Contact On The Ground

A similar battle broke out not only in one place, but in two places as well. And as the result showed, it ended with the victory of the airplanes piloted by the Magnia Empire’s pilots.

However, in the place where only three had gone, the result occurred that all of them crashed. Every country had its geniuses of flight, and it just so happened that the place where only three had gone had a fighter piloted by this place’s ace, and they were made to suffer for it.

Out of the twelve that departed to come here, it meant they had lost four. Considering the danger level of this mission, this damage could not help but be within what had been expected.

In any case, after annihilating both places and completing the mission, they immediately set out on the return route. Though they had modified the fuel tanks to increase capacity, consumption had increased because they had fought, and they needed to hurry back.

Thus, those led by squadron leader Marcus and those who had gone elsewhere all broke through the place where the strong winds blasted again and set out on the return. And fortunately, all eight surviving airplanes were able to pass through the mountain range safely. This time, they did not run into unpredictable strong winds.

In effect, this incident was delivering a shock to both sides.

First, for the Magnia Empire, it had directly confirmed that a civilized society truly existed inside the mountain range, and at the same time it had confirmed that their fighter technology was quite outstanding. Moreover, in the photos taken through reconnaissance, they could confirm the existence of another city connected to places different from the city that had already been discovered.

It was far larger in scale than the place first discovered. Even by the rough outline alone, it looked like a city where a population easily exceeding two million could live. They found as many as four such cities, and considering the scale of the mountain range, they could not help but feel that there would be more going forward, and that their scale was no ordinary matter.

In this situation, the other side also could not help but be shocked that fighters dispatched from as many as two places had been annihilated. They had thought they had enough confidence to deal with external intrusion, and with how outstanding the intruding fighters’ movements were, they had no choice but to think differently.

Since they had already been acquiring information from the outside world, they could quickly tell that this was a difference arising from pilot skill. The gap in skill between those who had fought many wars and their own pilots who had not experienced such wars could not help but be enormous.

Realizing that this could not continue, they withdrew the plans they had established and began producing even more fighters. If it was lacking in pilot experience, they would fill it with numbers.

Amid this situation, the movement of search troops combing the outer perimeter of the mountain range became even more active. In a literal situation of forming a long belt, countless people moved around, searching any place that might seem suspicious. In a way, they continued with such thoroughness that they even re-checked places they had already checked once.

At present, the manpower searching the mountain range had reached 150,000. It was rare for such a number to move for a single purpose, and at the same time, with these 300,000 eyes sweeping in all directions, they ought to find something.

“Ah, this is so hard. How long do we have to keep climbing mountains..”

“Quit whining and search properly.”

“Hey, we already came here before. What could be here?”

They, one of the many search squads and belonging to the Polia Kingdom army, were moving with slow steps along the rugged terrain. In truth, they had already passed through here less than a month ago. Since they had found nothing then, they walked thinking they would not find anything now either, only lazily glancing around.

“If we just find the entrance, they say our whole search team gets discharged and the reward is no joke.”

“Right. Like that kind of luck is going to come to us?”

“That’s true. Is the entrance we’re looking for going to just appear right in front of our eyes?”

“Yeah. Let’s not take it that seriously.”

As other comrades around them chimed in, even the one who had spoken seriously looked slightly deflated. Even he, thinking about it himself, did not really believe they would find an entrance like that. In their view, the vast mountain range could be seen.

The towering mountain range was so enormous it seemed to touch the sky. The lower part was forest, and the higher it went, it was made of dark-brown rocks, and higher still, it was terrain covered in white snow. They said that such a huge mountain range stretched not only here, but for thousands of kilometers.

Among such a vast place, just what were the odds of finding a single entrance? It likely was a probability that could be called atrocious. Before long, they walked in silence again, looking around as they went, and then voices rose again.

“More importantly, have you heard news from back home?”

“What news?”

“It’s already August. In just a few more months, won’t the royal grandchild finally be born?”

