Toaru Hikuushi e no Seiyaku:V9Part1

The Miracle of Pleiades (Continued)

Part 19 (Part 1 of Volume 9)

"I want to throw the fate of the world onto your shoulders."

With the blood-red sky behind him, Balthazar Grim, the Chief Strategist of the St Vault Empire, said this with a sinister smile.

"Not just the Archipelago region. The Balesteros, Levamme, and Kai-Andros regions as well—every single human being's present and future in this world—it's all for you to decide."

In the western sky, the setting sun was still visible. Early stars began to twinkle faintly above the sea, gradually darkening.

Kiyoaki Sakagami, the captain of the Sylvania Kingdom’s "Valkyrie" fighter squadron, glared at Balthazar. He often pushed unreasonable demands, but this request was beyond bizarre.

Year 1351 of the Imperial Calendar, December 16th, the capital of the Kingdom of Sylvania, Sierra Greed on Santos Island—

Yesterday, Fio had risked his life to deliver Mio’s message. Now, in the same spot as yesterday, halfway up the mountain where the Sylvania Kingdom’s military operations command centre was located, Kiyoaki stood, facing Balthazar as the two gazed out at the sea shrouded in the approaching dusk.

"After receiving Mio’s message and carefully considering it, I’ve come up with a plan. It's still in its early stages, but if it works, we could extract the brainstem of Urano and replace it with cerebral fluid more favourable to our cause. However, there’s one critical part of the plan I cannot decide on. That’s where I want your opinion. If you say it’s possible, I’ll move forward with the plan. If not, we’ll have to discard it and look for another solution. By the way, your answer will determine the lives of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of soldiers, both friend and foe. Are you prepared?"

Kiyoaki was overwhelmed by the scale of the proposal. Without waiting for Kiyoaki to gather his thoughts, Balthazar asked the next question.

"Can you secure air superiority over Pleiades using a force of 200 fighter planes?"

The question made him groan. Since receiving Mio’s message yesterday, Kiyoaki had already been thinking about a surprise attack on Urano’s capital, Pleiades. There was no way Balthazar, the strategist, would overlook the same conclusion Kiyoaki had reached. Depending on his answer, Balthazar would likely move forward with planning the surprise attack on Pleiades.

Kiyoaki couldn’t give a half-hearted response. This was no idle threat—Balthazar was serious, and the fate of the world hinged on his reply. After a brief moment of thought, Kiyoaki responded with a question.

"How many enemy fighters are stationed at Pleiades?"

"If all of Mio’s information is accurate, there are four airfields at Pleiades. One of them, the Isolos Airfield, supposedly has a thousand fighter planes. Can you do it?"

They were outnumbered five to one. Given that these planes were protecting the capital, they were likely the latest single-seat fighters from Urano, the "Alice Actus" model. Six months ago, in an aerial battle, Kiyoaki’s "Valkyrie" squadron had been nearly wiped out by a swarm of Alice Actus fighters. Their weaknesses had yet to be identified, and they were an opponent no one could afford to face head-on.

"Is 200 fighters the maximum number we can mobilize?"

"Even if we scrape together forces from all over, 200 is the limit. If we proceed, it will have to be with volunteers. And it’s a one-way ticket—they won’t be coming back. Every air force is already short on fighter pilots, and no commander will want to send their best men on a mission with little chance of survival. In fact, you can assume the actual number will be less than 200. It might be closer to 150. And we’ll have to divide the force between air superiority and escort units, so the air superiority unit will have about 100 planes."

Kiyoaki thought deeply. These were harsh conditions.

Logically, the mission shouldn’t be attempted. The outcome of an air superiority battle was determined by numbers. The enemy had nearly ten times their forces, and their Alice Actus fighters were far superior to their own.

—We can’t win.

The words rose to his throat, but Kiyoaki swallowed them. Instead, he proposed a condition.

"If we can gather the best of the best. Not just Valkyrie and the Isla Fleet Air Squadron, but also top pilots from squadrons like Voltec and Kusanagi, and unify them into a single fighter squadron..."

"Hmm. Select pilots regardless of nationality and merge them into one air squadron, huh? Interesting."

Balthazar nodded several times, seemingly satisfied, and then looked back up.

