3

Just one day, but we’d stretched our wings out on the shore, and now we were switching gears, heading back to Kreuzel.

“Alright, Orell, Carine, Bnois—take care of it.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll polish the captain’s machine to perfection.”

“I’ll show you just how top-tier I am at physical calculation—senseboard writing.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll deliver it right on time.”

The three of them climbed into the carriage, Bnois at the reins, and off they went toward the capital.

Watching them leave, I kept walking straight to the princess.

“Your Highness, everything’s ready. You can go whenever you’d like.”

“I know. I just finished up here, too.”

The princess said that, tapping the gathered papers together on the desk, then passed them to the attendant beside her.

The attendant took it and stepped out of the tent.

"Then let's be off. To Laitarki."

"Yes."

Stepping out of the tent and heading toward the rendezvous point, we found all the team members already gathered.

I climbed into the aircraft parked out in the open and powered it up.

"Systems all green. I'm ready whenever you are."

"Then we're off!"

At the princess’s signal, I led the way, the wagon following behind.

For reconnaissance, I’ve got Katrea from my unit, plus two others borrowed from another squad—three of us. That should keep us from missing anything dangerous.

Our destination: the first defensive line at Laitarki, in the Delta Block.

One of the front lines that barely held during the last great assault.

We’ll join up there and prepare for the push into the buffer zone.

Seems the Second Princess had already been getting things ready, and even now she’s pushing hard to build some kind of transport system—still doesn’t have a proper name yet, but looks a lot like a railway—straight from the capital to Raita-ki.

When I muttered aloud, “You mean the railway?” just by chance, the Second Princess overheard, and somehow that phrase just stuck, bit by bit, becoming the common way to talk about it.

“Second Princess, has the railway been checked all the way to Raita-ki yet?”

When we took Fokkrae, it wasn’t even finished past the second defense line, Fokkrae, right?

Two weeks have passed since then—how far’s it come?

“From what I’ve heard, they’ve just started development from Fokkrae toward Raita-ki. They’d been gathering supplies at Fokkrae first, though.”

"Still, it’ll take quite a while before they launch an invasion, huh."

"Even so, that’s pretty fast. They’re trying to build a fortress—normally a year or a year and a half’s worth of prep—inside two or three months."

"True enough."

Still, better than being told they’re already ready and can attack anytime. To be honest, I’m uneasy just riding around in this current model.

Who knows when another enemy like Kansas’ll show up? I wanted to be fully prepared, just in case.

Then again, Orell said developing a new model usually takes nearly a year. This time, since I gave them the base design upfront and they’re just following it, he said it’d wrap up in half a year. But how much shorter we can make it beyond that? No telling."

I’m just hearing about it, not seeing the site myself. Can’t plan much without knowing how things are really going on the ground. I’ll have to wait and see once I get there, I suppose.”

“Would be nice to get the new model in place, if possible.”

“Depends on how they’re playing their hand over there. Can’t say for sure. Still, we want them to do their best. We’ll make allowances, if needed. Dennis’s already there with the Reitarki. No need to keep our knights in front all the time, don’t you think?”

“Dennis, the chief commander? Well, that does make things easier, I’d say.”

A name I haven’t heard in ages—feels like home.

Dennis Editt—was the former head of the First Armunale Guard Battalion and a Guard Knight to Her Majesty. I’d heard he’d been relieved from duty after Her Majesty passed, then reassigned under the Princess’s orders to a separate defensive line. So he’s been in the δ block all along. Which means there’s another former Guard Knight, Captain Jean, in the γ block too.

“Don’t call him ‘Commander’ anymore. He’s still got a heavy heart about not being able to protect the late Lord, so hearing it that way? It’ll cut deep.”

“Understood. I’ll be careful.”

A Guard Knight who failed to protect their lord—nothing worse than that. Probably had whispers behind his back when he was first sent to the front lines.

Once trust is broken, it doesn’t come back easy.

“Raita-kima, was it about three days?”

"Yeah, the route to Raitakima’s been confirmed safe, and the weather’s fine too, so maybe we’ll even get there a bit earlier than planned."

It shouldn’t take any longer.

"Better sooner than later. Then I’ll leave the rest to you."

"Yes, ma’am."

