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With Melua’s help, I transported the Löwe I had received from Nile into the workshop and immediately got to work inspecting the machine.

Just as I had heard, the armor, frame, and magic reactor all seemed to be in usable condition.

Even the magic contraction muscles, which I had been told would need replacing, could be substituted with those from a Legion unit. If I removed the frame from the Löwe and installed it into the Legion, it should function properly as a machine frame that could accurately follow Hom’s movements.

Since Melua had left early to help Alfe with her magic training, I used the workshop crane and Arkecius to strip off the armor and extract the internal frame.

Alright, let’s go ahead and install this frame into the Legion. Since I wanted to fine-tune things during a test run, I planned to ask Isaac to handle the startup test and push the work schedule forward as much as possible.

Hom had been improving her piloting skills significantly through the mecha training sessions with Vannabelle and the others, so if I could move into the final adjustments with this new machine, it would be a perfect way to finish her training.

As I was assembling the frame, lost in these thoughts, I suddenly sensed someone’s presence.

“WOOOAAAAH! Lady Leafa! That crimson armor—could it be, could it beeeeeeeeeee!?”
“That’s the Burning Blaze’s machine, isn’t iiiiiiit!?”

It turned out to be Isaac and Romeo. They must have watched the exhibition match too, because they reacted just like Johnny, the match announcer. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“That’s right. I got it from their leader, Nile.”

While operating Arkecius, I replied, and Isaac and Romeo rushed over to the discarded armor, reverently gazing at it as if they were worshipping it.

“I burned the proud crimson warrior’s noble battle against Lady Estea into my very soul, forsooth!”

They were both mecha enthusiasts and fans of Zersteller, so even though the Burning Blaze had lost, being able to touch its machine like this must have been a deeply moving experience for them. Romeo, for his part, didn’t even speak—he simply placed his hand on the armor and bowed his head as if paying respect to its valor. Seeing his shoulders tremble slightly, I wondered if he might actually be mourning the fallen machine with tears.

Since I had no plans to reuse the armor and it wasn’t in the way, I decided to let Isaac and Romeo have their moment while I quietly immersed myself in the task of assembling the frame.

“…Still, this really is a magnificent Fraternity Frame, forsooth…”
“The internal frame design of sixth-generation machines is just breathtaking. It’s a shame you can only admire it once the armor’s been stripped away.”

About an hour later, once they had gotten it out of their systems, Isaac and Romeo began to seriously evaluate the Löwe’s frame once more.

“Fraternity Frame?”

It was an unfamiliar term, but it probably referred to a feature of the internal skeleton. When I asked for clarification, Isaac nodded and, as usual, launched into an explanation.

“Not just the Löwe—sixth-generation Mecha Soldiers in general adopt a standardized internal skeleton known as the ‘Fraternity Frame,’ forsooth.”
“To put it simply, it’s a variable skeleton. The frame itself moves in response to the machine’s motions, allowing for flexible movements and a range of articulation far beyond that of the human body,” Romeo added.

Ah, so that explained the smooth, flowing movements I had noticed during the exhibition match—it had been thanks to this internal frame. Upon disassembling it, I had discovered that the joints of this frame had a far greater range of motion than the human body, enabling movements that would be impossible for a human.

In terms of flexibility, that was exactly what I had been hoping for in Hom’s machine. However, that also raised concerns about the frame’s rigidity. Prioritizing mobility at the cost of defense was something I definitely wanted to avoid.

“Flexibility is nice and all, but have they managed to address the rigidity issue? I mean, internal skeleton designs couldn’t withstand the stresses of thruster propulsion, which is why fifth-generation machines adopted a monocoque structure, right?”
“Lady Leafa, are you familiar with a Mecha Soldier called Noblesse?” Isaac asked.

I nodded. Even I knew that name. During the long Seika era, there were few Mecha Soldiers as famous as Noblesse.

Noblesse was a fifth-generation Mecha Soldier developed by the Carleil Holy Kingdom during the Third Holy Empire War.

“As you know, at the start of the Third Holy-Empire War, the Empire had the advantage thanks to the performance of their Legion units,” Isaac said. “The tide didn’t turn until around the war’s midpoint—when the Holy Kingdom succeeded in developing Noblesse, forsooth.”

The emergence of the Legion had completely changed the nature of warfare. In response, the Holy Kingdom had no choice but to develop its own Mecha Soldiers to counter them. That was the fifth-generation machine—Noblesse.

“Development of Noblesse was conducted in secret in a provincial city under the Free City Alliance,” Isaac continued. “However, by sheer bad luck, an Imperial reconnaissance team discovered it, and the city was attacked, forsooth.”
“And it was there,” Romeo added, “that a sixteen-year-old civilian boy named Ray Armsphere, caught in the chaos, boarded the still-in-development Noblesse—and annihilated the attacking Legion forces¹.”

I nodded deeply as I listened to their explanation.

“That,” Isaac said, “was the beginning of the legend of Ray Armsphere and Noblesse.
From then on, Ray, piloting Noblesse, fought countless powerful enemies, achieved superhuman battle records, and ultimately saved the Holy Kingdom from defeat², forsooth.”

