Old Knight, New Post: From Retiree to Her Majesty’s Blade Volume 1 (eBook)

Hisago Amazake-no (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-0544-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Once a peerless Mechsteel pilot in his youth, Watt Sears is now nearing forty and working as a humble station employee. As a self-proclaimed 'old man,' Watt has taken a liking to showing new pilots the ropes, choosing to support them however he can rather than stand in the spotlight himself. Despite the repeated pleas of his boss and the lord of the land to become a Steelrider-one of the elite monster-hunting mech pilots who keep the city safe-Watt is perfectly content with his quiet life.

But all of that changes when his storied past catches up to him.

Anna, his long-lost daughter from a bygone romance, appears before Watt one day to ask for his help. Resolving to keep her safe, Watt takes Anna under his wing-only to immediately find himself caught up in a not-so-bloodless battle for the throne. With the kingdom in turmoil, can this old knight survive his new post?

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Once a peerless Mechsteel pilot in his youth, Watt Sears is now nearing forty and working as a humble station employee. As a self-proclaimed "e;old man,"e; Watt has taken a liking to showing new pilots the ropes, choosing to support them however he can rather than stand in the spotlight himself. Despite the repeated pleas of his boss and the lord of the land to become a Steelrider-one of the elite monster-hunting mech pilots who keep the city safe-Watt is perfectly content with his quiet life.But all of that changes when his storied past catches up to him.Anna, his long-lost daughter from a bygone romance, appears before Watt one day to ask for his help. Resolving to keep her safe, Watt takes Anna under his wing only to immediately find himself caught up in a not-so-bloodless battle for the throne. With the kingdom in turmoil, can this old knight survive his new post?

Textauszug

Chapter One: Watt in the Frontier City

Just as the sun had begun to rise, clamorous footsteps rang out through the dimly lit forest. Their source was the engine running along the tracks that pierced through the forest, sounding out alongside a cloud of dust each time one of its eight massive legs hit the ground.

“We’ve made it this far already...”

Rocking back and forth in the passenger car, the girl had been absentmindedly staring up at the sky as dawn broke through. The Trailmarcher she was riding in had been traveling through the night and was set to arrive at the terminal station in the morning. Judging from the look of the sky, their destination would be coming into view any minute.

Just as the girl was thinking about this, the horizon stretched open before her as the Trailmarcher exited the forest. The next thing she saw was the massive guard wall that surrounded the city. The vehicle’s brakes let out a piercing shriek as it slowed down, puffs of steam erupting from each of its sections.

The station was right in front of them once they were past the wall, and the girl’s long Trailmarcher journey finally came to an end. This was Front-Edge City, the southernmost frontier at the farthest reaches of the Kingdom of Ogdenn and the terminus of the Kingdom’s Trail.

“He’s out there somewhere in this city.”

By the time the steam hanging overhead had dissipated, passengers had begun to exit the vehicle in scattered groups. Once the majority of the passengers had disembarked, the girl made her descent out of the Trailmarcher and into the station.

There were all sorts of reasons people visited this area, but the majority of the individuals on the first arrival of the day were merchants. Surrounded by weary men, the girl seemed to be quite out of place.

Her clothes were simple at first glance, but actually well tailored. She had long red hair, beneath which she’d stiffened the expression on her still rather childlike face.

“I’ll do my very best, mother!”

With her mind made up and her suitcase in her hands, the girl stepped forward, only for her surroundings to suddenly grow dark.

“Outta the way!”

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden shout, the girl looked up, only for her vision to be engulfed by a massive shipping crate.

***

“Aaahhh, morn’n.”

“Good morning, Chief Watt Sears! Come on now, time to get up and at ’em!”

“That’s easy enough when you’re as young as you are! But when you’re almost forty, this sort of thing is rough in the mornings, you know.”

Humanity wasn’t made to get up before the sun! Thinking about nothing of any particular value, Watt Sears had made his way to his workplace, Front-Edge City Central Station, for yet another day on the job.

Looking down at the whorl of his subordinate’s hair as he greeted them, Watt gave his reply quietly under his breath. After all, he was well-built and stood nearly two meters tall in height. While his appearance might’ve otherwise come across as threatening, the air of absentmindedness he was cloaked in just barely managed to offset it.

In light of a certain reason, his workplace was more or less filled with twenty-somethings. Sadly enough for Watt, at thirty-nine years old this year, he’d single-handedly raised his workplace’s average age. What’s more, as the only ten-year veteran on the job, he’d been given a management role as chief.

“Oh, it’s about time for the first arrival to come rolling in!”

At practically that same moment, the Trailmarcher slid into the station with a lively clatter. The eight-legged lead car passed right before their eyes before stopping.

“This thing gives me the creeps no matter how many times I see it,” his subordinate remarked.

“Ha ha, creepy or not, it’s the poster child for the Kingdom’s Trail, inspired by the eight-legged Sleipnir.”

