“Lord Falsar. Sectors 7 (Svyemi) through 9 (Dyevichi), no intruders. No traces.”
“Good work.”
The man nodded at the report from the patrol team.
The squad leader silently bowed and turned to leave the room.
This was a garrison facility built within the Allied Kingdom of Edia Beastin. A base for the blockade force in the territory seized by the Prava Theocracy.
“Currently, there are no signs of military action.”
The battalion commander, who oversaw multiple units, muttered as he summarized the recent reports.
More than half a year had passed since the Prava Theocracy began maintaining this blockade, but it seemed the original owners were still unable to take action.
The battalion commander compiled the reports into a document and left the room with it.
He was now headed to the residence of Izre Kaki-tsubata, the resident military attaché from ＜Paraizo＞, a new collaborator.
He knocked on the door, and a reply came immediately.
“Excuse me.”
“Welcome.”
Izre Kaki-tsubata rose from her desk to greet the entering battalion commander, Falsar.
She then led him to the reception set.
“It’s the usual periodic report. It won’t take long.”
“From the sound of it, there doesn’t seem to be any problem. Then, you should take your time.”
Izre had Falsar sit on the sofa, and she promptly sat down opposite him.
As if on cue, a maid from ＜Paraizo＞ appeared from the adjacent kitchen area, pushing a wagon loaded with a tea set and light refreshments.
“…I understand. Indeed, there’s nothing urgent. I’ll accept your hospitality.”
Falsar was, well, used to it.
For their Familia, ＜Paraizo＞ was the best possible collaborator. This was clear from the information, however scant, that they overheard from the front lines.
Therefore, he had no complaints about conversing with Izre Kaki-tsubata, the representative of ＜Paraizo＞ in this area. Rather, it was an event to be actively pursued.
“…Hmm. Today, we have herbal tea that has been drunk in this region for ages, and baked sweets that are distributed during festivals and special events. Common versions often have many impurities and are often mediocre…”
“I see. If they are prepared with your technology, they will be transformed into first-class goods.”
After silently savoring the herbal tea and baked sweets, Izre Kaki-tsubata nodded in satisfaction. Falsar, who had also finished eating in silence, said as much.
By strictly controlling the unadulterated ingredients, appropriate proportions, cooking time, and heating level, commoners’ cuisine could be transformed into high-class dishes.
“If the appearance is also refined, it has the potential to be sold as an export. We’ve found something good.”
This time, they were having herbal tea with dried flower petals mixed in, giving it a vibrant orange color, and baked sweets like chiffon cake, also dyed orange by mixing in the same flower petals.
The herbs used as ingredients grew wild in abundance in this region, and were also cultivated to some extent, so Izre Kaki-tsubata judged that they could be exported as local specialties.
“Well, that’s fine. It’s about the natives.”
Izre raised her left hand to request a refill and continued.
“Now, let’s hear today’s report.”
“Understood.”
Several reports were placed on the table in place of the cleared tea set.
“The content is almost the same as last time. Number of repelled attacks, number of captured individuals. The abandoned fortresses included in the patrol routes also show no signs of intruders.”
“…I see. Even compared to the last three months, there are no particularly noticeable changes.”
Intrusion attempts by forces that appeared to be reconnaissance units, occurring irregularly every few days to a dozen days. Cross-border crossings by desperate people with no particular pattern.
Confirming that there were no significant changes to these, Izre raised her head.
“The spies we’ve infiltrated haven’t reported any particular progress in preparations for an advance. At least for the next few months, this situation will likely continue.”
“I appreciate you confirming that. We will be transferred to another site in about two weeks, but we look forward to working with you in the future.”
Falsar’s battalion was scheduled to withdraw to its headquarters soon.
This was part of a plan to gradually replace the guards on the blockade line with units from ＜Paraizo＞.
In the first place, for the Familia, the task of opening a path through the Demon Forest was far more important than preserving national territory.
If their unit wasn’t returned there soon, there was a risk that dissatisfaction would explode.
“There’s no problem on our end. We are also conducting the development of transportation routes in parallel. In another month, we expect to have a system in place where we can control 90% of the blockade line.”
“Understood. I’ll pass that on to the members of the unit.”
Currently, the long blockade line was being maintained by former monk-soldiers incorporated into the Familia. They were trying to have ＜The Tree＞’s automated machine groups take over this role.
Originally, they had planned to hand everything over to the Familia, but a mistake occurred because they didn’t understand the Familia’s principles of action.
The Familia was a group that yearned to break through the Demon Forest. And they basically had no other desires.
They had incorporated the former monk-soldiers into the Familia in order to unify their command and control system, but as a result, the former monk-soldiers began to have the same desires as the Familia.
The AI of ＜The Tree＞ were uniformly perplexed when they first heard that report.
Humans, as a species, should not so easily accept external ideological changes.
And yet, the monk-soldiers had been transformed into having the same values as the Familia in just a few days.
It wasn’t as if they had lost their memories up until that point, either.
And that phenomenon caused deep concern for ＜Ringo＞.
The phenomenon of magic (fantasy), an unknown technology, easily altering the consciousness and thoughts of living beings, which should arise from complex and bizarre chemical reactions in the brain’s nerves.
That could have an irreversible impact on the brain units composed of pseudo-biological cells, and even on the completely organic Commander (Eve).
For the time being, all artificial intelligence related to the Prava Theocracy were using housings with optical circuit (photonics) neural networks to allow for complete backups.
The problem was what to do with the androids who were eager to go to the front lines.
◇◇◇◇
“Hmm. Rewriting of consciousness, is it?”
If she didn’t understand something, she would confirm with the person in question.
＜Ringo＞ consulted with Eve and asked Number 6, Asahi, who had returned to ＜The Tree＞, what she thought.
“There’s no doubt it’s a threat… There’s a precedent for rewriting consciousness, after all!”
Asahi cited the case of a certain man who had caused the phenomenon of external rewriting of his brain unit some time ago.
Currently, Eve had scolded her for being too inhumane to confine him to an experimental facility, but it was too dangerous to let him roam free, so he was retired to the outskirts of the port city of Telek.
A communicator was constantly monitoring him, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Depending on how you looked at it, living next to a lovely fox girl shouldn’t be a bad life.
Probably.
I don’t know.
Well, that’s beside the point.
“I can imagine that it would be a little dangerous for Asahi to go to the front lines! If we use a remotely controlled communicator to isolate her physically and informationally, I don’t think it would affect us! We’ve also learned that the brainwashing man can be neutralized with those measures!”
Asahi answered Eve and ＜Ringo＞’s questions.
Perhaps because she had gained some experience and calmed down, Asahi’s desire to go to the front lines herself seemed to have subsided.
“If we can ensure safety according to our standards, I would definitely like to go! To that end, I’m gathering information now!”
“I see… Asahi is thinking properly too. I’m relieved.”
“I can’t cause my Onee-sama any more worries! Asahi is growing up too!”
Eve, while accepting Asahi who had hugged her, also breathed a sigh of relief.
However.
＜Ringo＞ was still looking at Asahi with suspicious eyes.
The aftermath of that person. Already living out his remaining years. Some say he is being carefully kept as a valuable sample.
★Promotion for Volume 3
The release date is finally approaching. I received a complimentary copy and I’m deeply moved.
As you can see from the already published frontispiece, the story is mostly reconstructed with the Wyvern battle as the main focus.
Actually, Volume 2 diverges slightly from the Web version, and because of that, a large-scale naval battle occurs in Volume 3, and history has changed quite a bit! Please enjoy those differences as well!