Chapter 26

It is to enlighten.

One week after the unprecedented large-scale offensive, Major General Katsuyoshi Ogata, the commander of the Second Division, left his post in Kyushu to visit the headquarters of the National Defense Force in Ichigaya, Tokyo, to submit a report.

"Hmm. So, his final score was ten large, about fifty medium, and over a hundred small, right?"

"Yes, sir. Some may argue that artillery fire should be conducted after confirming the effectiveness of incendiary grenades, but in that situation, the priority was not to let the monsters escape. I am convinced that Colonel Shizuno's judgment was correct."

"Yes, indeed. Well, from our perspective, we do not intend to undervalue individual achievements, but if we prioritize them and end up letting monsters escape, it would be counterproductive. There is no objection to prioritizing the extermination of monsters."

"Thank you for your understanding!"

The person to whom Ogata bowed was Shizuka Asaka, a member of the royal family and the Chief of the General Headquarters.

Both were of the same rank as major generals, but due to Asaka's royal status and the difference in their positions—Ogata as the commander of the Second Division and Asaka as the Chief of the General Headquarters—Ogata needed to show deference.

Incidentally, in the National Defense Force, the commanders of the First Division, the Chief of the General Headquarters, and the Chief of Staff, as well as the Minister of National Defense, the highest commander of the military, are all members of the royal family.

This is because it was feared that if a division commander were to become the commander of the entire military, they might not be able to command the entire force impartially due to the strong ties between the divisions and their local areas, and because of the repeated power struggles among the divisions in the past. Eventually, after multiple senior officers, exhausted by the power struggles, proposed that only members of the royal family, who can take a fair stance, should be military commanders, this became the official system.

While members of the royal family tend to prioritize the Kanto region where they live and the Kinki region where the capital, Kyoto, has been for a thousand years, this focus on the capital and the Kinki economic zone is not a problem in terms of national defense and is, in a sense, common sense. Moreover, they are undoubtedly capable military administrators, so no one has complained so far.

Putting aside the personnel matters of the military leadership for now.

"I understand the opinions from the field, but we are not going to ignore his personal achievements."

"Yes, sir."

"From the perspective of the General Headquarters, we are considering officially making him a second lieutenant and then promoting him to a special first lieutenant."

"Second lieutenant, sir?"

At this point, becoming a second lieutenant would almost guarantee that he would become a first lieutenant after graduating from the military academy. Considering he is a student, this would be an exceptional treatment.

"There will likely be jealousy from other students, but an organization that is vague about rewarding and punishing is not a normal organization, is it?"

"That is correct, but..."

"But?"

"I am not sure how he will take it."

"Hmm?"

Ogata has no objection to promoting Keita.

In fact, he even thinks it would be a problem if Keita, who has achieved so much, cannot be promoted just because he is a student.

However, the issue is whether Keita will be happy about it.

From the information gathered from Colonel Shizuno, who spoke directly with Keita after the defense operation, and from Ryuji, who is in a position similar to Keita's supervisor, it is clear that Keita is not the type to seek attention.

"Originally, he is different from other students in that he does not desire military achievements or promotions."

Of course, as a human, Keita would prefer to be promoted over being a low-ranking soldier. However, he does not want to stand out too much in that position (though it is already too late in this regard).

"Then what does he desire?"

"Money. And a peaceful environment to live with his sister."

"That... No, considering his circumstances, it would be wrong to call him materialistic."

"Yes, sir."

If a member of the royal family or a military faction had said the same thing, Asaka and Ogata would have looked at them with disdain. Moreover, if it were known that they held such views, their chances of promotion within the military would be slim.

However, Keita is a civilian who, by chance, has the talent and reason to fight, unlike the privileged members of the royal family or the military factions, who are recognized for their authority due to their willingness to risk their lives in war.

What is the problem with a civilian child, who has lost his parents and lives with his sister, wanting a substantial amount of money to improve their life or wishing to stay away from the fighting?

Rather, isn't it our duty as members of the royal family and military to provide that for him?

Once this thought process is reached, it is impossible to harbor any ill feelings toward Keita.

