The JSDF paid close attention to the safety of their troops. Thus, when they were deployed to foreign lands, a defensive base camp would first be built. With that base as their stronghold, they would have a refuge during an emergency. For example, they had done this in Samawah, Iraq.

Contrary to the old military view which thought little of human lives, they were now used to carrying out disaster relief missions to save people. Moreover, the JSDF paid more attention to defense than their predecessors. This was the result of the gradual change in the political climate in j.a.pan after the last World War

Furthermore, on the other side of the Gate was their homeland. In other words, defending the Gate was the main reason why the JSDF was here. By using both political and military methods, they were to conquer and secure the land surrounding the Gate. This was the mission of the JSDF. Mapping the land surrounding the Gate by taking aerial pictures and deploying scouts was also part of their plan.

Other than that, the construction of a fort, which was considered a relic of the last century, was also included in the plans.

The fort was not a  hastily constructed field fortification of dirt or sandbags, but rather, it was built with reinforced concrete, with the intention of making it a permanent defense structure.

It had been 3 weeks since the JSDF took over the land around the Gate. After working tirelessly for several days and nights, Arnus Hill had become an impregnable fortress.

The uniformly-built hexagram-shaped fortress displayed the character of the aide that thought up this design.

Most of the people who viewed the fort with a bird’s-eye view said that it looked like the six-sided fortification at Hakodate.

When a normal civilian became an officer of the JSDF, they would read up on military history and debate the pros and cons of a fortified castle, reviewing the ways to defend and attack such an installation.

However, there were some deviants who would giggle and say this was a magic formation. That’s right, the people who knew nothing about the mysteries of magic had unintentionally constructed a large scale hexagram that would surprise anyone knowledgeable about the arcane arts in Arnus Hill and its vicinity.

For now, let’s change the scene.

The roaring sounds of the engines of a HMV, a Type 73 Truck and a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) made a cloud of dust in their trail.

The elderly, women, and children in the vehicles had to endure the rocking of the vehicle from sharp turns and changes in speed, causing their heads and bodies to collide with each other. Gritting their teeth, they endured the pain.

Looking out the window of the vehicle, the view was blocked by the escaping Coda villagers.

And the black shadow falling on them from the sky.

It was the Flame Dragon.

It was the third day of the exodus from Coda Village, and the refugees thought they were out of the Flame Dragon’s hunting grounds. However, the beast suddenly appeared and immediately began attacking its prey.

Thanks to the prior knowledge of the Flame Dragon’s appearance courtesy of the JSDF, Coda Village and a few other nearby villages had all simultaneously fled from the beast. After the Flame Dragon couldn’t find any humans or Elves to prey on, it followed its nose to a place filled with humans.

Since the preparation for escaping had taken some time, and they were weighed down by their luggage, the slow speed of the Coda Villagers had allowed the Flame Dragon to catch them.

“Fighting with monsters is the JSDF’s tradition! Who’d have thought that we would be doing it here!”

Sergeant Major Kuwabara shouted furiously at Kurata, “RUN! RUN!”. Maybe it was due to the over-secretion of adrenaline by the brain, but a hint of joy could be heard in his voice.

The Flame Dragon swooped down at the villagers who had stood frozen in place. Seeing this, Itami shouted in the direction of the speeding LAV.

“Suppressing fire! LAV! Shoot him with the machine gun!”

Private Sasagawa mustered all the strength in his body to hold on to the handle of the .50 caliber machine gun while it made sounds like a jackhammer in a construction site.

The thick cartridges fell messily to the ground amidst gouts of black smoke as 12.7mm bullets created sparks on the Flame Dragon’s back

However, the tough dragon scales deflected all of the bullets.

“It’s useless!”

Hearing Sasagawa’s words, Itami shouted in reply, “Don’t worry about that! Just keep firing! Fire! Fire! Fire!”

Although airsoft guns firing BBs could not kill people, being hit by them was annoying. As such, even though the dragon’s body was covered in tough scales which could not be penetrated by bullets, it was still a living thing and possessed the sense of touch. Itami ordered his subordinates to keep firing.

Blossoms of fire erupted from the flash suppressors of the Type 64 Howa rifles.

The Flame Dragon could not bear the rain of bullets. Its attack slowed down, which allowed the farmer who was already in its mouth to escape.

The horrifying dragon turned his head towards the men.

An arrow protruded from its blind eye, but n.o.body could look directly at its terrifying visage. It was like a scar on a Yakuza’s face.

