TN: Here is the chapter for this week. Still don’t have a stable schedule. Enjoy this one for now!

—- Adrienne Point of View —-

I was trying hard in understanding the content suggested by the man in front of me who belongs to “Noah”. The man suddenly started to talk to another person while putting his hand on one of his ear.

“Yes, yeah… I succeeded in making a contact. I am asking them for a constructive talk right now. Eh? Your son? I understand.”

The man looked at my back and sees my group of people. He shrugged his shoulders and spoke to me.

“Before we continue with our conversation, I would like to take care of those who are injured. Can you use recovery magic? We also have medicines prepared if you need it”

Treatment! They will help soldiers from a country that they know nothing about? Since they talk about having diplomatic relations in the future, I understand that they want to show their good side but if it break down and becomes a war won’t you want to ‘reduce the number of enemy soldiers’ even a little?

Also earlier, this man should have said “medicine”. Medicine instead of Magic Potion. Are there enough supplies of such luxury for soldiers of a different country?

It’s no use, this is too much for me to decide. My elder sister and father should be able to make an appropriate decision even with less information. As the 4th princess who was brought up freely and mostly without political education received, I cannot make such high judgement. However, I cannot abandon the soldiers who are suffering───

“I can use recovery magic and you can cover the wounds. If you can, will you use a medicine to stop the pain?”

“Understood. Let’s do it immediately. Can I call my comrades who are waiting at the other side?”

“I do not mind”

After all, I decided to accept the proposal from the people of Noah. I want to save the soldiers who are suffering even if this judgement is wrong. When the man put his hand again on his ear and said around two to three words, I saw the armors who are waiting on the hill move toward here. However, the largest armor did not move and was protected by other armor on its left and right. Is their commander cautious of us?

As I think so, among the armor which arrived one after another, a man came out and called my attention.

“Nice to meet you, your highness. I am the one leading this unit, my name is Shuichi. I would like to proceed on treating the injured but can you ask your knights to drop down their weapon first?”

Now that he mentioned it, when I look around I saw that the Knights have their sword drawn. I immediately request them to put out their weapon as fast as I could. Some of the knights were really reluctant in releasing their weapon but most of them had favorable expression when they learn that their colleagues are will be treated by them.

I saw the figure of the commander who is called Shuichi holding down his ear while saying something. Probably, they are using some kind of a magic tool which allows you to talk to someone who is far away.

“Kouki, safety is secured. Going here should be fine now”

The moment the commander finish saying his words, I saw the big armor on the hill “fly” into the sky. You can strengthen your legs with auxiliary magic so you can “jump” very high or you can use a wind attribute magic so that you can “float” but you can only “fly” if you are a living being with wings. The big armor is approaching here while flying to the sky from the hill. From its color and size, it looks like a

“Demon…”

When I murmured while looking at the armor, the tension in the air increased. The people from Noah who had been treating the injured with a gentle smile stared at me strongly. The knights also became afraid of that sight and the smile from everyone’s face disappeared.

Getting closer─── I finally noticed that I utter an outrageous remark. While I was desperately looking for words of excuse, the commander advised me in a low voice.

“Your highness, I will forget what you said just now… however, never call that suit a “demon” in front of it even if by mistake.”

I shake my head vertically with a momentum that may break the bones in my neck. The reason the commander gets angry so far is probably because of that armor… Base on how they talk about it and how they protect that armor with their life on the line, the one inside is most probably a royalty. If that person got furious because I say “demon” in front of him, then we may be killed.

Much more for people who can easily defeat a Sandworm, it is something that I should absolutely never say. While thinking such things, the royalty who wears the armor flew in front of me and a voice was heard.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Araka── I should arrange it so it's Kouki Arawaka”

“I am the 4th princess of the Holy Kingdom of Merkava, Adrienne de Merkava”

I raise my skirt and gracefully greeted this person but to think that he has a surname, he really is from a royal family….At least there is no mistake in aristocratic nomination. I praise myself knowing that my previous a.s.sumption is not a mistake. I was thinking that but the captain of the Platinum Knights suddenly said something unexpected which cause for me to almost lose my consciousness.

“You are in the presence of the Princess, Is it not rude to greet her while wearing such armor!”

