----Shuichi Arakawa Point of View

As I entered the conference room and sat down at my seat, I noticed a card on the desk that said 'No Smoking'. Apparently, Miki gave him instructions, but did he not like being told to stay away from Kouki so much?　
Well, whatever it was, since it said no smoking, I couldn't smoke, so I took a piece of nicotine-laden gum out of my pocket and threw it in my mouth.

'Captain, do you think we're up for it?'

Louis, who's sitting next to me, asks me a question, but there's no way I know about that.

"I don't know. Just make sure your direct reports are ready to go at all times.

Yes, sir.

　At my instruction, Lewis took out his personal terminal and began sending instructions to his subordinates. I looked around handlessly as I watched it with a sideways glance, and I saw Miki and Kouki discussing a matter next to the screen. Every time Kouki asked her something, Miki's beautiful, ageless face contorted as she struggled to operate the terminal.
　Further back, he could see Claire and Ellis setting up a large number of displays. Perhaps that thing is for the people in charge of the other departments on Noah Island to participate in video communication.

''Con!''

　A sudden squeal startled me and I looked down and noticed Con looking up at me at my feet.

'What's up?'　Oh, you're holding her?

　In response to my question, Con nods coyly and reaches out with his little hands. When I pulled Kon into my arms, she giggled at the sight of him, then dexterously slipped out of my hands and climbed onto my head. Moreover, he holds his body firmly in place with his hands so that he won't be shaken off.
　It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to see him or her well from your place, so he or she came to me?　Realizing that it was better not to notice, I somewhat sadly popped a second piece of nicotine gum into my mouth before closing my eyes to pass the time.

It's been a long time since we've been able to set up our equipment, but we're going to be having a 'strategy meeting with the ghouls' now. Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated.

　When I heard Claire's voice and opened my eyes, the lights in the conference room had already been dimmed and Gongju was waiting next to the podium. It looks like the meeting is about to begin in earnest, so let's straighten up our posture and sit back in our chairs.

''Well then, Major General Arakawa, who prepared the ghouls' materials that have been distributed to all of you terminals, will explain our future policy.

　He took over from Claire, the facilitator, and went up on the stage. He looked around at the attendees with a slightly nervous look on his face before opening his mouth.

'I'm Arakawa Gongju. First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their hard work from the start of the war on October 5th to the Imperial Capital War this morning. Although there were many serious and lightly injured, there have been no fatalities among the allied forces yet. This is due in part to your high level of training, but I believe this is the result of all races working together in unison. I look forward to even more unity in the future.

　After separating his words, Gongju took a sip of water from the glass on his desk before continuing his story.

The Multispecies Alliance has been making great progress up to this point. If we continue our march, we can overthrow the major powers and satellite countries of the Alliance and bring almost half of this continent under Alliance control.
　Last night, at the same time that we began our attack on the imperial capital, the allied forces began to deploy the "Ghoul," a biological weapon, as their trump card against the allied forces.
　Currently, the ghouls have begun to run amok as I had predicted, causing extensive damage in the outlying areas of the 'Rikurkyo Kingdom' and the royal capital of the 'Caps Kingdom'.

　Gongju was right, as far as the images sent by the Intelligence Department are concerned, it's hard to believe that the Allied Forces have the ghouls under control. That thing is like a swarm of flesh-eating locusts.......

'Noah has modern weapons, and it's not impossible for him to march in while destroying the ghouls. Cities that have been destroyed by the ghouls will be much easier to take than to eliminate and capture the Coalition's garrison forces. It would be much easier to occupy a city that had been destroyed by a ghoul than it would be to eliminate the Allied garrison, because they would have to shoot everything that moved.
　And later historians will say that this continent was protected from the ghouls in exchange for the humans. But is that really what we want? Is it really OK to let ourselves prosper at the expense of the innocent and the people we might be able to help? Isn't that just like the current coalition?　
　I don't want to be like the Coalition, I don't want to be like the Coalition. In times like these, let's prove that the Alliance is not like the Coalition. Let's all stand up to the threat of the ghouls!　Let's cross the line and join hands!　
　I would like to recommend that we conduct a large-scale evacuation of Operation Future.

