“Open the hangar door, hurry!”
Clang!
Icarus’s head collided with the hangar door that hadn’t fully opened. Its massive frame swayed, and Aily, who had been holding on, tumbled off and rolled across the floor.
The instant the hatch opened, Princess Saya rushed outside. When I followed her out, Ran ran up urgently and held out a plastic bag.
“Are you alright?”
I didn’t take it.
I felt sick to my stomach, but not enough to vomit. I could endure it well enough just by gritting my teeth. Once you start throwing up, your stamina plummets, so you must never let it happen.
Was I able to endure thanks to physical training? Maybe I should start hitting the gym.
I pressed my cold hand to my forehead. It burned as if I had a fever, but I wasn’t actually ill. My head had simply grown hot from the sudden situation.
Calm down.
After coming to this world, I had made a firm decision. To survive, to grow stronger, and to live an ordinary life. To never suffer losses while helping others.
Karina had said it. That she was repaying a debt. Strictly speaking, I owed Karina nothing. No, for a squad leader who was a second-year senior to sacrifice herself for her squad member was only natural, strictly speaking.
I was a selfish and pathetic person from the very beginning. Even if I moved now, it was likely too late for Karina and Zeus. Professor Zeke was at the scene, and there was no reason for me to step in.
“Deep.”
Aily’s voice reached me faintly.
“If you don’t want to, you have to say you don’t want to.”
There was a version of me that could not turn away from that voice.
“And you must do what you want to do.”
There was a version of me that could never be deceived by words I directed at myself.
“What about Ian?”
Ran stared blankly at me before answering belatedly.
“I-Ian? I’ll bring him right now….”
“He’s here.”
Ian walked up heavily from behind Ran. He looked exhausted. His face and hands were covered in grease stains.
He looked like someone who had been frantically working on something until just now.
He must have prepared what I had in mind.
“Please start on the preparations immediately.”
“Seriously?”
Ran looked back and forth between me and Ian, then his expression hardened completely.
“D-don’t do it!”
“Move the core, please.”
“Starting right now.”
Something only I could do, but largely impossible for the other cadets.
The heavy armor-type Titan that Aily was currently using was a second body. The main body was high mobility-type. If the current heavy armor-type was damaged, they simply needed to move the core to the main body.
Since we were moving the core in a hurry, I couldn’t expect anything like inertia control devices, but that didn’t matter. I had moved Aily just fine without such things until now.
“Deep, you know this isn’t training! You could actually die!”
“You’d do well to listen to your operator, Deep.”
It was the Princess.
“You seem to hate standing out, do you not?”
That was true.
“You’d want to enjoy this comfortable life more than anyone, would you not?”
That was true.
“Do you think going will save Zeus or Karina? Aaron must have told you. Rescue is impossible because a heavily damaged Titan could explode at any moment. Karina is probably already dead anyway.”
“No.”
That was wrong.
“Zeus’s core armor was hit. It was dented, but that’s not where the generator is located. The pilot simply can’t operate it; there’s no risk of explosion.”
“Then what about Karina?”
“The core wasn’t damaged; the machine’s waist was severed. There’s a chance the pilot is still alive, and likewise, the generator wasn’t damaged. We can rescue her.”
“As I said before.”
Princess Saya made a dumbfounded expression.
“I simply cannot understand why you don’t stutter when refuting.”
Because I only refute what I know well.
The tow vehicle began dragging the heavy armor-type Aily away. As I looked at the Titans lined up, I felt Revan looking down at me from above.
When our eyes met, Revan turned away.
He must not want to go together. I could understand. Because he might die.
Senior Isla was a support type, so her coming along held little meaning, and heavy machines would more likely hinder me and Professor Zeke.
In the end, there was only one person worth bringing.
“Aaron.”
“Did I not tell you not to call me so carelessly, commoner?”
The voice came from directly behind me. Startled, I turned around to see Aaron wearing an annoyed expression.
“I only need to fix the auxiliary arm. And you. I might let it go if this were a test, but this is live combat, got it? You’re going to face Fafnir with such pathetic firepower?”
That was—
A valid point. Aily’s firepower was no match for Fafnir. All it had was a single standard pistol; unless it hit a sensor, it was nearly meaningless.