The one being rude is you! I beg you please understand our situation. These people easily defeated a disaster grade, Cla.s.s A monster. They are surely from a big country because they can use medicines without care to people from other countries. Even though this continent is different from the small and medium country, saying something like that to a person who belongs to the royal family is still disgraceful.

I was feeling nervous if we brought the anger from the people of Noah but the armor go down on his knees and the body part opens.

“Excuse me… Once again, my name is Kouki Arakawa”

“Fua~a”

“Mu~u”

The surprise voice of me and the captain overlap in the figure of the boy who came out from inside the armor. After the boy who is Kouki-sama appeared in front of us, he introduces himself again. He bent his right hand at a right angle and offer his hand pointing his fingertips around my forehead. It is an elusive but graceful gesture that can deprive the heart of anyone. My eyes are also focused on the clothes that he is wearing.

His clothes don’t have a single dirt. It is something that I have never seen before, the cloth is pure white with decorations on shoulders made of gold and black and at the chest had a badge with “Letters and Wings” which seems to be the symbol of their country. The b.u.t.tons are also brilliantly s.h.i.+ning gold.

It is possible to convince anyone that this clothes are not made by humans but by G.o.ds. I cannot imagine how much money it cost… and then Kouki-sama noticed our surprised. He wore a hat made of the same material as his cloth and asked a question.

“How is the state of the knights?”

“Eh? Ah yes! It seems the painkillers that we received are working and they can now walk and stand on their own.”

“Is that so, however the painkiller given to you is cannot be used regularly as morphine so ask them to see a professional doctor when you return to receive proper treatment.”

Doctor? Treatment? In Kouki-sama’s country, doctor is not exclusive to the royal family? There are doctors who can treat general soldiers? In our kingdom if a general soldier got injured, a healing physician is dispatched from the church to take care of the fellow. Therefore, the survival rate is not very high especially in cases of serious injury.

Although there are few doctors in the northern part of the kingdom, it still cannot be said that the survival rate is high. Looking after an injured soldier also has a huge cost and will burden the country. If they can do all that, I wonder how powerful Kouki-sama’s country is.

“If you want, shall I call our Medical Team?”

I wonder how many times I stop myself from releasing a surprised voice from the words of Kouki-sama. A medical team exists, it is too different from our kingdom! I cannot borrow the power from the people of Noah anymore, should I return to the fort?

The powerful Black Knights of the kingdom are stationed in the fort, they should be able to cope with something. In fact, we must also contact the Kingdom to discuss diplomatic relations. That’s what I thought so I decided to tell the people of Noah to come to the fort as naturally as possible.

"Can we go back to the fort? and upon our return I can contact his Majesty to further discuss the proposition."

“We do not mind, we think that is for the best as well.”

While being relieved by the commander’s words who acknowledge coming back to the fort, I told the knights to put the injured on the carriage as I straddled on the vacant ones.

—- Arakawa Kouki Point of View —-

A video communication from my father enters while we are moving towards the fort.

“The treatment of the knights is can be done somehow but why do you need to call the Medical Team? You did it arbitrarily in there”

“I thought that our negotiation is will be advantageous if we give them a good impression, and I do not want to forsake people who are suffering.”

It may be a familiar scene to dad who is a soldier but I cannot ignore a person who is suffering. Moreover, they are the knights who protected the princess without regard on their own life so their bravery is commendable. My dad just said, “Is that so?”. It seems that people who belonged to the army have obscure emotion but I think it's better for them to be like that.

“Dad, these clothes I was given before departure… It’s kind of late to be asking about it but what is this!? Why do I need to wear a military uniform? Moreover, everyone is greeting me with a salute and everyone and dad is wearing camouflage uniforms.”

“Idiot, Isn’t it cool? That [White Cloth] is made based on the uniform of the US Navy. It is an official uniform of TMN. By the way, according to regulation only those who are ranked commander and above can wear it, also you and Alice are treated as a special [Major General].”

“A Major Idiot! What the h.e.l.l are you thinking? Or rather, there are 300 of dad’s men who you can promote to Major General” (TN: The Idiot used in here is Aho instead of Baka. A kansai dialect of the word idiot/fool. Not sure why author suddenly used kansai dialect, maybe its a pun.)

It's over… recently I re-evaluate and called him ‘Dad’ but looks like I should have kept on calling him ‘Macho’… Let’s make it ‘Gorimacho’, that should be better. While secretly thinking of such a thing, Macho said something which seemed to be more stupid.

