episode_0324

As soon as we arrived at the firing range, we began inspecting the tank. While we waited, Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon grumbled, seemingly uncomfortable within the network.

It was clearly restless, like someone tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.

“Violet, that woman. Is she really a young lady from an old noble hunter family?”

“Yes! Adela Unnie is truly an elegant person. Why are you asking?”

Cheolkwon fell silent for a moment, as if lost in deep thought. I could feel the subtle trembling of its chassis transmitted through the network.

“…I wonder when the word ‘elegance’ I knew changed so much.”

I pondered why Cheolkwon was acting like that.

What happened just a moment ago?

Ah, right. It was when the Violet Brigade’s Armored Battalion Commander, our one and only tank fairy, introduced herself.

“Ah… you said fairy? A fairy… haha…”

At that moment, Adela Unnie’s appearance came to mind. Her usual elegant demeanor was nowhere to be found; she looked as if she was about to pounce on the tank fairy.

If it weren’t for the gazes of those around her, she probably would have hugged Cheolkwon tightly.

Fortunately, that moment passed quickly, and Unnie barely regained her composure.

“Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon, it’s a pleasure to meet you! Please take good care of our Violet from now on?”

“O-Our Violet… Understood…”

Adela Unnie’s behavior was understandable. Unnie had a weakness for cute girls.

Especially the shorter they were, the more she seemed to like them.

Even Enrica, who was around 140cm tall, captured Unnie’s heart, so it was natural for her to be captivated by Cheolkwon, who was much smaller.

“Looking at it now, we’re cute beautiful girls!”

“Are we?”

Before we knew it, a table and awning had been set up around the super-heavy tank.

During the impromptu tea time, Unnie’s face clearly showed an incredibly excited expression.

“Here, Violet. Try this… Enrica, have this one, and Ruzilin, how does it taste? Is it good? Try this too. And this cookie?”

“Ugh… Just a moment… I haven’t finished eating yet… I’m full…”

Watching that scene, I suddenly felt a sense of crisis.

“Are we going to lose our fairy like this?”

I need to be careful.

Adela savored the tea time with the three cute girls, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction.

Violet munched on her dessert, Enrica sipped her tea with curious eyes, touching this and that.

And even the fused girl, who, despite her small stature, had a dignified demeanor.

A scene like a masterpiece painting made her heart flutter.

‘Too cute!’

Watching the girls, Adela suddenly recalled her childhood make-believe games.

Faint memories of whispering with pretty dolls in her room before she entered the harsh training as an heir.

Those memories seemed to be unfolding before her eyes in an ideal form.

‘How can Violet have only such children around her!’

Immersed in rapture, Adela exerted the self-control cultivated by her long education to compose herself.

Otherwise, an urge to immediately take the girls to her family mansion and dress them in pretty clothes welled up from within her.

‘No, doing that without permission would be too rude. Something like that, later…’

She decided to enjoy the present moment as it was.

Nevertheless, a small regret remained.

‘Now that I see her, Violet is a bit big.’

The thought crossed her mind: what if that lovely child were just a little smaller?

A younger version, even tinier and more adorable than now, surely…

‘Like that fairy kid… No, she’d be even more adorable!’

Adela, who had been imagining a tiny Violet, soon erased that thought from her mind.

Our Violet’s visit to Cascadian Island had three main reasons.

First, to test operate the tank that had completed its regeneration and modification.

Starting with an engine replacement, various weapon systems had been installed, and now it was necessary to identify any issues through practical operation.

Second, to enjoy a drive with friends in that tank.

Since everyone else was busy, we decided to start with Enrica.

The last was the surprise show that would happen after all of this.

“I received a call from Helios. I heard they want a test operation.”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon, officially designated as the Type 15 Super-Heavy Tank. It is said to be roughly a 2nd-generation vehicle in classification.

“A 2nd-generation vehicle… It must have been outdated even when my father was young.”

This was consistent with Irene’s explanation from before.

Even in this world where science and military technology had developed at an abnormal pace due to the appearance of demon beasts, this tank was still considered obsolete.

