The frantic scene of the intercepting units' retreat could be seen on the air defense command room monitors. Naturally, Miyuki and the others—mother and daughter—also watched the footage, filling the entire window.
As the units began moving, escorting the prisoners, three figures on the screen showed no sign of moving from their spot. Seeing this footage, Miyuki gasped. One of the three figures was her brother.
She didn't need to hear his name. She didn't need to see his identification signal. Even with his face hidden by a smoke visor, she couldn't mistake him by his build alone.
Just by looking at Miyuki's profile, as she bit down hard on her back teeth while watching a major-ranked man pleading for reinforcements, Honami understood perfectly what she truly wanted to do, what she wanted to say.
Honami felt pity for her. Only twelve years old, yet unable to voice what she wanted. Unable to even utter the natural human desire—not even a selfish request—of "Go help my brother."
Honami didn't know why Tatsuya remained in that spot. But she could speculate. He probably possessed some means to deal with the approaching enemy fleet.
"Madam, I have a request."
Honami, who understood Miyuki's feelings and also harbored feelings for Tatsuya herself, found the words slipping from her lips unconsciously when she realized Tatsuya was about to do something.
"What is it?"
Despite the suddenness, Maya's voice showed no trace of unnaturalness. It was as if she already knew the content of Honami's "request."
"I wish to go meet Tatsuya-kun."
Miyuki, who had been glued to the screen, whirled around. Her eyes, fixed on Honami, were wide with surprise.
"You mean, you want to go there, now, to meet him?"
"Yes."
"Honami, aren't you my bodyguard?"
Are you saying you're leaving my side? Maya implicitly asked. It was a natural question for Maya to pose, and one Honami couldn't answer.
"...Yes."
"Well, alright. If we leave the enemy fleet be, we can't be sure this base will be safe either. It seems Tatsuya intends to do that, so go and help him."
"That?"
While surprised by Maya's permission, Honami was curious about the word "that" Maya used and instinctively questioned her.
"He's never actually tried it, only knows it's theoretically possible, but he must have some plan. That child is quite quick-witted, after all."
Her tone sounded almost nonchalant, but Honami thought she heard a mother boasting about her son.
"Thank you."
Hoping that it was indeed the case, Honami bowed politely.
Modern naval gunfire involves continuously launching bombs from a Fleming Launcher. This provides overwhelmingly superior rapid-fire capability compared to gunpowder cannons, and since it doesn't require carrying propellant and heavy projectiles, the explosive payload can be larger than that of missiles.
The ground attack power of the latest warships is said to be more than ten times that of a hundred years ago. If even a single ship enters the effective range of a Fleming Launcher, a city can be turned into a sea of fire.
Tatsuya knew it was a race against time. He pulled out the magazine from the specialized CAD—a large sniper rifle—equipped with the range extension spell sequence, which had just been delivered to him, and swiftly removed the bullets from within. He held each bullet in both hands, in a praying-hands posture, and then reloaded them into the magazine.
Kazama and the others watching had no idea what he was doing, but they could barely sense that powerful magic was at work, though they couldn't discern what spell sequence was active.
"Estimated time until enemy fleet reaches effective range: ten minutes remaining."
Sanada informed Tatsuya of the remaining time, who had finished preparing the armed device.
"The enemy fleet is sailing approximately thirty kilometers due west... can you reach them?"
"There's nothing to do but try."
Tatsuya replied to Sanada's question and aimed the armed device at a forty-five-degree angle of elevation.
A pipe-shaped virtual area unfolded at the muzzle. A virtual area magic designed to accelerate objects passing through it. Although creating the virtual area took time, Sanada nodded with satisfaction at the size of the constructed area.
But the magic Tatsuya was deploying wasn't finished there. Beyond the magical area of object acceleration, another virtual area appeared.
"What...?!"
The additional virtual area Tatsuya deployed was an improvised arrangement of Sanada's acceleration-based virtual area magic, transforming it into a virtual area magic for increasing inertial mass. He had accomplished this improvisation on the spot.
"He's a boy who does unbelievable things..."
Sanada's murmur was drowned out by the firing sound of the sniper rifle. Tatsuya stared out to sea, as if tracing the supersonic bullet that shouldn't have been visible. Eventually, he shook his head in disappointment.
"...No good. It only reached twenty kilometers."
How did he track the trajectory? His voice was dispassionate, but he was clearly disappointed. Or perhaps he felt inadequate.
"We just have to wait for the enemy ships to approach within twenty kilometers."
"But then we'll be within their range too!"
"I know. Both of you, please return to base. I'm enough here alone."
"Don't be foolish! You're coming back too."
"But if the enemy fleet isn't destroyed, the base will be in danger."
"Then at least, let's move from this spot."
"No. There's no time to search for a new firing point now."
Sanada's best effort at a compromise was rejected for reasons he himself understood.
"Can't we act as your substitute?"
Kazama, who had been silently listening to their conversation, asked Tatsuya in a somber voice.
"It's impossible."
The reply was as expected, and the only possible answer.
"Then, we shall remain here as well."
This reply was unexpected. To Tatsuya, Kazama's immediate affirmation was completely unforeseen.
"...If I fail, both of you will be caught in the crossfire."
"There's no such thing as a one hundred percent successful operation, and no battlefield is entirely without the risk of death in combat. If victory and defeat are the constant of the military man, then life and death are the constant of the soldier."
Kazama spoke without any apparent effort. That line, echoing a famous passage from Hagakure, possessed sufficient power to make Tatsuya abandon any further persuasion.
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