----Kouki Arakawa Viewpoint

　 Earlier, I could feel the violent vibrations, but now I can only hear the slight mechanical sounds my power suit makes. If the explanation is correct, the warhead itself should be pointing towards the target now, but will it be OK?　My anxiety swelled and at the same time, I received a communication from Mom.

'Goki, can you hear me?　It's transmitting fine over here, so I'm sure it's fine.

　Oh yeah I forgot my suit is only a prototype so it doesn't have any way to send communications from satellite orbit to Earth, it only receives audio one way or the other while it's here.

'It's time to separate from the warhead. Keep an eye on the suit to make sure it's not leaking impact and oxygen.

　White smoke came into view along with a slight vibration, probably from the oxygen left inside the warhead being released into space. Airtight, no problem, although it's not a problem.

'Why are you spinning?

　It wasn't my fault for yelling at him, normally in a situation like this you would be looking at the earth and thinking, 'It's beautiful...' and getting sentimental about it!　The suit is spinning, albeit slowly, so I can't look at the Earth calmly.

'You may wonder why it's spinning, but that's just so it doesn't get pulled down by gravity, you know?　And it flies straighter that way. You'll have to wait until next time to see the earth.

　You're right, Mom, you read my thoughts perfectly. Even though I'm going to give up on earth watching, I decide to take out the tube of juice I brought with me and drink it while letting it float. As I get excited about the juice floating in front of me, the communication comes in again.

'Ten minutes before re-entry. I'm probably playing with the juice I had with me, but it's time to brace yourself, we're going to get suit attitude control until we reach an altitude of 15,000 meters in two minutes.

　Isn't that what the security cameras are for?　I drink all the juice I've been keeping afloat and switch my mind from escaping reality. From here, any small mistake can lead to death..., my heart beats fast again, but I take a deep breath and tell myself to stay calm.
　The screen in the center of the control panel shows the picture we all took before. I look at Alice at the edge of the picture, trying to get as much distance from Chabane as I can from him as I can, and then fasten my seat belt back on.

'Re-entry begins, you won't be able to send any transmissions once you enter the atmosphere. If anything unforeseen happens from now on, do what you think is best for Gongju.

　With that, the communication from Mom was cut off. And gradually the earth grows larger, and when I think about it, I've never heard of a power suit re-entering the atmosphere by itself. It's going to be okay, right?　It's a suit that we all made together, Shingo adjusted it, and Mom did the finishing touches, so I want to believe that it shouldn't break so easily. Thinking about that, the vibration gets stronger.

''Ugh........''

　I clenched my teeth and endured the vibrations and the G's that held me back. Then the vibrations stop abruptly, I open my eyes and look at my instruments and see that the altitude is 11,000. I reached out and turned on the optical camouflage switch, but I'm not sure if it really works, I'll have to ask Shingo to devise a way to check this when I return. In the first place, will the optical camouflage made for the purpose of peeking in is useful for military purposes?


Beep!　Beep!

　As we continue our descent, an alarm sounds to warn us of our 2,000th altitude, I activate my thrusters to reduce our descent speed and try to fly below 15 meters like my mother told me to do.
　Is it time to send out a friendly identification signal or will the troops surrounding the island attack us?　Even if you can't see them, they can easily be captured by infrared or heat-seeking missiles. Well, the premise is that if you don't know which direction to shoot in, they won't hit you.


'What's this?'

　The moment I gave the identification signal, there was a mysterious signal flying towards me. Couldn't they have found out?　I break out in a cold sweat, but it's something different, I've analyzed it with the device that was on board when it was rammed down the megafloat and found that it's emanating from a communication band used by the UN forces. I think it's some kind of positional information, but I don't know, for now it's a signal from a friend, so let's allow it... I decide that and press the switch to allow communication.
　The moment I press the switch, the signal stops for a moment, but the sender must have realized that I gave my permission, and a huge amount of data is sent to me. But unfortunately, you can't use it effectively even if you send me that kind of thing, Shingo would be able to understand the contents of the communication, but I'll just watch it at random. But there is one thing that even I can use effectively.

"It's like this thing is a guided wave, or it's being sent from a submarine.

　Apparently, the submarine units deployed around the island are showing a relatively safe course. This is seriously gratifying, I replied 'thank you' on the same frequency band and then followed the guidance radio waves to approach the island.




