Volume 4.13 - Extra 3.5

Volume 4.13 Extra 3.5

「We got a lil change of plans. Bro, Makoto-san, d’ya got a motorcycle license？」

Before getting to work, Hiroshi called out to Tatsuya and Makoto who had been reclining in the japanese-style room. Both of them had gone wild yesterday and were apparently relaxing today because of that. Because of a surplus in time being cooped up in their rooms, the two of them were playing shogi since the afternoon began, along with some light drinks and small snacks.

「No, I don’t have the one for two-wheels.」

「I do have the license for large-size ones, but why do you need that？」

「It’s cuz I got asked to come up with transportation for Rainy. Figured I might as well build a motorcycle.」

「Interesting. And you say you want me to give it a spin.」

「That’s exactly what I mean, mate.」

Tatsuya and Makoto got the gist of what Hiroshi said. The combination of spy and motorcycle was basically a given.

「But this is you we’re talking about, so I take it you won’t just stop at building a motorcycle, right？」

「Well yeah, I plan to install a few gimmicks here ‘n there. At the very least I gotta make sure there’s a capsule storage ‘n a user identification device installed.」

「True, that is needed, but again, I just don’t see you stopping there and that’s what makes me uneasy.」

「Well, at this point the most I’ll do is attach reinforcement parts to make space travel or underwater travel safe for the rider.」

「Ah～、in a certain simulation game where a bunch of different robots band together to take on strong opponents, you could definitely expect that kind of unfairness.」

This was very reasonable for Hiroshi, at which Makoto ironically felt a bit of exasperation as she nodded. In this game, you had scenarios like a woman not wearing a space suit with the cockpit open despite being in space as she shoots down enemy robos with rifles, or again not wearing a space suit as she rides on a motorcycle around through space and then attacks the majors and spinning tops, and then at last a group of thugs coming into the scene with leather jackets on, violently attacking the enemy robots with spiked bats.

It was a pretty major game, so it wasn’t unusual at all for Hiroshi to try and replicate something like that.

「Honestly, I thought you were going to include a gimmick like powered suits or robot transformation……」

「Golly gosh, how’d ya know！？」

「……Guess I was an idiot for thinking you intended to go the safe route.」

Makoto glared at Hiroshi disapprovingly after his confession. In many ways, she had been too naive about this.

「Anyway, I’m countin’ on ya to check the bike ‘n all its functions, Bro.」

「I mean sure, that’s fine, but could you spare me the trouble with the underwater/space functions?」

「’Course. Ya just gotta test the transformation ‘n midair flight functions.」

Tatsuya gave Hiroshi the warning, who narrowed it down to a fairly more mild test run. Then again, these two tests were already a headache to think about.

「So Hiroshi, I just thought of something.」

「Wazzup？」

「If the motorcycle can fly through the air, could we also find a way to get a minivan to fly through the air？」

「Sure, but I’m thinkin’ of addin’ those flying functions to a different prototype. Besides, even if ya wanted to attach said function to the minivan as is it would take a heck of a lotta ingredients, so this should be fine for goin’ to Lorren as is. We’ll hafta make the prototype at some point anyway, so modifyin’ the minivan at this point would just be meaningless.」

「Fair enough.」

Hiroshi’s response to Makoto’s simple question prompted both her and Tatsuya to readily agree. It was pointless to apply the earth’s common sense to magic technology, but thinking about it normally, there was a huge leap in energy and difficulty in making a personal-use motorcycle versus a seven-man minivan.

If there were other plans to make flying vehicles, there was no need to modify what already worked just fine.

「Still, you probably still need to practice in order to master a motorcycle. Where even is Rainy right now？」

「Y’know, I didn’t hear that part. Guess I’ll ask the octogals.」

Nodding at Hiroshi, Tatsuya brought in the octovase from his room. As long as you didn’t mind the appearance, it was an extremely useful item.

