Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 38 - Chapter 3

Pursuit

Tuesday, August 23rd

The Sanae of this world had been turning over a simple question. Her two selves, Sanae-chan and Sanae-san, inhabited the same body, but it was hard to say that they were exactly the same person. Neither one wanted to become the other, so at times, Sanae-chan and Sanae-san would appear simultaneously. However, that wasn’t the case for Sanae-nee. There was only ever one of her.

“So I wanted to know what happened to your Sanae-san,” Sanae-chan said nonchalantly one day while leaning over the tea table.

Floating above her, Sanae-san chided, “You can’t just ask that unprompted, Sanae-chan! When you’re talking to people other than me, you have to explain yourself!”

“Um, it’s always just you, Onee-chan, so I wanted to know what happened to your other self.”

“We needed to power up, so we completely merged together,” she answered readily.

“Wait! We can power up by merging together?!” Sanae-chan squealed.

“Yeah. You’re basically duplicating for the two of you, right? If there’s only one, you’re a lot faster and stronger,” she explained.

In order to harness the full power of her abundant spiritual energy, the Sanae from another world had merged her two selves together. Her adult appearance wasn’t just because of the difference in age—she’d matured in more ways than one. The Sanae of this world, meanwhile, was constantly projecting and using her spiritual abilities to maintain two souls. It was a taxing feat that tapped her power. If she merged her selves too, she could also harness her full, uninhibited potential.

If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t’ve been strong enough to come to this world...

Sanae-nee had resolved to merge in order to cross the barrier between universes. Even with her exceptional power, it was hard to get through because she had to break down her body and soul in the process. It would’ve been possible for her to do it unmerged with the assistance of spiritual energy technology, but there hadn’t been time to set that up. She’d needed a lot of spiritual power, and fast. She wanted to keep both versions of herself, but the sacrifice had been necessary.

“Hey, let’s merge, Sanae-san!”

“You can’t make decisions like that so lightly, Sanae-chan! You just want to do it because powering up sounds fun, right?”

“Heck yeah!”

“If we fully merge, we won’t be able to undo it. You have to consider it carefully.”

“What? We couldn’t go back?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Then I’m not doing it.”

Sanae’s eager excitement deflated once she realized the merge would be permanent. She didn’t want to get stronger badly enough to lose Sanae-san.

“I think that’s for the best,” Sanae-nee acknowledged with a smile.

If she’d had a choice, there would still be two of her too. Even if they were ultimately the same person, she’d always enjoyed spending her days talking to her other self. She forced a smile to hide her loneliness. That was when...

“Well, look at you... You went from one to three. It’s like something out of a manga.”

Koutarou reached out and patted Sanae-nee on the head. The gesture surprised her as much as his words.

From one to three?

The idea struck her, especially since she’d been telling herself she was alone all this time.

“All right, let’s connect Onee-chan too!”

“Stop! You can’t do that without permission!”

“It’s fine. We can just cut it if she doesn’t like it. So... take this!”

The Sanaes of this world were constantly connected by a spiritual cable that they used to share information and energy. Without warning, Sanae-chan extended the cable and plugged it into Sanae-nee too. Since they were the same person, the connection went smoothly and a vast amount of information and energy began circulating between the three Sanaes. They used it to communicate with their psychic powers.

“Hiya again, Onee-chan!”

“I’m sorry for Sanae-chan’s rudeness...”

“It’s fine. Thank you, both of you.”

Suddenly, Sanae-nee discovered that she’d regained what she thought she’d lost—twofold to boot. It was a happy occasion, yet tears began to stream from her eyes. Since the other two Sanaes understood, however, they said nothing.

“...Huh? What’s wrong, Kiriha?”

Instead, Sanae-chan called out to Kiriha. She’d picked up on information that was flowing to her from the older, more perceptive Sanae-nee.

“Nothing. I was just... thinking.” Kiriha smiled like it was no big deal, but she couldn’t fool the three Sanaes.

“Koutarou, Kiriha’s in code red! We need immediate rescue and support!”

“I get what you’re saying, but I don’t get how I’m supposed to rescue and support her.”

“Stay by her side and listen to what she has to say.”

“You should’ve just said that from the start.”

Though puzzled by her delivery, Koutarou understood what Sanae meant. Kiriha was the type to always keep things to herself.

“So, what are you hiding, Kiriha-san?” he asked.

“I’m not hiding anything,” Kiriha replied, casting her eyes downward.

It was an unusual gesture for her, which indicated that something serious was weighing on her mind. In light of this, Koutarou decided to do something unusual himself.

“Spit it out! Nothing good comes of hiding things from me!”

