The monitor of the Chimera piloted by Sirena displayed a purple-colored mobile knight overlooking a burning battleship.

Its silhouette was slender.

The head had a fox-like design.

Sirena knew this machine.

"Seventh Teumessia."

During her previous infiltration of the Seventh Weaponry Factory, she had received a briefing on the Teumessia.

It was a mobile knight prepared for an ace, she was told.

The fact that such a mobile knight was present on the battlefield meant that the ace of the Banfield family was there.

Even a single one would be troublesome, but the real issue was the presence of identical machines around the knight who called herself Marie Marian.

Not just one or two.

There were close to thirty of them.

Those Teumessias were destroying the rebel's mobile knights—and their vessels—one after another.

The rebel forces were taking a heavy blow.

Sirena gripped the control stick harder, her palms unknowingly sweating.

The word "retreat" was flashing in her mind, but the opponent was a major issue.

It was Atalante, facing her alone with just a pistol.

"You've really improved. You're a different person from the little girl you were before," she said to Emma, trying to conceal her panic.

The answer came back.

"That machine is the property of the Banfield family—his property. I'll take it back!"

"Still the earnest type. That's something I absolutely hate."

Even though she had lost her left arm, Sirena wasn't going to lose to Emma.

Atalante was out of ammo and unable to overload.

The pilot was also showing signs of fatigue.

Furthermore, looking around, she saw that her subordinates were pushing back the enemy forces.

Some Nevan were still putting up a fight, but the situation would collapse from the periphery before long.

It was a win for Sirena and her team if they could buy some time.

—If they could buy some time.

(I wish the rebels would hold out a little longer.)

As she weighed the timing for a retreat in her head, Atalante threw away her pistol and drew two laser blades from her sideskirts.

"Dual wielding? A cheap imitation. Do you think you can beat me with that?"

Atalante attacked with dual blades, but Sirena didn't feel threatened.

Her stance and movements were clumsy compared to knights skilled in dual wielding.

"We will win!"

Sirena was slightly surprised by Emma's declaration.

She never imagined Emma would be so assertive, especially knowing her from before.

She would have mocked Emma if it had been just a boast, but she sensed Emma's sincerity and felt a wave of displeasure.

"A clueless child!!"

Raccoon also picked up a melee weapon in his right arm and charged at Atalante.

Their energy blades clashed, producing sparks of light.

Over and over again.

As the fight continued, Sirena's anxiety grew.

(She's attacking me with clumsy moves. And she's not afraid of the enemy! I absolutely hate this kid!)

Raccoon's battle-axe-shaped beam axe severed Atalante's right arm.

In that moment, Sirena was sure of victory—but then...

Atalante's laser blade, piloted by a completely different Emma from before, cut off the right shoulder of the Chimera at the joint.

"Damn it!?"

"This is the end!"

Just as Atalante's laser blade was about to pierce the Chimera's neck joint...

"Commander, retreat!"

Her subordinates rushed over.

Atalante took a step back, allowing Sirena to turn her back and retreat.

Inside the cockpit, Sirena took off her helmet and threw it.

"I made the wrong call again! Why did I—?"

She should have retreated without pushing it.

But she couldn't bring herself to retreat honestly in front of Emma.

◇

Emma, confirming that the Dahlia Mercenary Corps had retreated, checked on the condition of her troops.

"Everyone okay?"

She saw that the Nevan Custom was in shambles.

They must have fought hard to protect Melea's mobile knight squadron.

Russell answered.

"We're fine. But I'm sorry. We caused some casualties in Melea's squadron. —Three units were shot down."

Emma's eyes widened, and she gasped.

"Three?"

She had heard about the enemy casualties through radio, but hearing the actual number made her panic.

Russell must have sensed her unease.

"The whole squad will feel your panic if you get flustered. —You just need to stay calm. This is a harsh way to put it, but you've protected your target despite these casualties."

Emma, looking down and trembling, replied.

"Still—I didn't want any casualties."

Russell sighed in exasperation and said...

"If your mind can't handle this, you should leave the military. If you continue to fight and survive, both you and I will end up causing the deaths of many subordinates."

Russell's unit, with two other soldiers, immediately started rescuing the survivors.

Emma realized she was crying and took off her helmet to wipe her face.

"It's not over yet. We need to replenish and repair before we can counterattack."

She tried to change her mindset, saying the battle wasn't over, but the opportunity for a counterattack never came.

◇

In Melea's hangar, while Molly was taking care of Atalante's repair and replenishment, Emma was chewing on a tablet during a break.

It was a simple nutrient food.

She was eating while preparing for the next sortie.

"Russell Captain, how is the sortie preparation going?"

"Replenishment and repair are delayed. We need at least thirty minutes."

"—Understood."

Atalante's repair and replenishment were almost finished, but the skills of Melea's repairmens weren't high.

Knowing that they couldn't launch immediately, Emma went outside.

Waiting there were Doug and Larry.

Larry expressed his desire to join the sortie.

"We're going out too. Are we just going to end it like this?"

He seemed frustrated that they couldn't do anything against the Dahlia Mercenary Corps, but Emma kept a neutral expression.

She made a conscious effort to stay emotionless, to act like a commander and make calm judgments.

"I can't allow that. Please wait here."

Larry looked dejected, and Doug stepped in front of Emma.

"We think we can be of help."

Doug and his team were the ones who bought time by defending the transport ship earlier.

Thanks to them, they managed to save the transport ship.

However, Emma's decision remained unchanged.

"—It's true that we were able to protect the transport ship thanks to everyone. But we can't afford any more sacrifices."

"Young lady!"

Doug yelled at her, but Emma didn't back down.