“What are you talking about? There are currently 100,000 members of Noah and 80,000 of them are with military. Although I will never pa.s.s actual battle command, you will still direct the strength of a brigade on the battle front. Well, if you did it so well… I will leave an [Independent Mixed Brigade] for you”

Right back at you, what are you talking about? This has suddenly escalated so much. The first time I heard about this operation, they said that we will have “20,000” people but it increase so much. Moreover, macho is boasting about being a “Military Integration Officer and TMN’s Supreme Commander!” A Supreme Commander should not come to another world! You should step back and go back to earth and just sit on the chair. This just makes me angry.

But I now understand why Claire recently came and lecture me on how to “salute”. It was because I was forced to become a Major. I really thought it was only because dad was frustrated on how sloppy it is when I played and show it to him.

“I have something I want to ask though, Why do you know what an ‘Elf’ and ‘Sandworm’ is?”

Oh right, ‘Subculture’ in this world where I was reincarnated especially the so called ‘Otaku Culture’ does not exist. When I first met with s.h.i.+ngo I asked “Do you watch anime?” and he said “Fuhi? I do not watch TV Programs for kids”, I was surprised on his reply.

There are almost no manga so when I was still a child I draw pictures to pa.s.s time. Among them, beings such as elf and dragons are one of my favorite but it is a little difficult to talk about them because the awareness about such “myths” are quite low… or perhaps elves and sandworms does not even appear in myths as well. What should I do? If I said “I remember it from my previous life” they might send me to a hospital. I cannot think of a good excuse. I guess I should try how mom avoids a topic.

“Dad, do not mind it. Ok? Don’t worry about it”

“O-oh”

In my smile, there is a glimpse of my mom and it remind me of myself after I die. I don’t really know what I am talking about but I do know that I had fun. I cannot specifically remember what I was enjoying so much in the past but I think it is because I am living a happy life right now. While I was immersed in such sentiment, macho that saw my expression through the video communication makes a voice with a gentle face.

“If you do not want to tell me how you knew such circ.u.mstances then it is fine, just make sure to take care of that knowledge. It’s probably a valuable information that only you know about, be proud of it and keep your chest up”

“OK”

It is unusual─── for macho to say unusual and father-like things, for the time being… I will stop calling him “Gorimacho”. I change my mind as I imagined what I can see inside the fort.

We stop at the entrance of the fort. It seems the knights are asking the princess about what kind of people are we when they saw our figure. Adrienne is certainly the fourth princess of the kingdom, she asked them to let us pa.s.s through easily but apparently the knights are against it.

“That’s why Hime-sama, unless we disarm those people who claims to belong from Noah we cannot let them go inside the fort”

“I would like to ask of you to make an exception”

“That’s impossible, currently everything is alright but you know that we are currently in wartime. We cannot especially trust those who are wearing armor that imitates demon–mugu~u”

Adrienne-san, is it ok to leave everything to you? I wonder why Adi-san holds the mouth of the knight with her hands in a hurry. I think he was talking about my suit when he said demon. I believe that the suit the two of us, s.h.i.+ngo and I, developed has a very cool appearance.

Using the knowledge from my previous life, the position of the thrusters in my suit is adjusted using the demon “Satanachia” as a model. I proudly believe that the appearance is exquisite but they do not understand. I communicate with macho and propose on leaving the suit. (TN: Satanachia is described in the Grand Grimoire as a commander-in-chief of Satan’s army, who controls either forty-five or fifty-four legions of demons, including Pruflas, Aamon, Barbatos, and Astaroth. Search google if you want to know more.)

“Dad, what if we get off our suit and just bring small firearms with us”

“That will be quicker. I will talk with them, never leave the side of Coat and Jonathan when we enter the fort. He is stronger than me in indoor combat so it is safe to stay on his side. Also, we will take care of everything you just need to be silent”

I cannot imagine that to Jonathan-san because he looks like an intelligent adult type of person. Coat-san is full of scratches on his face so he is absolutely strong. I remember him saying “When I went fis.h.i.+ng a long time ago, I met a Grizzly. Luckily I have a knife” while laughing.

Because he is a person who safely return even after fighting a bear with just a knife, he will be able to manage somehow even if 11 knights attacks us if he is equipped with a gun.

“Looks like the issue is with our suits, so how about we release our suits and enter like this?”