He grabbed her head with both hands and started smooshing her cheeks with his palms. The bewildered Kiriha’s beautiful face was distorted this way and that. When Koutarou saw it, he was reminded of her as a child and couldn’t help smiling nostalgically. Seeing his wistful grin was the finishing blow on Kiriha, who finally relented and opened up.

“Our pursuit is flagging,” she began. “We may not find the enemy before the summer vacation ends.”

She was worried about the lack of leads on Ralgwin. She was working under the assumption that he and Grevanas had joined forces, so she’d been concentrating her search efforts on logistics. She was hoping to find them by monitoring the flow of supplies.

“That’s what you were talking about before, right?” Koutarou asked.

“That’s right. Spiritual energy tech, magic, and Forthorthian science all require specialty goods. I figured that we would be able to track them down that way... but I’m afraid the search won’t yield results before the term starts.”

The specialty goods required for each technology weren’t in common circulation. For example, a spiritual energy condenser used crystals and wouldn’t function without them. Magic and Forthorthian tech had comparable requirements, and there was only one person who’d be amassing all three at the same time—Ralgwin. Kiriha’s intention was to find him by tracking the movement of the relevant goods.

“I was hoping to end this before school started back up, but that’s starting to seem less and less likely,” she lamented.

There was almost no doubt that Ralgwin would attack the welcoming ceremony. Striking a location with both Earthlings and Forthorthians would divide public opinion, making it easy to destabilize diplomatic relations. It would be even more effective to dress up the attackers as Earthlings, as during the attack on Nalfa. Koutarou and the others wanted to stop that before it could happen.

“It’s not your fault if we can’t find them, Kiriha-san,” Koutarou assured her.

“Just a few days’ delay could make a big difference in casualties. It’s not something I can take lightly.”

As Kiriha had demonstrated, pursuing the enemy was their best course of action. The problem was the timetable. With spiritual energy, magic, and science at hand, finding Ralgwin wouldn’t be too hard—just time consuming. And every day counted now. That was why Kiriha had turned her attention to logistics, but she was being thwarted at every turn. It felt like one step forward and two steps back. At this rate, she was certain they wouldn’t find Ralgwin before the ceremony.

“You girls are the ones who told me not to shoulder everything on my own, so why are you doing it now?” Koutarou asked, continuing to smoosh Kiriha’s cheeks.

Without her, they wouldn’t be able to track things like this in the first place, so Koutarou wasn’t concerned about how long it was taking. It wouldn’t have been faster with anyone else in charge. If anything, the delay fell on Theia as the head of the diplomatic mission’s security, or Koutarou as the commander-in-chief. There was no reason for Kiriha to feel solely responsible.

“I have my own reasons for not wanting to push the responsibility on you,” she said.

“Who said anything about pushing responsibility on people? It’s not like we’re the terrorists here,” he replied.

“I know that... but accepting it isn’t so simple.”

Terrorists who struck fear into the hearts of innocent civilians were to blame for their own aggression. Kiriha understood that. But with lives on the line, she couldn’t help feeling responsible for what was to come. Her heart was too big for that.

“I’m not really sure how to say this, so I’m just going to spit it out knowing that you might misunderstand... but I’m glad that you’re so worked up about it, Kiriha-san.”

Koutarou didn’t enjoy the fact that Kiriha was upset, nor did he want anyone to get hurt. But still, he was glad that Kiriha was a gentle girl who worried so much about other people. Her kindness had helped him through a lot.

“Koutarou...”

Fortunately, Kiriha understood exactly what he meant. She felt the same way about him, and she was glad to know the feeling was mutual. It lifted some of the weight from her shoulders.

“Then please support me if I get depressed again,” she said happily.

Having someone to believe in, someone who would stay at her side at all times, was a huge boon. No matter what great obstacles awaited, it would give her the courage to keep going.

“You bet I will. That’s just how it goes—both ways.”

“Attaboy, Koutarou! Spoken like a true samurai!” Sanae cheered in high spirits. Lately Koutarou had started showing more consideration for the girls’ feelings, and the warm atmosphere it generated made her quite comfortable since she could read other people’s emotions.

“Very well,” said Kiriha. “I’ll make the necessary preparations.”

“What preparations, Kiriha-san?” Koutarou asked.

“I’ll just be changing into a bolder pair of underwear.”

“W-Wait, what?! What’s that got to do with supporting you?!”

“Oh, it’s directly related.”

Kiriha was already composed enough to be making jokes again. Being serious and kind were good qualities, but worrying so much she lost all composure would only worsen the situation. Koutarou had helped Kiriha when she was troubled, yet now he was the troubled one.

“Ane-san, emergency report from Investigation Team 40, ho!”

“They’ve discovered that a store specializing in magic materials has been selling to Ralgwin, ho!”

The ones that helped Koutarou out by tossing him a lifeline were the haniwas, who came into the room with breaking news. This was no time for jokes now. They finally had a lead on Ralgwin.

