Chapter 38

Selena, riding the Chimera, saw a purple activation knight looking down at a warship enveloped in flames on the monitor.

A slender silhouette.

The head had a design reminiscent of a fox.

Selena knew this unit.

"The Seventh Teumessa."

She had received an explanation about Teumessa when she infiltrated the Seventh Weapons Factory.

It was an activation knight prepared for an ace.

The presence of such an activation knight on the battlefield was proof that the Banfield family's ace was there.

Even one unit was troublesome, but the problem was that there were similar units around the knight named Marie Marian.

Not just one or two.

There were nearly thirty.

These Teumessas were destroying the rebel activation knights and ships one after another.

The rebels were suffering a major blow.

Selena's grip on the control stick tightened, and she realized she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

The word "retreat" was floating in her mind, but the problem was the entity she was facing.

Atalante, armed with a pistol, was confronting her.

"You've improved quite a bit. You seem like a completely different person from a while ago."

Hiding her anxiety, Selena spoke to Emma, and a response came back.

'That unit belongs to the Banfield family—His Excellency. I will have it returned!'

"You're still as serious as ever. I really dislike that about you."

Despite losing her left arm, Selena had no intention of losing to Emma.

Atalante had no ammunition left and could not enter an overloaded state.

The pilot also showed signs of fatigue.

Moreover, looking around, her subordinates were pressing the enemy forces.

Some Nevan units were holding on, but they would likely collapse from the surroundings if this continued.

If they had more time, it would be Selena's victory.

—If they had more time.

(I wish the rebels had held on a bit longer.)

While calculating the timing for a retreat in her mind, Atalante threw away the pistol and pulled out two laser blades from the side skirts.

"Two blades? But it's just a makeshift, isn't it? Do you really think you can beat me with that?"

Atalante attacked with two blades, but Selena did not feel threatened.

From the stance and movements, it was clear that Atalante was not as skilled as knights who specialized in dual-wielding.

'I will win!'

Selena was slightly surprised by Emma's confident statement.

Knowing the previous Emma, she did not expect such a declaration.

If it were just a boast, she could have mocked it, but she could tell it was spoken from the heart, which made her feel uncomfortable.

"You're just a child who knows nothing!!"

Raccoon, holding a close-combat weapon in its right arm, slashed at Atalante.

The energy blades clashed, producing sparks.

Again and again.

As the battle continued, Selena's anxiety grew.

(This one is attacking with clumsy movements. And she's not afraid of the enemy!? What a troublesome child!)

Raccoon's battle-axe-shaped beam axe cut off Atalante's right arm.

At that moment, Selena was confident of victory—but—

The laser blade of Atalante, driven by the transformed Emma, cut off Chimera's right shoulder at the joint.

"Damn it!?"

'This is the end!'

Just as Atalante's laser blade was about to stab Chimera's neck joint—

'Commander, retreat!'

Her subordinates rushed to her aid.

With Atalante maintaining a distance, Selena turned her back and retreated.

In the cockpit, Selena took off her helmet and threw it away.

"Again, I made a wrong decision! Why did I—"

She should have retreated without pushing it.

But in front of Emma, she could not bring herself to retreat honestly.

◇

After confirming that the Daria Mercenary Group had retreated, Emma checked the status of her unit.

"Is everyone okay?"

Looking around, the Nevan Custom units were in shambles.

They must have fought hard to protect Merea's activation knight unit.

Russell responded.

'We are fine. But I'm sorry. We inflicted damage on Merea's unit. —Three units were shot down.'

Emma's eyes widened, and she gasped.

"Three units?"

She had heard over the radio that allies had been shot down, but hearing the actual number shook her.

Russell seemed to have noticed her shock.

'If you, the commander, are shaken, it will affect those around you. —You just need to be composed. To put it bluntly, you managed to protect the escort target despite the damage.'

Lowering her head and trembling, Emma said,

"Still—I didn't want to cause any damage."

Russell sighed in exasperation and then—

'If you can't handle the mental strain, you should leave the military. From now on, if we survive and continue fighting, both you and I will lose many subordinates.'

