How to Survive on the Armored Front

Chapter 33

"Hey. Over there."

"I know. Penal Corps... guys directly assigned to His Highness."

"They say most of them died under the former commander and the survivors are the real deal... lives up to the name."

The ordinary soldiers escorting the dig-team vehicles had stopped midway along the sides of the road to rest.

The mountain trail was full of ruts and the ground was mud; fatigue piled up faster than before, leaving them exhausted.

Unlike those ordinary soldiers, the Greyhounds in black infiltration suits showed no sign of weariness as they guarded the resting troopers.

"Hmph, still just a unit made up of criminals. Not worth associating with."

"Shh! What if they hear you!"

"Didn't you hear? They brawled with other units just for making eye contact."

At the last remark the ordinary soldier who had chimed in flinched and looked back; a Penal Corps trooper in an infiltration suit had slipped into their conversation and was grinning.

"When did you get here!?"

"W-we didn't mean any harm!"

The soldier who'd been caught gossiping turned pale; the Penal Corps trooper chuckled at the sight and crouched down among them.

"Don't worry. That kind of thing doesn't happen anymore."

"R-really...?"

"If word gets out that we clashed with you guys, our company commander won't let it slide."

"Y-your company commander?"

"Lieutenant Yan Verkut. The man over there."

The Penal Corps trooper raised a finger as he spoke. Where his finger pointed, Yan was leaning against the back of Glaepnir-kneeling on one knee-and lighting a cigarette.

"Can't even smoke properly unless I'm behind a colossus-damn inconvenient."

The cockpit of the gray colossus next to Glaepnir opened and a middle-aged knight with a scruffy beard stepped out.

"Sir Walter."

When Yan called his name the knight grinned, climbed down from the cockpit like Yan had, and produced a cigarette from his pocket.

It was a premium brand favored by noble houses.

"With you under His Highness' direct command your pay can't be small, yet you still smoke that cheap ration tobacco?"

"I smoke hand-rolled too, but this is the easiest to get."

"Haha, a fellow who smokes for the drug, not the taste."

A drug-if narcotics count as drugs, then sure.

Yan's gaze, inwardly scoffing, stayed fixed on the vast floodwaters the whole time.

When lunchtime came, smoke began to rise here and there from the Elf villages scattered throughout the forest.

"Heavy stuff."

"What is, sir?"

"Well..."

While Yan asked again, Walter held the cigarette in his mouth and tried to strike a match.

But it wouldn't light; he scraped the match nervously again and again.

"Why won't this work?"

"Humidity's high here-army matches won't catch. Here."

Saying so, Yan tossed him a pack of his own matches.

"Oh! Thanks. I'll put them to good use."

Fssk!

With a single strike the match caught; satisfied, Walter smiled and exhaled smoke.

"Those floodwaters-just what we can see must be dozens, and who knows how many elves live in this whole great forest."

"The problem is that every one of those elves is now a potential enemy."

Recalling Rael's face-who had fled with Rana and his own blood-Yan sighed out a cloud of smoke.

"Still, we've got two armed colossi here. We'll take turns on watch so it's effectively one, but tribal elves are easy pickings."

Watching Walter thump his chest, Yan stubbed out his finished cigarette on the ground and tossed it away.

"You should have brought the rest of the watch-three more."

"Hmm? Why's that?"

Walter asked, puzzled by Yan's advice.

"You'll understand once you've fought goblins at night."

When rest time ended, Yan watched the soldiers slowly rise, then spoke quietly as he climbed back into the colossus.

[Contamination detected in internal space. Request immediate removal of contaminants from pilot.]

"Can't even smoke when I want anymore."

Replying to Nil's grumbling, Yan moved Glaepnir. Not long after, a vast gray ruin appeared in the distance.

"Almost there!"

"Greyhound company moves north immediately after rest! Prepare now!"

"Yes, sir!"

Since the advance party had already set up basic facilities, the soldiers' steps were light.

But as they neared the excavation site, the look in Walter's eyes from inside his colossus turned grim.

-Smoke.

-Not just smoke. Explosives smoke...

-I'll go ahead and confirm.

Glaepnir immediately picked up speed and began racing toward the excavation site.

Seeing Glaepnir running like a sprinting man, the knights muttered in disbelief.

-Monstrous performance every time I see it.

-Now I get why that Rael guy is so obsessed with the legacy.

Leaving the knights' words behind, Yan arrived at the site and sighed at the carnage before him.

Rifles strewn across the ground in disorder, traces of fires everywhere.

In those flames lay countless human bones, and human corpses skewered like meat.

"Goblins..."

Yan muttered quietly and raised one hand.

When Glaepnir's arm signaled, the knights' colossi and soldiers-confirming no enemy presence-began to enter the excavation site.

-Wh-what the hell!?

-Even the escort unit was wiped out. No time to fire a flare...

-These marks... humans were eaten!

Every knight who saw the human bones strewn about shuddered.

"Damn it...!"

Dandel grimaced at the scene, but this time he neither fainted nor panicked.

He simply clenched his teeth, remembering the soldiers who had become goblin food because of him.

"Mission halt! Collect the bodies! Move!"

"Shit... and we just got our break."

"Fucking goblin bastards really chowed down."

At Dandel's command the Penal Corps members efficiently began to gather the scattered bones and corpses.

"Hey, this..."

"Human bones. Torn apart and eaten alive..."

"Ugh! Uwaaah!"

Unlike the expressionless Greyhounds, the ordinary soldiers-new to the front-started retching everywhere.

