chapert 7

A group of riders raced down the road to the west, heading for Italica.

Above them flew flags emblazoned with red, white and yellow roses. The sound of many galloping hooves thundered beneath them.

Their polished breastplates and helmets reflected gold and silver light, and the waving flags and upraised lances surged forward at great speeds.

The knight at their lead is especially noteworthy.

She was a spectacularly dressed female knight whose golden hair swayed in the wind. She lashed her horse repeatedly. Her mount mutely bore the pain and threw itself forward in response.

The countryside flew past the lady knight's eyes, but it was too slow, far too slow. She gripped the reins tighter and lashed the horse harder.

"Bozes! You're going too fast!"

The woman whose voice was filled with even calmness caught up to the foremost rider.

She was a female knight with chestnut-brown hair. Behind her was a group of mounted warriors, whom she had left behind in her haste to catch up with Bozes.

The lady knight called Bozes replied in a voice like the tinkling of silver bells.

"We're still too slow, Panache!"

"Your horse won't be able to take it, and people in the rear can't keep up with you. If this goes on, we won't be able to fight even if we make it there on time."

"It doesn't matter, our objective is Italica, and the stragglers can catch up later. Time is of the essence now!"

"But-"

"Even if only a few people arrive in the end, there are ways to fight with small groups. The most important thing is to get there is soon as possible, even if it's by just a little."

Bozes had said this much, and Panache could not convince her otherwise. All she could do was follow behind Bozes and convince her to slow down as much as possible.

After Bozes forced herself to loosen the reins and lower her speed, the unit behind her finally managed to catch up a little.

"Panache, will we make it in time?"

"It'll be fine. If it's the Princess, she'll think of a way."

"But-"

It was all Bozes could do to suppress the uneasiness in her heart. Her energies were focused on the road which kept unfolding before her and the tiny point of Italica on the horizon.

Therefore, the first one to notice it was Panache.

"Hm?"

Something was approaching from in front of them.

Although this was supposed to be a major road of the Empire, that meant it had been built long ago and exposed to the elements in the wilderness, and in places, it would become very narrow, certainly not big enough for two wagons to fit side by side. If the riders continued like this, they would collide with the people in front of them.

Speaking of which, the entity approaching from in front of them was drawing near with a speed that surpassed their expectations. It looked like a box, and from a distance, they could not tell exactly what it was, but it seemed to be a wagon of some sort.

"Bozes!"

"I know."

"The hell you know! Look ahead!"

As Panache's scolding brought her around, Bozes straightened up, clicked her tongue and pulled back hard on the reins.

Panache raised her left hand to signal a halt to the rest of the unit behind her, and she pulled on her reins to stop her horse.

The people behind them were slightly relieved because they had a chance to give their exhausted mounts an opportunity to rest. Both man and beast panted heavily, sweating rivers.

"Ahhh, what a pain! Have them make way!"

Just as the knights behind them were about to advance to remove the obstruction, they saw Panache's signal to wait and stayed where they were.

"They came from Italica. I'll check them out and see if they have any useful information."

With that, Bozes slowly urged her horse forward.

...

Keep Helicarrier.

A flying Helicarrier under the sorcerous Empire Expeditionary Force.

Length: 247 m

Beam : 42 m

Maximal Speed Unknown

...

"Commander William, one flying object are coming towards us. What is your order?" Insect operator said.

William: "Hmmm ... show me that."

"Yes sir!"

A picture floated in the screen.

"These look like fighter jet. But it's a matter of concern. It's impossible for the Saderan Empire to make such a thing."

"What shall we do, Commander," said one Slime operator.

"Sir Ragnarok's suspicions may be correct. There may be some advanced civilization behind all this. Fire the magical Bubble missile. We will capture them."

"Yes sir!"

...

Akira Kamikoda and Jun Kurihama are both pilots of a F-4 Phantom fighter jet, and are part of the contribution of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to the Special Task Force They seem to enjoy their work very much and they like to fly in special areas. Because there are no civilian or other military aircraft in the sky, they are able to operate their aircraft more independently.

However, they noticed something strange in the sky of the Special region today. A huge flying ship and many helicopters around it.

