enser!!”

But before they could search for cover, more bullets were fired accurately at the ground just in front of them. It was an obvious warning. And it did not come from just one direction. They could not escape just by crouching down.

Quenser stubbornly looked around while halfway crouched down to the ground. It was unclear if the key was in it, but there was a 4WD off-road vehicle stopped a bit away.

In the next instant, the off-road vehicle exploded, sending out flames and a shockwave.

Despite how far away he was, Quenser instinctually brought both hands up to protect his face. He belatedly realized a portable antitank missile had been fired at it.

The battle formation was already complete.

Quenser saw no way for them to fight back.

The two boys slowly put their hands up. The ground looked level at first, but it actually had small undulations like the waves on the ocean surface. A group of five foot soldiers were hiding behind those undulations.

“(They have midrange sniper rifles and a portable antitank missile launcher. This is bad, Quenser. If we make any odd moves, we’ll be in heaven the next thing we know. We need to get permission before even sneezing to ensure there are no misunderstandings.)”

“(What’s with those ridiculous uniforms? And more importantly, the model of gun they’re using.)”

“(I know. It makes no sense. Why would the Capitalist Corporations show up here?)”

“Okay, enough whispering, you two,” said one of the Capitalist Corporation attackers in an oddly cheerful voice.

She was a girl with blonde hair and brown skin. She appeared to be a bit older than Quenser. Her outfit...was strange. The materials it was made out of were the same as a military uniform. However, its design was similar to that of a maid uniform. She even had cat ears on. Quenser could only think that it was meant to mock the enemy much like the faces painted on the noses of fighter planes.

All 5 enemies were girls of the same age. Paying no heed to Quenser or Heivia, they spoke among themselves.

“Will this be enough of a present?”

“It should be fine. At least I hope it is.”

“We’re almost out of rations, so we need to get a hit here.”

“Yes. At any rate, we need rescue to come for them.”

Quenser had a very bad feeling about what was to come, so he spoke with his hands still in the air.

“Hey, what is going on? Who are you people? What are you trying to do?”

“We are a battlefield cleanup service,” replied the blonde-haired, brown-skinned girl with a smile. “We are a type of PMC. You know what those are, right? They are mercenary companies. These outfits are...well, they were a request. That is one of the downsides of the service industry. We are out of business cards, so don’t ask for one. ...However, we are not a big enough PMC to take over the maintenance of an Object. We are basically employees dispatched to help out a little.”

“So you’re money-obsessed freaks from the Capitalist Corporations...” spat out Heivia, but the brown girl did not seem to mind.

“Really, we ended up in a lot of trouble thanks to your Legitimacy Kingdom military taking control of the Alaska district. The Legitimacy Kingdom and the Information Alliance were supposed to wear each other down enough that we in the Capitalist Corporations could send in our Object. But instead you easily defeated the Information Alliance and took control of Alaska.”

“You mean when our princess was fighting the Rush’s ‘Oh ho ho’?”

“Hm? You use boring names like that in the Legitimacy Kingdom? ...At any rate, the Capitalist Corporations forces here were left in quite the panic. Some communications mistake in the confusion of the large-scale withdrawal operation resulted in the transport plane we were supposed to be on taking off without us. Do you understand? We were left behind!! We had to risk our lives living out here with enemies everywhere and days that never got above freezing. This was no laughing matter. We have no choice but to make our way back to the home country on our own. ...Anyway, we were in a bit of trouble because our armored vehicle’s fuel did not seem like it would last until the border. Western America is just too far away.”

Quenser clicked his tongue.

He had heard the stories of soldiers left wandering the Alaska district after a failed withdrawal operation. It seemed those five were some of those.

Heivia spoke while choosing his words carefully.

“...If you would like some hot soup and a blanket, just surrender. You will be temporarily treated as prisoners of war, but a deal can then be made between governments to have you returned to the Capitalist Corporations.”

“Doing that would affect people’s trust in the company. We decide people’s human rights based on the size of their bank account, remember? We wouldn’t be able to advertise after that.”

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“Deal with that,” said the brown girl as she pointed at the distant Baby Magnum. Even if the details were unclear, it was obvious even from that distance that it was damaged and unable to move. “We can probably get the Elite to eject by pretending to be maintenance soldiers, don’t you think? We just have to say the reactor has been damaged and is about to go critical. Then we can capture the Elite.”

“...Wait.”

