Chapter 10

Aiming at the center, he took a shot.

Confirmed impact.

While sidestepping, he aimed at the center and took a shot.

Confirmed impact.

At the moment of landing, he aimed at the center and took a shot.

Confirmed impact.

Once again, while sidestepping, he aimed at the center and took a shot.

Confirmed impact.

Before landing, he aimed at the center and took a shot, and at the moment of landing, he aimed at the center and took a shot.

Confirmed impact. And then confirmed impact.

Hmm. As expected, if I store weapons that are already loaded with ammunition in the magic crystal, I can shoot without reloading. It takes some getting used to storing and switching firearms, but there's no other way around it.

The problem is that the burden on the legs increases with repeated sidestepping and landing, but with a beast-type lower body, (for now) there's no problem.

However, I mustn't forget that this behavior looks quite creepy from the outside.

If this were a standard model, sidestepping and rolling—though it would require a high level of proficiency—wouldn't be unusual.

But with a quadruped, it's a different story. Think about it. If a wild animal suddenly sidestepped without any preparatory movements, it would be scary, right? Even more so if the upper body were human.

Furthermore, he shoots while sidestepping. The manual says, "You can move even right after shooting," but the creators probably didn't expect this method of movement.

Therefore, what I'm doing now could be described as behavior that overturns the conventions of snipers.

By the way, it's said that the most important thing when a pilot moves the machine is the image.

This is because the pilot and the machine are not connected by nerves but through the magic crystal. Therefore, the established theory is that the machine cannot do what the pilot cannot imagine.

That's why people who have learned martial arts are taught to imagine that their nerves are connected to the machine.

In other words, the weapon is an extension of the body.

The more vivid the image you imagine, the more finely the machine can trace the pilot's movements.

In the case of a beast-type, the image to imagine is crawling.

Yes, the way babies do it.

The main training method seems to be crawling, and if you don't like crawling, you can imagine something like riding a horse, but the final image is crawling.

However, don't underestimate crawling. It's an action ingrained in the instincts of living beings, so it's easier to trace than martial arts, which control the body with reason rather than instinct.

With all these conventions in mind, how about my machine?

I can't imagine being a quadruped well enough to connect my nerves, and I can't connect my nerves to the upper body while cutting off the lower body.

Moreover, the upper body gets in the way when I need to imagine crawling to move the lower body.

Therefore, it's an action that a normal person can't do, such as making the lower body sidestep while the upper body snipes.

So why can I, who have no particular talent, do such an action?

It's all thanks to the knowledge from my past life.

The knowledge was only faintly retained and is mostly forgotten now, but I still remember some things. That's the knowledge of robots.

You know, in a world where actual monsters exist and robots are used to defeat them, it's impossible to forget the knowledge of robots.

However, I don't know the detailed technology or maintenance methods, so the knowledge I have is only faint.

Among that, what was useful this time was the knowledge of the robot action game, "Armor Core," which I eagerly awaited for new releases but never saw a sequel beyond 5 before I died.

You know, a quadruped with a human upper body—there's no other option, right?

It might have been in "Gundam" or "Macross," but I don't know.

In this world, due to the absence (or thanks to) the discovery of the particles, there are no hover systems, but the lower body is equipped with sufficient springs, so I decided to operate the machine in a similar way to that game.

In other words, I imagine moving it with a controller. (The grip is the usual one)

The result, as you can see, is that the memory etched in my soul (body) remained even if my head forgot.

It took some time to fully recall it, and there are many differences from the game, so of course, there are some issues, but no major problems.

Now, I think I can even take on the later missions. (I'm not saying I can clear them)

However, in close combat, which requires millimeter-level attention in machine-to-machine battles, I must consider the possibility of being at a disadvantage.

Of course, the development concept of this machine is long-range sniping with high-powered guns, so close combat ability was not required from the beginning.

Why? Asking for close combat ability from a prototype "Gundam" would be a waste, right? That's the idea.

