Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 24 - Chapter 2

The Reborn Forthorthian Army

Sunday, November 28th

The effect of the speech and following conference was greater than expected. Immediately afterward, the Reborn Forthorthe Army saw a large amount of new applicants. Moreover, there were many others pledging their support. This was in part due to Elfaria’s easy to understand speech and her sincere attitude at the press conference. Of course, the knight in the blue armor and the choice of a new name were also partially responsible. But joining the cause still meant the people of Forthorthe had to put their lives on the line. That kind of commitment required a strong, earnest leader. In that regard, the press conference had shown that Elfaria and Theia were royal in more than just title.

“To think that this many people would come to our aid...”

Theia’s eyes moistened as she looked at the line forming outside the base. It was where the applicants were sent after registering, but people were joining the queue faster than people could enter the base. There were so many people, the line was just getting longer and longer. It was almost as if they were waiting for some big event to start. But this phenomenon wasn’t unique to the base where Theia and the others were. According to reports, similar sights could be seen at bases all across the Forthorthian solar system. That thought overwhelmed Theia.

“That’s probably only half the reason,” Koutarou responded to Theia’s mutterings.

While she hadn’t been talking to anyone in particular, he’d overheard what she said. They were standing on the rooftop of the base, looking down at the lines of people together.

“Half?” she asked, looking at Koutarou with a confused expression.

As she did, she sensed that something about him seemed different than usual. She wasn’t looking at Koutarou so much as she was looking at a knight who had protected this country and its princess in the distant past.

“I’m sure everyone can sense it. That if you and Elle lose, terrible things will happen to Forthorthe. This is what everyone wants... To protect this country, their lives, and their families.”

Certain things could only be realized through trust in a leader. In this case, the empress and princess. There was a force trying to take over Forthorthe using unjust means. If they succeeded, it was hard to imagine them having a change of heart and ruling over the nation peacefully. Surely their cruelty would extend to the way they governed the people, just like how they were willing to unleash a bioweapon on all of Alaia for the sake of trying to slander Elfaria. That’s why the people rose up to fight alongside Elfaria and Theia now. It wasn’t just for the sake of the empress and princess. It was simply what they had to do to protect the future for themselves and for their families.

“Just like how you’ll protect me and Mother... Theia-chan and Elle-chama?” Theia flashed a small smile and looked up at Koutarou.

She knew that Koutarou wasn’t protecting the two of them because they were empress and princess either. It was because they were friends who smiled and laughed together. The fact that they were royalty was incidental. The citizens lining up before them now had similar reasons. They wanted to protect the people closest to them.

“Don’t try to make me say it.” Koutarou smiled wryly.

It was true. The reason he was fighting was just as Theia had said. But it was hard for him to admit it. In that regard, Koutarou was a normal seventeen-year-old boy.

“Considering these desperate times, I want you to,” Theia urged him.

“But...” Koutarou protested.

“Say it,” Theia insisted.

“Okay, okay... You really are stubborn, you know?” Koutarou finally acquiesced with a sigh. “But you’re right. The citizens applying have people important to them like you and Elle are to me. In order to protect them, they want the empress and princess to win.”

“I’m glad you’re honest.”

Satisfied with Koutarou’s answer, Theia nodded her head. She then turned back to look at the lines of applicants. They all gathered here because they had something to protect. Theia knew what Koutarou had said was true.

“You can’t slack off now. These people have high hopes for you,” said Koutarou.

If Theia or Elfaria behaved disgracefully, the citizens might instead choose to accept a military takeover. That’s why they needed to continuously show how proper and fit they were as royalty.

“Heh heh...”

“Why are you laughing? It wasn’t supposed to be funny.”

As Koutarou was being quite serious, seeing Theia giggle like displeased him.

“If they have high hopes, that means they’re expecting a lot of you, too,” she explained.

“...Mind your own business.”

Koutarou couldn’t argue with her there. The best he could do was frown and keep quiet. But all the same, Theia’s expression grew more serious.

“But those people’s expectations are my business, and I’ll need to answer to them.”

“Now that’s going big.”

“Just the same as you and the citizens, I have things I want to protect too.”

Theia’s seriousness only lasted until she finished speaking. After squeezing out those last words, she grabbed Koutarou’s arm and embraced it with a smile. It was a rare glimpse of a princess in a grave situation acting like just a normal girl.

Elfaria wanted to inspect the base together with Theia. Of course, Koutarou and the others tried to stop her by explaining that it was too dangerous, but Elfaria insisted on inspecting anyway. As the applicants had come knowing that they might be labelled as dissidents, she believed it was only proper to show her appreciation. She claimed that they would have no reason to follow her if all she did was hide away somewhere safe. In the end, Koutarou and the others had no choice but to reluctantly accept her demands.

“Layous-sama―”

“Mother, you can’t call him that right now.”

“Whoops! Koutarou-sama, don’t worry so much. Vandarion and the others have no way of knowing what base Theia and I will be inspecting.”

While they had relented, they still weren’t going to let Elfaria move around freely and do as she pleased. The base she and Theia would inspect was carefully selected from a long list of candidates. Then Koutarou and the others deployed extra personnel to protect the empress and her daughter. Normally that would be the job of the base commander or Lord Pardomshiha. But as spiritual energy technology or magic might be used, Koutarou and those who were experts in those fields ended up taking the lead.

Escorting Theia and Elfaria were Koutarou and Harumi. The remaining residents of room 106 were patrolling the perimeter together with soldiers from Pardomshiha and Wenranka. With Kiriha in command, as well as Sanae, Ruth, and Clan keeping watch, their defenses were solid. With everything in place, it seemed unlikely that anything would even have a chance to happen to Elfaria.

“There are people who have nothing to do with Vandarion that hate the royal families, aren’t there?” Koutarou asked.

“There are indeed. Won’t you protect me, Koutarou-sama?” Elfaria replied coyly.

“I’ve already told you that I will!”

“Then there are no problems,” she giggled.

“That’s not what I’m talking about!”

“Satomi-kun, I think it’s about time to give up. We’re already here,” Harumi interjected.

She had already given up herself. As Elfaria and Theia were both as stubborn as mules, once either of them had decided on something, they were stuck in their ways. That’s why Harumi believed it was more effective to give up on changing their minds now and just focus on protecting them.

“She’s right. Mother and I will inspect. And you will protect us. That’s how it should be,” Theia added.

“Of course!” Elfaria agreed.

“You have no idea what you put us through...” Koutarou sighed.

Regardless of how thorough their defenses were, it didn’t change the fact people special to him were being put in danger. Koutarou wouldn’t be able to relax in a situation like this.

“Oooh!” a soldier gasped in amazement.

Just moments after Koutarou’s complaints, the group entered the base grounds. As soon as they did, the soldiers preparing for battle noticed them.

“It’s Her Majesty!”

“I never dreamed she’d pay us a visit!”

“Even Her Highness has come!”

After spotting Elfaria and the others, the soldiers were all abuzz with joy and surprise. Only a few of them reacted at first, but all of them soon joined in. Before long, excitement had overcome the entire base. As expected in Forthorthe, the very appearance of a royal had a big impact on morale. Chances were high that it was even affecting soldiers in other bases who saw the footage through the network.

“The knight in blue armor is here too...”

“So that’s him?”

“So that’s really the meaning behind the Reborn Forthorthe Army...”

It wasn’t just the royal visit that had the soldiers so excited. They could all feel it. Maybe—just maybe—they were looking at the makings of a new legend.

As the soldiers began interacting with Elfaria and Theia, tension filled the headquarters. From the viewpoint of VIP protection, in the event that there were enemy spies or people with unsavory thoughts waiting in the wings, shortly after first contact was the most dangerous time. That was because the guards were not fully in position and no one had a tactical view of the area yet.

“Thank you for siding with us despite the lack of concrete evidence in our favor,” Elfaria said, beginning to talk with the soldiers.

“What are you saying, Your Majesty? Even in terms of proof, how could you have evidence that you’ve done nothing wrong? Regardless, we know of Your Majesty’s efforts, which is why we’ve all come here,” a soldier replied.

“Mother, we are blessed to have such good citizens,” said Theia.

“You’re right. I am very grateful to all of you,” Elfaria said, turning her thanks to the men standing before her.

“We are not worthy of such words, Your Highness, Your Majesty!”

Fortunately, Elfaria’s and Theia’s inspection was proceeding smoothly. They watched over the soldiers’ training and preparations, taking the opportunity to talk to them here and there. All of their interactions were pleasant and there seemed to be no danger within the base. Here, it was like they were surrounded by the soldiers’ loyalty and devotion.

“Hmm... There doesn’t seem to be anyone around Theia and the others who’s thinking of anything bad,” Sanae observed.

“There doesn’t, ho!” one of Kiriha’s haniwas confirmed.

“According to the reconnaissance craft’s scans, it’s not detecting any lethal weapons in the immediate area. All the equipment here is for training and there is nothing that could penetrate the displacement fields around Her Highness and Her Majesty,” Ruth added.

“No spiritual energy weapons have been detected either, ho!”

“How does it look on your end, Clan-dono?” Kiriha asked.

“I’m not detecting anything in the surrounding airspace. It doesn’t look like we need to worry about a surprise attack.”

Elfaria and Theia’s safety was being protected by the security team under Kiriha’s command. Sanae was stationed on the roof of the base, confirming that there wasn’t anyone with hostile intentions with her spirit sight. Ruth was controlling a reconnaissance craft from the headquarters, making sure that there wasn’t anyone doing or had anything that might be dangerous. The haniwas were assisting Sanae, scanning for any spiritual energy weapons. And Clan was in her smaller spaceship, the Cradle, watching for any potential enemy ships approaching.

“Patrol team, what’s the status on your end?” Kiriha radioed to the others.

“We’ve secured three suspicious people, but it was all due to needless worry,” Nana answered.

“Yurika was quick to apprehend all three of them,” Maki clarified.

“Yurika-chan, let’s not be so hasty, okay?” Shizuka asked admonishingly.

“But it’s suspicious when they reach into their pockets like that...” Yurika made a pass at defending herself.

Nana, Maki, Shizuka, and Yurika were guarding the surrounding area with a task force of soldiers. The four of them were particularly on the lookout for types of attacks that Sanae couldn’t detect, like explosives.

“I see,” Kiriha replied after getting the sitrep from the girls on patrol. “Koutarou, how about you?”