The princess pulled her face back from the carriage window and started on some paperwork. Even on the move—she really does have a mountain of things to do.

Then I’ll do everything I can, right now.

With that thought, we pressed onward down the road toward Raitakima.

"We’ve been awaiting your arrival. Commander Bob Baumus of the Raitakima Base reporting. The entire Raitakima Base welcomes Lady Ines’s arrival."

As expected, we arrived at Raitakima a full day ahead of schedule.

Arriving after dark wasn’t ideal—but sleeping through the night was far better than rushing around in the morning. Much more befitting a lady, really.

“Thank you for agreeing to such an unreasonable request.”

“Oh, nonsense. Once this is done, it’ll be a great help to our nation’s defenses. As a soldier, lending a hand is only natural. Besides, Her Majesty and the royal family themselves are barely sleeping, working day and night. We can’t be the ones resting while they toil.”

“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear about the construction progress.”

Seems the lady’s decided to ignore our plans entirely and just get to work.

Still, they should know our situation too. Let her start tomorrow morning—no sense exhausting herself tonight.

"Princess Ines, it's already late tonight. Please return to your quarters—hand over the documents to the base, and rest. You've been sorting paperwork nonstop since we arrived on the move. Your body's near its limit, I'm afraid."

"But if I don't—"

"Move too much, and the ones below will have to keep up. We made good time, didn't we? So please, treat yourself kindly for once."

"...I understand."

The Princess nods, and for just a moment—maybe it's my imagination—those around her seem to exhale, shoulders dropping a little.

This isn’t the front lines, perhaps. But still, who knows when the battlefield might shift from the block next door?

They’ve been on edge this whole time.

The fact that we’ve reclaimed Kreuzru now means the watch is only on the buffer zone—must’ve been a relief for Lieutenant Raeter, too.

"Then I’ll go stow the unit away in the hangar."

"Let my knight rest here for today. I'll have the local base personnel handle the tour."

"Understood. Then I'll be on my way."

Parting from the princess, I follow the soldier’s lead toward the hangar.

The unit’s maintenance crew has already arrived and are getting ready to start repairs.

I park the aircraft inside the hangar and shut down the generator.

"Phew."

Stepping down from the cockpit, normally it’d be Orell who’d start barking orders—but not today.

"Alright, let’s get this show on the road! No slacking just ‘cause there’s no fighting today, you hear me?!"

"Got it!"

Ritz gives the orders, and the hangar crew follows without hesitation.

Feels strange. Like watching a kid finally grow up. Ritz, who used to get scolded by Orell every time, now standing there like she’s in charge. Huh. Why’s my throat tight?

"Eld… what’s wrong?"

I’m pressing my fingers to my eyes when Ange leans in, tilting her head with a puzzled look.

“Nah, I just… feel the squad growing.”

“Huh. Don’t really get it, but whatever. The admin folks got us rooms set up. They even got ones for the others—gimme a sec, I’ll show you. Eld, you go on ahead.”

“Can wait that long. I’ll come with. Which room?”

“West Block One, Room 201. The others got rooms nearby too.”

“Ah. Right.”

“Then I’ll go tell them.”

Ange grins, presses a quick kiss to my cheek, and turns off toward the rest of the team.

I watch her go, settle on a nearby steel beam, and then notice someone approaching.

“Denis, Captain.”

“Long time no see. Eld, Captain. Heard you’ve been making a name for yourself here too.”

“No, Captain Denis, you’ve been doing quite well yourself.”

“Flattery won’t help. Right now, all I can do is guard supply convoys.”

“Still, that’s an important duty.”

Especially guarding the rail lines—should be the top priority. After all, that’s the heart of this whole plan.

“But why are you here, Captain Denis? I thought you’d be at Fockreki.”

“Was at Fockreki until yesterday. Heard Lady Ines was coming this way, so I was reassigned as her guard. As long as this place holds, Fockreki’s safe too.”

“I see.”

“How about we walk and talk a bit?”

“Understood. Just a moment.”

Captain Denis gestures outside. I call to Ange, then follow him out.

After stepping out of the hangar and walking a short ways, I notice the scars of battle scattered all over the base.

