Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 22 - Chapter 1

The Meteor’s Whereabouts

Saturday, November 20th

Planet Alaia was the sixth planet from the sun in the Forthorthian solar system. It was originally a barren wasteland devoid of life, but as the Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire entered its space age, Alaia was terraformed to support civilization.

As it was the first planet in the solar system to be terraformed, however, a great deal of its landscape was simplistic. The same was true for its ecosystem, which hosted only select types of flora and fauna. Only the bare minimum had been brought to Alaia, primarily plants to generate breathable air and farm animals to feed the people.

As a result, Alaia looked similar to how one might imagine a pastoral countryside. Though its population had grown significantly over the years, bringing new plants and animals to the planet as trade expanded, Alaia was still rather simple. It would most likely take another thousand years or more before it truly developed a unique ecosystem of its own. But little did its people know that a strange group was about to show up and delay things a bit. Indeed, they came riding in on a blue meteor.

“Kyaaaaaaaah! Noooooooo!”

The meteor screamed as it crashed into the ground and threw up dirt for dozens of meters before finally coming to a stop. Though the destruction wasn’t all that catastrophic, it would likely take several years for the land to recover. Once stopped, however, the meteor in question lost its blue glow. Only then did its true nature become apparent—said blue meteor was actually a boy and two girls.

“Ow, ow, ow... I-I thought I was going to die...”

“Move over, will you, Koutarou? I really am gonna die.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You did good.”

Indeed, the meteor consisted of Koutarou, Theia, and Yurika. Their descent to Alaia with the group had gone awry, and the three friends were sucked into atmospheric re-entry outside of Ohime. It was a very dangerous situation, but they’d managed to put their powers together and land safely enough.

“Are you okay, Theia?”

“Of course I am; you protected me. What about you?”

“I’m fine too. I’m not hurt... though it doesn’t look like I can say the same about the armor.”

“Heh, all that matters is that you’re safe. The armor can be replaced.”

“P-Please whorry abouht me too, you guysh!”

Koutarou and Theia smiled at each other and swiftly stood up to pull out Yurika, whose face had been rather ungracefully planted right in the dirt. Fortunately, none of them were seriously injured. The worst hit they’d taken was Yurika’s bruised nose, which was a blessing. They were all well enough to keep moving.

“Waaah, that was scary... I thought we were gonna die...”

“We’re fine now, so calm down, okay?”

“I don’t believe you! Even if you say that we’re fine, I won’t believe you anymore!”

“Okay, okay, I get it... Just turn this way for a sec. Your face is a mess.”

“Okay.”

Really, the biggest thing they had to worry about was Yurika’s mental state. But as Koutarou wiped her face, she gradually calmed down and returned to her normal self.

“But still... to think we’d be okay after falling all this way...”

While Koutarou was tending to Yurika, Theia raised a hand to protect her eyes and looked up into the sky. Hearing what she said, Yurika turned to look Theia’s way.

“Is all of Forthorthian space that terrible?” she asked.

“Like I said, that was the upper layer of the atmosphere. Most planets with people on them have the one.”

“Whaaat?! You’ve gotta be kidding! If all the planets have that, wouldn’t spaceships just break apart?!”

“They’re made sturdily to avoid that.”

“Really?”

“Strictly speaking, no. They’re actually protected by barriers. Moreover, they fly by controlling inertia and gravity. Their re-entry speed is much slower, so there’s not as much heat.”

“See?! I’m sure that it only happens here!”

“Theia, don’t make it any more complicated than it already is...”

“Heh, sorry.”

Koutarou, Theia, and Yurika had fallen from orbit without a spaceship. Under normal circumstances, any unprepared human would have burned up like a shooting star in the atmosphere. The fact that they’d lived to tell the tale with only minor scratches and burns wasn’t just the result of combining their powers—it was also an extraordinary stroke of good luck. It was a situation so grim and terrible that Yurika simply preferred to think it was only possible here on Alaia.

“Too bad things are only going to get more dangerous from here on out...”

As Koutarou finished wiping off Yurika’s face, Theia’s smile faded as she began explaining the situation with a serious expression and tone of voice. Seeing and hearing her like that, Yurika and Koutarou’s expressions naturally grew tense in response.

“What comes next, Theia?”

“The enemy is most likely on their way as we speak. The Imperial Army surely knows that we’ve landed in the area, so if we waste too much time here, we’ll be surrounded before we know it.”

“Whaaat?!”

“Don’t be so loud, Yurika. What will you do if the enemy hears you?”

“S-Sorry...”

“It’s fine. Now follow me, you two.”

Though the three of them had safely made it to the surface, they were still in danger. Right now their top priority was to clear out of the area before the Imperial Army arrived.

