Chương 117: Chapter 36 Aircraft (Part 2)

"Wait! Who asked you?" Hyodo takes pictures, saying his subordinates asked him to, while Chiyoda also takes photos and videos for his daughter. On the smartphone screen are Tachibana and several unfamiliar men and women. If they were strangers, that would be fine—a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. But these guys I know? I hate them. I'll definitely get back at them later. Definitely.

"Now, please."

"Do your best♥ Do your best♥ Let's go to the gate♥""Thank you. Now everyone is motivated. Well then!" Tachibana immediately hung up. Chiyoda and Hyodo still had their smartphones held up. They turned their faces away, covered their mouths, and trembled. You bastards... You're laughing, aren't you? I can tell even without hearing your voices. You're laughing, aren't you? Angry, I flung the pom-poms to the ground. Calm down. If I'm going to get revenge, I need to stay calm. Otherwise, it won't be effective.

"For now, both of you, stop filming."

"Yes."

"Understood." Both of them lowered their smartphones with grins on their faces. Fine. I'll take on that challenge. I'll throw something truly unreasonable at them.

"Hyodo, you said you couldn't turn down my request, right? Arrange ten attack helicopters by the morning of the day after tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"If they're ones stationed at the garrison, you can arrange them, right? Do it."

"Chiyoda, upload what you filmed to the internet immediately. That way, you can't use it as bargaining material, right? Also, the people coming from the United States must be active-duty military personnel, and they must hold the rank of captain or higher. Add that to the conditions I gave before. And send the boxes from the 35th floor to Tachibana-san immediately. Have him appraise them as quickly as possible. Tell him they're a present from me."

"What!?" Tyrannical? No. This is an action based on legitimate authority and necessary measures. If I'm going to do this, I might as well get something out of it. Besides, I really don't like the idea of being threatened with something this stupid. And if the video goes online, the fund will increase as well. There's also one hopeful possibility: maybe more people will enter the gate, and I won't end up being worshipped for some strange reason... I was called a shrine maiden before, after all.

I've gotten used to attracting attention and causing a stir to some extent, but being avoided is lonely. If videos from as far as the 35th floor are already out there, there will inevitably be people who are afraid. In that case, maybe playing the clown a little and making myself seem more approachable is necessary. My family will definitely laugh at me if they ever see this. But I'll leave that future problem to the future me.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm speaking as the Director-General of the Special Specified Harmful Beast Control Headquarters.... It's an order. Do it. Do it immediately." I had the two of them step outside once and changed clothes. Then I called them back in and made Chiyoda upload the video right in front of me. He operated his smartphone with a sour expression the entire time, but when he asked which part he should upload, we settled on uploading only the part where I was cheering.

As for the boxes, the driver this time was a Sweeper, so I wrote numbers on the boxes as identification marks in front of Chiyoda and handed them over to the personnel. Naturally, I had no idea what was inside the boxes from around the 35th floor. Judging from what Tachibana had said earlier, dangerous items could appear even around the 5th to 15th floors. Better safe than sorry. Chiyoda said he would stop by Tachibana's place before heading to a meeting, then left. That left just Hyodo and me.

Now, shall I get those ten helicopters?

"Um... What are you going to use them for?"

"We're going to fly them inside the gate. At the government's request, we're going to see if we can find even the dog tags. Considering the terrain, searching from the air should be effective. The problem is defense, but this time we have the trainees. Now that we have a way to follow after people who have entered, there are still restrictions on supply and rescue, but nothing will begin unless we actually try." Both Hyodo and I can fly.

Even if more people eventually become capable of flying, the usefulness of the sky won't change. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The question is how high we can go, but either Hyodo or I can fly up and check. Things we can do. Things we can't do. Things we'll eventually become able to do. There are all sorts of possibilities, but this is a first step. Hyodo brought me to the Garrison Commander's Office. Put simply, it was the boss's room of this garrison.

Hyodo knocked and entered first. A short while later, a voice called for us to come in, and I followed him inside. There was a two-star general inside—a Major General.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuroe Tsukasa-san. Or should I call you Leading Private Kuroe?"

"Hmm. I accept neither name. Chloe=First. That's my name now. Bringing up rank when speaking to a civilian... Your Self-Defense Forces disease seems to be quite advanced." You occasionally find people like this in the Self-Defense Forces. Even ordinary soldiers can develop it in such a rigid, rank-based society. And if they came straight from the National Defense Academy and their family is also in the Self-Defense Forces, the multiplier goes up even further. Well, it exists outside the Self-Defense Forces, too.

It's the disease of assuming that because you can order your subordinates around, you can treat everyone else the same way. That thing where you can no longer distinguish between how you behave at work and how you behave outside it. Is this person one of those types, too? Hyodo will probably take his side because of his position.

"Surely not. If that is what you wish, then I shall call you First-san. Now, what is it you wished to discuss?"

"I'm requesting the loan of ten attack helicopters. I'm making this request as the Director-General of the Special Specified Harmful Beast Control Headquarters." He was smiling, but I didn't like the impression he gave me. For one thing, I didn't even know his name. And the fact that we'd been kept waiting meant the matter had almost certainly already been communicated to him. There was no point in deliberately going over it again, and time was precious. Whether I wrote him off or not could wait.

If the request wasn't going to be approved, I'd simply go somewhere else.

"That's rather sudden. Is there any benefit to us in providing them? We aren't sitting around doing nothing, either. Without some sort of advantage, we can't simply lend out weapons..."

"Understood. Then may I take that to mean the Self-Defense Forces have no intention of being involved with the gate from now on?" The shoulder of the Major General whose name I didn't know twitched. At a time like this, he was asking about benefits? You've got to be kidding me. I didn't know what kind of "benefit" he had in mind, but was this really the time for an organization whose purpose was national defense to be talking about that?

