Summoning Japan: Flights of the Fancy

Chapter 23 - Footsteps of Ruin

Inside the Pal Chimera 1, Captain Walman received a report of the Pal Chimera 2's damage.

"What a shame. The other Pal Chimera units completed their mission without incident."

Woken up from his nap by this news, Walman was in a slightly bad mood.

"But it's good to know about the possibility of the Zebil's premature detonation. Be sure to handle it with utmost care."

"It has already been informed, sir," replied his first mate Estman.

"Good. Meteos has served as a good example for us. If we don't learn from the lesson, it would be a disservice to him."

Walman is not on bad terms with Meteos; it's just that both of them tend to be overly rational. And their 'rationality' was subtly different.

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The Emperor received a report from Meteos through the manacomm.

"...That is how the Pal Chimera 2 was damaged."

"In other words, the explosion occurred when you unnecessarily tried to use the Zebil," Mirishial VIII bluntly commented, causing Meteos to prostrate on the spot.

Meteos wasn't lying. He assumed it was an accident because no one noticed Ilx's laser beam attack.

"My utmost apologies!"

"Return home without causing further damage to Unit 2," the Emperor ordered as he disappeared from the camera's view, cutting off the transmission.

"He's a capable man, but not suitable for on-site situations," Mirishial VIII muttered to Hirkane Parpe. "Remove him from the Unit 2's command. However, do not impose further punishment. Consider an effective way to utilize that man."

"As you wish," Hirkane replied, acknowledging the personnel error and breaking into a cold sweat.

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The Capital Defense Force's battleship, Tabit, was stationed off the coast of Ragna to conduct anti-air surveillance.

Battleships under the command of the army were an unusual presence. Even when surveying the entire Gra Valkas military, there was only this one battleship.

The Tabit was a modified Orion-class battleship designed for monitoring aircraft approaching the Imperial Capital Ragna. Out of her four main turrets, two were removed along with secondary turrets, replaced by radar to serve as an early warning ship. If the Air Self-Defense Force had airborne radar sites with the E-767, the Tabit was essentially a floating radar site at sea. She was introduced for the capital city's defense. Therefore, it belonged to the Capital Defense Force of the Army. However, the one actually operating it was the Judgment Force. It was evident that the Army lacked the know-how to operate a battleship, so the Judgment Force was entrusted with the operation. Since the Navy refused to be subcontracted under the Army, the Judgment Force ended up handling it.

On the bridge of the Tabit, Captain Ailman was on duty. Duty, in this case, meant monitoring the performance of subordinates and occasionally praising or reprimanding them. Ailman belonged to the Capital Defense Force as an Army soldier. However, all the subordinates below the first mate belonged to the Judgment Force. The actual captain was his XO Ridley, and the command position had become a sort of honorary title. Within the Capital Defense Force, captaining the Tabit was not as unpopular as the "Time Travel Duty" in the Annonrial Empire, but it was not a coveted position.

Ailman had accepted the role of the Tabit's captain on the condition of a two-year term. Recently, he had entered his second year. After being around for over a year, he had gradually come to understand what his subordinates were up to. The current subordinates seemed to be repeatedly confirming something, and it appeared to be inconvenient. Wrestling with the decision of whether to wait for a report or go ask himself, one of his subordinates went to consult with Ridley. Slightly annoyed by this, Ailman walked over to Ridley.