　As soon as he finished saying it on the stage, I could feel a vibration coming from my terminal, signaling an incoming email. Looking around, it seems that not only me, but everyone in the conference room received an incoming email, some of the people didn't turn off the sound, or maybe the ringing sound was echoing.
　When I opened the email, I found a file with a summary of Operation Future's strategy, so I took a look at it. But when I read the first line, I couldn't help but shout out.

'Nonsense..., a plan to evacuate 10 million people?　And that's impossible to do in just 24 hours!

　Lewis, sitting next to me, is also frozen in surprise. What the hell is he thinking?　While the conference room was buzzing, Claire, who had quickly regained her composure, raised her voice in an attempt to calm the surroundings.

'Silence!　Silence, please. Major General, please continue your story.

At the sound of Claire's voice, they all look at the podium again, focusing on Gongju.

The operation is divided into three phases. The first phase is the evacuation of civilians from areas where the ghoul is expected to hit. Based on satellite and intelligence information, we estimate that there are between six and ten million civilians living in these areas. These civilians will be transferred to a safe zone with the full force of the Alliance, and when 50 percent of the civilians have been removed, the operation will enter the second phase.
　In the second phase, we will detain the leaders of the governments of the Rikurian States, the Kingdom of Capus, and the Duchy of Raguirre. The detained leaders will be brought to trial after the ceasefire in countries that are not involved in this war, so never kill them.
　At this point, we estimate that 90 percent of the civilians should have been successfully evacuated, but regardless of the success of the evacuation, after confirming the return of the detained troops, we will move to the third stage.
　In the third phase, we will use imaginary weapons to completely wipe out approximately 2,000 kilometers of the area, including the ghoulee-generating area. The operation will take 24 hours and in those 24 hours we will change the world. Do you have any questions?

　Do you have any questions? You're not even close!　Where the hell do I start asking? I read through more material to sort out the information in my mind. But the more I read, the more dissatisfied I become with the details of the operation.
　The food, medicine, and residential facilities to be used for the refugees will be released from Noah's stockpile of supplies, the place of refuge will be within the Merkava Kingdom territory, and the security maintenance of the Ursna Empire's standing army. It's too much of a joke, this is like...

"Kouki-sama!　Doesn't this make it sound as if we, the Alliance, have lost!

　What I was thinking inwardly, Princess Kassis speaks for me. The princess is staring at Gongju with her shoulders trembling with anger, but the person in question smiles back at her with a thin smile that reminds me of Miki when she's angry.

'Are you unhappy?'

'Nothing to complain about, the people will riot if you publish this content!

Then rein it in. Princess Cassis, you're royalty, aren't you?　You will complete your self-imposed duties.

.....

　Unable to say anything back, the princess sat down in her chair again, biting her lip. It's tasteless, it's true that what Gongju is saying is the right thing to do, the very ideals of the alliance. As a father, I'm happy that my son has grown up like that, and if it weren't for this situation, I would hug him and pat him on the head.
　But you have to think about the feelings of those around you. You're not going to attract anyone by being so bossy. You're a smart guy, you know that, don't you?　Besides, why doesn't Miki also stop Gongju? I've been wondering about Miki's behavior, and now Her Majesty Victoria has spoken.

''But this is too much,'' she said. Can't you give the Coalition a little more punishment for trampling on the mistresses?

Then it's just the same thing as before.　It is true that if we punish people, we may have peace for a while after the war, but it will surely happen again. It will be our children and grandchildren's generation that will fight then.　Would you want your children to do that, Victoria?　Will you let the next generation inherit this foolish conflict?

No, I didn't mean it, Mistress.

"Victoria, I said earlier that I was going to use an 'imaginary weapon', but that missile uses a special launcher. My Satanakia is the only one in the world equipped with that launcher.

Lord, that's what it means.

'If civilians in the coalition do not respond to the evacuation, or if the evacuation does not take place in time after the time limit has passed, we will activate our weapons to protect the alliance........ Victoria, you should be prepared to do the same.

　I couldn't help but cover my face with my hands at Kouki's words. I see, that's why Miki didn't stop Kouki. It's not just Miki, no one here can stop his son. This guy is facing this operation with the determination to kill 10 million people....





