Chapter 4: The Multi-Race Coalition Force

Miki Arakawa’s Point of View

Approximately one month after the Merkava Kingdom had withdrawn from the alliance, Noa Island became fully operational. Today there would be a meeting attended by staff from each department.

In my room, I skimmed over the announcement that had been sent to attendees from all departments, checked the current time, and then headed out to the conference room.

In a corridor of the military department located in the eastern building, I encountered Shuuichi, who was accompanied by the Dauntless sisters.

“Miki, are you headed to the meeting, too?” Shuuichi asked.

“That’s right.”

Is something wrong? I wondered. It seemed as though something was bothering Shuuichi.

“Isn’t Kouki with you?” he asked. “I thought he was going to attend the meeting.”

“He’s back on Earth for now. Alice and his friends will probably finish moving and arrive at the Hakone base today. Only three days passed on Earth during the time he was here on G-88. But if we let Kouki stay here too long, it will seem strange when he returns to Earth. He’s a growing boy.”

“Right. So what’s the real reason?”

My husband is as intuitive as always.

“The main purpose of this meeting is to discuss the war against the Four-Nation Alliance,” I replied with a wry smile. “What do you think Kouki would do if he saw footage of demi-human races being persecuted?”

“He’d crush the nation responsible, without a doubt...”

I won’t let him do anything like that, I thought. Not every human is persecuting other races. We just need to deal with the humans responsible. And I think I know just how to pull it off.

First, I’ll hear what progress has been made by each department at this meeting, and then I’ll make my proposal. I expect I can get everyone’s agreement.

I opened the door to the meeting room.

**

“It seems everyone is here,” Roberta said. “I’d like to begin our first briefing. Once the briefing is over, I’d like us to then continue with our anti Four-Nation Alliance strategy meeting.”

Roberta was in attendance wearing a Noa uniform and serving as the meeting’s facilitator. Ordinarily, one of the Dauntless sisters who worked for Shuuichi would have served as facilitator, but they had turned down the role because they were attending as representatives of the military department.

Roberta continued, “I’d like to have the engineering department’s magic research team start things off.”

“I’m from the magic research team,” a man said. “Since first arriving on Noa Island, our team has been investigating the magic that exists here on G-88. Our friend, the Merkava Kingdom, has offered us the support of its magic knight division, which has enabled us to complete a preliminary analysis of the magic. Please take a look at this.”

The man from the research team brought up an image and some numeric values on a large screen.

“This is an electron microscope image showing the magic nuclei that are produced by magical energy. We’re calling these magic molecules for convenience. Magic effects are produced by taking these molecules into one’s own body.

“After a detailed investigation performed with permission from a member of the division of knights, we discovered that they have an organ behind the liver that isn’t present in humans from Earth. We hypothesize that this organ uses the magic molecules to produce magic effects. The exact mechanism is still unclear.

“By culturing cells of this organ, we’ve learned that the organ will be damaged if it stores too many of these magic molecules. This means that organisms with a low magic tolerance are unable to survive in regions where there’s a high level of magical energy. This presents no risk to people from Earth because we don’t have this organ in the first place. What’s more...”

I see... I mused. Lacking the organ means we can’t use magic, but we can function normally in places with high levels of magical energy. Experiments on humans would be needed here, but we have no doubt been limited to performing only a preliminary analysis because of ethical concerns.

“Thank you,” Roberta said. “Next, I’d like us to hear from the engineering department’s weapons development team.”

“I am from the weapons development team,” another man introduced himself. “I’d like to begin by sharing some new information that isn’t included in the documents you’ve been given.

“As per Mrs. Arakawa’s request, we have finished the construction of the Alice-type land battleship, Unit #3 Miki. This means the construction of all Alice-type units is completed. We then began production of magic defense clothing in collaboration with the magic research team. The protective clothing we’ve produced will be provided to the Merkava Kingdom free of charge. They’ll be providing it to their knights and using it in combat.”

There’s finally a finished Alice-type named after me... I thought. I’m a little annoyed that I’m not Unit #2, but I’ll live with it. That protective clothing is going to be indispensable for the knights if they engage in combat in regions with high levels of magical energy. We should dedicate more production lines to making it.

“In addition, the secret weapon development team has completed all of their weapon development projects. The team has disbanded and been incorporated into other research teams that suit the expertise of each individual. Lastly...”

So we can use those weapons at last. I was glad to hear that an increased range of strategies were now available to us.

Once we’d heard from several other departments, someone from the medical department, which rarely made public announcements, began speaking.

“Hello, everyone. I’m from the medical department. We finished production of the, um, anti-aging drug, so we’d like to use it to treat members of each department. The drug makes it so when you pass through the gate, your body’s T particles are... On second thought, this will take too long to explain. Basically, the drug causes you to age at a rate corresponding to Earth time, so please think of it as a good thing. That’s all.”

The member of the medical department seemed eager to finish talking and sit back down. Everyone listening was astounded. The speaker was the leader of the medical department. I heard that she’d been working for five days and nights without sleep to produce this anti-aging drug.

It would be mandatory for all Noa personnel to be treated with the anti-aging drug. However, anyone who married an inhabitant of this world and wished to live an ordinary life would be given another drug to counteract the effects.

“Lastly, we have a speaker from the political department’s unification team,” Roberta said.

“I’m from the political team,” said a fourth man. “After some discussion with the kingdom, we’ve been given permission to use the Merkava Kingdom’s national flag and the crest of the royal family both within the kingdom’s territory and in other nations. We’re also taking part in the kingdom’s efforts to keep public order in some regions. As a result, we’ve built new bases in five places within the kingdom. With the cooperation of their knights...”

Three hours after the start of the briefing, announcements from other departments were still going on.

I imagined that Kouki was probably back on Earth eating with Alice and his friends right now. I decided to give my mind a rest.

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

After passing through the gate with Kon, I found that it was about lunchtime on Earth.

I spent some time wandering around the base searching for Alice before finding Baldy, who had some bad news for me.

“Alice and your friends have gone shopping with their security personnel,” he said before walking off.

I suddenly had nothing to do and needed a way to kill time. Maybe I should just take a nap, I thought.

“Hey, Kon, what should we do?” I asked.

“Konn.”

Kon made a sound as he lay in my arms, but his tail was swaying listlessly as if he didn’t have any good ideas either.

On my way back to the gate, I remembered his special ability.

Kon has that mysterious ability that can create minerals... I wonder if he can create minerals from legends. I ran back to my room and began searching through a pile of books.

“Not this one... Not this... Here it is! This is it.”

It was a worn-out paper-based book printed over 80 years ago. Such books were rare these days. I opened the book and showed it to Kon.

“Kon, can you make orichalcum?”

Kon got closer as if to say, “Let me get a good look at it.” He sat in front of the book and his tail flickered back and forth as if he was thinking hard.

Finally, he pulled out a pen and paper from the communication tools hanging around his neck and began writing. “Hmm. Probably. If I had minerals from a region with a high magical energy in G-88, I could probably pull it off.”

“So you can do it if we go to G-88,” I mused. “I want it so bad... I want some orichalcum! If I collect some orichalcum, I can get a blacksmith in the kingdom to forge me a sword out of it!”

“We can’t do that!” Kon retorted in writing. “It’s out of the question. Regions with high magical energy levels are full of dangerous monsters. It’s too dangerous. I’ll tell your mother.”

Kon whipped his tail against my leg as he held up the paper with his written thoughts in his mouth.

“I don’t see a problem,” I said. “I can fly there in my suit, recover the minerals, and quickly get out of there. It’s no big deal.”

I’d gotten the hang of shotguns in weapons training recently. Getting out of my suit to collect the minerals wouldn’t be a problem.

But Kon began writing frantically when I tried to argue with him. “I said no! Master, why must you act without thinking about the consequences first?! No good can come of this. I’m completely against it.”