In addition to the capital planet of Forthorthe, the Forthorthian solar system consisted of seven other planets, each of which was overseen by one of the seven royal families. That was in addition to the territory they held on Planet Forthorthe. Essentially, each royal family had vast amounts of land and people under their control. Some of the royal families even governed additional planets in the far reaches of the empire.

As one might guess based on the local support for Elfaria, Planet Alaia was under direct control of the Mastir family. As such, Theia knew a good deal about the planet, its people, and its landscape—political or otherwise. And thanks to that, she knew exactly where they would be able to lay low.

“Let’s hide out here for a while.”

“Shouldn’t we be trying to meet up with Kiriha-san and the others as soon as possible?”

“We’ve only just arrived, so the Imperial Army will begin their search for us. It’s dangerous to be on the move right now.”

While they didn’t know who exactly, someone had undoubtedly seen where the blue meteor landed. It was only a matter of time before the Imperial Army sent troops to apprehend anyone who’d entered the planet illegally. Thanks to that, security would be tight in the area for a while. But as time passed, the army would expand their search radius and move on assuming that Theia and her entourage had escaped. The lighter scrutiny would then make it easier to escape for real, meaning that waiting was by far the safer option. Theia, however, was still anxious.

If that pilot reports in, there’s a chance the army will never relent... Hahh, but nothing will come from fretting about it now...

If the pilot Theia had saved reported to his superiors that he’d sighted the princess herself, the number of troops the army sent to the area would likely double. That would put Theia, Koutarou, and Yurika in extreme danger, but it wasn’t like they could make a move now regardless. Moreover, Theia didn’t regret saving the pilot. So she put her worries aside for now and resolved herself to deal with the consequences if the time came.

“So, Theia, what is this place?”

Koutarou craned his neck and looked around. Theia had brought him and Yurika to a building half hidden underground so that it didn’t stand out in the forest where it was located. Part of the structure was collapsed, and the rest was covered in moss and ivy. It was clear at a glance that the building hadn’t been used in many years, but the dilapidation made it hard to tell what it had originally been used for.

“This building was constructed in the initial stages of Alaia’s development. It was a forward base for the afforestation project, which, as you can tell, was a success. After that it fell out of use and was eventually used as a hideout for anti-government radicals. As the planet continued to develop, however, they moved on to a different location.”

“So a former afforestation base and a radical hideout, huh? This place sure has one heck of a history.”

“That’s why we have so much data on it.”

As the Mastir family had been in charge of terraforming Alaia, they had more geographical data on the planet than anyone else—and that included the Imperial Army, which had only established a foothold on the planet later. Theia used that information to pick out a couple of hiding places, and had settled on this one because she was sure the military didn’t even know it existed.

“Then does that means that we’re safe for a while?! We can rest here, right?!”

“That’s right.”

“Pheeew, thank god!”

With a heavy sigh of relief, Yurika plopped down a large cement block. She’d been on edge ever since they’d landed on the planet, so she slumped over in an exhausted fashion now that she could finally sit down and relax a little. It didn’t look like she’d be getting up any time soon.

“You can rest easy. They won’t find us here. Not right away, anyway.”

The building was completely disguised by the surrounding forest, and completely camouflaged by the moss and ivy that now covered it. It was also old enough that it shouldn’t be on any of the Imperial Army’s maps. So, barring a stroke of terrible luck, Theia was confident they’d be safe here for at least a little while.

With some downtime, Koutarou, Theia, and Yurika decided to have a meal while they rested. The menu, however, was a simple one. All the food they had consisted of what Koutarou was carrying in his armor and what Theia had stored in Star Purple—calorie-dense rations and instant coffee.

“Thank you for the foooood!”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Let’s dig in.”

That said, not one of them had any complaints. They were grateful to have any food at all and happily ate what they had. They all knew what kind of situation they were in, and their stomachs were quite empty after everything they’d been through. But on the subject of food, Koutarou’s thoughts took an expected turn.

“I gotta say, Theia... your table manners have become thoroughly Japanese.”

Indeed, Koutarou was reflecting on how Theia’s manners had changed. He was able to appreciate the difference because he’d picked up on Forthorthian manners while he was in the past, and he found it rather amusing that Theia had only fully made the transition now that they were back in Forthorthe.

“That may be... I did spend a long time in Japan, after all.”

Once Koutarou pointed it out, Theia realized it for herself and cracked a smile. She was aware that she’d been changing, but being able to see it so clearly for herself was amusing.

“Just make sure you don’t use Japanese table manners at any political dinners, you hear?”

“I would never do that. Honestly, I’m more worried about you, Koutarou.”

“Me? Why?”

When the conversation turned on Koutarou all of a sudden, his eyes opened wide in surprise. As if directing an orchestra, Theia pointed a finger at him with great purpose.