“Excellent job! You have my thanks! Really!”

“Too bad. I won’t get to use my new underwear yet.”

Kiriha sounded disappointed, but there was no sign of it on her face. She was happy they’d found a lead before the start of the term. They should be able to safeguard the welcome ceremony now.

Monitoring the flow of specialty goods sounded like a simple task, but in reality, keeping track of the items and all related information was a complex undertaking—especially for three different types of goods. If a particular item couldn’t be located, sometimes following its trail was enough. If all leads went cold in a particular region, for example, that would suggest that the towns in the area warranted a thorough search. From there, it was possible to determine where exactly the goods in question were “disappearing.”

As far as tracking down the production of scientific weapons was concerned, the key goods to monitor were the rare base metals employed by Forthorthian technology, like platinum. Following those metals should eventually lead the group to Ralgwin, but unfortunately, his purchases didn’t particularly stand out in a sea of similar transactions. Rare metals were in high demand for use in Earthling technology as well, after all. So, in order to narrow things down, the group checked rare metal sales against purchases of the other key components too.

For spiritual energy technology, that key component was a type of crystal used in spiritual condensers. Condensers were a fundamental part of spiritual energy technology. They took in spiritual energy from their surroundings to power weapons and tools. Without them, only people with excess spiritual energy like Sanae could utilize the technology. It was hard to imagine that Ralgwin had several powerful psychics working for him, so he’d likely be in the market for spiritual condensers and the crystals to make them.

As for magic, the key items to track would be ritual components. The most common means of creating magical weapons was ritual magic, and mass production required far more mana than any single magician could muster. Ritual magic allowed a spellcaster to supplement their energy with special items. Ralgwin was almost certainly in the market for those as well to manufacture magical weapons of his own.

So by tracking all three types of materials together, the group had finally gotten a lead on Ralgwin’s whereabouts. The decisive factor was ritual components. Folsaria was a relatively small nation with only a handful of shops that dealt in said components, as they were strictly regulated. Thanks to that, the group had been monitoring the black market, where they’d been able to trace sales back to Ralgwin. But while the ritual components were what had broken the case, the group had only had their eyes in the right place thanks to the other investigative teams narrowing down the list of locations to look. It was truly a feat of cooperation.

“So, where is he?” Koutarou as he looked around the tea table.

Everyone was gathered there—Koutarou himself and all nine girls, plus Nana and Nefilforan. It was like an unofficial meeting between Forthorthe, Folsaria and the People of the Earth. And everyone understood that the situation called for it.

“A mountain near Kisshouharukaze High School, of all places,” Kiriha answered while pointing to a map on the wall.

Clan brought up some supplementary data provided by the Japanese government alongside it. “It seems he’s using an old bomb shelter,” she added.

“If it’s an abandoned government facility, then it’s no wonder no one saw them coming and going. They were right under our noses the entire time,” Shizuka remarked with a nod.

As a landlord, she frequently participated in civic meetings around town. Old shelters were a topic of discussion from time to time, like when an area needed to be surveyed again after someone stumbled across one. In most cases, the shelters were long abandoned and difficult to find because records of them had been lost after the war. They were prime locations to convert into secret bases.

Shizuka continued with an especially serious expression, “We’ll need to be wary of anyone who may have tipped Ralgwin off about the location. Or maybe he’s just that cautious...”

Since the old shelters were hard to locate even for the residents of the city, it seemed unlikely Ralgwin had found one by accident. He either had an informant in the area, or he’d simply been that thorough in investigating and preparing a new base of operations. Shizuka feared the former. Intentional or not, one of her acquaintances might be feeding the enemy information.

“I agree. We can’t rule out a surface dweller working with him, even if it’s against their will. We’ll have to factor that into our assault,” Kiriha said with a nod.

Said cooperator could be used as a hostage and put in danger. There was no guarantee that would happen, but it was a grim possibility they needed to keep in the backs of their minds.

“So we’ll be going on the offensive?” Harumi asked quietly, picking up on the implied meaning of Kiriha’s last words. She preferred not to fight but understood that it was necessary at times. Silent determination filled her eyes.

“Indeed,” Kiriha answered her. “We cannot sit by and wait for them to finish preparations. Moreover, the ceremony is swiftly approaching.”

Kiriha was every bit the pacifist Harumi was, so her call for battle was a particularly weighty one. It was dangerous to attack without enough intel, but the outcome if they waited might be far worse. That was why she felt the need to attack in spite of the danger.

“I think it’s for the best too. He’s not sitting around waiting for us either,” Sanae-nee agreed with a solemn expression. She, however, was most concerned about one particular threat—the Gray Knight. After losing her friends, she knew all too well how dangerous he was.

“Then we’ll blitz them after breaking through a single point,” Maki concluded as she scanned the shelter blueprints.

