HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: It is Only Natural to get Muddy in an Obstacle Course >> Battle to Control Antarctica

Part 1

I have an exceedingly important mission for you two!!

“…”

Heivia, a boy of a solid build with short brown hair, thought back on the words of his superior officer as he silently moved his fingers with a look in his eyes reminiscent of a dead fish.

He was in a cramped room.

Inside the room was a table with a pile of small metal devices on top of it. Quenser, a boy with blond hair that did not quite reach his shoulders, sat across the table performing similar task.

Instead of chairs, they were sitting on cases for the shells used by the smaller of the railguns used by Objects. Heivia had no idea how many shells fit inside, but each case was the size of a sofa for three.

The table was also not really a table; it was a large wooden box. It was empty, but it had been crammed between the railgun shell cases to create a work space.

They were loading ammunition.

They had been handed a large number of empty assault rifle magazines, and they were using their fingers to cram bullet after bullet inside. While an inefficient clicking noise was coming from Heivia’s magazine, Quenser was using his slender fingers that were like those of a sheltered maiden to systematically carry out the job.

They had started only 15 minutes ago, but Heivia was already down for the count.

He kicked his heels against the railgun shell case he was sitting on and said, “Hey, I can’t go on. This isn’t war!! With those Objects that can keep moving after a nuclear blast, loading these puny little bullets isn’t going to be of any use!!”

“Heivia, redo that magazine. You used to much force and bent the spring into an S-shape. I can tell from the sound.”

“Why do you look so happy!? This annoying work is going to drive me insane!!”

“Eh? Doesn’t this trivial kind of job soothe your heart? I’d say running around the wilderness with a heavy rifle is more messed up than this.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you Object design students were insane. And what point is there in this? Can’t the munitions companies load the bullets in the factories before packaging them and shipping them out?”

“Doesn’t storing them inside for so long loosen the spring, increasing the risk of malfunctions? That’s why we have to load only thee necessary bullets when they’re needed and remove them again if they aren’t needed anymore.”

“Really? Isn’t that just the same as printer ink? I’m betting you could keep them in there forever without issue, but they tell you these things so we’ll keep buying more.”

“Heivia, that magazine’s spring is messed up. You need to remove the bullets and redo it.”

“Gahhh!!” he shouted out of utter annoyance, but Quenser naturally ignored him.

Heivia was not the type to back off because he received no reaction, so he pointed toward the many cardboard boxes placed next to the large wooden box they were using as a table.

“How are we supposed to finish all of these!? And isn’t this something a machine should be doing!? If they got just one machine to do this, we could just set the magazines in it and press a button. Then they would all get loaded automatically like with a soft serve ice cream machine!”

“Aren’t they just trying to save on their budget? Everything about war is centered on the Objects these days. Normal soldiers don’t fight anymore. When would a loaded rifle bullet actually be used? To them, it makes more sense to use their idle soldiers for this than to bring in a ridiculously expensive machine.”

“You really have a way of wearing away people’s motivation, you know that?”

Fed up with it all, Heivia tossed the assault rifle magazine on the wooden box they were using as a table. He arched his spine backwards as he stretched and glanced behind him.

He spotted a small cupboard.

Heivia casually glanced through the items lines up there, but then…

“Hey, Quenser. Look at what I just found.”

“?”

“There’s a single porn video mixed in with the training videos.

Part 2

After pushing an incredibly boring job onto two boy soldiers under her command with a smile on her face, Froleytia had headed back to a special officer room prepared on the base. However, the base was really a large scale convoy made up of over 100 large special vehicles, so even her office was similar to a blocky container.

Quenser and Heivia were both 17 and Froleytia was 18. The average age in units was continuing to lower, but that was just a sign of the times. That silver-haired girl was a minor, but no one found it odd that she was commanding a large group of around 800 people. That was simply how things were done.

Currently, Froleytia was using a tablet connected to her computer to recheck the invasion route of her force on their next mission.

As she did, she glanced over at a different monitor.

With a microphone and video camera attached to the computer, it was something like a video chat device. On the other end was a guest from the safe country that was a great distance from the battlefield.

She could have just had two windows open on her laptop rather than preparing two computers, but Froleytia had a reason to not do that.

This guest was the kind of person that would find it rude to even have her face covered by another window. She only had a rank of three stars, but she acted like it was five stars.

“I see. So how is Heivia doing?”

“Oh, fine. After all, he is the heir to the well-known Winchell family. He would never be put in danger by being sent to the front lines.”

Froleytia said that to move the conversation along, but the truth was that she had used Heivia for everything from loading puny rifle bullets into empty magazines to destroying 50+ meter Objects.

(Well, I’m living quite the unfortunate life myself…)

The guest displayed on the monitor was not aware of any of that. She was a blonde girl of about 15 who was wearing a dress that did not belong in the modern era. However, the corset and other important points had been modified enough that it could be put on without needing someone else’s help. Even if she was a noble girl, it seemed her upbringing had not been so sheltered that she used her servants for everything.

She scratched at her cheek with her index finger and said, “That is fine. Even for me, it would be a waste if he died before that grand ceremony could be held.”

“Excuse me, but I thought the engagement was fiercely opposed by both the Winchell family and the Vanderbilt family.”

“The greater the obstacle, the more it burns within me. You should try falling in love sometime, miss soldier.”

Without thinking, Froleytia shrugged at having that pointed out by an influential noble girl. She shook her long silver hair and tried to change the subject.

“But was this really such a good idea?”

“Was what such a good idea?”

“Having Heivia treated as a private first class. As the heir to the Winchell family, shouldn’t he have at least been an officer such as a second lieutenant? This may sound rude, but a private first class is a bit…”

“Well, I’m sure there were various reasons that went into it. I really don’t know. I do not really care and I have no real knowledge of military ranks, so it really is not my place to comment on it. And if you are going to bring that up, you are the daughter of a noble family and yet you are firing weapons on the battlefield.”

Froleytia cleared her throat.

She had tried to avoid unnecessary trouble by changing the subject, but she had only dug up something worse.

“So may I speak with Heivia?” asked the girl.

“Honestly. I’ll connect the video chat, but keep this a secret. All the others are looking at photos of their lovers and saying they will marry them once they return home.”

“Oh, and I thought that only happened in movies,” said the blonde girl as she fixed her bangs and checked over various parts of her dress. It seemed she was a bit nervous about speaking with Heivia.

(I guess she can be cute at times.)

As Froleytia had that exceedingly rude thought, the noble girl gave one last demand.

“Please connect me to Heivia.”

“Fine, fine. He is in the third ammunition storage’s spare work room. I’ll connect you there.”

Part 10

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