　When it reaches the airspace over the island, it disperses the missiles it's been carrying at random as planned. But it is shot back from the ground at an unfashionable level, the sound is audible even if you can't see it, and the whole area around me is under anti-aircraft fire.

It's impossible!　I can't!　I can't!

　He fires a smoke screen and jamming rounds while desperately trying to escape, but he really can't go any further. I'm dying!　It's not a job for students to do in the first place!　See, a towed bullet just went past my side of the slippery slope again. That's enough I want to withdraw. Just as I'm half-heartedly calculating my escape, I suddenly get a transmission.

This is the drop zone. We've confirmed the jamming effect on the entire island. We are now ready to begin a full-scale retake of the island!

I saw a brave voice and a large transport plane flying overhead. Apparently it's a transmission aimed at all frequencies, okay, let's go home!　I open my thrusters to full throttle and pull off the island. As I drop to the limit of altitude and make my way through the jungle and see the sea, I receive a transmission.

You've done a great job, Congratulations, you've done a great job!　You can get out of here now. I'll send you information on the point where the ship will be waiting to pick you up, and you can head that way.

　Excuse me, we're off the island and on the water!　The guy from the descent team from earlier sent me a transmission, but I'm already on the water... they wouldn't know if we pulled out a little early. As I thought about it, I looked at the recovery point they sent me and almost crashed.

'You're on the other side!'

　The recovery point was indicated on the opposite side of the island from the direction I was heading.
　I made that decision and lowered my altitude to the very edge, flying 3 meters from the sea level and looking at the island, I could see the people of the descent unit fighting. It seems that they are doing their best, but I could see that they are being pushed quite a bit, and unlike me, they don't have optical camouflage on board, so it seems that quite a few of them have been shot down during their descent.

'..........................'

　Can we just pull out of there?　I'm the only one with my back to the island while everyone else is working hard to save Alice, but there's nothing I can do to turn back. I can't shoot a rifle, I'm not armed, and at best I'm a decoy. But I remember what my mother said before the communication was cut off.





'If something unforeseen happens, do what you think is best for Gongju.'




　The best we can hope for at this point is to get the drop zone safely to the surface. Then my plan of action is to send a signal to the submarine that just sent me a radio signal.

"This is Arakawa, do you read me?

　I wasn't sure if I would be able to understand him in Japanese, but contrary to my expectations, he replied in Japanese.

"This is the operator of the UN submarine Tolstoy. How can I help you?

'I'm going to turn back to the island now and do a decoy, could you please contact the drop team?

　When I told them that, Tolstoy's side told me to wait a bit, and I let my suit hover on the spot and waited for their response, but in the meantime, a fierce battle was going on in front of me. The time is ticking away, and I finally get a response, but it's not what I wanted.

I've contacted the top brass, but they can't give you permission. Please move out of the building.

　No, no!　What are you talking about, like a government office, your people are fighting!　Get on with it. I was about to yell at him, but was shushed by the continued communication.

I'm sure you're aware that I mistakenly sent your position and suggestion to the descent unit earlier. It was immediately cancelled, but the descent unit replied, 'Acknowledged'.

　Apparently it was a flexible official, if they made a mistake, I can't help it... I reply with a laugh.

Understood, I'm sorry, but we're going to pull out. But being hit by a bullet has compromised our GPS and we may be on an 'erroneous' course to enter the island, so please be careful not to fire a shot.

　After saying this, I fully opened my thrusters and flew back to the island. After landing on the island, I re-activated my optical camouflage and moved slowly while lowering the power to the limit so as not to be detected by sound, and invaded the anti-aircraft gun position that was firing into the sky.

'Hello.'

　I deactivate my camouflage in the middle of the camp and wave my hand while shouting over the external speaker, and the anti-aircraft guns stop completely, startled by my sudden appearance. Then the infantry desperately fire at me with their rifles, but when I realize that it doesn't work at all, the anti-aircraft guns are pointed at me.　Good!　As planned, his full consciousness is turned towards me. I immediately reactivate my camouflage and flee as fast as I can, meandering away, and as I run away, I start shooting into the sky again, this time from the opposite direction.

'Oui-yah!'

　As I appear with a wave of my hand, feeling like I've completely licked my opponent, I see the enemy soldier's face turning red through the camera. He's shooting at me again, so I head straight for another position, and I'm satisfied to see that he's not shooting above me because he's looking back and warning me.
　As I continued to do that in several places, I found that the descent team was able to get down safely.