“I’ll lend you a rifle; conserve your ammo. But you have no close-combat equipment, ha….”
“If a special specification would suffice.”
A pile bunker was dragged up onto the tow vehicle.
“How about a Dis Pater specification pile bunker?”
“Senior Isla?”
A rifle was mounted on the back of the high mobility-type Aily, and a pile bunker on its left arm. Perhaps thanks to the simple structure, the work was completed in an instant.
Senior Isla smiled faintly.
“Karina is overbearing and self-centered toward others, but she isn’t a bad person at heart. You know that well yourself, Deep.”
She had saved me, so I knew.
“It’s difficult for me to step directly onto the battlefield due to my Titan’s characteristics, but I can provide equipment in her stead. The Dis Pater family has considerable expertise in Titan equipment, after all.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Yes. As for me, I happen to like Karina’s overbearing, self-centered side. Deep, please don’t think too badly of her either.”
Usually, don’t people say they like even the overbearing, self-centered parts of someone? Not that they’d actually claim to like those parts themselves.
The core settled into place, and light entered Aily’s yellow goggle sensor. I could tell the work was finished without Ian having to say a word.
The smell of oil. And the smell of iron.
The reason I had entered the hangar was the same as the first time. I had run inside to escape from others.
I stepped onto the lift. I clenched my fist tightly, then opened it. I saw Aily’s hatch opening.
The chest core where the cockpit was located was surrounded by voluminous, thick armor. The waist drive joint had been so drastically lightened that only the frame remained.
The center of gravity was kept low, and the thighs were thick. That meant the generator was housed in the lower body.
Both arms were light and thin for customization purposes, but now the left arm was equipped with a heavy armor-type one to withstand the pile bunker’s recoil.
Once I sat in the seat and the hatch closed, my surroundings fell silent instantly. As I caught my breath, Aily vibrated the speaker with a laugh.
“Your eyes are still perverted. You really are a Titan otaku, aren’t you? If it were any other Titan, a pervert like you would have had a hard time!”
A voice with a gyaru-like tone.
A sense of déjà vu made me laugh. I pulled the belt from the seat, wrapped it around my body, and fastened it. Both hands gripped the control sticks, and my feet rested on the pedals.
An exoskeleton supporting one leg caught my eye. That was right—even Professor Zeke would be in danger against Fafnir. I had to help Professor Zeke as well.
“Mr. Otaku, why do you like helping people?”
Even though helping others only ever returns as regret, pain, and betrayal.
Why was I unable to pass by the person in front of me every time?
I had done so when I was hit by a car in place of a child before me and my leg was ruined, and when I saved a woman from harassment only to be reported as the harasser instead.
Not once had it ever turned out well, and I had vowed to never go outside again for fear of helping someone else.
“Probably.”
Probably, that must be it.
“Because I’m a naive, easy pushover, right?”
Just from the fact that someone had saved me, that someone had shown me kindness.
In the end, I returned to this place, thinking I must save that person once more.
“Yeah.”
Aily laughed.
“I like that kind Deep!”
“Supplying Aily’s power to 110 percent. Pilot standby complete. Thirty seconds until operation commencement. Handing Aily over to catapult. Departure preparation.”
The voice coming from the speaker changed to Ran’s.
“Video information may contain slight errors or time delays, so please exercise your own judgment depending on the situation.”
The voice cut off briefly before continuing.
“Please, please do not die.”
“Yes.”
I gritted my teeth tight, then slowly relaxed.
Turning my head to the side, Icarus was likewise looking this way. Icarus gave a short nod and placed a foot on the catapult.
Likewise, I placed Aily’s foot onto the catapult. The foot locked into the catapult’s anchor, and my body slowly pulled back as if ready to launch at any moment.
Only a few weeks had passed, yet so much had changed.
I didn’t hate those changes.
If so, shouldn’t I do my best to protect them?
“Operation commence.”
“Aaron, Icarus.”
“Deep, Aily!”
The declared names served to announce the participants of this operation.
Clank!
As the catapult ejected the two Titans outside, my body was pressed into the seat. Forcing myself to endure by putting strength into my waist, I pushed the sticks and pedals forward with all my might.
“Launching!”
The following words were to announce the commencement.
And, to announce that Deep had fallen deep.
“Dive.”