Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 15 - Chapter 5

Secret Weapon

Saturday, July 3rd

Not long before Maya appeared before Maki, Koutarou and the others managed to reach the loading dock of the factory. They had to evade soldiers patrolling the area on the way there, but fortunately, thanks to the powerful trinity of technology, magic, and spiritual energy on their side, they made it there without issue.

On the way, they’d gotten a chance to take a look at the production line, which gave them a better idea of what was actually being made in the factory. All that was left was to find out how they planned on using what they were making. That was what had led them to the loading dock.

“It looks like they’re carrying them out on those trailers.”

Koutarou peeked out from behind a small crane in the corner of the loading dock. The dock itself was large, and housed several oversized trailers. They were currently being loaded with containers filled with finished weapons one after another. There were crates of guns, boxes of ammunition, small combat vehicles, large ordnance, and even mechanical soldiers. They were all merciless weapons designed for the explicit purpose of taking human life. Seeing it all, Koutarou instinctively grabbed Kiriha’s hand.

Kiriha-san gave it her all to avoid this... This is completely different from her invasion...

Any invasion that involved these tools of war wouldn’t be an invasion so much as it would a slaughter. It couldn’t be further from the peaceful immigration Kiriha had envisioned. The radical faction liked to talk about pride, but even Koutarou—an outsider—could tell that the conservative faction had truly chosen the honorable way when he saw all of this. Kiriha was paving the way for her people with hard work. With brooms and garbage bags, not bullets and guns. With love, not blood.

This radical invasion had to be stopped no matter what. Kiriha’s peaceful invasion had to be protected. Those feelings gripped Koutarou, unconsciously making him squeeze Kiriha’s hand even harder.

“...So it seems.”

Kiriha only responded to what Koutarou had said, but his feelings were conveyed to her too. That’s why she squeezed his hand back just as hard. Their fingers intertwined, their hands completely linked. It was just an outward expression of the way their hearts were right now.

“Then how about we destroy those trailers, Veltlion?”

Clan proposed a strategic attack. If they destroyed the trailers, the weapons would never leave the facility. It might be a good chance to reduce the radical faction’s arsenal.

“No, it would be better to let them go. I want to find out where the weapons are being taken.”

Koutarou agreed with the sentiment behind Clan’s idea, but he believed it would better serve them to locate the enemy’s base.

“But Satomi-kun, are you really okay with letting that many weapons fall into the hands of these people?”

Harumi furrowed her brow. She was worried. There was enough weaponry in these containers to outfit a small army. Once they left the factory, innocent people would be in danger. So shouldn’t they keep that from happening? That was Harumi’s concern, and it was Kiriha who answered her doubts.

“Sadly, Harumi, considering the scale of this factory, this is just a fraction of their total arsenal. Even if we destroy all the weapons here, it may not make much of a difference overall. And if that’s the risk we run, then it would be better to let them go so we can determine their destination. If we can get to their base and prevent a battle from breaking out in the first place, that will have a much greater effect than just destroying some of their supply here. So we have to hold out.”

“I see...”

Kiriha explained the details of Koutarou’s approach. It was difficult to accept, but Harumi understood the complexities of the circumstances. It was hard for Kiriha herself to let these weapons go, but if she didn’t, it could lead to an even bigger tragedy. Right now, she had to hold back for the greater good.

“Clan, do you have a transmitter of some sort?”

“I do. Please wait a moment.”

Clan shoved her hand into her bag and rustled through its contents. Harumi smiled cheerfully upon seeing Clan’s actions.

“Teehee. You have everything, don’t you, Clan-san?”

“If it’s shady, you can count on Clan.”

“Mark my words, Veltlion. Once we get back, you’re really going to get it... Ah, here it is.”

Clan pulled out a small capsule-like device from her bag and placed it in Koutarou’s palm. It was the Schweiger family’s preferred type of transmitter.

“Once you attach this to a surface, it will automatically activate and begin broadcasting a signal.”

“But won’t they notice if it goes online right now?”

“Nothing to worry about. We can just set it to standby so there’s a lag time before it begins transmitting. It’s also possible to set it to activate when it’s no longer in range of a specific signal.”

Clan tapped away at her bracelet and adjusted the settings on the tiny device. She programmed several of them so that they would stay on standby for an hour. During that time, one of Clan’s drones would follow the trailers and monitor them by optical feed. When the hour elapsed or the drone could no longer track the trailers—whichever came first—the transmitters would begin emitting their signals. That should lower the risk of the enemy discovering them.

“All done. Now we just need to attach these to the trailers.”

