The man who responded was Lieutenant-General Hazama.
"We've lost contact with an F-4 Phantom jet. How did that happen!?"
He is very worried
Lieutenant-General Hazama had been a student of philosophy in Tokyo University, a graduate of that school which only accepted the best of the best. However, the truly inspiring part of his life story was how he enlisted as a private with the JSDF and climbed the ranks until he became the mighty Lieutenant-General he was now. One could say that, although he could have taken the fast track, he chose to go the long way instead. His catchphrase was "No pain, no gain".
Hazama took off his glasses and looked at 1LT Yanagida.
1LT Yanagida had graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan (NDA) with flying colours, and under normal circumstances, he would have been considered an elite thinker. However, in front of Hazama he never seemed to be able to raise his head. The reason for that was apparently because he failed to get into Tokyo University.
People compare themselves to others by many metrics; academic records, resumes, performance records, and, for members of the JSDF, their ability as warriors. They would always look for fields in which they could surpass others. Then what would happen if an individual who was excellent in all areas appeared before them? Most people would unconditionally accept their inferiority and think, "That guy's amazing", but Yanagida was far too proud for that. Perhaps he had an unfortunate encounter as a child, or his parents had raised him that way, but in the face of a superior individual, he did not feel respect, but rather resentment from the bottom of his heart.
"I'm not entirely sure. But the last message from them was that they encountered something strange. They spoke of a huge flying ship."
Hazama raised his crew-cut head and leaned back against his chair. The cheap office furniture creaked under his weight.
"A huge flying vehicle!? How is that possible? Could it be Empire!? "
"We're continuing our searching. But I don't think it's the empire."
" Huh! You are Right. The Empire cannot have such a thing. If there was, they would have used it against us long ago. hmm....maximize our alert. It seems we have encountered something unknown."
"Yes sir"
"Also, sir. The guests of the Empire have arrived. Shall we ask them about this?."
"No. There is no need to inform them about these things. We should wait until the information about the search comes."
"I understand, Sir"
"Hmm... you can go now"
Yanagida saluted and left
Ah... my head hurts. How many troubles do we have to face here?
...
Great Tomb of Nazarick
Ainz is sitting in his office. He was reading the report about Gate. In front of him was Ragnarok.
What! There is another gate, and the people next to that gate claim to be Japanese. Is that my real world? But looking at their technology, it seems that they are in the 21st century. But I need to confirm it.
"Ragnarok, have you gathered information about them?"
"Yes, Father. We brainwashed the people we captured and gathered all the information they had. These humans cannot use magic. So we can monitor them very easily. I have already sent several of our spies to their base."
"Hmm. Very good job. Try to communicate with them peacefully. Also, did you rescue our citizens?"
"Ah... I'm sorry. But I'll do it soon. We learn that they have been sent to the capital of the empire. I will soon lead an expedition there and rescue our citizens. I swear in your name I will rescue everyone soon and will bring before you the people responsible for this invasion."
Ragnarok said that bowed his head.
"...Very well. I will wait. You may go now."
"Understood!"
Ragnarok left Ainz's office
.....
Piña was brought to Arnus Hill, to a building with a plaque on the front that read "Special Region Expeditionary Force Command".
She parted ways with Itami and the others here.
Escorted by a uniformed female officer, Piña and Bozes were guided up a flight of steps and into the depths of the building.
Following that, they were brought to a waiting room for a short time.
The waiting room was unappealingly small and it had little in the way of decoration, but the high-backed chairs were very comfortable. The craftsmanship of the table also seemed very exquisite. It must have been the work of a renowned craftsman.
Just as they were starting to get bored of this room, a knocking came from the outside.
Piña and Bozes practically jumped out of their seats.
The man who entered looked like he had just reached middle age.
His black hair was streaked with gray, and he had a crewcut the way Kengun did. However, unlike Kengun, he had a warm smile on his face. He seemed gentle enough, but there was a hint of strength within that kindness.
Piña felt that his green uniform was too sparsely decorated, apart from the set of colored bars on his uniform's breast.
In truth, she found it hard to believe he was the general of an army. After all, in her experience, a high-ranking officer's chest, shoulders and entire body would be plastered with medals, jewels and other decorations. This austere look of his made him seem like a humble footsoldier.