Unlike last time, they now knew that Ralgwin was capable of supernatural retreat. They wouldn’t have the leisure of trying to siege his base. They’d need to attack and take control of the situation before Ralgwin and his men had a chance to flee.

“Let’s attack from the front or through the lookout post in the back. Factoring in possible formations, the front would be the better choice...” offered Nefilforan as she scanned the blueprints herself.

As far as strategy was concerned, there wasn’t much leeway to consider potential casualties. Since they needed a rapid victory, they’d be forced into a frontal assault regardless of the risks involved. Nana, however, had a plan.

“Commander, why don’t Maki-san and I pretend to attack from the front?” she asked.

The enemy would be most vigilant about an attack from the front. So if Nana and Maki approached with an illusionary army, the enemy base should rally to defend itself. If the rest of the group struck the rear of the base when that happened, they should be able to claim a swift victory with minimal casualties.

“That’s our magician for you. It is a solid plan.” Nefilforan felt Nana had the right idea, but the call wasn’t hers to make alone. She thus turned to Kiriha. “What do you think?”

“I am largely in agreement,” Kiriha replied politely. Though they were both princesses, she couldn’t speak to Nefilforan as casually as she did Theia.

“By which you mean there’s room for improvement?” Nefilforan asked.

“Attacking from behind will limit the forces we can deploy, so let’s have the excess troops attack the front after a delay.”

“So we pretend the frontal assault is a diversion while we’re actually setting up to attack from both sides?”

“Yes. That should settle things quickly, and considering the possibility of hostages being used against us, I don’t want to divide our forces too unevenly.”

Kiriha’s plan followed Maki’s up until the point of entry. Since the back entrance was narrower than the front, it would create a bottleneck in the assault. It was nowhere near large enough to allow them to deploy all of their forces at once, so Kiriha believed it would be better to divide the troops between the entrances and have them work in tandem. It would be an effective attack, and it would be easier to spread out and search for abducted engineers and magicians that way.

“I see. That sounds good, then.”

Nefilforan was impressed. Neither her plan nor Nana’s had factored in hostages. Kiriha’s plan did while also focusing on a balanced distribution of manpower. Nefilforan was quite ready to move forward with it.

“Does anyone have any other opinions?” Koutarou asked.

The room was silent. Everyone believed in Kiriha’s plan.

“May I suggest something?” Harumi asked, raising her hand to share her input. “I’d like to be stationed in the back while Yurika-san is stationed at the front. The rear will need on-demand power, and the front line will need it sustained over time.”

She was carefully considering the position of their magicians, which she believed would play a key role in the fight ahead. Given that Grevanas might be working with Ralgwin, Harumi wanted to ensure each arm of their pincer assault was armed against him. Her idea was to take the rear with Koutarou, while Yurika and Maki took the front.

Just who is this Harumi girl? She can calmly analyze the situation in the face of great threats, and not only that, but she can also freely control Signaltin. It’s hard to believe she’s merely a normal civilian...

Nefilforan had no objection to Harumi’s suggestion. She was simply building off of Kiriha’s plan. Still, Nefilforan found it odd. Sakuraba Harumi was almost too good to be true. She stood by the Blue Knight’s side, yet she was by no means inferior to him. She was almost like the Silver Princess as a commoner.

Hmph... I’m thinking of this like it’s a fairy tale. She is an ally of Lord Veltlion’s, after all. It’s only natural for them to be of like minds.

Their closeness bred a certain degree of similarity between them. Moreover, they both influenced one another. Nefilforan told herself they were just birds of a feather.

The most important element of the attack would be a stealthy approach, meaning the group couldn’t march a whole army on Ralgwin’s new base. Nefilforan’s unit was twenty-five hundred men strong, but they’d only be able to bring about an eighth of that—two companies of 160 troops apiece. Anything more would increase their chances of being discovered.

Moreover, there was the matter of how many soldiers could fit through the base’s narrow rear entrance. No good would come from needlessly cramming more men into a choke point. Out of the 320 troops Nefilforan was bringing, only two platoons—or about eighty men—would handle the rear assault from the lookout post. These eighty men were elite soldiers with plenty of experience raiding bases, ships, and space stations. Nefilforan was personally overseeing them, and their list of previous victories together was long. With Nana on their side now too, they were even more powerful than ever.

“Commander, we’re in position. As are the following units,” Nana reported in hologram form. She’d been sent to join Nefilforan a few months ago. She was the cutest soldier in the unit, but she was firmly established as adjutant.

“I see. Then we’ll begin on schedule,” Nefilforan replied with a nod.

Raids like this were old hat to the princess. She felt the usual anxiousness she did before any mission, but she wasn’t hesitating. Countermeasures for spiritual energy and magic were in place, so all she needed to do was proceed like normal.

