“Ma’am. Emergency alert detected. It’s ＜Fenrir＞.”
“Hmph. Here it comes again!”
＜Ringo＞ reported to Eve, who was doing her daily running in the training room.
Eve stopped running and took a deep breath. ＜Ringo＞ quickly approached her and handed her a water-absorbing towel.
“Well, it’s a bit short, but it’ll do. I’ll head to the Command Room while listening.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Eve quickly wiped her face with the towel and hung it around her neck. She accepted the electrolyte replenishment drink that was handed to her at the perfect moment and started walking while drinking it.
“Same as always?”
“Yes, Ma’am. No unusual behavior observed. It is believed to be a territory patrol.”
A projection display appeared diagonally in front of Eve as she walked. Displayed were various data captured by the motion detection sensors.
“Footsteps, estimated speed, and appearance location are all within the predicted range. Same response as always?”
“Yes, Ma’am. ＜Iris＞ has already started the response.”
While answering, ＜Ringo＞ quickly draped a jacket over Eve. Then, ＜Ringo＞ skillfully unraveled the hair that had been tied up for exercise and the turban that had been wrapped around it. Following Eve’s movements, she untied her hair without obstructing her movements, combed it, and tidied up her appearance.
It was a practiced movement. Perhaps both master and servant enjoyed such a game.
“Right now, we have those Burnstone Warheads deployed, right… yeah, scheduled for deployment. I wonder how it will go.”
“The predicted result is that if we don’t firmly demonstrate what we can do, there is a high possibility that the territory will be expanded again. A war of attrition is easy, but the impact on the surrounding environment is too great.”
By the way, ＜Fenrir＞ had been appearing near the border like this irregularly since the previous battle.
At first, they braced themselves for another invasion, but it seemed to be something like a reconnaissance in force, and now it is thought to be a normal territory patrol behavior for ＜Fenrir＞.
And each time, they shoot a large number of warheads and missiles to intercept it.
“Soil contamination from radioactive materials and heavy metals, huh. It’s contributing to the maturation of removal technology, but this is too frequent…”
To increase the power of the Cannon Shells, depleted uranium, which has a higher specific gravity than iron or lead, is used as the main constituent material. There is also the aspect of disposing of the stock of by-products generated for the refining of nuclear fuel.
In addition, various heavy metals and harmful chemical substances are used in missiles, so if a large-scale attack is carried out, the surrounding soil will be extremely polluted.
“Removal itself is possible, but the surrounding ecosystem will be greatly destroyed, so we don’t want to do it frequently.”
And the pollution removal work is carried out by a brute force method of peeling off several meters of the surface soil of the target area and throwing it into a decomposition and recovery device (recycler) to separate the toxic substances.
Naturally, the inhabiting animals are scattered, and the vegetation is completely destroyed.
Even if it is a limited area, if too much environmental destruction is carried out, various problems may occur, so it is a troublesome task that increases the stress value unnecessarily for the Sentient Entities belonging to ＜The Tree＞.
“Burnstone Warhead, first actual combat deployment, huh. I hope it works properly…”
“Let’s trust Asahi’s verification results. The Jötunn 12th ship equipped with the Burnstone Warhead has started moving. Approximately 15 minutes until arrival at the site.”
While walking, Eve and ＜Ringo＞, who had tidied themselves up to some extent, entered the Command Room.
Akane and Ichigo were waiting in the room, backing up the Local Strategic AI ＜Iris＞.
“Akane, Ichigo, thank you for your hard work. What’s the situation?”
“Yes, Onee-sama. The attack aircraft scramble is complete. The Hypersonic Missiles launched in advance will arrive on site soon.”
Until impact, 23 seconds.
Such a display was posted on the projection display.
The conventional warhead missiles for deterrence were rapidly approaching ＜Froz＞, who had appeared on the scene.
“Identification completed. Individual identification name ＜Froz＞. Presumed to be normal territory patrol behavior.”
Multiple flashes occurred in the video from the monitoring device. The missiles, flying at a super high speed of Mach 6, impacted around ＜Froz＞.
Only six missiles, and without precision guidance, so it’s nothing more than a deterrent.