Damn... He’s pretty strict, considering he’s my pet. I need to get Kon on my side. It’s no good recovering minerals if he won’t convert them to orichalcum for me. There has to be a way.

I remembered that Kon had made gold for Mom in exchange for tomatoes.

“What if I give you three boxes of tomatoes and one box of cabbages, all organic? I’ll even throw in some high-quality apples grown in Aomori.”

“Kon?!”

Kon’s tail swayed back and forth as he thought it over. Finally, he began to write slowly. “Just this once. But only on one condition. Whatever happens, wear as much heavy armor as you can.”

Heavy armor is easy enough to get hold of, I thought gleefully. My suit is already designed to withstand explosions, and Cote should be guarding the weapons store today. I’m sure he’ll let me borrow something.

I headed through the gate and back to Noa Island with a spring in my step.

**

“Cote, can you give me permission to borrow a gun and take some powered suit weapons from the armory?” I asked.

“Do you have an authorization form?”

Cote stood in front of the armory. He was smiling and asking to see an authorization form. I gave him the authorization form that Macho Man had given me for the sake of weapons training. Cote entered the document number into his terminal to confirm its validity.

“A gas-powered shotgun and 30 training rounds as always, right? Do you want to fetch them yourself?”

“The thing is, they’re not on the form, but I’d also like to take some live ammunition and weapons for my suit. I’m heading over to the capital for a while. The roads aren’t very safe.”

Cote looked at me suspiciously. “If you’re leaving Noa Island, then I can let you take live ammunition. But do you have permission to leave?”

There’s no way I could get permission! I’m pretty sure I made Mom mad by waiting until the last unit before naming a land battleship “Miki.”

As much as it pained me to do so, I decided to lie for the sake of getting the orichalcum. “I sort of do have permission, but Mom is in a meeting, so she can’t sign my authorization form yet. You can check with her if you like... though you’d have to be pretty brave to call my mom while she’s in a meeting.”

“That would take a braver man than me,” he agreed. “Okay, fine. I’ll unlock the storage areas for suit weapons and live ammunition. Go take whatever you need. Don’t forget to record which weapons you’ve taken on the terminal.”

Now that I’d gotten past Cote, I entered the armory and began looking for weapons.

I’ll definitely need a spare fuel pack, I decided. And I’d better take some rail gun rounds and a rear-fitted missile launcher.

I spent about thirty minutes choosing my weapons and then headed for the control office of the departure area where my suit was stored to ask them to prepare my suit.

“Excuse me, could I get permission to launch my suit?” I said. “I’ve got permission to go outside, but my authorization form is...”

I got launching permission for my suit by giving the controller the same excuse I’d given Cote. In the changing room, I put on a reinforced exoskeleton that included a feature for translating the Elven language, made with Ms. Roberta’s help. As I was changing, I explained my plan to Kon.

“I really will head toward the capital at first, but once I’m 100 kilometers away from Noa Island, I’ll fly straight up to an altitude of 20,000 meters and fly at high altitude. Then we’ll head in whichever direction you feel the strongest magical energy from so we can collect rocks containing magic energy. We’ll come back the same way, convert the stones into orichalcum, and then hand it over to a blacksmith in the capital! We’ll need some gold to pay the blacksmith, so I’ll need you to transform some ordinary stones, too.”

“Kon!” replied Kon with his chest puffed out as if to say, “Leave it to me!”

Now that I had Kon’s approval, I equipped my suit, which had been prepared for me, then I asked for permission to launch.

“This is ground control,” the answer came. “Identification number OF-7-001; suit user, Kouki Arakawa. Confirmation complete. Preparing for launch... Abort procedure immediately! We have an order to abort the launch from base commander, Miki Arakawa. Please disengage your suit immediately and report to the control center.”

They’re on to me. Mom must have found out. Cote must have gotten suspicious and checked with her. I wasted all that time equipping my suit and all of the weapons... Though if my suit can fly faster than the speed of sound, the aircraft here on Noa Island won’t be able to follow me... Sorry, Mom! Your son is at that rebellious age!

I responded to the controller, “This is OF-7-001. I can’t hear you very well, but I see you’ve given me the green light, so I’m launching. Thank you for your assistance.”

I knew I was already caught, so I decided to act less cautiously. Instead of heading toward the capital initially, I flew off in a direction that Kon gave me.

**

Miki Arakawa’s Point of View

“Yes. What I’m saying is, Noa’s strategy for dealing with the Capus Kingdom...”

As I was listening to the member of the military department in attendance at the strategy meeting, Clare leaned over and whispered something to me. “Excuse me. Did you give your son authorization to leave Noa Island?”

“No, he doesn’t have permission to leave,” I replied.

Why is she asking me this? She shouldn’t even need to ask. Of course I’m not going to give Kouki permission to leave.

I watched the color drain from Clare’s face as she received a message in her earpiece. I had a bad feeling as she turned to look at me.

“Your son has been telling everyone that you gave him permission to leave, and now he’s waiting in the suit departure area. I’ll give the control center an emergency termination order in your name. Are you all right with that?”

“Y-Yes. Please do.”

Why would he tell lies just for the sake of leaving the island? It’s not as though he has no freedom here on Noa Island. I even gave him permission to receive weapons training, as much as I hate the idea. He’s always listened to me until now. Why this sudden change? I thought hard, trying to come up with a reason.

“This is an emergency!” Clare said, practically screaming at me. “Kouki ignored the order from the controller, ignited his thrusters without permission, and has left the island. Right now, he’s not heading toward the Merkava Kingdom. He’s on course for another continent!”

“Contact him immediately and order him to return to Noa Island! If that’s not possible, use our remote control system to force him to land!”

“It’s no use! Kouki’s suit is rejecting the transmission. We have no means of contacting him. Remote control was disabled for the eighth-generation model to make it resistant against electronic warfare. It’s a complete standalone model.”

How could this happen?! Every piece of technology we’ve put in place to protect my son has backfired. I began biting my nails as my thoughts were racing. I prayed that he hadn’t shut off the position tracking device installed in his suit. I can’t imagine that he’s planning anything as terrible as an armed rebellion. But if this isn’t a rebellion, then the question is where is he going and why?

“This strategy meeting is over,” I announced. “My son has left Noa Island without permission. I would like all personnel from the military department and the technology department, and all communications officers to focus all their efforts on tracking Kouki.”

I need to get to the underground command center.

**

I entered the command center and the staff tracking Kouki by satellite explained the situation to me.

“Kouki is currently flying at an altitude of 18,000 meters at cruising speed. He has changed course numerous times, and is currently flying toward the continent in the north.”

“You mean he’s not headed toward a region with a high population density?”

They confirmed to me that that wasn’t the case.

Thank goodness. At least we’ll avoid a situation where Kouki commits atrocities against humans. It was impossible to say whether Kouki wanted something from the northern continent, or whether his actions were a diversion to disguise his true intentions.

“Almost all of the northern continent has high levels of magical energy. Though I wouldn’t expect this area would be of interest to Kouki...”

So this is a diversion? I couldn’t imagine what Kouki’s true intention might be.

Shuuichi handed me some printed documents with a frown. “That idiot. You won’t believe what he took with him.”

When I read through the list he gave me, I felt as though I might stop breathing. Kouki had armed himself with a shotgun and 50 live rounds, but the problem was how he armed his suit. I could understand why he would take a prototype 180-millimeter rail gun and a pile bunker with him, but one of the missiles loaded into the missile launcher equipped to the suit’s back was carrying an incredibly powerful warhead.

“He took... an imaginary number weapon?”

There was a commotion in the command center as my words were overheard, but silence returned after just a moment.

