novelraw Chapter 80 : Chapter 80
Chapter 80 : Chapter 80
Chapter 80
“Rian! How is your body?”
“Have some of this. They say you have to eat well when you’re sick to get better quickly.”
“Are you okay? Can you move? I’ll support you, so don’t overdo it.”
“Training? What if your wound opens up? You’re already healed? No. You never know.”
“Kyaaah! Rian! What if you get dizzy from standing up so suddenly?”
Somehow.
Since this morning… to be precise, since I regained consciousness, Lirisa has been extremely burdensome.
How should I explain this?
She sticks to my side, watching my every move with interest, and whenever I try to do something, she tells me to rest because she’ll do it, not letting me leave the bed.
She was treating me like a critical patient who couldn’t lift a finger.
Her fussiness had gone too far.
At this rate, she was on the verge of spoon-feeding me.
My body was comfortable, but my mind was not.
“……”
Selina’s half-lidded eyes were telling me.
What on earth are you doing in this chaotic battlefield?
I, too, spoke with my eyes.
I don’t know either.
What’s wrong with her?
It was true that Lirisa and I were close, but this was a bit over the top.
It was true that I had walked a tightrope on the cliff of death and come back alive, but Lirisa and I had been together since Stage 1-1.
This wasn’t the first time I had come back from the dead, yet this was the first time she had reacted so intensely and bewilderingly.
‘Come to think of it, Lirisa’s condition was strange even before we came to the Frey Archipelago… Should I find out what’s going on?’
I thought it might be related to something, but I didn’t know what it was, and in the first place, I couldn’t express my dissatisfaction to her just because it was uncomfortable.
In fact, it was Lirisa who had saved me when I was about to be killed by a Rodos hero, so what complaints could I have?
If she told me to roll, I was confident I could roll on the ground like a dog.
“…Haa.”
Selina, unable to watch any longer, put her hand to her head and let out a sigh.
But she did not intervene further.
Perhaps because she paid great attention to her subordinate soldiers, it was highly likely that she had noticed the subtle change in Lirisa.
“For now, may I begin the briefing?”
Selina called everyone who was scattered around the airship.
Excluding the two who had been killed in action, all eight of us gathered around the table and waited for Selina’s next words.
Normally, Selina would have used various materials to make the briefing easy for her subordinate soldiers to understand.
But this time, perhaps because there was not much time, the briefing was conducted only orally, without any materials.
“First, as I mentioned beforehand, we will be participating in the local battle taking place over the Leviathan’s corpse in the sea below. The number of airships mobilized from both factions has already exceeded one hundred. And even that number is growing rapidly. I think… it will be the most intense and difficult battle we have experienced so far.”
It was a battle taking place on the open sea, where there was nothing.
Strategy and whatnot would be irrelevant; the clash of pure strength would determine victory or defeat.
Both the Purity and the Alliance would continuously throw their soldiers into the fray for victory, and an immeasurable number of casualties would occur.
It couldn't be helped.
The goose that laid the golden eggs was dead.
So they had to cut open its belly and take out as many golden eggs as possible, and these golden eggs were larger, more beautifully shining, and more valuable than any golden egg the goose had laid before.
Furthermore, there would be no way to obtain these golden eggs in the future.
Therefore, it was a situation where they must obtain them.
Neither the Purity nor the Alliance would ever back down.
But the leaders who had made the decision to never back down would not die.
It would be the low-ranking soldiers like me who would die in the storm of war.
“The Alliance’s staff office has said that they will give rewards based on contribution. But I hope you will prioritize safety, regardless of contribution. This battle is too dangerous. Not only is the scale of the battle large, but the enemy is too strong.”
“…Don’t tell me a large-class has been observed?”
At my question, Selina nodded silently.
I hadn’t been particularly impressed even when she said it was dangerous, but the moment I heard the words “large-class,” I fully realized how dangerous this battle was.
Usually, the mainstay of Stage 2 was small-class airships.
Occasionally, someone piloting a medium-class airship would appear, but they were usually treated as ecosystem destroyers.
Among players, when encountering an enemy medium-class airship, they would joke about being hit by a truck, or that it was a natural disaster.
If even a medium-class was like that, then a large-class.
It was no exaggeration to compare it not to a truck, but to a tank.
“How many?”
“The number observed right now is one on our side. Two on the enemy’s. And it’s scheduled to increase from there.”
“…We’re going to die.”
No matter how I wracked my brain, I couldn’t see any possibility of me getting out of this Frey Archipelago alive.
Just as there was an overwhelming gap between small and medium-class airships, there was also an enormous gap between medium and large-class.
Naturally, the gap that existed between small and large-class was on a level that surpassed imagination.
At Achimlab Fortress, we had been able to seize victory because of the fortress' air support and the captured mana bombs.
In a pure power struggle on the open sea with no support, the difference in firepower was directly linked to survival and victory.
“Can’t we get out of it? All our soldiers suffered serious injuries in the previous battle and are unable to participate… Or the airship has a problem and is unable to fly.”