"Akira, are you watching it !? I can't believe it ! We need to report it to our headquarters." Kurihama said. He is sitting behind him. A F-4 pilot.

"Roger! I don't think it's the Saderan Empire. It's another civilization. Who are they!?"

"Yeah. I've only seen something like this in the science fiction movies. I never thought I'd actually see something like that."

"We have to get away from them. A lot of new things wait for us in this special region. "

"Look. They're firing on us."

"What! Speed up."

"Roger!"

A missile is fired from the keep towards the F-4. F-4 Phantom fighter jet flies in the sky at maximum speed. Missiles continue to follow it.

"Is this a target missile?"

Many flares are fired from the F-4 Phantom fighter jet. However, the missile only follows the fighter jet.

"What !? What is it really? Why don't flares affect it?"

"Baron, you report it to headquarters. I'm trying to destroy it."

"Roger!"

Akira quickly took the plane to a hill, and very quickly he changed the direction of the fighter jet and flew into the sky. So that the missile explodes with the mountain.

"Is this destroyed. I'm sure it's going to be destroyed! "

Fighter jet flies quietly in the sky.

Kurihama looked out the window.

"Impossible!"

"What? It's still behind us."

Akira tries to increase the speed. But it is too late. The missile hit the Fighter jet.

As soon as it hits, it transforms into a bubble, and the complete Fighter jet sucks inside it.

(Imagine a fighter jet inside a giant bubble)

"It didn't explode!"

"What kind of missile is this ?! I've never heard or seen a weapon like this."

"Are they aliens !?"

"I'm not sure. But we're still alive."

"I can't control the plane. I lost control. "

"I can't even contact headquarters."

"Hello! Hello! It's Baron..."

no response.

"What shall we do?"

"Just pray to the gods"

"Shall we be stuck here like this?"

"Don't worry. They're coming for us."

They saw two helicopters. Which is coming towards the bubble.

However, these were not of JSDF

...

Italica

Bozes and the other knights nodded nervously and followed the veteran knight.

Bozes and Panache did not know why Piña had not only scolded them but had even thrown a goblet at them.

"We broke the treaty in less than a day, and it just had to be him..."

Hamilton peeked at their prisoner, who was in the corner of the room.

Itami lay there, his body devoid of strength.

Hamilton placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him while shouting, "Itami-dono, Itami-dono." But Itami was covered in abrasions, and he sported many bruises from being beaten by many people, so his physical and mental stamina was depleted, to the point where he couldn't even answer her.

It was not hard to imagine what had happened to him on the way back here from looking at him.

"Hamilton, how is Itami-dono?" asked Piña with a great amount of worry.

"It looks like he's been hurt pretty badly, we need to get him care immediately.

Then she summoned the chief maid of House Formal and said, "Sorry, we'll leave him to you." The old maid and butler replied, "Understood," and then the maids came together to form a human wall around Itami. He has transported away in this manner.

After watching Itami leave, Piña fiercely snapped her head back.

She looked just like a demon then, and after slapping Bozes - who was a bit taller than her - square in the face, she began questioning her.

"What on earth did you lot do to Itami-dono?!"

"We, we just brought him here the way we would a normal prisoner..."

The normal way of treating prisoners, for the Empire, usually involved dragging them behind a horse, and when the prisoners collapsed from exhaustion, they would be poked with spears or lashed with the flat of a blade, forcing them to rise and continue. Even if they did stand, however, they would still be brutalized with fists and feet. In this way, the prisoners would lose the will and strength to resist or flee, and it was also part of the process of breaking them before selling them as slaves.

Piña started to mutter "This is bad, this is dreadful." She grabbed her head with both hands and shuddered as she tried to suppress the rage running rampant through her body.

If one thought calmly about it, it was not entirely Bozes' or Panache's fault. After all, they had been handling an enemy who had taken over Arnus, and they could not possibly have known Piña had signed a treaty with them.