However, ＜Froz＞ seems to be measuring our response capability, so it is important to shorten the time it takes to respond as much as possible.
It is a display of information that we are already aware of ＜Froz＞’s approach and can respond at any time.
“Attack aircraft arrival in 5 minutes. Active Radar is already activated. Its existence should be known.”
“＜Froz＞’s direction of movement has changed. It is leaving the forest. It is entering the buffer zone.”
＜Froz＞ jumped into the buffer zone set outside the boundary set by ＜The Tree＞.
However, this is also the usual behavior.
It is a confirmation of where and what is set as the territory.
Because it accurately remembers and judges this area, the threat level of the ＜Fenrir＞ species is set very high.
“Attack aircraft, missile launch. 80 seconds until impact.”
“＜Froz＞ reacted to the attack aircraft or missile. Estimated reaction to radar waves.”
The advanced information gathering device buried on site is sending analysis results one after another.
＜Froz＞ seems to be measuring ＜The Tree＞’s response capabilities, but the same is true for ＜The Tree＞.
In this territory patrol behavior that has occurred multiple times, ＜The Tree＞ is making slightly different responses each time. They are trying to analyze the capabilities of the ＜Fenrir＞ species based on their reaction to it.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea of ＜Froz＞’s response capabilities during normal patrols, huh?”
“Yes, Onee-sama. Information is being gathered on the range of reaction to radar waves, the intensity of reaction to sound and vibration, and the speed at which it can respond. However, we are not sure that the information is not deceptive, so the estimation accuracy is not very high.”
At least, ＜The Tree＞ is incorporating random elements into its response to avoid giving information to the other party.
Similarly, the possibility that ＜Froz＞ is taking deceptive actions always exists.
From the results of observing their behavior so far, the ＜Fenrir＞ species is judged to have a fairly high intelligence.
If so, they may be carrying out diversions such as giving false information to opposing parties.
“If we could have a dialogue, there might still be a possibility of mutual understanding…”
However, it is difficult to think that the other party has the will to have a dialogue at present.
Or, if we continue to associate with them patiently, there is a possibility that such a development will occur eventually.
It is hard to believe that a species living in the Demon Forest dominated by strife would actively seek dialogue.
“Missile, entry trajectory.”
“＜Froz＞ seems to have entered an interception stance.”
In the video, ＜Froz＞ firmly planted its limbs on the ground and glared at the sky.
Although the sound cannot be heard, there is a spirit that makes you feel like you can hear the growl leaking from its clenched mouth.
Is it atmospheric molecules that have been exposed to high temperatures and turned into plasma that are being emitted from between its interlocking fangs?
“Missile, impact.”
“＜Froz＞ released a breath of interception.”
The amount of light was so great that the video whitened out instantaneously. The observation equipment that had whitened out immediately adjusted the amount of light.
A crimson lotus flower blooming in the sky is projected on the display.
“18 missiles, all shot down in mid-air.”
“＜Froz＞’s number of simultaneous attack targets, speed, and accuracy all exceed the previous time.”
“Hmm, it’s strong…”
＜Froz＞, who comes out every time, is definitely growing. Or, it is accumulating learning on how to respond.
It will no longer be possible to hit it with just fast missiles.
Even if we try to launch a Saturation Bombardment, it has the troublesome property of not being able to fit within the attack range in the first place if it is completely focused on escaping.
“At this rate, it seems like it will break through someday…”
“Yes, Ma’am. ＜Iris＞ is also concerned about that point.”
“＜Iris＞ is eagerly awaiting the actual deployment of the Burnstone Warhead. Its response capabilities are increasing, but it can still hit the warhead. This timing is important.”
“It seems to be the last possible moment to make them aware that we have a fatal means of attack. ＜Iris＞ reports that if we have a few more clashes of this scale, ＜Froz＞ may be able to respond completely.”
And so.
While the aerial attacks bought them time, the Land Battleship division was finally about to arrive on the scene.
In reality, it’s interaction with my neighbor, who might be my best friend. A slice-of-life episode.
Well, we’re about to beat them up, though.