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Chapter 315 - Body Strengthening Treatment and Increasing Potential

Eh? What happened last night? Well, the girls ended up having a slumber party and left poor me all alone, so I just slept it out. It kinda felt like they would be talking about things they’d rather not let me hear, so I just let them have their way.

“There are surprisingly not a lot of lightweight power armor models to choose from huh.”

“Right. And if you narrow it down to ones that can allow you to fight with swords, the number decreases further.”

Elma and I were currently relaxing on a sofa in the living room while browsing lightweight power armor catalogs, but so far, nothing’s clicked with me. How do I put it? None of them really match my requirements.

What I require from a lightweight power armor is for it to not hinder my natural movements, maintain my accuracy, reinforce my physical strength and agility, give me a bit of additional armor protection (from both physical and energy rounds), and enhance my environmental adaptation ability. That’s about it.

However, after checking them out, all we found were armors that were more than passable when it comes to survivability, agility, and strength enhancements, but fail when it comes to allowing me to move naturally and maintaining precise control over my body. Precise bodily control is extremely important when using a sword (for me at least) so I didn’t want to compromise on that front.

“Well, I suppose it’s because nobles don’t really need to wear power armor.”

“Yeah, I guess……”

The Graccan Empire’s nobles basically all receive physical enhancement treatments at an early age. As a result, they can exhibit superhuman strength and speed even without relying on stuff like power armors. The only things that power armors can offer them are environmental adaptability and flexibility enhancements, so whenever nobles go into battle, a suit with environment adaptation functions along with some anti-laser capability coupled with a portable shield was more than enough for them.

“Manufacturers won’t make something if there’s no market for it. That’s just how things roll.”

“You’re being pretty blunt, Big Sis. But I suppose that’s really how it is. Ah, don’t move around, Sis.”

Tina, whose hair was being styled by Whisker, sat on the sofa next to ours. When she shrugged her shoulders, Whisker told her off. The sisters arrange each other’s hairstyles from time to time. It looks like Whisker was styling Tina’s hair into a bun this time around.

Also, Mimi and Kugi were having a nice chat while sitting around the table a little further away from us. She didn’t seem to be worried about the other party this time around, unlike when we first started living with Mei, but I was a bit curious about what the two girls were discussing enthusiastically. Well, I suppose I should just be thankful that Mimi has already begun to warm up to Kugi, and they can now have casual chats like this.

“I wonder if I should just go ahead and take physical enhancement treatments?”

“Well, I suppose you could. But we won’t be able to leave here for at least a few months if you undergo those treatments you know?”

As expected from someone with firsthand experience. Elma, who was actually from the house of Viscount Willrose, was a genuine noble’s daughter, and she had actually undergone physical enhancements herself. That’s exactly the reason why her seemingly thin and dainty arms were packing a lot more power than mine. However, in Elma’s case, she had only taken treatments to enhance her physical strength and reaction speed. She didn’t seem to have undergone the advanced treatments such as enhancing the processing power of one’s brain that other nobles were given.

“Actually, what exactly do they do in those physical enhancement treatments anyway?”

“First, it depends on whether you take bionic treatments or cybernetic treatments. Both treatments are irreversible and both result in dramatic improvements in your overall physical abilities.”

“I see. But each has its own merits, right?”

“I’m not that familiar with them either y’know? Well, generally speaking, bionic treatments offer somewhat lesser results, but are less burdensome on the body in exchange and are easier to maintain. The more you train, the better your abilities will become. However, it takes quite some time to get used to your newly enhanced body after the treatments, and the time required to undergo the treatments is equally long as well. Conversely, cybernetic treatments offer a higher degree of enhancements, and you can exert most of your enhanced abilities almost immediately after taking them. However, unlike bionic treatments, you can’t improve your abilities further through training. In exchange, it’s possible for you to replace your implants with higher-performance parts. Also, the parts aren’t completely maintenance-free, so maintaining those parts can be troublesome.”

“I see, I see. You took bionic treatments, right, Elma?”

“Yeah. In the empire, bionic treatments are more mainstream. It seems replacing your body parts with machines doesn’t suit the noble’s tastes.”

Elma shrugged as she replied. Oh, I see. It seemed that imperial nobles either straight-up hate machines, have slight misgivings against artificial intelligence, or are just not good with them. So many among them may not like the prospect of replacing their body parts with cybernetics.

As we continued to discuss such matters, Mimi and Kugi came over. Then, Mimi had Kugi sit beside me - opposite of Elma - and followed by sitting right next to the latter.

“What’s up?”

“Kugi-san said she was interested in what you were talking about, Hiro-sama.”

“Hm? What about it?”

When I turned my attention to Kugi, who looked a bit hesitant at first, she eventually spoke out, albeit still with a timid tone.

“Um, I overheard that you were planning to undergo some kind of enhancement surgery…… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“Nah, I don’t really mind.”

After saying so, I turned my attention to her big and fluffy animal ears. Well, with those ears of hers, it wasn’t surprising that her hearing was better than humans. I wonder who has better hearing ability between her and Elma.

“I heard from Mimi-sama that you’re looking for something called a power armor to improve your fighting ability and survivability.”

