The Republic’s sky was filled with airships and armor.
Inside the cockpit,
He aimed his rifle from a green‑hued armor, pulling the trigger over and over, shooting down enemy after enemy.
«Man, the numbers are just way off.»
We’re holding our own thanks to the performance gap, but losing by sheer count hurts.
Erik’s voice rang out.
«Big ship coming from the Lauter family’s lands!»
Erik, standing on the Einhorn’s deck as a guide, pulled the four of us’ attention toward the distant
«Even without using a floating island, look at the size. Bigger than a Paltnor, isn’t it?»
«Brad, don’t stop moving!»
«Sorry—»
Usually, massive airships rely on floating islands. A Paltnor over seven hundred meters is already among the largest pure airships. Seeing something even bigger was a first for Jilk and the others.
From the main body of Ideal, huge airships and armors kept launching— all unmanned.
«Is that the Lost Item the Count of
The whole thing was sheathed in metal armor plates.
Staring at the inexplicably moving airship, Jilk glanced toward the Einhorn.
AloGantz, floating nearby, was blasting any armor that got close.
Checking his ammo, Jilk headed back to the Einhorn.
He just missed
«Jilk, get up fast.
Jilk let go of the control stick, took a deep breath.
«Got it. Take care.»
After watching Chris lift off, work robots swarmed around Jilk’s armor, quickly handling supplies and repairs.
«—but we did manage to drag the main target out of its nest.»
He swapped rifles, finished his rest, and shot back into the sky.
◇ The Ideal’s main body.
Serge walked the ship’s interior in a pilot suit— he was about to board the Ghia.
Ideal followed.
«Master, AloGantz’s shape is different from before. Stay on guard.»
«Do you think I’ll lose?»
«Don’t forget the opponent’s war experience. No room for carelessness.»
«Got it. Still, it’s just a cheat battleship brute‑forced with stats. Not scared of that.»
Watching Serge’s overconfidence, Ideal thought: (—maybe I over‑rode the plot a bit. I already have his genetic data, so wiping him out here isn’t a problem. Losing a reincarnated sample hurts, but he’s not essential for the goal.)
He called him «Master» only to use him.
Serge, about to hop onto Ghia, acted like he was starting a game— excited, but his face didn’t look serious.
«I’ll finish this quickly.»
«—Then I’ll support you from the main body.»
«Sure thing. This time I’ll bring his head back.»
(Head… Leon’s head? Or AloGantz’s? Probably the latter. Sweet. Really sweet.)
Ideally, I didn’t want Serge in this fight, but he insisted, so I let him.
(If a successor like Relia took his place it’d be fine, but putting a shield named
If Libya were here,
Ideal felt a twinge of frustration that he couldn’t drag Luxion into the battlefield he’d planned.
(Well, whatever happens…)
When Ghia’s cockpit sealed, the twin eyes lit up.
«Leon, this time no one’s stopping us!»
Watching Ghia launch, Ideal headed for the bridge.
◇ Republic soldiers shouted in unison as Serge appeared on the battlefield.
«The Count of Lauter’s Serge!»
«This is our win!»
«Long live the Republic!»
Inside Ghia’s cockpit, Serge gripped the stick with a grin.
The Kingdom’s airship Einhorn, desperately resisting, was blackened by Republic fire.
Seeing the armors buzzing around, Serge whistled.
«Prince‑type otome‑game guys? You can fight a bit, but you’re not my and Ghia’s enemy. Let’s just take Leon down.»
Ghia swooped through the darkening sky, spotted AloGantz near Einhorn, and dove in.
«Found you, Leon!»
AloGantz brandished a battle axe, catching Ghia’s downward spear thrust. Sparks flew; they traded blows at a distance, then each launched another attack.
«Your back’s a little different. You serious now?»
The feel of the spear’s swing told Serge the opponent’s power had risen.
Still, Ghia was the stronger.
«Again you? I don’t have time to deal with you.»
Leon’s voice made Serge smile wickedly.
«This will be your grave. Noel won’t stop us this time either!»
Since Noel wasn’t there, there was no reason to «stop» anyone, Leon replied.
«—yeah, I’m not stopping either.»
Ghia backed off, firing a machine gun from its arm at AloGantz.
AloGantz, firing lasers from the Schwert it carried on its back, had its shots bounced off Ghia’s armor.
«Useless! Don’t think a little attack will do anything!»
But Ghia’s machine gun was shaving AloGantz’s armor away.
«Even if you speed up, a big target’s easy to hit. I don’t get why you’re using that weak‑fire.»
Leon reacted.
«‘Weak‑fire’? Don’t underestimate AloGantz’s speed!»
The Schwert roared, a deafening boom, and AloGantz vanished from Serge’s view.
Serge stayed calm, turned, and readied his spear.
«Too sweet!»
Thanks to magical sense‑enhancement, Serge could keep up with AloGantz’s speed.
«What’s the matter? That’s all you got, trash knight?»
«—!»
On the battlefield, Serge and AloGantz clashed fiercely.
Then a blue‑and‑red armor lunged in between them.
«Got it!»
«You bastard!!!»
Watching Chris and Greg’s armors spin and kick, Serge responded.
He kicked the two armors into a spin, caught AloGantz’s battle axe with Ghia’s hand.
«That’s not enough to stop me!»
Serge’s entry swung the tide decisively toward the Republic.
◇ The Lauter family manor.
Relia was resting in a prepared room when Kureman paid a visit.
Kureman, an «older sister» teacher, was originally a former knight of the Respinas house. In his youth he was handsome and popular with women.
Why Kureman came to see Relia was…
«What? If you’re my sister I wouldn’t know.»
«—Relia‑chan. No, Lady Relia. A corpse was found in this manor.»