Even Eve, of the people of Adam who we’d met on the moon, considered an imaginary number weapon to be the ultimate weapon. I was astounded to hear that he took such a weapon with him. Based on Kouki’s explanation and the materials we recovered from the relic, we produced a single prototype imaginary number bomb. For Kouki to be able to find it and take it with him suggested some negligence on my part.

Theoretically, if the bomb was detonated, it would create a small black hole that would completely destroy everything in a 2,000 kilometer radius.

Could it be that he’s heading to a deserted area on the northern continent so he can test out that bomb?

“What should we do?” Shuuichi asked. “Kouki may have given us the slip, but it’s not too late for my unit to go after him.”

Shuuichi’s suggestion may have been a good idea, but if Kouki was to respond by activating his optical camouflage and cutting off the positioning system in his suit, we’d be completely unable to track him, so I didn’t want to resort to that yet. Time was running out, and I couldn’t think of an effective plan.

A staff member who’d been tracking Kouki suddenly announced a change in the situation. “Kouki is reducing his altitude! He is currently 300 kilometers inland on the northern continent at an altitude of 8,000 meters. He is currently descending, 4,000; 3,500; 2,000... What?! He disappeared from the satellite image at an altitude of around 1,200 meters!”

“Did he activate his optical camouflage? Tell me he didn’t crash land!”

“We can’t be sure, but his optical camouflage doesn’t seem to have been activated. A crash landing seems unlikely, though. His suit’s positioning system is still working normally. We are currently attempting to determine the cause of his disappearance.”

I prayed that we’d determine what happened quickly. For now, all I could do was watch over positioning data and life signs from Kouki’s suit displayed on the screen.

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

While flying in the direction that Kon had given me, I spotted a creature that looked like a giant octopus swimming in the sea and focused my suit’s camera on it. The sight of it slowly moving across the sea’s surface was fascinating. Then I saw an even bigger creature that looked like a jellyfish attack the octopus in an attempt to eat it.

“Awesome! Kon, look at this. There’s an octopus fighting a jellyfish.”

“Kon, Konn.” Kon began to swish his tail violently as if he was excited, too.

I began descending to a lower altitude so we could get a better look, but I soon gave up on the idea because the air resistance at low altitude was causing excessive fuel consumption.

After the jellyfish was out of sight, I realized a light was blinking on my communications device. I guessed it was a message from Mom. I was sure she’d just tell me to come back if I answered. I ignored it as I drank water from a tube above my knee.

“We’re about to enter the northern continent. Is this right?” I asked Kon. “Can you feel strong magical energy here?”

“Kon!”

Kon skillfully used his tail to point to a location on the radar screen.

Hm... It’s right on the edge of how far we can go. If we hand the orichalcum to a blacksmith in the capital, we’ll have to walk back normally rather than flying. Then we’d have to get more fuel from a Noa outpost along the way. Forget it! Let’s just get the orichalcum, then even if I get punished by being confined to Earth, I can have Cote take it to the blacksmith for me.

“All right,” I said. “We’re above the target, so I’m going to descend. In just a moment, I’ll disengage the safety on the weapons.”

I pet Kon, who was clinging on to the neck of my reinforced exoskeleton, and then I gradually began to descend. At an altitude of 8,000 meters, I released the safety of the weapons so we’d be ready for any surprise attack. As we were descending, I felt the strangest sensation.

“It feels like something’s wrong. Do you feel that?”

“Kon...” Kon looked unwell as if he felt the same sensation.

I checked the altimeter and found that we were at an altitude of 1,000 meters. I reckoned that we must have felt the sensation at around 1,200 meters.

Maybe it was just my imagination?

I wanted to ascend again to check, but I was worried about how much fuel we had left. As far as I could tell, it hadn’t affected me or my suit, so I continued to descend. I slowly flew toward our destination at an altitude of 200 meters. There was something like a garden up ahead.

Kon began making noises while gesturing with his tail, so I felt sure that the garden was our destination.

“All right, all right. I’m going there, so stay quiet! Don’t shriek in my ear.”

Kon looked as though his feelings were hurt, but I ignored him and landed my suit in the garden. I shut off the thrusters and took a look around. Everything seemed okay. I loaded the shotgun that was beside my seat and got ready to get out of the suit.

Kon held up a piece of paper in his mouth. “Don’t remove your reinforced exoskeleton, no matter what happens. Keep the gun’s safety off and be ready to fire it. If you have to fire, stay calm and aim at the center of the body, just like in training. You’re not particularly skilled with a gun, so if you aim for the head, you might miss.”

Kon’s so annoying sometimes. I wish he wouldn’t criticize me in writing like that. My skill level was so low that Macho Man had recommended I always use a shotgun to make sure I’d actually hit when firing. I didn’t know how Kon knew this; he hadn’t been there at the time.

I silently nodded, picked up the shotgun, and opened the cockpit door. “If I collect rocks from here, you can turn them into orichalcum?”

“Kon... Kon! Konkon!”

Once outside, I asked Kon which rocks we should collect. He used his tail to point to some rocks a short distance away. As we headed toward them, I collected a few other rocks that looked like nothing I’d ever seen before.

“What brings you to a place like this?”

I was surprised to hear a voice from behind me. I turned around with the shotgun ready. I saw a beautiful woman with two horns growing out of her head. She began to approach while looking at me curiously.

She was wearing clothes and seemed alert, so I guessed she was intelligent.

I lowered the gun and spoke to her using the translation device installed in my exoskeleton. “Hello.”

“Oh, you speak Elven. You’re an elf, then?”

This is a problem... I can’t understand anything she’s saying. I got a little frightened and raised the gun again. If she continues to approach, I’m going to fire a warning shot and run!

I was looking for the right timing to make my escape, but then Kon, who’d been biting rocks to test their strength, roared for the first time in a long while.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAW! Gruuuu... GRAAAW!”

“V-Very well,” the woman said in the language I didn’t know. “V-Very well. I’ll use translation magic, if that’s your wish!”

Suddenly, I was able to understand what the woman was saying. She must have used the translation magic. I was relieved to be able to talk to her. I started by asking who she was.

“Me? My...”

“GRAAAW! Gruu.”

“Eek?! Very well. I shan’t approach any closer! Young elf, can’t you do something about this white dragon? It says it intends to kill and eat me.”

Kon was standing beside me acting threatening toward the woman. I picked him up and threw him toward the suit’s cockpit. I watched Kon fly in an arc before disappearing into it. Then I tried asking my question again.

“I’m terribly sorry about him. Could I ask once more who you are?”

“My name is Victoria. I am the last survivor of the proud Loa race.”

Loa... I think Loa are some kind of high-ranking spiritual being. That means this woman in front of me... Victoria... must be a pretty big deal.

It was exciting to meet someone from a race besides the elves that really did seem like something from another world.

“So how exactly did you find your way here? More to the point, how is an elf such as yourself able to survive on this continent? You should have died after being overwhelmed by magical energy.”

Where do I start? I wondered. First of all, Victoria thinks I’m an elf, but it’s difficult to explain myself.

As I thought hard about it, Kon stuck his head out from the cockpit and growled. He kept the volume to a lower level than previously. “Graw, gruuu.”

“Hm?” Victoria said. “You’re quite right. This is no place to entertain guests. Let me escort you back to the castle.”

Victoria seemed to be able to talk to Kon. Kon said something to her, and now she turned her back and began walking away as if she wanted me to follow. I picked up Kon and asked him what he’d said to her. He wrote on a piece of paper and showed it to me.

“She can understand me, so I asked her to make some tea. I asked for a type that elves can drink, so you’ll be able to drink it, too.”

Why did you go and say that without checking with me first?! Things were going great, but if you’ve made her angry, it’ll all be for nothing.

After insisting to Kon that he shouldn’t be so demanding in future, I followed after Victoria.

**

After entering the castle, we found ourselves in a wide-open space similar a cathedral. There were paintings on the ceiling and stained glass telling a story that unfolded as we progressed further inside. I followed behind Victoria and she guided us to a terrace where we could see the garden.

