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—- Adrienne point of view —-
After the people from Noah left. I called Cloverence, the leader of the “Black Knights” to a room in the fort. When Cloverence came into the room he has an awful expression on his face, I had him sit on the chair and asked him some questions.
“What do you think about the people of Noah?”
“If I can, I do not want to meet them again”
I cannot believe his words. If it is the usual, he will answer bravely with no hesitation but today his answer is somewhat reluctant.
“That is not like you, what’s wrong?”
“There are three reasons”
After he said that, he stood up and confirmed that no one is listening outside the door.
“First, I believe that everyone has a high level of education. I don’t feel that they are from a small country based on how they look, behave and talk. No matter who they are, they are surely from a huge country.
Also, the boy from the royalty who wore a white military uniform… When he enter the fort, he was looking around with a rare look. I initially thought that he is a royalty who never went outside and just accompanied them for their mission but──”
“It’s different?”
I certainly believe that he is a royalty based on his clothes and I think that there is no mistake about it, but I do not sense any hostile intention from him. I do not feel that he did any training nor did I get the impression that he has a very high magical power. Rather, his impression is more of a “coward” who kept himself safe in the hill while ordering his guards who protect him as a piece that he can discard anytime.
“His line of sight was on our guards, he first look at the position of the guards, checked the type of weapons that they have and measure the strength of the fort. There is no mistake that he received an extremely high military education. He was even able to found out about our [outer defense group]”
“We were found out?! No way…how?”
“I do not know, but it seems they also figure out the number of soldiers guarding each village and I heard it directly from the mouth of their commander who is accompanying the royalty”
I used the emergency return course to the fort and pass through the outer circumference without going through the village, but how could they find it out? Cloverence explains further while I broke into cold sweat.
“The second one is their medical technology. In the battle with the sandworm, three knights of the Platinum Knight had lost their legs. The bleeding stop as they were carried to the fort and it seems the priest which was dispatched thought that they should just lay down on the bed. However the Medical Team of Noah arrived and after looking at the knight they asked “Where is the legs which was torn?” which was told as if it was a joke. The cut legs was handed over to the medical team, made the knight sleep on the spot with medicine and put something like a transparent tent… then they cut open the knight’s leg with a small knife”
Imagining the sight, I feel resentment while my blood draws. The act of further humiliating the injured knight who fought bravery is an act less than a barbarian country! When I yell at him, Cloverence keeps on talking.
“Here is the main part, after cutting open the legs they sewed the dislocated legs for a very long time while ignoring the knights who are present who’s asking “Why would you do something like that?”. They just continue on working.
When the work was over, blood returned to the sewn legs and it seems the knight was able to move his toe slightly. Before they withdraw, they also said ‘It is not the same as before but if you train, you will be able to stand and walk again with your own 2 feet'”
To heal a torn legs, even legendary magicians would find it difficult to achieve. Could it be that they can also “revive the dead”? I listen to Cloverence after saying that half joking.
“Like hime-sama, my subordinates also asked the same question and they returned a vague reply saying “If the heart stopped for only around 5 minutes then we may be able to manage somehow with AED” with a smile. For me, it means “It is possible, but it falls under military secrets” so that’s why their words are cloudy” (TN: AED = Automated External Defibrillator, is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electricity which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm. In gamer’s term, Left4Dead Revive Tool)
“I feel dizzy…”
Cloverence said, “So am I”. If all of this is true then we are going to negotiate with an outrageous country. I’m pretty sure that they will press unequal conditions and some idiot aristocrats in the kingdom will agree. This is impossible…, in worst case it will come to a war but can we win?
“Can we win against Noah?”
Cloverence responds to my question as I bit my lips.
“That is the third reason. We can inferred from the medical team who suddenly show up in the fort that Noah can expand its fighting force freely and that is the biggest problem. Unlike the movement of the Demon Lord’s Army, we cannot predict the movement of Noah. Much less their travel speed. Worst case is, it may be possible for them to just appear in the center of the kingdom. The victory of the kingdom is hopeless when it comes to war.”