However, whether to provide it is a different matter.

"I understand the second lieutenant's desires. However, I am sorry, but we cannot provide them to him at this stage."

"Yes, sir."

The attack power to take down large monsters in one hit, the agility to dodge counterattacks from large monsters, the rapid-fire capability to launch further attacks after dodging, and the endurance to continue fighting even after defeating ten large monsters—none of these can be spared.

Therefore, he must give up on peace.

As for money, that is also difficult.

However, this is not because there is no money.

If Keita wants money, and if paying him could bring him into the fold, even if the military budget cannot be used, Asaka or Ogata could pay him 10 billion or 20 billion from their personal assets, and the same would be true for other factions.

After all, the budget required to manufacture a single Kusanagi-type (conventional) unit is about 20 billion. Considering the evaluation of Keita's performance with the hybrid unit, he is worth more than ten units.

At least, that is what the upper echelons, including Asaka and Ogata, believe. Therefore, they would not complain even if they had to pay 100 billion.

One might think, "Then just pay him," but it is not that simple.

What Asaka and others are concerned about is the possibility that Keita's motivation will decline after receiving a large sum of money, or worse, that he will leave the military.

The fundamental premise is that Keita is in the military because he lacks money. If he obtains enough money to send his sister to university and live comfortably, he will have no reason to remain in the military academy.

Worse still, there is no law to prevent students from voluntarily leaving the military academy.

Of course, a gag order can be applied, and as a second lieutenant, he would be treated as a reservist even if he leaves the school, so he could be conscripted in an emergency.

However, it is a common belief in the military that a mech pilot who has left the battlefield and lost the tension of being a soldier will become significantly weaker.

Moreover, it is not just the pilot who weakens; the mech itself does too.

Although the mech Keita uses is essentially a dedicated unit, the ultimate ownership belongs to the military. If Keita leaves the school, the mech he used will be returned to the school after being reset.

However, to reset a mech that has grown significantly after defeating more than four large monsters, or in this case, ten large and nearly fifty medium monsters, would be a foolish act that anyone with knowledge of mechs would oppose. No one in the military would want to commit such a foolish act.

Then, would not paying him solve the problem? No, it would not.

If he is promoted but not paid, there is a risk that Keita might think he is not being adequately recognized and accept a recruitment offer from another country.

It might be fine now that his sister is like a hostage, but if an agent from another country secured her safety and offered a large sum of money, how would Keita react?

(He would likely accept the recruitment. Sigh. If we pay him enough, he will lose his motivation, and if we don't pay him, he will be recruited. It's a real headache when someone without the pride of a soldier or the sense of duty of a royal or noble gains such power...)

"Well, let's discuss him later. I also want to hear from Miss Kuuga, his homeroom teacher."

"Yes, sir."

The moment the meeting with the homeroom teacher, Miss Kuuga Seika, was decided, it was a source of great distress for her.

"Then, regarding the request from the Second Division and the dispatch of personnel from other factions."

"Yes, sir!"

"We will dispatch personnel from other divisions as requested. We will start with the Sixth and Eighth Divisions."

"Yes, sir!"

Neither Asaka nor Ogata believed that the National Defense Force was a group of weaklings who could not maintain the front line without relying on Keita alone.

During the recent battle, they had to be cautious about counterattacks from the monsters because they were outnumbered or had the same number of soldiers as the enemy. This fear of damage from counterattacks is why Shizuno could not make an immediate decision. However, their conclusion based on experience is that there is no problem with the Second Division's original strategy of gathering more than twice the number of soldiers to conduct artillery fire.

Therefore, Ogata, when summarizing the lessons learned, agreed with Shizuno's suggestion, as the field commander, to recruit personnel from other divisions to increase the absolute number of defense mech pilots, preferably artillery pilots, and submitted it to Asaka.

Asaka's response to the submission was affirmative.

Asaka had no intention of making the foolish decision of hesitating to dispatch personnel, especially since the Third Division had already been decimated, leaving them short-handed. Additionally, the recognition by other division members, who were informed of the large-scale offensive, that they also needed to gain combat experience was one of the reasons for the approval of the large-scale dispatch.