“The thing’s a spider any way you look at it.”

“Having the legs face out wasn’t the brightest choice, was it?”

Pulling a trail of numerous cars behind it as it dashed across the kingdom, the engine car at the front of the Trailmarcher was a splendid vehicle, excelling in both power and durability. Its appearance was just ever so slightly hopelessly unsettling—that was all.

“All right now, everybody!” Watt said. “Let’s do some good work out there today. Safety first, same as always.”

Watt clapped his hands to prompt them to start, only for the young workers to give scattered replies as they started to move. Their job was to unload cargo from the freight cars, so they headed off to where the tools they’d need for the job were. Awaiting them there were massive humanoid machines. To be precise, they were better described as massive humanoid magical instruments. They were commonly known as “Mechsteels.”

“Now, go ahead and feed them the junk magicyte,” Watt instructed.

“Roger.”

Proud of their own strength, the young workers carried bags filled with magicyte over to the Mechsteels, opened the hatches on their abdomens, and filled the Mech-Hearts—the Mechsteels’ power reactors.

“Phew, this really gets your shoulders,” Watt said. “It’d be a whole lot lighter if they went with something better than junk magicyte.”

“Do you hear how old you sound? There’s no way they’d ever fork out for the expensive stuff when it’s just going in a Mild Bull—they’re made to be cheap!”

These “Mild Bulls” stood eight meters tall from head to toe. They had chunky frames and short legs, which paired with arms as long as the machines were tall—so much so that they sometimes even touched the ground. What’s more, a bull monster’s skull that was massive in its own regard was embedded in each Mechsteel’s chest.

Mechsteels were a type of magical instrument that were powered by magic energy. Mild Bulls belonged to the so-called Livestock-grade of Mechsteel, mass-market products made at a relatively low cost. Even though the magicyte fueling them was of the lowest quality, this was offset by the sheer quantity required.

“All right, start boarding!”

After giving the order to the workers around him, Watt himself stepped into one of the Mild Bulls lined up in a row. Sinking into the enormous cavity in the middle of the Mechsteel’s chest, Watt steadied his breathing.

“Harmonizing... Start-up is check! No problems with response. Machine check is a go. All right, here I go. Watch where I’m stepping!”

A half-hearted warning whistle rang out as the individuals standing at the Mechsteel’s feet quickly dispersed. Getting sent flying by an eight-meter-tall giant would’ve left more than a scratch. The Mild Bulls checked the safety of their surroundings before they began to walk.

“Wh-Whoa...!”

“Hmm... I guess new recruits are bound to be a bit wobbly! Here—ease up. If you get too worked up, you won’t be able to move the way you need to. Doesn’t matter what it is—the real trick with anything is to not go overboard.”

“Th-Thank you, sir!”

Watt grasped the shoulder of a new recruit’s Mechsteel to steady it. By harmonizing their senses with those of their Mechsteels, pilots were able to move their massive, humanlike frames as if they were their own limbs. However, as the Mild Bulls had a drastically different balance than that of the human body, the uninitiated often failed to harmonize well.

“Though it’s cruel to expect too much out of a Bull when they were made to be cheap,” Watt added. “But hey, you youngsters can just count on this old man for all that.”

After all, Watt was the only ten-year veteran on the job. Lending a helping hand to the wobbly new recruits, Watt set about work himself. His Mild Bull’s massive frame headed toward the freight car before hefting up one of the shipping crates that had been loaded onboard.

While the Mild Bulls had ultimately become commonplace due to their affordable price, out of their rather devastating capabilities, the sole element that was truly eye-opening was their sheer strength. The way they safely lifted and carried the weighty shipping crates was a testament to their status as work machines.

Watt heard the shout as he was making steady progress unloading the crates.

“Oh no...!”

The frantic voice echoing in his ears, Watt instinctively spun around, only to see a shaking Mechsteel and a rapidly tilting crate. The crate finally went flying through the air. There, right where it would land, was a passenger who’d disembarked onto the station platform that very moment—a young girl.

“Watch out!!!”

Watt was already moving by the time he shouted, but he could only go so far running with a Mild Bull’s short legs. Instead, he decided to stake his luck on the Mild Bull’s one forte: its strength. Slamming against the ground with all his might, Watt used the recoil to send himself bolting forward. He didn’t even have the time to slow down after that. Watt stretched out his arms, falling forward into a slide. He caught the crate right above the girl’s head, just in the nick of time.

“Hrrr-mmmph!”

It was too soon to let his guard down, but it was another chance to show off the Mild Bull’s...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 9.10.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Old Knight, New Post: From Retiree to Her Majesty’s Blade
• Illustrationen: Akemi Mikoto
• Übersetzer: Chris Craigo
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Family • Light Novel • Mecha • older protagonist • Political Drama • Power struggle • Steampunk
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-0544-3 / 1718305443
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-0544-1 / 9781718305441