2
(Hmm. It seems he’s noticed that he’s about to be framed. As expected, this kid is much smarter than ordinary brats.)
Normally, students attending military school would rejoice, thinking “An opportunity for promotion has arrived!” upon hearing that an order has come from above, unless it’s an extremely unreasonable demand.
But Keita’s reaction was the complete opposite. No, it was even worse than that. Seeing Keita not even trying to hide his suspicion despite being told it was an order from above, Takafumi didn’t give a wry smile… instead, he decided to raise his evaluation of Keita by another level.
Why was that? Just as Keita became convinced of someone’s machinations from the inexplicable order given to him, Takafumi, who had received the request directly from the military, also sensed the hidden agenda behind this order.
However, while Keita interpreted this situation as “they’re trying to kill me,” Takafumi interpreted it as “they’re trying to crush me”—though they both suspected hidden motives.
(It was strange from the beginning.)
This order originated from voices within the military’s upper echelons saying, “Mogami Heavy Industries has achieved results with their machines. So why don’t we ask them to try prototyping enhanced exoskeletons too?” with surrounding support for this idea.
(If you only look at the surface, there’s no sense of incongruity. Only if you look at the surface, though.)
The justification is perfect. It’s a justification that not only satisfies formalities but also convinces military personnel who value results—no, a justification they cannot deny precisely because they value results.
However, from Takafumi’s perspective, it’s strange in itself that opinions promoting new entry would emerge in an environment where profits are monopolized by military cliques and financial conglomerates.
After all, normally you’d need to pile up considerable money, compile massive amounts of materials, and give presentations multiple times before finally getting maybe some word of support—indeed, that’s how it was with the Mikage-type—yet this time Takafumi had done nothing.
(People connected to other conglomerates recommending me of their own accord? Impossible. Besides, it’s a nuisance.)
Current Takafumi is swamped with data collection from the Mikage-type prototype unit 1 and various matters related to the currently manufacturing prototype unit 3, with no spare capacity to extend into powered suits. Therefore, being recommended is nothing but a nuisance.
But regardless of whether it’s a nuisance, this is an official request from the military.
Even if it’s merely something like “Why don’t you try making a prototype?” and definitely not anything like “We’ll officially adopt what you make,” it’s still an official request.
If he refuses this, Mogami Heavy Industries will likely find it difficult to enter the powered suit business in the future.
At minimum, there’s an extremely high possibility that conglomerate-affiliated companies and the people who brought this proposal will give them the cold shoulder, saying “Didn’t you refuse when we recommended you last time?”
(Well, that’s probably what they’re aiming for too. Tch. If only this wasn’t happening now, I would have been overjoyed.)
Machines have high unit prices, but due to their nature, the absolute number required is small.
In contrast, powered suits have reasonably high unit prices, but beyond that, they have extremely high demand since almost all military personnel use them. Therefore, it becomes a genre where large profits can be expected.
For Mogami Heavy Industries too, they had planned to enter this market once machine manufacturing reached a certain stage, so this proposal itself isn’t entirely unwelcome.
However, no matter how high-demand the genre is, the amount of pie that can be divided is fixed.
This applies both in terms of resources that Mogami Heavy Industries can allocate and in terms of distribution that each company can obtain.
While the former is entirely an internal matter for Mogami Heavy Industries and can be set aside, due to the latter reason, there exist companies that would be troubled by Mogami Heavy Industries’ entry, and it’s natural business effort for such companies to try to obstruct Mogami Heavy Industries.
That the method of this “obstruction” came in the form of deliberately recommending them was something even Takafumi hadn’t anticipated, but seeing its effectiveness, he can only acknowledge it with understanding.
If Mogami Heavy Industries refuses, the other side gains the fact that they once extended their hand.
If they accept, they can’t properly devote effort to it, so they won’t be able to create anything decent.
For those wanting to bring down Mogami Heavy Industries, they can prevent Mogami Heavy Industries’ entry regardless of which way it goes, so there’s no loss—that’s the scheme.
(We tried too hard, huh.)
Takafumi muttered to himself internally.
Indeed, their being this wary is entirely due to Keita’s and the Mikage-type’s achievements.
From the perspective of conglomerate-affiliated companies that sell weapons to the military, not limited to machines—even though only Keita can handle it—the Mikage-type, which achieved the feat of destroying 10 large monsters and many medium-sized monsters in a single battle, is an incarnation of irrationality, and it’s natural that Mogami Heavy Industries, which manufactured it, would become a target of wariness.
