Nora's knights were the finest corps in the Code, boasting the best talent money could buy. The source of that strength lay in Nora's research — technology she had developed using the city system's power to create enhanced humans.
That technology required healthy individuals with high athletic ability as its foundation. Nora's area operated on the principle that getting as many citizens as possible above that minimum threshold was paramount.
The key difference between her and her rival Angus Code, who poured resources into weapons research and development, was that Nora's research output was living people.
Nora's area held an abundance of secrets. Facilities that pushed physical function to its limits, meals designed to forge sturdier bodies, supplements. All of it — things citizens of her area took for granted — was the fruit of Nora's research. And that, in turn, meant the secrets behind her enhanced-human technology were dangerously easy to leak.
She didn't believe the technology she had spent years developing could be replicated that easily, but even analyzing meals, supplements, and the citizens who had grown up consuming them could provide a foothold for cracking the code of enhanced humans.
Counter-intelligence had always been a top priority. The recently expanded corps of enhanced knights made it possible. The bulk of the mercenaries who had trickled in from outside were expelled because they were utterly unreliable.
Entry into the area was checked with absolute rigor. Citizens registered in Nora's area received special rations, but outsiders weren't given so much as a drop of water. She manipulated the food distribution system, and if any citizen did hand something over, it was intercepted before it could leave the area. Angus Code was probably doing the same with his weapons, she imagined.
But in the first place, citizens migrating from one area to another was exceedingly rare.
Numbers meant power. Keeping citizen counts from dwindling was only natural for a royal with the greatest battle of all — the succession war — still ahead.
Information suppression was only necessary for now. If Angus took the throne, all of Nora's research成果 would be laid bare with no room to conceal. The reverse held equally true. If Nora became queen, everything Angus had researched would become her strength.
When Klye Andrich suddenly showed up in her area, she had assumed he'd come to make yet another pointless request. When he declared he wanted to go sightseeing, she had been too exhausted to even muster the energy to be angry.
Touring Nora's area was, in principle, absolutely not permitted. The main facilities used by her citizens were locked out at the entrance, and in serious cases, suspected spies would be met with the full force of her knight corps.
She had bent those principles this time to make an alliance easier to establish.
He had been under constant surveillance since entering. It hadn't taken long to determine that Klye was not a spy sent to steal Nora's technology.
Those with espionage on their minds carried a certain look in their eyes — a hidden purpose behind their expression. Klye Andrich had none of that. Besides, as a spare retainer completely outside the succession war, there was no reason for him to spy.
While Zaza and the others guided Klye around the city, Nora had made significant concessions. She had grudgingly crushed the error that occurred when he tried to charge a massive amount of energy into his Treasure Weapon at the charging stand (the energy used drew from the area's own resources), and she had even let him through the entrance to the arena — a place outsiders were normally forbidden to enter. She turned a blind eye as Zaza and the others explained Nora's area to him.
But the man seemed utterly oblivious to every courtesy she had extended. Worse, he had walked right out without even watching the grand match staged at the arena.
Fresh as he was from outside, and scoring a mere four points in the system — to be this oblivious was beyond exasperating. She had no energy left to even be annoyed. It drove home just how excellent the city's evaluation system truly was.
The young retainer knight assigned to monitor Klye frowned and reported: "It appears that man has absolutely no interest in our technology, Lady Nora. Lady Nora herself even changed the match schedule to put on the finest bout possible, and yet—"
"Hmph… It can't be helped. If he has no interest in our technology, that makes him all the easier to use."
For Klye's visit, Nora had arranged a match between the two strongest candidates — the most likely candidates to become the next enhanced knights. She had intended to show off her power by displaying the strength of citizens who honed themselves daily in her area. But if he wasn't interested, there was nothing to be done.
His complete indifference to what she had built was mildly irritating — but still.
It had been a while since she had watched her citizens train.
Even children like Zaza and Rulu were honing themselves in preparation for enhanced-human procedures. That meant the plan Nora had laid out when she built this city was bearing fruit.
