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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Pinkie, Dana, belatedly realized her junior comrade was nowhere to be seen. She reproached herself for abandoning even her cherished junior in her desperate bid for survival.
“I’m sorry, Karl. I’m so sorry…!”
…Honestly, she had been terrified. When the missile struck the transport, exploding on impact, she had already been half out of her mind. Having never experienced true combat before, the terror of death felt acutely real.
Actually, boastful Lewis wasn’t in his right mind either. In Ellie’s absence, he was responsible for looking after their juniors, yet he too, overwhelmed by the sudden crisis, had been gripped by fear and failed to attend to them. Only after they reached the rocky terrain did he regain enough composure to look back.
Fortunately, everyone except Ellie and Karl was accounted for. They formed a defensive perimeter, bracing themselves for a potential enemy attack.
…How much time had passed?
Lewis, prepared for an all-out assault when the pirates arrived, found their absence strange. They should have arrived long ago….
Then something appeared on the radar. Pinkie, who had been discreetly keeping watch, let out a cry of, “Ah—!”, popping her head up.
“It’s Senior Ellie—! Karl’s there too—!”
Ah—.
In truth, everyone had assumed they had either been captured by the pirates or killed. But to think they would actually return alive—!
Pinkie jumped up, about to run towards them, but Lewis stopped her.
“Don’t go—! It could be a trap. Observe the surroundings more carefully—!”
Cautious Lewis, not letting his guard down, instructed them to proceed with greater caution.
Certainly, their safe return from the midst of that overwhelming number of pirates was a bit perplexing.
Even if Ellie was a knight, how could she possibly have dealt with all of them? Honestly, the capabilities of the KMU were rather predictable, weren’t they—!
Lewis halted Ellie and Karl, who were drawing closer. Perhaps the pirates had planted explosives on them. There had been cases where they were pushed into the middle of allied forces and then detonated.
“It’s alright. There’s nothing like that. Do you really think I’d come to you with a bomb planted on me?”
Ellie had stayed behind, prepared to die protecting her juniors. She would have rather died there than run towards them carrying a bomb.
Only then did Pinkie, with tears welling up, run towards the two. She wept as she embraced Ellie, who had always treated her warmly, like an older sister.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Senior…!”
“There, there. It’s embarrassing in front of all our juniors…. It’s okay. It’s all over.”
“Karl, I’m sorry. I panicked and couldn’t look after you. I’m really sorry.”
Dana also apologized to Karl for not looking after him. He reassured her with a relaxed smile, telling her it was alright.
“Thanks to Senior taking care of everyone, I returned completely unharmed. I’m truly fine.”
Boastful Lewis, also belatedly and hesitantly, approached the two. He awkwardly smiled, expressing his relief at their safe return.
“So…, is everyone alright? No problems?”
“Yes, everyone is safe.”
“That’s a relief, truly. …Are we still unable to contact the ship?”
“Yes, not yet. It seems they’ve spread a wide jamming net.”
“Alright, then maintain vigilance in all directions. We don’t know when reinforcements might arrive.”
Big-breasted Ellie instructed the trainees to hold their positions and then took a brief rest with Karl in a safe location.
Sitting facing each other, the two hadn’t spoken a word since the battle ended. …In truth, Ellie couldn’t figure out how to begin.
What was certain was that Karl definitely had body enhancements implanted.
Of course, there wasn’t any rule against civilians having body enhancements, but it was puzzling how he possessed something that even knights struggled to afford. Added to that were his surprisingly impressive skills, difficult to explain.
…Those weren’t skills honed from just one or two battles.
Ellie was curious about the identity of this man with the enigmatic smile. In truth, she had felt something was amiss ever since he demonstrated his un-rookie-like deduction skills last time.
But on top of that, this unbelievable combat prowess?
This was a level of skill rarely seen even among the best and brightest of the combat division. …Surely, even considering the entire knighthood, he would be among the top few.
Big-breasted Ellie racked her brain for a while, but ultimately returned to square one. No matter how much she speculated, it was just speculation; nothing was certain.
Just as Ellie was about to speak, Lewis loudly called out to her.
