“...Then that means...” Kyouhei managed, turning to Dolph with an expression somewhere between shock and horror.
The former king scratched his cheek somewhat bashfully. “Indeed, though I wonder what it’s called nowadays,” he said.
“No, nowadays and what’s in fashion isn’t...” Kyouhei trailed off.
“You’re thinking right. Our ancestors came from there,” Dolph said with a shrug, pointing up at the skies above, and probably at the void above the clouds.
● ● ●
Long, long ago, and even longer still, the country was struck by calamity.
An epidemic and famine. The two events happening at the same time were probably no coincidence. A famine killed in great numbers, and with few enough people there weren’t enough hands to carry out burials, let alone funerals. Therefore, unmourned corpses lay everywhere, a hotbed for disease, which then spread throughout the country.
People died in droves—the country was on the verge of ruin. Everyone thought so, and the fields of microbiology, product management, and hygiene weren’t developed in those days... There was no way to stop the epidemic, and no way to stop the famine.
But then, one day, they arrived.
They washed ashore from ‘an empty black sea,’ and were strange individuals... In exchange for being allowed to live in the country, they healed people, cut down forests to create fields, and used a technique called ‘cloning’ to increase the amount of livestock. Just like that, the country escaped its fate in a mere year.
Rejoicing, and as a sign of gratitude, the people gave the strangers from the ‘empty black sea’ the title of Bergmann, made them royalty, and asked them to forever govern the country.
Eventually, the country gained the name of its king and became known as the Bergmann Kingdom.
And they all lived happily ever after.
● ● ●
“...Wha?!” Kyouhei let out at the old tale from Dolph. “Y-You’re aliens?!”
“Well, you can use E.T.’s ‘foreigners,’ or you can be more poetic and call us ‘visitors’ as well,” Dolph joked. “That’s what we are,” he continued, pointing up at the floating disc, “and that is the ‘ship’ that our ancestors used to arrive here. The rare materials needed for the main engine are exhausted, though, so it can’t fly in space anymore.”
His explanation was careless, like it was just an old car in some warehouse. The people from NASA or JAXA would faint on the spot.
“This is the truth of the Legacy of the Bergmann family, and the Secret of Bergmann. It’s an assembly of general-purpose nanomachines; they can become many things simply by rearranging them with the control software. The parts of the Legacy are usually split between each person, but when they’re joined together, that’s what happens.”
“...Then, the country’s scientific advancements...” Kyouhei said leadingly.
“Stem from that, yes. Our ancestors used its powers carelessly, so neighboring countries set their sights on us, and there was war. Since then, the royal family has taken responsibility for it, and it has been our country’s highest secret... Well, the parts have a genetic lock too, so only we can use them.”
Kyouhei had no words anymore.
Mizuhito and Sanae Murata murmured, impressed.
“Oh, so Pamil-chan’s an alien,” was Mizuhito’s contribution.
“She’s not a psychic, then...” was Sanae’s.
“...Hey, show a bit more surprise, would you?!” Kyouhei yelled, turning to look at them.
They’d thought she was a body double android, but she was an alien.
A fake fake.
It was crazy.
“Well, you know, she did start by firing beams from her eyes,” Mizuhito defended.
Kyouhei had tried to keep it hidden, but apparently it hadn’t worked.
Well, moving on.
“I-Impossible!” Walser roared hoarsely. “That’s completely absurd!”
He’d finally snapped, and started firing all the Valkyrie’s weapons with an anguished yell.
The missiles and railgun rounds made it seem almost as if the vehicle itself had exploded, as they flooded towards the flying saucer.
“Wha...?!” Kyouhei exclaimed, paling.
The firepower on display would obliterate a battleship, sending it to the depths, to say nothing of what it would do to a tank. The coffin had stopped the rapid-fire railgun, but this was a far more powerful attack.
Of course, Kyouhei had no real attachment to the flying saucer that had appeared from nowhere, but it was a different matter when he considered a stray round hitting the girl standing triumphantly underneath it with her arms crossed.
“Pamil!” he yelled out.
But...
“Verteidigung!” Pamil proclaimed, causing the saucer to move rapidly.
The 50-meter circle floated in front of her like a shield, its glossy black surface stopping all of the attacks. There was something like a force field catching all the explosions and rounds and sending them into the ground below, blowing them away. It was a scene hard to even describe, primitive and super-advanced at the same time.
And then:
“Huge! Ausschnitt!” Pamil shouted.
Kyouhei wanted to yell about that first half not matching languages, but then the saucer started spinning like a massive buzz saw in front of him.
“What the...?!” Walser yelled dazedly at the primitive attack method (and probably the too-direct naming of it) as the disc slipped 90° with deceptive ease for its size, rolling along the ground like a bowling ball headed for the pins.
With a roar, it impacted into the Valkyrie and then passed through.
Which meant...
“Ah... Ahhhhhhhh...!!” came Walser’s scream, not over the speakers, but directly from him.
The latest walking combat vehicle had been split down the middle and was now open and exposing its insides. The colonel and a soldier who looked like his co-pilot were panicking at the opening before falling out. Then, a moment later, the secret weapon of the Manninger Commonwealth burst into flames.
“Impossible... It cannot beeeee!” Walser screamed, beating the ground with his fists. The shock must have been too much for him.
As Kyouhei watched the elite soldier reduced to acting like a kindergartener, he had an urge to go and pat him on the shoulder.
● ● ●
Well, that’s how it went.
Colonel Walser and his crew—the unlawful special forces squad—were all arrested by the police who turned up after the commotion.
Of course, firepower-wise the soldiers were stronger, being equipped with automatic rifles and such, but... they’d all been beaten within an inch of their lives by Pamil and her family, so they were unable to really resist.