“Thank you, Clan. You’re a lifesaver.”

Koutarou took the transmitters in his right hand and patted Clan two or three times on the shoulder with his left. While it may have been a bit too rough of a gesture to thank a princess, it couldn’t have been more expressive of Koutarou’s gratitude. So even though Clan was frowning, she was secretly quite happy.

“Jeez, you’re such a barbarian...”

“Well then, I’ll be right back. Wait here for me.”

“Satomi-kun, please wait. I’ll cast a spell that will make it harder to see you.”

“Thanks, Sakuraba-senpai.”

After Harumi cast the camouflage spell on him, Koutarou carefully approached the trailers to attach the transmitters.

The loading dock was large, with lots of places to hide. On top of that, the soldiers were busy loading up the trailers, so they weren’t paying much attention to their surroundings. There were just a few patrolling guards, but with Harumi’s spell concealing him, Koutarou was able to quietly make it past them. Within a few minutes, he’d attached all five transmitters.

“It seems he’s just gotten the last one on.”

Clan was watching Koutarou through her binoculars. After planting a transmitter on the undercarriage of the fifth trailer, Koutarou waved to Clan. It looked like everything had gone well.

“Did you hear that, Kurano-san? Satomi-kun is on his way back.”

“I see. Thank you, Harumi.”

After Harumi reported what Clan had said to Kiriha, she looked up from her hands and let out a sigh of relief. She’d had her head bowed in prayer this whole time, asking for nothing more than Koutarou’s safety. Instead of her own, her attention now shifted to Kiriha’s hands.

“You look at that card from time to time... Is it something important?”

Kiriha was holding a well-worn foil trading card. On it was a beetle-themed hero striking a pose. It seemed like an odd thing for such a feminine and mature girl like Kiriha to be holding on to, which is why Harumi suspected it was something dear to her.

“This... was given to me by my first love. It was ten years ago... No, I guess it’s already eleven years now.”

Kiriha flashed a nostalgic smile and turned to look at Koutarou who was on his way back to the group. There was a deep love visible in her eyes. She was staring at Koutarou with the same fond look she often did the card. Harumi immediately put two and two together.

Satomi-kun said he met Kiriha-san when she was young on his way back from the past... so this must be from then. Kiriha-san has felt this way for him ever since then. She really loves him...

Harumi had first met Koutarou a year and a few odd months ago. Though since she had Alaia’s memories, it felt more like she had known him much longer than that. That’s why she understood how Kiriha must feel. Wanting to stay by his side, wanting to be needed by him... Those gentle, sincere emotions overflowed her heart. The other girls of room 106 probably all felt the same way.

“Those must be very precious memories.”

“That’s right. They’ve given me the strength to do my best all this time.”

“Veltlion is only ever kind to Kii... He’ll take her out to play and give her presents. He just sees me as convenient to have around.”

“...I do what now?”

That was when Koutarou returned. Unaware of what the girls were discussing, he was confused as to why Harumi and Kiriha were smiling but Clan was sulking.

“It’s nothing!”

“We were talking about how you’re always relying on Clan-san.”

“Well, Clan is good at what I’m bad at. She’s a big help.”

“H-Hmph!”

“And the reverse is true, too. For example, she’s terrible at housework... Speaking of which, I’ll be coming to clean up your lab again soon. You’ve probably made a mess of it since last time.”

“Cleaning? Heeheehee! Why, Clan-san, you’re being treated kindly after all.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, actually—”

“N-No, no! Stop! Don’t say any more, Harumi!”

Clan shook her head vigorously and interrupted Harumi. And while she was at it, she attempted to change the topic.

“Veltlion, it’s about time we move on!”

“Hmm? Yeah, you’re right.”

While he was still curious about what Harumi was going to say, they couldn’t afford to leisurely stand around and chitchat. Koutarou readily agreed to Clan’s suggestion and turned to her for further direction.

“So, what do we do next?”

“Um, th-that’s...”

Koutarou urged Clan on, but she was stumbling for words. Since she was really just trying to change the subject, she hadn’t actually put any thought into their next destination. Fortunately for her, however, Kiriha stepped in to save her.

“Koutarou, I think we should head for the factory’s control room.”

“The control room? Why?”

“If we examine the computers there, we might be able to find out how many weapons have been made and where they’ve been sent. I want to get a complete picture of what we’re up against.”

Kiriha hadn’t spoken up just to help Clan. She’d been interested in visiting the control room from the start. And now that they knew what was being made here at the factory, all that was left was to determine production runs and shipping locations.

