Hey Eru, to be honest, I didn’t understand everything that happened today. But if the modification goes well, the Silhouette Knights would become stronger, right?”
“Yes, of course!”
Chid wanted to say something, but seemed hesitant.
“... Eh, Eru… after strengthening the Silhouette Knight, are you going to fight the Demon beast again?”
Chid’s words made Eru blink with a stiff smile. Eru’s mind was filled with the ‘modification’, and totally forgot about how to apply it practically. Facing this unexpected query, Eru cleared his throat to dismiss the anxiety in his heart and forced a smile:
“That, that’s right. It’s a rare chance to create powerful Silhouette Knights after all, and think about it. And, becoming a Knight or pilot means fighting Demon beasts.”
“That’s true, Eru has to fight… and you are ready to do so.”
Eru looked surprised by Chid’s hesitant expression, and was hugged from the side by Ady.
“E~ru! You didn’t forget that promise, right!!”
“Huh? Umm-- Yeah. About teaching both of you how to fight with Silhouette Knights, right?”
“Correct. If we put our mind to it, we can do it! I absolutely forbid you from fighting alone again.”
Ady remembered the wreckage of the red Silhouette Knight. Even though Silhouette Knights were known as the strongest weapon of men, there were still a lot of Demon beasts in this world that were stronger than them. When Ady thought that Eru might be in danger, her tears would blur her vision, and the sounds would blur.
“Ady? Are you okay? Don’t worry, I had thought about preparation for that, too… Oh, right! How about asking them to do ‘that’ too?”
Eru seemed to be thinking of something and snapped his fingers. Ady lifted her face slightly, while Batson and Chid looked at each other with a confused expression.
Several days later, Eru and the Boss came to the Laihiala Pilot Academy’s dean office.
Hearing a polite knock, a calm response came from the dean, Lauri Echevarria who was inside. Even though Lauri was a bit surprised, he still ushered them in.
“Oh? Eru and David, what a rare combination.”
Lauri offered them a seat as Eru gave him some documents. Inside was the report summarising the proposal for the strand crystal tissue, the back weapon and the fire control system.
“Dean, the document inside contains the proposal for a Silhouette Knight brought up by the silver boy. The maintenance department wants to create a new Silhouette Knight using this plan.”
Lauri’s eyes were wide open after hearing these sudden words, and studied the documents carefully. After browsing through it once, he placed the documents on the table and exhaled deeply. Lauri looked into the distance and said:
“Ara… Should I say this is unexpected… you two have stirred up something troublesome.”
“It’s your grandson who did that.”
“That’s why it was unexpected… should I say beyond my imagination? I didn’t think that you would start so soon. This report seems very unusual. Eru, can it be done?”
Eru smiled like usual when he was asked-- But Lauri, who was his family understood that Eru’s blue eyes contained unusual passion, confidence and the will to challenge the norm. And as he expected, Eru nodded strongly in agreement.
Your Majesty, my grandson is wilder than I imagined. He will probably go beyond my control
“... Grandpa? What do you think? Are you willing to accept it?”
“Dean, we should have the freedom in the production and modification of Silhouette Knights. But the ‘core’ of the modification is different from the past, so there would definitely be many problems. That’s why we are seeking official authorisation.”
Lauri whose thoughts were somewhere far away-- specifically, the Capital, was pulled back because of these words.
“Yes. A lot of the Knights had to be reforged because of damage, so the timing is just right. Some failures are acceptable, just do it the way you want to… Hmmm? No, we can’t afford to be slow; we have to finish it quickly. If there are not enough Knights, the pilots won’t be able to practice.”
Lauri suddenly slapped his knee. The Behemoth Incident destroyed half the Knights of the Academy. Even at the full strength of twenty, it was not enough for all the pilots in the Academy, and they had to take turns. With half of it gone, it would definitely affect training.
“About that, I have another proposal!”
Eru raised his hand strongly and opened the briefcase beside him, taking out a notebook.
“Hey, so that wasn’t all? You are well prepared, boy…”
“I have been thinking about this for quite some time. To conduct Silhouette Knight piloting practice, you have to ride a silhouette Knight. But the number of the important Silhouette Knights is limited, and takes a lot of effort to make new ones… a vicious cycle.”
Lauri and the Boss suppressed their doubts and nodded. Eru opened his notebook that was bulging from a lot of sticky tabs and showed them the newest page.
“But increasing the number of Silhouette Knight presents another set of problems. First