✦ ✦ ✦
As Koutarou pondered the situation, he felt eyes on him.
“Hmmmm.” Shizuka cast him a sidelong glance while she was thinking about something herself.
“What?” Koutarou asked.
“You can be surprisingly”—forceful when stopping a girl in a hurry, she was about to say before changing her mind mid-sentence—“considerate about small things.”
It wasn’t entirely untrue, as this was something she had noted before.
“Well, I do have some experience as a commander,” Koutarou explained.
“I see. You were the same two thousand years ago.” Shizuka nodded. She was happy that Koutarou was so reliable. As for what she had been about to say, once everyone was back home safe, she intended to explore it further.
Before long, Sanae-san and Alunaya discovered the enemy. Although they used different methods, they found them at almost the same time.
“There are enemies in the front to the right,” Sanae-san warned them. “The terrain is blocking the view, but they are about two hundred and fifty meters away, Satomi-san.”
Having astral projected, Sanae-san was on lookout in the air, leaving Sanae-chan in charge of her body.
“There are ten,” Alunaya informed them. “Many are holding lumps of metal. There are also four large lumps, probably machines, that are floating. They are a modern squad of warriors.”
He was relying on instinct. He could sense spatial distortions, mana, sound, and smell to draw conclusions.
“Have they not noticed us?” Shizuka whispered with a worried look. She wasn’t very comfortable playing this kind of hide-and-seek for a long period of time.
“It’s okay,” Sanae-san said. “They’re nervous, but there’s no aura turning toward us.”
“Right, good...” Shizuka responded with relief.
Seeing that, Koutarou called out to her. “They might be detecting us, but they could be seeing it as unnecessary information and ignoring it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our presence is being made to look like puppies or kittens,” Koutarou explained.
Since they were close, it was possible that the enemy had already noticed them but ignored them since they saw them as critters. Based on experience, Koutarou’s side was using all kinds of methods to suppress their spiritual energy and body temperatures. Completely concealing their presence was a bad idea due to how unnatural it was and how much energy was expended. Yurika might have been able to erase everything, but Koutarou wasn’t a magical expert, so their current approach was more suitable. Of course, if the enemy looked at them directly, they would see through the disguise, so they couldn’t let their guard down.
Shizuka nodded. “Oh, that makes more sense than hiding everything from sight and hearing range.”
“So what shall we do, Blue Knight?” Alunaya asked. “Just defeating them would be simple, but...”
The expected forces were ten infantrymen and four unmanned craft supporting them. If Shizuka got serious, her side would be victorious in a matter of seconds.
“Based on their path, it doesn’t seem like we are being watched,” Koutarou answered. “So let’s leave them alone and let them pass by.”
Thanks to Alunaya and Sanae-san pointing it out, Koutarou could somewhat sense the enemy’s presence. They were currently on a path that would intersect with the one Koutarou’s group was on.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like they were being watched after checking out the crash site, so Koutarou decided to wait in hiding and pass behind the enemy.
“Why? Shouldn’t we just take them out?” Sanae-chan asked. As someone who preferred to keep things simple, she felt it was better to defeat the enemy where they were. That way, there would be fewer enemies and Kiriha and the others would be safer.
“Then they’ll assume the girls are here and send in everyone,” Koutarou replied.
“Oh, that would be bad.” Sanae-chan nodded. If a Liberation Army squad was taken out, their superiors would assume one of two things had happened: either their targets had defeated them, in which case they would gather their forces in the area, or reinforcements had defeated the targets, which would mean those reinforcements were also looking for the girls in the area and would deploy their soldiers accordingly. So when thinking of Kiriha and the others, it was best to let the enemy be. With fewer clues to follow, the troops had to spread out to cover a wide area.
“Wait a minute, Satomi-kun,” Shizuka said. “Why don’t you think they have any clues to lead them to Kiriha-san and the others?”
Shizuka could sense the soldiers passing by ahead of them, since she was sharing Alunaya’s sensations. But that wasn’t enough for her to understand Koutarou’s decision.
“If they had proper information, they wouldn’t go that way,” said Koutarou. “And they would be rushing too.”
The direction the soldiers were moving in was one hundred and twenty degrees off from the direction Koutarou was headed. Even considering the zigzagging pattern they were moving in, it was far from where the missing trio was. Moreover, several hours had passed since the crash, so if the enemy was chasing after the girls, they would be rushing.
“Since they don’t know where Kiriha-san and the others are, they are looking for reinforcements like us?” Shizuka clarified.
“They should be. They would want to connect with reinforcements and follow or beat them to their destination.”
“In other words, attacking them is just what they want,” Sanae-san concluded.
“That’s so scary! War is scary!” Sanae-chan commented.
The enemy was pursuing Kiriha’s group while searching for reinforcements. Without seeing through that kind of mindset, Kiriha and the others could be in great danger. For that reason, they had to exhibit the utmost caution.
No wonder Kiriha-san and the others are being targeted...
Normally, it was Kiriha, Ruth, and Clan who were concerned about that kind of mindset. They would prepare the way so that the others didn’t have to think about it. But right now, those three weren’t here, so every decision took precious time. Koutarou felt how useful those three were now more than ever. He didn’t even want to think about what it would be like to manage without them until he settled things with Maxfern. So for both personal and public reasons, he had to get the three girls back.
Four hours had passed since the Liberation Army had shot down the target landing craft. They had been searching the area since then but still hadn’t found their targets. The trio in question had vanished like smoke.
“Don’t tell me they were never on board to begin with,” Maxfern muttered.