6

The magic train inspection I’d been planning ended up coming sooner than expected.

A week since I got here. In that time, the princess had already cleared through her paperwork and gotten herself back on her feet.

A capable one, with a light step—really, what kind of princess is this? I still haven’t even touched half my own stacks of paper!

If the princess is moving, that means I’ll have to follow her with the Armunale, and more paperwork’s bound to pile up. Still, it’s just an inspection this time—no fighting, so at least I won’t need to file supply requisitions for weapons.

I was thinking that, as I powered up the machine.

The smooth lift-off made the mechanics’ work perfectly clear.

“See? Even without old man in charge, we still get it done right!”

“Indeed. Works perfectly—no stress at all.”

"Armament’s just the usual two swords, one shield, and one rifle for now. Two magazines stowed in the rack."

"Got it."

I check the monitor, cross-referencing the listed weapons.

"Alright, I’m off."

"Right, go on then!"

Ritz gives me a thumbs-up, and I return it with the machine.

Nearby, Pamela’s running around waving—oh, she tripped.

I wave back as she gets up, tears in her eyes, helped by Ritz, then step out of the hangar. Straight toward the base’s main gate, where the guard squad protecting the princess and the convoy of carriages are already lined up.

And there, approaching, is the second Armunale assigned to accompany the princess on this inspection.

Denis’s unit.

"Eld, you’re with me. Form the final line beside Lady Ines. I’ll take the rear—handle anything up front, will you?"

Understood. I’ll handle the rear.

When we reached our positions, and about ten minutes passed, the princess arrived. She wore a more elaborate dress than usual—this inspection was formal, after all.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we go?”

“All units, advance! Destination: Fokreki East, magical rail line construction site!”

The formation began to move slowly from the front, and soon the base gave way to the open plain.

It usually took about a day for the army to reach the destination. Weather could change things, but this time it wasn’t raining, and we moved without a hitch.

Still, what made it go even smoother was the princess’s stamina, no doubt.

Any ordinary princess’d’ve collapsed after a full day in a carriage. Normally, you’d stop every few hours, take it slow. But not her. She skipped every break, marched forward at the same pace as a military march. No surprise she’s the rascal princess. Stamina’s off the charts.

I was thinking that, moving along smoothly, when the front started getting noisy. Smoke was rising from a distance.

“My knight, what’s that smoke?”

“That’s—”

Her question made me widen Armunale’s view ahead. There, right in front, was a railway under construction and a magitek train in progress.

“Looks like we’ve found the inspection site. The smoke’s coming from the magitek train, seems like. No hurry at all. Probably just how it’s supposed to be.”

People around us are going about their business like nothing’s wrong. No signs of trouble on the magitek train itself. Is it puffing steam like a regular old train? Nah—no need for that kind of hassle. More likely it’s just cooling down, to keep from overheating.

The Abnomyle’s got all sorts of systems built in, just to avoid overheating, too.

“Right… it looks like the sun’s about to set. Probably best to call it a day and resume tomorrow.”

“Mm-hmm. As long as things are going smoothly, that’s all that matters.”

Given how far we are from the Second Defense Line’s Fockreiki, we’re making progress like lightning. If this pace keeps up, we might even reach Raitaki by the end of the month.

“Brother—no, Your Majesty—has sent word urging us to push forward with this project. That’s why morale’s so high.”

“Ah… I see.”

If it’s a royal order, you can bet everyone from top to bottom gets fired up.

And just as we drew near the construction site, the march came to a halt. The soldiers started setting up camp.

I didn’t bring any of the other squad members this time, so I’m staying close by as the princess’s guard—no need to set up anything myself. Lucky me.

Once everything was ready, a man who looked like the on-site supervisor came over to the princess’s tent.

“Princess Ines, welcome. The entire crew is honored to have you here.”

“Thank you. Sorry to bother you with this—had to see the site for myself.”

“Oh, not at all. Just seeing you here will fire up the crew even more.”

The princess, who’d been told she should say something, gave a small smile and nodded.

"Tomorrow I’ll start the inspection first thing in the morning, but you all carry on with your work as usual. I’ll be walking around myself."

"Such kindness. I’m truly grateful. You’ve had a long journey today—tired, no doubt. I’ll be honest, tomorrow’s inspection will involve plenty of walking, so I’ll take my leave here."

"Yes, you’ve earned your rest."

The princess nodded, and the man stepped out of the tent.

