Humans really were wonderful. As he spied on the two brothers from behind a pillar, the Guide grew a bit emotional. Entranced by their conversation, he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. Lately, he’d had to deal with a number of weirdos forcing gratitude on him, but this was how humans were supposed to be—completely illogical. They were supposed to complain even when things were going well and to drag each other down.
Negative emotions swirled around Cleo; he looked radiant to the Guide.
“Humans still have potential. Yes… Humans should be their own enemies. That’s how it should be!” The Guide nodded to himself, appreciating Cleo’s twisted emotions. He wiped his eyes again and blew his nose. “Cleo and Calvin… If you two join forces, I’m sure it’ll be trouble for Liam. I know he’s strong, but he’s still human, if barely. There must be a way to beat him.”
Liam’s ally had betrayed him, joining forces with his enemy, and entirely with the aim of ending him. Delight welled up in the Guide at the thought that Liam had already been put at a disadvantage without him even having to lift a finger.
“I’ve been underestimating humans, it seems. I’ll give you two as much assistance as possible.”
As the Guide watched the pair, grinning, Calvin began to sound Cleo out. “So you want to beat House Banfield… Well, easier said than done. Do you have some sort of strategy?”
Liam had brought his house beyond its past prosperity within his lifetime, and he’d become so powerful that some said he was the top noble in the Empire. How exactly would they beat someone like that? Calvin had to ask that, since he’d already lost to Liam several times. It was good that he was asking, though; it meant that he wasn’t underestimating Liam.
Cleo stood. “We have a chance against House Banfield,” he told Calvin. “Against Liam himself as well.”
“I can’t imagine that beating the Empire’s strongest swordsman will be all that easy.”
“Against the strongest swordsman, we just need to use the strongest swordsman.”
“That makes sense, but three of the Empire’s four Swordmasters have already lost to the Way of the Flash, and we can’t let the fourth leave the border. So who do you propose using? Did you find a new Swordmaster or something?”
As Calvin warned that the approach Cleo suggested likely wouldn’t work, Cleo raised a hand to his mouth and chuckled. Then he explained part of his plan, a foreboding air about him. “I have a lead on a swordsman. What I need you to do is get me a mobile knight identical to House Banfield’s strongest unit, the Avid.”
Calvin didn’t like the way Cleo had dodged his question, but he played along anyway. “Isn’t that whole thing made of rare metals? You could probably buy multiple fleets with that kind of money. You think I can just ‘get you’ something like that?”
“It’ll be worth spending that kind of money to take Liam out.”
“Even if I can get it for you, it’ll be useless without someone who can pilot it.”
“I’ll provide the pilot.”
Calvin cocked his head, perplexed.
Cleo began to project a video for him. Evidently, he’d already been working on this plan for a while. “We’ll upload an AI trained on Liam’s piloting data to the new Avid. For the pilot, I plan to use a clone of Liam.”
Calvin shot up from his throne. “Wh-what?! Are you crazy?! Those are both banned tech!” He couldn’t hide his disgust at the plan. Artificial intelligence had once almost destroyed humanity, and human cloning was taboo.
“You want to win, don’t you?” Cleo asked. “I’m at least treating House Banfield as the threat they are.” That was a foe worth breaking taboos to take down.
Calvin fell back into his seat, forced to agree. Still scowling, he asked what stage Cleo’s plan was at. “How much progress have you made on this?”
“I can start training the AI immediately. Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire Liam’s DNA. If push comes to shove, I’ll have to take DNA from his parents and create something that surpasses him. What I need from you is the Avid—no, a machine that will surpass the Avid.”
“B-but…”
“Brother, if we lose to him, only hell awaits us.”
Calvin didn’t like the plan, but he liked the future that awaited him if he lost to Liam even less. He had no idea what sort of revenge would be taken on him, but he’d be lucky if he died quickly; Liam surely held a grudge over the conflicts they’d already had.
“Very well.” Fearing for his future, Calvin agreed to cooperate with Cleo’s plan. “I’ll provide the mobile knight. But will Count Banfield himself even come out to fight it?”
“If he doesn’t, all we’ll have to do is rip through his army with it. A machine like that—one that surpasses human limits—could definitely destroy House Banfield.”
The way Cleo was chuckling to himself made Calvin break out in a cold sweat.
The Guide was impressed with the lengths Cleo was willing to go to, but he was also a little worried by what he’d heard. “Hold on a second… You don’t actually have Liam’s DNA yet? That craft of Liam’s has a Machine Heart, you know.” He paid this some thought. If he didn’t step in, Cleo and Calvin would lose. And if they were to stand any sort of chance, they’d definitely need Liam’s DNA. “I-I guess this is where I’ll have to help out.”
Cleo interrupted the Guide’s musings. “You. Shoot me,” he commanded one of Calvin’s knights.
“Huh? What?”
Calvin reluctantly gave the hesitant knight permission to do as commanded; he realized what Cleo was planning. “You want to injure yourself to fool him? You’d go that far…?”
Cleo smiled. “I hope you admire my resolve. It’d be suspicious if I came out of this situation unscathed. Well, I’m sure Liam will be suspicious of me even if I am hurt—but if he feels even a little bit guilty over it, we can take advantage of that.”
If something went wrong when the knight shot him, Cleo might actually die simply through trying to deceive Liam, but he wasn’t the least bit afraid of that. Calvin had to acknowledge his brother’s determination, even if it was in a backhanded way.
“You’re a perfect prince for this bloodstained Empire.”
“I’m honored that you’d say so.”
Calvin’s knight raised his gun at Cleo and pulled the trigger.