Considering the timeline of the succession war, children like Zaza and Rulu would not participate as enhanced knights, but their strength would certainly prove useful after Nora took the throne. Just confirming that with her own eyes — reaffirming that she, not Angus, was the one truly suited to be queen — made watching Klye's movements worthwhile.
Klye had now moved to the residence of Zaza and the others, class-2 citizens. In this city, children of similar ages often gathered and lived together. More rivals meant more motivation to improve.
On the large monitor, Klye was shown surrounded by children with higher overall ratings than himself, wearing a half-hearted smile.
On the monitor, Klye was operating his virtual terminal.
"Lady Nora, that man appears to be submitting a request for class-5 enhanced equipment on behalf of Zaza and the others. As if an outsider would be allowed to requisition your research成果 — and furthermore, Zaza and the others are clearly in violation by having someone on their behalf request equipment beyond their class—"
The retainer knight hastily added the detail about Zaza's violation.
Enhanced equipment was one of Nora's research outcomes — items that, simply by being worn, efficiently trained the body during daily life. Equipping and training with them allowed for efficient ability improvement, but because advanced technology was involved, they were only available to citizens of class 5 and above.
While their use wasn't strictly forbidden, Zaza and the others requesting enhanced equipment violated the rules Nora had set.
The fact that Zaza and the others knew it was a violation and still asked Klye was brazen — but Nora thought for a moment, then spotted Zaza and the others waiting nervously for the items to arrive.
"Let it through. Don't think I'm unaware. I've already been tracking that certain individuals have been having items handed down from higher-class citizens for some time now."
You've done it yourself a few times too, haven't you? Meeting Nora's gaze, the young retainer broke into a cold sweat.
Nothing happened in this area that Nora didn't know about. She wasn't personally monitoring everything at all times, but every item usage was logged in the system, and tracing that trail made it trivially easy to spot the quiet violations running rampant.
She had turned a blind eye because those violations weren't aimed at undermining her — they served a purpose that benefited Nora by helping citizens strive to become enhanced knights.
"Y-Yes. Understood—"
Following her order, the enhanced equipment was immediately sent to Klye.
The children's eyes lit up as they watched Klye's expression — a deflated look from a man who didn't even understand what he'd done. Nora studied Zaza, whose eyes were wide as saucers, and remarked with admiration: "Still, this child Zaza — clever. Good instincts."
From the moment he'd been guiding Klye during the day, the boy had repeatedly worn a puzzled expression. This Zaza sensed something off about the current situation.
The error light going out at the charging stand. The match schedule being changed. In an area where Nora's gaze reached practically everything, such coincidences were impossible.
Intelligence wasn't a prerequisite for receiving the enhanced-human procedure, but to qualify as one of Nora's knights, you needed a reasonable mind.
"Lady Nora, that man — he just tried to put on a piece of equipment and got rejected by the system."
"…Idiot. The enhanced-human technology isn't available to just anyone. A system rating of four — as if he could equip that enhanced gear."
In terms of worth, Zaza — who at least showed promise — was a hundred times more suited to be Nora's retainer than Klye, whose only value lay in being an acquaintance of the "Thunder Emperor." Klye had said he'd come to see something interesting, but his own actions were far more ridiculous.
Klye, looking dejected, glanced around at the children laughing uproariously, then began operating his terminal.
"What!? T-This… a massive order for enhanced equipment just came in. It's practically a declaration that he plans to hand them to someone. This is surely going too far…"
…His every move really did backfire. He simply didn't know the rules, presumably, but with even a moment's thought he should have realized those requests would never be approved.
He had already barged into another royal's area with his boots still on and trampled all over it. Even a privileged retainer would face severe punishment. If he had somehow read into the fact that Nora was trying to win him as an ally and was acting on that — that would be one thing. But it was obvious the man wasn't thinking at all.
"…Make the accommodation."
"You're going to permit this outrage!?"