"Alright, let’s assume that’s possible. In that case… can you win?"

Balthazar’s question resonated deep within Kiyoaki. The fate of the world rested on his answer.

If he said they could win, Balthazar would put the plan into action. A battle involving hundreds of thousands, even millions, of soldiers would unfold, and the fate of the world would rest on Kiyoaki’s shoulders.

If he said they couldn’t win, Balthazar would discard the idea and seek a different strategy. In that case, Kiyoaki wouldn’t play a central role, and they would avoid the massive risk of an air superiority battle over Pleiades.

The hopes of the living, the future of the children, the fate of the world fifty, a hundred years from now—all of it was suddenly placed on Kiyoaki’s shoulders. It was too vast a responsibility for one person to decide—at least, it should have been.

But now, Kiyoaki found it surprisingly easy to make up his mind.

What was there to hesitate about?

"We can win."

He declared it firmly. Balthazar’s gaze sharpened, scrutinizing Kiyoaki’s every expression.

"Leave it to me. I’ll secure air superiority over Pleiades."

The fate of the world? Fine, leave it to me.

"…Oh? You sound confident."

Balthazar mixed a tone of mockery into his words, testing him, but Kiyoaki remained unfazed.

"It doesn’t matter if Urano has ten times as many planes. If we gather super aces capable of deciding the battle individually, we can win."

Kiyoaki knew it wasn’t likely. Even if everything went perfectly, they had only about a 20% chance of winning. They would probably lose 80% of the time in such a battle. But he concealed that fact. If he revealed it, Balthazar would abandon the surprise attack on Pleiades.

If there was even a 20% chance of winning, he would bet on it. He would use his strength to turn that 20% into 50%. If the odds were fifty-fifty, then the rest was up to fate. That was all it came down to.

—I will save Mio.

—For that, I’ll take hundreds of thousands, even millions, with me.

—I’ll even destroy the world.

When weighing Mio and the people of the world on the scales of his heart, Mio won. He didn’t care about being righteous. He would be the villain. He would take the blame for all the sins. As long as Mio could smile happily again, his soul could burn in hell for eternity.

"Give me the order. I’ll take Pleiades’ sky. I’ll make sure the Valkyrie flag flies over Pleiades."

With pride and a smile, Kiyoaki looked straight at Balthazar.

After observing Kiyoaki’s smile for a while, Balthazar finally raised the corner of his mouth.

"You’ve changed."

"…"

"When you were a student, you used to wear a disgustingly self-righteous face. But now… you look much more sinister."

Kiyoaki shrugged, unsure how to respond. Balthazar gave him a pure smile, as if a weight had been lifted.

"You have the face of a soldier. It’s not right from a humanitarian perspective… but you’ve become a soldier."

"I’m honoured."

Kiyoaki accepted the words as praise.

Balthazar was right—he had changed. He could no longer remain a mere good person. He no longer fought under the pretence of righteousness like he once did. If he had to choose between good and evil, he was probably evil now.

In comparison…

With a sarcastic tone, Kiyoaki added, "You’ve certainly grown more pleasant yourself," mixing in some teasing. Balthazar chuckled again.

"My face has always been pleasant. You’re the one who’s become grimmer."

You didn’t used to laugh like this, or make such light-hearted remarks, Kiyoaki thought.

But perhaps that’s just how it goes. People change over time. Some transform from good to evil, while others go from evil to good. With the passage of time, some gain nobility, while others fall into degradation.

"...Now, let's put this idea to the test. We also need to scrutinize Mio’s information. I’ll seek your opinion again. Especially regarding the concept of forming the strongest fighter squadron in the Archipelago—that’s intriguing. It’s worth pursuing."

"Yes. Please, let’s proceed. If we can make it happen, I promise we will secure air superiority."

With a grin, Balthazar accepted Kiyoaki’s response and headed back to the command headquarters.

Two weeks later—

Unexpectedly, a piece of news Kiyoaki never anticipated arrived from the Akitsu Continent.

"I don’t believe it."

Kiyoaki placed the problematic newspaper article back on the glass table and raised his head as he spoke.

"This kind of article isn’t worth trusting. I think it’s just to appease the people of the Kingdom of Keiken."