However, since she had arrived here, Piña realized that this army despised meaningless ornamentation and instead valued actual competency. Therefore, she had no doubts about this man.
She immediately understood that the man before her might well be the highest-ranking officer of this otherworldly army, or at least, he was one of them.
Behind him, Kengun stood at attention behind the middle-aged man, whispering into his ear from time to time. Kengun seemed to be a relaxed person who was nevertheless devoted to his job.
There was another man behind Kengun. He had a sly smile on his face, and he had entered with the female JSDF officer. They all wore the same green uniform, though there were differences between them. From Piña's observations, she concluded that the mottled Jayesdeef green uniform must be some sort of camouflage used in combat, and it was different from the single-colored green uniform used for ceremonial purposes.
Finally, Lelei entered the room, standing beside the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man smiled, and said something to Lelei.
Lelei nodded, and then translated his words to Piña and Bozes: "This is the General of the Jayesdeef, His Excellency General Hajama. Following that, Piña also introduced herself and Bozes to this General Hajama. Because Lelei did not fully understand Japanese, she used her native language to fill in the blanks.
"This is the Imperial Princess Piña Co Lada. Forgive me, but I do not know how they address princesses in the country of Japan."
"Over here, we address them as 'Your Highness'. Then, how do you address members of royalty in this world?"
"There are slight differences between men and women, but for ladies, 'francea' will do."
After listening to Lelei's advice, Hazama gestured to Piña to take a seat.
"Please have a seat, francea and Miss Bozes."
After that, Hazama and his entourage sat down one by one, and they began speaking, while Lelei served as their translator.
"I believe we signed a treaty earlier, but what happened to bring Your Highness here in person?"
"The truth is, due to carelessness on our part, a misunderstanding occurred. We deeply regret the events which followed, and we hope you will forgive us our trespasses."
"I've already seen the report. Did some accident take place then?"
"Yes. I am ashamed that it happened."
"Is that so? Although, we wish for your Highness to continue being an intermediary between us and the Empire. If the events that have caused you such grief require it, we can also reconsider the terms of the treaty."
The Japanese attitude to diplomacy was to respond flexibly to minor setbacks. However, this way of thinking was quite problematic for diplomats, in particular Piña, who represented Italica and House Formal. To her, denying the treaty was equivalent to the Jayesdeef attacking them. Therefore, she misinterpreted General Hazama's words as "If you don't obey the treaty, we will destroy you". The addition of "We wish for your Highness to continue being an intermediary between us and the Empire" made her feel even more uncomfortable.
"No, no, actually—"
The man with the sly smile, who had been sitting to one side all this time, suddenly cut in.
"I've been briefed by Itami. May I ask why this lady would have cause to strike him?"
Halfway through Lelei's translation, Piña and Bozes were already sweating bullets.
In the end, they still could not silence Itami. The two of them had tried to cut in at every possible opportunity, offering every lewd temptation they could muster, but ultimately, none of their attempts had worked. Then again, it would have been a miracle if Itami had actually allowed himself to fall victim to a crude seduction by a woman who beat him up one night and then smiled sweetly to him while saying "Come oooon~" the next morning.
"I confess, I wanted to laugh when I saw that palmprint and those scratches. Itami even wanted to claim them as "injuries sustained in the line of duty", but no matter how you see it, they look like the wounds from a quarrel between a couple. Did he do anything distasteful to either of you?"
The way he smiled while earnestly asking, "Did Itami do or say anything to provoke this violence?" made Piña think of him as a snake, with all the accompanying negative impressions.
He refused to drop the matter and kept asking questions like, "Why did you strike him?", "Was there a reason you had to strike him?" during any lull in the conversation. It was clingy and annoying, to say the least.
He did nothing wrong, yet he was assaulted for no reason. The words of this snake-like man, while not inherently judgmental, sounded like he was condemning them every time he spoke.
"..."
Piña could barely squeeze out a response, and in the end, Lelei said something to the man with the sly smile. Following which, the sly smile became a mocking smile, and he introduced himself.
"I do apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Yanagida, and I am pleased to meet you."
To Piña, it sounded like "I'm Yanagida, remember it."
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