“Ah. Right. That’s what it was. Wow. The royal grandchild is finally coming out into the world.”

“Has time already passed that much? It really flies.”

“Once the royal grandchild is born, the royal family can finally feel at ease, right?”

“Seriously. Up until last year, there really wasn’t any pregnancy news, so me and my family were so anxious.”

“Me too—I’ve never been this on edge in my life over the royal family not having a child born.”

At these words, everyone nodded as if they agreed. What country would be anxious because the royal family had no child? They could have such feelings because the Polia Kingdom’s situation was special. The gap between past and present living conditions was enormous.

The phrases “not enough to eat” and “not enough to wear” were realities that no longer applied now. Rather, the perception among the kingdom’s people was, shouldn’t each household have at least one car?

Since they all knew that all of this had been achieved under the current king’s reign, perhaps that was why they felt even more anxious.

“Anyway, whether it’s a prince or a princess. Once they’re born, they’ll receive the blessings of all Polians.”

“Of course. If they’re born and come out into the world, how great would that be.”

“Huh. They piled that back up nicely?”

While continuing the conversation about the royal grandchild, one soldier pointed at a stone tower visible ahead. It was literally a tower made by stacking stones one by one. Of course, they had seen such a tower when they came before, and they had completely toppled it. Wondering if there might be an entrance around here, they had toppled it and checked.

“It seems the residents living around here came and stacked it up again.”

“Should we topple it again?”

“Leave it. We already toppled it and checked before.”

“Right. They worked hard to stack it again—if we topple it again, how much would the residents who stacked it resent us?”

“Still, it’s fun to knock it over.”

“You, that’s a nasty hobby. What if a complaint comes in?”

“They won’t say anything, even out of fear. Hehe!”

Laughing like that, the soldier went up to the stone tower stacked to about three meters high and examined it closely. Like before, it was made by stacking thin stones in layers as much as possible. The width looked to be about two meters. In truth, it looked like even one person could push hard and make it collapse with a crash.

“When I see something like this, I always want to knock it over.”

A soldier with a somewhat strange personality, who felt a thrill in ruining what others had worked hard to build, grinned and pushed the stone tower—likely built by residents—with both hands, trying to topple it. With that action, the stone tower began to wobble from the top.

“It’s kind of solid?”

Unlike the last time he had pushed it, it was holding, and the soldier, slightly flustered, seemed to get stubborn and pushed even harder. With that action, it finally began collapsing from the middle, and then whoosh—stones started pouring to the side.

“Oh, it worked…?”

The soldier who had shouted in delight soon had no choice but to widen his eyes. In a pit that had not been there before, he saw eyes. The eyes staring at each other could not help but be filled with panic. Then, as if without anyone needing to say who first, they hurriedly tried to aim their gun barrels.

“Don’t move—!”

“Øßþđð-!”

While aiming their gun barrels at each other, they were both shouting not to move. Of course, since the languages were different, they could not properly understand each other. At this sight, the soldiers nearby also widened their eyes, realized something was seriously off, and came running urgently with their firearms.

“Huh?!”

“What is it?”

“There’s something—w-what is it? This pit?”

“Wasn’t this not here before? Was someone in here?”

“Y-yeah, there was a person! Our eyes met!”

“What?”

“And be careful! He has a firearm!”

At the fact that he even had a gun, those looking into the pit hurriedly pulled their heads back and became even more wary. Then they began blowing the whistle hanging at their neck in a long blast.

Ppiiiik-! Ppiiiik-! Ppiiiik-!

Blowing it three times in succession was the signal that they had found something. That sound would surely carry far across the mountain range, and those who heard it would come toward here. Of course, they did not stop with the whistle.

Before long, one soldier pulled something out of a small bag kept at his waist, aimed it straight up at the sky, and pulled the attached cord. Pop—launching as if bursting, it shot up quite high and then went bang!

