第５００堀：合流と働き者たち (Part2)
"Okay, okay! That goes without saying, doesn't it? So, please, stop with the Iron Claw. I’m going to die!"
The goblin was relatively small, about the size of a slightly older child. The Iron Claw from Deryu, who was the same age as the General—not a "loli-baba," mind you—was a perfect fit! Was I going to get crushed? Or rather, did she just read my mind?!
"I can tell that much just by looking at your face. Steve, your way of thinking is quite similar to Yuki’s in these matters."
"What a curse to have from the General. Well, putting that aside, I’ve received word that the preparation of supply materials is proceeding smoothly... no delays expected. The only thing left is you ladies..."
Just as I was about to ask Deryu about the others, the rest of the ladies emerged from the back. They were more heavily armed than I had ever seen them.
"Steve. Thank you for the preparations. Now we just have to wait for the time. Everyone, let's go."
Seraria was in her usual dress armor, but she had four spare swords strapped to her. Wait, weren't those Narjia’s prototypes? And Ria, whom Deryu had just given a good thumping, was dual-wielding gun-swords, and there was a cannon barrel extending from her backpack! What is that? Artillery equipment?! Jessica was equipped with two shields, which seemed odd, but they were shield-pile bunkers. Naturally, she was armed with a sword as well. Everyone else was similarly decked out in bizarre, specialized gear.
"...Are you all really going to be okay?"
"...It should be fine."
Yeah, there was no stopping them. The specs of those weapons were too mysterious; they were definitely going to catch anyone off guard. There was no way they were just for show, and knowing Narjia, there was no way that equipment was straightforward.
Carrying not just a lingering sense of unease, but a massive bomb of anxiety, we finally reached the scheduled time for the gate to open. The goblin squad had already finished transport preparations and was on high alert... mostly against the ladies.
*“This is... Labyris. It is currently 14:00. ...Deploying the...”*
I was getting a report from Labyris, but the call quality was truly terrible. As for the General, it was just static; it wasn't even a conversation at this point. ...It really is a troublesome location, now that I think about it.
Still, it would have been nice if we could have opened the gate from this side to the General’s location. The bottleneck was that we had to go to the site once and open it from that end. No, if it weren't like that, it would be too much of a rule violation for Luna to ever allow it. Well, that aside, would the gate actually open successfully?
*“...Deployment complete. Report your current status.”*
"This is Steve. We have confirmed the gate's deployment; it opened at the target location without any errors. The call quality seems to be improving. How is it on your end?"
*“We can hear Steve’s voice clearly now, too. Alright, let’s move to the second phase of the operation.”*
"Understood. The goblin squad will now verify the gate's opening status. Advance team, to the gate."
"Yes, sir!"
The three members of the advance team approached the gate...
"We are now throwing the object through. As planned, the object is a soccer ball. Please give the signal to start."
*“Understood. ...Our preparations are also ready. Throw it.”*
"Yes. Rolling it along the ground as planned... Thrown. ...It has passed through the gate."
*“We have confirmed the soccer ball’s passage. The margin of error is negligible. We will send it back from this side now. We’ll repeat this five times.”*
"Understood."
In this way, we carefully verified the gate's opening, checking for stability and potential dangers. And finally...
*“Operation third phase. Beginning biological passage verification.”*
"Understood. The three members of the advance team will now pass through. ...Starting the count. 10, 9, 8... 2, 1, 0!! Enter the gate!! En—"
The figures of the three advance team members vanished into the gate.
*“This is Labyris. Confirmed the safe passage of the advance team. We are having them check their condition.”*
"Understood. For now, the advance team’s passage was a success!"
I turned to look at the ladies waiting behind me, but they were already gone...
"Captain?! Seraria-sama and the others are approaching the gate!! The verification experiment is still in progress!! We have to stop them!"
"No, that's impossible."
The goblins who tried to stop them were literally sent flying. Deryu was right there with them, too...
"Well, after taking these steps, it should be fine. Trying to cut in now would just be a suicide mission."
"I guess you're right. Advance team, the ladies have arrived on your side, so come back. We’ll confirm passage in both directions immediately. If it looks dangerous, I’ll issue an immediate withdrawal order."
*“Understood!! They’ve arrived!! The advance team is returning!!”*
With that, the advance team immediately exited the gate. Hmm, it seems there are no problems for now.
*“Wait, everyone! We’re still in the middle of an experiment!”*
*“I’m so glad!! You’re safe!”*
*“Husband!! I’m so glad!! I’m truly so glad!!”*
*“Are Milly and the others safe too?”*
*“We’re safe. Sorry for making you worry.”*
Well then, while they have their emotional reunion, I suppose we’ll get back to work.
"Alright, hurry up with the deployment of the second, third, and fourth gates!! Now that the locations are registered, we can open gates from this side. Don't slack off on checking the DP consumption! We’re starting material transport from the first gate!"
"Yes, sir!"
Ah, just a little more, just a little more until my break. Hang in there, me.
Finally, the full roster. Well, it was only for a short time. In other manga or novels, it would be a year or three years later, but don't worry, that won't happen here. This isn't a heartless story where families are separated for long periods. As you know, we are "story crushers" who break those kinds of tropes.
Look forward to what happens next. Also, playing Bomberman on the Nintendo Switch for the first time in a while is fun. As for the *Gomadare*... well, it’s reliable as always.