“Nothing to report here. It’s hard to admit, but it looks like Elle and Theia are the real deal. They’re awfully popular,” he replied.

“As expected from an empress and princess, I guess,” Harumi added.

Koutarou and Harumi stayed with Elfaria and Theia. They were the final defensive line and had been chosen because of their quick reaction times and their flexibility.

“Looks like we were just overthinking things...” Kiriha said, exhaling sharply and leaning back in her chair after collecting the last of her intelligence.

The period where they were the most vulnerable was nearly over, and nobody had reported anything out of the ordinary. Although the chance of being attacked was low to begin with, executive protection like this was all about guarding against that one-in-a-million chance. In the end, Kiriha was satisfied that this seemed like it would be much ado about nothing.

“But still, Master sure is attracting attention too. Heehee...” Ruth giggled to herself as she spotted Koutarou in the hologram relayed by the reconnaissance craft and smiled happily.

At the moment, the only abnormality was the situation that Koutarou was in. The soldiers’ interest was in Elfaria and Theia who had come for an inspection was natural. Their beloved empress and princess had come to visit them. But after looking at the two of them, their gazes drifted to Koutarou and stayed there. The soldiers were equally interested in him.

“...I understand how they feel. He reminds them of the Blue Knight, and his achievements only strengthen that impression...” Lord Pardomshiha whispered in a quiet voice to Ruth. He intentionally spoke softly so that only she could hear him.

“...But in reality, it’s not that he just resembles him...” Ruth responded in kind.

“...If that becomes known, there will be chaos...” Lord Pardomshiha shrugged.

He had already heard everything from Ruth. Of course, he hadn’t believed her at first, yet he had no choice but to accept the truth after seeing all of her proof. What truly impressed him was that most of the evidence came from Clan of the Schweiger family that was on notably bad terms with the Mastir family. Clan would have nothing to gain from lying about something like this. Moreover, in his eyes, the fact that Koutarou and Theia were trying to keep the matter from going public only increased their credibility. But above all else, as a father, Lord Pardomshiha decided to trust his daughter.

“... Sadly, there are no plans to announce it anytime soon...” Ruth clarified.

“...It would be hard to do at a time like this...” her father remarked, still whispering.

“...But I am happy that I was able to introduce Master as his true self to you, Father...”

Lord Pardomshiha regretted not being able to reveal the truth to the public, but Ruth was happy she had at least been able to share it with her father. She believed it was important for him to understand the true identity of the man she loved.

“...Yes, but when you reveal something like that in the future, please go easier on me. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when you told me...”

“Heehee! I’ll be more careful next time.”

As she laughed, Ruth’s voice returned to normal, signaling that their secret talk was now over. Lord Pardomshiha took the cue and spoke plainly now.

“But I do understand why you fell in love with him.”

“Father! Th-That’s not it! I only found out after I fell in love with him!”

Living on Earth, Ruth had fallen in love with the straight yet awkward Koutarou. She learned that he was the Blue Knight after the fact, so it wasn’t the reason for her love, but it only strengthened her feelings. That was an important distinction to her.

“After the fact, it doesn’t matter what came first,” her father insisted.

To Lord Pardomshiha, there wasn’t much difference between a model knight becoming the Blue Knight and the Blue Knight becoming a model knight.

“It matters to a woman!” Ruth argued back.

“More importantly, Ruth...” Lord Pardomshiha’s eyes lit up as he grabbed Ruth’s shoulders.

“This is important!” she cried.

“Even if it’s not announced, it would be very meaningful for the Pardomshiha family to receive his genes! I can find no fault in the boy, both as a father and as a knight, so please keep up the hard work!”

Lord Pardomshiha had no intention of getting in the way of his daughter’s love. Really, he was cheering for her. It would be convenient for him if that love came to fruition.

“You’re only thinking about Pardomshiha, aren’t you, father?!” Ruth was outraged.

“No, I just wanted my daughter to be ha―” Lord Pardomshiha tried to defend himself.

“That’s definitely the face of a liar! Honestly, father!” But Ruth saw right through him.

If Ruth and the Blue Knight were married, even if the truth wasn’t revealed, the Pardomshiha family’s status would rise. It would especially serve to improve their relationship with the Mastir family who knew the truth about the Blue Knight. It was a long list of pluses to Lord Pardomshiha, so he had no reason to object.

“Father! Jeez!”

Her father had put Ruth in a bad mood. As his daughter, she at least wanted him to understand. She issued new instructions to the reconnaissance drone as if she was taking it out on the small craft instead of her dad.

“Check for dangerous items. This time, expand the search parameters and exclude the previously checked area.”

Although she sounded angry, Ruth operated the computer with smooth movements and the grace of an expert pianist. Even if she was frustrated with her father, it wasn’t affecting her work. That wasn’t her style.

“Everyone, please look out!” a voice suddenly cried out over the comms system.

It was Yurika, but after three false alarms already today, nobody jumped at her warning.

“Someone on the premises is using magic!” she clarified.

“Red alert, everyone! We’re under attack!” Kiriha confirmed.

As soon as Yurika mentioned magic, everyone sprung into action. While they rarely trusted her with anything else, she was the resident expert when it came to magic. All of her allies knew that.

Sanae could feel a source of hostility shortly after Yurika had sensed magic nearby. It was Vandarion’s and Granado’s plan being set into motion. Since they hadn’t known exactly where Elfaria and Theia would be visiting, Vandarion had dispatched spies disguised as applicants to various bases. Once one of the spies reported that they had sighted Elfaria and Theia, they were given the order to assassinate them. The effective result was that the spy hadn’t had any hostile intentions until they were told to kill, which was why Sanae’s spirit sight hadn’t detected anything negative until now.

“Koutarou, they’re aiming from the second floor of the warehouse!” Sanae shouted, reporting the details to Koutarou.

“So that’s the one!” he shouted back, realizing what was going on.

While Koutarou’s abilities were nowhere near the level of Sanae’s, he could also sense the hostility. Thanks to that, he was able to find the spy turned assassin with just Sanae’s short description. The assassin in question was taking aim at Elfaria and Theia with a rifle from the second-floor balcony of a warehouse some distance away. But by the time Koutarou spotted them, it was too late. The rifle belched flame.

Blam!

It happened in an instant. The bullet blazed through the air and closed in on Elfaria with blinding speed. Of course, Elfaria wasn’t completely defenseless. She had her personal barrier generation device equipped, putting a translucent shield between her and the bullet.

Bang!

“Kyaah!”

But that bullet was all it took to destroy Elfaria’s barrier. Luckily she was unharmed, but she fell over from the shock. This shouldn’t have been possible.

“What is the meaning of this?! There are only supposed to be training weapons here!” Theia demanded answers in both anger and disbelief.

According to their prior examination, there were no weapons on the facility grounds that were capable of destroying a barrier like this, yet it was obliterated with a single shot. Unable to comprehend what had happened, Theia stood in the way to cover Elfaria and contacted Ruth over the comms system.

Ruth’s panicked voice responded, “There’s no doubt about it, Your Highness! That was a training round! There’s nothing wrong with the scan results!”

“What?! But Mother’s distortion field was completely destroyed!”

Blam!

“Uwah?!”

This time it was Theia’s barrier. She didn’t fall over, but her personal shield ceased functioning after a single hit just like Elfaria’s had. Despite what Ruth had said, there was no possible way that training rounds had this kind of power.

“A spell has been cast on those bullets!” Yurika shouted.

“They’ve enhanced the power of the training rounds to that of real ones!” Maki explained.

The two magical girls had solved the mystery. While live rounds were strictly regulated, there were no such restrictions on training rounds that barely had any firepower. It wasn’t unusual for someone to be walking around the base with them, which is how they had avoided detection even when magically enhanced. While there was a chance that Yurika or Maki could have noticed them, the bullets themselves were small enough that their mana signatures were easy to cover up. Even Yurika had only sensed it moments before it was used, just as it was pulled out of the assassin’s pocket.

Moreover, since practice rounds would be the only evidence left behind at the scene of the crime, the military could deny any involvement. When it came to assassinations, there was no more frightening weapon than this. A third and fourth round would surely cost Elfaria and Theia their lives.

“I won’t let you!” Koutarou screamed in brave defiance.

After confirming the enemy’s location, Koutarou used his armor to fly up into the air. As GoL’s beam cannons over his shoulders pinned down the assassin, Koutarou drew the silvery sword Signaltin from its sheath.

“Sakuraba-senpai, I’m counting on you!” he shouted to Harumi.

“Signaltin, please!” she called.

As Harumi extended her hands towards Koutarou’s sword, the blade was enveloped in a bright light. It only took a moment for the light to become so strong that it couldn’t be contained by the sword and began flowing out of its tip. It was as if the blade was getting longer.

“Hyaaaaah!”

Koutarou swung the glowing sword with all of his might. He was more than a hundred meters away from the assassin, but the light practically bursting from the sword destroyed the balcony that the assassin was standing on. The assassin fell to the ground alongside the remnants of the balcony and stopped moving.

“It’s o― Wait, not yet! There are three... No, four more!” Koutarou yelled back to the others.

Koutarou had initially thought the threat had passed, but now he sensed the hostility of four more people. They seemed to be surrounding Elfaria and Theia. The sniper had only been there to destroy their barriers and act as a diversion while the other four closed in on the empress and princess to finish the deed.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness! Prepare yourselves!” one of the assassins shouted.

All four of them leveled their guns at Elfaria and Theia. They were loaded with now-deadly practice rounds. It would be overkill for the two girls who now had no way to defend themselves without their barriers. Things were looking pretty grim.

“How deplorable. To rely on assassins... Is that something the proud military of Forthorthe should be doing?”

The one who stepped up to save them was a slim and delicate girl. Unflinching, she stood in the way of their enemies with dignity and grace. Her clear eyes stared at the assassins in judgement as her silver hair fluttered in the wind, but what stood out the most was the crest of a sword now glowing on her forehead. The moment the crowd saw it, many held their breaths. The same was true for the four assassins, all of whom froze at the sight.

“Come, spirits of the air! Gather! Dance! Become a whirlwind to blow away my enemies! Pierce the dark clouds and roar! Sky Dragon’s Roar!”