The Flame Dragon breathed fire at them like a flamethrower, but was unable to reach the wildly evasive JSDF vehicles.

“Ono! Yuniryu!! Ono!”

A female teenage voice came from behind them.

As he turned around, golden hair entered Itami’s line of sight.

The pale Elf pointed her slender fingers at her eyes whilst shouting “Ono!” repeatingly.

In that moment, although there was a language barrier between them, Itami somehow understood what she meant.

“Go for the eyes!”

The JSDF troopers trained their sights on the face of the dragon and opened fire.

The Flame Dragon looked visibly annoyed as it turned its face away and stopped its movements.

“Katsumoto! Use the Panzerfaust!”

From the LAV, he hauled out a 100mm man-portable anti-tank rocket launcher that had an RHA (rolled h.o.m.ogenous armor) penetration factor of 700mm. It was an infantry weapon that possessed tremendous power.

Exchanging places with Sasagawa who was operating the .50 caliber machine gun, Sergeant Katsumoto clambered up with the Panzerfaust.

However, this weapon was front-heavy and hard to turn. In addition, the safety-conscious  JSDF did not have the habit of shooting from an unbraced position.

“Backblast clear!”

“Idiot, just shoot already”—someone scolded under their breath. But after remembering about their training, all they could think was “Heh. It’s the JSDF after all…”

While he was aiming, the Flame Dragon attempted to escape into the sky.

The LAV sped up suddenly, causing Katsumoto’s body to thrash around and the dragon to shift out of the rocket launcher’s sight picture.

“d.a.m.n it! Keep it steady, Azuma!”

“Don’t ask the impossible!”

After all, the rocket launcher did not  have a computer guidance system. Thus, shooting while moving was impossible. With that in mind, Katsumoto aimed the rocket launcher at the Dragon again.

Due to the LAV suddenly braking and the recoil from firing the rocket, as the trigger was pulled, the Panzerfaust seemed like it would miss.

The rocket accelerated towards the Dragon with flames sprouting from its tail.

The dragon which had lost its balance spread its wings to regain its balance while stepping back to evade the warhead. However, its footing suddenly slipped.

Looking closely, there was a halberd stuck straight into the ground.

On the HMV, the goth lolita girl had cut a hole in the canvas covering the luggage and thrown the halberd from there. Its handle hit the leg of the animal.

The Flame Dragon fell in the direction of the rocket, which should have missed.

Due to the Neumann Effect, even the tough dragon scales were unable to resist the blast. It exceeded the Hugoniotic elasticity limit of its armour and broke through, blasting a hole clean through it.

If one compared the anatomy of the Flame Dragon to that of a human, the whole left arm was blown off.

The air vibrated with the wail of the Dragon.

Its roar was like its eyes, which could shake the spirit and shatter a warrior’s courage. All of the people present had their souls frozen.

The Flame Dragon’s piercing roar caused a brief lapse in the JSDF’s fire.

Seizing this opportunity, the Flame Dragon flew into the sky.

Spreading its wings, it flew unsteadily as it gained alt.i.tude.

The JSDF watched silently as it flew away from them.

The Flame Dragon had been repelled.

Hearing this, anybody would be suspicious and say “Are you kidding me!?”

People who could slay Dragons single handedly would only appear in myths and legends.

Triumphing over bears and buffaloes barehanded was still possible if one trained hard enough. But to fight an Ancient Dragon was suicidal.

Even if an entire order of knights, equipped with magic armor and weapons, magicians, priests, and Elven archers and Spirit users were sent against an Ancient Dragon, it would still be futile. This was common sense in this world. As such, Ancient Dragons meant disaster.

However, the news of “Although it wasn’t defeated, it was still driven back” did not come from a single source, but from many people. Thus, many people believed it. On the other hand, there were people who said “It may be the truth, but are you sure it was a Flame Dragon?”.

The Flame Dragon’s active period occurred every 50 years, as mentioned earlier. In addition, it was hard to imagine that anything could defeat an Ancient Dragon. With that in mind, it would be more convincing to say that the Ancient Flame Dragon was actually a large Dragonewt or a Slither Wyrm.  

That said, a very old Dragonewt could grow to the size of an Ancient Dragon. Slither Wyrms were also more dangerous than Wyverns. With that, even killing one of those lesser dragons could qualify a person as a Dragon Slayer. With more than half of the villagers still alive, they had more of a reason to believe that “It"s only at that level.”