“Man, I’m impressed Theia’s been able to contain herself for this long,” Koutarou remarked with a smile as he listened to Nana and Nefilforan from afar. He knew it was important not to get in the way right now.

Incidentally, Nana was with Theia’s assault team at the front of the base. Theia was trigger-happy by nature, so she generally had little patience for the minutiae of strategic plans like this one. Koutarou was sure she was champing at the bit at the moment.

“I’m sure Ruth-san and the others are doing a good job holding her back,” Harumi said with a slight smile.

Koutarou, Harumi, Sanae-nee, and Shizuka were the Corona House representatives on the rear entrance team. They’d been chosen for their high concentration of firepower.

“I bet the me over there is pretty irritated too,” Sanae-nee threw in.

“And what about you?” Shizuka asked.

“Jeez, I’ve matured, you know.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Koutarou and the girls had also been on plenty of similar missions, so while they weren’t letting their guard down, they weren’t particularly nervous either. At worst, Shizuka felt a little uneasy. She didn’t like stealth plans either.

“Oh?” Sanae-nee piped up, the smile suddenly vanishing from her face.

“What is it, Sanae?” Koutarou asked.

“Something’s wrong. I can’t tell what from this distance, but it’s gotten oddly noisy in there.”

Sanae was sensing something from inside the base. Between the distance and the spiritual energy tech shielding it, she couldn’t exactly tell what the people inside were feeling... but it seemed like there was panic.

“Koutarou, can you tell the me on the front door team—”

“Master!” Ruth cut in over the comms in a near scream. “We’ve gotten an emergency report from the fleet in orbit! They’re under attack by an unknown fleet!”

“What?!”

That was dire news indeed, but it wasn’t the end of the alarming updates.

“They’ve disappeared, Koutarou!” shouted Sanae-nee. “The people inside are gone!”

“Veltlion, I’ve detected a medium-scale space quake! A large batch of both people and supplies from the base and the lookout post have been moved!” reported Clan over the comms.

Just as Koutarou and company were about to launch their assault, their allied fleet in orbit was attacked. And at virtually the same time, people and resources from the base they were about to strike were removed. Even Koutarou could put together what that meant.

“They’re after our fleet! They want to destroy it to strand us here while they return to Forthorthe!”

He and the girls had been convinced that Ralgwin would stick to terrorizing the surface, and their expectations were now being used against them. Ralgwin’s true goal was immobilizing the Forthorthian fleet around the planet.

There weren’t many spacecraft in orbit around Earth. There were two royal-class battleships, Clan’s Hazy Moon and Nefilforan’s Hidden Leaves. There was also a fleet of three battleships carrying Forthorthe’s delegation. One had been modified for pure transport and wasn’t outfitted for combat, so the other two battleships served as its escort. That meant there were four ships in total capable of putting up a fight. That was far more than Ralgwin could handle with his limited resources while stranded on Earth. Even if he tried to break through them and escape, he’d be doggedly pursued. He was essentially trapped.

At least, that had been the situation until now. But since unraveling the mystery of the Blue Knight’s powers, Ralgwin felt the tables had turned. He now believed he could launch a surprise attack on the four Forthorthian ships and emerge from the skirmish victorious. In order for it to work, however, he’d have to use his newest base as a decoy.

“Since we are returning to Forthorthe first, you won’t need much in the way of spiritual or magical weapons. With my assistance, you can just easily make them on another planet. Still, to use an entire base as a decoy... Your mind works in frightening ways, Ralgwin-dono,” said Grevanas.

The mummified wizard stood on the bridge of Ralgwin’s spaceship in a sharp clash of aesthetics. Grevanas, however, was unfazed by the futuristic craft. With his vast mind, he’d already come to understand space and spaceships.

“The base will serve no purpose once we return to Forthorthe anyway, so it’s better to get some use out of it. Besides, we were nearly boxed in for good. In a short while, the transfer students from Forthorthe will arrive along with a new fleet of ships to guard them,” Ralgwin replied.

The original Forthorthian delegation to Earth had been quite small in order to avoid provoking the Earthlings. If a dozen ships had suddenly appeared in orbit, it would have been considered an invasion. Forthorthe couldn’t send more than a handful of ships until friendly relations were established, and that time had come. A large influx of transfer students with security to match were on their way.

“And then an ambush on your part would be impossible. I see... Even if you stayed on Earth to destabilize the situation with Forthorthe, you would eventually find yourself trapped here permanently, and that would spell the end of things for you. You’ve chosen this strategy with eye on the long game,” Grevanas mused.

