“I’m only referring to the celebration, of course,” the viscountess pointed out. “I’m still expecting payment for the battle. That operation cost a fortune between the exhaustion of the divine weapons, the cost for using the flying sky boats, maintenance fees, and personnel expenses. The divine soldiers don’t fight for free!”
“Not to worry, I’m well aware of that!”
She’s not that wily, I guess. Still, she’s the type who wouldn’t hesitate to carry the burden and play the villainess for the sake of her country. Fear not, though! I’ve learned how to handle her by now, and I won’t let my guard down!
Mwahaha!
“So yeah, can you invite the helicopter crews back to the other world? There are no retaining fees or participation fees this time.”
“Care to elaborate on the ‘So yeah’ part?” The captain squinted.
Right. I didn’t explain myself.
“The princess has to throw a victory celebration to distract from the fact that they can’t ask for much in indemnities from the empire,” said Mitsuha.
“All right… I get the picture. Devastating losses and dominant victories have one thing in common─the fallout is a pain in the ass. I guess that goes for any world.”
I knew he’d understand. He’s not the captain of a mercenary group for nothing. With experience comes wisdom…
“Oh, can you bring out some of the LAVs and trucks too? The helicopters alone won’t make for a great show. Bring along some mercs who didn’t participate in the battle, too,” she suggested.
“What’re you─oh, fine, fine! I see your point. You can’t put on a parade with just two choppers.”
Yep, exactly.
“Thanks for reaching out to them for me. I’m counting on you!”
“Let’s do this!” Mitsuha said.
The fourteen mercenaries from the helicopter teams and twenty of the Wolf Fang guys were lined up in front of the vehicle depot at Wolf Fang’s base. The former were in their aircraft and the latter were inside trucks.
Additional Wolf Fang members aside from the original six were invited to make the parade look showier by padding it out with more vehicles. They were driving LAVs, trucks, and technicals─which were consumer trucks loaded with heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles, making them a powerful (but not very high-defense) combat vehicle. The extra traffic should make for a decent presentation.
“Jump!”
They appeared near the capital of Dalisson, just far enough away that they weren’t visible from the city.
“Move out!” commanded Mitsuha.
The wheeled vehicles started their procession toward the capital. The helicopters were going to lift off afterward when she gave the order over radio.
Mitsuha, or the Lightning Archpriestess, was sitting on the hatch of one of the LAVs. The procession was meant to be seen, so she had to put herself on display.
It didn’t take long for the main gate of the city walls to come into view. The mercenaries in the other vehicles leaned out of the windows and cargo beds as they waved at the onlookers along the road.
The gate guards were informed beforehand, so they let the trucks through without a hitch. Just before passing through the entrance, Mitsuha used her radio to signal for the helicopters to lift off.
Once they were inside the facade, the mercenaries fell into formation with the capital army that awaited and proceeded steadily down the main street toward the royal palace. The helicopters soon caught up and hovered overhead, trying to stay parallel with the ground force. They were flying high above to minimize the engine noise and wind for the people below.
It was Princess Remia’s idea for the capital army to join the parade, of course. She was hoping that their presence would lead people to believe that the army fought alongside the divine soldiers to repel the enemy. She wasn’t actually going to say anything to that effect, which meant no lies would be told. Only Mitsuha, the mercenaries, and the imperial army witnessed the battle. Mitsuha and the mercenaries weren’t going to blab, and no one was going to listen to the losers.
The minstrels can go crazy with this one. No one will be able to argue with their version of the story. That’s why we chose to march in a formation that makes it look like the capital army fought too and leave the rest up to the people’s imagination. Plus, it might’ve been difficult for the citizens to cheer for these strange vehicles without the presence of men who are familiar to them.
The trucks and capital army soldiers continued down the main street and into the royal palace grounds where they proceeded to the training yard. Mitsuha and the mercenaries parted ways with the soldiers and parked the vehicles in a corner. Soon after, the helicopters touched down in the middle of the yard. The pilots turned off the engines and the aerial team joined the other mercenaries.
The six Wolf Fang members who fought in the battle deboarded their trucks while the rest stayed inside. Mitsuha then jumped the vehicles with the mercenaries still inside and the unmanned helicopters back to the Wolf Fang base on Earth. She returned alone in less than a second, so no one noticed she had gone anywhere; it just looked like the vehicles and aircraft disappeared on their own.
The fourteen extra Wolf Fang members who joined the parade weren’t going inside the royal palace. Only those who fought in the battle were. Mitsuha felt that getting commended for something they didn’t do was dishonorable for a soldier, and the fourteen men agreed.
She was also worried about leaving the trucks and helicopters unattended. There were plenty of nobles and soldiers with an interest in the divine soldiers’ vehicles and weapons. They generally had self-control, but out of thousands of people, there was bound to be at least one bad actor who might’ve poked around.
A group of royal guards led Mitsuha and the mercenaries inside the palace. They were headed for the audience chamber.
“Welcome, Lightning Archpriestess and divine soldiers. You have my heartfelt thanks for the great service you have performed for Dalisson,” Princess Remia began her speech.
The princess wasn’t speaking from an elevated platform, and Mitsuha and the mercenaries weren’t kneeling to her as one might expect of an audience with a royal. Instead, she descended from the dais to address them on equal footing. Sure, she was a princess, but she couldn’t be seen looking down on the Lightning Archpriestess and her divine soldiers.
At the same time, a kingdom’s acting ruler bowing her head to a foreign viscountess would’ve been problematic. This was a complicated situation. Princess Remia had to decide whether to treat Mitsuha as a foreign viscountess or as the Goddess’s envoy.
The same decision had to be made for the mercenaries─should she treat them as a foreign viscountess’s private soldiers or as divine soldiers? The flying sky boats and armored vehicles made it hard to believe they were ordinary private soldiers. That wasn’t to mention how they drove the imperial army to withdraw with so few people.
Well, whatever Princess Remia wants. I’m just doing this to help her deal with the fallout of the war. I did ask her for one little favor, though…
The mercenaries didn’t understand a word that Princess Remia was saying to them, naturally. This was merely a performance to show the people of Dalisson that the princess invited Mitsuha and the mercenaries to the royal palace, and to give the nobles and military leaders the impression that the divine soldiers saved the kingdom at her behest. The mercenaries didn’t seem to mind; they could sense her gratitude without understanding the language.