“Senior Ellie—! We’re getting a signal—!”
For some reason, the device generating the jamming field seemed to have stopped. Ellie quickly received the phone connected to the ship and reported the pirate ambush. The Encrazer responded that they would dispatch troops immediately.
She also attempted to contact Alpha and Bravo teams. Fortunately, this time the connection was successful.
“This is Charlie. We were ambushed by Red Duck. The transport is currently unable to take off. Over.”
This is Alpha. Negotiations failed, and we were attacked. Over.
This is Bravo. Jamming device destroyed. We were just engaged in combat with the enemy. They have now retreated. Over.
It seemed the major crisis had passed. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the reinforcements from the ship.
Through this experience, everyone realized just how difficult it was to deal with pirates. Especially when hostages were taken, the initial approach had to be humanitarian, which significantly increased the risk. Just like in this case.
Still, Ellie was grateful that there were no casualties in Charlie team. If anyone had died, the trauma would have been immense. They would probably have endlessly blamed themselves, thinking they had died because of her.
Big-breasted Ellie prayed that the special forces would successfully secure the hostages. Since negotiations had broken down, all that remained was to rely on the special forces.
Soon, word came that troops had been dispatched from the ship, and before long, two massive spacecraft descended from the sky. They were fully armed warships.
They headed towards the location where the transport had landed earlier. Ellie led her subordinates back to the scene of the bloody battle.
The rear hatch of the warship opened, and heavily armed imperial troops poured out. They were the latest armored units. It seemed that, with Red Duck being no ordinary pirate, Arcmanchina had come thoroughly prepared.
“Embark.”
Engineers set up cranes to lift the downed transport. Charlie team boarded the warship while watching them work. Since they no longer had any mission to carry out, they were to return to the main ship.
Of course, a knight without body enhancements wasn’t much of a knight, but the trainees, displeased with their own powerlessness, remained silent and dejected. Furthermore, their first real-world experience had been far more brutal than they had imagined….
The warship soon landed back on the Encrager. Aboard the massive vessel, they earnestly hoped the knights would complete their mission and return safely.
A while later, they heard that the pirates had attempted to renegotiate. Of course, with the safety of the hostages paramount, Arcmanchina couldn’t refuse their offer.
The ransom, which had been ten million Jenny per hostage, plummeted to one million. Although it was still a substantial sum, Arcmanchina ultimately had to accept. Otherwise, they were threatened with the execution of the hostages.
Thus, Arcmanchina planetary headquarters transferred nearly 200 million Jenny to the pirates’ secret account. They carelessly released the hostages on an uninhabited planet and escaped using a spatial jump.
Naturally, having been dealt a significant blow, planetary headquarters dispatched reconnaissance vessels, but pursuing these pirates, experts in escape, was near impossible. Moreover, no matter how much they desired revenge, it was difficult to pursue them beyond the empire’s borders. …That territory truly belonged to the pirates.
Honestly, from Karl’s perspective, the outcome was far from satisfactory. If he were the planetary director, he would have ordered the extermination of those Red Duck bastards, regardless of the hostages. Having tasted success here, wouldn’t they just try this again? Naturally, given another opportunity, they would repeat this scheme.
Of course, he understood the director’s position. If the decision was made to fight, it was obvious a major conflict would ensue. Although it was a peripheral planet, Arcmanchina was more than capable of handling a single pirate group like Red Duck. However, if they brought in a pirate alliance, it would be a different story.
While the possibility of defeat was low, if they were to lose the war, Arcmanchina would become the pirates’ spoils of war that very day. The director must have made this decision out of that concern. He wasn’t willing to risk any potential danger. …Seen positively, it was prudent; negatively, it was cowardly.
In any case, the Red Duck kidnapping incident concluded in that manner. Although there were some unfortunate events in the middle, it was a relatively smooth resolution.
The hardworking KMU knights were all granted two days of rest. Thanks to this, Karl enjoyed his time off, lazing around in his room and enthusiastically thrashing Alisa, clad in her pubic hair swimsuit.
…And while Karl was thus leisurely enjoying himself,
Big-breasted Ellie began to make serious moves to investigate this suspicious man.
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