As the crest on the girl’s forehead glowed, the air began whirling around the three of them as if to protect them. It grew and strengthened, turning into a massive whirlwind that reached up to the sky. The four assassins caught in the vortex were thrown around like leaves in a storm. The whirlwind dissipated in mere moments, but the assassins didn’t get up again after being slammed into the ground. In stark contrast, the three girls who’d been in the center of the whirlwind were unharmed. It was a splendid reversal.

“Please sleep for a while. And once you’re better, think carefully about what you should be doing for the sake of those precious to you.”

Harumi’s voice indicated wisdom and resolve well beyond her years. Neither the tone of her voice nor the expression on her face were particularly harsh, but there was a weighty seriousness to them. The Forthorthian soldiers crowded around were unable to take their eyes off of Harumi. This silver-haired girl with mysterious powers and a strong, noble will was with the knight in blue armor. There was only one thing on their minds as they stared at the two of them.

“I just hope they weren’t hurt too badly...” Harumi said, looking down at the fallen assassins.

Harumi herself hadn’t realized that people were staring at her. After the fight was over and the strange glow had disappeared, she was too concerned about her attackers’ well-being to take notice of her surroundings. She simply began tending to the unconscious would-be assassins.

The weapons recovered from the assassins were examined in detail by the Corona House crew. The large rifle and the four pistols were all standard issue training weapons commonly used in the base that Elfaria and Theia had come to inspect. The only thing special about them was their ammunition. Normal training rounds had been enhanced through the use of several spells. The strength of the bullets, their aerodynamic qualities, and more had been enhanced with magic to make them as powerful as live rounds... all while looking like normal training rounds to the untrained eye. Only magic users like Yurika or Maki could spot the difference. And even then, the case the bullets were kept in had a spell cast on it to obscure the mana signature of the bullets inside, which is why Yurika and Maki hadn’t detected them until they were pulled out. Overall, it was ideal for an assassin and rather troublesome to find in the hands of one’s enemies.

“It looks like Darkness Rainbow is starting to take action,” Koutarou said, staring at the bullet in his hand.

He then set it back down on the conference room table, leaned back in his chair, and sighed. Considering magic didn’t exist in Forthorthe, an enchanted bullet was proof that Darkness Rainbow was involved. It also meant that the military was being supplied with magical tools through Elexis’s company, Dragon Knight Industries. It was clear now that things were getting worrisome.

“Our only saving grace is that magical tools are difficult to mass produce. They shouldn’t have too much impact on a strategic level. Granted, that would mean assuming that we’ll be able to prevent incidents like this from happening again,” Kiriha mused.

She had a point. It wasn’t possible to mass produce magical tools or weapons, making them impractical for war. On the other hand, if given to soldiers tasked with special operations, their chances of success would increase dramatically. That was the kind of attack that they needed to worry about now. Maki and Yurika couldn’t monitor all of Forthorthe on their own.

“We need to nip this threat in the bud, or else things are only going to get worse for us,” said Theia.

The amount of magical tools their enemies were capable of producing would only increase with time. Theia, who was a genius when it came to warfare, could foresee a terrible end if they let DKI run amok at their current rate. There were plenty of situations where a successful strategically planned special mission could turn the tides of battle. Assassinating or kidnapping a person of interest, sabotaging key sites... The list of potential disasters went on.

“Which means we’ll need to settle things with Darkness Rainbow,” Yurika muttered in a concerned tone of voice.

Her face was just as serious as she stared at the problematic bullet. If magic was being used as a tool in the war of a foreign nation, Yurika had to stop it. That was her responsibility as an archwizard of Rainbow Heart.

“We could also win over DKI or cut them off from the military,” suggested Maki.

Originally a member of Darkness Rainbow, Maki was a bit more flexible about the situation than Yurika. Fighting wasn’t the only way. If the relationship between DKI and the military took a turn for the worse, the military’s access to this kind of technology would be cut off.

“Whether we fight them or disarm them, we’ll need a lead on DKI first either way,” said Ruth.

“Until then... we at least need to increase the alertness level and prohibit training weapons and unidentified items in important areas,” added Clan.

Even something that didn’t look like a weapon could be made into one using magic. Without Yurika or Maki present, their only recourse was taking precautionary measures to keep potentially dangerous items out of important places where they weren’t necessary. In order to get out of this predicament, they’d need to settle things with DKI as soon as possible.

“...Then that settles what we need to do next,” Elfaria concluded.

After carefully considering what Ruth and Clan had just said, Elfaria decided on their next move.

“Mother, what are you going to do?”

“We immediately need to seize control of this planet, Alaia, and go into space. If we’re limited to this planet, we’ll never get a lead on DKI,” she explained.

While DKI had a branch on Alaia, it probably didn’t have what Elfaria and the others needed. DKI—more specifically, Elexis—wasn’t stupid enough to keep incriminating information or personnel on the Mastir family’s own planet. That being the case, they’d need to expand their reach beyond just Alaia, which would mean that they needed to secure a spaceport and seize the planet.

The problem is that the enemy has probably already realized the same thing...

Kiriha was a little worried. She agreed with Elfaria’s decision, but the enemy should have predicted that much. Most likely, they already had magic—their trump card—in place for that exact scenario. And if so, they had a fierce fight ahead of them.

Beeeeep!

“Your Majesty, please return to headquarters right away!”

Kiriha’s fears were soon realized. Alongside a noisy beep, the panicked voice of the base commander echoed through the conference room.

“What happened?” Elfaria demanded.

“The enemy forces are on the move! They appear to be after the spaceport!”

“So they’re trying to trap us on this planet... I understand! I’ll be right there! Layous-sama!”

“I know. Let’s go, everyone!”

If the enemy’s goal was the spaceport, they had no time to spare. Koutarou rallied the girls and kicked his chair away from the table as he stood up.

“Ah...”

The girls followed Koutarou’s lead, except for one of them who was unable to do so. After she stood up, she began staggering. Fortunately, she was able to reach out to a nearby wall to keep herself from collapsing.

“Are you okay, Sakuraba-senpai?!” Koutarou exclaimed, quite concerned.

The one on the verge of collapsing was Harumi. She had been sitting right next to him, so Koutarou hurriedly reached out to her. But Harumi pushed against the wall and stood up straight before smiling at him.

“I’m okay. I just got dizzy from standing up so suddenly.”

“I see.”

Koutarou had been worried, but Harumi’s complexion wasn’t bad. Her smile was bright and her legs weren’t trembling. After giving her a quick lookover, Koutarou decided that she was okay and retracted the hand he had extended to her.

“Then let’s hurry, Senpai.”

“Right!”

Harumi was a little sad that Koutarou had pulled back his hand. She so desperately wanted to hold it, but she knew that this wasn’t the time for that. Instead, she stood firm on her own legs and ran out the conference room with the others.

As Koutarou and the others expanded their range of activity, they would have to move into space regardless of DKI. And they would need the spaceport to do so. That part wouldn’t change, even with the existence of instant transfer gates. While men and goods could be sent through the gate, there were still procedures that needed to be followed when entering a country. Moreover, as there was small margin of error with transfer gates, a vast space was required in order to move large quantities of personnel and material. And on top of that, there were plenty of maintenance jobs that were easier to perform by landing the spaceship rather than trying to perform them in space. For those reasons, there still needed to be something that served as a doorway between space and the planet’s surface.

While they weren’t strictly required, spaceports were essential for the management of spaceships. And when it came to military operations which required moving a great deal of cargo, vessels, and personnel, not having a spaceport really hurt. That was why it was also the Forthorthian military’s first move to seize control of the spaceport.

“Koutarou, the attempted assassination probably also served as a diversion to keep us away from the spaceport,” said Kiriha.

“So it was a layered plan, huh?” Koutarou remarked.

“If the assassination attempt on Her Majesty Elfaria and Theia-dono had succeeded, that would have been fine with them. But even with it failing, they could deny any involvement because of magic being used. Knowing that we would get caught up on that, it was also part of the distraction,” Kiriha continued to explain.

“They’re making full use of magic not being detectable by Forthorthe’s technology. We have to hurry up and do something about DKI,” said Koutarou.

He let out a heavy sigh as he stared at the hologram in their headquarters. The information displayed by the hologram updated every second, showing that a large enemy force was approaching the spaceport. If Kiriha was right, Vandarion and Granado were fully aware of what they could accomplish with magic and would attack accordingly. It was clear they had a fierce fight on the horizon.

“No, that might not be the case this time,” Kiriha offered.

For some reason, she seemed to be full of confidence. Despite looking at the same data, the two of them had completely opposite reactions. Kiriha was sure that they would be able to defend the spaceport.

“What do you mean?” Koutarou asked.

“Children like trying out their new toys. Even more so when they’re nice and shiny,” Kiriha explained.

With her excellent grasp on the way the human mind worked, Kiriha knew what kind of plan Vandarion and Granado would use to attack. As men, she knew the pitfall they were likely about to walk into.

Vandarion had sent ground forces to seize the spaceport. Since it was next to an urban area, attacking from space or the sky was impossible. They wanted the spaceport for themselves, so they would avoid damaging it as much possible. That was why they chose a frontal assault, deploying ground forces to occupy the facility.

“I can’t believe it... There really are enemy forces where Kiriha-sama said there would be,” Ruth remarked.

She watched the footage relayed from the reconnaissance craft with bated breath. It was indeed indicating an enemy presence. They had gathered behind a base quite some distance away from the main base. Ruth couldn’t hide her surprise. Kiriha’s insight had practically pinpointed their location.

“What is their precise location and size?” Kiriha asked.

“They’re three kilometers to our north-northwest, or southern B4 on this map. It is a single platoon, forty strong, moving through the forest,” Ruth reported.

She used the hologram to display the pertinent information as she talked. Forty markers indicating the troops were displayed on the topographical map. They were slowly navigating the terrain.

“Hmm, considering their location and size, they must be going with pattern A... No, it’s still to early to say,” Kiriha mused.

“But Kiriha-sama, why are there enemies out there?” Ruth asked.

Kiriha herself wasn’t all that surprised at the situation as she continued to turn it over in her head. But that wasn’t the case with Ruth. She had no idea how Kiriha had so easily deduced the enemy’s location.

“It’s because they have magical weapons,” Kiriha answered.

“Because they have... magical weapons?”

However, Kiriha’s answer only confused Ruth even more. It seemed like a giant logical leap to assume the movements of Vandarion’s forces just because they had magical weapons.

“That’s right. With a powerful trick up their sleeve, it’s natural they’d want to use it. They’re also on the verge of trapping us on Alaia. There’s no way they wouldn’t use them.”