If Ralgwin stayed on Earth as more and more Forthorthian ships arrived, he would never be able to escape the planet on his own. He would perhaps stand a chance of slipping under the Forthorthians’ radar with the help of Grevanas and the Gray Knight, but it would be under far more precarious circumstances than any escape now. Ralgwin was simply playing his cards wisely. Remnants of Vandarion’s faction were camped out in corners of the Forthorthian galaxy, and there were a few other anti-imperial groups as well. He could meet up with them and reorganize before returning to make his next move on Earth. Its relationship with Forthorthe wouldn’t solidify overnight.

“If you’d been around two thousand years ago, Grevanas and Maxfern might have won,” the Gray Knight remarked.

“Hearing that from you doesn’t make me happy in the slightest,” Ralgwin replied.

“I suppose not.”

Even the Gray Knight was impressed by Ralgwin’s exquisite leadership. While his political prowess and knowledge were no match for Maxfern’s or Grevanas’s, his ability to grasp the bigger picture and act accordingly far surpassed theirs. Even outfitted with modern knowledge and equipment, neither Maxfern nor Grevanas would have been able to make it out with the forces Ralgwin had kept intact. The same could be said for the Gray Knight and the resurrected Grevanas. Without Ralgwin, escaping from Earth would be dangerous indeed.

“But this is all I can do,” he said. “Given the difference in troops, not even an ambush will give us the edge we need to win. I’ll be counting on the two of you.”

Ralgwin had held a single battleship and destroyer in reserve all this time, but they were no match for a royal-class ship. He’d been wary of engaging the Hazy Moon even before the Hidden Leaves’ arrival. He feared the difference in power, and now that he understood the true extent of the Blue Knight’s abilities, he knew those fears were well founded. In order to emerge victorious here, Ralgwin would need both the spiritual energy tech he’d gain on Earth and the magical power of the resurrected grand magician.

“This could prove a good opportunity for me as well. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to cooperate,” said the Gray Knight.

“Indeed. I wouldn’t want to owe yet another favor,” agreed Grevanas.

“You two can be a little too candid...” sighed Ralgwin.

Both the Gray Knight and Grevanas were ready for a fight. They had their own ambitions that required Ralgwin’s victory at this stage. In other words, they needed him to win. So even if it was for selfish reasons, they’d be lending him their help.

Ralgwin only had a small fleet, so he refrained from using devices that interfered with teleportation. That kind of technology didn’t exist on Earth, so using it would be like announcing his presence. Thanks to that, Koutarou and the others had managed to reach the Forthorthian fleet in orbit. If they’d taken any longer, however, they could have been in danger. Such jamming would inevitably be employed once the battle began in earnest.

“Her Highness is entering the bridge!” the vice captain announced.

“You can skip the formalities and get to reporting!” Clan ordered.

Koutarou and the girls were currently aboard the Hazy Moon. Clan made a beeline for the captain’s chair and took a seat. An older man standing beside it, her vice captain, gave her a report in a fluster.

“The enemy launched an attack with high-speed stealth missiles which were barely intercepted, but we’ve yet to locate their ships!”

In the past, Clan hadn’t kept a crew on the Hazy Moon, but it was now fully staffed. It was a necessity under the circumstances, though it was also a sign of how she’d come to open up and trust people.

“That’s how we were able to get here in one piece! Don’t fixate on the bad news, and for goodness’ sake, calm down!”

“P-Pardon me, Your Highness.”

Clan was acting like the captain she was revered as aboard her ship, including keeping an eye out for the subordinates around her. Right now, there wasn’t a shadow of the immature girl she’d been when she first came to Earth.

With a gleeful smile, Sanae-nee stepped in front of Koutarou as he was looking over at Clan. “I bet you don’t know what to do with yourself now that she’s not as much of a handful to deal with,” she teased.

“I guess.”

“Oh? So you admit it?”

“There’s no point in hiding stuff like that from you, and now’s not the time. So, how are things looking?”

“Fair. Now... I can feel the presence of people, but I’m not sure where it’s coming from. I think he’s getting in the way.”

Reading Koutarou’s emotions was just a bonus of sorts; Sanae-nee was actually monitoring all of their surroundings with her spirit sight. Unfortunately, however, she’d yet to locate Ralgwin and his forces. They were eluding her by some means. But in spite of that, Sanae-chan remained confident.

“Don’t worry! We’ll find them lickety-split!”

“That’s a bold declaration, Sanae-chan... Are you sure you can do that?” Sanae-san fretted. She had a hard time believing they could do anything that Sanae-nee couldn’t.

“We can do it by combining our powers with the haniwas!”

“Behold the power of combining, ho!”

“That does sound strong, ho!”

“Really? I think you’re being a little too optimistic here, Sanae-chan...”

“You’re just being too negative!”

“Then lend me some of your courage and confidence.”

“Nuh-uh.”

While they were joking around, the three Sanaes and the two haniwas gathered around and began searching for the enemy together.

