As the skyscrapers of Fall Street sank into the hazy twilight beyond, Kyle McVille sat in his office on the eighty-fifth floor of the Empire State Building, telephone in hand, smiling amiably.
“It’s not necessary to be disheartened by a little defeat. It’s only a little ……, isn’t it? Yes, the loss of seven flying battleships may not be considered a small loss in your world. But Fall Street is still bustling with the war economy. The shipbuilding industry is a good buy. The more they lose, the more big orders they get. Don’t be mad…….. The final victory is fixed, so let’s enjoy the process.”
While comforting the caller in a brisk manner, Kyle stroked the head of Estella, the receptionist, with the hand that was not holding the phone.
It’s just Kyle and Estella in the office. The New York Stock Exchange is closed, the brokers and chalk men have gone home, and Kyle is enjoying his direct line to the White House.
“We’re dealing with a poor, uncivilized nation, remember? Just cashing in the assets of me and some of my acquaintances would exceed the national budget of Hinoo There is no way such a weak nation can continue to wage war indefinitely. Just maintaining an army that is too big for its size is draining its strength.”
The anger-filled voice coming out of the receiver reached Estella, who was kneeling in front of Kyle. Kyle seemed to be more interested in politics than the market these days. As soon as the market closed, he kicked out his staff and contacted government officials to exchange information. He is also a major shareholder in several major corporations based in presidential battlegrounds.
While on the phone, Kyle glanced at the front page of today’s national morning newspaper on the side table beside him.
[Grand Ocean’s main squadron of flying battleships annihilated.]
[Admiral Primrose’s humiliating descent under the parachute]
[The first princess of Hinoo, Izaya Shironomiya, is enthralled by her historic victory.]
Under a large headline, there was a photo of Izaya dressed in the first class military uniform of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force.
Kyle gazed enraptured at Izaya’s now eighteen-year-old face and tapped Estella on the head with his fingertip to signal her.
“Yeah. I know, Jeffrey. Fall Street will always be your ……! We are always on your side. Don’t worry.”
After a few more words, Kyle hung up the phone. After wiping everywhere with a wet wipe, Estella brushed her messy blonde hair out of her face and helped Kyle into his underwear and slacks.
“Is Mr. President feeling vulnerable?”
” He’ s worried that they’ll find out about the Gull Note. He’s a pathetic old man. I guess he’s afraid that Fall Street will give up on him because his supporters are upper-class white people. As soon as things get bad, he comes crying to me.”
Kyle sat down on the couch, leaned back deeply and looked up at the ceiling. President Jeffrey Wimbert, the man he had just called, seemed quite dejected after his crushing defeat in the first battle. He’s afraid that the pessimists will start screaming if he loses, and that they’ll find out about the many provocations and harassments he’s inflicted on Hinoo, which was hidden from the people.
Wimbert, after all, is too nervous. Unless a more sturdy and talented person becomes the leader of Gameria, the nation of Hinoo will remain after the war is over.
“It’s a year from now. Let’s wait one more year.”
“What?”
“Until the next presidential election.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’ve got the money. Now I want power.”
Estella brought her blonde, blue-eyed beauty closer to Kyle.
“What will you do with the power?”
“Of course I’m going to make this country even better.”
“Bullshit. You must have something you want.”
“I don’t understand.”
“After the signal, I saw you looking at her again.”
With the tip of her finger, she pointed to Izaya’s mug shot on the paper and raised her eyebrows in disapproval.
Kyle was surprised.
“How did you know?”
“…… sucks. I’m a substitute for her?”
“Ha-ha-ha. What if you are?”
Estella looked at Kyle sadly for a moment.
“You used to have a little more humanity in you. You’ve lost it, my dear.”
She walked to the door and said,
“I quit. Goodbye.”
With a snap, Kyle was alone, staring out the window into the twilight.
He grabbed a bottle from the cellar, poured himself a glass, and with a newspaper in his hand, walked over to the wide open window to the south.
In the distance, Fall Street was about to sink into the night. Lights were beginning to come on in the many windows.
“You can’t even be a substitute for Izaya, you know.”
They can hire any number of replacements for Estella. Since his victory in the Thorn Dark stock, Kyle has used his financial power to beat Kronos and many other market makers and has taken their assets. Now the de facto king of Fall Street and one of the three richest men in the United States, Kyle can have what he wants, whether it’s a castle-like mansion, a model, an actress, or even the presidency.
Only one person can be Izaya Shironomiya.
Kyle read the newspaper article again, which he had read several times today.
The details of the great defeat of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria in the naval and air battles off Manila, as well as Izaya’s battle to destroy a battleship squadron and a heavy cruiser squadron in a single blow, were met with a mixture of regret and admiration.
Kyle gazed at the picture of Izaya’s face and fantasized about the noble, interesting, and transparent Izaya fighting on a warship. He overlapped the picture with the image of Izaya when she visited the office, making his heart thump in his chest.
“My heart is sad and in pain. It’s frustrating to want something so badly but not be able to have it. Is this what love is all about? Thank you, Izaya, for teaching me about love.”
He’s had hundreds of relationships with beautiful women in his life, but this is the first time he’s been made to feel so sad and frustrated. He had never felt so sad and frustrated in my life. He had never known that not being able to get what you want can make you feel so out of tune.
In appearance, status, and military prowess, Izaya was outstanding and inviolable, and that was why Kyle wanted her so badly. He wants to possess Izaya, even if it means trading everything he has.
Estella’s point is correct. Kyle’s goal in running for the next presidential election is not to lead Gameria but to destroy Hinoo, dismantle the royal family, and take Izaya for himself.
“What a pure love. To become president just for the sake of the one person you are in love with. Isn’t it the most intense, sad and beautiful love in the world?”
After many hardships, he will became the president, burn down Hinoo, dissolve the old royal family, and hold a beautiful, inviolable girl in his arms. In a boring world where anything you want can come true, what dream could be more beautiful than this?
Kyle sipped his glass of wine as he swooned over the future scene. Then he thought of another person who should be on the same stage.
“So where are you, Kuroto?”
Kuroto’s name was nowhere to be found in the article. He had said he was going to return to Hinoo to become a soldier, but it seemed he still had a long way to go.
“Come on up to the stage. Harassing you is another subject in my life.”
When he thought of Kuroto, a dark heat spread in his chest. He want to remind that cocky kid, who had the ability to control Fall Street but despised market makers and looked down on them as monsters obsessed with expansion, of the horrors of the upper class white man.
Perhaps the reason he is so obsessed with Izaya is because of Kuroto’s involvement.
[I’m not going to let you touch Izaya as long as I’m here.]
The words that Kuroto uttered before parting rang in Kyle’s head.
The smile on Kyle’s face reflected in the window pane was awe-inspiring.
“I’m going to touch Izaya, not with my fingers, but with something much more. Right in front of you.”
What would Kuroto’s face look like then? Just imagining Kuroto crying and begging for forgiveness, rubbing his forehead on the ground, made Kyle’s heart clear.
“It’s been two years. Two more years. ……”
If Kyle becomes the President of Gameria, he will add even more power to his ample wealth. If he becomes the king of this world, not just of Fall Street, it will be his will to crush the heroes of the day.
“I will destroy Hinoo and fulfill my love.”
The distorted smile that bloomed on the glass mirror was directed at Hinoo from afar.
Now is the time for surrender.
Let Hinoo’s army take the south as it pleases. Two years later, President Kyle McVille will lead a large fleet of ships that will swallow up Hinoo. The largest naval and air fleet in the history of mankind, with ten times the shipbuilding power and twenty times the steelmaking capacity of the Hinoo, will kick the United Fleet to the curb. Having lost the sea, Hinoo would be cut off from the sea transport routes and would dry up and eventually surrender.
Then Izaya, the sacred and inviolable beauty, will be his, and Kuroto will squirm with jealousy and beg for forgiveness with a funny face.
Two years later, Kyle’s presidency would mark the beginning of the best future ever promised.
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
Kyle’s smile in the glass mirror turned into that of a demon king of disaster…….
On that day at Yokosuka Military Port, government officials, military leaders, royal family members, foreign dignitaries, and wealthy private citizens lined the bleachers, while hundreds of thousands of spectators gathered at the docks and in parks along the coast, all looking up at the blue sky.
Five silver-gray, polished underbellies of airships stood before the eyes of the people.
They were the flying destroyers of the Second Air Raid Squadron of the Naval Air Force, the “Kawayodo,” the “Sugurono,” the “Yasose,” the “Sakashio,” and the “Unami.” The five ships that had survived the “Battle of Manila”, a major battle between air fleets that had taken place two months earlier, were greeted with cheers that sounded like the roar of the sea …….
Underneath the hull of the destroyer in the sky, the semi-cylindrical bomb tank was opened, and colorful confetti was scattered at an altitude of 1,200 meters. The seven colored droplets scattered in the autumn sky conveyed the shape of the wind to the spectators looking up at the sky.
◆
On October 8, 1938
The Ministry of the Navy decided to hold a triumphal return ceremony to announce the victory of Hinoo to the world. The crowd was full of praise and applause for the heroes of the skies who had sunk the most of the elite Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, which had destroyed twenty ships of the First Flying Airship Squadron.
Of all the people cheering, it was these two who received the loudest applause.
“Your Highness Izaya…! Thank you for saving Hinoo…!
“Your Highness, Izaya the Sea God! I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”
A middle-aged man raises his voice and waves to Izaya, who is presumably aboard one of the destroyers flying 1,200 meters in the air. Many children and adults waved small flags and towels with Izaya’s picture printed on them so that they could be seen from the sky. They also wore headbands with her name on them and called out her name with megaphones in their hands.
The other hero is just as popular as Izaya.
“Her Highness, Rio…! Please continue to save Hinoo…!”
Children and adults holding various goods with Rio’s name and picture printed on them waved happily in the air. A group of people unfurled a large banner that read, “Rio and Izaya are the pride of Hinoo,”. The cheering showed no signs of stopping.
All eighty million people of Hinoo were intoxicated by the victory of the first large-scale fleet battle.
Izaya and Rio were at the center of the enthusiasm. The royal family themselves had boarded a destroyer and sailed to the front line, and with just one ship they had sunk five flying battleships and three heavy cruisers, a feat never seen before in history. The two princesses, Izaya and Rio, are strong, noble, and beautiful. It is said that their names echoed not only in Hinoo, but also in Asia and even in Gameria itself.
The people were not told of the true honoree behind the beautiful princesses.
◆
“I don’t get it.”
On the roof of the forward watchtower of the Second Air Raid Fleet’s flagship, the air destroyer Kawayodo, he peered over the railing of the open-air command post, looking down at the black forest of people that filled the air below him for 1,200 meters. With binoculars, he confirmed that there were no towels, and muttered to himself, his cloak fluttering in the wind, as he was dressed in his Type 1 Navy and Air Force uniform.
He put his binoculars on his neck and looked at Rio beside him.
“Did you do something?”
” I did my job as a navigator.
Rio, who has healed from her side wound, is now dressed in a female officer’s first-class military uniform and looks completely healthy as she replies matter-of-factly.
“You left the ship at a critical moment, didn’t you? So what’s the big deal about that?
“I’m not the one you should be asking. It was the Ministry of the Navy who publicized it in the newspapers and magazines.
Izaya interrupted the argument between the two.
“You’ve been through a lot. Making you a hero would complicate things on all sides. Give it up this time.”
Izaya was also dressed in a beautiful Type 1 military uniform. Her black cloak fluttered as she folded her arms in front of her chest.
“The boy who was called unpatriotic and chased out of the country came back from Gameria and saved the country. Where can you find such a dramatic story? The people should praise me.”
“…… Yeah. Well, I think it would be good if there was a little more coverage, but the impression of a great criminal who bows to the royal family is too strong,……. There was some debate within the Ministry of the Navy, but this time they should be patient. Instead, you have been promoted three ranks, and the military commanders are evaluating you. Now that you’ve been recognized as an Operations Chief, you can take even more credit next time.”
Kuroto took Izaya’s words in stride with a silent profile that he didn’t like. The reward for his work this time was that he had been promoted from second lieutenant to major at once and was approved as Chief of Operations. This is definitely an extraordinary promotion, but Izaya was also promoted from major to brigadier general, a rank between colonel and major general, so Kuroto is still Izaya’s subordinate.
Both of them are too young to be Major General and Brigadier General, but now that Commander-in-Chief Nangou, Commander Takamura, and all other major high-ranking officers of the Command Headquarters have been killed in the Battle of Manila, the United Fleet Command, which is short of officers, has high expectations for Kuroto.
He sent his eyes to the blue sky ahead of him.
In the high, clear October sky, colorful confetti flew up in an updraft. The cheers of the crowd were also carried high into the sky along with the wind.
After inflicting so much damage on the enemy, the sea will return to peace for a while. Soon, however, Gameria would use its industrial strength to create an even larger fleet and march on Hinoo. To be honest, he had no idea how the Hinoo United Fleet, which had lost its six flying battleships, would fare against them.
But anyway, he’ll just say a few words to his neighbor Izaya.
“……. I’ll let you off with a promotion of this magnitude this time. The next step is to rise to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet with overwhelmingly great results that no one can complain about. You can look forward to it because I’m going to make you my subordinate and give you a hard time and move you to the other side.
“I don’t want a man who moves his subordinates to the other side because of his personal grudge to become the Director. If anything, I’m closer to that position than you are. After all, I am the commander of the Second Air Raid Squadron.
Izaya, too, looked pleased with herself as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and slumped down.
After losing their great commander, Lieutenant General Takeshi Takamura, the military commanders selected Izaya to be the commander of the Second Air Raid Squadron. She was too young to lead the fleet, but her popularity with the people and the fact that there were no admirals left in the current United Fleet who had experienced a large-scale air fleet battle like the Battle of Manila were the deciding factors. And from now on, Kuroto would be involved in the operation as the Chief of Operations with the Second Air Raid Fleet.
“If you entrust me with the job of operations chief, you’re a fish out of water. I’ll overtake you in no time. Enjoy the comfort of your chair at least.”
” Do something about that tone of voice. I am a brigadier general. Don’t threaten me when I’m a major.”
“You two are so close. You ve been frolicking ever since we got here.”
“We’re not frolicking.”
“Rio, this is his education.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s all keep getting along. For everyone who isn’t here, be cheerful.”
Rio smiled, looked back at the upper back plate diagonally, and waved her hands from side to side.
Heisuke, Onizuka, a large number of air raiders, engineers, and familiar sailors leaned forward to wave back at Rio. The “Ibuki” lost fifty-two men and seventy-six men were wounded in the Battle of Manila. On the day after the battle, a water funeral was held on the upper deck of the “Kawayodo,” with no remains of the dead, as a memorial and appreciation for those who had not returned.
Family, hometown, friends, lovers, the future of this country. They feel frustrated that they can only send their condolences and thanks to those who fought and died for something they wanted to protect.
They sacrificed so much. They cried as much as they could and mourned from the bottom of their hearts. After it was over, it was the duty of those who were left to live on to not be discouraged. They believed that the best way to pay tribute to their fallen comrades was to get up again and do their duty with the same cheerful smile as before.
“Oh. I’ll fight until the end. I’m going to finish the fight until the end, for everyone who is gone.”
Izaya said, nodding to Rio.
When she thought of those who had been wounded and died in the battle, she realized that war was wrong and must never be repeated. The cruel figures of the sailors lying folded on the deck never left Izaya’s mind. They would never pass on to the next generation a world where such a scene was the norm.
That’s why.
In order to prevent the children from repeating such foolish wars, she wanted to put an end to all wars with this battle against Gameria. If this war is a necessary part of the evolutionary process of human history, then she will fulfill her responsibility as a person born in this era. And she must end it here, so that the greatest nightmare in the history of mankind will never be repeated.
That’s right. I’m going to fight to end it here.
Izaya renewed her resolve and set her eyes on the sky ahead.
The flying destroyer flew through the sky, its stern propeller whipping furiously as the seven colors of confetti flew.
The cheers of the crowd that had filled the land faded into the distance. The shadow of the ship was buried in the infinite blue, and before they knew it, the tone of the stern propeller had changed to the melody of the wind.
The end of the melody – someone’s song faintly reached the empty sky.
Beyond the clouds, a peace song sung by many people was echoing in the empty sky.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUTURE TRANSLATION OF THIS NOVEL
Okay first off, when I first started MTLing/editing this novel, I originally planned to do only the first volume to see how NovelUpdates would react to Propeller Opera and to the gauge the interest in this series. Essentially, if NovelUpdates reacted well to the first volume andthere was sizeable amount of interest in the series, I would consider doing the rest of the series.
As you can tell, this is my first series/first time doing something like this, and let me say, THIS WAS MORE TIME CONSUMING AND TEDIOUS THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE! I have more respect to those who do translate every volume of a series and put out chapters consistently. After doing just this one volume, I am a little burnt out at the moment, since I wanted to get this first volume out as soon as possible.
However, thats not to say I didn’t like Propeller Opera. I actually LOVED this volume and can’t wait to read the rest of the series! Hopefully, I was able to do this first volume justice even though it is MTL Edited!
In the end, I’ll be taking a break on MTLing/editing since I got some stuff I want to do. To emphasis, I will NOT be committing to translating the next volume or the whole series just yet. Like I said earlier, I want to gauge the interest in the series first, before continuing. In other words, don’t be surprised if this will be the only volume that I end up translating. However, on the bright-side, If I ever do feel like translating the rest even if there is no interest, then expect to see more Kuroto, Izaya, and Rio!
PS. ALSO I WILL BE COMPILING EVERYTHING FROM THIS VOLUME INTO AN EPUB and PDF. So, for the new readers who want to read this on an EPUB device and/or those want to add it your digital collection and mark it as read, you can do that. The link will be posted in main Propeller Opera page!
Eh, even if it’s a machine translation, maybe a real translator will see this and get interested since it has…
Thank you for translating this volume! To help you gauge the interest in the series I had it made into…
dude thanks to translate this, even tho out of boredom but thank you
Thank you for picking this up! I have been wanting to read this as well but was sad to see…
No not at the moment. This is only something I did because I wanted to read Propeller Opera.
Nearly two months after the Filfin Blockade, the mainland of Gameria has forcibly detained Hinoo immigrants and frozen their assets. Although an inhumane measure, this resulted in the destruction of the Hinoo Military Intelligence network in Hawaii and Los Angeles. As a result, the whereabouts of the Grand Ocean Fleet could not be traced.
Six ships of the First Flying Battleship Squadron of the Hinoo United Fleet and the Ibuki were currently at anchor at the Ari Air Base, taking a break from their patrol duties.
Kuroto stood with Rio and Heisuke on a pier in the middle of the mountain at an altitude of about 1,200 meters, waiting for the Ibuki to come and pick them up. All three of them lowered their heavy backpacks to the ground, looking tired. The contents of the backpacks were alloy bars called “ingots,” which were made by melting down obsolete coins.
” Oh, I’m tired. So tired. Really, really tired.”
Rio complained one after the other. On the day they landed, they went to a local bullion smelter and were forced to carry these heavy ingots on their backs.
“Endure it. This will definitely come in handy.”
Kuroto’s expression did not falter as he looked at the approaching fireboat.
Heisuke Hirata, a member of the air raid crew, who had become Kuroto’s errand boy, looked pleased.
“That’s a very interesting idea, Your Highness! Hopefully we can confuse the enemy!”
Rio looked suspiciously at Kuroto and Heisuke.
“If it doesn’t work, I won’t be satisfied. It’s heavy. It’s really heavy. I’m the second-in-command and I’m so proud to be carrying such a heavy thing.”
“You’re the one who said you’d follow me. Stop complaining.”
“I wish I could have had some mango shaved ice.”
Complaining, Rio boarded the fireboat that picked them up.
Due to the nature of airships, they cannot fly outside the “floating zone”. A layer of Ceras Particles about 20 meters thick covers the entire area at an altitude of 1,200 meters. In other words, it cannot ascend or descend from an altitude of 1,200 meters, so it is necessary to set up a pier on the face of the mountain at an altitude of 1,200 meters and use a fireboat to get on and off the airship.
The inland fireboat with three people on board swam slowly through the air at seven knots.
The green foothills of the mountains spread out below them, with control towers, repair docks, ammunition depots, fuel depots, staff offices, and barracks lining the flattened mountain surfaces. The largest airship base in the Ari Air Base was the ” Steel Aerial Fortress” – the most majestic of the seven ships of the First Flying Battleship Squadron of the United Fleet. It was directly above the base, filling the blue sky.
Two rows of ships were arranged in a vertical formation. Each ship was moored in the air with its bow end touching a buoy made of floating stones.
The further the fireboat progressed, the larger the shadow of the ship became, overwhelming Kroto’s vision.
The flagship of the United Fleet was the “Shishimaru”.
It was 220 meters long, 35 meters wide, and weighed 40,000 tons.
Four 40-centimeter cannons protruded from both sides of the ship, with forty-eight creaking suspension ropes, four huge propellers driven by 82,000 horsepower at the stern, and a flag fluttering on the rear mast. This is a large flying battleship built with the prestige of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force to counter the overly powerful Western powers.
The United Fleet Command Center is located on the bridge at the front bottom of the hull. In accordance with the standard protocol, the Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet is supposed to stand at the head of the fleet and take charge, so Commander-in-Chief Nangou would probably be there.
The fireboat entered the narrow space between the two rows of vertical lines, aiming at the Ibuki.
A series of graceful curves, reminiscent of a noblewoman’s, flowed on either side of Kuroto and his companions, with a destructive power that could change the shape of a mountain if they opened fire.
The “Unra”, “Kinra”, “Kusui”, “Seimore”, and “Hokiyou” were the children of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force. The four 40cm guns, two of which protruded from the port side of the battleships, glittered in the sunlight.
These six flying battleships were the heart of the “miracle” that the people of Hinoo had created after enduring more than thirty years of painstaking work. They were the “shield in the sky” that protected Hinoo from the starving Western powers. It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why Hinoo is the only Asian nation that has not been colonized by the Western powers is because these six flying battleships protect the sea in all directions. If these flying battleships in front of them were to be defeated, Hinoo would be destroyed and the 80 million people would become slaves to the white man.
The “Ibuki” floated at the tail end of the two rows of ships.
After passing through the majestic rows of flying battleships, the unreliability of the short hulled and thinly armored destroyers became clear to them. The Ibuki, with its slow top speed, was not able to join the squadron despite being a destroyer, and was currently attached to the tail of the battleship squadron in an apologetic manner.
They parked alongside the port side and climbed up the lowered ramp to the upper deck. On the floating body and the port side of the ship, sailors with ropes tied around their waists were suspended in midair, reapplying the peeling paint.
A group of air raid officers who were inspecting the oxygen mines loaded in the launch tubes noticed and smiled.
“Your Highness, Princess! Welcome home!”
“I’m back. Here, take this. ……”
Rio was half-slumped as she handed the contents of her backpack to one of the officers.
“Is this the rumored secret weapon?”
” Mmmh. Scrape it off like thin paper and spread it around.”
Heisuke, who was standing beside Kuroto, added a few words.
“I’ll take it to the engineering team! I’ll ask them if they can pack it in a bursting bullet!”
Heisuke took all the ingots on his own back and ran off in a hurry.
“Heisuke-kun, you’re a good boy.”
Rio wiped her forehead with her fist as she watched the little man slip into the elevator.
“As a servant, you’re perfect.”
“Again. You’re being a “dere”.”
“What is a “dere”?”
“You don’t need to know. Well, I’ll take my leave. My luggage was heavy, but it was fun to go out with Kuro-chan for the first time in a while.”
Rio waved her hand and walked back to the bridge alone. The sailors who passed Rio saluted her with big smiles and breathed in the lingering scent as she passed by. Kuroto didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day, so he decided to take a stroll around the upper deck and inspect the air mine hangar.
“Good work, Your Highness!” “How are you, Your Highness?” ” Your Highness, make me your servant, too!”
When the air raid crew saw Kuroto’s face, they greeted him one after another with smiles. Kuroto nodded his head in a hawkish manner, confirming that his subordinates had become familiar with him.”
“Your Highness! I’m glad the weather is so good today.”
Sergeant Onizuka greeted him in an especially loud voice. Kuroto nodded and said,
“You did good yesterday.”
“Hahaha! No problem!
Yesterday, when he asked the engineering team to process ingots, they almost refused, citing their workload. So, he got Onizuka and forced them to agree. As the oldest officer on the ship, Onizuka had more influence over the officers and men on board than any newcomer.
“I’ll have Heisuke deliver your reward to you later. If I need anything else, I’ll be counting on you.”
“Haha! Thank you, Lord Kurono! When in doubt, leave it to Onizuka!”
Onizuka saluted with a big smile, and Kuroto nodded in agreement.
The reward was the leftover hot water from the bath that Izaya and Rio had used during the recent squall. He and the chief accountant had agreed to pump it up in secret and store it in the officer’s storeroom. The three buckets of hot water are called “holy water” by sailors because it has a strange lingering scent like roses. It is also traded at a particularly high price among many goods. By holding the source of the holy water”, Kuroto was revered like a god by the sailors, and had gained tremendous power of influence.
Heisuke peeked out of the doorway and came running in with a smile.
“The team has begun work! They say the metal fragments can be used in the warheads of explosive bombs!”
“Hmm, good news. I’ll go with you later.”
“The head of the engineering team is asking for a reward. What do you want to do?”
“Give him one bamboo tube. You can give him another one if the explosion is successful.”
Heisuke saluted, took the key from Kuroto, and ran off to the officer’s storeroom. There is only about half a bucket of holy water left. He thought about giving the sailors fresh water to disguise as “holy water”. But just to be sure, he had the sailors sniff the fresh water and holy water bamboo tubes, and ten out of ten of them sniffed the holy water. With his tongue in cheek at their fearsome sense of smell, he went around the ship, hoping to encounter another squall.
◆
Three days later, on August 5th, at 7:15 a.m….
Suddenly, a telegraph was sent to the captain of each ship, informing them and the operations staff to gather at the bridge of the “”Shishimaru”, the flagship of the United Fleet, as soon as possible.
Izaya’s expression tightened the moment she received the telegram.
“It’s finally here.”
She didn’t need to be told what she was being called for. Rio and Kuroto, who were on the navigation bridge, looked at each other and nodded.
“I guess you’ re going out.”
“Yes. It’s finally happening.”
After being seen off by the two, Izaya left the bridge and boarded an internal fireboat. From the other flying battleships, she could see the inner fireboats with the captains on board flying one after the other toward the Shishimaru.
The sailors also noticed something strange, and a murmur spread throughout the ship.
An hour later…
The captains of the ships left the bridge and boarded the inner fireboat anchored on the port side of the Shishimaru. They flew slowly at a speed of seven kilometers per hour, returning to the airships that formed a double-row formation.
The stiff-faced Izaya walked up the ramp to the port side of the “Ibuki” and silently walked in front of the bright-eyed sailors before returning to the navigation bridge.
She nodded to Kuroto and Rio, who welcomed her with a tight expression. She took a deep breath and grabbed the microphone for the ship’s internal broadcast.
“The captain’s message. All hands to the upper deck.”
Putting down the microphone, Izaya turned her sharp gaze to Kuroto and Rio.
“Let’s go. Gather the officers.”
“What?”
At the word, both Kuroto and Rio involuntarily stretched their backs. When they left the navigation bridge, the messenger relayed the current broadcast verbally to each of the stations. In a short time, not only the troops, but also the engineers, who are usually at the bottom of the ship, gathered on the upper deck and lined up in front of the pedestal near the bow.
Izaya stood upright on the pedestal with her chest, outstretched, along with the Chief of Engineers, the Chief of Air Raids, the Chief of Machine Guns, the Chief of Communications, and the Chief of Accounting. Also there was the Assistant Chief of Air Raids, Kuroto, Chief of Navigation, Rio, and Deck Officer, Myuu. All of them stood in a line beside Izaya to meet the two hundred sailors.
Against the backdrop of the morning sun, the blue summer sky, and the clouds rising in the distance, Izaya placed the pommel of his sword in its scabbard on a pedestal and placed her hands on the hilt to use it as a staff.
Her long silver hair and large jet-black cloak fluttered in the wind.
Her appearance was that of a goddess, glowing from within in the summer sun.
The glittering eyes of the sailors who had a hunch of what was to come turned to Izaya, and a clear, limpid voice was released to all.
“We have arrived. Today, at O 6 3 O (6:30am), friendly airships spotted the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria moving westward 300 nautical miles off the coast of Guam, and entered contact with it. Our course is 270 degrees and we’re heading for Filfin.”
A shout of joy shook the upper deck.
The world’s strongest fleet, the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, had finally appeared.
What was its strength?
“The enemy has one squadron of airships at the spearhead and two squadrons of sea ships fifty nautical miles behind. The flying squadron consists of six battleships, six heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and four destroyers, for a total of twenty ships. The maritime fleet consists of ten battleships, three aircraft carriers, numerous cruisers, and numerous destroyers. We’re bringing a convoy behind us.”
The Chief of Communications wrote down an outline of the enemy and their current position on the blackboard. Izaya continued to speak.
“The enemy is not deceiving us about their course, and is pursuing the shortest route to the Mariveles blockade. Commander-in-Chief Nangou has decided to mobilize the full power of our United Fleet to determine the winner.”
The crowd cheered again. The sailors were excited by the situation as if they were reenacting the “Battle of the Sea of Hinoo” in which the Barbados Fleet, the world’s most powerful fleet at the time, was defeated in the Russo-Hinoo War about 33 years ago.
“The “Ibuki” will be under the command of the First Flying Battleship Squadron and will challenge the enemy airships in this decisive battle. The sortie is set for December 31. Preparations for battle are now underway, and I look forward to your diligent efforts, over!”
The sailors straightened their backs and gave a cool shout, which was greeted with loud cheers in the summer sky.
“All senior officers gather on the navigation bridge. We must determine our positions.”
Izaya looked around at the eight officers who had gathered and announced.
After moving to the navigation bridge and discussing the matter, it was decided that in the event of a battle, the Chief of Air Raids (Kakitsubata), the Chief of Communications, and the Chief of Machine Guns would be on the navigation bridge, while Izaya, Rio, Kuroto, and Myuu would be in command at the forward watchtower. It was customary to distribute the officers in this way, since there was a risk that a single direct hit would kill them all if they were all gathered in one place. The Chief of Engineering and Chief Accountant performed their respective duties in the Engineering Command Center and the Ammunition Depot, respectively.
“Well, good luck to you all.”
Izaya told the assembled officers, and then pointed her toes toward the forward watchtower.
Sand and seawater were sprinkled on the upper deck to prevent slipping, warehouses and passageways that were not needed during the battle were sealed, combustible and unnecessary items were removed and unloaded, and fresh water and fuel were loaded. The ship’s name and squadron number on the port side and stern were painted over, and the ship’s number “7” was painted in white on the chimney instead. New underwear, soap, and first-aid kits were distributed to the troops at each battle station.
The atmosphere on board the Ibuki, which was always cheerful and tranquil, had changed completely.
Gradually, the sense of urgency increased, and the faces of the soldiers became more serious.
Twelve o’clock….
“Launch!”
Under Izaya’s interesting command, the engine of the Ibuki roared to life. The turbine shaft and screw shaft were connected by a deceleration device, and the huge propeller on the stern of the ship began to rotate slowly.
Reacting to the physical energy, seven different colors of droplets emerged from the floating zone, just like waves.
The buoys were untied, and with the flying battleship Shishimaru, flagship of the United Fleet, at the head of the group, the steel aerial fortresses slowly paddled out into the summer sky.
“All hands free, salute!”
After Izaya’s announcement, those not on duty changed into fresh coats and lined up on the upper deck or in the outer walkway to salute other ships and people on the surface facilities as they passed by.
Looking out over the mountain, they could see the control towers, warehouses, and repair docks at the same altitude. Many staff members, craftsmen, and ground personnel came out to wave their hats and handkerchiefs in farewell. Some were smiling, some were crying, some were kneeling on the ground with their hands clasped together. Young and old, even children were outdoors, all offering their prayers to the United Fleet on its way to the decisive battle.
If the United Fleet was defeated in this decisive battle, Hinoo would perish.
The people of Hinoo were well aware of this from the daily reports in the newspapers and magazines.
For Hinoo, the sea is its lifeline. If Hinoo is unable to protect the sea, the sea transport routes will be cut off by the Gamerian Navy and Air Force, and over time, Hinoo will run out of food, fuel, and supplies, destroying itself without a fight. For Hinoo, who is not self-sufficient in food and resources, and has to rely on imports from abroad, losing the United Fleet would be a catastrophe as the entire kingdom would be subjected to a “sustenance attack”.
Therefore, they could not lose.
They must win and return here.
Every soldier who sent a ceremonial salute to the people on the ground carried this determination in his heart. By now, all the people on the Hinoo mainland are praying to the United Fleet for a victory. Knowing that the prayers of eighty million people now rested on their shoulders, the United Fleet officers straightened their necks and backs.
For more than thirty years, eighty million people living in a poor emerging nation have endured the hardships of heavy taxation, selling their children and living frugally to keep their nails lit. Now, they must fulfill their responsibility as the ones entrusted with this miracle. The determination of all the soldiers who saluted those who were seeing them off was absorbed into the blue of summer sky.
◆
Soon, the blue ocean spread out beneath the Ibuki.
Izaya, at the forward watchpost, stood motionless with her eyes fixed squarely on the road ahead. Rio went up to the open-air command post on the rooftop to measure the sun’s altitude with a sextant, alongside Myuu, who was always here during battle.
Suddenly, Myuu transmitted a message to Izaya through a voice pipe.
“Allied maritime fleet to the west. It appears to be the fourth attack fleet, Makohakuchi(?).”
Izaya turned her binoculars to the east.
In the distance of the ocean, bouncing back the midsummer sunshine, there were the shadows of a few ships of the fleet.
“‘Kongou,’ ‘Haruna,’ ‘Kirimasu,’ and ‘Hiei.’ All the high-speed battleships are here. The cruisers are the ‘Maya,’ ‘Takao,’ and ‘Tone’. The torpedo squadron, ‘Jintetsu,’ ‘Yukikaze,’ ‘Koukaze,’ and ‘Ayanami.’ The two rows of vertical lines look as if they have been applied with a ruler.”
Peering through her binoculars, Izaya guessed the name of the ships based on their shadows alone. Kuroto, who was standing beside her, said,
“Is it still too late for the ‘Yamato’ and ‘Musashi’?”
“It will be difficult this time. I hope they come. The ‘Yamato’ is capable of taking down a flying battleship with its a 40cm main gun.”
“I’m sure it can. A 46-centimeter main cannonball weighing 1.4 tons would reach an altitude of 1,200 meters in 1.8 seconds. Even the forty-centimeter main gun of the Shishimaru can’t compete with it.”
Today, airships are the most powerful weapons in the world, but depending on the caliber of their main guns, they can be shot down by sea ships. Flying ships have the advantage of having a bird’s eye view of ships at sea, being able to observe the water columns from which bullets land, and being able to shoot from high altitudes. However, the maximum range is only extended by about 10%, and flying cruisers cannot defeat sea battleships. Therefore, if the Yamato and Musashi were to be finished, until a flying battleship with a 46cm main gun appeared, the Yamato and Musashi would be the world’s strongest weapons.
“The performance of Gameria’s new flying battleship is not clear. I’m sure they have a radar targeting system as far as I can tell. It hurts a lot that we don’t have the Yamato and Musashi.”
“It’s no use begging for what we don’t have. I’ve mentioned the radar sighting in my report, but I don’t know how headquarters evaluated it. Given that no countermeasures have been taken, the staff may not have taken it seriously.”
Pretending not to have heard Kuroto’s short retort, Izaya took his eyes off the binoculars. Rio came down to the forward watchtower and wrote down the current position on the chart.”
“Will the squadrons fight each other first?”
“That’s the plan. If we control the airspace first, we’ll have the advantage in a decisive battle against the maritime fleet. ”
Unlike the maritime fleet, which is constrained by islands and straits, the air fleet can fly over them and arrive at the target area quickly. For this reason, Commander-in-Chief Nangou decided to send the First and Second Squadrons ahead to fight a decisive battle against the enemy fleet. The commander of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, General Primrose, had the same plan and sent his squadron ahead. Both commanders disliked the muddled approach and wanted to fight a head-on collision of their best forces.
“Our first and second squadrons will be patrolling north and south, 200 nautical miles east of Manila, waiting for the enemy to attack. We expect to have a decisive battle with the enemy squadron within the next two days.”
Kuroto nodded his head in agreement. This time the battle will not be a three-dimensional battle between the air and maritime fleets, but rather a battle between the air fleets for control of the airspace first, and then the winning air fleet will attack the enemy maritime fleet. In other words, the victory or defeat of the air fleet battle would determine the future of the Hinoo.
“The Second Flying Air Raid Squadron has taken off from Honko Base. They are expected to rendezvous off Manila. In the daytime, the First Flying Battleship Squadron will inflict serious damage on the enemy in a gun battle, and after sunset, the Second Air Raid Squadron will finish them off with a nighttime lightning attack. When the daytime artillery battle begins, we will take advantage of the opportunity to charge and launch a lightning attack on the enemy battle formation.”
Listening to Izaya’s explanation with one ear, Kuroto sniffed.
“If all goes according to plan.”
“What makes you think it won’t?”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. It depends on how we position ourselves when we come into contact with each other. If we collide badly, we could find ourselves in a situation we can’t get out of.”
“The Command Center is a group of excellent officers. They know what they’re doing. All we have to do is follow the orders.”
Kuroto looked into the distance at the United Fleet’s flagship, the Shishimaru, which was leading a single vertical formation.
The United Fleet Command Center is located on that bridge, and Commander-in-Chief Nango, the Chief of Staff, and more than a dozen members of the Operations Staff are currently in charge of this operation.
“I hope I’m not being overly pompous.” He scrutinized Shishimaru with his eyes. It is his impression that some of the operations staff at the United Fleet Command Center assume that the Gamerian navy and air force are a bunch of untrained cowards, and will occasionally make reckless moves unintentionally. Despite his rank as a second lieutenant, Kuroto worries that they might not be able to pull it off in a critical moment…….
◆
August 7, 1938, 16:00
While patrolling two hundred and fifty nautical miles east of Manila, the First and Second Squadrons, sighted the “Steel Aerial Fortress” flying 30,000 meters horizontally in the far reaches of the summer sky.
Wow, wow, wow, ……. The cheers of the soldiers on each ship reverberated in the waning sky.
The time for the decisive battle had finally come.
Hinoo’s fate would be decided in this one battle.
“Over there, chief.”
Chief of Staff Sato pointed to the airspace beyond the summer clouds, to the left of the bow of the ship, and informed General Nangou beside him of the enemy fleet’s position.
Nangou, in a relaxed motion, put the binoculars around his neck to his eyes and confirmed the enemy’s position.
In the firing command post of the Allied Fleet flagship Shishimaru, the Chief of Staff, the Gunnery Staff, the Navigational Staff, and five operations officers from the Command Center surrounded Commander-in-Chief Nangou, exposing themselves to the outside world.
The firing command post was located on the roof of the navigation bridge, one of the best vantage points on the ship.
It was open-air and therefore unprotected from enemy bullets, and although the commander-in-chief usually returned to the navigation bridge in the event of a battle, Commander-in-Chief Nanguo preferred to take command here.
“Three rows, huh?”
Nangou muttered in a calm tone. Sato, who was standing beside him, also looked through his binoculars.
“It’s a three-line vertical formation. The air squadron of four destroyers and four light cruisers is lined up on the left, the six heavy cruisers in the middle, and the six battleships on the right in a river formation.”
“It must be a matter of range. The battleships are going to fire from afar and the destroyers from up close, all at once.”
The United Fleet’s First Flying Battleship Squadron (six battleships, one destroyer) and Second Flying Air Raid Squadron (eight destroyers) are both in single-strength formation. The two squadrons formed a long line and headed straight for the Grand Ocean Fleet.
The horizontal distance was now less than 20,000 meters.
“Raise the battle flag!”
The Chief of Staff shouted into the voice pipe.
A battle flag with a red diagonal line on the national flag was flown to the rear mast of the “Shishimaru”. This was a tradition dating back to the days of sailing ships, to identify friend and foe, and also to show the enemy fleet that “we will face you fair and square”. Looking through the binoculars, the enemy fleet responded by raising the Gameria battle flag on the rear mast, and the flying sailors of the two countries exchanged cheers with each other.
The horizontal distance, 15,000 meters.
At this rate, they’ll pass each other.
“We have to stop that ship from entering the Mariveles Blockade. If even one ship is missed, our sea routes will be in danger. At this point, I think we should hope for a firefight until one of us is annihilated.”
Nangou listened to Sato’s words in silence.
Sato looked back at the operations staff behind him. One by one, the best brains in the group affirmed their decision.
[I think it’s best to bring them into the same ship.] [If we can get them into an artillery battle, we will have the advantage.] [There is some risk involved, but the enemy’s skill level is not very high. We should make a right-angle turn to the left.]
The operations staff looked for Nangou’s reaction, but Nangou only put his eyes on the enemy’s Grand Ocean Fleet with a deep sense of reserve.
Thirty-three years ago, the commander-in-chief of the United Fleet at the time, Admiral Higashihara Daihachiro, dared to make a great turn in front of the enemy, a traditional fleet movement of the Hinoo Navy, against the Barbados Fleet. The general staff here now hopes to recreate the miracle of the Battle of the Hinoo Sea.
Turning around in front of the enemy is an extremely dangerous fleet maneuver.
During the turn, the ship can’t fire because it can’ t aim, and the enemy can shoot at the ship all they want. In addition, because it is necessary to start firing in an orderly fashion, the six following ships will also have to turn around at the same point where the “Shishimaru” turned. As long as the enemy has its sights set on the axis of the turn, the Hinoo fleet will jump into the dense bombardment field by itself.
It would take fifteen minutes for all seven ships of Hinoo’s first squadron to complete their turns. Once they do, they can continue to run alongside the enemy fleet and engage in gunfire until one of them is annihilated. The victory or defeat would be determined by the amount of hits the Grand Ocean fleet could land on the United Fleet during the “golden fifteen minutes.”
One of the operations staff, Colonel Yoshihito Kamei, a young genius and eccentric, delivered the words to Nango’s back.
“I’m sure that the risk of turning around is negligible, considering the skill level of the Gamerian naval and air forces. Even in the last air battle off Luzon, they couldn’t even contain the ‘Kiyosa’.”
Nangou did not look back, but listened to his words. It was the Gamerian Far East Fleet, which was full of obsolete ships, that participated in the air battle off Luzon. He is not sure whether to consider it to be on the same level as the Grand Ocean Fleet.
“If we show our spirit, the enemy will naturally back off. Above all, the great turning point in front of the enemy is the treasure sword of the Allied Fleet. The enemy forces will be so terrified by the flash of the sword that they will lose their will to fight immediately.
One after another, the young chiefs of staff agreed. Nangou nodded his head and told Kamei.
“The Gamerians will not back down from something like that.”
“……?”
“But if we are to fight to the bitter end, we must sail together. Let’s do it.”
The staff members clicked their heels together in unison.
The big turn will fail whether it’ s too late or too early. If we don’t do it at the right moment, it will be meaningless. It is not enough to simply run alongside after turning around. If you don’t run alongside in a way that keeps the enemy’s head down, you won’t be able to put enough firepower into the enemy fleet’s flagship.”
Commander-in-Chief Nangou waited for the appropriate moment to turn around.
The horizontal distance from the Grand Ocean Fleet was now less than 13,000 meters.
Nangou’s right hand went up high in the air.
The Chiefs of Staff at the firing command center gazed with bated breath at his white-gloved right hand.
I pray to you, Great God of Oomikami (God of War).
Nangou, more than anyone else, understood that the future of Hinoo’s 1,000 years depended on the right hand he held up.
May the heavens help us.
With a prayer, Nangou moved his right hand to his left side.
Chief of Staff Sato grasped the voice pipe leading to the wheelhouse and his voice became hoarse.
“Full tiller!”
The order was immediately relayed verbally to the battle stations by the messenger.
The whale waves of the crew returned inside the ship. The miracle of thirty-three years ago will be recreated here off Manila. The determination of the 2,000 crew members shakes the summer sky.
“On the rear mast of the “Shishimaru,” a signal flag with two right angles to the left was raised, and the following ships relayed the same flag to the rearmost “Ibuki.”
With the seven colors of the Ceras Effect trailing in its wake, the “Shishimaru” began a slow turn.
The Grand Ocean Fleet was closing in. They were already within gunshot range, but the enemy ships were not firing.
Carrying the prayers of 80 million people, the flying battleship “Shishimaru” draws an elegant seven-colored curve into the midsummer sky.
◆
“It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen.”
Rear Admiral Thomas Anderson, Chief of Staff of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, smiled scornfully as he watched the first Hinoo squadron make a large turn in front of the enemy through binoculars.
“If you teach a monkey to fly a trout, he’ll do it until he dies.
In the meantime, General Eric J. Primrose, Commander-in-Chief of the Gamerian Grand Ocean Fleet, was also looking through binoculars at the enemy’s front turn, or alpha movement as it is called in the Gaulish military, and said something like that in disgust.