----Kouki Arakawa's Viewpoint

'If civilians in the coalition do not respond to the evacuation, or if the evacuation does not take place in time after the time limit has passed, we will activate our weapons to protect the alliance........ Victoria, you should be prepared to do the same.

　As I say this, Victoria is frozen and her mouth is crunching. I guess she thought I was going to say something sweet again, like I always do; my palms are damp with the fear that I might kill ten million people, and my legs haven't stopped shaking since earlier.
　But I'm not going to look away from this war anymore. I look at Conn, who is sitting on top of Macho's head, and he looks back at me firmly. It's okay Con, I'm not going to run away from my duties and obligations as you asked. If you're willing to help me with this mission, I'll take on the hardest role of all.

''All right, my concubines, the Ursna Empire will cooperate with you. "All right, concubines, the Ursna Empire will cooperate with you, and if any of my men try to run away, I will restrain them.

　Victoria-san said a few words and then sat down in her chair to exchange words with the maid who was waiting next to her. Mom has the final say on Noah, and Marvelous-san and the others will leave it to Con to deal with, but the problem is the Merkava Kingdom led by Princess Cassis.
　I'd like to get your help, but is that too much to ask?　I was troubled, I signaled to my mother with my eyes to 'help me'. Then she stood up and spoke to Princess Cassis.

I'm sure this is the most difficult for the kingdom to bear. You are right to be concerned about the security and logistics involved in providing the place. But think of the benefits.
　If this strategy succeeds, the Kingdom will have a strong political voice on this continent despite its weakness. You have saved the continent from a crisis in any way possible.
　And we, Noah, will not forget the wisdom of the kingdom that has walked with us in this crisis by taking the initiative to provide a place for us.

　As expected of the first of Noah's three major witches, you're very good at flattery. Of course, it's my mom, so I guess it's finite execution, but is it okay to make such a statement here?　Well, I'm sure you're going to make sure it's okay, because it's my mom.

That's true, isn't it?

'Yes. Noah will always walk next to the kingdom as long as it does not violate the principles of the alliance.

I understand. The kingdom of Merkava is willing to cooperate with Noah.

　After confirming that Mom nodded towards me, I looked forward again and gave 'orders' as a special duty major general.

''The operation will begin in eleven hours, instructions information will be constantly updated, so please do not neglect to check it. Then you are dismissed.

　As I stand up and take a breath, watching the back of the person leaving the room, Macho walks towards me with Con on his head. And then just like that, he strokes my head around silently.

'Dad it hurts. I mean, what?

'No, I just thought you'd become a fine man. You've made up your mind, haven't you?

　I nodded silently, embarrassed by Macho's rare in-your-face praise, and Con flew over to my shoulder and hugged me as usual. Seeing us, Macho grinned, took some gum out of his pocket and put it in his mouth before saying, "We're going to check our equipment and make sure it's ready.

We're going to go over our equipment and prepare for our mission. The next time we meet will be after the mission is over, but leave the second phase to me. We'll make sure we pull it off.

Yes, please. If you guys miss, this mission is going to fail. I don't care what it takes.

　Macho only returned my words with a single word, 'Oh,' and walked out of the conference room with Cort-san. All that's left is to load the missiles on the Satanakia and wait, but I'll have to go to Noah Island to get the main body. I should ask my mom if she's finished inspecting and refueling the missile.

"Mom, will my suit be ready to go soon?　I think I'm going to try to get a missile to Noah Island.

　Mom, who had been talking to Claire, turns back at the sound of my voice and checks something on the terminal before answering.

Yes, we'll be out of here soon. The thrusters and control units are loaded up and ready to fly.

　Loaded?　Did you take it apart and inspect it? No, my suit is very important to this mission, so we'll need to do a thorough inspection.

Then I'm going to Noah's Island. I'm going to Noah's Island, I'll load the missile and then I'll come back to you.

　I said that to my mom and then started walking towards the hangar.





