Chapter 174: The New Life Plan to Enter the Realm of the Gods
"My, Mahiro-kun is really fickle—forgetting this old flame once you have a new favorite."
"Well, if we're being technical, compared to them, you're actually the new favorite."
After sharing some intimate moments with Honoka and Shizuku, Honoka left with a blush, too embarrassed to stay.
After all, the banquet was still ongoing and hadn't concluded yet, so beyond embracing, he couldn't do anything more.
Following them came the elegant young woman in furisode kimono—the president of Shiba Heavy Industries, Shiba Miori.
"You know, you really do like kimonos," Mahiro remarked while slightly examining the young woman who held an iron fan and was watching him with a smiling gaze.
It was one thing during the Black Bullet world, but even now, her attire seemed completely unchanged, right down to the same bright color scheme.
Her wavy, raven-black hair was tied into a strand that fell over her chest, presenting the perfect image of an accomplished young lady from a prestigious family.
"But of course, this is one of my signature features."
Miori made her characteristic gesture—snap!—opening her folding fan to cover half her face.
Only her beautiful eyes, filled with laughter, remained visible.
"However, what surprises me more is that in less than a year, you've achieved such results and even managed to connect with the Kitayama family. Quite impressive."
"Really? I'd say with Mother's assistance, if I couldn't produce some achievements, I'd be failing both Yotsuba and the Shiba name."
Miori stated this as if it were the most natural thing.
That Maya would provide assistance to Miori's Shiba Heavy Industries wasn't particularly surprising. Even if Yotsuba only had Yotsuba Technology under its control, that was enough to help Shiba Heavy Industries overcome its initial difficulties.
What concerned him more was—
"Wait, what did you say? What Mother? Who are you calling Mother?"
"Why, Maya-sama, of course. She's already accepted me. Aren't you surprised, Mahiro-dear?"
This wasn't a surprise—it was a shock!
What had that woman Maya been doing during these months he was away?
Had she already acknowledged a daughter-in-law?
Not that it wasn't something to be happy about, but wouldn't this approach cause problems?!!!
Never mind.
He'd deal with it when actual trouble arose.
Mahiro simply gave up thinking about it and changed the subject:
"Actually, I have an interesting project in hand. Would you like to take it on?"
"Ara, Mahiro-dear, how formal of you. When everything I have belongs to you."
Perhaps he understood why Maya had accepted Miori.
To some extent, Miori and Maya were quite similar—for instance, in their outstanding acting skills, or that bewitching beauty that naturally attracted the opposite sex.
"If you say so, then I won't hold back."
After bidding farewell to the head of the Kitayama family, Mahiro left, taking Miyuki and Minami with him.
He had originally wanted to connect with Mayumi too, but unfortunately she was quite busy and couldn't spare any time.
Ah, what a pity.
"Sigh, I thought it would be just the two of us," Miori murmured with a melancholic sigh.
"Oh my, that's truly regrettable, Miss Shiba. But Miyuki won't let you monopolize Mahiro-nii-san all by yourself."
Miyuki smiled elegantly.
Minami was also watching Miori warily, as if facing a dangerous person, remaining highly vigilant.
Although the family head had acknowledged this woman, the family head had once told her that the only people who needed to be prioritized in her heart were Mahiro-sama and Miyuki-sama.
When necessary, even the family head could be disregarded.
Under Miori's guidance, they left the Kitayama residence and arrived at a remote suburban area far from Tokyo's urban district—a place that required two hours by car just to reach.
By the time they got out of the car, it was already late at night.
"Miyuki, why don't you stay in the car and rest for a while? I'll be back soon."
"No, Mahiro-nii-san, I'd rather go with you. Actually, Miyuki is also quite interested in those things you brought out." Miyuki said softly.
Just seeing her struggling to stay awake while fighting drowsiness made Mahiro both amused and exasperated.
This wasn't genuine interest in those items—it was simply her fear that something unpredictable might happen if Miori were alone with him.
After all, if Miyuki were to take a nap in the car, Minami would have to stay behind too.
"If Miyuki-sama doesn't mind, our company also has rest rooms equipped with beds where you could rest for a while."
"That won't be necessary, thank you for your kindness, Miss Shiba."
Miori could be said to have rarely lowered her status and attitude like this, trying to please her cousin Miyuki, but unfortunately Miyuki wasn't having any of it.
Thus Miori had no choice but to give up.
"Very well then, please follow me everyone. This is Shiba Heavy Industries' headquarters."
Beep—
The door automatically opened in response, and electronic welcome messages echoed through the spacious hall.
Although Shiba Heavy Industries was a new enterprise that rapidly developed by relying on Four Leaves Technology, in less than half a year, it had already developed its own unique industrial chain.
