Mage? Magic Engineer!

In light of the chaotic state of public order in the Bayern Kingdom, to ensure the security of industrial and food production, and to maintain the harmony and stability of the Special Zone, the Autonomous Committee has temporarily decided to hold a large-scale mobilization exercise dubbed "Safety Guard."

This exercise is not aimed at anyone... Like hell it isn’t!

The Crown Prince watched the personnel movements on the outskirts of Lansite, so angry he wanted to smash his telescope. Those strapping men were all tough as iron—or at least, they were ironworkers. They were all brothers from the Steel Factory, here to provide support.

Unlike Kempson, which was tucked away in a corner, Lansite had now become the... third city, a wedge driven by the Special Zone between Munich and Newren. Its position was both sensitive and awkward, so the Autonomous Committee had dispatched eight thousand "steel brothers" to reinforce it at top speed.

The vanguard had arrived on the very night the riots broke out, as they were a mechanized unit—each man equipped with a 28-inch roadster bicycle, which they rode at blistering speeds on the new roads.

However, what the First Legion feared most were the metal behemoths. A group of Mechanical Bodies patrolled the city’s edge in formation. On four legs, they easily scaled slopes and walls and could even ford water. The ones with cannons mounted on top looked dangerous enough, but as for the ones without cannons... the prince’s intuition told him they were even more fearsome.

They were said to have emerged from the workshops of the Vox Automobile Factory. ’Doesn’t the Ludwig Clan have a stake in that company? How could we have heard nothing about this?’ The Crown Prince was certain of it. ’My younger brother must have taken the money and then washed his hands of the whole affair, allowing them to get up to all sorts of nefarious deeds behind our backs.’

The intimidating sight of the massive Mechanical Bodies caused the morale of the First Legion’s soldiers to falter.

They had witnessed their power on the battlefields between the Empire and Valois. In the past, even when Mages from both sides were slinging spells and unleashing their ultimate techniques, the Bayern army had mostly just watched the show from the sidelines, specializing in flexible maneuvers and taking opportunistic potshots with their superior guns and longer range.

But now it was their turn on the front lines. Staring at the meters-tall Mechanical Bodies, their dark muzzles swiveling nimbly, the First Legion also felt a bit numb. ’The Empire and Valois both have their aces. What do we have?’

’Hm, wait...’ The prince immediately asked the Military Mage if he could mobilize the special forces—the Sky Knights.

Looking at the Mechanical Bodies’ cannons, the prince judged that they likely couldn’t pose a threat to targets in the sky. If the Sky Knights could drop explosive charges to bomb the Mechanical Bodies, their deterrent effect would be broken. The remaining stragglers would be no match for the regular soldiers of the First Legion.

"Your Highness..." The Military Mage started to speak, then hesitated. But on second thought, a sense of clarity washed over him. "Very well. As you wish."

"It’s not a wish, it’s a military order!"

"Yes, sir!"

The First and Second Squads of the Sky Knights were deployed near Munich. The First Squad was needed to defend the Royal Palace, so the Military Mage summoned the Second Squad, ordering them to obey the Crown Prince’s command.

The atmosphere in the Third Squad was completely different. In fact, the entire Second Legion felt no tension at all. The Second Legion had proactively telegraphed the Royal Family and command headquarters, requesting permission to move two-thirds of its forces north to garrison Wertzburg. The request was granted.

In his reply telegram, Prince Otto even commended the commanding officer, praising his loyalty and his ability to share the King’s burdens.

What he didn’t know was that during its six months stationed near the Special Zone, the entire Second Legion had taken its fair share of bribes and benefits, having long been corrupted and bought off by the thoroughly wicked Rorschach. The move north was also due to the personal motives of its temporary Military Mage, Mr. Bart, who feared for the safety of his precious wife in Wertzburg.

The Special Zone had originally procured 12,000 bicycles, enough to ship all the "Steel Bros" to Lansite by express delivery, but now the lion’s share of them had been given to the Second Legion.

The roads north were not nearly as good as those within the Special Zone, but that didn’t stop them from panting and pedaling their way to uphold love and peace in the major northern city.