　It's been an hour and twenty minutes since we took off from the land battleship Alice, and the sun is about to set. Come to think of it, I hadn't slept a wink since I attacked the imperial capital last night with Lyrin-san and the others, so I'll take a little nap when we get to Noah Island.......
　As I was rubbing my sleepy eyes with my right hand while thinking about that, Kon, who was sitting on my shoulder, let out a fierce cry while indicating the monitor with his tail.

'Con!　Kon-Kon-Kon.

What's up?　What did you find?

　Once the suit is hovering, it stops and the main camera zooms in on the direction that Con indicated. A human-like figure appears on the monitor, but you can't see it well due to the darkness of the area. I switch the camera to night vision mode with the panel at hand.

'It looks like a person. The one behind it is not good!　Ghouls!　We're already here, aren't we?

In the enlarged image, I can clearly see a man with a child in his arms desperately running away from the ghoul. I immediately deactivate the safety on my weapon and try to snipe the ghoul, but before I can do so, Kon brings up the letters.

"Master, those people are coming towards us, but there are ghouls ahead of us too!

　Shit!　Any more of this and the ghouls up ahead will see us. What should we do?　You want to shoot me right now?　No, no, a bullet through a ghoul could cause damage to those people. It would be best if we could give them some sort of warning.
　Oh, yeah!　There was a roaring device. I remembered the device that I had used once inexplicably and forgot about it, and I pressed the button on the device and shot my rifle into the sky as if to hit it.

'Gyaaaaaaaaah!

　A roar like a completely sound-crazed violin echoes through the evening darkness. Furthermore, the muzzle flashes produced by the rifle firing would reflect my image from the other side. Don't come over here!　There's a scary Satanachia over here, go away.
　As I watched the monitor as I prayed, they apparently decided that a 'monster' more than a ghoul behind them was ahead of them and changed the direction of their progress.

Good. Now we can shoot without worry.

　I let out a sigh as I land and hold my rifle up. The moment I activated the firing system with an unfamiliar hand and caught the ghoul in the reticle and was about to pull the trigger.......I felt uncomfortable and removed my finger from the trigger.

''What's wrong?''

　I ignore the words of Con's question and I think with my head on full alert. Why does the ghoul in front of me 'stop'?　You were chasing a human at full speed earlier, why would you suddenly stop moving? Think about it, what happened before it stopped.

"...roared and fired a gun.

　If it's reacting to the light of the gun, it should cause some kind of reaction with a magical explosion. If it's not the light, then the cause is the satanakian cry that comes from using the roaring device. If that's the case, wouldn't it be possible to control the ghouls?

Hey, Con!　Use my personal device to access the Intelligence Community databank. From there, find the footage with the ghoul's 'voice' in it and extract that voice.

Cone!

　Kon followed the instructions and began to use his tail to operate the terminal. While looking at that figure with a sideways glance, I retrieve the sound used for the roaring device from Satanakia's information system. If the coincidence coincides with the coincidence, and then the coincidence again, Satanakia's roar and the voice of the ghoul will be──.

''Master!　It's done. This is the voice data.'

　The data given to the suit by Conn is loaded into the main terminal and the voices of Satanakia and the ghouls are displayed as wavelength data. Alright!　As I expected, the two graphs are almost identical.
　Moreover, Con's guy also extracted the voices that ghouls make when they find other creatures in a short period of time, breaking them down into different types. As expected of an Ancient Dragon, he is very capable.

Con, you've done a great job. Thanks to you, the work will be done in a short time.

　He stroked Conn's head and entered newly programmed basic sounds such as 'assemble, advance, retreat, and scatter' into the bellowing device, which he could predict from the video. I'm so glad I learned some simple programming skills from Shingo!
　When I return to Hakone base, I'll buy him all the food he wants. Thinking about this in a corner of my mind, I frantically completed the program and installed it.

Okay, let's do an experiment. I'm going to experiment.

　I switched on the device, let out a squeal, and the ghoul did exactly what I imagined it would do. Now all that's left to do is analyze it so I can give you more detailed instructions, but first I have to contact my mother.
　I control the terminal next to the monitor and send a transmission to Alice's CIC.

'Alice, do you read me?　This is Colsain Goetia and this is Koki Arakawa. I am sending you a transmission from Satanakia. I'm sorry, please relay this to Miki Arakawa's personal terminal.