But none of them look like they were made recently. This—

“Noticed it, huh? Those are scars from the last big invasion. We’re prioritizing repairs to the hangar and command facilities, so the walls haven’t even been fixed yet. We’ve already set up countermeasures against Avilabombs, sure—but even those depend on Armunale and Abnomule. Can’t really say we’re not playing catch-up in this war.”

If the Empire launched Avilabombs at us right now, without caring about cost, the damage might be kept light. But we’d still take a hit.

And launching an attack ourselves? That’d be a pipe dream.

They don’t do it because it’s too costly—and because they can’t secure the area afterward.

That’s the thing about Avilabombs. They’re designed to exploit chaos, and you need ground troops to seize control once the smoke clears.

“We’re producing Avila Bombs here too, I assume?”

“Just in case. But the royal family—Lady Ines included—they won’t be using them.”

“Hitting someone hard only to give them time to heal? That defeats the purpose.”

“True. Besides, we’re still not producing enough Abnomyle units.”

“Consumption’s brutal, you know.”

Unlike the empire, which had properly mass-produced Abnomyle units and built up their forces before launching their invasion, we only just got our hands on the machines, analyzed them, and rushed to set up a production line.

And now, with the war still raging, we’re making them faster than we can use them. Rumor has it the capital and Fortran never stop—round the clock, day and night.

So now, for the new model’s development, we’re grinding our craftsmen into dust… Sorry about that.

Walking behind Captain Dennis, I kept thinking that to myself.

“Honestly, I’m quite stunned by this. I never imagined Lady Ines would propose an invasion. And she’s already got a concrete plan ready—had even been preparing for it.”

“Indeed. Though she’s a woman, she thinks like royalty. She claims she learned that strategy just by watching her siblings train. Must be natural talent, then.”

“I see.”

Otherwise, it’d be impossible to explain. Not even with all that backdoor maneuvering—or cheating through transfers.

“Anyway, Captain Dennis… are you alright? You look worn down.”

“F—losing trust once is like that. I knew it’d be hard. Still, I vowed to avenge the late king. That’s why I’m standing here now.”

“You’re strong.”

“Because I was weak, I couldn’t protect them. So I can’t help but envy Eld’s strength.”

Captain Dennis turns around, eyes locking straight onto mine.

“Captain Dennis, could you… train me while I’m here?”

“Train you, Captain Dennis?”

No, no—asking me like that, dead serious? Honestly, that’s a bit of a pickle.

After all, Captain Dennis was chosen as the late king’s personal guard because of his proven strength. Telling me to train him further? That’s not exactly something I can do.

The only training I can offer is a little boost for regular knights.

“I don’t think I can give you the results you’re looking for.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. There’s no knight here at this base who can keep up with my training. Fighting alongside someone strong—there’s learning in that, just by being there.”

“True enough…”

Denis’s point makes sense—though that might just mean I’m even less likely to live up to expectations.

“I don’t have a custom unit right now, you know? If I use one, it’ll mean another fight at Armunale, just to get ready. Still, if you’re okay with that…”

“Yeah, I can’t use Armunale either. But… no custom unit? That thing wasn’t a custom unit?”

“Wait—you didn’t know? The machine took a serious beating in yesterday’s fight. This one’s just a temporary fix. I’ve got the green light to develop a new model, so I’ve asked the capital to handle it. But when it’ll actually be done… who knows.”

Honestly, I wish it’d wrap up faster.

“So that’s it. The Eight General Knights really do pack that kind of power.”

“Yeah. And there’s a good chance we’ll see them again in the fights ahead.”

Then I’d best get stronger, no help for it. Sorry, but can I count on you starting tomorrow?

Yeah, if I can find the time...

Thanks for letting me out. Sorry I dragged you into this.

No, then I’ll be heading back.

Ah, take it easy and rest a while.

Good night

I gave a nod to Captain Dennis and headed back to the room where Ange was probably waiting.

And so, it’s been a while since Dennis Captain last had his moment in the sun.

Batis and Elexia are staying behind in Kreuzruh, so it’s kind of like a partner swap, isn’t it?

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Armunale Volume One hits shelves on the twenty-fifth.

I was thinking it’d be nice to give a short story as a keepsake, but it’s still just an idea—how it’ll turn out, who knows.