The soldiers on the ground still seemed to have a better grasp of the situation. Hyodo looked unhappy, too. Maybe it was time to withdraw. I turned on my heel and headed for the door. I was a civil servant myself, after all. I had been given a fairly high-ranking position, and I also had authority when it came to matters concerning the gate. If that was the case, I could make requests through the Cabinet if necessary. I wasn't limited to the Ground Self-Defense Force, either.

I could approach the Air Self-Defense Force as well...

"W-Wait, please. Is there room for negotiation?"

"Negotiation? We presented what we wanted. What did you present? If your idea of negotiation is that 'benefit' equals 'good faith,' then naturally we have no choice but to reject it. Let me make this clear beforehand: rank means nothing here. Don't underestimate me just because I look like a young girl."

"... From our side, we want to secure the continued operation of our units within the gate, as well as the usefulness of the Self-Defense Forces."

"Usefulness?" Didn't they see what happened in Akihabara? Everyone fought. There was no superiority or inferiority there. Everyone gave it their all. Concessions... No, thinking of it as a matter of vested interests didn't quite fit, either. I'd been out of the Self-Defense Forces for a long time, and in the first place, I'd been a low-ranking soldier. I had no idea what went through the minds of senior officers. Usefulness or whatever... If they simply did their jobs properly, that was enough.

They were a large organization, and unlike ordinary civilians...

"... If aviation weapons are to be operated inside the gate, there's no one else who can do it but you, correct? Didn't you hear about this matter from Hyodo-san?" I don't need that. Organizational entanglements are troublesome. Ground, Maritime, and Air... In this case, the Maritime branch would probably be the one getting the short end of the stick, right? There's no sea inside the gate. As for the Air branch, if we put in the effort this time, we could use helicopters.

The Ground branch could fight without even having to think about it. In the first place, the bad blood between the Ground, Maritime, and Air branches was mostly an illusion. Because their roles were divided, their direct involvement with one another was actually rather limited. There were even cases where Ground Self-Defense Force weapons were transported by the Maritime or Air branches. There might be factions once you reached the upper levels, but at least among the people on the ground...

among the rank and file, I'd never felt any particular hostility. So what exactly did he mean by "usefulness"?

"I've heard about it. But do you really think that will be enough to maintain our advantage?... No. Let's leave that matter for now. My apologies. Regarding the helicopters, they'll need to undergo maintenance as well. We'll have them deployed to the grounds tomorrow."

"Understood. Please do." I left the room. Something about it still didn't sit right with me, but at least I'd managed to borrow the helicopters. For now, that meant we could test the operation of aviation weapons inside the gate. Next was verifying whether we could follow after people who had entered, but judging from my conversation with Tachibana, that should be fine, too. I looked up at Hyodo walking beside me. He looked pale.

Maybe the conversation earlier had upset his stomach, but since he wasn't saying anything himself, perhaps it was better not to pry. Well, we'd gotten a rough plan together, and it was only 3: 00 p. m. There was still plenty of time.

"Hyodo-san, how about we have a mock battle for once? The others are doing the gate marathon."

"Eh? Sure, but... go easy on me, okay?" And so we faced each other on the grounds. Hyodo was wearing camouflage fatigues and combat boots, a typical Ground Self-Defense Force outfit. I was still wearing my schoolteacher-like outfit. So, they call me an advisor... I wonder which direction this is going to take. I puffed on my pipe, sending smoke drifting into the air.

"Water, pierce like a storm!" Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's a killing move! Distance doesn't matter, and neither does the number. Hyodo's image of his magic must have become quite firmly established. I thought it would be a barrage of water bullets sweeping in from the side, but instead, water spears came at me from every direction.

"Gently swallowed by clouds, suddenly, a summer shower comes pouring down." I wrapped the water in smoke and let it flow into the ground, but this was still Hyodo's field. Wait... He was flying by shooting water from the soles of his feet. Without a board! If anything, the more water he scattered around, the more his image seemed to amplify.

"Chloe, you don't have any close-combat experience, do you?" He said that while kicking up at me with his left leg. But that's a water cutter! It'll cut the surroundings, not me! The collateral damage! No... If Hyodo's the one doing it, maybe this much is fine?

"Dry up? Wither? What you touch is a desert. There. Got you. Now then... the ball is thrown, launched, and shot down." I evaporated the dangerous water cutter along with the muddy ground, turning it into sand. Then I caught his right foot with a hand made of sand, flung Hyodo into the air, and launched my arm like a rocket punch. But he could fly. He adjusted his posture in midair, hardened the launched arm with water, and kicked it apart. Makes sense.

If it's sand, water will cause it to harden, and then it will crumble easily. And he rained water down from the sky. That made sense, too. Water flows from high places to low ones.

"Crush! Crush! This is no light thing! This is a wall of water that reaps lives!" Hyodo's getting way too fired up! Inside the gate, this would be fine, but isn't this getting dangerous? I suppose it can't be helped. Water spreads farther than fire does.

"Hyodo-san, let's continue inside the gate. It's too cramped here.... Swaying smoke like fog, a summer mirage in sight. Oh my, could that be the real thing?" Hyodo's enormous water hammer came crashing toward me. No... Was that a reproduction of a tsunami? I swallowed it with smoke and transformed it from existence into nonexistence. What remained was the oppressive heat and humidity of summer. It was hot enough to make a mirage appear. It felt like being inside a steam sauna.

"I'm sorry. I just got a little excited."

"Excited?"

"Yes. One way or another, you're my goal. Some people were intimidated after watching you conquer the gate today, but at the same time, they still think, 'If I could, I'd want to become like that.'"