episode_0154

The next day after the banquet, Gilbert was able to recover most of his mana load, but chose to remain in the rear. Since the Mana Rod had not yet been completely restored, it was judged impossible to participate in the war.

It would have been possible to join the war if it was too much, but since Brianna’s participation in the war had been decided, there was no need for her to go to the front.

Considering the future, it was the right decision to focus on recovering the mana load for now since there was a manpower that could replace the outstanding Giant God Knight named Gilbert.

[Are you worried?]

“Anyway.”

He, who remained in the rear position with CT-777, glanced at the mini-map and answered.

Although it was the right decision, it did not put my mind at ease. He had tremendous power to deal with monsters, and he might be able to use that power to save his comrades who might fall on the battlefield.

Of course, all of this could have been just his arrogance.

He was not an omnipotent god. A system is a human being who is assisted by his or her natural abilities, but is essentially limited to what he or she can do.

Even if he participated in a subjugation battle in a group, it was clear that he would not be able to use the same control techniques as before with the mana load not recovering. Perhaps, the substandard control techniques could have put the subjugation team members in danger.

Because he made that assumption, he suppressed the urge to compete. No matter how I thought about it, remaining in the rear camp seemed like a very reasonable decision. Brianna will do an excellent job filling the void left by his absence.

[road. Trust the punitive forces.]

“I know. Anyway, Professor Brianna participated in the war.”

[Based on objective judgment, the probability of problems occurring when you participate in the war is more than 70%. If you do not participate in the war, it falls below 10%.]

“You’re not in a suitable physical condition to move a giant god soldier.”

[I think you know that best.]

“If you say that much.”

Gilbert looked down at CT-777’s artificial spirit core again.

Unlike when the mechanical aspect was emphasized during the first operation, it is now possible to have such everyday conversations and words of comfort. This meant that as Gilbert grew, CT-777 was also developing through learning.

It was deeply moving to see in real time why so many users highly evaluated the potential of CT-CT-777.

It seemed like contact with Presia during the battle with the monster Ogre had touched some part of CT-777. He developed something that could be described as more emotional than before, and the speed of his learning and development accelerated.

I had a vague thought that if CT-777’s learning continued, it might grow into a super artificial spirit like Precia.

“Okay. Trusting and waiting is what I have to do now.”

As Gilbert gradually heard the sound of artillery fire and the monster’s cries, he hoped for the safe return of the punitive force.

***

“Ugh! These bastards!”

[The monster is approaching from 50m behind on the right!]

Presia briefed on the locations of the monsters that were constantly attacking. It was not easy to deal with monsters that disregarded life and gave themselves over to their destructive instincts.

That was why Ian, who was ranked at the top among the cadets, was struggling. For him who was accustomed to sparring, the burden of a life-threatening battle and the hand-to-hand combat that disregarded his life gave him a great sense of disconnect. This was no different even if he had a characteristic skill specializing in handling giant soldiers.

Ian was clearly a talented cadet, but his limitations were clear. This battle clearly revealed that their actual combat experience was vastly insufficient compared to their skills.

Given his talent, if given enough time and practice, he would become an outstanding Giant God Knight, but right now he was in the middle of a battlefield where life and death were at stake. Whether he was talented or had little practical experience was a secondary reason.

What was important was the very simple choice of whether or not we could escape this battlefield safely.

also…

Precia did not lose her cool even in an urgent situation and compared and analyzed Ian. The target of comparison was Gilbert, whom she had recently become synced with with a characteristic skill that even she did not know about.

She divided the items according to her own judgment criteria and compared Ian and Gilbert. Since I had the experience of being in sync with both of them, it was not difficult to distinguish between superiority and inferiority.

And the results of the analysis were disastrous.

Ian was completely defeated except for the amount of horsepower.

Even looking at the results of future efforts, I was convinced that this difference would not be reversible. Talent wasn’t just Ian’s. Gilbert, who was called a fool, also had talent that reached the sky.

It was an undeniable fact that Precia, who had existed for a long time, was better than any other person I had ever seen. Even when compared in terms of numerous items such as his ability to judge the situation, his manipulation skills, his swordsmanship, and how to use mana, he was the best.

Where is that?