“Got it. So, Clan, where is that control room?”

“Logically speaking, it should be placed where it can easily access all of the production line. Probably in the center of the factory.”

By now, Clan had regained her usual composure. She was pointing towards the wall they were currently standing in front of. Though none of them could see through it, her intuition told her that was where their target would be.

As Clan suspected, the control room was at the very center of the factory. That made it easy to find, and the group easily made their way there.

“It’s just like you said, Clan. Well done.”

“You’re amazing Clan-san.”

“You won’t get anything from praising me...”

Clan blushed a little at Koutarou and Harumi’s compliments. Kiriha was the only one who hadn’t said anything. She had quite a serious expression on her face, so Koutarou decided to ask her about it.

“What’s wrong, Kiriha-san? You look like something’s on your mind.”

“It’s... I just felt like something is odd.”

“Odd? Like what?”

“The design of this factory is logical. As a result, we’ve been able to navigate it without getting lost once. Really, it’s too logical. Not even their factories underground are this well laid out.”

Kiriha was bothered by the fact that the factory didn’t look or feel like the ones she was used to underground. While the People of the Earth had more advanced technology than the surface dwellers, production wasn’t really a specialty of theirs considering their relatively small population. That’s why, when it came things like industrialism and logistics, the surface dwellers clearly had the advantage. The narrow underground world wasn’t conducive to building efficient factories and the like.

Yet this facility was near immaculate. The more time she spent in it, the more Kiriha came to appreciate it didn’t seem like anything that had come out of the mind of an underground dweller. It was indeed odd.

“There are magicians working with the radical faction, so maybe they brought in someone to help out with it.”

Clan figured they must have brought in an expert. With the evil magicians on their side, something like that wouldn’t have been hard.

“I hope that’s all...”

But Clan’s theory didn’t sit quite right with Kiriha. It was hard for her to imagine that the proud radical faction would be willing to ask a surface dweller for help, even if they desperately needed it. It would be a completely different matter than working together with the magicians from another world. And on top of all that, the weapons that the enemy soldiers were using was another cause for concern prodding at the back of Kiriha’s mind.

“Kiriha-san, nothing will come from worrying about that here and now. Let’s investigate the control room and figure out what’s up.”

“...You’re right. Let’s try going in.”

Temporarily shelving their doubts, Koutarou and the others decided to enter the control room. The door to it, however, was sealed with an electronic lock. Once again, it was Clan’s time to shine.

“Please wait a moment.”

Clan opened up the cover to the electronic lock and connected it to her bracelet with a cable. Once hooked up to it, she ran a program to analyze the lock. The code needed to open the door was sixteen characters long, and the bracelet revealed the code one character at a time as it solved it.

“Okay, I’m done.”

With the full code needed to open the lock, Clan punched it in on the panel. When she did, the door slid open sideways with almost no sound. It seemed even they had been made with extreme precision.

“Sakuraba-senpai!”

“Yes!”

Once the door opened, Koutarou and Harumi charged into the control room. If there were enemies inside, they’d needed to be incapacitated right away. That meant that it was now Harumi’s turn to show her stuff. Her powerful magic could take out several guards at once. Koutarou would go in with her to protect her.

“Huh?”

“There’s... no one here.”

However, quite contrary to their expectations, the control room was unmanned. There were large monitors displaying the factory and various computers here and there, but not a soul around to operate them.

“That’s strange. It’s hard to believe that they’d even send control room operators to deal with the diversion out front.”

Kiriha entered next, but stopped and tilted her head in confusion. She had a bad feeling that she couldn’t shake.

“Regardless of the reason, we still need to investigate this room.”

Clan urged Kiriha forward as she came into the room too, brining up the rear. Kiriha didn’t resist and let Clan guide her to the very center of the room. She was right. Even if something was strange, they still had a job to do.

“Clan, you take care of that administrator’s computer over there. I’ll examine the main computer right here.”

“Got it, Kii. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

The two members of their team skilled with computers, Kiriha and Clan, immediately got to work. While copying data from the computers, they also took a look around for anything that stuck out. Harumi and Koutarou, both of whom were terrible with technology, stood by as observers.

“Satomi-kun, I’m glad it wasn’t just the two of us that came here.”

“Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t have Kiriha-san and Clan?”

Koutarou and Harumi both felt a little helpless, but Kiriha and Clan’s investigation was progressing smoothly. After a few minutes on the computers, they stumbled across what they were looking for.

“Koutarou, this is bad!”

The first one to say something was Kiriha, who was investigating the main computer.