"It doesn't matter. The succession war will begin soon anyway. Even if this man leaked information about our enhanced-human technology, no one who started researching it now could replicate it. That's why Angus has stopped sending spies as well. What matters more is securing this man's cooperation."
Now was the time to show the magnanimity of a queen — to treat him as an ally. If he were an open enemy, that would be one thing, but for lesser rule-bending, she should turn a blind eye.
Nora narrowed her eyes, looked at the bewildered Zaza, and issued an additional instruction: "Contact this child Zaza. Appoint him as Klye's handler — make sure that man doesn't cause any more problems. Guide Klye's actions so he properly understands my authority! No, wait — I'll contact him myself."
"Wha!? Lady Nora personally contacting a class-2 citizen, and a child at that — n-No. Understood!"
It was unthinkable for a royal like Nora to directly contact a class-2 citizen.
But at this point, rather than sending a retainer to manage Klye's movements, using a child who had already made his acquaintance would be far more natural.
Unnoticed by the still-rattled retainer, Nora licked her lips and promptly sent a message to Zaza.
§ Oh no, this Klye guy is a total VIP… I can't believe Lady Nora is sending me a message directly— Zaza could only stare in blank astonishment at Klye cheerfully distributing the enhanced equipment to his companions — equipment they had only just ordered.
It felt like a nightmare. The message that had arrived on his terminal — the moment he saw the sender's name, Zaza felt like his breath stopped.
A royal contacting a class-2 citizen was something that, under normal circumstances, wouldn't happen even if the world turned upside down.
At first, Zaza had thought he was about to be reprimanded for asking Klye to order the enhanced equipment.
He had asked Klye knowing full well it was an imposition. The other companions hadn't realized it, but even though he was a noble, the chances of Klye — a retainer to another royal — successfully requisitioning items that were part of Princess Nora's research were essentially zero. The fact that it had gone through meant something was wrong from the start.
And then Klye had gone and placed orders for every single companion of Zaza's without even being asked — even if Klye had been a noble directly under Princess Nora, those requests would absolutely not have been approved. If that kind of thing were allowed, everyone living in Princess Nora's area would start asking higher-class citizens to place orders for them, potentially leading to leaks of the technology.
But Princess Nora's message was not a reprimand for what had happened. Quite the opposite.
"Show him around the area. Demonstrate the power of the Nora Code. That man is an important figure — do everything in your power to maintain good relations. I will not be stingy with my cooperation either. Should everything go well, I promise you a rank increase."
That Princess Nora, who had openly declared opposition to Prince Angus — a man who had built a massive faction within this Code — would insist on not souring relations… just who exactly was this Klye?
His overall rating aside, based on his behavior so far, he didn't seem remotely like an important figure — but…
Up until just now, Zaza had been casually calling out to him, but after receiving Princess Nora's message, he didn't know how to address the man anymore.
Oblivious to Zaza's inner turmoil from the sudden royal contact, Klye looked over at him and said: "What else… supplements, right? How many do you want? Supplements — do you take them every day?"
"N-No, that's—"
Supplements that boosted physical ability just by consuming them were among the most important items in Princess Nora's research. The class requirement to request them was 6, meaning they were effectively inaccessible unless you joined the knight corps.
Zaza hadn't even asked for them! He had said there was no point because they weren't a noble!
Princess Nora was certainly still watching. She would know that Zaza had asked for items only available at high classes.
He had been told to keep relations from souring, but Zaza would rather avoid doing anything further to worsen Princess Nora's opinion of him.
But before Zaza could stop him, Klye had already found the relevant menu.
"Let's see — strength enhancer, stamina enhancer… this one? Wow, there are so many types… I guess I'll just get them all. That should do it."
"?! Big brother, all of them—"
"Confirmed."
Those clearly thoughtless words sent Rulu and the other companions — who had been excitedly examining their coveted new equipment — into a fresh uproar.