The overwhelming performance of Noblesse and the legendary exploits of Ray Armsphere were famous enough to be included in history textbooks on military history.

Despite being a bitter chapter for the Empire, Ray Armsphere’s autobiographical novel was so popular that it was even read domestically within the Empire.

“But what does that have to do with the frame?”

I understood that Isaac and Romeo possessed a deep wealth of knowledge, but since they weren’t getting to the point, I pressed them for clarification.

“Noblesse boasted specs that were extraordinarily high for its time,” Isaac explained. “In particular, its armor, crafted from an alchemical metal called Ithildin and built using a three-layer structure, had a level of hardness that was downright otherworldly, forsooth.”
“They say that the Imperial forces’ machines couldn’t even scratch Noblesse,” Romeo added.

As he explained, Romeo looked up at the skeletal frame before us.

If the skeleton of this Löwe was made from an ideal alchemical metal that combined both flexibility and durability, then everything they had said so far made perfect sense.

“So you’re saying that this alchemical metal…”
“Exactly. The Fraternity Frame uses Ithildin—the same material used for Noblesse armor, forsooth,” Isaac confirmed. “That’s why this frame possesses both flexibility and sturdiness—it’s truly the ideal internal skeleton for a Mecha Soldier, forsooth!”
“I see. So that’s how they managed to create a frame capable of handling thrusters.”

As we assembled the skeleton, I pictured Hom piloting this machine in my mind. I could clearly envision the joy on her face, and it felt like I was building a very good image of what was to come.

“…The Fraternity Frame was originally developed about a hundred years ago,” Romeo continued, “but thanks to repeated minor improvements, it’s still used in modern Mecha Soldiers today. Getting our hands on the latest model of such a perfected internal skeleton is incredibly lucky.”

Thinking about it that way, I realized once again just how brilliant Melua’s quick thinking had been, and how fortunate I was that Nile had entrusted me with this machine. In my previous life, I never could have imagined it, but now I could truly feel that being able to rely on others gave me the strength to accomplish things I could never achieve alone.

While talking with Isaac and Romeo, I worked to install Löwe’s skeleton into the Legion, using the Legion’s original mounting points to fully complete the connection to the bisected torso.

Since the armor had yet to be installed, the Legion now looked like a giant’s bones packed with magical contraction muscles, giving it an appearance that promised surprisingly human-like movement.

“All that’s left is to attach the armor, and we’ll be finished, forsooth.”
“To have made it this far in such a short time… It’s really amazing.”

Isaac and Romeo, unable to contain their excitement, greeted me warmly as I descended from Arkecius.

“Well, there’s still the issue of the backpack that will house the thruster system, but that’ll be it for today.”
“We are still going to customize it, we are!?”
“Can’t we just use one of these!?”

Isaac and Romeo pressed me for answers, each gesturing with both hands toward the removed backpacks from the Legion and Löwe, which had been set aside.

In response to their questions, I shook my head.

“Neither of these will give me the acceleration I’m aiming for. If we want to match Hom’s Blitzraid in speed, the existing backpacks just won’t cut it.”
“Ah, that…”

Hearing my explanation, the two seemed to recall the class competition and immediately fell silent. Keeping Estea’s extraordinary speed in mind, it was clear that we had to eliminate any unnecessary steps to activate the rails during combat.

It would be extremely difficult to buy enough time to charge the lightning magic needed for propulsion—and during that vulnerable window, Alfe would become an easy target. To avoid that, we needed a backpack for Hom’s machine that could achieve Blitzraid-level acceleration on its own.

“But even for you, Leafa, there’s no way you could start studying Mecha Soldier propulsion systems from scratch now, right?”
“There’s not enough time, but we might have no choice. With the acceleration offered by the existing backpacks, there’s no way we could hope to beat Estea.”

The backpack of a Mecha Soldier, equipped with a thruster system, played a vital role in the unit’s mobility. As Professor had pointed out, the exhibition match had been incredibly informative—but now, we had run headfirst into a major obstacle.

Noblesse

A fifth-generation Mecha Soldier developed by the Carleil Holy Kingdom during the Third Holy-Empire War.

It was the crowning achievement of the next-generation Mecha Soldier development project, known as the Holy Flame Project.

The unit employed triple-layered honeycomb armor made of Ithildin, a special alchemic metal, reinforced with special resin and anti-magic particles, granting it an impenetrable defense.

The Noblesse series had been designed based on feedback from the heavy Mecha Soldier Wads, which had been built earlier, and a total of eleven units were manufactured.

It became particularly famous when a boy named Ray Armsphere, who lived in Septem Laetus, a small city near the border between the Holy Kingdom and the Free City Alliance, piloted the third unit.

In the chaos of war, Ray happened to stumble upon the unit and, caught up in the flow of events, found himself thrown into battle after battle. As a result, the Noblesse Unit Three would go on to display astonishing prowess in the Third Holy-Empire War, eventually becoming nothing short of legendary.

Because the Noblesse incorporated a variety of groundbreaking technologies—beginning with its Ithildin armor material—it had a profound impact on Mecha Soldier development in the generations that followed.

1. Robinxen: Wow it’s a gundam!
2. Robinxen: Oh, it’s literally a gundam.

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