First was their cooperation with the military.
Unlike Four Leaves Technology, Shiba Heavy Industries didn't pursue cutting-edge technological projects in military cooperation since they lacked abnormal R&D personnel like Tatsuya and Chief Ushiyama, so they followed conventional weapon routes.
For example, high-speed bullets—specialized anti-magician armaments using raw materials produced from the Black Bullet world's special metal—Varanium.
As material for high-speed bullets, Varanium could demonstrate excellent performance.
Moreover, after Arcadia's alloy walls were dismantled, there remained plenty of leftover materials, which could be considered waste utilization.
"Beyond that, in retail we target exclusively high-end markets, focusing not on mass production but specialized custom designs, like Maximilien's rapid-fire model, Rosser's F-type, FLT's developed Sagittarius series and Gin-style series."
Completely incomprehensible.
Throughout the journey, Miori had been explaining the company's operations to him.
Even though he had lived in this world for over ten years, he understood far less about these matters than Shiba Miori did.
"What the hell is CAD customization? I have no idea at all.
Actually, it's quite similar to his Nightmare—custom-made CADs tailored for individuals.
Miyuki knew a bit about this field, since her CAD had always been the technological culmination of FLT's products, but in terms of sensory experience, it wasn't much different from Mahiro's.
She found the explanations confusing and hard to follow.
Perhaps Tatsuya would have been very interested in these things if he were here.
Nevertheless, this didn't dampen Miyuki's good mood—she felt so cheerful she almost wanted to hum.
"Alright, this is the room I selected according to your requirements. How about the size?"
With these words, Miori opened the metal door before them and led them into the room.
This was the underground research and development department of Shiba Heavy Industries—a vast, hangar-like space with high ceilings.
On the opposite side of this space was an observation room identical to this one.
This was the area for CAD testing.
Even late at night, over ten technicians and researchers could be seen busily moving about, discussing, or operating measuring instruments inside.
Mahiro estimated the height from the ceiling to the floor to be about two hundred meters.
"It's acceptable, should be big enough."
After speaking, he stepped forward and, after evacuating the technicians working in the testing area, waved his hand grandly.
Rumble—
A powerful tremor suddenly struck, as if it would overturn the floor and collapse the building.
Despite the testing area's floor being made of pure metal, reinforced with dozens of millimeters of warship-grade steel plates, it now showed slight downward depressions.
Everyone who saw the colossal object before them displayed expressions that could only be described as spectacular.
"...EX?"
"No, this is a Gundam, right?... Mahiro-kun, where did you get this from?"
Miori's cherry lips parted slightly, and it took her a long time to squeeze out these words.
No wonder he had asked her to find a room with towering ceilings.
Even in this tallest room, the mecha-like entity before them was almost touching the ceiling!
Its height was nearly comparable to that of a Stage Five Gastrea!
"I brought it back from a previous world. This thing is called National Defense Machine God: Shikoutazer, the original and strongest Teigu. I want to ask you to modify it. Don't worry about funding and materials—I can cover all the costs."
"My, oh my, Mahiro-kun, you're being too formal. We're family, after all."
Miori recovered from her shock, closed her folding fan, tucked it into her chest, then hugged his arm and leaned in close.
She was telling the truth.
Actually, after coming to this world, she could have followed Kisara's example and taken a teaching position at Arcadia to live comfortably, or helped Seitenshi manage that territory.
The reason she returned to her old profession wasn't because she enjoyed it, but because she wanted to help Mahiro and make herself more valuable.
After all, she didn't possess Kisara's exceptional sword skills, nor did she have Seitenshi's leadership qualities.
However, her excessive behavior naturally displeased Miyuki, but this time Miyuki didn't say anything, instead asking softly:
"Mahiro-niisan, this giant mech must be quite powerful, right? What modifications do you still want to make to it?"
"It is indeed powerful."
Mahiro agreed with this assessment.
"However, this thing is ultimately just a glass cannon—very weak in terms of defense. So I want to reinforce it, preferably modifying it into something like a CAD by adding some magic activation sequences."
"As for firepower, I think that could be enhanced too. For example, Lina's 'Heavy Metal Burst' could be launched using a charged particle cannon method, or something called 'Brionac'—an anode ion cannon. I've heard this technique is also referred to as 'Baryon Lance'."
"Regarding these magic activation sequences, I can provide all of them. If we use them for company products, we could probably make a decent profit."
Mahiro listed various techniques while mentally constructing the image of the national defense mech shedding its cumbersome form and being reborn anew.
Most of these were derived from magic that Lina had mastered, to the point where one might mistakenly think he wanted to create a mech version of Lina.
Or perhaps just fuse Lina into it directly.
