Greed?

Kalyptos raised his hand and slowly tried to pluck away the overgrown vines climbing up his station one by one. He had already determined his primary task for the day.

"Ensure the station is viable before receiving further orders."

Therefore, using his massive metallic hands, he carefully pulled away the plants blanketing the station.

However, he soon discovered something else besides the fact that this building was incredibly old...

"Attack marks detected..."

On the outer walls, he could see dents, cracks, and chips left behind by attacks on the station. Furthermore, by scanning the existing materials, he determined that this structure was hundreds of years old.

"Have I been sleeping for hundreds of years...?"

He calculated the age of the building and the timestamp of when he was last active. Then, estimating a normal human's lifespan based on that data, Kalyptos's hand suddenly stopped.

"The Commander and the Princess... are they all already dead?"

Kalyptos processed the scenario that he might be the only one left from the era of the 1,000-year war.

Not wanting to dwell on that calculation for now, he focused on clearing the station of all the overgrowth to make it functional again.

"Everything is cleared..."

After a while, with the sun now directly overhead, Kalyptos looked at all the plants he had uprooted and the rather fragile condition of the station's exterior.

"Time to clean the interior."

His station had large doors for units like him to enter, resembling a hangar. When Kalyptos gently pressed the small button used to open it something the human officers usually did it didn't move.

"Depleted energy detected in the station..."

Kalyptos decided to force the station doors open with both of his hands. The metal bent easily, likely due to its extreme age. A loud creaking sound echoed until the doors finally snapped off their hinges.

Boom.

As the doors fell, thick dust from inside the station flew everywhere. Kalyptos stepped inside, and sure enough, the place was completely dark without an active energy source.

"Human remains detected..."

Scattered on the floor, Kalyptos saw old human clothes, and piled on top of some of them was a fine white dust.

He slowly knelt down and lifted the remains close to his optical sensors. He clearly recognized it as the uniform of a mechanic named Erba. After gently placing it back down, Kalyptos just stood there in silence.

Raising his hand, he gave a crisp salute, just like Commander Adalhard used to do.

"..."

After scanning the interior and finding nothing useful or functional only piles of ash Kalyptos gathered all the clothes and whatever remained of the humans in this station into his right hand.

With his left hand, he scooped out a hole in the earth beside the station, gently placed everything inside, and covered it back up with dirt.

.

..

…

"Commander Adalhard... it seems I truly am alone here."

Sitting back down and staring out at the sea of white snow, Kalyptos thought about what he should do next.

As he pondered this, he heard a squeal. A small deer ran toward him and quickly hid behind his massive frame. Shortly after, he saw a non-human creature emerge from the trees it was green, mostly naked save for some crude furs, and carrying an ancient weapon that he assumed was a club.

"Did you come here to become a resident of this station?"

"Ruargh!!!"

The green creature didn't seem to understand him at all and stayed entirely focused on chasing the little deer. Kalyptos tried to physically block the creature, which promptly smashed its club against his metallic hand.

"You are not allowed to target Resident 8."

After trying to peacefully block it multiple times to no avail, Kalyptos made his judgment.

"Threat Level 1. Engaging suppression."

Bringing his hand closer, Kalyptos decided to simply flick his finger which was roughly the size of the creature's entire head. The result was...

Splash!

"Threat eliminated. Returning to normal mode..."

Kalyptos hadn't expected the creature to instantly explode into liquid. He had merely intended to knock it back into a tree.

"Green creatures are incredibly fragile..."

***

[Count Fiero's POV]

"So, what have you found out about this giant, scholar?"

"Well, my lord, according to what is written in this old book from several hundred years ago, giant monsters exactly like it used to roam this world..."

"There's no need to explain everything. Get straight to the point."

Inside his self-made throne room a cheap imitation of the grand throne he had visited in the capital Fiero looked down his nose at the scholar in front of him.

"As stated in this book, that monster is actually a weapon used in an ancient war. And it says that they strictly follow human commands."

As if hearing the song of a goddess in his ears, Fiero stood up and approached the old scholar, who shrank back in sheer terror.

"Is what you're saying true? About them following human commands?"

"It is absolutely true, my lord! The book says so."

Grabbing the old book, Fiero tried to read it himself, but he couldn't understand the ancient text at all. He shoved it back at the scholar, who stumbled backward.

Turning around and walking back to his throne, Fiero smiled from ear to ear.

"If I have it, I can become the ruler of this land! Even the king will have to acknowledge me, and I can finally marry the kingdom's Princess!"

Just as he felt like he was ascending to heaven, a knock interrupted his grand fantasy, making Fiero click his tongue in intense annoyance.

"Tch, who is interrupting me?!"

With a creak, an old butler entered the room holding a letter.

"Pardon me, my lord, but we just received a letter from a village on the frontier."

"Why should I care about a letter from some remote, backwater village, huh?"

Even though it was technically within his territory, Fiero had absolutely no intention of dealing with some shabby little village during the harsh winter. He was about to dismiss them all, but the butler spoke up.

"The villagers stated that they saw a giant in the forest near their village."

"Huh?"

If this was the exact same giant he wanted, then he couldn't just ignore it. He stepped closer, snatched the letter from the butler's hands, and read its contents.

"Hahahaha! Hah~ I am truly lucky! Not only will I obtain the ultimate weapon, but my name will become even more famous when I step in to 'save' this little village! Hahahaha!"

"Alright, butler! Prepare the soldiers! We are going to secure that relic and save that village."

With a face full of greedy smiles, Count Fiero walked eagerly toward the key to his glory.