“I see...”

Ruth now saw what Kiriha was getting at. Kiriha smiled at her and nodded.

“However, they can’t gather a large amount of magical weapons. That inevitably means the limited supply they have will be given to a special forces unit for use in a surprise attack. By giving the magical weapons to a special forces unit that has undergone intense training, they’re essentially creating a specialized elite task force. That’s who they’ll send to take over the spaceport,” Kiriha explained further.

“In that case, they would approach on foot to keep us from detecting them. But that means they have to carry their weapons with them. And they’re positioned behind the base because there are a limited number of routes they can take, right?” Ruth asked, making sure she understood.

“Indeed. That’s not all, but that’s the general idea,” Kiriha confirmed.

Kiriha had actually considered much more than just what Ruth had mentioned, including how many forces the enemy could deploy, the range at which her allies could detect space distortions, and the defensive capabilities of the spaceport. After synthesizing all that information and taking it into account, Kiriha had Ruth examine the most likely places the enemy forces might be.

“My...” Ruth remarked in amazement.

Ruth finally had a handle on Kiriha’s way of thinking, but that was a surprise in and of itself. Kiriha had read the mind of the enemy commander and seen through his plan. Although she made it sound like it wasn’t that big of a deal, Ruth knew better. She was left speechless at Kiriha’s brilliance.

“Your Highness, just who is the commander named Kiriha? Where did you have to go to find someone so wise?” Lord Pardomshiha asked. He felt the same way Ruth did. He was an experienced knight, but he had never met anyone like Kiriha.

Just like the inspection, Koutarou and the others were in charge, with Lord Pardomshiha overseeing the operation. That being said, there hadn’t been a single time that he had needed to intervene.

“As far as I know, she is one of a kind. A true genius. She’s from the same planet as Koutarou, and she’s the leader of an organization opposing me,” Theia answered.

“She’s an enemy?!” Lord Pardomshiha exclaimed. His eyes shot wide open. His surprise was so great that he accidentally pulled out a few strands of his beard that he had been fiddling with.

“Hahahaha! I know just how you feel,” Theia replied.

Theia put on a bright smile upon seeing Lord Pardomshiha’s reaction. He was always a calm and collected commander, so it was very rare to see him this shaken up. But at the same time, she understood that it was a perfectly natural reaction.

“In the past, I used to think I could beat her. But looking back on it now, that was foolish of me,” Theia continued.

“Pardon my rudeness... but I’m surprised you made it out okay, Your Highness,” Lord Pardomshiha said quite reservedly.

“Luck and timing were on my side. Because of her circumstances, she went easy on me. If she had been serious, I probably wouldn’t be here now.”

If Theia and Kiriha had fought one on one, Theia would have without a doubt come out victorious. But Kiriha would have avoided a direct conflict. If she had been serious, she would have taken down Theia without even letting her get a shot off.

The reason Kiriha hadn’t done so was because she feared that some of her allies, those who wished to invade the surface, would spiral out of control. That’s why she intentionally created a standoff and used it to her advantage. By using the time it bought her, she attempted to accomplish her goal peacefully. Her actions weren’t out of consideration for Theia and the others. Like Theia said, it was just timing and good luck.

“She’s been an ally for a long time, but... I suspect that I haven’t seen her true ability yet.”

“Really?”

“I’ve seen her command allies in small skirmishes, but those fights weren’t enough to put her full potential to the test.”

“Then do you suppose today might be the day?”

“Indeed. Those under Vandarion’s control will likely rue the day they crossed Kurano Kiriha.”

Theia gazed at Kiriha as she took command with a serious expression. Up until now, Kiriha had never been in a situation were she had to make full use of her genius. But in a confrontation between two armies, especially with her side at a disadvantage, she’d be forced to go all out. Theia was comforted by that thought, but also a little intimidated. Kiriha getting her time to shine would mean a lot of casualties in the enemy forces. In other words, citizens of Forthorthe were going to die. As a princess, it wasn’t exactly something Theia could celebrate.

Ruth sent several reconnaissance crafts to the area Kiriha had specified. As soon as one of them spotted the enemy’s ambush, the haniwas headed to the scene. And together with Ruth’s reconnaissance craft, they gathered intelligence on the enemy.

“We’ve detected the presence of a spiritual energy radar, ho! But it’s a rudimentary one, ho!”

“If you think you can find us with that, you’re mistaken, ho! Beginning emulation of aura pattern, ho!”

The small craft Ruth was using was built for reconnsaissance, but combined with the spiritual information that the haniwas were gathering, not even a covert special forces unit could hide from them. Everything they learned was relayed back to headquarters. But being as scrupulous as she was, Ruth wanted even more detailed information on the enemy.

“Kiriha-sama, can I bring the reconnaissance craft in a little closer?” she asked.

“No, I want you to wait a little longer. Our allies are almost on site,” Kiriha responded.

Kiriha understood what Ruth wanted, but she was being careful. The spells the enemy special forces were using were most likely focused on their weapons, but if they happened to have anything in the way of magical surveillance, Kiriha and the others would lose their edge if they were caught now. And in this situation, Kiriha valued stealth over recon.

“We’re almost there. About two more minutes I think.” As if answering Kiriha, Nana’s voice came over the comms system.

“It doesn’t seem like they’re using a wide area search spell. There should be a low chance of the reconnaissance craft and the haniwas being detected,” Maki added.

“But what do we do next, Kiriha-san? Do we get to launch an ambush on the ambush forces?” asked Shizuka.

The girls calling in over the comms system—Nana, Maki, and Shizuka—were the allies Kiriha had mentioned. The three of them were on their way to uncover details about the enemy’s magic that neither the reconnaissance craft nor the haniwas could. Moreover, they were each skilled at fighting several people at once, so they could handle themselves if things went south.

“I have a plan. But first, meet up with Karama and Korama,” Kiriha ordered.

“Understood,” Nana replied.

They kept their conversation brief. While they were using a spiritual energy communications device that would be hard for Vandarion’s side to detect, it was unwise to make too much noise so close to the enemy. Their next message over the device was exactly two minutes later, just as Nana had predicted.

“We’re in position. Maki is currently using detection magic to investigate mana reactions,” said Nana.

After meeting up with the haniwas, Nana and the others hid in the shadows while observing the ambush forces. They were already close enough to be seen with the naked eye, just on the other side of some underbrush.

“I can’t sense the presence of any enemies apart from what we can see, but there seem to be a lot of wild animals,” Shizuka observed.

Her senses told her that the only hostility nearby was coming from the enemy ambush. While the wild animals were on edge, there was no bloodlust. Because of that, the enemy forces stood out rather clearly in the forest.

“It’s being concealed, but I can detect mana in a dormant state. There are no spells actively being cast. It should be okay to get a little closer,” Maki said after analyzing the nearby mana signatures.

With Maki’s input, it was determined that the enemy wasn’t using magic to survey their surroundings. She had only picked up two kinds of spells: small scale spells in a dormant state, and spells to conceal them. There were forty of each type.

“Hmm, so just the simplest use of magic, huh? But that makes it more dangerous...” Kiriha commented as Shizuka and the magical girls reported to her. She folded her arms and began thinking.

According to Maki’s report, it made sense to assume that the weapons had spells cast on them, just like in the attempted assassination where training rounds had been enchanted. This time, the same spell was probably cast on live rounds to make them even more deadly. With the mana focused like that, the effect should be greatly improved. They couldn’t let their guard down around enemies like that.

“Then I’d like you to move as I say,” Kiriha began.

“Got it. What should we do?” Nana asked.

“First...”

Kiriha already had several plans in her head. She picked the one that best suited the current situation and explained it to Nana and the others.

The Forthorthian Imperial Army was usually controlled by the empress and parliament. However, with things as they were, the empress’s imperial authority had been revoked and the parliament was under Vandarion’s control. That meant Vandarion could essentially do with the Forthorthian Imperial Army as he pleased. If he had been able to direct all of his forces to the planet of Alaia, the Reborn Forthorthian Army—branded a rebel army by Vandarion—would be destroyed in an instant. The reason he didn’t do so was because of the influence of the public opinion.

At first, the public had been suspicious of Elfaria. They couldn’t shake the rumors of embezzlement and murder. Even if Elfaria claimed that she was innocent, they couldn’t just overlook accusations like that. Because of that, the favor of public opinion was divided between Elfaria and the military. But even then, the citizens who remained impartial and believed these matters should be settled by the law indirectly ended up supporting the military. In general, this meant that the public was accepting of the military’s claims.

But as Elfaria’s faction and military clashed and their conflicts were made public, the people started to change their minds on the matter. Elfaria’s faction was fighting in a way that avoided needless bloodshed and sacrifice, be it military or civilian. Meanwhile, the military forged ahead regardless of the costs. It came to a head when the military attempted to frame Elfaria’s faction for using a biological weapon. Fortunately, the incident was safely resolved, but it made it painfully clear to the public that the military was willing to sacrifice even their own soldiers in order to accomplish their goals. It showed their lack of respect for the law and human rights, giving credence to Elfaria’s claims that they had fabricated evidence against her. That seemed like child’s play after being willing to kill their own men and frame an innocent party for the crime.

Yet that wasn’t the only thing that had begun to sway public opinion. There was also Koutarou. To Forthorthe, a knight in blue armor had special meaning. The legendary Blue Knight was as strong as any hero from an action movie, and on top of that he was incredibly smart and very virtuous. With someone resembling him siding with Elfaria, the citizens couldn’t help imagining that perhaps the legend had been revived. It started to change the way they thought of Elfaria.

In the end, support for Elfaria had greatly increased. Those who were still undecided began worrying if a court under the military’s influence could truly give an impartial decision, and subsequently became more neutral in their standpoint. Their silence meant that the voices in support of Elfaria grew louder.

“It would have been easier if we had attacked the spaceport before public opinion began shifting,” said the enemy commander regrettably.

The commander sent by the army to seize control of the spaceport now stood in front of a temporary headquarters made up of a tent pitched beside a large command vehicle. He stared at the spaceport from a distance with a stern expression on his face. He was concerned about what had become the Imperial Army’s weak point—public support of Elfaria.

With the people beginning to side with the empress, the military was unable to mobilize most of its forces against her. They feared retaliatory rebellion from the citizens. Currently Elfaria’s faction, now known as the Reborn Forthorthian Army, was establishing resistance throughout Forthorthe’s solar system. The Imperial Army was also seeing defectors, so their forces were dwindling daily.

