Born? What a thing for a machine to say!
I didn’t report any of this to the lieutenant.
If this thinking was a critical error in my system, I could be dismantled and destroyed.
But there wasn’t anything wrong with me.
Indeed, the captain—he had been promoted again—would hop inside of me, the same as always and ask, “Ready to go, partner?” and I would function as I should.
Without any problems.
Without a single issue.
I would continue to protect the captain, and the captain would operate me, with his will becoming my own as we raced across the battlefield.
I was fine as long as I could increase our successes on the battlefield.
But, suddenly our time to part ways had come.
On the eastern front, Wiltia would have a decisive battle against their bitter enemy, the August Federation.
“Pretty soon, this war’s going to be over.”
With the siege of Morghausenx Fortress setting the final stage, the captain said these words.
If we could win this battle, the Great Europea War that had enveloped the entire continent would come to an end.
It would end as a victory for the Allied Forces, led by the Principality of Wiltia.
As long as there was a war, and as long as there were battles to be fought, I would stay with the captain.
Yet, I knew that would not happen.
“Captain, optimistic thinking greatly reduces your chance of survival. Please restrain yourself from these thoughts.”
If I had been a human child, my voice would have been trembling as I said this. Ignoring my warnings, the captain continued to talk.
“Once the war is over … there are things I want to do, things I want to become.”
I knew.
He had told me before how he would continue his life outside of battle, and the way he would use his remaining time.
Even though he was called the Silver Wolf, and praised as the pride of Wiltia’s Iron Knights, this didn’t fulfill him or make him truly happy.
“What exactly … are those things?”
Even though I had just told him not to give in to such wishful thinking, I couldn’t help asking.
I wanted to follow the captain wherever he went.
Even off the battlefield, I wanted to remain as this man’s partner.
“Once this battle’s over, I’ll tell you.”
Saying this, the captain patted my console, just like he always had.
With a gentle hand, as if he was calming a little girl.
But, I knew.
No matter what he was going to say, I wouldn’t be able to follow him.
Because, after all, I was a weapon.
I was a tool that mowed down enemy infantry with my machine guns, stepped over trenches, kicked in and smashed enemy garrisons, crushed fleeing armies underfoot, and peeled off the armor of enemy tanks.
As long as I was who I was, I could not stay with the captain.
Before long, the war ended and the captain left the military.
I was left behind.
For a moment, I tried to imagine.
If the captain’s wish hadn’t been fulfilled, would I have been able to stay with him?
But, that line of thought quickly disappeared.
More than anything else, I wished that the captain would realize his goals and be rewarded with success.
The noise inside of me grew so strong it enveloped me completely.
I didn’t care anymore.
If the captain wasn’t with me, there was no longer a reason for me to exist.
There might still be a reason for my existence as part of the Hunter Unit, but no reason as Avei.
I had no will of my own.
The captain was my will and my everything.
Without a will, there was no reason to remain in this world.
All of my mechanisms were suspended. I was like a corpse, branded as useless, soon to be turned into scrap iron along with the other weapons.
Or that was supposed to happen.
I wondered exactly how much time had passed. It might have been an hour, or it might have been one hundred years.
“Hello there.”
A man called out to me.
“My name is Daian Fortuner. Those who know me refer to me as a sorcerer.”
The man’s gestures were like a clown’s but he spoke like a con man. Was he a sorcerer, I thought, or just a fraud?
“My, my, you seem to have quite good intuition, don’t you?”
———?!
Who or what exactly was this man? Was he reading my thoughts?
“I have asked this question to all of your sisters but none gave a convincing answer. None were even able to understand the question.”
The man folded his arms and pointed a finger towards his head, posing as if he was in agony.
His gesture only annoyed me.
“Ahahahahaha! Have I been figured out? You’re a funny one! You might be able to give me the answer that I’m looking for.”
What exactly did he want me to answer?
“It’s a simple question. Would you, by chance, like to become human?”
Huh?
Become … human? That wasn’t even possible!
Only a sorcerer … no, only a wizard from a fairytale would be able to do this.
But, if I were human …
I would be able to go after the captain.
I would be with him once again. At the captain’s side, I could support him and help him find what he was looking for.
I would be able to remain as me!
“Marvelous! The only one of your six hundred and sixty-six siblings who has given birth to your own ego!”
In a world where death and life intersect and so many thousands of lives are scattered, outside God’s command, a soul was born from a mixture of oil and blood, steel and flesh.
I was reborn.
It was the third month of the year 920 E.C., when the wind began to gently blow and the footsteps of spring could finally be heard.