Chapter 86

"Damn that idiot! I'll definitely beat him up!"

Shoko was enraged. She resolved that she must beat up that ignorant and brutal person.

As a first-timer on the battlefield, Shoko did not understand the basics of combat. But she was a person from a martial family.

She had trained for this day, practicing with swords, naginata, and guns.

Perhaps because she had been trained as a warrior, she was also sensitive to malice and hostility. Naturally, she had no intention of showing mercy to monsters, which were incompatible with humans.

She would kill when she should. She had no intention of deviating from that.

But that was that.

"What do you mean, 'It's easy because all you have to do is aim and shoot!' If it were that easy, there wouldn't be any snipers dying in battle!"

Shoko was raging as if she were not in the middle of a mission that required calmness. But if one considered her position, it was understandable.

She had just landed in Hue, Vietnam, a few days ago, and was suddenly brought to Sapa in the north. After a brief briefing, she was told, "Let's go and exterminate the monsters that have been troubling the Fourth Division," and before she knew it, she was deployed alone in the jungle. Even as the daughter of a martial family, she would have had a few complaints.

Incidentally, in a mission like this, the one who should have been in command or leading the charge would have been Kuwahara Shizuka, the commander of the unit with combat experience. However, Shizuka was still a novice who had just learned how to shoot.

Moreover, the opponent was an aerial force that didn't even exist in the textbooks.

Even Shizuka, who was usually competent, wouldn't know when or how to aim, let alone how to hide correctly.

Most importantly, it was still unclear whether the mass-produced models could take down a griffin with a single shot.

In such a situation, it was impossible to assign the attack to Shizuka, who could barely move the mass-produced model, let alone shoot.

Therefore, this time, the prototype No. 3, which had been proven to have the firepower to take down a griffin by Keita, and Shoko, who operated it, were deployed before Shizuka and the others.

"Ugh. Why did it come to this..."

Keita being the only one to excel on the battlefield was not fun. Every time she heard about Keita's achievements, she wanted to go to the battlefield herself.

So she invited classmates who felt the same way and formed a training battalion.

As a result, things progressed quickly, and she ended up being entrusted with the prototype No. 3, a bizarre machine.

Being entrusted with a prototype was a miscalculation, but upon closer inspection, its performance was superior to the mass-produced models, and its operability was better due to the data from the prototype No. 1. She consoled herself that this miscalculation was actually beneficial for her.

Indeed, thanks to this, she could undergo mobility training while others struggled with shooting.

This greatly satisfied her self-esteem.

So far, so good.

But Shoko had forgotten one thing.

They were soldiers.

Being a soldier meant that being more capable than others brought you closer to the battlefield.

Keita was taken to the battlefield because he was more capable than others.

Shoko did not fully realize this.

As a result, she was deployed alone.

At first, she said it was impossible.

She argued that she was still a novice without combat experience.

But her arguments were dismissed, and they were dismissed easily.

Even Shizuka, whom she had hoped would help, looked at her with pity and said, "Give up."

Of course. In a battlefield, there is no such thing as a perfect situation, and if there is someone who can fight, they will be sent to fight. If there is something that can be used, it will be used. The military is an organization that operates this way.

Especially in this case, since the command structure was different, it was technically a "request," but in reality, it was an order.

If this order had been the result of political squabbles between the First and Fourth Divisions, it might have been possible to refuse.

But this was a request to defeat the enemy's new weapon.

A request to solve a problem that affected the entire future of national defense.

Given this, even Shizuka, who had a certain degree of discretion as a unit commander, could not refuse, and as a person from a martial family, Shoko had no choice but to accept.

Incidentally, when Shizuka received the request, she initially opposed deploying Shoko alone. She suggested deploying a Kusanagi-type with a shield or a Yui-type capable of support fire.

However, after being advised by those who had information on the griffin that "gathering immobile units is more dangerous," she reluctantly accepted Shoko's solo deployment. (Shoko was informed of these decisions after they were made.)

"It's all that idiot's fault..."

Of course, the members of the Fourth Division were not completely indifferent to deploying a student alone.

However, the opponent was the King of the Skies, who could not be defeated with existing tactics and weapons.

A surprise attack might have worked if they were completely unprepared, but not now.

They had learned to be cautious after their kin were defeated and they themselves were injured.

They started to attack as soon as they saw a Yui-type in the forest.

(Incidentally, the reason they seemed unprepared from Keita's perspective was that they did not recognize the single-deployed Mikage-type as a threat.)

As a result, the immobile Yui-type became an easy target.

The Kusanagi-type was similar. Despite its superior mobility compared to the Yui-type, it had no way to counter the aerial bombardment.

The only remaining option was the Hachibou-type's bombardment, but it was only enough to scatter the enemy, not to defeat them.

After half a year of trial and error, the damage caused by the griffin continued to increase.

What were they supposed to do?

While she was wracking her brain, a new machine appeared, with a spider-like lower body and a demon-like upper body, and a single young boy who operated it.

The boy was strong. He was out of the ordinary in every way. He took down the griffin as easily as if it were a snack.

When he was praised by Aya Seisho, who accompanied him, he claimed that "this machine makes it as easy as scaring a scarecrow" and "it's all thanks to the machine's performance." It is still unclear whether this was the boy's modesty or a calculated answer.