Suppressing the tremor in his fingers, he glanced at Valkyrie Squadron's Vice-Captain Illia Kreischmidt and Queen Elisabeth of the Sylvania Kingdom, who were present in the room.

Year 1351 of the Imperial Calendar, December 30th, in the Office on the Fifth Floor of Sierra Greed City Hall on Santos Island—

While in the middle of a mock aerial battle with the Isla Fleet Air Squadron, Kiyoaki had suddenly been summoned to the city hall, where a pale Elisabeth handed him the December 15th issue of the Akitsu Daily News.

"Assault on the Kyonagi Palace, Former Captain Kagura Executed"

"The Supreme Military Command announced yesterday at dawn that former captain Kagura (22) of the Shinmei Guard was executed by firing squad. As previously reported, Kagura had led an unauthorized assault on the Kyonagi Palace and official residences last month, detaining three members of the Supreme War Council, stealing the Imperial Seal, and was charged with the murder of guards and the forgery of abdication documents. There were no witnesses at the execution, and no funeral was held. As her relatives refused to claim her remains, her ashes were interred in an unmarked grave at Shutoku Temple."

Kiyoaki read the short article, tucked away in a corner of the front page, three times.

He walked around the room for quite some time, gathering his thoughts. After re-reading the article once more, he repeated his earlier statement.

"I absolutely do not believe it."

Illia, with her arms crossed, leaned against the wall, silently staring out the window. Elisabeth sat properly on the sofa, lifting her gaze toward Kiyoaki.

"…There are no reliable communication channels between the Sylvania Kingdom and the Kingdom of Keiken, so we must rely on the St Vault Empire's intelligence bureau for detailed information. I want to believe she’s safe, but… the Kingdom of Keiken is currently in a state of great turmoil due to political upheaval. The information is likely mixed with truth and falsehood…"

"…Yes. This article is probably part of an attempt to control the chaos. Newspapers can write anything they want… And this is from the Akitsu Daily News, right? That’s a low-morale newspaper. They’ve written plenty of lies about me too…"

The reporter from Akitsu Daily, Tokiwa Utakuni, had been nosing into the relationship between Kiyoaki and Illia since their school days, crafting sensationalist articles that stirred the public’s interest. Knowing Kiyoaki and the rest of "The Seven of Eriadore" from their days at the officers' academy had made Utakuni’s ambitions a perfect "story," and she had continued to disrupt their privacy on many occasions. For her, attracting public attention was more important than truth. This article was likely another such attempt to appeal to the masses...

A heavy silence filled the office. No matter how much hopeful rhetoric they exchanged, they couldn’t shake off the weight pressing down on them.

—With those charges, it wouldn’t be strange if she were executed by firing squad.

Kiyoaki’s rational mind whispered to him.

—Kagura chose to bear the burden of treason alone. She did it to stop the war...

His legs trembled. Illia’s words interrupted the dark thoughts gnawing at Kiyoaki’s reason.

"…Just as Sakagami says, we shouldn’t draw conclusions until the Kingdom of Keiken’s political situation stabilizes. For now, all we can do is believe in her safety. This article is likely just a piece of propaganda for the citizens, and I believe Kagura is still alive… There’s nothing else we can do."

Even Illia, from her tone, seemed unsure of her own words. But in the context of trying to hold onto hope, there was no other alternative.

"…We have to end the fighting. As soon as possible. Once peace returns and relations with the Kingdom of Keiken are restored, we’ll know the truth. I’m sure we’ll see Kagura again…"

At her words, Kiyoaki and Elisabeth both nodded heavily. Right now, that was all they could do.

"…I will make every effort to obtain information from the inner circle of the Kingdom of Keiken. Though, as a kingdom, we have few options and will have to rely on the empire… But I’m sure Balthazar will gather reliable information for us. After all, Kagura and Balthazar negotiated the ceasefire on the Archipelago front by themselves..."

Elisabeth, still wearing a pained expression, cast her gaze out the window. Kiyoaki, frustrated, began pacing around the room aimlessly.

What was Balthazar doing now? As a senior strategist in the St Vault Empire's Unified Operations Command, he must have access to top-tier information that Kiyoaki and the others couldn’t possibly reach. If good news were to arrive, it would undoubtedly come from Balthazar.