“What is it?!”

Koutarou hurriedly rushed over when he heard her panicked voice and saw her tense expression.

“Take a look at this! It appears to be a blueprint for a massive weapon!”

“What the heck is this?!”

On the monitor of the terminal Kiriha was sitting at was an image of a huge machine over ten meters tall. Like she said, it seemed to be some kind of weapon, but it was so big that it looked more like a building.

“I can’t give you any details without studying it more, but it seems its designed to cause earthquakes over a large area!”

“You’re saying that they’re planning on using this to attack the surface?!”

The weapon was so massive that even the file for the digital blueprints was huge. Kiriha had taken an interest in the large file and opened it out of curiosity, but its contents came as quite a surprise.

The weapon was designed to stimulate and disrupt the spiritual energy running through the planet, known as ley lines. Such disruptions under the surface of the earth would result in massive earthquakes. If this machine were actually used, Japan would be hit with natural disasters the likes of which it had never seen before. Whole cities would be left in ruin, and the entire coastline would be drowned by tsunamis.

“Kiriha-san, if they use this thing, the surface might never recover!”

“It won’t just be the surface! An earthquake on this kind of scale wouldn’t leave our city unscathed either! No, it can’t be... That might be their plan!”

Living underground, the People of the Earth were especially susceptible to earthquakes. There was no way the radical faction didn’t know that. If they had generated a weapon meant to cause earthquakes, they were well aware of the consequences it would bring.

The radical faction’s goals were now clear. They had two main objectives.

First, they would attack using a method the surface dwellers wouldn’t recognize as an attack. The surface dwellers didn’t know that earthquakes could be caused artificially. They would simply assume that it was a natural disaster. And after wreaking havoc on the surface, the radical faction would move in with their army and occupy the cities. Since the people would be devastated after the earthquakes and national resources would be stretched thin with relief efforts, there would be little resistance.

And in doing all of this, they would achieve their secondary goal: wiping out the city of the People of the Earth. By robbing them of their homes, they would be forced to the surface. The surface dwellers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the conservatives and radicals, and would declare all the People of the Earth their enemy. That would force even the conservatives to defend themselves against the surface dwellers, inadvertently uniting the People of the Earth against the surface.

“How could the radical faction do something like this?! They would even destroy their own home?!”

Harumi, who had listened in on the conversation, was nearly screaming. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t even imagine wanting to annihilate the city she was from. Surely no one in their right mind would do something like that.

“While most of us think of the underground as our home, the radical faction only sees it as a humiliating prison! They wouldn’t hesitate to destroy a prison to reclaim their true homeland!”

The conservative faction had long accepted the underground as their home. They’d lived there for so many years that it was filled with all kinds of memories and wonderful things for them. It had taken a great deal of resolve to accept that they would have to abandon it after all this time.

But the radical faction didn’t feel that way. They’d never thought of the underground as their home. It was simply where they’d been driven after being chased out of their ancestral homeland. Unable to forget that unfortunate history, they spent their days seething with hatred. They couldn’t wait to be rid of it. It was a blemish on their glorious history. An embarrassment. A wrong that they were itching to right.

“But that’s going too far!”

“Calm down, Sakuraba-senpai! We’re here to stop it from happening!”

“R-Right.”

Harumi had fallen into a panic for a moment, but Koutarou’s powerful words snapped her out of it.

Satomi-kun really is strong, regardless of how many years pass... He’ll protect everyone just like he did in the past... I should stop crying and start thinking about what I can do too...

Harumi wiped away the tears forming in her eyes and changed gears. She channeled all of her energy into trying to think of a way to help.

“Kiriha-san, is that weapon here?!”

Koutarou’s line of thinking was clear. If something that dangerous existed, it should be destroyed immediately. If it was in the factory, they could take care of it right here and now.

“It seems like they only made the core of the weapon here. It seems like the rest of it is being produced somewhere else.”

“They’re not making all of it here?! Then where?!”

“There’s a record of it on this computer here!”

As for where the earthquake weapon in question actually was, Clan had found something on the computer she was investigating. Since she was on the administrator’s terminal, she had access to records about what had been produced and where it was shipped.

“It’s top secret, so it looks like the actual name of the place and coordinates are omitted, but it seems to be on one of the islands off the coast of Kisshouharukaze City. The word ‘island’ is being used frequently.”

“So that’s why they only made the core here!”

“What do you mean, Kiriha-san?”

