2 First encounter - 1

Standing on the highest branch of a tree, a girl with long golden hair was agape with wonder. A vast forest extended as far as her eyes could see. As per common knowledge, a landscape that managed to escape human hands should be nonexistent.

"So this is what it means to be preserved by nature…"

She was Hannah Vleidistor, a member of the British Royal Family, as well as an elite sniper in the army. A sudden gust of wind made her hair dance in the air, some even flew to the front of her face, but she was too surprised to feel bothered about it.

She was donned in her set of blue <Valkyrie model> Techionic armour, with a massive automatic sniper rifle, <Zetsuhou>, slung on her back. It was also because of this armour that made standing on the tree without any other support possible. Even if she were to fall from that height, she will suffer no injuries.

Just several hours ago, she was grumbling about the appearance of the <Valkyrie model> armour. In order to cut down the weight, the tight-fitting exoskeleton ended up with a revealing design, but not to the extent of becoming lewd. As a high mobility model, it had to weigh as little as possible.

A large amount of Hannah's smooth white skin was covered by just a thin layer of semi-transparent elastic film. The film is a synthetic material which allows her body temperature to be maintained even in extreme environments. It also gave her refined curves an alluring shine.

Other parts of the armour had blue metallic sheets attached, not for extra protection but to cover the sensitive electronics embedded into the amour. The whole armour has blue liquid electric conductors, flowing in vein-like channels, connecting all the electronic parts together. The micro quantum computer attached on the back was especially protected because it supports the user in controlling the armour.

Anyone without prior knowledge about the armour would believe it to be alien technology.

But right now, the amount of skin she was showing was the least of her problems.

"Why the hell are there floating islands in the sky??"

The scene that was unfolding in front of her eyes was unlike anything she could have ever dreamed of.

Even though Hannah needed to maintain self-consciousness due to her position in society, she failed to notice her lack of decency in certain areas.

"Where the fuck are we??"

Yes, an utter lack of decency.

She turned her head and looked down.

The sleeping "beauty", Ikeda Michihiro, was lying unconscious while using Koizumi Maya's lap as a pillow. In return, his head had became a makeshift table for Maya's computer panel. Anyone who saw this scene would think of it as an onii-san and his imouto having an odd relationship.

But in reality, it's just a give and take situation. If it weren't for their completely different looks, they would have surely fooled others.

Hannah couldn't help but wonder if Maya's lap could sustain a 17 year old boy's head weight. Maya is only 11 years old after all.

For unknown reasons, Michihiro wouldn't wake up no matter what they did, so they decided to leave him as he is.

Hannah lightly pressed her earpiece.

"Maya-chan..."

In return, Maya also pressed her own earpiece and looked at Michihiro, particularly at the spherical teleporting device in his red <Juggernaut Model> Techionic armour.

"What is it? The data registered in my computer isn't making sense. There's no way we could have teleported from the middle of the Pacific Ocean into a luscious green forest. The energy supplied to the teleporting device simply isn't enough for a teleport more than 100 meters."

"Actually, to tell you the truth… I see some floating islands."

"What? Laputa? You are making less sense than the data. Are you telling me there's an anti-gravity field at work? Anti-gravity technology doesn't exist as of now. Or is it magnetic levitation?"

"No, that's not what I mean..."

Feeling troubled at Maya's bombardment of questions, Hannah looked into the telescopic sight mounted on the <Zetsuhou>. Calling it a sniper rifle wouldn't entirely be accurate, a complaint she had often voiced to Maya; the gun's designer.

Referring it as a highly accurate artillery system would be more reasonable. After all, it is capable of punching holes through the armour of heavy cruisers! Definitely not meant for splattering human grey matter.

"There are some buildings on the floating— Huh?"

Buildings and people dressed in clothing similar to the 15th Century could be clearly seen.

Even though visibly surprised, Hannah managed to refrain from exclaiming as she muttered softly to herself, but loud enough for the earpiece to pick it up.

"Could it be… MIddle-ages?"

"What—!?"

A sudden shout came from Hannah's earpiece. She slightly frowned from the pain caused by the deafening sound.

This would be one of the few rare moments when Maya displayed an expression of shock mixed with surprise. But even that looked cute and would surely tug at the heartstrings of people with a… Certain fetish.

Hannah remained silent and decided to continue observing her surroundings. Catching Maya's attention now would only earn her unlimited verbal abuse.

Running her mouth in a vulgar manner was one way for Maya to vent her frustration at failing to understand things; the conflicting data displayed on her computer.

Out of nowhere, Hannah suddenly felt a strange chill creeping along her back.

-What's with this feeling?

She hadn't felt this for a long time. Having the muzzle of a gun pointed at the back of her head would perhaps feel more comfortable.

Hannah quickly spun around, aiming the <Zetsuhou> with her finger resting on the trigger.

There was a small dot in the sky, and it was slowly getting bigger.

"Huh?"

Peeking through the lens, she could see what looked like a large flying reptile. It was covered with ocean blue scales and two sharp horns protruded from its head.

She realised that was no mere lizard after recalling how this flying reptile resembled the creature on the Welsh flag.

"What the fuck? That's a dragon?!"

Large flying reptiles that could breathe fire and had scales that were harder than steel. Dragons were considered only to exist in myths or folklore and were usually portrayed as vile creatures. Yet there was one heading straight towards them.

Hannah's sniper rifle had enough firepower to pierce the armour of a heavy battle cruiser. Shooting a rather large target, the dragon in this case, would just be target practice.

However, the army's training taught her not to engage against opponents of unknown strength, It was always important to gather information about the target before attacking.

"Hmm?"

Just as she was running various scenarios through her head, a weird green circle appeared in front of the dragon for a brief instant before vanishing. It rose Hannah's suspicion, but she quickly dismissed her thoughts about it. Figuring out what that green circle was isn't the priority now.

"Nevermind, it can't be helped."

Hannah vaulted off the top branch of the tree and landed next to Maya with a soft thud.

"Maya-chan, we're hiding. A dragon is heading this way."

"Huh? So we didn't time travel but crossed over to a different world instead?

Surprisingly, Maya had already calmed down.

"...I'm sorry, but how did you draw to that conclusion?" Hannah asked as politely as possible, hoping not to send Maya into a frenzy again.

Contrary to the dangers of an approaching dragon, they did not seem to be in a hurry.

"I'll explain later, so where do we go?"

Maya closed the screen of her computer panel and roughly pushed Michihiro's head off her lap.

-Ouch.

Hannah felt sorry for him. Maya obviously didn't care about his head which dropped to the ground with a thump.

"We're going to hide nearby and wait for the dragon to pass. As for Michihiro..."

Hannah pondered while looking at the boy.

Michihiro's red <Juggernaut Model> Techionic armour together with its weapons weighed more than 140kg. And if you take account of Maya and Michihiro's body weight, the total would have exceeded 200kg.

"We will leave him here for the time being. If I carry more than 200kg, my armour will be damaged."

-And Maya will bite the shit out of me for that.

Michihiro's armour was in passive mode, so the Techionic shields will be able to protect him from any harm.

"Thank goodness the medicine is still active..."

Hannah muttered with a slight hint of relief.

"What do you mean by that?"

Maya tilted her head curiously at Hannah's words.

"It's nothing."

Curtly saying that, she knelt down.

"Give me a second."

Instantly understanding Hannah's intentions, Maya placed her computer panel into one of a lab coat's pockets and climbed onto Hannah's back.

Ready to pull the trigger at any time, Hannah carefully but swiftly advanced into the dense forest with Maya clinging onto her back.