I came back but the world is still a fantasy!? – Garesto Academy – Exam Arc: Chapter I – Those Who Take Advantage of the Test – 04-25: Special Exam Start! (3/4)

The guard robots had finished entering the fields, but despite their bizarre actions the city was eerily quiet.

It was simply too early, and most people were still in the middle of preparing to go to work.

But even once they do leave for work, if they lived away from the campus, they simply won’t see the guard robots in the morning.

And if they lived close by, then at most they’ll see more guard robots.

Perhaps, the direction the guard robots were taking would make them wonder for a bit, but no civilian would bother to pay too much attention where the guard robots were headed.

It’s the same reaction people have when a police car passes them by.

The sight of these guard robots running all over the city was already a normal event.

But even the guards, who were in charge of the guard robots, the security department, who were sensitive to foreign invaders, and even the defense forces that were usually always patrolling weren’t reacting.

“Look! Kutoria’s defense forces have yet to realize the predicament they’re in! All those mingling with the lower barbarians have made them weak! It’s up to us to right this wrong!”

The everyday morning of Kutoria was projected on the screen as the person complained.

The person was a big man with dark skin and was donned in an armor of thick muscles.

Within a place that looked like a storehouse, with steal beams all around, he stood atop a pile of iron for his pedestal, and called out to the people below him.

“Your concern for Garesto shall be answered today. Our short yet long 8 years of hiding shall come to an end today! My friends, you have done well waiting, the time has come,” he said, and cheers resounded.

There were 50 people of varying ages and gender gathered here.

The one thing they had in common was that they were all dressed in the Garesto army uniform.

To be more precise, these uniforms were mere imitations, but given the history of these people, it was hard to accuse them of merely playing dress up.

“The foolishness of the government shall be judged by us, the true Garestonian soldiers! Even if we must bear the stigma of being called rebels, justice is with us! Under the flag of his excellency, Major General Gaen, as a volunteer army, we shall reject the present world!”

Cries resounded from the group. These people had all gathered for the same ideology.

They rejected Earth, rejected the Earthlings, and rejected the decision to interact with them.

And now, they were standing here to bring their desire to fight to the peak.

“The Gaen Volunteer Army’s first operation will now begin! I order you, Alpha Team, to take on the honor of becoming the first spear. Show the weak defense force of Kutoria what a real soldier(pro) is like!”

As the soldiers in military uniform cheered, light descended on them.

The thick iron ceiling opened, allowing air from the outside to enter.

In the next moment, the soldiers of the volunteer army simultaneously invoked their armor and donned it.

With the blue-metallic armor and the sophisticated design, their armor felt completely different from the ones used in the academy.

Unlike the roundish impression the armor from the academy gave, these ones gave off a sharp and intimidating aura.

With so many of the same type and sharp aura lined up, the resulting sight could only be described as a spectacle.

“Though the fire we light here may be small! When the small fires gather, they will turn into a great flame that will spread throughout the world! And the world shall know, that we cannot live under the same sky! With Garesto’s wisdom, seeking the help of such a trivial world is unnecessary! Today, with pride, we shall reveal this truth to the two worlds!”

—UOOOOOooo!!

After giving the loudest battle cry yet, the volunteers simultaneously flew and looked down at the unusual blue beneath them.

In a bizarre and ominous twist, what they had been standing upon was a giant puddle(sea).

Yes, they were not just in some normal storage room.

They were inside a ship that skilfully utilized optical camouflage and stealth to fool the human eye.

The blue soldiers flew one after another from that small tanker-shaped ship.

After seeing them off, the speaker and the woman behind him calmly walked toward the bridge. They were so calm it was as though that earlier performance hadn’t happened.

“A brilliant performance, Captain Ronan.”

The red-haired adjutant honestly praised him, but for some reason, there was a weak smile on his face as though he found it strange.

“Heh, don’t laugh. I just came up with most of that.”

“Bolstering morale is a necessity.”

“Well, thanks. This is Omega 1, Alpha has mobilized. How are things on your end, Delta 1?”

As he nodded, he reached out to another person.

Immediately, a screen opened, revealing a person in full armor covered in blue.

This armor resembled Alpha Team’s, but the visor of the head was dark red.

『This is Delta 1. At 0700(zero seven hundred) we’ve taken over their radar and disabled communications as planned. Expect minor discrepancies due to the distance between the campus and the fields, but everything is within tolerance. The information we’re feeding the defense force will keep them from noticing anything until Alpha’s attack.』

Everything was going according to plan, so the both of them nodded.

Communication between the two had been cut off because their mission required utmost secrecy.

As for the earlier performance, that was considered a success since Kutoria hadn’t moved.

But even if they’d failed, Alpha Team’s role wouldn’t change.

The captain’s speech would simply have to change a little, but…

『…Or at least that’s what I’d like to say, but we encountered a platoon that was on patrol. Sorry.』

As the figure projected on the screen said that, he showed what was behind him, three members of the defense unit knocked out.

“You…” The captain said.

“D-Delta 1!!” The adjutant said.

Although the figure’s face couldn’t be seen, the tone of his voice did not at all sound like someone apologizing.

It was the kind of tone one used when late to an appointment.

So the adjutant raising her voice was only a given.

Despite that Delta 1’s reply remained casual.

『The unexpected situation is the second-in-command(Omega 2), so don’t worry. As instructed, we caught them alive and disabled their communication devices, so it’s all cool. They’re not scheduled to be contacted until 0800, and by then, Alpha will have already arrived at Kutoria. Ah, but as you’ve expected, they’re decently trained. You were right when you said we wouldn’t be able to win unless we took them by surprise.』

“Why are you acting like you’re so amazing!? And can you not change the topic!” The adjutant said.

“…Wait,” the captain said.

Despite messing up, the figure remained as impudent as ever, causing the adjutant to become angry and scold him, but the captain actually approved of the latter half of Delta 1’s report, the part regarding his thoughts.

Although he’d called the enemy weak to Alpha Team, the truth wasn’t actually so.

The forces defending that city was by no means at a scale that could be looked down upon.

It has been 8 years since the interaction between the two worlds began, so they’ve been warding off anyone who wished to attack the city for that long. And that was no easy feat.

In a sense, they were much more experienced at fighting other people than the army.

That’s why they had no plans of directly confronting the defense force.

“In the first place, we have no intentions of conquering Kutoria. We just want to damage this city enough to make it obvious that it’s been attacked. After all, it’s the symbol of the cultural exchange between the two worlds. And either way, Alpha Team is no more than bait for the defense force. This much error is still within tolerance.”

Am I wrong? He asked his adjutant with his eyes, and the latter went quiet.

That was their goal and the result that their debut battle sought.

This was an attack meant to declare and carve the name of the Gaen Volunteer Army into minds of the two worlds.

But of course, Alpha did not know that.

Although the ‘first spear’ might sound good, attacking an army that hasn’t been hurt yet – even in a surprise attack – is a dangerous task. So their position within the organization has already been set.

Although they weren’t completely disposable pawns, they were still a team that they could afford to incur some damage.