“Let’s do this, men! Let’s show them our power!” Sanae-chan cheered.

“...But there’s not a single man among us,” Sanae-san pointed out.

“Oh, hey. I’ve never thought about it, but are the haniwas boys or girls?” Sanae-nee asked.

“We’re haniwas, so it’s not really decided, ho! We’re just us, ho!”

“If we had to say, we’re whatever’s convenient for us at the time, ho!”

The three Sanaes stood to form a triangle with the two haniwas spinning in the center. The Sanaes were acting as a radar while the haniwas were analyzing and organizing the information channeled, like an adapter for the Hazy Moon. Their performance far surpassed that of any conventional spiritual energy sensor.

“Where could they be?” Sanae-chan murmured. “Are they hiding?”

“But where? If they fired missiles at us, they can’t be that far...” said Sanae-san.

The enemy had to be within the limited firing range of their missiles, but even then, the three Sanaes were unable to find anything. There was practically nothing with spiritual energy in space, meaning there was nowhere to hide from them. Something was fishy.

“We should still be able to sense them when they attack... There!” Sanae-nee called out.

“Hostile battleship approaching. Autumn Water, full speed ahead!” the vice captain ordered.

“They’re coming from below, ho!”

Not long after the Sanaes began their search, two enemy ships suddenly appeared.

The Forthorthians’ largely unarmed transport ship, Autumn Water, was positioned with Nefilforan’s Hidden Leaves in front of it and Clan’s Hazy Moon behind it. Flanking it on either side were the other two battleships. They’d adopted this defensive formation because Autumn Water was currently holding more than military personnel, including diplomats and civilian representatives. They hadn’t all had time to evacuate, so protecting Autumn Water was a priority...

And now the enemy had appeared beneath it, which was something of a weak point. Weapons usually positioned to the fore of a ship and propulsion to the aft, meaning the stern was generally less defended than the bow. An approach from dead astern was easy to detect, however, so it was standard practice to close in on an enemy ship at a diagonal. But in this case, the enemy was coming from directly below.

“I’ll intercept!” Theia shouted. “What scoundrels, launching such a nasty attack!”

Shipborne fighters existed precisely to thwart such attacks. They were far smaller than the battleships that carried them, making them more maneuverable in service of defending the ship’s blind spots. Theia swiftly sortied in one such fighter.

“Please be careful! I’ll send unmanned crafts to protect you!” Ruth called.

She’d normally be quick to stop the reckless princess, but not this time. Theia’s judgment was on the money, as Kiriha was about to explain.

“Attention all ships! With Earth behind the enemy, restrict your fire to guided missiles only!” she reported over the comms from Hidden Leaves. It would be the key ship of this battle, so she was there to consult with Nefilforan and serve as tactician.

Good job, Kiriha...

At the same time, Kiriha was fulfilling her promise to Sanae-nee. She’d sworn to make sure they were in different places when in danger, and this was likely the first of many such occasions it would be necessary.

“Restricting our methods of attack this way... What a scary guy,” Koutarou groaned when he heard Kiriha’s report.

Under the circumstances, they wouldn’t be able to use their main cannons. They were too powerful and too risky to use with Earth so close. And if they dialed their power back to a safer level, they wouldn’t be able to damage the enemy ships. Ralgwin was playing dirty trick after dirty trick to get the upper hand in spite of being outnumbered. He’d used his own base as a diversion in order to set up the ideal conditions for a battle in space, where Koutarou and the girls were now forced to fight with Earth as collateral. This battle was vastly different from the war against Maxfern and Grevanas thousands of years ago, but it was fundamentally the same on a sinister level. Ralgwin was jeopardizing innocent people to achieve his goals. That much was the same.

“Something’s strange, Satomi-kun,” Maki remarked, tilting her head as she watched Theia dance among the missile fire.

“What is it?” he asked.

“They’ve made it so our only recourse is missiles... But why?”

The enemy’s proximity to Earth would prevent Koutarou and the girls from attacking with beams or lasers, but why hadn’t they done anything to defend themselves from missiles too? Ralgwin had spiritual energy tech and magic at his disposal now. There were even Forthorthian means to counter missiles, so why wasn’t he using them? To Maki, it almost seemed like Ralgwin wanted them to attack with missiles. And she had a good point.

“Clan, Sanae, what do you think?!”

Koutarou had a bad feeling. It’d be far too convenient if the meticulous Ralgwin had simply overlooked a missile attack. It was much more likely that he meant to goad Koutarou and the girls into using them. But Ralgwin was also sending a battleship and a destroyer right at them like easy targets... If this was a trap, Koutarou and the girls could be in hot water, but he wasn’t comfortable making that call on his own.

“It’s like they want to see our missiles on full display...” Clan mused. “That must be it!”