“Please take a seat,” she said. “The maid will bring tea.”

After a short wait, a maid whose entire body seemed to be cloaked in cold air entered the room carrying tea.

What’s up with her? I wonder if she’s an ice spirit or something similar.

“Let’s continue our discussion,” Victoria said. “How did you find your way into the garden?”

“Well, I flew in from the sky. Hey! Don’t look at me like that! I’ll explain everything. For starters, I’m not actually an elf. I’m...”

I explained to Victoria how we’ve gotten into the garden while drinking the tea, which seemed to be raspberry flavored. I told her that I wasn’t originally from this world, that I came here because there was no longer a place for me in my own world, that we established diplomatic relations with the Merkava Kingdom, and that I’d left Noa Island because I wanted orichalcum. Then we began talking about Earth.

I explained everything, although sometimes the nuance seemed to be lost as a result of the two-way translation. Victoria listened to my story while smiling and sometimes looking angry.

“That truly is an interesting tale. Do the people of your world hold no prejudice against nonhuman races?” she asked me, sounding serious.

I explained my viewpoint to her. “Personally, I won’t consider anyone an enemy if there’s a way for us to communicate. Even if we can’t talk to each other using words. I’m accepting of any race.”

If it’s possible to have a conversation, then it’s usually possible to work something out. If it’s impossible to communicate, then that’s another matter.

After Victoria heard my story, she clapped her hands and gave instructions to the maid standing outside.

“Call in Ilya, Grenara, and Acatl.”

It sounded like those were other people she was calling in. Based on the flow of the conversation, I suspected she wanted to test if I genuinely had no prejudice against nonhumans.

This is a great chance to meet people that aren’t human! I clutched my teacup tightly to hide the fact that my hands were trembling with excitement.

There was a knock at the door. A woman whose lower half was a spider, a cow that walked on two legs, and what appeared to be a praying mantis entered the room and greeted me.

“What do you make of these three?” Victoria asked.

“I’m guessing Ilya is an arachne. Can you walk on the ceiling?! I’m impressed by how strong Grenara looks. I don’t know what race Acatl is, but those forelegs look awesome. I want to touch them!”

I got a little carried away and started to approach them. Ilya and Grenara were looking at me with shocked faces. Acatl’s face was the face of an insect, so I couldn’t read the expression. Acatl timidly extended a foreleg toward me. It seemed as though the praying mantis didn’t mind me touching it.

Once I had enough of Acatl’s forelegs, I asked Ilya for permission to touch her spider legs. They had a good fluffy feeling, which got me even more excited.

Victoria’s voice at last brought me to my senses.

“That’s enough,” she said sounding as though she’d gotten bored. “I see that you hold no prejudices.”

“S-Sorry. I forgot myself.”

Victoria accepted my apology with a smile and a nod before closing her eyes and appearing to become deep in thought. She remained motionless for some time. Eventually, she began speaking slowly. “Here’s the final problem. What about the others from your world? Will they be able to accept us in the way that you can?”

“Yes, I think so,” I said. “At the very least, my mother, who’s our leader, will welcome you with a smile.”

Victoria folded her arms and nodded deeply. Then she looked me in the eye and said something so incredible that I never could have seen it coming.

“I declare in the name of the Demon Lord Victoria that we, the Ursna Empire, will treat with the people of this other world!”

Although I was surprised to learn that Victoria was the demon lord, what really scared me was the thought of how mad Noa’s own demon lord, my mom, was going to be when she learned that I entered the demon lord’s territory without asking.

**

Miki Arakawa’s Point of View

Three hours after Kouki’s disappearance, his suit had been motionless for two hours and forty minutes. I couldn’t wait any longer. I finally decided to give orders to Shuuichi as the commander of Noa.

“This situation is already beyond what the technology department can handle,” I said. “Right now, I’m assigning full control to the military department. I’ll trust everything to the military department’s judgment from here on.”

“Understood. We’ll do whatever it takes to bring him back safe—”

“We have a transmission from Kouki! This is... a level-A emergency signal.”

My heart felt ready to explode as I grabbed the microphone and yelled at Kouki. “Kou! What are you doing?! Where are you?”

Kouki appeared on the screen, looking nervous and ready to cry.

Did something bad happen to him? This is why I didn’t want him going outside... I just hope he learns something from all of this.

I spoke softly to make Kouki less fearful and asked him once again. Finally he explained the situation to me.

“Don’t be mad at me. I’m on the northern continent.”

“I already knew that. It’s okay. We’ll come to get you right now.”

I give Shuuichi a look urging him to go and get Kouki as soon as possible. Kouki was looking at me as if he was finding something difficult to say.

I can scold him for this later. Right now, I’m just grateful that he’s safe.

“Is there something else you want to say?” I asked him.

“Promise you won’t be mad. Here on the northern continent, I met the emperor of the Ursna Empire. I spoke to the Demon Lord Victoria as a representative of Noa. The Ursna Empire has accepted an offer to establish diplomatic relations with Noa.”

Shuuichi caught me as I became lightheaded and close to fainting.

What did Kouki just say? Demon Lord? Diplomatic relations? He entered the demon lord’s territory alone to negotiate with the demon lord herself?

I was so shocked that it made me lightheaded. Clare and the other staff were whispering among themselves with blank expressions: “I don’t think that would be possible for anyone other than Kouki.”

“That’s enough, Kou,” I said. “I value your ability to get things done, but where is this Ursna Empire? The satellite can’t see you. Are you underground?”

“About that... Can you estimate my position from where you are? If so, I want you to zoom out the satellite camera so it displays an area with a 300-kilometer radius.”

I gave the order to the staff operating the satellite. The live satellite image soon displayed an area with a radius of 300 kilometers centered on Kouki’s location. I let Kouki know once the adjustment was made.

“Is it ready? Okay. Victoria, please go ahead.”

The moment that we heard Kouki make his request to the demon lord, there was a commotion among all the staff in the control center. The satellite had been displaying nothing but blackened mountain ranges and narrow rivers. Then there was noise in the image, and some of the mountain ranges and rivers vanished. What gradually came into view was a massive castle and the true form of the Ursna Empire, which was rich with green plant life.

“It can’t be... Is this electronic jamming? Even on Earth, electronic jamming on this scale isn’t possible!”

“I don’t think that’s it,” he said. “Several thousand magic knights of the Ursna Empire have set up an ultrawide detection jamming magic. They didn’t actually want to go to war, so they hid their location using magic. Isn’t that amazing?”

This is beyond amazing. Their magic defeated our state-of-the-art surveillance equipment. The thought of such magical technology was enough to make me break into a cold sweat. Then Kouki dealt the final blow.

“So... Victoria wants to visit Noa Island. Could you come get her?”

I spent half a day in meetings trying to come up with a way to make contact with the demon lord, and now Kouki had rendered it all meaningless with a few words. It was difficult not to feel angry at him as I started making preparations to welcome the demon lord.

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

After bringing Victoria back to Noa Island with me, I was treated to Macho Man’s strongest punch for running off by myself and entering the demon lord’s territory.

As a further punishment, I was ordered to spend three days in the detention barracks, but this was reduced to a single day’s detention in my own room in recognition of the fact that I’d set up negotiations with Victoria.

Before heading to my room, I used the post exchange to buy tomatoes and fruit as payment to Kon. Something didn’t seem right as I watched Kon eating the fruit I’d given him. Despite being only 40 centimeters long, he had no trouble eating an entire melon, skin and all.

“Kon?” Kon noticed me and wrote a message for me on paper. “I’m not giving it to you.”

“I don’t want it!”

Who would want your half-eaten food? What I want to know is how you can eat your own body weight in food without any trouble. Isn’t that weird?! That melon is about the same size as your body.

