Chapter 95: Sortie!
Kazuma, having saved Earth from imminent peril, was heading to Hawaii.
He had adventured all across the world.
He had brought back many tales of his travels, but it would be for his own good to choose the right time and place to share them.
“Hey, listen, listen!”
“Hmph!”
“Gah!”
No sooner had he arrived at the Hawaiian base than Kazuma was struck by Momoko’s Finishing Blow, collapsing to his knees.
“Such an unforgiving blow~”
“I had a bad feeling right from the start, so I silenced him without a word.”
“Well, he did have the energy of a high school girl~”
Despite Earth’s survival hanging in the balance, Kazuma showed not a shred of tension.
While his usual demeanor was reassuring, he really should consider the time and place.
Up in space, Ema and the others were fighting for their lives.
To be fooling around at such a time was, as expected, unacceptable.
“Ugh… And I worked so hard.”
“I know you worked hard. However, I will not forgive you for fooling around during such an emergency.”
Saying that, Momoko handed him a tablet and showed Kazuma the situation in space, which was being broadcast worldwide.
The footage captured by satellite cameras was likely being aired on national networks.
In Earth’s orbit, the Amanotorifune was fighting valiantly against a large fleet, struggling alone.
“…This is bad.”
“Eh? But they’re fighting well, aren’t they?”
“They’re putting up a good fight, so you might think we have the upper hand, but that’s not actually the case. Their numbers are too overwhelming. At this rate, we’ll lose due to energy depletion.”
“Eh!? Is that true!?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not a lie. I helped install an engine that produces nearly inexhaustible energy, but…”
“Nearly? Does that mean it has some kind of weakness?”
“By ‘nearly inexhaustible,’ I mean it’s designed to recover quickly after consuming energy. So, the greater the energy consumption, the longer it takes to recover.”
“So, in the current situation, that means…”
“Recovery probably isn’t keeping up. The bridge is likely a scene of pandemonium right now.”
Just as Kazuma predicted, the crew on the Amanotorifune’s bridge was in a state of utter chaos.
The remaining energy was visibly dwindling, and the gauge had already reached the yellow line.
If it reached the red line, they would have to perform an emergency shutdown for energy recovery.
They could, in theory, remove the limiter and operate until the energy was completely depleted, but if they did that, they’d be goners the moment they faced concentrated fire.
“Forty seconds until operational limit!”
“What!? Is that true!?”
“No, I just felt like saying it.”
“Is this any time to be joking around in an emergency like this!?”
“Battleship drift!”
“Nwaaaaaaaah!?”
To conserve even a little energy, they dropped the Barrier and took evasive action.
The Amanotorifune rotated its hull 180 degrees to dodge the bombardment.
Although equipped with an anti-Gravity device, it wasn’t much different from being in a car, so immense Gravity pressed down on their bodies, causing Ema to scream.
“Next up, barrel roll!!!”
“The presidents are on board too! Show some restraint!”
“We don’t have time for such leisurely talk! The next wave is coming!”
“Leave it to meeee!!!”
An announcement echoed through the ship, and the presidents, who had moved to the VIP room, clung to nearby chairs and walls, enduring the barrel roll.
They had boarded because it seemed interesting, but the Amanotorifune’s acrobatic maneuvers made the presidents regret their decision.
“That evasion capability is incredible…”
“The pilot too. You don’t often see skills like that.”
The aliens, who were continuously firing like a carpet bombing, praised the Amanotorifune for dodging their attacks by aiming for the slightest gaps.
But at the same time, they were certain.
Certain that if they continued their assault, they would eventually shoot down the Amanotorifune.
It was easy to see that if the Amanotorifune had kept its Barrier up, it wouldn’t have been shot down; its deliberate evasive maneuvers were clearly due to fear of energy consumption.
That’s precisely why the aliens switched to a strategy of overwhelming them with sheer numbers.
“Well, now it’s just a matter of time.”
“Indeed. We were a bit flustered at first, but with performance like that, its energy consumption must be immense. If we keep attacking, we’ll undoubtedly shoot it down.”
“If possible, I would have preferred to capture it… Oh well, we can just thoroughly investigate it after we take control of Earth.”
The Amanotorifune’s performance was astounding even from the aliens’ perspective, and they looked regretful, wishing they could have captured it rather than shooting it down.
Nevertheless, since they were confident that the technology would become theirs once they obtained Earth, its destruction was a foregone conclusion.