We open the c.o.c.kpit of the suit and Adi-san seems to be apologizing to macho when macho talk to the knight with a smile.

“I apologize, we appreciate it”

“What are you talking about? The condition is full disarmament”

The Knight at the back of Adie who lowers her head is shouting, is that okay? It is true that we are an armed group, our [mission] is to make a contact and discuss diplomatic ties. Is diplomacy considered not important in this world? Macho said something in a low voice to the knight while I was wondering.

“I understand your side. Then, is it okay to view this as a rejection on our proposal? We will now return to our main unit and report that [We succeeded in making a contact but the knight who was there rejected us so we turned back]. After this, We do not know what kind of “Judgement” the main unit will make to your country”

I see, that is one way of looking at his action. I won’t say that it is gunboat diplomacy but it still looks like we are bullying him. It is the same as poking mom with a nail and she came back with a full showcase of military strength. It is also the same as saying “After I go back we can declare war, right?”. The face of the knight became pale.

Well of course he will feel that way… Since he was talking about wartime regime earlier that means that they are fighting someone somewhere and because of this circ.u.mstances, they will be in a situation where their enemy increases due to his action. It will definitely happen. Macho then tells the word to retreat.

“Prepare for withdrawal! We will return to Noah Island. Well then, your highness. Unfortunately, we will need take our leave here.”

Upon hearing the words of macho, the member look back and pretends that we are starting to withdraw. I also start the thrusters in my suit and rise up. At that time, the knight who became pale and silent make a bitter judgment and opened his mouth.

“d.a.m.n… You can go inside but only 5 armed people is allowed. I want the rest to wait outside. We also need to protect the safety of the Princess─── Please understand.”

Saying it like nothing happens, this knight was desperate in defending Adi-san and the knights who fought against the Sandworms. Feeling a little guilty, I went into the fort.

As I enter the fort, I was told to release the suit at a place similar to a central square so I follow mildly. When I get off, Coat-san and Jonathan-san with a bullpup a.s.sault rifle ran swiftly on my sides to secure my safety.

I feel a bit embarra.s.sed because it looks like that I am an important person but it cannot be helped because it is a command from macho.

“We are armed with 4 people, the one wearing the white uniform is not armed and we are his escorts. Have we made the maximum concession?”

“We appreciate your thoughtfulness, I want to apologize again for my previous att.i.tude.”

The knight somewhat relaxes his att.i.tude and speaks so I can be rest a.s.sured. “We also want to ask for forgiveness” is what was returned to his words. Adi-san guide us into a building, the fort is really a fantasy-like place.

I can see a knight with a spear that looks like a battle hook standing at the corner of the corridor. Can he use that in practice? I think it is more appropriate to call it as a ritual weapon. Watching various places while walking, we were told “please wait here” after we enter a luxurious room. (TN: I think the battle hook ritual weapon is a reference from somewhere but I have no idea. Sorry.)

“I will get in touch with the Kingdom, please wait here. The maids will immediately prepare some tea so make yourself at home.”

“Understood but I am worried about my men outside so I would like to send one person regularly to send out a message. May I have your permission to do so?”

“Yes. At that time, please inform the knight behind me… Cloverence. He will show you the way.”

After saying that, Adi-san left the room. The knight who was wary of us at the beginning seems to be Cloverence-san. Looking at him, he is stiff like a stone statue with his arms folded. He is as muscular as macho but Cloverence-san is somewhat cooler. After staring at him, since I am free I tried asking macho some of the things that caught my interest before we came here.

“Ne~e, on our way here we pa.s.s by some villages right? Why are they scattered so much? Isn’t it more efficient to do business if they are all together?”

Macho answered my question while grinning.

“You noticed well. That is not a village, it is disguised as such but it is actually a disposable pillbox which can be used to delay their enemies. In those village you will notice that there are a lot of security guards too. Since they said something about “Wartime Regime” earlier, I think that this has something to do with it”

“Gohon~tsu” (TN: A cough sound)

While listening to the explanation of macho, we heard the clearing of throat of Cloverence-san from behind. Well, I will also feel bad if someone talk about the secret information of my country. Since the atmosphere changed, I closed my mouth. A maid come in after knocking with teas from the wagon.

While watching a real maid brewing the tea, tea cups are placed for ‘6 people’. Why 6 cups? Cloverence-san came in front of the table while I was thinking of the meaning.

