Upon spotting Anju returning from the base’s annexed maneuvering ground alongside Dustin, who was in his tanker jacket for the first time in a while, Frederica hurried over to confirm his return to duty. He was exempt from operations and training for the moment due to the Republic of San Magnolia Relief Expeditionary Force.
“Ooh, Dustin. Are you well enough to be out and about already?”
But once she asked that, Frederica realized what had happened and curled her lips up into a smirk. She didn’t need to hear an answer to see he was doing well enough.
“…My, my.”
He was already clearly tired on his feet. He was too exhausted to even lift his head, and Anju, who contrasted him in how unaffected she looked, cracked a strained smile.
“He’s gotten pretty rusty. He’s motivated enough, but his body isn’t keeping up with his mind.”
“Much to my shame…”
“I told you, you can get back in shape and work on your reflexes, but it takes time to get used to it… What should we do, though? I don’t think I can train with you every time, with the way things are now…”
She was free now because she’d had Kurena, Claude, and Tohru handle the briefing, but with preparations for Operation Overlord on top of her usual duties as platoon captain, she was quite busy. She was, of course, ready and willing to help Dustin get back in shape, but she couldn’t do it at the cost of her responsibilities.
“Don’t worry about me, Anju,” Dustin said, his head still hung from exhaustion. “I know how busy you are right now. I’ll ask Yuuto or…Ichihi—whoever’s free—for help, so I’ll manage.”
He brought up the names of his fellow 6th Platoon members, but he was so tired, he couldn’t pronounce the second name right. And with how bad his mental state was, he ended up blurting out his unfiltered thoughts.
“I mean, ideally, I’d love to have you help me train…but we eat together every day, and we hang out when we’re free. And we put up those dried flowers together, and making bouquets together was fun, so honestly, I’m good for now. I can’t take any more of your time.”
“D-Dustin?!”
Anju glanced between Frederica and Dustin in a flustered manner, and hearing her panic, Dustin finally looked up and recalled Frederica was there. Frederica, meanwhile, appeared a bit stumped on how to respond to this stream of gushing, and she eventually decided to smile with all the kindness of the Holy Mother.
“It seems you two are happy together every day.”
“Oh gosh…!” Anju ran off, red in the face.
Dustin, left behind and with his face every bit as flushed as hers, stood stock-still with Frederica staring at him.
“…Being happy together every day is all fine and dandy, but I will have you know Anju is a big sister to me. Make her cry, and regardless of what Shinei will do, I will personally throw you out to the Legion.”
“You heard about that…?!” Dustin looked at Frederica, aghast.
“Of course I did. I was made aware of every little detail, bikinis included.”
Dustin slumped to the ground in despair.
✦ ✦ ✦
“—Anyway, that’s all we know for now.”
“I’ll check up on the operation’s progress status with Joschka later, and I’ll report what we know and give him our advice. If the major nobles are still grumbling about which forces to pick, I’ll have Ernst put them in their place.”
“True to your words, you’ve grown strong. Using your bloodline and backing like that.”
“…That’s only because we don’t have the time or leisure to be picky about our methods,” Shin replied with a glare, but not one directed at Vika.
His foster father was Ernst, the president of the Federacy. Knowing him, he’d resist the idea of further conscription, which was fine, but his job wasn’t to turn ideas down all the time. So in place of conscription, he’d force the nobles to hand over their troops.
If he was going to preach his ideals of not sacrificing children, of not sacrificing people, of putting his life on the line to defend what’s worth protecting, it was about time he put some effort into saving people without having to take losses.
But that thought made Shin wince. There was another reason Ernst didn’t approve of Operation Overlord.
“There’s also…Frederica.”
With time running out and not enough soldiers, the military’s top brass could make a move to keep the new Imperial faction, who posed a threat to Frederica’s safety, in check. During the operation itself, the Strike Package would always be around to protect her—using their achievements thus far and Shin’s importance as a reconnaissance unit—but this time, the Onyx and Pyrope nobles would be sending out their subordinates. This meant Pyrope units would be in the operation, too.
In all likelihood, this included the new Imperial faction’s units—the units loyal to Archduchess Brantolote, who sought to supplant the former Imperial line. Of course, the Federacy wouldn’t go around openly exposing the empress’s survival to the new Imperial faction, but anything could happen on the battlefield. They would have to assume things wouldn’t go as planned, and there was a chance they would find out.
“Can’t we say she died in battle?”
“We could, assuming that would work…”
They could handle the slander of bringing a young Mascot girl to the battlefield and getting her killed, but they couldn’t be sure that would actually shake off any questioning that followed.
“…Vika, at worst, could she seek refuge in the United Kingdom?”
“You’re asking me that knowing it’s a volatile proposition. Don’t be unreasonable.”
He couldn’t consent to it, after all. His Highness grumbled with a sour expression and, with that same expression still, appended:
“To begin with, we shouldn’t be having this discussion without her present. She has come to terms with things in her own way, and we should not ignore her resolve. Just like how you…”
You, the Eighty-Six, would not want others to make light of your pride.
Shin fell silent for a moment. It felt like a long time ago now, but it’d been only a year ago that they were taken in by the Federacy, and Ernst, Grethe, and the Federacy’s people hurt their pride in what they believed were acts of kindness. And he was doing the same thing without even realizing it.
“…You’re right.”
“I will participate in considering countermeasures, though… But yes, if the major nobles end up bringing forth their strongest units, we can expect the Nouzen clan’s infamous Crazy Bones Division. Since they like being conspicuous and vying for glory so much, we can probably push all the troublesome issues onto them afterward.”
The fact that he came up with a suggestion right off the bat showed that His Highness was being relatively magnanimous this time. As Raiden and Shin stared at him, Vika gracefully shrugged as if to say this was just what they deserved. Not Shin and Raiden, but rather the infamous, conspicuous Crazy Bones Division.
“All I’m saying is that you lot do not seek glory as it is, so you may as well let them take all the credit for better or for worse. They may not want it, but in the end, they reap what they sow.”