tightened my grip on the lever.

It was a machine, so moving the lever for turning should produce the same movement every time.

The vehicle swung around forcefully, and the tip reached the enormous tree.

What would happen? Excited with curiosity, I operated the arm—but it simply passed by.

"Huh? Did I miss?"

I leaned out of the driver's seat to see what had happened, when a wind blew and the forest swayed.

As though pushed by the wind, the tree began to move slowly.

Just as I was celebrating, thinking I had done it, the enormous tree began falling toward me.

"W-wait a second!"

I hurriedly tried to jump out of the driver's seat, but Anemone's voice rang out.

"Holy Shield!"

At her cry, a transparent shield appeared and deflected the falling tree diagonally. It fell beside Ko○tsu-san and bounced.

A deep rumble echoed through my gut as the tree rolled over the ground. The blood drained from my face.

"Whew... That scared me..."

Of course, if you cut a tree horizontally, it could fall in either direction, but because it had fallen toward me, that meant I had truly cut the enormous tree in half with one stroke.

As I rejoiced, everyone hurried over to me.

"Amazing! This is usable!"

"Boss, celebrating is fine, but that was dangerous, you know?"

"Yeah, nya."

"Sorry! I wanted to test it as soon as possible, so I wasn't paying enough attention."

"That's unusual for you, Kenichi."

"But as expected of adamantite. It looks like the claim that it can cut dragons wasn't a lie."

Whether the sword swung by this steel beast would really work against a dragon remained to be seen.

"Kenichi, what are you going to do with this monster?"

"What do you mean...? Use it, of course. I have to protect my margraviate."

"But if you use something like this, even an entire knight corps would be cut in half along with their armor."

Anemone murmured as she looked at the vicious weapon.

"U-uh, probably."

I didn't want to use it that way, but if it was necessary to protect everyone, I would have to make that decision.

That was the position I had found myself in, after all.

For now, as a peaceful application, I used it to cut the fallen tree into pieces under ten meters long so they could fit into my Item Box.

I stood the greatsword's blade upright and cut the tree into rounds. If I halved them, they should fit in my Item Box.

With a clean swish, it cut through the wood with almost comical ease. This was incredible.

It felt as though I were slicing through chains of atoms, cutting smoothly through everything.

While I was working, Akira's Pr○do came over to us.

Akira was naturally driving, but it seemed someone else was riding with him as well.

I went to greet Akira.

"Yo! Akira, good to see you!"

"Hey! This place is pretty great. If you built some cottages, it could be a resort area."

"There's a waterfall over there too. The people of this world don't seem to take sightseeing trips, though."

"Yeah, that's true. The high nobles sometimes go to resort areas, but..."

Only the very highest-ranking nobles could do something like that.

I had heard that even the count who ruled neighboring Dalia only had a small villa in the royal capital for overnight stays.

"Maybe I should live here by myself after all?"

"If you do, I'll be happy to have you. Though there's nothing here."

"As long as there's good food, booze, and women—wait, what the hell is that?"

Akira had spotted the heavy machinery with the greatsword attached and was staring in amazement.

"I bought a greatsword from a dwarf in Sovana and attached it to the heavy machinery so I could repurpose it as a weapon. I call it the Combat Mechanical Beast!"

"That's seriously insane—in a good way, of course."

"Haha, thanks. I can't have a knight corps or an army for the time being, so I need a military force to take their place, right?"

"Being a lord really is tough. I'd want nothing to do with being a noble."

For now, I decided to put the heavy machinery back in my Item Box.

Primula came over from behind Akira, who was staring at me in disbelief. She was wearing a brand-new blue jacket and carrying a piece of blue cloth in her arms.

Beside her stood a short, bearded man. He wore a white shirt, brown trousers, and a brown vest. Though short, he had the sturdy build of a manual laborer.

He looked every inch the stubborn craftsman. He seemed to be about my age, or perhaps a little older, but men in this world often looked older than their actual age.

That was the opposite of Japanese people, who tended to look young. Perhaps people here simply had more hardships to endure.

There was also a white-furred female beastfolk near the Pr○do.

She was probably the new bodyguard Primula had hired.

The main customer was the man standing in front of me.

"Primula, who is that?"

"This is Dracula, the master carpenter of Astrantia."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Margrave-sama."

I stopped the master carpenter before he could continue with his stiff formal greeting.

"You don't need to be so formal. Just call me Kenichi."

"Then, Kenichi-sama. I hear you intend to build a mansion?"

"Yes—"

I told him how large I wanted the mansion to be. Something slightly smaller than the viscount's residence in Astrantia should be sufficient.

Of course, it would be made of wood. There was no need to build an extravagant stone structure for a territory that might disappear at any moment.