While Elfaria’s small band of knights was unable to put up much of a fight, the support they were now receiving from the citizens combined with the resistance was reaching the potential boiling point of national rioting. As a riot of that scale would be major trouble, the military used most of its forces to maintain public order. In truth, the forces they had sent to take the spaceport were insufficient for the job. If the attack had taken place just a week earlier, things would have been different. They could have sent enough men to settle things just by sieging the place and demanding surrender. But they lacked the manpower to do that now. Now they had to rely on picking a fight with the Reborn Forthorthian Army. They would most likely still win, but at the cost of major casualties. It was that prospect that painted the grim expression on their commander’s face as he considered their fate.

“Lord Galbauda, there’s no need to worry. Our special forces, the Wolf’s Fangs, will do something,” his adjutant assured him.

“One can only hope,” the commander responded gruffly.

Their commander was Wonthor Gius Galbauda. The Galbauda family was only a recently established family of knights, but their exceptional loyalty made them stand out. With his father’s early retirement, the commander was relatively young in his late thirties, but he had inherited the title, honors, and merits of his ancestors before him. The young Lord Galbauda was chosen for the position of commander for exactly that reason. The military feared entire forces defecting to the Reborn Forthorthian Army, so it sought leaders like Lord Galbauda. Regardless of the circumstances, the military was still in the right legally, meaning that there was almost no chance that someone as loyal to his cause as Lord Galbauda would betray the Imperial Army.

“But if the Fangs fail, this will become an all-out war. There will be a lot of casualties, win or lose.”

“Lord Galbauda...”

Lord Galbauda dreaded the potentially devastating loss of life ahead of them. All of these men were Forthorthians. This was turning out to be war between brothers, and he saw that that fault lay with the military. He wasn’t foolish enough not to see that, and even now that they were divided into friend and foe, he still loved the locals. He took no relish in the fact that the fighting today would only give way to more needless loss. But if he was going to break the law and side with the Reborn Forthorthian Army, he would need considerable grounds for it. However, a military organization moving on emotion was extremely dangerous. He understood that too, meaning his hands were tied. His suffering at the hands of such a situation ran deep.

“The Fangs were strong to begin with, and now they even have those new weapons. I’m sure things will be settled quickly.”

“...Yes, I shall put my faith in that. I can’t let my weakness spread to my subordinates.”

The top brass had instructed Lord Galbauda to use the special forces for a surprise attack. It was an extremely bold plan, using the main forces as a decoy. By deploying them and drawing the enemy in, the special forces armed with new weapons would launch a blitz attack on the spaceport and seize control of the facility. As this would keep the casualties at a minimum, Lord Galbauda had readily agreed to it. What they wanted and what he wanted happened to overlap, so he had no reason to refuse.

I just wish I could say that justice is with us... Regardless of if we win or lose, the road ahead will be long and painful for Forthorthe.

Lord Galbauda looked back at the spaceport. If he succeeded, then Forthorthe would likely be abused by the military. If he failed, then all of Forthorthe would turn into a battlefield. Which was really better for the country? Right now, he honestly wasn’t sure.

“Lord Galbauda!”

That was when the radio operator came running up to Lord Galbauda and his adjutant. Lord Galbauda lightly shook his head as if to chase away his worries and turned to look at the soldier.

“What is it?”

“We’ve gotten a report from the Wolf’s Fangs! They’ve reached the entry point and are awaiting instructions.”

“Good. Tell them to go in five minutes. After that, they’re to follow the plan.”

“Understood!”

There was no time to hesitate. The die had already been cast. Now he needed to pour all of his energy into the success of the plan. If he didn’t, the price would be paid in Forthorthian lives. As Lord Galbauda changed gears, he headed to the temporary headquarters to take charge of the battle. He considered himself a knight. And once he had decided to fight, he wouldn’t turn back.

Two minutes after receiving contact from the special forces unit, the Imperial Army under Lord Galbauda’s command began their march forward. Their forces consisted of two battalions, well over a thousand men strong. They were well equipped, including plenty of assault vehicles and lots of support. They had nothing to fear from the few hundred Reborn Forthorthian Army soldiers holed up in the spaceport. Moreover, their special forces would launch a surprise attack three minutes later. There wasn’t even a one in a million chance that they would lose, but Lord Galbauda stayed alert. His opponent was a lady of one of the royal families. And not just any of them. The Mastir family had gone undefeated for over two thousand years. He was well aware that dropping his guard for even a moment could prove fatal.

The majority of the two battalions under Lord Galbauda’s command were infantrymen, but there were also several mobile weapons, tanks, and other assault vehicles as well. It was their job to buy time until the special forces unit launched their ambush, but there were two major points to consider.

“I repeat: do not cause any damage to the surrounding urban area! The warheads of guided weapons are to be directed explosives only! And when using live rounds or energy weapons, make sure you double and triple check before firing!” Lord Galbauda ordered his men.

The first point was their proximity to the city. The spaceport was a hub for the planet’s citizens, serving as a gateway that connected this planet’s city to the cities of other planets. As a result, the urban area sprawled out from all sides of the spaceport. In Forthorthe, damaging such inhabited areas was taboo. Bombardments were forbidden, and utmost caution was to be taken to prevent stray fire. If the explosions from missiles were too big, they would reach the urban area as well. Even great care was to be used when using guided or homing weapons.

“And avoid damaging the main building, runway, and parking facilities of the spaceport as much as possible. Especially the main building where the special forces will be entering. Don’t end up killing our men in the heat of battle!”

The second point was to avoid damaging the spaceport itself. This wasn’t like a war with an enemy country. The spaceport was important to both sides. Ideally, it would still be usable after the battle. In order to avoid negatively influencing the economic situation of the region, they were to avoid damage to the runway and the main building, which included the central control room. Weaponry had been carefully selected for the attack and a firm order had been given to focus on the enemy’s defensive positions and their adjoining military base. Moreover, with the special forces unit about to enter the fray, attacks on the main building had to be avoided.

“We may be at the disadvantage of being the attackers, but we have superior numbers. Prepare yourselves for an even fight!” Lord Galbauda rallied his men.

Summarizing what was important, their attacks were to be restricted to designated targets. There were several other minor concerns, but that was all that really mattered now as they were about to enter the fray.

“Once you have the shot, open fire!”

Lord Galbauda gave permission to engage the enemy at a distance. A lot of enemy soldiers were stationed on the spaceport grounds and adjoining military base, but the distance between them wasn’t constant. In order to eliminate enemies as they got in range, it was necessary to give the order now. The spaceport displayed on the hologram in the temporary headquarters gradually grew larger, signaling their approach.

“We’ve received a new IFF signal! We’ve also confirmed the appearance of a combat flag! It’s gold... A flower! It’s Princess Theiamillis!”

However, the moment after Lord Galbauda gave the order to attack, the atmosphere in the temporary headquarters froze over. A huge combat flag had appeared in the blue sky. The crest drawn using lasers was of a golden flower. Everyone born in Forthorthe knew what that meant. It made them all realize that they were pointing their weapons at one of the royal families.

“Your Highness... So you really did choose to show yourself at an important time like this...” Lord Galbauda muttered to himself.

The Imperial forces stared up in awe at the flag raised over the spaceport. They were all in shock, and Lord Galbauda himself was no exception. Granted, he had already prepared himself for this possibility, so his surprise was nothing compared to that of the rest of his men.

“In the end, the road ahead is paved with blood, huh?”

Lord Galbauda was the first to snap out of his stupor. He grabbed the nearby microphone and shouted loudly to his troops. He had to do everything in his power to prevent a loss of morale.

“Don’t falter now, men! Even if our opponent is Princess Theiamillis, our objective is the same! Moreover, Her Highness’s imperial authority has currently been revoked! You may attack without fear!”

“Raaaaaaaaaa!” his men responded in a rallying cry.

Lord Galbauda’s decisive leadership helped them quickly rebound from their shock. At their commander’s words, they tried to shake themselves free from the fear of fighting and the guilt of pointing their weapons at royalty.

The drop in morale is a problem, but this could be our chance!

Lord Galbauda tried to cheer himself up. Depending on how he looked at it, Theia’s presence wasn’t strictly a bad thing. If his troops were able to capture her, the entire war would come to a swift end. That might be the most desirable outcome of all. But his train of thought was quickly interrupted when the unthinkable happened.

“I’m reading signs of the enemy attacking! It’s a laser bombardment!”

“At this distance?! Their lasers should be out of the effective range, shouldn’t they?” Lord Galbauda’s eyes shot wide open upon hearing that report.

In Forthorthe, laser technology was developed enough that it was quite practical in combat, both offensively and defensively. Because of that, missiles and other guided weapons needed to be fired at relatively close range to their target or else they’d just be intercepted by anti-aircraft lasers. While live rounds didn’t have that problem, they were far less accurate when trying to hit a moving target from a distance. That meant that, typically, the first move in battle was to use energy weapons such as laser and beam cannons, but both of those lost a great deal of their power due to diffusion when fired over long distances. Enough diffusion would mean energy weapons could be blocked by distortion fields, so while a target might be inside the firing range of a laser or beam cannon, that didn’t necessarily mean it was within the effective range. And as Lord Galbauda and his men were currently outside of the effective range of the lasers at the military base adjoining the spaceport, it would be a pointless attack by all conceivable measures.

“There’s no mistaking it! Several bombardments are coming in a few seconds!”

“Is the enemy commander an idiot?! No, that can’t be it! Princess Theiamillis herself has come out! There must be something else going on! Everyone, brace yourselves!” Lord Galbauda ordered.

There was a clear difference between the squads that quickly followed Lord Galbauda’s instructions and those that didn’t. The squads that hadn’t been able to swiftly scatter particles in order to diffuse the energy weapons fired at them suffered the full blow of the incoming laser cannons. Their barriers were destroyed one after another.

“Impossible!” Lord Galbauda gasped.

“The hit distortion field generators have been overloaded and are now unusable! They’re defenseless, sir!”

“What is the meaning of this?! Are you saying that they have a battleship-caliber laser over there?!” Lord Galbauda demanded in exasperated disbelief.

Considering the size of the military base connected to the spaceport, it was unthinkable for it to have a laser cannon capable of going through barriers at this range. This unexpected nightmare caused Lord Galbauda considerable grief.

