Saving 80,000 Gold in an Another World for Retirement Chapter 153

153. Search Operation 1

"Eh… Why do you suddenly" (Soldier-kun)

Whoops, was it too abrupt?

"Ah, no, I'm just wondering if it's the s.h.i.+p that my friend's dad is on or if the crews on the drifting s.h.i.+p have enough water and food…" (Mitsuha)

"Mitsuhchan is kind…" (Soldier-kun)

Easy. You're too easy, soldier-kun!

Lightly claps both your hands and put them against your mouth, Kyarun (SFX), then show a concerned-like face, and he's down! I didn't even show him the ultimate move [Fake tears].

Umu, One of the [48 boy-killing secret arts] that the first-generation Mitchan has pa.s.sed to me, the Double Knuckle Beam, is Omnipotent! (Note: j.a.pan's Mitchan)

And then, I squeezed every information soldier-kun told me.

Alright, that's enough for today!

"Ah, umm, thank you for the present last time…" (Soldier-kun)

Oh, now that you mention it, I gave him a present. I felt bad for always taking his time, so I gave him a folding knife as an apology…

"That item, can I get a few more?" (Soldier-kun)

Eh?

When I stared at him with a scornful eyes, Soldier-kun shaking his hands in front of his face in a hurry.

"N-No, I'll pay properly for it!" (Soldier-kun)

And Soldier-kun rushed to explain.

Apparently, when soldier-kun using that knife for a little work, one of the officers who saw it got interested and said [Let me see a little bit], but because there was a possibility that it would be s.n.a.t.c.hed if it went poorly, soldier-kun refused.

And the fleet commander also got interested…

"I was told that he would give me 3 gold coins, but I refused it because it was an important present from Mitsuhchan. And then he said [Can you get the same thing? Of course, I will pay you]…" (Soldier-kun)

Ah~….

The impact was too big huh… that Gerber knife…

Well, it's not like they can replicate the technology that has been cultivated over many years by just having one or two products. If someone could do that, by now, knife makers around the world should be able to make knives that are on par with Gerber, Loveless, Buck, Randall, G.Sakai, etc.

Also, knives aren't the main weapon of war.

"…I got it. I'll try to arrange them…" (Mitsuha)

Perhaps my annoyed expression came out on my face when I was thinking [How troublesome] and makes Soldier-kun tried to pull back his request. Well, it's alright, if it's just knives…

Or rather, the fact that there's a commander means that the s.h.i.+p which Soldier-kun is on, the Leviathan, is the flags.h.i.+p of the fleet… tte, I mean, it's a state-of-the-art s.h.i.+p, so I guess it's natural.

…that's right!

"But in return, I would like to ask one request…" (Mitsuha)

I listened to that unreasonable request of yours, so you'll have to hear my unreasonable request too!

He was wondering why I would ask for such a thing, but he said it wouldn't be a problem.

Alright, operation started!

"Oh, it's me" (Mitsuha)

I'll have you know that It's not the [It's me] scam.

On the earth, I'm known as [Nanoha], but I don't want to introduce myself using that name too often, so I try to avoid calling myself by that name. Well, it's okay for others to call me that way though.

And now, I'm calling the diplomat of the country who lent me the air tanker for the air reconnaissance on the new continent last time.

"Yes, actually, there is a request again … Well, I'm glad the scholars rejoiced at the gift last time. I was worried that if that creature was the one who's already exist on the earth. Yes. Right. And I have another request… Oh? I can leave everything to you? Thank you very much! Then, I would like to borrow something from the Navy…" (Mitsuha)

Alright, the search fleet has sailed… well then, shall we get started?

Transfer!

"I look forward to working with you" (Mitsuha)

"Uwaah! Ah, E-excuse me…" (the diplomat)

Well, if you're waiting in a desolate place and suddenly someone called you from behind, it can't be helped if you're surprised. Well, don't think too deep about it!

And this time, using the diplomat's car, we went to a naval base.

"Please welcome to our base, Your Royal Highness the Princess" (base commander)

Yup, the royal power is amazing in countries around here. Even the t.i.tle of a princess from a country in the other world, which they don't even know, has a great effect.

After the greeting with the base commander, we immediately proceed to the ap.r.o.n area on the runway.

