Chapter 201: To the Battlefield  

Having left the hiding place of Avalushi, Isamu and the others continued westward along the highway to meet with Zun’s raiding party at their rendezvous point.

There are fifteen magic golems capable of proper combat. Additionally, two magic golems are operational, although they can only move.

These two golems were piloted by candidates sent by Margrave Zabadak, who were tested last night, and the two with keen instincts managed to complete the training overnight.

Since there is only one carrier-type magic vehicle, this plan to transport spare units was a desperate measure after considering various options.

All magic golems have their pilot seats carried by hand, and as they approach the rendezvous point, they plan to hide the pilot seats in the nearby forest, with the exception of a few.

From behind them, a group disguised as a caravan from Marquis Felker’s family follows at a distance, with magic vehicles trailing even further back.

The caravan includes three vehicles sent by Margrave Zabadak, carrying knights from the Margrave’s family and non-combat personnel such as Eto.

By the way, when teaching candidates how to pilot, Samuel Felker, the marquis, insisted he also wanted to try piloting, but he didn’t make the cut into the group with keen instincts.

Seeing Samuel, who had found out his mana pass value was only 3, looking somewhat dejected, Franboise quietly murmured, “How cute,” but it seemed no one else noticed.

After traveling west for about an hour on the deserted highway, the group took a short break.

“This overdrive weak mode is really convenient.” 

Liliene said, emerging from the cockpit, addressing Isamu, who was also stepping out of his pilot seat.

“That’s good to hear. With you at the controls, Liliene, it should last over four hours, so we can increase our marching speed for a certain distance compared to before,” Isamu replied with a smile.

Each pilot had been conducting test runs of the modified overdrive mode while moving.

The weak mode Liliene referred to is the weakest setting among three configured effects, with an effectiveness of around three on a scale where the maximum effect is ten.

While the effectiveness is toned down to prioritize duration, it provides a level of effect that can be felt, making it well-received by the pilots as they can use it without reservation.

After proceeding for another hour, they faintly spotted a town near the banks of a large river.

This is Meraja, the largest city in the northeastern part of the Plazzo Kingdom. It is the city that Zun is attempting to conquer in collaboration with Avalushi.

Since Avalushi is set to patrol this area right up until now, Zun’s patrols have not ventured out.

It appears that the city gates are closed since it is still early in the morning, but they proceed cautiously down a side road leading south, ensuring they are not spotted by the guards in Meraja.

After four hours of heading south on the side road, they finally deviated from it and entered the forest.

Since the magic vehicles and carriages could not proceed into the forest, they had to wait in a spot out of sight from the highway.

At first, there was thick underbrush between the large trees, but after about 30 minutes, they emerged onto a small path where the brush had been cleared.

When they reached this point, Liliene’s unit at the front signaled “stop” with a hand sign, prompting the group to halt for a short break.

“I see you’ve been creating a path in the forest…” 

Isamu exclaimed, gazing at the cleared underbrush.

“Yes. This operation by the magic golems has been in progress since the strategy was decided,” 

Liliene replied, sitting across from Isamu.

This path, resembling a beast trail, runs southwest through the forest and connects to another major road leading south from the royal capital of Plazzo.

“And there is also another road being developed that cuts through Zun’s side of the forest. That road is wide enough for carriages, and their main force is reportedly advancing toward Plazzo along it.”

While such civil engineering work was, of course, done by human hands, it progressed at multiple times the speed due to the participation of magic golems.

“Certainly, large humanoid machines, or rather magic tools, are well-suited for this kind of construction.” Isamu thought, recalling an anime set in near-future Japan featuring industrial robots developed for various applications.

Though that anime had some convenient plot points, it was set up in a way that they were significantly active in the fields of construction and civil engineering.

In this world of Ethersia, where heavy machinery like bulldozers does not exist, a robot that is merely a larger version of a human is the most straightforward option for operational images.

After all, if you simply scale up what humans do, that’s all that is required.

The versatility of changing tools according to the task is excellent, as the tools are just larger versions of what people use, which speeds up the start of work and means operators likely don’t need specialized training.

Given that effective transportation methods through difficult terrain have not been established, the magic golems’ exceptional bipedal balance and mobility make them particularly suited for clearing forest paths.

“It’s indeed the optimal way to use magic golems, unfortunately…” 

Isamu sighed, realizing that Zun’s upper management had unwittingly selected this optimal solution.

“So, where is the rendezvous point?” 

Samuel, who had hitched a ride in one of the cockpits, asked Liliene. 

“It’s about three hours from here without any boosts. So, I’ll hide the cockpit a bit further in from here, except for some parts.” 

Liliene replied, and everyone nodded slightly at her answer.

Their identities had been revealed: five members of Avalushi, including Liliene, along with Drexler, Marcella, Laurel, and Isamu, making a total of ten, would march with the cockpit, while the rest would follow only with the magic giant golems.

Some opposed Isamu, the commander who couldn’t engage in close combat, going to the front lines, but it was ultimately decided that there would be no problem since the magic circle could be seen, old magic could be used, and, most importantly, Orihime was always by his side.

“All right, it’s finally time. Orihime, I’ll be counting on you.” 

“Nya-fu… Naoooon!” 

After a short break, as Isamu boarded the cockpit, he called out to Orihime, who responded with a long meow. 

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Orihime—” 

 “Nyaa—”

“Eh?” 

Before Isamu could ask what was wrong, the group of cats, aside from Orihime, all meowed simultaneously and scattered. 

“Hmm?” 

“Whoa!” 

“Oh!” 

Along with that, many of the pilots voiced their surprise. The scattering cats, without exception, jumped onto the laps and shoulders of the pilots. 

Those with established partners, like Liliene and Julius, had cats jumping onto them, and even those without partners had cats leaping aboard. 

Most of the captured Avalushi pilots had been sent back, but among them were several who had cats as their partners. 

It had been left up to the cats to decide whether to follow their original partners, but without exception, all the cats had joined the group, now paired with those who had no partners.

“…Could it be that everyone will serve as partner roles from here?” 

“Nya-fu.” 

Surprised, Isamu asked Orihime, who nodded slightly as if to say, “Of course.” 

“…I’ll give it a try.” 

“Mya!” 

Seeing this, Drexler boarded the cockpit with a small white cat that was nuzzling on his shoulder. 

After making the magic giant golem stand up and swinging a spear for some warm-up-like movements, Drexler hurriedly climbed down.

“This is amazing… I’ve never experienced this before, so I can’t tell if it’s the effect of the cats’ support, but the operability has clearly improved!” 

As Drexler excitedly spoke, the others also climbed onto the magic giant golem along with their cats.

In the end, they concluded that everyone experienced varying degrees of the cats’ support effect.

“Could it be that Orihime asked everyone to do this?” 

“Nyaa-fu.” 

Orihime, who had already lost interest and curled up around Isamu’s neck with her eyes closed, let out a small sound when he gently stroked her throat, opening one eye slightly.

Thus, the group unexpectedly succeeded in enhancing their combat power and proceeded down the path created by Zun, increasing their marching speed.

Finally, a magic giant golem, two sizes larger than Avalushi’s, and a group of cavalry clad in unfamiliar armor came into view for Isamu.

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