Lord Galbauda’s way of thinking wasn’t wrong. The spaceport and adjoining military base were indeed without a laser cannon that could be used from such a distance. They only had several normal laser cannons for defense, but the problem wasn’t with the weapons themselves. It was the people using them.

“Bombardment complete. Twenty-two distortion field generators have been destroyed. There were no casualties.” Ruth looked up from the operator’s control panel and reported the results as if it was nothing.

Aside from mobile weapons and assault vehicles, infantrymen also used squad-sized barriers to protect themselves in groups. That meant that while Lord Galbauda had almost a hundred of them, twenty-two had now been rendered useless. And that wasn’t a loss to be sneezed at. In fact, after watching Ruth’s performance, Lord Pardomshiha’s jaw was currently on the floor.

“Although you’re my daughter, I didn’t think you were suited for battle... but it looks like I was mistaken...” He was just barely able to squeeze out those words in his astonishment.

Clan, standing nearby, called out to him with a smile. “It only means that Pardom― No. Ruth has a talent for a particular type of fighting, even if it’s not what’s expected of a traditional knight.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised,” Ruth’s father managed.

“That girl is a genius. Even I’m surprised,” Clan added.

She looked over at Ruth, who was still hard at work in the operator’s chair. Her talent was indispensable for the next attack as well.

“I thought that word was reserved for likes of Kiriha-dono and you, Princess Clan,” Lord Pardomshiha said.

He knew about his daughter’s situation, but he was somewhat skeptical of Clan’s choice of words. Not only that, but as a father, part of him wanted his little girl to stay dependent in her own way.

“It’s true that Ruth is no inventor, but she has the ability to use what’s already before her better than anyone else. That is her true talent. She’s a genius of coordination and management,” Clan explained.

“...Of coordination and management?” Lord Pardomshiha asked.

“She can follow a recipe and finish a dish faster than anyone else, right? I’ve also never seen her make a mistake when it comes to managing schedules or luggage.”

“That has nothing to do with―”

“It does. The only thing that’s different here is that she’s managing laser cannons instead. She coordinated the scheduling of multiple laser cannons in order to have them hit their target at the same time. That’s what this is.”

What Ruth had done was create a mass attack using multiple lasers. It was the same technique Elexis had used, but Ruth had done more than just copy him. She had developed the technique further and used her own style to execute it.

Instead of having all the lasers fire simultaneously, she had them firing alternately, accounting for the cooldown time. It allowed her to keep them firing on a constant rotation, maintaining a higher rate of fire and more power in each round of shots. By doing that, a barrier designed for ground combat didn’t stand a chance. The infantrymen who’d been attacked had no idea, but that was what had caused their barrier generators to overload.

“You make it sound easy...” Lord Pardomshiha said, still in awe at Clan’s explanation.

“It wouldn’t be for me. But with her, it’s a different story,” she continued.

What Ruth had accomplished was no mean feat. It was difficult just getting laser cannons with different specifications to fire at the same time. Moreover, due to their positioning, each cannon was at a slightly different distance from the target. Getting them to hit at the exact same time would require a specially-designed program, not to mention the time it would take to implement it. The terrifying attack was really something that only Ruth could have pulled off.

“While something might be possible theoretically, her talent is in making things a reality. Be proud, Lord Pardomshiha. Your daughter’s prowess in modern warfare is unparalleled,” Clan said.

“I am not worthy...”

Ruth might not have been all that strong as a knight, but in large-scale combat, she had power that far surpassed that of a single knight. Gathering, managing, and effectively using goods, talented personnel, and information was the type of power they needed most in their current situation.

“That said, I can’t just let your daughter hog the spotlight. It’s almost my turn,” Clan said.

“My best regards, Princess Clan,” Lord Pardomshiha wished her well.

“I told you not to call me that right now.”

“P-Pardon me...”

“Heh heh... You just watch what your daughter and I can do.”

While Ruth was already setting the pace, the battle had only just begun. Clan smiled at Lord Pardomshiha as she took her own chair. It was the seat designated for the science officer. After adjusting her glasses, she reached her hands out to the operating panel in front of her.

With over twenty distortion field generators out of use, Lord Galbauda hurriedly reorganized his forces. He moved the squads with functioning generators to the front, and ordered the squads without them to take up positions in the rear. Within each squad, the assault vehicles took the lead with the infantrymen behind them. Mobile weapons made use of their maneuverability to guard against any threats from the surrounding area. It was a proper, efficient response to the attack they had just suffered.

“Squads that still have a distortion field only need to concentrate on defending! Those who don’t only need to concentrate on attacking!”

Lord Galbauda wasn’t the type to blindly stand back up into open fire after being shot down. By reorganizing his forces, he wasn’t just planning on protecting the squads that had lost their defenses. He also intended to maintain their attack power. If he tried to combine squads that still had distortion fields with those that didn’t, it would effectively cut their remaining defensive capabilities in half. By avoiding that, he was also allowing the troops who had no defenses of their own to focus solely on attacking. In short, Lord Galbauda was keeping their losses to a minimum. And it paid off. Despite the blow, they suffered next to no casualties after the attack.

“Lord Galbauda, we’re almost in firing range for energy weapons!” the operator informed him.

“My orders remain the same! Begin attacking when in range!”

Vrrrrr...

The turrets installed on the assault vehicles and mobile weapons began turning, pointing their barrels towards the spaceport. Their targets were the weapons installed as defenses for the spaceport and military base. If those laser cannons and missile launchers weren’t destroyed, they’d be in for pain. Right now, they were high-priority targets.

While Forthorthian weaponry was similar in look to that of Earth’s, they had AIs for locking on to targets and firing autonomously, meaning that their accuracy was extremely high. Moreover, with the large-caliber guns on the tanks and the missiles on the mobile weapons, battles on Forthorthe tended to end quicker than those on Earth. The defensive weaponry installed by the spaceport and military base should be destroyed in only a few short moments.

“Lord Galbauda, it’s almost time for the Wolf’s Fangs to launch their attack!” Lord Galbauda’s adjutant announced.

“Don’t hold back on bullets or energy! This will be over in a few minutes!” Lord Galbauda rallied.

While there had been some trouble, Lord Galbauda’s main forces launched their attack right before the Wolf’s Fangs’, just as planned. And based on their current formation, his main forces would begin by striking the left flank. As such, Lord Galbauda’s eyes naturally turned to the forces deployed on the left side as shown in the hologram back at his makeshift base.

“The main forces are beginning their attack!” his adjutant kept him informed of their movements.

“I’m counting on you! This is the crucial moment!” Lord Galbauda cried to his troops through the microphone.

In order to keep casualties to a minimum, the most preferable outcome would be that the defensive weaponry was destroyed and that the Wolf’s Fangs seized control of the headquarters. That’s why Lord Galbauda believed that the next thirty seconds would play a pivotal role in shaping this battle. He looked on at his subordinates beginning their attack. He seemed to be praying. But that was when the unthinkable happened yet again. The next thing Lord Galbauda heard was the screaming voices of the captains from the left flank of his main forces.

“HQ, this is the First Mobile Group! All energy weapons under our control have missed their targets!”

“Second Mobile Group reporting! All of our bombardments passed over the spaceport as well!”

“What?!” Lord Galbauda cried.

Following the inconceivably long-range laser bombardment, all of their weapons had now missed their targets. What’s more, it wasn’t just the left flank. It was happening all throughout both battalions.

“All forces cease fire! Take defensive positions as you retreat!” he commanded.

If they couldn’t hit their attacks, they would just be sitting ducks if they continued to advance. Right now his top priority had changed to falling back to keep his men safe.

“What is the meaning of this? Just what happened?!” his adjutant asked, bewildered.

“Don’t just stand there, adjutant! Figure it out!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Something is intercepting the attacks! Calm down and find the root cause!”

If Lord Galbauda had been your average leader, he and his troops would have fallen into disarray by now. But despite his young age, he was a brilliant knight. His composure and his fighting spirit were still running strong. Having a good understanding of what the enemy was capable of and knowing that his surprise attack forces were about to spring their offensive helped him keep his peace of mind.

“As expected of the Mastir family that has gone undefeated for two thousand years. They would never let us win that easily...”

With a severe expression on his face, Lord Galbauda glared at the top of the main tower of the spaceport currently displayed in the hologram. There, a massive flag decorated with a golden crest was waving in the wind. It was the combat flag that identified the legitimate successor of the Mastir family, Theiamillis Gre Forthorthe. According to all surviving records, there was not a single account of the Mastir family’s defeat in the last two thousand years. And Lord Galbauda was learning that the hard way.

The aim of all the weapons in Lord Galbauda’s two battalions had deviated, as he suspected, because of the Reborn Forthorthian Army.

“It looks like it’s having just the effect we were hoping for. As expected, Pardomshiha.”

“No, this is all thanks to you undoing their security. Well done, Clan-sama.”

The deviation in the Imperial Army’s aim was the work of Clan and Ruth. Forthorthian weapons had an AI that adjusted the aim based on information gathered from its surroundings. As a result, by manipulating the information it gathered, the aim could be altered accordingly. What Clan and Ruth had done was launch an attack that confused the weapons’ location information.

Regardless of how advanced the technology was, the most important piece of information when firing was the relative position of the shooter to the target. Since the enemy was attacking the base as a group, information was exchanged between them in the form of a map identifying the locations of the stationary targets. All that was left to do was for the individual soldiers to determine their own positions, and then attacks could be launched without ever even seeing the target.

Forthorthe had technology similar to a GPS, meaning it was possible to calculate exact locations based on gravitational waves from multiple space satellites. What Clan and Ruth had targeted were those gravitational waves. By disrupting those signals, all information derived from them would be faulty, and the weapons that relied on that information would subsequently be unusable.

However, accomplishing that was far from easy. It was next to impossible to get each satellite overhead to send fake signals. And as Forthorthe’s version of the GPS was under military management, the control center was in Vandarion’s hands. What made the difference was Clan, who shouldn’t have been there, and the technology she brought with her. Using her cloaked spaceship in Alaia’s orbit, she secretly connected to one of the GPS satellites. She used that connection to infiltrate the main control system and hacked into all of the satellites above the spaceport.