Of course, it's a fact that there are problems, so it's not that I don't need to think of countermeasures.

--- Mission Complete ---

"Huh? It's over?"

While sniping and thinking about various things, the prepared curriculum seems to have ended.

The results are 8 large and 6 medium. 22 small were caught in the incendiary shell's damage.

This is just in the simulator, so it's unclear how much this performance will affect my evaluation, but it's not a bad score... rather, it should be a very good score.

The basis for this is that I was able to take down large monsters alone.

To be clear, monsters are creatures created by demons and devils.

Of course, the raw materials are humans and wild animals from regions dominated by demons.

The details of the creation process are unknown, but it seems that they are created by implanting magic crystals or demonic factors.

Monsters created this way are classified into four types based on their size.

First, small monsters, which are 3 meters or less. These are mostly goblin-type or animal-type and are the most numerous.

Next, medium monsters, which are 3 to 10 meters.

If they are humanoid, they are like Minotaurs or Oni, and if they are beast-type, they are large animals like bears or tigers that have mutated. The corpses used as the base for the machines are mainly these.

Next, large monsters, which are 10 to 30 meters.

These are called fantasy types, and they are mostly like yokai, like Oni, or like the King Bugs from "Nausicaä" or the Vajra from "Macross Frontier."

From this size, extremely enhanced giants and dragons that shoot mysterious beams also appear.

Finally, extra-large monsters, which are 30 meters or more.

Whether they are 100 meters or 500 meters, they are classified as extra-large. Several have been confirmed in Europe, and they not only recreate mythological creatures like Fenrir or Midgard Serpent but also serve as carriers for medium and large monsters.

Monsters develop a force field called a magic barrier when they reach medium size or larger.

This force field significantly reduces the power of attacks that do not contain the same level of power, known as magic, so it's very troublesome to defeat medium or larger monsters with conventional weapons that cannot carry magic in their attacks (it's not impossible, but it requires a lot of effort).

In a nutshell, it's a degraded version of the A-Field.

Because of this barrier, machines that can attack with magic through magic crystals are necessary.

Moreover, the larger they get, the more demonic factors they contain, so the strength of the magic barrier increases, and they also use magical attacks—mysterious beam attacks from a distance.

Therefore, to defeat large monsters, multiple machines or specially adjusted defense weapons (giant cannons that are only specialized in attack and have no mobility or defense, so they can take down large monsters but are prioritized for counterattacks and have a very high attrition rate, also known as coffin cannons) are required.

So, that's about it for monsters and machines.

In other words, since the national defense army assumes some attrition when dealing with large monsters, the data that I, alone and unharmed, took down multiple large monsters should be treated as very valuable data.

Of course, this is just what I think based on the limited knowledge I gathered before enrollment, and it might be normal to take down large monsters alone now, but it's still not a bad result... I hope.

If I ignore that wishful thinking and point out the issues as a test pilot, the incendiary shells are convenient for taking out small monsters, but I need to be careful about the range of the attack.

You can't laugh it off if "I sniped the enemy and hit my allies."

As an addition, it might be good to prepare armor-piercing rounds for individual sniping or to use a tank's turret as is, like the Mazella-Up cannon.

The real issue is when the enemy closes the distance. If the enemy is large, I'll think about it later, but I should consider the scenario if the enemy is medium or small monsters.

If I can run away, it's not a problem, but if I can't retreat because of allies, I'll be in a bind.

To solve this, I need to prepare close combat weapons or machine gun-like weapons.

In that case, adding the weight of the weapons to an already heavy machine and switching from long-range sniping to close combat will be difficult, so it might be hard to evaluate it as a mass-production model.

Just lining up and sniping would be faster with heavy tanks with modified guns.

But my job is just to report. I'll leave the rest to them and the future me.

"Anyway, that's about it. Since it's the first time, I might have missed some things, but can you adjust those parts?"

"O-Okay, I got it."

