Chapter 34

Richard Kingdom.

A nation boasting a history almost as long as the Empire’s thousand-year legacy, renowned simultaneously for its ancient lineage and as the hegemon of the north.

And currently, the Richard Kingdom had minimal exchanges with the Empire.

Because, after all, these two countries had been at near-constant war for several hundred years until only a few centuries ago.

Of course, it had been a very long time since the war between the two nations had ended.

Even so, the citizens of both countries couldn’t help but harbor negative feelings toward each other.

So, to put it simply, they were like England and France on Earth—eternal rivals.

But even if the relationship between the two countries wasn’t good, diplomatic ties couldn’t just be severed, right?

Thus, every few years, the kingdom sent diplomatic envoys to the empire.

On one such occasion, as the envoy from the Richard Kingdom arrived to deliver a diplomatic letter to the emperor as usual…

“…What in the world is that?”

The kingdom’s envoy had witnessed something.

A towering giant of steel, standing dozens of meters tall.

At first, the envoy thought he might be seeing things or that some mages were pulling off an illusion spell for some bizarre prank.

But then…

– Ladies and gentlemen, have you seen it? This is the war machine, Knight Shin Unit 0, secretly developed to repel and defeat all enemies threatening our empire!

[ROOOAAAAR!]

The so-called “Knight Shin” emitted a sound like a living thing, ominous and bone-chilling.

When someone climbed inside and began operating the Knight Shin, the envoy could do nothing but widen his eyes in disbelief.

“This can’t be! The empire must have created this secret weapon to invade our kingdom!”

Though peace had reigned for hundreds of years, there was no doubt in the envoy’s mind that the empire, with its wicked ambitions, had devised this monstrous weapon to conquer the kingdom.

In that moment, the envoy imagined what would happen if war broke out between the two nations…

“…It’s terrifying.”

All the envoy could picture was this steel giant rampaging across the battlefield, mercilessly trampling the soldiers of the kingdom.

That steel giant was immensely powerful—a game-changing war machine capable of altering the paradigm of warfare itself.

Thus, the envoy immediately returned to the kingdom to report everything he’d seen and heard.

“The empire has built a forty-meter-tall humanoid giant and plans to use it as a war machine?”

“Come on, that sounds ridiculous. Even if it’s true, it’s too far-fetched to believe.”

Naturally, the king and nobles openly expressed their disbelief when hearing the envoy’s report.

However, the envoy had his own arguments.

“At first, I thought I might’ve been mistaken, but the reactions of the emperor and the nobles were strange.”

“What do you mean by ‘strange’? What happened?”

“Well… let me explain…”

When the nobles approached to question the identity of the giant, they acted oddly.

– Ah, that thing, you mean?

– So, you don’t know about it…

– I see. That…

– Let’s leave the story here. Excuse me…

– …?

Truthfully, it was a chain reaction of resentment caused by someone being trolled, which led to others doing the same.

But from the envoy’s perspective, who knew none of this, it was all baffling.

Meanwhile, the emperor…

– Ah, you’re familiar with the Knight Shin, are you? It’s a creation of Ragnar, made possible by my patronage, designed to repel the empire’s true enemies. Officially, it was built to combat outsiders, but due to various compromises, we had to adapt it to reality. Still, it’s nearly indestructible to regular attacks, so there’s no problem…

– …

Not only did the emperor act as if he were showing off the Knight Shin in front of the envoy, but he also rambled on about unnecessary details.

Ultimately, based on the emperor and nobles’ behavior, the envoy concluded:

‘So, now that the Knight Shin is complete, they feel invincible, huh?’

The Knight Shin, towering over dozens of meters, was impossible to hide from public view despite attempts to keep it secret.

While the nobles wanted to maintain discretion, the emperor, in his arrogance, couldn’t help but flaunt the existence of the Knight Shin.

“Even commoners seemed well-aware of the Knight Shin. It was already widely known among the empire’s citizens.”

To the point where illustrations and models of the Knight Shin were openly sold in the market—what more needed to be said?

Though the envoy wanted to investigate further due to the intricate designs of these Knight Shin-related products, he feared potential interference from the empire side and decided to return to the kingdom as soon as possible.

In any case, after hearing the envoy’s vivid account, the king and nobles grew solemn.

“…If your words are true, the concept of war will change entirely. There’s no way conventional methods can bring down that giant.”