They had fired a signal flare. Since they had marked with sound and sight that there was something here, before long, even more personnel would be coming here. And the ones coming toward here were not only Polia Kingdom soldiers, but also the multinational forces rushing in as well.

What was certain was that there was an extremely high possibility that this was the entrance they had been searching for so long.

August 21, inside the royal palace in Pullea, the capital of the Polia Kingdom.

Ian, who had been working all day in the office, rose from his seat at the news that followed.

“It seems they found the entrance? And our kingdom’s army found it?”

“Yes, that is what it says. So far, there has still been no special contact, but as a result of a brief look, it is said that a tunnel seems to have been dug quite deep. They say they did not examine deeper.”

“That is… well done. More importantly, how did they say they found it?”

“They say one soldier toppled something like a stone tower as a prank, and inside it the entrance existed. A peculiar detail is that they had already toppled it once before and searched, and at that time there was no such hole.”

“Hm. Then that means they used the power of magic to conceal the entrance.”

“Yes, that possibility seems high. And if those who stacked it again were local residents, then there is a high possibility that the village living in that area has close ties with the inside.”

“Have the villagers arrested and interrogated. Among them, there will be those who open their mouths.”

“It is said that, perhaps judging that already, the military unit deployed and arrested everyone.”

Ian nodded at Viscount Rubingston’s words as if to say well done. Then he spoke his thoughts on how to deal with them.

“Since we discovered the entrance, I believe we are also the ones who can make first contact.”

“Of course. The priority is ours.”

“I heard that not long ago, the Magnia Empire made contact with them in the sky and even fought an aerial battle. We do not intend to do that.”

“Then it seems you wish to resolve it through dialogue with them?”

“That’s right. At least as far as our Polia Kingdom is concerned, I intend to convey through dialogue as much as possible that we have no intention of invading by force.”

“If that is Your Majesty’s opinion, I will convey it to the command as well. However, I heard that since the language is different, it seems dialogue will not work. According to the first soldier who made contact, it was a completely unknown language.”

“Most likely, it is one of the languages used by the colonial natives, so if we look, won’t there be a matching language? Tell them to find it.”

“That makes sense. I will have them find it quickly.”

As Viscount Rubingston answered and withdrew quickly, Ian felt both worry and anticipation about what would happen. Before long, the moment two days passed came, and those inside the mountain range began moving in earnest.

Around the discovered entrance, there were now three thousand multinational troops stationed. Since the mountain terrain was so rugged, it was taking quite some time even to come here. Even so, the area around the entrance could not help but be noisy with many troops.

The ones occupying the place presumed to be the entrance first were none other than the Polia Kingdom army. In a way, they were also the ones who had been searching centered on this place, so they also had the most personnel—about 1,500—stationed here.

In any case, they were currently occupying about thirty meters of space from inside the tunnel and had posted sentries. Though the entrance was narrow enough for only one person to enter, once inside, there was a spacious tunnel wide enough that even if several people spread their arms, there would still be room.

It was a tunnel with more artificial aspects than expected. As if a subway tunnel had been bored, there were an arched ceiling and walls and floors made of bricks and cement. Throughout the tunnel, sentries concealed behind cover made by stacking sandbags were watching ahead while shining headlights forward.

“Hm? Someone is approaching.”

At those words, everyone began to heighten their vigilance. The moment they took up a guarded posture, gripping their rifles, with mounted machine guns as the core, they saw light beyond, and then they began to see the figures of those approaching.

‘They said to make peaceful contact through dialogue as much as possible, didn’t they?’

The officer responsible for commanding the sentries watched the front carefully. In a tense situation where bullets could fly at any moment, fortunately, bullets had not yet come flying.

Was it as they waited tensely? They could see the approaching party hesitate as they came right up close. Toward them, the officer spoke.

“Halt. Identify yourselves!”

“Understood. We will stop, so do not shoot.”

A voice came through, and surprisingly, the other side was using Polian.