Zaza had half-suspected it when Klye had ordered all those enhanced equipment pieces without hesitation, but surely this man didn't think he could get unlimited items in this city?
Even in a Code, you couldn't create something from nothing. Everything in this city was produced using finite resources. Daily goods and food were one thing, but special items consumed that much more in resources to produce. Even if you had the right to them, wasteful use could result in punishment.
And supplements were unmistakably one of those special items. After all, only nobles were permitted to request them.
That wasn't what I meant, Lady Nora! Please stop him!
Zaza's desperate silent prayer went unanswered. The floor in front of Klye split open. Rulu and the others scrambled away from him.
The size of the box that emerged hit Zaza like a blow to the head. It was big enough to fit five of his companions inside.
Zaza had never actually seen the physical-enhancement supplements, but they shouldn't be this large. So why had this box appeared?
"Klye, how — how many did you order!?"
"Hmm…? Every type listed, one for each person."
Every type… for each person?
Unfortunately, Zaza didn't know how many kinds of supplements existed. As a class-2 citizen, he wasn't even allowed to know.
He had heard rumors that different supplements targeted different areas of enhancement, and apparently those rumors were true.
Every type? This man had ordered every single type without even asking what Zaza and the others needed — just like that?
Even the knight corps members probably didn't use this many supplements.
Suddenly, a virtual terminal materialized before his eyes, displaying a message from Princess Nora. It contained a single line: "Obey my command absolutely."
The intimidation radiating from that one line was palpable. As Zaza trembled, Klye pulled a bottle from the box.
He studied the bottle — one of the great Princess Nora's research results — and then, unmistakably frowning, looked at Zaza and said something outrageous: "Zaza, this is, well… it looks like poison. My Treasure Weapon for danger detection is reacting. Nora made this? I'm going to have to file a complaint later…"
"That's because you're too weak, I told him! Tell him, my enhancers require a certain level of physical function to withstand! Tell him, how dare he treat my research成果 like that!"
What exactly did she expect Zaza to do? And furthermore, hadn't she told him to keep relations good…?
Rulu and the others gingerly inspected the supplements that had just been delivered.
These supplements and equipment would undoubtedly be a tremendous help to Zaza and the others in their path to knighthood. Princess Nora was known for her strict personality — normally, even the children of nobles wouldn't be allowed to use such items freely.
Perhaps they could become knights at the youngest age ever. No — forget that. Just fulfilling Princess Nora's direct order should put them in her good graces.
Zaza clenched his fists tightly and steeled himself.
Thinking of how to please both Princess Nora and Klye, he spoke up in a loud voice: "O-Oh right, Klye! How about — tomorrow, we go see Princess Nora's research lab? You might get to meet the enhanced knights in her corps—"
"?! What? There's no way you can get into Lady Nora's research lab. What are you talking about?"
Rulu blurted out in shock at Zaza's words. And rightly so. Unlike the arena, which was at least open to the general public, Princess Nora's research lab was the most closely guarded secret of all — off-limits not only to outsiders but even to citizens who had spent their entire lives in Princess Nora's area. That was why the research lab hadn't been included in today's tour route.
But Klye was someone who received extraordinary special treatment.
Cautiously checking the virtual terminal (which, incidentally, he normally wouldn't have been able to call up at all), Zaza found that the reply from Princess Nora was indeed: "Permission granted."
This was an accidental stroke of luck. There wasn't a single citizen in this area who wasn't interested in Princess Nora's research. The thought that they might get to meet the enhanced knights they admired — that was a fortune the Zaza of just yesterday could never have dreamed of.
Surely, once Klye saw Princess Nora's research with his own eyes, even this seemingly carefree man would be impressed. That would improve his standing, and a class increase would follow. Zaza and the others could tour the lab too — a perfect two-for-one deal.
When Klye heard this impossibly wonderful proposal from Zaza, he blinked and said simply: "Nah, I'm not interested in the lab. What I really want to do tomorrow is visit a different area. Can you guide me there, Zaza?"