The emergence of a dominant species. It caused a huge stir in us. An existence even more formidable than the advanced species. Moreover, it was a human-sized flay that was difficult to deal with with with frame gear.
　Naturally, the kings of the countries that were watching the broadcast sent a storm of questions, but even I didn't understand them. It's just that that thing is a higher existence than the higher species and has emotions.
　Although he was speaking an unintelligible language, Ende seemed to be talking to him properly, and he seems to be someone who can communicate with him.......
　Anyway, the battle is over, and most of the post-processing has been taken care of. The damage from the Rhodomeer that I was worried about was also far less than that of Euron. Even so, one of the mountain's summits was blown off, and the battlefield was completely turned into a wasteland by the advanced type's diffuse particle cannons.
　As for the damage here, there were no deaths, but there were quite a few serious injuries. There were quite a few injuries from the advanced type of land tsunami. After transferring to the main camp, Su and Lean used recovery magic, and Flora treated them with medicine, so they quickly got better, though.
　Even after all those preparations, it's still in this state. However, it can be said that this time it was only this bad because we just happened to find out that they appeared.
　Thanks to our efforts, Rhodomere was able to avoid much damage from the Fraze, but the fact that the capital of Central Province was destroyed by armed golems seemed to be a bigger blow than that.
　To take responsibility for this, Dr. Bowman was sent to the mine for more than ten years of forced labor, I'm told.
　Other state governors denounced the governor-general of all the provinces, Volk Raziel, for failing to take safety measures at the institute and for mismanagement of those in charge.
　The other cantonal governors finally agreed that Volk Lazier was to lose his position and a young central nobleman was to become the new governor.
　And the new governor of all the provinces of Rhodomere was chosen as the new Governor of the Hill Province, Audrey Reliban, who responded quickly to the solution of this problem.
　It was a shrewd, or rather, what a shrewd thing to do. We felt like we were being used for good, but we weren't doing anything bad, so we were fine.
　For our part, it's easier to do Audrey than that smirking old man Raziel.
　Headfirst, Governor Audrey All-State stopped the development of the armed golem at the Institute of Magic Studies. Well, of course. It wouldn't be good if they went on a rampage with some kind of impetus again.
　Next, he discussed it with the other state governors and unanimously decided to join the East-West Alliance. Apparently, the main reason for joining the alliance is that the allies will be able to lend their frame units and frame gear in the event of an emergency.
　If we can use the frame gear to clear away the rubble and other debris, we can make a lot of progress in reconstruction. We've lent about 10 heavy knights right away, but since there aren't any Rhodomean knights who can pilot them yet, we've decided to dispatch Nicola-san, the deputy commander, and a few other knights to Rhodomean as instructors.
　Thanks to that, we've made progress in clearing away the debris, and the city seems to be starting to regain some calm.
　Since the top man had become Governor of Audrey All State, Rhodomea had also softened its feud with Regulus and signed various trade treaties.
　Countries that hadn't been on good terms with each other before wouldn't be getting along any time soon, but it would certainly be a big step forward.
　Due to its location, Rhodomea has mainly traded with the Regulus Empire, the Lamish Kingdom, the Felsen Kingdom, and the Heavenly Empire of Euron. However, with the recent collapse of Euron, trade with Euron was no longer expected at all.
　In such a situation, the improvement of relations with Regulus must have been a godsend. Well, I guess it was a good thing.

"Master, may I have a word?
Hmm?

　I was stopped by Rosetta, who was repairing Ende's dragon knight in the 'hangar'. It was destroyed, or rather, the right arm that Ende destroyed is also being restored to its original state. This time, it's incorporating the frame of the new plane to strengthen it even more, so it won't be broken so easily.
　Rosetta comes down from the crane.

'Actually, something a bit odd happened in the fight the other day.
What's so weird?

　That day, I had asked Rosetta and Monica to be in charge of maintenance and adjustment of the spare aircraft.
　At the same time, I actually had them in charge of observing, investigating, and recording the activities of Fraise and the others. To be more precise, the observation part is the assistant in charge. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable leaving it to Parshe alone.... She's a hardcore screw-up, you know.

The number of people who were wrecked or destroyed in this battle and transferred to the main camp is 36. And after the battle, there were 35 broken frame gears recovered by the master on the battlefield.
...what?

　That's ridiculous. I even specified the parts of the frame gear after the battle and recovered them in "storage". You're telling me you weren't at the scene?

To be precise, the head, the main chest unit, the left bicep, and the right full leg are in pieces. They are all parts of a heavy knight.
One of the knights riding in the field cheated in that battle?
'No. Or rather, judging by the fact that each part is in pieces, someone else must have recovered the broken frame gear. Take a look at this.

　Rosetta turned on the monitor in the corner of the garage. Then an aerial image of the battle from the other day began to play. That's still before the advanced species appeared. What's wrong with this?

There you are.

　With a beep, Rosetta stopped the image. The body of the broken frame gear is visible at the edge of the screen.
　Rosetta released the pause and the image started playing again. Then the body of the broken frame gear that was there had disappeared.

''........What's going on here?''
Switching this to a magic-sensitive image...
Oh.

