When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 207

Episode 207

Just as the army of ten thousand led by Seraphina began their charge, and the Pope unleashed a portion of her power to swiftly neutralize the enemy, elsewhere:

“Heh heh heh! People are like trash!!!”

The Ark Mandjet/Mesektet, having completed the support for the 500 airborne paratroopers, ascended back to an altitude of about 1,000 meters and was now observing the battlefield from above. The one shouting out this nonsensical line, mixing various villainous tones, was none other than Victor Alchemis. He was currently handcuffed to the captain’s chair on the bridge. After nearly causing trouble during a dive-bombing run, he was subdued by Miriam Stonewell.

At that moment, Miriam had tried to enlist Cynthia Clark’s help in tying up the foolish Victor, but Cynthia refused. Apparently because she had never tied anyone up before. “Cynthia is such a sheltered girl; that’s dangerous on the battlefield, you know?” Miriam said, taking on the role of an inexplicable senior while saying something entirely off the mark. In the end, she handcuffed Victor herself. Little did Miriam know, when Lady Cynthia ties someone up, it usually involves a garrote wire. It typically results in the person being dismembered. This alchemist, in an entirely unrelated matter, narrowly avoided death.

Nevertheless, the battlefield had fallen into chaos after the dive-bombing and airborne support. In this state, there was little the Ark Mandjet/Mesektet could do. Cynthia, Miriam, and the others watched the progress of the battle from the sky, occasionally wary of their surroundings. Sometimes attack magic was fired from the ground, but high-density long-range spells capable of reaching 1,000 meters were rare. Moreover, the Ark had a sufficient protective barrier in place, allowing them to observe safely from above.

In this state, something seemed to be happening on the battlefield. The enemy forces began a methodical retreat as Seraphina’s army charged. Miriam and Cynthia, observing from above, could see it clearly: the enemy was pushing some of their own troops forward as decoys while trying to withdraw their elite forces. It appeared that Jez and the others on the ground had also noticed this, but they were too occupied with neutralizing the enemy forces right in front of them. Unlike a monster battle where they could just blow everything away, they had to exercise restraint, which was taking up more time.

“Miriam-senpai, what do you think about this?” 

Cynthia, unsure of what to do in this situation, asked Miriam, who was nearby. Miriam shrugged her shoulders and brushed it off. 

“Even if you ask me, I’m just a magic tool specialist. Isn’t this something the Chief of Staff should decide?”

She emphasized the title of Chief of Staff with a sly grin. 

Cynthia, with a slightly awkward expression, hesitated. If she were acting as Cynthia Clark of the 0th Legion, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill almost all the enemies first and think about the rest later. As long as a few survived, they could get enough information. On the other hand, it would be strange for a 20-year-old woman who had been in the Ministry of the Internal Affairs until recently to suddenly issue a genocidal order on her first campaign. If she did manage to pull this off here, Jez Norman would likely get carried away, saying, “See, I told you Cynthia had talent. So, I’ll leave the rest to you,” while piling on more impossible tasks.

There were several members of the General Staff on the bridge besides Miriam. Among them was Linnea Haugen, an adjunct coordinator of the General Staff, who would probably handle this situation with ease. However, she was also a veteran of the Northern Front and came from a family that had served the Norman household for generations. If she were in charge, it was clear that things would devolve into a “might makes right” scenario.

Cynthia sighed softly. This was hopeless. There was no one she could consult with in a sensible manner. It seemed she would have to handle this herself. After much deliberation, Cynthia resigned herself to the unfortunate reality that she needed to make decisions on her own. 

Meanwhile, completely oblivious to Cynthia’s inner turmoil, the fool on the bridge spoke up in an overly carefree voice. 

“Hmm? What’s that? Looks like the enemy’s trying to escape.”

It was Victor, who had been wrestling with his handcuffs and hadn’t noticed the change in the situation until now. However, it seemed he finally recognized the shift in the battle down below.

Cynthia and Miriam both wished Victor would just continue struggling with his handcuffs quietly until the battle was over, but:

“Hmm? I see, so it’s not going to turn into a melee anymore, huh?” 

Victor, having grasped the situation, grinned. Seeing that dangerous smirk, Miriam shouted out instinctively, 

“Hold him down!”

But before anyone could react, Victor cheerfully uttered, 

“Just a little push,” 

And pressed a mysterious button that appeared out of nowhere on the captain’s chair. At that moment, the floor beneath the captain’s seat opened up. Victor, still in the chair, dropped straight down. The opening quickly closed, leaving nothing where the captain’s chair had been.

“I’ve been hit!?” 

Miriam’s eyes widened as she hurriedly dashed out of the bridge and down to the lower levels of the ship.

Left behind on the bridge, Lady Cynthia muttered a single sentence: 

“…I just want to go home.”

・　・　・

Victor descended through a mysterious tube-like course, still seated in the captain’s chair. In his mind, the triumphant theme music of a certain Thunder Bird-like something was blaring. But naturally, no one on board had any idea what it meant. 

As his chair came to a halt and was secured into some sort of compartment, the ceiling closed above him.

“All systems, all green! Pilot secure in the cockpit. Synchronization rate is stable. Magic engine reactor, full power! Entry plug lock bolt released! Target locked onto designated point, trajectory calculation complete!” 

Victor randomly pressed buttons in the cockpit, triggering the activation of the magic engine, which hummed with a deep, resonant sound.

“Preparing to open the lower hatch, release the lever! Switching to atmospheric launch mode! Fixing target coordinates, descent route confirmed! Initiating deployment of lower hatch.” 

With Victor’s operation, the bottom of the Ark Mandjet/Mesektet opened, revealing a catapult deck.

“Ark Mandjet/Mesektet, deploying lower catapult deck, launch sequence initiated! All signals green! All units, deploy air brakes and stabilizers.”

At the far end of the catapult appeared what looked like a gigantic magic golem, standing roughly 5 meters tall. It seemed Victor had somehow donned this massive armor.

“Victor Alchemis, launching the all-purpose humanoid battle weapon!!” 

With everything checked off, he was catapulted into the sky with incredible speed. The enormous humanoid armor soared through the air, hurtling directly toward the fleeing enemy soldiers.

“…It was hard to throw away the Wonder Bar.” 

(Note:

A Wonder Bar)

In the cockpit, Victor Alchemis reflected on his difficult decision as he rocketed toward the battlefield.