“If soldiers get crushed by the Knight Shin, they’ll die instantly. Even a Great Mage would find it extremely difficult to destroy it with ordinary firepower.”

“The empire won’t sit idly by while our Great Mages try to destroy the Knight Shin. In short, defeating it with normal means is almost impossible…”

Thus, the king and nobles engaged in serious discussions about the Knight Shin.

And eventually, they reached one conclusion:

‘We can’t win.’

If the empire deployed the Knight Shin during a war, the kingdom would be defeated without even getting a chance to fight back.

Then what should they do?

Should they just stand by and watch the emperor and the empire’s nobles’ wicked schemes unfold?

“…There’s no choice.”

With a deeply troubled expression, the king spoke.

“We must secretly contact the empire. Since we’ve uncovered their plan involving the Knight Shin, we must declare that we’re willing to join them. We’ll tell them our kingdom is ready to participate in whatever plans they have.”

If you can’t beat an unbeatable enemy, you might as well join them.

It was a humbling move for a kingdom that had opposed the empire for hundreds of years, but reality was harsh.

Thus, the Richard Kingdom drafted a humiliating document proposing an alliance with the empire.

***

This document of alliance was promptly delivered to the emperor.

As expected, the emperor’s reaction upon reading it was:

“Are these guys serious?”

The emperor muttered incredulously.

“Did they really think we created the Knight Shin as a war machine?”

Saying this, he gazed pensively at the Knight Shin displayed in the palace square.

Though it looked grand on the surface, its true nature was nothing more than a simple amusement ride.

After all, the moment the model was completed, the emperor had used his authority to force Ragnar to pilot it first, much to his satisfaction as a fervent fan of the “Knight Shin Chronicle.”

“Hmm, fair enough. Ragnar did make the model look convincing enough for another country’s envoy to mistake it for real.”

The emperor chuckled fondly, though…

On the other hand, the nobles had a rough idea why the kingdom made such a misunderstanding.

“The Richard Kingdom hasn’t had much formal interaction with us for the past few years.”

“They probably haven’t encountered the work ‘Knight Shin Chronicle,’ so their misunderstanding isn’t surprising.”

Indeed, even if they themselves were from the kingdom, they might have easily mistaken the Knight Shin model for a weapon of war.

After all, most of the nobles here hadn’t imagined that an anime could become so popular that a life-sized 1:1 model would be erected right in the middle of the city.

Anyway, regardless of how things turned out, there was zero possibility that the Knight Shin would ever be used as a war machine.

Thus, the nobles intended to laugh it off as a funny little incident.

Until…

“…Hold on.”

The emperor suddenly had a brilliant idea.

“Why not actually create such a weapon this time?”

“…Pardon?”

Instantly, the nobles wore expressions as if questioning their own hearing.

Had the emperor finally lost the ability to distinguish between reality and anime due to his obsession with “Knight Shin Chronicle”?

“I’m not insane enough to suggest we use the Knight Shin in actual war, so stop looking at me like that.”

The emperor clicked his tongue.

“To anyone unfamiliar with ‘Knight Shin Chronicle,’ the appearance of the Knight Shin is undeniably overwhelming and majestic. It would boost our soldiers’ morale immensely. Wouldn’t its mere presence on the battlefield serve as a powerful deterrent?”

“…Hmm.”

“Indeed, it’s not a bad point.”

Just consider the kingdom’s envoy—he fled back to his homeland after seeing the Knight Shin model.

Of course, the truth was that it was merely a 40-meter-tall plastic model, but as long as everyone here kept quiet, the truth wouldn’t leak out.

As the nobles mulled over this calculation…

“And if we prepare the Knight Shin in advance, it could help in case a real colossal monster—excuse me, not an outsider—appears later. To avoid confusion, we should give it a different name. Any good ideas?”

“…Hmm, how about ‘Giant Soldier’?”

“Giant Soldier, Giant Soldier… Very good, Duke.”

“We could also add the ancient word ‘Obelisk,’ which means ‘great.'”

“Ho ho, indeed! You always have great taste, Duke.”

“…”

“…”

Listening to this exchange between the two top powers of the empire, the nobles could only close their eyes tightly.

They couldn’t help but think—if the empire fell anytime soon, it would definitely be because of that kid, Ragnar.