Even his characteristic skills were already mastered perfectly, and he was superior to Ian in almost every aspect. He didn’t want to admit this much, but even with her teachings, it was a long way for Ian to beat Gilbert.

That much of a gap existed between Ian and Gilbert.

“Get away!”

Ian pulled the control stick, plunged the iron sword into the belly of the monster that had its teeth firmly in the shoulder armor, and slashed straight through. Although intestines and blood poured out, his eyes were already focused on the next monster.

He was definitely a man worthy of being called a genius. Before I knew it, I had corrected the shortcomings in my first practice and was growing.

It was still the same now. It was now difficult to see people who were having a hard time dealing with the attacking monsters.

Even if his body was torn in half, he crawled across the ground, easily dispatched the attacking monsters, and took on the appearance of a hunter looking for his next prey.

The armor was dented and broken here and there due to the piloting skills that had not yet fully developed, but as time passed, the number of cases decreased.

Clearly he is a genius.

Among the people Presia has seen so far, in terms of talent alone, his talent is so much better than any contracted with her before.

If the day comes when Ian grows up like this and masters the characteristic skills specializing in controlling the Giant Soldiers, he might be able to become the best Giant Soldier Knight ever.

Yeah, I didn’t know there was one.

If only Gilbert the Lionheart hadn’t existed.

Pressia formed a sync with Gilbert and discarded all previously established standards for genius. The word genius was a word that existed only for a man named Gilbert.

Growth rate?

Even though he was already at a mature stage, he was becoming stronger. Although he was only a little over twenty years old, he was a man who was more skillful at controlling a gigantic horse than a knight who had ridden it for over a dozen years.

Gilbert was growing even more than Ian was growing.

This word means only one thing.

Even if Ian lived his whole life, he would never be able to catch up with Gilbert.

Presia has only now accepted the fact that she had ignored until now.

“Pressia! You won! He said he performed better than that guy Gilbert in the battle to subdue monsters!”

[…great job. Ian.]

Ian, who plunged the iron sword into the body of the last monster, smiled brightly like a child and shouted. Even though Presia was looking at that smile, she couldn’t like it as much as usual.

As if he knew that the future ahead would be very difficult.

However, Ian was so intoxicated by the fact that he had beaten Gilbert for the first time that he did not notice Precia’s reaction at all.

***

“It is said that the operation failed.”

The Count bowed his head to the connected communication port and reported. The goal was to create chaos anyway, but the fact that no damage was done to the punitive force was a blow to their pride.

In particular, I was bothered by the fact that I could not live up to my master’s expectations. Even though it was a plan that assumed failure, it was painful to see that only half of the goal of creating confusion was achieved.

[Hehe, I didn’t think you would make such a mistake. Was the punitive force that powerful?]

“I was lucky enough to create a monster ogre, but it is said that the bastard came forward.”

[By bastard… I guess you mean Cadet Gilbert.]

“That’s right. It is said that he cut down the monster Ogre with his single body.”

[You mean the monster ogre? haha.]

The old man beyond the communication port stroked his long beard. From the first time I saw him, I thought he was an unusual person, but I never thought that everything would become an obstacle in my way like this. As always, contrary to the expectation that it would sparkle for a moment and then collapse, it began to shine even more brilliantly.

This was an unusual situation that I had never seen before, even as an elderly person who had lived for a long time.

Therefore, the old man thought that he might be the person who would make his long-awaited wish come true. If you think about it, the reason he came to the forefront like this was because of Gilbert.

The old man’s eyes were no longer looking at the Count. What he was seeing now was the image of an asshole arrogantly expressing his opinion directly to himself.

[First, I will keep an eye on the situation.]

After much deliberation, the old man decided to maintain the status quo.

I really wanted to see if Gilbert was the person who could make his dream come true.

The Count, who had been listening to the old man in silence with his head down, raised his head slightly.

In the communication port, an old man was seen with long, bleached hair that had been let loose.

A person who crosses the horizon of knowledge and seeks the truth.

A great sage who is said to have all the knowledge in the world in his head.

“Okay. Horizon.”

[I will contact you again next time.]

That’s how Horizon, a history professor at Demeia Academy, ended the communication.