Ruth took over from there. She adjusted all of the GPS signals, making it so the actual spaceport was slightly below the position the signals were indicating. The enemy weapon AIs that picked up those signals then adjusted their aim upwards accordingly. Considering the distance to the target, that slight change in altitude greatly affected the trajectory of their attacks, sending their bullets and missiles into the sky. It was a highly advanced strategy only made possible by Clan and Ruth.

“Clan-dono, Ruth, well done. But we can’t rejoice just yet. The enemy will catch on soon enough. We’ll need to make our next move quickly,” Kiriha reminded them.

The strategy, of course, was none other than Kiriha’s brainchild. She also knew that the disturbance they had caused wouldn’t last for long. The enemy could always attack manually without relying on the AI, and they could also use homing missiles that targeted heat signals or electromagnetic waves. The GPS strategy was only meant to block their first round of attacks and confuse them. But Kiriha wasn’t done yet. This was still only the beginning of her grand plan.

Lord Galbauda’s forces retreated while investigating the reason for the deviation in their aim. At first, they were clueless. All systems were working normally, and no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t identify any outside interference. The reason was only determined thanks to a sniper. As his sniper rifle was set to prioritize optical observation, he noticed a discrepancy between the distance his scope was indicating and what the computer he was wearing was reporting. After checking it over multiple times, he reported it to his superior officer who then reported it directly to Lord Galbauda.

“No wonder we couldn’t find any abnormalities. To think they infiltrated the GPS... It looks like they’re more capable than I thought,” Lord Galbauda said in response to the report.

“All units have disconnected from the positioning system. They’re changing settings to prioritize optical observations with laser measurements as a backup,” his adjutant informed him.

“While the suddenness of it all was surprising, now that we know the trick, it’s not impossible to overcome. We can’t afford to let the Wolf’s Fangs be isolated. Continue the attack!”

After solving the puzzle, Lord Galbauda ordered all troops to advance again. The special forces should have already made their way into the spaceport, so if the main forces relented in their assault now, the whole plan would fail.

“Lord Galbauda, we have a report from the Wolf’s Fangs. They have successfully infiltrated the spaceport. They are now approaching the main building!”

“Good timing! Just keep the enemy’s attention on us!”

The Imperial Army that had begun marching forward took aim at the defensive weaponry once more. As they would be firing manually this time, their accuracy would be somewhat lower, but at least there was no need to worry about being tricked again.

“Several hits confirmed! But it seems we were unable to punch through their distortion field, sir!”

“That’s fine! We have firepower on our side. As long as we continue to advance, we will break through eventually!”

This time, many of the attacks had connected. However, due to the distance, they lacked the force to break through the barrier. But Lord Galbauda was still satisfied with the result. This was normal at the start of a battle, and their true intention was merely to act as a diversion anyway.

“Reporting in! The IFF signal and combat flag are on the move! The princess appears to have sortied!”

“So she’s made her move! It seems like Her Highness is as intense as ever!” Lord Galbauda remarked.

The seventh princess, Theiamillis, was widely known to the people of Forthorthe for her combat prowess. Given a gun, she’d never miss. She’d even beaten her mentor in fighter jet simulation battles. Her pride and quick temper lent themselves to her favored position in combat. She was always the vanguard, both in simulations and real combat, and she’d earned quite a name for herself that way. She splendidly embodied the strong royalty that the citizens desired, but when made an enemy, she was a powerful foe. Lord Galbauda knew that, and was quick to make his next move.

“Send all mobile weapons to intercept the princess! Don’t let Her Highness move freely!”

“But Lord Galbauda, our opponent is―”

“I know that! But if we don’t, our men will be the ones to pay the price!”

“I understand, sir. Then should we not send some counter-air defense as well?”

“I’ll leave that to you! But this a battle against time! Make it quick!”

“Yes, sir!”

What Theia brought to the battle was a highly mobile and heavily armed armored suit. It could have been called a wearable fighter jet. Moreover, she wasn’t the only one who had sortied. She had several mobile weapons following her lead. To the Imperial Army that had mostly ground forces, Theia and her mobile weapons attacking from the sky were a very serious threat. If they hesitated to react because their opponent was royalty, the tables would turn irreversibly against them. That’s why Lord Galbauda immediately ordered that Theia be intercepted. He had prepared himself for what would come afterward.

Standard mobile weapons in Forthorthe were like a mix between a fighter jet and a tank, with a very similar role. Normally, they accompanied infantry squads like tanks, protecting them while attacking enemies with large-caliber guns. And if enemies appeared in the skies, they would fly up and fight like jets. They were weapons with a high degree of flexibility, capable of responding to most situations. That’s why they were very problematic in the hands of enemy forces. However, despite many mobile weapons coming her way, Theia remained confident as she led the Reborn Forthorthian Army into battle.

“Did you think you could defeat me with these numbers? How amusing! Just give it a try!”

A fearless smile surfaced on Theia’s face as she commanded her firing system to release its safeties and pointed the large-caliber guns above each shoulder of her combat suit at the incoming mobile weapons. All of her opponents were unmanned crafts, and Theia had great faith in her personal motto: "Victory to the attacker." She didn’t hesitate to make the first move.

Boom!

As Theia would be using them while flying, the artillery of her suit was designed to be recoilless. But even so, the shock from firing the weapons couldn’t be fully mitigated. As the two large-caliber guns fired, Theia’s small body was shaken up.

“That’s three to start with!”

However, the shock didn’t even seem to bother her. In fact, she almost seemed comforted by it as she acquired her next targets. And yet again, she pulled the trigger without a second thought.

“Wahaha! This is what happens when you rely on machines!”

Boom!

“That makes five!”

Her first volley destroyed three, and her second downed another two. The Imperial Army’s mobile weapons were getting blown to pieces, yet they weren’t returning fire. This was because they couldn’t make use of their GPSs.

In aerial combat, one’s own movement affected the trajectory of bullets, so position, speed, direction, and acceleration were even more important than ground combat. And because the mobile weapons couldn’t make use of that positional information, their range was shorter than usual. They could calculate the relative distance to their target using optical observation and radar, but that alone made hitting from longer distance difficult.

In contrast, Theia’s range was unaffected. Clan had written a program that corrected the slight error for her allies. And considering the caliber of Theia’s guns, she could destroy barriers and mobile weapons at full range. It made it a rather one-sided fight.

“Use your brains before you attack! Is the enemy commander just for show?!”

Theia voiced her dissatisfaction, taking down mobile weapon after mobile weapon. Right now, she felt like she was taking part in some low-level training exercise.

“Oh?”

As if having heard Theia’s complaints, the mobile weapons’ movements changed. Instead of approaching separately, they flew in close formation so that even if the lead units were shot down, the following ones could still get to her. They also began laying down suppressing fire to make it difficult for Theia to move. Unlike before, they were now moving with clear intentions.

“That’s more like it! You can do it if you try!” Theia happily cheered, now satisfied that the enemy was performing better.

In contrary response to Theia’s celebration, two dead serious voices came through the comms system.

“Your Highness, you are too far ahead. It’s giving your poor vassals gray hair...” Lord Pardomshiha pleaded.

“Your Highness, I can understand not wanting to let your citizens fight, but you can’t win a war on your own,” Ruth gently admonished her.

Both of them had sensed danger as Theia fought on her own and couldn’t stay quiet on the matter.

“I know, I know. But don’t attack me as a father-daughter team!”

Theia had been fighting alone because deep down inside, she didn’t want her people involved in this war. Because of that, she had instinctively raced ahead to take down as many enemies as she could. But in reality, even Theia would be defeated if she let herself get surrounded. If that happened, Vandarion’s victory would be all but assured. In order to avoid that worst case scenario, she had to rely on the Reborn Forthorthian Army soldiers. Looking at the bigger picture, it was really what was best for the citizens.

“Forgive me. Lend me your strength, everyone.”

After taking down the nearby enemies, Theia stopped her charge and regrouped with her allies trying to catch up with her. Her team consisted of manned mobile weapons and small fighters controlled by Ruth, for a total of twenty units. In terms of numbers, the Imperial Army had more, but Theia’s side was the only one with working automated aim, so they had the upper hand.

“Men, follow me! We’re destroying the enemy mobile weapons!”

“Yeaaah!” the soldiers rallied behind her.

As expected, with their princess leading them, their morale was high. The pilots following Theia cheered for her, moving in synch with her to fight by her side. With this, Theia would surely be safe. Ruth and Lord Pardomshiha were finally able to relax a little.

The battle between the mobile weapons under Lord Galbauda’s control and Theia’s crew was proceeding in Theia’s favor. But Lord Galbauda was fine with that. His goal was to keep Theia and her men stuck in one place and keep them from engaging the ground forces. Even if all of their mobile weapons were shot down, the Wolf’s Fangs would have finished their mission by that point.

“Now all that’s left is for the ground forces to push forward and get the troops garrisoned at the spaceport to turn all of their attention to us. If we can do that, we win,” Lord Galbauda said, sighing as he stared at the hologram displaying the progress of the battle. He still couldn’t let his guard down, but his victory was starting to come into sight.

“I wasn’t sure what would happen for a moment there...” his adjutant sighed too.

“Looks like we might make it by the skin of our teeth.”

The ground forces under Lord Galbauda’s command repeatedly fired as they marched forward. They were gradually closing in and their attacks were now able to pierce through the barriers and destroy the defensive weaponry behind them. The enemy predictably counterattacked, but the Imperial Army was harder to hit since they were on the move. The result was that the ground forces sustained relatively few casualties. Lord Galbauda believed that at this rate, the enemy wouldn’t have the reserves left to deal with special forces that were infiltrating them. But unfortunately, the unthinkable would rear its head once more.

“Lord Galbauda, look over there! Th-The spaceport is...!”

“Impossible! The spaceport disappeared?!”

This time, it seemed that the spaceport that the ground forces were trying to attack had completely vanished. Where the facility had been just moments ago was now nothing but deserted land. It was as if it was sand castle that had been blown away in the wind.

“What is the meaning of this? How did this happen?!” Lord Galbauda demanded.

“I don’t know! There were no reactions on any of our sensors! It just suddenly disappeared!” the adjutant claimed.

“What the hell is this?! We didn’t come to watch some magic show!”

An impossibly long-range laser bombardment, an anomaly with the GPS, the appearance of a princess... The unexpected had happened again and again, but nothing had surprised Lord Galbauda this much. Not even he could keep calm this time.