“We know the current situation in the Alaska district. That is the Legitimacy Kingdom’s last Object. The seven owned by the traitors will soon head out into the Atlantic Ocean. What happens then? The Alaska district will be empty. The Capitalist Corporations will be free to return. The sooner that happens, the better for us. Every day and every hour counts. ...Our rations are just about gone, and we have no guarantee we can kill a deer or reindeer whenever we need one.”

(This is bad.)

They were from the Capitalist Corporations. They did not care in the slightest about the Legitimacy Kingdom’s situation.

“...Just to double check, but you said you knew the current situation, right?”

“Yes. It was announced in an unencrypted transmission. But that does not matter. There may be some from the Capitalist Corporations among those immigrants, but they changed nationality of their own will. We have no reason to worry about them. ...And most importantly, worrying about them will not make us any money.”

That last comment was likely the true reason.

That mercenary logic that took only money and profit into account made Quenser want to struggle. However, he just barely managed to hold himself back.

Instead, he said, “You’re mercenaries, right?”

“We are a PMC, so yes. If you have a request, please use the form on our official website. The payment plans are a tad complex, but do not worry. It is programmed to automatically calculate it all out for you.”

“We have no time. I will hire you right here. If I do, you’ll fight for us, right? That’s all we need.”

Quenser responded seriously to her joking words.

“Quenser!!” shouted the noble named Heivia in an attempt to stop the other boy, but Quenser paid him no heed. He merely stared the brown girl straight in the eye.

In response the girl sneered at him.

“Ha ha ha!! Are you stupid!? It seems you don’t know what prices this kind of thing goes for, boy!! Your allowance is not enough to hire us!!”

As she smiled, the girl grabbed Quenser’s collar.

She drew him in close and some anger filled her smile.

“We view wealth and economics as above all else, so we hate it when people make a mockery of money. Our fee is a sincere reward given in exchange for the work we perform. The mere thought that we would lower it in a time of crisis out of a sense of charity or justice is an insult. You are essentially saying the value of our lives can change based on your own convenience.”

“I never said that,” replied Quenser as he stuck a hand into the pants pocket of his military uniform.

The brown girl overlooked it because she had gotten too close to him. The other mercenaries responded by raising the barrels of their guns, but Quenser ignored them and pulled out the contents of his pocket and threw it at the brown girl’s face. It was a small rubber box.

The next thing he knew, he had been punched.

While looking down at Quenser as he lay collapsed on the snow, the brown girl spat out, “It seems you still do not understand where your place is.”

“You’re the one that still does not understand,” replied Quenser with a smile. He pointed at the small rubber box that’s latch had come undone when it had fallen to the ground. “I am an important customer.”

“Wait. This is...”

“I would assume someone from the Capitalist Corporations like you would be more knowledgeable about this kind of thing than me. Or do you use too much cash and electronic money, so you know nothing of jewels?” said Quenser to the brown girl who was staring at the clear beads scattered across the snow. “They’re diamonds. They are from a military mine on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Faith Organization hid the existence of the diamonds while mining them to fund their military.”

“Charm.”

The brown girl called out someone’s name and one of the mercenaries pulled out a special loupe. She picked up the clear beads, rolled them around in her gloved hand, and looked at them through the lens.

“They look real. And it does not seem any fakes are mixed in. I believe there are 15 carats here. Their grade is not bad either. The lack of a certificate is a major point against them, but by laundering them, we could likely get 80% market value on them.”

“That’s what I’ll pay you up front. You could always just shoot us and take them, but there are two more identical rubber boxes hidden below a rock near our maintenance base. If you help us, I will give you the remaining two regardless of the outcome of the operation. ...What is the market value of a mercenary? How many years would it take you to make this much? Actually, would you even be able to make this much before you died?”

“...”

The brown girl started trembling.

The trembling was clearly caused by a positive feeling such as joy. It was true that their trustworthiness as mercenaries would lower by helping an enemy nation. However, it would not matter if they received fewer jobs afterwards if they made two or three times the amount they could hope to make in their entire lives otherwise. In the Capitalist Corporations, people’s human rights were decided by the size of their bank accounts, so how much money was needed to simply retire and live an enjoyable life?

“You said before that your fee is a sincere reward given in exchange for the work you perform. That is exactly right. And that is why we are prepared to pay this much. What will you do? Will you accept our request?”

After Quenser uttered those final words, the brown girl knelt down, clasped her hands before her face, and gave her response with her eyes sparkling.

“You should have said so sooner, master!!”

