Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 3 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

The elderly man with a scar on his forehead—Major-General Dylan on the screen—smiled gently at Tia.

'This is Uncle's gift to you, so please accept it.'

That evening—Mistelteinn's handover went surprisingly smoothly.

Apparently, Major-General Dylan had gone great lengths with outstanding initiative, even providing as a bonus gift a transport aircraft capable of taking Mistilteinn high into the sky.

"Thank you, Uncle!"

Tia smiled radiantly and thanked him. Hearing Tia's response, Major-General Dylan grinned, unable to close his mouth. But after noticing my gaze from the side, he coughed.

'Ahem—There are no more backup Mistilteinns, this is the last one. I hope you will use it well. If NIFL's weapon could contribute towards Basilisk's defeat, it would redeem our honor a little.'

Major-General Dylan resumed a serious expression then disconnected after he finished talking.

Although I had no idea what exactly Major Loki had done, I got the sense that Major-General Dylan had handed Mistilteinn to us without any strings attached despite knowing clearly that my side wanted the weapon.

It was probably thanks to Tia.

"You helped a lot, Tia."

"Eh? But Tia didn't do anything?"

Tia widened her eyes in surprise but as soon as I stroked her head, she instantly closed her eyes partially in pleasure.

Thus, we were off to what could be considered a smooth start. However, problems started in the strategy meeting afterwards.

"Are you serious in what you said just now?"

Lisa's angry voice resounded inside the conference room. Standing in front of the screen showing all sorts of data, Mitsuki took on Lisa's gaze without evading at all.

"Yes, of course I am serious. I have decided—''to descend together with Mistilteinn''."

This was equally unbelievable for me. Everyone else was staring blankly at Mitsuki.

"Why are you doing this? It is far too reckless!"

Lisa slammed the table and suddenly stood up.

"If you do not understand, I shall explain again. According to calculations, it is possible to reinforce the mithril to withstand the third eye's beam. However, the warhead will become too large, rendering the original descent control system ineffective. Hence, someone needs to descend together with Mistilteinn to apply trajectory corrections."

"That is not what I am asking! I am asking why do you need to take on this task alone, Mitsuki-san!"

"Since the plan is formulated using a unfounded hypothesis, it is possible that our predictions are wrong. In the event of failure, certain death presumably awaits. Hence, I cannot push such a dangerous job onto others."

"..."

Lisa gnashed her teeth and approached Mitsuki angrily and rapidly.

Smack—A crisp sound was heard. Lisa had slapped Mitsuki in the face.

"Why are you always like this... I will not approve of this!"

"...It does not matter if you do not approve, because I am the Dragon Subjugation Squad's captain."

Despite the red mark on her cheek from the slap, Mitsuki still glared at Lisa squarely.

"Wait."

Firill interrupted.

"...If someone has to go, I'll do it."

"What—N-No way! This is something I must do!"

"...Wrong, considering the event of failure, I'm more suitable than you, Mitsuki. You are both the student council president and the Dragon Subjugation Squad captain, but I'm just an ordinary student."

Firill shook her head and refuted Mitsuki's claim.

"If that's the case, letting me do it is fine too, right?"

Ariella stood up slowly and smiled mischievously at Mitsuki.

"Mm!"

Ren stood up as well as though saying it was the same for her.

"Oh, me too!"

Looking at her classmates, even Iris frantically got up.

"Iris-san, you cannot even fly. You have no way of controlling Mistilteinn at all, do you!?"

Mitsuki frantically pointed it out but Iris refuted her while showing a serious expression:

"That's definitely true, but I can't let anyone go alone! No matter who ends up going, I have to go along! And maybe I might be able to help in some way!"

—As expected of Iris.

She completely ignored the necessary requirement. However, what Iris said was correct in a certain sense.

"Although I won't be able to control Mistilteinn either, I volunteer myself to be part of the descent team. Precisely because it's a plan based on a hypothesis, that's why we have to anticipate all kinds of situations and think of countermeasures. Iris and I will definitely come in handy, you know?"

I stood up from my seat and said to Mitsuki.

"That is..."

Mitsuki was speechless. In the previous operation, it was thanks to Iris and my abilities that we were able to keep out of harm's way, hence she could not find any words to refute us.

"You do say some decent things on occasion, Mononobe Yuu."

Seeing all members of Brynhildr Class standing up, Lisa showed a smile on the corners of her lips.

"Mitsuki-san, I have made my decision."

"By decision... What have you decided? Lisa-san, you do not have the authority to decide on the plan, you know?"

Seeing Mitsuki's wary gaze, Lisa smiled wryly and replied:

"No, what I have decided is the method for you to settle your crime from two years ago."

"What—Why are you bringing that up now..."

Probably unprepared to hear this, Mitsuki reacted very awkwardly to the unexpected words.

"Naturally, because it is related to the current situation. What I demand of you, Mitsuki-san—"

Pointing her finger at Mitsuki, Lisa told her in an acute tone of voice:

"Including me, I want you to make full use of all manpower that had just volunteered for the operation, and come up with a perfect plan that could handle all unexpected situations! Furthermore, everyone must survive! So long as you accomplish this, I will forgive you, Mitsuki-san!"

"How on earth... The risk is too great with everyone together—"

"I will not force you. If you cannot think of a new plan, then have someone apart from yourself descend with Mistilteinn. Do you agree, Shinomiya-sensei?"

Shinomiya-sensei had her arms crossed before her chest, a troubled expression on her face. But after hearing Lisa's question, she nodded gravely.

"...Since there are other volunteers, as the commander, I have no choice but to make such a decision. The captain has other responsibilities. However, if there is no better plan, I cannot allow multiple people to be part of the descent."

Shinomiya-sensei's answer was very logical. Mitsuki looked like she had no counterarguments. She bit her lip and lowered her head.

"Understood? Mitsuki-san? If you don't want a classmate to head towards death alone—If you truly wish to protect your family to the very end, rack your brain as hard as you can. Find a path that will allow everyone to return alive..."

Lisa's demand was very harsh. Compared to shouldering all her comrades' lives, it would probably be easier to face Basilisk alone.

Lisa had said that she would come up with a very difficult condition. To Mitsuki, there was probably no harsher demand than this.

However, Mitsuki was cornered.

She clenched her fist and replied in a trembling voice:

"...I will try. Give me some time."

After saying that, Mitsuki rapidly left the conference room. As though praying, Lisa silently watched the frail-looking silhouette of her back—