…Right, Naval bases aren't just ports. This is naval air base. And what parked in the ap.r.o.n is…

Anti-submarine patrol plane. (Note: 対潜哨戒機 > Lit. = anti-submarine patrol plane, I'll shorten it to ASW, but widely known as Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA))

If you want to search on the sea, you need the help of the Navy, not the Air Force. And it's time for the ASW patrol plane!

Just because the name is ASW patrol plane, it doesn't mean that it can only find submarines. It has radar on board and the crews were trained in visual search. And searching for distressed s.h.i.+ps is part of its regular mission.

So there's no other choice except the Navy's ASW patrol plane.

We're using a car just to get to the plane. It's VIP treatment… tte, if the foreign Princess doesn't get the VIP treatment, then who is going to get the VIP treatment.

There are only the groundcrews around the ASW patrol plane. The Aircrews seems to have already boarded.

I started to walk up the boarding stairs as the crew guided me, then two crews came out of the cabin and takes my hands to support me. I'm not carrying a lot of luggage and the boarding stair has simple handrails so it's okay. Well, if there's anything happened to me, it would be execution-by-shooting for the crew members… (Note: No joke…)

And when I entered the cabin, there are a lot of people…

Oh, the scholars who joined last time…

Well, of course they'll come…

The I greeted them lightly, get to the seat, tighten the harness, and depart!

"Set course, Mag. Heading, 360 degrees!" (Mitsuha (?))

"Roger, Mag. Heading, 360!" (Pilot-san)

After we reached constant alt.i.tude, I removed the harness and instructed the pilot using the aviation headset. This is for orientation alignment. We're facing magnetic north on earth so that the plane can be transferred to the other world while still facing magnetic north there. The procedure for this has been discussed when I visited yesterday.

Well, if we do the meeting today, we can't take off early like this.

And maybe they've got a lot of information from the Air Force pilot from the last time….

"Transfer in 30 seconds!" (Mitsuha)

At the start of my countdown, tension runs in the cabin.

"10 Seconds! …5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Warp!" (Mitsuha)

Without any interesting effect, and of course, the clothes weren't transparent, we have safely transferred.

"Alter heading, toe, course. Mag. Heading, 293 degrees. Veering!" (Mitsuha)

"Veering, 293 degrees!" (Pilot-san)

The aircraft tilted to the left and leveled again after some time.

"Keep steady, 293 degrees!" (Mitsuha)

"Keeping steady~" (Pilot-san)

First thing first, let's head towards the search area.

There's a chart that is based on the previous aerial image of the Kingdom of Vanel and the coastline around it. Of course, the one who made it was the people of the country who lent me this plane.

Naturally, there are the charts around this area that I got from the captured s.h.i.+ps, but we can't use it because it breaks the groundwork of the previous survey flight. And crews can feel more comfortable with charts they have made than charts with completely different projections, scales, etc. In any case, the terrain doesn't matter at sea.

On the chart, there is a datum that I got from soldier-kun. Right, in return for getting the knives, I told him something like [I want to know the search center point of the distressed s.h.i.+p].

If this was related to battles, I wouldn't be able to hear that much and soldier-kun would've refused too. But when it comes to rescue mission in peacetime, it's nothing secretive. Even their adversaries will cooperate if they have to.

So, soldier-kun looks at the charts in the chart room on the stern deck and asks the officers about the distressed s.h.i.+p's position while saying  [My friend and the instructor who took care of me are on board], and the officers told him without being suspicious. …And then, he pa.s.sed the info to me.

Information on the distressed s.h.i.+p's location were sent to all s.h.i.+ps, no matter whether they depart for the search or not. They may be sailing nearby for other mission and find the remains by chance. In addition, it's common sense that all s.h.i.+ps should have a minimum amount of preparation and precaution, because it's unknown when they will be dispatched to the search operation as additional forces. ……According to the information I heard from Soldier-kun and the old story from my brother.

Anyway, we converted the obtained position details into the azimuth distance for the chart of the earth and then we plotted the coordinates.

longitude lat.i.tude? Since I don't know the size of this planet, so it doesn't make sense. Anyway, beyond the rescue fleet, advance to the search area!