I cannot laugh on this. Noah was a bull to take down a Class A monster, even if only one of those soldiers invades the kingdom, we can predict an enormous damage. We have 30 days before the next visit, I must have an effective consultation with his majesty and my older sisters.
—- Arakawa Kouki point of view —-
After arriving at Noah Island, I dive into the gate and transfer to the Earth side. After experiencing some kind of jelly feeling, the space where everyone is gathering few hours ago in my field of vision disappear. I ran to the laboratory where my mother is after getting off my suit.
“Mom! Mom! Open the door”
After I knocked at the lab, mom came out with a sleepy look on her face.
“Ko-chan, what’s wrong?”
“Uhm, we have decided to have a talk with the kingdom in the other world. It was 30 days, so 30 hours later!”
Although I cannot neatly explain the situation because I am in a hurry, I desperately try to convey the contents of the situation. My mother opened her mouth while putting a finger on her chin.
“Hmm.. Hmm.. I see. You succeeded in making a contact with a country in the different world and the meeting was decided to be in 30 days. It was 30 hours after in this world so you got back in a hurry?”
True Genius are really different! She understood that from my lack of explanation. While admiring her she suddenly said “By the way…” while tilting her head.
“Why did you come back in such a hurry? There is no meaning in hurrying up if you are in the other world. Even if you shorten it by an hour that is just a couple of minutes here”
“That’s… because dad told me to hurry!”
She was right, there is no meaning in coming home in full speed. It is embarrassing to admit it so I put the blame on macho.
“Aa~ah. So it was your father’s idea. That’s disappointing, even though I know that his brain is made of muscle, I thought that he can atleast do [math]”
I also did not think about it but let’s focus on the meeting. We are able to make a contact to the kingdom successfully but we have yet decided who will join the talks. We can continue on leaving it to macho but I think it is a bad idea to leave it on the special forces of our fighting faction.
When I pointed that out to mom, she made a smile similar to when she was punishing my father.
“Of course, mom will lead the negotiation. There are exactly three person to for this, me, Ellis and Claire”
I had a bad feeling about this. Coat-san who recently became my friend told me that the three of them are called the ‘three witches’ because no one should make them angry. I do not know about Claire-san and Ellis-san but it is certainly bad to make my mother angry.
I have never made her angry before but I remember mom punishing macho before while rolling like a rag at the corner of the room. I was 3 or 4 years old at that time and I decided on that day to never make my mother angry.
“Do you want to join Ko-chan?”
“No, I will wait at Noah Island. I want to look at the birds.”
I do not want to see mom’s serious debate─── I might recall my past trauma if I join. The only reason I go to a different world is because I want to see the rare animals on Noah Island. My mom asked me a question while I was thinking about such things.
“What is the language they speak? I wonder if I can understand them”
“They are using translation magic, there should be no inconvenience”
“Magic huh…  If we don’t understand the actual language, we cannot verify if the translation is accurate. I can learn their language but we don’t have enough time───”
When I talked about translation magic, mom started mumbling to herself. Apparently, she wants to verify whether the content of the words which the other world people speaks and the content of the words of the translation magic are the same. Moreover, we don’t have enough time for mom to learn the language. Beside mom, is there a person who can do such things… there is one.
If it’s about language, there is the first-class blonde onesama… Roberta-sensei. Aikawa-san used to say “There is no one in the world as capable as Roberta-sensei in learning a language rapidly”. So as a test, I tried teaching her Russian and she master it in 20 minutes. Even so, she is mysterious because she is teaching “music” at the academy. I decided to tell mom about her. (TN: Onesama = Big Sister. But in this sentence he meant that she has an air of a big sister. Sensei is mostly used for teachers but it is also used as a honorific title to refer to or address other professionals or persons of authority such as accountants, lawyers, doctors and politicians. It can also be used to show respect to someone who achieved certain level of mastery in art or some other skill like musicians, martial artist or novelists.)
“Is this teacher excellent?”