“The moment we declare our non-participation, they’ll come to check. The moment they find out it’s a false report, it’s summary execution.”
Selina made a gesture of slitting her own throat with the side of her hand.
Perhaps because I was showing a desire to avoid the battle itself.
Even Byan, who always tried his best to show his side as a field commander, became flustered and showed a passive side.
“Um… Should we break the airship a little right now?”
“Even if we break it, it will be repaired quickly, and the moment Unit 917’s airship enters Ederka’s dock, Ederka’s staff will inspect the airship. If a ship that was docked in perfect condition suddenly breaks down, an audit will be launched immediately.”
“……”
Byan sat down, struck dumb.
It was a long speech, but in the end, it meant that there was no way to escape this battle.
At this rate, it would be no different from walking into a den of hungry lions without any weapons.
It was safe to say that death was practically confirmed.
I had to devise a method somehow, so I mobilized all the knowledge I had acquired from D&K and calculated the possibilities.
‘Use everything I can.’
What could I use right now?
I began to calculate.
First, the one eyeball I had obtained from subjugating Galakal this time.
The honor and fame I had gained from subjugating both Balta and Hobelerus.
‘There’s really nothing.’
Even for a low-ranking soldier.
Compared to my days as Odin’s commander, the cards I could use were too limited.
I had the Ella 7 Sword, but using that too didn’t seem like something a human should do.
It was an act that would betray the trust of Selina and the old man, so even if it solved the immediate problem, the aftermath would lead to ruin.
Some way…
“…Ah. I’ve got it.”
* * *
Selina and I stood before a firmly closed door guarded by two soldiers.
Selina’s expression as she straightened her clothes was filled with an unconcealable tension.
“Rian. Are you ready?”
“What’s there to be ready for?”
“Still, we’re on our way to have a private meeting with an Imperial marquis… Never mind. What can I expect from Rian, who is rude even to the Imperial family?”
“That’s rude.”
“I’m sure it is.”
Still, Selina’s tension seemed to have eased a little.
When she gestured with her eyes, one of the soldiers in front of the door knocked.
“Marquis. The commander of Unit 917 has arrived.”
A voice of permission was not heard.
Instead, the closed door opened, and a man who was skin and bones appeared.
The marquis of the Empire and the person in charge of this airbase, Ederka.
Marquis Saeb.
“I have been waiting for you.”
His voice was the same as ever.
A voice that seemed to have no interest in anything, a voice that drained you just by listening to it.
But his eyes, at least, were staring at me sharply.
The room was extremely messy.
Saeb pushed the documents that filled the reception table onto the floor and pointed to the seat opposite him.
He must have meant for us to sit.
I, too, without hesitation, swept away the cumbersome documents and sat down.
“Coffee… Would you like some?”
He was offering, but I could tell just by looking at his expression, which screamed that he was annoyed to death, that it was just a formality.
Not being the dense type, both Selina and I remained silent.
Then, as if satisfied, Saeb nodded his head.
“We don’t have time, so let’s get straight to the point. Commander of Unit 917.”
“I am Selina Verdin.”
“Yes. Commander of Unit 917.”
It meant he didn’t want to bother memorizing her name.
I felt like I had a grasp of what kind of personality this man had.
“I heard that you have something you must discuss with me about Roka. I would appreciate it if you understood that I have set aside time because you said it was a very important story.”
“Would it be alright if I were the one to speak?”
“Hmm…”
When I opened my mouth, Saeb sent a gaze my way as if he were surprised.
Though it was very brief, curiosity was revealed in his expression and gaze.
“A soldier who has subjugated Galakal has more than enough right to speak. In fact, I am quite curious. Just what kind of great information do you have that you would request a private meeting with me?”
His voice was weak and soft.
But I could tell from the atmosphere.
If the words that came out of my mouth had no value, this man would impose a heavy punishment on me without a moment’s hesitation.
However, I, too, was confident, so I was not the least bit nervous.
“I heard that a local battle of a fairly large scale is taking place over Roka’s corpse in the sea below.”
“Yes. It is an important war that the Alliance must win.”
“I have a way to annihilate the enemies.”
“…Hmm?”
It must have been a rather shocking story, yet Saeb only let out a small sound and did not reveal his emotions on the surface at all.
He leaned back in the plush chair and stroked his untidily grown beard, pondering for a moment. When he opened his eyes again.
The atmosphere had changed.
“That sounds quite interesting.”
The man, who had been acting as if he felt no interest in anything, with half-dead fish eyes, now had his eyes glinting as if possessed by madness.
A smile resembling a crescent moon filled his lips.
“The number of Purity airships gathered at sea is 64 just by observation. Among them, two are large-class, and over 30 are medium-class. Our Alliance’s forces are overall about 20 percent behind. In a pure weight class fight, the Alliance is bound to be pushed back. Unfortunately, we are far from land, so there are no particular means to overturn that weight class difference, and the situation is grim. Even our Empire’s strategists cannot overturn this difference and are being questioned by His Majesty the Emperor.”
“……”
“That is why I am dying of curiosity. What is this method you mentioned that can annihilate the enemies?”