"Our training time is overwhelmingly insufficient. If we go out like this, we'll lose almost half our number on the next sortie."

Emma glanced sideways at the remains of three Raccoon units that had been brought to the hangar.

Besides those, many other units were heavily damaged even if the pilots were safe.

—Raccoon was a machine that the Seventh Weaponry Factory had confidently released to the world.

The fact that they were pushed this far against the mercenary corps, using Raccoon, meant that the pilots were the cause of their troubles.

As the three of them argued, an emergency communication came through.

"This is a general announcement to all fleets. The enemy fleet has begun to retreat, but pursuit is unnecessary. Repeat, pursuit is unnecessary."

It seemed that the battle outside had ended.

Emma felt relieved upon hearing this.

"—It seems it's over then."

◇

Sirena, upon returning to her mothership, immediately went to the bridge.

She confirmed the situation there.

"What happened to Migera?"

The operator shook his head.

"She was spotted escaping on her flagship and shot down by the enemy. It was a horrible end. She demanded decent treatment, claiming she was the president of an interstellar nation."

It was to be expected that she would beg for hes life, but Sirena found it strange that the enemy didn't capture Migera instead of killing her.

"She'd be a bargaining chip for negotiations with the Unified Government. Why didn't they take her?"

"They probably didn't think the rebel leader was actually there, did they?"

"—That makes sense."

It was a misjudgment on Migera's part for showing up in such a place.

But that wasn't the end of the reports from her subordinates.

"More importantly, that Marie Marian is a monster beyond imagination."

"Really?"

"She took down twelve ships by herself, including a battleship. Over fifty humanoid mobile weapons piloted by enhanced soldiers. If you include the regular soldiers' mobile knights, the number of units she shot down reaches three figures."

The subordinate wasn't joking, and his face was pale.

He must have been horrified to think of that monster coming after them.

Sirena felt the same way, but she had to put on a brave face in front of her subordinates.

"She's troublesome. I never want to encounter her again, but we should start thinking about countermeasures."

She pretended to be confident that there was a way to defeat her, even though she knew she was a formidable opponent, to reassure everyone around her.

(There's a lot of troublesome people in both the Chancy family and the Banfield family. I can't handle them with brute force—can I?)

◇

In Melea, after the battle was over, everyone gathered in a place with a view of the outside, dressed in formal attire.

They all saluted in respect of the pilots who had died.

Emma was among them.

Harsh words came from around her.

"We lost three because of that jerk's desire to earn points."

"Apparently, she's getting a medal for this battle."

"Are we just expendable pawns?"

The voices from behind made Emma's face cloudy.

(I didn't want to cause any casualties either. That's why I wouldn't let them go out.)

The pilots who died were the ones who insisted on going out.

But for the general crew who didn't know the truth, it looked like they had died because of the knights.

There was envy and fear towards the knights mixed in their words.

Even though they understood in their heads, they said that their comrades had died because of Emma and the others.

Russell, standing next to her, looked at her sideways and said,

"Lift your chin."

"Russell—Captain?"

"Harsh as it may sound, it's a great accomplishment to have protected the transport ship with such minimal casualties. You're the one who deployed Raccoon for this squad."

"—I didn't want anyone to die."

Still, Emma couldn't accept it.

Russell, seeing her like that, deliberately said in a cold voice.

"If you're troubled by this level of casualties, you're not cut out to be a knight. Both you and I will end up losing many subordinates if we continue fighting — If you can't handle it, you should leave the military."

Leave the military — Those words were the same as the ones Russell said to her right after she graduated from knight school. But this time, it sounded different.

It sounded like he was encouraging his fellow classmate.

"You're kind. You used to hate me."

Emma recalled the past and chuckled.

"I heard your dad was a government official."

"—That's true. But I'm not really from an elite family. There are hardly any families in the Banfield family that can be called elite, to be honest."

"Huh?"

Emma tilted her head, and Russell began to tell a story from the past—a story before their time.

"This is a story before Liam was born. My father, through intense studying, became a government worker, which was something unusual for someone from a common family. At first, he also thought he would work hard for the citizens, but — the government at that time was riddled with corruption and didn't function properly."

Emma recalled what Claudia had told her.

Lord Liam, still a young boy, decided to carry out reforms, she had said.

Russell had a sorrowful expression.

"When my father talked about those days, he would cry while drinking. He said he could only watch his superiors' corruption and couldn't do anything to help those seeking help. He said that honest people break down in such a situation. My father also — ruined his body several times with alcohol."

"—I've heard that it was a terrible time."

"Yeah. It was so bad it's not even funny. That's when Liam took the reins of reform. Many officials at the time were punished for their corruption — That's when my father became so happy. He said he could finally do the work he was meant to do."

The upper echelon, who were riddled with corruption, disappeared, and the government finally began to function as it should.

That was something that Russell's father had been waiting for.

Russell seemed to have gotten off track with his story and was looking a little embarrassed.

"I respect my father. He felt a special gratitude to Liam. And personally, I also respect him."

"I see."

"Well, the thing is—that's why I couldn't accept that someone with no skills would become a knight in the Banfield family. —Now that I think about it, it was immature of me to hate you."

Seeing Russell's embarrassment, Emma shook her head.

"It's true I lacked skills, so it's okay."

When she thought back to that time, Emma felt embarrassed as well.

She couldn't bring herself to blame Russell.

Russell told Emma.

"You're kind. But your kindness will sometimes hurt you — It's one option to quit being a knight and leave the military here."

Russell's expression was sincere, and Emma replied earnestly.

"I'm still aiming to be a hero of justice, so I'm going to stay as a knight."

To that answer, Russell seemed slightly happy.

"Okay."