Far Eastern Russia is a constitutional monarchy, and its sovereignty is held by the Grand Duke, who is the monarch, and the nobles who oversee the cities. Therefore, depending on the other party, they might say “I don’t know about something a civilian requested on their own” and then criticize us for “entering the city without permission.”
So even if we entered the city with the intention of providing reinforcements, we might be treated as looters and face demands for compensation.
“That compensation would also be to help with reconstruction. I understand that we can’t simply condemn it as noble tyranny, but…”
“There’s also the possibility it could become an international incident.”
“Right.”
Even if one could understand the reasoning, no human being would feel good about being treated as a looter or violator after risking their life to help others.
It would be natural for anyone other than Keita or Takafumi to hesitate.
The problem here is what Keita had confirmed earlier: [in case of a request from civilians].
If they were to accept this and enter the rescue operation, there would be a possibility of being treated as looters, as mentioned earlier.
But if they didn’t accept it, that wouldn’t solve anything either. In that case, they would be [abandoning the people of an allied nation], which would also make them a target of criticism.
“What if we just pretend we didn’t see anything and head to Na-Amur?”
“It’s not impossible. But if we did that, their impression of us would be the worst.”
“Mogami-san, you’re a merchant, right?”
“That’s the logic, yes. But emotions are different. That’s what being human means.”
“……I see.”
What would a business partner think of someone who came to do business while abandoning allies being attacked by monsters?
It goes without saying.
Even if they knew that person was a merchant without the power to fight, they’d want to complain.
Moreover, Takafumi wasn’t without fighting power. Not just regarding Keita, but originally Takafumi had organized a private military group to escort the merchant caravans of his company, Mogami Heavy Industries.
While there were no one capable of operating mecha at the level of a mech pilot, there were those who could fight as gunners providing supporting artillery fire from the rear.
There were also those with enough training to kick around small monsters if they wore powered suits.
Furthermore, the training level and equipment quality of those equipped with Mogami Heavy Industries weapons could be said to match, or even surpass in terms of firepower, a company of the Far East Russian regular army that was basically forced to use Japan’s hand-me-down equipment.
It was precisely because of their existence that Mogami Heavy Industries could conduct business with cities in the Far East Russian interior.
Naturally, the nobles of Na-Amur, their business partners, knew that Takafumi commanded private soldiers on a scale comparable to the regular army.
Therefore, if Takafumi entered Na-Amur without fighting a single battle, it was clear that there would definitely be trouble asking [why did you abandon them?].
“It would have been simple if they had all been wiped out.”
“That might be true.”
Takafumi scratched his head vigorously as he said this, and Keita readily agreed.
This wasn’t because they were particularly cold-hearted, but from their position, that really would have made things much simpler.
If everyone had been wiped out, there would be no need to fight unnecessarily.
The nobles of Na-Amur would have had to give up and accept it as unavoidable.
What’s more, Keita could have taken out his mecha and scattered incendiary shells to wipe out the monsters.
But with survivors, the story was different.
They couldn’t very well burn down the people who were alive and resisting the monsters along with the monsters themselves.
Therefore, they had no choice but to engage in urban warfare, but in that case, Keita would have to go out in a powered suit rather than a high-firepower mecha to prevent building damage and, more importantly, to avoid involving the surviving people.
Even though it was mainly small monsters, their numbers easily exceeded 1,000—a massive army. There was no guarantee he would come out unscathed against such opposition.
But if they chose not to fight, people might realize they had abandoned them.
What’s more, if reinforcements had been sent from the Na-Amur side, they might pass each other, revealing that Takafumi’s group had abandoned them. Either way, the trust they had built up would plummet.
“……Really, what should we do?”
“……It’s troubling.”
Just from their words, it might seem like they thought of it as someone else’s problem.
But that was only on the surface.
The expressions of the two men as they gazed at the city still under attack by monsters while muttering had been bitterly distorted ever since they recognized that the city was being attacked by monsters.
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4
Basically, the human being called Kawakami Keita has no particular interest in humans other than his younger sister Yuna.
Recently, he’s been having decent conversations with classmates like Isotani Shoko, but their importance doesn’t even reach Yuna’s feet.
To give a somewhat extreme example, if Isotani Shoko were dying right next to Yuna who was about to fall, he would choose to help Yuna without hesitation—that’s the extent of the difference.
However, such a clear difference only emerges when Yuna is involved. If there’s someone dying in front of him—someone who isn’t harmful to him—he has enough conscience to help them—provided, of course, that his own safety is guaranteed as an absolute prerequisite.
This is partly because it would make him feel bad, but the main reason is that he wants to be [a brother his sister can be proud of].
When asked whether he could be proud in front of Yuna about abandoning someone—limited to people who don’t bring him disadvantages—who was dying before his eyes, Keita’s conscience and soul answer no.
Therefore, if he has spare capacity and a person who doesn’t bring him disadvantages is in trouble before his eyes, he possesses enough common sense and good judgment to extend a helping hand.
Of course, there’s also the ulterior motive of [making sure to get proper repayment when I help], but that’s perfectly natural, so it’s not something to be criticized for.
“Ah.”
Therefore, it might have been inevitable in a sense that Keita was the first to notice That.
Of course, there was Keita’s own hope that the people over there would put out That, and the fact that he was watching intently so as not to miss it when That appeared.
Also, there were various other reasons, such as the powered suit he was wearing just in case being the latest model, and the reception function performance installed in the suit being enhanced beyond that of the others due to previous battles and growth. But even so, if Keita hadn’t been inclined to notice, That would have been overlooked.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a signal. It was short and only lasted twice, but this is……”
“This is?”
“Probably a distress signal. I’ll send the received signal data around, so please analyze it on the trailer side as well.”
“I see. Got it. ……Hey! Hurry up and analyze it!”
“Yes!”
If what Keita received was a distress signal, then [a distress signal was sent from a city under monster attack, so we intervened] would establish a just cause, solving most of what the two had been discussing earlier. In fact, not intervening would be more problematic.
What becomes an issue here is not Keita’s feelings, but the feelings of Takafumi, who is his protection target.
Keita’s feelings are as described above, but if Takafumi decided to avoid fighting, Keita, who is merely in a position of being lent mecha and powered suits, has no way to object.
(Now then. If that was a distress signal, how should we move……)
However, fortunately or whatever you’d call it, Takafumi’s feelings were also similar to Keita’s.
TLNOTE:
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