In the bridge of the flying battleship Gorgoroth, the flagship of the Grand Oceanic Fleet of Gameria, a large number of staff members were crowded together, laughing at the Alpha movement of the United Fleet. No one was intimidated by the spirit, and in fact, a sense of relief spread that they had been caught in a trap.
The reason why they approached the United Fleet head-on was to invite the enemy to make a big turn. If they did that, the Grand Ocean Fleet would win.
“Radar efficiency, Condition One, all restrictions lifted.”
One of the operations staff told the radar plotting room, and the operators started scanning the SG radar. Immediately, the PPI scanner shows the horizontal positions of friendly and enemy ships, with a green bright spot representing the large turn of the enemy fleet.
“Set your sights on the axis of rotation.”
After receiving the general staff’s instructions, the operator stopped the rotation of the antenna and measured the Shishimaru’s current position using electromagnetic waves. He then read the distance and azimuth of the Shishimaru’s future position using the distance piper to electronically determine the angle of elevation and angle of rotation of each turret. By now, the SG radar of the five other battleships following the Gorgoroth would have set their sights on the enemy’s expected course.
Primrose looked at the Shishimaru as it drew a majestic curve toward the top of its turn, and smiled wryly.
“We understand ‘evolution,’ you know.”
“The Gorgoroth’s three 40-centimeter guns turned and raised their elevation in accordance with fire control. The five battleships that followed also used radar targeting, and their 40-centimeter main guns pointed at the same airspace as the Gorgoroth.
The First Flying Battleship Squadron, unaware of the situation, was about to jump into the bombardment area targeted by the electronic equipment of the six battleships.
“The tactics of thirty years ago will not work in this day and age.”
Primrose could already hear the cries of a monkey with no learning ability. This was going to be a one-sided air war.
“Let the artillery battle commence. Teach those apes the concept of evolution.” At the same time, the fifty four 40cm main cannons of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria roared in unison, shaking the heavens and earth as if they had been waiting impatiently.
◆
“Enemy battleship squadron, fire at once! “Enemy air cruiser squadron, fire at once! “Enemy air raid squadron, charge forward!”
In the midst of the enemy’s frontal assault, the voice pipes of the flagship Shishimaru’s fire control center sounded simultaneously.
Commander-in-Chief Nangou looked at the three rows of the Grand Ocean Fleet.
Twelve thousand meters horizontally, from a battleship squadron, a heavy cruiser squadron, and an air raid squadron, all lined up in a single vertical formation, a bunch of flames resembling a volcanic explosion shot up into the summer sky.
The claws of burnt demons clawed diagonally upward at the sky. A bombardment saturated with fire, filling the sky with fire arrows alone. More than a hundred fireballs were flying towards the United Fleet, trailing the seven colors of the Ceras Effect.
“All of sudden you’re firing.”
Kamei, one of the operational staff members, mumbled to himself as if he was being ridiculous. The basic principle of artillery warfare is to fire a few shots first, observe and correct the trajectory, and then fire in earnest. However, the Grand Oceanic Fleet has omitted any such procedure, and suddenly all the ships are firing at the same point. As expected of a Gameria, a big man with a lot of intelligence in his body.
The parabola of the ballistic trajectory crossed the apex and headed for the Shishimaru, as it was turning.
The armor-piercing shells flew while burning. It is said that bullets that do not hit the target look like ovals, while those that do look like circles.
A murmur exploded in the fire control center.
“Whoa, whoa.”
“No, no, no,wait, this can’t be …….”
The fireball appears to be a perfect circle.
Battleships can’t change course or speed as quickly as airplanes. It was too late to change the direction now. The only thing they can do is keep their fingers crossed and jump to the point where the enemy’s shells are pouring down on them.
“Shouldn’t we change the course?” “No, if we change now, it will disrupt the rest of the line!”
The staff members shouted, and at the same time, Chief of Staff Sato called out.
“General, get inside!”
“This is fine.”
Nangou replied quietly.
How was it possible to aim accurately from the first shot without even observing the first bullet?
Suddenly, a word flashed in Kamei’s mind.
A radar targeting system.
The other day, the captain of the ship “Ibuki” gave such a report. But Kamei shrugged it off, wondering if the slow minded Gamerians could create such a weapon. But as far as the trajectory of the ballistic convergence to this one point is concerned, I can only assume that it is due to electronic calculations. It’s not as if Gameria’s flying battleships are really equipped with fire control radar.
If the enemy battleship is equipped with such an advanced weapon, the enemy’s massive frontal assault is not only a threat to the enemy, but also a thank you for doing it.
“Stop.”
Kamei said while looking at the enemy ballistic trajectory.
Then came the fierce regret.
He had underestimated the enemy too much. He hadn’t even bothered to examine their armaments. When he received a report of radar target fire, he shrugged it off as impossible.
As a result, the nation’s thirty years of sacrifice was about to be wiped out before their eyes.
At his side, General Nangoh quietly announced.
“Lower the signal flags. If we don’t, the following ships will be annihilated.”
Sato, who had been taken aback, groaned.
“A signal flag?”
“You’re leaving a dead man’s order. Hurry up.”
“But the big turn will only work if all the ships are together.”
“Step aside.”
Nangoh pushed Sato’s body aside, grasped the voice pipe leading to the rear mast, and was about to announce, “Lower the signal flag…” when…
In a matter of microseconds, Nangou, Sato, Kamei, and the best of the Navy and Air Force were vaporized from this world.
Not one shot.
Four shots, six shots, ten shots…
One after another, the armor-piercing grenades penetrated the massive hull of the Shishimaru, smashing through the armor and reaching inside the hull, triggering the slow-moving fuse. A fireball emerges from the ship and engulfs the sailors. Flames erupt from the seams of the armor. Steel plates are flayed and new flames burst forth. Ruptured pipes spew out hot steam. A fire breaks out. The fleeing crew is caught in a fresh impact and blown to pieces.
[Bridge! Bridge! The second machinery room is hit!]
[Bridge! Auxiliary compartment hit, all engineers dead.]
[Bridge, pilothouse on fire. Voice pipes damaged.]
[Canteen one, no contact. Bridge, we need men now!]
The voices of the crew calling for their superiors echoed through the flames and sooty smoke of the ship. However, the high-ranking officers who were in charge of emergency defense had been wiped out. With the rudder damaged, the ship was unable to change course, and with no one to command it, the “Shishimaru” had no choice but to continue on through the thunderstorm of enemy bullets, still burning.
“Shishimaru is on fire!”
The voice of the watchman at the upper watchtower echoed through the voice pipe to the forward watchtower at “Ibuki.
Izaya and Kuroto swallowed their saliva and looked out at the flagship, the Shishimaru, which was spouting flames and turning around in the distance about 2,000 meters ahead.
Without firing a single shell, the Shishimaru was being unilaterally targeted by the enemy battleship and air cruiser squadrons. More than twenty direct hits had already been fired, and the hull was like a crushed pomegranate, with the hull cracking and the steel plates burning in the flames. It was a miracle that it hadn’t hit the ammunition depot. A long plume of black smoke billowed 3,000 meters into the sky, flames burst from the cracks in the armor, and sailors carrying the flames on their backs fell one by one into the air.
None of the soldiers who fell from the hull of the ship were carrying parachutes. If they were carrying such a large baggage, they would not be able to perform their war duties. Therefore, they carried them only after the order for ” all hands off the ship” was given. Despite being shot at so much, the order for all hands to leave the ship has not yet been issued.
“Isn’t it possible that the command center has been wiped out?”
Izaya could not deny what Kuroto had said. There was no fire on the navigation bridge, but the firing control center had been ripped out. The rising black smoke made it impossible to see what was going on inside the bridge. Was the chain of command really still alive?
“The signal flag is still up. The following ships have no choice but to follow the Shishimaru. ……!”
Izaya’s words were filled with despair. In the back of the Shishimaru, which looks like a crushed pomegranate about to turn around, the second ship, the “Kinra”, was about to jump into the enemy’s dense bombardment field.
Immediately, the concentrated bombardment by the Grand Oceanic Fleet engulfed the Kinra.
The Kinra’s hull flattened like candy as if it had been hit by more than a hundred armor-piercing projectiles fired by the battleships and cruisers.
It was as if an archangel in the sky had squeezed a rotten fruit.
In the blink of an eye, the Kinra swelled slightly, the armor plate burst open, and a large fireball three hundred meters in diameter sprouted, scorching the battle airspace.
“…………!!!”
Kuroto could not help but exclaim. The one-ton bombs on the bottom of the ship must have all exploded. All the suspension ropes from the Kinra, which turned into fireballs, popped off, turning the 40,000-ton hull into shattered pieces of iron and falling 1,200 meters down into the ocean with a trail of flames in tow. However, the following ships did not stop. The third ship, the “Hokiyou”, also saw the tragedy of the Kinra before its eyes, and stepped into its own death trap.
Once again, from the enemy’s three-pronged formation, a simultaneous bombardment burned through the sky. The simultaneous bombardment was rapid. In less than a minute, a second and a third concentrated barrage rained down, piercing the flying battleships with every spear in the sky.
All of the fireballs that filled the summer sky belonged to the Grand Ocean Fleet.
The United Fleet, which was still making the big turn, had yet to fire a single shell.
The signal flag on the flagship, “Shishimaru”, had yet to be lowered, even though it knew that the fleet will be shot at unilaterally. Even so, all ship must obey the order. No matter what the situation, they must obey Commander-in-Chief Nangou. That is the iron rule of the United Fleet.
“The Shishimaru is still flying, spewing flames and staggering. As long as we don’t know what’s going on at the command center, we have no choice but to continue our desperate turn.”
“Stop and flee!”
Kuroto shouted. But now Hokiyou’s whole body was pierced by the spear bedding of the armor-piercing projectiles, spreading bloody flames into the summer sky. Shattered pieces of iron, torn armor, and fallen soldiers were all replaced by new bullet holes, as twenty to thirty flaming armor-piercing bullets pierced Hokiyou in the blink of an eye.
The seven colors of the Ceras Effect brutally and beautifully dyed the remains of the Hokiyou in rainbow colors. As the flames and soot spewed out from its body like blood, the Hokiyou was shot through its ammunition bay. The ship bursted open from the inside, causing a huge explosion that vaporized the 2,000 people on board, including the steel hull.
The mocking smile of Primrose, Commander-in-Chief of the Gamerian Fleet, could be seen through the summer sky.
As expected of the Hinoo Monkey Army, it seems that they cannot distinguish between bravery and savagery when they die obeying the orders of the dead.
Even the mocking laughter of the Gamerian officers could be heard in Kuroto’s ears.
“I want you to send a message to the Shishimaru and inform them of the situation on the bridge. Is the Commander alive and well?”
Izaya ordered the communications room. Kuroto looked at the Shishimaru.
The flagship of the Grand Ocean Fleet, the Gorgoroth, seems to have decided to crash the Shishimaru into the abyss. The ship was sailing alone, closing the distance and firing with all guns directly aimed. The other enemy battleships were still aiming at the rotating axis of the big turn and crushing the flying battleships like they were rotten fruit. Both the enemy cruiser squadron and the air raid squadron enjoyed the one-sided bombardment that was comparable to shooting at a food stall.
No matter how many shots they took while turning around, they could not fire back. If he could survive the next fifteen minutes, Hinoo would be victorious. The Hinoo’s battleship squadron, which had attempted to make the big turn, was dismantled into scrap metal in just fifteen minutes.
“Change directions!! Don’t just jump in, let them rip you apart!”
Izaya shook her head side to side at Kuroto’s words.
“It hasn’t been determined that the Shishimaru is dead yet. It’s still flying, and its guns are firing back. We have no choice but to obey orders until we get a clear picture of the situation.”
Izaya was right, the Shishimaru was still flying even though several of her suspension cables had snapped. The ship’s hull was tilting, but it was still airborne. The port side guns had finally started firing back at the Gorgoroth as well. It wasn’t a coordinated firing though. It was just one gun on the starboard side.
“It’s just the survivors firing on their own. The command center has been destroyed. Cancel the turn.”
“On what authority are you speaking? It’s Commander-in-Chief Nangou’s decision. We have to obey.”
“We’re following the orders of a dead man and getting annihilated? It’s ridiculous. Use your head. What kind of idiot jumps into a trap like that?”
In the middle of the turnaround, the fifth ship, the “Semiore”, was shot to pieces and spewed red flames from its upper deck. Machine gun bullets exploded in the sky, ripping through the blue sky in an endless stream of fire.
“We’re going to be annihilated!”
The sixth and final battleship, the “Kusui”, was now also following the path of the five ships ahead of it. It was about to throw its own hull into the deadly airspace, which was completely targeted. They should have been able to see the damage, but there was no sign of fleeing.
Kuroto looked at Izaya with boiling eyes that seemed to be overflowing with blood.
“You’re not going to go in there, are you?”
Izaya did not answer. She just stared at the scourge of the summer sky with a pale face.
“We’ll die in vain. If Ibuki goes in there, we will be vaporized the very next moment.”
“His Excellency Nangou’s order is still alive.”
Izaya replied in a whisper.
“Look at the situation. The command center of the United Fleet has been destroyed. How can we survive in this situation?”
Kuroto pointed to the staggering Shishimaru and admonished her. The enemy’s flagship, the Gorgoroth, now approaches the Shishimaru at 3,000 meters and hurls 40-centimeter cannonballs at the suspension cable as if to torture its corpse. It seemed to be aiming at the lines holding the hull. The enemy was planning to steal the floating body.
“I can’t disobey orders on my own volition. If I do, I will not be a soldier.”
Izaya said this in a quiet tone. Kuroto waved his bitter face from side to side and turned to Rio, who was standing at the nautical chart, checking its course.
“Rio, tell this stupid woman off. She’ s completely blind in this situation.”
Rio lifted her pale face from the chart.
“‘It’s what the Commander-in-Chief told us to do ……. We have to do it.”
She tells him in a weak voice.
Everyone is insane.
Kuroto put one hand over his eyes for a moment and ponders silently, before lifting a serious expression to Izaya.
“You can die here all you want. But don’t drag me into it.”
“If you don’t like it, you can jump off with a parachute……. I don’t want an officer who encourages his superiors to violate orders.”
“I’m not running away. I’m here to win. I’m here to win. If we charge in now, we’ll end up getting beaten to a pulp. Disengage from the battlefield and wait for night. Our ally’s Second Air Raid Fleet is still alive and well. We have no choice but to gamble on a nighttime raid attack.”
When he said this, Izaya glared at Kuroto with a deadly look in her eyes.
“So, what authority do you have to order me to do this? Do you think you’re the commander-in-chief when you’re only the Assistant Chief of Air Raids?”
In the midst of the argument, the sixth ship, the “Kusui,” was being burned alive in the sky in the distance. Through the cracks in the armor, they could see the flames flowing like a molten ore furnace. The steel seems to have melted down from the heat, thus making it impossible for anyone to survive.
Three of the six battleships, including the Shishimaru, were flying in flames, while the remaining three had either been crushed or had fallen into the sea after their suspension ropes were torn off. Their floating bodies were drifting vainly in the floating zone. Convinced of its victory, the Grand Ocean Fleet approached the battleship to a considerable distance and fired relentlessly at the suspension cables. They intend to destroy the ship and capture only the floating bodies.
If they continued to obey Nangou’s orders, the Ibuki would soon start its turn.
Kuroto brought his face close to Izaya’s, his gaze blazing and his words serious.
“If you do not obey my orders, Hinoo will perish.”
“……………………”
“If you break the order, you still have a chance to recover.”
In the crimson eyes of Izaya, the pride of being a soldier who obeys orders to the death, desired a chance to fight back, even if it meant violating orders.
“Captain, do you still intend to turn?
A question from the wheelhouse echoed through the voice pipes.
Izaya slowly looked away from Kuroto and watched the three flying battleships burn up like rags, while the floating hulless bodies drifted aimlessly through the sky, being captured by enemy destroyers.
Kuroto dared to stand on his haunches.
As usual, he hung his mouth at an angle and smiled fearlessly.
“It’s my turn. I’m going to save the day. If you want to win this battle, listen to me, Izaya.
No matter how desperate the situation, he had always been able to overcome it with a big smile on his face. So this time, he intended to overcome it again as a matter of fact.
“With our strength, we will destroy the Grand Ocean Fleet.”
Izaya’s crimson eyes danced back to Kuroto once more.
A complex emotion flickered like a star in her eyes, and Izaya spat shortly.
“Don’t forget those words.
Then, with a determined look on her face, she spoke into the voice pipe that led to the wheelhouse.
“Full rudder! Get off the battlefield and wait for night!
“Ha! Full rudder, now!
The helmsman responded, and the Ibuki slowly steered to the right, the opposite direction of the big turn.
Kuroto smiled at Izaya.
“That’s better.”
“You said we would win. I’ll do what you say. Destroy the enemy fleet.”
“Leave it to me. Nothing is impossible for a genius. Now it’s my turn.”
With that, Kuroto looked out towards the Shishimaru in the distance.
The Gorgoroth was still concentrating its fire on the Shishimaru’s suspension cables as if it were torturing a corpse. The “Shishimaru” was no longer moving, only waiting for its final moments as it was being shot at.
◆
“It’ s a great victory in the history of the world.”
On the bridge of the Gorgoroth, the flagship of the Grand Ocean Fleet, General Primrose, the commander-in-chief, looked around at his staff and smiled with satisfaction.
It’s a perfect victory. He had one of the soldiers on duty pour him a glass of wine, and raised it in a self-conscious gesture as he looked out the window at the disfigured Shishimaru.
“Goodbye, Commander Nangou.”
At the end of the glass, the Shishimaru, the world’s mightiest flying battleship, was barely connected to the floating body by the three suspension cable left at its stern, as if it was a criminal hanging upside down.
Against the backdrop of a bloody sunset, the Shishimaru hung with its stern up and bow down.
The shattered armor was peeling up like a pomegranate here and there, and flames were sprouting out of the blackened holes. You could see the molten steel frame flowing down the ship like lava. The hull of the ship, which just thirty minutes ago had been beautifully bouncing in the sunlight, was now furrowed and peeling in many places like a cloak, and the bow of the ship was swaying helplessly toward the sea.
“From now on, you must learn to mind your own business. This is what happens when apes defy humans.”
Just as Primrose sipped his glass, the Shishimaru’s last suspension cable snapped, sending the hull of the coquettish ship careening headlong into the sea, 1,200 meters below, with a long black smoke trailing behind it. The splash from the 40,000-ton iron mass soaked the feet of the victor, who was standing at an altitude of 1,200 meters.
The soldiers sang triumphantly, and Primrose drank his wine.
[You cowardly ape! It’s your punishment for defying the humans!] [A savage can’t defeat a civilized man!] [That was easy. Training was much harder!]
The loud laughter of the soldiers was coming from all over the ship. They were right, there was no easier battle than this. The United Fleet jumped in and died one by one, without the need for them to do anything. The Shishimaru kept its signal flag up, so they assumed that the great Commander-in-Chief Nangou had ordered it, causing the fleet to obey the orders of a dead man.
When the droplets of water subsided and his vision opened up, he saw that the Shishimaru was no longer there, only a swirling mass of wheat.
” You should have known the difference between bravery and savagery.”
In the end, the world’s most powerful squadron, the 1st Flying Battleship Squadron, was shattered in just fifteen minutes by dozens of unilateral shots from the Grand Ocean Fleet, without firing a single shot. In addition, all six of the floating bodies with a volume of 30,000 to 40,000 tons were handed over to Gameria. Now, Gameria could bring six new flying battleships to the front. Such a one-sided victory was unprecedented in the history of world sea-air warfare. Commander-in-Chief Nangou will go down in history as the worst commander in the history of naval and air forces, suffering the greatest defeat in history.
Primrose looks beyond, at the remaining Hinoo squadron.
The flying destroyer at the tail end of the six wiped out flying battleships had changed course and left the war zone. It was a wise decision, as the ship would have been vaporized if it had come at them. In addition, the Second Air Raid Squadron and eight flying destroyers, which were following close behind it, also steered to the right and moved away from the battlefield. There were no more battleships or heavy cruisers in the enemy fleet, only a few destroyers. Twenty airships, including six flying battleships, remained intact. The only thing left to do was to attack the Hinoo Maritime Fleet from the air. The flying battleships were far stronger than the sea battleships when it came to the 40cm main guns.
But… they must not let their guard down.
Do not underestimate the barbaric courage of the Hinoos.
Admiral Primrose grabbed the ship’s microphone and called out to the 2,000 people on board.
“Gentlemen, we have achieved the greatest victory in the history of world naval and air warfare. This is the result of your daily efforts. However, there are still nine enemy flying destroyers remaining. The Naval Air Force of Hinoo is very good at night battles, so stay alert.”
Until they entered the Mariveles Blockade, they could never be too careful. The Hinoo Air Raid Squadron will definitely challenge them to a night battle.
“We’ll make it look like we’ve let our guard down, and then turn on them.”
Primrose expects the nine destroyers that escaped to certainly stand in their way again. The courageous but dim-witted Hinoos would probably believe that they were off guard and take them by surprise. However, they were unfazed. They will wait for the assault with a stout stance and return fire.
The six floating bodies that had lost their hulls were all captured by the flying destroyers and towed to Mariveles Fortress.
Soon the sun was setting in the western sky.
The stars twinkled in the canopy of the sky, and the darkness filled with Primrose’s thoughts spread across the sky…
◆
“The enemy is heading for Mariveles Fortress. Our ships are faster than theirs. I’d like to get ahead of them, see where they’re going and charge them. I want to make a nighttime raid attack.”
Kuroto briefly announced the plan for tonight. Izaya nodded and spoke to Myuu on the rooftop using a voice pipe.
” Myuu, do you see the Second Air Raid Squadron?”
Immediately, Myuu’s voice came back through the pipe, emotionless.
“All eight flying destroyers are ahead of the Ibuki. Distance, twelve hundred. Their course is 270 degrees.”
Izaya nodded and said to Kuroto.
“It seems that Commander Takamura has the same idea as you. He’s planning to challenge them to a night battle before they enter the fortress.”
“It seems so. We still have a chance.”
Since the radio is currently blocked, there is no way to make telegraphic contact with friendly squadrons. The enemy probably thinks that the remaining Hinoo airships have given up on continuing the battle and have fled back. If they intercepted their telegraphic communications, they would be in danger of being alerted, and that would be undesirable.
Izaya, Kuroto, and Commander Takamura have not yet given up on victory. The primary mission of the Air Raid Squadron is to engage the enemy fleet in a nighttime raid attack. In order to keep the few remaining fires of hope alive, the nine remaining flying destroyers flew through the starry sky.
The enemy Gamerian squadron still had six flying battleships, six heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and four flying destroyers. Normally, only nine Hinoo destroyers would be able to stand up to such a force.
“But Commander Takamura will certainly challenge the odds. I was with him in the Nozuchi, and he’s as good as General Nangou. After all, he accepted my opinion that led to our victory in the Battle of Luzon.”
That’s what was written in Kuroto’s evaluation chart. Before the Battle of Luzon, he prepared an analysis of the enemy fleet’s course and formation and submitted it to the Headquarters.
While most of the staff snickered, only Lieutenant General Takamura, commander of the Second Squadron, recognized the validity of the analysis and adopted it, resulting in the almost unscathed destruction of the enemy.
“If Takamura’s fleet launched a raid, the enemy’s attention would be drawn to it. I’d like to take advantage of the confusion and attack the enemy battleship squadron.”
Izaya nodded back at Kuroto’s words. If they left the cruisers and flying destroyers alone, they could be shot down by allied sea battleships. However, if the enemy flying battleships are not destroyed by the airships, the entire maritime fleet will be annihilated. Flying battleships are that terrifying.
The “Ibuki” has been flying at a maximum speed of 30 knots for a long time. However, the eight flying destroyers in the Takamura’s squadron have a maximum speed of forty knots. ” Leaving the Ibuki at the rear, they rapidly increased the distance between them. Because of this speed difference, the Ibuki was unable to join the Air Raid Squadron despite being a destroyer.
It was now around two o’clock in the morning.
Rio, who had been sitting at the nautical table drawing navigation charts, looked up.
“If the Grand Ocean Fleet is heading straight for the fortress, the Takamura Squadron should be in contact with them in about an hour.”
”I see. We’re almost there. Myuu, do you see the enemy?”
[No, ma’am. They’re more than 20,000 meters away to the northeast.]
There is no doubt that they are currently running ahead of the enemy. Kuroto thought silently and told Izaya and Rio.
“I want to turn the rudder all the way around and cross in front of the enemy. If we are successful, we can get in the middle of the Takamura squadron and disrupt the enemy fleet.”
Izaya nodded at the suggestion.
“Interesting. Rio, can you set a course and speed?
“Wait a minute. Assuming they’re going straight …….”
Rio determined the enemy’s projected position and their current position, then used a ruler and compass to determine the best point to meet the enemy.
“If we go north-northwest at 75 degrees and maximum war speed, we should be able to cross in front of the enemy fleet in an hour and ten minutes.”
Nodding her head, Izaya picked up the voice pipe leading to the wheelhouse.”
“Surface rudder seventy-five degrees. Set a course for north-northwest.”
[Face helm 75 degrees! All right!]
The helmsman’s cheerful voice came back from the voice pipe. While checking the seven colors of the Ceras Effect scattering from the bow of the ship, Izaya set her eyes on the night sky ahead of her. ……
◆
An hour later…
“The Takamura Squadron should be in attack position by now.”
In response to Rio’s words, Izaya turned her 20cm binoculars to the left rear. In the darkness, she saw a line of eight flying destroyers belonging to the Takamura Squadron about 8,000 meters away.”
At that moment.
[Enemy fleet spotted. Seventy-five degrees to the right, distance 13,000.]
That was the message from Myuu on the roof of the watchtower.
Izaya turned her binoculars around to the front right of the Ibuki and saw the entire first squadron of the enemy Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria in the darkness.
“They’re not firing at us. They haven’t even noticed us.”
“Their speed is slow. Be on your guard. I hope they’ve been drinking. Take this opportunity to cross in front of the enemy.”
”I know,” Izaya said shortly. Communicating with the wheelhouse, she fine-tuned the ship’s course and set a course to cross in front of the enemy.
A moment later…
“One hundred and sixty degrees to the left! The Takamura Squadron has struck!
The voice of a watchman rang out from a voice pipe.
Looking to the rear on the left, in the midst of the stardust, they saw a trail of lights that stretched straight towards them.
The very next moment, Myuu’s voice sounded.
[Takamura’s squadron is charging.]
As soon as they fired, the eight allied destroyers began to charge in pursuit of their own air mines.
The Ibuki is currently in a position to cross in front of the enemy, with the Takamura squadron behind them on the left and the Gamerian squadron ahead on the right.
But that was not good.
“We’ll be hit by friendly air mines!”
The Takamura Squadron seem to have shot at the Ibuki without noticing it. The Ibuki was now on a course to cross the friendly fan-shaped scatter zone.
Izaya announces.
“I’ll handle the ship. I can see the air mines. I’m going to cut in between the firing lines.”
With her left eye fixed on the firing line of the air mines fired by her allies, she prepares for that moment by keeping her grip on the voice pipe to the wheelhouse.
But.
[Enemy squadron is firing at once!]
A sound like a volcano exploding roared from the right hand side, and the same, or even more disastrous, red trails that they saw during the day filled the starry sky.
“We’ve been found out!?”
The enemy was much quicker to notice than they had expected. No, it’s more like they just noticed.
“It seems that they have already found out.”
With his binoculars, Kuroto saw that the enemy fleet was turning to the right almost simultaneously.
It was the first time he had ever seen such a thing. He pretended not to notice, and lured them into an assault. The enemy, it seems, is not a simple matter.
“But we have to go!!”
A bunch of armor-piercing projectiles fired from low elevation angles rained down on the path of the Takamura squadron. It’s was a precise bombardment that was targeted by radar. If this continues, it will be a repeat of the first squadron.
All of the bundles of wild trails scraped slightly to the left of the eight ships that had formed a single line, and fell into the ocean beyond. The flagship in the forefront, the “Nozuchi,” continued to charge forward while making small adjustments. If the ship turned, they would be able to dodge it, but if they went straight ahead, they would be able to change course. Radar ranging is a method of focusing on the current predicted course, so if you navigate at high speed and change the course frequently, you can dodge with only a layer of skin.
The Takamura squadron’s assault was like a sword master rushing toward the enemy’s main position, dodging the falling blades with his body.
And now the twenty-four firing lines of air mines fired by them were coming from diagonally behind the left of the “Ibuki” and were about to pass diagonally forward to the right.
Staring at the wake of the seven colors spreading out into the starry sky, Izaya ordered the wheelhouse.
“Twenty degrees to the helm!”
The hull of the Ibuki tilted upward, and the allied air mines raced ahead and behind the Ibuki flying at maximum war speed, trailing a rainbow trail of lightning.
Overhead, the enemy’s simultaneous fires roared and scratched at them with their scorching claws. The starry sky itself seemed to be ablaze with unusual colors.
“Back to helm, 25 knots!”
Each time Izaya gave the order, the Ibuki would creak and squirm, dodging friendly air mines like a light saboteur dodging a throwing knife, until she was in between the lines of fire.
Izaya breathed a sigh of relief. If they looked up, they would see that friendly air mines were overtaking the Ibuki one after another, spreading their fan-shaped bands to the enemy fleet far ahead.
As the Ibuki chased after the air mines of its allies, it too turned its bow toward the enemy squadron.
At the same time, a fierce barrage of guns from the enemy cruisers and destroyers began to attack the Ibuki.
Whether they were trying to shoot down the incoming air mines or aiming at the Ibuki from the start, the surrounding airspace suddenly began to be etched in enemy ballistics.
[We’re hit!] [Machine gun number three is a total loss!] [Number two gun is hit!]
The ship was immediately in a state of panic, and the damage status was announced to the bridge. The emergency bell rang, and a fire broke out.
More flames sprouted outside the window.
At the same time, the sailors shouted.
[Direct hit!]
With a tremendous shock, the ground beneath their feet tilted, and without a second thought, Kuroto and Izaya put one hand on their stationary binoculars to support themselves.
[The navigation bridge was hit!!] [The rangefinder and fire control system are completely destroyed!] [The navigation bridge is on fire!]
As the emergency buzzer sounded, a cry of despair came from the watchman at the anti-aircraft command center.
“What the hell?!”
Without thinking, Kuroto ran up the ladder to the top of the forward watchtower and out to the open-air command center.
“……!”
The navigation bridge that sat at the top of the upper deck had been ripped off by gunfire and was on fire. Beyond the broken steel frame, flames like a devil’s tongue were licking the lower belly of the floating body. The internal control team rushed to the scene and sprayed powder to extinguish the fire, but it was too late. Kakitsubata and the other officers had probably been wiped out, and the fire control equipment needed to fire the air mines had probably been completely destroyed. (RIP)
In this situation, it would not be possible to measure the distance to the enemy ship or calculate the angle of fire. The Ibuki had lost the eyes and brains necessary to fire air mines.
The shells that rained down on the Ibuki accurately pierced its surroundings, exploding in midair and starting to kill and wound the personnel on the upper deck.
This is not good.
We can’t do anything and we’ll sink.
It’s was bad situation to be in. As he stared in amazement at the dancing flames, Myuu from the side quietly announced.
“Even without the fire control equipment, your brains should be able to do the calculations.”
When he heard Myuu’s words, which were so calm that it was hard to believe she was in a battlefield, Kuroto noticed that her eyes, which were always closed, had widened slightly.
The dark blue pupils, which seemed to make a ringing sound, had always been closed to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Now, Myuu’s eyes opened, as if she could see through the entire battle airspace.
“The enemy has turned to the left. If it continues, the Ibuki can run together with the enemy. Even without a fire control system, you should be able to get the best angle of fire.”
She pointed to the starboard side of the ship and said. Beyond the fire arrows and the seven colors of the Ceras Effect, the shadow of the enemy battleship was faintly visible. Just as Myuu had said, the enemy squadron had turned to the left again and was about to turn its port side toward us. If the Ibuki turns left now, it can run alongside them. In other words, the ship can be brought into an air raid on the right.
“If we hit them with air mines where they’re going, maybe they’ll bow to us.”
“Yes. If that happens, we’ll have a chance to charge them. I’ll observe the tuning parameters. Please return.”
“…… All right. Please.”
After a short speech, Kuroto landed at the forward command post directly below and pulled himself together.
They had lost their Chief of Air Raids, their rangefinders, and their fire control. The night raid was anticipated by the enemy, and the confusion he had hoped for was not possible. In this situation, he had to determine the best angle of fire by mental calculation, taking into account all the factors that existed in the airspace.
In that one shot, the future of Hinoo will be entrusted.
“The navigation bridge is completely destroyed!”
Kuroto shouted to Izaya in the midst of the raining gunfire. Izaya was already aware of this.
“I know, it’s your job to hit them, make sure you hit them.”
Kuroto smiled and said.
“I’ll do it. Nothing is impossible for me.”
Encouraging himself, he turned his attention to the front.
“Fifteen degrees on the tiller! We’re running alongside the enemy fleet!”
At the same time as Izaya’s order, the Ibuki turned 15 degrees to the left and looked diagonally to the right slightly forward at the enemy fleet.
Izaya put her mouth to the voice pipe connected to the air mine command center.
“Order. Right air mines, same course.”
A vigorous reply from Onisuka came through the voice pipe.
[Right air mines, same ship! Let’s go, you guys, cheer up!]
The cheerful replies of the air raid crew and the sound of falling artillery shells arrived from the other side of the message tube.
[We’re ready to fire!! We can fire at any time!]
Izaya nodded her head.
On the other side of the room, Kuroto listened to Myuu’s observation of the opposing forces and the calculated the angle of fire she did by hand. He then told Izaya.
“If we set the oblique angle of attack at 35 degrees to the left and fire simultaneously to starboard, there will be 20 firing lines blocking their way. They will have no choice but to turn to the left to avoid us. If they turn their bow toward us, we can jump into their line and start a brawl.”
Izaya considered Kuroto’s suggestion and nodded.
“Interesting. Let’s do it.”
“Please.”
After getting Izaya’s approval, Kuroto picked up a voice pipe and relayed the message to the air mine launch command center.
“Starboard, fire simultaneously. Maximum lightning speed, angle of fire 30, angle of advance left 35. Commence firing.
[Fire simultaneously to starboard! Maximum lightning speed, angle of fire 30, angle of attack 35 to the left! Start firing!!]
Even in the midst of exploding artillery shells, Onizuka’s voice was loud enough to be heard. From the bow of the upper deck to the stern of the ship, Kuroto’s orders were relayed verbally, and the air raid crew adjusted the gyroscopic axis of the air mines as instructed. Behind them, several dead and wounded were being carried on stretchers to the officer’s quarters, which had been turned into a medical room.
“Ready!”
Izaya announced as Kuroto sounded the signal.
“Left turn, start!”
A seven-colored bow emerged from the bow of the Ibuki, and the Ibuki slowly began to turn to the left.
As it turned, Kuroto saw the firing point and stopped the buzzer.
“Fireeeee!!”
With Onizuka’s shout of anger, the launchers were raised one after another, and a total of twenty air mines, from the first to the fifth launchers, were released into the night sky. The rainbow-colored trails trailed as they drew a fan-shaped spray band diagonally forward to the right. The enemy fleet running alongside on the right side of the ship can be intercepted in front of its course if it was struck.
The 20 oxygen air mines launched are slanted to the left as planned, forming a spray zone that intercepted the enemy fleet’s course.
“Back the rudder! Full rudder!”
The ship stopped turning its head to the left, and this time took a right turn with all its might. Pulling an S-shaped trail in the starry sky, the Ibuki turned its head toward the line of enemy ships with all its might.”
“Launchers one through five, begin loading the next round!”
[Starboard, load the next round! Show some guts!!]
Without following the lightning trail of the air mines, the starboard air raid crew used the elevator in the center of the hull to lift the next load of air mines from the cargo hold onto the upper deck and began to load them into the launchers. On the cramped upper deck, the air raid crew solemnly performed the difficult task of loading the eight-meter-long oxygen air mines into the launchers.
At that moment.
[The Takamura squadron’s air mines are about to hit the target!]
The voice of the watchman above reported. In the distance, the twenty-four firing lines that had overtaken the Ibuki were about to reach the enemy flying destroyers.
…….Hit it!
Izaya’s prayer was answered by three small silver droplets.
[Three shots landed!] [Enemy flying destroyer hit by lightning!!] [The enemy formation is in disarray!]
The enemy’s formation has begun to be disrupted. The rain of shells that had focused on the Ibuki earlier ceased, and the Takamura squadron rushed in from behind the Ibuki.
Kuroto made a proposal to Izaya.
“Not yet. Fire the anti-aircraft machine gun rounds around the battleship.”
“You really mean it?”
“Yeah. It’ll be an interesting show.”
Izaya accepted Kuroto’s offer and ordered the machine gunner to fire on the enemy battleship. Shooting from here with a pea-shooter won’t reach the battleship, and even if it did, it would be bounced back by the armor, but if things go according to Kuroto’s plan, the enemy should be more or less confused……
◆
“It’s not something you can just blindly confront.”
In the bridge of the Gorgoroth, the flagship of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gamelia’s, Commander-in-Chief Primrose muttered in disgust.
Anderson, the Chief of Staff, confirmed from the radar plotting room that there were nine flying destroyers, including Takamura’s squadron and the Ibuki, which was in front of Takamura’s squadron and trying to turn its bow toward them.
“One after another, they’re falling for our traps.”
They were both aware of the possibility that Takamura’s squadron might surprise them during the night. But they pretended to be oblivious to the possibility and flew at a slow speed, daring the Hinoo fleet to come around in front of them. If they knew, they could have avoided the attack.
“SG radar is only effective at night.”
Primrose was satisfied with her view of the Takamura fleet, which was approaching at a horizontal distance of 8,000 meters. The radar sighting was already complete and the bombardment had already begun, but the Takamura fleet, though the enemy, was able to maneuver the ship in such a fine manner that it missed their range readings. But it was only a matter of time. The closer we got, the higher the hit rate became, and soon they would be completely captured.
Everything was going as planned.
The only surprise was that three of their destroyers were eaten up by the mine attack.
“The range of the air mines is unusually long. All three ships were hit by it. It seems that some of the ships were somewhat confused.”
“It seems they have some extravagant toys. But that’s not enough to beat us.”
The Primrose commander smiled cynically and looked down at the beautiful battlefield, where the colors of the Ceras Effect fluttered.
He squinted at the Gamelan fleet’s variously colored projectiles that painted the starry sky, wishing he could see the annihilation of the enemy destroyers with his own eyes.
“Our flash powder is no good. It’s blinding.”
Primrose let out a complaint. The warships of the Gamerian fleet are bombarded with flashing gunpowder that glows so brightly when it burns that it is like looking directly into a lightning strike, and the glowing light blinds you. In contrast, the Hinoo forces were not blinded even in night. This is the only point where Primrose thinks it is fair to praise the intelligence of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force.
“Can any of you see the enemy ship?”
Primrose asks the staff on the navigation bridge, but everyone bends their mouths and looks away. The commander-in-chief sniffed.
“Is the radar the only thing that can see the enemy?”
Sarcasm crept into his words. Captain Sanders called from the radar plotting room located just below the navigation bridge.
“Sir, we’ve got another air raid.”
“Was it fired by one of the destroyers?”
“Yes, sir. Twenty firing lines spread out to block the path of our fleet.”
Primrose laughs.
“It’s called a heavy-lightning destroyer. It’s a suicide ship. Watch the radar and duck.”
The SG radar can detect even small objects like air mines. If they can see it, they can dodge it, no problem.
“It seems that every single one of these men wants to die sooner rather than later.”
Some of the staff members laughed at Primrose’s exasperation.
◆
In the radar plotting room, Captain Sanders was checking his PPI scope, watching the approaching twenty air mines and the movement of the enemy ship that was rushing in alone.
First, they needed to dodge the twenty air mines. Each line of fire completely encircled their course, so they had to turn their heads to avoid them or risk being struck by a mine.
“Sixty degrees to the tiller.”
[Sixty degrees to the tiller.]
After the wheelhouse responded, the huge body of the Gorgoroth began to creak as it turned. The enemy calculated their future position and fired at them, but if they could see it on radar, they could avoid it by changing their course.
The radar crew read out the distance between them and the ship. Sanders pointed his binoculars at the starry sky outside the window, but the flash of friendly fire blinded him and he could see nothing.
The rotating rays of the PPI scope show the surrounding airships. Both friend and foe are indicated by green bright spots, and there are no distinguishing devices. It’s a good thing that they already know it’s an enemy ship, but it would be a disaster if they were all mixed up.
“Range, six thousand.”
The radar operator read out. It was time to stop scanning and get on the target.
With the current technology, radar sighting and firing cannot be done in the same mode. When aiming, the radar must stop rotating and be pointed at the target enemy to read the distance and direction before it can fire.
Just as Captain Sanders was about to order the switch to targeting mode, the radar man looking through the PPI scope lifted a puzzled expression to the captain.
“More air mines, sir ……”
“What?”
“What? Air mines are suddenly appearing in large numbers. ……!”
Sanders looked into his PPI scope with a dubious expression, and hundreds of bright spots popped into his eyes.
“What on Earth is that……?”
“‘I don’t know, sir, we’ve lost the enemy and the air mines!”
The twenty incoming projectiles and the enemy heavy lightning destroyer that fired them were buried under the scattered bright spots, making it impossible to see. This meant they couldn’t avoid the air mines, and they couldn’t target the ship with radar.
Sanders glared out the window once more. But the netting, burned by friendly fire, was not strong enough to see through the darkness.
“Release the light bombs!”
He ordered the artillery command center. They needed to light up the battlefield and get a clear view of the situation.
The Gorgoroth’s port side guns roared and fired a flare into the airspace where the enemy was likely to be.
A burst of light six thousand meters away chased away the darkness.
Sanders stared into the illuminated airspace.
“……?”
In one corner of the sky, here and there, strange silver spots were wandering through the air like flower petals, repelling the light of the hanging flares.
It was like a silver snow shower.
No, it wasn’t. Finally, Sanders realized the enemy’s trap.
“…… chaff……!”
It was a thinly shaved piece of metal, and the SG radar could not distinguish between a piece of metal and an air mine. No, depending on how it’s scattered, the SG radar may not be able to distinguish between a piece of metal and a destroyer. The fan-shaped lightning strips that were trying to block their path with their rainbow lightning trails were obscured by the bright spots.
If the ship continues on this course and at this speed, it will be in danger.
“Thirty degrees to port!”
It cut the rudder even deeper. Combining this with the previous rudder, the ship makes a sharp 90-degree turn to the left. It was here that Sanders realized the enemy’s intentions.
“Air mines to make us turn our heads toward them ……!”
Before he knew it, the seventeen ships of the Gamerian squadron had been forced to make a head-on counterattack against the heavy lightning-armored destroyer.
He gritted his teeth, but there was no going back. The “Gorgoroth” as well as the following battleship squadron and heavy cruiser squadron were also heading straight for the enemy destroyer.
“This sucks, you son of a ……!
Even though he was sickened, he kept his eyes fixed on the airspace illuminated by the hanging light bombs.
He could see the enemy flying destroyer with an unusual number of air mine launchers faintly reflected in the burnt netting.
Before he knew it, that destroyer was close enough to sneak into our line.
They couldn’t use radar.
They couldn’t even see it with their eyes.
Even if they could see us, they rely too much on radar targeting and lack the skill to conduct night observation bombardment.
If they allow the enemy’s heavily armed destroyers to enter in this state…
They were going to be hit by concentrated fire from both sides within their three line formation!
A shudder ran down Sanders’ spine.
“Don’t come.”
As if in answer to Sanders’ prayer, a jet of Ceras Particles erupted from the bow of the enemy ship.
The bow wave of the Nanasai slowly bowed towards the Gamelan air fleet.
“Don’t come ……!”
As if to reject the plea, the enemy heavy lightning destroyer behaved sluggishly, facing us as if it were a matter of course, turbine engines blazing.
Fine blood vessels rise in my eyeballs. My limbs tremble and my heart freezes rapidly.
“You’re going to die too, Yap!”
Sanders’ eyes widen and his voice trails off.
◆
“Twenty missiles, all off target, sir!
The enemy fleet is turning left. We’re coming up on the main ship!”
Izaya’s fist clenched involuntarily as the voices of the watchmen echoed through the forward watchtower.
All of the air mines had missed, but the enemy fleet, confused by the lack of radar, had successfully taken up a position facing them.
What would this do if we didn’t take this opportunity?
Izaya silently looked at Rio and Kuroto.
Rio nodded with a serious expression, while Kuroto had a devilish smile on his face as he watched the enemy fleet rushing towards them.
Both Rio and Kuroto understood that the time had come. There was no need to say anything else.
They’ve arrived at the place we wanted to get to.
They knew what they had to do. Together as friends.
As she slowly steered the bow of the “Ibuki” toward the enemy ship’s line, Izaya picked up the ship’s internal broadcast microphone. While they waited for the turnaround to be completed, she wanted to tell the sailors in the engine room and communications room, who were unaware of the situation, what they was going to do. Fortunately, the power supply was still active. Hoping that the power lines were still intact, Izaya spoke to the sailors.
