Mitsuha 238

238. Portrait of Battle 5

“…so, your elder brother is?”

“Yes. He is an officer in the 40-gun ship [Massat]…”

There are several members of the [Society] who have families, relatives, and acquaintances among the crews of the fleet that went out to the battle.

Well, there are not much [Honorable Jobs] that the fourth or fifth sons of noble families can get, after all…

“Then, let us pray to the goddess…” (Mitchan)

Everyone started praying on Mitchan’s cue.

By the way, rather than believing in the existence of God itself, people more like believe in the existence of angels and miracles. That’s because they have witnessed such things recently and consider their existence is to be an [undeniable fact] to boot.

What’s more, everyone in the [Society] believes that one of those miracles happened because of them, so they put more zeal into their prayers. Due to that, it seems that these girls are called [Saints], albeit informally.

And the temple folks seem to be using that for their own propaganda without even denying it…

[Be careful of the temple’s movement], the members got such a warning from Mitchan, but they’re not like some oblivious commoner’s daughters, and it seems that their parents have full control of it. So we can rest assured.

People say that it’s rare for a ship to sink in an artillery battle, but it doesn’t mean that they are unsinkable. Though, even if the boat does not sink, the crew still could die from the attacks.

There may be times when a ship loses its combat and navigation capabilities that they had to surrender and taken as prisoners of war. There’s no guarantee that they’ll survive and return to their homeland safe and sound.

…am I going to intervene, you ask?

Well, I intend to do something depending on the situation, but it’s not like I’m thinking something reckless such as [I won’t let anyone die!]. I think it would be good enough if both sides could exchange fire in moderation, or even better if it ends with just a standoff rather than a head-on clash.

In modern naval battles, it is possible to make rough predictions about the enemy’s movements based on their ship types, armaments, performance, number of ships, etc., but… I don’t know what can be done with sailing ships…

There are too many uncertain factors, such as weather, luck, or even the commander’s ability. The chance that the flagship got hit in the first barrage and putting their chain of command in jeopardy is not zero.

Battle is a matter of chance. There’s no telling what will happen.

Of course, there’s no way I could selectively protect only the families and relatives of these girls from dying. I’m just a [Fake Messenger], not the real thing, after all…

So all I can do is just praying with everyone.

I hope everyone’s loved ones will return safely…

Only a few reconnaissance flights were carried out as Vanel’s fleet was going straight ahead, and Noral’s fleet had only advanced into the waters near the colony in question.

And one of those recons was carried out using a large helicopter because I couldn’t bring myself to refuse the strong demand of the cooperating country.

Well, it’s navy’s helicopter, so it’s loaded with radars, of course.

Their actual location wasn’t too far off from the estimated position, and we went there by using transfer anyway, so it wasn’t’ too difficult to look for them even using small aircraft like a helicopter. It was easier compared to the first search, which had a more extensive search area. Well, the first search took some time mainly because of searching Noral’s fleet.

And of course, after we have done with the recon, we went to search for an uninhabited area to land.

The crazed scholars jumped out with a bag containing a lot of containers to collect samples, and the escort soldiers chased after them to capture some animals.

Of course, I didn’t let them take an unlimited amount of samples.

Plants, animals, and minerals are valuable trading materials. So, even if they lent me their planes, I can’t give them unlimited freebies.

Therefore, I’d only let them bring back one kind of animal corpse, several stalks of one plant species, and one kind of stone ore.

Even if they tried to hide something, they would not be able to secretly bring it back to earth since I could exclude them during the transfer. And since had explained that in advance, no one did anything strange.

It seems that the reason they brought a lot of containers was that they intend to split into groups to collect various fields of samples and to discuss with everyone which one they should bring back.

Then the said [Discussion] went wild and became a big deal.

Well, of course, everyone wants to bring back the one they choose, seeing that there’s a possibility that their name will be written in history as [The one who brought back a great discovery from another world] when the confidentiality restriction is lifted in the future and in the research field where they dedicated their lives to boot. Of course, no one wants to yield…

Then, since there was no sign of them reaching a conclusion, I had no choice but to say [If you don’t decide within 10 minutes, I’ll consider you’re not taking anything back]. And after I said that, the chaos begins.

Even the warm and gentle looking scholar, or the one that looks scrawny, can overpower the muscular soldiers who tried to stop them from rampaging out of desperation as if their limiter came off. They took a full swing at everything without care what they could hit or who they could hurt.

…it was kind of scary!

Well, they couldn’t injure a great scholar, so the soldiers held back. That’s why it was entirely out of control…

Anyway, it made me realize that you should not let the scholars decide something if their field of specialty that they’d be glad to [put their lives at risk] is on the line.

…The people of the plant team even begged [By all means, please let us bring back two kinds of plants!!], but I rejected them flatly. Those are my important trump card, so there’s no way I can afford to make an exception.

And after that, out of nowhere, the most important looking grandpa among the scholars whispered…

(Could you take a note containing our personal contact information before getting off the helicopter? In case there’s something to be discussed personally…)

…while looking at me with his eyes wide open.

Considering his eyes were always closed all the time, it was quite scary…

Of course, he quietly handed me a folded small notepaper in the helicopter on our way home.

And so, It’s not too far of a distance if seen from a sailor’s point of view, but the long journey to the colony is about to end.

Sailboats are slow. No, if there’s a strong tailwind, they move quite fast, but there are times when they have to face a strong headwind, and there are times when there’s no wind at all. Worse, if there’s a storm, they have to roll up the sails and stop their advance.

In the case of a headwind, it’s possible to advance in a zigzag manner, but the speed is not so fast. So, the rate of advance, on average, is about 4-5 knots or about 8 km/h.

A modern warship would be able to maintain a cruising speed of 20 knots or more at all times except in bad weather, so it is over 36 km/h. That’s almost five times difference.

Well, It seems a sailboat could hit a maximum cruising speed of 14-15 knots and a maximum speed of 20 knots when the conditions were good, but that can only be achieved by the best crew, using the best ship, and when there’s the best weather condition.

So, it was a long voyage for the crews themselves, and considering they’re going to the battlefront where they’re going to put their lives at risk would’ve made it feel many times longer.

… But for me, it was just a moment by using transfer.

Well, sorry!

And now, the fleets of both countries can be seen from above.

Vanel Kingdom’s fleet had arrived in this area a while ago, but both fleets have only found their opponents just now.

Today, we’re using the marine patrol aircraft.

Naval battles of this era usually take a long time. It’s not uncommon for the battle to be last for several days. Like moving around and trying to secure an advantageous, chasing the opponent who runs away, and so on…

This time, we’re not bringing torpedoes, missiles, anti-submarine weapons, or anything like that.

A camera pod is attached to a mounting point of the fuselage of the plane. Of course, there’s a night-vision function, so I can rest assured at night.

And in preparation for the long-term battle, a second aircraft, along with the crews, are waiting at the base.

I wasn’t really thinking of refueling the plane by transferring the fuel directly to the fuel tank, but when I consulted that, all the people concerned vehemently opposed the idea with a pale face.

…Even if the position shifts just a little, the plane could plunge into a lump of fuel that appeared in the air. And with the engines running on both sides of the aircraft, it could burn everything…

Even just a few meters of shift, the cabin could be flooded with fuel…

Of course, they’re against it…

Well, anyway, both fleets have started the battle!!