Chapter 13
—-“Come on, wake up, wake up, It’s morning! Let’s fold the futon and get ready for breakfast!”
Auntie Yoshie, in the cafeteria wakes the children up with a frying pan and ladle, a very Showa-era way of waking them up.
The children put the futon away as quickly as trained soldiers.
In no time at all, rice was lined up on the table.
Rice, miso soup, egg omelet and nori.
It is a simple meal, small in quantity, but very warm.
“Come on, everyone. Itadakimasu!”
“Itadakimasu!”
“Lively meal.”
“Yes, it’s a battle every morning.”
Kaguya and Kenya eat their meal while the children run riot.
The children are all here without parents, yet they run around so energetically, they endure so well without parents.
“Kenya?… No, it’s nothing.”
Kaguya looks at Kenya.
I saw the tears that had been moist since the morning spilling out firmly.
What those tears mean, Kenya himself is not sure.
Is it because he understands a little how they feel?
Or because of the family-like atmosphere of eating breakfast together?
Kenya did not know.
Maybe he was happy or sad, He doesn’t know.
***
“Now, I will announce the mission!”
Many soldiers, including Kenya and Kaguya, took their seats in the hall.
It was Isshin, who made the announcement.
“First of all, the objective of this operation is to seize the KOG.”
The mission is as follows.
We attack the transport ship of the Asgar Empire that will be passing through the former Tokyo Bay this evening.
Seize the KOG being transported and leave the area immediately.
This is a strategy to build up forces and inflict damage on the enemy.
Can we operate the enemy’s KOG in the first place? Kenya wondered, but was told that there are collaborators in the Empire, so that is not a problem.
Everyone is given an activation key.
“May I ask a question?”
One soldier raises his hand.
“Even though it’s a transport ship, it’s supposed to be escorted by KOGs.”
“Yes, That’s why. We will send out our KOGs.”
“We only have one KOG!’ But Kaguya-san is not yet operational enough to fight…”
There is only one KOG that we once succeeded in taking back.
All the soldiers here have practised operating it but they’re only at the beginner level..
They have never put it in practice, so they are not at a level where they can fight.
It seems that this is one aspect of Kaguya’s learning to pilot the KOG.
“You’re right, Originally I was going to operate it, but the last piece came together yesterday, Kenya Mitsurugi. Come forward.’
Then Kenya is called.
The skeptical eyes of everyone in the strategy meeting room are now focused on him even more.
“I heard from Kaguya. Your skills in KOG surpasses even that Ice Princess.”
“What was that! ??”
The soldiers raise their voices.
The name of the Ice Princess is so well-known that in this country she is even said to be the second strongest after the God of War, Which is her father.
“Can I ask you… Kenya-kun?”
Isshin had looked into Kenya’s eyes yesterday and decided.
The man Kaguya had brought with her, the man Kaguya approved of.
When he looked at his eyes yesterday, They were so pure with no malice and determined of something, He doesn’t know he’s so determined of, but he was sure it won’t bring them harm anyway. So he decided to put his trust in him.
“I will take on the great task of protecting Kaguya and this country.”
“Please leave it to me.”
Kenya agrees.
In the first place, That’s why I’m here, he said so to himself.
“To such a newcomer! Who are you in the first place!”
The soldiers are making a fuss about it.
Isshin stops them with his hand.
“He swore to protect Kaguya with his life. You know what that means.”
“… That means ….”
“That’s right. He’s our family already, he’s important to Kaguya.”
The soldiers understand, or rather misunderstand, the meaning of Isshin’s words.
As Isshin had intended to mislead them.
“Then I have nothing to complain about. Kenya-kun, I’m sorry. Please take care of me.”
“No, I will do my best, please take care of me.”
Kenya shakes hands with one soldier after another stiffly.
With words of congratulations.
Kaguya does not understand it.
“What about? Eh? What? Eh? What’s happening?”
Kaguya doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.
However, one of the soldiers gives his blessing to Kaguya.
With those words, she understood everything that her father had said to make the soldiers recognise Kenya and then.
“Kaguya-san. Congratulations on your marriage.”
“Huh?”
No, They didn’t.
They misunderstood rather that Kenya and Kaguya must be in love.
