“Alright, let’s start today’s lesson!”
“Yes~”
Onee-sama (older sister) (Eve), ＜Ringo＞, and the Five Sisters gathered in the recreation room.
Akane, Eve, and ＜Ringo＞ sat in that order on the sofa, with Ichigo nestled between Eve’s knees, embraced from behind. Olive was in a similar position, already captured by ＜Ringo＞.
Utsugi and Erika were both buried in the flexible sofa.
“Today, we’ll be discussing the current situation in the Reidia Kingdom and our future response. ＜Ringo＞ has picked up some interesting information, so let’s all think about it together.”
With Eve’s words, several satellite photos were displayed on the aerial projection display.
“Now, these are the latest satellite photos of the Reidia Kingdom. Argasta, the Royal Capital of Reidia, which had been resisting for so long, has suffered tremendous damage, as you can see.”
“It had been a bit ominous for the past three days, but it suddenly got much worse,” Akane said.
In the satellite photos, the fortress city, drawn in a distorted circle, was devastated. The city walls had collapsed in many places, and there were many scorched areas, suggesting that fires had broken out.
The central castle had also collapsed, and black smoke covered most of it, indicating that it was still burning.
“I believe Argasta was surrounded by the Prawa Theocracy. Does this mean they lost?” Ichigo asked.
“If only it were that simple,” Eve said with a wry smile, stroking Ichigo’s head as she looked up at her.
“The Prawa Theocracy’s forces that were besieging Argasta have also been annihilated. The location of their main camp has been completely destroyed, and even a Crater can be seen.”
When ＜Ringo＞ zoomed in on the satellite photo, the location of the Prawa Theocracy army’s main camp was displayed. There, tents and supplies had been knocked down, and a large number of humanoid figures were scattered about.
It was difficult to tell due to the low resolution, but there seemed to be a large number of corpses.
“Yesterday evening, Argasta and the Prawa Theocracy army were almost simultaneously annihilated. The ones who did this were…”
“More large Monsters have appeared again. Threat Creatures, to be exact. The species designation is ＜Fenrir＞. And two large individuals have been identified. One is ＜Froz＞, and the other is ＜Yarun＞,” Akane said.
Along with Akane’s explanation, estimated three-dimensional images of the two ＜Fenrir＞ were added.
Their body length was estimated to be about 15 meters, and their height about 13 meters. The female individual, thought to be the mother, was slightly larger.
And there was what appeared to be a child, nestled close to the female.
“For now, it seems there’s also an individual that appears to be a child. We’ve only confirmed one, so we’ve named it ＜Hati＞. These three seem to have come all the way from the Demon Forest to Argasta,” Eve said.
There were many uncertainties due to the satellite images alone, but it probably wouldn’t affect this discussion.
“For some reason, the Threat Creatures moved south from the Demon Forest, destroying villages and settlements along the way until they reached this Royal Capital,” Eve continued.
“When events that have never occurred before are suddenly observed, there is a high probability that there is a clear reason. However, with the current information, we probably can’t deduce it. Should we consider future responses?” Akane asked.
“That’s right, just as Akane says. We only have satellite photos as information, so let’s think about what to do in the future. It would have been nice if we could have infiltrated a bot, but it’s a bit too far from the coast,” Eve replied.
Utsugi and Erika began to display a map in the air and check it.
“It’s over 700km in a straight line from the coast,” Utsugi said.
“An aircraft could reach it, but is there any merit?” Erika asked.
The Reidia Kingdom is one of the two countries bordering the eastern side of the Prawa Theocracy. It borders the Demon Forest to the north, and the Raflet Sea to the south, with the Tarah-Lind Principality in between.
To send a bot by air, it would be necessary to pass over the Tarah-Lind Principality or through the Prawa Theocracy.
“I think we need a secret base to secure a communication route, but…” Olive said.
Even if they sent a bot, it would be necessary to establish communication. Olive pointed that out.
“If it’s 700km away, we can’t communicate over the horizon. Even if we float a communication Drone in the sky, it won’t reach unless it enters inland… right?”
“That’s true. However, scattering Drones over the continent isn’t a great idea…” Eve replied.
