abcnovels
Chapter 106.1
Chapter 106.1
Chapter 106.1
Chapter 106.1. Kamakura
-???’s POV-
The cicadas are forming a chorus and announce their chirps to the surroundings. The glaring midsummer sun shines in, and the heat distorts the air.
Was it formerly a souvenir shop? There was an abandoned building with a tattered banner that looked like it would crumble if touched. The barely legible sign, which reads “Souvenirs from our store,” makes a creaking sound when exposed to the wind and rain.
The multi-tenant building, which must have been five stories originally, was half-destroyed and turned into a pile of rubble. Rows of houses were scorched, and plants were sticking out of the tilting doors. The stone path is finely broken and eroded by weeds, and there are no ruts, so even the traces of the road will surely disappear in a few decades.
Cicadas were singing in chorus, and rabbits were chewing grass in the shadows of the overgrown grass. A deer and its young are walking leisurely along the road, and a small bird nested in an abandoned, rusty car is chirping.
Apart from the fact that there was no sign of human habitation, the scenery was quiet and peaceful.
But the deer, which had been walking leisurely, stopped, its ears twitching, its head lifted, and its nose twitching.
It must have sensed something dangerous. It runs off, leaping with its fawn, and disappears.
Soon after, the ground rattles and vibrates, and the rabbits grazing on the grass run away a little later.
With a loud gurgling sound, the source of the vibration revealed itself.
It was an armored car with eight huge tires as tall as an adult. Rather than an armored car, it was more like a landing craft with tires.
It’s built with thick magic iron armor, the ground landing craft makes a heavy noise as it moves along the ground. The rectangular hull has a bridge with tempered glass at the bow.
It had 6 magical-imbued battleship guns, 4 anti-aircraft guns, and 8 large machine guns on the side of the hull.
It’s a large surface landing craft Big Tiger, 55 meters long and 12 meters high. It’s a ground landing ship built by the Cat’s Kitten Trading Company, which is a little cute with a cat’s mark on the hull as a single point.
The heavy armor shines in the summer sun, trampling abandoned vehicles, crushing small rocks and other obstacles with its weight, digging up the thriving grass, and clearing the land as it goes.
Dozens of trucks and jeeps followed behind, passing through the abandoned and derelict area. A rusted sign had been propped up on the pavement vibrated, and fell to the ground with a clang.
[Welcome to Kamakura!]
The faintly readable words read.
This is Kamakura. The land where the Eternal Defense Barrier is affixed is where Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Shogunate. The land is now deserted, and no one lives there.
The Big Tiger was going forward for a while, clearing the road covered with grass and trees with its huge hull, and when it arrived at its destination, it stopped with a phewing sound of the exhaust.
The rear hatch of the hull opens with a gurgling sound, and those in warrior armor jump out. They looked old-fashioned, out of keeping with the advanced battleship.
They hold vermilion spears at the ready, scattered around in a controlled movement, and begin communicating thoughts.
[Alpha team, clear.]
[Bravo team, clear.]
[Copy that. How’s the warding going?]
[This is Eagle Team. We found several dungeons. No sign of monsters.]
[Rabbit Team. We confirmed a group of goblins. No, we deem it a dangerous area. Dungeons seem to be occurring inside the city’s wards]
The warriors’ thought communications are gathered one after another to the operator at the bridge of the Big Tiger. The operator, wearing a thought communication intercom in his ear, nods and taps the touch panel on his desk.
The map of the Kamakura area floating in the air in front of the bridge changed colors to green, yellow, and red. The colors indicated the level of danger in the area.
The operators, looking familiar, sorted through the information of the warriors who had headed for reconnaissance.
The bridge of the Big Tiger has smooth floors and walls, and the seats get occupied by operators, fire control, radar, and general staff, who are busy at work. In the bridge’s air, several holographic maps and scenes of the surroundings get projected on the screen.
They all wear simple kimonos like jinbei, with Japan Magic Empire Warriors emblazoned on the shoulder. The jinbei may appear thin at first glance, but a closer look reveals that it is magically impregnated and is stiffer than a piece of poor-quality iron armor.
At the admiral’s table, an elderly man with gray hair confirms the information that comes in one after another and calls out to the person standing next to him.
“Do you think it is worse than expected, Vice Admiral Teijo?”
“No, the situation is better than expected. There don’t seem to be any tall trees, and no large demons have shown themselves. The dungeon in Kamakura seems to be a dungeon composed of relatively weak monsters, so it should be easy to capture.”
It was Teijo Mashiro who replied smilingly. The soft smile he showed to Yamiyo and the others remained unchanged as he answered the admiral.
Attached to his shoulder is the badge that represents the vice admiral.
“I wouldn’t want you to judge me by your level of experience from the Magic Tower, would I?”
The elderly admiral raises the edge of his mouth to ask back as if testing him, but Mashiro shrugs.
“The warriors are excellent. The goblins are out, which means the Goblin King or Goblin Emperor’s dungeon. According to the data I got, I think the warriors have sufficient forces to capture the dungeon. I’m impressed that they’re indeed the elite of the warriors that protect the empire.”
“I hope there are no social pleasantries mixed in with those words. So, what’s next?”
“First, we need to confirm that there are no abnormalities in the Great Buddha forming the barrier. In parallel, let’s have the warding fence deployed around the perimeter for the camp establishment. I suggest we send out a few scouting units to the city and a ranger squad to clear out the group of monsters.”
The old admiral modifies his proposal, though his eyes relax in a friendly manner as Mashiro speaks out his proposal without hesitation.