“Kon... When you eat food, where does it go?” I asked.

“It gets instantly converted to magic energy and absorbed. That’s why I don’t excrete waste.” Kon had gotten good at writing with his tail without using his hands, so he was able to explain this while he ate the melon.

So the more Kon eats, the more magic energy he has? If he was constantly eating, he could increase his magic energy endlessly, and we’d get all the gold bars and jewels we could ever want.

“You look as though you’re thinking something bad. I do eventually feel full, so I can’t have limitless magic,” Kon wrote after glancing at me.

This damn half-lizard.

“I wasn’t thinking anything like that. Don’t write weird things, you stupid half-lizard.”

“Kon?! Kon! Gruu...” Kon let out a quiet yet menacing growl as if I made him angry.

That made me hesitate for a moment, but I didn’t want to back down now. “How can you be a dragon if you can’t fly or breathe fire?” I muttered. “You’re not as graceful as Victoria, and you can’t cloak yourself in cold air like those ice spirit maids...”

Kon must have heard me. He clutched his watermelon tightly and began writing angrily on the ground with a swish of his tail. “When I roared at the demon lord, she was obviously frightened, right?! How can you rank her above me?! I might be a dragon, but that’s not my race. I’m a god-race ancient dragon. Ordinary black dragons and dimension dragons aren’t even capable of equivalent exchanges or metal alchemy!”

I’m sure he’s lying. I’ll bet ancient dragons are just the race that’s most full of themselves.

“Don’t lie,” I said. “If you’re so great, then why can’t you speak? If you can use legendary magic, then learning to use human speech should be easy.”

Kon’s wings and tail suddenly became limp. And he began writing unhappily. “When I was born... my mother had already passed away. There were no others from my race around me. As a defense against our enemies, I entered a dormant state while I was still an infant. It required a lot of energy to restore me from that dormant state. I thought that someday my own kind would find me and supply that magical energy. But instead, you carried me off and woke me up in another world.”

I forgot about that. I hadn’t known he was in a dormant state, but it was me who carried Kon away from his own world to Earth. Obviously, there weren’t any creatures that could teach Kon magic in our world. No one could even understand dragon language, so Kon was forced to teach himself to write.

I realized that it had all been my fault. I was still lost for words when Kon showed me more writing.

“I don’t regret it, Master. You, your mother, Alice, and everyone else have been so kind to me. That’s why I’m happy with how things are. I’m happy with how things are! But please don’t forget that I’m an incredible dragon.”

After he’d finished writing, Kon went back to eating the melon with new energy.

Feeling a little embarrassed, I spoke just loud enough for Kon to hear: “Thank you.”

The great dragon before me responded with a gentle wag of his tail.

**

I knew that being detained in my room would mean I couldn’t touch my terminal or any of my books for a whole day, but I hadn’t realized how slowly time would pass with nothing to do.

I was lying on my back, staring at the ceiling and petting Kon’s head, when I realized there were suddenly a lot of people moving around in the corridor outside.

I sat up and strained to hear. I heard the sound of helicopter rotors from far off. It wasn’t just the sound of one or two helicopters; I got the impression that dozens of helicopters were about to take off.

“Did something happen?”

“Kon...”

Just as Kon and I looked at each other, we heard the sound of the door being unlocked. Clare entered, out of breath and looking afraid.

“Kouki, your detention is over.”

“What happened?”

“One hour ago, the human alliance, led by the Capus Kingdom, declared war against the Merkava Kingdom. Our security assurance pact states that Noa must enter the war as an ally of the Merkava Kingdom. I’m sure Miki will explain it to you in more detail. Quickly get ready to leave.”

I couldn’t understand why it was necessary for me to be go anywhere, but I did as Clare said by putting on my white military uniform and leaving the room. Kon held onto my arm wearing a card stating “Noa” around from his neck. Together, we followed after Clare.

When we entered the underground command center, Mom, Macho Man, Cassis, Adrienne, and Victoria were all sitting around a table looking in our direction.

“Kouki, come here quickly,” Mom said.

I followed her instruction and sat in an empty chair. She explained the current situation to me.

“I expect Clare has explained the gist already. The Capus Kingdom has declared war against the Merkava Kingdom. Their allies—the Ragille Principality, the Recule Holy State, and the Rinkdolfr Empire—have also declared war against the Merkava Kingdom. The aim of their Human Alliance Force is to eradicate all demi-human races.”

“Is this a joke?” I said incredulously. “Do those four nations seriously think they can eradicate all demi-humans from this world? They’ll run out of manpower and resources first, and the alliance will collapse.”

“Actually, it’s not just four nations. A number of small nations and city states in the surrounding area have also joined forces with them. It’s actually an alliance of twelve nations.”

Doesn’t that mean we’re screwed?! How can you look so calm about this? Noa can just barely scrape together 80,000 soldiers. If the kingdom’s standing army was mobilized, we might be able to gather a force of 100,000 soldiers. Twelve nations combined are obviously going to come at us with a big army of at least 500,000 fighters...

“How will we set up lines of defense?” I asked. “We’re bound to lose any war of attrition.”

“Defensive lines? What are you saying? We’re going to attack them first. Isn’t that why you asked Victoria to lend the strength of the empire’s army to us?”

I said nothing like that! All I said was, “Lend us your strength so that Noa can live in this world.” I never encouraged a war!

I was about to explain away the misunderstanding but my mom resumed talking before I had the chance.

“Well, then. We’re taking this situation very seriously. We’re canceling all peace talks and forming our own military coalition. The three nations of Noa, the Merkava Kingdom, and the Ursna Empire will join forces to form the Multi-Race Coalition Force to fight against the Human Alliance Force.”

When you say we’re going to fight, that means we’re going to be killing each other. The whole reason we came to this world in the first place was to avoid that sort of thing. I’m not cold enough to ask her if she’s prepared to kill, but I don’t want us to fight if we could resolve this through discussion. Shouldn’t we make at least one more attempt to make peace with the alliance forces?

“Mom, I don’t want us to kill each other.”

“Don’t worry...” Mom said with a smile. “There’ll be a war, but we won’t be killing each other. I’ve thought about this carefully. That’s why we need your cooperation.”

She softly stroked my hair.

**

Victoria’s Point of View

“Don’t worry... There’ll be a war, but we won’t be killing each other. I’ve thought about this carefully. That’s why we need your cooperation.”

Miki was stroking Kouki’s hair, but I didn’t understand how she expected to conquer the alliance forces without blood being shed. I doubt she intends to surrender. It’s clear from our previous discussions that Kouki’s mother Miki is an accomplished strategist. I suppose I should ask her...

I spoke up. “Miki, forgive me, but I cannot imagine how we can solve this without blood being shed.”

Miki answered my question with the aid of an image that appeared on a magic item resembling a magic mirror.

“We plan to use a knockout gas that’s an improved version of BZ gas. They’ll inhale the gas and pass out. Then we’ll tie them up and take their weapons. If close combat becomes unavoidable, I’d like you to use stun swords supplied by Noa. Anyone hit with a stun sword will be knocked unconscious by high-voltage electricity. In the unlikely event that these weapons aren’t enough to suppress the enemy, I’ll authorize the use of lethal weapons, but in that case, please contact one of Noa’s emergency response teams deployed nearby. I’d like this war to end without a single casualty.”

“The combined power of demi-humans and this technology from another world could indeed make it possible to end this war without bloodshed,” I said, nodding. “However... why should we go to such trouble? We’ve been mistreated by humans for so many years. I wouldn’t be saddened to see them exterminated. Noa’s people are from a different world; you should feel no sense of kinship with humans of this world.”

Although the princesses of the kingdom didn’t fully agree with my suggestion of eradicating the alliance, they didn’t seem truly against the idea. I waited for Miki to justify her position.

