Meanwhile, at the top of the clock tower, Maxwell sneered down at the city below.
“Destiny waits for no man, it seems.”
Soon... Soon he would take control of Ode—no, the entire empire. He had waited 300 long years for this.
In the beginning, he only wished to better himself. That ambition had turned to self-pity as he spent more and more time wallowing in his failures. Then it turned to resentment, directed at the women who had abandoned him. And then... and then... and then...
He could no longer tell what it was he hated, or why exactly he was doing this. All he knew was that he despised women. Women like the shrine maiden of the White Dragon, his wife, who left him. Women like his daughter, Laplace.
He wanted to take their power away—force them to serve him and only him. That way he could finally get the happy ending he deserved... or so he believed. To that end, he abandoned his body... abandoned his heart...
Now he couldn’t even remember what his face had originally looked like.
“Now then, Arianora. It’s time for you to be crowned Queen,” he whispered sweetly to the unconscious artificial girl in his arms.
At this very moment, back in the laboratory, the Brides were operating on autopilot like mindless zombies. Their only objective: to destroy Maxwell’s enemies. And in order to perfect this loyal army, he would need to create a Queen—a control tower that would command the rest of the nameless swarm. She would serve as his pawn, and when the time came to take over the country, she would exist to garner the support of the citizens. Fortunately for him, she was already a well-liked princess.
As an individual, she was an excellent specimen. It would be all too easy for him to rewrite her thoughts and emotions. Like the other Brides, she existed only to serve him without question—just as Laplace herself once had. And once she was Queen, his dream would be realized.
“Initiate Queenmaker ritual,” he growled. “Begin mana transfer.”
At his words... the entire city of Ode began to glow faintly.
“Beautiful... A job well done, even if it took me an eternity.” He chuckled to himself.
He had spent the past 300 years imbuing every inch of Ode with his magic. The churches, the fountains, the flowerbeds—each was a functional piece of his magical formula, he’d turned the city itself into one colossal magic circle.
Maxwell was delirious with joy. Soon... Soon it would all be his...
But just then, a voice echoed across the clock tower—the voice of the one who had chosen to defy him.
“MAAAAXWELLLLL!!!”
“...It’s not very ladylike to raise your voice, Laplace.”
He turned. The only way she could have got up here was by climbing the long spiral staircase leading to the roof. And sure enough, standing in the doorway to the stairwell—
“Let... Let go of her, Maxwell!”
—was Laplace, her feet bleeding from the soles. Standing beside her to keep her upright was the Magi-Knight, her pale pink hair fluttering in the wind.
“Go get him, Laplace! Kick his ass!”
At this, Maxwell let out a laugh. There stood his daughter, the look in her eyes just as rebellious as it was 300 years ago, and now some stupid dyke had tagged along, too.
“You think you can stop me with those artificial talents of yours?”
“Artificial...?”
“That’s right. Nothing about you is natural, Laplace!” he roared.
Every strength she had was given to her by Maxwell himself... and now she was trying to bite the very hand that had fed her. Unacceptable.
“Your talents are all artificial—I’m the one who embedded them into your blood. Your abilities are unnatural—they don’t belong to you, I gave them to you. And now you’re gripped by artificial desires as well. You were never supposed to turn against me, your own father!”
Maxwell shook with rage and thought, You stupid inhuman wench!
“And this... this anger you feel toward me isn’t yours, either! It’s merely borrowed!”
“...What?”
“That Knight woman—she’s turned you against me! I raised you to be a good girl, and now you’ve let someone else convince you I’m the bad guy!”
At this, Tanya felt something rise up from the pit of her stomach.
“...Hey, Laplace?”
“Hee hee... What is it, Tanya?” Laplace asked, trying (and failing) to keep a straight face.
After everything he just said, she was convinced anew: This asshole doesn’t know a single thing about me.
“MAXWELL!!!”
She was never the type to scream... and yet her roar echoed across the clock tower.
“Listen up, because I’m only going to explain this once!”
I admit, I was inspired by Tanya and her fury on the day we met... but still...
“The only person who ‘convinced’ me to be angry... was ME! NO ONE ELSE! MY EMOTIONS ARE MINE!”
Her emotions. Her anger. Her body. Her strength. All of it—all of it—was hers.
“You have NO right to call me ‘artificial’ when YOU’RE the one who made me that way! You hypocrite!”
She balled her hands into fists.
“So there you have it.”
She glared directly into her father’s eyes.
“I’m going to destroy you—right here, right now!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I wish they’d at least put some clothes on,” Nadine muttered.
“Wh... Nadine! Don’t slut-shame them!”
This comment struck Katherine as a little harsh, considering they were already being forced to fight the poor little things.
Fortunately, the albino foxkin tribe was among the most skilled of beastkin at using the secret arts. And with her perfectly heat-controlled Fox-Fireballs, she could keep the damage she caused to a minimum. But the downside to heat control was that it required more focus than going full-blast... Yeah, this would be a lot easier if they had armor on.
“Ugh... I hate to say it, but... I’m not gonna last much longer...!”
Maxwell’s spell had drained her mana just a few hours earlier, so she was already dangerously low—and now she was scraping the bottom of the barrel. She gritted her teeth. God, I’m totally going to pass out.
Right as her legs buckled, however, Nadine swooped in and seized her by the arm, holding her upright. The slight chill of her palm felt nice against her skin.
“Are you alright, Katherine?”
“Yeah... This is nothing...”
“Glad to hear it. Of course, I would have expected no less from an honor student like yourself.”
“...Is that sarcasm?”
“Perish the thought! I honestly find you impressive, Katherine... Now then, it’s time to begin.”
“Begin what?”
Nadine crouched down low. In her hand was a leather satchel—a farewell present from Laplace given right before she and Tanya left the laboratory:
“C’est pour toi, Nadine. A little gift from the Great Sorceress.”
Inside, the satchel was chock-full of gold coins.
“Are those... Laplace’s Orichalcum Coins or whatever?”
Indeed they were.
She remembered that day back at the Little Vixen, when they’d told her about the “mysterious thief” who had stolen the orichalcum coins from all the local magic supply stores.
“Wait, so... Laplace stole them?!”
“Who knows. But to be fair, they’re called Laplace’s Orichalcum Coins, are they not? She can’t exactly steal what’s already hers.”
“Is... Is that how that works...?”
“It’s a legal loophole,” Nadine grinned. Despite her meek, unassuming appearance, she had the tendency to drop some delightful bombshells.
Smiling, Katherine sighed and swung her staff, unleashing another round of Fox-Fireballs that kept the Brides at bay and interrupted their wordless spellcasting.
“So she wants us to slap those coins on these naughty little girls? Fine by me! Not that I get why, but whatever!”
“I can’t say I understand it myself, but... right now, all we can do is trust her. Alright... Here I go!”
And with that, Nadine shot forward, gracefully weaving between the Brides like a dancer, her presence carefully masked as she taped an orichalcum coin to each of the girls using the only adhesive a Healer came equipped with: bandages. This was a feat only a former Assassin could have hoped to pull off.
“Ugh!” Katherine growled in frustration as she cast another wave of fireballs.
I guess it’s up to me to provide cover fire, then!