However—

"…Balthazar is probably fully occupied with planning the next operation right now. The situation with Kagura is, after all, a personal matter. Given the severity of the current situation, I doubt he can devote much effort to personal concerns…"

Kiyoaki understood the truth in Illia’s words. Balthazar, who had single-handedly negotiated the ceasefire on the Archipelago front, had far surpassed the achievements of Raphael, the chief strategist, and was effectively the empire’s head strategist at this point. In his current position, where his decisions could shape the St Vault Empire’s fate for the next millennium, how much time could he realistically allocate to personal matters?

"Yes… But I’m sure Balthazar is just as concerned about Kagura as we are… no, even more so…"

Kiyoaki murmured these feeble words as if trying to reassure himself. He imagined Balthazar, on the distant island of Air Hunt, tormented by the same unending worries… It was the only thought that brought him some comfort.

On the same day, Air Hunt Island, the provisional capital of the St Vault Empire—

Balthazar, his eyes bloodshot, glared at the enormous sea chart pinned to the wall on the third floor of the Unified Operations Command headquarters, in the section designated for the secret unit codenamed "Griffos."

The current locations of the St Vault Empire’s fleet near the Mitterland continent and the Northern and Southern Archipelagos were marked on the chart, as were the known positions of all enemy ships. The 180 communications analysis staff packed into the floor had easy access to this information at all times.

It had been two weeks since Kiyoaki had shared his assessment of the air superiority battle over Pleiades. In that time, Balthazar had been working at an incredible pace to turn the vague and ambiguous idea into a concrete plan.

First and foremost, he had to pinpoint the exact course of Pleiades. Without predicting its future position, they could not intercept it. At the same time, he needed to monitor the movements of Urano's fleet in the New Archipelago region. If they initiated a counter-landing operation on Mitterland’s mainland, Urano’s grand fleet would surely launch an attack, but whether it would come from the north or east was still unclear.

To identify the unseen enemy's position, a combination of communication analysis and cryptography was necessary. If cryptography could perfectly decode the information, communication analysis would be redundant. However, with the current technology, deciphering the random number tables of five-digit, 50,000-number codes was extremely difficult. Successfully decrypting even 5% of a message was considered impressive.

Communication analysis was more reliable.

Using the vast data collected from previous battles with Urano, communication analysis involved detecting the "presence" of the enemy based on minor clues such as headers, transmission locations, and the identities of the sender and receiver. The staff needed patience to identify patterns amidst the overwhelming flood of data, as well as passion, concentration, memory, and tenacity. Most people who possessed these traits were typically "eccentric," and the St Vault Empire had selected 180 of its most exceptional eccentrics to pour over the endless ocean of numbers and letters, hoping to detect the enemy's hidden signals.

Rows of long desks filled the packed floor, where the eccentric staff, who hadn’t bathed in two weeks, worked obsessively on the enemy’s data. In one corner, dozens of staff members had collapsed onto piles of memos and documents spilling from boxes, using them as makeshift blankets for naps.

Balthazar himself was buried under a mountain of punch cards from the simplified electronic calculators stacked as high as the ceiling, staring intently at the sea chart.

Despite all their efforts, the information they obtained from communication analysis was often vague, amounting to "there’s a high probability something is here." If the enemy’s intelligence officers were skilled enough, they could flood the airwaves with false communications to lead them astray. Disagreements among the analysts were common, and in the end, it was up to Balthazar, the Chief Strategist, to make the final decisions based on his experience and intuition.

Referring to the hundreds of communication patterns identified by individual staff, Balthazar sought the tracks of the invisible enemy fleet. Whenever something occurred to him, he’d rummage through piles of documents to find past data, compare it with current data, construct hypotheses, and start over if they failed.

For two weeks, he had worked tirelessly, barely sleeping, and now he was certain.

—Urano’s intelligence officer is as brilliant as I am.

It was highly likely that all intercepted transmissions had been manipulated by this officer. There was a faint, artificial scent to them. Knowing full well that they were monitoring the volume of transmissions, the officer had casually scattered unguarded messages, leaving suspicious traces that, when pieced together, would mislead them, causing the enemy fleet to appear from an unexpected direction, throwing them into chaos... Such a dangerous trap was undoubtedly lurking within the piles of data stacked to the ceiling.

