From Trash to Villain Master of Card: With Harem of Evil women-Chapter 83: Counterattack of Progress

Aschenfall — Two Days After the Victory Against Kalthor

Aurelia hadn’t slept.

Not a single hour since her summoning.

Instead, she had transformed half of the workshop district into... something no one could properly name.

"Laboratory" was insufficient.

"Nightmare factory" was closer.

Kaito stood at the entrance, watching with a fascination that before would have concerned him.

Now he simply... appreciated the efficiency.

Inside: dozens of devices in various stages of construction.

Aurelia moving among them like a frenzied bee, welding, fusing, calculating.

Constantly talking to herself.

"No, no, no! The angle is WRONG! It needs to be 37 degrees, not 35!"

"Because PHYSICS! Optimal ballistic trajectory!"

She adjusted something. Tested it. Exploded in a small burst of flame.

"PERFECT! That combustion level is EXACTLY what we need!"

Kaito entered, avoiding scattered debris and tools.

"Aurelia?"

She spun around, an immediate smile appearing.

"KAITO! You’re awake! Good! I need your opinion!"

She ran to him, dragging him toward the workbench.

"Look at THIS!"

She pointed at a device that looked half-catapult, half... something completely different.

"Repeating projectile launcher! It can fire TEN spheres in THIRTY seconds!"

"Normally it would take three minutes to reload a traditional catapult."

"This is an EFFICIENCY MULTIPLIER!"

Kaito studied the design.

And understood.

A system of pulleys, multiple counterweights, gravity-fed loading.

His new way of thinking processed the mechanics instantly.

"The stress on the pivot point will be high. Did you compensate?"

Aurelia looked at him with bright eyes.

"YES! See! I knew the cognitive link would work!"

"I reinforced it with an iron-carbon alloy. The Synergist allows perfect fusion!"

"It’ll withstand a thousand shots before structural fatigue."

Kaito nodded.

"Then it will work."

"EXACTLY!"

Aurelia continued.

"And that’s just ONE of my projects!"

She gestured around the workshop.

"Ten of those launchers! Twenty flammable oil bombs! Thirty smoke grenades!"

"And MY MASTERPIECE!"

She dragged Kaito toward a corner covered with a tarp.

She dramatically pulled it away.

Revealing... something massive.

Three meters long, a metal tube mounted on a rotating base, with a complex mechanism at the rear.

"Primitive cannon! Well, ADVANCED for this world!"

"It uses gunpowder I synthesized! Fires an iron projectile at a speed that will DESTROY any formation!"

Kaito studied it.

Part of him—the part left from his original humanity—knew he should be horrified.

This was a weapon of war. Destructive. Dangerous.

But the new part—the part that thought in equations—only saw:

An elegant solution to a tactical problem.

"Did you test it?"

"Yes! Three times! It works PERFECTLY!"

"Well, it exploded the first time. But the second and third were GREAT!"

Aurelia clapped her hands together.

"With all of this, Avernor doesn’t stand a CHANCE!"

"Fifteen hundred soldiers versus APPLIED SCIENCE!"

"I know who wins!"

---

War Room — Hours Later

Adelheid had called a war council.

All queens present: Drake, Bram, the captains.

And Aurelia — bouncing in a chair with boundless energy.

Adelheid unfolded the updated map.

"Avernor is three days away. Fifteen hundred soldiers confirmed."

"After the losses against Meridia and Kalthor, we have four hundred effective troops."

She paused.

"Nearly four to one. The worst odds yet."

Naporia spoke.

"But we have Aurelia now. And her... things."

She gestured vaguely toward the workshop.

"Does that change the equation?"

Aurelia jumped up.

"OH YES! Completely!"

She approached the map, pointing.

"Look! Avernor will come from the south! Via the Royal Road!"

"The Royal Road has a choke point HERE!"

She pointed to a narrow pass between two hills.

"Perfect for an ambush! I position my launchers HERE and HERE!"

"Constant bombardment! Psychological chaos! Their formation breaks!"

"Then the cannon from an elevated position! One shot destroys twenty soldiers!"

"Repeat ten times! Two hundred dead before close combat even begins!"

She traced more lines.

"Then chemical smoke! Confusion! Our troops attack from the flanks!"

"And if they STILL press forward... I have a final surprise!"

She smiled maniacally.

"But that’s a SECRET! For dramatic impact!"

Adelheid studied the plan.

It was... chaotic. Unorthodox. Dependent on unproven technology in large-scale combat.

But also...

"It could work. Probability improves to sixty percent."

She looked at Aurelia.

"Will you be on the battlefield? Operating the devices?"

"Of course! They’re MY creations! No one else knows how to operate them correctly!"

"Then you’re a priority target. Avernor will try to kill you first."

Aurelia shrugged.

"Let them try! I have COUNTERMEASURES!"

She pulled something from her pocket—a small sphere.

"Personal smoke bomb! And a dagger that vibrates at a frequency that breaks steel!"

"And boots that make me run FASTER!"

"I’ll be FINE!"

Naporia looked at Adelheid.

"We’re really going to base our strategy on the devices of a three-day-old crazy scientist?"

Aurelia protested.

"HEY! ’Crazy scientist’ is a DEROGATORY term!"

"I prefer ’Non-Conventional Innovator.’"

Lilith interjected.

"It worked against Kalthor. And we need every possible force multiplier."

She looked at Kaito.

"Commander? Your assessment?"

Kaito had been silent, processing.

