Chapter 41 Wings Signal the Trial
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Tatia officially asked me to make her a shield, but the armor comes first. We have one month left, and I need to finish early so she has time to get used to it.
After dinner I wait fifteen minutes, then step into the yard. At some point—without even renting a room—Tatia finished changing under her clothes.
She must be wearing the inner muscle suit. Long sleeves and pants, yet she pulled it off.
”Alright, let’s get started,” I said.
”Right. What first?” she asked.
”Full Equipment. Walk three laps around the yard, then jog three.”
”Got it.”
I marked a starting point at her feet and set her in place.
”Ready… go,” I called.
”—!”
On my signal, she started walking. The yard’s small—three laps take about two and a half minutes at a normal pace—so even while I keep Appraisal up the strain stays light and it won’t trip the charm conditions I agreed on with Ethelena.
Tatia focused on her body mechanics, and the reinforcement from the Spell Formula made her walk fast. She tested the first lap, then switched to her usual gait on the second.
She finished three laps in exactly two minutes. Neither the Artificial Muscle nor the active Spell Formula showed issues.
”Tatia, notice anything off?”
”I feel tension over my whole body. Even a single step wants to spring me forward.”
”Can you jog?”
”Let me try. You want to see the load at this setting, yes?”
”Yeah. Please.”
”Leave it to me. I’m this party’s shield—the hardest thing in Whirlwind. Trust me.”
”I do,” I said.
She curled one lip into a nihil smirk.
That’s her old man’s grin. Moments like this make the parent-child line obvious.
On my count she broke into a run. She stumbled on the first step, recovered, and pushed through a lap with a tight look.
Her pace never settled, and three laps took a little over a minute. Looks like the Artificial Muscle is over-helping beyond the reinforcement formula.
”Tatia, let me tweak it. We’ll try walking a few more times.”
”Understood… It felt like my foot landed one step farther than I meant.”
”Thanks. Say things like that anytime—it helps.”
I adjusted the leg-segment response. Appraisal told me it wasn’t raw output so much as balance. Less about “tightening” and more about tension vs.
release. The system was strengthening every area at a fixed output, so the muscles that stop the leg couldn’t keep up with the ones driving it forward. I tore down the output block for walking, then rebuilt it with new ratios based on Appraisal.
”Try this.”
”Same plan—three laps walking, three jogging?”
”Please.”
She nodded, took her mark, and moved on my signal. Her legs flowed better than before—maybe even a touch faster than her usual footwork.
Three laps in under two minutes. Easier on her, clearly. Then the jog.
No grimace this time. No stumble on the first step. She ran three neat laps in just under a minute.
”Legs feel good now?” I asked.
”Yeah. Can’t speak for long distance, but short bursts are no problem. As expected of Tatara-dono—you erased the issue in one pass.”
”Don’t flatter me. Alright, grab a weapon and run the forms. I’ll set a wooden dummy—go ahead and strike it for real.”
”Perfect. I’ve wanted to see how much the power climbed… finally.”
Her expression turned feral. For me, the question is whether the Spell Formula can keep up with the chain from legs to hips.
She raised her estoc and moved slowly through her body. Middle guard thrust. High thrust at the face.
Low line at the legs. She traced clean forms, checking how each motion felt. Then higher-angle counters for aerial targets, and weapon-deflecting actions against a virtual foe. I kept my promise to Ethelena: short two-minute windows of Appraisal, then rest, then watch again—tracking Mana flow and Artificial Muscle motion while sketching the optimal Spell Formula in my head.
I had Tatia hold; I tuned the formula. When she ran it again, her movement sharpened.
”…I’m surprised,” she said quietly. “Techniques come out easier.”
”I watched your unconscious habits and matched them.”
”Heh. Now I can’t use any gear but yours.”
”Oh? Planning to cheat on your personal crafter?”
We traded grins.
”If your craft dulls, I’ll walk,” she said.
”Then I’ll keep grinding.”
I never planned to slack, but a good shove helps.
Tatia faced the wooden dummy and traced the forms, the estoc’s point kissing vital spots and snapping back. She began to add speed—then Appraisal flagged a problem.
Her technique outpaced response; the Artificial Muscle started to lag. I stopped her at once.
I explained, then simplified the formula, shortening instruction paths to the specific muscle groups she needed. Faster signals, faster response.
She tried again, ratcheting speed. The point began to leave afterimages.
”Uh, Tatara-dono? Is this safe?” she asked.
”Spicy. That’s close to Torakuma’s sword-flash speed,” I said.
I’d only seen manga double-images swarm a target on a page.
