Chapter 134 – Um… Is This a Matter That Concerns Me as Well?
Milea's lab, hushed and quiet. The monitors' pale glow lit the room in bluish-white.
"Just as I thought..."
Milea sat deep in her chair, going over the countless frames of data recorded from the earlier mock battle again and again.
Right after the white-hot mock battle, Priscilla's special-forces team and the Vigilante Corps' senior officers, Grain included, had gone off to a joint conference with the homeland military and the Seldia Administration Bureau about their future cooperation. Letaria, meanwhile, having won her own hard-fought battle, had declared brightly, "Now that the work is done, I find myself famished~!" and headed straight for the cafeteria.
Milea herself wasn't in a position to take part directly in negotiations with the Bureau. Which was exactly why she was indulging in what was both her duty as a researcher and her greatest pleasure -- getting first crack at checking and analyzing the precious, freshly gathered combat data.
"Arden's left-arm damage... just as I thought, if it had the armor values and responsiveness of its 'real' data, that state would only have counted as minor damage."
She isolated the margin of error caused by the simulator's data restrictions and let out a breath of relief. But as she tapped through the damage points displayed on the screen, her expression clouded over once more.
"Still, the risk of taking hits at all, against that many methods of attack and that kind of precision fire, isn't something I can just ignore..."
Holding her head, she stared fixedly at the layers upon layers of log data.
"I'd give almost anything for detailed internal data on the Radures Priscilla's group brought with them, too... but there's no way they'd ever let me see data on the homeland's own special-issue machines. I should just be grateful I even have the battle footage."
Just as she muttered this to herself and tried to catch a breath -- a shrill incoming-call tone rang out from the lab's main console.
"Hm...? A call from the Seldia Administration Bureau...? Something to do with the meeting with the homeland representatives, maybe..."
Milea tilted her head, operating the terminal to check the displayed summons. Quickly running her fingers through hair that had gone messy from her work, she picked up her data tablet and quietly left the lab.
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Seldia Administration Bureau -- a special conference room shut behind heavy doors.
Inside were Ruerio, the Seldia Administration Bureau's representative; Grain, captain of the Vigilante Corps; Captain Heiras and Lieutenant Priscilla of the Wistrum Federal Armed Forces; and Milea and Letaria, who had been summoned there.
"Thank you for coming, Chief Ichinose... and, Miss Ichinose. That's going to be a bit confusing this way -- Miss Adeniam, I should say."
Ruerio spoke to the two of them with a mild smile. Milea bowed her head lightly, greeting everyone in the room.
"I've already heard about you both from Lieutenant Priscilla. I'm Captain Heiras. It's a pleasure, to both of you."
"The pleasure is mine."
In answer to Heiras's greeting, Letaria replied politely with a curtsy.
Once everyone had confirmed they were seated in their assigned places, Heiras began to speak.
"Representative Ruerio, and Captain Grain, I've already discussed this with you both, but... this time, it concerns a request from our Wistrum homeland for Seldia's full cooperation."
Heiras paused there and looked straight at Milea.
"For that, we judged the cooperation of Syn-Fibra's Seldia branch to be indispensable as well, which is why we've called Chief Ichinose here today."
Milea nodded quietly beside her, while Letaria wore a slightly puzzled expression.
"Um... is this a matter that concerns me as well?"
"Yes. We would very much like Miss Adeniam to hear this too. The chances are extremely high that your strength will be needed as well."
At Ruerio's words, Letaria nodded, satisfied. "In that case, very well."
Heiras resettled himself as if to take charge of the room again, and moved into the heart of the matter.
"The truth is, the reason we came to Seldia this time wasn't only for the transfer of that serious criminal the other day. There is one more classified matter -- an investigation concerning 'Coroshe.'"
"Coroshe...?"
Letaria tilted her head at the unfamiliar word. But the instant she heard that name, Milea's expression tightened.
"Coroshe..."
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"We received a detailed report concerning the unidentified machines the Seldia Vigilante Corps and Miss Adeniam engaged in combat recently, as well as the raiders' Makina that attacked the transport ship."
Heiras continued in a quiet tone.
"Our own analysis has also concluded that there is an extremely high probability those machines belonged to Coroshe -- specifically, to a company called 'Argria' based within that station."
Letaria, unable to grasp the full picture, posed her question plainly.
"Um, just what exactly are this 'Coroshe' and 'Argria'?"
"Both the mysterious machines you fought in the Restful Sector the other day, and the raiders who were attacking the civilian transport ship -- it seems both have Coroshe, an old established station, and a company called 'Argria' operating out of it, tangled up behind the scenes. It looks like they've been sniffing around near Seldia lately."
Grain filled in the explanation clearly, and Letaria nodded, satisfied. "I see how it is. I understand now."
"A station and a company rapidly gaining power. That alone wouldn't be a particular problem. However... the source of that power remains thoroughly unclear..."
Here Heiras paused once, crossing his arms and showing every sign of thinking deeply, as though weighing his next words carefully.
"...Our homeland's intelligence division suspects they may be incorporating some 'something' that has drifted in from a distant sector of space, far away."
The instant she heard those words, Milea's breath caught, and a small murmur slipped out of her.
"That's... just like..."