âYes. He is an officer in the 40-gun ship [Massat]âŚâ
There are several members of the [Society] who have families, relatives, and acquaintances among the crews of the fleet that went out to the battle.
Well, there are not much [Honorable Jobs] that the fourth or fifth sons of noble families can get, after allâŚ
âThen, let us pray to the goddessâŚâ (Mitchan)
Everyone started praying on Mitchanâs cue.
By the way, rather than believing in the existence of God itself, people more like believe in the existence of angels and miracles. Thatâs because they have witnessed such things recently and consider their existence is to be an [undeniable fact] to boot.
Whatâs more, everyone in the [Society] believes that one of those miracles happened because of them, so they put more zeal into their prayers. Due to that, it seems that these girls are called [Saints], albeit informally.
And the temple folks seem to be using that for their own propaganda without even denying itâŚ
[Be careful of the templeâs movement], the members got such a warning from Mitchan, but theyâre not like some oblivious commonerâs daughters, and it seems that their parents have full control of it. So we can rest assured.
People say that itâs rare for a ship to sink in an artillery battle, but it doesnât mean that they are unsinkable. Though, even if the boat does not sink, the crew still could die from the attacks.
There may be times when a ship loses its combat and navigation capabilities that they had to surrender and taken as prisoners of war. Thereâs no guarantee that theyâll survive and return to their homeland safe and sound.
âŚam I going to intervene, you ask?\n
Well, I intend to do something depending on the situation, but itâs not like Iâm thinking something reckless such as [I wonât let anyone die!]. I think it would be good enough if both sides could exchange fire in moderation, or even better if it ends with just a standoff rather than a head-on clash.
In modern naval battles, it is possible to make rough predictions about the enemyâs movements based on their ship types, armaments, performance, number of ships, etc., but⌠I donât know what can be done with sailing shipsâŚ
There are too many uncertain factors, such as weather, luck, or even the commanderâs ability. The chance that the flagship got hit in the first barrage and putting their chain of command in jeopardy is not zero.
Battle is a matter of chance. Thereâs no telling what will happen.
Of course, thereâs no way I could selectively protect only the families and relatives of these girls from dying. Iâm just a [Fake Messenger], not the real thing, after allâŚ
So all I can do is just praying with everyone.
I hope everyoneâs loved ones will return safelyâŚ
Only a few reconnaissance flights were carried out as Vanelâs fleet was going straight ahead, and Noralâs fleet had only advanced into the waters near the colony in question.
And one of those recons was carried out using a large helicopter because I couldnât bring myself to refuse the strong demand of the cooperating country.
Well, itâs navyâs helicopter, so itâs loaded with radars, of course.
Their actual location wasnât too far off from the estimated position, and we went there by using transfer anyway, so it wasnâtâ too difficult to look for them even using small aircraft like a helicopter. It was easier compared to the first search, which had a more extensive search area. Well, the first search took some time mainly because of searching Noralâs fleet.
And of course, after we have done with the recon, we went to search for an uninhabited area to land.\nThe crazed scholars jumped out with a bag containing a lot of containers to collect samples, and the escort soldiers chased after them to capture some animals.
Of course, I didnât let them take an unlimited amount of samples.
Plants, animals, and minerals are valuable trading materials. So, even if they lent me their planes, I canât give them unlimited freebies.
Therefore, Iâd only let them bring back one kind of animal corpse, several stalks of one plant species, and one kind of stone ore.
Even if they tried to hide something, they would not be able to secretly bring it back to earth since I could exclude them during the transfer. And since had explained that in advance, no one did anything strange.
It seems that the reason they brought a lot of containers was that they intend to split into groups to collect various fields of samples and to discuss with everyone which one they should bring back.
Then the said [Discussion] went wild and became a big deal.
Well, of course, everyone wants to bring back the one they choose, seeing that thereâs a possibility that their name will be written in history as [The one who brought back a great discovery from another world] when the confidentiality restriction is lifted in the future and in the research field where they dedicated their lives to boot. Of course, no one wants to yieldâŚ
Then, since there was no sign of them reaching a conclusion, I had no choice but to say [If you donât decide within 10 minutes, Iâll consider youâre not taking anything back]. And after I said that, the chaos begins.
Even the warm and gentle looking scholar, or the one that looks scrawny, can overpower the muscular soldiers who tried to stop them from rampaging out of desperation as if their limiter came off. They took a full swing at everything without care what they could hit or who they could hurt.
âŚit was kind of scary!
Well, they couldnât injure a great scholar, so the soldiers held back. Thatâs why it was entirely out of controlâŚ
Anyway, it made me realize that you should not let the scholars decide something if their field of specialty that theyâd be glad to [put their lives at risk] is on the line.\n\nWell, sorry!
And now, the fleets of both countries can be seen from above.
Vanel Kingdomâs fleet had arrived in this area a while ago, but both fleets have only found their opponents just now.
Today, weâre using the marine patrol aircraft.
Naval battles of this era usually take a long time. Itâs not uncommon for the battle to be last for several days. Like moving around and trying to secure an advantageous, chasing the opponent who runs away, and so onâŚ
This time, weâre not bringing torpedoes, missiles, anti-submarine weapons, or anything like that.
A camera pod is attached to a mounting point of the fuselage of the plane. Of course, thereâs a night-vision function, so I can rest assured at night.
And in preparation for the long-term battle, a second aircraft, along with the crews, are waiting at the base.
I wasnât really thinking of refueling the plane by transferring the fuel directly to the fuel tank, but when I consulted that, all the people concerned vehemently opposed the idea with a pale face.
âŚEven if the position shifts just a little, the plane could plunge into a lump of fuel that appeared in the air. And with the engines running on both sides of the aircraft, it could burn everythingâŚ
Even just a few meters of shift, the cabin could be flooded with fuelâŚ
Of course, theyâre against itâŚ
Well, anyway, both fleets have started the battle!!