Huh? Are you not panicking? Are you depressed because of the many issues? Yes, there were many issues, but it's normal for prototypes to have issues, and it's a good thing that they were discovered in a safe simulator rather than in a life-threatening real battle.

What's wrong? Smile, mechanic.

---

(What the hell is going on!?)

Even in the simulator, moving around the battlefield lightly while sniping monsters and reciting the content of the report as if it were a normal task—Kaita's abnormal behavior was making Ryubun scream in his mind.

Indeed, what Kaita was doing was the behavior described in the manual they provided as a mixed-type explanation. However, that was only the "catalog spec" behavior, meaning "what this machine should be able to do" as the ideal written by the creators.

In reality, the machine stops moving when shooting, and the center of gravity shifts due to the recoil. Sidestepping is not impossible, but it puts a strain on the legs when landing. It would be impossible to jump again and confirm the hit before the machine or the pilot inside could survive.

So, the ideal is just an ideal, but the movement of the mixed-type operated by Kaita was exactly what Ryubun and the production staff had envisioned as the ideal...

"Anyway, that's about it. Since it's the first time, I might have missed some things, but can you adjust those parts?"

Ryubun, who had been mesmerized, was suddenly called by Kaita.

(What's this? What does he mean by "this"?)

The content reported was the end of the curriculum in the simulation, the issues found during the simulation, and suggestions for improvement, as well as detailed numerical values for adjustments. As a mechanic, it was all content that made him nod in agreement.

Kaita said, "Since it's the first time, this is what I got," but the content of the report, which contained the same amount of information, would require at least five or more trials to produce.

There was no way to complain about such a report on the first try, and Ryubun, who screamed (What the hell is going on!) again, could only manage a pathetic "O-Okay, I got it."

However, Ryubun was not just a mechanic. As the president of a (perverted) company, the scores Kaita had achieved and the issues he had identified early on were all pieces needed to complete the new model they had invested everything in.

(With this, we can do it. We can do it!)

What the current national defense army requires in a machine is not high performance but high cost and the need for special parts or special maintenance, or the need for special talents to operate it properly.

Even if it has moderate performance, it should be easy to use and mass-produce. In other words, it should have high productivity.

Ryubun is well aware of this.

A good company is not one that makes what it wants but one that can make what the customer wants. He understands this intellectually.

However, engineers are always driven by the desire to "make the best machine possible with the current technology."

Until now, he had compromised in the face of the reality of "having to feed the employees." ...Scarily, Ryubun had thought he was compromising.

(But from now on, it's different!)

Now that the various values that were unclear due to the lack of users can be measured, and there is a pretext to pour in money and effort into "experiments for a new model that might be adopted by the military."

Of course, he intends to push all the various abilities to their limits, check the behavior at the limit, and use it as a guideline to aim even higher. Furthermore, by recording Kaita's movements in detail and data, it might be possible for all the machines to perform the same actions when mass-produced—though the extreme mobility might be impossible.

(If that happens, the military will start demanding mixed-types.)

In other words, it means "we will become a good company that can make what the customer wants."

(I have to ride this wave!)

It was the moment when the romance and practicality of the engineers at the Sumitaka Heavy Industries aligned.

"Hehehehehe"

Ryubun, who couldn't help but laugh suspiciously at the thought of the mixed-types lining up on the battlefield and exterminating monsters, said, "Oh! I can't just stand here! But... hehehehehe."

He grinned while making documents and grinned again.

To an outsider, his behavior was clearly that of a weird person, and the fact that the sight of mixed-types lining up on the battlefield would be a nightmare for a person with normal sensibilities never dawned on Ryubun.

Operation V was conceived in the perverted mind.

Don't give perverts money, time, and ideas. It's clear, isn't it?

By the way, the Third Savior Plan is a plan to create humans with high compatibility with magic crystals or magic crystals that are easy to match with humans, and the genius of the Kawakami siblings (especially the sister) is something that sprouted independently of the plan.

In other words? Good job, fellow! The bar has been raised!

Thank you for reading.