　A few people were shown trying to carry the body of the frame gear out. It was covered in a vague, bluish light that made it impossible to make out any details, but it was definitely a human shape. It could be a sub-human, but I can't see a tail or ears, so it doesn't seem to be a beastman.

It seems that they are using magic or artifacts to disappear. The magic power detection is caught perfectly. Even the frame gear is reflected perfectly.

　The frame gear's armor is colored with magical paint. But who are these guys, anyway?
　It's hard to believe that they are from the hand of the East-West Alliance. They're on loan, so there's no need for them to go this far.
　So, is it the rest of the world? We've known about this fight for days. So there were people who took advantage of it.

''They do something totally firebrand-like........search. Broken parts of a frame gear.
Search complete. Displaying.

　The map was projected in the air, but the pin only pointed here, to Brunhild. What does that mean? I know it won't respond to the frame gear I'm dispatching to the Lordmare because I specified that it's a broken part.

"It's probably a magical barrier that's been put in place to block them. It's the same type as Babylon's.

　Oh, I see. So it's untraceable.

"Can you make a frame gear out of those stolen parts?
It's impossible. If you give it time, you might be able to reassemble the broken one into the original heavy knight, but it's impossible to mass produce.

　I know, right? There's no such thing as an etheric liquid, and more importantly, if we have that kind of technology, we'll have no trouble with it.

However, the technology used in the frame gears may be used in other applications. If it's a poor imitation, there's a chance they'll make a poor imitation.
'Hmm. It's getting messy....

　As I was troubled, Monica, who was also maintaining the dragon knight, interrupted me from above while straddling the dragon knight's shoulder.

''In the meantime, shouldn't we tell the countries that it was stolen? It wouldn't be good if a fake heavy knight were to run amok and be framed for it, would it?

　That's true too. Since there's the ether liquid thing, I don't think it's going to be that easy to move it, but just in case.
　Crummy frame gears........pathetic. I've got a bad feeling about this.

Well, no matter how hard we try, it's impossible to make a machine that's better than a heavy knight, so we'll just let it go.
No, I'm not sure I'm comfortable leaving them alone.

　Well, I can't think of anything to do about it. Should I have installed a self-destruct mechanism? Well, there was a protagonist who had an epic self-destruction in a robot anime. I wonder if it's a stylistic beauty. It might be an ant for that kind of secrecy, though.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep it up.
Hmm. No change. Yae should be specialized. I'm not a crafty person. I think Hilda will be fine as she is.
All right. Okay, then whose plane is it?
Strawberry!

　At the entrance to the garage of the "hangar" stood Sue, standing on her knees, and Sheska in her maid's outfit behind her. Sheska brought them in? I was surprised.
　Suu dashed up to me and suddenly hugged me.

''For goodness sake, can't we put the strawberries on the frame gear too! I'm tired of practicing with frame units!

　Sue presses her head against my belly as she gropes. No, Sue's.
　To be honest, I'm worried about it. No, it's not to Sue's skill. She's pretty good at using frame units in competitive results. They say that children without any strange preconceptions about these things show better abilities, but Suu was so talented that I thought she was a genius as a rider.
　However, I can't help but wonder if it's somewhat of a game. After all, lives are at stake on the battlefield. I wondered if you were prepared to do that.

Doesn't it have to be something dangerous for Suu to do?
'What do you mean? Even Walla's fiancée of the winter night, when she has to fight, she fights! I'm not going to retreat to safety and become a decorator's wife! Strawberry wants to protect us all!

　Soo looks up at me with serious eyes. This boy is serious. Since he was brought up as a member of a royal family, maybe he was already prepared to do so.
　Was it just that I treated him as a child too much?

''Okay okay. Then let's make a special plane for Sue. What do you want it to be?
He's just strong!

　That's pretty vague. I asked you what type of girl you like.

I want a big one. I want one that can destroy opponents like Else. Oh, that ordinary aircraft that Fuyao showed me, the one that merged into various things to become a huge one!

　Eh, did I show you something like that....

''Then I'd like to see Warawa gouge out the core of the flames like this, or have his spinning arm fly away and destroy the opponent. Oh, and make me a golden hammer, too!

　Yeah, I kind of get it. The thing.....
　It's a power type, then. One with a strong defense and destructive power. Do you think we should ignore the maneuverability for now?
　But how about combining them? Remote control....well, it's impossible without some kind of autonomous AI. If it were manned, it would be possible, but then you'd need a driver.

I think we can manage that. I think we have a good one for that.

　...Really? Well, it's enough to bring a picture frame to life, so maybe there's something like that. If there's something like artificial intelligence, can it be diverted as a support mechanism for Suu?

'Nah..... Well, things have to be tried. Let's give it a try.
'Yes! After all, he's the best master in the winter night!

　I'm a little surprised when I catch Soo hugging my neck and he gives me a light kiss on the lips. She kisses me lightly on the lips, and I'm surprised when she kisses me on the cheek. I'm starting to sound off.
　But then Sheska is behind me, pointing her thumb at Sue and giving me a thumbs up. You put me up to this! This guy is really bad for education!