'I think we're safe now, the anti-aircraft guns are fully alerted to me, and it's time to go.

　This time I was about to fly towards the recovery point when I found "My Power Suit" on the truck.





----Alice Alford Viewpoint----


　After being pushed into the transport plane by the people with weapons, I immediately turned the suit's function to 'emergency mode' and decided to lock myself in. This suit, ordered by Kouki's mother, is a fortress in which every effort is made to protect her son. After a few hours of flying, this time I could tell by the sound that I was being put in the car. I switch back to main mode for a moment to look outside.

'I can see the jungle ... and it's 38 degrees outside?　We're in the tropics.

　I put it back into emergency mode again and hold my knees. Will anyone who can help me know where I am?　I remember what my father said to me as I tried to hold back the tears.

'Alice, you're special, maybe there will be times in the future when you're in danger. But when that happens, you need to stay calm and wait for help to come to you, okay?　Don't worry about it, because there will always be Dad and the people who care about you and Alice, and they'll pick you up.

　At the time, I never thought it would be like this, but now that I'm in this situation, I'm almost overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. When I casually touched the device on my left hand side, the photo we took together appeared on my desktop.
　I'm not very fond of Chabane, so I'm stuck at the edge of the picture. I'm not a fan of Chabane, but I regret now that I did a bad thing to her, and that's why I'm in the picture with Saito, holding Chabane's touch and laughing, while Megumin is holding Saito's clothes and smiling.

''Will we see everyone again?''

　I can't help but feel weak in my mouth. That's when I heard the sound of banging from outside, trying to break the exterior!　He seemed to be banging on it hard a few times, but I couldn't hear it with the sound of smoke. I think it was tear gas that was sprayed to prevent the intrusion, but I cried out in fear.

''Huh.......I'm scared, Gouki-kun.



　With a gasp, I looked at the terminal and saw that nearly two hours had passed. Apparently he was tired of crying and had fallen asleep, but why did he wake up?　As you wonder, you hear a sound in the distance. It's definitely the same one you heard at the academy, and this is the sound of an explosion. Is help coming?　I'm looking at the situation under my breath when I hear the sound of something flying around at high speed and a series of explosions.

'Should I activate the suit?'

　I reconsidered trying to press the start button, if it wasn't helping, I would be wasting my battery. It's probably best to stay quiet for now, I decide, and as I stand there listening to the explosion, I see the car start to move.
　We can't let this happen!　I knew that this sound was the sound of help coming, and that's why I'm trying to move in a hurry. I press the start button on my suit to fix it in main mode and then desperately try to manipulate it to get up, but it seems to be fixed and I can't move. And then suddenly everything turns off...

The battery must be dead.

　It seems that the current scrambling has used up the last remaining batteries. I'm holding my knees again and squatting, the suit that protects me is now powerless.

''I wish I could have met you at the end, Gongju-kun.......''

　As I was preparing to say those words out loud, I heard a voice from outside.

I'm sure you'll be in there because I saw you moving earlier, right?　Come on out.

　Did I mishear you?　I think I'm sure I'm hearing Gongju-kun's voice right now, but I think it's just my imagination. Even if help came, he wouldn't be there, and it's an auditory hallucination that arose from my desire to see him for the last time... I think so, but the voice still continues to be heard.

'Arleigh Sue, ha!　It's getting worse, I'm going to die for real!　Please, come out and get in here.

　When I unlocked my suit and stepped outside, I saw Gongju-kun opening the hatch and beckoning me out.

'Quick!　The truck driver freaked out and ran away, but he might come back, so I'm getting in my suit and running.

　As I dizzyingly approached Kunugi-kun, he grabbed me by the hand of my suit and pushed me into the cockpit, then placed me on his lap and patted me on the head.

Good night, you did a great job. Now let's go home.

　He says this with a laugh and then starts sending a transmission somewhere.

'Tolstoy, can you hear me?　Alice has been rescued. We will now head to the collection point, but we have one more person and our thrusters don't have enough fuel. Can you collect it there?

'This is Tolstoy, Roger that. We'll be waiting for you at the surface.