“If they’re using an earthquake-inducing weapon, then it would be much more efficient to use it on the border of a tectonic plate rather than inland. If they want to avoid being seen by the public, an uninhabited island off the coast would be the best choice. But the problem with an unhabituated island is securing water. Large quantities of water are usually required for things like cooling when manufacturing advanced products. On an uninhabited island, you’d either need to use seawater and thoroughly filter out the saline and impurities, or dig for water underground. Since either would take a significant amount of time, they just manufactured the core here in this factory.”

Since the core of the weapon was the part primarily responsible for its destructive power, it required extremely advanced and precise technology to produce. One common problem in extremely delicate manufacturing was particulate debris, either in the water or the air, that could gummy up the works. That’s why factories that produced refined electronics were often built on sites with clean rivers and little air pollution.

“Clan, can you tell what island it is?”

“I’ve only been able to give this a cursory look, but it seems all the detailed information on the location is missing or redacted...”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to check all of them. Get to work on that, Clan.”

Several islands lay off the coast of Kisshouharukaze City, and Koutarou was determined to check every last one of them if that’s what it took. But that meant they had to get started as soon as possible. There was no telling how long the search could take.

“Wait, Satomi-kun!”

Koutarou was ready to leave and get started, but Harumi stopped him.

“What’s the matter, Sakuraba-senpai?”

“Won’t one of those trailers from before be headed to the island?”

“Oh...”

There was a good chance that one of the five trailers would be taking a shipment to the island. The radical faction would need weapons to protect the earthquake weapon, after all.

“Great idea, Sakuraba-senpai! Clan!”

“I’m checking the shipping records now! She’s right! It looks like one of the trailers is headed to the island in question!”

“Don’t lose sight of that one! I’ll punish you if you do!”

“What a stupid thing to say! Just who do you think I am?!”

“I’m counting on you, princess. Our future is in your hands.”

“Please, Clan-oneechan.”

“...Leave it to me. If Veltlion is going to call me princess and you’re going to call me Onee-chan, then I can’t possibly fail!”

Clan’s eyes behind her glasses shone brightly as she nodded and began busily operating her bracelet, sending orders to the Cradle that was on standby far overhead. The fate of the People of the Earth, the fate of Koutarou and the others, and the fate of Japan now rested on her surveillance drone. They had to know where that trailer was going.

After collecting all the information they needed, their work in the control room was done. Knowing what they did now, their to-do list had grown significantly.

“Kii, I’ve sent a message through the Cradle to Theiamillis-san and the others telling them to withdraw.”

“Thank you. We should head straight for the island after grouping up with Theia-dono and the rest. There’s no time to lose.”

“Sakuraba-senpai, how are you holding up?”

“I’m feeling just fine.”

“All right, then let’s go.”

Waiting for all four of them to gather at the door, Koutarou opened it. Just like when they entered, it slid to the side almost silently. But what they saw on the other side floored them.

Beyond the door was a large passageway over ten meters wide. It looked like it could handle multiple lanes of traffic. And standing in the middle of it was a man that both Koutarou and Kiriha recognized.

“It’s been a while, brats.”

“Tayuma! Of course you’re here!”

Kiriha glared at the man, Shijima Tayuma. Tayuma, however, brushed her hostility off with a belittling and twisted smile.

“That’s my line. But here you are... right in my trap, daughter of Kurano.”

“What?!”

Upon hearing the word trap, Koutarou’s expression changed, and Tayuma gave Koutarou a condescending smile.

“You’re as slow as ever, surface brat. You think we’d leave the control room unmanned for no reason?”

“You used it to corner us...”

Koutarou began understanding the situation. The moment the diversion team appeared, Tayuma and the others must have guessed that there would be another team infiltrating the factory. The control room was like the mother load of secrets for the whole factory, so they would eventually make their way there. And when they did, he would sweep in and trap them all at once. The control room had only one entrance, so once they were inside of it, there would be no escape.

“Then the factory’s security on the inside was lax for the same reason...”

“Heh, at least Kurano’s daughter is quick on the draw. That’s correct. Why would we waste the manpower if we didn’t know where you’d enter? All we really had to do was plan one strategic ambush—here, outside the control room.”

Radical forces began emerging from the dark shadows of the passageway. There were twelve of the robots they’d seen that afternoon. Past them were four large machine guns on wheels that would automatically track their targets. Both were weapons that had been produced in this factory.

“So your target was Kiriha-san from the very beginning.”

“That’s right. In stimulating her sense of danger, we knew she would appear eventually to investigate. Just like Maguz-sama planned.”

“Maguz...? Of course, the mastermind...”