Copy that. Please hold.

　As I waited for a while after receiving a reply from Alice's correspondent, I heard my mother's voice mixed in with some noise.

''It's your mother, what's going on?''

'Well, you know, I've got the ghouls under control.

I'm sorry, could you wait a minute?

Yes.

　I reply and my mom forgets to put it on hold and runs somewhere else. I listen to the sound of flapping and running down the hallway, and eventually I hear a loud bang opening the door and hear Mom talking to someone.

'My son can now control the ghouls,'

Huh?

I'll need a reconnaissance satellite ready in five minutes so we can get the facts straight.

What?

　Mom, five minutes is absurd, at least give them a little more time. I'm sure it's the tech guys you're talking to. I'll get something for you next time, if I have to go along with your recklessness.
　While I was standing by, thinking of the crew members who were supposed to be changing the angle of the satellite with tearful faces, I heard my mother's instructions.

'Do you hear me?　I'm watching Kou-chan now on the satellite feed. For now, lower the ghoul and then call it closer again.''

　When I moved the ghoul as instructed, Mom was silent for a while, looking like she was thinking about something, but eventually she let out a loud sigh and asked a question.

"Is there a limit to how many you can control?　And aren't you in any danger, Kochan?

There's no limit to their numbers. Maybe they consider Satanakia, the loudest of all, to be the leader of the pack, so as long as they can hear us, we can control them. There's no danger, the ghouls can't break through the power suit's armor.

Well, all right. As the chief executive of Noah, I give you an order. Operation Future's mission has been changed and Major General Arakawa, using his special suit Satanakia, is to bring all ghouls on this continent under control. We'll instruct you on their travel routes and fuel and food supply locations.'

Yes, sir.

　When I replied, Mom said 'hello' and cut off the communication. We're going to fix the mission, which is just a messy time allotment, so Alice is going to be as busy as a battlefield from now on.
　As she thought of Alice's CIC, which was in confusion with Conn in her arms, she was notified on the monitor that data was being sent from the satellite. When the panel was manipulated to display the information, it showed Satanakia's travel route.

'Let's move forward towards the western city first, shall we? Alright!　Let's go to the con.

"Corn.

　With a smile on my face at the energetic Con's reply, I let Satanakia walk westward──.







　A beeping electronic sound woke me up, and I was lightly surprised to see the dimly lit cockpit of Satanakia in my vision. Come to think of it, I was taking a nap at the fifth supply station, and when I looked down, Con was also curled up on my lap, asleep.

I'm hungry..., let's get something to eat. Hey Con, wake up, let's get some food!

　He wakes the curled up con up and makes a big chipping motion before bringing up the letters.

'I'd prefer a can of green peas.'

　Wow, another weird choice, I fish out the food bags dropped from the transporter at the second supply station and take out the cans of canned food and a can of cooked rice for myself that Con desired and open the lid before handing them to Con.
　I use my fork to eat the rice myself as I watch Con gobble up the cans and stick his head into the cans. Sure enough, it's cold.

'I want hot food.'

"I'd love to have your mother's stew.

　Con doesn't turn around to look at me as I talk to myself and let the letters float away. The stew is good, but my mom's curry is good too. Thinking about this, I was about to eat the chocolate bar for dessert, when Kon, who had finished his portion, jumped up and snatched the chocolate bar from my hand.

'Hey, hey, that's my bar. You ladies don't take food from people.

　The self-proclaimed little lady on my lap ignores my words and grabs the chocolate with her little hands and bites into it. It can't be helped, I only have one piece of chocolate, but I'll give it to this guy. I can't even bring myself to take it back from Con, who is eating it with his eyes narrowed and looking delicious, so I give up and drink water from the pack with the straw.

'You want some too?　I mean, could I use a straw?

　Conn nodded in response to the question and dexterously dipped his mouth into the straw to drink water, but his mouth and palms are stained with chocolate. You can't take care of him at all, so I decided to take out a wet wipe from the bag and wipe his mouth and hands.

Don't move, I'll wipe them. You're a girl, right?　Watch your appearance.

