"Yul."
The moment she spotted Odysseus, Captain Songha came over to him first. With every step she took forward, footprints made of blood were printed on the ground.
The reek of blood and the smell of gunpowder drifting from all sides burrowed into Odysseus' nose and left a strange heat behind. It was the excitement of a battle that had ended and yet had not.
"I believe I told you to stay inside."
"Precisely speaking, you told me to shut the door after you went out; you didn't tell me to stay inside."
"And so you did well?"
"Give me a break. I didn't get in the way."
"Goddamn kid......."
Captain Songha, approaching with wet slapping sounds, seized his head. He had been thinking since last time that this human really seemed to love grabbing the crown of his head.
Thanks to her blood-soaked glove, bloodstains got onto Odysseus' hair as well.
"I really did step out because I was confident—"
"Quiet. I could have cleared it well enough without you."
"But it did shorten the time."
"And it was dangerous."
Captain Songha's voice dropped at once.
"Had their numbers been a little greater, had these bastards' skill been more than that of hopeless thugs, had there at the very least been an additional sniper posted somewhere further off. You could have been shot. Not by a blind round but by a bullet aimed precisely at you."
At that gravity Odysseus discarded the playfulness he had held in order to feign a child. It was the moment the greatest strategist and general of the Age of Myth set his mask aside for a while and stood at the front.
"The enemy belonged to Ironstick, and Ironstick is known as an expedition team with many minnows and few proper personnel. What's more, the bastards did not even move with a proper grasp of our movements. Our coming here today was not part of any set schedule."
"...When did you go and research information on them. Fine, grant that. Your grounds for being certain they did not know?"
"Isn't it too obvious? Gaining unexpected spoils during an expedition doesn't connect to any guarantee that they'll be disposed of that same day."
Well, they might have put a tail on them.
If the Ironstick bastards had exchanged any transmissions with the forces left on the ground just before the engagement, they would at least have passed on which group their target was. And news of annihilation could be grasped to some degree from reports cutting off entirely.
"But the hypothesis that they posted someone in advance, confirmed our movements, and then followed... I doubt it."
The time it took Hunting Team 1 to return from the expedition to the quarters was enough to post one tail. But if the bastards had truly posted someone, should the ambush not rightly have been carried out more covertly and systematically?
"If the watcher had a brain, he'd know. That rather than blowing up Redwing along with us to catch the three of us, it would be more efficient to raid Miniweaver's workshop, where their own equipment is, or to attack at the point where we split off separately."
The assumption that the watcher had left his post to report and that, of all timings, Captain Songha, Odysseus, and Flag headed for Redwing just then... made no sense either. By that logic what got raided should have been Miniweaver's workshop, not the Redwing building.
"In other words, Ironstick did not put anyone on us. Naturally, then, their attack becomes not a systematic ambush but an impulsive assault."
And a group's impulsive action brought tremendous disorder and waste. Unless the head leading that group could encompass all of it, a half-baked pack of thugs could not be expected to produce proper firepower or an orderly encirclement.
It was a truth that applied regardless of era.
"Last, Ironstick did not attack our party, split in two, simultaneously; they struck only our side, one-sidedly. There is one fact to infer from this. The bastards charged in knowing only that the three of us, yourself included, had visited Redwing... that's what it comes to."
Moreover, the time they spent after arriving at Redwing was about thirty minutes. For every member of Ironstick to gather within that time was impossible even if they died and came back. At best, a few of the gang nearby gathering was the most that could be managed.
And indeed, what was spouted from the attacker's mouth were complaints about not having enough time and about them coming out earlier than expected.
"So their numbers can't be large, and even if they were, the odds are extremely high that they'd come piecemeal. In that case, cutting them down one by one is more effective than waiting, and easier."
For reference, the word easier here did not mean mere convenience. It included their survival rate.
"That these ones fall short in skill is certainly the domain of luck. But if their skill had been good, would they have come at us like this in the first place?"
The moment they attempted a rule-of-thumb ambush like this, there was no need to look at the opponent's skill. Because men with even a little training would never have come at them this way.