(That’s not all. The fact that mass production isn’t going well is also a problem.)
There’s the fact that they half-forcibly confiscated the prototype unit 2 that Mogami Heavy Industries had created at the Second Division’s request, yet still can’t produce decent results.
At this rate, their position will be nonexistent. Furthermore, Mogami Heavy Industries is even manufacturing prototype unit 3, which incorporates data obtained from prototype unit 1.
If one side fails at mass production while the other succeeds at manufacturing prototype unit 3, it becomes unclear why they confiscated prototype unit 2 in the first place.
For the military engineers who can’t even get mass production right and the conglomerate-affiliated companies cooperating with them, the current situation is truly like being on a bed of nails. Hence this move.
By having Keita conduct the test, they can interfere with prototype unit 1’s data collection while forcing them to allocate effort to powered suit manufacturing, thereby delaying prototype unit 3’s manufacturing.
If powered suit manufacturing fails, good.
If they can manufacture it but don’t adopt it, good.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
After all, powered suits are equipment that other companies are also developing and improving regularly. Therefore, unless there’s a considerable difference, the natural flow is to maintain the status quo or use items developed and upgraded by the same companies.
Therefore, even if the very person who recommended Mogami Heavy Industries looks at the powered suit they created and says something like “It seems we expected too much” and passes on official adoption, they won’t be criticized.
(They probably already have a response ready like “Thank you for your hard work in development. We look forward to your next application.”)
What ultimately remains for Mogami Heavy Industries would be prototype unit 1 with half-complete data collection, a half-baked powered suit, and prototype unit 3 that can’t be properly assembled due to insufficient data.
It’s a wonderful strategy that achieves both buying time to get mass production on track and harassing Mogami Heavy Industries.
The person who thought it up probably congratulated themselves on it.
Indeed, this strategy has no apparent flaws.
Even Takafumi, who understands the general flow, has no choice but to comply despite knowing the opponent’s intentions.
Still, if we were to forcibly find Takafumi’s advantage, it would be that he can gain know-how related to powered suit manufacturing proportional to the effort invested.
If we force a positive spin on it through repeated strain, it could be called an investment in the future.
Truly “hoping for next time.” Conversely, it could also be said “we can only hope for next time.”
(Ah. That’s right. It’s perfect. We’ll be cornered. We might lose the military as a customer due to this incident and go bankrupt.)
So what do we do?
Give up?
As if.
There’s no way a pervert who continued pursuing romance while receiving cold looks from his wife and daughter would give up over something like this.
“…Don’t underestimate us.”
Takafumi was pissed.
At the military officials who pulled this insulting stunt.
At the conglomerate-affiliated companies who used petty methods to shut them out.
Most of all, at those who devised strategies based on the premise that “people like you can’t create anything decent.”
“Let’s show them what we can do.”
Those who proposed this strategy and those who received and executed the proposal didn’t know.
How much Mogami Takafumi loved his company.
That Mogami Heavy Industries was a pervert company acknowledged even by Keita, who had memories from his previous life.
That it was a pervert company acknowledged even by the elite Second Division, which handles the cutting edge of national defense.
The existence of pervert engineers worthy of making Mogami Heavy Industries known as a pervert company.
And the existence of a remarkable woman who, even before the Mikage-type was completed, preached common sense to these pervert engineers, saying “I don’t deny romance, but you can’t eat with just that, and there won’t be money to pay your salaries! If you don’t want that, create something more likely to sell!” and then ordered them to manufacture powered suits as equipment with high demand that was likely to sell.
“Yes. Yes. Let’s do it.”
“You… Ah, that’s right. You’re a victim too, aren’t you. Alright. Let’s do this.”
And Takafumi also didn’t know.
The frightfulness of a child whose restraints have come loose in various ways due to having memories from a previous life.
The frightfulness of a child who, even during the monsters’ major offensive, tried to shell the command post calling it a “stray bullet.”
The frightfulness of a child whose actions have become more decisive than those of vicious criminals in some ways, simply because he seeks peace in his and his sister’s daily life.
On this day, at this time, in this place. The perverts truly joined hands in the real sense.
—Strategists drown in their own strategies, and those who lay hands on things they shouldn’t touch get their brains fried without question. That’s common sense.
The day when the perpetrators masquerading as such become victims at the hands of two enraged perverts is by no means far off.
TLNOTE:
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