Kiriha’s strategy was simple and clear. She would make the enemy lose sight of the spaceport. In order to do that, she needed to make sure they couldn’t use their GPS. By doing that, the enemy would have to rely on their eyes as they advanced. Throwing off the enemy’s aim was not the ultimate goal. It was just a means to an end. By disrupting their GPS just before launching their offensive, they would assume that it was intended to interfere with the attack. That was Kiriha’s trap. Her true goal was to keep the enemy from knowing where they were, but doing just that would reveal her plan. So by executing her plan when the enemy was about to attack, she was able to hide her true goal.

Once that was done, the rest was easy. The original spaceport was hidden with a combination of magic and Clan’s technology, then a new one was created using illusions. And after the enemy abandoned their GPS signals, the illusion was slowly moved to change the route the Imperial Army marched. What was important during that phase was to have unmanned weapons accompany the illusion. That way, it would appear to counterattack as if it was manned, which would conceal that fact that it was a fake. Once the route of the marching enemies had been detoured enough, the unmanned weapons were evacuated and the illusion was dispelled. By doing that, the Imperial Army would come to a standstill facing a direction the spaceport wasn’t in. Just like wanderers chasing after a mirage in the desert.

If they gathered footage from the satellites to create a map to compare against, the trick would have been easily discovered. Alternatively, they could compare the scenery in front of them with the geographical data they had. However, the shock of having something disappear before their very eyes overtook Lord Galbauda and his men. They weren’t thinking clearly now. They couldn’t imagine that they had been led to the wrong place. That mental trap was the true essence of Kiriha’s strategy.

Lord Galbauda hurriedly ran out of the makeshift headquarters and looked towards the ground forces. There was indeed no spaceport in front of them. He was at a loss and just stood there, staring into the distance. As a result, he ended up wasting valuable time.

“...Are you the commander for the force attacking the spaceport?”

As Lord Galbauda stood rooted in place, someone called out to him. Knowing an ally would never address him in such a fashion, he snapped back to his senses. He instinctively placed his hand on the sword hanging at his waist as he spun around to see who had approached him.

“Who are you?!”

“The leader of the Satomi Knights, Satomi Koutarou.”

“That blue armor... You must be...!”

Standing before him was Koutarou, the rumored knight in blue armor. Just looking at Koutarou, Lord Galbauda realized he had fallen for some kind of ploy that the Reborn Forthorthian Army had put into action.

“I don’t know who exactly you think I am, but there’s no mistaking that I’m part of the Reborn Forthorthian Army.”

“Then... there could only be one reason you’re here. While my men are in a panic, you’ve come to attack the main base. Even though we were planning a surprise attack, we ended up the ones being taken by surprise.”

The strange occurrences, Theia’s appearance, and the disappearance of the spaceport... All of it was meant to keep them distracted, allowing Koutarou to easily move in on the Imperial Army’s base with a troop of soldiers. An enemy knight had infiltrated the base, but there were no soldiers in pursuit or attacking him. This made it clear that the guards of the base had already been defeated. As a result, Koutarou and the others had done to Lord Galbauda exactly what he had planned to do to them.

“I’ve come to recommend that you surrender. There’s no reason to fight anymore. All of our weapons are pointed at your forces who are standing still over there,” Koutarou explained calmly.

“Before I make a decision, there’s something I want to confirm,” said Lord Galbauda.

“Go ahead.”

“What happened to our ambush troops? They were supposed to have infiltrated the spaceport already.”

The situation Lord Galbauda was in was rather grim. However, depending on what had happened to the special forces team, there was yet hope.

“They never infiltrated the spaceport.”

“They didn’t?! That’s not possible! We received a report saying that they did!”

“The captain probably thought they had, but we used mag― I mean, hypnosis to make him believe that.”

After finding the ambush forces, Maki cast a spell on their captain while Shizuka and Nana defeated the remaining troops. As Maki specialized in spells that controlled senses and memories, it wasn’t that difficult to make the captain believe that the mission was proceeding as planned.

“...Which means that we lost the moment that happened, I suppose.”

If his special forces team had reported that they had failed, Lord Galbauda would have undoubtedly defaulted to a different plan. And so the moment that Koutarou and the others made sure that didn’t happen, Lord Galbauda and his forces began marching down the road to defeat. They now had lost sight of the spaceport and found themselves in the crosshairs of their enemies. There was no longer any chance of victory. They had walked right into the Reborn Forthorthian Army’s trap. Lord Galbauda had no choice but to admit defeat.

“However, we are proud knights and soldiers. We will continue to fight until the bitter end,” Lord Galbauda said.

“Stop it. You should already know the outcome. You’ll be wiped out!”

“I know that. And so, as I knight, I ask of you... Take my life and spare the honor and lives of my soldiers!”

As the Galbauda family had only a short history, if they became known for the young Lord Galbauda surrendering to the enemy without a fight, it would tarnish the family name. That said, even if they fought, his forces would be wiped out. It was a bleak future for the Galbauda family either way. The only way to prevent that was for Lord Galbauda to die in battle. Such a noble deed would protect the family name and hopefully spare his men. It was the best way to keep the casualties at a minimum.

“My name is Wonthor Gius Galbauda! My knighthood might just be a pebble on the side of the road, but I will protect my honor and my people until the end!” Lord Galbauda shouted as he unsheathed his sword and rushed Koutarou.

Of course, he didn’t actually think he could win. He had seen the news and heard of Koutarou’s abilities. Still, he had no choice now. Being cut down and slain by him was the only way he could save his men. It would be his last knightly deed.

“Splendid resolve, Lord Galbauda!”

Koutarou unsheathed Signaltin and faced Lord Galbauda. Lord Galbauda might have been a man of exceptional character, but the same could not be said for his swordsmanship. Koutarou could cut him down with a single swing.

Shink!

However, Koutarou chose not to do so. With a quick swing, he knocked Lord Galbauda’s sword out of his hands, then returned Signaltin to its sheath as if nothing had happened. But Lord Galbauda couldn’t accept that outcome.

Now disarmed, Lord Galbauda fell to his knees and raised his voice. “Why don’t you kill me?! This will be the end of us!”

Lord Galbauda and his men were trapped between a rock and a hard place. Annihilated if they fought and court-martialed if they retreated, ruin appeared to await them no matter which way they turned. And with the only way out denied to him, Lord Galbauda grew emotional.

“I’m confused. Why don’t you understand?” Koutarou asked.

“What?!” Lord Galbauda shouted.

“Just who are you? Is it so impossible to imagine that someone might want to protect you the same way you want to protect your men?”

But those words from Koutarou were enough to silence Lord Galbauda’s burning emotions. He had a hunch about just who that “someone” might be.

“Are you saying... that this is what the empress and the princess wish?”

“That’s right. Our leader does not wish for citizens to kill each other.”

“H-How could this be...?”

Lord Galbauda felt like someone had poured cold water over him. He couldn’t hide his surprise that the empress and princess would worry for the lives of enemy soldiers even now. However, it was true that the Reborn Forthorthian Army had chosen to use diversions and specialized attacks rather than full-on assaults for a reason. It was to prove a point. What Koutarou was saying made sense.

“Neither do they,” Koutarou reiterated.

“They?” Lord Galbauda asked.

“Look over there, Lord Galbauda.”

“Impossible! Why are the soldiers retreating?!”

Surprisingly enough, the forces that had been marching on the spaceport had turned around and were now headed back towards the makeshift headquarters. At first glance it looked like a retreat, but that wasn’t quite the case.

“Protect Lord Galbauda!”

“Don’t let the enemy kill him!”

“Press onward! Don’t stop running even if your legs break!”

Somehow, Koutarou and Lord Galbauda’s had been broadcast to the surrounding areas. The soldiers that had lost sight of the spaceport had come to their senses upon hearing it. They immediately turned on their heels and made for headquarters. It was not a retreat. They were running to protect Lord Galbauda.

The soldiers had completely believed they would be annihilated. They had prepared themselves for the worst when they lost sight of the spaceport. All that was left to decide was how it would happen. Would they fire their weapons at random in panic, run away, or would they rush to the aid of Lord Galbauda who was in danger? The soldiers chose Lord Galbauda without hesitation.

“The ones you seek to protect also seek to protect you. Rather than fighting the enemy or protecting themselves, they chose to save their commander. You.”

The soldiers all knew that their mad rush back to headquarters was mostly in vain. Their chances of actually saving Lord Galbauda were low. But if the outcome was the same either way, they were determined to try. They ran to save their kind commander—their friend and ally. The soldiers chose to die for a cause.

“So let me ask you, Lord Galbauda, will you choose to die here in spite of that?”

Lord Galbauda couldn’t answer right away. There were too many emotions swirling inside of him for him to form words to express them.

“Please just hang on a little longer, Lord Galbauda!”

“We’re coming to save you!”

However, as the soldiers’ voices kept coming through the comms and their figures slowly closed in, he made up his mind.

“Blue Knight-dono, my men and I surrender to the Reborn Forthorthian Army. Please make preparations to accept us.”

Lord Galbauda decided to surrender. If he had chosen death, he knew his soldiers would fight to the death to avenge him. They had no chance against attacks from an enemy they couldn’t even see. That had to be avoided at all costs.

“Understood... Everyone! We, the Reborn Forthorthian Army, accept the Imperial Army commander Lord Galbauda’s surrender. This battle is to stop immediately. I repeat, we, the Reborn Forthorthian Army...”

Koutarou used the communication system to let both sides know of Lord Galbauda’s decision. With that, the soldiers under his command finally surrendered. When they laid down their arms, Lord Galbauda let out a mighty sigh of relief and his expression finally eased up.

“I’m grateful for all of your consideration, Blue Knight-dono.”

“I’m not the one you should be thanking.”

Koutarou’s expression relaxed too as he smiled at Lord Galbauda. The battle had ended and the declaration of the outcome was concluded. The face of a strong knight was no longer required. Replacing it was a smile more appropriate for a boy his age.

“You have excellent vassals, Lord Galbauda.”

“They are my pride. No matter what happens from this point on, I will never forget what they have done this day.”

And so Lord Galbauda was defeated. However, there was not so much as a hint of regret on his face as he watched his soldiers surrender. Like he had said, he was happy with their final decision. But he was just as happy that they were safe. The battle would likely go down in history as a crushing defeat, but Lord Galbauda knew that he and his vassals hadn’t lost anything. That’s why he was going to welcome his soldiers back with his head held high.