“An arrow was stuck in it…?”
“Yes, Ma’am. A Solar-Powered Reconnaissance Aircraft (Swift) on a reconnaissance mission experienced a malfunction and was returning to base when an arrow was found lodged in the middle of its right wing.”
“…”
The Swift, flying over the forest area east of the Afrasia United Kingdom where Telek Port City is located, had been attacked. It was quite a shocking report.
“＜Ringo＞, can you confirm? What was the Swift’s flight altitude?”
“The altitude is approximately 20,000 meters, Ma’am.”
“An arrow hit the wing of a Swift at an altitude of 20km?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She was completely dumbfounded. After all, it was at an altitude of 20km. Moreover, the Swift’s wingspan was about 40m. From the ground, it would look like a tiny dot.
Of course, with ＜Ringo＞’s processing power, hitting a target 20km away with a Cannon Shell would be easy, but that was naturally thanks to ＜Ringo＞’s vast computational resources. Moreover, it wasn’t a horizontal shot, but one aimed upwards.
Naturally, the effects of Gravity would come into play, making it different from simply aiming at a target 20km away.
In the first place, the Swift, although slow for an aircraft, flies at about 200km to 300km per hour.
For example, assuming the arrow’s speed is an average of 200km per hour, it would take 6 minutes to reach an altitude of 20km. In 6 minutes, if the Swift is traveling at 200km per hour, it would have moved about 20km from the spot where it was aimed.
Moreover, it’s not guaranteed to move in a straight line. Unless you can accurately predict where the Swift will be in 6 minutes, you can’t even hit it with an arrow in the first place.
“By the way, since we can detect a large number of arrows being shot, it was probably no more than 5 shots at most. It’s even possible that only one shot was fired.”
“…What about the video analysis?”
“Due to the distance and the relay communication between Swifts, the frame rate wasn’t very high, although the resolution was decent. If the camera had been facing the direction of the arrow, it might have been captured, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.”
I see.
Not knowing what to do, she sank into her chair and frowned.
“Also, one more thing. A letter was wrapped around the arrow’s shaft.”
“…Eh…”
That meant that it wasn’t an attack, but rather an arrow message used as a means of communication. They expected us to have intelligence capable of deciphering it. They didn’t just shoot at something in the sky, but recognized it as an artificial object.
“The contents of the letter are being analyzed, but it seems to be written in the language used in the Afrasia United Kingdom, so that part can be reported. It’s also written in several other languages, but it’s probably the same content.”
“So, the other party is a civilized society. It’s not an unprovoked attack, and it’s written in multiple languages, so are they seeing us as a potential negotiating partner?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Here are the contents.”
＜Ringo＞ displayed an image of the letter so she could see it. Of course, the Commander (Mum) couldn’t read the languages of this world, so a translation was also provided. At the same time, ＜Ringo＞ read the contents aloud.
“Warning. You are trespassing on our territory. We request that you leave immediately. If you are willing to negotiate, contact the ambassador in East Gate City. If the intrusion is repeated, we will consider it an act of hostility and attack. Forest Country (Lebresta) Border Garrison.”
“…Hmm, the content is perfectly reasonable.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Shall we negotiate?”
She groaned at ＜Ringo＞’s question. Having a channel for negotiation wasn’t a bad thing, but the problem was how to dispatch someone.
East Gate City was one of the cities within the Afrasia United Kingdom. According to what she had heard, it was a city that had developed through trade with the Forest Country (Lebresta). If the Lebresta ambassador was stationed in that city, it would make sense.
By the way, East Gate City was probably located more than 500km inland from Telek Port City.
“So, we need to dispatch a Communicator Doll? We can’t just send one in, can we?”
“No, Ma’am. In the current situation, we do not recommend dispatching a Communicator Doll because we cannot ensure its safety.”
That meant…
The options were to ignore this problem or to use something other than ＜The Tree＞’s units.
“It would be possible to ask the Telek Merchant Guild to dispatch a messenger. Whether they can reach it safely is another matter.”
“…. I see. The security is bad, isn’t it?”
Well then, she pondered. Ignoring it was certainly an option. However, if they did, they would have to give up investigating the eastern forest area, the territory of the Forest Country (Lebresta) if the letter was to be believed, from the sky.
Currently, the only effective methods of investigation were the Swift or aerial flight using the Albatross.
However, both aircraft were too defenseless against an opponent who could pinpoint an arrow at a machine at an altitude of 20km. If the engine was targeted, the Swift would be easily shot down, and even the Albatross was just a reconnaissance aircraft. It would be difficult to apply enough armor to defend against arrows with metal arrowheads. If the engine or fuel tank were pierced, further flight would be impossible.
Also, if an arrow hit the onboard computer, it would become uncontrollable and crash.
However, it was also difficult to make contact in the current situation. In the first place, even if negotiations were possible, it was unlikely that aerial investigation would be permitted.
“Ma’am, if we can negotiate, we can dispatch a Delegation, etc., so we can continue the investigation to some extent, although there will be limitations. Also, simply being able to trade could potentially lead to the acquisition of useful resources.”
“Well… it’s a bit roundabout, but I also feel bad about disturbing other people’s territory.”
“Yes, Ma’am. If we were to invade, we could also formulate a plan.”
“That’s a last resort. I’m not interested in hegemony.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Incidentally, this was the moment when world invasion by super-science was prevented.
“Hmm, but if we do that, we have to send out some kind of Delegation. Even though it’s a Communicator Doll, I don’t want to hand it over defenselessly…”
Dispatching a Communicator Doll with the assumption that it would be expendable wasn’t a bad idea, but it would take a considerable amount of time to manufacture, and rare materials were required.
Also, to maintain communication with ＜Ringo＞, a Swift would need to be stationed in the sky. According to the map obtained in Telek Port City, East Gate City was more than 1,500km away from ＜The Tree＞. Several Swifts would need to be used as relays for communication, and the time lag in communication would be significant. Unless we could enter the airspace of the other country, sending in a Communicator Doll wouldn’t be very meaningful without preparing some means of communication. Specifically, satellite communication.
“For the time being, it would be best to assess the situation and tell the Telek Merchant Guild to send personnel.”
“That’s right. …For now, let’s stop investigating that large forest on the east side. We can’t afford to lose valuable Swifts…”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’m sending out a replacement Swift, but let’s dispatch it to another area. Also, since it has been confirmed that even Swifts can be discovered, we need to operate more cautiously in the future.”
Certainly, she had considered the possibility that the Swift might be discovered by some force. However, being able to be attacked was unexpected. She thought that if they could observe unilaterally from out of range, they wouldn’t need to worry too much, but if they could be attacked normally, it would be best not to get close.
“Between that giant monster (Rain Croin) the other day and this, this world is still irrational (Fantasy)… The means of attack being arrows is also very Magical (Fantasy). I wonder what kind of method they used.”
“This time it was a personal arrow, but if a large Ballista had a similar range, even a fighter plane could be shot down with a single hit. We should be more proactive in gathering information.”
“That’s right. I’ll leave that to you. …In that case, for the time being, the target of investigation is Afrasia. At least we can predict the technological level of this country.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will expand the scanning range to the north.”