“Yes. She is a monster”
As I convince her with my words, she said “I will ask for her cooperation”. It felt good to have for my unusual opinion to be useful. An announcement flow through the base and Claire’s voice is can be heard.
“Calling for Arakawa-joshi”… please come to the gate at the 5th level. It is urgent. The brain muscles who are returning from another world are about to break down the gate.”
There is no doubt that macho and his men are returning from Noah, all at the same time. Moreover, they did not think about the time lag and the speed of appearance in here and the speed of withdrawing from Noah is causing heavy congestion in front of the gate.
My mother tried to leave while saying “I will be leaving the room for a while” while having a look where blood vessels appeared on her temple. I hurriedly asked.
“Wait! We fought with Sandworms in the other world and since the worms are big, I was scared. I would like to bring things that can protect me other than the suit”
“Even though I warned your father to avoid battle in a situation where Kouki is present, I will strangle him later… what do you want to bring?”
It was a prairie around the fort, probably most of the kingdom will have similar environment. In that case, I can use that thing! I asked mom a while back to make a weapon of romance, that thing was big and the armor is also thick and strong so there is no doubt that inside is completely safe.
“I’d like to have that tank, the one you had made recently.”
“You want to bring in a tank… are you serious? Well, if you say you need it─── I understand, I’ll make preparations, but we’ve only completed 2 of those right now”
When I nodded in that word, my mom head for the gate while having a face of disbelief. It is safe to ride on it so I will force mom to ride it with me. I have not seen the real thing yet so I imagine what it would look like while I walk towards the residential area to take a meal.
— Arakawa Miki point of view —-
Before going to the gate, I borrow a “bulldozer” from the construction department and get off the elevator at the 5th level. When the door open, I can see a dozen of power suit solidified in a dumpling state before the gate. Using my right foot, I press on the accelerator with all my strength. I lower the blade of the bulldozer and push the power suits into the wall. I do not know what kind of shock they will experience while inside the suit but since they will not die, it should be okay. The gate right now is more important than the brain muscles.
“I think this should be good enough, I will leave everything to Ellis who will come later. It is her job to hold the reins of the brain muscles.”
When I get off the bulldozer, Claire-san comes closer with a smile. I made a bitter smile and tighten my facial expression to give instructions.
“Claire-san, we will proceed to Phase 2 of the plan. Please tell all the bases owned by Noah to ‘go to the other world using disposable gates’. Especially the base on Russia where a large quantity of foods and simple barracks are kept. Tell them to make sure those supplies are sent to the different world.”
“How many personnel, military forces and goods should be transferred?”
I did not say it clearly? Claire-san is somewhat sullenly when she asked this question.  Perhaps… “I have no idea, you need to tell me the numbers accurately” is what she was thinking. She misunderstood me.
“All of them─── All except Hakone Base is will be closed within 78 hours. After each base has been relocated, direct the gate operators to go to Hakone Base after destroying all of the evidences. If the governments learn about it and escape becomes impossible, we will help them.
Also, transfer the large weapons, ‘Tolstoy’ and ‘Destroyers’ as soon as preparation is complete. I predict that all of this is possible within 12 hours, so please contact each crew.”
“But we don’t know the situation on the other world?”
There is no need to worry about it. The island on the different world should be safe because the reconnaissance team was able to make a contact with a local state. The size of the island should be big as well because Kouki wants to bring that thing. Other than that, we can just simply use the time difference between the two world and build a base over there while sending supplies. There should be no problem because we have prepared a simple residential facility.
As I explain, Claire-san was convinced and started sending out instructions to each base. During that time, she asked a question while operating the terminal.
“What is the ‘thing’ that Kouki-kun is insisting to bring?”
It would be better if I show it to her since I will also need to tell her that the second one is named after her. After judging so, I told Claire-san to come along with me and took an elevator heading for the special technology area.
While Claire-san steps in the elevator which only tech personnel who have special permission can ride, she was restless. She was nervous because it is her first time to visit the place. I talk to her in a gentle voice.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes, I have never visit this area because it was guarded by the team lead by the captain. Since there is an obligation to keep it confidential even within the troops, I have no permission to enter so I am currently nervous.”