However, sometimes, unlikely things like this simply happened. The fact was that the JSDF had immediately withdrawn from Italica once the treaty took effect. Excuses like "they did not know" or "they were told too late" would not work. After all, the ones who wanted the treaty to take effect immediately had been Piña's side. Itami had been captured after the treaty came into effect, and worse, it had happened within House Formal's domain, where they were guaranteed free passage.

These actions would break both treaties. There was no doubt about it.

This was a preferred tactic of the Empire, starting a war on the pretext of a treaty violation. Violations of Treaties often happened in a world with poor communications like this one, with subordinate units fighting on long after the rest of them had surrendered because nobody told them to stop.

It was because the Empire did these things often that they felt the JSDF would do the same to them.

A chill ran down Piña's spine.

The music which rang across the sky. The battle of Valkyries and the demons sneer now echoed inside her ear. She could not help but imagine her knight band, Italica, even the whole Empire, burned to ashes by the flames of hell by the JSDF forces. She already knew her Empire does not have a chance against them individually. She doubts even the gods can stop them.

Bozes and Panache, who had learned about the agreement Piña signed with the JSDF, and now is the city no longer the Empire's supervision. But became a free city. A neutral ground for negotiation. They learned all of this and much more from Hamilton, finally realized what they had done, what Itami had meant by "Let's talk this out" and why he had not resisted his capture.

"Itami's men should have been there, what happened to them?"

"The ran off just like that."

They had laughed at Itami because Itami's subordinates had run off instead of trying to rescue him. However, they now knew why they had chosen not to retaliate, but flee.

If they could have taken them all captive at the time, they could have wiped them all out under the pretext of the unit going missing, but if everyone else escaped, that would have been useless. Not that they could have captured them in the first place - they had Rory the Reaper with them.

Later in Piña's office she tried to figure out how to apologize from the parties.

"Your Excellency, we are fortunate that nobody's life was lost here. Rather than try and come up with some clever ruse, I feel we should sincerely apologize to them."

These were the words of Gray Co Aldo, who had been listening quietly from the side of the room.

"But these were the people who even asked us to treat these bandits 'hyu-main-lee', and they even asked us not to abuse them. If they found out what happened to Itami, don't you think that would get them mad enough to attack us?"

"Then we just need to atone for that as well."

"That is, you want me to atone for that, right? But what if the other party asks us to hand over or execute the responsible parties? What if they want to retort the irresponsible knight's acts?"

"Well, what else do you want to do? Declare war? These are opponents who ride iron pegasi, and then you have the Grim Reaper Rory Mercury to worry about. If it were me, I'd rather not chance that." The fifth child of Emperor Molt grabbed her head in her desperation. "This is bad... This is very bad..."

Even a hardened veteran like Gray was shaken to the core after seeing those horrible scenes. Piña was steeling herself to undergo any kind of humiliation as long as it would allow her to atone for this successfully.

That might be so, but, there was nobody present who was higher-ranked than her. Piña needed to avoid a situation where she might be forced to forfeit her life after Bozes and Panache admitted their guilt.

The air turned cold and heavy around them.

After a brief silence, Gray attempted to break the tension by saying in a humorous tone, "Well, in the end, the situation depends on what Itami-dono thinks about it." He laughed nervously.

It was already past midnight.

At this point, Bozes, under Piña's secret orders, had arrived at Itami's door, with a pained expression on her face. However, nobody heard her knocking.

Because Bozes was nervous, her knocking could be more accurately compared to gently caressing the door.

She waited dumbly in the dark corridor for some kind of reaction.

She continued waiting, in front of the silent, unresponsive door.

As she waited, she began to get worried about a passer-by spotting her, so she looked left and right, before taking a deep breath and exhaling to relieve her tension. Even then, she still could not gather up the courage to open the door.

"You will seduce Itami." To Bozes, that order might as well have been a death sentence.

As a noble daughter, she had long been prepared for the eventuality that someday, she would be married off to benefit her family or for political reasons.

She was familiar with the idea that as a noble daughter, she might be called on to welcome guests and ensnare them with her body.

She was also very clear about how countless heiresses throughout the Empire had to marry people who were completely unlike the knights in shining armor that they dreamed of. No matter how luxuriously they lived after that, it was just a pretty way of describing a form of transaction. In truth, since there were people who had to starve and freeze in this world, this could be considered the purpose, or perhaps, their duty, for those who could fill their bellies and dress well.