If we were to compare the tank’s generational classification to the history of mobile phone development, Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon was like a feature phone.

It was better than old walkie-talkie-sized phones or pagers, but it fell far short compared to a smartphone.

It was like a piece of junk that old people used.

“…From what I remember, it was considered a state-of-the-art tank at the time. The flow of time is truly frightening.”

“Oh, I absolutely didn’t mean to insult it by calling it outdated! I was just…”

The fairy, who had lived as a fused ghoul and woken up decades later in the future, had to accept reality with a bitter smile.

I don’t know how much it remembered about the past, but since it was military-trained, it probably had a rough idea of how outdated it was.

“No, it’s true. I… might be an entity far removed from this era.”

“Don’t worry, Cheolkwon! That’s why we modified you.”

As the commander, I decided to comfort it.

By the way, this one. Why does it use informal language with us, but formal language with the student council president Unnie?

We are its commanders, so shouldn’t it naturally use formal language with us too?

I’ll definitely have to ask it about that later.

“Anyway, you’re the strongest tank of this era!”

In any case, Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon, even if it’s outdated, isn’t just any feature phone.

It’s more like a one-of-a-kind magical girl feature phone, with its battery and memory replaced to house a fairy AI.

No matter what smartphone you bring out, it won’t be able to beat this.

Neither in cuteness nor in performance!

Even if a miracle occurred where the Apple founder revived and teamed up with the Microsoft founder.

Enrica counted the cannons one by one with her fingers.

“The cannons seem strangely numerous and big. It definitely looks like it’ll be good at fighting.”

“Yep! We replaced the weapons with the latest ones we could!”

Now it was time to test the firepower. Everyone at the site moved to a safe distance.

Meanwhile, the waiting tank crew Violets opened their hatches one by one and jumped into the turret and hull.

“Violet, can’t Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon drive itself?”

Adela Unnie, seeing us board, asked with a puzzled expression.

She probably meant, since it’s an intelligent fusion body, why do we need to ride inside it?

“That’s true, but… I just wanted to drive it.”

We went inside and took our respective seats. Even Enrica came in, examining the interior with curious eyes.

Cheolkwon, looking around the cramped interior, grumbled from the commander’s seat.

“The commander doesn’t necessarily have to ride. I can operate the weapons and self-drive on my own.”

“But you said it moves faster and smoother if I’m nearby, right?”

“That’s right, but some power gets drained from my body. You called it magic, didn’t you?”

Our tank fairy spread its hands and observed with interest the faint particles of magic flowing from them.

According to Cheolkwon, moving itself without Violet inside felt like working after getting too little sleep.

Perhaps a weakness developed where its autonomy decreased due to being closely connected to our network.

“For now, if you’re with me, you can operate it or not, it doesn’t matter. What I see and hear through this tank, the commander will clearly also see and hear. Like a commander sharing the vision of a laboratory monkey or mouse. Try it.”

As I focused my senses, our vision, which had been limited to living beings, rapidly expanded.

Instantly, the narrow aiming scope, commander’s periscope, and various newly added surveillance equipment appeared before my eyes.

The Violets in the network savored the unfamiliar sensation of being assimilated with mechanical devices, looking at the narrow view outside the periscope and repeatedly zooming in and out on the gunner’s scope.

“So this is how a tank sees ahead. And this is how it looks in the infrared spectrum.”

“It’s a bit cramped.”

Despite its large size, the tank’s field of vision was very narrow. To operate it properly in actual combat, we’d need a lot of training to get used to it.

“That’s how tanks usually are. That’s why they need escorts to compensate for vision issues.”

Listening to Cheolkwon’s explanation, we focused on getting used to the tank’s senses.

When we concentrated our will, the vision changed; otherwise, it reverted to our normal vision.

Inspection was complete, and ammunition loading was finished.

“Alright, I’ll start moving soon!”

The tank sped into the firing range, for which we had received permission from Cascadia.

Dust flew. In this training ground, built for uninhibited shooting and destruction, several targets were currently set up.

“I’ll try shooting once!”