With his new way of thinking, he evaluated every variable.

Device failure risk: 30%.

Benefit if they work: destruction of 40% of enemy forces before contact.

Troop morale: boosted by the previous victory using Aurelia’s technology.

Alternatives: conventional defense with a 15% probability.

The math favors Aurelia’s plan.

"We proceed with Aurelia’s plan."

He looked at Adelheid.

"But with a backup. Adelheid, prepare a contingency strategy if the devices fail."

"Already done."

Kaito nodded.

"Then we begin preparations. Three days until Avernor arrives."

"Three days to change the equation in our favor."

---

Southern Battlefield — Day One of Preparations

Aurelia directed the construction of the fortifications with manic enthusiasm.

"No, no, no! That launcher needs to be THREE meters higher!"

"Elevation advantage! Basic PHYSICS!"

The soldiers — confused but obedient — moved the platform.

Aurelia checked with a strange device.

"Perfect! Now angle it at 42 degrees!"

Valeria was helping with the heavy lifting.

Lifting beams that would normally require five men.

"Aurelia. Technical question."

"Go ahead!"

"Why does the vibrational frequency in the dagger break steel?"

Aurelia lit up.

"OH! An EXCELLENT question!"

"Harmonic resonance! Every material has a specific frequency that causes structural rupture!"

"Steel is approximately 2,300 Hertz! My dagger vibrates at exactly that!"

"The molecules misalign! The structure collapses!"

Valeria processed that.

"Fascinating. Could it be applied to other materials?"

"ABSOLUTELY! Stone! Wood! Bone!"

"Each has a different frequency!"

The two continued discussing applied physics with shared enthusiasm.

Adelheid watched from a distance with Lilith.

"Valeria found... a friend. Of sorts."

Lilith nodded.

"They both think mechanically. It makes sense."

She paused.

"Are you worried about Aurelia?"

"Always. She’s unpredictable."

"But effective."

"That too."

Adelheid looked toward where Kaito was supervising the cannon’s construction.

"And Kaito... is changing. More every day."

"I notice it too."

Lilith touched Adelheid’s arm.

"Last night. When you were with him. Was it... different?"

Adelheid closed her eyes briefly.

"Yes. Technically present. Functionally loving."

"But something is... missing. Passion. Urgency."

"As if a part of him were... switched off."

She opened her eyes.

"I still love him. And he loves me, I think. But..."

"But he’s not the same Kaito you summoned months ago."

"No."

Silence between them.

Then Lilith spoke softly.

"Is it worth it? The cost?"

Adelheid looked at the battlefield being prepared.

Impossible devices being built, soldiers with renewed hope.

A kingdom that might have a chance to survive.

"Ask me after the battle. When I know if we win."

"And if we lose..."

"...then it definitely wasn’t worth it."

---

Night — Aurelia in the Workshop

Naporia found Aurelia working alone.

Still. At midnight.

"You never sleep?"

Aurelia looked up from her device.

"Sleep is INEFFICIENT! I lose EIGHT HOURS of productivity!"

"Sleep is also necessary for not dying."

"Details! I can sleep when I’m DEAD!"

Naporia sat on a nearby bench.

"Aurelia. Direct question."

"Go ahead! I LOVE direct questions!"

"What happened to Kaito? When you were summoned."

Aurelia stopped working.

Her expression — for the first time — was serious.

"It took his ability to feel emotions with full intensity."

"Specifically... emotional attachment, the visceral connection to outcomes."

Naporia frowned.

"I don’t understand."

Aurelia searched for the words.

"Before, when a soldier died, Kaito felt PAIN. Deep. Personal."

"Now... he feels it’s a tactical loss, a negative statistic."

"He still CARES. But as... an intellectual problem, not an emotional agony."

"And with us, the queens?"

"He still feels affection. Loyalty. Even love."

"But it’s... calmer. Less passionate."

Aurelia touched her own chest.

"Like a flame that turned to embers. Still warm, just less bright."

Naporia processed that.

"Can it be reversed?"

"I don’t know. Summonings are usually permanent."

"But maybe... with time... he adapts. Finds a new way to feel."

She paused.

"Or maybe not. I have no data on fifth summoning followed by potential recovery."

Naporia stood.

"He did this for us. To save us."

"Yes."

"Then we need to make sure it’s worth it. Win this battle."

"EXACTLY! That’s why I work non-stop!"

Aurelia returned to her device.

"Because if we lose after what he sacrificed..."

"...it would be unforgivable."

Naporia nodded.

"Unforgivable."

She left, leaving Aurelia working.

With a new understanding of what was at stake.

---

Day Three — Dawn, Avernor Sighted

Fifteen hundred Avernor soldiers marched along the Royal Road.

Perfect formation, armor gleaming, banners waving.

The commander — a veteran general named Marcus the Iron — watched from his horse.

"Neudämmerung ahead. Three kilometers."

His second-in-command nodded.

"Orders, General?"

"Standard formation. Infantry in front. Archers behind. Cavalry on the flanks."

"We crush them with superior numbers."

He smiled.

"I heard they have a new summoned one. A builder of devices."

"Devices fail. Steel does not."

They continued marching.

Toward the choke point between the hills.

Toward the perfect ambush.

Toward an encounter with a science they didn’t understand.

And, unknown to them...

Aurelia watched from a hill.

With a smile that mixed anticipation and something slightly manic.

"They’re coming. Perfect."

She touched the detonator in her hand.

"Showtime."