Russell's unit took two subordinates and began rescuing allies.

Emma realized she was crying and wiped her face after taking off her helmet.

"It's not over yet. I need to re-engage after receiving supplies and maintenance."

Although she tried to switch her mindset, Emma did not get the chance to re-engage.

◇

In Merea's hangar.

While Molly was working on Atalante's resupply and maintenance, Emma, on break, was biting into a tablet in the cockpit.

It was a simple nutritional supplement.

While eating, she prepared for re-engagement.

"Lieutenant Russell, how is the preparation for the sortie?"

'The resupply and maintenance are delayed. We need at least thirty minutes.'

"Understood."

Atalante's maintenance and resupply were almost complete, but Merea's maintenance crew was not very skilled.

Knowing she could not sortie immediately, Emma went outside.

There, she found Doug and Larry waiting.

Larry expressed his desire to sortie.

"We're going too. We can't let this end like this."

He looked frustrated at being unable to do anything against the Daria Mercenary Group, but Emma maintained a neutral expression.

As a commander, she tried to remain calm to make rational decisions.

"I cannot allow it. Please stand by."

When Larry looked disappointed, Doug stepped forward.

"Don't you think we can be useful?"

Earlier, Doug and his team had bought time to protect the transport ship.

Thanks to them, the transport ship was not lost.

However, Emma's decision did not change.

"—Thanks to you, we managed to protect the transport ship. But I cannot risk any more casualties."

"Miss!"

Doug shouted at her, but Emma did not budge.

"The training time is woefully inadequate. If we sortie now, we will lose nearly half of our units."

Emma glanced at the three Raccoon wrecks in the hangar.

Many other units were heavily damaged, though the pilots were safe.

—Raccoon was a unit confidently released by the Seventh Weapons Factory.

The fact that they were pushed this far by the mercenary group was due to the pilots' lack of skill.

As the three argued, an emergency communication came in.

'All fleet units, the enemy fleet has begun to retreat, but pursuit is unnecessary. Repeat, pursuit is unnecessary.'

It seemed the battle outside was coming to an end.

Emma felt relieved upon hearing this.

"—It seems to be over."

◇

After returning to the flagship, Selena immediately headed to the bridge.

There, she checked the situation.

"What happened to Mighella?"

The operator shook his head.

"He was discovered and shot down by enemy units while fleeing in the flagship. His last moments were terrible. He demanded appropriate treatment because he was the president of the interstellar nation."

While it was expected that he would beg for his life, Selena found it strange that the enemy did not capture Mighella.

"He could have been a bargaining chip with the unified government, yet they didn't pick him up."

"Perhaps the enemy didn't think the leader of the rebellion was really there?"

"—That's true."

This was a judgment error on Mighella's part to show up here.

However, the report from her subordinate did not end there.

"More importantly, that Marie Marian was a monster beyond our imagination."

"Really?"

"Twelve ships, including a battleship, were destroyed by a single unit. Over fifty enhanced soldiers in humanoid mobile weapons. If we include the activation knights piloted by regular soldiers, the number of downed units reaches triple digits."

The subordinate did not seem to be joking and had a slightly pale face.

He must have shuddered at the thought of such a monster coming after them.

Selena felt the same way but, in front of her subordinates, she had to put on a brave face.

"Troublesome. I don't want to encounter her again, but we should think of a countermeasure."

She acted as if there was a way to defeat such a formidable opponent, to reassure those around her.

(Chenxi and the Banfield family have a lot of troublesome people. They can't be dealt with by conventional means—)

◇

In Merea, after the battle, everyone in the ship changed into formal attire and lined up in a place where they could see outside.

They saluted in honor of the pilots who had died in battle.

Emma was among them.

Unkind words were thrown at her from those around her.

"Three of us died because we were caught up in his point-scoring."

"He's apparently going to receive a medal for this battle."

"Are we just expendable pawns?"

Hearing the voices from behind, Emma's expression darkened.

(I didn't want to cause any casualties. That's why I didn't let them sortie.)

