“Reconnaissance squadron, launch.”
From the field airbase built on the outskirts of Holy Capital Staritsa in the Prava Divine Kingdom, one reconnaissance aircraft after another took off.
The LSRF-1 stealth reconnaissance aircraft <Little Owl>.
It was a jet aircraft developed for aerial reconnaissance, with its stealth in the microwave band pushed to the absolute limit.
It was especially specialized for concealment from radar waves, and in principle it did not appear on radar at all. However, it had no concealment capability in the visible-light spectrum or against sound waves.
It was an aircraft designed to deal with threat organisms that reacted to microwaves.
“Target location: <Trout Nursery>. Estimated arrival in forty minutes.”
“According to the information from Mr. Amajio, there might be some kind of monster there, but...”
While looking over the incoming data from Recon Unit <Scout A>, which Akane was controlling, Eve muttered that under her breath.
Right now, they were trying to gather information on <Trout Nursery>, the former base of Duke Amajio Silverhead. To start with, they had begun aerial reconnaissance.
“Big Sister! According to the archived records, multiple flying monsters were confirmed there! The timestamps are over a hundred years old, so the ecosystem may have changed, but even so, aerial intrusion could still be difficult!”
Even so.
Based on the information they already had, even aerial reconnaissance had been judged dangerous. It seemed that the flying machines once owned by Amajio Salmon had been shot down by monsters at a very early stage.
And not by some large threat organism, either. They had apparently been swarmed and destroyed by large numbers of small monsters.
Fortunately, those flying monsters did not seem to have attacked targets on the ground.
“Even so, directly deploying units really does improve intelligence accuracy in all sorts of ways.”
“Yes, Big Sister. Sensor precision has improved as well. We should be making more aggressive external deployments from now on.”
With the acquisition of massive amounts of resources, production of rare materials had risen in proportion. As a result, they were now able to manufacture much higher-performance equipment.
And it was not just a matter of incremental improvements. Entirely new technological systems were beginning to unlock as well.
“So the jet engines too, then. Higher combustion temperatures, more output, better fuel economy, lighter weight. I heard <Little Owl> is only in preliminary mass production for now, though. How’s that going?”
“...Operational data is increasing. For the northern continent survey, Ichigo said they’d deploy <Little Owl> on the assumption that it would be expended...”
Olive, who was adjusting production equipment at Second Fortress Black Iron, answered Eve’s question that way.
At the moment, Olive was in the middle of identifying the problems in the preliminary mass-production model of <Little Owl>, improving them, and setting up the mass-production line.
Once that line was running, they would be able to supply aircraft by the hundreds per day.
“...Without a control aircraft attached, it can’t maneuver flexibly...”
<Little Owl> was a reconnaissance aircraft, which meant it could not maintain dense information-sharing with a rear base. Radio transmissions were far too conspicuous, so it was designed either for stand-alone operation or for operation in small units centered on a control aircraft.
The problem was that, especially in stand-alone use, the amount of information it could process was limited, and there was no room to mount a processor capable of higher-order thought.
That was why they were envisioning units accompanied by a large control aircraft.
“The control aircraft is stealth too, right? Ah, and it’s even getting an active-stealth function.”
Ideally, it would be best if the aircraft could simply be made invisible, but the larger an airframe became, the harder that was. And because it had a control function, the aircraft had to transmit some form of information to the outside. If that transmission were hidden as well, communication with the child units it was supposed to control would be cut off.
So the control aircraft was being equipped with a new type of active-stealth device.
It combined both optical camouflage, achieved by controlling the color of the aircraft’s surface, and electromagnetic camouflage, achieved by broadcasting deceptive radio waves.
“Well, we still don’t know how effective that will actually be against threat organisms! Biological radar is one thing, but when it comes to their other sensory organs, we still know almost nothing!”
And as Asahi said, even with stealth-equipped aircraft, they still could not properly evaluate how effective the stealth would be.
For example, it was certainly true that <Wyverns> possessed biological radar that used microwaves, but that was not proof that they lacked any other means of detection.
If they had some sort of magic-fantasy-style detection method, there would be no way to fool it.
“We’ll just have to feel our way through that part. The last thing I want is to do something careless and end up luring in a huge number of threat organisms.”
“At current strength, if <The Reflector> were to invade, the Prava Divine Kingdom’s forces could not resist.”
Akane was right.
By gaining territory, <The Tree> had greatly increased its underlying strength. But that did not mean it had become powerful enough to repel every threat organism they had observed.
To stand against those things, they would need to analyze magic, that still-mysterious technology, understand it, and learn how to use it themselves.
“Putting that aside, Big Sister. <Scout A> is approaching the target zone. Observation can begin within ten minutes.”
“Oh, they’re already that close?”
When they kept chatting like this, thirty minutes passed in no time at all.
Flying at an altitude of eight thousand meters at subsonic speed, the formation {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} of <Little Owls> had already reached the <Demon Forest> region.
So far, nothing had happened—but they were still only at the outer edge of the forest, still some distance from the deep interior where the monsters in question were expected to appear.
“All right, not much farther now. If the airspace proves safe, we’ll be able to send in rotary-wing survey craft...”
If they could deploy aircraft, the problem of distance would all but disappear.
As for quantity, unless the required volume became truly extreme, shuttle transport could handle it.
Trying to move overland to the site would be far too difficult under current conditions. If aircraft could be used, the time savings would be enormous, but...
“Multiple biological reactions detected. Big Sister. Something has appeared.”
“Ugh. So they really were there...”
“Oh, Big Sister! It looks like some kind of flying creatures have come out!”
But Eve’s hopes came to nothing as <Scout A> reported an anomaly.
Akane displayed the detection data on the command room screen.
“Primary analysis. Three groups. Estimated count: above one hundred forty, below two hundred twenty. Body length: two to three meters. Emerging from inside the forest. Gaining altitude. Flight speed fluctuating.”
“Big Sister! They’re monsters, definitely monsters! The groups are climbing vertically! Speed is already above four hundred kilometers per hour!”
Because <Scout A> was on a reconnaissance mission, each aircraft was spread widely apart. The spacing between aircraft was about one kilometer. They were flying in a diamond formation, and the swarms of flying monsters seemed to be climbing toward the lead aircraft.
“Video feed. Coming in.”
One of the <Little Owls> farther to the rear transmitted the footage it had captured. The image was processed in real time and then blown up across the command room display.
“...Peacocks?”
And the creatures on the screen looked like long-tailed birds, almost like peacocks. Their feathers and bodies glittered brilliantly as they reflected the sunlight.
“Secondary analysis. Total count: one hundred eighty-three. Average body length: three meters. Wingspan: two meters. Estimated flight speed: will reach nine hundred kilometers per hour.”
“Whoa, these monsters are about to catch up to the <Little Owls>!”
The cruising speed of <Little Owl> was around nine hundred kilometers per hour.
It did not reach the speed of sound; it was what would be called subsonic.
Supersonic flight produced the tremendous explosive noise known as a sonic boom, which naturally made it unsuitable for reconnaissance missions.
So this aircraft had been designed to pursue speed right up to the limit while avoiding that—but the monsters were climbing vertically and still closing on it.
“Distance under one kilometer.”
“Peacocks flying at subsonic speed...?”
Eve stared in disbelief. Akane continued reporting in her usual flat tone. And Asahi eagerly began analyzing the data.
“Luminous phenomenon confirmed.”
“Ah—! The sensors—!”
“Huh?”
Then yellow flashes erupted from the flock of peacock-like monsters.
At that instant, the lead <Little Owl> exploded.
