Aww man, I guess that means no Apache or Cobra. So it’ll be a transport or utility helicopter equipped with door guns and guys with assault rifles. Virtually an improvised fighting chopper as opposed to an attack chopper designed specifically for combat. The enemy won’t have SAMs or anti-aircraft autocannons, though, so that won’t matter. It’ll just have to stay out of their bow-and-arrow range.
An improvised fighting helicopter was similar to a “technical,” which was basically a regular pickup truck loaded with heavy machine guns, autocannons, and recoilless rifles. Its biggest flaw was its paper-thin armor, but helicopters were fragile anyway, and that didn’t matter if the enemy couldn’t hit it.
“I’d also like a bunch of squad automatic weapons, preferably ones where you can swap the barrel quickly─something that could handle long hours of rapid firing. I want them in belts, of course. Make them 5.56mm. Oh, and some mortars too, and plenty of ammo for all those weapons,” Mitsuha said. Oh, and just in case… “I also want about three portable surface-to-air missiles.”
The captain stared at Mitsuha in dumbfounded silence.
The last request was in case the helicopter crew betrayed her. It was best to be wary of people you didn’t know on a dangerous mission like this. The last thing she wanted was the mercenaries getting any ideas from being in an isekai scenario─Overpowered in Another World with a Chopper Full of Modern Weapons.
If a disaster like that happened, Mitsuha could jump them into the ocean on Earth, but not if they took her out with a headshot first. She needed to give the Wolf Fang guys a way to subdue them without her. It might’ve been an unlikely scenario, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared.
The helicopter crew wouldn’t survive long with their limited personnel and weaponry, but they could still cause a lot of damage in a small amount of time, and it’d be my fault. It’s the Yamano way to take as many precautions as possible. That won’t change whether I’m in Japan or in another world.
“So is this another war?” the captain asked.
“Yep.”
Had she requested one non-combat helicopter, he could’ve assumed it was for any special mission. But she also asked for guns and mortars, making it obvious she was preparing for a major battle.
“Sweet. All fifty-nine members of Wolf Fang are at yer disposal! We can move out at any time!”
The captain’s getting hyped. I hate to burst his bubble, but…
“Uh, I actually only need about six Wolf Fang members in addition to the helicopter crew.”
“What…?”
“I said I only need six people…”
“What?”
“Six. People.”
“WHAAAAAT?!”
“I only asked for all those SAWs in case you don’t have time to change a barrel. I’m overpreparing just to be safe. You might not even use them…”
“No-o-o-o-o-o!”
The captain spent a while badgering Mitsuha about her staffing limit, but she didn’t budge. She eventually got him to move on and discuss the details like how much ammo they should bring. After that, he quickly went back to pestering her to take more men, which Mitsuha ignored.
“My guys’re gonna riot! There’ll be bloodshed when they fight over the spots,” he complained.
Not my problem…
He suggested using Wolf Fang members for the helicopter crew, but the crafts obviously needed to be handled by the mercenary group that owned them. Inserting Wolf Fang members─who had no experience with helicopters─in the crew would throw off the team play and risk an accident. It’d be terrible if anyone were to lose their balance and fall from the rocky aircraft. It was best to leave the helicopter in the hands of the original crew.
Mitsuha would’ve been anxious only taking men she didn’t know, however, and she wanted a minimal support team from Wolf Fang on land. Minimal meant no more than six. She also needed them to take out the helicopter if necessary.
The situation was different from the battle to defend the capital. She wasn’t pressed for time like she was then. In addition, the empire’s target wasn’t Zegleus, which made her an unrelated outsider interfering in a foreign conflict. Mitsuha knew not to do too much of the heavy lifting. She was only there to help. It was Princess Remia and the people of Dalisson who needed to win the battle.
Mitsuha and the Wolf Fang mercenaries could easily repel the imperial army without suffering any casualties if they didn’t hold back. However, she couldn’t allow that to happen. What would come of Dalisson, the Aldar Empire, Zegleus, and all the countries of the Great Alliance who were preparing for invasion from the New World if she did pull it off? Thinking that you could end a war without any ally fatalities would’ve been the height of folly.
Actually, I’m pretty sure I could pull it off if I tried hard enough. But winning a war with zero loss isn’t normal, and I don’t want government leaders to start taking that kind of thing for granted and getting bad ideas. That’s why I have to hold back…even if doing so results in more deaths.
People need to fight for their own nation. If a god conveniently appears out of nowhere and wins their war for them, they’d be without dignity or a sense of achievement. What would be the point of having a unified nation or trained soldiers? Someday, that god─me─will be gone.
Princess Remia sought my help, but there’s a limit to what I can do. And that limit is for me to decide. I’m the only one who can take responsibility for my decisions.
I’m not exactly thrilled about having to ask Wolf Fang to arrange a helicopter team, but oh well. Nothing goes exactly according to plan.
Anyway, I’m the client. The captain has to do what I ask.
“We came to an agreement with the other mercenary group,” said the captain. “They’ve got two choppers and they’re willin’ to lend us both. They own two in case one breaks down or is under maintenance─and also so they can cannibalize one to fix the other if both get busted─but right now, both are good to go.”
Aircraft in general were less likely to see action than wheeled vehicles. If a mercenary group had only one helicopter, it’d be spending more time in the hangar than on the field. Securing jobs that required a chopper wouldn’t be easy with just the one in storage all the time.
One helicopter would’ve been good enough for this mission, but two would bring greater certainty and save time. It would’ve been a pain if their only helicopter broke down right before the mission. Mitsuha was grateful to have two.
Three portable surface-to-air missiles were more than enough for the two. Wolf Fang might not have a helicopter, but its members were experts when it came to surviving against helicopter raids. Aircraft wouldn’t last long without fuel, maintenance equipment, and spare parts anyway. Without a carrier or base to return to, they were little more than single-use weapons.
Two helicopters sounded great, but there was one thing Mitsuha was concerned about.
“What’s the price, captain?”
She was talking about the fee for the job. Two helicopters obviously meant double the fuel and labor costs. She shuddered to think how much money they had asked for.
“Three hundred thousand,” the captain answered.
“Huh? Really?”
Three hundred thousand dollars was a little more than 30 million yen. The last time Mitsuha hired Wolf Fang to fight in the other world, she ended up spending a total of 60,000 gold coins after dropping the initial 40,000 security deposit, the latter of which was equivalent to about ten million dollars. Dividing that between fifty-seven people resulted in a little less than $175,000 per person.
By contrast, this new mercenary group would be supplying two helicopters, each manned by a seven-person crew, totaling fourteen people, and would be getting a payment of $300,000. That would only give a little more than $21,000 to each person. That was certainly a lot of money to make in one day, but Mitsuha felt it was too cheap for a life-risking job. Helicopters were absurdly expensive to maintain, too. Even if they avoided damage to the helicopters, made a profit on the job, and didn’t consider depreciation, this gig seemed way too treacherous for that amount.
Mitsuha gulped, “They’ll be charging separately for arms and ammunition, right? Isn’t that still a little too cheap, though?”
She intended to be reimbursed by Dalisson in the form of a reward or an “offering to the Goddess that Zegleus worshipped” for her assistance. The expenses for the mercenary group’s help sure as hell wasn’t coming out of Mitsuha’s wallet. If Princess Remia proved reluctant to compensate, Mitsuha would threaten her to make sure she did.
Why should I have to pay out of my own pocket to fight someone else’s war?! Which is why I don’t intend to haggle this time. I wouldn’t do something so shameful to professionals who are risking their lives!