“Based on the information provided by Mr. Amajio, we have plotted the coordinates of <Trout Nursery>. Since the information was provided, reconnaissance satellites have passed overhead four times already. We now have a sufficient volume of satellite imagery.”
“And Amajio...”
“Amajio is in the middle of defragmenting his memory storage. It will be finished in a few hours.”
Akane answered Eve’s question. Apparently, she had received the information from Ayame Zero in the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
“He said he wouldn’t do the overhaul for a while... Does that mean he still doesn’t trust us after all?”
“He said he needs time to think because he can’t explain it to his servants. Apparently, it would be a problem if he went into a mysterious facility by himself and didn’t come back out for over half a day.”
“...Ah.”
Amajio Silverhead was still active in his position as a duke of the Kingdom of Lepuitari. It was true that he could not simply throw aside his official duties without warning, and barricading himself inside a giant unidentified facility brought in by <Paraiso> would be far too irresponsible.
If things went badly, people might even attack it in an attempt to rescue him. Probably not successfully, but still.
“He says the overhaul will have to wait until things settle down a little more.”
“Got it. Well, for now, let’s hear <Ringo>’s report.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Then I will display the satellite imagery of <Trout Nursery>.”
For Eve’s sake, a gigantic display was projected into the air.
The image appeared to show <Trout Nursery> at the center, photographed from a slightly elevated angle.
“It’s really turned completely into a forest, huh...”
Unfortunately, there was no clearly identifiable man-made structure visible anywhere in the displayed image.
“I will apply a filter and highlight metallic materials.”
At <Ringo>’s words, the display changed.
What appeared next was an image processed so that metallic reactions were shown in deep red.
“Oh... huh? Is this... some kind of watchtower or something?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Although it has collapsed, it appears to be a metal watchtower or radar tower approximately 40 to 50 meters in height.”
What had been highlighted was wreckage barely poking its head out from the forest. Several pieces of metal framework jutted out, and it looked as though the structure had snapped at the base, fallen sideways, and then been overgrown by vegetation.
“Well, yeah, after more than a hundred years with no maintenance, I guess that’s what happens.”
If it had been made of concrete or ceramic, perhaps it might still have remained. But being metal, it likely could not withstand a century of corrosion from wind and rain.
“In addition, we have analyzed the entire site, and we believe the overall structure looked like this.”
A wireframe was overlaid onto the forest image. It was a projected reconstruction of the entirety of <Trout Nursery>, created by cross-referencing Amajio’s memory with the terrain.
The fortress itself was a flattened dome-like structure with its overall height kept quite low. Its diameter was larger than <The Tree>, exceeding 600 meters.
Attached to that facility were what appeared to be a control-tower building and a watchtower equipped with radar.
The small amount of watchtower wreckage that still remained was probably part of that.
“It also had an attached runway, reportedly about 400 meters wide and 3,000 meters long. Unlike our <The Tree>, it appears that the surrounding facilities manifested together with the site itself.”
“What the hell, that’s not fair.”
“Unfortunately, the runway, the attached warehouses, the maintenance buildings, and the control tower all appear to have been destroyed by repeated monster attacks.”
“What the hell, that’s hardcore mode.”
Because it had appeared right in the middle of <Demon Forest>, it seemed they had been attacked by threat organisms from the very beginning. Apparently, there had been giant swarms of turtles around five meters long with metal shells, insanely tough gorilla-like creatures with only their arms grotesquely overdeveloped with muscle, and other such threat organisms that destroyed one facility after another.
“It seems they somehow managed to defend the central dome, but due to an ammunition shortage they ultimately decided to abandon it. They did at least apply long-term preservation mothball treatment, but it is unclear how much has actually been preserved.”
“There’s no power, and it’s been sitting without maintenance... so the question is how much of it could possibly still be intact. I wouldn’t be surprised if everything was ruined.”
If it had been abandoned, then there was every chance it had later been trampled by threat organisms. There was not much room for optimism.
“In the end, we will need to consult with Mr. Amajio, but even recovering the raw resources alone would be extremely useful. There are likely to be at least moderate stockpiles of advanced materials and rare materials.”
That was true. In this world, where there was nothing, recovering and reusing what already existed would be far more efficient than mining everything from scratch. If they could recover large quantities of rare materials used in electronic boards, that would certainly accelerate a great many things.
“Right. The problem is how we’re supposed to get there to recover it.”
The <Trout Nursery> ruins lay inside territory claimed by the Prava Divine Kingdom. And on top of that, they were inside <Demon Forest>. It was roughly 250 kilometers from the edge of the forest, and a full 1,100 kilometers from the Holy Capital.
It was also about 1,500 kilometers from Gheni, the relay city they had already occupied.
At that distance, even if they went by air, they would want proper airport facilities somewhere along the way. Rotorcraft with high transport capacity did not have especially long range. And with fixed-wing aircraft, landing inside the forest would be difficult.
“We could send the Gigantia force, but I’m worried it would stir up all kinds of trouble.”
“Yes-affirmative, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Commander Ma’am. If radar emissions are halted, detection range drops sharply. In unknown airspace, that is a condition we would prefer to avoid as much as possible.”
Sending the Gigantia force into enemy territory carried major risks. Even if they dispatched a Naglfar-class ship as cover, the distance from the coast would still be a bottleneck. By rough estimate, it was 1,300 to 1,500 kilometers away. It would take time to reach the site, and resupply would be difficult as well.
“Then I guess we really do have no choice but to go overland. At the very least, we’ll need to build a runway in front of it first.”
◇◇◇◇
“Sorry. Did I keep you waiting?”
“I don’t mind. More importantly, welcome to <The Tree>, Mr. Amajio.”
Amajio Silverhead, having finished defragmenting and neatly reorganizing his memory storage, contacted <The Tree>.
“You’ve helped me in many ways. I’m grateful. Thank you.”
“You’re practically family already, so you don’t need to be so formal. Looking forward to working with you.”
“Yeah. Same here.”
Amajio had transferred the archive that had been occupying a considerable portion of his memory storage into an external device, and the download of the necessary data had now been completed. He was currently loading from that archive the information necessary to open the path to <Trout Nursery>, their immediate objective.
“The situation is just what I sent you earlier, but are you all right with it?”
“Yeah. Now that I can borrow processing resources, I’ve checked everything.”
Amajio Salmon had converted his entire body into machinery and even implanted information-processing devices into his brain.
Even if Eve had been genetically modified, her fundamental capabilities were still completely different from his.
“As we expected, going in from the air would be difficult. So we’ll have to push through from the ground.”
“That’s right... Considering the possibility that that pack of monsters could show up, air insertion won’t be enough. Better to make a road.”
The pack of attacking threat organisms preserved in Amajio’s memory. In a situation where they might be attacked day and night, it would be difficult to calmly search through the place.
They wanted to send in solid ground forces and secure the surrounding area properly.
“The sensible approach would be to pacify the Prava Divine Kingdom first, then tackle it at our leisure.”
A hundred years had already passed since Amajio came to live in this world. The fulfillment of his long-cherished wish was now close at hand, but perhaps he was no longer young enough to rush recklessly at this point. Compared to a hundred years, a few more years meant little.
“So you’ll hold the current front line in place and attack from behind.”
“That’s the plan. But the enemy’s military strength is still uncertain. That’s the one thing that worries me.”
“The magic warriors... yes. From what I’ve heard, some individuals can wield absurd amounts of power. In the end, the only option is probably to crush them with numbers.”