“Attention. Gentlemen, this is the captain. This ship will now make a charge against the enemy fleet.”
As soon as he said this, familiar responses came back from all over the ship.
[Your Highnessss] [Let’s go, Your Highnessss!]
A cheerful voice, unchanged from normal times. Some of the soldiers may have lost their comrades, but they still followed Izaya at their usual pace. That feeling made her very happy and warm right now.
Before starting on their journey of no return, Izaya said something that she really wanted to say.
“I have not told you this, but I have always thought of you as my family. Ibuki is my home, and you are my family. Let’s put it that way.”
She was a little embarrassed as she said these words, and a cheerful laugh came back from the voice pipe.
[Yes, Your Highness!] [I’ve been thinking that for a long time!] [We’re all family!]
In this hellish battlefield, the cheerful voice stirred up her courage. Separated from his father at an early age, Izaya was told by his mother that she would have him die on the Ibuki. For Izaya, this was home, and the sailors were her family.
Izaya’s chest heaved with pride as she spoke into the pipe.
“Thank you, gentlemen. There is nothing left for me. Let’s all go together for the future we want.”
Receiving more cheers and confirming that the turnaround was complete, Izaya turned her blazing red eyes forward.
The battle airspace was now a garden of death and destruction, where millions and millions of flames bloomed.
The Ceras particles depicted the way the turbulent energy was dancing in the starry sky with their glowing colors. The force of the artillery, the shells of the exploding bombs, the metal fragments flying wildly, and the flames erupting, were all pulled or whirled into seven-colored waves by the surrounding Ceras particles, creating an unworldly dreamscape.
The center of the raging destructive beauty…
The jet-black aerial fortresses, three rows of vertical formations, distorting the space with their huge steel shadows, approached with a spray of seven colors. Left row, six battleships, middle row, six heavy cruisers, right row, one destroyer and four light cruisers. They wanted to ignore the right column and jump into the space between the battleships and heavy cruisers to fire their weapons.
Inhaling, Izaya pushed down her diaphragm and slammed a verbal bomb into the voice pipe.
“Order! Port and starboard air raids, counter-attack!”
For the first time in the history of the world’s naval and air battles, an unprecedented raid attack concentrating both sides of the ship was now announced from Izaya’s mouth.
At the same time, the crew’s searing cries came from inside the ship.
All the long and arduous training, some three years at the shortest and more than ten years at the longest, was for this single assault.
Izaya put the pommel of her sword on the floor and her hands on the hilt. She stared at the three rows of steel fortresses that were flying toward her.
Let’s go, Gamerians.
Remember the pride of humanity.
She gave the order.
“Maximum engine! Ibuki, charge!”
At the same time, a beastly roar came from inside the ship, spreading like a fire through the airspace.
Let’s go, my family.
The sixty-five thousand horsepower of the two stern propellers kicked up the stars and dragged the rainbow.
“The moment of truth! Come on, men!”
Once more, the crew’s fiery response shook the ship and pierced the battlefield. Two hundred bodies became the cells of the Ibuki, and two hundred lives melted into one in the giant beast called the Ibuki.
The giant beast of steel roared and flew across the sky in a splash of seven colors.
The rapid-fire cannons, sagging turrets, and anti-aircraft machine guns of the approaching airborne fortresses set their muzzles to the onrushing beasts, spewing out a turbulent stream of steel and flame.
The hail of fire from six battleships and six heavy cruisers echoed through the battle airspace in a multiplicity of death and destruction.
Immediately, tens of thousands of flames, fireballs, and bursting bullets coated the area around the Ibuki.
The sea of stars becomes a storm. The battlefield boils over. In an instant, hundreds of fireballs folded together, sooty smoke like octopus legs exploded, heat waves exceeding the speed of sound blew away the crew on the deck, and primary colored lights pierced the armor of the Ibuki, shattering the sidewalls and penetrating and scraping the hollow.
Ten million fire arrows, like a muddy stream, spread their burned arms across the battlefield to hold Ibuki like an angel of death. Come, I am your death. These soundless words come from a torrent of steel that surpasses the speed of sound by a long way.
The “Ibuki” did not flinch. There was no fear, no trepidation, nothing.
The lives and hearts of the crew, melted into one in the Ibuki, flow up the lava flow of steel and fire, aiming for their desired future.
[Fire in the rear deck!] [The air intake system is completely destroyed!] [Fire in the engine room!] [Direct hit to the reserve water tank!]
Reports came in one after the other from the voice pipes. In the background, the screams and shouts of soldiers running around for emergency protection crossed over.
“Internal Affairs, put out the fire!”
Izaya called out as calmly as she could over the voice pipe and told Kuroto beside her.
“We’re at the firing point, Kuroto, please.”
The voice pipes were connected to every part of the ship. So, if the commander is upset, the whole crew will be upset. It was important not to let her emotions get the better of her.
“I have no idea what the enemy is up to.”
“I have no idea where the enemy is.”
Kuroto was unable to observe the enemy’s position, distance, course, or speed because he was distracted by the turbulent stream of fire, accompanying explosions, and the colors of the dancing Ceras particles. The rangefinder on the navigation bridge and the fire control system that calculated the angle of fire were destroyed, so human power had to take the place of the machine.
“Myuu, do you know?”
Izaya asked Myuu, who was in the open-air command center directly above.
[I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do it, but I’m going to try. At the head of the right column, the flagship of the enemy’s second squadron, the Seventh Hell, 25 degrees to the right, speed 26 knots.]
In the midst of a blazing inferno, Myuu’s eyesight to calmly observe the enemy force was once again appreciated.
Kuroto calculated the values in his mind. Normally, the fire control system would automatically calculate the value, but now he had to do it by hand.
The triangle formed by the sight line, firing line, and target point was visualized in the starry sky. The wind speed, wind direction, rotation of the earth, and all factors existing in the airspace were incorporated into the equation to find the best angle of fire to sink multiple enemy battleships simultaneously.
“There you go.”
“You’re lucky I’m a genius.”
In response to Izaya’s comment, Kuroto smiled a fierce smile, grabbed the voice pipe leading to the air mine launch command center on the upper deck, and issued the command.
“Here we go, Onizuka, port and starboard air raids, first lightning speed, angle of fire sixty!
[Hahaha! Port and starboard air raids, first lightning speed, firing angle sixty!]
At the same time, a ball of light appeared over Ibuki’s head, changing the battle airspace to daylight.
[Hanging light bombs!]
At the sound of the staff member’s voice, Kuroto smiled a fierce smile.
“The metal pieces are still working. They fired hanging light bombs because they couldn’t use radar. Of course, they couldn’t target us without the radar. ……!”
In the airspace ahead of them, the thousands of metal fragments packed in the warheads of the exploding shells were twinkling and bouncing off the light of the hanging bombs. In the direction of travel, to the left and right, and to the rear, bursting bombs with timed fuses scattered more metal fragments, staining the battle airspace with silver spots and disrupting enemy radar.
“We will break through the middle of the two lines after striking both sides!”
After Izaya’s words, Kuroto set his course.
“We’re going to invite the port guns to fight each other”
“Indeed.”
“You’re a scary woman.”
Enemy battleship squadron on the left, single file. Enemy heavy cruiser squadron, single file, on the right.
If they fire their port and starboard air mines and run straight ahead, they’ll hit the enemy ships on either side as they pass by.
[All air mines are ready to fire!]
Onizuka’s booming voice came through the voice pipe.
Kuroto nodded.
The only thing left to do was to make sure the firing point was correct. One wrong moment and all the calculations, the three to ten years of effort of the crew, and the more than thirty years of sacrifice of the eighty million people will be wasted.
Kuroto looks through the incoming fire and sees the enemy flagship Gorgoroth on the other side. He and Izaya had spent every night until morning observing the opposition, and now the shadow of the enemy ship appeared in the starry sky.
Both ends of Kuroto’s mouth slant up toward his ears.
With a fierce smile that resembles a fallen angel, Kuroto sees the perfect triangle in the starry sky.
“All launchers, get ready!”
He issued a command and a buzzer sounded.
The high-pitched sound of the buzzer sounded like a trumpet of hope throughout the “Ibuki” ship.
It’s here.
A moment later, he saw his target.
“Prepare!”
He took his hand off the buzzer and pressed the fire button.
“Shoot!!”
At the same time as Kuroto’s command, Onizuka raised the launcher.
A moment later, like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis and spreading its rainbow-colored wings, forty rays of fire gushed out from both sides of the “Ibuki”, creating a symmetrical fan-shaped spray zone in the starry sky.
While dragging a rainbow-colored thunder trail, the forty firing lines carrying the prayers of eighty million people rage through the tail propeller, splitting the sea of stars and flying through the air.
“Goooooo!!”
The screams of the air raid crew, who have been taking care of their launchers as if it were their own child for years, poured out to the forty lightning trails that were leaving the Ibuki.
They have done everything that needs to be done. All that remains is to pray. They were hopeful that could live to see it crash down. They had no regrets about dying here if they could see it crash.
“One minute to impact!”
The measurer shouted.
The enemy battleship “Gorgoroth” was closing in on them. The moment the 76mm rapid-fire cannon on the bottom of the ship pointed its muzzle at the Ibuki, a stream of burning lava swept across the upper deck of the Ibuki.
“O my god!” “Aha!”
The screams of the air raid crew rose into the starry sky.
Blood splashes and pieces of flesh were painted over the seven colors of the Ceras particles.
The rapid-fire shells pouring down from the left and right, diagonally forward, twice, three times, mercilessly penetrating the launchers and crushing the internal electronic mechanisms.
“Guys, get down!”
The loud voice of a Onizuka roared through the sound of gunfire. The sixty or so air raid members were lying face down on the upper deck, and the rapid-fire shells, like lava flows, were passing directly over them.
Life was being swept away by the torrent of flames. The fragments of the shattered things were swallowed by the new fire and dispersed. If the rapid-fire guns and anti-aircraft guns alone are this powerful, if the main guns on the port side were to strike, the Ibuki itself would melt into the sky and disappear.
“We’re passing each other, the port guns are coming!”
At the sound of someone’s voice, Onizuka raised his face from his prone position.
At the very moment, the enemy battleship “Gorgoroth” was sailing at a close range of about 2,000 meters horizontally, showing its flank to them.
A few tenths of a second later, a tremendous roar came from inside the ship, and the hull shook from side to side. The impact was so strong that even Onizuka’s huge body jumped up.
“Direct hit!” “The back mast was hit, and the second bridge was completely destroyed!” “Direct hit to communications room! All communications staff dead!” “We’ve got a fire! Hurry up, Internal Affairs!”
As the suspension cables creaked with a violent sound, shouts of anger crossed the air. A flame sprouted at the stern of the Ibuki. An armor-piercing shell had ripped off the foremast, destroyed the communications room, and apparently setting various cargo containers on fire.
However, the ship did not explode even after taking a direct hit. The armor was too thin and the distance was too close for the armor-piercing grenades to penetrate before their fuses were activated. As long as it did not explode inside the hull, the ship would not be sunk by a single blow unless it hit the ammunition depot.
The enemy was unconcerned and concentrated all its firepower, including rapid-fire guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and 40-centimeter guns, on the Ibuki. The air and raid crew, with their bodies exposed to the outside world, had no choice but to lie face down on the deck, hide behind the launchers, and endure the multiplicity of flames and steel produced by the enemy guns.
At last, however, the reserve fuel tank was shot through and an explosion occurred. Flames filled the narrow passage, and the steel frame supporting the hull snapped. Fires broke out, steel plates melted, and the lead-impregnated paint on the interior walls produced toxic smoke filled with irritants, which the sailors inhaled and fell to the floor in one breath.
There was now a huge line of enemy ships that loomed over both sides of the ship. They crew, in an uncomfortable manner, could see the enemy soldiers coming and going along the gangway. The “Ibuki” was still flying while it was being unilaterally showered with heavy fire from a very close range.
Crew members who had been shot out by anti-aircraft guns were staggering and screaming. Their friends tried to stop the bleeding and carry them to the first aid room, but the ones who tried to carry them were taken away by the rapid-fire guns. The deck was stained with blood. In an instant, the people who had been laughing with each other turned into pieces of flesh and were blown away beyond the stars. Those pieces of flesh were swallowed by more lava and evaporated.
“The suspension cables!”
A soldier screamed. Onizuka looked over and saw that one of the suspension cables in front of us had been hit and was about to be torn off. The mandrel that had been wrapped around it had turned to rags, and the steel cable, about a meter thick with four iron wires twisted together, was half gone.
“Endure, you guys, if we can get through this, we will win!
A moment later, a rapid-fire cannon pierced the No. 3 firing tube, and the scattered pieces of iron bit into Onizuka’s body.
“Sergeant!”
He heard Heisuke’s voice shouting. The bloodied Onizuka collapsed forward onto the upper deck.
Like a sea dragon running up a raging river, the Ibuki spewed flames and fumes from its breaching holes and broke through the aerial corridor of swirling flames and heat.
◆
At the front watchtower, Izaya straightened her back and glared at the fire that was pouring down on Ibuki.
Beside her, Kuroto and Rio swallowed their words and left their luck to the heavens.
The trajectory of the bullets, coming from 2,000 meters away, was as straight as a ruler, encircling the Ibuki, puncturing the hull, killing and wounding personnel, and cutting off the voice pipes leading to various parts of the ship. The muffled shouts of the internal affairs team, wearing gas masks and providing emergency protection, intersected with the shouts of the air and mine crews working on the upper deck, who were pierced by the projectiles of the explosive shells and fell helplessly overboard.
[Bridge 2, the fire won’t stop!] [The second bridge is on fire!] [The second can room has been hit! Many of our engineers have been killed or injured!]
Izaya calmly accepted the reports that came in one after another and responded.
“Internal Affairs, put out the fire in the foremast.”
In the midst of a thunderstorm of enemy fire, Izaya’s calm voice was reassuring to the men. The captain’s agitation would be felt throughout the ship and would frighten the men. So Izaya kept his voice calm.
[Thirty seconds till impact!]
The voice of the measurer reached them. She looked into the airspace, but enemy fire lines filled the starry sky and she couldn’t see the trails of the air mines. She wanted to observe the impact as accurately as possible.
“Rio, I’m going to detach from my perspective and look at the impact. Can you help me?”
“Okay. I’m on it.”
” Kuroto, protect us. Any urgent reports, you respond.”
“You don’t need to do that…….”
Kuroto muttered and hid Izaya and Rio behind his back. Izaya pressed her back against the wall behind her and linked her hands with Rio’s, separating her perspective from her body.
◆
Through the anti-aircraft fire that tore through the starry sky, Izaya’s perspective left the floating zone and ascended through the starry sky to a position where airships could not climb.
When Izaya reached an altitude of 2,000 meters, she took a bird’s eye view of the airspace that stretched out to 1,200 meters and gasped.
Below her, a huge butterfly with wings colored red, blue, and yellow was emerging from the seven-colored sea of Ceras particles.
The colors of the wings were shells and anti-aircraft bullets from enemy ships, and the body of the butterfly was “Ibuki”. The two rows of vertical lines showered the Ibuki in the middle with a full blast of fire that rippled like burnt wings, creating a cruel beauty of destruction. With its dreamy wings flapping and bloody flames all over its body, Ibuki still flies forward, forward, as if crawling.
Everyone.
Tears were about to spill. Just thinking about how many people have been killed or injured by the steel and flaming wings made her whole body freeze.
Shaking off the sentimentality that surged through her, Izaya searched for the forty rays of light she had released into the rainbow-colored air.
Then she saw forty bright blue lightning trails going up the muddy stream of fire arrows.
Some of them were struck by fire arrows on their way up, and exploded in a spray of liquid metal. Three, four, five ……. Leaving the failed air mines behind, the air mines that had dodged the fire line approached the enemy ship row at fifty knots with their tail propellers blazing. The enemy ships that saw the air mines began to turn around.
It was not a coordinated evasive maneuver, but a disjointed, panicked and awkward one.
It was a chaffing effect. The radar couldn’t catch the air mines. And Kuroto’s calculations of the angle of fire were so accurate that they covered the entire line of enemy ships, which were divided into two rows.
All of the enemy ships continued to turn their heads in a desperate attempt. However, the angle of fire calculated by Kuroto included evasive maneuvers. Even if they attempt to steer the ship, another air mine will reach out and intercept the floating object.
Kuroto.
You’re amazing.
As Izaya looked down at the lightning trails and the wakes of the enemy ships, she could see that the future was just around the corner. Kuroto had been deducing this future in his mind before he fired.
Suddenly, Izaya’s mind flashed back to Kuroto’s words when he had chosen to leave the battlefield, defying the orders of Commander-in-Chief Nango.
[It’s my turn. I’m going to save the day.]
[We’ll use our power to destroy the Grand Ocean Fleet.]
Izaya gulped.
Did you see this scene when you were there?
Both the chaff that distracted the enemy and the precise strike were commanded by Kuroto. If it weren’t for Kuroto, the scene that is about to begin would never have been created in this world.
A moment later…
Silver petals bloomed all at once on the enemy flying battleships and cruiser groups.
The warheads of the air mines that pierced the enemy’s floating bodies shattered, and the hot liquid metal that overflowed melted the hard surface of the floating bodies, followed by the high-speed rotation of the drills in the depths.
As if a rat had exploded inside the giant beast’s body, the Ibuki unleashed a full-body, two-sided, concentrated raid attack.
In the end, the screams of the crew from both the battleships and the heavy cruisers rose up in a whirl and pierced the starry sky.
Most of the seventeen enemy ships in the battle area began to swing their firearms in the wrong direction, staggering like swordsmen pierced by a throwing spear. A messy wake appeared below them, as if they were trying to shake off an air mine that had bitten into them. The orderly formation a few minutes ago was nowhere to be seen.
The three colored lava flows that had been launched by the Ibuki wreaked havoc on the sea of seven colors.. The Ceras Effect that was created danced around the floating area like a stormy sea.
Below the staggering enemy ships, white flowers were blooming one by one. The enemy sailors, quick to give up, began their descent. The once orderly line of ships was now in disarray, and the gunfire spewed out from the ships in a desperate attempt to kill each other.
After confirming the results of the battle, Izaya fought back tears as she looked down at the enemy line of ships.
Four flying battleships. Three heavy cruisers. All of them were struck by three air mines on their floating bodies and were sure to be sunk.
One of the battleships was hit by a single mine on the rear of its floating body, and began to jettison its port side guns. Heavy damage.
Two heavy cruisers each landed one shell on the front of the floating body, and started dumping their cargo as well.
Only one flying battleship and one heavy cruiser remained unharmed.
Izaya was now looking down at the results of the raid attack by a single destroyer, a feat never before seen in the history of the world.
It’s true, Kuroto.
You saved the nation, didn’t you?
Fighting back tears, Izaya smiled.
In front of her eyes, the floating body that had been struck by the mine now began to unravel.
The weight of the ship itself was pushing the cracks open, and the buoyancy was being stripped away. The order for all hands to leave the ship must have been given, and immediately nearly two thousand parachutes bloomed in the night sky, blowing away like cherry blossom petals.
The exploding colors of the Ceras particles ceased, and the Ibuki staggered through the war zone, towing a long tail of smoke as it tried to regain its composure.
One of its suspension ropes was about to snap. In order to secure the forty firing lines of the air mines, there was only a limited number of suspension ropes on the Ibuki. If one of the suspension ropes was cut, the remaining ropes would not be able to withstand the load and the Ibuki would crash as well. With many enemy ships in its path, the “Ibuki” is also about to face its final moments.
Let’s go back.
I have to tell everyone.
Deciding to return to his body, Izaya descended from an altitude of 2,000 meters. The warmth of Rio’s palm was her guide to return…….
◆
“Ten ships down from one destroyer, ten ships!!! Don’t let them leave alive, make sure you knock them off!”
Commander Primrose yells over the phone at Captain Sanders in the radar plotting room, his eyes boiling open.
[The rapid-fire guns and anti-aircraft guns are taking their toll! If we just fire the main guns, we’ll be fighting each other and ……]
“I don’t need an excuse! I don’t care if it’s machine guns, rocks, or anything else, just make sure we take down that stupid destroyer!”
He yells at him and slams the phone down without listening to his reply and looks at his staff.
“What about the air raids?”
“Three of them hit the ship, sir. You need to get out of here!”
“If you want me to leave, you’ll have to destroy that ship, now!”
Primrose pointed to the stern of the Ibuki, which was staggering through the airspace in the distance, and hissed.
One by one, soldiers could be seen jumping from the other ships that had been struck by the mines. The sky below is now a field of white parachutes made by the Gamerian soldiers. It’s was too early to give up.
“Lighten the hull! We haven’t even determined if we’re going to crash yet!”
With three strikes from the air, the floating body would not be able to support its 40,000 ton weight. The weight itself pushes the cracks in the floating body, so the time between the strike and the crash is especially short in the case of this flying battleship. The staff wanted to run away, but the commander-in-chief was sitting there, so they couldn’t flee first.
[The air mines have completely penetrated! It will explode soon!]
The report of the watch commander showed that he was praying for everyone to leave the ship as soon as possible. If only the commander-in-chief would say that, they could all parachute down with their hearts in their hands.
Mwah….
Primrose gritted his teeth.
The Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, which kicked a squadron of Hinoo battleships to the touch in just fifteen minutes.
Against only one destroyer, four battleships and three heavy cruisers were sunk, one battleship was heavily damaged, and two light cruisers were destroyed.
He couldn’t believe that such a crazy thing had happened. ……
He was so humiliated that the blood vessels in his temples swelled up as if they were about to burst.
Three dull explosions sounded from directly above the navigation bridge, as if they were sandbags being struck with an iron bar.
[Lightning explosion! The floating body is breaking up!]
The watchman’s scream was overlaid by the voice of a staff officer.
“That’s it, sir. All hands off the ship!” “Sir!”
Primrose’s face stiffened and his whole body trembled as he spoke.
“……, all hands, abandon ship.”
Relief spread across the faces of the staff.
[All hands off the ship!] [All hands, all decks!] [All hands off the ship. Those who do have parachutes, help those that do not!]
As soon as such a voice rang out simultaneously from the voice pipes and speakers inside the “Gorgoroth,” the soldiers hurriedly took on the parachutes that had been piled up in one place, tightened the X-shaped straps around their bodies, and leapt from the hull into the air. Those without parachutes hooked the metal hooks of the belt to the belts of those that did have one. The two pairs would throw themselves into the air together.
From the flagship Gorgoroth, the second ship Voivod, the third ship Kansas, and the fourth ship Sahat……. As many as 2,000 crew members jumped out of the port side one after another into the air. Two and a half minutes to the ocean below, the white flowers of the falling parachutes bloomed in the starry sky.
With a field of pure white flowers in the background and blood-like flames all over its hull, the Ibuki passed through the line of ships alone, towing a cloud of reddish-black dust.
Once the ship was away from the Gamerian fleet, it turned left and turned to port to the surviving Gamerian battleships and heavy cruisers.
There are two Gamelia battleships and three heavy cruisers left. One of the battleships was badly damaged, and the second heavy cruiser was moderately damaged.
They hadn’t given up the fight yet. They dumped their sagging turrets and bombs to reduce the weight of their hulls, but they were still eager to fight, hoping to take down at the very least the hated destroyer.
A moment later, the Ibuki and the remaining ships faced each other in a sky of silver chaff and stardust…
“Good work, Ibuki.”
With a single voice from Lieutenant Commander Takamura, twenty-four projectiles from Takamura’s fleet struck the floating bodies of the remaining ships with rainbow-colored lightning trails.
The Takamura fleet had sunk four light cruisers and one destroyer in a raid, and had reached this airspace in pursuit of the Ibuki’s rear. The remaining two flying battleships and three heavy cruisers were completely distracted by the Ibuki and neglected the Takamura fleet that was following.
The air raid squadrons, which had endured eight days of intense training in a week, unerringly launched their strikes at the floating bodies of the enemy ships one after another and began to penetrate them as it twisted and turned.
“No, escape!” “We’re going to crash, run, run!”
Without waiting for a command from the captain, the Gamerian sailors took their own decisions to carry their parachutes and once again create a white garden in the air.
The eight flying destroyers of the Takamura fleet, in a single vertical formation, sailed leisurely through the starry sky and watched as the air mines buried inside the floating bodies exploded.
Meanwhile, the “Ibuki”.
Izaya had already ordered all hands to leave the ship. Those who were unharmed carried the parachute on their backs, and those who had gone down were tied to others and leapt overboard in pairs. If they didn’t parachute down and get as far away from the ship as possible before the suspension cable snapped, they would be swallowed up by the Ibuki’s hull after the crash.
And at the forward command post where Izaya and the others were.
“Rio, hold on, Rio!”
Izaya pulls out a piece of iron that was sticking out of Rio’s side, and Myuu gives her first aid. Rio went limp and didn’t move.
“The bleeding has stopped. But her body temperature is low. We have to give her a blood transfusion soon.”
Izaya nodded at Myuu’s words.
“Rio, I’m sorry, please forgive me, Rio!”
While Izaya was detached from his perspective, a machine gun bullet tore through the forward guard post. Kuroto was injured by a flying piece of iron on his back. Rio had a piece of steel in her side, but she never let go of Izaya, who held her close.
“Thank you, Rio, for saving my life. Thank you, Rio.”
Izaya fought back tears as she picked Rio up in her arms. First aid had already been administered by Myuu, and the wounds had been bandaged. No matter how much she called out, Rio remained limp and did not respond.
“Myuu, I need you to take Rio down with your parchute”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After carrying Rio on her back, Myuuu said a few words and walked up the stairs to the foremast. Izaya and Kuroto, who were left behind, looked at each other.
“Is your back all right?”
“I’m in a lot of pain. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”
“But first, wait a minute.”
Izaya reported what she had seen to the remaining voice pipes.
“We’ve made contact. The ship’s air mines have sunk four enemy battleships and three heavy cruisers. One battleship badly damaged. Two heavy cruisers were destroyed. This is the greatest single raid in history. Thank you all for your efforts!”
The ship’s internal broadcasts had long since been cut off, and the message tubes were torn in many places, so it was up to the remaining messengers to deliver the current message. Izaya’s words were loudly relayed by the messenger to the various positions on the ship, and the surviving soldiers tearfully reported the results of the battle in the ears of their wounded and fallen comrades.
“I want to see what’s going on inside the ship. We will be the last ones to jump.”
“It’s a lost cause.”
In spite of his grumbling, Kuroto, who had been injured in the back by a piece of iron, walked up the narrow stairs of the foremast, supported by Izaya, and out onto the upper deck.
“……!”
They knew it would be so, but the deck was covered with the blood, flesh, and wretched corpses of the air raid crew. The strong wind that blew through the air smelled of death, a mixture of everything that was in the human body.
Izaya’s heart cried silently in her chest. There is no one who is not upset when they see the corpses of their family members. However, her will is driven by a sense of duty, and she kills her sentimentality.
“If you have an parachute, take one of the survivors and drop! Those who are still breathing, help them!”
Izaya walked among the wounded and dead, checking the condition of each one, and paired those who were not dead with a soldier carrying a parachute. Nearby, an internal affairs team wearing hazmat masks passed by in shadow puppet form to extinguish a fire in the stern of the ship that had not yet been extinguished.
“Enough with the fire fighting, you guys get out of here, now!”
Izaya gave up on recovering the hull and prioritized getting all the people out of there.
In the other side of the starry sky, the floating body of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, which had taken a direct hit from an air raid, was beginning to disintegrate. With a roar that seemed to snap the earth’s axis, massive columns of water more than 250 meters in diameter and more than 1,000 meters in height rose up all over the place.
The ocean was boiling like a storm, and a cloud of steam covered the surface of the sea. The sailors who parachuted in were trained to run as far away from the hull as possible, so not many of them were caught in the whirlpools that accompanied the sinking.
The eight destroyers of the victorious Takamura fleet swam through the starry sky with ease, looking out over the sky and sea filled with enemy soldiers.
We’ve won, anyway.
She felt relieved, but when she looked around at the dead and wounded sailors, she felt more sadness and emptiness. But for now, Izaya’s priority was to save as many men as possible, and so she made her rounds among the wounded soldiers.
◆
Kuroto, on the other hand, was leaning against the No. 6 air mine launcher on the port side of the ship’s deck, enduring the pain in his back. The wound was shallow and the bleeding had stopped, but he felt lightheaded when he moved, as if he didn’t have enough blood.
Before the assault, he had been prepared to die, but the effects of the chaff were more than he had expected. The enemy fleet must have been overconfident in their radar targeting and hadn’t trained for nighttime counter-observation. The hit rate of the enemy’s port side guns was terribly poor, and the Ibuki was saved from being sunk. The United Fleet was forced to rely on human eyesight rather than technological equipment, and it seemed to have come in handy on the battlefield.
The “Ibuki” is about to crash. He doesn’t think it will be able to hold on to its suspension cables any longer. But the fact that a single destroyer sank four battleships and three heavy cruisers is unprecedented. The name “Ibuki” will be engraved in the history of world warfare as the epitome of nighttime air warfare.
Along with my name, of course.
Alone in the dark, Kuroto smiled with satisfaction, and then…
The hull of the flagship of the Takamura Fleet, the “Nozuchi”, swelled up and shattered with a roar.
“!?”
The crew of the Ibuki widened their eyes and stared in amazement at the huge fireball that had suddenly been created. The soot and smoke from the fire spread throughout the airspace, and the machine gun bullets that had ignited flew in all directions.
[The Nozuchi has been hit!?] [What happened? The enemy is supposed to be wiped out!]
On the noisy upper deck, a sailor pointed to the sky beyond.
“Stray Bullets!”
In the night sky, the sailor’s finger pointed to eight red, scorched lines of fire.
A forty-centimeter armor-piercing bullet, recognizable only by its thick tow marks like a dragon leaning on a sickle.
Izaya also looked in that direction.
“Oh no.”
A moment later, the hull of the second ship in the Takamura fleet, the Shirase, cracked like candy.
Three, four…
Armor-piercing projectiles flew with terrifying precision, landing one after another on the slender hull.
In the blink of an eye, the hull of the ship swelled up with a magazine that had been shot through. Flames sprout from the seams in the armor, and before the blink of an eye, the “Shirase” also becomes a huge fireball, shattering into the starry sky.
“……!!!”
A shockwave of flame heat travels through space and reaches them. The crew of the “Ibuki” can only look at the scene in front of them in utter amazement. The remaining six ships, realizing that they were under fire, hurriedly changed course and looked into the surrounding airspace to determine the identity of the enemy.
“Where are they? I can’t see them!”
“They’re behind the clouds, radar targeting doesn’t care about clouds!”
In the direction Izaya was pointing, there was a thick cluster of cotton clouds. Then, through the clouds, a new projectile was launched high into the sky.
“Scatter the chaff!”
Kuroto stood up and called out to the gunner.
“We’ve just shot them all!”
The gunner responded with a look of despair, and Kuroto could only grit his teeth. He could already see the identity of the flying battleship that was firing at him.
It was a new type of Gamerian airship that Izaya had once encountered off the coast of Manila.
It was a new type of battleship from Gameria that Izaya had encountered off the coast of Manila.
That battleship, which had entered the port of Mariveles earlier as the advance party of the Grand Ocean Fleet, had sailed in the confusion. They were completely taken by surprise by the new enemy battleship. Perhaps they were waiting for the chaff to settle down so they could fire on them….
“Damn you …….”
If they could see the ship, they could observe its course, speed, and distance and fire a shot. However, if the enemy was hidden behind the clouds, they would not be able to be tracked, and naturally they could not be attacked. The Ibuki, with its engine stopped, could no longer move, and it was impossible to get the best firing point. On the other hand, the enemy’s radar waves can penetrate the clouds and observe them, making it possible to fire precisely even when they are hidden.
“This is not good, guys.”
The third volley pierced the clouds and hit them.
The Takamura fleet, while changing course in small increments, barely dodged the enemy’s bullets. But within a minute, the next salvo arrived. The loading is so quick that it boggles his mind.
At this rate, both the Takamura squadron and the Ibuki would be killed.
Kuroto asked Heisuke, who was standing nearby.
“Which of the port launchers can be used?
“Launch tube number eight is available!
“Gather the able-bodied men and load the next round. I’ll talk to Izaya.”
Kuroto walked over to Izaya, who was standing on the upper deck, looking into the distance to see the enemy gunfire. His head had been throbbing for some time, and when he pressed it with one hand, he found blood all over his palm. But there was no time to bandage it, so he told Izaya.
“I’m going to turn the launch tubes and aim with scatter shots.”
“How are we going to shoot the enemy behind the clouds?
“I’ll use you.”
“I was thinking about that too.”
Izaya let out a breath and turned her serious eyes to Kuroto.
“I’ve never been more than 10,000 meters from a perspective. I’ve never been separated from my body twice in one day. I don’t know what will happen to me. But it’s worth it.”
“That’s good resolve.”
As he looked behind her, Heisuke and a group of air raid officers were lifting new air mines from the elevator to the upper deck and filling the launch tubes as if it were their last task.
“We’ll start with launch tube number eight. We can only fire four shots. Make sure you get a good reading.”
” Who are you talking to? As I said last time, that ship is very good at dodging air mines. Don’t try to hit it with one shot. Shoot it with the assumption that it will dodge and take four shots to kill it.”
“Who are YOU talking to? I’m the one who is going to shoot. I’m not going to miss.”
“Hmm. Don’t make a mistake with your statement. Let’s go ……. This is the last match.”
If they let that new flying battleship live, it will annihilate the Hinoo Maritime Fleet that is currently heading for this area. Flying battleships that fly 1,200 meters above the sea can fire unilaterally from a distance that sea vessels’ guns can’t reach. They can also operate large electronic equipment while having a bird’s eye view of the battle area, and they don’t create a water column when they land. In other words, they have an overwhelming advantage over ships at sea. If even one enemy flying battleship is left behind, Hinoo will be destroyed because of that one ship.
That’s why we’re going to destroy it now.
Kuroto and Izaya watched the completion of the next round of loading for the eighth launch tube, and then told the crew.
“You’ve all done well. Pair up with the one you want and leave the ship.”
“Ha. But, captain… ……”
“We have some work to do. You guys get out of here. That’s an order. Go.”
The only thing left to do to fire the air mines from here is to turn the launch tubes and adjust the lightning speed. That could be done by Kuroto and Izaya.
As the air raid crew said their goodbyes, they tied the wounded with metal hooks and jumped down in pairs.
Heisuke, however, did not try to escape.
” Your Highness, let me help you.”
He looked at Heisuke and saw that the right arm and leg of his suit were stained crimson. His face was pale from blood loss and he looked much weaker than usual, but his eyes were filled with the will to fight.
For some reason, Kuroto guessed the reason why Heisuke remained here.
He looked at the tail of the air mine in the number eight launch tube and said
“Tae and Chie?”
Heisuke smiled shyly at the question.
“Yes. They are number three and number four.
These were the names of Heisuke’s twin sisters, who loved to sing and had been sold to a women’s brothel to cut down on their expenses. Heisuke was able to join the Navy because of them. If these two bullets hit an enemy ship and make it into the newspapers, maybe his sister would notice him. With this hope in mind, Heisuke must have loaded his own air mines here.
“All right. Take care of the tuning.”
” Yes.”
In the distance, the Takamura fleet, which had lost its commander, did not flee, but flew at maximum speed toward the cotton clouds, changing course slowly. It is likely that they plan to occupy the airspace where the clouds do not interfere and launch a raid, but the enemy will also see their movements and respond. With this amount of cloud cover, it would be difficult to even see the enemy.
Kuroto and Izaya checked the number eight launch tube and confirmed that it was ready to fire by simply operating the tube side.
They linked one hand and looked at each other.
“It doesn’t have to be your hand, it can be anywhere I can feel your body heat. In other words …… if I don’t come back, call out my name, let me feel your body heat, and if possible, let me hear your heartbeat. It’s the best way to tell me to come back.”
As Izaya blushed, Kuroto urged her to hurry.
“All right. Get on with it.”
“Don’t give orders to your superiors. Let’s go ……. I’ve never done this at this distance before, so I don’t know what to expect.”
Izaya closed her eyes softly as she said this.
Kuroto silently held her hand and waited for Izaya’s reaction. It was okay to feel the warmth of the body without having to hold hands, which means it was okay for him to hug her, or even to put her on his lap, which would free up both of his hands. However, he was afraid that Izaya would hit him when she came back, so he decided not to do it.
Putting aside his worries, Kuroto looked at the airspace beyond. He wondered if Izaya was flying in that sky right now. ……
◆
Izaya flies through the starry sky like a bird, aiming for the cotton clouds in the distance.
She looks over the sooty smoke that still pervades the battlefield, watches the sailors being ejected from the enemy battleship that just fired an air raid, and observes the trajectory of the enemy’s towed bullets.
This was the second time today that she had moved her perspective. Perhaps she was tired, but the further she got away from the body, the more she felt her consciousness fading. Feeling anxious that her consciousness itself might disappear if she continued like this, she tried to capture the warmth of Kuroto’s hand in a corner of her consciousness. This warmth is Izaya’s lifeline right now. If she loses it, she won’t know how to get home. In fact, it would have been the best if she could feel the warmth of another person’s body, as it would be more stable than holding hands, but she was too embarrassed to say such a thing.
Don’t let go of my hand, Kuroto.
As she prayed, she entered the cotton cloud that served as a barrier.
She crossed the white vapour barrier, and over there…
There it is!
Gameria’s new flying battleship. She didn’t know what it was called, but it was an unknown ship type, completely different from the Gorgoroth and the Voivod. The large radar circling the bridge and the large rangefinder are clearly state-of-the-art. There are a total of four forty-centimeter guns on both sides of the bridge, sixteen guns on the starboard side, and now the starboard gun was firing simultaneously at the Takamura squadron as it flew.
A huge floating body, 250 meters in length and 35 meters in width, suspended from a steel hull that must have weighed over 50,000 tons.
Regardless, she could see it. She knew its position and course.
All she needs to do is to observe the impact of the air mines from here and contact Kuroto verbally. ……
◆
In front of the No. 8 launch tube on the upper deck of the “Ibuki.
Kuroto was holding hands with Izaya, waiting for a response.
There was no movement from Izaya. It was as if life had been drained from her body, void of life itself. Isaya was just standing there, breathing, that’s all.
“What are you two doing at ……?”
Heisuke, who was kneeling in front of the No. 8 firing tube, asked suspiciously. But Kuroto looked down at him with one eye and said,
“Don’t worry about anything. Just focus on that.”
“What?”
At that moment, Izaya’s mouth finally opened.
“I found it ……. Twelve degrees right. Distance 11,000. Course 90 degrees. Speed 20 knots. ……”
Kuroto nodded and asked Heisuke to do the same.
“Launch tube eight, turn right two degrees.
The five launch tubes lined up on the port side have a limited turn angle, so the only way to get the missing angle is to adjust the rudder of the air mines and drive them from the enemy ship at an angle. With the engine stopped and the Ibuki still floating in the air, the only way to get to the enemy ship was to use the diagonal firing method, an extremely difficult lightning attack method.
“Ha”
While dragging his feet, Heisuke grasped the launch tube’s swivel handle in his left hand and was about to turn it when….
A high-pitched, ominous sound echoed on the upper deck.
“Oh, no!”
With the screams of the remaining sailors, the ship’s hull tilted sharply.
“!?”
In a flash, Kuroto held Izaya in his arms and fell to the deck, where he saw that the first suspension cable had been cut.
The hull of the ship, which had lost its support, was tilted 15 degrees toward the right front, swaying unsteadily. As he looked down, he could see the dark ocean beyond the bow of the ship, where the bodies of dead and seriously injured soldiers were slipping and falling.
“Damn it!”
Even with the current impact, Izaya was helplessly held in Kuroto’s arms, unresponsive. He held her tightly to his chest and connected his and Izaya’s straps with metal hooks to prevent her from falling.
Heisuke gripped the turning handle with his left hand and held off the fall.
He was relieved that the three of them didn’t fall, but he also clicked his tongue.
“I can’t get a clear shot with this. ……”
Because the No. 8 launch tube was also tilted, the lightning speed and angle of attack could not be calculated using the usual formula. Without a fire control system, and taking into account the 15-degree inclination of the launch tubes, it would be extremely difficult to aim at an enemy ship flying through the clouds using the slanting firing method.
Izaya, oblivious to our predicament, simply reports back to Kuroto, who was still hugging her tightly. In this state, Izaya cannot hear what they were say to her, so he could only receive information from her.
“Don’t change your hands, you son of a bitch. ……”
Kuroto scratched his head with his remaining hand. When he scratched his head, his hand was stained with blood. He had a bad head wound for a while now. The wound on his head had been tingling badly from earlier. Holding Izaya to his chest, he raised his face and looked beyond the cotton clouds.
He followed Izaya’s guidance and visualized the invisible enemy battleship in the starry sky. He connected the current positions of his ship and the enemy ship with sight lines, and drew a line of fire to the future position of the enemy ship. After solving the trigonometric functions of the enemy’s course and speed, he incorporated the necessary factors such as wind speed, earth rotation, gravity, air resistance, and the inclination of the launch tube itself into an equation in his mind to determine the angle of attack of the four air mines.
“Change direction. 95 degrees. Speed remains at 20 knots.”
Upon receiving Izaya’s report, Kuroto clicked his tongue and started his calculations all over again. The formula needed to fire air mines is meaningless unless it is based on the enemy’s current course. So, if the enemy changes course again, he would have to start all over.
Convert the static distance D1 between the first and second firing lines to the enemy’s course, and use this to determine the opening between the firing lines. Once the dynamic spread interval has been determined using the dynamic error Re, which is a composite of the …… deviation and the lightning speed knitting error, predict the enemy’s course that was changed by the first firing line. In addition, the wind direction, wind force, and the 15-degree inclination of the launch tube were determined, and the opening angle, lightning speed, and angle of fire were calculated. …… (TN: LOL WHAT? I am just skip editing this part)
” Change course, seventy degrees.
Again. He clicked his tongue twice and started his mental calculation all over again. If the enemy captain’s head was here, he’d like to choke him. If I don’t shoot him soon, I won’t be able to keep up with the rest of my search.
Kuroto moved his head, aching for his life, to determine the necessary angle of inclination before the enemy’s changed direction.
“Heisuke, turn angle 2 degrees, diagonal angle 35, fire one shot at the third lightning speed.”
After being told to do so, Heisuke adjusted the diagonal angle as told by the vertical rudder on the tail of the air mine, and tried to turn the wheel with his left hand alone to turn the launch tube. But he could not turn the handle, as if he did not have enough strength left. He bit his lip in frustration and put all his strength into it, but the heavy wheel would not move.
At a time like this. Kuroto clutched the immobile Izaya to his chest with one hand, crawled up the tilted upper deck to the wheel, and tried to help him. But his position was too uncomfortable for him to reach the steering wheel. There was no way he was going to let go of Izaya now.
But Izaya’s mouth opened ruthlessly.
“Change course, ninety degrees.”
Damn it, Captain, I’m going to kill you. Kuroto gritted his teeth and started his calculations all over again. But even if he figured out the diagonal angle, if he couldn’t point the launch tube in that direction, he’d be back to square one.
Meanwhile, like the devil’s claws tearing through a star-studded tent, eight scorched tow marks continued to attack the Takamura squadron one after another. The six flying destroyers were able to avoid the constant firing, but the third ship, the “Nozukasa”, was hit by a projectile. The hull of the ship crumpled like an empty can and exploded with the sound of material compression. The sad ball of fire brightened the night, and the Ceras particles clung to the torn uniforms, pieces of flesh and iron fragments like fireflies.
In just over twenty minutes, three ships had been sunk. The enemy’s bombardment was mind-bogglingly accurate. At this rate, in less than an hour, the five remaining destroyers would be destroyed.
“Someone take the wheel at …….”
As he called out to the dead and seriously injured around him, a new hand suddenly appeared on the turning wheel.
” Your Highness, if I turn this, will you take over my role?
The bloodied Onizuka leaned over his huge, wounded body. His put his wild right hand on the steering wheel, and looked enviously at Kuroto, who held Izaya to his chest.
“I’ll take your place, but for now, shut up and do as I say.”
“Haa. Just tell me what to do.”
Everyone is so self-indulgent. While complaining, Kuroto stared into the starry sky to see the invisible route of the enemy battleship.
“We’ll aim with scatter fire. Turn angle 2 degrees, diagonal angle 37, third lightning speed, first shot.”
“Yes!”
A dying Onizuka, whose whole body is dyed crimson, grits his teeth and turns the wheel, watching the indicator and turning the firing tube twice. Heisuke set the rudder of the air mine to 37 degrees, the third lightning speed.
“Strike!”
Following Kuroto’s order, Onizuka launches the first projectile.
The ejected air mines swam diagonally through the sea of stars. About nine minutes until impact.
“This strike will soon be evaded.”
He deduced the future position of the unseen enemy ship based on the observations Izaya had given him.
“Second one, turn left one degree, diagonal angle thirty-nine degrees, third lightning speed.”
Onizuka turns the turning handle and fires the second shot.