In this world, death could come to anyone, at any time. Being lost in a forest meant death, playing beside the river and falling into it by accident also spelled death.Thus, for humans who had an enemy such as the Flame Dragon who can rain death upon them, the news that the dragon was repelled gave them hope and led them to spread the news further. Every one of them were curious about who the new hero was.

There were three types of survivors from Coda Village.

Some of them were villagers who could seek out their family or friends nearby. Those were the lucky ones, as their family and friends guaranteed their safety whilst providing them with accommodation and job opportunities.

The second type were villagers who had no family or friends and had to live the life of a refugee. These people, who made up the majority of the villagers, had no accommodation or job opportunities. Although they worried about how to live through the next day, they still prayed in grat.i.tude that they had survived this disaster and hoped that Lady Luck would help them as they scattered throughout the land.

Each of the surviving villagers grasped the hands of Itami and his subordinates, and thanked them profusely.

To the refugees, the JSDF were mysterious beings. They had helped them escape and even fought the Flame Dragon, although they had no obligation to do so, and asked for nothing in return.

Given that they could not speak the language, they did not seem like knights or priests of this country. If they were the army of a foreign nation, the villagers would have been slaughtered and pillaged.

Of course, they were not bandits.

The most reasonable explanation for them was that the JSDF was a group of foreign mercenaries that was travelling to look for an employer. Recently, it seemed like the country and its n.o.bles were recruiting troops.

The only thing out of the ordinary was that if they were a mercenary group, they would not aid them without seeking profits. Thus, the villagers were scared about what sort of recompense the JSDF would demand in return for their power.

However, they did not ask for a single penny in the end.

Not only that, despite their praiseworthy accomplishment of repelling a Flame Dragon, they had gloomy looks on their faces and sunken shoulders that made people think that they were on the losing side. They even helped to bury the dead (a priest happened to be nearby and performed simple funeral rites).

As they were parting ways, the JSDF even held their hands tightly and cried.

Gazing at the JSDF who were waving their hands at them even after the villagers were out of their sight, the villagers of Coda Village could only smile bitterly.

The villagers were grateful for their sacrifice and the way they gave aid without asking for compensation, but thoughts of “Can they survive like this?” entered their minds.

“No matter what, weren’t they too kind?.......If this goes on, how are they going to earn a living?”

“Now’s not the time to worry about others. We are also in dire straits, what are we going to do from now on…?”

“Yeah.”

“Humph. No matter how idiotic the lords or n.o.bles are, they definitely won’t let go of these skilled people. No matter how you look at it, that was a Flame Dragon! They fought on equal ground with that monster.”

“Yup. But, their hiring price won’t be low for sure.”

No matter what, they would not be such idiots, right? Although they thought this, the villagers were genuinely concerned; the n.o.bles had a common trait of unquenchable greed.

Anyway, the villagers prayed to their G.o.d that this mercenary group(JSDF) with their unusual attire and values would be hired by a good-hearted employer.

Incidentally, the luck of the villagers of Coda Village had not yet run out.

On their journey, they met a lot of people who asked for confirmation. In other words, “Was the Flame Dragon really driven off?”.

“It was really a Flame Dragon, I saw it with my own eyes. It looked at me with eyes that said ‘pitiful humans’......huh? Who, you ask? They were the people who wore mottled green clothes. They were humans, for sure. Not Elves or Dwarves. Maybe it’s the Eastern tribe’s attire. Although they could not speak our language, they were smart and they kept trying to learn our language. They were good people, they helped us to escape without asking anything in return. For free, I tell you! It’s true!”

Unlike the bards, they did not have a wide vocabulary and their description of the events was quite rough. But what they had seen with their own eyes needed no exaggeration.

The listeners’ imaginations were easily stirred when they heard the survivor’s words, leaving a large impression on them. Because the witnesses had seen it with their own eyes, when they were asked “So what was it like?”, they could answer their audience’s questions.

When the scene was described where the dragon’s arm got blasted off, the listeners gulped and quietly said, “How, how powerful.”

They parted ways with smiles on their faces and without asking for anything in return.

Even the JSDF troopers themselves would have asked “Who are you talking about?” After all, a tale of heroes that would not even be found in anime was currently spreading among the people.

In the bars or even on the street, the refugees would be stopped and asked “Are you from Coda Village?” And because the villagers saw different things from different points of view, what came out of each of their mouths were naturally different. With this, their words painted a surprisingly realistic scene.