Part 8

The small Capitalist Corporations PMC that specialized in battlefield cleanup used a 10-wheeled armored vehicle. It had quite a bit of space inside, but it could not take sharp turns. The model seemed to prioritize transporting troops more than suppressing an enemy with installed firearms.

Quenser frowned slightly when he entered.

“...It smells like a girl’s room.”

“Come in, come in!! I apologize that it is so cramped, but we will show you our best hospitality!! Charm! Do we have any tea left!?”

“Nothing that hasn’t been used twice already. We do have drinking water made from melted snow and enough rations to make chazuke.”

“You’re useless. Oh, excuse me. I forgot to mention, but my name is Wydine Uptown! We will do anything from reconnaissance and bombardment support to shoulder massages and ear cleanings!!”

“I-I see. Well, we mostly just need you to get us to the immigrant residential city.”

Wydine’s excessively wide smile made Quenser draw back a bit. As per his request, Wydine called out to the driver and the vehicle was off. Heivia then cut in from the side with a big grin.

“Hey, Quenser. If they’re willing to do anything, we might as well get what we can. I think I’d like an ear cleaning while resting my head on her lap!!”

The smile disappeared from Wydine’s face

“I don’t want to hear anything from you. Go sit over in the corner.”

“...Why are you treating me differently?”

“Because he is a customer who has properly paid us while you are a piece of shit that hasn’t given us a single cent☆ You should be grateful we even let you aboard.”

“Fine then! I won’t expect anything from you!! But know this: I’m the type of guy that gets excited when a girl looks down at him with cold eyes!!” As Heivia started sulking, he suddenly realized something. “Wait, couldn’t we have used the Hand Axe rather than the diamonds to make a contract with this PMC? Each gram is supposed to be worth more than a gram of platinum.”

“It’s the catalyst used in its production that costs so much. The completed explosive isn’t worth that much,” said Quenser offhandedly before changing his train of thought.

His thoughts turned to the 24th Mobile Maintenance Battalion and its 7 Objects.

“What is it?”

“I know it’s a bit late, but I was thinking about the situation here. I may have hired you with those diamonds, but this will likely be a difficult battle.” Quenser sighed. “Six of the seven Objects are likely dummies that are lower than a Generation 0.5, but they can still use their main cannons. And the Indigo Plasma is a real Second Generation Object. That is a true monstrous weapon.”

“Come to think of it,” cut in Heivia as he glanced over at Wydine. “Even if those are budget dummy models, how did they get the Elites to pilot them? Or are they forcing regular soldiers to pilot them?”

“Hmm? Those are probably strategic AIs, not Elites,” said Wydine.

“What?”

Quenser frowned and Wydine called out to one of her fellow mercenaries.

“Lemish, explain it to our customer. Use the screen to make it simpler.”

“Okay.” A pigtailed mercenary girl sat next to Quenser and showed him a handheld device. “These red arrows indicate the actions taken by the six Objects as they came ashore. Can you see the common trait among all of them?”

“They move in unnaturally straight lines... Although, that could just be them staying in formation.”

“And this is their leader, the Lily Maria...or the Indigo Plasma as I believe you call it. Look at the ring around it. Once the six dummy models enter a circle with a radius of 5 kilometers around the leader...”

“Their actions...change!?”

“They switch over to the much more flowing movements of a living being. Likely, they are normally piloted by strategic AIs but the leader can manually control them to make corrections. ...If it had not been a surprise attack, the Object on the sea may not have been destroyed so easily.”

“So they can switch back and forth between auto and manual. First the Information Alliance and now the Objects of the 24th. Strategic AI development sure has gotten popular of late.” Quenser looked over at Heivia. “If the dummies really are using strategic AIs, can we use the Angelina List to stop them like we did with the Information Alliance’s Rush?”

“There are too many problems,” was Heivia’s negative response. “The Rush’s Elite was focused solely on the princess. That was why we were able to move freely. But that isn’t the case here. If we ran around the area, their main cannons would blow us away. Also, we got lucky with the Object remains scattered about last time.”

“The Active Sledge sank into the sea, but what about the Snow Quake?”

“The numbers are just too different,” spat out Heivia in annoyance. “The Water Strider had 8 main cannons. I actually used 3 of those. We had three pieces of wreckage for the one Object. The wreckage outnumbered the Objects. ...On the other hand, we have just the one piece of wreckage to use against 6 dummies and the Indigo Plasma. Even if we managed to get full usage of the Snow Quake wreckage, their AI would not consider it a threat. They would just surround the wreckage and blow it to pieces to make sure it could no longer function.”