“I have a question.” Kouki spoke before Miki could. “Why have you all been persecuted as demi-humans?”

“Humans suddenly attacked us,” I said. “When we fought back, they began to subjugate and enslave some of the less prosperous races.”

Miki remained quiet and deep in thought. This discussion was bringing back old memories.

Humans cause me so much anger. We would be better off eradicating such a barbaric race. I decided that, depending on Miki’s response, the Empire might pursue this end alone.

Kouki tilted his head and asked another question. “Did the humans really attack you for no reason at all? There wasn’t a vampire race drinking the blood of humans? There wasn’t a fairy race kidnapping human children? There wasn’t a spirit race possessing humans and playing tricks on them?”

“What are you implying?” I demanded.

“From the viewpoint of demi-humans, they may have been doing what they needed to survive, or maybe they were just playing pranks. But I think humans would see it as a threat. If a lone human is no match for a demi-human, then it’s only natural for intelligent creatures to gather together for protection. If one of those groups is wiped out now, humans on other continents will worry that they might be next, and they’ll become hostile. Do you want to keep on fighting until one side has been wiped out completely? Let’s put an end to this pointless fighting. We can move beyond it if we have the courage to try.”

Kouki’s words brought me to a realization. This boy from another world was a messenger from the gods sent to guide us demi-humans.

Several thousand years in the future, in an age when the existence of Noa was considered a myth, historians, who were normally reluctant to change their ideas, would gather and reach a shared conclusion.

“There was once a time, during what might be called the dark age of this world, in which demi-humans were persecuted. That dark age ended thanks to several heroes. Saint Adrienne, Cassis the Wise, the Demon Lord Victoria, and the witch Miki from another world. And one who, despite accomplishing more than any other, is barely mentioned in the remaining texts: the devil Kouki. The age of light that continues to this day is no doubt an age established by these five heroes.”

**

Miki Arakawa’s Point of View

Once I was confident that Kouki’s words had been enough to make Victoria and the princesses agree to avoid a fruitless war, I began explaining the strategy of our coalition forces.

“As I’ve already mentioned, the coalition forces will not be forming lines of defense. If the enemy attacks us, we will drive them back with force.”

To the west of the Merkava Kingdom was the sea, to the north was the Rinkdolfr Empire, and to the east was the Ragille Principality. The kingdom was surrounded with nowhere to run. To the south was a desert, and deploying forces there was impractical. Their location would ordinarily leave them with no hope, but with us and the Ursna Empire as allies, they were actually in a great location.

I explained how our coalition forces were going to attack while referring to an image from the satellite displayed on a screen.

“Please take a look at this. The red markings are the alliance forces, and the blue markings are the coalition forces. The intelligence department predicts that the alliance forces will simultaneously attack from the north and east. That’s why we’ve split the coalition forces into three groups and deployed them on three different battlefronts.”

“Hm. Are the north and east not simply two battlefronts?” asked Victoria as she looked doubtfully at the screen.

Given the cultural level of this world, battles probably took place either on land dominated by groups of knights or in the sky where a small number of riders using dragons and suchlike would fight to maintain aerial dominance. But our technology meant that the sea was another important battle arena.

“Yes, three battlefronts,” I said. “Noa’s main forces aim to attack the Rinkdolfr Empire in the north from the sea. That’s why we need you to suppress the enemy’s main forces in the kingdom.”

“We’ll use all of our power to push back the alliance forces... but our numbers...” Princess Cassis said while staring at her feet.

The empire expected that an army of 120,000 soldiers would attack from the north. They would be sure to scatter the kingdom’s knights effortlessly.

“There is no cause for concern,” I said. “We’ll give the kingdom the use of all of Noa’s Alice-type land battleships. They’ll act according to your wishes. Use them as you see fit, even if that means they’ll be destroyed.”

“Hah?! But, if you’re going to let us use your main weapons, how is Noa going to fight?”

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. The land battleship isn’t our most powerful weapon. Those are merely weapons made for propaganda purposes; they show off our technological capabilities.”

I smiled despite myself at the sight of Princess Cassis and Princess Adrienne left speechless by my words. I was proud of my son Kouki’s work, but we had something other than the weapon he asked us to create. And that weapon was the true power of Noa.

The princesses remained frozen as I turned my attention to Victoria to give her a rough explanation of our strategy. “Victoria, I’d like the Ursna Empire to take charge of the eastern battle lines. We expect that 250,000 soldiers from the Ragille Principality will attack from the East.”

“250,000? They may be mere humans, but if there are so many... this will be difficult. I must ask that Noa lend us power, too.”

“I understand. We will lend the Ursna Empire our airborne-type destroyer, the Oort, and one brigade of powered suits. Please use them to break through their battle lines.”

Victoria looked confused when I mentioned the Oort. I decided it would be quicker to show it to her than explain it.

The Oort was originally a space destroyer that used gravitational collapse bomb technology and could fly within the atmosphere. Kouki looked disappointed when I showed him the completed project.

“This isn’t an airborne battleship,” he’d complained. “I was thinking of something more like a floating version of a Japanese battleship like the Fuso or the Yamashiro.”

That would’ve been impossible from a technological standpoint. And what would be the point of recreating the warship that’s more than 200 years old and making it fly? I remembered that scene for a short while, and then collected myself.

I looked at everyone present and said, “I think it’s going to be an incredibly difficult fight. But if we succeed, we’re sure to change this world. We’ll use our power to make the future our own.”

Everyone agreed enthusiastically, and a declaration of war against the human alliance was signed by our three nations.

**

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

After Victoria and the princesses returned to their own territories, I remained sitting at the table talking to my mom. I still didn’t know what I was there to do.

“Kou, you’re going to attack from the sea,” she said. “We’ll need to rely on your eighth-generation suit. You’ll scatter knockout gas around the battlefield, much like the time when you rescued Alice.”

“Well, I don’t mind, but... I can’t get there from Noa Island. Even my suit has a limited cruising range.”

Although my suit was capable of cruising for as far as 3,200 kilometers, that would be reduced by about half after we loaded a good number of missiles on to the suit.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “The powered suit carrier ship that I asked for has been finished, so we can move around freely.”

Oh! The flying battleship might not have been what I imagined, but hopefully this carrier ship will be just so! Then there’s that roaring device I asked to have fitted to my suit... I put a lot of effort into that. I wonder if they finished fitting it?

I shared the data with Shingo, and he thought it was great, so I wanted to equip it sometime soon.

“Mom, did they finish installing the roaring device I asked for?” I asked.

A smile appeared on her face before she replied. “Y-Yes. It’s finished, but do you really want to use it? I think another type of voice would...”

No! I won’t accept that. My suit’s design is based on the demon Satanachia. Any other voice won’t do. Do you know how many hours I spent making that voice?!

“No, leave it how it is. I think the development of the wings and tail using the data we found in the moon relic should be just about done, too...”

“We’ve fitted those as well, but do you really like the way it looks? You don’t regret this?”

“I like it how it is.”

She mumbled something like, “I thought we raised him better than this,” but it was my mom who had the problem. She didn’t understand this was the kind of thing that set a man’s heart racing!

I’d heard that the engineers handling the renewal of my suit fittings were now calling it the “remodeled eighth generation suit.” The remodel had three improvements: First, the exposed thrusters were now covered with armored plates, designed to look like six wings, to improve durability. Second, the balancer had been converted from a weight in the legs to a long tail attached to the lower back, making it possible for the suit to walk on four legs across land at high speed. Third, the color of the body had been changed from black to white and gold.

To match with the remodeled design, the suit had been given the unique name of Satanachia, and I forced them to change its call sign from “OF-7-001” to “Goetia.”

“Miki, we’ve made preparations to sortie.”

I was absorbed in my fantasies about my new suit when Clare announced to Mom that preparations were finished. Thanks to our rapid response team, Noa was capable of preparing for battle extremely fast. I was impressed.