"Last, a sniper... setting aside whether thug sons of bitches like these would even field a sniper, what are the odds they have a proper one? And even if they had a designated marksman, would the skill of a designated marksman out of a thug pack really be high?"
In the end, the further the distance opened, the more it favored their side, not the enemy's. Along with the others' covering fire, it was why Odysseus could maintain a bold attitude.
"You do not worry about a blind gun?"
"Ah, if you're going to weigh every one of those, you shouldn't set foot in a fight to begin with."
At the crisply continuing back talk Captain Songha wore a dumbfounded face. The hand gripping his head, meanwhile, stopped pressing at his temple and was slowly relaxing. The earring hanging from her ear swayed clear and bright.
"Fine... at the least, I can see you did not run out without knowing anything."
"So will you let it go?"
"No. You did disobey an order, so I will scold you for that part."
"Don't be so strict; if you'd respect a field judgment— Ow!"
Songha clamped down hard again with the grip she had been relaxing. It felt as though his skull were being crushed. Odysseus' legs bent of their own accord and the boy's hands covered the crown of his head.
It hurt.
"I'm confident I really moved on a reasonable judgment......!"
"Yes, and that is why I am not paddling your backside right now."
"That would be a human rights violation!"
"Oh ho. Do you think a brat without even a legal status has human rights?"
The moment Songha released her hand, Odysseus scrambled backward. This time at least he was glad he could act out a child's reaction. No, if there had been no need to feign a young child to begin with, matters would not have flowed this way at all.
"Flag."
"...Yes, Captain."
"You get an interview as well. A bastard counted among our aces, and you cannot even catch one child running out?"
"No, Captain. This really was an unavoidable circumstance."
"I do not take excuses. We will speak when we return."
"...Huuurgh."
Flag, who had been sneaking up the stairs, plopped down where he was. Sprawling with the stairs as his desk made his despair all the more visible.
"Captain."
"Is that Aran."
Just as the conversation between them came to a close, Aran descended slowly from the sky. Unlike usual, the emotion of anger was thick on her face.
"Well done on the cover. The others?"
"Excluding the three left at the workshop, everyone is joining up here."
"Well done. Just in case, issue a withdraw-and-join order to the ones at the workshop too. And pass the current situation to Miniweaver. After that, fly and scout for me."
"Understood."
"Flag! Stop whining and go find survivors!"
"Yeees. Ah, but Captain. The old man is tremendously angry; what should we do?"
"Tell him we will share the information on the riffraff who caused this mess, so if he wants to bill anyone he can bill them."
"Yes."
"No, this one, Yul. You deliver it."
"What? Me?"
Odysseus, squatting, tilted his head at the order handed down.
"Can't I search for survivors too?"
"It is an order. Go down at once."
"...Yeees."
He did not want to soothe an old geezer he had met for the first time today.
Even thinking that, Odysseus obediently carried out the order. Had there been no instruction at all it might be different, but disobeying one once handed down was insubordination.
"Old maan Buff."
So the boy went bouncing down the stairs, forced the crumpled door open, and went in. Buff Redwings, hiding behind the counter, heard the footsteps and poked his head out.
"Is it over?"
"Yes."
"Hah, damned bastards, the lot of them. What sort of business is this in the middle of trading hours?"
Old man Buff set down the shotgun he was holding and grumbled. Had matters flowed even slightly awry, not only the shop but his own life would have been blown away, so his pouring out complaints was understandable.
"So, which sons of bitches was it?"
"I don't really know either. I was chased down here just as I was about to look into it."
"Don't lie, you impudent kid. There's no way a shrewd child like you jumped into a fight knowing nothing."
"It's true, though."
He knew the other party was Ironstick, but everything else was nothing more than inference. So the boy's 'I don't really know' was not entirely wrong. At least Odysseus thought so.
"In any case, I'll collect for this properly, interest included. Understood?"
"We didn't do anything wrong."
"Anyone can see they charged in targeting you bastards; what do you mean, nothing wrong!"
"But listen. It's true they targeted us, but calling that our fault is a bit much, isn't it? For example, suppose you went to a restaurant to eat and some bastard who hates you suddenly showed up and wrecked the place, and then the restaurant owner who took the damage told you, 'You're responsible too!' Would that feel good?"