—This intelligence officer... is highly intelligent, and devilishly cunning.

Through the numbers, Balthazar could sense the calculating, insidious mind of this opponent.

—I hate this person.

Though he didn’t know their face or name, Balthazar felt a sickening revulsion toward the enemy’s personality, which seeped through the columns of numbers. He had no desire to get any closer to them, but his job was to navigate the traps set by this twisted genius and uncover the current position, size, course, and speed of the enemy fleet.

—No matter what, I must get this done.

He spurred himself on.

—Information is the only weapon we have against Urano.

Currently, even with the combined strength of the St Vault Empire Navy and the Second Isla Fleet, they were no match for Urano’s Archipelago Fleet. Not only did they lack sufficient ships, but Urano also had ten flying fortresses. If these flying, unsinkable carriers arrived en masse in the archipelago, there would be no way for the imperial forces to resist. Though they had finally reached a ceasefire with the Kingdom of Keiken, the empire’s forces, having been driven from the mainland, were barely hanging on, and the disparity in power between them and Urano was hopelessly vast.

However, there was one way to overturn this imbalance.

—Well done, Mio.

The ultra-classified state secret, carried by the bird Fio from Pleiades, had proven invaluable.

Written in tiny, detailed characters by someone who seemed to be a special agent, the message contained the current location, speed, course, a breakdown of surface facilities, and the gathering fleet of Pleiades. After years of the St Vault intelligence bureau tirelessly searching for such information, the details of Urano’s central command had literally fallen from the sky.

At first, Balthazar had doubted the content.

Mio was a spy from Urano. It would have made more sense to assume she had written false information to sow confusion. But just to be sure, they traced the change in communication traffic near Krista on the Mitterland continent, the location Mio had indicated for Pleiades, and sure enough, an unusual communication pattern had emerged.

The headers and encryption groups emitted by the flying fortresses of Urano were distinctly different from anything they’d seen before. Without Mio’s guidance, they would have overlooked the subtle currents of strange numbers flowing through the vast ocean of data. It seemed more and more likely that this wasn’t a trap laid by the mysterious intelligence officer, but rather, it carried the innocent smile of Mio, rather than the malicious smirk of their enemy.

Balthazar assigned 30 cryptographers to investigate this current thoroughly, and on the fourth day, they concluded that there was indeed "a very large, unknown flying fortress" at its source. Moreover, this fortress was moving at the exact speed and along the exact course Mio had specified.

Balthazar no longer had any doubts.

—Mio, too, is keeping the pledge.

"Even if we become enemies, we will not hate each other. Friendship is eternal."

Back then, when they made the pledge, he’d thought it was childish, embarrassing, and something he’d never repeat. But now, he wanted to shout it to the world, over and over again. That’s how grateful he was.

—That pledge will save the world.

—It will end this war.

With this conviction, he hurried the cryptography work, while continuing to track the slow south-westward movement of Pleiades.

—Wait for me, Mio. I will show you a miracle.

With firm resolve, he piled up the cryptography team’s results on his desk and cross-referenced them with the communication analysis team’s data. Decrypting codes was painstaking work, but thanks to the glimmer of light Mio had provided, they began to make sense of previously indecipherable headers. With these as footholds, new hypotheses were formed, and by cross-checking them with eyewitness reports and past data, the range of what could be decrypted slowly expanded.

Balthazar’s bold hypotheses, combined with his unrelenting determination to never give up, were slowly peeling away the layers of the random number table that shrouded the royal capital Pleiades and Urano’s fleet.

The dark, stagnant ocean of codes was gradually revealing its full shape, illuminated by the light Mio had brought. Along with his team of 180 staff in the "Griffos" cryptography unit, Balthazar continued to aim toward the glowing destination—the royal capital of Urano, Pleiades.

The sun outside the window began to fade, the twilight turning into pitch-black night. Ignoring the hoot of an owl, he pushed through piles of documents, sipped coffee at sunrise, and braced himself as he waded through the endless waves of numbers. As dusk fell again and exhaustion overtook him, he collapsed onto the floor next to the staff and closed his eyes.

There was no energy left to think.