“If you act too much like a Forthorthian, they’ll figure out that you’re the Blue Knight.”

Theia wanted to keep Koutarou’s identity a secret, but she also wanted the world to know. Those two feelings were in constant conflict in her heart. Knowing that, Koutarou broke into a smile again.

“It’s funny to hear you say that, you know.”

“Why?”

“You’re the one who put me through such rigorous training.”

“Heh, that’s true.”

The person responsible for beating etiquette and manners into Koutarou was none other than Theia herself. So hearing her tell him to abandon them now was quite strange. It was funny, even. And, recognizing how it embodied the feelings butting heads inside her, Theia couldn’t help but see the humor in the situation too.

“We’ll both have to be careful not to show the habits we’ve picked up.”

“Yeah. Let’s be mindful.”

After the two of them shared a good laugh together, the conversation reached a natural lull. And with no one in particular saying anything, the mood gradually turned somber. The gravity of the situation at hand simply wouldn’t allow them to continue lighthearted chatter forever.

“So, Theia, what do we do from here? About regrouping with Elle and the others, I mean.”

Rendezvousing with the rest of their party was their top priority. They would never be able to protect Forthorthe with their strength divided.

“Normally, I’d like to establish communications first. But in this situation, that’s practically suicide.”

“Yeah... We can’t use radio or gravitational waves, and since Elexis is involved, we can’t use magic or spiritual energy either.”

To establish communications, they’d need to broadcast a signal of some kind. But the moment they did that, the Imperial Army would come knocking en masse.

“And if comms are out of the question, so are gates.”

“We’d probably be surrounded by drones long before we actually got one set up and ready for human use.”

For similar reasons, a gate—like the one Theia and Ruth used to travel instantly between room 106 and Blue Knight—would be equally dangerous. It would take at least an hour to set it up and establish a connection that was safe for human travel, but by that time, the Imperial Army would be on top of them. The army could have a gate capable of sending unmanned crafts up and running before Theia and the others ever had a prayer of escaping through theirs. There was a similar problem relying on Yurika as well. Though magical, her teleportation spells still bent space, making them detectable by the Imperial Army.

“Which means we’ll be escaping by foot. We’ll set out at dark.”

Without a way to reach her allies, Theia couldn’t rely on anyone for help. That meant she, Koutarou, and Yurika would need to escape on their own—that was the conclusion she’d reached.

“Shouldn’t we hurry, though?”

They of course wanted to meet up with the rest of their group as soon as possible. That’s why Koutarou thought it would be better to set out soon rather than waiting around for nightfall. Theia’s strategy perplexed him.

“I would love to, but there are likely satellites and unmanned aircraft still in the area. It would be difficult to escape their eyes during the day.”

Theia ultimately felt the same way Koutarou did, but she knew the dangers of rushing things. The aerial surveillance network the army had undoubtedly established would inevitably spot them if they set out while optical observation was still viable.

“So it would be better to flee at night when they can’t see, huh?”

“Yes... but even then, there’s still a risk.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Infrared cameras.”

“But don’t the animals in the forest give off heat signatures and stuff too?”

“This is an artificial forest, so it’s not home to many large animals. And there’s a good chance the army will only be investigating larger heat signatures.”

“So we’ll need to find a real forest. Preferably a deep one.”

“That’s right.”

Optical cameras wouldn’t be worth much at night, but infrared cameras and heat sensors would still be fully operational. And Koutarou was right—as long as there were other significant heat signatures in the forest, a few humans wouldn’t stand out immediately. But alas, a good deal of Alaia’s wooded areas had been created artificially. They lacked the biodiversity of the natural forests, especially in terms of larger animals. That meant Theia and the others would have to get to a natural forest in order to blend in.

A deep forest would also afford them extra protection in the way of dense tree cover. The infrared cameras couldn’t see through obstacles, so keeping behind or under something was a reliable way to avoid detection.

“However, the army knows all this, so they likely already have additional personnel and aircrafts watching the deeper parts of the forests.”

“I see. That is... rather troublesome.”

Koutarou now realized Theia’s dilemma and racked his brain over what to do. Rather than forging ahead without any contingencies, it would be best to have at least one backup plan in place. And when it came to backup, the first person Koutarou thought of was...

“Yurika.”

“Hwah?”

Upon suddenly hearing her name, Yurika looked up with her mouth full of food and a confused expression on her face. She’d been so focused on eating that she hadn’t been paying much attention at all to Theia and Koutarou’s conversation.

“Can’t you use your magic to hide our temperatures?”

“It’s not like I can’t... But how long are we talking?”

While she didn’t understand why Koutarou was asking, Yurika did indeed have a spell that could disguise the temperature of an object or person. She’d learned it during her training as a magical girl because it was extremely useful on stealth missions.

“Theia, how far away are we from our destination?”