“Now, now,” cut in Lemish out of nowhere to cut off Quenser and Heivia’s negative thoughts.

She then turned the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.

“What matters is the 5 kilometer range in which the AI can be manually corrected. Most likely, infrared or electromagnetic signals are used for the remote control. And if so...”

“...I get it. That means we might be able to use that to our advantage if we get that close.”

“Sir, our PMC has a full assortment, of weapons, ammunition, provisions, communications equipment, and electronic jamming equipment.”

Wydine kicked over a large plastic box and a large number of firearms spilled out.

She smiled and said, “If you need anything, just tell us.”

“Even if most of them are dummy models, this is still a formation of 7 Objects where one is Generation Two. Also, Prizewell City Slicker is crazy. He will not hold back even if we raise the white flag. Once we head out, we can’t give up partway through.”

“We will do anything as long as you pay us. And you have already given us plenty.”

Part 9

Ayami Cherryblossom, the Object maintenance chief of the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion, stopped her off-road vehicle and jumped out onto the ground.

Ayami was commonly referred to as the old maintenance lady.

She had originally been from the Capitalist Corporations.

The mindset of all value being based on economics and money had deeply dyed her heart and she saw nothing wrong with the preference of human rights being based on the size of people’s bank accounts. Even when she had trained in Object maintenance, she had held no pride in the actions themselves. She had held pride in the profit she gained from the actions.

When she had first learned of the actions of her daughter and son-in-law, she had simply thought they were being stupid. Talk of providing agricultural support for areas that did not have enough food may have brought tears to people’s eyes, but it had no more value than that. Going through with it was nothing more than spending actual money on something that would bring no profit. In the Capitalist Corporations, even a young child who had yet to start school would tell you that was a waste of money.

When her daughter and son-in-law’s actions had led to them being chased out of the Capitalist Corporations, Ayami had punched her own daughter. But then she had grabbed her hand. She had been unable to abandon them. She had realized that attachment that went beyond economics or money may have been a part of what led that couple to provide that agricultural support.

They could not stay in the Capitalist Corporations. They had to flee to some other land. During that flight, she had become intensely aware of the presence of the giants that were the world powers.

And this went beyond realizing just how great a shadow the Capitalist Corporations cast.

She also realized that the Legitimacy Kingdom they were fleeing to cast just as great of a shadow.

Even once they reached that goal, it would not be a happy life awaiting them.

Whether they turned back or continued on, nothing but hardships awaited them.

But...

The more she was trampled on by those giants, the stronger one feeling grew within her.

She was determined to protect her family from those large shadows no matter what.

And she would even use the military or Objects to do that.

“Shikibu!! Iekazu!! Are you in there!?”

The old lady shouted some names in front of a family apartment building. Even in that peculiar area of the city, that apartment building was different than those around it. It was a pale prefab building just like the others, but it was a proper high rise building. It was fully equipped with elevators and self-locking doors. The walls and floors had the same double-layer insulation usually used in windows. The building was not made of prefab because of a lack of resources. The entire city was made that way out of choice. The nameplates and signs were a mix of hiragana, katakana, kanji, and other scripts, all of which were a strange sight in the Legitimacy Kingdom. It was just the type of thing that would irritate Prizewell City Slicker.

The old lady called the names of her daughter and son-in-law, but received no response. However, she had no time to wait around. She climbed the stairs to the third floor and headed for a specific door.

At the same time, her daughter, Shikibu, opened the front door.

The black-haired woman in her late twenties looked utterly shocked when she saw the old lady.

“What are you doing here, mother? I thought you didn’t get time off until-...”

“Is Iekazu here? And what about Orihime, my granddaughter!?”

“Of course not. This is a weekday. Papa is at work and our daughter is at elementary school. Honestly, has the military left you unable to tell what day of the week it is?”

“Contact them,” said the old lady, sounding at her wits’ end. “Hurry!!”

“What? What? Ehh? If you’re coming over to play, you should call ahead, mother.”

The old lady forced her way in the front door and picked up the receiver of the landline phone located near the entrance. She called the number she had memorized beforehand, but...

“No good. The phone isn’t going through.”

For an instant, she thought the 24th had cut the phone lines, but that was not it. Things were getting noisy out front. Objects were over 50 meters tall, so their advance would be visible even from afar.

“The phone lines must be congested...”

