laulau20
patreon
Chapter 43: Evacuate
🕑 Added 2024-06-01 06:52:44 +0000 UTC"Mr. Tanaka? Are they ready?" I approached Mr. Tanaka first thing in the morning. Only then did Mr. Tanaka order his henchmen to start loading things into the truck.
"Um… are we really abandoning the foundry? Miss Magical Girl, can you guarantee our livelihood after this?" Mr. Tanaka was hesitant. So, he was worried about his pay?
"Shirayuki will ensure that you will still be employed by the company even after you evacuate."
"Uhm…" His henchmen were still loading the boxes into the truck, but Tanaka's expression remained hesitant.
"Miss Magical Girl, may I ask why you are in such a hurry?"
"An Anathema nest was spotted around New Soil. Thus, there are concerns that what happened in New Mesa could happen here, too. Moreover, this place is further from Eden than New Mesa. It would be disastrous if you were besieged here."
"If Anathema breaches our walls, we still have emergency barriers, don't we?"
"But there is an indication that emergency barriers can be breached if Anathema's level is high enough, just like what happened in New Mesa."
"Come on, New Mesa's barrier was modified. And why would such a monster come to this small city of less than five thousand?" Tanaka said.
"Load the trucks. I will guard them to the ships. Then you guys are next…." I insisted. I appreciated that Tanaka still followed my orders despite knowing it might cause the company a substantial monetary loss. Then, all of a sudden, our door was kicked open.
"Fucking ass!" Serene came back to our department, cursing. I wanted to ask her what was going on but refrained. I could guess what she was about to say.
"Was the mayor against evacuating?" I asked.
"Yeah! He won't even consider it, saying that they have an emergency barrier, the evacuation would damage the equipment, etc."
"Yeah. We aren't even sure if a disaster will take place anyway. A monster above level 200, like the Tyrant Behemoth that appeared in New Mesa, is practically a one-in-a-million chance," Alice said.
"There were only three of those things spotted in the entirety of our history with Anathema. So, I kind of understand his stance. If it were the old me, I would have sided with those old folks…" Serene sighed.
"Saving others is not our task. Our job is to move this equipment and Shirayuki's personnel," I said. "Moreover, even if we wanted to save them, there wouldn't be any space on the ships for the five thousand people here."
"We could ditch the equipment. The container ships could contain five thousand people, and Shining's food vault could provide them with food."
"Who's going to replace this valuable equipment? It costs millions of credits!" I almost screamed.
"What?" Serene glanced at me, shocked.
"Lily, that's not very Magical Girl-like," Felicia chided me.
"But they don't even want to be saved, right? Our orders are to move this equipment. Besides, there isn't even an official evacuation notice." I pouted. The thankless service I got from Shirayuki's employees started getting to me. On the other hand, I also understood their reason. Even for big corporations like Shirayuki, listing several thousand people on the payroll despite them being refugees and not doing anything productive was a heavy burden. Moreover, we left those precious metal orders. We lost millions of credits from that alone.
"Hah… Well, you are right. My apologies. I was being obnoxious there. Let's pack up," Serene sighed. "However, if push comes to shove, we must do it. Magical Girls and Guardians exist to protect and save humanity. As for the equipment… I will talk to Guardian Command and UNH."
I was glad that Serene dropped the topic. That was a slip of my tongue. Felicia was right; that wasn't a very magical girl-like. She was right that we have to save these people, and it was our job as MG to do it. But without this equipment, all of these people are going to be jobless. Shirayuki can't keep them on the payroll without doing anything forever. I have promised them that I will guarantee their livelihood.
By the afternoon, the trucks were filled to the brim, and we departed. Like two days ago, we sat on top of the containers. I could see the Magitech Rangers on top of the wall as we left for our carriers. Some of them used sniper rifles, firing shots somewhere.
"Felicia, am I doing the right thing?" I asked her. I felt really conflicted inside. I did want to save them, but this equipment was my employees' livelihood.