Watching him go, I turned to her.

"Wouldn’t it be faster to gather everyone at once? If we go one by one, the differences will start showing, won’t they? Someone gets called, someone doesn’t. Someone’s just not there at the right moment—those little gaps can turn into trouble later on. Isn’t it better to call everyone equally?"

She touched her cheek with a fingertip, tilted her head just slightly, and considered it.

There’s that, too. But if we do it that way, we’ll just end up staring at the magic train from afar. I’d rather see it up close, if I can.

“So just go up and say hello.”

If you call out at the work site, there’ll probably be tracks under construction and a magic train nearby. That’s what you want, right?

A child!

“I wanted to ride it first, if I could! But they said safety protocols and this and that—wouldn’t let me on! Just looking at it should be fine, right?”

“Yes, yes, got it. Well, tomorrow’s early, so you’d better get to bed already.”

“Right. Then my knight, you’ve got it from here.”

The princess says she’s changing clothes, so the attendants shoo me out.

Honestly, I’ve no interest in watching her change. So I’ll head straight to checking the area’s safety.

What now…? Just meant to do a quick safety check, and ended up stumbling on something messy.

I’m crouched in the bushes, eavesdropping on suspicious men.

“Plan ready?”

“Don’t worry. The ones we sent in are moving.”

“What about the thing?”

“Secured. Took care of the locals nearby. But… are we really doing this today? The princess is here, you know?”

“That’s *why* it’s perfect. Can’t let them keep our cut like this. Whether she’s a princess or not, think she can just raid someone’s island and walk away clean? Not on my watch.”

“H-hey…”

The first man’s voice rises, angry—then another cuts him off, gripping his arm tight.

The sight of two men tangled up in the bushes—just plain unsettling. Should’ve just nabbed them quick and headed back… but this feels like a hassle. They said they’d gone undercover, and who knows how many more of them there are? And what’s this “thing” everyone’s talking about? If it’s one of their own, why not just say the name like normal…

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

They’ve calmed down now. The men start moving.

I slip after them, quiet as a shadow.

The men emerge from the brush and head straight for the supply depot. Call it a depot, but it’s just a little patch of ground cleared out, with sheets laid down and rails and sleepers stacked up.

And here’s the odd part—no guards. Should be here, right? But not a soul.

So they’re the ones who cleared the place out. Someone on the inside who can even move the guards around? If that’s the case… well, that’s a bit of a problem.

Stuff like this is supposed to be the job of someone like Eis, isn’t it? Why the hell do I, the pilot, have to be sneaking around like this? I could crush Armunale under my boot right now.

And then—out of nowhere—a familiar generator hum echoed from the storage shed.

“Huh?”

I froze, turning toward it. A giant silhouette rose from the dark.

My eyes didn’t need time to figure it out.

“Abnomyle!? And—imperial-made, too!?”

What the hell’s an imperial Abnomyle doing here?!

I darted from cover, sprinting straight for my machine.

If it’s showing up here, it’s got one target: the magic train. So I’ve gotta stop it—before it destroys the core.

By the time I reached the machine, soldiers were already scrambling, catching on to the fuss and rushing around trying to figure out what was going on.

I leapt onto the Armunale’s cockpit with magic and powered up the machine.

Then, from behind the tent, the princess poked her head out.

“What’s going on!?”

“It’s the Empire’s Abnomule.”

“Enemy attack!?”

“No… something’s off. Not a group, not a surprise strike. Feels more like it was smuggled in.”

“I don’t understand any of this!”

Yeah, no kidding. You’d be confused too, if someone just dropped that on you out of nowhere.

I wouldn’t have figured it out either, not if I hadn’t seen that gang of men tangled up in it. One thing’s for sure—what I need to do now.

The enemy’s only got one unit, so we’ll hold it here. If we question the pilot, might learn something. And Your Highness—gather your attendants and soldiers around you. Stay inside the tent. No exceptions. Seems some of the construction workers might be mixed in with the enemy forces.

“Yes, I understand! I’ll handle it!”

“Got it.”

I power up the machine and stand.

The enemy unit—once I locate it—was walking straight toward the rail line. But its gait was shaky, slow as molasses. Like it’d never ridden one before.

That’ll give me plenty of time.

“You there, Abnomyle. Shut down the generator and get out of the machine. Surrender, and we won’t rough you up.”

“Shut up! I’m doing it! I’m gonna do it!”

A man’s voice, wired with excitement.