“Koutarou, there’s less people than I thought!” Sanae-chan shouted.

“This is weird! It’s like there’s only a few dozen people on board!” Sanae-san clarified.

They want us to use our missiles against a ship with so few people...?

Koutarou had to stop and think about it, but Kiriha, who was listening in as well, gave an immediate order.

“Attention to all ships! Detonate your missiles immediately! Theia-dono, pull back!”

Theia was already on top of the enemy alongside the fighters that had launched with her. The missiles sailing in front of them burst prematurely one after another. Theia and the other fighters veered away to avoid the explosions, passing by the two ships.

“But why?! The enemy is right there!” she shouted.

Theia had instinctively followed Kiriha’s orders, but she wasn’t happy about it. She was still primed to attack and kept her eyes locked on the enemy ships.

“They want us to attack with easy-to-observe means like missiles and fighters! Those ships aren’t what they appear to be!” Kiriha explained.

“Well done...” came an unencrypted message from the ships. “I don’t know who your commander is, but they’re well learned. Or perhaps it was that lady who realized it, hmm?”

The next moment, the appearance of the two approaching ships changed. They were now common Forthorthian transport ships—ones that had been captured and enchanted to look like a battleship and destroyer. When Koutarou saw what they’d almost attacked, a chill ran up his spine. He and the princesses would’ve had the blood of dozens of citizens on their hands, and footage of the incident no doubt would’ve been broadcast all over Forthorthe.

“Grevanas...”

Koutarou glared at the mummified man on the three-dimensional screen. He’d never mistake that ugly mug. It was the evil grand wizard Grevanas. When he heard Koutarou mutter his name, a smile crept across the lich’s dry lips.

“Yes, I’m glad to be able to speak with you again, Blue Knight. Your homeland is most strange to me, as is this spaceship, so it’s nice to see a familiar face.”

“I can’t say I feel the same.”

“Be proud, Blue Knight. You’ve thwarted yet another one of my plans.”

“How about you surrender while you’re at it?”

“That sounds fun... But, unfortunately, I have obligations to fulfill. I’ll keep you waiting for some time longer.”

Koutarou was desperately trying to prolong their discussion in hopes that his allies could trace Grevanas’s signal while they talked. He wasn’t good at this kind of negotiation, but the situation demanded it. His brain was firing on all cylinders.

“Obligations, huh? To Ralgwin and the Gray Knight?” he asked.

“So you know that much already... Impressive, Blue Knight,” remarked a new voice.

It was then that Ralgwin appeared next to Grevanas. As the group had suspected, they were clearly working together.

The Gray Knight’s not showing his face, but Ralgwin didn’t deny his involvement. So Sanae was right...

The Gray Knight wasn’t visible on the monitor. Koutarou could only see Ralgwin and Grevanas standing on a bridge, but he was nonetheless convinced.

“It seems you still haven’t located us, however,” Ralgwin continued.

“You’re using the gates of hell, aren’t you?” Koutarou replied. “That’s probably why the Gray Knight’s not with you.”

“So you even know about that, yet you can’t find us? I suppose you and I are finally on equal footing,” Ralgwin laughed fearlessly.

Up until now, Koutarou and the girls had always had an edge over their adversaries, Ralgwin and Vandarion included... But now that advantage was gone. Worse yet, with the whirlpool of chaos on his side, Ralgwin even had a leg up on them. His confidence wasn’t mere hubris.

“That’s what everyone who challenges me says at first,” Koutarou hissed.

“I can imagine. They misjudge themselves and misjudge you, ultimately letting their guard down out of arrogance. No one like that has ever stood a chance against you.”

“And you think you’re different?”

“You’ve already sensed it yourself, haven’t you?! Even if you’re ahead of us, the distance is so small now that we can make up the difference with strategy!”

Ralgwin’s words resounded within Koutarou. In truth, he’d felt it himself. It was difficult to tell with the whirlpool of chaos involved, but regardless of who was actually ahead of whom, the power differential between them now was frightfully small. The slightest mistake by either party would sway the outcome of their fight—as evidenced by the two transport ships that had nearly been destroyed.

“The only question now is how long you can keep protecting everything against us!” Ralgwin laughed.

“I will protect it—I promise you that. It’s what I’ve done all this time... and what I’m going to keep doing from now on!”

Koutarou knew how grim the situation was, but he refused to give up. He’d sworn to himself that he never would. Forthorthe, Earth, Folsaria, the underground... He and the girls had staked their lives on defending them, in both the past and present. Koutarou would never abandon that. After all, he was the Blue Knight. He was the legendary hero who led the brave to protect all that was good and precious. Those who fell in battle believed that the Blue Knight would carry their charges in their place, so Koutarou decided to believe the same. He would fight as the Blue Knight until the bitter end.