“Kouki’s suit has also been fully loaded,” Clare said calmly. “I’ve sent orders to our forces in the north, in Miki’s name, to announce a change in commanding officer, so please join them at the designated location as soon as possible.”

Wait a minute, I’m in command again?! That makes no sense! Get a professional soldier to do it. Noa is full of elite soldiers from the United Nations; you shouldn’t need me!

“Um... I’m being assigned as—”

“Your mother and father will be commanding the Noa units cooperating with the kingdom and the empire,” Mom said. “Let’s meet up at the congregation point after breaking through the battle lines. By the way, Satanachia’s wings and tail are overpowered even by our own world’s standards. Once this war is over, we’ll need to destroy those fittings along with all the data.”

Mom said all this important stuff like it was nothing before leaving for the conference room together with Elise.

I decided that once this war was over, I was definitely going back to Earth.

**

Three days later, 2,600 kilometers north of Noa Island, I was in command of our northern front force. We were waiting for some final supplies to arrive and for permission to enter into the territory of the Rinkdolfr Empire.

Just like last time, Clare was backing me up because I was useless as a commander. She was communicating with the control center on Noa Island. I could tell we’d been given permission by the look on her face.

“We’ve received a transmission from the command center. The Merkava Kingdom’s forces have entered into combat with the Rinkdolfr Empire at the border. At the same time, the Ursna Empire encountered a reconnaissance team from the Ragille Principality and have begun an all-out attack. They have crossed the border to pursue them.”

Victoria’s a little too war-happy! Can’t she keep to the same pace as the rest of us?! I was starting to feel a little anxious.

“Given the situation, the command center has given us permission to invade the Rinkdolfr Empire,” Clare said. “Their orders are, ‘Force the coastal city in the empire’s territory to surrender.’”

“Understood. Let’s get moving immediately. I’ll leave the details up to Clare and the captain. Please do what you think is best.”

They both saluted happily in response to my orders.

This is how it has to be. We have a much better chance of surviving if they give commands themselves rather than some know-nothing kid like myself. I realize I’m just here as a figurehead, but it feels bad when I’m sitting here where everyone can see me. I wish I didn’t have to be here...

I asked a nearby female crew member to bring me more coffee before slumping into my chair and closing my eyes. I started nervously sipping at the coffee and playing with Kon when the person operating the radar suddenly began to shout.

“Airborne units are approaching from a bearing of 3-1-1! There are... 40 of them!”

An enemy attack team? There should have been no way for the Rinkdolfr Empire to have known we were in this region of the sea. I looked over at the captain to see how he was handling things. He gave an order to launch interceptor aircraft, but Clare had him rescind the order.

“I checked with the control center. The approaching unit are 40 dragon riders dispatched by the Ursna Empire to support us. They’re led by Viscount Acatl of the Mantis Race.”

Acatl?! That praying mantis person is here to support us! So there are forty praying mantises riding dragons into battle... I imagined that must look pretty cool. What should I do...? I want to see Acatl. Maybe I can have half of them land on this carrier. I guess it’s okay to be a little selfish. I am the commander, after all.

“Captain, would it be okay for twenty of them to land on this ship and the other twenty to land on the Unit #2 Mermaid? I want to see Acatl.”

“Understood. Navigation officer! Have twenty members of their unit, including Viscount Acatl, come aboard. Have the remaining units land on the Mermaid.”

The landing permission had been given so easily that I felt as though being the commanding officer gave me a lot of power, but I was more focused on meeting Acatl. I told Clare I wanted to go greet Acatl on the deck, but for some reason she insisted on coming with me.

The two of us headed for the deck. On the way there I asked her why she wanted to come with me.

“Clare, you know that Acatl is part of our coalition, right? I don’t think there’s any danger in me going alone.”

“It’s not that. What I’m worried about is your bad habits, Major General. You have no prejudice against demi-human races and you’re able to treat any kind of race equally. Personally, I have trouble dealing with the centipede race in the underground combat engineer unit. I’ve seen you eating meals together with members of the centipede race, and at first I thought everyone at Noa should try to follow your example afterward. But...”

But what? I don’t remember causing any problems lately. I even let Cote take my orichalcum!

“But once you get excited, you start touching the demi-humans. The Mantis race is one thing... but Ilya of the arachne race has those spider legs. If she were human, you’d have been getting excited and rubbing her thighs. I realize that Ilya had no ulterior motives, but who’s to say she won’t report you for sexual harassment?”

Seriously? I’ll have to give Ilya a serious apology next time I see her, I realized. Well, that explains why all of the female demi-human soldiers have been avoiding me. I’ll bet that all of the Ursna Empire’s soldiers are spreading rumors about Noa’s Special Major General being a pervert.

The thought left me feeling awful as we stepped out onto the deck. The dragon riders were in the process of landing.

“They really are praying mantises riding dragons,” Clare said in surprise.

The scene left me speechless. You’d normally picture a dragon rider to be a black or white knight heroically riding the dragon, but these dragon riders were bugs sitting on the dragons’ backs. It completely destroyed how I imagined such fantasy scenes, but this was cool in its own way.

As we watched, the dragons slowly flew down in circles before landing on the deck. The first dragon rider to land was wearing a beautiful sword at their waist, so I was sure this was Acatl, the one I met at the demon lord’s castle. It’d been a while since the last time we saw each other, so I ran over to talk.

“Long time no see, Acatl. Your forelegs are looking as cool as ever. Can I touch them again?” I decided to take Clare’s lecture to heart and ask for permission before touching from now on.

Acatl extended a foreleg toward me, moving carefully so that I wouldn’t be injured. While touching Acatl’s leg I noticed that there was a strap around Acatl’s body that was glowing as if it was made from some mysterious material. I poked it with my finger and Acatl’s mouth began to make clattering noises as if speaking.

“Kacha... Gachacha... Kachakcha.”

“Acatl, I’m sorry but I don’t understand mantis language. Would you be able to use translation magic?”

In response, Acatl took a step back and a magic circle appeared in the air. I watched with excitement because this was the first time I’d seen this kind of magic in use. The magic circle shined with a bright green light and then enveloped Acatl. Everyone from Noa on the deck was also watching the spectacle with amazement and wondered what was happening.

After the light subsided, something happened that surprised everyone even more.

“You should be able to understand my speech now. Is it working?”

The person standing before me and speaking in human words was a woman wearing a beautiful dark green dress with a beautiful sword hanging from her waist. For a moment I was confused, but finally I asked the woman a question.

“Uh... Are... Are you Acatl?”

“Yes. My name is Mindena Acatl. Oh. I hadn’t introduced myself. Under the orders of Empress Victoria, I have brought forty dragon riders to support your efforts, Major General.”

I realized that the strap I’d just touched was worn over the area of her breasts. As Clare would have put it, just now, I’d been getting excited while touching her breasts.

Well that leaves just one thing for me to do.

“Acatl! I’m so sorry!” My head hit the deck near her feet as I kneeled to apologize for how rude I’d been.

**

Acatl’s Point of View

“Acatl! I’m so sorry!”

We were still introducing ourselves to each other when Kouki began rubbing his head against the ground and apologizing to me. I was so shocked that I didn’t know how to react. The woman standing beside him explained what was happening.

“The major general was touching your chest without realizing it, and now he’s apologizing. He’s ordinarily very wise and capable, but he’s a little odd when he meets uncommon races. I suspect that he wasn’t aware you were female.”

I see. Kouki must not realize that we don’t particularly mind being touched by humans.

Part of me found this amusing and wanted to let it go on a while longer, but Kouki was an important leader in the coalition. I couldn’t allow His Majesty the Devil to remain lying on the floor, so I asked him to rise to his feet.

“Please don’t be concerned. We mantises have no objections to being touched by humans. Though some other races may find it unpleasant, so please take care.”