No use trying to reason with this one. Then—

“Warning given.”

I charged forward in one motion, diving straight into Abnomüle’s arms. Then, like a sack over my shoulder, I heaved him down hard onto the ground.

“Ghah!”

“Looks like your belt held up fine.”

I flipped the fallen machine over, pried open the cockpit hatch with a grunt.

“Come out. Or I’ll stick a finger in there.”

“Damn it—damn it, damn it!”

“Three… two… one…”

As soon as my finger brushed the hatch, the man scrambled out in a panic, tumbling down to the ground from the seat.

“H-hurt… hurts…”

He must’ve twisted his ankle when he fell. He writhed on the ground, clutching his shin.

“Soldiers! Secure him!”

I barked the order to the troops near me, and they moved instantly, pinning the man down.

I watched the man being dragged off, shouting all the while, then turned my eyes to scan the area for anyone else acting strange—or any machines at all.

I wandered the perimeter for a while, double-checking that nothing else was going to happen. Once I was sure, I headed back to the princess.

By then, the soldiers she’d brought had already spread out and taken up guard positions. Good. That meant I could go back without a knot in my stomach.

“Back now.”

“Welcome back. Anything turn up?”

“No, the man’s been handed over to the soldiers. Nothing else, really. Just circled the area. Didn’t spot anything that looked like a machine.”

“Understood. Then we’ll wait for news.”

My sidekick brought me a cup of tea, just like always. I sat and waited for word from the troops.

And about an hour later, a message arrived.

“The man we detained—after questioning, it turned out he’s a merchant traveling the surrounding areas.”

“A merchant?”

That was the last thing anyone here had expected.

“His name is John. He’s been in the trade for years, runs a fairly large caravan. Looks like even the Empire’s Abnomyle was using salvaged battlefield units—repaired and rebuilt them, apparently.”

Ah. I knew they collected the wreckage, since the metal’s still usable. But not all of it, not by a long shot.

Some machines are too badly damaged. Some are in places too hard to reach. Those just get left behind. I knew merchants were hauling off the scrap and selling it as iron—but I never thought anyone’d be out there collecting parts and actually fixing them up.

“So,” I said, “did we figure out why he’d go to all that trouble?”

"Yes, the man said the completion of the magic train would kill off traders. He’d asked the palace to cancel the construction, but they wouldn’t listen, so he resorted to force."

"Kill off traders..."

A flicker passed over the princess’s face—she tapped her chin, lost in thought.

"Maybe we should hear his side of things."

"Directly, Your Highness? I’d really prefer you didn’t, if you don’t mind."

He’s the one who tried to wreck the Abnomyle. Honestly, as her Guard Knight, I’d rather not have to face a man like that.

"My knight will protect you, won’t he?"

"Ange’s better at this sort of thing, really."

I’m just the pilot, that’s all.

"I trust you. Bring this John fellow here. I’d like to hear what he has to say."

"B-but..."

Even guards’d find this request hard to refuse, I’ll grant you that.

But then again, I know full well how stubborn the princess gets once she’s made up her mind. Can’t really blame her, can I?

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect Lady Ines.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

A Guard Knight’s vow is ironclad—no soldier can refuse. Not without stirring up trouble, and that’d only make things worse for the poor sod.

“My knight, thank you.”

“Keep it down. I’m half asleep.”

It’s past midnight. Let’s get this over with quick, then hit the hay.

I swallow a yawn, wait a moment, and then the man arrives—brought in by a soldier, rope wrapped tight around his body, hands tied behind his back. That leaves him with about one move: headfirst into the wall. Well, then—better get in position right away.

I stand before the princess, to her right, and make the man kneel.

"John, was it? I'm Ines Norbelle Fatal. Second Princess of the Fatal Kingdom. I'd like to speak with you."

The merchant, head down, lifts his face just slightly. His eyes brim with hatred—clear as day.

The princess flinched for just a second under that stare—then shook it off, plastering on the composure of royalty like a well-worn mask.

Let’s talk. You wanted this, didn’t you?

"Talk it over? C-cough, heh, hahaha..."

The man suddenly burst into laughter. A soldier who’d brought him over jabbed him with a stick. The princess stopped him. Then the man glared straight at the princess and shouted out.

“The merchant-killer princess, now suddenly talking negotiation?”

And.

How long’s this fortress gonna take to build…?

Should’ve wrapped up by around fifteen, that was the plan—