第３０１堀：飛龍隊 (Part1)
### Chapter 301: The Wyvern Squadron
**Wyvern Squadron**
**Side: Steve**
"Britt, what’s the status?"
"Preparation is about halfway there."
"Hurry it up. We need to conduct high-altitude reconnaissance before the Boss and the others head out. We can't leave Princess Aslin and the others exposed to danger!"
"I know, I know."
With that, the communication cut off.
I was pacing in the office, feeling restless.
My paperwork was finished, and the preparations for immediate deployment were complete.
After all, according to the Boss, the enemy has people using dangerous tools called "guns."
Even if they are doppelgangers, the thought of Princess Aslin and the others being in such a dangerous zone, potentially getting hit by bullets... it makes my skin crawl.
That is absolutely unacceptable.
Oh, I don’t really care about the Boss or his wives.
They can handle themselves, and I’m sure they’ve already taken precautions.
What matters is not letting Princess Aslin and the others experience anything frightening.
So, if we find enemies using guns or other dangerous things, we’ll scout them out, and if it looks doable, we’ll annihilate them ourselves.
It doubles as intelligence gathering, so there’s no problem with that.
"But hey, Steve. Why did the Boss say we could repel the enemy while gathering intel if we’re capable of it?"
John, who was waiting nearby, asked curiously while munching on a cucumber.
That’s right, just as John said, we have permission—and orders—to transition to an attack if our reconnaissance force determines we can repel them.
"What are you talking about? It’s to keep Princess Aslin out of harm’s way."
"Yeah, I get that. But the ones being deployed are the Wyvern Squadron, right?"
"Exactly. They’re our trump card. Princess Aslin named every single one of them. They’re capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight. They might not be as fast as a jet fighter, but we’ve followed up with equipment to make them move as well as a Zero."
They reach about 500 kilometers per hour—undoubtedly among the fastest in this world.
Well, that’s their cruising speed; the Boss and his group are faster in combat.
Us too, for that matter.
Of course, we’ve also addressed the Zero’s greatest weaknesses: its diving performance and armor.
When the Zero was first created, it reigned as the strongest fighter in existence.
However, it did have its flaws. As I mentioned, its diving performance and ballistic resistance—its armor—were lacking.
There are various theories, but some say the Allied forces were told to run if they encountered a "Zero Fighter" rather than fight it, because of the performance gap.
There’s even a story that the Allies needed five planes to match one Zero.
Since there was a performance gap, you couldn't just outrun them, but because the Zero’s diving and ballistic performance were poor, you could sometimes escape by diving.
The reason for that was the thorough weight reduction to achieve maximum speed and maneuverability.
As a result, high-speed diving performance dropped significantly, and the armor became so thin that a single bullet could penetrate it and injure the pilot.
It’s a complicated subject, but according to the Boss, it’s just "the strongest fighter of WWII!"
I’m grateful for the simple answer.
Well, these are Wyverns, though.
To the Boss, it’s probably like, "The perfect Zero, the Wyvern Squadron."
"That’s why. It’s fine to bring out the trump card, but Wyverns are two ranks above standard Wyverns. People are already making a fuss about regular Wyverns; if they see these in the New Continent, won’t it be a huge commotion? Wouldn’t that be bad? The coalition might even target them. After all, since we’re attacking the enemy, we’ll definitely be seen by August or Hifie’s armies."
"Ah, you mean that. It’s fine."
"Is it really?"
"You don’t think the Boss hasn’t thought about that, do you?"
Since the Boss told us to go ahead and intervene, there’s no way he hasn’t prepared a follow-up.
It was a convincing answer, to say the least.
"The Boss’s reasoning was..."
*Flashback to the briefing:*
"Wait! You’re sending out the Wyvern Squadron!?"
"Yeah, I’m counting on you."
"Uh, that feels like it’s way beyond the common sense of the New Continent. Wouldn’t a scout team of birds be enough?"
"If it were just scouting, sure. But since they’re using guns, there’s a risk they might detect our scouts. If we use birds, they might get shot down. Sending in monster-type giant birds is also problematic."
"Why? Why would using guns mean they’d detect our scouts? And what’s the problem with monster-type birds?"
If they’re monster-type, we could just cast magic barriers that can withstand gunfire. They can scout just fine, and while their attack power isn’t quite on par with the Wyvern Squadron, they’re still strong.
"If they can build guns, you realize they’re already disconnected from the combat style of this world, right?"
"Well, yeah. Marching in formation is just asking to be a target in front of guns."
"And to use those guns—those long-range weapons—effectively, do you know what’s important?"
"Gaining enemy positions? Intelligence?"
"Exactly. That’s why we use dungeonization and skills like presence detection and magic detection to track enemy movements."
"...You mean the enemy might be putting effort into scouting too?"
"That’s what I mean. And it’s highly likely we aren’t the only ones holding back our strength. Do you think the opponent is attacking with all their cards on the table?"
"No, that’s impossible. Showing all your cards is basically suicidal."
"Right. Though I don’t think they have a unit specifically for aerial warfare."
"Why not?"
"If they had a military unit capable of that, we’d have heard about them attacking from the air already."
"Ah, that’s true. So, you mean there might be individuals who can fly, like Popuri-san?"
"Exactly. If someone of that level is hidden in their hand, our own cards might be revealed, and we might fail to gather intel. That’s why we’re using the Wyvern Squadron. And that’s why I’m ordering you and John to deploy. I chose the Wyvern Squadron because they’re a top-tier force that we can justify showing off in the New Continent."
"And how is the Wyvern Squadron an acceptable excuse? From the perspective of the New Continent, this is 'Giant Monster Attack' level, isn't it? Well, maybe not 'Ground Zero' level."
(Alfin and Grad are currently getting along well at the Weed school. I call them by their names because I take care of them often, and they look sad when I add "-san.")
"I see. Or rather, it’s more like it’s convenient, isn't it?"
"Convenient?"
"Yeah. There are roughly three convenient reasons."
"Three?"
"First, the people of the New Continent don’t know the difference between a Wyvern and a Wyvern Squadron."
"That’s true."
"So, we can claim they are Amanda’s subordinates. Conveniently, she’s a Dragon Knight. We can say Wai-chan is actually the leader of the Wyverns, and she summoned her subordinates in the face of her master’s unprecedented crisis."
"That’s going to make Amanda-san incredibly nervous, and Wai-chan is going to have a stomach ulcer from being in a position to command the Wyvern Squadron."
(Wai-chan was put through the wringer by the Wyvern Squadron, so the hierarchy is a genuine trauma for her.)
"And the second reason?"
"If they aren’t recognized as subordinates of the Dragon Knight Amanda, then they can just run wild and take down Hifie if possible. After that, they leave. If the coalition tries to form, so be it. That way, a war won’t even be able to start. They’ll never know when a swarm of Wyverns might come back."
"...I suppose that’s true."
"And finally, the third reason: to give the Wyvern Squadron experience. This is their first real battlefield. That’s the main goal. The specs we know are just data."
"I see. We’ve only ever done training. If there’s a battlefield where we can deploy, gaining experience is the best thing we can do."
"Exactly. This is reconnaissance, but there’s a possibility of engagement. Our results so far will be put to the test. I don’t intend to use Aslin and the others as bait, but if we say it’s to protect them, the Wyvern Squadron’s morale will soar, won’t it?"
"Well, our morale is certainly up. The Wyvern Squadron directly under Princess Aslin... the enthusiasm is incredible."