Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume6 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 20===

After Sogia heard over the radio about the destruction of the Broad Sky Saber and the result of the Royal Duel, he sat on some of the rubble that had once been Flightburg Air Force Base and put a thick cigar in his mouth.

“…It won’t light. And there was fire everywhere not too long ago.”

The artificial downpour was still continuing, so he was having trouble getting his lighter to light.

When Sanya saw that, she grinned and said, “Is this any time to be smoking? That hard-ass will likely be here soon. He’ll definitely be able to notice if you do it right before he gets here.”

“I just want one smoke before having to face him.”

But Sogia’s modest wish was not granted.

They heard the sound of blades beating the air. They looked up to see a large transport helicopter approaching. Sogia gave an arbitrary sign with the unlit cigar and Mars and Flat lit a smoke bomb at an area relatively free of rubble.

The large helicopter landed there.

A figure stepped off while surrounded by several bodyguards. Sogia recognized the man.

He had been their superior back when they had still been known as the 115th Private Royal Guard Company.

“What’s this? The marshal of the royal guards went out of his way to see us?”

“Your face may have changed, but I see your impudence has not.”

The old man known as a marshal snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards pulled out a vacuum packed cigar, quickly lit it, and handed it to Sogia.

“Heh. You idiot. So you even remembered that.”

Sogia complained, but he smoked the cigar with a satisfied expression.

The marshal said, “Dimiksy Nikolaschka is confirmed to have sunk. This will cause a great shock to his faction that is squirming under the surface. We are following that movement to arrest all of them.”

“I see.”

“The Broad Sky Saber’s main cannon up in orbit has stopped functioning. A unit has been sent from the moon to retrieve it. They have attached an additional booster and are going to use the large mass of an asteroid that happens to be approaching to alter its orbit. …Space has no territorial rights, so other world powers could try to steal the technology otherwise.”

“So you don’t want a rapid change to the era due to the appearance of the third generation? …Heh. That’s exactly what Claire Whist had a ‘bad feeling’ would happen.”

“For now at least.”

When Sogia heard the marshal’s words, he disinterestedly asked, “So what about Dimiksy himself?”

“When the outsiders mixed into the Lineage Department were eliminated, it became clear his DNA information was fraudulent. But it is not up to a single soldier to decide whether that information should be made public. It is unclear if Dimiksy survived, but it is possible the military will decide to not rescue him and let him die.”

“If that happens, he’ll be known as a courageous royal who died in a Royal Duel, won’t he?” Sogia breathed out a bit of smoke. “Both the royal Nikolaschka family and the Legitimacy Kingdom as a whole would prefer that outcome. He was a dangerous man with questionable lineage who spread belligerent conspiracies everywhere. It wouldn’t surprise me if you all wanted him purged. You were hoping we would succeed, weren’t you?”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. …As long as that crybaby is safe.”

From the beginning, Sogia, Sanya, Mars, Flat, and the rest of Unicorn had not been trying to defeat a powerful enemy and ensure Staivia Nikolaschka became queen.

They had been trying to protect her from the problems surrounding the succession.

To keep her safe, they would have readily kept her out of the competition altogether.

If Staivia herself had truly wanted the throne, Unicorn may have even fought against Staivia.

But then…

It was because she had so little of such selfishness that Unicorn had decided to risk their lives for her in the first place.

The old man known as a marshal looked down at Sogia who sat on the rubble.

“What you all did was most likely right. At the very least, I can proudly tell you it was. But...” The old man made a clear pause. “You still broke countless military regulations from the moment you faked the destruction of the 115th Private Royal Guard Company. According to Legitimacy Kingdom law, it is not a crime to kill those who have betrayed the royals. In fact, it might earn you a medal. However, your preparations were much too dirty. For that, I must go against my personal feelings and give you an impartial court martial. Your crimes will likely outweigh what you have earned by stopping the traitors.”

Sogia gave a small smile while shaking his fingers slightly to knock ashes off the tip of the cigar.

“Did you really think we weren’t prepared for this from the beginning?”

“I cannot avoid sending you to the detention barracks.”

“What else is new? We were thrown in there all the time back when we were with the royal guards,” said Sogia casually before shouting to the others from Unicorn. “Did you hear that, men? The marshal’s going to show us to a hotel being paid for by the people’s tax money!”

“As long as it has proper food, I don’t care where I end up!”

“If you’re fed luxurious food in a cell, shouldn’t you start to worry? That sounds like a last meal before execution to me.”

“Even if it’s covered by bars, as long as it has a window, I can use pieces of our rations to lure in pigeons. I’ll catch food enough for everyone.”

As the members of Unicorn started making a commotion, the marshal grimaced slightly. Punishments were meaningless for those who knew no fear.

The marshal ordered his bodyguard unit to restrain Unicorn. But they did not handcuff the prisoners or even point their guns at them. A clear sense of respect floated in the air. Talk of this would likely fill bars for many weeks to come.

While sincerely hoping no idiots would try to emulate Unicorn’s actions, the marshal asked, “I will hold you on my authority until the court martial. Are you sure you do not want to meet Princess Staivia before then?”

“Don’t be stupid. This is the kind of situation where you have to leave without saying a word.”

“I thought you would say that.” A malicious smile appeared on the marshal’s grim face. “That is why I ordered to have Princess Staivia brought here.”

“What!? Damn you, old man!!”

Sogia frantically shouted out, but it was too late.

An off-road vehicle protected by several bodyguard vehicles entered the air force base. The maid Mikfa got out first. She opened the back door and Staivia Nikolaschka stepped out. When they had last seen her, she had been smaller than her stuffed bear, but she had grown quite ladylike in the past 3 years.

Without waiting for Mikfa to hold out an umbrella, Staivia ran straight toward them.

The first thing she said was, “Hm? Hmm? Which one is Yulenzak!?”

“…Oh, right. We all got plastic surgery.”

He could not disobey an order from a royal, so the man using the fake name of Sogia raised his hand.

With her target set, Staivia ran straight toward him.

They all assumed she was going to embrace him.

But Staivia used all her strength to kick Sogia (aka Yulenzak) in the crotch.

With a great noise, that large man who had fought on countless battlefields doubled over. Mars and Flat let out screams, Sanya grimaced despite being a woman, and the old man with the rank of marshal averted his gaze slightly.

As Yulenzak used all his strength to withstand the pain, he saw something unpleasant out of the corner of his eye.

The two idiots Unicorn had made excessive use of were waiting within the off-road vehicle Staivia had arrived in. They were sticking out their tongues and one of them had even warned he would kick Sogia in the balls.

(Those bastards…!!)

After completely ruining the moment, Staivia finally embraced him. He could do nothing about the intense pain swirling around within him, but he noticed that Staivia was trembling. When he realized she was crying, Yulenzak finally scratched at his head.

Those tears were not simply from all the fear of having her life targeted for so long.

Her tear glands were reacting to being reunited with the unit…no, with the comrades she had thought she had lost 3 years ago.

There was a lot Yulenzak wanted to say, but he did not have time.

Whatever their goal had been, Unicorn had constantly broken military regulations. They had to be punished.

And so Yulenzak grabbed Staivia’s shoulders, pushed her away from him, kneeled down to put himself at eye level with her, and spoke the following words:

“Hey, baby. How long are you going to keep crying? It’s about time you smiled.”


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