Just by telling their story, the people of Coda Village did not have to worry about food or lodging before returning to their village.

“Knight Norma, what do you think?”

In the Imperial courts, there were female knights who served as aides. One of them,  Hamilton Uno Ro, asked her senpai, who was also her colleague, about the tales from the street.

Several knights and their followers sat in the corner of the rowdy tavern, filled with guests. The bar was dirty, and it only had a little s.p.a.ce between tables. The place was so noisy that one might not be able to hear what was being said at a nearby table, unless one shouted. Amidst this noisy atmosphere, the knights and their followers sat side by side reaching out with their hands for food and holding their cups full of wine.

Glancing over, there was a girl from Coda Village working as a temporary waitress who was serving her customers from a tray of ale. After she set the plate of dishes down on the table, she described what she had seen, and collected a good amount of tips.

Knight Norma, whose mustache was neatly trimmed, had an uncomfortable look on his face.

While he was at court in the sparkling clean palace, he enjoyed delicious meals prepared by the wives of the n.o.bles or their daughters. Although he was part of the Princess’s order of Knights, they were nothing but a decoration of the court and had nothing to do with the frontlines. And now, an aide like himself was eating crude dishes and murky alcohol.

Although it was a mission, it did not sit well with him.

How the h.e.l.l did I get myself into this mess…? Norma felt like cursing his superiors. Just keeping himself from doing so had taken all of his willpower. Since it was a direct order from the Princess, the mission of investigating Arnus Hill could not be helped. However, he had expected the Princess to lead the whole order of knights, so that his servants would have to wait on him hand and foot throughout the journey.

However, that willful girl issued orders to station her main forces far behind, only taking a few people to perform reconnaissance. They even hid their ident.i.ties, intentionally dirtying their clothes, eating the crude black bread and murky wine of common peasants, which he considered unfit for a knight like himself.

Norma raised his hand to signal the waitress for a refill. Seeing how his kouhai did not recognize how bad the situation was for them, he sighed a little.

After he got his refill, Norma shrugged under the innocent gaze of Hamilton who was waiting for his reply.

“If there are that many refugees who said the same thing, then it probably isn’t a rumor. It’s not likely that so many people would come together to tell such a lie. Still, it’s very hard for me to believe that it was a Flame Dragon.”

“I think that if that many people are saying the same thing, then it wouldn’t hurt to believe them.”

The waitress put down a bottle of red wine on the table as she said “It’s true, Knight-nii-san. ~It really was a Flame Dragon.~”

“Hahahahahaha, you won’t fool me so easily.” replied Knight Norma Co Igloo. “Ancient Dragons, Dragonewts, Slither Wyrms, and Wyverns, they are all called dragons. It must be some sort of mistake.”

In reply to his reaction, the waitress pursed her lips in displeasure.

“Now now, don’t mind him. I believe what you just said, so tell me more.” Hamilton said as she gave her a few copper coins. That was way too much for a normal tip.

The waitress’s mood immediately changed. She smiled cutely while saying, “Thank you, young Knight-sama”. Although her attire made her look old, she might be younger than she looked.

“After receiving so much, I’ll tell you what I kept from the others.”

Saying that, the waitress started her story:

When the news of the Flame Dragon’s appearance started to spread, Coda Village became as busy as a beehive. The blacksmith’s wife next door had come over to tell Melissa about the news. It was noon and she was drying her clothes.

“Melissa! Melissa! Bad news!”

They often gossiped about the happenings in the small village and had become quite close. Even if there was no one in the house, she knew where Melissa would be as she went around back to where she dried her clothes to look for Melissa.

Melissa told her son who was taking in the dry clothes to inform her husband who was out in the fields, and then she ran into her home to start packing.

After a short while, her husband came back panting and shouting, “Is everything okay?!?!” Apparently, the way their son had described it made him think that the Flame Dragon had already attacked the village.

Seeing that his wife was safe and sound, the husband sat down on the floor in relief. Although she was safe, the real danger was still lurking around the corner. After explaining the situation to her husband, Melissa returned to packing their luggage.

After loading their food, water, some basic daily necessities, a few changes of clothes and their hard-earned savings onto their wagon which was used for farming, it was buckling under the weight of all their luggage.

They used a mule to pull the cart while her son and husband pushed it from behind, and then they started down the road towards the village. When they reached the center of the village, there were already many other villagers also in their wagons crowding the road.