"Also, I need lodgings for the maids. Build it to accommodate about twenty people, considering the future."

The master carpenter took notes on my requests.

"Actually, I'd like to build the mansion on top of the cliff."

"Ha ha, that does sound interesting."

"It sounds fun, and the view would be great! It would be like a secret base."

Akira agreed with me.

"See?"

The men were enthusiastic about the idea, but Lilith objected.

"Kenichi, if you make the building too eccentric, it will cause trouble later. There are plenty of nobles who have wasted money like that!"

"I agree."

Lilith and Primula's words pulled me back from the romance of a man's dream to reality.

"Kenichi, your wife's opinion matters when it comes to your home. You should listen to her."

"You're right."

It seemed I would have to give up on my romantic dream, but I had the construction contract arranged through the Marlowe Trading Company.

The reason I went through the Marlowe Trading Company was that this brand-new margraviate had no credit.

It was certainly high in rank, but no one trusted a noble territory established in such a remote place with nothing but open fields and forest.

If I went bankrupt the moment the mansion was built, the carpenter's business would be in trouble too.

It would be what we called a chain of bankruptcies in Japan.

"As for the lumber, I'll have it cut from the forest here for the development work, so I'd like you to use it. Can you do that?"

"For that, we'll have to build a sawmill here."

Carpenters in this world also did the work of lumber merchants, arranging for materials to be cut and transported.

If we built a sawmill here, it should save us the trouble of transporting the lumber to Astrantia for processing.

"I have my Item Box to transport the logs, so that part will be easy."

I took a log out of my Item Box.

"Yikes!"

A massive log suddenly appeared and rolled across the ground, making the master carpenter cry out.

"Goodness! Miss Primula did tell me that you possessed an Item Box, my lord, but..."

"It'll be easier than processing the logs in various places and transporting them here, won't it? I'm planning to have you build houses for the residents too, not just the mansion."

"This will be a major undertaking. If things go well, this place could become a larger city than Astrantia."

"That is what I believe as well."

Primula proudly puffed out her ample chest.

"So have you decided to build a sawmill here?"

"Actually, there isn't much work left in Astrantia."

"If the population here increases, there'll be as much work as we can handle."

"Precisely."

As the first step of my plan, I intended to build a direct road to Astrantia, which would produce plenty of felled trees from the construction work.

"I'll designate a place and stack the logs cut down for the road there, so please use them."

"Not having to cut down the trees ourselves is a real blessing."

I had forgotten something important.

"Oh, right. Before you begin building the mansion, could you assemble this for me?"

I bought a log-house kit from Shangri-La.

It was different from the one I had bought previously, but it was a similar type of log house made by stacking planks.

I searched for the same one, but it wasn't being sold. Perhaps the model had changed, or the product had been replaced by another one.

Products like this were probably manufactured in batches with the materials processed in advance. Once those ran out, the product was likely discontinued.

It was a five-tsubo cabin costing 1.5 million yen, with specifications similar to the one I had been using.

"Click."

When I pressed the purchase button, planks began falling from the air in a jumble.

They fell just as they had before. If this type sold out, I would have no choice but to buy a different one.

Well, as long as it kept out the rain and wind, no one should complain. Even though it was a kit house, it was actually rather high-quality compared with the houses in the towns.

"What on earth is all this?!"

The master carpenter stared at the scattered log-house materials in astonishment.

"The materials have already been processed, so I'd like you to assemble about ten houses. Professionals should be faster than amateurs like us, right?"

I showed him the assembly instructions that had fallen alongside the materials.

"Hmm... So this paper contains the instructions for assembling it?"

"Exactly. If you're building many identical houses, it's more efficient to use materials that have been processed in advance."

"I see..."

The master carpenter examined the instructions thoughtfully, but then—

"Well? Do you think you can assemble them?"

"Those houses and that hut over there were assembled in the same manner, weren't they?"

The master carpenter pointed toward our house.

"Actually, yes. I assembled that house by myself."

"Then we carpenters can't very well complain that we can't do it."

They were professionals at building houses, after all. They probably knew more about house construction than I did.

"Also, this has neither a kitchen nor a toilet, so I'd like you to modify it accordingly."

"Of course. That's our field of expertise."

Even though the houses sold by Shangri-La were based on those of my original world, their structure was almost the same as that of houses in this world.

I had already confirmed that for myself.

"Now that we've settled things, Akira, I have a request for you."

"What is it, Captain Kenichi?"

"Want a part-time job?"

"It's carrying cargo, right? Are we using the Ha○ce?"

"No, this."

I had everyone stand back, then took an M○tsubishi Ki○nter out of my Item Box.

The long body appeared in midair and bounced on the ground.

"A four-ton long-body truck?!"

