“Permission granted for Titan, Oceanus, and Coeus to take off.”

“Permission confirmed. Titan commencing takeoff.”

From the open-air runway of Second Fortress Black Iron, three giant birds took to the air.

From the 10,000-meter-long mega-runway, twenty-eight engines pushed each massive body skyward.

“Unit One, Titan, passing altitude two thousand meters.”

“Unit Two, Oceanus, passing altitude one thousand meters.”

“Unit Three, Coeus, landing gear retraction complete.”

“All units have taken off normally.”

The cameras installed at Second Fortress Black Iron sent back footage of three boomerang-shaped aircraft slowly circling upward.

Watching the footage, Commander Eve let out an impressed sigh.

“Just from the video, they don’t look that big.”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. There’s nothing nearby for scale. They will rendezvous with the air-superiority fighters shortly, so we will be able to confirm.”

The Titan-series aerial escort ships were massive aircraft developed to act as close guards for the aerial carrier Gigantea.

Although they were less than one-third the size of Gigantea at 180 meters long and 393 meters wide, compared to standard twenty-meter-class fighters the difference was staggering.

Driven by plasma jet engines powered by the immense heat and electricity from fusion reactors, these knights of the sky could remain airborne for three thousand hours without refueling.

“Once resupply for the three Titan-class aerial escort ships is complete, the aerial carrier Gigantea will take off. Scheduled time is eight hours from now—around 23:00 local time.”

“So a night takeoff isn’t a problem.”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. With the planetary G-Positioning System operational, we can operate safely regardless of visibility. We will also need to accumulate operational experience with takeoffs and landings in cloudy conditions or at night.”

“That part is for hiding from other powers, I assume?”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. At present, even if we are exposed, no one poses a threat—but if we can hide it, we should. The basic policy is to keep our bases concealed.”

They wanted to conceal not only Fortress The Tree, but also Second Fortress Black Iron, their forward base on the northern continent.

As a hub for material and military buildup—and a production base—it was best that no faction ever learned anything about it.

“Once the suburban base outside the city of Fratala is complete, we’ll move our forces there. Timing will coincide with the assault on the royal capital.”

“Expanding while building forward bases... it’s starting to feel like a strategy game.”

Incidentally, they were developing the region around the Iron Town—whose exposed ore veins had first drawn their attention—without restraint.

Once they confirmed the whole region was a mineral deposit, the autonomous machines began excavating tirelessly.

Meanwhile, the former miners had switched to flame-stone extraction arranged by Paraíso. Since only small amounts were needed, it served well as a local-employment measure.

Of course, they used specially developed drilling machines—not hand tools.

“In the long run we’ll handle employment measures and education. Once the locals’ baseline abilities improve, we can delegate control of forward bases to them. It’ll be a multi-year plan, though.”

“We could manage everything ourselves, but better to have them handle what they can. Keeping them as livestock or letting them rot both give us nothing—no benefit.”

“True. Whether we cage them or abandon them, neither lets me sleep well. And to maintain trade with the Lepuitari Kingdom, we need the locals to pull their weight.”

Thus, the towns they had conquered would ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) eventually need to stand on their own with minimal oversight.

They could use doll-machine communicators for administration, but those were too valuable; instead, they were considering using rectangular monoliths.

After all, a bringer of wisdom should be a rectangular monolith. Probably.

“Seize the lord’s manor, rebuild it as a Temple of Wisdom, hide mining and manufacturing facilities underground, and turn it into a materially independent ruling base. Then issue orders to the ruling class through the monolith. Mmm—so very mystical!”

“I am proud to say it is a thoroughly playful, fantastically fantastical policy.”

“It’s completely scientific, though!”

In a few decades, the towns would be reborn as advanced, mysterious cities ruled by enigmatic monoliths.

Imagining that scenery, Eve joyfully pressed the approval button.

Lately, they had been submitting more and more of these playful policy proposals.

It seemed Ringo had grown more flexible.

“Well then. I wonder how the Titan-class escort ships are doing.”

The three Titan-class ships, now circling at about six thousand meters, were flying stably at roughly eight hundred kilometers per hour.

From here, cargo planes would load them with ammunition, missiles, and fuel for carrier-borne craft. This work would take approximately eight hours.

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. The first wave of cargo planes is now docking.”

The displayed footage showed cargo aircraft clinging to Titan’s underside like remoras.

“Hmmm... yeah, they really are big.”

The cargo planes were around seventy meters long—yet the Titan-class ships were two-and-a-half times longer and over six times wider.

These were large cargo planes, yet they looked like toys.

“For the people in the royal capital, I actually feel a little sorry. And Gigantea is even bigger than this.”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Within the Afrasia United Kingdom, we have determined that there is effectively no anti-air capability. Therefore, we will conduct troop drops from about one thousand meters altitude. The psychological pressure on ground residents is expected to be immense.”

A gigantic structure 520 meters long and 870 meters wide, flying at one thousand meters altitude.

And three massive birds escorting it.

One could easily imagine how the people of the capital would feel.

“After Gigantea’s resupply is complete, it will conduct adjustment flights over the sea for several days. Then we will deploy it above The Tree as well.”

“So the capital assault is after that?”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Here is the operation plan.

“In four days, initial setup of the suburban base near Fratala City will be complete. We will airlift forces from Second Fortress Black Iron, and simultaneously advance our aviation forces toward the royal capital.”

At long last, the operation to subjugate the Afrasia United Kingdom would begin.

Centering on Gigantea, they would seize air superiority, drop encirclement forces from the carrier, and send additional troops via cargo craft.

The projection was to subdue all major cities, including the royal capital, within hours.

A shocking blitzkrieg.

But if successful, the Afrasia United Kingdom would fall completely under Paraíso's control.

“Infiltration by spy bots is going smoothly, so... well, there’s nothing to worry about.”

If anything concerned her, it was that the reports from the royal capital were disastrously bad, and that the northernmost city, Northend City, had an unusually strong military presence.

Apparently the royal capital had partly turned into a lawless slum from the influx of refugees. The ruling class was busy with power struggles, ignoring the situation—creating a hellish cauldron of the worst human behavior.

“Just reading the text reports about the capital makes me not want to look at it...”

The concentration of wealth likely made it worse.

The upper classes still had enough logistics to live comfortably, with demand contained among nearby cities. That trickle-down was just barely keeping the slums from collapsing.

Northend City, on the other hand, lay at the northernmost frontier. Beyond it loomed the massive Northwall Mountains, and the forest at their base was said to be a nest of monsters.

“Because of the threat of monsters, it seems they have gathered substantial defensive forces. There are many so-called mages. The city survives mainly by hunting monsters and trading their materials. They are not short on food, and their metal resources also appear to be supplied by monsters.”

“...... ...Hm? What?”

“They seem to obtain metal resources from monsters as well.”

According to the spy bots, monsters existed whose shells were made of metal—and those served as a supply source.

“Enough metal to harvest and use?”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. That appears to be the case.”

“What an unreasonable fantasy world...”