Isekai Nonbiri Nouka
Chapter 962: New Technology

The mountain elves had been studying the airships and the Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines, Arti-Horses, and today, they presented their findings, claiming they had acquired several new technologies.

These weren’t flashy, easy-to-understand breakthroughs.

Honestly, anyone not interested in such things would likely take one look and dismiss them with a “What is this?”

But those who knew what they were looking at could see the value.

They demonstrated things like shaft-linking systems and mechanisms that convert horizontal rotation into vertical rotation.

I’d seen structures like these before somewhere.

These small, subtle technologies, stacked one atop the other…

It’s clear we’re still a long way off from actually building something like a Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machine ourselves.

「I think I’m starting to understand why these machines lost out to golems」

The mountain elf who presented the findings wore a gloomy expression.

To be fair, the golems Tier makes are simpler and more convenient than Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines.

Even in terms of maintenance, repairs, and the likes, the golems have the edge.

「B-but still… they’re hard to let go of…」

Don’t cry.

It’s all right.

You’ll continue your research.

「Village Chief」

Let’s keep pushing forward.

「Yes!」

-0-

The village currently has four Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines in addition to Unit One Klim.

Unit Two: Benze

A machine with a blocky, angular design.

Think of a gorilla, and you’ll have a pretty close image.

-0-

Unit Three: Poka

A short and stocky machine with lots of curves.

Its arms and legs are short, but it boasts the most raw power among the four.

The image that comes to my mind is a…. pufferfish.

An inflated pufferfish with limbs.

-0-

Unit Four: Larock

Of the four, this one is the most humanoid in form.

That makes it look a bit scrawny at times, but because of its familiar shape, pilots find it the easiest to operate.

It could be likened to a slender dwarf.

-0-

Unit Five: Hanasaka

The soles of its feet are covered in numerous large spheres, allowing it to glide smoothly by rolling.

At first, people worried that it wouldn’t have enough grip, but when traction is needed, spikes shoot out from between the spheres to dig into the ground.

Image-wise… maybe a shark?

A shark with thin arms and thick legs.

-0-

There have been suggestions to have these four machines fight each other, but that carries a high risk of damage, so I’ve put a stop to that.

However, testing their performance and the pilots’ skills is another matter.

So, we held several competitions using Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines.

During the martial arts tournament.

I thought they’d make for a perfect sideshow between matches.

-0-

First was a contest where participants had to cut a set number of logs and carry them to a designated area.

Pilot skill made a huge difference.

The machine piloted by Yuri came in first.

The rest followed based on how skilled their pilots were…

There wasn’t much noticeable difference in machine performance.

As expected from true heavy machinery.

-0-

Long-Range Throwing

A competition to see how far and how high the machines could throw objects.

This one revealed more than just differences in machine performance, it came down to arm design.

Unit Four, Larock, which has the most human-like shape, threw both the farthest and the highest.

It wasn’t just the arms, it used the shoulders and hips effectively as well.

The other units performed similarly, with no major standouts.

-0-

Obstacle Course

A race through a course filled with various obstacles.

Hanasaka was the fastest, but it tripped over a raised platform and fell.

Some debris scattered when it fell, but the only damage was to the protective gear attached before the competition began.

The machine itself was unharmed.

Good.

However, once it was down, Hanasaka couldn’t get back up on its own.

This time, the other machines helped it upright, but that’s a surprising weakness.

I mean, it makes sense, cars can’t get back up after flipping either, but unlike cars, these machines have limbs, so I assumed they’d be able to recover.

According to the mountain elves, only Larock can stand back up on its own.

Benze might be able to if the pilot tries hard enough.

Poka, probably not.

Given their body shapes, that seems about right.

As for Siegfried now Klim…

Even if it falls, you can re-summon it and bring it back in a standing position.

Makes sense.

-0-

There were a few hiccups, but as a performance between matches, Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machine events were a decent success.

It was also a great opportunity to introduce the Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines to villagers who hadn’t interacted with them much before.

Residents of Village One, Two, and Three especially had very little exposure until now.

Getting a wide range of races to try them out also revealed a previously unknown flaw in the cockpits.

Multipurpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Machines’ cockpits are built fairly spaciously, so even large-bodied races can fit inside without issue.

But… the centaurs couldn’t.

Even if they somehow squeezed into the cockpit, operating the foot pedals became a problem.

「Maybe we’ll need cockpit designs tailored to each race」

The mountain elves are looking into it, but… yeah.

That’s a tricky issue.

-0-

The martial arts tournament had ended without incident, and preparations for winter were now in full swing.

And yet… here I was, standing in an open area at the southern edge of the village.

In front of me was a vehicle.

The same transforming, combining carriage we used in the parade.

So technically it was a carriage, but it didn’t have any horses.

「We’ll begin now」

At the mountain elf’s signal, the carriage started moving on its own.

It looked like no one was inside, but the Intelligence Box had been installed within.

There was a viewing window at the front of the carriage, so the box was likely watching from there.

The carriage moved freely.

Its power source was a magic stone.

It used the energy drawn from the stone as its engine.

I’d seen this setup a few times already, so I wasn’t surprised anymore…

Actually, no, this time it was moving far more smoothly than before.

「We separated the axles, which now allows it to make sharp turns」

Separated the axles…

Wait, does that mean each wheel has its own motor?

「Yes. Synchronizing them was tricky, but we managed it using some of the tech we uncovered from the heavy machines」

That’s impressive.

But… so it turns by adjusting the rotation speed of the wheels?

From what I could tell, the wheels themselves weren’t turning at an angle.

「We used to tilt the wheels by steering, but this method allows us to turn without doing that」

So the motors are directly attached to the wheels, meaning you can’t steer them independently?

「You could say that」

I see… but that means the wheels need stronger grip.

「Grip strength?」

Yeah. If one wheel slips while turning, it could suddenly veer off course.

At high speeds, that could lead to a rollover.

Right on cue, the carriage tipped over spectacularly and crashed.

「Rescue team, move in! Hurry!」

The mountain elves who were on standby rushed to retrieve the box.

The box was surrounded by protective gear, so it looked like it came out unharmed.

「I thought this during the tournament too, but the protective parts really are effective」

Yeah.

Whenever the box is riding along, be sure to install those.

And if we’re going to have people riding in these… we’ll need to develop protective equipment for humans too.

「Understood. We’ll do our best」