　Gouki, who is communicating with a crisp expression, is really cool. It's a good idea to have a reward of this magnitude, because I was also enduring it by myself, although I had a troubled expression when I unintentionally hugged him. I'm going to ask the question I've been wondering about since a while ago while holding on tightly to Koki-kun.

''How did you get here?''

'Remember the mega-float we went to last time?　That's where we saw Mr. Chavanel off. It's where we rocketed out of there into space and then reentered Earth and flew to the island.

　I feel like I said something plainly awesome.... Space?　In other words, are you saying that you flew tens of thousands of kilometers, even though you borrowed the power of a rocket to save me? The person himself has an expression on his face that it's not a big deal, but does he realize that he has done something outrageous?

I'm sure it's not...

　I whispered and I said, 'What did you say?' I smile and shake my head at Gongju-kun who asks me, "What do you think? I love him, and no matter how great he does, he is neither proud nor aware of it.
　You'll be able to see that it's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing. The "great thing" for you is probably much more than that, it's the kind of achievement that would be considered a new discovery for mankind. And the day will surely come when he will accomplish such a feat....
　Will I be next to you at that time?　No, I'm pretty sure he's right next to me!　As I was making this decision, I saw a submarine surfacing at sea. It seems to be flying towards it, so that must be the 'Tolstoy', and it slowly lands.

'Welcome to the Tolstoy!　It's an honor to welcome our heroes.

　When the person who came out on deck, who I assumed to be the captain of the ship, called out to me with the most respectful salute, Kouki-kun smiled bitterly, ''I'm not a hero.




　I chuckle at that face, you see, I'm not aware of it after all.......







---- Miki Arakawa's point of view----


　Half a day after the successful rescue, I was at home with Shuichi, who hadn't yet returned to his home, and I was on video communication with him. Was he quite busy?　I can see that his face is matted, but I want to know the truth this time. Shuichi-san opens his mouth as if it were heavy........

Sorry Miki, I had no idea.

　What does that mean?　The island is completely overrun by UN forces. You can find plenty of evidence if you look for it," I questioned, my voice tightening.

First of all, it was that religious archbishop who planned this," I say, my voice rising. "First of all, it was the Archbishop of our religion who planned this, but he escaped, because he was able to get through the siege so easily.

　It can't be true!　There are over a hundred ships and satellites watching the island, how could they possibly escape?

Yes, it's impossible, but the reality is that they are on the run. There is no doubt in my mind that one of the countries involved in the mission leaked the information to us. And with the right equipment, there's not a religious group that could fit in. Can you believe it?　We even had a nuclear weapon that was banned by the treaty.

　What's going on?　Wasn't it Gongju who was the target? Or was Alice-chan the target?

''I interrogated the survivors, and they seemed to believe that Gongju was in the captured suit. There's no doubt that the end-believers were trying to assassinate Gong-Ju. But, you see, when we went through the archbishop's room, we found some documents that we couldn't take out.

　That's where he breaks off his words and puts on a professional military look.

'There was a picture of Kouki and Alice in the document. Perhaps, but I think it could have been either Gongju or Alice-chan who was in the suit.

　If the country is involved, the investigation should be difficult. I'd ask questions about that, even more so if it's a big country.

The goal is to capture the Archbishop, who has escaped, and when we catch him, everything will become clear. The only thing left to do is to find out which country leaked the information, but that's in the hands of my man Claire, who will eventually find out what happened. More importantly, though, Alice-chan.

　 Besides, I don't want to go out of my way to make things difficult and hurt the girl who might become my wife.

Then that's good. We'll continue to find out more about Project Alice, but I only know her from pictures and information, but she's a good girl, right?　It's a good job for Koki........well, Miki is more beautiful than me. By the way, is Conju still making fun of me as 'macho'?

　I don't deny that Shuichi-san is certainly brainy and macho, but I think it's also the reason why people make fun of him for not mentioning that he's a member of the United Nations special forces.

"No, sooner or later, when you're watching TV or a movie and you see the Special Forces on TV or in a movie and you're saying something like, 'Cool,' and that's when you say, 'Actually, Dad...' and that's the first time I've ever been a member of the Special Forces... ...

Now that I've heard all I need to know, I'm going to cut off the communication with the excited "Stupid Macho". From now on, we'll increase the number of guards we have, and we'll guard Alice as well, the rest is....



　I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten all about Conn while I was executing the things I had to put in place before Gongju came back.