“Understood, Commander. From now on, move as I instruct. Understood? Driver, stop. Gunner, target identification and aiming. Front, 1 o’clock direction, 800 meters!”

Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon’s requests flowed into my mind.

The Violets moved as it said, operating the equipment.

“No! Not that! Turn on the other switch. The one marked in green next to it!”

The fairy’s frustration was conveyed in every word it uttered.

I understood why.

Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon wanted to command us as if it were moving its own chassis. But that was impossible.

We could move it as we pleased, but the reverse was impossible.

Fundamentally, the tank fairy was bound and connected under the network, just like the V-animals.

It could tell us something or request information, but it couldn’t operate our bodies.

I should just leave everything to it.

“Just do all the minor operations yourself! I just want to pull the trigger.”

“Ugh… Alright…”

Cheolkwon exercised its abilities as a fairy.

Switches moved on their own without being touched, and lights on the control panel blinked.

The auto-loader moved swiftly, pushing a shell into the chamber.

The tremors transmitted from the nuclear engine in the rear intensified.

“Charge, aim, fire!”

Everything happened in an instant.

-Bang!

The heavy metal projectile, accelerated by an electromagnetic field, exceeded the speed of sound and exited the barrel.

As the chassis shook, in the blink of an eye, the target was engulfed in a violent explosion.

An anomaly confirmed from the first shot.

“Huh, an explosion? Wasn’t it just a metal lump?”

I knew from driving Cheolkwon during its light tank days. A railgun couldn’t cause that much of an explosion.

Enrica muttered.

“That looks like magic?”

“Magic?”

“Yeah, remember how I enhanced attacks with magic? It seems similar.”

After firing the main gun a few times, we remembered the fact that Ruzilin’s Cheolkwon was a fusion body.

Its attacks had magic infused in them.

“I didn’t think of that?”

To use magical attacks with conventional weapons, one would need to use bullets or shells made from expensive materials, with spells and engravings meticulously carved onto the warheads.

Unless it was a special forces unit or a frontline elite unit, there was no reason to provide such expensive items.

Otherwise, an Awakener would have to individually hold each shell and imbue it with magic.

But it was inconvenient and time-consuming. Efficiency was also low.

But we didn’t need to do that.

“Alright, let’s keep going! Cheolkwon, forward!”

We joyfully continued the firepower demonstration.

Static firing, rapid fire, autocannon fire, mobile firing, and all sorts of other tests we could perform.

“Yahoo!”

Enrica cheered with her arms raised between the hatches of the tank as it advanced, spewing flames.

The maneuverability and firepower tests were successfully completed.

“How’s its condition? Do you like the weapons or the engine?”

“It’s not familiar, but it’s new. Most of all, I like that my body isn’t stiff.”

Cheolkwon said that, scribbling something in a notebook.

Its demeanor was blunt, but judging from its feelings and opinions, it seemed satisfied with the modifications.

If it had been uncomfortable, it would have complained right away.

It felt like it could go to the battlefield right now.

“Riding the tank was fun! It would’ve been even better if Levi came with us.”

Enrica’s face, as she jumped out of the tank, showed a mixture of excitement and regret, like someone getting off a thrilling ride.

I also wanted to ride more, but there was still work to do.

Just then, there was one more thing I hadn’t mentioned yet.

“Well, that can’t be helped. We have something else to do next.”

We made a statement that Enrica wouldn’t have expected.

“Then let’s rest for a bit and go see an airplane later.”

“An airplane?”

It was an hour later that Enrica’s face filled with surprise.

-Whoosh!

A sleek, grey form rapidly ascended above the airfield.

The result of the Violet Air Corps’ world record-breaking flight training, achieved in just one or two months, unfolded.

“It’s a fighter jet?”

“That’s right!”

Piercing the sky was a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft introduced by the Violet Air Corps through Cascadia.

“It’s flying!”

We raised a toast in front of the first Violet Jet Fighter No. 1.

“Long live Cascadia! Long live Violet!”

As the fighter jet carefully landed, our cheers echoed, blending with the sound of the jet slicing through the sky.