NOVEL NEXT C11
C11: Okay, I’ll ask around
My stomach was full and I was feeling quite calm.
I looked at Brunnhilde again. She has a doll-like expression and doesn’t move a muscle as she stares at me. I know she’s an android, but it’s true that this beauty cannot be human. She was perfectly formed.
I decided to ask her a few questions.
“Where shall I begin——For now, tell me about the past. Why did the androids have……technology that is more advanced than today’s technology?”
“Me and my other sisters were built as tools of war. In a war between humans and androids, we, the War Maiden type, were developed and put into the front lines by humans who were planning to eradicate androids.”
“War……between humans and androids.”
It’s like the Terminator. I wonder if a computer has become self-aware and gone berserk. And what about the androids made to destroy the other androids?
“The humans have developed a number of powerful weapons to destroy the androids. One such weapon is the Maiden Divine Sword Excaliburn, which is mounted on me. There are other armaments, but they were all uninstalled before entering the repair nanopod. If you want to reacquire them, you will need to investigate the facilities—presently known as ruins that exist in various locations.”
“Weapons, those big mechanical swords? The ruins where……you were sleeping?”
“Yes. However, it has been one thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight years since I stopped functioning. The continental charts that are currently installed on me will be useless. I need to figure out the current geography as soon as possible.”
“I see…….Then we should aim for the places where there are more people. Maybe there are some ruins.”
“Yes. If I can fix the ruins with Master’s “Repair”, I may be able to use a new armament or awaken my sisters the “Battle Maiden” type.”
“Repair……hmmm.”
I look at my hands. I don’t remember how I activated the cheat back then. Besides, repairing broken things is too sketchy, and I want to test it more. But if I can only repair ancient things, there’s no way to test it. Anyway, I’ve pretty much decided what I’m going to do. I need to figure out the geography, find out where the people are, and get back to my students.
“All right, well, take care of me from now on, Brünnhilde.”
“Yes, Master, Brünnhilde is one of your abilities, feel free to use it.”
“……Oh, um, yeah.”
I guess I’ll take the day off anyway. Leaving Brunnhilde to guard the fire, I lay down on the ground covered with leaves.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
The next day, as we walked through the thicket, we found a river. If we followed the flow of the river, we might find a town or village where people lived.
“Master, I’m seeing human traces in the vicinity. If we follow the trail, we may find a human settlement.”
“Okay, let’s go, I need information and maybe some food.”
Fortunately, I have some money. All money in this world is in coins, with the cheapest being copper, followed by silver, then gold, and the highest being platinum. In my coin purse, I have a few gold coins and a few silver coins. I can get by with this. We walked along the river for an hour. After passing through a wooded area, we saw a village lined up along the river. Wooden houses lined the street, and it looked like the first village in a game. My face broke into a smile, feeling relieved.
“Huh……that’s a relief.”
“Master, my search indicates that the village has been attacked by bandits.”
“What…………?”
Brünnhilde’s emotionless murmur was unbelievable.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
The village that I and Brunnhilde visited was a small village where farming was the main occupation.
The village drew water from the river, cultivated fields, raised livestock, hunted and stripped pelts, and sold them wholesale to the town for income.
Their problem is that there are no successors. Young men leave for the city to pursue their dreams, and young women are attracted by the glamour of the town and leave home. It is one of those mundane villages. In the center of such a village, the villagers gathered……or rather, were gathered.
“Hahahaha! Booze, booze!
“Hey, sister, pour me a drink!”
“Hey, bring me some food!”
“Ha-ha-ha!”
The bandits lurking around the area had taken over the village. They numbered about twenty, each armed with mountain-trained bodies and weapons such as axes and swords. The villagers could not even resist, and the village was easily taken over.
The bandits first demanded all the food and liquor that the village had stockpiled. Of course, the village chief tried to keep things quiet………and was easily beheaded.
When the village chief was killed and the villagers saw that the bandits were serious, they had no choice but to obey. If they resisted, the bandits would simply kill all the villagers and take everything.
Using some of the food, the women of the village were forced to cook, and the men were beaten by the bandits as a sideshow. And the……..few young women that were left were used as comfort by the bandits.
“No! Help me, Dad! Dad!”
“Please, not my daughter, not my daughter!”
“Shut the f*ck up!”
“What the f*ck?”
“Daaaad!”
A father tries to save his daughter from being taken away by bandits. However, the father is easily beaten and lynched as an example.
“Don’t do it…….Don’t do it, please. My dad, my dad, my dad……”
An old man, over 60 years old, was beaten to a pulp. On the ground was his son, who was being shown the scene with tears streaming down his face. Naturally, the son was also beaten and battered. And then he crawled forward to his father, who had been beaten and collapsed…….The bandits watched this scene with a grin on their faces.
The villagers were being overrun. They hadn’t done anything wrong, it was just bad luck that the bandits had spotted this village.
“Heh, heh……you and your child die together.”
Oil was sprinkled on the father and son as they lay on the ground. It seems that they are going to use them as a seed fire to roast the livestock. One of the cows had already been killed and bled. The bandits were excited and shouted with glee. Yes, the villagers were just unlucky.
“Let’s go! Let the barbecue begin!”
It wasn’t just the villagers who had bad luck, the bandits who had even worse luck than the villagers.
“What the f*ck?”
“What the hell is that?”
“A lump of iron?”
“Fozzie!”
“Fozzie’s dead!”
“Who is it?”
A huge lump of metal, which no one could understand, hit the bandit. The bandit who took the direct hit became a piece of meat and died instantly. His limbs and internal organs were scattered. Then, a silver maiden of war descended from the sky.
“Executing top priority order from Master. Destroy the enemy.”
The Warrior Maiden type android code04 Brünnhilde has landed.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
I was peeking at Brunnhilde’s activities from the shadows. Surprisingly, it was Brunnhilde who proposed the rescue of the villagers. Well, the reason was “we should save the villagers who are the source of information.” She doesn’t think it’s about people’s lives, but she thinks it’s necessary for us to get information.
I can’t just turn a blind eye to this situation. Of course, information is important, but as a humanitarian, I can’t leave it alone. As expected, Brünnhilde was surrounded.
“You little shit!”
“Hey, don’t kill her!”
“Surround her!”
Brünnhilde’s expression did not change at all. The same must be true of the stunned villagers and the furious bandits. There was a cold-hearted, emotionless weapon that was just carrying out its program.
“Special Armament [Maiden Sword Excalibur] transitioning to wearing form. The maiden [Maiden Divine Sword Excalibur] and [Goddess Sword Caliburn] deployed.”
I, the villagers, and the bandits were stunned as we watched the scene. The mechanical sword had disintegrated and merged with Brunnhilde’s armor, and Brunnhilde’s armor had become even more elaborate, with a single-edged laser blade in each hand.
In addition, the parts of the mechanical sword are attached to the back, shoulders, and both legs, and a burst of light occurs like a jet device, and Brunnhilde’s body floats up…….Compared to her technology the bandits weapons look like axes and swords look like scraps.
Brunnhilde, said emotionlessly.
“Exterminate.”
Thus the true devastation began.