“Yeah, that’s right. But I can’t seem to find anything satisfactory, so I was considering taking enhancement treatments instead.”

“I see…… Um, this might sound presumptuous of me My Lord, but I do not think you require such treatments at all.”

“I see……? Why though? Can you elaborate?”

“Certainly. At present, the potential constantly surging out from My Lord’s body isn’t being utilized properly. If you learned to control it, then the effects will be countless times better than wearing power armor, I think.”

“””Ah-……”””

I wasn’t the only one who got surprised. Everyone except Mei and Kugi reacted the same way.

“Umm……? Did I say something strange, My Lord?”

Kugi tilted her head with an anxious expression on her face.

“No, not at all. It’s just that I’ve already decided not to pursue that direction a while back.”

“You decided not to pursue it?”

“Yeah. I mean, just think about it. I’d be able to use my strength to overwhelm power armors, shoot mystical attacks that can erase entire mountains, and even repel lasers and ballistic projectiles flying at me. Wouldn’t showing off like that attract unnecessary trouble eventually? Then it would be better not to go in that direction and just use things like power armor that’s more within the bounds of common sense. I think it’s way safer that way.”

After I explained my reasons, Kugi nodded her head in acknowledgment and began to talk again.

“I’ve only heard about them from Mimi-sama, but it seems these so-called power armors can only allow one to match the soldiers of my country when they are devoid of any equipment. No, perhaps our soldiers will still be able to best them even then. I do not think that kind of strength is contrary to common sense at all.”

“Eh, what the heck? That’s kinda scary.”

“I believe you will be able to exert power enough to overwhelm even a group of our soldiers with ease, My Lord. If you are concerned about standing out, then wouldn’t it be more reasonable to practice and learn to properly control and adjust your power?”

“That’s-…… Err, you do have a point.”

I wavered under Kugi’s pure gaze. Come to think of it, it’s certainly against my style to abandon power that can be obtained and not do my best just because I was afraid of standing out. One should make good use of whatever was available to them. I understand that principle. I do.

“But ain’t I gonna become something like a Super Sa*yan if I did that!? Honestly, there really was a time when I also wanted to fly in the air and fire off ka*eha*ehas! But never in my dreams did I expect to get to do those for real y’know!”

“Super Sa*yan……?”

Kugi displayed a confused look after my rant. Yeah. Of course, she wouldn’t get it.

“I am not sure what that kame-something exactly is, but I think blowing up an entire mountain…… is a bit inefficient, honestly. Instead of vainly wasting your potential doing that, it would be a lot more efficient to incapacitate your enemy with a high-intensity psychic shock.”

“Whoa, that’s some dangerous-sounding stuff. What exactly is that high-intensity psychic shock?”

“It is a technique that puts a heavy load on a target’s mind and either significantly disturbs their concentration, stuns them, or directly destroys the target’s mind depending on the strength used. With My Lord’s strength, I think it is possible to spread the effects to this entire colony.”

“That’s hella dangerous man. I don’t wanna become some toxic wave generator.”

“You’re strayin’ from the topic already, Boss. Well, regardless of your preferences, doesn’t Kugi actually make sense? Before, we didn’t wanna stay fer a long time in the Refill system just so you could train in that mystical stuff, so we eventually decided not to pursue that direction. But since Kugi will stay with us from now on, wouldn’t it be fine if you just trained with her?”

“That’s true. You can get your power armor Big Brother, but wouldn’t it be fine to train that psychic power of yours too? It’s not like you’d definitely get in trouble if you learned it.”

Surprisingly, the dwarven sisters, who were obviously on the science side of things, were pretty enthusiastic regarding this superhuman training plan. Doesn’t it directly conflict with your chosen field, guys?

“Actually, we’re also a bit interested. In psionic technology, that is.”

“It’s a completely different technology system after all. I think we might make some interesting discoveries if you acquire that kind of supernatural power, Boss.”

“So you’re prioritizing your interests huh. Aren’t you guys worried about me at all?”

“Well, isn’t your body already givin’ off powerful waves and stuff all the time, Boss? Though it’s just Kugi who says so. Ain’t training yer powers actually better than havin’ your body undergo some weird modifications?”

“That’s true. When I took those enhancement treatments when I was a kid, I felt really bad for a long time until I managed to get used to my enhanced abilities. It was pretty nasty. At worst, you wouldn’t be able to move a muscle for three months, and it also costs way more than buying power armor.”

“Gununu……”

So do I really have no choice but to train in controlling that potential or whatever to increase my survival rate in this world? Well, I guess I can just take my time to train since Kugi will be accompanying us from now on. I only need to pay attention and restrain myself to avoid standing out. So there’s no problem, right? Right?

“OK, I understand. I will go in that direction then. I won’t undergo any strength enhancement treatments. But I’ll still buy a power armor. I’ll just go with that.”

“That’s as nice a plan as any.”

“In that case, we definitely need to find a lightweight power armor model that suits you, Hiro-sama.”

Yeah, that’s another problem we’ve yet to solve. If we can’t find a suitable product in the market, do I have no choice but to get a made-to-order custom? I don’t even know where to commission such a thing. I guess I’ll just have to ask suitable power armor manufacturers or think of other ways. Hmm.