Many wagons had broken down due to their heavy loads, blocking the street.

After wasting precious time waiting for the wagons to be cleared up, they were finally out of the village. By then, the sun was already beginning to set.

At night they set up camp. At daybreak, they proceeded with their journey. However, among the refugees, there were people who were slow and people who were fast.

Three days later, the villages who brought the elders and children along had fallen behind the caravan. The distance between each wagon was widening and those in the back could not see those in front anymore.

Sometimes a wagon"s wheels would get stuck in the muddy ground and it would become immobile. Angry shouts of “Get out of the way!” and desperate cries of ”Come help!” intertwined with each other, amplifying the frustrations of everyone present.

Scenes of people quarrelling, wagons overturned, luggage scattered all over, children crying loudly and women with obvious looks of despair on their faces could be seen everywhere.

But, in their time of need, their saviors came to their aid.

“They were the Men in Green. There were twelve of them, two of which were girls.”

The waitress’s voice not only could be heard by the Knights, but also by the other patrons. Unconsciously, the tavern had gone silent as Melissa described the exodus of the village as well as the presence of females among the people in green. No one in the tavern knew anything about them.

“What do the girls look like?”

Norma’s question made Melissa “Hmph!” in annoyance.

“Men are pigs. Ugh, whatever. There was a tall female. During the day, she wore a helmet that covered her hair, but at night, when we broke for camp, I saw it clearly.”

“When she untied her ponytail, even I, a fellow female, gasped in surprise. Her hair color was as black as a crow’s feather. If there wasn’t a language barrier between us, I would have asked for the secret to its vivid black colour. Her body was also slim. She was definitely an exotic beauty.”

Hearing her description, the eyes of the men lit up with l.u.s.t.

“Err, how about the other one?”

“That one was like a cat. Her hair was chestnut brown and she had a small body. Her hair was cut short like a boy’s and she was full of spirit. She was also capable of taking care of others and instantly got along with the children. But even the most powerful men were afraid of her. When my husband got into a fight with Moyer’s husband, she entered into the fight like thunder and used only her legs to beat down those two large men……”

The men surrounding them instantly lost their interest. A blank atmosphere had enveloped the scene. Such a boyish woman wasn’t popular among the men.

“She’s got a great figure. Although she was short, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were like cow’s udders. Even I grew jealous of those melons. Her waist was also very slim, it was unforgivable. However, her face was more cute than beautiful.”

“UWAAAAA!”

“As expected……”

Melissa clicked her tongue in annoyance at the cheering men. Although the customers being excited was a good thing, as a woman, she could not be happy about that.

“Hmm. It was like that. Many things happened, but we still managed to move on. But that beast finally caught up with us.”

There was not enough water for the villagers and they didn’t have enough food to satiate them. Still, they did their best to endure in order to take another step forward, but they were nearing their limit.

Yet, they continued their difficult journey even as their supplies rapidly dwindled to nothing.

Alas, they finally reached their limit.

Those who could still move continued on, while those who couldn’t sat down in fatigue.

The people in green’s strange wagon which didn’t need any horses to move carried the children and elders who couldn’t move anymore. Still, it could not take all of them .

“I couldn"t move anymore. Still, I wished for my son to live on. I prayed hard to G.o.d, but nothing happened. Those priests said that G.o.d exists, but why didn’t G.o.d help us when we were in such dire straits? I won’t do an idiotic thing like praying to G.o.d next time.”

The bright sky above them suddenly turned dark. Expecting to see rain clouds, the villagers raised their heads and froze in place.

“It was a red Dragon. It had arms and legs, and it spread its wings like a bat. It was those large wings that covered the sky.”

The dragon landed. In an instant, Moyer and her husband disappeared before Melissa’s eyes.

Only the lower halves of their bodies were left.

Before the people even understood the situation, their natural instinct took over as each of them ran. Carrying their children, they abandoned their luggage as they tried to get away from the monster.

The wagons overturned, crushing many villagers under them.

While everyone was escaping, the Flame Dragon spewed fire all around it. After thoroughly roasting the humans, it swallowed them whole.

They scampered around like baby spiders as they tried to escape. Like a child destroying an ant’s nest, the Flame Dragon squashed the escaping villagers under its foot and ate them.

Despair filled the villagers’ hearts.

“In that instant, the Men in Green appeared.”

Melissa said with a tone of admiration.