Watching a real storm of steel was something else. The stream of light looked like a meteor shower.
”Hm. I can still handle this for now,” Torakuma mused, “but if she thrusts at that speed, reacting will get tricky.”
”So I have Torakuma’s seal of approval. Tatia, you’re a real damage dealer now,” Ethelena said.
”By the way, Ethelena, can you see my flashes?” Torakuma asked.
”Sure. Tatia’s too. I can dodge them fine,” Ethelena said.
”Quite the outlier, aren’t you…”
They chatted while watching Tatia move, and I realized again how dangerous Ethelena is.
Me? I can only turtle up.
”Not just strength—the motion itself got faster. It’s a clear upgrade,” Tatia said. “If we mass-produced this armor, would it change the world?”
”If research pushes it further, maybe. But do you see yourself beating your old man or Calmys in this, even with the suit?”
”…No.”
Those two are monsters. And this world is full of people like that.
Proving myself in one city doesn’t mean anything beyond it. In the Magus Dukedom, where magi-tech peaks, my work might only rate mid-tier. If my friends believe in me, I owe them the grind it takes to be the best crafter in the world.
”Then it’s time for the real test,” I said.
”…Yeah. I’m already nervous,” Tatia admitted.
Tatia’s hands trembled—so hard I could see it even through the armor.
This would be her first Flight in full Equipment, and worse, we’d barely tuned the auxiliary wings. Of course she was nervous.
”Torakuma, if she loses balance and drops, can I leave the catch to you?” I asked.
”I’ll take her,” Torakuma said. “But if Ethelena flies with her, they can support each other midair.”
”Oh, right—I can help too,” Ethelena said.
We set it like this: Tatia and Ethelena would fly together, while Torakuma waited as backup. I also laid out a safety mat made from slime material to spread impact, but if Tatia missed it, Torakuma would handle the save.
”Alright… Tatia, please,” I said.
”Understood.”
Tatia spread her own wings.
The armor’s auxiliary wings opened to match, Mana flowing in and taking on the same color as her feathers. The instant she beat those wings, she vanished.
”Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!?”
Her scream came from far above.
I hadn’t expected a single flap to punch her straight into the sky so fast she blinked out. That was getter-level acceleration.
”Chi-chan!?” Ethelena yelped.
She snapped her wings and shot up after Tatia.
With Agility Boost and Mobility Boost running, she climbed as fast—or faster. Ethelena really is broken.
”…Tatara, reflect on this,” Torakuma said flatly.
”Yes,” I said.
I’d analyzed the formulas, but I’d routed too much Mana to the auxiliary wings.
If I’d basically tripled Tatia’s wing set, of course control died. I’d apologize the moment they got back down.
”Chi-chan, are you okay?” Ethelena called as they descended.
”When I broke through the clouds, I thought I was dead…” Tatia muttered.
Ten minutes later, Ethelena helped her down. They couldn’t even dive because the upward momentum was too strong; they had to throttle output and coast.
I’d put her in real danger. That was on me.
”Tatia, I’m sorry. I under-tuned the auxiliary wing output,” I said and bowed first.
”I also overdid it,” she said. “I was excited and pushed too hard.”
She admitted she’d driven her wings with more force than usual, but even then she said her speed felt five times faster than normal. I cut the wings to one-tenth output and had her try again.
This time she rose at a speed we could track with our eyes. Appraisal showed Mana flow and Artificial Muscle motion close to ideal, and her wingbeats looked beautiful. She could hover fine, though her face tightened.
”The load on the wings is a bit heavy,” she said after landing.
I doubled the wing output from that current setting and sent her up. No wild launch this time, but she still gained height fast.
We ran a loop: fly, land, adjust. In the end we settled at one-seventh of the original output.
From there I let Tatia move as she liked and tuned to her notes.
Output curves for aerial combat were new ground for me, and I’ll admit it—I had fun. It was a great three hours.
”So… it’s finished?” she asked.
”First-phase finished,” I said. “Once I finish analyzing the Floating Stone, I can apply it to thicken the armor. Look forward to it.”
”Heh. I will.”
We’d spent about three hours—the same time it took to make Calmys’s Fiero—and that surprised me.
Then I remembered: Fiero needed shape and base work from me, and Calmys tuned it the rest of the way to fit her style. She’s a monster, too.
”Tatara-dono, what’s this armor’s name?” Tatia asked.
”Name?” I blinked.
”Yes. It’s my partner as a knight. I want to know its name.”
”A name, huh…”
I’d named Ethelena’s Lonisera naturally, but I almost never name gear I give away—Fiero included.
”Tatia, you should name it. I’m terrible at that,” I said.