And Expedition Team: Freedom bore not so much as a single fig seed's worth of responsibility for this incident. Picking the quarrel first at sea, attacking first here, and at the very least being pathetically weak were all the other side's fault, not their problem.
"This and that are different!"
"Come on, what's different about it. Only the parties have changed; the case is entirely identical. In fact you know your own argument is a stretch, don't you?"
"Y-you kid......."
"Don't get too angry. As it happens, the captain gave me something to pass on to you."
"What is it!"
"She pledges to hand over all the information on the morons who did this, at no charge. That's it. So calm down. An invoice has to be written with calm, cool reason to come out longer, after all."
So Odysseus rolled his tongue diligently with a beaming face. Before words as innocent as a child's yet with a bone in them somewhere, the old geezer's reddened face cooled a little.
"You really... are good with words to the point of being detestable."
"I only speak reasonably and logically, so I don't know why everyone says that."
"Shut it, Oil-Tongue."
"...What is that bizarre compound word? Call me wise and sagacious Yul instead."
"Quiet! You're Oil-Tongue from now on. Understood?"
At old man Buff's words Odysseus crumpled his expression. He could have maintained a smiling face at any time he wished, but since there was no need now, he expressed his wrinkles without reserve.
"Old man, do you hear a lot that your sense for naming is the worst?"
"Hah! What are you on about; there are plenty of bastards who leap for joy when I give them a nickname!"
"I really don't think so."
Oil-Tongue. Oil-Tongue, of all things! 'The much-suffering' or 'coward' or 'womanish' would be better! What in the world was Oil-Tongue? Even the generals of Achaia... no, of Greece, had only called his way with words 'dazzling' or 'cunning'; they had never called it oily. It could only be called a truly insulting nickname.
"...Baldy."
"What did you just say?"
"I said your viciousness is on a completely Demon level, old man."
"...I do not think that was the pronunciation."
Odysseus used the fact that old man Buff could not speak Gauri to insult him to his face, then spouted an English word of suitably similar pronunciation.
Apparently it left him quite uneasy; old man Buff tilted his head again and again, but sadly Gauri speakers were rare even within Expedition Team: Freedom. In the end he accepted the excuse.
"Anyway, I've heard the Sword Master's promise, so take your baggage and piss off."
"Don't just say you've heard it; you have to promise completely that you won't bill us."
"...Thorough as anything, just like your captain! Fine! I won't hold you bastards at fault! Satisfied?"
"That's enough. I'll pass it on to the captain."
Odysseus freshened the mood with a light gesture and gathered up the baggage he had pushed into a corner. Only then did the puppy robot, shoved to the far side of his memory, draw his attention.
"Oh right, old man. How do you use this?"
"There's an instruction manual."
"There wasn't one."
"...Then search the internet! Don't ask me!"
"Why is the seller so unhelpful. Keep that up and your business will fail."
"Honestly, this damned child......!"
"Yikes."
He was truly angry. Odysseus quickly grasped that this was the geezer's limit and gathered his things in a hurry. At the boy's side as he took the stairs, the puppy robot's tail wagged limply.
"See you next time!"
"Don't ever come again!!"
Buff bellowed, but Odysseus paid it no heed at all. Until he left Expedition Team: Freedom, Redwing would serve as his supplier of ammunition.
"Captain! I delivered it!"
Odysseus trotted over to the captain's side carrying the puppy robot. Songha, who had been methodically stamping on the prisoners thrown down in front of the Air Bikes the members had brought, went peculiar in expression at once.
"...Did you fail to catch the meaning, or are you pretending to?"
Odysseus only bit down on a faint smile at her question. The captain, understanding the meaning it held, let out a sigh.
"So did you find anything out?"
"Not yet. A proper interrogation is fine done properly later."
"Are we taking them to the quarters?"
"Hardly. There is no reason to hand the bastards a pretext like abduction."
"Then?"
"I will show those bastards the price of breaking an unwritten rule."
Looking at the Ironstick survivors being dragged along by her members, Captain Songha wore a twisted smile.
"We go to Redwing's backer, the master of this area, Pluto."