Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 3===

After they had carried all the boxes to their respective locations, Quenser gained a bit of free time.

Technically, that time was used to check on the wiring for the computers and radars, but that was a task for the specialists. There was nothing to do for the normal soldiers during that time.

Quenser parted ways with Heivia and headed to the supply area. He received a few flavorless rubber-like rations before running across Froleytia.

When she saw Quenser, a tremendous frown appeared on her face.

“…Do not stand behind me without permission. I am never allowing you to catch me by surprise again.”

“Fair enough, but did you have any other ideas for getting yourself out of that situation?”

Quenser’s shoulders drooped limply and the middle aged man at the supply area looked at him with a puzzled expression. Froleytia cleared her throat once and returned to what she had come there for: obtaining a small container of shampoo. With that task complete, she left the supply area with Quenser.

As they walked through the passageway, she said quietly, “I would have a hard time coming up with anything else, but that doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want.”

“Come to think of it, how did things go after that? It seemed that Copacabana guy gave up on the political marriage, but that’s all I know.”

“Right now, my perceived value has fallen by an amazing amount. There are still some old men who don’t care so much about an heir that are still sticking with it, though. Well, I wouldn’t be out here in this war if this could be solved so easily. You don’t need to worry about it.” Froleytia sighed and leaned her back up against a nearby door. “However, I’m also in a bit of trouble since my Capistrano family isn’t contacting me. Dammit. If I just out and out deny it, some of the candidates are sure to return, but everyone will treat me like a slut if I don’t do anything. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to-…”

Suddenly, Froleytia trailed off.

The door she had leaned against had already been half open, so she had pushed it the rest of the way open. It led to a small room used to store the design documents needed for maintaining the Baby Magnum. It was also the room Quenser spent a lot of time in studying as a battlefield student.

“Whoops,” said Froleytia.

She managed to avoid falling over, but she ended up stumbling two or three steps into the room. A bookshelf right next to the door was filled with training video disk cases. However, a single porn video was mixed in.

Froleytia froze in place as she read the title on the package.

It read: A Cool Female Soldier’s Secret Training of Pleasure and Tits

She fell silent for a bit while squeezing the Japanese-style kiseru in her hand.

“…Quenser, is this your personal preference?”

“No, you’ve got it all wrong!! I didn’t bring that here! I only grabbed you in order to help you! But why is that here!? That’s the video that was on the bookshelf in the ammunition storage when we were loading magazines!! Is it just really popular in the Legitimacy Kingdom military right now!?”

Quenser was met with a great mystery, but Froleytia did not seem to trust him at all. She was slowly backing away from him with the look of someone who was faced with a wild beast.

“…Umm, I’ll be going then,” he said.

“No, I have work to do as well. I cannot alter my schedule due to my personal feelings. I have no choice but to accompany you partway.”

And so Quenser and Froleytia started walking down the passageway once more. They were walking alongside each other, but they were keeping an odd distance between each other.

“So what is the plan for dealing with Amazon City?”

“So you’ve learned those ruins are where we’re fighting.” Froleytia sighed. “Around 500 people remain to the Mass Driver conglomerate. Previously, it seems the pilot Elite of the Object was commanding them, so their command structure has changed thanks to the Object’s destruction. With this change, the command has probably shifted to Sladder Honeysuckle. When the princess’s Object attacks the ruins of Amazon City, we need to make sure we at least kill him. Without him, the rest will not be able to put together a proper strategy. Then we can slaughter them in the confusion.”

“Who is he?”

“He has various titles. He is an Object designer for the Mass Driver conglomerate, one of the world’s leading investors, as well as a military advisor for the powerful president of one of the conglomerate’s companies.”

“…”

Quenser’s eyebrows twitched at the word “designer”.

However, he specifically avoided that and asked about something else.

“Military adviser?”

“The Capitalist Corporations take military actions at the approval of company shareholders. For this reason, they hire specialist strategist. The same goes for the Mass Driver conglomerate even if it has a different structure from the other companies.”

At that point, Froleytia fell silent.

Finally, she spoke quietly as if speaking of her own worries.

“This should be a simple task if we really are only up against a maintenance base that has lost its Object. But…”

“I’ve heard the rumors.” Quenser frowned. “You’re talking about the possibility of a second Object that was powering the spare cannons in Antarctica and on the Iguazu district coast, right? …But is that even possible? Objects are monstrous weapons 50 meters across. How could one of those escape notice by radar, satellite, and the naked eye?”

“I don’t know.”

Froleytia shook her head.

At the same time, she spoke as if to herself.

“But that’s exactly why jack-in-the-boxes are so scary. You need to be careful too. If you take this lightly, you might not get by with a simple sprained ankle this time.”