Chapter 25

"Th-then we have to go rescue them right away!"

Byan shouted.

I don't know if it's because he's still young and has no fear, or if his patriotism is so outstanding that he has no hesitation in putting his life on the line.

Perhaps he saw it as an opportunity to gain merit.

Byan was ready to jump out of the airship at any moment.

The other two, though overshadowed by Byan's enthusiasm, had expressions that showed they were prepared to risk their lives for the operation as soon as they were given permission.

As a commander, it was a welcome sight to see the soldiers' loyalty to their country so high.

But for some reason, Selina's expression wasn't very good.

"You look displeased."

"Did I look that way? If you saw it that way.... Yes. You saw correctly."

At my question, Selina ground her teeth softly.

It seemed that my one word had ignited the dissatisfaction she had been forcibly suppressing.

"There are only two members of the royal family left in the Mergan Kingdom. His Majesty the King and Princess Arshenna. It's unlikely that His Majesty the King is here, and the Princess is congenitally weak and cannot leave the castle."

"Then the story doesn't add up."

"It's one of two things. Either the observer from Unit 450 lied because he wanted to live, or a royal from another country secretly entered the country illegally."

"......"

"Do you know what's the most annoying part?"

"That no matter what, we have to see it with our own eyes?"

"As expected of Ryan. That's right. Now, all members of Unit 917, prepare for sortie!"

I had a bad feeling ever since the emergency call signal went off.

In the end, it came to this.

The airship, which had increased its speed by overworking its engine, arrived over the destination, the Duesrolf area, not long after.

A ruined city where no intact buildings could be seen, no matter how hard you looked.

Boom!

A splendid explosion and bright red flames adorned the place.

Thick black smoke billowed up, reaching the altitude where the airship was flying, drawing out the crew's tears and coughs.

Selina's eyes, which had been scanning the ground with a sharp gaze, suddenly glowed blue.

Kwaaaang!

With a roar, the airship shook violently.

Screams erupted from all over, and I too had to grab the railing to keep from falling.

"Uwaaaah!"

Sergel, who had failed to grab anything in time, rolled on the floor and flew towards me.

He hastily tried to grab the railing but failed and was thrown outside.

"Ah..."

The distant ground was reflected in his two eyes as he was thrown into the air.

Nurturing System, superhuman, whatever, falling from this height would leave nothing but a pool of blood.

I reached out my hand, and Sergel also instinctively reached out his.

Should I say it was fortunate?

The unfortunate event of fingertips brushing past each other by a hair's breadth and falling to the ground, like in the movies, did not happen.

Sergel and I firmly grasped each other.

A strong impact was applied to the arm that had to support his weight.

"...Th-thank you. Field commander."

As I pulled him up, I figured out the cause of the airship's shaking.

Down below.

An airship that had just released its camouflage and started to take off caught my eye.

On the fluttering flag was a symbol of the White Hero faction, emblazoned in a huge size.

Smoke was rising from the main cannon, which was aimed precisely at the airship of Unit 917.

Perhaps if Selina hadn't hastily used magic to protect the airship, the ship we were on would be spouting fire and smoke with a gaping hole in it and crashing to the ground.

"Commander! Enemy ship!"

"Main cannon is loading. Firing is possible in 1 minute!"

It was a situation where they could have panicked at the sudden enemy shelling.

But none of the crew members panicked and acted calmly.

I had a thought that perhaps they were all veteran crew members brought from the margrave's family.

Selina also seemed to trust them and calmly gave her orders.

The only ones standing around awkwardly were the soldiers, including me.

"Lower the altitude."

"But commander. If we try to land now, the airship could be completely destroyed by the enemy's attack."

"We will not land. We will lower the altitude as much as possible to help the soldiers get off. Don't worry about the enemy's main cannon. I still have plenty of magic power, so there's no problem."

"Understood."

Following Selina's instructions, the airship quickly lowered its altitude.

In the meantime, the enemy's main cannon was fired once more, but Selina completely blocked the shell with magic, preventing any damage to the hull.

The ground was getting closer.

By eye, the distance to the ground was estimated to be about 15 meters.

It seemed dangerous to lower the altitude any further due to the buildings on the ground.

Did she judge that this was enough?

Selina gave me a look.

"Ryan."

"...Selina. No, right?"

"Jump. I will support you with magic."

"......"

No way.

That "no way" was about to get me killed.

I looked at the complexions of the other unit members.

As expected, they too were doubting their own ears, unable to understand Selina's instructions.

15 meters.

Falling from this height usually means death.

Even if you're lucky enough to survive, it's only natural to be so seriously injured that you can't continue the battle.

But Selina wouldn't have given such an order without thinking.

As she said, there would be magical support, and it must have been an order given with the conviction that it could definitely be done.

I knew it was right to follow without doubting.

But there's a big difference between understanding with your head and putting it into action.

"Really jump?"

"Yes! Trust me!"

"......"

Pure eyes that didn't contain even a hint of doubt, as if she was 100 percent sure that I would trust her and jump.