”Eh?”
”Really?”
Ethelena twitched at that. Lonisera is the exception, okay?
”I don’t have anything in mind either… Tatara-dono, if you had to name it, what would you pick?” Tatia pressed.
”Uh… maybe… ‘Ala’?”
”Oh? Meaning?”
”Ancient word for ‘wing.’ On the nose.”
”Then this armor is Ala. Clear and fitting,” she said.
”Figures…”
And so we named it. Tatia’s armor—now Ala—was complete.
After lunch I headed to the forge in the back.
I asked Tatia to keep familiarizing with the armor in the yard, with Ethelena and Torakuma assisting. I started on Tatia’s shield and Dalma’s axe.
I used ten iron ingots—about ten kilograms in total. With the armor, that weight wouldn’t bother Tatia. I heated each ingot and hammered it out on the anvil, making plates. I stacked ten plates and forged-welded them, folded, and hammered again. I repeated that while forming a circle about thirty centimeters across. After seven cycles I had a disk about thirty-three centimeters wide.
I quenched it to harden, then polished the face that would show. On the back I set a wooden buck and hammered in a gentle curve. I filed the rim to remove burrs, glued tanned leather to the inside for shock absorption, then attached a securing belt and a magnet. I finished with an anti-rust coat. Simple on purpose. As a knight, Tatia will guard many people—the shield will scar. Plain suits her intent better than ornament.
Next came Dalma’s axe.
It would be Demonsteel at the core, but I’d run an Orichalcum rod as the shaft’s spine and set the blade in Mithril. First I melted all the iron ingots together and reformed them into a single large ingot.
With several Mana Stones in hand, I refined it into Demonsteel. Since I’d worked this batch once before, the internal channels were orderly and Mana ran clean. I ended with a nine-kilogram Demonsteel ingot.
Then I worked the Orichalcum. Only a hundred grams, but stronger than Demonsteel and in a different class for Mana flow.
I drew it into a one-meter, narrow cylinder and sheathed it in Demonsteel. I set the grip at four centimeters in diameter to match Dalma’s hand, leaving room to fine-tune with a wrap. I capped the butt with a spike like a spear’s shoe.
Last, I forged the head. A typical broad axe runs about twenty centimeters of blade width; I pushed this one to forty-five. The lower extension let him choke up and use it as a handguard, which should cut down injuries. I cut a keyway and grooves where the blade would seat, then shaped the Mithril.
I fit the Mithril into the grooves so the ridges locked perfectly, then deformed the Demonsteel to bite it tight. After that I drove in evenly spaced rivets to lock it completely. I honed the Mithril edge and formed the final bevel. Done.
Even I had to admit the weapon looked brutal.
The one-piece core made it structurally tough. I hoped it would serve as Dalma’s partner until he retired.
I finished both commissions. I set Dalma’s on the usual shelf, took only the shield, and headed out to the yard. In full Equipment, Tatia drove an estoc thrust while Torakuma (female) slipped it aside and snapped a counter.
They used branches so no one got hurt, but Torakuma’s raw power still beat Tatia’s defense, and each hit rocked her. Even at the same tier, you wouldn’t block her clean. Torakuma’s our pride-and-joy attacker for a reason.
”Sorry—Tatia, a moment,” I called.
They broke distance on cue and dropped their guards, both turning to me.
”The round shield you asked for is done. Check the fit.”
I walked it over and handed it to her. Tatia widened her eyes, then slid it onto her left arm.
The magnet latched to the Demonsteel; she buckled the straps. Two belts—one near the wrist, one near the elbow. She swung her arm to test the feel.
”…Amazing. It’s heavy, but the balance makes it steady. Way higher quality than the knight school loaners,” she said.
”Of course it is. I built it for you. Don’t lump it in with off-the-shelf gear,” I said, smiling.
Tatia shifted to a stance with the shield forward and the estoc one-handed, and faced Torakuma again.
”My apologies, Yohira-dono, but I ask for more of your time,” Tatia said.
”Hm. A traditional tactic of this country?” Torakuma mused. “Then I shall learn it—and use it if we face human foes.”
Her whisper didn’t reach Tatia, but I heard it. So Torakuma expects people fights ahead. Letting a foreigner intervene is risky, yet she needs the experience to defend herself. The sticking point is Ethelena.
She can kill monsters in a dungeon, but pulling the trigger on a human in the open is different. I’m slightly better off—I’ve trained under Calmys—but for Ethelena the safest play might be Energy Drain via Sex Sorcery. The opponents are trainee knights, sure, but they’ve had anti-personnel training; they might use plans Explorers don’t see coming.