Fortunately, no one asked such a question, because given Mahiro's personality, he might actually consider it a good idea.
After finishing these matters, Mahiro left Shiba Heavy Industries under Miori's gaze and drove away.
Minami was responsible for driving, while he and Miyuki sat in the back seat. Perhaps due to extreme fatigue, Miyuki gently rested her head on his shoulder, gradually producing steady breathing sounds.
He instinctively glanced down at the time and realized it was already 1 AM.
No wonder Miyuki couldn't stay awake—attending a banquet and then coming with him to Shiba Heavy Industries must have exhausted her.
So he took off his jacket and carefully draped it over Miyuki's shoulders, then instructed Minami to turn on the heater to prevent her from catching a cold.
But when he saw Miyuki's peaceful and delicate sleeping face, his thoughts gradually drifted away.
He not only recalled Miyuki, but also Shiba Tatsurou and Sayuri Shiba who had represented FLT today.
He wondered what Maya was thinking—she should have kept the Yotsuba industries in her own hands, yet she allowed Tatsurou to take them, even letting him marry his mistress Sayuri.
It could be said that aside from the relationship with Tatsuya and Miyuki, Shiba Tatsurou now had essentially no connection to the Yotsuba family.
Remarried.
And he remembered that Miya seemed to have passed away in 2094. In that same year, not long after Miya's death, Tatsurou married his lover Sayuri.
This led to Miyuki harboring particular hatred toward her father Tatsurou.
Consequently, over the years, even during holidays, Miyuki and Tatsuya never extended greetings to this father.
They basically lived their separate lives.
Only occasionally, when work required it, Sayuri, their stepmother, would actively seek out Tatsuya, but that was all.
If only Miya were still alive—who knows what she would think...
Wait!
Mahiro suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if he had thought of something.
It seemed... it might be possible.
Perhaps he could resurrect Miya and watch a good show unfold.
After all, he held no fondness for Tatsurou either. To dare use the Yotsuba family as a stepping stone—no other man would be so bold.
However, resurrecting the deceased was a severe violation of human ethics.
Although Miya had suffered from dual physical and mental exhaustion due to overusing magic, and even information body tracing couldn't cure such exhaustion, this limitation only applied to the "Regrowth" magic.
He could revert everything about Miya and then intervene with external means.
For example, enhancers could not only restore physical vitality but also rejuvenate mental energy.
It could work!
The thought excited him, making him tremble uncontrollably like a mad scientist who had stumbled upon a brilliant idea. His breathing grew heavier.
After all, if this succeeded, it would mean his domain could completely transcend human boundaries and step into divine authority.
His unusual behavior even caught Miyuki's attention.
"...Mahiro-nii...? What's wrong?"
Miyuki woke from her sleep, rubbing her drowsy eyes as she looked up at him with a hazy gaze.
"Nothing, I just thought of something interesting. Sleep well, we still have some time before we get home."
"Okay..."
Miyuki nodded and leaned against his shoulder to sleep again.
This time, however, he gently shifted her body to let her rest on his lap.
Habitually stroking her smooth black hair, he gazed at her fair, delicate face and couldn't help but murmur:
"Say, Miyuki, if you could see your mother again, what would you say to her?"
"...Mahiro-nii's question is strange."
Miyuki mumbled with her eyes closed, "Mother has been gone for many years, but if I could really see her again, I suppose I'd express how much I miss her?"
Although her mother had been strict with her, she truly missed her.
"I think there might be a chance."
Mahiro responded softly, but Miyuki, already half-asleep, didn't take it seriously, dismissing it as comforting words.
...
The next day.
The usual school routine continued as always.
If there was any difference from before, it was likely Honoka's change.
Due to seat adjustments in the second year, Honoka became the student sitting behind him, while Shizuku sat in front.
So, whenever he dozed off or nearly fell asleep during class, Honoka, sitting behind him, would gently poke him awake with her finger.
Honoka, who always looked at him as if he were something adorable, would silently give him a kind smile that seemed to say, "Wake up, no sleeping in class."
To be honest, it was unbearably cute.
Naturally, Honoka's change didn't go unnoticed by the other girls in class.
During breaks, many asked her what had happened to cause such a sudden transformation.
However, the questioned Honoka remained shyly silent, unwilling to speak.
Of course, some had transformed into amateur detectives making bold guesses—Honoka must have fallen in love, which explained such a dramatic change.
"Really?! Have you really fallen in love already? That's so nice, I'm so jealous..."
"Hey hey, Miss Mitsui, who is it? Who managed to win Miss Mitsui's heart? Tell us~ Could it be Yotsuba-kun?"
"Wow, so lucky~~~"
Surrounded by everyone's questions, Honoka nearly buried her face in her chest!