Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.3

3

In the wasteland outside of Hideout City, Snow looks up and stares blankly.

“Hey, Rose, let me touch it, too! It’s not fair to hog it to yourself!”

Leaving Snow to her stunned silence at the sheer size of Mr. Mogero, Grimm starts screeching up at Rose atop Mr. Mogero’s head. Rose looks smugly down.

“Since he’s now my underling, I can’t let anyone else on. Not even you, Grimm.”

“Why? Alice was the one who fixed it, and Russell was the one who told you how to activate it! You didn’t do anything, Rose!”

We watch as Grimm tries to scramble up to the top of Mr. Mogero with Rose constantly discharging electricity to deter her.

“Why won’t you let me up there?! Where’s the harm in me joining you for a little! Hey, Rose, if you can make it move while seated up there, does that mean I potentially could, too?

“It’s just cooler if he’s a special robot that only I can control. That’s why I’m not letting anyone else in here. So what are you planning to do on this mission, Grimm? You haven’t been much help lately, so I think you should show off your worth for once.”

“Oh, wow. You get asked to pilot a giant robot and suddenly you’re all high-and-mighty. I’ll have you know I also received an important assignment on this mission. In fact, I’m pretty much the star of the show this time!”

For this mission, Grimm was asked to place a curse on all of Toris.

Not the people of Toris, the kingdom.

The plan is for her to curse the land itself and leave our mark on it.

Ordinarily, there is no way such a large-scale curse would work, but…

“I’ve received items bursting with the love and respect that the demons all feel for Viper…”

After giving up on climbing atop Mr. Mogero, Grimm returns to her wheelchair. The items she is preciously cradling on her lap are items rich in sentimental value that the demon residents of Hideout City donated to the cause. When we told them that we wanted to get revenge for what Hiiragi did to Viper, just about all of them readily relinquished their most prized possessions.

“They’re all mementos with an extraordinary amount of sentimental value. For people to hand them over without a trace of hesitation, that girl must be beloved by all those demons. I’m so jealous… I hate her… I hate how popular she is!”

“H-hey, she’s not the one you should be cursing! Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

Well, we’re cursing the land of Toris, not its people. So hopefully, the potential backfire won’t put her life at risk…

Suddenly Snow, looking up at Mr. Mogero from astride her unicorn, speaks up.

“It seems we’re ready.”

Snow has an unusually determined expression on her face, with two magic swords on her hip and her katana strapped to her back.

The two magic swords are her old faithfuls, Flame-something and Ice-whatever.

The katana is the one that became her favorite after Tiger Man gifted it to her.

But I guess that isn’t enough to satisfy her, because on the side of the unicorn’s saddle are multiple magic swords encased in their scabbards.

We all have on our game faces today.

My coworkers are fully equipped with the latest weaponry and are all wearing optical camo.

Grimm is carrying the mementos she got from the demons, and even Rose atop Mr. Mogero looks full of enthusiasm.

Russell, who has taken off his maid outfit, is dressed in the outfit he was wearing when we first met him, and Heine’s expression takes on a sharper cast as she idly handles her sorcerer stone.

At the center of them all are Alice and myself, looking the same as ever, more or less.

“Looks like everyone’s ready to go. Are you sure you need me to come along?”

“You’re the branch manager, here. Just man up already.”

Snow’s expression twists into a thin smile at Alice’s and my lack of tension.

“You two don’t change, even at a time like this. I suppose that was true when we attacked the Demon Lord’s Castle as well. You kept teasing me even though it was the night before a decisive battle…”

Snow waxes nostalgic as she stares off into the distance…

“<Hey, Alice, what’s gotten into her? She’s being really weird today. I’m scared she’s gonna trigger a death flag or something.>”

“<Well, our opponent this time is one that’ll even kill Combat Agents if they hit us where it hurts. No doubt she’s just steeling herself since she’s about to face an enemy stronger than the Demon Lord’s Army. We might have overdone it on the scare tactics…>”

It’s time to settle the score. We’re an evil organization. We can’t let the enemy think we’re weak.

“Demon Lord Viper, are you watching us…? We won’t let them have their way with your precious demons. So please, rest in peace…,” Snow murmurs as she gazed up at the cloudy sky. I’m not sure how to tell her that Vi’s currently playing video games in her room…

It is at this moment that Alice receives the report from the scouting party on her radio.

The voices that leak from the radio report that the giant cat is still camped out in front of the city of Toris like a giant feline sentinel.

According to the report, there is no sign of enemy troops and we are free to launch our assault, provided we aren’t worried about the cat.

After listening to the report, Alice addresses the others.

“I don’t know who these Hiiragi bastards think they are, but Kisaragi claimed this planet first. If they’re going to claim to be agents of order, then proudly don the mantle of chaos! I’ve made enough justifications for you to attack them, so all you need to do is follow through!”

That’s right. We’re Combat Agents for an evil organization. We’re invaders.

Usually, we don’t even need a good reason to start a war. As my hardworking, degenerate coworkers grin in anticipation…

“Let’s go, you apes! To war!”

““““““““WHOOOOOOO!””””””””

Alice smiles and holds a fist of encouragement high in the air!