“By the way, aren’t you going?”
“…I can’t Teleport there. I can go to places I’ve been to before or within my line of sight… but into that ship is, as expected, impossible!”
Teleportation Magic is convenient, but there are several conditions for its use.
Kazuma cannot Teleport to places he has never been to.
Therefore, he must physically travel to that location first.
“But you built that ship, didn’t you?”
“I built it, but I haven’t been on board…”
“Usually, you’d be the first one to sit in the captain’s chair. Why didn’t you board it this time?”
“Because I was making lots of other things. That was more fun…”
“So you got distracted, huh?”
If only he had boarded it when he was giving Hawaii its fiendish modifications, he could have rushed over immediately. Kazuma gritted his back teeth in frustration.
“What will you do? Put on your Powered Suit and break through the atmosphere?”
“Well, that’s probably the only way. If I don’t go soon, Ema-san and the others look like they’ll be in trouble.”
Kazuma replied to Sakura Hakanai’s question.
The Powered Suit Kazuma was currently wearing had been modified for activity in outer space and was capable of breaking through the atmosphere.
Just as Kazuma, clad in his Powered Suit, was about to take off from the base, Alicia and Charlotte arrived.
“Kazuma~!”
“Kazuma-sa~n!”
“Oh? If it isn’t Alicia and Shar. What’s up?”
“What’s up? There’s no ‘what’s up’ about it! We were asked to stay behind in our country, but when we found out from the internet broadcast that you’re at war with aliens, we couldn’t just sit still!”
“Same here! I never thought things would turn out like a movie! Kazuma-san! I’m ready to go to space anytime!”
“Ah, yeah. As you both know, the aliens are stronger than the King and his forces. I can’t take you with me, as expected.”
“But if Kazuma is there, it’ll be fine, right?”
“Kazuma-san is the strongest, after all!”
“Sorry. This time, there are too many of them, and too many uncertainties. So, just this once, you both have to stay behind.”
“We have to stay behind here too…?”
“It’s unfortunate. But if Kazuma-san says so, we will obey.”
Having come all the way to Hawaii, Alicia and Charlotte’s shoulders slumped in disappointment upon hearing they had to stay behind.
If possible, Kazuma would have liked to take them with him, but this time there were too many uncertain factors, so he had decided to go alone.
If he lost, humanity might perish, but perhaps they might be kept alive as a labor force.
However, that was just a ‘perhaps,’ so he had to assume the worst.
To avoid that worst-case future, Kazuma decided to get serious.
“Alright! Let’s do this!”
“Ah, please wait!”
Just as Kazuma deployed his Powered Suit and was psyching himself up to launch into space, an employee from Kurashige Industries rushed over.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Actually, a robot exclusively for Kazuma-kun has been completed! Of course, it’s amphibious and can be used in outer space too!”
“Seriously!? Whoooa! Show me quickly!”
“Yes! Please follow me!”
Leaping up like a child, Kazuma joyfully followed the employee.
The place he was led to was a hangar that, yet again, seemed to imitate some anime series, and there stood a bipedal robot.
“Whoa~, whoa~… whoa~”
Having lost all vocabulary, Kazuma stared up at his exclusive robot.
Beside him, the employee was explaining about the robot, but Kazuma was completely captivated, and the explanation wasn’t registering at all.
At this rate, he would probably mess up spectacularly.
“Well then, we’ll provide support from here. Please, go to space and save the Earth!”
“Leave it to me!!!”
His excitement at its peak, Kazuma received a pilot suit from the employee, quickly changed, and boarded the cockpit.
The cockpit, built by adults with utmost seriousness yet full of playfulness, perfectly embodied an otaku’s ideal.
Gripping the control stick and seeing the array of complex electronic equipment, Kazuma’s eyes sparkled.
“Well then, we wish you good luck in battle.”
The employees, having finished the final checks, saluted Kazuma and saw him off.
Kazuma moved the robot as he had been instructed, walking it from the hangar to the catapult, where its feet were secured to the launcher.
Auxiliary boosters were attached to enable it to break through the atmosphere, and the preparations for sortie were complete.
“Starting countdown! 3, 2, 1!”
“Kazuma! Here I goooo!!!”
The robot Kazuma was piloting was launched by a catapult and soared into space.
The employees watching this hugged each other in joy, while Momoko and the other women watched with exasperated looks.
“I’m going now!”