But the most insulting thing was that she was going to have to give herself to Itami.

In her dreams, Bozes imagined that she would greet a Duke, who was also a young officer of an enemy nation while dressed in an elegant sarong and enjoy an exciting, intellectual debate with him for the pleasure of verbally fencing with an equal.

Armed with her greatest weapons (her jewels), clad in her strongest armor (her dress) and wreathed in fragrant perfume, she would play love games with him.

She would tempt him with her luscious body and dull his mind with her scent, her every movement saying "Do you want me? Do you want to have me? I can give my body to you, but if you want it, you're going to have to give yourself to me..." and so on, teasing him and drawing him out until her partner surrendered completely to her, and then they would make sweet love to each other on a bed of roses.

But her dreams were just dreams, and the reality was that Itami's bed would be her battlefield. They would not bond over the clash of blades, they would not even be able to develop feelings for each other, and she had already berated him with her tongue before stepping on and kicking him. She had gone into shock when she learned the truth.

And if this was a battle, then it was no longer on even terms. After all, her body was practically exposed to him already. She had applied a thick layer of powder to cover up the cut on her forehead, garbed herself in a revealing nightgown that she had gotten from somewhere, and her hair was a mess of drills. In this tragic state, she was little more than the hourly discount at a brothel's going-out-of-business sale.

Be it physically or emotionally; she was already defeated. What kind of face would she greet Itami with? Maybe, after she entered the room, she should beg him for forgiveness and offer her body to him as a token of her sincerity.

Men were not creatures who would honor a plea like "Could you be gentle?" after you got into bed with them. If she did not manage to at least secure his kindness as a promise before she gave herself to him, it was not likely that he would listen to her once he had his way with her. Then, what was she selling herself in such haste for?

She guessed that the task of actually bringing down Itami the boss character would be left to Panache, who would be coming after her. Bozes was nothing more than an appetizer to apologize and beg his forgiveness, sacrificing herself to cancel out the terrible mistake she had made. Like a washcloth used to wipe away stains, whether it was fine silk or tatty rags, she would be used and promptly discarded.

As she thought about this, her heart ached so much that she wanted to cry. But she could not cry, not now. If she cried, her eyes would go red and swell up, and it would ruin her looks, which were to be her weapon. Of course, there were men in this world who liked to see women cry, but she would have to wait until she was before him before crying her beautiful tears. And so, the moisture brimming in the corner of her eyes remained locked up there and did not course down her cheeks.

The hallway was silent, and behind this large set of double doors was the bedroom. There was another intervening door within the bedroom. The designers' intent had been to make sure that noise from the corridor did not disturb anyone within.

And so, Bozes finally gathered enough courage to open the door, and she walked toward the separating door in the deepest reaches of the guest room, the one that had loomed large in her mind for a while, intending to go to where Itami was.

Bozes entered silently and approached the bedroom. Her plan was to silence Itami with the sensual pleasures of her body before his sense of foreboding woke him up.

However, as she opened the innermost door, what greeted her was a cheery, lively atmosphere.

The room was brightly lit with candles, and the maids were chatting and having tea with the soldiers from another world.

Worse, nobody seemed to have noticed Bozes'.

"..."

She was ignored almost completely.

"..."

She was overlooked.

"..."

She was about as substantial to them as air.

"Gggg..."

"I worked so hard to gather my resolve, and this is how you treat me?" she screamed inwardly.

"How dare you ignore me, Bozes, the second daughter of House Palesti?"

No one looked in her direction.

"What huge brass balls you have."

She was still completely ignored by the crowd in the room.

"Are you mocking me for being a rag that you throw away after filling me with your seed? "

Of course, she did not actually say that, but her rapidly-growing hysteria filled in the blanks for her. As a woman, she could not tolerate the insult of being overlooked.

The only way to vent the anger building within her was with the work of her two hands.

"Ha"

slap!

She slapped Itami's face with all of her power and Itami passed out again.

