Vol 2 Chapter 15 (1/2)

In “Snow Country”, by Kawabata Yasunari, there was a line which went:

“After the long tunnel on the border is a country of snow”

It described how the darkness of a tunnel suddenly became a pure white snowscape, and what made it the most famous of all his works was how the author described the scene so vividly that a reader ht feel they had been transported into the novel

But if one wanted to apply that sah the “Gate”, it would be impossible

Nor down Ginza and suddenly saw a sprawling natural landscape before them

However, there was now an asphalt road on both the Special Region and Ginza exits of the “Gate”, and the “Gate” itself was surrounded by a concrete doate would only see a featureless gray landscape

In addition, the extensive security erprints, palmprints, biometric and retina scans — formed countless layers of barriers before entry, and these troublesoht have had

In addition, every vehicle that went in and out of the Special Region was subjected to a thorough disinfection before being allowed to proceed

After leaving the concrete dos, so new their paint had not yet had the chance to dry Around these buildings would be the six-pointed star fort, enwrapping the entire site in a solid defensive fortification

Outside the star fort, on the surroundings of Arnus Hill, the terrain was reshaped into so that could have come out of a field defensive tactics manual, with communications trenches and all sorts of obstacles, filled with an aht have been considered “paranoid” All of these denied entry to anyone who tried to approach

There was a stretch of trees to the south of Arnus Hill

This was the site of the Arnus Living Coe lived Although it was surrounded by forest, trees in the Special Region looked almost the same as those in japan, so probably nobody but a trained botanist could tell the difference

On the east of the hill, they were building a runway and hangars

They had already set up a miniature airfield on one corner of the base, and inside one could see the several F-4 Phantom jets

Probably nobody would be iven the extensive develops

In truth, passing through the Gate was less exciting than visiting a certain theme park based off an American mouse They would probably be very disappointed

Still, it was not as though the JSDF lacked a sense of fun or adventure, just that to a normal person, a thearrison base like this To service environs of a hts, but to civilians it would be like stepping into another world that felt wrong, in a sense

One could say that now, there was no difference in the scenery on both sides of the “Gate”

Because of that, to Piña Co Lada, and Bozes Co Palesti, Arnus Hill itself was like another world to them

Piña hadthe treaty violation — she had asked to personally apologize to Col Kengun and the other high-ranking officials in person Itareed to take her with him

That said, Itami did not have time to wait for Piña and her followers to slowly catch up with them on horseback Therefore, Itami had added another condition: “Only you and one other follower are allowed to ride in the HMV with us” In truth, Itaive up

Piña’s response was to assign Bozes and Panache to Italica’s security, while Hamilton would liaise with and act as the representative for House Foro myself” in a determined, confident manner

However, they could not let their Princess walk alone into the eneet to accompany her, and Piña finally selected Bozes to follow her After hurriedly packing their things, they boarded Itami’s HMV

With the HMV’s high speeds, they swiftly made it to Arnus

The scenery there was no longer familiar to Piña and Bozes

What had once been a bare hill was now a fortress

A flight of three helicopters on a traininga nap-of-earth course Their powerful engines created ato sweep the surface clean

3rd Recon drove down the newly-built road a sand and dust

After passing the OPL (Outpost Picket Line), they entered the territory controlled by the JSDF

The large space they had just entered was called the FEBA (Forward Edge of the Battle Area), which was used as a training and practice area At the same time, it was a boneyard for numerous wyvern corpses, as well as where the children of Coda Village’s refugees went to work

The first thing Piña saas JSDF troops for their unit flag high above hiic spell that she couldn’t understand while running in the opposite direction of the convoy and swiftly passing by

“Model A Ford and a tank full of gas!”

“Hand full of pussy and a mouth full of ass!

“Sound off!” “One, two!”

“Sound off!” “Three, four!”

“Sound off!” “One, two” (Two and a half beat pause) “THREE-FOUR!”

at least, that hat the arcane incantation sounded like to Piña’s ears when the men ran past the convoy

The speed of the vehicles left them far behind, but before Piña could turn to watch thes came up by the side of the road

The JSDF had considered the possibility of street-to-street fighting during a theoretical invasion of the Imperial capital, so they had asked Master Kato to supply blueprints of an average residential building in the city

They had turned these blueprints into s, which the soldiers used to practice their urban combat tactics

Initially, Piña had no idea what these troopers were up to

In the Special Region, theinfantry or cavalry charge into close quarters with the ene battlecry

Once contact was made, it was every man for himself They would strike down the enemy before them with blades, spears or shi+eld bashes Unlike the barbarian tribes on the frontier, the Iht by themselves Instead, their centurions would maintain order and rotate out the ot tired Their eneot tired and then they would be cut down, but the Imperial Army would always have their freshest troops in the frontline, while their tired and wounded would recuperate in the rear

This basic coht on open plains or dense city streets The co spirit, train their fighting skills, and lead them to victory over the enemy

However, the JSDF were different They did not use shi+elds, nor did they form a dense testudo formation They would spread out to sprint, halt and drop prone, all the while coestures They were a closely-knit, well oiled machine that switched between stillness and race

At the sa s

What on earth are they doing? Piña tilted her head as she thought, but could not find an answer

“They’re all holding staves like Itaes? If that’s the case, is that the secret of their power?”

Bozes answered Piña’s question with a question of her own, “But ic is a special ability Then, does that e quantities?”