Guru...

　Instead of a 'grue' when he's threatening, Con looks pleasantly surprised as he lets out a snarl, much like the snarl a cat makes when it's spoiled. Come to think of it, this process was often done by Alice, who was very sweet to Conn.
　Remembering Alice wiping Con's mouth while laughing, he decides it's time to get ready to look outside on Satanakia's main monitor.

'Alright, let's get real. Let's turn on the main monitor.

　I activated the monitor while trying to avoid imagining the scene outside as much as possible, and I saw a scene that made me want to go and punch Noah's development department with all my might, with the camera quality turned up to the extreme.
　The countless ghouls surrounding me........it was nighttime before I took a nap, so it didn't show up this nicely, but now that the sun is up, I can clearly see the ghouls that are stopped around me.

''........How many of these are there?''

I've used the linked satellites and I've counted them, and they're about 30,000.

　There are so many of them!　Well, the only thing left to do is to move to the uninhabited zone and activate the imaginary weapons, so there won't be any more of them. The missiles that were dropped in the resupply before we took a nap are already loaded into the Satanakia's missile launchers, so shall we start heading north as instructed?

'Con, we're heading for the last point.

　After announcing to Conn, we turned our course to the north with a squeal of 'advance' and moved for about two hours, Conn, who was operating the terminal, wagged his tail in a good mood and brought up the letters.

'Your father's troops have returned!　I heard that they succeeded in capturing the leadership team. The operation is almost a success, Master!

Well, you guys did it. Good, because this is the end of the war. A lot of people have been hurt and a lot of misfortune has happened, but from now on...

　While I was talking, my eyes were caught by the 'mysterious army' on the monitor and I stopped talking without thinking. A flag with a balance and a wolf symbol written on a white background and a plain red flag unfurled in front of me.
　What the hell is that thing?　I wonder and send a transmission to Alice's CIC.

'Alice, can you hear me?　As I'm sure you can see over there, there is an army in front of me. What is that thing?

"We are currently working on the details. Please wait.

　It seems that Claire is in charge of responding to me from Alice. When I apologized for yelling at her before Alice flew away from me and asked her to continue to be my personal second-in-command, she smiled and forgave me. I'm sure he's properly following through on that promise this time as well.

I've got confirmation, those troops are the regular army of the Connett Commonwealth. The red flag is a warning flag, meaning that if you get close enough to them, they will attack you, so please do not get any closer and change your route. Right now, your position is on the border between the Rikru Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Connett.

'Mr Clare, has the Commonwealth made any statements in response to this ghoul damage?　And where are the troops deployed nearer to which side of the border line?

'No, there is no Connett Commonwealth country named in the list of countries that have made a statement or offered assistance. As for where they are deployed, strictly speaking, they are Lycurian territory.

　 Well, that's good, maybe it's a national power that can't help, or maybe it was a domestic problem.
　But at the last minute, they crossed the border into a neighboring country and then attacked us 'when we get close'?　That's a lot of room to joke around. If you don't want to get involved, then you should just shut up in your own country, you scum!　I reply to Claire with anger.

'We won't be changing our route. We'll continue forward and change course at our planned location.

"Sir?　You can't do that. No, I understand. But in the worst case scenario, let the other side fire the first shot. Please don't attack from our side, even if you're on the wrong side.

Yes, sir.

　I guess they were taking my intentions into consideration, and Claire-san just told me to never attack from us and cut off the communication. Of course we don't intend to attack, but we need to let the Federation know what our actions might cause.
　I advanced the Satanakia to the front of the Federation and brought it to a halt 500 meters before the Federation. The 30,000 ghouls we've brought to this point stand silently behind us. They stared at each other as time slowly passed, but after about 20 minutes, the red flag was lowered.

''Yes, you're right in that decision. Now go back to your own country.

　I muttered to myself as I spat, and Con hugged my arm with a worried look on his face. It's okay, I won't do anything more........ I smiled gently to convey that to him and then let out a 'forward' squeal and hurried to the planned activation point of the missile.





　When we arrived at the planned activation point, we were working together to carry out the final task. The ghouls are densely packed, so the range of explosions is minimal and we'll be fine. As I finish my own work while winding the cord directly connected to the missile warhead, I speak to Kon.

