Mitsuha 237

237. Portrait of Battle 4

Neither soldier-kun nor the commandant I knew was here.

It’s obvious, I guess.

I went to the headquarters’ building, but I guess if a full-scale sortie were issued, then naturally, the HQ would also come on the fleet flagship.

I’m sure the other officers I met at that bar would’ve been dispatched too. Even if some remained at the base, there’s no way they would tell something like the fleet’s action schedule or the sailing route to the little girl they met at a bar.

In the first place, I don’t even know their names or positions. So I can’t think of a way to meet them other than to meet them at the bar by chance. And there’s no way they would go out to drink while most of their colleagues went out on a sortie.

Umumumu…

Alright, I’ll have to use that method, I suppose…

“…and so, that’s the case. I would appreciate your assistance again” (Mitsuha)

“Gladly!!!”

Right, it’s the same old diplomat-san from a certain country.

And this time…

“Navy’s airbase, I choose you!!” (Mitsuha)

Right, this time is the turn for a maritime patrol plane…

This time’s mission is to search for fleets in offshore waters.

So what I want this time is cruising time (not cruising range), search capability, multi-target plot, and so on. That’s why I chose the maritime patrol plane.

I have no plan to interfere, so anti-ship attack capability is not required.

Air-to-ship missiles are expensive, and besides, it’d be overkill if we use that against sailboats…

Anyway, unless it’s absolutely necessary for self-defense, there’s no need to use something like that.

Besides, if I really want to interfere, it would be more convenient and cheaper to bring a patrol ship loaded with a 76mm rapid-fire gun and 20 or 30mm machine guns.

You don’t need anti-ship missiles or large-caliber guns against wooden sailing ships, which can only launch a few lumps of irons a few miles away, after all.

The crew seems to be different from the last time.

I thought it would be better to have the same members, but it seems that there would be a dispute if it’s always the same.

…well, I get that, though. Everyone wants to go to another world, after all.

If the information ban were to be lifted in the future, they would be able to boast to their children and grandchildren.

Yeah, it’s definitely not weird if there’s a competition for the seat to go to another world…

And of course, the same goes for the scholars.

Some of them are the same as last time, but they’re probably very competent or influential people. But still, most are replaced by other people.

Let’s hope that no one would think about doing strange things like the last time. As expected, I will not tolerate the second time. If that happens, I will cut off all my relationship with this country, of course.

Well then, let’s go!

“Thank you very much!!” (Mitsuha)

Dismissed!

Yeah, it seems that it hasn’t been a long time since they left the port, so I could easily find Vanel’s fleet.

I’ve also found Noral’s fleet relatively easily. Then I plotted each of their position and course speed and went back right away.

If this were the Earth, it would’ve been possible to make rough estimates of the enemy’s movement, but it’d be meaningless here.

The speed of advancement dramatically changes depending on the wind direction and the ocean current, after all. Also, they’re not heading straight for each other. In the first place, they don’t even know where their opponents are, nor do they know what each other is doing…

Anyway, there’s still time until they came in contact with each other.

So I decided to come back again in a few days, but the scholars begged to stay as long as we had fuel, so I had no choice but to let the plane fly around the new continent to kill time.

Everyone seemed to be busy taking pictures and measurements.

Well, thanks to that, I have some more places to transfer added to my repository, so it was also good for me.

Besides, I would feel bad if I borrowed the plane without returning the favor. Fuel, labor, maintenance, and various other costs are needed per flight, after all. I wonder if it costs at least several million yen for a single flight…

Eh? Is it possible to bring a seaplane or a large helicopter next time, you ask?

Ah, I guess you do want to land… It would be a big harvest just by taking a sample of the seawater… But, of course, bacteria and microbes will be excluded during transfer, you know…

“And so, a naval battle between Vanel and Noral is about to happen. Now, I have a proposal for the former members of Vanel Kingdom’s expeditionary fleet.

…If Vanel’s fleet is in crisis—though, it’s your home country you can never return to, but with the help of the goddess, do you want to take the opportunity to serve your country for one last time?

If all goes well, there might be something good for your families there… Of course, everyone here will also be paid for your service by our country” (Mitsuha)

“U…”

“U?” (Mitsuha)

“ “ “ “ “ “Uoooooooooohh!!!” “ “ “ “ “

With this, a bunch of oni-sergeants who will be giving our new sailors some guidance were obtained.

As expected, there’s no way a bunch of newcomers who haven’t even practiced with live ammunition can enter a battlefield like a hero.

It seems that exquisite judgment, such as the timing of the commands, the hull’s movement due to the waves, and so on, will greatly affect the hit rate. Those are something that can’t be learned unless you’ve been through and survived many battles.

…well, the difficulties would be considerably lower this time. Because I will be there too…

But they need to be able to face any battle even without me. Their next battle might be without me.

This time is like a tutorial in invincible mode.

This is not a game world. It’s not decided that you’ll always encounter a slime after you leave the starting village…

And, when I went to the Rephilia Trade to check the state of Vanel Kingdom’s populace…

“I’m terribly sorry!!” (Rephilia)

Rephilia suddenly lowered her head.

“What in the world is going on…” (Mitsuha)

“Starting from alcohol to high-quality foodstuffs—all kinds of luxury items have been sold out without any restriction! Because of that, the sales plan went out of control…” (Rephilia)

“Eh…” (Mitsuha)

Apparently, families, relatives, and friends—all sorts of people who are related to the crew were begging on their knees at the storefront. They seemed to want to get something to savor while they spend the last moment with the crew before the sortie.

Rephilia is also a citizen of this country, so if she were to refuse them coldly, she might be accused of being unpatriotic.

Even butlers from noble families went as far as to lower their heads to a commoner shopkeeper. Although they’re not nobles themselves, it seems that it would’ve been unthinkable for someone representing a noble family to do something like that.

…well, of course, there’s no way Rephilia could resist it in such a case.

“It can’t be helped. Well… you won’t be blamed!” (Mitsuha)

It seems that she also broke the sales regulation and sold them to the noble families who’ve been banned too, but I’m not a demon either. I’ll overlook this much.

Of course, the people of this country would believe that their country’s fleet would come out as the victor. However, it doesn’t mean that everyone will be able to return from the battle unscathed.

[Enemy’s Grumman, 500 units. Our Zero Fighters, 200 units. All enemy planes were shot down, zero damage on our side!], there’s no such a thing in even in fictional war stories. No matter how advanced your equipment is, no matter how much secret weapon you have, at least you’d lose 70-80 planes. …even then, it was considered a big victory.

In other words, no matter how big the victory is, there will be damage, and many people wouldn’t be able to return. The odds of having a final farewell to someone they hold dear are by no means low.

And of course, there’s also the undeniable possibility of suffering a great defeat.

“We will send replenishments immediately, so make a sales plan and send them to our customers as soon as possible!!”

Since the fleet has already left the port, there would be no more customers like that.

…we should be able to manage it somehow or another!