"Well, there are some things worth more than lives. We can't disregard that," Felicia answered.
"I see."
"Ugh! If they call for SOS, we are required to save them!" Serene spat through the telepathy system. She had kicked some random pebble on top of her truck, but apparently, it was not just me who was dissatisfied with their behavior.
"We will be gone tomorrow at the latest. It is not our problem anymore," Alice callously added.
"Wow. I never thought you could speak like that," I said to Alice.
"Well, I am not as pure as you thought, Lily. I am a human, too."
"The last one was a personal chat from Alice," Felicia added.
"We all can talk shit among ourselves, but not in public. Just remember that," Serene said. Even though she was on top of another truck container, I could feel her gaze on me. A single gaze was enough to tell me that she also felt the same frustration when things didn't go her way, just like I did when Tanaka was apprehensive about my method.
"Hello? Mr. Pieter," I messaged Mr. Pieter through the radio broadcast.
"Hello, this is Vice Captain Jibril. State your name and rank. How did you know this channel?"
"Magical Girl Black Lily."
"Ah! My apologies, I am so sorry, Miss Black Lily. I didn't recognize your voice through the phone. May I help you?" Jibril, the person who answered my call, turned from wary to obsequious at once.
"Was Captain Pieter not on board?"
"He was resting, Dear Miss Black Lily. Do you wish me to wake him up?"
"No need. Just be ready with the ramp. The first truck will be coming."
"Of course. We shall roll out a red carpet for you. We shall await your arrival."
"No need for carpets. It's a futile gesture. You might even ruin the carpet. Hm? Do you even have any red carpet in the ship?" I tilted my head, but Alice and Serene snorted before laughing. Some of the MGs in the truck joined in the laughter, but Sapphire and Redflame followed up with a question.
"Wait, you're Shirayuki's princess, right? Did they not use such obsequious language to you?" They PMed me.
"Ah. It was only lip service." I realized my error. My cheeks reddened at the blunder. I also answered Sapphire and Redflame, saying that no adult ever talked to me like that. Only some school friends who wished to ask for my homework, like Nana.
"Yes, of course, Miss Black Lily. I apologize for the misunderstanding. I merely meant we will welcome you warmly."
"Okay. We will be there." I closed the call. My face blushed in embarrassment. I was a fake princess, a daughter of a branch family. Others were polite to me, but they never acted in such an adulating way.
"Do they talk to you guys like that too?"
"Always. Well, it's a rite of passage for new MGs. It's fun seeing once-normal humans being worshipped like that all of a sudden," Alice added.
"Never thought Black Lily would also fall for the same trap. You're more normal than I thought!" Serene giggled. They continued to tease me until we arrived at the small beach. The amphibious trucks floated the same way even with full cargo, something which amazed me.
Once we arrived at the ship, the trucks unloaded their containers, and with some makeshift fencing, they were turned into long pickup trucks. The process only took an hour. The trucks then swam back to the beach with us on top. I shot my Icerail at some random anathema waiting at the beach. A sense of dread crept up within me before Serene's lightning shot out from her spear, frying some scorpion-like anathema hiding beside a rock.
"Watch out. That Anathema with a stinger is a long-range specialist. Their stingers are lethal even beyond a 500-meter distance," Felicia said. An explosion then knocked Red Hound, one of Serene's team members, several meters back. He immediately stood up and looked around while shouting.
"Hate those sniping campers! Watch out! Soldiers! Take cover!"
"The bullet travels at subsonic speed, thus making no sound, and when it arrives, it explodes. There are likely more of these Scorpion Hellspawn in the mountains. The one we killed on the beach likely intended to snipe our ships," Felicia explained. "Be careful. Two of those shots are enough to break your shield. Your VIT and SPIRIT stats are not the best, even among lesser MGs." Felicia calmly advised.