The air mine, ejected from the slanted launch tube, staggered from the floating zone, traveled at an angle of 39 degrees, and was swallowed by the stars.
“I can’t see the target. Can we hit it, Your Highness?”
Kuroto made a Buddha face at Onizuka, who was dying yet still complaining.
“I’ve got it under control, and the next two will take care of it. That is, if you do your job well.”
Onizuka let out a long sigh and regripped the steering wheel. His whole body was drenched in blood and there was a puddle of blood under his feet.
He must be having a hard time just standing there, but he never gave up.
In order to repay him for his hard work, Kuroto was determined to hit this air mine.
With this determination in his heart, he continued to work on the difficult calculation, figuring out the diagonal angle to shoot through the invisible enemy.
For some reason, Kyle’s sarcastic smile appeared through the cotton clouds in the distance.
If I miss the target, Izaya will become his.
He’ll never allow that to happen. Kuroto put his right hand around Izaya’s waist, embraced her, and brought her into a position where one ear was against his chest. His body heat and heartbeat would guide Izaya on her way home.
This is the place Izaya will return to.
“You can’t have her.”
Kuroto smiled fearlessly at his nemesis.
“You don’t deserve this woman.”
He then gave the diagonal angle, lightning speed and angle of rotation for the remaining two air thunderbolts to Heisuke.
◆
Meanwhile…
Izaya, who served as the viewpoint, had a bird’s eye view of the new Gamerian battleship and sent a report each time it changed course.
Since she can only send information verbally, she doesn’t know what state the Ibuki is in.
She has no choice but to trust Kuroto. If Izaya and Kuroto’s powers don’t bring this battleship down, there will be no tomorrow for Hinoo.
Hurry up, Kuroto.
Izaya whispered. She doesn’t know how long she can keep using this power. She didn’t tell Kuroto or Rio about it, but when she was a child and was playing by herself, she couldn’t get back to her perspective. At that time, Izaya’s body went into a vegetative state for about a month, and she was in danger of dying. Even Izaya doesn’t know how far she can go with this power.
From time to time, the scenery blurred.
The night sky and the enemy battleship she was looking at were about to disappear.
Whenever this happened, Izaya used Kuroto’s body heat as a reference point to maintain her own existence.
If he doesn’t hurry, I won’t be able to hold on.
It is almost an act of God to predict the future position of the enemy’s course, calculate the diagonal angle, and determine the lightning speed of the second, third, and fourth strikes in anticipation of being evaded. But she believe that Kuroto can do it. If he couldn’t do it, they would have no choice but to accept a future in which they would be called monkeys and be trampled on.
At that moment.
The enemy battleship turned 30 degrees to the right.
At the same time, oxygen air mines broke through the cotton clouds, trailing seven-colored lightning trails, grazed the nose of the enemy battleship, and flew away into the starry sky beyond.
“The first one veered off to the left. Error of 120 meters. Enemy ship changing hands. 30 degrees right.”
Just as she was about to reported this, the seven-colored bow wave accompanied by the changing of direction again blew up at the bow of the flying battleship.
Another turn, ten degrees to the right.
The next moment, a second air mine appeared through the cotton clouds and sailed past the left side of the battleship.
“The second one veered off to the left. Seventy meter margin of error.”
The distance was closer than before. Kuroto has completely detected the position of the battleship and fired a close-range shot.
Kuroto.
Two more. Izaya prayed.
The slight warmth of his palm and, for some reason, even the beating of Kuroto’s heart reached Izaya. His beating heart, as if cheering Izaya on, kept her from being in danger.
“New battleship turning right.”
The flying battleship began to turn sharply as it twisted around.
The SG radar must have detected the third or fourth air thunderbolt and is desperately trying to dodge it by turning around.
The aggressive turning that seemed to twist the very fabric of space continued…
The third and fourth oxygen air mines broke through the cotton clouds and appeared in the airspace, running almost in tandem.
The two lightning trails slanted toward the enemy battleship. As if they had anticipated the enemy’s evasion from the start, they drew a graceful curve to the end of the ship’s turn.
In Izaya’s eyes, she could see the future that Kuroto had deduced.
She smiled unknowingly.
Did you know, Kuroto?
The steel giant whale screamed, its 250-meter-long hull creaking, and it lurched to the right.
But it was no use. There was no way for the enemy ship to escape from the two well-aimed lines of fire.
When you proposed to me, I was really happy.
On the right is Tae, and on the left is Chie.
The sound of the tail propellers of the two oxygen air mines, with these names written on their outer shells, resonated and echoed through the airspace as if they were singing.
I don’t think you knew why.
The two girls combined their mellow singing voices and sang a propeller song into the star-filled battle airspace.
But, it was because I loved you.
The song of the girls standing on the left side of the floating body announces the end of the opera in the sky.
I was so happy to think that I could be with you forever.
Silver droplets scattered. Two warheads, rotating at high speed, pierce the molten surface of the floating body.
The singing voice turned into a funeral night song. The song calls out to the crew to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Don’t get the wrong idea.
I was completely turned off when you told me that you only wanted my bloodline.
It’s true, I was completely turned off, that’s for sure.
The crew screamed from the inside of the new enemy battleship.
Sailors with parachutes on their backs were already throwing themselves from the port and starboard sides of the ship.
The white flowers of the parachutes bloomed on the sea reflecting the light of the moon and stars.
The two air mines that had completely penetrated the floating body triggered the slow-moving fuse, and a dull explosion sounded.
The giant, 250-meter-long floating body quickly cracked.
Enemy sailors evacuated the gangway, the upper deck, the foremast, the aftermast, and the bridge lookout, one after another, carrying parachutes on their backs. The officers tried to stop them, but no one would listen to them.
Hey, Kuroto.
Do you still want to be the king of this land?
The weight of the 50,000-ton hull, suspended by a suspension cable, caused the crack to widen. The eerie sound of the floating body rupturing echoed through the space, shimmering and cracking.
The floating body collapsed, and the huge hull tilted at an angle.
All hands were ordered to leave the ship. The officers, captain, and commander all carried parachutes and bit their lips in frustration as they threw themselves overboard.
Then how about you propose to me again?
A total of two thousand white flowers bloomed in the starry sky, and soon the floating body could not withstand the weight of the ship and broke into pieces.
The suspension ropes snap off. The shattered floating bodies vainly separated from each other. The unsupported hull fell noiselessly 1,200 meters downward, as if its knees had given out.
The Ceras particles that clung to the hull of the ship made a splash of seven colors, adding color to the funeral of the new battleship.
This time, the answer may not be a slap and a kick.
The surface of the sea cracked, and a few tenths of a second later, it erupted high into the sky with a shockwave that wrinkled the space.
The new flying battleship, touted as the strongest in the Gamerian fleet, turned into a huge column of water that resembled a crescent cloud, and a huge silver wave covered the sailors who were floating in the sea.
When you look at it from above, it looks like a scene from a fairy tale or a mythological world.
After all, I don’t know how I would respond if you did right now.
Leaving only a tremendous millet grain on the surface of the sea, the enemy battleship was swallowed into the pitch-black sea and disappeared. The enemy soldiers, once swallowed by the waves, used the parachutes as a floating bag and reappeared from the sea.
Izaya looked back in the direction she had come.
Cotton clouds drifted in the wind.
In the distance, she could see the five remaining destroyers of the Takamura squadron approaching the airspace. They were probably confused, having suddenly lost sight of their target.
Let’s go home. Back to Kuroto.
Izaya made up her mind and flew through the air with only her perspective, relying on the warmth of Kuroto’s heartbeat and warmth.
“…… What is this position?”
When Izaya opened her eyes and noticed her position, she complained to him first.
“It was the only way I could prepare for our descent while letting you hear my heartbeat.
Kuroto was standing on the port side of the Ibuki, holding Izaya up in front of his chest. Izaya was hold Kuroto’s head with both arms.
Their straps were connected to each other by metal hooks from the front. On Kuroto’s back was a parachute.
Izaya looked again at Kuroto’s left hand hugging the back of her knee. She saw his right hand going under her armpit to her back and then looked at his face.
“The world calls this a princess hug.”
“I see.”
“Put me down.”
“Give it up. I don’t like it either, but in this case it’s the only way.”
While they were separated from each other, they had hooked their bodies together so that they could hear each other’s heartbeats. Izaya immediately realized that this was the only way they would be able to leave the ship together, but she was very embarrassed.
“I don’t want anyone to see us. Now jump.”
She was in a hurry.
“It’s like a prince and princess!”
A wounded Heisuke, standing beside them, said with a smile.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll take his place.”
The bloody Onizuka, who was paired with Heisuke, carried a parachute and said with a straight face.
Izaya’s cheeks turned bright red.
“Shut up and don’t look at me!”
Onizuka’s expression turned sad as he yelled, “After you, then,” and jumped down, holding Heisuke’s back against his stomach. They immediately opened their parachutes. The big man and the little man swayed in the wind as they descended 1,200 meters into the ocean below.
Kuroto tells her.
“Hold on to me, just in case. If you don’t, you’ll fall.”
When she was sure that no one else was around, Izaya sent an angry look from right in front of him. She sniffed, put her hands around the back of Kuroto’s neck and held on tightly to him.
“…… Don’t drop me.”
Her cheeks turned bright red and she said with a pout.
“……. you won’t fall unless you let go.”
Kuroto’s cheeks also turned red, and he says so brusquely. The way he said it, she hated it. Pressing her chest against his chest, Izaya squeezed her hands around the back of Kuroto’s neck.
“Okay. I’m not letting you go.”
She’s so glad. She thought she heard such a sound coming from Kuroto’s heartbeat, but she must have imagined it.
“…… Let’s go.”
Kuroto announced in a low, muffled voice, and threw himself over the tilted port side of the Ibuki.
Immediately afterwards, a heavy load was placed on his open parachute and belt. While holding Izaya up in front of his chest, Kuroto’s body slowly floated in the air.
“……………………… …”
As he swayed silently in the wind, Kuroto looked at Ibuki, who was moving away.
The last of the suspension cords was about to be severed. Onizuka, who had suspended Heisuke, saluted Ibuki as he descended.
Beyond, the blue-violet of the eastern horizon was shining.
The morning was spreading out into the depths of darkness like a tent being pulled up. The stars were scattered, and the steam in the air began to take on a different color than the Ceras particles. Eventually, a clear light rose over the horizon, as if caring for human folly from afar.
“Look. Ibuki is going down.”
As Kuroto announced as they descended, Izaya’s hands relaxed and her red eyes caught sight of the Ibuki.
The second suspension line had been severed, and the Ibuki was barely suspended by the two remaining suspension lines at the stern, with its bow pointing straight out to sea.
The hull of the ship was covered with holes so large that you could see through them. Flames were sprouting from them, probably from the penetrating armor-piercing shells. The entire hull was blackened with soot. Most of the ten launch tubes were cruelly punctured and the armor was peeling off. The fire on the stern of the Ibuki had yet to be extinguished.
A soft breeze blew through the air.
Izaya and Kuroto looked up at the Ibuki against the light purple sky.
So many memories flashed in and out of Izaya’s mind. In the two and a half years since she first boarded the ship, Ibuki has always been there to watch over Izaya’s growth, and now it is about to be lost forever in front of her eyes.
In the surrounding field of parachute flowers, the crew looked up at the sky and gave a final salute to Ibuki. As they drifted through the sky, each one of them gave a resolute salute of respect and condolences to their precious home and silent family members left behind on the ship.
Izaya stared at her familiar home in silence and says her goodbyes.
“Thank you, Ibuki.”
At the same time, the last remaining cable snapped.
“I will never forget you. Rest well.”
With the morning glow of the sky as a backdrop, the Ibuki, clad in the seven colors of the Ceras particles, made its way soundlessly down the corridor of colors.
Particles in red, blue, green, yellow, and purple …… softly stroked the scarred body of the ship, and glittered upward as if they were bereaved.
Clad in tens of millions of colors and scattering them like petals across the sky, the Ibuki touched its bow to the sea.
A tall, high column of water rose up into the summer sky.
The sailors, with their parachutes, saluted the water column as it descended through the summer sky.
Ibuki was a friend, a family, and a home.
And the sailors who were cheerful and kind, whom she will never see again.
Izaya saluted the pillar of water that Ibuki had set up, giving her heartfelt thanks to all the people and warships that had fought so nobly to protect the people of today, and for the children who would live in this kingdom.
When the water column disappeared and the spray of waves subsided, a large rainbow appeared in the summer sky. It was as if the Ibuki was greeting the crew, a rainbow that would never disappear.
Izaya sniffed once, sobbing.
“Are you crying?”
Kuroto asked her with a straight face.
After the salute, Izaya put her hands around the back of Kuroto’s neck and rested her chin on his shoulder so that he could not see her expression.
“I’m not crying.”
She denied in a muffled voice and slowly drank in the emotions that were rising in her.
The two of them swayed in the wind, silently hanging on to each other.
The warmth and softness of each other’s body told them that they had survived the battle. There were no words, but Kuroto’s heartbeat and body heat were awkwardly and clumsily comforting Izaya, who was feeling overwhelmed with grief.
Eventually, the whirlpools subsided, and the surface of the sea began to take on the same silvery hue as usual.
They landed on the surface of the sea, which was so calm that it was hard to believe that it had just swallowed the Ibuki.
“*Cough!*”
With a devilish expression on his face, Kuroto endured the intense pain of the seawater seeping into the wound on his back. The salt was literally rubbed into his injured body. In agony, he and Izaya folded the parachute into a floating bag and laid down on it. After undoing the hooks and the belt, and finally peeling off their tightly bound bodies, they lay side by side on their backs. Kuroto looked up at the stars that still remained around the zenith.
The five remaining ships of the Takamura squadron were patrolling the sky of the battlefield, trailing the remnants of the fierce battle. They approached the six floating bodies of the battleship squadron, including the Shishimaru, which had once been captured by the enemy. They also approached the four floating bodies of the destroyer, which had lost its hull, and attached tow ropes to them.
“…… Oh, by the way, did the air mines hit?
As if just remembering, Kuroto asked as he was rocked by the waves.
“Oh. The third and fourth strikes hit. The new enemy battleship has crashed.
When she reported this, Kuroto smiled with pleasure.
“It’s just like me. I’m afraid I’m too much of a genius to be able to shoot through an invisible enemy. I’m the one who saved the day on both occasions, the port and starboard attacks and the guessing attack just now. Intelligence, bloodline, and looks. I am outstanding in every way, and the people will revere me for all eternity.”
Izaya looked dumbfounded.
“I made the observation.”
“Ten percent of the battle was yours. The other ninety percent is because I am a genius.”
Kuroto smiled with satisfaction as he looked up at the blue sky.
“The day will soon come when the people will bow down to me. When the results of this battle are reported to the Hinoo mainland, 80 million people will be crying and thanking me. And the hero of national salvation, Kuroto Kurono, will be born. Naturally, my name would appear in the history textbooks, and the people of Hinooo would worship me forever. Hahahaha!”
With a look of deep satisfaction on his face, Kuroto was intoxicated with himself.
She hopes he doesn’t really think like that. Izaya looked up at the fading stars and the dawn glow that filled the sky, inhaling the fresh air deeply and profoundly.
She was alive.
She confirmed it. She had prepared to die many times in the past day. And yet, she survived. Moreover, she have won the battle. What made it possible for her to do that was no doubt thanks to the man who was now sitting beside her.
So she would like to at least say “thank you” honestly.
“You should also thank me. Five battleships and three heavy cruisers were sunk because of my precise mental calculation. I am probably the only captain in all of history who has achieved such a great battle result without a firing board and with only mental calculation.
The mere mention of such a thing from her side makes the feeling of her gratitude go away.
“That’s right. You’re great.”
But Kuroto didn’t seem to like it.
“What’s with that tone? You should be more emotional. Cry. Scream. Praise my intelligence, courage, and looks while rubbing your face against the surface of the sea.”
He was getting more and more pompous.
She was getting more and more angry.
Izaya lifted her serious face and said,
“All right. I’ll give you a reward.”
“Oh. What do you have to offer?
Izaya put her hands on the sides of Kuroto’s head.
“Coochy-coo. Coochy-coo.”
“Ayyyyyy!”
Izaya clung to Kuroto, who instantly jumped back with an inverted voice.
“Coochy-coo. “Coochy-coo.”
She crawled her fingers all over Kuroto’s body.
“Ayyyyy, come on!”
Kuroto lost his speech and turned his back on Izaya to escape.
“Fuuu…”
“Ahhhh…”
Izaya breathed into his ear, causing him to let out a muffled cry.
“How’s that for a reward?”
“Don’t you ever do that again!”
“Fuuu..”
“AHHH…”
Kuroto’s voice echoed high above the sea, which had regained its calm, and disappeared.
In a few moments, a deep blue summer sky appeared, and beyond the sea, the shadow of the Hinoo Maritime Fleet rose above the horizon. Overhead, the five flying destroyers of the Takamura squadron flew leisurely, towing the recovered floating bodies of friend and foe.
And then…
The twenty ships of the First Flying Squadron of the invincible Gamerian Grand Ocean Fleet and the new flying battleship Noctanos were all destroyed in one of the greatest defeats in the history of naval and air warfare. The Gamerian fleet, which had been advancing behind, gave up the fight and retreated to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In response, Hinoo’s forces attacked Filfin and subdued the Far Eastarn forces of Gameria, who were holed up in the Corregidor Fortress.
After capturing the major stronghold of Gameria, which was strangling East Asia, the Hinoo United Fleet sent a huge steel fleet into the southern waters in search of more resources…….
The narrow interior of the ship was filled with the constant roar of the turbine engines.
Outside the round window of the officer’s quarters, the seven colors of the Ceras Particles flowed like luminescent insects, and the sky was full of stars.
Due to all that has happened, he cannot sleep. He also has a constitution that does not require long periods of sleep. Giving up on sleep, Second Lieutenant Kuroto Kurono, who had been lying on the sofa in the officer’s quarters with his shoes on, raised his body.
It was 2:30 in the morning. The Ibuki was currently on patrol in the airspace around Manila. Deciding to stay at the anti-aircraft command center until dawn for counter-observation training, he left the officer’s quarters and headed for the bow of the ship.
On the way, as he was passing the navigation bridge, he was approached by the officer on duty today, Lieutenant Sasao Kakitsubata , Chief of the Ibuki Air Raid.
“Hey, Kurono-kun. You’re up early.”
He greeted him with a cheerful voice that sounded like he was drunk. He is the direct supervisor of Kuroto.
” I just woke up. I was thinking of doing some observation training until morning.
He replied in a condescending tone.
“That’s great. It seems that the three of you talked for quite a long time in the officer’s quarters during the day.”
Kakitsubata poked his beak of interest at him. It’s a bit of a hassle to answer, but the military is a hierarchical system and you can’t be disrespectful to your superiors.
“Haha. I explained to the captain and vice captain how I came aboard the Ibuki.”
Kakitsubata’s mouth relaxed.
“Well, well, well. It must have been very nerve-wracking for Kurono-kun to be surrounded by two royals.”
He seemed to be implying something in his words.
Kuroto sighs inwardly.
It’s been two years since he returned to Hinoo, but when people hear his last name, they immediately bring up the high treason incident. It was the same on the ” Nozuchi,” the ship he had served on before. Some of the officers even confronted Kuroto and asked him why a renegade was aboard a warship.
“No, not really. We’ve known each other since we were children.”
He delivered the answer that Kakitsubata would have wanted. Sooner or later, the fact that Kuroto is the eldest son of the Kuronomiya family, which was plotting to overthrow the royal family, will be known on board the Ibuki, and it would be better to tell them as soon as possible. He learned from the “Nozuchi” that if you hide it badly, it will become even more troublesome.
“What a surprise! So the rumors are true, that you are the heir to the Kuronomiya family. ……”
Kakitsubata’s eyes lit up with deliberate surprise. After all, it seems that the officers of Ibuki have already received this information.
“Yes. It was more than eight years ago. Now I’m prepared to fight for my country as a civilian.
When he gave the same model answer he had given on the previous ship, Kakitsubata asked the same question as the other officers he had met so far.
“You’re the one who proposed to Her Highness Izaya! Well, this is a surprise! Did you do it because you wanted to become the King?”
Kakitsubata leaned forward, wanting to hear the truth about the incident that had once caused a stir throughout Hinoo from the mouth of the person involved.
“It’s a story from when I was a child. It was just a make-believe story. It just so happened that a three-sentence magazine got wind of it and wrote a big story about it. Now, of course, there is not the slightest trace of such evil thoughts.”
” Oh, well, I suppose that’s true. But to meet Her Highness in Ibuki again like this, it’s just too romantic. ……”
Kuroto made sure that the Kakitsubata was on board to help him. He then made him a trump card to ensure that his future life on the ship would be smooth.
“The military Commander-in-chief has always held me in high regard. He offered me this appointment so that I could be of use to Her Highness and Lady Rio. It’s a great honor to receive such high praise from the Commander-in-Chief, which makes me feel both physically and mentally refreshed.
The expression on Kakitsubata’s face, which had been relaxed, turned pale in an instant.
When Kuroto told the officer that he had been in close contact with the commander-in-chief, Genzaburo Kazenomiya, during his year of service on the warship, he immediately noticed that he became quiet. Even the officers of the “Nozuchi” who had called Kuroto a renegade stopped messing with him as soon as they learned of this fact.
Kakitsubata, without any exception, changed his attitude.
“You’re acquainted with His Excellency Kazenomiya? Oh, but I guess that’ s normal for a little boy from the Kuronomiya family. Excuse me for this…….”
He immediately shut his mouth in a sullen manner.
“Well, I’m off to training.”
Kuroto passed through the narrow space in front of Kakitsubata and headed for the bow of the ship, called the “foremast”, which protruded diagonally downward from the lower part of the hull.
He descended down a narrow staircase. The staircase is so steep that it is more like a ladder than a staircase. There were almost no horizontal passages in the ship, so they had to come and go like moles through these steep stairs and ladders.
Soon, he came to the anti-aircraft command center overhanging the middle of the bow. It was about the size of an eight-tatami mat room. With the light of the stars, the outside air at an altitude of 1,200 meters hits directly on his body.
His lungs, accustomed to the stifling air inside the ship, were glad of the fresh air.
All around him was a starry sky. From the upper deck, he can’t see the zenith because it’s blocked by the floating bodt, but from here, in the middle of the foremast, he can see an infinite number of stars spiraling toward the zenith if he looks directly up. Having been in the narrow confines of the ship for so long, he was once again glad to see the endless depth of the starry sky and the ungraspable grandeur of its contours.
Kuroto lowered his eyes to where the ship was going.
The seven colors of the Ceras Effect that rose near the bow of the ship scattered in the night breeze and blew against Kuroto’s body like sparks of fire. A single, dim figure hovered over the scene that resembled a starship crossing a rainbow bridge.
“Kuroto……?”
He didn’t even need to ask who it was, and his shoulders slumped in dismay.
“What ……. Can I help you?”
Major Izaya Shironomiya, looking unconcerned, asked Kuroto in an abrasive manner.
“I don’t need anything……. I just came here and found you.”
Izaya had probably come here for her night observation training, too. It’s a bit awkward since they’ve been talking for a long time during the day, only to meet again in another place.
“……. Is it bad if I stay a bit longer……?”
Izaya grumbled, placed her hands on the railing of the command center, and stared into the night sky.
Kuroto hesitated, wondering what he should do. Should he stay here and train with Izaya? Or should he go somewhere else?
Izaya turned her back to him and said,
“In the daytime, it’s ………….”
“…………?”
“No. Well, it’s …….”
Unusually, Izaya was stammering about something. She always says what she wants to say in an interesting and resolute manner, but her words were slurred.
“It’s annoying. Speak clearly.”
Izaya hesitated and looked back at Kuroto with a half-hearted smile.”
Her silver hair reflected in the starlight, Izaya scratched her cheek with her fingers, and looked awkwardly at him.
“…… I was wrong.”
“……………………”
“I assumed that since it was you, you must have come to Ibuki for some evil scheme, and I did …… a terrible thing.”
She turned her head to the side and apologized.
Kuroto was momentarily stunned, unsure of how to respond. He quickly regains his composure, forcing a smile and lifting his face from the foolishness.
” Very true. What you’ve done is disgusting. It is outrageous to use a person’s constitution as an excuse for interrogation. It is the work of a shameless coward.”
“Ugh. …………”
“It’s a shameless and cowardly thing to do. Interrogating me for the purpose of torturing me. You’re dumb bitch. A pervert with a taste for sexual abuse.”
“Oh, you’re out of line. ……”
“Don’t ever do that again. I’ve got nothing to hide. I don’t like the way that country is being run by that monster, Kyle McVille. That’s why I came back to Hinoo and became a soldier. I want to make a name for myself, tear up Gameria in air fleet battles, and giving Kyle a barking face. That’s the only reason I’m fighting.”
The truth is, that’s not the only reason. Kyle was serious about making Izaya his own, so he returned to Hinoo to stop him. He is fighting to prevent Izaya from becoming Kyle’s. Of course, he didn’t tell Izaya about that or the fact that Kyle was after her.
“Uh-huh. That’s …… well understood. I don’t doubt it. I’m sorry …….”
Izaya hung her head down apologetically.
“It was not my intention to get on this ship. It was the will of His Excellency, Kazenomiya. He rightfully evaluated my abilities that I demonstrated during the Battle of Luzon and promoted me to the position of Ibuki’s Air Raid Chief. I did not use any unfair means. I rose to this position by fairness and merit alone.”
Turning around, Kuroto smiled arrogantly. Izaya’s mouth quirked up in displeasure, but she did not deny his words.
But the truth is that Kuroto did use illegal means to infiltrate the navy and air force.
He used the money to bribe a high-ranking official at the Ministry of the Navy, and then, using fraudulent claims about his background, he skipped the process of becoming an ensign cadet and went straight to the “Nozuchi” as a second lieutenant. The first month on board, he had a hard time understanding what he was doing and even got beaten up. But he soon got the hang of the essentials of working on a warship, and now he has a knowledge of the military that most officers don’t have.
“Yeah……. Well……I guess so. I believe your story. I have no reason to doubt it.”
When he spoke with Izaya and Rio in the officer’s quarters during the day, he told them most of what had happened in Gameria. There were only two things I hadn’t told them: that he was thinking of Izaya as he slept with an empty stomach in a shack, and that he had made a big show of saying to Kyle, who was trying to get to Izaya, that he wouldn’t let him touch her.
Izaya returned her gaze to the front and announced.
“…… For what you did during the day, I’ll give you permission to train here. You can use it whenever you want. If you want to use it now, that’s fine too.”
He didn’t like the way she said it, but there was no doubt that this was the best place on the ship for night observation training. With a sniff and a couple of strides, he stood next to Izaya and grabbed the railing.
Beyond the starry skies of eternity, a slight serrated effect could be seen. The anti-aircraft command center was only about the size of an eight-tatami mat room, so they could hear each other’s breathing.
The only way to improve night vision was to repeat the “counter-observation training,” in which you look at an object moving in the dark and determine its course, speed, and distance by visual measurement. Some navy and air force officers have acquired this “clairvoyant ability” to see an enemy ship 15,000 meters away at night, like Myuu, by repeating counter-observation training at night.
As a result of the previous encounter, four airships were required to conduct patrols around the Mariveles blockade. The Ibuki was not to patrol alone, but was to be attached to the tail of the four battleships on a short notice. If they encountered an enemy squadron, they were determined to immediately launch a gun battle.
Three hundred meters ahead of us, the seven-colored trails of friendly battleships spread out in the starry sky.
The glitter of the Ceras Effect emitted from the four stern propellers was very easy to observe even at night. By looking at the shadows of the ships that cut through the starry sky, the number of masts, and the shape of the bridge and hull, they can guess the name of each ship.
Flying just ahead of the Ibuki is the battleship “Hokiyou”, three hundred meters ahead of the is the “Kinra”, beyond that is the “Semiore”, and at the head of the single verttical formation is the flagship of the squadron, the “Unra”.
As they moved forward in a line of ships, the shadows of the ships became buried in the starry sky, making them difficult to distinguish. However, if you continue to stare into the darkness, your eyes will gradually become accustomed to the sight, and you will be able to see a new seven-colored wake flowing through the gaps between the stars. Thanks to the Ceras Effect, airships are much easier to see than ships at sea, but even so, at a distance of more than 1,200 meters, it takes practice to determine the course, speed, and distance with the naked eye.
Izaya, who stood two steps away from him, stood motionless, staring into the darkness beyond.
The painfully cold air was cutting out a ring of stars. The galaxies slicing through the night sky were more like dragons ascending to the zenith than rivers. The silence oozing from the depths of the starry sky drove the roar of the engine far away.
The two of them stood side by side, silently gazing into the trails of the flying battleships ahead of them.
When he thought about it, it seemed like a strange fate.
For as long as he can remember, they have always played together. Whenever they met at annual events, they would play all sorts of pranks on the adults, and many times the two of them would slip away and go out to play without being watched. He was so happy to see Izaya that he kept turning the calendar to see if the next event would come soon. After that, he proposed to her, left the kingdom, moved to Gameria, met Izaya in New York, returned to Hinoo and became a soldier to defeat Kyle, who was trying to take Izaya. Now he and Izaya are on the same ship again and are currently patrolling off the coast of Manila.
It’s a strange fate.
It’s a strange coincidence, as if some huge will was playing with him and Izaya. Whether there is any meaning to it or not, Kuroto does not know.
After two hours of training in silence, Izaya snapped back.
“I’m going to take a nap.”
“Mhmm.”
“In an hour, during the morning exercises, I will introduce you to the soldiers. You don’t have to be modest, but don’t treat them with an air of entitlement. Greet them as you would your family, understood?”
Kuroto listened blankly to Izaya’s command. He had been abandoned by both his mother and father, so the word “family” didn’t really appeal to him. Izaya was also separated from her father, the King, at an early age, and her mother, the Queen, ordered her to die on board the Ibuki, so she must not have known a decent family life.
It was a hassle, but he couldn’t disobey the captain’s order, so he reluctantly agreed to greet them during morning exercises.
◆
The morning of the “Ibuki” began with exercises.
Every morning at 5:00 a.m., just as the sun rose, Izaya would announce over the ship’s internal broadcast, “Those who wish to exercise, please do so on the upper deck.” Any available crew members who were not on duty and wished to exercise would gather on the Ibuki’s upper deck in their uniforms. Since the crew wanted to rest as much as possible when not on duty, only those who wished to participate in the exercise were allowed to do so. However, despite their exhaustion, nearly a hundred sailors gathered on the upper deck of the Ibuki, which surprised Kuroto to his core.
Kuroto changed into his officer’s third class military uniform, his normal ship’s uniform, and stood on a pedestal facing the sailors. On either side of him, Izaya and Rio, who had changed into female officers’ fourth-class uniforms, so-called “gym clothes,” stood there looking around at the sailors.
The upper deck was packed with sailors. Some of the sailors who were left over climbed up on top of the air raid launchers and gazed at the pedestals. They were not looking at Kuroto, of course, but at the two princesses with their elongated limbs exposed.
They were wearing white short-sleeved shirts, navy blue shorts, white socks and athletic shoes. Their fresh white thighs and supple, toned calves made the bleak upper deck feel like a cool breeze. Although she looked defenseless in such a large group of men, the deck officer, Myuu Togakushi , who was standing in front of the pedestal, was also wearing a gym uniform and glared at her with her eyes closed. Myuu’s physical prowess is so great that even the Sergeant Onizuka say, “I can’t beat that girl, ha ha ha.”.
First, Izaya held out her chest and raised her voice loudly.
“Good morning, gentlemen!”
“Good morning, ma’am!”
The greetings came from the upper deck, as if from a giant beast.
“Before the exercises, I’d like to introduce you to a new officer! Before we begin the exercises, I’d like to introduce you to a new officer, Second Lieutenant Kuroto Kurono , who has been transferred from the “Nozuchi”.
Prompted by the look in their eyes, Kuroto kept his Buddhist face and looked around at his new subordinates.
“I’m Kuroto……. I’m not going to get along with you guys. …… Leave me alone…… .”
He greeted them with a look as if he had swallowed something bad and was extremely unsociable.
“Ha!””
Nearly a hundred sailors accepted Kuroto’s greeting with smiles. Their eyes are all fixed on Izaya and Rio’s limbs, so they don’t seem to care about Kuroto’s greeting.
This time, Rio smiles and says,
“Kuro-chan is usually a bit of a prick, but I’m sure he will become a dere dere in time.”
When she called out to them in a cheerful voice, the sailors broke out into an audible sigh of relief.
“Yes!~”
The response was like something out of an elementary school.
Idiots …….
Kuroto looked at the exchange between the princess and the sailors in the distance, dumbfounded.
Izaya glared resolutely at the soldiers and gave the order.
“Now then, the first exercise of the Navy and Air Force is to do the jump with both feet!”
As soon as Izaya gave the order, the soldiers began jumping up and down on the spot.
Izaya, Rio, and Kuroto all jumped with their hands straight down in front of the sailors. The rhythm was set by Rio.
“One, two, three, four! Two, two, three, four!”
With a vigorous shout, Rio’s chest swayed like another living thing, just beyond the fabric of her gym uniform.
Once again, an almost audible smile spread through the crowd of soldiers.
“Bow to the chest!”
Izaya gave the order, and everyone stomped their feet backwards in a wide circle. The creature in Rio’s chest also flipped over backwards with the force that hit her directly in the face.
One of the soldiers collapsed in a fit of shock, spewing blood from his nose. But the exercise continued.
“Body twisting exercise!
“Swing diagonally backwards!”
Rio stepped up on both feet and swung her arms diagonally backwards. The huge object inhabiting her chest jumped backwards and forwards with such force that it broke through the gymnastics uniform and then returned.
“Woah!” “Geez!” “I can’t take it anymore!”
The upper deck is filled with a variety of reactions, some of them fainting, some of them spurting nosebleeds, and some of them bending forward and aiming for the bathroom with sluggish steps.
Myuu, the deck officer in charge of the ship’s manners, did not move. She just kept her eyes on the pedestal for any soldiers who might be attacking her, and paid no heed to any fallen soldiers.
“Bend your body back and forth!
“Bounce forward three times, and finally a big jump!”
Compared to Rio, Izaya’s chest was normal. It’s not as flashy as Rio’s, but it’s still managed to scratch her fans’ heartstrings in a way that’s not too over the top.
“Deep breathing!”
“Inhale deeply. Exhale. Inhale…….”
The blissful time passed in the blink of an eye, and the sailors were filled with disappointment and sadness. There are a lot of sailors who endure tough warfare for this exercise, and they never miss it no matter how exhausted they are from the hard work.
Idiots……….
With invisible sweat trickling down his temples, Kuroto knew that he was on a warship that deviated from the norm in every way. Can they really fight for their lives in such a manner? I mean, can he really make a career out of this on this stupid destroyer? He looked over at the sailors smiling as they returned to their quarters with a distant look of anxiety……
◆
July 29, 1938.
The patrol mission off the coast of Manila had entered its twelfth day without incident.
Since its departure from the Ari Air Base, the Ibuki had been at the tail end of the four airships, monitoring the air and sea.
While the ship is on alert, the troops keep an eye on the air raid launchers and anti-aircraft guns, while the engineers keep an eye on the maintenance and inspection of the machine room (turbine) and boiler room. On the upper deck, there are endless drills for firing air mines, assuming various situations.
At the moment, the ship is in the midst of a drill in which the firing angle determined by the bridge is transmitted to the launchers, based on the assumption that the ship’s telephone is broken and the voice pipes are out of order. Chief of Air Raids, Kakitsubata, relayed the determined angle of fire to Kuroto, who ran down the ramp to the upper deck as fast as he could. He ran to the launch command center with a megaphone in his hand and said,
“Third lightning speed, angle of fire forty!”
At the same time, the commanders in charge of the detonation at various locations shouted in unison,
“Boom!” “Boom! “Boom!” “Boom!”
The onomatopoeic sounds were released at a tremendous volume, drowning out Kuroto’s voice.
“You’re messing with me!”
Kuroto shouted, but Sergeant, Onizuka Hibiki, turned his body and laughed.
“I can’t hear you unless you speak from your belly, Lord Kurono! One more time, come on!”
Kuroto bites his lip, pushes down his diaphragm as hard as he can, presses the megaphone directly to Onizuka’s ear, and shouts from the bottom of his stomach.
“Third lightning speed, angle of fire forty, Sergeant!”
At the same time,
“Doh!” “Doh!” “Boom!”
The pseudo-explosions drown out Kuroto’s voice.
The voice of the messenger, who has been repeatedly trained to speak well even on the battlefield, easily drowns out the untrained voice of Kuroto. The soldiers have experienced actual warfare, so their imitation of the sound of explosions is strangely realistic and loud.
Onizuka laughed loudly, as if to provoke Kuroto, and said,
“I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you at all! What’s the matter, Lord Kurono? Do you think that a voice as thin as a woman’s scream can be heard on the battlefield?”
He raised his voice, which sounded better than anyone else’s, and laughed at Kuroto’s vocalization.
Kuroto’s gaze flashed to the point of materialization, and with the megaphone pressed against Onizuka’s ear, he shouted with all his strength in his abdominal muscles.
“I’ll make sure you regret those words, Sergeant! I’ll get a louder voice than yours soon enough, so be prepared!”
Onizuka’s laughter drowned out Kuroto’s voice over the megaphone.
“I’m looking forward to it! I’m sure you’ll have a great time. You’re a little girl with a little voice! You think you can make a voice louder than mine? Hahaha! This is the ramblings of a dreaming woman, Lord Kurono! Hahaha!”
“Ha-ha-ha!” “Ha-ha-ha!” “Ha-ha-ha!”
In the end, even the air raid crew began to laugh along with Onizuka in a loud, clear voice.
He has never been so humiliated since he became an officer of the United Fleet. He couldn’t let himself be laughed at by these idiots.
Kuroto glared at the men who were ridiculing him, then firmly turned his chest and waved his right hand in front of his chest in a strong horizontal line before declaring.
“Who do you think I am? Nothing is impossible for me! The all-powerful genius has decided to shout louder than you, and now that he’s decided, I’ ll achieve it! Wait for it, Sergeant, one of these days I’ll break your eardrums with my brilliant vocals!”
In response to Kuroto’s reckless challenge, the soldiers shouted “Oooh!” and cheered “Good luck, sir!” Onizuka nodded vigorously and looked around at everyone.
“Did you hear that? His Excellency never lies! He will shout louder than us and drown out any explosions! He’s as unreliable as a woman now, but I’m sure in time he’ll break our eardrums with his manly voice! Isn’t that right?”
“Ha!”
After cutting off Kuroto’s retreat, Onizuka shouted so loudly that the floor of the upper deck trembled.
“Now, again, the third lightning speed, firing angle forty! Fifth and sixth, begin firing!”
With smiles on their faces, the air raid crews adjusted the gyroscopic axles of the launchers with agile movements. They couldn’t fire because they were on patrol, so that was the end of that drill.
Captain Izaya’s order arrives at the launch command center through the voice pipe.
“Good. Next, left air raid, counter-attack. The ship’s telephones and voice tubes are down, and the drill resumes on the assumption that the Sergeant is dead.”
“Aye, aye, Captain! Sir, since I’m dead, I’d like you to give the firing angles to the launchers yourself!”
Kuroto’s face was filled with joy.
“So, you’re dead! I’m glad you’re dead. Watch me. I’ll use my beautiful voice to make them work like arms and legs without you!”
Kuroto was running back to the navigation bridge with a smile on his face.
“I’m in charge of the explosion sound!”
“Stop it!
“Ohmmm… ！”
“Shut up!
With Onizuka’s loud voice, which is comparable to the sound of a real explosion, Kuroto ran back to the navigation bridge as if his life depended on it.
◆
Izaya and Rio looked over the upper deck from the navigation bridge and watched Kuroto’s training.
“Kuroto, you’re getting used to it.”
Rio nodded.
“Kuro-chan, gets called “Your Highness” and is very popular with the sailors. He’s a little pushy, but when you make fun of him, he gets really angry.”
“He’s more like a mascot than a toy …….”
“Something like that. The other day, Kuro-chan was eating rice balls as a snack with the sailors.”
“Hmmm, ……. He’s surprisingly adaptable. I was expecting him to be all high and mighty and use the sailors like tools.”
“I knew he’d get over it sooner or later, but it was too soon. He’ s so easygoing.”
Izaya was also puzzled by Kuroto’s unexpected side. It’s a lot better than being awkward, and Izaya encourages her officers to actively interact with the soldiers. Perhaps he is obeying orders in his own way, and that’s not a bad thing, so it’s okay.
The voice of a happy watchman came through the transmission tube.
[Squall on course!]
Izaya’s eyes lit up as she stared at the Ibuki’s path.
As the watchman had said, at an altitude of about 1,600 meters above Ibuki, a thick squall cloud loomed over the area, black and blue with lightning running across its surface.
It was the first squall in a long time. Izaya grabbed the microphone for the ship’s internal broadcast.
“It’s coming. All hands, prepare for a squall!”
Immediately, there were shouts of joy from the ship’s crew, who lined the edge of the upper deck and the passageway overhanging the port side with as many buckets, pails, and drums as they could find. In the case of ocean ships, they could bathe in the rain on the upper deck, but not in the case of airships, as the floating body covered them. One of the watchmen on top of the floating body lowered a rope ladder, and the men on the upper deck followed it to the top of the floating body, where they unrolled their laundry, rubbed soap on their bodies, and waited for the squall cloud.
“Hurry up, Your Excellency, we don’t know when we’ll get to bathe again!”
At the urging of one of the air raider crew members, a younger private named Heisuke Hirata , Kuroto took off his uniform, stripped to his underwear, and climbed up the rope ladder. The top of the floating body was full of soldiers, and if he slipped, he would fall 1,200 meters into the ocean below.
“Oh, my lord! Your body is still very weak, hahahaha!”
A loincloth-clad Onizuka looked at Kuroto and immediately began to laugh at him. He is one meter ninety centimeters tall, muscular and hairy all over his body. Kuroto’s body, on the other hand, is as unreliable as a schoolboy’s when he is in front of Onizuka, who smells like a man. Kuroto glared up at Onizuka with anger in his blue eyes.”
“My body is still developing! I’m going to have muscles and hair twice your size, so be prepared!”
The sailors in the vicinity praised Kuroto with whistles and applause as he proudly declared.
” Your Highness! “Cool, Your Highness! “We’re all with you, Your Highness!”
Obviously, this was ridicule, but Kuroto was satisfied, smiling fearlessly and slumping over.
At that moment, a fierce squall struck.
Everyone shouted with joy once again.
The cold rain felt good on their bodies, which had been heated on the deck in the middle of summer. The soldiers lathered their bodies and laundry with soap and washed them.
Water is a precious commodity aboard an airship. Each sailor is allowed only one basin of water per day. The sailors use this water to wash their faces, brush their teeth, wash their clothes, wipe their bodies, and drink. Unless they encounter a squall, they do not have the opportunity to bathe as luxuriously as they would like.
“It feels so good!”
Heisuke smiled as he lathered up his body and enjoyed the natural shower. Kuroto didn’t smile, but his expression was more relaxed than usual as he joined the sailors in taking a bath.
◆
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the forward watchtower set up at the top of the foremast, Izaya, Rio, and Myuu, all dressed in navy blue school swimsuits, were spreading out a plastic pool to catch the squall.
In addition to the pool, more than a dozen buckets and tubs were lined up around the three of them to collect rainwater. Rio smiled at Izaya as she soothingly lets the rain fall on her face.
“Let’s take a bath with the water we’ve collected!
“I think we should. Yes, at least for today.”
There is a bathtub in the captain’s quarters, but it is usually used for wiping the body with a wet cloth instead of taking a bath. Filling the bathtub with hot water is one of the greatest luxuries of living on a ship.
“We’ll keep an eye on you, so you should come in too! You haven’t bathed at all lately, have you?””
When asked by Rio, Myuu kept her eyes closed and her face expressionless as ever.
“There’s no need to worry about me.”
“Don’t say that. You need to relax once in a while too.”
“No, no. The rain is enough for me. My status is not the same as yours.”
Myuu refused Himemiya (the princess’s) offer without hesitation.
“Myuu, in the army, social status is irrelevant. Only rank defines hierarchy. Rio and Myuu are both second lieutenants, so there’s no need to hold back.”
Izaya admonished, but Myuu did not change her opinion.
“My role is to serve you both. It is not right for a master to stand guard over her subordinate.”
She was resolute and unconcerned.
Rio smiled and nodded in annoyance.
“…… You’re right. If Myuu says so. But don’t overdo it. If you want to take a break, let me know, okay? If something happens to Myuu, we will be in trouble.”
“Huh. Thank you very much.”
Myuu, still in her school swimsuit, dropped to one knee and hung her head. She doesn’t doubt her sincerity, but her stubborn attitude toward her work is somewhat painful.
Myuu is a descendant of the Togakushi family, who for many years have worked in the shadows as guardians of the royal family. She was dispatched by Commander-in-Chief Kazenomiya to keep Izaya and Rio safe on board the male-dominated Ibuki. She has on several occasions caught sailors who had lost their wits and tried to touch Izaya or Rio with their uncanny quickness. Thanks to Myuu’s constant watchful eye, there are no more sailors who have any illicit plans for the two princesses, and the ship’s morals are maintained.
