I rendezvoused with the student unit.
"This is no good," Melissa muttered.
One of the arms of Melissa’s machine had been torn off. It had been caught by a blast from the air defense system during the descent.
She wasn't the only one. Ten percent of the student unit’s machines had sustained severe damage during the drop operation. There were many injuries, though all were treatable with nanomachines. It was a stroke of luck that no one had died.
The students who were still in one piece were busy treating the others, moving about with syringes full of nanomachines.
The Imperial Guard had fared a bit better. They had descended while blocking beam fire with their shields, all while acting as cover for the students. Their shields were single-use, and currently, they were riddled with holes.
One of the veterans muttered with a disturbingly bright smile, "Yes, yes. It seems this was a wonderful experience for the students."
"In this hell?!" I couldn't help but retort.
My reaction only made his grin widen. "Every single one of them made it through a state-of-the-art air defense system without a single casualty. This experience will become their very flesh and blood."
"Did you predict this outcome from the start?!"
"Of course. Humans only truly grow when they are in hell!"
"That’s way too extreme! What would you have done if someone actually died?!"
"That is exactly why we took the lead!"
"Wait, hold on. You made me go first!"
"It seems the Lord Groom still mistakenly believes he is an ordinary human."
"I am a perfectly ordinary person, though!"
Finally, Claire, who had finished her recovery, spoke up. "Leo, you were dodging those beam weapons after seeing them, weren't you?"
"Yeah, I did."
At those words, everyone present turned to look at me with expressions of utter disbelief.
"How the hell do you dodge light?!"
"Can you do it, old man?" one of the students asked a veteran.
"There is no way in hell. Predicting the attack is the absolute limit of human ability."
"He’s not human, is he?"
"Yeah, definitely not human."
"Hey, what is this? Some kind of coordinated bullying?"
Melissa patted me on the shoulder, her eyes full of a strange, motherly compassion. "I think the Captain should just go ahead and save the galaxy already."
"I told you, I can’t! That kind of thing... you should leave that to a slightly stronger esper!"
"But guys, what do you think?" Melissa asked the group.
A boy with a crew cut chimed in. "I’m a fire wizard-class esper, but dodging a beam after seeing it? Impossible. Besides, I don't have enough firepower to fight the Zork anyway."
"No, well, look, you can burn them or something..."
"It’s no use. Holding them back is the best I can manage. I’d trust a machine gun over my powers at this point."
Apparently, they were all determined to treat me like some kind of freak. I looked around. The men were staring at me as if I were some kind of legendary muscle-bound monster; the girls were looking at me like mothers watching a particularly troublesome son.
Stop it, all of you!
"Ahem... we were supposed to be capturing the museum, right?"
When I tried to steer the conversation back, the Imperial Guard veterans barked at me.
"You fool! Destroying the air defense system comes first! Once it’s neutralized, we’ll have repair units air-transported from orbit."
"That’s not in the manual!?"
"Forget the manual. This is the tactic of the Imperial Punishment Squad."
The Punishment Squad was a unit specialized in capturing nobles who had committed crimes against the state. Since they also seized the noble's home planet during the process, it was effectively considered a planetary-scale punishment. Most lords would put up a final, desperate struggle—since they were heading for the executioner's block anyway, they figured they might as well land one last blow.
I see. So we were doing the exact same thing.
"Could it be that the Imperial Guard is..."
"Occasionally, we serve as the Punishment Squad."
They're experts in planetary suppression!
"Those with damaged machines will focus on building the base. The others will handle defense."
"Understood!"
"Lord Groom, I’ll leave the neutralization of the anti-air system to you."
"Waaaaaaaahhh!"
I set off at a Roller Dash, crying as I went.
The Duke Territory was a remarkably well-maintained planet. Despite the abundance of nature, the roads were perfectly paved. I zipped down the highway, the machine’s rollers whirring.
I didn't know the first thing about tire technology, but apparently, the Roller Dash used puncture-proof tires that absorbed shocks throughout the entire structure. Then again, nobody actually knows the technology behind every single aspect of their daily life! Even in the sciences, everyone has fields they aren't well-versed in.
As I moved forward, a developed city came into view.
"It looks like there’s more than just the Agricultural Cooperative here!"
Maybe I should stop judging every planet based on my backwater home.
"It looks like there’s a shopping mall," Claire noted.
"It’s... it’s a metropolis!"
"But there are no life signs."
I had a very bad feeling about this.
We arrived at the city, or what was left of it. It had been subjected to absolute destruction.
"Where is the air defense system?"
"It seems to be that building over there. Since we only need it for the air-drop, they said destroying one location is enough."
I deployed the tripod and set up the anti-materiel rifle. The anti-aircraft gun sat exposed on top of the building—a stationary target. This was much easier than my usual fights.
"Correction complete."
I pulled the trigger, and the anti-aircraft gun shattered. Immediately, a communication came in from my wife.
"Repair kits air-transported!"
I looked up and saw fireballs trailing through the sky with a roaring sound. She called it "air-transport," but they had basically just been shot down like meteors. I watched them impact near our original rendezvous point.
Melissa’s voice came over the comms. "Receipt confirmed! We’re starting repairs now."
It was eerie that nothing had come for us yet. No ground defense systems, no Duke Army, and no Zork.
"Maybe the Duke Army has already been wiped out," I mused.
"Leo... please stop with the dark jokes."
"Right... haha..."
As I walked through the city streets, I felt a faint presence. It wasn't just a martial artist's intuition. It was something much sharper, more distinct.
Ah, this is it. This is the Jester's ability.
"Claire, activate the sensors. I think... something's here."
"Roger. Activating sensors."
I had the absolute certainty that I was being watched. Perhaps this was what it truly felt like to sense bloodlust.
After walking for a while, a Standard Machine came into view. It was standing in the middle of the road, its armor painted black. It held a greatsword.
However, fleshy tentacles were protruding from its shoulders. Its surface was covered in pulsating, organic matter. Every time the flesh pulsed, the machine's joints twitched with small, jerky movements.
"A parasite... no way, how could..." Claire whispered.
At that moment, the parasite-infected machine let out a howl.
"UGWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
An enemy like this hadn't been in the original game! I had no idea how to fight this thing!
"Leo, what do we do?"
"We have no choice but to fight."
I drew my blade—a proper weapon, for once.