Apparently, Shuichi-san did not explain this area to her even though she was her adjutant. The area is placed far away to avoid the dangers of an accident so it will take some time to arrive, I decided to give her an explanation of what is being built in here.
“Sometime ago, we assigned ‘Creation Program’ to Kouki so that he can make a weapon of his own. I was astonished on the creation file he brought to me while saying ‘Done!’ in just a short amount of time”
“What did he design?”
“A super-large tank that has a weight of about 35,000 tons, total length of 290 meter, full width of 50 meters and height around 30 meters.”
“Haa~a!? That kind of tank will not be able to move, it will sink to the ground”
I have the same thought at first, I was laughing while saying that it was impossible to realize his idea but he started talking about the plan with a serious look. At the “New Metal Development Department” of “Next Generation Research Laboratory”, one of my workplace that Kouki visited before, was developing a new lightweight metal. Me and some of the workers in there had forgotten their existence because it is only a small group of 13 people and had a subtle result which was expected to take 10 years or so to develop a new metal.
However, Kouki proposed to me intensively to back up the department. To be honest, I thought it was wasteful but I was pleased to see Kouki pursuing something. I paid their research expenses from my own personal asset which is unlikely similar to their regular expense. They got research funding of more than 20 times their annual expense and they were really happy about it. After a week, they easily succeeded in developing a new metal. Apparently, they hadn’t been pursuing their research seriously after being looked down and not able to receive enough funding so they cannot do any experiments even though they are just one step away from completion. Kouki got the lightweight metal that he wanted by boosting the development of a department that he see in a short time and with little explanation. Incidentally… they also transferred to Noah but not for the title of expert technical staff but ‘for the sake of Kouki’. Talking this far, Claire-san asked with a startle expression.
“So then, was it completed?”
“Yes, it was built far reinforced than it should be thanks to the new metal”
The elevator arrives at the area and the door opens, Claire-san who saw a huge object in a large dock holds her breath.
“A super large multi-weapon tank that was proposed by Kouki─── ‘Alice-Type Ground Battleship’, the first ship, [Alice]”
Alice Type Ground Battleship… I actually wanted to seriously ask Kouki on what he is planning to do with it while he was giving me his explanation. The completed tank had a weight of about 7,500 tons, total length of 311m, full width of 55m, 28m in height and can partially submerge in water by snorkeling. Has 2 gates for 3 26cm cannon and 40 ‘VLS’ Missiles at the rear.
(TN: VLS = Vertical Launch System)
With 4 stations of 20mm cannon for anti-personnel and anti-aircraft arranged, it has an appearance similar to a hedgehog. In addition to the crew members, it is also possible to carry 30 power suits. I tried calculating the performance using my terminal, I decided to stopped thinking further about it when I got a result that it could easily destroy a single division of a Ground Self-Defense Force.
“Claire-san, do not be surprised… but the name of the second ship is ‘Claire’. Apparently, Kouki gives them the name of his female acquaintance. He said something like ‘It is auspicious to give a ship a woman’s name'”
“Wa, my name!? Why?”
I want to ask him as well. In the first place, although it may be acceptable for the first ship to have Alice’s name, the second ship should have my name! If this goes on, the third ship is will be named after Ellis or Roberta… I almost forgot, didn’t Kouki advised me to get the cooperation of a teacher at the academy whose name is Roberta? When I remember that, I consulted with Claire-san and she made a subtle look upon hearing me.
“Roberta of the Academy? Do you mean Roberta Scarlet?”
“Probably so, do you know her?”
When I asked her, she said “I know her” while having a look that can crush an insult. I wonder what happened? Even if something happened between the two in the past, I would like you to ask her cooperation. As I tell her so, Claire-san asked after she nods.
“I think that we can get her to cooperate, but… it will be expensive, is that OK?”
“I do not mind, I’ll just think about it as a necessary expense”
After listening to my reply, Claire-san starts communication at her terminal. Does that mean that she will demand for money for her cooperation? I do not mind as long as her work matches the amount that I will pay. While I was thinking about the situation, Claire-san began talking in the call that got connected.