Behind her, four pairs of eyes were directed at me.

The field commander of this team is me.

In the end, it means that I am the one who has to take the lead.

I put my foot on the railing.

"Selina."

"Yes?"

"I trust you."

"Don't you worry."

After taking a deep breath, I threw myself over the railing.

The ground, which felt so far away, quickly got closer.

I said I would trust her, but I unconsciously moved my body to break my fall.

For now, since it was the body of a superhuman who had received the benefits of the Nurturing System, I thought that if I just broke my fall properly, I would break a bone at most but not die.

However, my worries were unfounded.

A warm wind blew and wrapped around my body.

My falling speed slowed down rapidly, and by the time I reached the ground, my speed was close to zero.

Thanks to that, I was able to lightly step on the ground without any impact.

I don't know what kind of magic it was, but Selina had done it.

"...Phew."

As I was calming my surprised heart, I heard several shrill screams from above my head.

When I looked up, I saw Lirisa with her eyes squeezed shut.

Sergel with his hands neatly clasped, praying.

Byan with his eyes wide open, letting out a seemingly joyful cheer, but his voice was filled with an undeniable tremor.

Latia, who couldn't hide the curiosity in her eyes even as she screamed.

Was it said that it's better to get the beating over with first?

Looking up from below at each of their unique falling methods was quite amusing.

After confirming that all the unit members had landed safely, Selina raised the airship of Unit 917 back into the sky, avoiding the shelling.

From now on, the airships of both sides would engage in an aerial battle in the sky.

Since the size of the ships and the state of their armaments seemed similar, the winner and loser would probably be decided by the skills of the crew and the commander.

If we were unlucky, the place we were supposed to return to and the method to do so would disappear.

"...She'll do well on her own."

Now is the time to worry about myself rather than Selina.

Because 20 White Hero soldiers and four heroes were roaming around here in Duesrolf.

"Everyone, get up."

I helped up the unit members who still hadn't escaped the fear of the fall.

"Our position is exposed to the enemy. We're moving right away."

"......"

Only then did the guys who had been dawdling get up quickly.

But it wasn't enough yet.

They had a certain amount of tension, but I could still see confidence in the new recruits' eyes.

Especially in Byan's case, he was seen repeatedly putting his hand on the weapon at his waist, as if his body was itching to fight the enemy.

It was necessary to instill a little more tension.

"There are still many collapsed buildings in Duesrolf. It will inevitably become an urban warfare. The characteristic of urban warfare is that it's easy to hide your body. In other words, there's a high probability that the enemy is also hiding somewhere, just waiting for us to get closer."

"What you're saying is..."

"When passing by the windows or doors of a building, when passing under a tall building, when turning a corner. Always act as if there will be an enemy attack. Don't let your guard down for a single moment."

This was all I could do.

I could only hope that these words would have a positive effect on them.

* * *

Duesrolf.

It was a city where no one lived, but the noise never ceased.

Above our heads, two airships were firing shells at each other, and on the ground, explosions in the distance were constantly generating noise.

We cautiously moved towards our destination.

The scale of the city was considerable, but thanks to Selina dropping us off at a location close to the target, the travel distance wasn't that far.

Only a heavy silence hung between the group as we moved through the broken city.

"Heuk!"

Sergel let out a small scream.

Even if it's a city where no one lives, or rather because no one lives there, small creatures have made it their home.

For example, field mice.

Startled by a large field mouse crossing the middle of the road, Sergel placed his hand demurely on his chest where his heart was and let out a rough breath.

How did he volunteer for the army with that kind of guts?

He's a person I can't figure out.

"...Halt for a moment."

I stretched out my hand and gave the halt command.

Something about the scenery in front of me was familiar.

On the left, a corner leading to an alley.

A three-story building, half-destroyed, with the inside clearly visible.

To the right, large one-story buildings were arranged like a chessboard, and a little further away was a large, circular dome-like building.

'I remember.'

Since I had always seen it as a member of the White Hero faction, the scenery was subtly different, so I didn't realize it right away.

This is one of the ambush spots that players use to hunt Alliance soldiers.

"Byan."

"Yes. Field commander."

"Use your authority on the second floor of the building on the left. At full power."

"...Yes? Suddenly?"

Byan asked back with wide eyes.

I had expected it, but the strong-willed Byan didn't immediately follow the order.

There were quite a few soldiers with this kind of tendency in D&K.

They are a difficult type of soldier for a commander to handle.

Usually, I would pass them on to the field commander and order them to be trained so they could be used, but now it seemed I had to play that role.

"Byan. You were a volunteer, weren't you?"

"That's right."

"You became a soldier to save your country, right?"

"That's right..."

"Then don't question it. Do as you're told. That's a soldier's role. If you don't like listening to my orders, you can become a field commander with your own ability. Use your authority. The target is the second floor of the building on the left. Understood?"

"Understood!"

With a resounding answer, a hot blast erupted from behind.