“Which one?”

“Then, take this one”

In just a single word of Cloverence-san, Macho is giving him the cup that he chooses. So this is about poison! I see, so they will be able to appeal “It doesn’t have poison” if we chose him to drink from a cup that we chose. Cloverence-san who just drunk the content of the cup returned to his original position after saying “Make yourself at home”.

It was somewhat amazing! Is this att.i.tude a common knowledge of a general? Moreover, it was macho who did it…. Dad was so cool! I look at dad with a new found respect and he suddenly ordered Coat-san and Jonathan-san who are standing right behind me.

“Coat! Jonathan! Take your finger off the trigger. Put your weapon at your back and take a parade rest position” (TN: )

In that word, the two people immediately move the rifle to their back and made an upright immovable posture. The sound of the shoes that they made in that figure is bashful but cool enough not to be defeated by Cloverence-san who is at the back.

“Your soldiers are well-trained. Your army seems to be quite different from our country but they can instantly put any orders into action─── I’d like our knights to have that kind of discipline.”

“I am proud of my men. However, your knights are also sufficient enough. Was it called Sandworm? It seems to be a creature difficult to subdue in your country but not a single person retreat against such opponents and was holding their ground to carry out their mission. That is not something anyone can do.”

Dad and Cloverence-san praise each other’s soldiers. Anyway… does political conversation refer to this kind of thing? I was hoping for Adi-san to return as soon as possible because I cannot join in their talk.

Did we wait for around 2 hours? After getting 3 servings of tea, Adi-san came in who seems to be breathless.

“Apologies for the wait, I have returned after contacting the Kingdom”

The expression of Cloverence-san and Dad who was talking with each other on their own terms earlier now have a tight face. Depending on what Adi-san is going to tell, it will greatly affect our relations.h.i.+p with the kingdom. Holding my breath, I listen to the words of Adi-san.

“From the conclusion, the Kingdom of Merkava is ready to accept your proposal. However, it will not be done immediately. We would like to invite you to the Kingdom for an official diplomatic discussion at a later date. His Majesty would like to listen on your story at that time”

“We do not mind, so do you have an accurate day for this plan?”

“We would be pleased if you can visit this fort again after 30 days.”

After 30 days? That sounds good. I send a signal to dad using my eyes which is saying “I think it’s good”. He nodded once and return a reply to Adi-san.

“Understood, Let’s meet again after 30 days.”

Dad soon stands up after saying, “Excuse us, we will need to contact the main unit”. We asked Cloverence-san for guidance to go outside. I think the style of showing “Since we are done, let’s go home quickly” is not very good but no one will help me even if I say it so I keep silent and follow on their back.

While wearing my suit in the plaza, Dad started to talk to Adi-san for the next time.

“Before we come here next time, I will dispatch one of my subordinate to notify you. At that time, I think that we will inform you of the detailed information of the proposition. Do you mind?”

“Not at all, even if it is a small or medium number we will be able to welcome them well enough.”

“Is that so? Sorry about that. Then, we will see you again”

Father quickly ended the conversation and instructed all of the Reconnaissance Team to withdraw. Unlike when we came here, everyone except me got up to the limit of the suit and blown up the pathway. I sent a communication to dad, thinking that what we done is rude to the side of the kingdom.

“Dad, I really think that our att.i.tude there was rude? I think it was better if we continue the talks for a bit more”

“Kouki, negotiation is your mom’s job. That’s why we need to hurry home.”

What are you talking about? Oi Macho! Negotiations are 30 days in the future but why are you in a hurry. “Huh?” Macho noticed my face which looks like what he wants to see. Macho release his voice.

“Idiot! Your mom is on earth! 30 Days later is 30 hours later on earth. If you understand, then go back to Noah and enter the gate. Now is the time for you to fly beyond the speed of sound”

“Oo-Ooh. Roger that!”

I hurriedly pushed the red switch next to the panel─── and pierced the wall of sound.

While in the suit which is suddenly accelerating, a question suddenly arise. What is the name of the fifth member who was like an air behind Coat-san and Jonathan-san?

Author Note:

The story has advanced leisurely but the story goes on a stretch next time.

Incidentally, the three scary ladies of Miki, Claire and Ellis will try hard to negotiate. Robertsensei will also appear!