“Your Highnesssss!” “Himeeeee!”
The next thing they knew, sailors were leaning over the edge of the floating body and the outer edge of the upper deck, waving and cheering at the two women in bathing suits, who were bathing in the open-air command center. Rio waves back with a bright smile, Izaya hugs herself with both hands and quickly flees indoors to the forward watchtower, and Myuu stands there with her eyes closed without any reaction.
The blessed rain soon subsided, and the intense midsummer sunshine returned.
Soaking wet, the soldiers climbed down the rope ladder with a satisfied look on their faces, picked up their trophies of buckets and tubs, and went back to their living quarters.
” Let’s fill the bathtub with this water.”
When Rio said this, Myuu silently took the two buckets and walked to the captain’s office at the back of the officer’s quarters.
◆
That night.
On the upper deck, about eight drum baths were set up, and sailors were enjoying their first bath in a long time.
There was also a “liquor store,” which was the ship’s own store, and sailors were gathering here and there after their baths, drinking and talking nonsense.
Kuroto was shoulder-deep in his drum bath, staring up at the starry sky with a sullen expression on his face.
His body was exhausted from the daytime training, and the simple bath, heated by the steam from the rainwater boiler, was soothing to him. Each person is allowed to take a bath for five minutes, and he wanted to enjoy this golden time as much as possible.
The constellation of the summer stars twinkled beyond the steam. The clouds that had broken at the bow of the Ibuki were flowing past Kuroto with the seven colors of the Ceras particles. There was nothing more he could wish for: a starry sky and a nice bath. Kuroto loosened his mouth and deeply inhaled the night air. Until now, he hadn’t realized how grateful he was to be able to use both hands to scoop water and wash his face.
In between the chatter of the sailors, he heard someone singing a song. It was a song about a distant homeland. The voice was quite good, and everyone listened to the song in silence.
When Kuroto looked over at the singer, he saw that it was Heisuke, who had grown quite fond of Kuroto recently. Everyone rushed him to sing some songs, and he was good at it too.
“It was an unexpected skill.
Kuroto, who had just gotten out of the bath and changed into his Type 3 military uniform, told Heisuke, who had rushed over with a hand towel. Heisuke smiled embarrassedly.
“I have twin sisters who are good at singing. They trained me as a child.”
“Hmm. Are Chie and Tae your sister’s names?”
“Yes!”
Each of the personnel were assigned a particular air raid launcher to maintain and inspect, and many of them gave their assigned launchers a name to identify them. On the outer shells of the two air raids Heisuke was in charge of, the names “Chie” and “Tae” were written in paint. Heisuke carefully cleaned the outer shells and inspected the mechanical systems day and night as if he were treating his family.
“They are two years older than me. When I was twelve years old, they both were sold to make ends meet. I don’t know where they are now. They loved to sing, and their harmonies were so beautiful that it was enchanting…… The three of us used to sing on the riverbank until nightfall.”
”I see,” Kuroto replied shortly.
It is not unusual for children to be sold. According to one account, hundreds to thousands of children were sold in the thirty years since the phrase “laying down one’s life for the sake of others” was coined. The heavy taxation that accompanied the construction of ships made life difficult for the common people, and many children, especially in the cold villages, were sold to traffickers. The boys were mainly sent to work in the cold regions doing hard cultivation work, while the girls were sent to the brothels.”
“With the money from selling our sister, we were able to lead a decent life and I was able to join the Navy. So I’m very grateful…… I hope I can meet them someday.”
Kuroto listened to Hiesuke’s story in silence.
The night breeze blew through the air, ripping at the suspension cord and making a high-pitched sound.
“If this air raid strikes, maybe it will be in the newspaper and my sisters will notice me. I thought that maybe I could meet them again, so I gave them this name. …… I want you to listen to my sisters’ song, Your Highness. It’s really a beautiful song.”
Kuroto patted Heisuke’s head lightly with one hand.
“I hope you get to meet them too.”
“Waaa”
Parting ways with Heisuke, Kuroto returned to the officer’s quarters alone.
Myuu stood guard in front of the doorway to the captain’s quarters while the other officers and Kakitsubata chatted.
“The captain and vice captain are taking a bath.”
Kakitsubata secretly whispered to Kuroto, who stretched his nose. Kuroto sniffed and thought about what he was going to say, then turned to the chief accountant who was there.
“I’d like to discuss something with you.”
“?”
He looked at the chief accountant, who looked at him closely, and then said with a smile, “All right”.
◆
The bathroom at the back of the captain’s quarters was a far cry from the stuffy upper deck and was filled with the fragrant scent of roses.
After filling the bathtub with warm rainwater, Izaya and Rio stripped off their uniforms and took a bath together. By taking a bath together, they could reduce the amount of time Myuu had to keep an eye on them outside to make sure no one came too close.
They slowly dipped their toes into the water, made sure it was lukewarm, and soaked their shoulders in it.
“Oh, …….”
Without thinking, Izaya let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling with enraptured eyes. Rio also soaked her whole body in the hot water, squeezed her eyes shut and let out a groan. She then smiled ecstatically at the ceiling.
“It’s a paradise …….”
“Oh, ……. It’s the best…….”
“Izaya, you’re looking good!”
The expression of Izaya, which was always tight and dignified on the ship, melted into a vulnerable and innocent face of an eighteen-year-old girl, now that she was alone with Rio.
“I’m okay ……. I usually look like this…….”
The usual ruggedness has been stripped away, and Izaya, with a loose, untied expression, lets out a grandmotherly exhale, and dips the lower half of her face into the hot water. She starts puffing and spitting bubbles.
“It would be nice to take a bath every day. ……”
Rio said this and put the back of her head on the edge of the bathtub. As she did so, her chest fluttered and swayed in the water.
After looking at Rio’s chest for a long time, Izaya looks down at his own and blows out a big bubble in frustration.
“We are from the same family, so why ……”
“Hmm? What?”
“Nothing, nothing. Now, let’s wash your body.”
“Oh, I’ll wash your back. Let’s wash each other.”
Izaya replied, getting out of the tub and sitting on the chair. Lathering the towel with soap, Rio scrubbed Izaya’s back.
“It feels so good.”
Izaya smiled and enjoyed the scent of the soap as she felt his muscles relax.
“Let’s switch.”
They turned each other’s bodies, and now Izaya was lathering Rio. Rio smiled and inhaled the fragrance.
After rinsing off the lathered soap with a generous amount of water, Izaya put her hands on Rio’s shoulders and began to rub them.
“Thank you. It feels amazing.”
” You’re so stiff.”
“Oh, that’s good. Right there.”
She looked at Rio, who was squirming and swaying as Izaya massaged her.
“It must be hard carrying all that luggage.”
“No, not really. It’s nothing compared to Izaya’s.”
“…… Are you being sarcastic?”
Izaya looked down at himself and muttered lowly. Rio laughed.
“It’s about work.”
“Hmm? Oh, that luggage…..”
Izaya’s cheeks flushed a little when she realized what Rio meant.
“It’s a tough job, being a captain. You’ re doing a fantastic job. It’s great, Izaya
“I don’t think so, …….”
Rio took the soapy towel from Izaya and the two of them spun around again, this time Rio rinsing Izaya’s back.
“You’re really doing a great job, you know. I sometimes cry when I see Izaya. You’ re amazing.”
In a sincere tone of voice, Rio suddenly began to say something like that.
“What’s with the suddenness? You won’t get anything out of me even if you praise me.”
While rubbing Izaya’s confused shoulders, Rio continued to speak.
“There are 200 sailors and a lot of older officers, but you always stand tall and strong……. You never show any weakness. It’s amazing.”
“It’s not like that. I’ve been trained that way since I was in the …… Royal Academy. It’s normal for us royalty.”
The Royal Academy is also a place to study imperialism. Both Izaya and Rio had learned from an early age how to control the hearts and minds of the privileged class, something that is not taught in ordinary schools. In Izaya’s mind, she has learned how to stand above others, how to maintain her dignity, and how to avoid expressing her emotions.
“But you’ re only eighteen. You can’t do that normally. I can’t even do that.”
“I can do it because of Rio. I can’t do it by myself. Because of Rio and Myuu, I can do it……”
“Yeah. But Izaya ……”
After rinsing the foam off , Rio rubbed Izaya’s shoulders with her hands and said quietly.
“Just let me know when you’re having a hard time, okay? I’ll help you with anything.”
“Rio……”
Izaya turned her head to Rio.
“You don’t have to worry. There’s nothing hard about it.”
“Yeah, ……
“I’ll rinse you off. Turn around.”
With a slight slump, Rio showed her back to Izaya. Izaya washed down Rio’s back.
“I am happy. I’m surrounded by good sailors and I consider Ibuki to be like family.”
“……………………”
“Until the day of the final battle, I want to spend my training days like this, both friendly and strict. That’s what I want. So help me, Rio.”
“Yeah ……. I’ll help you.”
Rio looked back at Izaya only in profile and smiled.
◆
As the night wore on.
In the middle of the foremast, in the open-air anti-aircraft command center, Izaya and Kuroto were working side-by-side tonight on counter-observation training.
Despite the fact that both of them work hard day and night, it has become a routine for them to train their night vision skills here until late at night.
Today, however, Kuroto was training for something else at the same time.
“A, E, I, U, E, O, A, O! KA, KE, KI, KU, KE, KO, KA, KO!”
“Shut up!”
Izaya shouted at him, but Kuroto did not stop shouting into the starry sky.
“SA, SE, SHI, SU, SE, SO, SA, SO!”
It was hard to concentrate on the observation when he was shouting with his teeth and gums bared beside her. She became irritated and yelled at him.
“Everyone is asleep! Do it in the daytime!”
Kuroto stopped his vocal exercises and glared at Izaya.
“The daytime is occupied with air mine firing exercises! It’s a great idea to do both training at the same time, counter-observation and vocalization. NA, NE, NI, NU, NE, NO, NA, NO!”
Izaya’s face was full of anger, but it was true that no matter how much he shouted here, his voice would only be blown away to the rear of the ship. The only problem is that it annoys Izaya, who’ s standing next to him.
“I’m going to show that asshole Sergeant how it’s done! I’m an almighty genius, and I can’t lose my voice, body, and hair to that lowlife! Ha-he-he-he-he-he-he-he-he!”
It seems that Kuroto was quite frustrated at being made fun of in training, and he continued to shout while observing the scene. The new second lieutenant was no match for Onizuka, who had been a sailor on a warship for more than ten years.
” Intellect, body, voice. Only I, who are superior to the soldiers in every way, will be qualified to drive them to their deaths with a single command! M-m-m-m-m-m-mo!”
“You’re a lot more serious than I thought. ……”
Izaya said in disgust and returned to her training. She’s annoyed, but she’s also proud of Kuroto for putting his all into everything he does. The fact that he is not disliked by the sailors, despite his pompous and brusque attitude, may be due to his hidden seriousness and life-long devotion.
After about thirty minutes of loud shouting, Izaya asked him when his throat had finally dried up and he could no longer speak.
“Can I ask you something?”
Izaya asks.
“Hmm?”
He took a sip of rainwater from his water bottle and looked at Izaya with one eye.
“You’ve really delivered the bath water to the chief accountant, haven’t you?”
When Izaya and Rio got out of the bath earlier this evening, Kuroto, who was in the officer’s quarters, asked them to give him the leftover bath water so that he could use it to wash the dishes in the accounting department. They had no reason to refuse, so they left it to Kuroto to dispose of, but in retrospect, they wondered why the Chief of the Air Raid was so concerned about the accounting department.
“Ah. I delivered it.”
Kuroto said firmly. Izaya glared at him with a single eye, as if he was suspicious.
“You’re not using it for something strange, are you?”
“What do you mean, “something strange”?”
“‘………… Well, never mind. But you seem to have grown quite accustomed to being a sailor. That’s good.”
“No, I’m not. I’m in the process of making them obey me. Expect them to become my emotionless pawns that will happily charge into enemy territory shouting my name.
“What kind of expectations? You don’t need to make them pawns, just make sure they can obey your orders. Hopefully, before the battle with the Grand Ocean fleet.
He laughed thinly and said suddenly.
“You’re taming your troops so that they’ll die willingly, aren’t you?”
Izaya listened in silence and combed her hair with one hand.
The seven colors of the Ceras Particles were scattered on the ends of her hair.
“I don’t like the way you said that. We are all united as one to fight without the fear of death.”
Against the background of the great galaxy rising in the night sky, Izaya’s dignified profile shone through the starlight, as if she was no longer of this world.
“Are you prepared to die from the start?”
When I asked him again, Izaya replied without hesitation.
“It is a soldier’s duty to fight and die. I am just doing my duty solemnly. The crew of the Ibuki is ready to do the same.”
“………………”
Kuroto accepted Izaya’s words in silence. He didn’t like something about it, but he couldn’t determine what that something was.
A painful feeling of frustration built up in his chest, and he shifted his eyes to the stars. The dreamy colors of the stars were glittering more brightly than usual, as if they were mocking the foolishness of this world.
The wind blowing at an altitude of 1,200 meters was made visible by the seven colors of the Cerasus Particles. Ships flying within the floating zone could see the currents of the wind.
Izaya was told by his mother, the Queen Empress, “In this war, you will die.” In other words, Izaya is living to die.
The haze in Kuroto’s chest thickened.
“If you want to die, then die.”
He said hatefully, disguising his inner turmoil. Izaya chuckled thinly.
“Are you going to survive?”
“Yeah. I”m a genius. Losing me in a trivial battle would be a national loss. If I sense danger, I’ll take my parachute and run overboard.”
“That’s very you.”
“I don’t like Kyle and the Gamerians, so I’ll hit them as hard as I can. That’s the only reason I’m fighting. I’m not fighting to die.”
The truth is that he’ s only fighting to protect Izaya from Kyle, but he doesn’t say that.
“We don’t fight to die. There is another reason we fight. Before the start of the war…… Rio and I were summoned by the Commander-in-Chief, Kazenomiya, to go to Kasumigaseki. General Nangou was also there. I was able to hear some valuable stories. You should know about it, too, so you can understand why they challenged Hinoo to a reckless battle.
As the seven-colored droplets of water danced in the night wind, Izaya told Kuroto what had happened about two months earlier, two days before the start of the so-called “Grand Ocean War”. It was the tragic outcome of two soldiers who held Hinoo’s fate in their hands: the General and the Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet.
◆
June 8, 1938.
Izaya and Rio visited the Ministry of the Navy in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, dressed in Hinoo’s first-class naval and air force uniforms. It had been announced the day before that the rainy season had begun, and the sky was covered with light gray clouds, looking as if it would soon start raining.
The Military Command Office was located on the third floor of a red brick building in the style of Ringland.
More than a dozen operations staff members belonged to the First Section, also known as the Operations Section, which was in charge of planning operations for the Grand Ocean War. Compared to the vastness of the war zones it is responsible for, the Military Command is a very limited organization. Izaya and Rio were now entering the “inner sanctum”, the very heart and soul of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force.
[Office of the Commander-in-Chief]
After checking the nameplate of the room in an unflattering font, they knocked on the oak door.
They straightened up, opened the door, and entered the room, clicking their heels together and saluting.
“Major Izaya Shironomiya, present.”
“Second Lieutenant Rio Kazenomiya, present”
Rio’s father, Commander-in-Chief Genzaburo Kazenomiya, smiled and offered her daughter and niece a sofa.
“There you are. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
At first glance, he looks like a nice guy with a gentle manner and a smile, but he is a well-trained soldier who fought in the Battle of the Hinoo Sea aboard a warship in the Russo-Hinoo War more than thirty years ago. 65 years old, he is currently in charge of all operations of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force. He is the younger brother of King Hinoo, and the only one who has the authority to speak directly with the King.
“I’m sorry for calling you here. You know who I am, right?”
“Wa!”
Izaya and Rio once again salute the sallow-tanned, white-haired man with a strong sense of the tide, who is standing beside Commander-in-Chief Kazanomiya.
“I am Nangou. I’ve met your highness at a viewing ceremony, but this is the first time we’ve spoken.”
The Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet and General Sadaharu Nangou, sat down on the sofa facing them with a friendly face.
A staff member served tea while General Kazenomiya, who was sitting beside General Nangou, made a few small talks before getting down to business.
“Yesterday, at the Imperial Conference, it was decided to terminate diplomatic negotiations with Gameria.”
Izaya’s fist shook as she heard this.
“You mean the war has started?”
“Oh. Yes, I have spoken and His Majesty has given me a grand command.”
Kazenomiya’s words weighed heavily on the office. Both Izaya and Rio know that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet in front of them have been working tirelessly to avert a war with Gameria. What kind of situation forced these two to decide to start a war?
“Gameria’s diplomacy was nothing but a farce. After the war, they probably wanted to create an established fact to send a message to the international community, saying, ‘We wanted to settle the issue through talks, but Hinoo suddenly attacked us.” Just as we were about to conclude an agreement, they turned it upside down and suddenly asked us to withdraw our troops from the Zen(?) Continent.”
Kazenomiya said this with a self-mocking smile. Izaya and Rio could not help but widen their eyes. To ask them to throw away their lifeline, which they had grabbed at the expense of so many others before them, was as much a declaration of war as a request for Hinoo to die.
“Why would Gameria demand such a thing from Hinoo?”
“Well, you know. Maybe it’s because we’re people of color.”
The cold smile on Kazenomiya’s face said it all. From the beginning, Gameria had spent a lot of time preparing to trap Hinoo in a trap.
The sudden escalation of the war with Gameria was caused by the oil embargo against Hinoo four months earlier.
Gameria had made it difficult for Hinoo’s troops to move south in the region and, in collusion with the Western powers that had colonies in Asia, had blocked the sea routes connecting Hinoo and the Middle East, preventing Hinoo from importing oil.
If Hinoo remained passive, the stockpile of oil would run out in less than a year and the United Fleet would become scrap metal floating on the sea. Without the United Fleet, Gameria would block the sea traffic around Hinoo and make even more absurd demands. Each time the demands are met, Hinoo will weaken. Eventually, the Gamerians will take their place at the center of Hinoo’s government, rewriting the constitution and taking away citizenship. In both Hawaii and Filfin, the Gamerians used similar tactics to deprive the locals of their citizenship and turn them into colonies.
Since the oil embargo, the media has been writing about the atrocities of the white man and criticizing the weakness of the government. The people of the country have been clamoring for the “iron hammer of justice” to be used against the arrogant white men. In the face of the media and public outcry, the leaders of Hinoo, including King Hinoo, Kazenomiya, and Prime Minister Saijo, knew that if they fought against Gameria, they would lose.
The leaders commissioned the Akizuki Institute, a group of economists, to study the competitiveness of Gameria and Hinoo. As a result, they came to the conclusion that it did not matter how many times Hinoo won a fleet battle against Gameria, as there was a twenty-fold difference in steel-making capacity and a ten-fold difference in shipbuilding power. No matter how many enemy ships they sank, the enemy would use their industrial strength to repair the damage and come at them with even greater strength than before. Hinoo, who was inferior in shipbuilding power, would have no time to recover from the damage and would eventually be swallowed up by the overwhelming volume of goods. According to the predictions of the Akizuki Institute, the two sides would be evenly matched in the first year, Gameria would have the upper hand in the second and third years, and the United Fleet would be destroyed in the fourth year.
No matter how much the people and the media wanted it, such a war could not be started.
The leaders had made diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the oil embargo, but their efforts were suddenly ignored. Gameria told them that if they wanted oil, they should withdraw from the Zen Continent.
“Hinoo had spent thirty years building a foothold on that continent. We have to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, without resources, Hinoo would not be able to mobilize an army and would be invaded by other countries. Now that being weak is bad, we have entered the continent to make ourselves strong.”
Without realizing it, Izaya’s words became rough.
“If they demand that of Hinoo, shouldn’t Gamelia also withdraw her troops from Filfin and Hawaii? What is the logic behind the white men’s invasion of Asia, but not Hinoo’s?”
Even though Izaya knew there was no point in getting angry with Kazenomiya, she couldn’t stop herself from getting angry.
“A strong country can demand whatever it wants. They have the ability to beat their opponents to a pulp with violence. If you accept their demands, they can profit without fighting. If you refuse, they can profit by trampling you down without leaving a trace. Unfortunately, diplomacy itself is not possible with Hinoo’s strength.”
General Nangou said with resignation.
Izaya bit her lip. An inexplicable sense of frustration rose up from the depths of her lungs, but she knew that the two soldiers in front of her had persevered in their efforts to avert war, biting down on their pain and frustration even more than Izaya, so she had no choice but to swallow it down.
Kazenomiya continued to speak.
“This ultimatum, which sealed the end of negotiations,…… which we call the Gull Note after Secretary of State Gull, has not passed the Gamerian Congress…… according to our research. We call it the Gull Note after Secretary of State Gull. It was prepared by the president and some of his aides, and it was thrust upon Hinoo without regard to the will of its people. In other words, President Wimbert has given the people of Gameria an ultimatum that amounts to a declaration of war without their consent. It is the young people of Gameria who will die in the war, and the parliamentary democracy …… is appalled. The war that is about to begin is one that Wimbert and his entourage, just a few of the privileged, want to start. Hinoo had no choice from the beginning.”
A heavy silence hung over the office. The two princesses were at a loss for words, and could only take in the words of the two men at the top of the navy and air force.
President of Gameria and his entourage represent the interests of the WASPs (White Angelo Saxon Protestants), who make up less than one percent of the population. A handful of upper class whites have launched a war …… to monopolize their interests in the Grand Ocean Rim. That is what the Grand Ocean War is all about.
“Gameria can’ t help but want to control Hinoo. As long as the major powers want to do so, the options for the weaker nations are limited. They can fight and perish. Or perish without a fight. The only choice we have left is how to perish.”
Kazenomiya’s withered words echoed sadly in the ears of Izaya and Rio. No matter how hard they tried, the impoverished nation of the Far East had no choice in the matter. This fact was unbearable and too regrettable.
There is no choice but to perish without a fight. For more than thirty years, the people of Hinoo have endured heavy taxes to expand their armed forces under the slogan, “Lying down and licking wood”. The common people got two meals a day for the price of three, national government employees gave up 10% of their salaries, and the wealthy bought and supported ship-building bonds equivalent to the navy’s budget. On top of that, 30 percent of the national budget was allocated to ship-building in order to build the world-renowned Hinoo United Fleet. The fact that a small, impoverished nation in the Far East was able to build a large fleet of ships with a total capacity of one million tons just over 60 years after the opening of its doors is unprecedented and can be called a “miracle”. What made this miracle possible was the power of the people, who scrimped and saved and gave up all their surplus to pay for the construction of the ships. If they let go of this miracle without a fight, the people would rise up and start a civil war.
“We chose to fight and perish. Some people may laugh at the foolishness of reaching out for a little glimmer of light when they know they cannot win. But if we don’t reach out, people of color will have to live as slaves of the white man for eternity. We refuse to accept that future.”
Therefore, they would fight and perish.
Hinoo has chosen that path.
“We will fight for a future in which all human beings living on earth are equal. Even if we are defeated, we believe that the pride and courage we have shown will be handed down to future generations and will help Hinoo to grow even more than it already is. One day, there will be a future where Hinoo people will be able to stride proudly around the world. It is for this future that we will die.”
In a halting voice, Commander-in-Chief Kazanomiya spoke to Izaya and Rio.
The two princesses could only nod their heads with somber expressions.
No matter which path they take, they must choose one that leads to hell.
She wondered how much weight and suffering must have accompanied the decision.
By fighting for their lives, they were passing on human pride and courage to their children. How many struggles did these people have to go through to arrive at this context?
“The long and painful war of national power is about to begin. Just by you fighting on the front lines, the people will be inspired. Please fight fair and square with the ”Ibuki”.
As Nangou added his words, Izaya realized.
The General has also asked us to prepare for death…….
That’s probably why he called them together in the first place.
“I’m not afraid of death. I fear shame. If we choose to become slaves without a fight, it will be our descendants who will suffer. I will fight with the pride of the royal family to the end.”
Izaya said firmly. Nangou and Kazenomiya nodded their heads in pain. Both of them were probably feeling bad about using girls who were not even old enough to be on a billboard to raise the spirits of the war effort. The wrinkles on their faces were deeply and painfully etched with years of heartache.
I’m ready to die.
People will die someday. The only difference is whether it is now or later.
If you live your life as if it were on fire, even if it is short, isn’t that a happy life?
A future where people of color can live as human beings.
A future in which Hinoo people can walk around the world with pride.
For the sake of that future, I will die.
Izaya made that decision in his heart.
Outside the window, the cloudy sky showed no signs of sunlight, and the birds could not even be heard.
◆
One or two shooting stars slid diagonally down the starry sky.
It was four o’clock in the morning. Even though it was the middle of summer, the chill prevailed in the anti-aircraft command center located at an altitude of 1,200 meters.
After finishing the words of Commander-in-Chief Kazanomiya and General Nangou, Izaya said to Kuroto as he continued to observe the situation.
“We will fight and die for a free and equal future. That is the will of the Commander and General. I, too, can see no regret in fighting and dying in that context. Do you deny the will of the Commander-in-Chief?”
Kuroto, who had been silently listening to Izaya, opened his mouth.
“I will not deny it. I hate the situation where Hinoo is treated with contempt as a monkey. But I’m going to fight to win. I will not fight to die.”
“……………………”
“It may be an unwinnable war, but you never know what will happen if you keep winning air fleet battles. Gameria is not monolithic, and if the Gull Note has not passed Congress, simply informing the people of Gameria of this fact can cause unrest. There are a lot of people in that country who are against the war, hopefully we can stop it in the right place.”
“…… Yeah. …… But as you know, the country of Gameria is not a coward. It is stubborn, intelligent, and persevering. It’s not an easy road.”
“No matter how strong the enemy is, we will fight to win. No matter how much Gameria tries to push us with their industrial power, floating stones cannot be produced since it is a natural resource. The total number of airships has nothing to do with industrial power, but instead with the total amount of floating stones they possess. If we continue to increase the number of airships by winning the air fleet battles, as well as capturing floating stones from the enemy, Gameria will probably raise its voice. In addition, it takes three years to train a full-fledged sailor. It’s useless to have a ship if you don’t have sailors who can operate it. The only way for Hinoo to see the light of day is to continue to win …… air fleet battles. That is why I am on a flying airship, to make the impossible possible.”
Kuroto said at once, smiling fearlessly as usual.
“I’m going to save this kingdom. Future generations will revere the hero of the nation’s salvation, Kuroto Kurono, for all eternity. That’s the only reason I’m fighting.”
He turned around and looked up at the starry sky, laughing aloud.
Izaya listened to Kuroto’s pompous laughter, half in disgust, half with envy.
“I admire your genius, but you’re also a complete idiot.”
“Keep talking, mere mortal. You will shed a tear or two and thank me for my genius.”
Kuroto looked up at the sky again and laughed, probably drunk from his own words. Izaya was impressed by the fact that there were people in this world who laughed like that in real life. Although she had read about it in a three-sentence novel, she was also somewhat envious of Kuroto.
Just keep on winning the air battles of the fleet and make the enemy raise their voice…….
It’s a selfish dream like a child’s, but when Kuroto said it, it seemed like a no-brainer. In light of Kuroto’s ability to rise to the top of Fall Street in just over five years after being abandoned by his father in a foreign land at the age of 11, it seems not entirely impossible.
I wonder if I’ve been poisoned by this man.
Izaya stood with Kuroto and looked out at the starry sky while secretly mocking herself in her mind.
The great galaxy that stretched across the night sky seemed to be unconcerned with the strife on earth, twinkling its infinite stars above their heads.
Notes/Thoughts:
I had a little more fun editing this chapter…. cause you know….. IT ADDED MORE CONTEXT TO THE STORY. Not cause of Rio or anyone ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
Also, in chapter 2, I used term “Jap”, when it was actually suppose to be “Yap” (I assume its suppose to be short for Yellow APe). Also Miyu’s name is also suppose to be Myuu. I updated the posts and made the corrections.
” Oi, there’s a Yap in the mix! The blackboard is yellowing, get rid of him!”
The store was crowded with ladies and gentlemen in suits, and such a shout echoed in the air. The target was a boy who turned his back on the men and single-mindedly wrote numbers on the blackboard with chalk.
“This store is hiring Yaps? It’s a bad omen, even my stock will turn yellow!”
A fat, middle-aged man with a pockmarked face, who looked like a country gentleman, complained to the manager of Max Harper’s, a stock exchange sub-branch, reeking of alcohol.
The manager, his blond hair slicked back and his suit ruffled, shrugs at the source of the loudest voice in the store, which is abuzz with the cheers, calls and screams of the customers.
“It’s quite useful. The yellow one is not contagious, so please bear with me.”
“What the fuck is that? This store is for whites only, and if there are colored people here, I’ll feel sick!”
With the tip of his cigar, he pointed to a large blackboard in the store and shouted angrily. The blackboard was six meters wide and two meters high, and six boys called “chalk boys” climbed up and down the scaffolding to write down on the blackboard the stock prices of the stocks that Kohler was in charge of reading. He didn’t like the fact that one of them was a Hinoo boy with dark hair, yellow skin, and raised eyes.
“It’s a pity about his complexion, but he has a very good head. I can’t let him go.”
“What? I don’t care how smart he is, I want to beat him, that yellow monkey!”
The fifty or so customers in the store, unconcerned with the two men’s argument, stared at the stock price the chalk boy was writing on, and when they realized the time was right, they shouted.
[Denver Dynamics, buy 200 shares!] [Arthur and Company, sell one hundred shares!]
[I’ll do it, Thomas Energy, buy a thousand shares!]
The brokers lined up in front of the customers listened to each of their calls and relayed them to the stock exchange on the other end of the line. With their own fortunes at stake, the narrow, hotly-contested store was blurred by the smoke of cigarettes and cigars, with the overpowering smell of body odor and alcohol. In the midst of all this: the sound of chalk being scraped off the blackboard, a communication device called a “ticker” spitting out a punched tape of the current stock price, the screams and cheers of the customers, and the curses of the pockmarked faces echoed through the air.
“Hey, you hear me, Yap! I’m talking to you, you black-haired, squinty-eyed kid!”
But the boy grabbed a piece of chalk with an unconcerned face and lined up the price movements of the fifty stocks he was in charge of on the blackboard without hesitation.
Annoyed at being ignored, he was about to shout even louder when he saw an investor dressed in an expensive looking suit.
“It’s your first time here? Shut up for a minute. He’s a friend of mine.”
The pockmarked face looked up with a half-opened mouth at a white gentleman in his fifties with an elegant white beard. The suit he wore and the leather shoes he wore were first-rate, and the Gamerian, who belonged to the upper class by all accounts, had never thought of himself as a Hinoo man.
“Are you insane?”
When the pockmarked face man asked another question, the rough-looking investors beside him turned their faces into a scowl.
[You’re making too much noise! If you have a problem with that, get out of here!] [That Yap is a special case, so shut up and watch!]
One by one, the regulars at Max Harper’s return the abuse. Not one, but several Gamerians sided with the Hinoo, a sight he had never seen before in Gameria.
“Don’t worry, little monkey, I’ll be counting on you today!”
One of the regulars gives him a shout of encouragement, but the boy brushes the cheers aside and, with the graceful movement of an orchestra conductor, writes on the blackboard a tapestry of corporate values that today’s stock market has woven.
The pockmarked face doesn’t understand the significance of this event. The most cocky, cowardly, and cunning of all the people of color, the Hinoo boy, is being cheered on by the upper class white man . And he’s only a chalk boy.
“If he can pull it off, you’ll know what I mean.”
The manager smirked and said this to the stunned face. The pockmarked face looked at the manager and the boy’s back in turn with an absent-minded expression.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, the day’s securities transactions were closed, and the gloomy customers, some elated, some discouraged, some having lost their retirement savings, went home one by one. The chalk boys, who had been listening to the caller’s voice for a long time, got off the scaffolding with tired expressions, put on their hunting caps, and pocketed their $10 wages. The store has begun to be cleaned, but the Hinoo boy remains alone on the wooden scaffolding, looking over the day’s final figures on the blackboard.
“…………?”
Three of the well-dressed regulars were watching the boy with bated breath. At the manager’s request, the pockmarked face stayed behind, but he couldn’t understand the meaning of this strange scene.
After staring at the blackboard in silence for about two minutes, the boy finally got off the scaffolding, put on his own hunting cap, and held out one hand to the manager.
The manager handed him a copy of today’s business newspaper and ten dollars in wages, gave him a meaningful look at the pockmarked face beside him, and asked him a question.
“What stocks have broken higher today?
The boy gave the manager a look that seemed to say, “Not again,” before answering.
“Dasney. …….58.25, 55.19, 63.2”.
The pockmarked face widened its eyes. The manager chuckles and continues with the test.
“Also, who broke the bottom?”
“……CBBI. 28.55, 32.58, 26.21.”
The three remaining regulars listen to the answer with rapt attention, while the pockmarked face looks at the closing price on the blackboard, confirms that the answer is correct, and opens his mouth with a big smile. The two stocks I just mentioned are both stocks that other chalk boys are in charge of. The boy was able to write down the price movements of the 50 stocks he was in charge of on the blackboard, while at the same time observing and accurately memorizing the movements of the other 250 stocks.
One of the regulars handed the boy a paper bag with a look of admiration on his face.
“I bought what you asked for. Check it out.”
The boy nodded silently as he confirmed that the bag contained ten new notebooks, twenty pencils, and three erasers.
The regular coughed, put three ten-dollar bills in the boy’s hand, put his face close to his, and whispered.
“……, where would you buy now?”
He asked the boy, who was three years younger than him, to give him stock advice.
The Hinoo boy puts the three ten-dollar bills in his pocket and prefaces them as usual in fluent Gamerian.
“I’m not a god. Don’t complain if you lose.”
“I know. I’m just using it as a reference.”
Without blaming the boy for his arrogant behavior, the three regulars looked at each other as if they were talking in private.
The boy turns his attention back to the ocean of numbers written on the blackboard and extracts from the ocean the stocks that are likely to move the most.
“Today, Ramsen Pharmaceutical suddenly raised fifty cents on the dollar. There are signs of a rubella epidemic in Kelfonia, and Ramsen is a pharmaceutical company that is particularly strong in rubella. The company has succeeded in developing an effective new drug, which may explain the sudden rise in the price of a stock that had not moved at all over the past year.
Oh …… and the regulars looked at each other and tapped the boy on the shoulder.
“He has a really good memory. I’ll give you a share of the profits.
“…… I repeat. There are no absolutes in the market. It can go wrong.”
“I know, I do it at my own risk, so don’t worry. There is no such thing as a market maker who can predict the market perfectly.”
The blond-haired, blue-eyed adults dressed in custom-made suits surrounded the shabbily dressed boy, praising him and pleading for his cooperation. The manager smiled sarcastically as he stood beside the pockmarked faced man who had lost his mind.
“About a year ago, he came to me and asked if he could be my chalk boy. Of course, I chased him away because he was a Yap. I didn’t want to get into any unnecessary trouble, and of course the customers wouldn’t like it. But even after I kicked him out of the store, he came back and insisted that he could recite the price movements of 300 major stocks for a month. When I asked him to recite the closing prices of 50 stocks for the day, he said he could recite 300 stocks without asking me. Yeah, I hired him on the spot. There are not many chalk boys available, despite their skin color. When I asked him how old he was, he said he was eleven, which surprised me once again. When I was eleven, all I had in my head was poop and dicks, but this guy had the whole market in his head. When he first started working, people like you booed him a lot, and when the store was over, he would get beaten up, but he didn’t mind coming in the next day with a bruised face. He’s cocky and pompous, but he’s got guts, he’s accurate in his work, and now he can recite the price movements of 300 stocks for the past year. He’s a god. If I had that kind of brain, I’d just go out and buy stocks, but he wants to study the market while working as a chalk boy for a while. He’s a strange guy, isn’t he? Thanks to him, the store is saved, but I’m sure someone will pull him out and he’ll go to Fall Street. He’s that good, so he won’t stay in this stupid store forever.”
The pockmarked face could only listen to the words of the chatty manager with a look of disbelief.
” What the hell is that? Reciting a year’s worth of price movements for three hundred stocks? Even Delai Lama can’t do that.”
As he mentioned the name of a legendary market maker who had made a fortune in one generation that rivaled the national budget of a small country, the boy walked past the pockmarked face.
He was wearing a sooty hunting cap, a saggy coat, a frayed cotton shirt, and cheap cloth shoes. His dockworker’s pants, hung from suspenders, were torn at the knees.
“Oh, hey, you …….”
But the boy didn’t stop and put his hand on the doorknob, as if he didn’t hear what the man said.
He tightened his loosened tie, straightened his back, and raised his voice.
“I- I’m Gary Trafford! I’m the president of Gary Transportation. I’ll like to know your name, if you don’t mind.”
He introduced himself and asked for the boy’s name. If the manager is indeed as good as he says he is, this yellow boy may soon become the king of Fall Street, the world’s largest financial district.
The boy turned his head to look at his profile. His face was thin, bruised, and stained with mud and dust, but somehow it conveyed a clear elegance and dignity.
He wore a transparent coat that was impenetrable to others, giving him an air of aristocratic dignity, and he had a fearless smile on the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t have a name to call myself.
The shabbily dressed colored boy declared to the upper class white man, and walked out of the store without losing his arrogant smile.
When he heard the doorbell ringing, the manager sent a wry smile to his side.
“……Heeh? Pretty cool, right?”
Gary could only stand there and stare at the closed door in horror. Who the hell is that kid?
◆
Los Angeles, a large city on the west coast of the United States of Gameria.
The February sunlight pours diagonally across the gray surface of the road from between the skyscrapers. At the bottom of the dry air, automobile exhaust and sooty smoke from coal stoves. Wearing a hunting cap to keep as much of his skin tone as possible out of sight, twelve-year-old Kuroto carried a paper bag under his arm that he had received from a regular customer as he walked home alone.
Streetcars, school buses, and many cars pass by on the wide streets. The smell of baking bread drifted up from the streets lined with colorful signs of clothing stores, ice cream stores, restaurants, and record shops. Kuroto’s hunger rumbled. Only whites could buy the bread in the show windows, and if a person of color entered the store, he would be thrown out or reported. The only way to buy daily necessities is to go to a store reserved for people of color, or ask a white friend to buy them for you, like the stationery he received today. Public facilities such as parks, libraries, and public restrooms are also segregated by race, and if you violate the segregation, you will be beaten by the police.
“The slogans of the United States of Gamelia, “the land of freedom and equality” and “the fairest parliamentary democracy on earth,” came with the proviso, “but only for whites”. The blessings of democracy are given only to whites, and other people of color are like “cattle” without human rights. Whites could kick or beat up a colored person without blame, but if they did the opposite, they would be sent to jail and imprisoned for nearly ten years. In the one year and three months since he arrived in the country, Kuroto has come to realize that the United States of Gameria is a strictly caste-based state with whites at the top.
It’s really annoying.
Whenever he was treated in a discriminatory manner, he would pretend to be fine on the outside, but inside he would boil over. Today, a middle-aged man with a pockmarked face was shouting abuse at him behind his back, and many times he thought about jumping on him and sticking chalk in his eyes. But if he did that, he would be the one who would be imprisoned. All he could do was eliminate his emotions and not despise those who discriminated against him in his heart. And one day, he will make up his mind to give them a painful payback. That’s all he can do now.
Soothing himself, he walked in silence until he came to a port area lined with shipyards. New warships are being built in the covered dry dock, which is in constant motion day and night. Off shore, two light cruisers and eight destroyers belonging to the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria were kicking off across the ocean toward the training area.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared in the sky.
At the same time, a roaring propeller sound came down from above Kuroto’s head.
As he looked up, he saw two huge flying battleships over 270 meters long, with eighteen destroyers surrounding them, flying in a floating zone at an altitude of 1,200 meters around the entire earth, cutting through the reddish sky.
“Gorgoroth” and “Voivod”.
The Gorgoroth and Voivod are flying battleships of the First Flying Battleship Squadron of the Gamerian Grand Ocean Fleet.
The huge floating body hung down from a hull that looked like an upside-down marine vessel with a total weight of 50,000 tons.
The ” floating body,” a cigar-shaped superstructure, is responsible for buoyancy. Almost all large amphibian ships are made from ” floating rocks,” which are naturally occurring flying rocks in the floating sphere. The hull is then suspended downward by ” suspension cables” in accordance with the buoyancy of the rocks, and flies by the thrust generated on the hull side.
It is both absurd and majestic to see a steel hull of 30,000 to 50,000 tons suspended in the air by a “floating body” with the same buoyancy. ” For more than a hundred years since the discovery of the Cerasus particle in the “floating sphere,” airships have reigned over the world as the “kings of the sky.”
The semi-circular gun turrets protruding from both sides of the hull have four 40 centimeter semi-swivel main guns, twelve guns on each side, anti-aircraft machine gun turrets and sagging turrets arranged like rats in needles in various parts of the hull, and two huge bomb tanks protruding from the bottom of the hull in a semi-cylindrical shape. If that door were opened, more than 3,000 one-ton bombs would rain down on the ground, burning down cities and fortifications without leaving a trace.
Kuroto clicked his tongue.
He knows where these huge ships will be heading in the future.
These guys are very motivated.
He asked a regular customer of Max Harper’s to review the financial plans and stock exchange data of major countries, and found that in recent years, the United States of Gamelia, the Commonwealth of Rukia, and the Ringland Empire had suddenly invested money equivalent to the national budget of Hinoo. In recent years, the United States of Gamelia, the Commonwealth of Rukia, and the Ringland Empire have suddenly found that money equivalent to Hinoo’s national budget has been invested in previously unseen items.
In Rukia, the cost of developing a frozen region where there is nothing, and in Gamelia, the cost of developing infrastructure in the desert……. If they spent this much money, of course the market would react, but the relevant sectors did not show any movement. He wondered if the budget appropriated for peaceful purposes was being secretly used for military expenditures. One day, they will beat Hinoo into a pulp and twist their unilateral demands into the mouth of a corpse.
In the back of Kuroto’s mind, the hidden national policy of Gameria emerges.
Might is Right.
Might is Right.
If you are strong, you can kill millions of innocent people without being accused of a crime. If you are weak, you will be condemned even if you are fighting to save tens of millions. It is such a cruel and unreasonable world that Kuroto and his friends live in.
But is it okay to just let them get away with it?
Do I accept being called a yellow monkey?
I don’t want to do that.
As if to mock Kuroto’s feelings, the squadron flies away to the west, distorting the sunset sky. I want to start a war with Hinoo as soon as possible, open the bomb tank to the big city, and kill all the yellow monkeys. Such was the confident attitude of the world’s strongest fleet as the voices of the Gamerian soldiers could be heard.
Unknowingly, Kuroto clenched both fists as the frustration rose from the bottom of his stomach.
Don’t underestimate the Hinoo people.
In the past, when he was a member of the royal family of Hinoo, he had never had this feeling. When he came to the country of Gameria, he was discriminated against because of the color of his skin. For the first time, he was aware of himself as a Hinoo person.
How can I beat Gameria ……?
As he continued his walk, suffering from anguish far beyond his size, he entered a poor neighborhood where many immigrants lived, hugging the outer edges of the port facilities.
The sea breeze that blew through the area was thick with the smell of rotting vegetables, fish, and burning coal.
In the yellow-skinned residential area, where about seven or eighty shacks made of scrap wood, plywood, and slate roofs stood side by side, Sun, Tanzanian, and Saianese people were building fires here and there, staring at the flames with deflated expressions. The bodies of these people, who had come to Gameria with dreams of making a fortune and now lived as manual laborers at the port facilities, bore the marks of whipping. These scars were inflicted by a white foreman. Looking at them like shells of human beings, Kuroto bought milk and two loaves of leftover bread at a store for people of color, and reached his “home” a little further out.
The house was a mere shelter against the wind and rain, constructed from a combination of miscellaneous wood, plywood, tin, and slate. When he passed through the entrance draped with fabric, he found himself in a four-and-a-half-mat room. On the floor, which was covered with empty burlap bags, there was a wooden box that served as a desk.
After placing the paper bag on the floor, he put the money he had earned today in a can, hid it in a hole he had dug in the ground, and covered it with dirt. Then he put some bread and milk in a wooden box and ate quietly by himself.
◆
It has already been more than a year since his father, Takehiko Kurono, lost all his money in the Fall Street stock market and disappeared after a three-month tour of Gameria.
Kuroto was left alone in a foreign country, but without any particular sadness or despair, he took it upon himself to assume that his father, who had not returned to the hotel even after a week, was dead. He took the transcontinental railroad by himself, visited a mutual aid society for Hinoo immigrants in Los Angeles, and was assigned this shack.
He had no intention of relying on his father from the beginning. He was determined that the only way he could make a living was to work and earn money on his own. Now that he was abandoned by his parents and became an orphan, Kuroto finally realized that his own adventure had begun.
From the moment he arrived in Gameria, he had decided to make money in the stock market. With his identity and family gone, the only thing he had left was his brains and guts, and the only way to get rich was through the stock market.
