The luxuriantly dense forest spread out to the north of Front-Edge City. Originally, the whole area had been known as the Forest of No Return—a dangerous strip of land teeming with monsters. It had been a young Otto Socom who had set his eyes on the land. Otto’s own Socom Co. had brought in masses of Mechsteels that hunted and collected monster materials, all the while building a city so that the people could live in the middle of the forest.
Front-Edge City, as it was called, became a major hub for acquiring monster materials. It wasn’t long after that the terminal station of the Kingdom’s Trail had been established in the city, ushering in an age of prosperity.
“Argh! Dammit! Everywhere you look, it’s nothing but trees, trees, and more damn trees! And the ground’s in terrible shape too!”
The forest to the north had been left as a buffer zone on the kingdom side. Racing between the trees piloting a Mech-steed—the horse portion of a Mechcoach—was Watt Sears.
Watt was confident in his ability to pilot Mechsteels, but Mech-steeds were outside of his area of expertise. Add in the rough roads that hadn’t been touched by human hands, and it was enough to make him want to grumble out a complaint or two. The fact that he’d been able to keep on running without stopping for even a moment was nothing short of a testament to his distinguished skills.
“Would it’ve killed me to store him a little bit closer?!”
Whoever said there was no point crying over spilled milk was right on the money. But even then, Watt knew he couldn’t afford to have his partner discovered so easily, bringing him back to the same conclusion he reached every time: He had no choice but to secure his partner in the depths of the forest where no one ever stepped foot.
After mercilessly driving his Mech-steed for a whole day and night, Watt finally arrived at his destination. It was far removed from both the kingdom side and Front-Edge City alike, the innermost depths of the forest with no traces of human activity. There before him was a large, gaping entrance to a cave: his destination.
Even though Watt took a brief look around just to be sure, he discovered no traces of human presence in the surrounding area, seemingly confirming what he’d already suspected. Even hunters wouldn’t dare venture into such depths in the forest unless there was considerable gain in it for themselves, so it only made sense. Holding up the torch he’d brought along with him, Watt stepped foot inside the cave. Deep inside the cave was a wide expanse, and enshrined there in the middle of it was just what he’d been looking for.
“It’s been a while, partner.”
Crouched there was a gigantic humanoid frame. With a cover cast across it to keep dust from accumulating, it even looked as if the giant was sleeping. Moving to the wordless mech’s side, Watt ran his hand across its surface, the layer of dust that had developed on top of it clinging to his hand.
“Real sorry ’bout that, getting so worked up I said I’d never pilot you again. I was an idiot back then. I thought I could actually do that.”
Watt went about swiftly confirming the state of each section of the machine as he spoke. Thanks to the maintenance he’d performed here and there, it was still in operating shape. There was no denying that the years had taken a bit of a toll on it, but a good romp around was all it would take to fix that.
“I was just a youngster without his head screwed on straight back then. It sounds like a joke, right? I mean, it’s been over a decade, and now all of a sudden Cullina’s daughter—our daughter—showed up. It looks like she got her mother’s kind heart and my own stubbornness. She grew up to be a bit too hardworking.”
Struggling, Watt pulled the covering off the mech. After a coughing spell from the ensuing cloud of dust, he went about performing the final maintenance steps. Watt filled up the mech with the supply of consumables he’d stocked up in the cave before oiling each part of the machine.
“But what really pisses me off is the fact there’s a buncha thugs that won’t let my daughter be. I mean, it’s too late for me to go spouting off about a knight’s vow after all these years, but...I want to keep her safe, for sure this time. So give me a hand here, partner.”
Having finished up the maintenance, Watt pulled a lever, only for the cockpit covering to lift open, just as expected. Without a moment’s hesitation, Watt slid into the jet-black hole that had opened before him.
“Harmonizing, start. Magic energy transmission, start!”
After harmonizing with the Mechsteel, the sensation that greeted Watt was even nostalgic somehow. The mech rose to its feet in a smooth motion without any indication of the years it had been inactive.
He’d once thrown the Mechsteel away alongside his past, distancing himself from it. But the training ingrained in him pulled Watt back into the past in the blink of an eye. Now that he was piloting the Mechsteel, there was no way he could fail. That was how he’d been back then, and that hadn’t changed, even now.
“All right, here we go, partner! Gotta show my daughter what her father can do!”
With a mighty roar, the beast arose from its slumber. As if completely unfazed by the cave crumbling behind it, the Mechsteel burst onto the scene, flying out like a flash of light.