Koutarou clenched his jaw. He wasn’t particularly surprised since he knew that Tayuma wasn’t all there was to the radical faction. But he’d never thought they’d be caught by someone who had the foresight to plan so far ahead. He began worrying about the battle that lay ahead of them.

“Mastermind? Don’t be silly. Maguz-sama is our supreme leader that will bring glory to the People of the Earth.”

Tayuma smiled proudly. He was intensely loyal to Maguz.

“But you failed last year.”

“The outcome of that didn’t matter. In truth, with all the attention gathered on me, preparations for real war could be completed in secret.”

Maguz had actually been pulling the strings behind Tayuma’s attack last year as well. The goal back then was to have Kiriha or even Tayuma killed by surface dwellers, which would stimulate anti-surface dweller sentiments among the People of the Earth. But that plan had failed, giving the radical faction reason to lie low for a time.

Or at least, that’s what it seemed like. They simply just kept things quiet while they labored away on their war preparations. It would have been suspicious for them to go dark suddenly, but Tayuma being in jail gave them a convenient excuse to tone things down publicly while they applied their efforts elsewhere. Really, he bought them several valuable months of prep time.

If Tayuma had succeeded in his mission back then, public opinion would have swayed towards war. But even if he failed, it would give the radical faction time to prepare for war. It was a win-win situation for them. And it was because Maguz understood that that he let Tayuma go on a little rampage on the surface last year.

“Maguz-sama is a great, broad-minded person who even takes what someone as insignificant as me says into consideration. He is not someone the likes of you could ever defeat!”

Tayuma had a broad grin on his lips—a display of confidence. Koutarou and the others were already in his trap. Victory was at hand.

“I won’t let things go as you plan, Tayuma! I will capture you here, and Maguz right after!” Kiriha declared, still sharply glaring at him.

I don’t like it when she makes that face...

Koutarou preferred seeing Kiriha’s normally gentle expression. Just like how he didn’t want to see Yurika being forced into being a magical girl, he didn’t want to see Kiriha forced into being a commander. He just wanted her to act like her normal, kind self, and maybe even the innocent Kii from time to time.

But when she wore that expression on her face, it was for a reason. There was someone standing in her way. And Koutarou would be there to help her take them out as swiftly as possible. He clenched his fist and steeled himself.

“Bwahaha, that’s what you think! Actually, I’ll be taking my leave for today.”

“Tayuma?!”

Despite what they were expecting, Tayuma turned his back on Koutarou and the others. He had no intention of fighting them himself. The crowd of automated weapons parted for him.

“Wait, Tayuma!”

“If you wish to fight me, daughter of Kurano, you’ll first needed to defeat these. Not that Maguz-sama or I really care if you die or survive this.”

Tayuma ignored Kiriha and calmly proceeded down the passageway. Koutarou and the others wanted to chase him, but the sixteen automated weapons closed ranks and blocked their way. They couldn’t do anything else until they were out of the way.

“I’m sorry, Koutarou. My apologies to you too, Clan, Harumi. The enemy is more troublesome than I thought.”

Tayuma disappeared around the corner further down the hall. Watching him go, Kiriha gritted her teeth in frustration. She realized how naive she’d been.

“Don’t sweat it.”

Koutarou smiled at Kiriha. When she looked into his eyes, she saw something different from normal. They were filled with a resolute determination.

“Once this is all over, I’ll be satisfied as long as you give me a kiss with a smile.”

“Koutarou...”

Those words alone sapped the tension from Kiriha’s shoulders.

That’s right... This is the kind of person that Onii-chan has always been...

Slowly, confidence began to replace the bitter anxiety she felt over her blunders. Kiriha placed her hand over the card in her pocked and smiled as she thought of all the feelings she’d poured into it.

“Heehee, now you’ve said it. Let’s hurry up and end this so I can shower you with kisses.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Blue Knight, give me my sword.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

No matter how strong he was, Kiriha couldn’t help feeling that a sword just didn’t suit Koutarou. That was really why she wanted to bring all of this to a swift conclusion.

The enemies attacked as Koutarou readied Signaltin. Thanks to that, they had the initiative. The shrill sound of whirring motors rang out, and all four machine guns opened fire at the same time. They each took a different target, and a hail of bullets rained down upon all members of the infiltration team.

“Deploy the distortion field over a wide area!”

“Karama, Korama, spiritual energy field to maximum output!”

However, before the bullets could hit, two barriers were erected in their way: Clan’s personal barrier and the spiritual energy barrier created by the two haniwas. Both were sturdy, but due to the sheer amount of bullets coming at them, they couldn’t stop them all.