«No way! Could it be… my sister!?»
«No, that’s not it. But someone definitely broke in. We’re looking for Noel‑sama, and you should stay on guard.»
Relia relaxed, knowing Noel wasn’t dead.
More importantly…
«Why don’t you go look for your sister too?»
«I’m ordered to protect Lady Relia. Even without orders I’d still protect you.»
«—I see.»
Relia knew Kureman was a Respinas knight— after all, one of the people who hid us was Kureman. So she wasn’t that shocked.
«Still, I’m surprised. You remembered me from that incident when I was a kid?»
Relia rolled her eyes internally.
(How could I forget a character as over‑the‑top as you? You used to be good‑looking, now… well, whatever.)
«What’s that supposed to mean?»
«No, I was just happy. Back then I was still a rookie knight.»
Relia recalled the day Kureman was assigned as a rookie. She’d helped him out after he’d been scolded by a superior— just a friendly gesture for his future.
Little Relia had already been playing the long game.
«So, who actually broke in?»
«There are people who bear grudges against the Lauter house, and the other six great nobles aren’t trustworthy either. They might be using this chaos to eliminate political rivals. Both possibilities are slim, though. I’d say it’s more likely someone from the Kingdom.»
Hearing that, Relia panicked.
«No way.»
(They actually got this far?)
She tried to think that Leon should be fighting Serge…
(Leon can’t be here. Then who—) She was deep in thought when a noise came from beyond the door.
Kureman drew his sword, shielding Relia.
«Lady Relia, step back— who’s there!?»
The door opened to reveal… nobody.
Only a guard lay collapsed on the floor.
Relia gasped.
«No one’s there.»
Kureman was sweating.
«—There’s someone. Not showing up is rude to a girl, isn’t it?»
Even though no one should have been there, a voice answered Kureman.
«Sorry for the intrusion. We don’t have time to play, so cut us some slack.»
Kureman swung his sword in a wide horizontal slash; something invisible crouched, slipped into his chest, and struck his solar plexus.
Kureman’s massive body lifted slightly, his torso bending into a «ㄱ» shape.
Then he dropped his sword and clutched at the invisible thing.
«You won’t get away!»
«—That’s a problem.»
Kureman’s jaw lifted as if punched, and the unseen force threw him aside.
He hit the floor, nose bleeding, trying to stand.
«What are you going to do with Lady Relia!?»
Relia could only stand frozen, clueless.
(What? What just—) The invisible thing spoke.
«Ah, I’m not interested. Got a bit lost in this big manor, just asking for directions. Sneaking in was fine, but I can’t get support, so it’s a hassle.»
Relia recognized the voice.
«How are you here? You should be on the battlefield!»
The unseen entity lowered its voice.
Relia felt her jaw lift, a gun barrel pressed to her lower jaw.
«Tell me where Libya is.»
She thrust her right hand forward, shocking the spot where Libya should be.
A translucent, human‑shaped figure flickered into view— that’s all.
«What? Why isn’t it working!»
Startled, the figure asked again in a low voice.
«—No second chances. Name the location.»
The unfamiliar male voice made Relia, terrified, blurt out Libya’s whereabouts.
◇ Libya’s room.
«Let go! Please, let me go!»
Lambert unbuckled his belt, pulled his pants down, but one hand still clutched Libya’s arm, so the clothes wouldn’t come off cleanly.
«Quiet! By the way, I heard the Kingdom’s women sleep with demi‑humans. You’ve probably been with a bunch too. Cute face, you’re not a fan, huh?»
«I would never do that!»
«That’s fine! Then I’ll show you a real man right now. So stop resisting— this—!»
Lambert was a man too. He was stronger than any girl or child.
But Libya’s resistance was stronger than expected; his pants slipped down to his ankles as he managed to push her down, yet he couldn’t go any further.
«Enough! Give up already!»
Then— «You give up.»
A sound like something hitting Lambert’s head rang out, and an unseen force lifted Libya away.
Libya, now free, clutched her chest.
A voice she couldn’t mishear soothed her.
«—Leon‑san?»
Suddenly Leon appeared out of nowhere, in a pilot suit, rifle in hand.
«I’m here to pick you up, Libya.»
Crying, Libya threw herself into Leon’s arms.
«Leon‑san! I— I—»
«It’s okay now. I’ve knocked out the outside guard too, so we’ll leave this place soon.»
Libya nodded.
«Yes. Um, also Noel‑sama seems to be in this manor, so—»
«Sorry, I can only bring one person back. We’ll talk later. Put on the optical‑camouflage sheet.»
She slipped on the invisible fabric and melted into the surroundings, vanishing.
Looking in a mirror, she truly was gone.
«Wow, that’s amazing.»
«It’s not all‑purpose, but— I have a little errand, so stay outside the door for now.»
«What are you planning to do?»
Leon flashed a smile.
«Just a little prank.»
«Leon‑san, even now— huh?»
She felt reassured by the usual Leon, but his face was off.
«Leon‑san, are you angry?»
Leon covered his face with his left hand.
«Someone else’s fault, so it’s a mess.»
«I‑I’m sorry.»
He clenched the sheet, looked down, then spoke with a grin.
«It’s a lie. —My mistake. So I’m the bad guy. You were scared, right? No more worries, just wait outside. When it’s over we’ll leave together.»
Libya nodded and stepped out. Two sharp «kash!» sounds echoed from inside the room.
(What was that? Something scraping?)
—It was a sound I’d never heard.
Leon rushed out, and Libya asked, «What did you do? I heard a sound I’ve never heard before.»
«—It’s a secret.»
Leon, rifle in hand, tucked a suppressed pistol into his right‑hand holster, keeping it hidden from Libya.