While Takehiko was traveling around Gameria, Kuroto was reading the economic newspapers and writing down the price movements of 300 major stocks in his notebook. He thought that by accurately memorizing these price movements, he would be able to understand the overall trend of the market. His efforts were rewarded on the day he arrived in Los Angeles at Max Harper’s, where he got a job as a chalk boy.
Currently, he has about six hundred dollars deposited in the account his father created. He would like to have at least $100,000 to invest in stocks, but he has a long way to go.
He lights a small candle, spreads out a notebook on a wooden box, and writes down in pencil the closing prices of today’s three hundred major stocks. After finishing this, he opens today’s economic newspaper and checks the trends in each sector. If there were any noteworthy developments, he would reprint them in his notebook.
Even though I was indoors, it was as cold as outside. Still wearing his coat and occasionally blowing on his chapped hands, Kuroto compares the descriptions in the nearly thirty notebooks he has written so far, looking down at the current global situation, the financial situation, and the performance of each company, and continues to deduce future price movements.
Late at night, when his eyelids became inexplicably heavy, he wrapped himself in a blanket with his coat on and slept alone. The roots of my teeth chatter from the cold, but he has no choice but to endure until the sleepiness overcomes the cold.
Suffering from the cold and hunger sometimes brings back memories of a year and a half ago, when he was a legitimate son of the imperial family in Hinoo and was living in luxury. The soft bed, the unconditional cuddling of the servants, the full-course dinner served every day. White fish with starchy sauce, herb-roasted chicken thigh, steak ……. The feast that was common at that time floated on the wall of the small room. He almost reached for it but came back to himself.
Sniffling, he threw a thin blanket over his head to drive out the hallucination.
I’ll crawl back up. I promise.
He encourages himself and sets his eyes on the darkness. He is not going to be defeated by this kind of loneliness. With his ability, things will get better soon. As he continued to tell himself this, the hallucination of food faded and for some reason Izaya’s face came into his mind.
Kuroto didn’t know why he was remembering Izaya. He doesn’t even remember his parents’ faces, but when he is in pain and feeling overwhelmed, he strangely remembers Izaya’s face with nostalgia.
Ever since he could remember, Kuroto had always played with Izaya. Whenever the royals met at a garden party or social gathering, they would wrestle and argue together, or leave the gathering to go out and play on their own.
It was fun to be with Izaya. Unlike the more sophisticated adults and well-behaved ladies of the house, Izaya was strong and violent, and was good at using her strange abilities to outsmart her servants.
He was a student at the Kitagawa Royal Academy, a school for children of royalty, nobility, and high taxpayers.
Izaya was always accompanied by three or four attendants to ensure she was safe, She also had a private car to get to and from school, so she could not take any detours. However, Izaya used her mysterious power of “detaching his perspective from her body” to observe the servants stationed at the front and back gates, and exploited any opportunity to escape.
Izaya, who had detached herself from the school, would relay information to Kuroto about the servants. Kuroto would then use that information to lead the servants to the designated locations where he would throw rocks, deliver false alarms, or use his classmates as decoys in order to secure Izaya’s escape route. After leaving the school, Izaya would meet up with Kuroto in front of a bakery in the city center, where the two of them would enjoy a stroll together.
Just walking around the city with Izaya made him feel like he was on an adventure. Kuroto had never been happy at home or at school, but he was so excited to be on an adventure with Izaya that he was sad whenever the sun went down.
Now that he was alone, starving and lonely in a faraway land, the only thing he could look forward to was the memory of the good times he had spent with Izaya.
He wondered how Izaya was doing now.
She must have hated him when he followed his mother’s advice and suddenly proposed to her. She must be enjoying her life surrounded by her friends and doesn’t even remember him now that he was gone.
Izaya is the first princess of the royal family, and Kuroto is an orphan with an empty stomach in a foreign country, having committed a crime of high treason.
In a short period of time, the two of them have become as far apart as heaven and earth.
Even if they were to meet again, they would not be able to enjoy each other’s company as before.
He knew that, but he would at least like to be allowed reminisce with his memory of Izaya in times of pain and suffering.
“I will not lose.”
Muttering to himself, he curled up under the blanket, closed his eyes tightly, and surrendered himself to the memories of happy times.
Replaying Izaya’s smile over and over again in the darkness, he waited for sleep to come.
That’s right. Don’t lose, Kuroto.
He felt as if the Izaya of his memories had given him those words.
◆
The next day…
At four o’clock in the afternoon, the closing bell rang, and the customers at Max Harper’s left the floor with their usual sighs and hot snorts.
After finishing his work on the wooden scaffolding, Kuroto memorized the closing prices of three hundred stocks as usual, took the economic newspaper and his wages from the manager, and put on his hunting cap.
The three regulars surrounded him and approached him with excited faces.
“Ramsen, it’ s going up! Thanks to you, we’ve made a lot of money! “I’m glad I believed in you, we made 13,000 dollars today alone!” “I’m still buying. What would you do?”
With great enthusiasm, he bent down and looked at Kuroto. Kuroto kept his usual blank expression and held out one hand. I can teach you, but you have to give me your share.
A man in his fifties understood Kuroto’s silent request and gave him thirteen hundred dollar bills to hold along with a generous smile.
“…… will go up again tomorrow, but not as explosively as it did today. The day after tomorrow will depend on the Kelfonia Rubella. At present, it is not as contagious as expected. Keep an ear out for rubella news and sell if it seems to be ending.”
When Kuroto told them his prediction, they broke into a smile and asked him to shake their hands. In response, he fixed the brim of his hunting cap with one hand and left the store. Today alone, he had almost doubled his savings. Kuroto’s reputation was slowly spreading among the investors in the neighborhood.
He walked out into the street and looked up at the towering skyscrapers.
A group of white boys passed him and shouted, “Go back to your country, Yap!” but Kuroto didn’t give them a second thought and continued to look up at the skyscraper.
Although he was making good money, his heart was not in the right place.
If I don’t make a lot of money, I’ll be destitute. ……
If he is only paid ten percent of the profits, he will not be able to save enough money. It’s time for him to graduate from being a chalk boy and use the money he’s saved to buy stocks, but at the same time, he’s risking his own financial ruin. Kuroto was aware of his current weakness.
I don’t have enough experience …….
If he is overconfident in himself and tries a big gamble without having any experience in stock trading, he will eventually be ruined. He would like to learn from a good teacher, but there is no such thing as a white man who would take a Hinoo person as a disciple.
He let out a sigh. The future was still long. If possible, he would like to hit it big soon and live in a decent room, but that will probably take another three or four years.
Three more years in that shack …….
To be honest, he’s not too thrilled about it. If he doesn’t come up with a quick way to make money, he’ll die of hunger and cold.
“I’m sure you’re capable of making a melancholy expression, Kurono Kuroto-kun.”
He was looking up at the skyscraper, lost in thought, when the words suddenly struck him in the ear.
“I thought you were just trying to keep your emotions out of it. Maybe you’re worried about the future of your life.”
He sent a pointed gaze to the end of the road.
One person…
A beautiful young man, who looked as if he had been cut out of the world, was shimmering in a circle.
Underneath his slightly long blond hair that fluttered in the breeze, his pale blue eyes stared at Kuroto with an unfathomable depth.
He is in his late twenties, wearing a well-tailored brown suit with vertical stripes and leather shoes so polished that they almost reflect his face. He looks more like an ice statue than a human being, with little scent of living things. He was instantly recognizable as an upper-class white investor.
Suddenly, a strange melody reached Kuroto’s ears. It was a beautiful melody, but it was a broken tune with a few dissonant notes here and there. Even though he didn’t have a musical instrument, the destructive melody, filled with sorrow, was transmitted through the young man to Kuroto’s consciousness.
This guy is dangerous.
He felt it. Kuroto’s inner self warns him not to get involved, but for some reason he can’t move from the spot.
The young man continued with a slight smile on the edge of his mouth.
“I’ve been observing you for three days now. My name is Kyle McVille. I am not an investor …… but a market maker. I want to work with you.”
“……………………”
“I’ll give you a ride home. I’ll tell you what I want on the way. Get in.”
“……………………”
Kyle walked over to a red convertible parked on the side of the road and opened the passenger door.
There is no clear line between an investor and a market maker. Those who invest for the sake of profits are called investors, while those who use their own devices to fluctuate stock prices to gain profit are called market makers. Some are investors in normal times, while others become market makers when the market gets rough, so the distinction is vague.
Kuroto glared at Kyle disapprovingly and slowly slid his small body into the leather seat in silence. For a moment, he almost rejected the young man intuitively, but when he cooled down a bit, he realized that this was an opportunity.
I was able to catch a white market maker.
It’s fortuitous. There is no way not to take advantage of this opportunity. ……
People on the street stared suspiciously at the poorly dressed man sitting in the passenger seat of the brand new luxury convertible. Kyle, sitting in the driver’s seat, started the engine and the car slowly paddled out onto the open road.
The low rumble of the engine carried under their feet. Kyle adjusted the gears and spoke in a calm tone.
“I have a pretty good idea of your current situation. I’d like to help you get out of that shack as soon as possible and make a decent living, but the discrimination against Hinoos is so severe that you can’t even rent an apartment. You want to make some money, but you don’t know how, so you just keep working as a chalk boy, waiting for good luck to come your way. …… You’ve almost given up. Isn’t that right?”
He was right, but it was frustrating to give him a straightforward nod, so Kuroto just looked ahead and didn’t answer.
“I want to use your brains to make money. In return, I will teach you the know-how of a market maker. You have the qualities to be a successful market maker, but you lack the experience. If you throw yourself into Fall Street as you are now, you will be eaten up to the bone.”
Kuroto was not amused by the fact that he was told exactly what he had been secretly worried about. He fell silent, his expression showing his dissatisfaction.
“You can use my experience. I want to use your natural abilities to make money that will turn the world upside down. It’s a no-brainer deal for you and me.”
Kuroto kept his eyes forward.
“…… I’m Hinoo. If you work with me, your reputation will be tarnished.”
“Lesson one.”
Kyle held up his forefinger in a pretentious gesture and sent one eye to Kuroto.
“A marketeer’s reputation is irrelevant. It’s a good thing for marketers to have a bad reputation.”
“…… With me, you have to be prepared to go through a lot of agony to get into the stock exchange. It’s not unusual for customers to hurl abuse at me. I’ve even had things thrown at me.”
“Lesson two. Gamerians are more concerned with the inside of their wallets than your skin color. The reason you’re being abused is because you’re a poorly-dressed Hinoo man. I have a gift for you, take it.”
Kyle pointed his thumb at the back seat. When Kuroto turned his head, he saw a large paper bag with the logo of a prestigious brand.
“A fine suit is a ticket to transcend race, it will get you into restaurants, the stock exchange, even the library.”
Kuroto listened to Kyle’s words with one ear as he pulled out several children’s suits, outfits, and everyday clothes from the bag. It was true that during the three months his father had been alive, he hadn’t been discriminated against that badly while traveling around Gameria. He realized now that they were able to use restaurants and hotels run by white people because they were judged to be wealthy by their clothes.
He put the clothes back in the paper bag and asked Kyle.
“…… Why are you doing this to me, a complete stranger?”
“Are you dissatisfied?”
“You already have a lot of money without working with me. Why do you want to make even more money by teaming up with a Hinoo?
Kyle laughed and told him.
“I may look like a rich man, but I’m actually broke. I got beat up in Fall Street the other day. It’s hard to get up from scratch on your own, so I need your genius to help me.”
“………… Broke? Are you?”
It doesn’t look that way.”It’s a common thing for marketers. By the way, I bought your clothes with borrowed money. I’m sorry to interrupt your …… conversation, but I have arrived. It’s a good idea to change your clothes and get your luggage. Let us depart for our new home.”
Before he knew it, the car was parked in front of the yellow human settlement in the port area. A poorly dressed man who had been huddled in the vicinity looked at the luxury sports car with resentment, and his eyes widened when he noticed Kuroto getting out of the passenger seat.
Kuroto walked through the cloth doorway of his house and changed into the normal clothes Kyle had given him. A cashmere coat, a fluffy sweater, children’s slacks, white socks and brand new leather shoes. About a year and a half ago, when he was still a member of Hinoo’s royal family, he had worn such clothes as a matter of course, but now, when he tried them on again, he felt a bit self-conscious.
Kuroto put the canned goods he had saved and the thirty stock research notebooks he had written into a burlap sack and left the shack where he had spent nearly a year.
“I’m glad it fits. I hope you like it.”
“Not bad.”
He returned to the passenger seat and tossed the burlap bag into the back cabinet. The car returned to the road and drove eastward as the residents looked at him with envy.
“Where to now?”
Hmm? Kyle turned to Kuroto and smiled.
“It’s obvious. My office in Fall Street.”
“…………………………”
“You want to be an investor, don’t you? You can use my power to be whatever you want to be.
Kuroto stared ahead, somewhat dissatisfied, and gave only a nod. He had thought it would take him another three years to become an investor, but with Kyle’s arrival, the road to becoming an investor opened up in an instant, and he felt a bit out of sorts.
“I’m broke now, but I’m going to borrow some money from a friend in Fall Street and start investing again. While we’re crossing the continent, I suggest you pick a stock to target. I have a company directory on my dashboard.”
“…………………….”
Without saying a word, Kuroto pulled out the company directory from under the car registration file and looked at the cover.
“You can make a lot of money if you use your head. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that I’m not the only one who’s a fan of your work.”
Kuroto took a glance at Kyle, who was holding the steering wheel, and pondered.
He felt unreliable, but not extravagant. In this country, you can’t even shop satisfactorily without the help of a white man. What’s more, he has an office in Fall Street and is ready to resume his investment as soon as he returns.
I’m going to join forces with him, make some money, and absorb the experience of this man.
He nodded, deciding to do so.
“Nice to work with you, Kyle.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Kuroto.”
Kuroto shook Kyle’s right hand, which was offered to him while holding the steering wheel.
“Our victory has been decided. Let’s go, towards a glorious future.”
Kyle said like a soothsayer as he looked ahead.
Kuroto was fed up with this nonsense, but his prediction came true.
◆
[What is Kronos, the group of investors who dominate Fall Street?]
[The leader of the group is a sixteen-year-old man with precognitive powers!]
[Los Angeles chalk boy has over $50 million in assets in just four years.]
[Child prodigy or oriental magic? A closer look at the true identity of Kuroto Kurono, a genius market maker]
March of 1936.
About four years after Kuroto and Kyle’s encounter, a newspaper and magazine with such a headline appeared in New York City, a major city on the eastern coast of the United States of Gameria. The name of the mysterious investor “Kuroto Kurono” and the group of young investors he leads, “Kronos”, had become well known and influential among the investors and brokers who gathered in the Fall Street.
In Fall Street, there is always someone who has risen to the top, but in Kuroto’s case, it was not an ordinary rise.
Ambitious investors and entrepreneurs now crowded in front of his humble office on the Lower East Side, a poor longshoreman’s quarter about a 30-minute walk from Fall Street, and stood in line from the stairs to the outside of the building for a five-minute meeting with him.
If you present your abilities to Kuroto and are accepted, you can become a member of the fast-growing Kronos. If you get the membership card, you will be the first to buy the stocks recommended by Kuroto, and you are sure to make a lot of money. Kronos is open to anyone, regardless of race, who is capable, creative and ambitious, and there were many people of color in the line.
All of them were fascinated by the rumors and legends that had been circulating about Kuroto for the past four years.
According to the rumors, Kuroto Kurono can recite the price movements of 300 major stocks over the past five years. He uses a special formula to quantify the value of a company and compares it to the actual stock price to decide which stocks to target. He has already made millions of dollars by perfecting an option price optimization formula that minimizes risk and maximizes profit.
The rumors could have been dismissed as mere speculation, but the fact that Kuroto had actually amassed over $50 million in financial assets in just four years gave credence to the rumors. Kuroto, who is only 16 years old, must have had a special way of making that much money. Whether it’s a magic wand or a hammer, there’s no shortage of people in front of Kuroto’s office today, all looking for a chance to make a fortune.
“It’s very depressing.”
Kuroto said with a sigh as he looked down through the glass windows of his cozy office at the people who wanted to visit him that stretched out into the street today.
I didn’t rise to prominence by magic. All I did was to read the economic newspapers every day, memorize the market prices, and study the habits of the stock market. What I needed to do was to find out the gap between corporate value and stock price, and the only way to find out corporate value was through careful research and management analysis. It is true that I have developed several original formulas and used them to calculate corporate value, but they are only a means of assessment and I do not have a magic wand to generate money.
In the trading room of the office, there are three chalkmen working on a large blackboard, writing down stock price movements using earphones and pin microphones connected wirelessly to the New York Stock Exchange. The ticker machine on his desk ticked and spat out the price of the stock, which lagged behind the radio by about thirty minutes. Apparently, the volume of transactions had increased dramatically recently and the system could not keep up.
“You’re a guru, after all. They think you’re a wizard or a messenger of God.”
JJ, a white man standing beside Kuroto, made fun of him as he looked down at the queue outside the window. With his blond hair pulled back in a tight pomade, his athletically trained body clad in an absorbent high-class suit. He looks like a Hollywood actor with his dashing appearance and lively dialogue. He is an ambitious young investor with a sharp mind, great energy, and a willingness to do anything illegal to gather secret information through his own channels.
“The leader of Kronos is Kyle. They should go see him. I don’t want to see anyone.”
Kuroto had no choice but to complain. He wanted to work steadily as a lone wolf, but Kyle took the liberty of turning him into a panda, selecting the best investors he could find, bringing them into the fold, and giving them a name like “Kronos” to liven things up. The name ” Kronos” is a combination of the word “Chrono” meaning “time” and the word “Kuro” meaning “black. Because of this name, the leader of the group has somehow become Kuroto instead of Kyle. Kuroto had no intention of leading such a group.
JJ shrugged his shoulders.
“‘Complain to Kyle. I’ve been making a lot of money off of it.”
About three years ago, JJ came to his office, curious about Kuroto’s winning streak in the investment game. He had no intention of meeting him, but Kyle took the liberty of interviewing him and bringing him into the fold, making him the number one member of Kronos. Since then, he has been supporting the activities of Kronos by screening applicants and conducting the first round of interviews on behalf of Kuroto and Kyle.
“There are already eighteen of us. We’re about to get some strange ones. What are we doing with that many people?”
“The more friends we have, the better. Kronos will have more money as a result. If you have more money, you can set up a speculative war. You’ve never done that before, have you? It’s fun, and you should do it soon to show off the power of Kronos.”
Both Kyle and JJ are marketeers, so they like to trade to pick fights with other investors. Kuroto didn’t want to be bothered with such games, and was committed to winning as much as he could.
“I don’t care. You guys are on your own.”
He says, and stares at the price movement on the blackboard.
About six months ago, Kuroto received information that Gameria and the governor of Ringland’s central bank had secretly met in Malta Island to discuss monetary easing, and he quickly invested about two million dollars in real estate junk bonds, resulting in a huge profit. As interest rates fell due to monetary easing and people took advantage of cheaper mortgages, real estate junk bonds, which had never been considered before, soared fifty or sixty-fold. Later, the Fall Street Journal, which received Kyle’s tip, ran a big headline about “Kuroto Kurono, the boy investor who foresaw the real estate bubble,” and called him a “Magician of the East” and a “Prodigy with Precognition”. So other newspapers and magazines followed suit, and the situation has reached this point. When he complained to Kyle, Kyle just laughed and said, “Name recognition is power for marketers.”
“I’ll take care of the interview. You’re going to Kyle’s office, right?”
JJ said, and Kuroto snorted.
“He’s been nagging me for a favor or something.”
“Go ahead. He’s your best friend, you know.”
The office that Kuroto now occupies originally belonged to Kyle. After meeting in Los Angeles, the two of them quietly started trading stocks in this office, and with Kuroto’s help, Kyle quickly made a huge fortune in just one year, handing over the ramshackle office to Kuroto and setting up his own office in the Empire State Building. The two continued to work together as members of Kronos, and they are now the dominant force in Fall Street.
“I’m sorry, but you take over.”
Kuroto put on a tight suit, a custom-made outer garment, and a hunting cap, walked out the back door of the office and hailed a cab.
He soon arrived in front of the Empire State Building, where Kyle’s office was located. He announced his visit at a desk staffed with strong black security guards, and took the elevator up to the 85th floor to an entrance with no plaque. The couches were already filled with five men in expensive suits, and three others, who seemed to be out of work, standing bored and looking out the window.
Estella, the receptionist, recognized Kuroto and gave him a youthful smile. The blonde, one of Kyle’s many lovers, knew her priorities.
“He’s been waiting for you. Come in.”
The eight people waiting to be interviewed glared at the boy with a grudge, and a ripple of whispered conversation spread. They seemed to have noticed that the boy in front of them was Kuroto, and silly words such as “psychic powers” and “oriental magic” faintly penetrated the ripple. Feeling fed up, Kuroto bypassed the security guards and opened the oak door.
The spacious office was located three hundred meters above the ground, with a large window to the south overlooking the island of Manhattan. The Hudson River was on the right, the East River on the left, and the skyscrapers on Fall Street were just at the intersection of the two rivers, hazy in a spring mist.
“Don’t you feel like you’re in control of New York?”
Kyle greeted Kuroto with these words.
Kuroto frowned in displeasure.
“Do you want to feel like that?”
“It’s a natural feeling. Humans live to dominate others. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important matter to attend to.”
Kyle offers Kuroto the couch, and stares at the words the chalkman writes on the blackboard, as the ticker machine spits out tape.
Estella brings him a cup of tea and walks away with an elegant smile. The phone rings incessantly around him, and on the three large boards against the wall, three chalkmen with earphones and intercoms silently write down stock price fluctuations. The two brokers in front of them shouted anxiously into their handset, occasionally glancing and sending hand signals to Kyle, who was giving them aggressive instructions one after the other.
It seems that there is no time to get down to business, and Kuroto watches his partner’s work with a sense of dismay.
It seems that Kyle is in the midst of a counterattack against the market maker who shorted his main stock. It seems to be going well, and soon they will lose all of their assets. Unlike Kuroto, Kyle preferred the method of kicking his opponents down the road and taking everything they had.
“You’ re still …… worse than ever, you know.”
While Kyle has finally finished giving his instructions, Kuroto tells him in a dumbfounded tone.
“This is what a marketer does. If you don’t take what your enemy has, someone else will. In order not to be taken, you must continue to expand your power.”
He said this in a firm tone of voice and did not even defend himself. It’s a typical Gamerian business tactic of attacking without conscientious consideration for the circumstances of others, just for the purpose of seizing them.
“Does it make you feel good?”
“How can it not be fun to dominate others and be worshipped?”
“I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. So what did you want?”
“Two things. The first. Have you heard of Thorn Dark Corporation, which was recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange? The president of the company is a country boy from Tennessee who is upset that the stock price hasn’t gone up, so he came to me with $10 million and asked me to use the money to buy Thorn Dark stock. He thought that since I was well known, investors would follow suit and buy the stock, causing it to soar. I could have sent him away for being a shallow country bumpkin, but I had an idea for a little profit. I’d like to put on a play with all eighteen members of the Kronos.”
“………………”
“If I buy enough and Thorn Dark’s stock rises, I want the remaining seventeen Kronos to sell short. When the time is right, I will betray the president and sell off the Thorn Dark stock. Naturally, the stock price will plummet, I will make a huge profit from the sale, all the Kronos who sold short will also make a huge profit, and everyone will be happy except the president. What do you think, it’s a fun plan, do you want in?”
Kuroto made a blatantly disapproving face. Short selling is a business that uses falling stock prices to make money, and while it carries the risk of financial destruction, it also makes a lot of money when it succeeds.
“I’ll pass. I don’t need any more money.”
“Am I mishearing you? You don’t need the money?”
“Kronos is your organization. I have no problem with you being in charge, you can run it. I won’t do it.”
Kyle was reluctant, but agreed to bring up the matter to the other sixteen at the next study session.
“Are you bored with the market?”
“I’m not bored, I’m tired. I don’t want to make money off of other people’s resentment.”
“…… Hmm. Your abilities are good enough to succeed as a market maker, but you may not be the right person for the job. There is no such thing as a market maker who doesn’t kick others down the road.”
“I have no motive to go that far to make money.”
“Motive? I’m sure there are plenty of motivations: big houses, sports cars, luxury yachts, fancy parties, Hollywood actresses on the rise, never-ending accolades, ever-expanding businesses and influence. I’m sure there are plenty.”
“I’m not really interested.”
“I don’t understand the thinking of people like you at all. If wealth and honor are not your goals, then why are you making all this money?”
“I don’t understand what you’re living for. So, what’s the second thing you want?”
Kyle shrugged his shoulders and sat back on the couch, his expression softening slightly.
“Someone I met by chance at a party hosted by the Gamerian Navy and Air Force last month wants to meet you. Do you know who it is?”
“The Gamerian Navy and Air Force ……?”
I don’t know anyone in the military in this country.
“I’ll give you a hint. A very attractive woman.”
“A …… soldier and a woman?”
Getting more and more confusing. Kyle smiled brightly and spoke.
“I called you here today. The reason is to use you as an excuse for the girl and I to get to know each other better. When night falls, you can go home, and the lady and I will stay here and enjoy the scenery and other things until morning.”
Kuroto nodded profoundly and lifted his face in disgust.
“I’m calling it a night. Can I leave now?”
“No.”
“You’re just trying to seduce her. Don’t use me as an excuse.”
“You can help me, right? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, and I’m in love at first sight. She is undoubtedly one of the most interesting, lovely and intelligent girls I have ever met.”
He had no idea who she knew. Generally speaking, Kyle is very popular. In the last two years alone, when he began to make a name for himself on Fall Street, he has been involved with more than a dozen models and actresses, and has had more lovers than he can count on two hands.”
“Models and actresses are like dull country girls in front of her. She has a different level of grace and intelligence. I want to make her mine, even if I have to leave all my current lovers.”
Kuroto looks at Kyle from afar with a suspicious look on his face as he coolly expresses his shallow desire. He knew that Gamerian men were fond of women, but even so, they had no sense of control.
And then the phone rang. Kyle lifted the phone, nodded twice, and smiled.
“She’s here. When she’s enraptured by my authority and wealth, I’ll send a signal, and you can leave right away. Is that clear?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving as soon as you say hello.”
Just as he was replying with a disappointed look on his face, the oak door opened and the invited guests stepped into the office.
“…………?”
The guest was beyond Kuroto’s imagination.
But at a glance, he knew who it was.
“You ……!?”
“Hey. Long time no see, Kuroto.”
The woman who walked into the office was none other than Izaya, dressed in the uniform of the Anasting Naval and Air Force Academy, the most difficult school in Gameria.
Even Kuroto was flabbergasted to see his childhood friend, who had kicked him down an embankment after proposing to her six years earlier.
Why is Izaya in Gameria? And why is she wearing the uniform of the enemy academy?
“What’s with that face? It is not unusual for royalty to study abroad.”
A corner of his mind understood what was going on when he was told this while slumping over. Since the opening of the country, the royal family has been encouraging royal children to study abroad, and Gameria’s Anasting Naval and Air Force Academy was a particularly popular destination. The reason why Gameria accepted a princess from a hypothetical enemy country was because after the war, they could say, “We asked for friendship, but you came at us. As proof of this, we accepted your princess to study abroad before the war started.”
“Welcome Izaya, you look even more beautiful today.”
Before Kuroto could react, Kyle walked up to Izaya and smiled flatteringly.
Izaya gave Kyle a quick glance and, without changing her expression said,
“Thank you for the invitation. It’s a lively office. I guess this is what an investor’s office looks like.”
Izaya looked at the chalkman scribbling quotes on the blackboard, the broker on the phone, and the ticker machine rhythmically spitting out tape, and nodded.
“The night view from here is beautiful, though not as beautiful as you. Take some time to relax with your friend Kuroto. Have a seat on the sofa. Would you like a drink?”
Izaya’s expression and demeanor did not change at all as she continued to breathe through Kyle’s words.
“No, actually, I don’t have time. I’d like to borrow Kuroto for a while. You don’t mind, do you?”
Her crimson eyes were fixed on Kuroto.
The look in her eyes unintentionally overwhelmed Kuroto.
It was not only the shock of Izaya’s sudden appearance here that had prevented him from speaking earlier.
He was intimidated by the appearance of the sixteen-year-old Izaya.
What the hell, man.
Grayish-white short jacket, skirt and boots, the appearance is that of an ordinary female Gamerian officer, but her presence is indeed that of the first princess, with an extraordinary radiance overflowing from within, like a spirit, angel or goddess.
Since ancient times, the royal families of Hinoo have had the most beautiful princesses of their time serve in their palaces to pass on their genes of beauty. Beauty was one of the most important qualities for a ruler, as he needed to rule the people with sanctity. In the Middle Ages, villages were established to produce beautiful girls for the royal court, and as time went on, the practice took on a more magical aspect. It is said that the birth of an ugly girl could even be traced back to the third degree of kinship and would be abandoned.
Izaya was also clad in a beautiful robe of feathers that had been woven over 2,600 years by the persistence of the royal family.
Her silvery white hair was like a mountain stream, her red eyes were filled with thousands of burning stars, and her lips were tight and glossy. There is something unique about Izaya in the way each part of her is put together, as if her mere presence here cleanses the atmosphere. If you stare at her, you can almost see through her, and if you poke her, she will shatter in a splash of seven colors.
He knew about it from his childhood, since she and Kuroto share the same bloodline. He’s used to the beauty that makes the common people bow down to her, so he’s not going to be pressured now. ……However, Kuroto was now using all of his willpower to remain calm and unaware of his quickening heartbeat.
Izaya, however, was unconcerned with Kuroto’s inner turmoil and looked at him suspiciously.
“What’s with your face?”
“…… Nothing ……. You caught me off guard…… .”
Izaya smiled triumphantly with a snort and said,
“You’ve grown taller. Your eyes are even worse than before.”
She stares straight at Kuroto from up close with a pleasant smile on her face.
This time, Kuroto rebuffed Izaya’s words with a snort.
“What’s this about……?”
“Hmm. Well, it can’t be done here. Let’s talk outside.”
Without even the slightest hint of Kyle’s intentions, Izaya easily lost interest in the office and tried to lead Kuroto out.
“……………………”
Kuroto only looked at Kyle. Kyle, with disappointment evident on his face,
“Don’t tell me you’re leaving already? At the very least, have a cup of tea.”
“I’m sorry, I really don’t have time for that, thank you for the invitation. Let’s go, Kuroto.”
After cutting off Kyle’s invitation, Izaya got Kuroto’s approval and quickly left the room. When Kyle looked at him with resentment, Kuroto shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’ve done nothing wrong,” and got into the elevator with Izaya.
“Since we’re in the Empire State Building, let’s go to the observation deck. It’s my first time in New York.”
Izaya got off the elevator at the 80th floor and presented the attendant with two tickets to the observation deck on the 86th floor, which she had apparently prepared in advance.
Overruling Kuroto’s complaint that they should have stayed in Kyle’s office if they wanted to see the view, Izaya silently walked over to the open-air observation deck of the Empire State Building accompanied by Kuroto.
“Mmm. It feels good.”
Izaya smiled with satisfaction as she looked over the high iron fence that faced the Manhattan skyline.
“………………”
Kuroto, meanwhile, silently looked down at the New York skyline below. In the blue sky of March, a tapestry of skyscrapers resembled a forest of swords being thrust up by soldiers. The endless expanse of concrete buildings is so high and so cold, that it perhaps represented the never-ending desires of the Gamerian people.
Izaya gazed into the distance.
“About two months ago, I read an article about you in the newspaper. To be honest, I was surprised. I’d heard that you’d moved to Gameria, but I didn’t expect to find you trading stocks in Fall Street. It seems that you are quite active.”
Kuroto bent his mouth into a frown, shrugged his shoulders and said,
” It’ s only natural, given my abilities.”
“You’re as confident as ever.”
” My confidence turned to certainty. I am after all an all-powerful genius, and my ideals will always come true.”
Izaya laughed a little as he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
” Your body has grown, but you are still the same inside. I’m relieved. I was worried that you might have turned into a real monster after being tortured in a foreign land, but my fears were unfounded. Is Uncle Takehiko all right?”
“I haven’t heard from him since he disappeared five years ago. I hope he is still alive.”
Izaya’s expression grew weary when he answered.
“Five years ago, you were eleven years old at ……. I don’t know how you’ve managed to live on your own.”
“I’m a genius, so it’s no problem. It was rather convenient for me to have less baggage.”
He said with a slumped look, and then asked.
“So, what do you want?”
“What? Oh, …… um. It’s …… something.”
Izaya was unusually stuttering to say something.
Kuroto waited for her to continue with a slightly dubious expression.
After a while, Izaya gave Kuroto an unsettled look.
“…… I thought you might have a grudge against me.”
“…………?”
“…… That time. ……I told my family members about what you did, and as a result…… the Kuronomiya family was forced to leave the royal family.”
Kuroto immediately understood what Izaya was trying to say.
Six years ago, Kuroto had proposed to Izaya and was kicked down the embankment. Later, a representative of the royal family visited the Kuronomiya family and decided to destroy them. When Kuroto had proposed to Izaya, he had told her that he would eliminate Prince Kazuma and that he would become the King.
Kuroto’s face reflected his disgust.
“You’re worried about that?”
Izaya lifted her eyes upward as if to examine him.
“But……. If I didn’t tell them, you might not have been forced to leave the kingdom.”
Kuroto chuckled.
“I’m not going to lie, my parents’ cowardice is first class. That evening’s dinner at the Kuronomiya household was a bad-mouthing contest by the royal family. Whether you told them or not, the servants would have tipped them off and the house would have been destroyed anyway.”
He retorted. The fact that the Kuronomiya family was accused of high treason by the mass media was caused by his father, Takehiko, and his mother, Kaoru. It was their fault. There was no need for Izaya to worry about it.
Izaya looked up at Kuroto for a moment, then nodded and said,
“………… I see. If that’ s what you believe ……”
“I didn’t remember any of that. I was so busy living my life that I didn’t have time to look at the past.”
He didn’t even bother to mention that he was wrapped up in a thin blanket in a shack in Los Angeles on cold and hungry nights, reminiscing about Izaya’s smile.
Izaya’s expression softened a little.
“…… I see. That’s good. I’m relieved.”
She then smiled faintly at him.
Kuroto’s innermost thoughts creaked at that smile. For some reason, the fact that Izaya had been troubled by a trivial past that he had forgotten had softened his heart.
“You came all the way here from Anasting for such a trivial errand?”
He tried to shake off the sentimentality by talking down on the subject.
“I have a graduation ceremony in two weeks. After the graduation ceremony, I’m going to go back to Hinoo. I thought it would be a good idea to see you before I go back. I’ll be working on a warship at Hinoo, so I might not see you again.”
“……………………”
Kuroto listened to the words of his childhood friend in silence. If Kuroto remained in Gameria, they would certainly never see each other again. In the event that he returns to Hinoo, he will be a criminal guilty of high treason, while Izaya will a target of suspicion for usurping the throne. In a country that respects the dignity of the royal family, it is impossible for a rebel and a princess to meet face to face.
“Are you finished with your business?”
“Aah. It was good seeing you.”
They both looked directly at each other and said that.
There was a gust of wind.
He hesitated, wondering if he should just raise his hand and leave.
I might not be able to see her again.
That’s what he thought. When he had been at the academy, Izaya had always been accompanied by her servants, and the two of them had explored the city together until nightfall, using various means to outsmart the servants in order to spend time together. Wandering the streets with Izaya was a joyous time, and many times he wished the sun would never set.
Now, Izaya and him are in a foreign land with no servants, with the wind blowing in their faces.
No matter how many times he and Izaya wandered around the city, there was no one to stop them.
“……………………”
Izaya is silently looking at Kuroto in her crimson eyes.
Kuroto looked out of the corner of his eye, staring at the city in the distance.
“You’ve come all this way on a trivial errand ………….”
He tried to prolong the conversation.
“That’s not the main reason I’m here. Mr. McVille kept asking me to come, and I wanted to see New York before I left. I came to see you while I was there, that’s all.”
Izaya protested in frustration. Kuroto sniffled.
“You’re so carefree. In the past, you had to have a servant with you wherever you went.
” They’ re still following me. They are waiting for my return at the foot of this building.”
Kuroto understood what was going on. That’ s why Izaya had invited him to the observatory.
“You used to be able to outsmart the servants.”
“Aaah. It brings back memories.”
It was thrilling and fun to fool the adults, and they even ate and saw plays, which was forbidden in those days. Every time she came home, Izaya would get scolded, but she never gave up and the two of them worked out a plan together again and again, succeeding each time, and having a good time.
“Can we still do that?”
“Yes. Shall we?”
“Hmm. I can help you.”
All right, said Izaya, holding out one hand. Kuroto grabbed her hand back.
“Okay. Don’t let go.”
Then Izaya closed her eyes and stopped moving.
As a child, he didn’t think anything of it, but now he felt a little embarrassed. He stood there with one hand clasped together, careful not to let anyone speak to Izaya. Kuroto knew that Izaya’s mind and body would be affected if she lost concentration in this state.
After a while, holding hands and closing her eyes, Izaya announced.
“There are three of them in the lobby on the second floor and one at the entrance on the first floor. If you take the elevator down, we’ ll be caught.
“Okay.”
“I’ll be back. Hold my hand.”
Izaya was talking right in front of Kuroto, but her perspective was down in the first floor lobby. If Kuroto lets go of Izaya’s hand, she will not be able to return to her perspective, and Izaya will fall into unconsciousness for a day or a week.
Five minutes later.
Izaya’s long eyelashes lifted as she exhaled a long, puffy breath. She unclasped her hands, and with a hint of youthful exhaustion in her crimson eyes, told him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done this. I’m a little tired.”
“Are you still doing this with Rio?”
“Only when I have to. I don’t want to risk it because of the physical and mental discomfort. So what do we do now?”
“We can take the stairs down and get around the servants. It’s a bit of a long walk down.”
“The boots are all right, let’s go.”
Izaya and Kuroto looked at each other and chuckled.
Izaya is able to detach her perspective from her body to get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area and examine the situation at specific points in detail. However, because Izaya will not be able to return without someone she trusts to hold her hand, she does not tell anyone about her abilities. Only her childhood friends, Kuroto and Rio, know about it.
“It’s still a ridiculous power.”
As they walked safely out of the Empire State Building and down Madison Avenue, Kuroto told Izaya beside him.
” I’ m tired from using it. Now I’ m hungry.
Izaya blurted out, not paying attention to the luxury brand stores that lined the street. Incidentally, Izaya lost her hair color in exchange for this remote clairvoyant ability.
“I lost my hair pigment in exchange for this remote clairvoyant ability. Don’t complain.”
“I am not complaining. In Hinoo, it’s hard for you to stand out. Your sensitive skin can’t be exposed without touching it or rubbing it.
“Hey!!”
Izaya suddenly tickled his side, and Kuroto turned his voice around and jumped back. Izaya laughed happily and said,
“You’re still the same. Good.”
“What’s good about that? Don’t do it again. Next time I’ll be angry.”
“All right, I’m sorry. I just got nostalgic.”
Laughing, Izaya faked a smile and looked up at the sky.
It was almost five o’clock in the afternoon, and the narrow sky, cut off from the rest of the world by the sky tower, was about to take on a reddish hue.
“There’s a place that serves good hot dogs. Shall we go?”
” Oh, that sounds good. I’d like to go to a place like that.”
Izaya agreed with a twinkle in his eye.
“Let’s take a short walk.
Izaya nodded happily and lightened her step as Kuroto told her.
The two of them soon entered the Lower East Side, where many dockworkers lived. The people on the street were becoming less well-dressed, and the number of stores for people of color was increasing. The area seemed to be unsafe, but Kuroto didn’t show any sign of fear as he walked nonchalantly.
“You still can’t eat what you want?”
“Yeah. As usual, I just eat what I’m told and do what I’m told.”
According to Izaya, she was given special treatment at the Anasting Military Academy, where the dormitories were luxurious and reserved for noblemen, and her personal care was still taken care of by the servants who came with her from Hinoo.
“It’s a confining situation.”
“You’re free, aren’t you?
“Yea. I’m completely free. I’m so glad I left the kingdom.”
Izaya’s eyes darkened with envy as she said this sincerely and slumped down.
“I wish I could be free.”
Kuroto didn’t fail to overhear Izaya’s true feelings.
“That’s a problematic statement.”
“It’s off the record. Let it slide.”
“I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. We’re here.”
Kuroto stopped at an old, narrow store in a back alley with a sign that read, “Jesse’s”. Beer kegs were lined up in front of the store, and dockworkers were using the kegs as tables to wash down their hot dogs with beer. It was a diner for the low-income class, with stray dogs waiting to take a bite out of customers, but the eyes of the first princess of the royal family sparkled.
“Ooh …… yes, this is the kind of place I wanted to come to!”
Kuroto understood that as an eldest son of the old imperial family. It was only after he came to this country that he himself began to enter the stores of the common people. He now prefers the hot dogs at this store to the more formal and expensive restaurants.
The restaurant is small, with only counter seats, and men with badly shaped beards. They stare at each other and whistle at the lovely Izaya. Thanks to his silvery-white hair, she doesn’t look like a Hinoo person, and she gives Kuroto a look of resentment, saying, “You’re a Yap, and you’ve got a white woman with you.”
When they sat down on the chairs at the counter, they were so close to each other that their shoulders bumped into each other. Izaya inhaled the cigarette smoke and the smell of alcohol without complaint. They ordered two chili dogs, chicken gumbo, and two Cokes from the black lady behind the counter.
“Their chili dogs are the best.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Do you ever go out on your days off?”
“I sometimes go out under the watchful eye of the servants, but I can’t go into any of the common stores. This is the first time in the two years I’ve been in Gameria that I’ve been out without a servant.”
”I see,” Kuroto said, giving a short nod and looking back on his five and a half years in Gameria. There was racism everywhere, but they were free. He felt sorry for Izaya, who was bound by her status even after coming abroad.
With a smile on her face, the hostess handed them a loaf of bread with a thick sausage between it, chopped onions, pickles, and their signature thick chili sauce.
“Ooooo ……. It looks good, but it’s big. Will we be able to eat it?”
Izaya looked at the chili dog, which was as big as her face, for a moment with a shocked expression.
“Itadakimasu”
Izaya opened her mouth wide and took a bite. She took a big bite and chewed it several times, then her white cheeked face shone brightly.
“It’s delicious!”
“Right! I was surprised the first time, too!”
“What’s in this? It’s so good!”
Izaya pounced on the chili dog with all the vigor of a wild dog and ate half of it in no time at all.
“Isn’t a chili dog a miracle?”
“By the way, the gumbo is good too.”
Kuroto also recommended Izaya to try the southern Gameria specialty, a soup full of spices.
“Aaaa! It’s delicious.”
Izaya gobbled up everything that was served to him with innocent glee.
“It was the best meal I’ve had in Gameria.
Izaya smiles at Kuroto as she sips her Coke with satisfaction.
“Mmm. I also think this place is far better than those expensive restaurants.”
“I envy you. You get to eat this kind of food every day.”
“Your words sound like those of a poor man.”
“If I could eat like this, I wouldn’t mind it. I I wish I could eat like this in Hinoo.”
“I miss Hinoo’s food. I want to eat salmon onigiri, pork cutlet on rice and curry.”
Remembering Hinoo’s food, Kuroto got a faraway look in his eyes. He hasn’t eaten hot, freshly cooked rice in years.
“What are you going to do now? Are you going to live in Gameria forever?”
Izaya asked from up close with a straw in her mouth.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and slumped down.
“I don’t actually have anything in mind.”
“What?”
“I’ve already made enough money. If I cash out all of my financial assets, I can live the rest of my life in a lavish fashion. I feel like that would be fine, but it’s also true that it’s not satisfying.”
“Hmm.”
“In the five and a half years since I came to Gameria, I’ve convinced and proven that I have a special ability. The next question is what should I do with this power, but there isn’t anything I want to do.”
“Don’t you plan to continue being a market maker?”
“No. I’ve got it all figured out. That’ s the honest truth.I don’t want to end up like the evil spirits of rivers and mountains of Fall Street. I realized that those people who live in mansions and drive luxury cars are really just pathetic monsters who are constantly adding to their own possessions and need to kick others down. I don’t want to be like that.”
Izaya looked at Kuroto curiously as he stared into the void and told her such a thing.
“I’m surprised. I was expecting you to be a wealthy man, making a big deal out of yourself and stomping on everyone around you.”
“I’ve seen people like that in real life, and I don’t want to be like them. It’s not beautiful.”
Izaya chimed in admiringly.
“You’ve changed a bit, haven’t you?”
“Yeah? Well, I’ve been through a lot.”
“Yeah. You’re just a little more mature.”
Izaya’s expression softened slightly, and she smiled at Kuroto.
Kuroto spat and turned his head away.
“…… What about you? What are you going to do when you get back in Hinoo?”
“I’m going to spend a year or so aboard the “Ibuki”, a ship that reports directly to the royal family. What I will do after that has not yet been decided. If the commander-in-chief approves of my work, I’ll be made captain, but I’m not sure what will happen.”