All that was left was sleep. Not a second could be wasted. He needed to sleep, recover his strength, and fight Urano’s codes again when he woke...

Yet, as he closed his eyes in exhaustion, a completely unrelated vision appeared behind his eyelids.

A woman with black hair, nailed to a cross.

A bullet wound in her chest.

Her blood pouring out, staining the red earth a deep crimson.

—Kagura.

As soon as the name Kagura surfaced in his mind, Balthazar’s lungs felt as if they had been cleaved in two. His diaphragm seemed to tear apart, and every cell in his body emitted waves of pain. A heavy groan escaped his throat.

Both his mental and physical strength had long passed their limits, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He wasn’t supposed to allow personal feelings to torment him at a time like this. The fate of the nation, the future of the Archipelago world, rested on his shoulders.

And yet, the image of Kagura’s lifeless body, bound to a wooden stake, remained lodged at the core of his thoughts.

Her lifeless eyes, devoid of light, stared at the pool of blood beneath her feet.

“Guuuu…!”

A primal growl, like the roar of a beast, erupted from deep within him as Balthazar pressed his hands to the floor and raised his upper body, his eyes gleaming wildly.

—Why did I let her go at that moment?

—If only I had chased after her, or perhaps...

Regret surged from deep within him. After the ceasefire agreement, Kagura had smiled and told him, “We’ll meet again,” before limping back to her camp. Balthazar had sensed her impending death. His heart had screamed, “Pick her up and bring her to our side!” But he hadn’t moved. Machine guns were trained on them from the enemy’s side of the bridge, and tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides were watching. If he had forcibly taken Kagura, the very ceasefire agreement could have been broken.

—But still, I should have brought her back.

Balthazar knew it was too late for regrets, but his inner voice relentlessly blamed him for not taking action at that critical moment, ignoring reason and circumstance.

He gave up on sleep, walked to the washroom, and splashed his face with water. He stared at his reflection in the mirror.

It was a terrible sight. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes bloodshot, and dark circles hung beneath his sunken eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair and pressed a cold towel against his eyes. The coldness seeped into his fevered gaze, slowly restoring his ability to think clearly.

—There was nothing I could have done. In that situation, there was no way to save her.

—Accept it. Accept Kagura’s death. No matter how much you regret it, nothing will change.

He told himself this, over and over.

But.

—She’s not dead.

From deep within his soul, he heard that voice.

—She’s still alive.

No matter how much reason tried to soothe him, the voice persisted.

—There’s no way she’d die that easily.

As his soul whispered this, the image of Kagura’s lifeless body in his mind was replaced by one full of life.

Kagura smiled at Balthazar with the same transparent grin she had shown at the Bridge of Reunion.

"We’ll meet again, the seven of us." "Even if we don’t, we’ll always be together."

Those words echoed in his ears once more.

Balthazar removed the towel from his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror again. His face looked a little better than before.

“End the war. That’s what matters.”

He spoke to his reflection. No matter how much he struggled now, he wouldn’t know Kagura’s fate.

The only way to end this torment was to bring the Mitterland front to a swift conclusion. Then he could go to the Kingdom of Keiken and find out the truth with his own eyes. There was no other way to resolve his suffering.

“Wait for me, Kagura.”

Kagura had sacrificed herself to end the Second Archipelago War. It was thanks to her that 1.7 million imperial soldiers were able to retreat from the Akitsu continent without a single casualty.

Now, Balthazar’s duty was to ensure the 1.7 million soldiers could return to the Mitterland continent with minimal losses and to destroy Urano.

That was the only way to honour Kagura’s sacrifice. He couldn’t afford to think of anything else.

—Kagura, I will force you out of my thoughts.

Balthazar banished her image from his mind and returned to his desk, once again setting out into the vast ocean of numbers. He concentrated solely on the enemy’s hidden intentions beyond the numbers, without letting any other thoughts distract him.

—I will end this war and come to you.

—After I’ve settled everything with my own hands.

—I will come to see you, without fail.

Because surely, you are still alive.

You’ll look up at me with that mischievous grin and tell me it was all just a joke.

I’ll forgive everything.

No matter how much you mock or tease me for being fooled, as long as you are alive, I will forgive it all.