“They rode on their wagons, which were faster than horses. On the two wagons, the Men in Green raised their magic staffs and attacked the Flame Dragon with spells.

However, the dragon remained unscathed. Even their magic was unable to pierce the dragon scales. But, they didn"t give up.

They circled around the dragon repeatedly and kept attacking to buy time for the villagers to escape.

Thanks to them, many of the the villagers survived.

The Flame Dragon turned around to attack the Men in Green. But, the beast could not catch up with their frightening speed. By moving around, they kept themselves safe from the scorching flames of the dragon.

But soon, the dragon got used to their tactics. The people in green who could only cast magic from afar were at a disadvantage.

“At that moment, the leader of the people in green shouted something and they took out that thing.”

“What thing?”

“A giant magic staff. We call it the Divine Rod of Steel. We even heard the incantations. It was ‘Baku-Burasuto-Kuria’. After that, there was a loud bang and the Flame Dragon’s whole left arm was blown off.”

It was that moment when the so-called invincible Flame Dragon was defeated.

After getting injured, the dragon let out an earth-shaking roar and rapidly flew off.

After finishing the story, the people present were silenced by the magnanimity of her tale.

“Divine...Divine Rod of Steel?”

Such an exaggerated name awed them into shocked silence.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, the Knights began discussing their thoughts on this. The tavern also returned to its rowdy atmosphere.

“In-In a nutsh.e.l.l, they were very powerful. Although they look like foreign mercenaries, they had such amazing skills. I think we should employ them. What do you think, Your Highness?”

The vermillion-haired female knight who was about to eat the Ma Nuga meat in her hands was asked a question. She then put the meat back onto her plate on the table to reply to the knight.

Ma Nuga meat was made by wrapping the a long bone from livestock with smoked meat. To people from Earth, it looked like a type of sausage or turkey leg. The meat was roasted and eaten directly without being cut. It tasted magnificent when one bit into it.

Stretching her hands towards her wine cup, Piña Co Lada replied, “I’m quite interested in the weapons used by those people who repelled the dragon.”

Senator G.o.dasen had said it before. “The enemy infantry’s weapon made a sound of ‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’ A moment later, our troops had fallen.”

Based on these words, it seemed to fit the bill with the Coda villagers’ descriptions. The Coalition Army’s defeat at Arnus hill must be related to that magic weapon.

Piña called the waitress to ask her a question.

“Woman, you have seen the weapons of those people. What do they look like?”

Melissa tilted her head as she told her what she had seen.

Although being addressed as ‘woman’ made her unhappy, because of the presence of the young female knight who gave her tips, she decided to tell her the truth.

“In other words, those people used staffs that looked like steel. They made an exploding sound, as well as spitting fire?”

“In my opinion, it is a magic weapon.”

“Then, the staff they used to repel the Slither Wyrm…….it’s called the Divine Rod of Steel, right? What does it look like? Try with the best of your abilities to describe it.”

“Didn’t I say that it was a Flame Dragon, not a Slither Wyrm?” the waitress insisted. With a wicked smile, she glanced at the men around her.

“You’re being rhetorical. The Divine Rod is good stuff…...Well, I can’t blame you, seeing that you were born in an overprotective environment. But, why don’t you ask the girls who have husbands? It’s the same as a man’s thing. Of course, it’s so large that you can hug it. I don’t think any man here has a thing that’s as big or as black as it...”

The waitress laughed crudely as she went to the other table to take orders.

Confused, Piña looked to the male knights for an explanation.

As if on cue, all of them averted their faces from Piña’s gaze.

She finally set her sights on Hamilton.

“You...you have a fiancee, right?”

She must have thought that she was safe from the line of fire.

The prim and proper Knight, Hamilton Uno Ro, who was drinking soup, sprayed it out in surprise. Her messy short hair shook with her head as she protested, “I-I do…...but I am still a maiden! How would I know about such a things…...ah.”

The men’s eyes landed on Hamilton. “Hmm, that kind of thing, eh?”

Piña’s suspicious gaze pierced her.

Hamilton could only blush furiously as she cowered down in her seat.

Note

(Shaped charge Neumann Effect: Explosive energy is released directly away from the surface of an explosive, so shaping the explosive will concentrate the explosive energy in the void. If the hollow is properly shaped (usually conically), the enormous pressure generated by the detonation of the explosive drives the liner in the hollow cavity inward to collapse upon its central axis. The resulting collision forms and projects a high-velocity jet of metal particles forward along the axis.)