Kuroto knew the name “Ibuki”. The genius shipbuilder, Dr. Izuru Yamaga, received special permission from the Minister of the Navy to design a heavy-lightning, flying destroyer, which he designed with the full realization of his long cherished fantasy. It has an extraordinary strike power of forty guns with ten ports. However, its design concept is too different from other ships and its maximum speed is too slow to join the air and navy squadron, so it is an “outlier” that was forced to be allowed to act alone on the battlefield as a ship directly under the imperial family. The crew was also a collection of people who had been bullied or ostracized on other ships. For naval and air force officers, being assigned to the Ibuki meant the end of their careers.
“I think I can become a captain. The “Ibuki” is mostly a public relations ship. The military commanders are going to make me and Rio captain and vice-captain and use us as propaganda, saying that the people should give their blood money because two princesses are giving their lives.
There was a hint of self-mockery in Izaya’s words. The cool Izaya and the energetic Rio go well together. The three of them would sometimes play together, with Kuroto joining in.
Kuroto muttered to himself as he compared Rio’s cheerful smile to Izaya’s profile, who was now standing beside him.
“It’s a sacrificial goat, isn’t it?”
“I will not deny it. The Queen said to me, ‘In this war, you will die.'”
In other words, Izaya would become the captain of the Ibuki after her mother told her to die. It’s not easy being a member of the royal family, but Kuroto realized that a part of him was in terrible pain.
I don’t want you to die.
Hearing his own whispering, Kuroto was perplexed. He did not know why he was thinking such a thing. However, the bottom of his heart was tightening up and he could not speak.
Izaya looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6:30 pm.
“If we don’t get back to the hotel, the servants might go crazy. I have to go now.”
When he asked for the address of the hotel, Kuroto realized it was just past his office and home. He paid and tipped the hostess and left.
“It’s the same way. I’ll walk you home.”
“Sure. Please.”
It was completely dark outside, and the street lights were on. There were a lot of headlights on the street, and workers who had been ejected from their buildings were walking home fast.”
It was a short time, but he enjoyed talking and eating with Izaya. Kuroto wished this time would never end, but he didn’t show it in his attitude. The two of them walked along the street at night, exchanging light words with a feeling of loneliness in their hearts.
As they walked along the street at night, a group of white boys suddenly shouted at him.
“Hey, Yap has a human woman!”
They probably didn’t find it amusing that Kuroto, who was about the same age as them, was wearing an expensive suit and carrying a pretty girl with silvery white hair. He ignored them and walked on by, but a series of harsh words were thrown at his back.
“Don’t wear a suit, monkey!” “Don’t breathe, you’ll yellow the air!” “This is a human town, get your ass back to Monkey Mountain!”
Kuroto is so used to this that he decides to ignore it, but Izaya’s expression at his side quickly turns angry.
Izaya, who is always protected by his servant, does not look like a Hint woman, and is given special treatment as a foreign guest at the Anasting Academy, has no tolerance for this kind of racism. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand why I’ve been so impressed with your work.
“!?”
“Stop it. Let’s go.”
He pulled Izaya’s hand away and left the scene. From behind him, ” Don’t you dare run away, you cowardly monkey!” “Don’t you regret it, monkey!”. But Kuroto didn’t pay any attention to them, and simply grabbed Izaya’s hand and walked away.
” Kuroto ……”
“If you take him on, you lose. If it turns into a brawl, we are the ones who will be punished.”
“That’s not true …….”
“That’s the way it is in this country. Be patient.”
Kuroto walked quickly, not looking back. Izaya, with Kuroto’s hand on his shoulder, lifted her face in frustration.
“…… is something like this normal?”
Kuroto took one look at her expression and looked forward again.
“There are stupid kids in every country.”
“Even so.”
“You’ll have to teach them a lesson one day. Hinoo people are humans just like them.”
Izaya gazed at Kuroto’s back as he walked with his head firmly forward.
His back looked much stronger than it had in the past.
Izaya grasped his hand once more and walked side by side with Kuroto.
“Nuuu.”
Kuroto finally realized that they had been holding hands for a while and hurriedly let go.
Izaya looked at Kuroto with some dissatisfaction.
Then suddenly, words came out of her mouth that even Izaya had not expected.
“Isn’t that what you should do?”
She asked.
Hmm? Izaya looked back at Kuroto with a straight face.
“To remind the Gamerians that Hinoo people are human.”
“……………………”
“It is up to you to decide what means you will use. You have a special ability to do that.”
He said straightforwardly, without a hint of mockery.
Kuroto returned his grim eyes to the end of the road.
“…… Fumu.”
He replied with the tip of his nose and continued on his way.
There’s something buzzing in his chest.
It was a strange feeling, as if Izaya’s words had become a wedge, and something huge that had been sleeping inside of him had quietly awakened.
No matter how many victories he had in the Fall Street, his inner self had not moved a muscle, but now it was about to make a big move. He could feel it.
“………… Kuroto?”
Izaya, who may have noticed the change, called out suspiciously.
Kuroto walked around, trying to determine the identity of the intense feeling that was rising from within.
” Izaya?”
“Yes.”
“Who should I be from now on?”
He asked, unsure of his own state.
Izaya, who was walking beside him, said with a sincere expression.
“I don’t know.”
“……………………” “But you’re free. You can be anything you want to be.”
She said this with a serious look and then relaxed her cheeks, looking a little embarrassed.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to have been born a princess of Hinoo. I may be limited, but I know the way forward.”
“…… Is a war death the way to go?”
“Oh. It is the destiny of those born into the royal family.”
As he looked into Izaya’s eyes, Kuroto thought back on his own life and felt unworthy. Even though he was born with an abundance of abilities, he could not see any way forward.
He couldn’t even grasp what the unidentifiable urge that was surging from within was trying to say to him.
As he walked along, feeling frustrated, they finally arrived in front of Kuroto’s office. Izaya’s hotel was just up ahead.
“This is my office.”
His office was a tall, rented tenement. It was one of those long, narrow buildings you see all over the Lower East Side. On the outside, the building looks like a rundown apartment building, but all the windows are bulletproof because sometimes the residents of Fall Street who are jealous of Kuroto’s success throw stones at him or shoot at him. All the staff had gone home by now, so there was no one around.
“It’s pretty shabby.”
“Hmm. It’s a pain in the ass to move in.”
Izaya and him stood side by side and looked up at the office.
It would be a shame to leave her here.
Do you want to go up? He thought about asking her, but was too embarrassed to say anything.
As the two of them stood side by side looking at the rundown apartment in silence like two dumb children, a poor man suddenly jumped out in front of him.
” Kuroto ……? It’s Kuroto, isn’t it?
A middle-aged poor man in rags, thin, with overgrown hair and beard, and a foul odor, tried to shake Kuroto’s hand, with tears streaming down his face.
“…………!”
The poor man’s face was crumpled in tears of emotion.
“I’ve been waiting for you since I read about you in the newspaper, don’t you recognize me?”
The poor man stroked his face, pulled his long hair back with his hand, and smiled, tears and snot staining his face.
He recognized this lax, sloppy smile.
“Father, ……?
It was his father, Takehiko, who disappeared five years ago, leaving eleven-year-old Kuroto behind. The former head of the Kuronomiya family, who has become a complete pauper, approaches Kuroto with his stick-like arms outstretched, ready to embrace him.
Kuroto rejected his father by stepping back and said to his father,
“You are alive!? That’s …… it’s. I’m glad to hear that……”
With no particular emotion, he alternately looked at his father, who was dirty and thin, and Izaya, who stood pouting. He tried to introduce them to each other.
” Izaya. This is my father. He’s alive. Father, as you probably know, this is Princess Izaya Shironomiya.”
“Oh, yes. …… It’s been a while, Uncle.”
Takehiko looked at Izaya with a startled expression.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is this, Your Highness? Why are you in Gameria? Did you by any chance accept Kuroto’s proposal?”
Without sensing the mood, he relentlessly rehashed the past, which he didn’t need to. He paid no attention to Kuroto, while Izaya had stopped moving.
“It’s a good match for you! Please accept Kuroto as an adopted son-in-law of the royal family, please, please!”
It seems that his brain, which has always been bad, has gotten worse over the past five years. He just slammed his delusions straight down on Izaya.
” Oh, uh, ……. No. It’s not like that at al,…….”
Izaya’s cheeks blushed and she looked at Kuroto as if she was troubled.
Kuroto looked at the street with a sigh and stopped the cab that was coming.
“I’m sorry, Izaya. You can leave now. I’ll take my father into the office.”
“Oh, yeah…….”
“See you soon. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
Izaya looked down a little sadly, but quickly regained her sturdy expression and smiled at Kuroto.
“……Ah. I’ll see you again. It was a short time, but I had a lot of fun today.”
She has a smile that makes the atmosphere itself glow, which is different from her usual interesting and tight expression.
The smile, which came as a surprise, shot through the center of Kuroto.
He groaned inaudibly.
Tskk, Cute.
He put on his best face to keep his inner turmoil from being perceived.
“Take care of yourself.”
“Yes. I hope you find your way.”
With that, Izaya settled into the back of the cab and drove off into the night.
“Oh, Kuroto. Kuroto……. I’m glad to see you’re doing so well,……, stopping a cab all by yourself. I heard that you have fifty million dollars? That’ll pay off my debts in no time at all. You’re my son, Kuroto ……”
“Father, I understand. Please come to the office. ……”
He took his crying father in his arms and walked up the stainless steel stairs in front of the rundown apartment building. Rather than being happy to see him again, he was more worried about leaving Izaya and hoped he wouldn’t bring any trouble with him.
◆
Four months later…
July had arrived, and as the air conditioning in the rickety office began to roar, Kuroto’s angry voice echoed through the trading room.
“Father! Another arbitrary transaction!”
With his nape hanging in the air, he shouted at his father from up close.
He spat out the orange juice he had been drinking, wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his expensive suit, and lifted his puzzled eyes from the sofa.
“No, don’t worry, Kuroto. It’ s going to be profitable, after all, it has Kyle’s seal of approval. You’ll make money, I promise you.”
Kuroto’s eyes bared in anger.
“I hear you’re shorting Thorn Dark! I told you not to do that!”
“But how can I not do it when everyone else in Kronos is doing it……?”
“I told you not to use my money without my permission! Father is penniless, isn’t he? And that’s a lot of money!”
Kuroto’s main account is diverted from the account that Takehiko opened when he immigrated to Gameria, so Takehiko can take Kuroto’s money in and out at will. This has happened several times in the past, but the amounts were so small that we turned a blind eye. But this time it was more than $10 million, and he couldn’t overlook it.
“You can’t talk to your father like that! I’m broke and I’m trying to win! Don’t worry, if this works, you’ll get your money back plus 20 million dollars! You’ve got to ride this big wave, Kuroto! Trust your father!”
Takehiko finally relented and gave him a thumbs up with a smile on his face.
Kuroto was tempted to lament why this man was his father, but he suppressed his emotions when he noticed JJ and the other staff members looking at them with amusement.
Once you’ve shorted a stock, you can’t buy it back before the price drops. Once you sell a stock, you have to wait for the right time to make a profit.
“When is the deadline for buyback?”
” Let’s see, August 8th.”
“What!?”
There’s only a little less than a month left. Kuroto hurriedly checked the price movements of Thorn Dark’s stock in the brokerage firm’s data. For the past month, the price has been hovering around seven hundred dollars and has not moved. Four months ago, the stock price was $350, but after Kyle’s massive buying spree, it nearly doubled. But now it has stopped moving and is showing signs of going down.
It’ s time to sell.
If Kuroto was Kyle, he would sell his Thorn Dark shares now. Kyle would make twice as much as he invested, the price would collapse even more, and all of us, including Kronos who sold short, would make a lot of money. And yet, for some reason, Kyle refuses to budge. If the price doesn’t collapse in another month, he’ll have to buy back the shares he shorted at a higher price, and Kronos will be dealt a fatal blow.
“Why isn’t Kyle moving?”
He asked JJ, the number one member of Kronos.
“He’s reluctant to sell, saying it’s still going up. I’d like to see him sell soon, but he’s the chief, so he must have an idea.”
JJ was at ease, putting all his trust in Kyle.
Kuroto couldn’t help but be curious. The 28,000 shares that his father had bought were the source of a huge profit, but also brought with it the risk of financial ruin. The losses from buying are limited to the amount invested, but the losses from short selling have no ceiling, and once you lose, you could be saddled with a huge debt.
“I’m going to Kyle’s.”
Unable to stay, Kuroto put on his hunting cap and called a cab.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.”
“Don’t follow me!”
Rejecting his father like a plague god, he left the office alone.
◆
In his office on the eighty-fifth floor of the Empire State Building, Kyle welcomed Kuroto with a smile and offered him a couch.
“Mr. Takehiko did a short sale of $10 million. He’s the biggest investor in Kronos. You’ve got a great father. He’ s so bold, he’s not afraid of risk at all.
Kuroto couldn’t have looked more disappointed.
“He doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing. I’m concerned about it, so just sell already.”
Kyle scratched his head apologetically as he began to explain his problem.
” About that. The company president who approached me about this was quite a pest.”
“…………?”
“There are 300,000 shares of Thorn Dark stock on the market. I’ve already bought 290,000 of them. There are only 10,000 shares left, so there’s no way the price will fall any further.”
“……………………”
“When the deadline comes, Kronos will have to buy back what he sold short. The stock price will go up as he buys back the few remaining shares on the market, and it will quickly reach an unbelievably high price. If I sell my 290,000 shares at that point, Kronos will have to buy them back, no matter how expensive they are. In other words, all of Kronos will have to take on an astronomical debt in order to buy my overpriced shares.”
As he listened, Kuroto’s back began to swell. If Kyle doesn’t do anything, Kronos will go beyond broke and become one of the biggest debtors in Fall Street.
“Sell it quickly!”
He shouted at him, but Kyle didn’t lose the calm and relaxed demeanor typical of an upper-class white man.
“That’s the point. If I care about my friends, I should sell now, but if I don’t and wait for the deadline, I can probably make a profit of 300 million to 1 billion dollars. If I betray my friends and take all their assets, I’ll be one step closer to becoming the King of Fall Street. God is cruel, isn’t he? What a tough choice. It’s been really bothering me lately, I couldn’t sleep until after ten o’clock at night.”
Kuroto turned pale and looked at Kyle, who said this with a healthy complexion.
” …………………… Hey. ……………… You can’ t be serious ……… ……………”
“You can take Kronos’s friends or you can take a billion dollars. Now, Kuroto, if you were in this situation, what would you do?”
Kyle said smilingly and looked at Kuroto.
The smile on his face indicated that he had already made his decision.
Kuroto replied slowly, his face pale.
“I’m not going to pretend to be a good guy. But I’m not going to act shallowly either. A person who cheats others and steals their wealth to enrich himself is no better than an animal.”
But Kyle’s smile never faltered.
“The demonic spirits that live in the Fall Street are not strangers. The evil spirits of rivers and mountains living in Fall Street are just like that.”
“Do you know what shame is?”
“Use your head to outsmart your rivals and make money. Isn’t that the basis of business?”
Kyle’s choice was already apparent.
He would not sell his shares until Thorn Dark’s stock had skyrocketed, and he would use the Kronos members as a pawn to make himself a few hundred million dollars. It is not humanly possible for Kronos to take on an astronomical debt for his feelings, even though Kronos responded to Kyle’s request for help and initiated the short sale.
This guy is possessed by a monster.
A pathetic monster whose goal is to expand itself …….
Kuroto was more than stunned. He was weak.
He even lost the will to look up.
What the hell is this guy?
What the hell is this town?
“Kuroto, this is your last lesson. Do not believe in friendship on Fall Street. Congratulations, you’ve completed your studies at Fall Street University. I know you will rise again. Don’t let this stop you from getting back up and coming at me. I’ll take you seriously and get you into debt again.”
In spite of the fact that he had pushed his partner ( Kuroto ) who had been with him for more than four years to the depths of hell, Kyle put on a fresh smile and put his pride on his chest as if to say that this was the way of life of a market maker.
Kuroto’s consciousness involuntarily left his body and almost wandered into the air.
His humanity is so far removed that he can’t understand it at all.
“Are you insane?”
“Maybe I’m crazy. But I’ m having a great time.”
“This is fun?
“Oh, yeah. I’m very happy. Soon I will be the King of Fall Street. The king of world finance, the richest man in the world.”
Kyle’s eyes began to glow with a mysterious light as he wobbled his crossed legs.
The out of tune melody of a series of mismatched chords drifted into Kuroto’s ears. It was a broken melody, like a broken music box, that he had heard when he first met Kyle.
“I just couldn’t get Izaya out of my mind”
Kyle suddenly veers off on a tangent.
Kuroto lifted his tired face, looking suspicious.
“I liked her even more when she came to my office the other day with her curt attitude. I really like the way she behaved, her every gesture was like a particle of light. It must be the inherent desire of the male organism to dominate such a vivacious, intelligent and graceful woman.”
What the hell is this guy talking about?
“It seems that she is the first princess of Hinono, right? Now that I’ve got everything, I can’t help but want what I can’t have.”
He managed to understand what Kyle was trying to say, and once again, Kuroto felt weak from the bottom of his heart.
“Hey, pedophile.”
” What is it, yellow monkey?”
“Don’t call Izaya names with your rotten mouth. It’s disgusting.”
Kyle looked up at the ceiling and laughed.
“You’re jealous. That’s unusual. Are you also in love with Izaya after all?”
Kuroto with a barely perceptible sneer.
“She’s just a childhood friend. I know her well, but I also know her temperament. A despicable lowlife like you is not even in Izaya’s mind.”
Kyle glared at Kuroto’s anger with a superior glare.
“I see. Kuroto, it seems that we are in a love triangle.”
”Oh? A soundless breath escaped from Kuroto.
“Fall Street’s financial magnate, the first princess of Hinoo, and a penniless criminal. It’s a triangular relationship that transcends national borders, woven by three people with completely different positions and statuses. A love story on a grand scale is about to begin here and now.”
The moment he said that, he was pissed.
“There is no such relationship!”
“It’s about to begin, aren’t you excited?”
“That’s not going to happen! Let me tell you, a royal cannot enter into a marriage of his own free will. It is up to the royal family to decide who to marry, and Izaya has no choice in the matter. There is no way that such a horrible relationship can ever be established.”
Kyle smiled contentedly as he explained the conventions of the royal family.
“Don’t forget that in the near future I will be able to move the White House as well. At the touch of a finger, I can destroy Hinoo and destroy tradition.”
Kuroto glared at Kyle with a deadly look in his eyes.
This is not a bluff. Kyle’s victory in the Thorn Dark stock market will propel him to the top of Fall Street, where he will eventually be able to run the legislature, the media, and interest groups at will. This would give him the power to manipulate the president’s aides and intervene in national policy.
“If I can destroy the Hinoo army and dismantle the royal family. Izaya will be mine.”
“……………………”
“It’s a fun future indeed. With everything I have, what could be a better way to pass the time?
Kyle’s haunting smile illuminated Kuroto.
He would start a war to take Izaya alone, and then destroy Hinoo as well. It’s the dream of a complete idiot, but there’s no sign that Kyle is joking. In the bottom of his glowing jade eyes, you can see his abnormal obsession with Izaya.
This guy is serious.
He is really trying to cause a war between nations in order to get Izaya…….
A moment later, the image of Kyle toying with Izaya appeared in Kuroto’s field of vision.
Might is right.
Might is right.
Gameria’s national motto rang out in Kuroto’s head, and the transparent Izaya was dyed in Kyle’s despicable colors.
In a moment, a strong feeling comes up to him.
I can’t let that happen.
I’m not going to let that happen.
The edge of his mouth hung diagonally upward.
“You can’t.”
Kuroto’s eyes focused straight on Kyle with a fearless smile.
“As long as I’m here, you’ll never get what you want.”
Without any thought, a boiling thought gushes out of his mouth.
Kyle made a slight mocking smile with the tip of his mouth.
“What can you possibly do?”
“I’m an all-round genius. As long as I find a way to do it, I’ll get it done.”
“That’s a big statement. You’ve come a long way. How will you stop me?”
When he asked, he quickly gave the answer he had in mind.
“I will take command of the Hinoo Army with my own hands.”
” Ha…..”
“You’re right, if things continue as they are, Hinoo will be destroyed. In order to save that small, impoverished nation, they need a hero with superior intellect, oratory skills, and overwhelming charisma to lead the army. No one has those qualities except for me.”
With a confident look on his face, he proudly stated his idea at this moment, as if he had been thinking about it for a long time.
In other words, he was bluffing.
But if he didn’t call this kind of bluff, he wouldn’t be able to stop being angry.
Kyle surrendered himself deeply to the sofa as if to make fun of him, and lit a cigar.
He exhaled a long puff of smoke and smiled slightly at Kuroto.
“You said that you tried to get eliminate the crown prince, and that you were kicked out of Hinoo. In other words, you are a criminal, a bandit and an unpatriotic person. How can you hold command of the national army?”
“I have royal blood in my veins. I have enough qualifications to be crowned. Now, if I can show that I can do it without question and win over the people and the government, my dream will become a reality.”
“You’re so optimistic.”
“In four and a half years, I’ve risen from a ragged orphan to the top of Fall Street, and I’m convinced. Nothing is impossible for me. I can be the Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and I can even become the King myself.”
While bluffing with the momentum of the moment, Kuroto was beginning to realize that he was right.
Fortunately, at the age of ten, he qualified to board a warship as an ensign cadet through the special student system. He decided to return to Hinoo and join the navy and air force, first aiming to become an operations chief at the United Fleet Headquarters. It would be a decisive battle between the flying fleets that would decide the course of the war against Gameria. If a genius like himself is involved in the planning of the operation, he might gain some recognition. And if he can rise through the ranks of the military, become Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet, gain the support of the people, somehow oust the idiot Crown Prince Kazuma, and make himself King, then he can take control everything.
It’s a dream that’s too big, too dim, too vague, too hazy.
But even when he first came to this country, he couldn’t have imagined himself as a young investor in Fall Street.
For now, he’s going to dream big.
Then he could walk toward that dream.
It may not come true, but he can come close to it. It’s not a bad idea to try and see how close he could get.
Above all, he didn’t want Izaya to be toyed with by such a prick.
Hinoo is not going to be trampled by the Gamerians in the future.
“Well, yes, I’ve found my path. I thank you, Kyle, for your help.”
A new wind was blowing through Kuroto’s body. The heat that had been building up in his chest was now seeping into the ends of his limbs and into the corners of his soul.
With a fearless smile on his face, he declared once again.
“I will save Hinoo with my own hands.”
“……………………”
“I will wipe out the Gamerian fleet from this world and protect Hinoo’s independence.”
His heart leapt at the prospect.
He is not a market maker. The hero of Hinoo is the path he should take.
His own personal high road.
Kyle’s sneer deepened as he slowly exhaled a cloud of purple smoke and gave a sarcastic round of applause.
“I see. If you’re going to be a hero for saving the country, I might as well be the president of this country. It would make the love triangle more exciting.”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all. If you can do it, do it.”
“You, too, must not give up halfway. The hero of Hinoo and the President of Gameria are engaged in a fleet battle over Izaya, a beautiful princess. The game is selfish, romantic and grand. If this game is approved, it will keep me occupied for another decade or so.”
Kuroto responded with words of encouragement.
“Izaya will not be harmed as long as I am here.
“Great, things are heating up, the world’s most unwanted love triangle is about to go down in history.”
He’s afraid that this stupidity will become contagious if he keeps up with Kyle’s stupid talk. Kuroto sat up from the sofa and took his hunting cap from the hat rack.
“Farewell, Kyle. Next time I see you, you’ll be making me laugh with your funny crying face.”
“Goodbye, yellow monkey. The next time we meet, I will make Izaya mine right in front of you. Go ahead and cry out in your funny voice.”
After exchanging a few schoolboy taunts, Kuroto turned his back on Kyle and left the office. Without looking back, he boarded the elevator and headed for the ground.
◆
When he returned to his office, he told JJ all about Kyle’s scheme.
JJ, in a panic, immediately called the Kronos members to inform them, but it was already too late. With only 10,000 shares left on the market, there was no choice but to buy back Kyle’s shares at his asking price.
“What should I do, Kuroto? If we don’t do something, we’ ll be doomed again!”
As his father and JJ panicked, Kuroto shrugged his shoulders.
“There’s nothing we can do. We have to pay a painful tuition. I recommend bankruptcy.”
“Oh, come on, chief, don’t be so rash.”
“It was probably for this day that Kyle organized the group Kronos. It’s all a conspiracy carefully laid out by Kyle.”
With a look of desperation on his face, JJ decides to go into Kyle’s office with a few other members right now and hides a folding knife in his pocket. There was a security guard at the entrance of the building, so he couldn’t bring in any weapons, and there were strong guards inside the office as well. There was nothing they could do with their weapons.
After checking that the staff had left the office with angry expressions on their faces, Kuroto quickly began to pack up his belongings. A frightened Takehiko asked him what he was doing.
“I’m going back to Hinoo. All of my personal assets that I have built up here will be entrusted to your father, so please manage them as you see fit.”
“What? You’re going back? To Hinoo? Why?”
“I’ve done what I had to do. I’ll leave you to it.”
He packed up his belongings in a single handbag and handed the office key to Takehiko.
“So I can have the contents of the account, right? I’ll take care of it. I’ll multiply it tenfold or twentyfold in no time.”
He was tempted to question his father about the basis of his confidence, but decided not to. According to Kuroto’s readings, Thorn Dark’s stock would soar to nearly $14 million and he would lose all of his current $40 million in personal assets. It’s fortunate that he won’t be in debt, but he’s not sure how his father will survive after that.
“Please don’t just throw yourself overboard. If something goes wrong, you can just disappear again.”
“Yes, I know, I’ll leave you to it.”
Kuroto smiled wryly at his father, who for some reason was proud of him, and said goodbye.
He walked out into the street, hailed a cab, and headed for Pennsylvania Station. He would take the transcontinental railroad to San Francisco, and from there, after fifteen days on a freighter, he would return to his old home in Hinoo.
I guess I’ll have to say goodbye to Gameria.
Feeling somewhat sentimental, he looked out the window at the skyscrapers drifting by.
He had been kicked out of Hinoo, become an investor in this country, built up a huge fortune in five and a half years, and lost it in a day. But he learned a lot of things and found the real path to follow.
As he looked up at the narrow sky, the words Izaya had spoken to him on the road four months ago came flooding back to his ears.
[Isn’t that what you should do?]
[To remind the Gamerians that Hinoo people are humans.]
Yes, of course. I will use my innate power for that purpose.
“I will teach you, Gameria.”
Kyle’s sarcastic smile appeared in the narrow sky, and Kuroto hung up the edge of his mouth.
“Don’t underestimate Hinoo.”
Just as he was about to leave, the cab arrived at the station.
The taxi arrived at the station just as he was about to leave. In the blue sky, he could see himself leading the Hinoo United Fleet in an aerial battle against the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria.
Notes/Thoughts:
One thing that has been bothering me is that the story uses “made up” countries such Hinoo and Gameria, but uses real cities like Los Angeles and New York??? I don’t know if that is an MTL mistake or intentional, but when I doubled checked, it appears it’s intentional? I’d be more than willing to share this chapter’s raw to someone who can read Japanese to confirm this. Welp, I hoped you enjoyed this VERY LONG chapter.
A ton of towed shells were ejected at twice the speed of sound, turning into a fireball.
Captain Izaya Shironomiya, commander of the “Ibuki”, a flying destroyer that belonged directly to the royal family, stood at the forward observation post and watched the trajectory of the incoming fireballs.
There were three red-hot parabolas.
Like a projectile from the heavens, they raced across the starry sky, ready to strike Ibuki with their scythes of destruction.
Ibuki is currently flying in the floating zone. The ocean below is obscured by the colors of the night. Izaya’s crimson eyes reflect the eternal starry sky, the great galaxy, and the trajectory of the projectiles tearing through it.
Overhead, the enemy’s suspended light bombs emitted a silvery glow, illuminating the Ibuki as it flew through the starry sky. The enemy had already seen them, but the Ibuki, which had no main gun, could not see them because it could not fire light bombs.
A tense voice came from the lookout through a voice pipe.
“Enemy ships, open fire!”
The calm voice of Second Lieutenant Myuu Togakushi, a watchman at the open-air command post on the roof of the forward watchtower, came through the pipe.
“Twelve hundred and twenty degrees left. Distance 15,000. One battleship, two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers. All are airships.”
The voice, quiet but strangely clear, conveyed an outline of the enemy. It was a feat by Myuu, who measured the distance only by the flashes of light that accompanied the firing.
“Course 220 degrees. Speed 23 knots. Single vertical formation. No marine fleet in sight in the vicinity.”
Myuu’s report continued to fly. In the hundreds of night exercises she has participated in so far, Myuu has proven the accuracy of her night vision. Izaya accepts Myuu’s report, believing her to be one of the best lookouts in the United Fleet. Without the maritime fleet, they could concentrate on the enemy air fleet alone.
Is this course of action to enter the Mariveles blockade?
It’s probably the advance team of the Grand Ocean Fleet. It may have the capability of reconnaissance.
Sensing the enemy’s intentions, she immediately grabbed the voice pipe leading to the communications room.
“This is the captain of the Ibuki. Ari Base Command. I have discovered the enemy squadron. Our course is 220 degrees and our speed is 23 knots. One battleship, two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers. We are one hundred and twenty nautical miles northwest of Mariveles Fortress. It is believed to be the advance party of the Grand Ocean Fleet, which is planning to join up with the Far Eastern Fleet. This ship will now commence contact.”
The moonlight shining into the forward watchtower brightened her starry red eyes, white porcelain skin, silvery white hair flowing from the hem of her cap, and her large velvet cloak lined with red velvet. She wore a white blouse, a corset with a loin cloth, black shorts, and a sword belt around her waist with a large sword for honor. Her shiny white thighs and long legs were covered with military boots. Although she was only eighteen years old, the appearance of the first princess of the Hinoo Kingdom, with her combination of elegance and glamour, wavered in the blue moonlight.
While she was reporting, four towed projectiles were spreading their destructive wake across the starry sky.
These were the first round for trajectory measurement, so they were unlikely to hit. Unlike ships on the sea, which create a column of water in the vicinity when they land, when dealing with airships, a shell that misses will pass through space without creating a column of water, making it impossible to observe the impact. For this reason, it is standard practice in fleet air warfare to first check the trajectory of the projectile by using a towed projectile with a flaming trail in space, and then begin firing in earnest after adjusting the various parameters.
The eerie whirring sound of a towed projectile, which would have snapped the Ibuki in half if it had struck, approached and flew over the Ibuki at an altitude of 1,200 meters. The three tow trails, resembling the claws of an invisible giant beast, tore through the airspace a hundred and fifty meters ahead of the Ibuki and fell toward the sea.
All far away. But.
“Accurate.”
To Izaya’s murmur, Second Lieutenant Rio Kazenomiya, who was standing beside her, nodded.
“Father said it might have a fire-control radar.”
Rio’s words were calm, without a hint of battlefield tension. It was better than being nervous and screaming.
The forward lookout was pitch black so that the glass mirror would not obscure their view or let the lights leak out to the enemy. Without the moonlight, the two of them were invisible in the darkness. The only light is the thin radium glow of the instrument panel. They knew each other’s position by word of mouth, and searched the starry sky for the enemy ship that was 15,000 meters away on their port side.
Neither of them could see the ship that Myuu was looking at yet. However, they did see the flash of light that had just appeared. Izaya wanted to sail with the enemy fleet, that is to say, to run alongside it and strike it.
Izaya grabbed the voice pipe leading to the wheelhouse and said
“Fifteen degrees to the helm.
In a calm voice, she ordered a change of direction.
“Fifteen degrees to port rudder.”
At the same time as the response from the wheelhouse, a seven-colored spray of Cerasus particles erupted from Ibuki’s bow, and the ship slowly began to change course to the right.
“Return. Center rudder. Engineering, third warp speed.”
Waving her command rod to the wheelhouse and the engine command center, Izaya grabbed the microphone for the ship’s internal broadcast. She explained the current situation to the soldiers in the engine room, communications center, and galley, who could not see what was happening in the outside world.”
“Attention. This is the captain. While on patrol in the waters near Manira, the ship encountered the Gamerian fleet and came into contact with it. It is believed that the enemy is aiming to enter the port of Mariveles. We’ve already notified the command center, but there’s no point in just waiting for allied ships to arrive. This ship will now launch a long-range torpedo attack on the enemy fleet.”
As soon as she said this, the joyful cheers of the soldiers came back to her through the voice pipes.
“Your Highness!” “Your Highness!” “I’ll do my best, Your Highness!”
The soldiers accepted the recklessness of launching an air battle against an enemy fleet of five flying battleships with a single flying destroyer with an optimistic response. Izaya nodded broadly with a straight face and continued.
“Training is like actual fighting. Actual battle is like training. If you do it calmly, you can do it. That’s how much training we’ve had. Let’s all work together for victory.”
When she said this in an interesting way, more and more enthusiastic cheers came back from inside the ship.
“Your Highness!” “Your Highness!” “I’ll do my best, Your Highness!
In response, Izaya’s mouth curved up in a frown, wondering if they understood the situation.
In the Navy and Air Force, where military regulations are strict, the unnecessarily cheerful atmosphere of the Ibuki completely stands out. It is the captain who decides the nature of the extremely closefisted nature of a warship. Even though they follow the same military regulations, the personality of the captain creates a surprisingly different atmosphere in a warship.
About two years ago, Izaya boarded the Ibuki as the commander of the air raid, and last year she was appointed captain. Ever since then, Izaya has been trying to create a bright, energetic, and open atmosphere on this ship.
Izaya believes that the famous quote by Prime Minister Ringland, “War is a game played with a smile,” is true. Life on a warship, with no guarantee of life tomorrow, tends to be dark. It is precisely because we must endure harsh and difficult days that we must try our best to act cheerfully and vigorously, otherwise we will not be able to fight as one for the Ibuki when the time comes.
Because she believes this, Izaya encourages the sailors of Ibuki to keep smiling, to act cheerfully and energetically, and to be considerate of each other. Corporal punishment, including iron fist punishment, was prohibited, and the control of shipboard morals was left to the discretion of the deck officers.
As a result, the 200 crew members of the Ibuki are able to maintain discipline and live happily together like a family.
Before she knew it, the Ibuki had become a fan club with Izaya and Rio, the two princesses, as her idols. Each member’s requests reach the forward watchtower through a voice pipe.
“Himesama,” “Himesama, a word, too,” “Give me a word, Hime.”
Hime is Rio’s nickname. Rio’s father, Genzaburo Kazenomiya, is the Chief of the Military Command and the younger brother of the King of Hinoo. Aboard the same flying destroyer as the two princesses from the direct lineage of the King of Hinoo, the two hundred crew members were divided into two groups, one favoring Izaya and the other favoring Rio, and spent their time exchanging the princess goods they had acquired during the landing.
In response to the requests, Izaya handed the microphone to Rio.
She had long chestnut brown hair and clear jade eyes. The corset skirt accentuates her breasts, especially on a woman like Rio, where the tie forms a sharp angle and the tip of the tie points indiscriminately here and there as she walks, causing the crew to revere her as a “broken compass”. Rio has an innocent smile and cheerful words of encouragement, without any consideration of how her face and style might affect the sailors.
“Let’s all do our best! If we do what we always do, we’ll make it! Let’s have a party together when we’re done!”
[Himesama!] [Himesama!] [I’ll do my best, Himesama!]
“Thank you, everyone! I love you all so much!”
[Oh!] [Aaah!] [Himesamaaa!]
Even though they are being bombarded by the enemy fleet, the inside of the ship has turned into a concert hall with Rio and her fans yelling and responding.
Idiots.
Izaya mumbles secretly in her mind, and invisible sweat trickles down her temples. She has been thinking about how she may have given them a little too much freedom, but at any rate, it was probably a good thing that wthey were all united in a deadly place and all fired up for war. So, Izaya took the microphone from Rio and put it to his mouth.
“Order…… Left air raiders, same navigation. I expect you all to fight hard, over.”
When she gave the order without any emotion, the loudest cheer of the day erupted inside the ship. Soon after, the lively commands of the soldiers came from all over the ship.
On the upper deck of the heavy destroyer Ibuki, there are four sets of four launchers from No. 1 to No. 5 on the starboard side and four sets of launchers from No. 6 to No. 10 on the port side.
Izaya grabbed the voice pipe to the air mine launch command center and said
“Target the enemy fleet, port side strike all together.”
From the other end of the pipe came the raspy voice of the Chief of the Regiment, Sergeant Onizuka Hibiki.
“Yes, Your Highness! Let’s do this you guys, show some guts!”
The two ” demons ” in his name were quite evident, as the sound of his voice, which seemed to tear eardrums even through the voice pipes, echoed through both forward and backward watchtowers. The cheers of the sixty air raiders on the upper deck responded.
Even aboard the Ibuki, the air raid crew was particularly hot and bothered, and no matter what he ordered, they would only respond with “Your Highness”. Izaya once again secretly twisted his head to ask if this was okay, but at any rate, the Ibuki’s will to fight was on fire. It was all good then.
At the same time, the darkness in the distance parted in a horizontal line.
[The enemy fleet is firing!]
A shout from the upper lookout, who was watching the battle area from the top of the floating body.
[Distance 15,000, same course. One hundred and twenty degrees to port, bearing two hundred degrees, speed twenty-one knots.]
At about the same time, Myuu, who was in the open-air command center above Izaya and the others, reported the distance, position, course, and speed. Myuu’s ability to instantly and correctly measure distance and speed using only the flash of light that accompanies a launch has saved Ibuki’s life many times in the past.
“Fifteen degrees to the rudder.”
Izaya calmly ordered a change of direction to the wheelhouse.
If the ship is 15,000 meters away, it is unlikely to be hit if it changes hands at the same time as it fires. Once again, the Cerasus particles sent the bow surging into the air at an altitude of 1,200 meters, and the Ibuki rolled to the left, literally dragging a rainbow trail.
In the distance, the twenty-four fire arrows, which control destruction, soar through the starry sky.
Each ship has a different colored trail. Battleships are red, heavy cruisers are green, and light cruisers are yellow. The hooked claws thrust upward into the sky were pulled upward, and twenty-four tug marks were swung down toward the Ibuki.
“Return. Air Raid Commander, fire your guns.”
Izaya hurried the Air Raid Commander on the bridge in front of the upper deck through the voice box.
[I can’t see the enemy ship yet, ma’am!]
Izaya’s voice was immediately answered by the rasping voice of the Air Raid Commander Kakitsubata. Izaya let out a mosquito-like sigh to avoid being overheard.
“We’re at a distance of 15,000, same speed, port side 120 degrees, 21 knots.”
She delivered Myuu’s report as it should have been heard by Kakitsubata.
[But the readings from the rangefinder are still …….]
“I want you to do exactly as Myuu says. Please, hurry up.”
If they lingered, the enemy would shoot at them. Frustrated, She waited for Kakitsubata to calculate the angle of fire.
Soon after, Kakitsubata’s voice echoed unreliably through Izaya and the launch tubes.
It’s the captain’s job to guide the ship to the perfect firing point, the Air Raid Commander’s job to determine the firing angle – the direction of the torpedo strike determined by the enemy ship’s course and speed – so that the enemy can hit the ship even if it evades, and Sergeant Onizuka, to do as he’s told.
[First torpedo speed, firing angle 30, opening angle 1 degree! It’s time to go to work, you guys, risk your lives for Her Highness, shoot even if it kills you, shoot and then die. ────!]
He scolded everyone in a loud voice. A moment later, dozens of sailors who were making final adjustments to the air mines on their respective launch tubes on deck, screamed back in a voice that was filled with emotion.
[I’ll do it, Your Highness!] [Please watch me, Your Highness!]
Izaya grabbed the voice pipe to the control room to position the ship at the best firing point.
[Incoming enemy fire!]
At the same time, twenty-four pillars of flame engulfed the perimeter of the Ibuki.
[…………!]
A mass of iron weighing between 200 and 1,000 kilograms, spewed out by the main guns of light cruisers, heavy cruisers, and battleships, rushed directly overhead at a speed of over 600 meters per second, far exceeding the speed of sound. The shock wave shook the 170-meter-long Ibuki up and down, left and right.
There was no direct hit. But it grazed directly above. Cerasus particles, reacting to the physical energy, kicked up a rainbow in the starry sky, and a tri-colored of scorched trails connected the heavens and the sea.
In the battle airspace painted with the color of flames, however, the Ibuki flies straight for the firing point.
“All the way. The next one is coming soon.”
Rio announces, pointing to the airspace to her left.
If you look hard enough, you can see a series of flashes of light, and again many scorched trails cut through the starry sky. Not even a minute had passed since the first shot was fired. It was a brilliant first observation rapid-fire shot by the enemy. A new burst of light flashed directly above the Ibuki, turning night into day.
The enemy is equal to us in morale and skill, but our technology is ten years ahead of theirs.
The only thing the our enemy has is courage.
They couldn’t change course because they had already communicated the angle of fire for the tubes. They had no choice but to continue on this course. It’s dangerous, but it’s the nature of a flying destroyer to shoot out air mines at the cost of its own life. The crew of the Ibuki was built for the purpose of engaging the fleet single-handedly. They would lose their purpose if they ran away at this point.
[Oi, Captain, change the direction of the ship. We’ll try again here!]
Kakitsubata shouted. It seems he was scared. But if they changed the direction now, they would have to measure the distance again and calculate a new angle of fire. There was no time for that.
“We’ll stay here.”
[You’re saying you’re going to jump into the battle field?]
“Yes.”
Kakitsubata shrieked back.
Instead of taking a direct hit and dying, the enemy was to be bombarded with 20 rounds of torpedos. The crew of the Ibuki have finished their preparations already. They didn’t say a word about it, until they were able to stab the enemy fleet with their own bodies.
Almost at the firing point. Izaya grabbed the voice pipe.
“Port side, begin firing!
At the same time as the order, the gunner on the navigation bridge sounded the ship’s internal buzzer.
The buzzing …… and the deafening warning sound filled the entire ship…
A moment after the buzzing stops, the gunner on the navigation bridge presses the fire button, and the captain on the upper deck raises his voice in the loudest voice of the night.
“Fire ────────!”
At the same time, the air mine launchers were raised at two-second intervals. The sound of air, like a giant balloon rapidly deflating, gushed out of the five tubes one after another, and the secret weapon of the United Fleet, the “air thunderbolt,” flew into the sea of stars in a spray of seven colors.
The oxygen-powered topedoes, which have the outer shell of a floating stone, travel at 50 knots from within the floating zone. Targeted airships cannot avoid them by climbing or descending because they cannot navigate outside the floating zone. It can only make horizontal maneuvers limited to an altitude of 1,200 meters.
As far as Izaya knew, this was the first time in the history of fleet air warfare that a long-range nighttime raid on an enemy ship 15,000 meters away was possible. Gameria’s torpedoes and air mines had a range of 5,000 meters, while Hinoo’s air torpedoes and air mines had a range of 40,000 meters. The enemy fleet would never have thought that the air mines would come from such a long distance. They hoped that the enemy lookouts will not notice the splashes of light that the air torpedoes were kicking up.
As a fan-shaped pattern of 20 firing lines was formed to cover the enemy ship’s expected course, Izaya grabbed the voice pipe to the wheelhouse and said,
“Full rudder! Maximum warp speed! We’re leaving the war zone!”
Once they’d fired, there was no use for them here. The only thing left to do was to flee at full speed out of range of the gunfire.
Feeling the frustratingly slow turn of the ship’s body, her eyes followed the air thunderbolts that had been launched from the rear of the ship.
As the seven-colored torpedo trails continued to fly, the twenty firing lines became more and more distant.
If the enemy continues to go straight ahead, it is sure to hit.
Don’t notice it.
At this moment, the seven colors of the Cerasus effect, which glow in response to the movement of objects, are troubling annoyance. If it weren’t for that, the air thunderbolts moving through the darkness would be invisible.
[Ten minutes left until the air thunderbolts hit!]
The voice of the officer on the navigation bridge was heard in one ear just as it was transmitted through the voice tube.
A light beam of destruction descended from the sky and enveloped the area around the Ibuki.
“……!!!”
At the same time, the Cerasus particles reacted to the powerful physical energy, creating an explosion of seven-colored droplets in the floating zone, which, combined with the wake of the three-colored trailing bullets, swirled and danced wildly. It’s was like being caught in a rainbow storm.
Beautiful ……!
This seven-colored storm was a monster that would instantly extinguish the lives of two hundred people, but Izaya recognized the beauty of destruction in it. It is not a bad way to die, being embraced by the burning arms of this monster. The sky of the battlefield is so far away from the ground that it even makes one feel such emotion.
[Incoming!]
The voice of the officer brought her back to her senses. They were completely caught in the enemy’s shell spray field. If they continued to be exposed for any length of time, they would soon be hit by a direct hit.
“Change hands every fifty seconds, ten degrees!”
[Ten degrees on the rudder!]
