ITK C163: Wonder Drug Guardian

And so, this is how the angel Horkosfon joined our farm.

“…What should I make her do?”

As in, what work to give her.

Work is indispensable to anyone, regardless of their race. Therefore, Horkosfon must also do some kind of work on our farm.

“Master, I await your orders to send me on a sortie.”
“No, no, no!”

No sorties!
Didn’t we pledge before Hades that you would no longer fight or destroy?

“You’re devoting yourself to peaceful work from now on, okay?”
“If so, what am I supposed to do?”

You’re right.
I’ll let her do a few easy tasks and assess her aptitude.
Not that I know what her strong points are, though.

“Oh yeah, don’t you have wings, Horkosfon?”

On her back.
Well, since she’s an angel, I guess I shouldn’t even be asking her that.

“Can you fly?”

Never mind, she already did the first time we encountered her.

“Affirmative. The high-speed flight unit ‘Wings of Icarus’ installed in me uses a hybrid output of photon energy and mana to enable a flight speed of about six times faster than the speed of sound. In doing so, the mana field shuts out air resistance and reduces speed loss to less than one percent.”
“…Oh, I get it!”

Not really. I didn’t.
I could see Sakamoto, the dragon-horse glaring at her from afar, looking extremely jealous.

…I hope he doesn’t let rivalry get the best of him and challenge her to a race later.

That aside, Sakamoto has been very useful to me, carrying me in and out of the farm around the clock at high speeds.

And his genetic parent is just as competitive…

“An angel, huh! Quite bold of you to claim that you can destroy the world! Let’s see how that power of yours rivals mine as a dragon, the strongest race!” says Veil as she proposes a challenge in her dragon form.

Geez, she’s always quick to pick a fight.
I literally just promised Hades I would never let Horkosfon do any fighting.
Well, I guess I can pass it off as a practice match. The rest of us watched the battle between Veil vs. Horkosfon, a.k.a. Dragon vs. Angel.

The result was a draw.

“Wheeze, wheeze… Are you for real? I don’t think there’s anyone else other than Master and that pseudo-corpse who can jostle me like that!”
“Because of the hands-on training you gave me, I was able to get a more detailed understanding of my functions. And for that, I thank you,” says Horkosfon with her usual nonchalant air.

“Two main armament High-Mana Plasma cannons’ operating efficiency at 92%. Six sub-armament Mana-Material Vulcan cannons’ operating efficiency at 82%. Close combat Mana-Beam Saber’s continuous use is for 457 seconds with a load factor of 2%. Estimates show that it can be used continuously for another 756, 200 seconds. I have confirmed that my performance prior to my long-term sleep mode has been retained.”
“…Uh-huh!”

I still don’t get what she’s talking about.

Still, a new world-class calamity rivaling the Dragon and the Lifeless King has been identified.
They shall be called The World’s Three Greatest Calamities from now on.

“Hmm, but…”

What I figured out from all of this is that Horkosfon is not to be looked down on in battle.

Can we really give her a job outside that field?
As I get more and more anxious, Horkosfon makes a suggestion.

“Master, there is something I would like to confirm.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s about the wonder drug that brought me back from my malfunctional state.”

A wonder drug?
Did we have such a thing?

“I was in no condition to move properly using my defunct parts right after I was reactivated. Had my state continued to deteriorate from there, I would have stopped functioning.”

And what made her recover from that was…

“It’s all because of the wonder drug Master had given me.”
“But I don’t remember doing that at all…”

Huh?
Wait a minute.

Come to think of it, I think there was a trigger for Horkosfon to recover from her weakened state fully…
If I remember correctly, Gobukichi stepped up and offered some food to reenergize her…

“Are you talking about natto?”

We did make Horkosfon eat natto!
That’s how she became completely healthy in an instant!

“Yes, that nuttoh you speak of is a powerful drug. It has eliminated all the impurities that had accumulated inside my fuselage, revitalized my deteriorating cells, and restored my mana.”

Seriously?
Natto has that much power?!

“It seems to have raised the mana circulation efficiency of all my armaments, improved my basic performance, and also deleted the bad commands nestled in my storage, giving me true freedom. It even made my skin glow.”

Huh?!
Natto is practically a panacea now!

“Nuttoh is the most valuable wonder drug in the world. It needs a guardian. Can you please entrust me with this important role?”

Like the dragon guarding the golden apple?
Natto is produced and consumed on a daily basis, so I don’t think it’s worth protecting…

“How about you try making natto yourself, Horkosfon?”
“Are you sure?!” she says with great vigor towards me.

This is the first time I’ve seen her so excited.

“…H-However, I am afraid to do so. After all, I am a being created to fight and kill. I’m sure I’ll be of no use to you in making the life-saving wonder drug…”
“Don’t say that. It’s actually quite easy to make natto. It’s one of the easiest fermented foods to make, and anyone can make it-”
“DON’T UNDERESTIMATE NUTTOH!!!”
“Yipes!”

Angel?!
Why do you get so fired up when natto is involved?!

“…I apologize. That was shameful of me.”

Yeah, please keep calm, okay?

“Understood. This is the new role I must play in this world. I, Horkosfon, will be the guardian angel of the supreme wonder drug, nuttoh, and will undertake its production alone!”
“Y-Yeah! We’re counting on you!”

And so, we entrust the production of natto to the angel Horkosfon.

A bioweapon that only knew how to fight now experiencing the joy of creating things is a blessing.
I feel like the natto we’ll be eating every morning will taste better and better from now on.

“Huh? I don’t eat it every morning. It makes my mouth stink.”
“I’d rather eat something sweeter and more refreshing.”

Platy, Veil, I’m trying to end things on a good note here, so don’t just butt in.

---

As a bit of extra, though, Horkosfon quickly managed to learn the basic know-how of making natto and can now do everything on her own.
Her natto does not have any special boosts or effects when eaten but is still good on its own.

“It’s a failure! What and where did it go wrong?!”
“No, I’d say you succeeded.”

Maybe the elixir I made, natto, was influenced by the Hand of Supremacy.
It’s not good to consume something overly artificial daily, either, so we’ll maintain our health by eating the natto made by Horkosfon instead.

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