What can I do? Build a weapon that wipes the field before they act. Maybe a flamethrower using a fluid Mana Stone.
I sat on the veranda and watched them drill. Torakuma’s branch came in sharp; Tatia knocked it aside with clean shield work.
One day I’ll design a magi-shield that projects a forcefield and blocks both physical and magic. Or bolt artillery into the shield itself.
A soft weight touched my shoulder. Ethelena had eased in beside me, resting her head there.
Her hand found mine; her tail curled around my arm. If Torakuma sees this, she’ll turn into a rabid shipper. I laced our fingers. I wanted to hold on to this quiet moment and turn it into resolve for the incident a month from now.
Their practice ran about an hour. Partway through, I left with Ethelena to cook a heavier dinner—the two vanguards would be starving.
In the kitchen, where they couldn’t see us, we sneaked a few kisses like a proper couple and built a protein-heavy menu around chicken and beans. We were running low on supplies; I paused just short of finishing. When the two stumbled in sweaty and hungry, we shoved them toward the bath, then timed the dishes to land as they came out.
”Mm! Food after hard work is the best!” Torakuma said.
”Good balance of meat and vegetables. Chicken and beans—someone understands how bodies are made,” Tatia said.
The two vanguards tore into dinner with happy faces. Ethelena and I couldn’t help smiling. Feels like a family table. Which makes me the husband, Ethelena the wife, and Torakuma and Tatia the kids?
If we ever had a child and lived this calmly… I shook it off. If I don’t, I’ll drag Ethelena to the bedroom right now. Not while Torakuma’s staying. Getting caught would be rough.
They cleaned out the big spread.
We let their stomachs settle while Ethelena and I did the dishes. When we came back to the living room, Tatia wore a serious look.
”Tatara-dono, and Ethelena-dono, and Yohira-dono—I have something to say,” she said.
The resolve in her voice made me brace. Ethelena felt the same; Torakuma folded her arms, eyes closed, listening hard.
I poured drinks all around and nodded for Tatia to speak.
”I call myself Tatia, but that is not my true name,” she said. “My name is Orsaia. Orsaia von Tachi Aoi Chutelair. I am a duke’s illegitimate child.”
”House Chutelair…” I murmured.
That name comes from an earlier saga—one of the first. A nation-building story. Two siblings bore that house name.
The sister became a concubine to the future king—the protagonist—and later bore his child; that’s canon. The brother fought beside him as a friend and saw the nation founded. Both were strict and loyal, famous for loving only one partner their whole lives.
If Chutelair ties to this country, then Whirlwind belongs to the state the nation-builder founded. Over time it shifts from kingdom to empire, so today’s name could pin the era.
Are those trainee knights really picking a fight with that ultra-martial royal line? Do nothing and you still die.
And Orsaia carries that blood. I’m pretty sure one of the king’s sons married into the house, deepening the bond. Old royal blood plus Chutelair blood made a legendary pedigree, if the text is right.
My biggest question: the king who held many concubines yet loved his queen so fiercely he never replaced her title after she died—that man’s straight-arrow best friend somehow had a child with an Angel and never brought them home? Also, Angels are night’s opposites and come from a rival power. How did that even happen?
”…You told us your real name because something connected is about to happen, right?” I asked.
”Yes. And—I owe you an apology,” she said.
Tatia—no, Orsaia—stood and bowed deep.
”I lied about my name and was rude when we first met. I am truly sorry.”
Her voice stayed quiet, but the feeling hit hard.
She meant it. I glanced at Ethelena and Torakuma, then spoke for us.
”We accept your apology, Orsaia-sama. Please raise your head,” I said.
”Your generosity humbles me,” she said.
Orsaia lifted her face. Her expression stayed severe, but I caught the smallest breath of relief.
”Then… may I ask why you chose this moment to apologize?” I said.
”Of course I’ll answer—but first…”
She looked at the three of us, and a lonely light came into her eyes.
”If possible, keep calling me Tatia. I don’t want to be Orsaia the duke’s by-blow. I want to stand with you as Tatia, a knight-in-training.”
”Seriously? I only said ‘Orsaia-sama’ because you looked so grim,” I said. “If ‘Tatia’ is what you want, say that first.”
I let my tone run rough on purpose. Tatia smiled, plain and bright.
Changing how we say your name won’t kick you from the party unless you want out. Ethelena already calls you a friend.
”So, Tatia—what are you apologizing for?” I asked.
”Yes, I lied about my name… but I mean my behavior at the start, too.”
When she wouldn’t listen to that person—right.
The knight school was already a bug pit, but I’d felt something more… biological at work.