I immediately summoned three clones, and we all spread out. I tasked them with going to the mountains with my javelins and harpoon. There were no trees, and the black chitinous armor of the Anathema was easy to spot as it gleamed under the sun. However, they were far. Even when I tried to use my Icerail naginata and hold it like a sniper rifle, the ice bullet still missed.
"Alright! Next one!" Alice said gleefully, shooting arrow after arrow.
"This is why MGs are recommended to team up. This is also the reason why stat imbalances are generally bad for MGs. You should be able to hit them if you put more points into DEX," Felicia said.
"I've never fought a long-range enemy before. The only similar encounter I had was with the bees back in New Mesa. They started shooting their stingers at less than ten meters."
"Do you want to upgrade your Kinetic Handgun Vault? If you upgrade it, you could have a sniper rifle. It will be turned into Kinetic Gun Vault (rare). Or do you wish to use lasers? It will be turned into Optic Gun Vault (rare)."
"Should I buy it? A rare vault costs 1000 points. If I bought it, I would only have 360 points left. The gun itself will also cost a substantial amount of points." I thought while another bullet whizzed past us.
"How much for the gun?"
"Depends. The gun would usually cost 100 points. The bullets are the expensive part."
"LILY!!!" Serene screamed as one bullet hit my clone right in the face. The head exploded like a balloon, and my clone lay there in a pool of blood.
"I am okay. I'm hiding behind the rock at your 7 o'clock," I told her through telepathy with Felicia. She breathed a sigh of relief before continuing to snipe the scorpion with her lightning magic.
"The real one uses the black naginata with the blue blade, Serene," Shining said. Serene blushed at her amateur mistake.
"The clone was a bit too real for me. It bleeds," Serene winced. The clone then disappeared after a while in particles of light.
"Well, that's her unique skill." Alice joined the conversation.
"I am never gonna get used to that." Red flame added.
"Should I automatically broadcast the clone's position?" Felicia asked.
"Well, they're almost done, so I don't think it matters. Now, wasn't the bullet cost like 100 bullets for 5 points? I vaguely recall you explaining it to me." I returned to the topic of bullet cost.
"That was for normal Silverbane bullets. The rare catalogue has enchanted bullets that cost 1 point each."
"Will it be worth it?" I started to ponder. The field was already cleared of Anathema. Serene and Alice were the MVPs against the Sniper Scorpions. The rest of us were merely decoys.
"I see. So, if I open the vault, does it mean I could get the bullets, too?"
"Yes. I recommend a light sniper rifle since you don't have enough dexterity to wield a heavy one. Using other types of guns might waste your bullets."
"What's the difference between optic and kinetic?"
"Kinetic means you have live rounds. Optic means laser. While Optic has lower firepower, you can replace the energy pack with mana. Optic also has zero recoil. It's similar to Magical Girl Shining Arrow's bow."
"Hmm... okay. Let's open the kinetic gun vault for now."
[Kinetic Gun Vault (rare) Unlocked!]
[-1000 Points]
[Remaining Points: 360 (1360 - 1000)]
"So, sniper rifle then?"
"Not yet. It feels like I've bought too many unnecessary vaults." I was pondering my build. I am a vanguard, and I use a naginata. However, buying a gun might be the antithesis of that. I will undoubtedly use this vault, though. I plan to make a PMC group. The bullets that I get from this vault would prove to be valuable for my soon-to-be soldiers.
As I was contemplating my build, Serene and Alice cleaned up. Out of the ten trucks we had for the recovery of our personnel, two of them were shot and damaged. Serene called for two more trucks from the ship and several mechanics to fix the broken cars.
"Black Lily, an alert message was sent through the MG channel. It was from Magitech Ranger. They said New Soil was besieged by a large number of Anathema."
I nursed my head. We have to go back there and save them. Shirayuki's employees were still there, so we had to go back. They still had emergency barriers, but activating them meant they would get stuck there. However, the appearance of these long-range Anathema complicated things. Someone had to guard the beach, or they could destroy our ships.