Kouki stood up with his eyes filled with tears. He bowed his head and asked, “I had no idea you were female, Acatl. Are there a lot of female soldiers in the empire’s forces?”

“Not in general. The females of insect races tend to be stronger than the males. For other races, there is a higher ratio of males.”

Kouki seemed to understand and nodded his head. Truth be told, this discussion felt trivial. The ship was of more interest to me. Although the ship had been described to us before we received orders to support Noa, I thought my heart would stop when I first saw this ship floating in the sea.

“Major General, is this ship made of ice?” I asked.

“That’s right. The name of this ship is Iceberg-type Powered Suit Carrier Siren. The ship over there that looks slightly different is the Iceberg-type Powered Suit Carrier Mermaid. Noa’s engineers built these new ships after taking one of my jokes seriously. They’re pretty big, aren’t they? In our units of measurement, they’re 700 meters long.”

That’s more than just “pretty big.” But this is His Majesty the Devil speaking, so I’d best not contradict him.

I looked around me and saw that members of my team were using their forelegs to test the strength of the ice. I panicked and told them to stop, but Kouki just laughed.

“It’s cold out here, so why don’t we go inside?” he asked. “It’s almost lunchtime. Would the other members of the mantis race also like to come inside and eat something?”

I wasn’t sure whether or not this was a joke. “You’d allow us demi-humans eat together with the humans?”

“Yes. No one here at Noa has any problems with demi-humans. That said, some of them aren’t comfortable around insects, so please try not to get too close to those people.”

Even now there was a part of me that didn’t trust humans, but it seemed as though we could truly rely on these people of Noa from the other world.

With gratitude, I told Kouki, “We’d be honored to join you.” Then I went over to a member of my group who was still chipping away at the ice despite my earlier warning, and I kicked her over.

**

“So, they’re not treating me like I’m... a pervert?” Kouki asked.

“No, the reason no one will approach you, Major General, is because there are some who call you the devil.”

After eating, I joined Kouki for tea. He wanted to talk about whether he was hated by the female soldiers of the empire’s forces. He thought their attitude toward him was the result of him touching me and Ilya, but that was a misunderstanding.

For most of the female soldiers, the thought of speaking to His Majesty the Devil, who ranked even higher than Empress Victoria, was a daunting prospect. Kouki appeared troubled by this idea, and he wouldn’t accept it.

“I’m not a devil or anything like that. And this here... his name is Kon, appropriately enough. He’s an ancient dragon.”

Kouki picked up Kon, who was eating food on the table.

It appeared that Kouki hadn’t understood. There was a fairy tale that had been told among us demi-humans for a long time. One might call it a prophecy.

It went like this: “From a crack in time will emerge a demon, and then this world will perish. Thereafter the demon will give rise to the devil who controls rebirth, and this world will be born anew.”

Could the people of Noa be the ones the legend spoke of? I heard that time passed differently in their world compared to ours. And I was certain that the demon referred to the armor worn by Kouki. I was about to explain this to Kouki, but then Clare entered the room.

“Major General, we have one hour remaining before the operation will begin. Please be ready.”

“Understood,” he said. “I know we can’t allow every member of the supporting force in, but could we at least give Acatl permission to enter the CIC room? She came all this way to support us, so I think we owe it to her.”

“Yes, I thought you’d say that. I’ve already gotten permission from the captain. The other members of the mantis race may rest in the field officer’s recreation area.”

Clare guided me as I followed behind her. On the way there, Kouki left us and headed somewhere else.

“Will the major general be watching the battle from another room?” I asked out of curiosity.

“No, the major general will sortie when the operation begins. The northern front force... or more precisely, the powered suit that the major general wears, is the most powerful part of our army.”

This other world must be lacking in common sense if they’d have their commanding officer sortie. Though I expect he’ll return unharmed, so I won’t object.

We soon arrived before a room with a sturdy iron door. On either side of the door stood guards holding weapons. On Noa Island, I’d learned that these weapons were known as rifles. I could immediately tell that this room was important.

“Miss Acatl, the entire battlefield will be controlled from this room. It’s known as the CIC. I must ask that you refrain from touching any of the equipment inside the room.”

“I understand.”

I stepped inside and saw there were men in black uniforms talking and laughing.

“I’m Carter, captain of the Siren. We welcome the support of the Ursna Empire. Please take a seat over here.”

Carter thanked me and showed me to a seat before giving me a simple overview of the equipment of the room and how they planned to proceed.

“The large screen over there shows us what’s happening outside. It works similarly to magic items for seeing things far away. The round screen on the right side is a radar. It’s a tool that can sometimes detect ships beyond the horizon. I don’t think I could adequately explain the other equipment we’ve got here, so I won’t try to do so right now.

“Next, let me explain our schedule. In approximately 45 minutes, a coastal city of the Rinkdolfr Empire will be within our attack range. As soon as it comes into range, the major general will use his suit, the Satanachia, to break through an area where we expect the enemy’s defenses are located. After he disperses knockout gas, a team of powered suits will follow behind him to suppress the enemy. Although this is an enemy nation, we can’t use the ship’s cannons to attack the city because a large number of civilians live there.”

It seemed they were trying to take the city while causing a minimum amount of harm. I admired the way Noa were taking such pains to avoid injuring their opponents.

Kouki appeared on the screen and began talking to Clare. “Can you hear me? I’m done preparing. Though I don’t see why I need to be inside this capsule thing.”

“Major General, that’s an armored capsule designed for descending through atmosphere,” she said. “It has an extremely high level of heat and shock resistance. It’s perfect for breaking through the enemy’s defenses. I hope you weren’t about to head out to the battlefield with thoughts like, ‘I want to fly in because that’ll look cool.’ No matter how much of a talented pilot you are, it’s too dangerous. You’re not authorized to fly there.”

“...Okay.”

It took him an awfully long time to reply. Was the major general really hoping to fly through the sky?

As a dragon rider who specialized in flying, even I was against the idea of flying over enemy installations without any thought. I was having trouble determining whether or not Kouki was genuinely the wise person that Clare said he was.

“We’ll be in position to attack within 180 seconds,” Carter said loudly. “Satanachia, prepare to launch.”

“Preparation complete. Brace for launch. Begin countdown.”

“160... 159... 158...”

The friendly expression that Kouki had shown me before vanished, and now he seemed completely focused as he prepared to sortie. All I could do now was pray for the safe return of Kouki and the Noa soldiers who followed behind him. I prayed as if those heading out to the battlefield were friends whom I’d spent many years fighting alongside.

The time soon arrived. “5... 4... 3... 2... launch Satanachia!”

The instant Carter gave the command, the image on the screen changed to display the coastal city of the Rinkdolfr Empire and a large object flying toward it. When the image was enlarged, the thing that had fallen on the coast looked just like an egg. Could this be the capsule they mentioned?

Kouki should have been inside, but there was no movement. Just as people in the room were becoming nervous, we heard Kouki’s voice.

“Um... The capsule’s opening mechanism is broken. I can’t open it... Now what?”

“Please force your way out. You’re in the Satanachia, so you should be able to smash it open,” Clare replied to Kouki sounding somewhat tired.

Is he not at all nervous when heading into battle?

Kouki replied with a very casual sounding, “All right,” and then there was the sound of metal against metal as he hit against the capsule. The sound was accompanied by the image of the egg breaking open on the screen. A hand emerged from inside.

Eventually there was an arm... and then a head... and then the whole upper body. The demon gradually emerged from the egg until finally the lower body became visible with a long tail hanging behind it. The demon displayed on the screen roared, seemingly displeased about having been sealed in the egg.

“GREAAAAAAAAW!”

When I heard that abnormal cry, I was certain of it.

It is beyond all doubt. The devil that hatched from the egg is roaring to announce to all living things in this world that this world will perish.