(Well, regardless of the intentions of other divisions, at least this should prevent a situation where he has to risk his life fighting alone.)

"Shall we end the formal part of the discussion here?"

"Yes, sir."

With the most concerning issue resolved, Ogata felt a weight lifted from his chest, and Asaka also relaxed.

"By the way, Ogata, there is something I want to ask you."

"Yes, sir. I understand what you want to ask, but I don't really understand it myself."

"Hmm. You too, huh? But let me ask you this. What is this?"

Asaka, reverting to a senior-junior relationship, pointed to the video footage of the special first lieutenant, Keita, who had shown exceptional performance in the recent defense operation.

The hybrid unit Keita operated in the footage was clearly doing something unusual—something that did not fit within the common sense Asaka had cultivated. Specifically...

"It's flying, right? This is definitely flying, right?"

Yes, it is flying.

A unit that should weigh over 30 tons.

A black, unsettlingly shaped unit with insect-like legs and a muscular upper body, is flying.

"What's going on?"

Of course, Asaka had been informed beforehand that the unit would use jumps for lateral movement and that the command system provisionally adopted for the mass-produced version of the unit was effective.

However, he had not heard about extending the airborne time after jumping by emitting strange light from the back and legs, changing direction in mid-air, or suppressing the recoil of heavy artillery.

At least, no such report had been submitted to Asaka.

When he first saw the footage, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What's going on...?"

Faced with an impossible scene, Asaka felt compelled to point it out.

But this was a path Ogata had also taken.

"Well, according to the president of Saiko, the hybrid unit does not have a flight mechanism. When the president confirmed with Special First Lieutenant... I mean, Second Lieutenant Kawakami, he said it was just a jump."

"But it looks like it's flying."

"I understand why you think that, but when the president showed this footage to the lieutenant, he said, 'It's a jump. Yes, a jump. After jumping, he seems to release magic power from his feet and back in a way similar to a magic attack to extend the airborne time and assist with direction changes. What? Flying? Ha ha. Nice joke. A unit without a flight mechanism can't fly. We don't call the Musasabi's movement flying, do we? So, it's a jump. To be precise, it's hopping. Understand? It's not flying but jumping. A jump.'"

"What's with that stubborn attitude? If you're a technician, you shouldn't give up there. Besides, whether it's jumping or flying, if it's unconscious, it's instinct, right? What kind of instinct does he have to make such movements?"

"I agree with your opinion, but I don't know what to say."

"Sure, but don't you think there's a limit?"

Well, indeed, the logic itself is not entirely incomprehensible.

Certainly, a unit that has taken down four large and numerous medium and small monsters might have enough magic power to do something like this.

While the method of using magic power is unusual, if it is said to be based on the same principle as the magic artillery attacks of large and medium monsters, there is a point to nod at.

However, just because magic power exists and monsters can use it does not mean he can do the same. Moreover, it is unclear what kind of mental state would allow for unconscious release of magic power from the back and legs.

In other words, what does he think the unit is?

Moreover, if the principle is the same, shouldn't it be possible with other units?

If it is possible, how can it be done?

Is there a way to stabilize the output?

There are many points to question, but Asaka understands that it won't lead to progress by pointing them out to Ogata, who has no direct connection to the matter.

Moreover, he also understands that he cannot easily summon Keita, who is just a student and a second lieutenant, as a royal, the Chief of the General Headquarters, and a major general, for the sake of curiosity and nitpicking, which have nothing to do with Keita's conduct or achievements.

However, as a military officer with considerable knowledge and experience, he could not help but point it out.

(What is this, a feeling of indigestion? Well, I'll have to confirm it properly with Miss Kuuga, who is observing him closely!)

...Later, Miss Kuuga Seika, who had to endure various troublesome matters just because she was the homeroom teacher, would implement a special menu for the A-class students, but that is a story for another time.

Sad news. The pervert was flying. (He didn't say he was flying.)

Incidentally, it seems that only Keita could accept the situation with the reasoning, "It's a world with magic, so what can you do?"

This concludes the section that serves as a chapter.

Points from readers are the fuel for the author.

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