Then one after another, words of congratulations are conveyed.
“Miss! Congratulations!”
“Hey… stopp…”
“When is the ceremony?”
“No, no.”
“Don’t be shy, I’m looking forward to your child!”
But if she denies it, they will lose faith in Kenya.
It could have a huge impact on the operation.
Isshin’s daughter and the boyfriend of Kaguya, a resistance fighter.
If doing so Kenya can gain the trust of everyone, then you cannot deny.
So Kaguya can only.
“Uhhhhhhhhhh! !!”
Ran away with a bright red face.
***
“Okay, Kenya, let’s go.”
“Where, sir?”
“That’s obvious. We have less than ten hours before the mission.”
And he was taken to a warehouse.
Inside is a Jet black KOG manufactured by Asgar.
“I’m finally going to be able to ride in it….”
“Here’s your card key. You know how to activate it?”
“Yes!”
I’ve read the manual the military sent me ASAP, and it’s pretty simple to activate.
The controls are the same as in the simulation.
Kenya climbs up the ladder attached to the cockpit from the back and gets in.
The feeling of sitting down is the same as in the simulator. “Stick the card key here…”
Then the start-up window appears.
The start-up window shows the flag of the Empire, since it’s made by Empire system.
But the controls are the same as before.
“Hmm… okay!”
Kenya grips the control knob.
He has moved it many times, but never thought he would have the opportunity to ride the real deal.
He moves it as always.
“Woo, it moved. It moved!”
Straight away, the KOG starts to move.
The cockpit is inertia-controlled and there is almost no shaking.
But even so, he still feels minute vibrations with each step.
Kenya, who is getting used to it, gradually moves it faster.
Slowly, and gradually.
The soldiers who were watching him let out a voice of admiration.
“It’s amazing, it’s almost human like movements.”
“Oh, wow, how many years would it take for us to do that?”
Kenya moves KOG as if it were his own limb.
Before long, Kenya’s movements become like those of a master martial artist.
He backflips and swings his sword as if he were dancing.
Kenya’s manipulation techniques have reached a level of mastery that even his own body cannot achieve.
Not only in the simulator, but also in the real world.
“This looks like it could work.”
Isshin laughs.
Seeing that Kaguya’s movements lived up to her story, he was convinced that the operation was a success.
“Great, great! It really moves, just as I want it to!”
Kenya confirms the detailed movements with a triumphant look on his face.
“I’m going to fly a bit!”
He warns his surroundings in an open channel.
Then he moves the KOG, which even flies in the sky.
He feels as if he himself is flying in the sky.
“Amazing, really KOG is amazing.”
Kenya is impressed by the morning sun head-on.
To experience an emotion that surpasses the first time he operated in VR.
This world is hell, but not so much that he still felt glad to have come.
With the morning sun, the world was shining.
***
The evening operation was then started.
“Ah, I don’t need to be on guard duty, you know.”
“Look, don’t doze off.”
With that, the lookouts on the transports are replaced.
A man sits in the cockpit of the huge ship, which is on autopilot.
“Nothing’s going to happen anyway. Sleepy *yawn*.”
The sea is quiet as usual.
It is almost dusk, but an orange sunset is faintly illuminating the ship.
A transport ship carrying ten KOGs.
The KOG is a weapon where even a single one could change the course of a battle.
Of course, it depends on the pilot’s ability, but if an ace-class pilot is on board, it becomes an untouchable weapon.
That is why there are specialised schools for training pilots, and the Empire is putting a lot of effort into training them.
“Even if I sleep a little …”
The man closes his eyes.
But immediately afterwards there is a loud alarm.
“Hey, what the hell?”
The man jumps up and looks at the radar.
It showed an unidentified vessel approaching at high speed.
“You there, What’s happening, tell me?”
The man immediately warns over the radio.
He declares that he considers it a hostile act, but the vessel does not respond.
Finally, the man understood.
“No way, this is ….”
But by the time he realised, it was too late.
A huge tremor hit the transport ship, blocking its path closely.
On that ship, a flag is hoisted.
A white and red flag with the rising sun.
Then, under the Isshin’s command.
“Attack!!!”
The operation to seize the KOG was begun.