“Come, spirits of wind! Dance around and become a whirl! Reveal your great powers capable of traversing the world! Blow it all away! Shielding Wind!”

Fortunately, a slightly delayed third barrier completely stopped the remaining bullets that had been slowed down by the first two. It was a defensive wind barrier created with Harumi’s ancient magic.

“Everyone, focus on the machine guns first! We can’t have them tearing us up!”

Koutarou gave orders to the three girls behind him and swung his sword at the mechanical soldiers. It was his job to keep them at bay.

I wouldn’t lose to these one on one, but...

But going up against twelve was troublesome. The mechanical soldiers were made with the same technology Maya’s new body used, and while they couldn’t move as fast as she did, they were still quick. On top of that, they were fully automated and extremely accurate with their attacks. While their cooperation wasn’t as good as the Motor Knights that Elexis had used, their speed still made it a cause for concern. And worst of all, there were a lot of them. While Koutarou could read their movements because they were powered by spiritual energy, it was still difficult dealing with twelve of them at once. As a result, four of them slipped past him and came after the girls.

“Kii, use this!”

“Thanks!”

The ones to deal with the incoming mechanical soldiers were Clan and Kiriha, both wielding weapons that Clan had summoned for them.

“Haah!”

Kiriha was using a naginata with a blade that generated intense heat. Well-versed in military arts, she knew exactly what she was doing with the polearm. She dexterously swung it around and blocked the mechanical soldier’s large claws.

“Keep it up, Kii!”

Clan was holding a beam cannon in both hands and repeatedly firing at the mechanical soldier fighting Kiriha. Since Clan was bad at melee combat, she left Kiriha to handle that while she backed her up at range.

While Clan and Kiriha formed their second line of defense, Harumi was still aiming for the machine guns with her magic. Though their barriers could block the machine gun fire, they weren’t doing anything about the mechanical soldiers. The machine guns needed to be taken out as quickly as possible so the barriers could be redistributed.

“Gather, spirits of water! Dance, spirits of wind! Combine these two powers and appear, spirits of lightning! Oh draconic dark cloud, open your jaws and destroy!”

Harumi’s hair shone a brilliant silver as she chanted her spell like a song. With each word, a powerful electric charge gathered around her as it sparkled and crackled.

“Roar of Thunder!”

Upon finishing her incantation, Harumi opened her closed eyes and stared at the machine guns in front of her. When she did, the electric charge swirling around her split into four bolts and flew forward.

With a loud roar, lighting struck them so hard that it was like a giant hammer had slammed into them. The booming sound of it echoed loudly down the hallway. Since attack spells required the use of multiple elements at the same time, they were considered top-tier magic. They had tremendous power, and taking a blow from one could easily be fatal.

“It didn’t work?! Why?!”

However, the machine guns were still functional. They weren’t unscathed, but they were still firing at full speed. Harumi had used the same spell against Elexis’s Motor Knights, so she had no idea why it wasn’t working now.

“Harumi-chan, it’s the barriers, ho!”

“They have spiritual energy fields, ho! Elemental attacks won’t work, ho!”

Karama and Korama, who also functioned on spiritual energy, understood exactly what had happened. The moment before the electricity hit them, the machine guns had activated their barriers to shield themselves. Because they were easy targets, they’d been equipped with particularly study defenses.

“What should I do, Karama-chan, Korama-chan?!”

“Earth, water, fire, wind, and the higher-ranking spirits won’t work, ho! Those are the things spiritual energy fields specialize in repelling, ho!”

“All spiritual power, ho! You’ll need to attack with pure power or mana itself, ho!”

“Thank you, I’ll give that a try!”

The spirits that the ancient magic of Forthorthe called upon were spirits of the natural world. And converting mana into a form of spiritual energy made it easy for spiritual energy barriers to block.

“To think they could withstand Sakuraba-senpai’s magic...”

Koutarou began panicking a little when he realized what was going on. He knew very well just how powerful her spells were. Even if their barriers were strong against it, the fact that they’d been able to withstand a spell like that was impressive. Scary, really. They were dangerous opponents that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“Nothing will come from complaining! I’m sure Harumi can do it!”

“You’re right! Let’s all believe in Sakuraba-senpai!”

Koutarou pushed his doubts aside when he heard Kiriha call out to him, and went back to concentrating on the battle at hand. While he’d done some damage to them, the eight mechanical soldiers in front of him were all still raring to go. If he lost his focus when dealing with these swift opponents, he’d pay dearly for it.

“Kii, we need to hold down the fort too!”