Piña could iine how those staves could strike down the eneht After that, she understood what the Jayesdeef were training for; their movements were calculated to conceal themselves and respond to the enemies’ own movements, in order to find their foe and kill thes

Even if they were ah s by snipers, even if they were flanked from both sides by Imperial cavalry, before enemy troops could close the distance to the Jayesdeef, they would be turned into Swiss cheese by their fire-staves

“No, these e, they are weapons which are called ‘guns’, or “small arms’”

From the side, Lelei denied Bozes’ answer

“The Jayesdeef uses these guns as the basis of their fighting ability In order to uns in combat, they have trained and developed their skills to this level”

“They’re weapons? That is to say, they’re like our swords or bows?”

“Yes The principle is siic, seal it within a metal tube, and then they let the lead fly free”

While inspecting the piles of wyvern corpses on the battlefield, she had found e holes in the bodies A closer inspection of their shattered scales revealed lead chunks and other frag backward from there, Lelei had deduced the mechanism of firearms by careful analysis of what she had seen, heard and learned

Piña’s vision suddenly blurred as she heard this “So it’s not ic, but a weapon? So since humans can make these weapons, they can distribute them to all of their soldiers?”

“Exactly They can aruns”

“If that’s the case, then obviously the way they ould be different No matter how many men with spears or swords we raised, their nuht like this”

“Yes This is why the Imperial Army and the Coalition Army were defeated”

Out of the blue, a Type 96 armored personnel carrier roared up beside the a number of fully-armed and equipped men

The soldiers who rushed out of the vehicle swiftly forinary opponents

In thisgunned down in their ranks, and she furrowed her brows in anxiety

“Too slow! Move your asses faster! Again!”

In response to their coot back onto the APC After watching them train like this, Piña could not help but think “So there’s a huge difference even fro styles” Unlike the fear which had been deeply engraved into her soul in Italica, she was afraid because she could now understand her opponent, and it frightened her

She turned to look inside the HMV, and she saw Itaical weapons they called “guns” If they eapons, even Piña or Bozes should be able to use theot their hands on one of them

If they could fully understand these weapons and obtain thehters like what had happened previously Piña understood the importance of this Her aim noas to obtain these weapons and pass them on to the best craftsmen she could find, and force them to make more, at any cost

As though reading Piña’s thoughts, Lelei quietly chimed in from the side

“That would be pointless”

Lelei pointed outside, through another of the vehicle’s s

On the open ground opposite the that looked like a cross between a crazed elephant and a block oftoward them It was a Type 74 Main Battle Tank

“When they say ‘suns So that uns’ as well”

They looked at the Type 74 as it turned its turret, their eyes going to its 105mm rifled cannon

“Does, does that spit fire too?”

Piña’s thoughts were the same as Bozes’ murmured words She realized that this cannon was the so called “rod of iron” which the refugees of Coda Village told her about

“I have not seen it fire myself, but I do not doubt that it can do so”

No blacks And it was not just the Es like that It probably would not round world of the elves or a the master craftsmen of the dwarves It was a monster from another world, and she could fully believe that it could defeat a Flaon

Iron pegasi Iron elephants What was this JSDF, this force that could produce these things in such great numbers?

Why did we even attack them in the first place?

In response to Piña’s quiet s, Lelei replied:

“The Eriffin’s tail”

“You, you… don’t talk like it doesn’t concern you! The Empire is in a crisis for survival, how can you speak so easily about it?”

Bozes angrily grabbed Lelei’s shoulder, and in return she received an even more hateful answer

“I a to do with me”

The Rurudo were a noe, she and her people had never had any particular opinion about the Empire

Tuka, who had been listening but did not have a chance to cut in, rushed to raise her hand and say, “Yes, I’m an Elf!”

“”

Rory re, and simply smiled

The Edoms bend their knees and ruled over its citizens with force

The Emperor did not expect his subjects to love, respect, or do anything but fear him

The Empire’s policy of conquest, suppression and rulershi+p through violence had led to the present situation — despite its dominance over them, it did not have the loyalty of its subjects

It was only now that Piña realised the consequences of the Empire’s actions

Piña was brought to Arnus Hill, to a building with a plaque on the front that read “Special Region Expeditionary Force Command”

She parted ith Itami and the others here

Escorted by a uniforht of steps and into the depths of the building

Following that, they were brought to a waiting room for a short time

The waiting rooly sh-backed chairs were very comfortable The craftsmanshi+p of the table also seemed very exquisite It must have been the work of a renowned craftsman

Just as they were starting to get bored of this roo came from the outside

Piña and Bozes practically jumped out of their seats

The e

His black hair was streaked with gray, and he had a crewcut the way Kengun did However, unlike Kengun, he had a warh, but there was a hint of strength within that kindness

Piña felt that his green uniform was too sparsely decorated, apart from the set of colored bars on his uniform’s breast

In truth, she found it hard to believe he was the general of an ar officer’s chest, shoulders and entire body would be plastered with medals, jewels and other decorations This austere look of his made him seem like a humble footsoldier

However, since she had arrived here, Piña realized that this arless ornamentation and instead valued actual competency Therefore, she had no doubts about this man

She iht well be the highest-ranking officer of this otherworldly army, or at least, he was one of them

Behind hied un seemed to be a relaxed person as nevertheless devoted to his job

There was another un He had a sly smile on his face, and he had entered with the feh there were differences between them From Piña’s observations, she concluded that the e used in coreen uniform used for ceremonial purposes

Finally, Lelei entered the rooed man

Theto Lelei

Lelei nodded, and then translated his words to Piña and Bozes: “This is the General of the Jayesdeef, His Excellency General Haja that, Piña also introduced herself and Bozes to this General Hajama Because Lelei did not fully understand japanese, she used her native language to fill in the blanks

“This is the Iive me, but I do not kno they address princesses in the country of japan”

“Over here, we address thehness’ Then, how do you address members of royalty in this world?”

“There are slight differences between men and women, but for ladies, ‘francea’ will do”