"Akira, can you drive it?"

"Leave it to me. I can drive a dump truck too. But if we're hauling lumber and things, wouldn't a Yu○ick with a truck-mounted crane be better?"

I see. He was right.

"You can operate a crane too, Akira?"

"Yeah. I don't have a license, but I used to do it off the books. Haha."

What a guy. He said he could handle rigging work too, so I decided to leave it to him.

As he said, if we had various jobs and loading to do, a truck with a crane would be better.

I put the four-ton truck from my Item Box away again and traded it in.

We didn't need an aerial work platform either. Anemone's golem magic could easily take the place of an aerial work platform or a crane.

All right—I would trade in the aerial work platform too.

"Click."

Trading in the two vehicles gave me about three million yen, which I would use as funds.

When I searched, I found an F○ighter, one class above the M○tsubishi Ki○nter, selling for five million yen.

Conveniently, it was a four-ton truck with a crane. It had 120,000 kilometers on it, which was still just the beginning for a truck.

This was the one.

"Click."

A large white truck fell from the air. Its crane was red and extended horizontally over the cargo bed.

"Whoa! We upgraded one class and got an F○ighter. You really can make anything!"

I hadn't told him about Shangri-La. I had told him that I created things with my magic.

"I can't make absolutely anything."

"What about an S○per Great?"

I hadn't known it, but that was a larger model above the F○ighter.

"I can't make anything over ten meters long."

"Ah, so there is a limitation like that..."

In reality, I could probably buy one from Shangri-La, but it wouldn't fit in my Item Box.

If it didn't fit, I couldn't trade it in either. No, I hadn't tested that, but perhaps I couldn't buy it in the first place.

While I was thinking about it, Akira's words brought me back to reality.

"Can I try moving it a little?"

"Of course."

Akira started the truck's diesel engine and operated the crane.

"The crane seems to be a four-tonner."

"Ha ha, perfect!"

Akira had said he could operate it, and just as he said, the crane began to move.

He manipulated it as freely as his own limbs, and to be honest, he was far better at it than I would have been.

The master carpenter was astonished when he saw it.

"What's this?! Is it a magically powered crane?"

It seemed that this world had a term for cranes too. According to the master carpenter, it referred to an assembled, human-powered crane.

Cranes had apparently existed in my original world since the time of Leonardo da Vinci, so they might have been similar.

He said golems were used in the construction of buildings made with large stones, as substitutes for cranes.

If they used golems, I had a great mage capable of handling them in my territory.

The beastfolk came over when they saw the crane moving back and forth.

"Amazing! Boss, is this another new summoned beast?"

"Nya!"

Myaaree leaped at the hook on the end of the crane.

She was probably interested in the thing moving right in front of her. She hung from it and swung around playfully.

Akira seemed to be enjoying himself too, spinning her around and around, but was this really safe?

Lilith looked as though she wanted to try it too, but naturally I stopped her because it was dangerous.

"Kenichi, if you've got machinery that big, we could have even more fun, you know?"

According to him, we could spin the bucket around and fling it into the lake.

"Use centrifugal force to launch it?"

"Exactly. Maybe we could even launch stones like a trebuchet in this world."

"It would be faster to use a golem for that."

"I see. That's another option."

"What is this amusing conversation about? Are you discussing battle?"

Amaranthus came over beside me, holding a parasol.

"No, no. Don't say anything so dangerous."

Amaranthus looked disappointed. Just how much of a martial artist was she?

It was no wonder the people at the castle found her troublesome.

"Kenichi, I want that parasol too!"

Right, I had forgotten to give Lilith a parasol.

I bought one from Shangri-La and gave Lilith a parasol in a different color from Amaranthus's.

"Oh, this is wonderful! It's light!"

"You could stay indoors and devote yourself to being a sheltered beauty, like the ladies of royalty and nobility."

"How boring! I came all the way to this remote land because I hated that sort of life!"

A voice I didn't recognize interrupted us.

"Looks like you're doing something interesting."

A white-furred female beastfolk appeared in front of me. She had white fur, but the tips of her large triangular ears and paws were black, giving her the coloring of a Siamese cat.

She wore what looked like a brown blouson, with something resembling a black bikini covering her chest.

I had never seen anything like this swimsuit before. She wore a miniskirt that showed her white thighs, boots, and a belt with a sword at her waist.

She wore nothing over her stomach, leaving her navel exposed. She was a beautiful woman with sharp eyes.

"You! Nyaresa! What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, Nyamena. I hadn't seen you for a while, so I thought you might be dead—but here you are."

Apparently, the two of them knew each other.

Nyamena, with her tiger-patterned fur, and Nyaresa, with her Siamese coloring, began glaring at each other with me caught between them.