“Let’s see... Since we’re on foot, it’ll probably take three or four days to get there.”

Koutarou’s armor, Signaltin, and Theia’s Combat Dress were all virtually out of steam at this point. Moreover, since Theia had cut Star Purple loose during reentry, she had only the bare bones of her equipment left. As a result, they didn’t have anything to spare in the way of resources or gear. (If they had, then Yurika probably wouldn’t have had to land on her face.) But without anything else to rely on, they’d be making their escape on foot.

For the time being, their immediate goal was to get to safety somewhere Elfaria’s faction had influence. They’d set their sights on a city about a hundred kilometers away. Moving at full speed, it would take a minimum of two days to get there. Travelling at a more realistic speed to conserve their energy and stamina, however, it would be a three or four day journey.

“So count on four nights, Yurika. Can you do it?”

“If it were for just me, I could. But it’ll be hard with the three of us.”

The spell Yurika knew to disguise temperature was an intermediate-tier spell that wasn’t suited for use over extended periods of time. Yurika was born with an exceptional capacity for mana, but it would be no mean feat to keep a spell like that up for hours on end.

“Besides, I’ll also need to conceal my mana so Darkness Rainbow doesn’t find us. I don’t think I’ll last more than two hours with the three of us...”

Even if they hid their temperature with magic, Darkness Rainbow could detect mana usage and the traces it left behind. That meant Yurika would have to cast a second spell in order to conceal her magic, which would in turn drain her mana twice as fast. And that was for each person she cast the spell on. In other words, covering for all three of them, she’d be using six times the mana she would need just to cover herself. She would be able to make it a full half a day on her own, but when she divided her power between Theia, Koutarou, and herself, they were looking at a couple of hours of use at best.

“If we can only travel for two hours a day, the trip will take ten. We’ll never make it out of here at that rate.”

After running the numbers in her head, Theia realized it would be impossible. In addition to everything else pressuring them, she knew they didn’t have any time to spare. Taking too long to get to safety would be a fatal mistake.

“I’m sorry... I wish I was a more amazing magical girl...”

Yurika still didn’t really know what was going on, but she knew it was serious based on the way Theia and Koutarou were behaving. And upon realizing that she couldn’t help, she drooped her shoulders and lowered her head.

“Too bad... I guess we’ll have to proceed without relying on magic.”

“Yeah...”

“I’m sorry... I’m really sorry...”

The brainstorming seemed to grind to a halt there. A sudden flash of brilliance on Koutarou’s part, however, reignited the conversation.

“Wait a minute... Yeah! Hey, Yurika!”

“Hwah?!”

“We don’t have to completely disguise our body heat! We just need to shrink our signatures and make it look like we aren’t human! Can you do that?”

“That’s right! Excellent thinking, Koutarou!”

Theia quickly caught on to Koutarou’s plan and cracked a glorious smile. Yurika had said she’d only last two hours if she cast a spell to negate their heat signatures. And that would be necessary if they were trying to sneak into a base that was prepared to intercept any and all intruders—but that wasn’t the case here. In the forest, they were only trying to blend in with the local fauna. That meant that rather than negating their heat signatures altogether, they only needed to reduce them—which should also reduce the amount of mana Yurika needed to cast the spell to do it, which would in turn make it that much harder for Darkness Rainbow to detect it.

“What do you mean?”

Only coming in on the latter half of the discussion, however, Yurika looked at her friends quizzically and cocked her head to the side. Realizing she was lost, Koutarou placed both hands on her shoulders and tried to explain things in a way she could understand.

“At night, the Imperial Army will try and find us by our heat signatures. They’ll probably use infrared cameras and heat sensors to scan the forest, but they’ll filter out anything that doesn’t appear to be human because the forest is full of animals. You follow?”

“I think so.”

“All right, so what happens if we shrink our heat signatures to half their normal size?”

“They would... filter us out?”

“Bingo! We’ll make the army think we’re just some dogs or cats walking around!”

“Aha!”

Yurika clapped her hands together in a moment of realization when the lightbulb finally came on. Even she could follow along with Koutarou’s plan.

“If we only need to do that, then I think we can manage. It still might be best to stop and take breaks now and again along the way, though.”

The amount of mana required to disguise the temperature of an object or person increased exponentially the closer the spell got to fully negating it. Thusly, shrinking a heat signature rather than negating it significantly reduced the amount of mana expended. And only halfing one was something an elite archwizard like Yurika would easily be able to keep up for half a day at a time, even with multiple people.

“All, right, then it’s decided! We’ll move out at nightfall!”

“Yeah!”

“Okay!”

And so the three of them finally had their escape plan. While things looked grim and perilous now, they suddenly felt much closer to seeing their friends again. It put a bright smile on each of their faces.