Perhaps the Royal Family had a vague suspicion, but the King and the Second Prince reasoned that as long as there was a force to stabilize the situation in Wertzburg, it was fine. ’If we can invite two Great Mages to suppress Rorschach, we can settle all other accounts later.’

Tanya, the captain of the Sky Knights’ Third Squad, was uncharacteristically not training. Instead, she was playing cards with her subordinates. This abnormality made her comrades uneasy. "Captain, haven’t there been any orders from Legion command? Or the court..."

Tanya’s long eyelashes didn’t even twitch. "No. No orders from above, no action from us. Nobody is to put on their mobility gear today."

On the other side of the Special Zone, the Second Squad couldn’t hear Tanya’s order. They followed the Crown Prince’s instructions, taking off from the woods near Lansite with high-performance explosives.

"Is this really a good idea? Our equipment, our explosives... everything, from head to toe, was provided by Rorschach Mage. Why would he allow us to go bomb the Special Zone..."

The captain of the Second Squad ripped the navigator from his wrist. "There, problem solved, right? Don’t forget, we are a special forces unit directly under the Royal Family. One more word out of you and I’ll execute you on the spot!" With that, he was the first to take to the air.

Once everyone was in the air and preparing to activate their Invisibility Scrolls, they were suddenly enveloped by a sense of weightlessness.

’It’s malfunctioning! The mobility gear is malfunctioning!’ They began to plummet at top speed. The damnable thing was, they weren’t high enough to deploy parachutes...

Not only that, but the propulsion thrusters automatically reversed direction, sending them into an accelerated nosedive, bringing them closer and closer to the treetops.

Just at the last moment, when a fatal crash seemed inevitable, the thrusters finally returned to normal, giving them a harrowing burst of cushioning that saved them from being smashed to death.

The same thing happened to the entire squad, with no exceptions. Gripped by immense shock and horror, whether they hit the ground or got snagged in the trees, they all scrambled to rip off their mobility gear and hurl it as far away as they could.

The army’s stalemate and inability to act meant the situation within the three major cities continued to worsen, especially in Newren and Munich, the capital of Bayern. Fortunately, as evening fell and the chaos continued, with both the rioters and the Guards reaching the point of exhaustion, a representative from the City Hall appeared.

"I am a Governor from the City Hall, entrusted by His Majesty the King to listen to your demands!" Sweat beaded on his forehead. He wasn’t behind his desk now, but in front of a countless, angry mob, every one of them holding a makeshift weapon.

But he had the composure of a professional. He immediately tried to placate the crowd. "All of you here are patriotic citizens! I know times are tough, and everyone has their grievances. So please, speak up! The Royal Family and the City Hall will do everything in their power to meet your reasonable demands!"

Of course, the word "reasonable" went unheard. But at least some people in the crowd actually lowered their weapons for a moment to shout:

"Lower the taxes!" "We want jobs..."

"Open trade with the Empire!" "Bullshit! We should ally with Valois!"

"The price of bread can’t go up again!" "End prohibition! I want a drink!"

Many of the demands were clearly contradictory. For a moment, the rioters realized they weren’t all on the same side, and soon the crowd grew agitated and chaotic once more.

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, several horn blasts sounded from behind the crowd. A strange, four-wheeled vehicle, the likes of which almost no one had ever seen, slowly drove toward the main gate of the Royal Palace.

"Make way..." "Why should I?"

"Are you an idiot? Didn’t you see the flag of the Tower of Secret Techniques on the front of the vehicle?" "It’s moving without any horses! It must be some Mage contraption!" "I know what that is, it’s an Air Car..."

Despite their murmuring, everyone instinctively cleared a path. After the palace gates opened and the vehicle drove through the garden to a stop in front of the Royal Palace, a stern-faced man in red robes stepped out.

"Master Feuerbach, for you to still honor our appointment at a time like this... the Ludwig Clan is deeply honored." The King, accompanied by Prince Otto, came out personally to greet him.

Feuerbach gave a silent nod in response. After he emerged from the back seat, a young man climbed out of the driver’s seat. His robes were also red, but a more brilliant shade than Feuerbach’s crimson, making for a more aggressive visual statement.

"Master Feuerbach insisted that I accompany him. My apologies for coming uninvited." Rorschach said the words, but his expression showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment.

The faces of the King and the Prince froze instantly.