“What is going on?” asked Shikibu while blinking. “The TV suddenly switched over to a test broadcast and then the internet wouldn’t connect no matter what page I tried to go to. And I needed to check a recipe for lunch.”

“The home country must have cut it off to prevent a panic. They’re cutting everything off starting with the thickest lines. Even if it wasn’t congested, we probably couldn’t use the phone.”

“?”

“Shikibu, remain calm and listen to what I have to say.”

“You’re the one that seems to be panicking.”

“Some Objects will be arriving here soon,” said the old maintenance lady as slowly as she could manage. “It is a formation made up of the Indigo Plasma and 6 others. The Legitimacy Kingdom military cannot stop them!! We need to get out of here as quickly as possible! Those monstrous national level weapons will soon turn this city into a sea of flames!!”

“Eh? Wait...” Shikibu put on a smile. She had yet to fix her bad habit from the Japanese Islands. “What do you mean Objects will be arriving? I didn’t hear anything about a parade.”

The old lady ignored her and pulled out her radio.

She set it to a military frequency and simply turned up the volume.

“Hurry up the repairs on the Baby Magnum!! No one expects you to completely fix it! At the very least, we need a single main cannon functioning. The Indigo Plasma’s formation is headed toward the immigrant residential city as we speak. If we take too long, we can’t catch up!!”

Shikibu’s smile remained.

But she started trembling while still smiling.

“Where are Iekazu and Orihime?” asked the old lady with a serious expression. “We need to get them and leave the city before those 7 Objects arrive!! You need to make your preparations. You have 10 minutes!!”

“Wait. What is going on!? What is going on!? What is going on!?”

“Do you really think I have time to explain everything!?”

“We need to tell the neighbors... No, not just them!! We need to tell everyone in the apartments...no, everyone in the city to escape!!”

Shikibu suddenly stopped speaking after that.

The old lady had slapped her.

“We can’t. We would never make it in time. Even if they took us seriously, that would just lead to widespread panic and traffic congestion. All forms of transportation would grind to a halt and no one would be able to escape.”

“So you’re saying we should abandon them!?”

“Curse me all you want.” With her daughter glaring at her like that, the old lady took a challenging step forward. “But I will protect my family. I will do anything to do so. If it will make it more difficult for you to escape, I am prepared to leave this entire city to die.”

“You can’t...”

“Then are you willing to abandon Iekazu and Orihime? If they learn the truth, everyone living around here will fight to take any vehicle they can find. Once that happens, no one will be able to collect those two. Nor would we be able to escape ourselves!! Are you fine with that!? Are you willing to sacrifice your own family to rescue some complete strangers!?”

“...”

“I am not. That is why I went as far as to run away from my unit to come here. What about you? Are you fine with letting Iekazau and Orihime be burnt away to nothing? I know what Objects can do. Believe me when I tell you this: Object bombardments are relentless. They do not even leave a corpse to be buried.”

Without speaking a word, Shikibu struck the wall once.

The loud noise silenced the old lady and Shikibu quickly headed further into the room. She was likely headed to pull a suitcase from a closet.

They had no time.

A panic was already beginning within the city.

If they did not act before it had a serious effect on transportation, they would be trapped within the city. If that happened, they would be on the receiving end of a bombardment from 7 Objects.

After about 5 minutes, Shikibu returned to the entranceway.

“I’m ready.”

“Let’s go.”

“I think I am doing something horrible.”

“Do not bear that weight. This is my sin. Those 7 Objects should have been stopped by my unit.”

They had no time to wait for the elevator. They used the stairs to head quickly down to the first floor where they climbed aboard the military off-road vehicle. The rubber of the tires screeched across the road surface as they took off.

“Who’s closer, Iekazu or Orihime?”

“Papa would be closer. But it isn’t that different. They’re both within 5 kilometers of here.”

“Then we’ll start with Iekazu. Tell me how to get to his company.”

She drove the off road vehicle while ignoring traffic lights and one-way signs. However, no one seemed to care. They had their own things to worry about. A panic was already beginning. If they had stopped at a red light, people would likely have tried to jump in through the windows.

“How could this be happening?” muttered Shikibu.

The old lady ignored her and continued pressing down on the accelerator.

Iekazu worked at a mid-size menswear company. The company rented out a portion of a double-layer prefab building.

“How do we call for him?”

“Even if the external lines are down, the internal lines should still work. Where is the company’s reception desk?”

“There is a general reception desk on the first floor. Visitors for any of the tenants make a request to the external operator and...”

“Then head there. Make something up about forge-->>

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