”To be honest, at first I couldn’t recognize human faces or human speech,” she said.
”…Come again?”
So back when she walked into the shop—and even in the dungeon—Tatia couldn’t actually understand us? There was one exception: Torakuma.
She and Tatia greeted each other and held a normal conversation from day one. In other words, she could communicate with non-humans.
”Have you always failed to see humans as human?” I asked.
”That’s the closest truth,” she said. “Aside from my father, I couldn’t hold a proper conversation with anyone. After I entered the knight school, classmates said things like ‘commoners are livestock’ and ‘only the truly noble are human’… That warped me. I began to think ‘if we can’t converse, they aren’t people.’”
”Yikes…”
It’s a dangerous headspace, but there’s a reason. The biggest is her Angel blood. Angels see themselves as guides to humankind—in short, they look down on humans. Her blood runs thick enough to grow wings, and on top of that she carries royal blood—blood that ties to gods.
As a lifeform, she sits higher than humans. In the dungeon, when I said she heard our voices as “animal noise,” I wasn’t far off. Only her old man made it through. Living like that had to be hell.
”Then why did Tatara become ‘human’ to you?” Torakuma asked. “You changed mid-expedition.”
”Embarrassing to admit,” Tatia said, “but Tatara-dono truly yelled at me—and then thanked me.”
”Me?” I said.
I’d snapped once, for real.
Later I thanked her for trying to protect Ethelena. Just that turned her around?
”In my life, no one had ever offered me sincere thanks,” she said. “When he did—straight and simple—my world opened.”
”…Man,” I said.
Old man, you should’ve enrolled her in a normal academy, not that knight school. With even one success like that, Tatia could’ve grown into herself.
Some idiot—yeah, that idiot—would’ve put her back on the path. I can say that because he saved me. He pulls people out of pain.
”After Tatara-dono spoke, I could see Ethelena-dono as a person too. Not just her—the faces in town became distinct,” she said. “The ‘people we should protect’ stopped being a story and turned into a view I could see.”
Her voice picked up tears, thread by thread.
No one called it out. That, too, mattered to her.
”Then I started to grasp how wrong the knight school is,” she said. “They plan to use the royal blood in my veins as a banner, pretend to be the rightful line before the inspection party, and raise their swords.”
”Hey now…”
”One of them could tell which house I belong to by my looks,” she went on. “At first I didn’t get it. Turns out he’s an ex-noble whose house was stripped recently. He means to act out of spite.”
”Wow…”
Spite-mad and ready to turn an entire class into a mob. What even is that.
”I told my father everything and asked him to act,” she said. “Tatara-dono, your meeting today—with the city mayor and Knight Calmys-sama—was about this, wasn’t it?”
”…Right on the mark,” I said.
I glanced toward Torakuma and chose my words.
”Torakuma,” I said, “from here on I’m exposing my country’s dirty laundry. Worst case, you get dragged in. You should leave.”
”Hmph. If calamity falls on Tatara and Ethelena, I will cut it down,” she said. “I am your friend. If it risks our lives, I will stand with you.”
”…Thanks.”
She dipped her chin as if to say, think nothing of it.
”Their plan is sloppy, but they widened the scope, so the damage will be big,” Tatia said. “They intend to plant igniters at several points before the day and set fires across the city—not only at critical sites but in residential blocks to sow chaos.”
”Burnable houses—that means the West District slums,” I said.
”That’s the only area with widespread wood construction,” she said. “Looting on-site won’t be common, but many Explorers in that block are already smoldering. Some will seize on the confusion and make trouble. There are many vagrants, too; some of them will turn to crime.”
The word “vagrant” pulled up an old image: the crowd swarming Ethelena’s mother’s body in the square. Men like that, using chaos to assault women or strip corpses. A knight school class is, what, a few hundred?
With the right agitator, victims could hit a hundred times that. I want to stop it. Calmys says we don’t have proof strong enough to arrest anyone.
In a month, we’ll respond late to rampaging squires and try to stem the bleeding. I need to brace for heavy losses.
Notes:
• Calmys – War God’s knight, Mayor’s guard chief, whip-master hiding as a swordswoman; sharp tongue, big-sister vibe to Tatara, grants him and Ethelena church protection.
• Dalma – A massive, rugged Explorer with a burly frame and a presence that overshadows others, long considered a battle comrade of Rogas, Calmys, and the mayor. Straightforward and loyal, his trademark is entrusting everything to his allies—“makaseru otoko,” the kind who leaves even the forging of his great axe entirely to Tatara’s hands.
• Yohira – Torakuma’s first name.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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