“Not a problem! As long as it’s just blocking, I should be able to handle this!”

Clan and Kiriha were doing their part to hold back the enemy too. Their primary focus was keeping any of the mechanical soldiers from getting to Harumi, who was in charge of their counteroffensive.

“This time... it has to work...”

Harumi clasped her hands in front of her chest. Her friends were still fighting hard, and what she did here would sway the outcome of the battle. She was rightfully nervous.

I can’t attack using the spirits’ powers, so... in that case...!

Harumi mustered her courage and began chanting once more.

“Oh great power that guards all things! Oh light of hope that illuminated the beginning of all things! Gather before me as a blade to cut down my foes!”

Harumi’s hair turned completely silver and her entire body was wrapped in a white light. Before long, that light began gathering in her extended right hand. The gathered light grew brighter, and then began extending forward from her hand. The extended light grew longer, thicker, and brighter. It was a like large sword of light born from Harumi’s mana.

“Strike swiftly! Royal Silver Sword!”

Finishing her incantation, Harumi swung her right arm. The light that had gathered in her hand followed her movements. As the tip of the sword had pierced through the ceiling as it grew, it cleaved through it when it was brought down.

“What?!”

Koutarou was captivated by the pure white light that passed by his side. It was such a striking light that he forgot about the danger he was in for an instant. Without a sound, the sword cut the machine gun on the right in half. Harumi then lightly flicked her wrist to the side and the sword of light cut down the other three in one fell swoop. The light began disappearing there, but it took out two of the mechanical soldiers before completely vanishing.

“Phew... It worked...”

When the light disappeared, Harumi looked down at her right hand and let out a small sigh. She hadn’t had any real confidence her attack would go as planned.

The spell Harumi had used summoned Signaltin’s power and discharged it directly. Since it was an unpolished move that was essentially just a blast of pure mana, Harumi didn’t know if she’d properly be able to control it or not. But fortunately, it had all gone just as she’d hoped. Since it was Signaltin’s mana, using it as a sword suited it well. Alaia’s feelings surely helped her out too. That’s what Harumi, overcome with relief, thought to herself.

“Sakuraba-senpai is starting to look more and more like Her Majesty Alaia...”

Koutarou couldn’t hide his surprise. Harumi had played Alaia on stage, but lately she’d been doing more than that. She was really living up to her role. Her memories, her beautiful silver hair, her control of Signaltin and its excess mana through the use of ancient magic... It was like the Silver Princess had been revived in the modern era through a normal girl.

This might have been Her Majesty Alaia’s wish...

That was when Koutarou realized that Harumi was Alaia’s ideal self. Alaia had lived as a royal of Forthorthe to her last breath. But it came at the cost of her own personal freedom and happiness. In contrast, Harumi was just a normal girl who’d inherited Alaia’s appearance, powers, and memories. In other words, Harumi as she was now was exactly who Alaia would have wanted to be if she had been reborn as a normal girl. But he knew it wasn’t really her. Harumi’s personality hadn’t changed at all since Alaia’s powers had awoken within her.

Her Majesty wouldn’t take over someone else’s life. Especially not Harumi...

The mechanical soldiers attacked mercilessly in the moment Koutarou was distracted by Harumi. They were trying to tear him apart with their large claws.

“Oh crap!”

Since he was distracted, his reaction was ever so slightly delayed. It left him open, and such an opening was exactly what the mechanical soldiers were designed to prey on.

“Look out!”

However, the mechanical soldiers’ claws were stopped by Kiriha’s naginata the moment before they dug into Koutarou.

“This battle isn’t over yet, so don’t let your guard down, Koutarou!”

From there, Kiriha used the naginata’s blade and handle to unleash a flurry of attacks.

“Thanks! You saved me, Kiriha-san!”

Koutarou readied his sword again and attacked the closest soldier. With the machine guns out of commission, the tides of battle had turned in their favor. With the barriers that had been used to block the machine gun fire freed up, they could make more bold attacks on the mechanical soldiers. Even outnumbered, they began driving the machines back.

“At this rate, I won’t get my time to shine.”

“That’s not true. We’re only here because of you, Clan-san.”

“You flatter me, Harumi...”

“It’s not flattery; it’s the truth.”

After that, Clan and Harumi began offering ranged support, disrupting the mechanical soldiers’ teamwork and creating openings for Koutarou and Kiriha to take them out one by one. It only took a matter of minutes for all of the mechanical soldiers to be destroyed. Looking at the course of the fight, victory was theirs the moment Harumi took out the machine guns.