「We’re gonna ask～」

After receiving some of the snacks and hearing the situation from Hiroshi and friends, the octogals went ahead and checked without hesitation. A few seconds later

「Rainy-chan is tuning up in Wulls～」

「Stiren is dangerous～」

「Reverse, reverse」

The octogals all made their reports. Essentially, as she couldn’t afford to get wrapped up in another one of those Stiren banquets, Rainy was briefly back in Wulls to get her body back in shape, toning up loose areas. She was also using the gyms that the people of the earth had, succeeding in whittling down her weight.

「Hm, I see.」

「Rainy-chan, diet～」

「Growth period～」

「Her chest will never be the same again～」

「Nah, ya really ain’t gotta give us that unnecessary info……」

As Hiroshi showed his admiration, the octogals added unnecessary information that dealt him damage. Rainy already had a chest that stood out a good amount, but apparently it had become even more noticeable.

「Well if that’s the case, she should still be around till tomorrow, and I better git on workin’. Time-wise, I’ll hafta save Elle’s and Artiem’s equipment for later.」

「Yep. Well, seems like I won’t have anything to do today, either way.」

「Yup. Yer gonna test it tomorrow mornin’ as of now.」

Hiroshi said, moving to the workstation and telling Haruna and the others the change in plans before beginning with the necessary material refinement.

「Sensei, what kind of design do we have？」

「Is it going to be a moped？」

Grinning at Mio and Haruna, who were also quite intrigued, Hiroshi said all they had to do was wait till it was completed before he then began making the frame straight away. He then piled on more and more parts that you would never think belonged on a motorcycle, also making the orichalcum dagger with its collection of secret gimmicks. Keeping pace with that, Hiroshi also took care of the rough processing for Aearis’s dagger.

「Now all we gotta do is put it together. Haruna, ya think it might be a good time to git started on the food？」

「Ah, I think you’re right.」

「The motorcycle ain’t gonna run away if ya go somewhere else, so go ahead and git that outta the way with.」

「Kaaay」

Hiroshi chided her, and Haruna went off to prepare dinner. Feeling it would be unfair for only her to stick around and see the product first, Mio went to help Haruna. And so as Hiroshi continued the work process by himself, he finally got it done before dinner.

「Hiroshi-kun, dinner’s ready.」

「Alrighty. The motorcycle’s also done, so I’ll give a lil reveal before we eat.」

「Ah, yeah. I’ll call everyone then. What will we do about Fum-chan and the others？」

「Showin’ ‘em just that part don’t mean they gonna understand how it’s constructed, so I doubt an explanation would hurt, since they can’t replicate it.」

「Okay. Then I’ll just call over Tatsuya-san, Makoto-san, and Mio-chan.」

Hiroshi told her, and Haruna went off to call their friends. Once everyone was gathered and saw the motorcycle revealed from beneath the sheet, Haruna cheered, saying:

「Ooo～、super cool！！」

However, the other members had a slightly different impression:

「Sensei, is that Garl○nd？」

And that was all Mio said.

「Well yeah, if ya wanna have a vehicle that shifts to a humanoid form ya gotta go with that idea first, right？」

「Well yes, but Tatsuya and I barely know about the name and appearance of the motorcycle. Where the heck did you get all the details from？」

「C’mon mate, it’s that one robot simulation game.」

Hiroshi had apparently gone full throttle with the game reference he had discussed in the afternoon. It was true that he had a recent tendency to reference new games, but take one eye off him and you might see anything ranging from the 60’s to the 80’s, and not even just shows but also minor OVAs would casually show up. Many minors like Hiroshi were actually quite knowledgeable about shows that came out before they were born.

「Anyhow, the transportation method itself is complete. After we eat, I make the clothing ‘n leather armor and then Rainy’s equipment will be complete.」

「You think these people can drive something as crazy as this？」

Contrary to Tatsuya’s concern, the next day in the afternoon when Rainy came over she mastered all the functions in the blink of an eye–

「I can feel Deary’s love……」

And so she sniffed and licked everything Hiroshi had given her, including the beloved car and equipment. Hiroshi and Tatsuya had let their guard down because of how well-behaved she had been in Stiren, and they ended up taking unnecessary damage by being subjected to this sight.