While being petted by ＜Ringo＞, Olive pondered.
“Satellite communication is also an option. But with the bots we’re currently using, the output isn’t enough…”
“So, we either improve the mother ship or build a secret base,” Akane said.
“Yes, yes,” Eve nodded. The intelligence network being built in the Prawa Theocracy was over 1,000km away from the site, so it wouldn’t be useful this time.
“Why don’t we just dispatch Gigantia~?” Utsugi suggested.
“It’s a hassle, so let’s just sweep them all away!” Erika added.
“If we dispatch Gigantia, the problem becomes how to route it,” Akane said.
If it were Gigantia, it would reach the site in a few hours. However, Gigantia was currently orbiting over the Afrasia United Kingdom.
There were four countries in between. The method of going by sea could also be considered, but the risk of being visually detected would be very high since there would be no obstacles.
“If the purpose is to counter Threat Creatures, Gigantia has concerns about its defense. Aircraft backup also has distance constraints. It’s over 2,000km from the nearest runway,” Olive said.
Speaking of Gigantia and countering Threat Creatures, the incident where a Titan had to leave the front lines after being hit by a Wyvern’s breath came to mind.
Perhaps the Threat Creatures’ attack power was too high.
“If we were to dispatch forces from ＜The Tree＞ to deal with it, dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group would be the most effective. Within 1,000km from the sea, it’s within the operational range. Repeated attacks and missile support are also possible,” Akane said.
“Has the Land Battleship not been put into service yet?” Ichigo asked.
Akane suggested dispatching an aircraft carrier fleet as a realistic option. Ichigo brought up the name of the Land Battleship.
“The Land Battleship is at a level where we can operate it if we want to. However, if we deploy it, it will be difficult to conceal it,” Eve replied.
Since there was still only one aircraft carrier, ＜Ringo＞ probably didn’t want to dispatch it from ＜The Tree＞.
The Land Battleship would be a powerful weapon, but to advance it into an inland country, it would inevitably have to pass through the territory of another country. Increasing exposure would not be a good idea at this time.
“If we were serious about pacifying the area, one plan would be to dispatch an aircraft carrier and a Land Battleship, and also deploy Gigantia. Well, there’s not much merit in doing that right now, so we don’t intend to do it…” Eve said.
It was unknown whether those wolf-type Threat Creatures could be defeated with conventional weapons.
However, based on the abilities of the Threat Creatures they had fought so far, there was a high possibility that they could be overwhelmed with sheer numbers. And above all, they had a child with them. If they noticed that there was something highly threatening nearby, they might return to their original Territory.
“It’s unclear why this ＜Fenrir＞ family moved. If they lost the survival competition in the Demon Forest, they might stay there,” Akane pointed out.
“That’s true,” Eve nodded.
“We need to observe the Demon Forest more closely. Speaking of which, I thought we said that Threat Creatures’ ecologies don’t exceed the framework of existing organisms…”
“Yes, Ma’am. However, research on Worms has stalled, so we can’t say for sure. If they resemble existing organisms in appearance, it is presumed that they are similar to those organisms,” ＜Ringo＞ replied.
“Hmm. Well, let’s assume that’s true. What do they eat?” Eve asked.
The ＜Fenrir＞ were 15m long. Assuming that weight is proportional to the cube of the length, they would weigh 337 tons.
Assuming that a wolf needs about 1kg to 3kg of food per day, and calculating this in the same way as weight, they would need 3 to 10 tons of food.
“…Do they really need to eat that much?” Eve wondered.
“Unknown, Ma’am. However, it would be difficult to obtain that much food on land every day. We should assume that some unknown effect reduces the amount of food they need,” ＜Ringo＞ replied.
It was estimated that the ＜Fenrir＞ had already been out of the Demon Forest for three days. This would mean that they had been fasting for three days.
Humans weigh only about 80kg, and the edible parts are even less. No matter how much they preyed on humans, it would not be enough to satisfy them.
Moreover, there were no confirmed cases of them actively preying on humans.
It was reasonable to assume that Magic (Fantasy) was solving their food problem.