Sophia was drinking because the crush she had nursed all these years had clearly ended and she was unable to stand it while sober.
“Just leave her alone. Sometimes a woman has to rely on a bottle to get things out of her system before she can move on.”
Blitzdonner looked young, but he was father to the eleven-year-old Jacob. He dispensed wisdom like someone much older.
“Spoken like a true playboy. But don’t go targeting desperate women!”
“I wouldn’t think of it!!”
Blitzdonner was the ace pilot once called the Crimson Hawk, but he was also known as a skirt chaser.
“Seriously. If I did that, Charlotte would... But it’s not just her! Jacob would never look at me the same way again!”
Jacob was finally treating him like a father, so he couldn’t afford to mess that up.
“Well, that doesn’t matter. Where is Director Daian?”
Daian had attended the wedding, so Sven and Lud assumed he had stayed for the banquet afterward. The two had come to speak with the genius scientist Daian Fortuner, also known as the Sorcerer. He might be able to explain what Meitzer meant about Sven becoming human.
“Oh, the science guy? The top brain we in Wiltia are so proud of?”
“Yes. Did he already leave?”
Daian wasn’t staying in Organbaelz. His hotel was in the neighboring town. Sven looked around but didn’t see him.
“Svelgen, look where I’m pointing.”
“Huh? Um... hey!”
Blitzdonner was pointing to where Daian was serving as a chair for the drunken Sophia.
“What are you doing, Director?!”
“H-Hi, Svelgen. Nice night, eh?”
“How can you make small talk in that position?!”
Daian had tried to stop Sophia from drowning her sorrows but had failed miserably. He had not only been unable to stop her from running off the rails but found himself trapped under her rump.
“I’d like to talk, okay?”
“Oh... you came back to talk on your wedding night? Then it must be important.”
“It is.”
“In that case, help me out of here.”
The world’s foremost brain, a genius scientist whose influence extended even to national war strategy, was in a woeful predicament. They pleaded with Sophia to calm down and eventually resorted to dumping a bucket of water over her head, successfully freeing Daian a few minutes later.
“I almost made peace with harsh reality and achieved enlightenment,” Daian sighed.
“No, it looks like you’re a total wreck!” Sven countered.
They moved to a back room of the church. The roof leaked, so the room couldn’t even serve as storage, but there was no fear of anyone overhearing their conversation.
“I’ll leave you alone.”
The nun Marlene, had taken them to the room. She had sensed without being told that they wanted to speak privately.
She’s quite admirable...
Marlene had once strayed in life, and Lud had saved her from the brink of death. She had special feelings for him, but unlike Sophia, she maintained her composure and had not fallen apart. Marlene wasn’t actually a nun, but she was as much a woman of God as a real clergywoman.
“Now what’s all this about? Meitzer said something about you becoming human?”
“Yes, that’s right. I thought you might know something.”
Daian had brought Sven into this world. His prodigious brain had earned him the nickname Sorcerer, so he was an object of fear both inside and outside Wiltia.
“Um, Svelgen? When people call me the Sorcerer, it’s just a metaphor. But what you’re talking about is like real sorcery and transcends science.”
Apparently, even the genius of the century thought turning a machine into a human being was fantasy rather than reality.
“But isn’t a certain someone fond of saying that advanced science is difficult to distinguish from magic?”
“This is why you amateurs are so difficult. Science is founded upon the distinction between what is possible and what is impossible.”
Blitzdonner had asked the question, but Daian shook his head in denial.
“Science begins with knowledge of the world’s laws. In other words, knowing what’s written on the cards God has dealt.”
Scientific thought examines how to use those cards to create something greater.
“Are you saying we can’t do that with the cards we have now?”
“Transforming a machine into a human being is on a whole different level. It’s like playing chess with cards. They’re completely different games.”
“Urgh...”
That’s how extraordinary the proposition was.
“But...”
Nonetheless, Lud didn’t want to rule it out, so he spoke up.
“Playing cards have a king and queen like in chess. So there are common points.”
“That’s just playing with words, Langart.”
Daian covered his face with his hands as if troubled, but he continued pondering the matter. Science could not judge with absolute certainty. There was always a possibility, because altering unknown conditions will generate new results.
“However...”
Daian had created Sven mechanically using technology. The origin of her mechanisms lay in technology from the ancient European Empire, which had fallen to ruin long ago. There were products of science infinitely close to magic—even though those weren’t Blitzdonner’s own words.
“I didn’t analyze every last bit of the ancient empire’s technology. Even now, there may be parts of it I don’t know.”
It was said that the ancient civilization built a tower to the heavens, crafted vessels capable of traversing the stars, and even conquered death. Some of those wonders were sealed inside relics called Doors. Discovering just a fraction of that technology had resulted in rapid scientific and technological advancement.