It is also confirmed that the perverted engineer, who was both the manufacturer and the mechanic of the machine, repeatedly claimed that "the prototype No. 3, which Shoko operates, is the legitimate successor to the machine that the major operates." However, it is still unclear how this relates to Shoko being deployed alone in the forest.

The only thing that can be said is that the members of the Fourth Division recognize Shoko not as "just a child" but as "the ace who can defeat the griffin," making it impossible for her arguments to be accepted.

To return to the main topic.

As mentioned earlier, the black machine operated by the idiot, Keita, is not deployed here.

Of course, there are no mass-produced models operated by Shizuka or Nana, nor are there any accompanying infantry like Natsuki or Mari, who wear the new enhanced exoskeletons.

The only one here is the prototype No. 3, wrapped in a green ghillie suit.

"Does a group stand out? If it stands out, it gets targeted? Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right!"

Shoko had been told that the others (i.e., Keita) were waiting elsewhere to support her, but she wondered what they could do from a distance.

"But what can they do for me from a distance?!"

But how could that comfort her, standing alone before her first battle, trembling in front of the griffin flying in the sky?

"Can you kill it if you hit it? If you kill it, it won't counterattack? Of course, that's right!"

In other words, if she missed, she couldn't kill it, and if she couldn't kill it, it would counterattack.

And if it counterattacked, she didn't have the skills to avoid it.

(In other words, she would die. If she missed, she would die!)

When she heard that some people had held back during the Second Major Offensive, she was indignant. "What are these regular soldiers, these machine operators entrusted with new models, doing?"

She boasted, "Even if I were to die from a counterattack, I would have attacked."

When she heard that the survivors felt ashamed, she nodded in agreement. "Of course."

Shoko didn't know.

She didn't know what it meant to go to the battlefield with a machine.

She didn't know what it meant to fight with her life on the line.

She didn't know the fear of attacking in a situation where a counterattack was certain.

She didn't know the fear of attacking in a situation where a counterattack meant certain death.

She didn't know the greatness of the idiot who boasted, "If you hit it, you can kill it. If you kill it, it won't counterattack."

She didn't know the greatness of the idiot who boasted, "Even if it counterattacks, it won't matter if you miss," and demonstrated it.

She tried to distract herself by being angry at the great idiot, but she couldn't hide her trembling hands and fearful heart.

(Scared. Scared. Scared.)

She was afraid of missing her shot.

She was afraid of being counterattacked.

She was afraid of being killed by an attack.

She was afraid of dying without doing anything.

She was afraid of disappointing others after dying.

"Guah?"

"Ah! Did it see me!?"

It wasn't that it hadn't seen her; the griffin had seen her all along. It had just not considered her a threat and was observing whether there were any other hidden threats.

This time, it simply noticed her unusual behavior, thinking, "What are you doing?"

The griffin can indeed attack with magic, but it's not free. It consumes magic power. The griffin isn't stupid enough to use it on a non-threat.

So, being targeted by the griffin's gaze alone doesn't mean an attack is imminent.

But Shoko, who was already on edge, didn't see it that way.

The griffin's eyes, visible through the scope, were definitely on her.

She hallucinated that it recognized her as an enemy.

So, naturally,

If it saw her, it would attack.

If it attacked, she would die.

"Before it attacks me!"

Driven by fear, Shoko didn't realize that she was trembling, and that her machine was trembling with her.

The 120mm armor-piercing shell was fired with a heavy thud.

"Guoh?"

A hit would be fatal. Even a graze would cause significant damage, as proven. Naturally, it missed.

"Missed!?"

A shot taken with trembling hands would never hit the mark.

It was a matter of course, but no one was there to point it out.

"Guooooo!!"

Even though the attack missed, the griffin judged that this shot could have killed it.

For the first time, it recognized Shoko as an enemy that must be killed by any means.

"Ah!"

(Counterattack? Impossible! Evasion? Impossible!)

Sniping with a smoothbore cannon isn't a rapid-fire attack, and she wasn't skilled enough to move faster than the griffin's attack.

"Guah!"

(I'm dead.)

In the slow flow of time, Shoko, certain of her death, saw the griffin open its mouth and thought, "Ah, this is how a magic attack is done," in a strangely detached way.

Is this my last thought? Shoko mocked herself. But reality wasn't that cruel.

"Full of openings."

"Huh?"

"Goah!"

"Huh?"

The griffin, about to launch its attack, the King of the Skies about to deliver the final blow.

It exploded.

"Huh?"

The King of the Skies, which had just been a formidable presence, was now scattering red flesh.

"Huh?"

"The moment it targets its prey is the moment it exposes the most openings. That's what I mean."

"Huh?"

"Even if it was on impulse, it's my first time. Just pulling the trigger is enough."

"Huh?"

The only sound she heard was the idiot's voice.

"Huh?"

All she saw was the endless blue sky.

There was no sign of the griffin.

"Huh?"

"Next time, I'll aim to hit."

"Huh?"

The support from the idiot, who was waiting elsewhere, undoubtedly saved Shoko's life.

That was certain.

"Huh?"

However, it was unclear whether the idiot saved her dignity as well.

Being forced to fight a new enemy with a machine that wasn't even battle-proof (Keita's machine is not a reference) is like hell?

Incidentally, the protagonist is not aware, but this world is on hard mode.

The protagonist is on lunatic mode, though she is not aware of it.

Naturally, the girls who are involved (or who came on their own) are also on lunatic mode.

Thank you for reading.

I have a new work. You can access it from the tag below. Please enjoy.