The Villainess Takes the Cockpit

"Like the incident at Restful..."

Milea murmured this under her breath. A heavy silence settled over the conference room.

"Yes... the homeland had already received a report on that -- the recent unmanned-drone incident in Seldia, caused by drifting wreckage from the old Escado corporation."

Heiras nodded quietly.

"We've also heard that unidentified drift-wreckage arrived at Coroshe from a different sector. ...But there was never any official report from Coroshe about it."

"The management and reporting of drifting debris is strictly mandated, isn't it."

Grain offered this in agreement.

"Yes. And beyond that, we've received unsettling reports about Coroshe on numerous occasions before now as well. That they seem to be pushing something forward in secret, hidden from the other autonomous districts and from the homeland alike. ...And it was right in the middle of that, that we heard about the unidentified machines and the raider's machine in Seldia's territory the other day."

"..."

Milea took in the whole of Heiras's explanation and nodded quietly.

"I'd heard that regarding the raider's machine, you received word from Argria that it had been 'stolen'... What is your take on that?"

There was a tone to Milea's question that suggested she already had something close to a settled hypothesis of her own.

Heiras made a show of thinking it over for a moment, exchanged a brief glance with Priscilla beside him, and then spoke.

"Well... we consider it extremely likely that Coroshe -- or to be precise, Argria -- had, in effect, handed the prototype machine over to the raiders."

"Handed over..."

At Grain's murmur, Heiras nodded gravely.

"To tell you the truth, we've already sent undercover operatives into Coroshe station itself, and are having them investigate in secret. Beyond the recent incident in Seldia's territory, we've confirmed multiple cases that appear to follow the same pattern -- machines handed over behind the scenes while maintaining the appearance of theft."

At those words, Letaria tilted her head, looking suspicious.

"I do not understand. Why would they hand over valuable Makina to such scoundrels? Those are criminals who threaten ordinary citizens."

At Letaria's distrustful question, Heiras wore a faintly troubled, bitter smile.

"...The same thing has happened before, in various nations. A method where a weapon still under development is made to look 'stolen,' so that outside lawbreakers can be used to field-test it in real combat."

"So they used those scoundrels to attack towns and transport ships, all for that purpose...? Goodness... how could they..."

Letaria's eyes went wide at the shocking truth.

"Naturally, this is an inhuman crime that can never be forgiven. Exposing Coroshe and Argria's wrongdoing -- including the illegal incursion into the Restful Sector the other day -- that is our true objective this time."

Heiras paused there and looked straight at Milea and Letaria.

"So then. ...Will you lend us your strength?"

◆

Without a moment's hesitation, Letaria nodded firmly.

"Understood! I shall gladly lend my cooperation!"

Following Letaria's reassuring reply, Milea spoke up quietly as well.

"In truth, the moment they showed up in the Restful Sector, we here in Seldia already became a party to this. ...Representative Ruerio, am I right in understanding the Bureau has already taken this matter on as well?"

At Milea's confirmation, Ruerio nodded in reply.

"Yes. Having heard what Captain Heiras has told us today, the Bureau is also concerned there's a strong chance Coroshe will resort to even more extreme measures than before going forward. This isn't a stage where we can simply sit back and watch."

"Understood. Syn-Fibra's Seldia branch won't hold back its cooperation either. ...Though, knowing Captain Heiras, I imagine you've already gone through our head office on this as well."

At Milea's sharp observation, Heiras nodded with a faintly wry smile.

"Heh, nothing gets past you. Yes -- Syn-Fibra's head office has already given us their answer: that the decision is left to the judgment of the branch on the ground. Thank you for your formal cooperation."

Heiras took a breath, then began explaining the arrangement going forward.

"I will take the arrested criminal and return to the homeland. Moving as a large group, myself included, would draw far too much attention. ...However, I will be leaving the three members of the special-forces unit, Lieutenant Priscilla included, right here in Seldia. Going forward, they'll be tasked with supporting the Vigilante Corps and taking on part of the Coroshe investigation."

At Heiras's glance, Priscilla, who had been seated, rose smoothly to her feet and bowed deeply.

"Allow me to greet you all properly once again. The three of us -- myself, Lieutenant Ranses, and Sergeant Adelina -- will be staying in Seldia for the time being. Along with that... Chief Milea, I expect we'll also need to ask you for maintenance and adjustments on our machines."

Priscilla said this with a soft smile, turning her gaze toward Milea.

"Eh... you mean those special-issue Radures? But wouldn't those be classified homeland military property..."

"Please, don't worry. We've already obtained special permission from the upper command. We'll be handing over all the maintenance data as well, so would you be willing to take this on?"

Disclosing the homeland military development division's most critical classified data to a private company -- both the homeland and Milea understood full well the political and technical weight of a decision like that. Milea, surprised as she was, agreed.

"Understood...! We'll take full responsibility and handle it properly."

"Having Miss Priscilla and the others here truly is reassuring! I shall scatter those scoundrels of Coroshe in the blink of an eye!"

Letaria clenched her fist and raised her voice, brimming with fighting spirit. -- But a voice immediately shot back from beside her.

"No, Letaria, I think for a while this is going to be mostly investigation and watching how things develop..."

Grain's all-too-composed correction landed.

"Wh-what did you say?! Why is that?!"

Letaria protested, clearly unconvinced. At the exchange, the heavy air that had been hanging over the conference room blew away in an instant, and warm laughter spread among everyone there.

Amid the sense that a grueling fight lay ahead, preparations for the decisive battle to come advanced quietly, but surely.