The exchange with the wheelhouse naturally became intense. A new seven-colored bow pattern was painted over the serrated tapestry created by the enemy shells, and the Ibuki changed hands for the first time today.
[Seven minutes till air thunderbolt hits!]
[Enemy ships are firing simultaneously!]
The voice pipes in the forward watchtower quivered with the voices of the watchmen one after another. The air thunderbolt trails of the 20 projectiles that were just launched from the back of the ship melted into the color of stars.
Again…
The red, green, and yellow colored sky throwing spears pierce the edge of Ibuki.
The rainbow storm struck with a shockwave.
[Incoming!]
A whirlpool of seven colors engulfs the Ibuki, and the ship is tossed about like a leaf in a stormy sea. The cables that connect the floating body to the ship’s hull make a deafening creak that sounds like the scream of the Ibuki.
In the midst of this dreamlike scene, two hundred deaths are steadily approaching.
[The dispersal field is narrowing, if we continue like this, we will be hit directly!]
The wolfish voice of Kakitsubata rang through the voice pipes. Swallowing her words to scold Kakitsubata’s useless comment, Izaya stomped her feet, endured the violent shaking, and put the voice pipe to the wheelhouse to her mouth.
“Five degrees to rudder!”
[Five degrees to rudder, come on!]
The ship repeatedly changed direction. It was just a matter of time before the enemy would observe the trajectory of the shells, adjust the firing parameters, and narrow the dispersal field. Nothing more could be done now except to escape from the enemy’s projected trajectory and run away at full speed while meticulously changing directions.
[Five minutes to go until the air thunderbolts land!]
The only thing that saved them was the reports from the measurement crew. Please endure for five more minutes, Ibuki. As Izaya prayed, the shout of the second watchman at the rear guard station reached her ears.
[The enemy battleship has changed direction!]
“What?”
Izaya who always maintains a calm demeanor, showed a slight agitation. She puts on her binoculars to look for the enemy’s shadow in the airspace behind the ship, and indeed, she could see the seven colors of the Cerasus effect in the airspace far, far away.
“…………!!!”
She barely managed to stifle a click of her tongue. As the watchman said, it is the seven-colored bow wave that is generated when a huge ship changes direction. That meant the enemy noticed the approach of the air thunderbolts and changed hands to escape the line of fire.
*That’s ridiculous.
The enemy easily saw through the first great long-distance torpedo attack in the history of fleet air battle. Although they shot so that they could hit the enemy even if the enemy avoided them, the long-distance torpedo strikes have a wider firing line interval, so it is not so difficult to avoid them if they are detected early.
On the other side, Rio also put her binoculars in the same airspace and commented.
“Did they see the lightning in the sky?”
“…….Night time and seven thousand five hundred meters away? You’d have to be Myuu to see it.”
“…… then …… radar?”
“…… Hmm. It’s possible.”
Izaya stifles her agitation and replies.
*If that’s the case, we’re in big trouble.
*We can win this battle.
Just as she was thinking this, she heard the ominous spinning sound again, and four burning pillars of fire shot up on the right side of the Ibuki.
“……!!!”
It was not opaque. But all of them were on the right side. If the ship was steered a little deeper earlier, the Ibuki would have been pierced by a flaming spear and shattered. Rio muttered to himself.
“I knew it, the radar sighting system ……!”
As soon as they changed course, the enemy detected them by radar and rained shells down on their altered direction. If it was using electromagnetic waves to measure and aim, it would be far more accurate and efficient than conventional observation fire based on human observation. Electromagnetic waves can detect matter in the airspace without regard to darkness or clouds. Electromagnetic waves can see what the human eye cannot.
Izaya barely managed to swallow the despair that was about to spill out of her.
Even Izaya’s slight moans and clicks of her tongue are transmitted to the rest of the ship through the voice pipes. The crew must not be able to sense the captain’s agitation.
She looked over the battle airspace and confirmed that the green and yellow trajectories were heading back to their previous position. That meant that the heavy and light cruisers were firing observation shots, while the battleships were the only ones that could fire radar targeting shots.
“Myuu, can you identify the enemy battleship’s ship type?”
Izaya asked Myuu, who was keeping watch just above, through the voice pipe.
[It’s not an existing battleship. It is believed to be a new type of flying battleship with a forty centimeter port side cannon.]
Izaya nodded her head in agreement. The airship basically had a port side cannon. Because the hull is suspending from the floating body by a suspension cable, if a swivel turret is mounted on the upper deck, the blast from the gunfire will damage the suspension cable. In other words, the enemy will not be able to fire while pursuing with the bow end facing us. If they continue to move away, they can escape the cannon’s firing zone.
[The enemy ship is also changing direction!]
[One minute till the air thunderbolts hit!]
While listening to the reports of the watchmen, Izaya continued her orders to flee at a maximum speed of 30 knots, while meticulously changing direction even further.
The bright red trajectory of the bullet was relentlessly and precisely scraping the Ibuki. No other flying battleship in night time combat could hit a fleeing enemy with such precision. Realizing that she was fighting against a formidable enemy, Izaya made a series of minor maneuver changes and concentrated on widening the distance between her and the enemy.
At close range, where her outstretched hand was almost ripped off, an enemy projectile flew past her, burning. The shock wave was so strong that it could blow away the people on the upper deck.
The starry sky wrinkled. Flames and tornadoes of seven colors danced in the airspace. The air raid crew clung to their launchers and waited for the storm of shells to pass.
The colors of the night are now painted with the seven colors of destruction, reflecting the beauty of a dreamlike battlefield. In the midst of the beautiful fluttering aurora of death and the swirling whirlwind of destruction, the Ibuki’s two stern propellers flared furiously as its suspension cables creaked in an attempt to escape the arms of the Angel of Doom.
[Ten seconds till the air thunderbolts land! Nine, eight. ……]
The countdown from the measurement staff began as they observed the path of the air thunderbolts.
Izaya’s voice trailed off as she prayed for a hit after she had maneuvered the Ibuki like a writhing sea snake.
“…… Four! Three! Two! One! Hit!]
At the same time, the three watchtowers above, behind, and in front of us all sounded at the same time.
[Hit! Hit! Hit!]
Izaya clenched her right fist tightly and stared into the darkness beyond.
Far off in the distance, the liquid metal of the air thunderbolts exploded in a spray of silver.
The slight flash of lightning disappears in an instant, and the darkness returns.
Myuu on the roof of the forward watchtower quietly announces.
[One shot landed on the front of the floating body of the light cruiser at the rear. The other nineteen firing lines have missed their targets.]
Izaya groaned and turned her 20cm binoculars toward the airspace beyond. In the midst of the stardust, the netting catches the enemy light cruiser with its air mines sticking out of its floating body.
◆
The fifth ship of the third squadron of the Gamerian Grand Ocean Fleet, the light cruiser Cherokee, was in chaos.
Ten days earlier, the Cherokee had left its base in Hawaii as the first squadron to join the Gamerian Far East Fleet, which was holed up in the Mariveles Fortress. Today, the Cherokee spotted an enemy flying destroyer on patrol in the nearby waters and opened fire. Just as they were enjoying the air battle show by unilaterally bombarding the fleeing enemy, a spray of metal jets suddenly erupted from the floating object, and the air torpedo that had directly hit them began to pierce them while twisting.
How could the air torpedo hit them?
It was impossible for an air torpedo to travel from a firing point 10,000 meters away. There must have been an enemy aircraft squadron buried in the vicinity, or else they would not have been hit.
They don’t know how, but they can’t stop when they’ve already been hit. If they don’t take action, the ship will crash.
The Cherokee’s captain was on the phone, listening to the reports of the ship’s damage, when he gave an urgent order.
“Lighten the hull, throw out all the bombs and shells! We’ll allow you to wear parachutes, but not to deploy, and anyone who does will be severely punished! Throw away everything that is not your own!”
He raised his voice and went to the anti-aircraft lookout point overhanging the navigation bridge. He looked up at the enemy air mines that stood at the front of the floating body and fiercely struck the interior. Where the hell did this nasty flying eel come from? The only way to deal with it is to lighten the hull and pray that the floating body does not break. The order for all hands to evacuate the ship was given just before the floating body could be completely destroyed.
The high-temperature liquid metal in the warhead of the air thunderbolt melted the surface of the floating body, and a drill was thrust into the melted surface. The front part of the eight-meter-long warhead had already drilled about three meters into the floating body.
The sailors brought out their sniper rifles and shot at the air thunderbolt, but it only made a hole in the outer shell and did not explode. The other sailors, trying to reduce the weight of the ship as much as possible before the floating body collapses. The bottom bomb tank opened and started dumping bombs into the empty sea. The gunners lifted the shells with several men and threw them overboard from the port side.
“Hurry, it’s about to explode, hurry!”
As the captain froth-at-the-mouth scolded, the projectile penetrated eight meters deep into the floating body, where it triggered the delayed-action fuse.
A muffled explosion sounded, and a crack appeared in the front of the floating body. Liquid metal seeped into the crack as the body was filled with liquid metal. The weight of the 5,000-ton hull from which the floating body is suspended accelerated the breakdown, and within ten minutes at the latest, the floating body would crack. If this happens, the floating body will lose its floatation and will have no choice but to crash into the sea.
“No! Run! Runnn!”
The sailors threw off their duties at their own discretion, put on their parachutes, and leapt into the air from the port side, descending 1,200 meters into the ocean below.
“Don’t run, you guys, we haven’t decided to crash yet!”
The captain’s shout of anger did not reach the panic-stricken sailors. The captain’s shouts of anger did not reach the panicked sailors, who ran to the parachute depot, fastened their parachute belts to their bodies, and leapt into the air to escape the crashing ship.
“You idiots ……!”
Gritting his teeth, the captain looked at the floating body. The spot where it was hit was in front of him. They might lose about a quarter of the floating body, but if they kept it light, they could avoid crashing. The turret clusters on this airship were designed for just such a situation, and if unlocked, could be dropped into the ocean. The captain was thinking, how he could avoid the disgrace of being hit by a single destroyer and crashing, when suddenly, the front quarter of the floating body fell off in a heap.
A moment later, the front suspension cable, which had lost its support, flew into the air, and the hull itself tilted downward as if it were pinching forward.
“Damn it! Ouch!”
The sailors who lost their balance and slid on the deck threw themselves into the air, screaming, and opened their parachutes to descend.
“Drop all the hanging turrets! Lighten up and we won’t crash, don’t panic!”
The captain grabbed a voice pipe and shouted to the internal control team to abandon the four hanging turrets at the bottom of the ship. As he listened to the creaking of the suspension ropes hanging from the center and rear of the hull, he realized with the soles of his shoes that the emergency measures were gradually working and the hull was getting lighter.
“We’re wrecked, but we’re not going to crash, and if we run, we’ll be punished severely.”
While scolding the sailors at the top of his voice, the captain confirms that the worst is over. If the hit had been in the middle, the floating body would have broken in half and the hull would have fallen 1,200 meters into the ocean below. Since only a quarter of the ship’s frontal area was ripped off, they could offset the damage by reducing their weight by a quarter. At this rate, they’ll probably have to remove and discard two of the port side guns, but it’s better than losing the engine. As long as they have the engines, they can rebuild the ship again.
“I’m going to ask the heavy cruiser to tow us out. Mariveles is just around the corner, I’m sure it can hold out.”
The captain bit down on his frustration and vowed that he would have to report the existence of this mysterious air torpedo to his superiors later. ……
◆
Izaya took her eyes off the binoculars when she saw the light cruiser, which had been struck by an air thunderbolt, ditch its four drooping turrets and two port guns in midair while tripping forward, and was being towed away by a friendly heavy cruiser.
“I’ve wrecked it. The enemy’s ship will fall. I hope our allies can get to them in time before they enter the fortress.”
According to a telegraphic message, the Second Maritime Fleet, which had been cruising in the nearby waters, was on its way to this airspace as soon as possible. The enemy fleet, which had to tow a light cruiser, would inevitably slow down and would be captured by the Hinoo fleet.
The Ibuki has already completed its departure from the battlefield airspace and has shifted to a second alert position, waiting for the arrival of its allies while maintaining visual contact.
“That’s good work. We had one ship, and they had five.”
“…… Ah. …… But I’m curious about that battleship. ……”
Izaya muttered to herself. For the first time in the history of fleet air warfare, the new flying battleship completely detected the long-range torpedo attack, and avoided the projectiles far in advance. Will the Hinoo United Fleet be able to intercept such a monster when it comes in with ten or twenty ships in a row?
At the nautical chart table beside her, Rio looked over today’s air battle route, which was written in automatic writing.
“In two hours, friendly and enemy will meet here.”
Rio unfolded the nautical chart of the waters around Mariveles and informed Izaya of the expected enemy airspace. Izaya nodded and said,
“Let’s stay 30,000 meters away and keep in touch. When the air battle begins, I want to approach and fire an air thunderbolt from closer than before.”
“All right.
“Give me the bow direction, distance and angle for the attack. I’ll draw up a effectiveness chart later.”
“Aye.”
Izaya grabbed the voice pipe for the ship’s internal broadcast. She gave a summary of the air battle to the engineers and accountants who were unable to see it.
“Attention. This is the captain. On the 115th, this ship encountered a fleet of five battleships and other ships of the Gamelia fleet, and launched a long-range torpedo attack from a distance of 15,000 meters, destroying one enemy light cruiser. This was the first time in the history of the fleet’s air warfare that a torpedo strike had hit a target from such a long distance. I would like to commend you for your courage in not flinching under the intense bombardment.”
When she announced this, the cheers of sailors working in various places came back loudly through the loudspeakers.
[Your Highness!] [Your Highness…!] [Your Highness, all hail the Princess!]
Waiting for the usual exclamations to subside, Izaya continued to speak.
“The ship will maintain a distance of 30,000 meters from the enemy fleet and continue to make contact. When the friendly fleet encounters the enemy fleet, we will return to the battlefield. I expect you to continue to fight hard. That is all.”
Once again, the Ibuki was filled with loud cheers and words of encouragement from the soldiers around her as they prepared for the next battle. Thinking that this cheerful atmosphere was the Ibuki’s weapon, Izaya picked up the voice tube to the air mine launch station.
“It was a brilliant torpedo strike. This is the result of your daily efforts.”
When she announced this, Onizuka let out a loud laugh.
[We will do it again next time! Right, you guys!?]
The Air Raid crew on the upper deck, as usual, shouted “Your Highness!] Izaya’s expression tightened and she sent new instructions to Onizuka.
“Port launch tube, load the next round. I want to take out that new battleship next.]
“Haha! You guys, hurry up and load the next round! Her Highness isn’t done yet, so put new ones in your launch tubes!]
[Uahhh!!] [Waaa!!]
Feeling a chill run down his spine from the unusual excitement of the sixty Air Raiders, Izaya put back the voice pipe, pleased to see that their fighting spirit had not yet waned.
In the end, however, the second fleet air battle did not take place that night.
When the commander of the Third Squadron of the Grand Ocean Fleet learned of the approaching fleet, he moved the crew of the Cherokee to another ship, detached the hull from the floating body, and threw it into the sea. Then, towing only the floating body, they swept past the Hinoo fleet at maximum speed and entered Mariveles. Since floating bodies were a rare natural resource that could not be manufactured in factories, the ship’s crew abandoned the intact hull and took the damaged floating bodies. As a result, the Ibuki sank the light cruiser Cherokee with a long-range torpedo attack.
Later that day, the United Fleet Headquarters examined the effectiveness chart prepared by Izaya, and decided to assign a commander of air raid to assist Lieutenant Kakitsubata. The new commander, who had been assigned to Ibuki, was a new second lieutenant who had achieved remarkable results in the year since his appointment.
◆
The bay at Ari Air Base.
At an altitude of 1,200 meters, the Ibuki swayed in the summer breeze, its bow like a carp streamer.
A pier was built at an altitude of about 1,200 meters on a mountain at Ari Air Base, where inland fireboats frequently traveled between the base and the airships. Here at the base, the 2nd Squadron of the United Fleet was currently anchored, engaged in the Filfin(?) Sea Blockade.
A month has passed since the start of the war between the Hinoo Kingdom and the United States of Gameria, and there has been a lull in the war.
At the beginning of the war, the Hinoo United Fleet and the Far Eastern Fleet of Gameria clashed off the coast of Luzon Island. The battle, known as the “Battle of Luzon”, was won by the overwhelmly strength of the United Fleet. The eight defeated ships of the Far Eastern Fleet fled to the Mariveles Fortress in Filafin.
Currently, the Hinoo United Fleet is trying to blockade the shipping lanes of Filfin, effectively taking 30,000 stationed soldiers of the Far Eastern Fleet of Gameria hostage, and fishing out the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria at anchor in Hawai. The Ibuki’s mission is to patrol the shipping lanes between the Mainland and Filafin. Today it will anchor at the Ari Air Base to refuel and load supplies, and tomorrow it will begin another month of patrols in the open sea.
It had been two weeks since Izaya had wrecked one of the Gameria’s light cruisers in a massive long-range torpedo attack, and today she was awaiting the arrival of a new commander.
Izaya was alone on the navigation bridge of the Ibuki, holding the evaluation form for the commander of the Air Raid Division in her hand with a stiff expression on her face.
“Why …… are you …… on this ship?”
It’s an impossible appointment.
There are too many problems. She didn’t understand how this man had gotten to this point.
Izaya took another look and checked the top line of the evaluation chart.
“Kuroto Kurono, rank: Second Lieutenant, age: 18.”
There’ no doubt about it. The childhood friend who proposed to her eight years ago and kicked him down the embankment is coming aboard the Ibuki as the commander of the Air Raid Division.
“Why?”
She repeats the same question once again.
It’s not the first time she’s seen Kuroto in eight years…….
It’s been almost two years since they’ve met.
From the age of twelve to sixteen, Izaya studied at the Anasting Naval and Air Force Academy in Gameria, and in the spring of his sixteenth year, just before graduation, she met Kuroto once in New York.
At that time, Kuroto was a very successful investor in his homeland, and was busy spending his days with many friends. Although he seemed to be troubled about his future career path, if he had continued to be an investor in Gameria, he would have been able to live without any inconvenience. She didn’t understand why Kuroto, who was among the wealthy and less than the one percent of Gameria’s population, returned to Japan to serve as a second lieutenant in the Navy and Air Force.
“What are you up to?”
Kuroto has money. If he used his money to bribe high-ranking government officials and fraudulently claim his career, it might not be impossible for him to be appointed as the commander of the Air Raiders at the tender age of 18. In addition, the world will never forget the high treason incident. He must have known that if the eldest son of the former imperial family, who had plotted to overthrow the royal family, returned to Hinoo, he would be accused of being a traitor and an unpatriotic person.
Izaya checked the biography section of his evaluation chart.
In his fourth year, he completed the entire course at the Udagawa Naval Academy as a special student and qualified as a second lieutenant candidate, but due to family reasons, he moved to the United States of Gameria. After living as an immigrant, he returned to Japan in the summer of 1936 at the age of 16. In October, he entered the Ministry of the Navy as a cadet of the Special Service Agency. In March 1962, he embarked on the flying destroyer ” Nozuchi” as the chief of air mines. In June 1963, just prior to the Battle of Luzon, he wrote an analysis report that accurately predicted the enemy’s course, which was a factor in the Nozuchi’s great success. In July, he was appointed as a commander of the Ibuki …….
I’ve just read the report that Kuroto gave two days before the Battle of Luzon, and he predicted the marching formation and course as accurately as if he was the enemy commander. Lieutenant General Takeshi Takamura, commander-in-chief of the Second Air Raid Squadron, accepted Kuroto’s opinion, waited for the enemy, and dealt a near-destructive blow to the Gamelan Far East Fleet.
I think that’s honestly amazing. He was praised as the “future commander-in-chief of the United Fleet” from an early age, and this is a true demonstration of his deductive abilities that are akin to foresight.
However, his background is questionable in many ways.
“What is the Special Service Agency?”
I’ve never heard of such a department in the Ministry of the Navy. Moreover, only five months after joining the ministry, he was somehow aboard a warship. Normally, you would spend a year aboard a warship as an ensign candidate for training, but it’s impossible for them to skip that process and suddenly appoint you as a second lieutenant.
He must have done something illegal behind the scenes.
Kuroto has enough money to do that. If they didn’t ask him about it, he wouldn’t be able to live with us in Ibuki.
Izaya looked through the glass window on the navigation bridge.
Beyond the blue sky, about two kilometers away, the flying destroyer Nozuchi, which had just arrived at the Ari Air Base last night, was moored in the air along with its companions.
From the upper deck, she could see an internal fireboat being released and slowly rowing into the air toward the Ibuki. Kuroto was riding in that small boat.
Izaya’s heart skipped a beat.
She couldn’t understand her own reaction.
Izaya clenched his fist against her chest, bit her lip, and stared at the approaching fireboat.
Suddenly, the words of the proposal of eight years ago returned.
[If I marry you and somehow eliminate Kazuma, and become your family’ s son-in-law, I will be able to become the King.]
A chill ran down Izaya’s temple.
Don’t tell me you haven’t given up on that foolish dream yet?
Rather than becoming a millionaire in Gameria, Kuroto may have infiltrated the Navy and Air Force to become the King of Hinoo…….
A normal person would dismiss this idea as “absurd.”
But this is Kuroto Kurono. It’s just a matter of time before his unrealistic delusions of grandeur become reality.
Kuroto’s natural talent is such that at just 16 years old, he has taken over the world’s largest financial district, Wall Street. In his homeland, newspapers and magazines praised Kuroto’s abilities, calling him a “prophet” and an “Oriental magician”. His extraordinary deductive abilities were also demonstrated on the battlefield, where he was able to read the enemy commander’s mind as an amateur, leading to the great battle victory for the Nozuchi.
I admit that Kuroto has outstanding abilities.
However, if his power is directed in the wrong direction, it could destroy this country.
We must first determine Kuroto’s true intentions. If he is harboring evil ambitions, he must be removed from this ship, or even from the Hinoo Navy and Air Force, as soon as possible.
Just as she was repeating the question to herself, a fearless young officer stood in the doorway of the navigation bridge.
“Excuse me.”
Izaya’s heart thumped loudly again.
She tried to keep her composure, trying not to let him know how upset she was.
“…………”
Izaya turned around and looked at the boy.
It had been two years since she had seen Kuroto, but he had grown even taller than when she had met him in New York, and his face had become even more fearless. Underneath his unkempt hair, his shining blue eyes showed no emotion.
“I’m Second Lieutenant Kuroto Kurono, and I’ve been assigned as the commander of the ‘Ibuki’ air raid division as of this date.”
Izaya returned the greeting and salute in the manner of a military man.
“I’m Izaya Shironomiya, captain of the Ibuki. I expect your best efforts.”
“Yes.”
He lowered his right hand as a courtesy to his superiors, but his gaze passed through Izaya to the wall on the other side of the room. The atmosphere he wore was reminiscent of worn out crystal. If it were polished properly, it would shine beautifully, but there were scratches and scuffs all over the surface. The 18-year-old boy, who looks like a fallen angel from some exotic mythology I once read, is dressed in a Type 2 Navy, Navy and Air Force uniform and stands there like a lifeless doll.
*Something fishy is going on …….
Izaya’s doubts continued to ring.
She made sure that it was just the two of them on the bridge and scrutinized her eyes, covering all of the voice pipes so that no one could hear their conversation here.
“…… So? ……What are you planning to do here?”
She asked him point-blank. But Kuroto kept his eyes fixed on the wall beyond Izaya.
“I’ve been assigned to this ship by the Ministry of the Navy.”
He replied immediately in a stranger’s manner.
“You wanted to be on this ship, didn’t you?”
“As you know, captain, soldiers don’t have the authority to decide where they want to go.”
“You made a lot of money in Gameria, didn’t you? What happened to your investments? Did you stop?”
“I’ve come back to help the nation out of concern for Hinoo’s future.”
Bullshit, you’re such an auspicious person. She stifled her desire to say so and continued her questioning.
“I saw your evaluation. It says that you joined the Special Service Agency of the Ministry of the Navy, but there is no such agency in the Ministry of the Navy.”
“It’s not known to the public because it’s classified. Only a few high-ranking officials know about it.”
“Well. How did you manage to get into a secret agency so quickly after your return?”
“A high-ranking military commander thought highly of my abilities.”
“What was his name?”
“The name of the official is …… His Highness, Kazenomiya.”
Izaya interjected. He is the father of Rio and the current commander-in-chief of the military. It’s true that Genzaburo had a high opinion of Kuroto’s abilities since he was a child.
“…… You didn’t come to Ibuki of your own free will, did you?”
“Ha. It was by sheer coincidence that I met His Highness.”
Kuroto replied blankly that it was a coincidence.
He probably has special connections with other high-ranking officials in the Ministry of the Navy, including Genzo. Through him, he was able to manipulate the personnel department into assigning him to the Ibuki. The purpose of this is to deceive Izaya and incorporate himself into the direct lineage of the Imperial family in order to take the throne of the King.
The wicked proposal rang in Izaya’s head once more.
[You must, marry me.]
[I don’t need you. I need your bloodline. Marry me, Izaya, so that I may become King.]
It was horrifying and gave her goose bumps.
I can’t let my identity be used for the shallow purposes of Kuroto.
But no matter how many questions you ask, Kuroto will just dodge and dodge and never tell you what he really wants. It’s obvious that behind his expressionless face, he is mocking Izaya, saying, ” I’ll never tell you my true intentions, you stupid bitch.”
If I don’t force him to reveal his true feelings, my life will be in danger. No, this country is in danger.
Izaya let out a deep breath, adjusted her breathing, and then her red eyes flashed as if they were going to make a noise.
“You say you never speak your mind, no matter what.”
“I’ve only been speaking my mind.”
“Don’t kid yourself. I know you’re lying to me.”
“No, I’m not lying.”
After all, it was impossible to get him to open up with words alone.
Izaya made up his mind.
The only way to get him to reveal his true intentions is to torture him.
It’s a vile method, but I have no choice but to use it to protect myself, the royal family, and this country.
“Myuu!”
“What?”
At the moment she called out, Myuu, who was in the open-air firing command center on the roof of the navigation bridge, peeked her head upside down through a round opening in the ceiling and answered.
“Please stick to the plan.”
“Yes?”
Without using a ladder, Myuu dropped head first down the stairs, spun her body in the air like a cat, and landed noiselessly on her bent knees and palms.
“!?”
A slight flicker of agitation flashed across Kuroto’s face. The Ibuki officer and watch commander, Second Lieutenant Myuu Togakushi, stood up slowly with his eyes closed.
She is a female officer in a Type 2 military uniform. Her long eyelashes were trimmed raggedly under her shoulder-length black hair, and she kept her eyes closed, motionless as if she were an ornament. Even though she didn’t open her eyes, her appearance was like a noble statue of a god, separated from the world, as if she was here and at the same time far away in the sky. Without uttering a single word, or even bringing Kuroto into view, an uncanny cold air centered on Myuu spread throughout the navigation bridge.
At the same time, Izaya gave the order.
“Do it!”
“Ha!?”
In a moment, Myuu suddenly appeared behind Kuroto’s back.
“No!”
He realized that Myuu had strapped her to his back.
“You’ve forgotten. I’m sure you’re aware that I know all of your secrets.”
With a devilish grin, Izaya stood in front of Kuroto and bent the fingers of her hands into claws.
“You can’ t be serious ……!”
Kuroto realized what Izaya was doing.
They were childhood friends who had played together for as long as he could remember. They know about each other’s abilities, and they also know that they come at a price. The more different abilities you are born with, the more weaknesses you have that ordinary people can’t have.
What is Kuroto’s weakness?
“Coochy-coo. Coochy coochy.”
Izaya tickled Kuroto’s armpits with both hands while saying “Coochy-coo” with her mouth.
A moment later, Kuroto was flapping his legs and twisting his upper body.
“Oh, no!”
His face flushed in agony. But Izaya doesn’t stop her merciless act.
“Coochy-coo. Coochy-coo.”
“Damn you ……!”
Myuu with her exquisite body movements fixed the joints of Kuroto and did not release him.
“If you want me to stop, just tell me. I’m not sure what your purpose is in becoming a soldier. What are you planning to do on the Ibuki?”
“I’m not plotting anything.”
“Myuu, do it.”
“Hmm.”
Myuu kept Kuroto in a stranglehold and breathed into his ear.
“Aaaaaaa…..”
Myuu’s voice was strange, and Kuroto jerked back, but her hold on him was not broken. He was not able to speak coherently, and his neat face was twisted.
“You, stop it.”
“You still have the same sensitive skin. Aren’t you even more sensitive than when you were a child?”
“You coward, you should be ashamed!”
With tears in his eyes, Kuroto blamed Izaya for what she had done, but Izaya’s smile deepened and she began to enjoy it even more.
“Tickle, tickle, tickle…”
She tickled him and blew into his ear.
“Aaaaaa…..”
Kuroto’s arms and legs twitched and he let out a muffled cry.
“Tell me the truth. What happened in Gameria? What is the purpose of your return to Hinoo? How did you take over the Ministry of the Navy?”
” What the hell are you talking about?
In the midst of this merciless torture, the third female officer on the navigation bridge, Second Lieutenant Rio Kazenomiya, peeked out.
“Did you get here yet, Kuro-chan? What are you doing ……?”
She looked curiously at Kuroto, who was in agony as Myuu strangled him from behind, and Izaya, who was running her fingertips over his body.
”I’m going to interrogate him. Rio, help me with this.”
When Izaya said this, Rio immediately understood the situation and smiled, clapping her hands together in front of her face.”
“Ah. We used to play like this when we were kids. It brings back memories.”
Then, as if it was a natural thing to do, she put her hands on Kuroto’s military uniform, took it off without hesitation, and began to run her fingers directly over his thin chest.
“You like it here, don’t you, Kuro-chan?”
“Ahh!”
Rio looked down at the fainting Kuroto, who was flapping his legs in agony, with a natural smile on her face.
“Haha. You’re so happy. Are you happy? Are you happy here?”
Thinking that Kuroto was happy, she stroked his bare navel area.”
“No, don’t.”
The two princesses and their bodyguard played with Kuroto’s sensitive skin.
Kuroto becomes teary-eyed and writhes violently, but Izaya’s tasteful nature is awakened and she enjoys the torture more than the interrogation.
“Is this it? Is this the right place?”
“Oh, my God.”
“That’s the navel, right? Kuro-chan, navel’s better, right?
“Oh, my God.”
“Oh…”
“Aaa…”
The three beautiful girls breathed into his ear, and he let out another muffled squeal. Izaya was enjoying himself, but she realized that if she continued like this, he might have a psychological problem, so she stopped the torture and told him.
“What happened in Gameria? What means did you use to get back to Hinoo? If you tell me honestly, I’ll forgive you.”
Kuroto, with his upper body completely stripped, lies innocently on the floor, the ends of his arms and legs twitching, breathing heavily.
“…… cowards. …… Shame on you, …….”
His cheeks flushed light red, tears of regret welled up in his eyes, and he bit his lip.
“It’s your fault for hiding things from your superiors. I can’t be on the mend with a subordinate who has something hidden in his stomach. Since you’re riding on the Ibuki, answer all my questions honestly.”
Izaya slumped down and put on a resolute expression. The captain has all the authority on a warship. Those who do not follow the captain’s orders will have their careers tarnished and their career prospects affected.
Adjusting his ragged breathing, Kuroto raised his body, clutched his uniform in front of his chest, and turned his head to stare at Izaya through a gap in his hair.
If he resisted, the three of them would play with him forever, and eventually his mind would collapse. While cursing the fate of his own sensitive skin in exchange for his insular intelligence, Kuroto made up his mind.
“What do you want to hear about …………? Just say it.”
“Okay. It’s good to be honest. Myuu, let him stand up.”
Myuu helped Kuroto to undo his stripped military uniform and stood him up on the nautical chart table as a chair. Since there are no chairs on the narrow bridge, the it is often used as a chair because of its reasonable height.
He breathed hard a few times, looked resentfully at Izaya, and let out a long sigh.
“…… what a dirty trick.:
He threw away his soldier’s mask and spoke bitterly as he used to do when they were playing together.
Izaya chuckles in satisfaction.
“Isn’t attacking the enemy’s weaknesses a basic tactic?”
Kuroto clicked his tongue in frustration and spoke arrogantly to his commanding officer, even though he was a lieutenant.
“You probably won’t believe me when I answer your …… questions.”
“Really? That’s a hell of a story.
“…… I learned in Gameria that there are some people in the world that my common sense cannot measure. The reason I came back to Japan is to fight them.”
“…… Who is that?”
Kuroto closed his eyes and paused for a moment, then slowly opened them and said in a serious tone.
“There is a monstrosity in Gameria, a monstrosity that will drag the great powers into war with its will, and that will pursue its ridiculous wishes without regard to the death of millions of soldiers on its side. I believe that this monster was involved in the outbreak of war between Hinoo and Gameria. If we lose the war, the royal family, the government, and the people will all become the property of the monster. I swore to stop this monster with all my abilities. That’s why I’m here. There is no other purpose.”
Izaya gulped as she listened to Kuroto’s words.
The content was ridiculous, but Kuroto’s attitude was the most sincere she had ever seen.
There was no insincerity in the glances they exchanged. From the depths of his eyes, Kuroto appealed to them that the monster really existed.
After a few moments of silence, Izaya looked around at the group and announced.
“…… Let’s leave this to the duty officer and go to the officer’s quarters. I want to listen to you slowly.”
Rio nodded with a serious look on her face.
“…… It’s a bit of a long story. You have to go back to when I emigrated to Gameria.”
“No problem. Tell me everything that happened in Gameria. Who is the monster? Why are you in conflict with it? Why did you go back to Hinoo after so much success?”
Kuroto nodded, looking tired. Myuu said curtly, “I’m going back to my duties,” and climbed the ladder back to the open-air firing command post.
The remaining three went to the officer’s quarters directly under the navigation bridge and listened to Kuroto’s recollections. ……
Notes: I was a little inconsistent in editing when it came to some terms such as: (air raid, air raiders, air raid crew, etc.). MTL sucks when it becomes too technical. I promise I’ll be more consistent in the later chapters.
The boy suddenly stopped and told the girl beside him.
“…………?”
The girl also stopped and turned to look at the boy with a suspicious expression.
The green bank, the lush river, and the evening glow in the western sky.
On the way back home, after completing her studies at the academy and successfully outwitting the maidservant who had come to pick her up, the girl was confused by the sudden proposal of marriage.
“Right now?
“Don’t be rash, it’s eight years from now. According to our law, you can enter into a marriage contract before the age of eighteen.”
“I see.”
The girl turned her head and thought for a moment, then tightened her lips and lifted her serious expression.
“Do you like me, Kuroto?”
A white shirt, short pants hung with suspenders, and a black school bag on his back. Kuroto, who wore the Kitagawa Royal Acadamy uniform, scolded her, keeping his hands on the shoulder straps of his school bag.
“Don’t get carried away. I’m not in love with you.”
“Hmm.”
With a short response and a mature gesture for someone who had just turned ten, the first princess of the White Palace, Izaya, cupped her chin between her thumb and forefinger and pondered silently again. She was wearing a white shirt with a bow on the chest, a navy blue skirt, and a pink school bag on her back. Her silvery-white hair, a rarity for a woman of her age, fluttered softly in the evening breeze.
Izaya and Kuroto have been playing together for as long as they can remember. They were distant relatives of the sixth degree of kinship, royals, and similar in that they possessed the unique ” ability ” of the noble bloodline.
Kuroto, who has unparalleled intellect, talks like he’s thirty-five years old, even though he’s ten, while Izaya, who can detach herself from the world at will, looks at things with a strangely optimistic attitude. It was hard for them to make friends their own age, so they naturally spent a lot of time playing together.
However, they weren’t close enough for him to suddenly propose to her.
“Why do you want to marry me if you don’t like me?”
“You’ve been asking a lot of questions. What’s the problem?”
“It’s a problem that will affect me for the rest of my life.”
Kuroto scratched the back of his head in annoyance and shrugged his shoulders.
“I have to become the King of this country in the future.”
“……………………”
” But the Kuronomiya family is a collateral line. If things continue as they are, the throne will go to your brother Kazuma.”
“……………………”
“But if I marry you, eliminate Kazuma by some means, and become your family’ s son-in-law, I can become the King.”
“……………………”
“I don’t need you. I need your bloodline. Marry me, Izaya, so that I may become king.”
“Kuroto.”
“Mm.”
A high-pitched slap echoed along the embankment.
Kuroto’s head twisted around to the right, the same sound echoed again, and this time his head twisted around to the left.
After giving him an exemplary back-and-forth slap, Izaya brought her right knee up to her chest and placed the sole of her shoe on Kuroto’s torso.
“That’s my answer.”
There was a dull thud, and Kuroto was momentarily lifted into the air, his back slamming against the slope of the embankment.
Izaya looked at Kuroto with a frozen expression as he tumbled down the embankment. He bounced erratically from left to right with his school bag on his back, and then laid on his back at the foot of the embankment, his eyes spinning in circles.
“Stay the hell away from me, you bastard!”
Izaya straightened her back and shouted to him.
“I don’t think of you as a friend or a relative anymore! I’ll kill you if you come near me!”
With the dignity of the first princess of the Hinoo Kingdom (TN: I decided to use Hinoo Kingdom due the use of titles such as princesses and princes. Alternatively, it could actually be Hinoo Empire instead.) on her face, she called Kuroto, the legitimate son of the palace family, her servant, picked up her school bag with both hands, and ran with anger in both feet.
” Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!”
As Izaya ran, she looked up at the evening glow and cursed.
“You’re the worst! The worst! You are the vilest man in Hinoo!”
Tears began to fall from both of Izaya’s eyes.
In frustration, Izaya wiped her eyes with her arms and cursed at the top of her lungs, running until the tears stopped.
“Kuroto, you asshole! Die, you stupid bastard!”
Screaming into the sunset, she prayed that the tears would stop soon.
◆
“Uhhh …………”
As the spinning landscape came to a halt and his vision was filled with an amber sky, he realized that he was lying on the riverbank, covered in weeds, looking up at the sunset.
“Mnnnh…….”
Groaning, he raised his body and looked up the slope of the embankment.
There was no one there. Frowning in pain, he stood up and resumed carrying his school bag, which had become deformed on his back.
“Damn. You violent bitch. ……”
After a spectacular yakuza kick, he climbed back up the slope to the top of the embankment, confirming that he had been kicked off the embankment, only to find that Izaya was nowhere to be found.
A summer breeze, laden with the smell of fresh grass, blew noiselessly through the air.
[Stay the hell away from me, you bastard!]
Izaya’s words were all that remained in his ears.
“What’s wrong with you……?”
I had no idea what Izaya was thinking. I’m not sure if there is anyone in this world who would turn down a proposal from someone with overwhelming brains, bloodline and looks. Is she out of her mind? This is the first time in my life that I’ve made a mistake, so I don’t know how to deal with it.
Biting down on the frustration in his heart, he brushed the grass from his uniform and walked home alone.
What would I do when I saw Izaya at school tomorrow? Should I ask her the reason for her rejection, or should I condemn her for her sudden violence? He kept worrying, trying to anticipate Izaya’s reaction and devising a way to deal with it, but Izaya didn’t come to school for three days after that.
◆
Then, on the third night after his proposal, when Kuroto was unable to see Izaya.
Suddenly, Genzaburo Kazenomiya, the younger brother of the king, visited the family, accompanied by high-ranking officials from the Ministry of the Royal Household, and accused the head of the family, Takehiko, of usurping the throne. At the dinner table, Takehiko and his wife Kaoru heard Kuroto’s words, “Marry me and eliminate Kazuma,” that was recorded through a servant’s wiretap. The fact that Kuroto had actually proposed to Izaya was also a decisive factor, and prevented Takehiko from defending himself.
The following day, Takehiko officially declared that the Kuronomiya family had left the royal family.
He changed his family name to ” Kurono” and decided to move his family to a different house in Kamakura.
It was announced in newspapers, magazines, and on the radio that he had left the royal family at the will of the Kuronomiya family, but in reality it was a case of “high treason” committed against the Royal Family that would have been punishable by death if made public. At the recommendation of the Royal Household, the family was to be “crushed”.
◆
One month later…
A popular publication published by a top newspaper carried the headlines, “The terrible treason committed by the House of Kuro” and “Shameful plan to overthrow Princess Izaya.”
The article claimed that the Kuronos had left the throne not of their own volition, but because their plan to incorporate themselves into the direct line of the royal family and usurp the throne had been exposed.
The source of the information was a servant who betrayed them. He had been treated coldly by Takehiko and Kaoru, but he had been working behind the scenes with the royal family, recording conversations over a long period of time through a small microphone and selling the contents to the newspaper.
It was a sensational story that was quickly picked up by the newspapers, including headlines such as, “the abusive language used against His Majesty the King”, “the plan to exclude the crown prince and crown him with a legitimate son, Kuroto”, and “the proposal to Princess Izaya for the throne”. Within a week of its release, the story had become such an enormous historical scandal that there were no more than 80 million people in Hinoo who did not know about “The High Treason of the Kuronomiya family.”
Day after day, night after night, a large number of reporters and onlookers came to the villa in Kamakura where the Kurono family lived, shouting “national bandit,” “unpatriotic,” and “traitor” at them day and night.
Kaoru confronted Takehiko with divorce papers and forced him to sign them. Kaoru was only thirty-one years old, old enough to start her life over if she abandoned her children. Kuroto watched her mother’s back as she left without feeling any particular emotion.
Every day after his mother left, onlookers threw horrible words into the mansion, and the media never tired of spreading stories about the Kurono family in the papers and on the radio.
Takehiko was in dire straits. His friends, whom he had relied on, avoided getting involved with the family of criminals, and the only people who visited the house were the media and onlookers.
“Kuroto, will you die with me?”
Kuroto replied with an ambitious look on his father’s face.
“Let’s leave this country and go to the United States of Gameria.”
Takehiko looked at his ten-year-old son, who was still full of confidence despite the terrible situation he was in, and twisted his head suspiciously. Kuroto’s mouth hung at an angle.
“I hear it’s a land of freedom and equality over there. They say that even a commoner can become president if he is good enough. It’s much more advanced than this country where only royalty can become king. It is a land worthy of us living with pride.”
After listening to Kuroto’s words with an open mouth, Takehiko muttered, “Gameria ……” and pondered for a while.
The United States of Gameria is a large country across the Grand Ocean.
A parliamentary democracy that believes in freedom and equality. It is an immigrant power that opens its doors to all races. The world’s strongest military power, with a strong desire to expand its territory and is steadily building a foothold in the open sea.
Why should we bother to emigrate now to a future hostile nation with which we can expect to engage in war with Japan in the near future?
“I’ve heard that Gameria’s sentiment toward our nation is pretty bad. ……”
“You will be discriminated against. But Father has money. I heard that in his country, if you have money, you can buy a position and status. It’s a country that is kind to the rich.”
The more Kuroto’s words of caution were repeated, the more a new light began to dawn in Takehiko’s eyes. In the beginning, he thought the plan to cross the ocean was outrageous, but compared to the family suicide, it seemed decent.
“…… Yes, I agree. We may have lost our reputation, but we still have money. Let’s go over there and make an investment for a living.”
Takehiko’s words were brighter than they had been in a long time. Kuroto, as always, had a fearless smile on the corner of his mouth, even though he was only ten years old.
“If we wait too long, relations between the two countries will deteriorate and free travel may be forbidden. Now is the time to go. If we go to a country where no one knows us, we’ll be rich.”
He said this clearly and looked out the window. As he chastised his father, a hot rush of energy came from the bottom of his chest.
I’m going to crawl up.
As expected, Kuroto was excited. The fact that he was up against eighty million people made him more excited than ever.
This is a good opportunity for me to test my abilities.
He is aware that he has an unbelievable memory and deductive ability. His academic performance at the Kitagawa Royal Academy was outstanding, and he was the youngest student ever to be selected as a special trainee, which is reserved for the children of royalty, nobility, and high taxpayers. He has also been receiving individual instruction from the faculty at the Udagawa Naval Academy. Currently, he has obtained all the credits for general and military studies at the academy, and will automatically be appointed as a second lieutenant candidate when he turns 16. His intelligence is so far beyond his age that newspapers and magazines have repeatedly called him “the masterpiece of the Hinoo royal families” and “the future commander-in-chief of the United Fleet.
The Hinoo royal families have been actively introducing ” mutated” blood into their lineage for over two thousand six hundred years. In the Middle Ages, in particular, the families had many women with “unique abilities” serving in the royal court, and as a result, the families were prone to developing unusual abilities. Kuroto, with his unusual abilities, can test himself better in the free world than in the confines of the old royal palace.
Kuroto can not suppress the excitement in his heart.
My adventure is about to begin.
His whole body was stirred up by this premonition.
I want to leave this old island country behind and test my strength while enjoying freedom and equality in the vastness of Gameria.
“Let’s get going, Father. There are only idiots in this country. I would prefer the advanced Gameria to the old-fashioned Hinoo, where I can demonstrate my abilities. Let us seize the glory we deserve in his land.”
The father looked at his son with a reassuring look, and then nodded emphatically.
Boredom Translations 
Eh, even if it’s a machine translation, maybe a real translator will see this and get interested since it has…