'Con!　I'm done, the minimum blast radius is about three kilometers and 120 seconds to activate. Are you finished configuring the breakaway boosters?

I'm done. You can leave at any time.

　I look over at the ghouls again, satisfied with the letters that Con is floating around. These ghouls are the victims of this war.
　I'll never forget this scene, and I'll make sure to pass this on to future generations so that such a tragedy will never happen again. For the sake of the future, where everyone can live with a smile on their face.

Kong we're getting out of here.

　As I belted my body in place and ignited the boosters, the Satanakia began to take off, accelerating rapidly. As I watched the images from the rear camera after enduring the tremendous shock and G as it broke through the speed of sound, I saw the missile's warhead detonate and a black ball of light was born.
　Perhaps that was the small black hole my mother was talking about. I closed my eyes and prayed for the souls of the ghouls as I watched it grow larger and larger, swallowing the surroundings.






----Miyuki Arakawa Point of View

　He watched from the satellite as Gongju led the ghouls to the activation point. How does that boy feel now?　Even though it's a coincidence, with a large number of ghouls under his control, he must be feeling the tragedy of this war firsthand.
　When I was concerned for his heart, Shuichi, who had just returned from a mission, spoke to me.

It's a great sight. I'm sure you'll find that the power suit you're using is also very useful.

　Although I'm muddling through my words, this scene certainly looks like 'a figure of a demon marching with its subordinates', to say the least. The other members must feel the same way.......they all stare at the screen with a bitter smile.

'Yes, I have the same content in my head as Shuichi-san is thinking. But I'm more worried about the fact that she's watching the ghoul up close, even if it's a coincidence. I hope it doesn't leave a bad effect.

''Miki, do you really think he could 'accidentally' control the 'accidental' ghoul?'''

What do you mean?

　I don't understand what Shuichi-san is talking about. If it was anything other than coincidence that could be controlled, Kouki would have said so all along. She's not the kind of girl who can just sit back and watch a casualty come out of thin air!
　I yelled that at Shuichi-san with the momentum of grabbing him, but he countered with a serious expression.

'Do you seriously believe that he didn't do anything to counteract the ghoul's biology and weaknesses when he knew about it?　Why did Gongju rush you to install the bellowing device before this war started in the first place?　I thought you were expecting this situation right now.

No, it's not true. It's not possible.

'When we were talking in the conference room, Gongju was shaking. At the time, I thought he was afraid to sacrifice ten million, but he was really angry, wasn't he?　
　He refused to move on forever, to us, to this world. If we hadn't tried to move on in that place... if we had tried to hope for prosperity on our own, he would have used the ghouls to destroy this world.

　It's impossible, it's never going to be that stupid. But it might be possible for Gongju, who is no one else. If that's the case, when on earth did he start preparing for it?　Before the war started or when you first visited this world?　Or when they opened up the lunar ruins?　Don't tell me that she can really see the future?

I don't know. What is it that she sees?

You know, I don't know. But whatever view you're looking at, you're still our precious son, right?

Yeah, I know.

　That's right, no matter how much others fear you, Gongju is our precious son. Even if no one else can understand him, only we will understand him.
　As I was making a new resolve inwardly, Claire-san reported to me while operating the terminal.

''The Coalition has approached me to surrender through the Merkava Kingdom.

What are our terms for surrender?

No, sir. Unconditional surrender.

I understand. Please accept that.

　After receiving my instructions, Claire-san is operating the terminal and flying instructions to various places. It looks like this war is finally over, and I feel like I'm getting old all at once because of how busy I've been lately.
　I look back at the screen and see that the imaginary weapon has detonated and a black hole has been created. It seems that it worked properly as per the theory, and Gongju is safely out of the danger zone.
　That's right!　I'll make that girl's favorite stew for a change, I'm sure she'll be happy to see me since she's coming home tired. I decide to ignore all of the Politburo crew members who were desperately trying to stop me from saying 'I have work to do' and head to Alice's kitchen. Even I, who is called a "workaholic", needs to relax once in a while or I'll collapse.