The pilots who died had insisted on sortieing.

But to the general crew, who did not know the circumstances, it seemed the knights were to blame for the deaths.

There was envy and fear of the knights in their words.

While they understood intellectually, they still blamed Emma and her team for the deaths of their comrades.

Glancing at the downcast Emma, Lieutenant Russell said,

"Look up."

"Russell—Lieutenant?"

"To put it bluntly, if you managed to protect the transport ship with this level of casualties, it's a good outcome. It's thanks to the Raccoons you assigned to this unit."

"—I didn't want anyone to die."

Despite this, Emma could not accept it.

Russell, in a deliberately cold tone, said to her,

"If you're going to be troubled by this level of casualties, you're not cut out to be a knight. Both you and I will lose many subordinates if we continue fighting. —If you can't handle it, you should quit being a knight and leave the military."

To quit being a knight. —It was the same words Russell had said to her when she graduated from the knight school. But this time, it sounded a bit different.

It sounded like he was encouraging her.

"You're being kind. You used to hate me."

As Emma recalled the past, the funeral ended, and the ship's intercom announced the dismissal.

As everyone left, Russell scratched his head.

With a look of mixed emotions, he began to talk about the past.

"Back then, I genuinely thought you should quit being a knight. Seeing you, who knew nothing, wanting to be a hero, made me angry."

Starting to speak from the heart, Russell sat on a nearby bench.

He began to tell his life story.

"You all thought I was from an elite family, right?"

Recalling her time at the knight school, Emma nodded with a wry smile.

"I heard your father was a bureaucrat."

"—That's true. But we weren't really an elite family. In fact, there are hardly any elite families in the Banfield family."

"Huh?"

As Emma tilted her head, Russell began to tell a story from before they were born.

"Before Lord Liam was born. My father worked hard to get a job in the government as a civilian. At first, he was determined to work for the people, but the government at the time was corrupt and dysfunctional."

In Emma's mind, the story Claudia had told her resurfaced.

The lord—little Liam, who resolved to reform the system.

Russell had a pained expression.

"When my father talked about those times, he would drink and cry out of frustration. He couldn't help the people who sought his help and could only watch his superiors' corruption. It was a situation where the more serious a person was, the more they would break down. My father—his body was ruined by alcohol several times."

"—It was a terrible time, I've heard."

"Yes, it was so terrible it wasn't funny. That's when Lord Liam carried out the reforms. Many of the bureaucrats at the time were punished for corruption. —From then on, my father would say happily that he could finally do the job he aimed for."

The corrupt upper echelons were eliminated, and the administration finally began to function properly.

That's what Russell's father had been waiting for.

Russell seemed to realize he had gone off-topic and looked a bit embarrassed.

"I respect my father. And he felt a special sense of gratitude towards Lord Liam. Personally, I respect him as well."

"Is that so?"

"Well, it's like this. —That's why I couldn't accept someone without any talent becoming a knight of the Banfield family. —Looking back now, my reasons for disliking you were childish."

Seeing Russell's embarrassed look, Emma shook her head.

"It's true I lacked talent, so it's fine."

Recalling her past, Emma felt embarrassed.

She couldn't blame Russell.

Russell said to Emma,

"You're kind. But that kindness will sometimes cause you pain. —Quitting as a knight and leaving the military is also an option."

Russell looked serious, and Emma answered earnestly.

"I'm still aiming to be a hero, so I'll continue being a knight."

Hearing her answer, Russell looked a little pleased.

"I see."

Young Miki ( ゜∀゜)ノ "I'm jealous of Russell's popularity, Miki here can't stand the success of juniors. But anyway, Mob—"

Bryan (´・ω・｀)ノ "The latest volume 7 of the side story where Lord Liam, known as 'I am the Corrupt Lord of the Interstellar Nation!' is doing well. There won't be any mysterious plants getting in the way of the promotion. Please enjoy Lord Liam's exploits in the book!"

Young Miki (＃ ゜∀゜) "—Don't get too cocky, you junior."