“Robby? This is Claire, are you still asleep? It’s already noon, get up”
Roberta seems to have been asleep. Although it’s still summer vacation, it makes me a bit uneasy that a teacher is sleeping at this time of day.
“I’d like you to help me at work. Please wait! Don’t hang up. How about the cake from a French confectionery place that you mentioned before? I will give you all of it… Ok, got it… wine as well. Eh? I understand. I will add meat too so get prepared, I will pick you up.”
Looks like the person is asking for food instead of money. It won’t be pretty if she eat that much? When I asked Claire-san with a smile who finished her call, she answers with a face of disgust.
“Robby loves to eat and after a while she will eat again. She can eat 5 servings of food in a single course. She is a woman’s enemy, she doesn’t get [fat]”
When Roberta-san arrives at Hakone Base, let’s thoroughly examine her if time permits. After resolving so, I returned back to my room with Claire-san to clean up the remaining business.
—- Adrienne Point of View —-
Since the time when the people from Noah head home, a royal conference was held in the kingdom every day with his majesty. The first thing that mattered was whether to refuse or seek out a point of compromise if they propose ‘adverse conditions’. Even though I explained Noah’s military force, influential aristocrats refused to accept what I said and argued “There is no way they can easily eliminate a Class A monster”.
In addition, some of them also said, “Since it is a country that we have never heard of before, we can conclude that it is a small country”. They are also saying “They will withdraw immediately if we somewhat show our military force”. Meanwhile, a word of Cassis-anesama decided the course of the kingdom. (TN: anesama = ane is older sister, sama is a honorific for someone you respect or with high position. This can also be translated as ‘esteemed elder sister’.)
“It certainly unthinkable that a Class A monster is can be easily killed but I don’t think my sister will tell a stupid story without reason. I consider the opinion of everyone. We will mobilize all knights in the kingdom and gather them to the fort with ‘ceremonial equipment’. We will tell do so with an excuse of ‘giving the highest hospitality’ to Noah. We will surely notice if they are from a small country if we see their reaction on the certain number of people that we have.”
It is obviously bad to do this but it is also a fact that there is no other way. After that, we gather around ‘8,000 soldier’ from various places and leave minimal military force to defend an attack from the Demon Army. And now, in my eyes overlooking the plaza from the top floor, the knights gathered from various places came into the fort.
The knights of our kingdom such as the Platinum Knights, Holy Rose Knights, Great Eagle Knights and the powerful Black Knights are lined up waiting for the arrival of Noah but my fear did not disappear. While I was having sunken feelings, I saw an armor which they called suits, that I already saw before, approaching the fort. I hurried to the square, and since I already prepared the translation magic, we can immediately use it to speak with the messenger.
“Long time no see, your highness. I would like to tell you the number of our delegation, is that okay?”
“Kisama! How Rude! Get down on your knee!” (TN: Kisama = A rough/informal/rude way of saying ‘You’ or when you are pertaining to a person in an angry manner. Mostly used by delinquents in anime and Japanese movies.)
I glare at the knight of the Great Eagle Knights who suddenly spoke so condescendingly. I’d like you to stop causing any more problems… I desperately ignore the cramp in my stomach while asking Noah’s messenger about the number of people.
“Yes, there are 23,000 people as the advance team and an additional 32,000 people from the main unit will arrive half a day later. So there will be 55,000 people in total. Please take care of us”
I had to take a moment to stop myself from collapsing. This is clearly not a number for peaceful diplomacy! I can see the knight who was angry earlier turning blue. Normally, there will be people for security maintenance and border guards even if we think of this as part of a country’s war potential… you can say that the input is just less than 80% from the whole. If you calculate it, there will be a total of more than 100,000 fighting strength on Noah’s side.
It is impossible… there is no way for the kingdom to win. While I was feeling that the kingdom would disappear soon, I had no choice but to laugh with an amiable face towards the messenger