-To do something this savage, and to unarmed dig-team members at that...!

They had considered the possibility of an attack, but never imagined the elves would throw them to the goblins as food.

The knights ground their teeth at this barbarity rarely seen even in the Alfraian Army.

-Hey. Look at this. Seems Rael's pretty damn confident.

Walter's colossus pointed to a spot as he spat the words.

The center of the excavation site.

There, Rael's name was carved in human blood.

-Wrote it in Imperial, how thoughtful.

-Son of a bitch...

Blood-soaked, the excavation site looked like a vision of hell.

-We can't just stand here! We should charge in right now...!

-No.

Yan's cold voice cut off Walter's furious shout.

-Even with a colossus, visibility is restricted under the trees. If we push forces into the forest where the goblins have dug in, they'll be devoured.

Devoured.

The situation unfolding before their eyes was exactly that, so the knights' faces darkened as they listened to Yaan.

-Dandel.

"Pardon, company commander."

Called by name over the loudspeaker, Dandel looked up at Glaepnir which Yaan rode.

The cockpit hatch opened, and Yaan, now visible, asked him,

"How far along is the decay of the corpses?"

"According to the dig team's coroner, at least twelve hours."

"Then they were attacked at night."

He lifted his head and looked at the sky.

The sun was still high.

Unless controlled by an elf, wild goblins do not leave their burrows during the day.

-Members of House Lorenz contingent.

-Hm?

-What is it?

At Yaan's call, the colossi of Walter and Kurks responded.

-They will attack again tonight. Before that, we'll clear an open field.

Saying this, Yaan's Glaepnir drew the Imperial Army sword for colossi mounted on its back.

-Haha, first mission turns out to be woodcutter duty.

-Let's finish it quickly. The soldiers need time to build defensive positions.

Finishing their words, the knights drew their swords with Yaan and headed for the forest.

The trees were so thick that only a large soldier could barely wrap his arms around them, yet when the colossus, charged with mana in its core, swung the blade, the trunks fell like reeds.

"Everyone stand back! Trees coming down overhead!"

"Do not approach! One wrong move and you could die here!"

Thirty minutes.

That was the time needed to triple the size of the open field at the excavation site.

"No matter how often I see it..."

"Glory to the Creator."

A feat that would take other construction equipment a week was finished in thirty minutes.

The excavation team received colossus support on every dig, yet the sight still raised goosebumps every time.

"In my opinion, colossi are indeed construction gear."

"Isn't that how the Ancients used them?"

The watching excavation team members chimed in.

As they said, the human-shaped colossus is mechanically ill-suited for combat.

Its high profile makes concealment difficult, the drive system is complex, and if armored its ground pressure rises relative to weight, reducing terrain adaptability.

Yet colossi wield absolute power as weapons for three reasons.

First, sustainability powered solely by mana.

Mutual maintenance allowing one colossus to repair another without separate equipment.

Finally, the stability of a skeleton that, despite the heavy armor, stands on two legs.

Countless scientists and mages racked their brains to develop armored gear surpassing colossi, yet they reached only one conclusion.

With current technology, developing an armored replacement for colossi is impossible.

Even if possible, production costs would be astronomically higher than the frames steadily supplied by ruin excavations.

"Well, impressive as they may be,"

"to those of us without mana they remain a distant dream."

So saying, the excavation team members turned back to the work site.

They needed to reactivate the unusually well-preserved goblin excavation equipment.

"Trim the branches and clear the surrounding area! We'll set up our lines accordingly!"

-Understood.

A cool autumn wind swept through the blood-soaked forest, and the three colossi began building their fortress for the night's coming assault.

***

"Ugh! Urgh...!"

A large elf village of more than five thousand.

In the largest mansion there, Rael clutched his left chest, groaning in pain.

"As expected, this much blood won't settle properly; the rejection-!"

A half-elf can receive blood from both humans and elves.

Yet it varies by individual. The blood of the Ancients and the nanomachines were rejecting the new body and tormenting Rael.

"Guest, may I enter?"

At the voice from outside the room, Rael clenched his fists.

After a moment, the pain subsiding, Rael spoke with the same calm voice as before,

"Yes, it's all right."

The door burst open and a young elf stepped in.

"Success! Those human bastards have been thrown to the goblins!"

The bright-eyed young elf looked at Rael with admiration.

"Well done. Now they will realize how firm our will to rise is!"

With a gentle smile Rael patted the youth's shoulder.

The other elves watched the young man with envy.

"By the way, the children you spoke of..."

"Ah! You mean the shaman brats! Here they are!"

The young elf gestured, and the elf children shuffled in timidly.

Seeing them, Rael smiled warmly.

"So you are the shamans of this village?"

Even of shaman bloodline, not every relative carries nanomachines.

Like a mutation, only under certain conditions can these precious children appear.

Children who had heard of the guest and come from other villages looked slightly frightened.

"I-is he the one...?"

"Yes. I've come to take you."

The smile of Rael, who had found the desired key, deepened.

The children before him had the highest blood purity among dozens of villages.

With their blood, the elves of the southern Great Forest of Kerdan could open the ruin and pray to the Creators.

"Really? We can go see the Creator?"

"Of course. Come, let's go together."

"Our faith is finally rewarded."

"Yes. With those children and the Creator's legacy we too can found a kingdom like Alfraia and become nobles...!"

The elves, imagining themselves founding heroes, smiled in rapture.

Leaving their voices behind, the children led by Rael's hand slowly disappeared into his dwelling.