Chapter 8: Kokoru Awakens!

“Bawk. What do we do, Ren?”

This time, the question came from the real Kokoru. It seemed like he was unharmed, so that was nice.

“I wonder...”

Yukino had gone off to chase Homura’s guild, and now that Grand Museum’s Joint Magic had destroyed all of the other Assault Anchors, the rest of the guilds were scattering freely. At present, no one was coming to attack us.

From the wheelhouse, we saw a group of airships gathering directly to starboard. It looked to be a brawl between several guilds. Cannon fire and magic were flying in every direction.

To the port side, airships were sparse. Guilds were probably just waiting to see what would happen.

Now, should we leap into the fray, or aim for the isolated ships?

“Sorry, everyone. I can’t even help, bawk, so I’m stuck here watching the ship. But I’m rooting for you! Good job getting more points, bawk!”

Hmm. Was I wrong to make him wait here?

In this battle, we couldn’t replenish any of his monsters once they’d been summoned. After all, there weren’t any monsters on the field for him to hire. Kokoru was essentially a rifle with six shots that couldn’t be reloaded, so my plan had been to keep them in reserve. Having him wait and hide in this battle made strategic sense, but it might have been a blow to his mental state.

If he failed to use his full strength in the final battle because he lost his confidence here, that would be an even greater strategic failure. The ideal strategy didn’t always lead to the ideal outcome.

People were illogical beings at heart! Kokoru may have been an NPC, but he seemed much the same. I wasn’t about to discriminate against him for being an NPC, anyway.

For now, we needed to boost his confidence. He was weak due to his monster-minion fighting style, but he could fight well if he played his cards right. He could even take down Peater if he tried.

Still, we couldn’t just tell him to believe in himself. Experiencing success firsthand was vital. A great person once said, “Success breeds confidence,” although I couldn’t recall whether it had come from a real person or a video game character.

“Okay, then. To the right! Let’s get in on the action!”

Yano looked skeptical. “You sure? That might give us the most points, but it could also make us lose the most, y’know.”

“If we want to get in the top four, we’ve gotta get tons of points. The more enemies, the better!”

“Agreed. Meticulous motions will breed neither victory nor defeat.”

“All right, bawk! Let’s go, go, go!”

“Bagawk?! Akira, you sound just like me!”

“Yep. I've been practicing in secret, bawk!”

So she did practice.

“Okay! To the right we go!”

Clunk!

Maeda pulled the nitro lever.

I had only just noticed, but the Assault Anchor launch switch was also a lever on the wheel. Nitro was red, while the Assault Anchor was blue.

As we plunged into the brawl at high speed, Maeda added, “I’d like to try out the Assault Anchor as soon as possible.”

“Hm? Up for some close combat, eh?”

“No. I’m going to use it in tandem with nitro and the Golden Drill. With the anchor attached to someone’s ship, we could use nitro and charge into them drill-first, right?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Well, then we could quickly pivot, use another nitro blast, and charge in again. Then we just rinse and repeat. The maneuvers will be tricky, the anchor will keep our enemies close. It’ll also make turning back around much easier. I think we can do it!”

“So we go in for the kill, airship and all?”

“Yes. If it’s possible, then that would be our best option, right?” Maeda’s eyes sparkled.

Where is this girl’s passion for violence coming from?!

Her plan sounded like something from a mecha anime, where a robot would transform and batter the heck out of the enemy.

This idea is crazy, but it just might be crazy enough to work.

I could tell just by looking at her that she was itching to do it. While I didn’t mind giving it a try, this nitro-drill charge was going to deal a lot of damage to us, too. We were fine, but if Kokoru got hit two or three times, he’d be off to the big chicken coop in the sky. Even if we grabbed a ton of points, it would be meaningless if Kokoru died as a result.

It would be hard for us to weave heals in between charges, but stopping the whole operation just to heal would weaken our assault.

Nevertheless, I really did want to try Maeda’s strategy. If it went well, we could expect a huge point yield. In that case... well, we had to try it!

“All right. Then we’ll split into two groups. Kokoru, Akabane, and I will leave the airship. The rest of you, go with her plan.”

Kokoru couldn't be in the airship for this plan, so he would come along with us. We wouldn’t just jump off and die, of course; we’d have Kokoru call his Frost Eagle. With that, we would act separately as a mobile force.

Ability-wise, Kokoru was vital for this. The Frost Eagle could fit three people, so I decided to go with him.

Might as well let loose a few ultimates here and there!

I wanted a sword dancer on our team to get the most synergy possible, so the choice had been either Akira or Akabane. Considering Akira’s aptitude for being bait, she would attract more attention if Kokoru wasn’t around. Thus, I’d chosen Akabane.

“Get this, Kokoru: we’re a mobile strike force now! Let’s get on the Frost Eagle and go nuts!”

“Bawk! Yes, sir!”

“I’m counting on you, too, Akabane!”

“Right!” Akabane nodded, full of confidence.

Then, just before we entered the fray, we left the wheelhouse.

“Frost Eagle, come to me! Bawk!” Kokoru called.

Out of nowhere came a huge bird with blue wings. It landed right next to Kokoru.

“Caaaaaw!”

The bird almost seemed to neigh.

Ooh, he’s ready! It’s like he’s saying, “I got this!”

“Now, bawk, let us on!”

The three of us then leapt onto the Frost Eagle’s back.

“Okay,” I said, “we can meet up later! If anyone dies, we’ll end up back on the ship anyway. Good luck!”

“Understood! We’ll do our best!”

“Good luck to you, too!”

“You got this, Kokoru! I know you can do it!”

“Bawk! Thanks, Akira!”

After that, our mobile strike force flew off the deck of the JS Peachy Thunder.

Cannon fire and magic was flying all over the place. Duels were unfolding on almost every ship.

Whew, this is quite the party!

Completely ignoring the awesome sight, Akabane turned to me and squeaked, “What do we do?! She knows I’m Scarlet now!”

“Wow. You’re still not over that?!”

Evidently, she had been keeping up appearances while Akira was still watching.

I’m impressed she could keep a straight face, but now she’s way too flustered!

Akabane may have acted like a stern, high-class lady, but on the inside, she was extremely fragile and clumsy. She was a troublesome one indeed.

“We can think about that later. For now, we’ve gotta clear out some of these other guilds! Try to stay calm, all right?”

“But don’t you think she’ll be mad that I didn’t say anything about it? What if she thinks I’m just lying to her about who I am so that I can figure out her weaknesses? Oh, dear! I don’t know what to—”

“It’s fine! If anything, I bet she’s happy about it. We can explain it to her when all this is over. Now, get your head in the game, okay?”

“Err, all right. I’m counting on you, though.”

How much could one person fear Akira’s ire? Nevertheless, I made a mental note to back her up later.