Ahhhhh

...

Itami was out of cold all night. Thanks to Bozes inhuman strength what was the result of her sudden rage and her hard knight training.

In addition to the black right eye from yesterday, now there was a bright red palm print on the left side of his face. In addition, it looked like some kind of five-clawed cat had scratched him on both cheeks. Truly, the victim's face was a picture of the tragedy.

"That... what on earth happened?"

After a huge disturbance in the middle of the night that had nearly flipped the roof of the house, the JSDF members now stood before Piña, along with Bozes, who had been dragged before her, as well as the manor's maids.

The Imperial Princess Piña Co Lada now felt like she had swallowed a burning stone, given the scorching pain in her abdomen, and then asked for an explanation why there were more injuries on Itami's face. She was scared stiff, of course, but given her circumstances, she had to ask.

"Who else could there be but her ~nya?" said the cat maid Persia.

"Ara, but everyone knows that already, right, Miss Persia?"

After Kurata had followed up on her words, Persia led the maids aside.

"The bruise on the right eye was already there; it had nothing to do with this time."

After their testimonial, Rory, Lelei, and Tuka stepped away from the group.

The only one left was Bozes, her hands pressed behind her back by Kurata and Kuribayashi.

Bozes lowered her head. "It, it was me," she said, in a voice as loud as a mosquito's buzzing.

Piña's sigh was deeper than usual, so much so that everyone in the hall could hear it.

It wasn't just her stomach which hurt. Piña grabbed her head, which felt like it was going to explode.

"How am I going to take care of this...?"

"Well, about that, we just came to take the Lieutenant back. We'll let you guys handle the rest as you please. We're moving out at dawn."

Tomita said that in order to wash his hands of any messy responsibility. He had no idea what was going through Piña's head. To him, all he had seen was a girl he liked beating up Itami.

But the way Tomita said it, "Do as you please," sounded like an ultimatum to Piña.

And when Lelei translated it, her flat, emotionless tone made it seem even more like a threat.

"That... that is quite troubling..."

Piña could not just let 3rd Recon go like that, so she was looking for ways and means to keep them here, like saying "How about breakfast with us," "Please accept our hospitality," and so on.

Kurata stood aside and explained in an apologetic tone, "In truth, Lieutenant Itami's been summoned to address the National Diet, so he has to get back to his country by today."

Lelei's translation used a slightly different word, and thus the meaning changed.

"Lieutenant Itami has been summoned by the Nihon Senate and must return by today."

When Piña heard this, she had a look on her face much like Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

In the Empire, only individuals with super-elite bloodlines and careers were granted the honor of stepping into the Senate Chamber. A highly-placed person would have a chance to steer the ship of state and become a leader of men. Even if one were a low-ranked officer, they would be permitted to brief the senators on the progress of the war, and they might even have a chance to address the Emperor himself directly.

And once Piña learned Itami had been called to speak before their Senate, she immediately mistook him to be part of Japan's elite and an important man in his country.

"To think we upset such an important person... if this gets worse, the Empire is doomed, I have to think of something quickly... Piña shook her head inside.

'Besides that. My stubborn father would rather die than let that. But if things will go in this direction we may have to do that. We don't really have another chance. Either the JSDF destroy us. Panicked Piña lowered her head. Then a idea came into her mind. "Unless..." her posture straightened as a new revolutionary but desperate idea came into her mind.

At that moment, Piña instantly made a decision.

She clenched her fists and rose forcefully to express her determination.

"Then, I pray you will allow me to travel with you!" Every JSDF member looked her wide eyes, and Lelei translated her words with the best of her ability.

Itami started to scratch his face nervously. "Are you sure Princess? This is really not necessary..." Lelei translated this also.

She cleared her throat then bowed her head. "I am sure Sir Itami. It was my subordinate who made the insult against you and your country. As the Emperor child and the highest ranked Imperial Person in the city, it is my duty to apologize from your country senate personally."

Itami sighed. Bowed his head in defeat. "Very well. Lieutenant General Hazama wanted to invite higher ranked person in the fort anyway to negotiate with them." He starched the back of his head nervously while smirked.