“Perhaps Meitzer has accessed that knowledge somehow. It’s possible.”
It was a problem for a scientist to fall back upon uncertainty, but that was all Daian could say at the moment.
“So the only way to know is to ask him.”
Without thinking, Sven expressed her disappointment.
“You’re surprisingly unhelpful.”
“Don’t be so mean.”
“Well, it’s true!”
Sven tried, but she couldn’t hide her dismay. Perhaps it was her nature as a former pilot-assistive A.I., but uncertainty made her more uneasy than it did human beings.
“No, it isn’t true.”
As if guessing how she felt, Lud placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Daian didn’t absolutely rule it out. Knowing that alone is enough. At the very least, you won’t be worse off than you are now, so it’s a gamble with good odds.”
“Master...” Lud’s reasoning was forced. Even though Sven knew that, it still soothed her. “I guess you’re right.” Sven replied with a smile.
She remembered that it was always this way. In war, a world fraught with uncertainty, Lud often said, “It’ll work out somehow,” and then had gone on to save her many times, ensuring their survival.
“Ha ha!” Blitzdonner laughed in amusement, as if guessing how their hearts communed.
“Why is everyone laughing?” Daian asked.
“Rundstadt treats you with scorn because you’re so clueless!”
“What?!”
The genius scientist had little understanding of the human heart, and none about relations between men and women, so he exclaimed in confusion.
“Now... in that case, it’s better to act soon. Shall we set out tomorrow?”
The proposal came from Blitzdonner. Ordinarily, they would have waited until the day after the wedding or even longer, but some circumstances require immediate action.
“I’m back!” Another voice joined theirs.
“Oh my! Where have you been, red girl?”
The new arrival was Sven’s sister machine Rebecca, a young girl who was entirely crimson, from her hair to the clothes she wore.
“I was on patrol.”
“What do you mean?”
Daian explained.
“Svelgen, I’m not bragging, but I’m a pretty important person. Enemy nations target me even when I’m at home, but if I leave my own country without informing anyone, Wiltia comes after my life!”
In the recent European War, the Hunter Units that Daian created led Wiltia to victory. Daian “The Sorcerer” Fortuner was influential in world affairs. Various organizations monitored his activity every day. Allies watched to make sure he wouldn’t betray them, while enemies sought an opportunity to kill him.
“This science guy leaves the royal capital and it’s a major happening.”
Blitzdonner stayed by Daian’s side because he was on a mission for the organization Apuvea to guard him.
“Due to certain circumstances, Blitzdonner and I were transported to Organbaelz, but a professional intelligence organization wouldn’t find it difficult to locate us in a few days.”
Daian had not immediately returned to Berun. Time in transit was perfect for assassination. If Daian traveled by train, blowing up one bridge would be enough.
“I was waiting for backup from the royal capital, but...”
As a safety precaution, he had sent Rebecca to scout the surrounding area. Not many human soldiers could surpass her ability to sniff out the enemy.
“I did not detect any spies,” Rebecca reported.
“That’s strange. I can’t imagine that my value would have suddenly plummeted. Nevertheless, given the facts...”
He could only come up with one answer: Both Wiltia and her enemies were involved in something so momentous they couldn’t bother with Daian.
“The only thing that could light a fire in the royal capital right now would be Meitzer. If he did something... or if something happened to him...”
There was no time to waste.
“No backup is coming. Which means the royal capital can’t make a move until the disturbance is over. There’s no point in waiting. It’s about time for us to make a move.”
“I see...” Sven pondered Daian and Blitzdonner’s words.
Some kind of trouble, and something fairly momentous, awaited them in the capital. For a moment, she considered giving up. Going would endanger not just her, but Lud. However, Lud spoke as if to ease her worries.
“Let’s not hesitate, Sven. You’ve decided, haven’t you?” He also wanted to reinforce Sven’s wavering determination.
“Yes!” Sven answered, her resolve returning.
“Understood. Let’s go home for tonight and make preparations. We’ll regroup early in the morning.”
Then...
“Wait! What’re you planning without me?!” Another voice joined in. It was Sophia. She had sobered up after being doused with several buckets of water, but she was soaked.
“If you’re going to the capital, I’m going with you! I won’t let you say no!!”
“We didn’t mean to cut you out, Sophia.”
Daian was holding his head in exasperation.
“Well, if Langart, Rundstadt and I go, it should be fine.”
There weren’t many of them but if they ran into trouble, they packed a lot of power.
“Major, I’m going with you. Don’t forget that!”
“Yeah, I hear you.”
Rebecca held on to Blitzdonner as he reassured her.
“Now...”
Sven looked nervous as she sensed they were walking into something more dangerous than she expected. It was the fifth day of what would later be known as the Earthshaking Nine Days.