Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume11 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 18===

The Rose & Lily had a two-hull structure.

That meant it kept its overall balance with two hulls arranged like a sleigh. Its name came from the rose as a symbol of Winchell and the lily as a symbol of Vanderbilt. It had been constructed based on the desire for the two families to get along.

Although the peace it was meant to bring was being forever pushed off like the release date of an extremely largescale RPG.

Inside, eyepatch-wearing Karen and the rest of the Winchell maids protected the Vanderbilt lady as they moved along.

Karen I. Winchell had cleared the path to the girl’s room.

After retrieving the wireless router in question, they had broken the window and escaped that way.

The Destruction Fes had stopped and they were on their way to the heliport to use the opened sky route to reach the Legitimacy Kingdom’s 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion where they would be safest.

However…

The last leg of that journey was to the heliport atop the corridor connecting the two hulls.

That flat piece of artificial land had a sword stabbed into it in reference to the legend of the two families.

That was where they were finally caught.

A chubby man with many bodyguards behind him was illuminated by the colorful fireworks and a disgusting smile appeared on his face as he spread his arms.

He was Flag Eggnog, first prince of the Eggnog family.

He was part of the royal council and thus the poor man was targeted by the press as a gaffe machine.

As a royal, he was positioned even higher than a noble.

“Hello, hello, lady. You certainly are making this exciting.”

“Oh? Do you have any idea how it feels to have assault rifles and even a shoulder-fired rocket launcher aimed at me just because I wanted to visit my own room? And I was fairly certain I still had awhile before checkout time.”

“Even if you do, removing equipment from the room is bad manners.”

“True. But what if it contains evidence of someone breaking some more important rules?”

The air strained under the pressure.

Several metallic noises sounded as Flag’s bodyguards and the Winchell maids protecting the Vanderbilt lady aimed their guns at each other.

But the latter group had a disadvantage here.

There was very little cover on the heliport and the bodyguards had special armor and mechanical enhancements under their clothes. It was possible a handgun bullet would be useless except for a headshot. In a shootout, the maids would clearly be worn down faster.

But the Vanderbilt lady did not look concerned.

That did not mean she was not concerned, though. She was intentionally making sure she did not look that way.

“You cannot avoid banishment, Your Excellency.”

She rejected him from a position of superiority.

“If you were innocent, you would not need to put together this sort of plan. I do not even need to check inside the router. You have already made your mistake.”

“Know your place, little girl.”

Whether out of confidence or panic, Flag Eggnog pried open his lips.

Poking him a little was all it took for “the usual” to spill from there.

“Don’t you know how the Legitimacy Kingdom works? Royals are everything in this world! Our prosperity has already been assured!! I am merely playing my part. I may cause some slight trouble, but that is for the best. It fills the stagnant council with activity, leads them to a swift decision, and provides good fortune to the Legitimacy Kingdom’s people. What could be wrong with that!?”

The eyepatch maid feigned ignorance and asked a question while aiming her silencer-equipped machine pistol.

“Pardon me, lady, but that was a little too difficult for a mere maid such as myself. What did he mean?”

“Hm? He was saying he’s about to be charged with treason and inciting rebellion.”

“Nonsense. The nobles are given their position so they might support the royals to protect the many commoners. So fulfill your duty! You are supposed to be knights that raise your swords to fight for your king!!!!”

At this point, one could only be impressed with his stupidity.

He was even simpler than a soda fountain that produced the desired drink at the press of a button.

He claimed his gaffes filled the council with activity, but most likely that was the only compromise the others had found to handle the immense stress he brought them. Doctors focused on making money were likely constantly prescribing those around this man with stomach pills, relaxants, sleeping pills, and another stomach pill for all the other pills they were taking. If those people had heard this, they would likely have applauded and immediately decided to banish him.

Of course, a storm of bullets would kill the girl no matter how emptyheaded the idiot was who had ordered it.

“This is over, little girl. You must pay for so arrogantly stepping onto this royal stage when you were born a mere noble.”

“Lady, as an uneducated maid, I am very confused. Could you tell me what he is saying?”

“He’s saying it’s time for his silly skit.”

“That’s it!! Kill her nowwwwwww!!!!!”

The chubby middle-aged man shouted like he was throwing a tantrum, but the Vanderbilt lady still did not look concerned. She was not emotionless, however. She was intentionally sealing away her expressions and forcing a smile.

“You cannot do it.”

“Like hell I can’t, little girl!! How dare you object to the decisions of one with royal blood!!”

“After all, this is ''his'' battlefield.”

She had nothing to base this on, but she spoke as confidently as a dreaming maiden.

“You seem to be mistaken about something, so allow me to correct you. There is a reason I fell in love with the gentleman I did. He is strong enough to pick a fight with the centuries-old rift tearing apart Vanderbilt and Winchell. Meanwhile, the Legitimacy Kingdom’s framework is only about a single century old. My beloved darling has been fighting all alone against something several times that large, so did you really think he would falter before a newcomer like the commoner-noble-royal system!?”

“…”

“Don’t make me laugh, you unwanted royal. You have so much social status and yet you’re still a pathetic bachelor who never managed to win a single woman’s heart, so don’t underestimate the normal bonds between a man and a woman! He will be here. Even if the absurd surrounds him and the unreasonable stands in his way, he will come running if his fiancée calls for him! If I call for him as casually as asking for a drink, he would run through the apocalypse itself to come protect me!! There is no room for social status or bloodline there. If his woman is in danger, a man will silently make an enemy of the entire world. He will grab his sword, slay the dragon, and rescue the princess! It can be work, a war, a test at school, a contest, their first date, or anything else. Whether commoner, noble, or royal, they will envision that original image, grab whatever they see as their sword, find their princess, and face their dragon!! That is the driving force that ties together the Legitimacy Kingdom! And it is the framework you so definitively lack!! You utter fool!!!!”

She received no response.

No, she did hear an unintelligible cry.

The gun barrels protecting the Eggnog family and the Vanderbilt family began to move.

However, hadn’t she said something important?

''He will be here.

''He will come running.

At that exact moment, the Legitimacy Kingdom’s 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion’s First Generation Baby Magnum moved unnaturally close to the Rose & Lily.

It also made a turn that made no sense from a tactical standpoint.

Finally, a long, long rope was wrapped around one of the countless secondary cannons covering its spherical body like a sea urchin or chestnut burr.

Something was hanging from the other end of that rope.

It was Heivia Winchell.

As he was swung horizontally around, he flew through the air with the rope in hand. He was pulled up to the nine meter height of the Rose & Lily’s deck and he collided with the many bodyguards waiting behind Flag Eggnog.

The heavy kick was just like a bowling ball hitting the pins.

Those bodyguards wielded carbines and had special armor or equipment below their clothing, but they were all swept away. A particularly unlucky one crashed right into the helicopter warming its engine to the side. He collided with the rapidly rotating tail rotor and a red smoothie splattered everywhere.

Heivia ignored them, let go of the rope, rolled a few times on the hard heliport, and then got up.

He could not have known the exact situation at that point. He did not know that the conflict between Winchell and Vanderbilt had been intentionally exacerbated or that it had been done to distract everyone from First Prince Flag Eggnog’s gaffes. Nor did he know that the Vanderbilt lady had hunted down the evidence to prove it or that she was working with Karen and the other Winchell maids.

But the noble boy did not hesitate.

He looked across the scene.

He saw his fiancée and he saw who was aiming a gun at her.

That was all he needed.

Heivia Winchell immediately made up his mind based on the rules of the world he believed in.

“Looks like you’ve got a death wish, rich boy.”