ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Fifteenth Person

"...I don't mind!"

"!"

Sareed's words were the crane's call that blew away the delegation's conflicting feelings of being torn between duty and justice. He knew that his presence was causing Nitta and the others to hesitate in their decision to go to the girl's rescue.

"B-but we are entrusted by the Emperor, and if anything should happen to you, we cannot face your country!"

Endo, one of the diplomats, stated anxiously.

"No, don't worry about me. Besides, there are people here I can rely on!"

Sareed replied with a smile. Hearing the words, the SDF and the Imperial Guards smiled. It is true that the situation is what it is, but leaving one girl to die is a bad aftertaste.

"...Understood!"

After listening to the Crown Prince's words, Nitta gives instructions to his driver, Obata.

"Go to the girl's rescue immediately!"

Upon receiving the mission leader's order, Obata smiled grimly and regained a firm grip on the steering wheel of his truck.

"It will sway as it veers off the road! Please hold on to something!"

Immediately thereafter, the body of the vehicle veered to the left and leaned heavily. The occupants held onto the walls and chairs as quickly as they could to keep from falling over. The truck rode up from the street onto a grassy field, and the shaking inside the vehicle intensified. Obata stepped on the throttle and sped up even more. Then the truck, the girl, and the bandit lined up in a straight line. The girl's strength seemed to be approaching its limit, and the distance between her and the bandits was being closed even further.

"Keep approaching! Decelerate just as you pass the girl's side! We will jump off the back of the truck and open fire on the bandits!"

First Lieutenant Kosei Nomura, in command of the GSDF personnel, barked orders to his men. The members of the unit were bracing themselves for the sudden onset of actual fight.

"What the hell is that!?"

"Don't worry about it! Run like you're told!"

The bandits also noticed the fast-moving, otherworldly vehicle. However, the bandits did not care about that and closed the distance with the girl. At that moment, the girl tripped on a stone and fell to the ground.

"Help me!!"

The girl lets out a shrill cry. The distance between her and the bandits was less than 30 meters. She was in a desperate situation, and she looked as if she was preparing for the end of her destiny. At that moment, she saw a green object that looked like a huge box switch course and speed up its approach toward her.

"!?"

Immediately after, the object approaching from the front passed right beside her.

"Dismount!"

The huge green box, self-propelled, suddenly slowed down behind the girl. Then people dressed in green jumped down from behind the box one after another. They made a brilliant turn on the grass and took a passive stance, and after adjusting their stance, they pointed a black stick-shaped object that appeared to be a gun at the bandits.

"FIRE...!"

With that order, a series of gunshots echoed through the area. The three horses, hit by the bullets, fell to the ground with a spray of blood, and the bandits on them tumbled to the ground.

"GAH...!"

Two of the horses that were not hit were startled by the gunfire and went wild, and the two bandits above them were doing their best to rein them in.

"Fuck! What was that!?"

The bandit's head is thrown to the ground, and he is panicked to see that the horse he was riding has been shot between the eyes. Looking ahead, they saw a group of green people pointing their muzzle at them.

"Get out of here right now! Or we'll shoot!"

Nomura warned the five bandits. If the trigger is pulled, he will be next to suffer the same fate as the three horses on the ground. They had no choice.

"...Get the hell out of here...! I'll remember you!"

Immediately after the bandit's leader uttered those words, he and the other three who had been thrown to the ground jumped onto the two horses that had escaped being hit and left the scene, returning to the direction from which they had come. After watching them, Nomura called out to the girl who was slumped on the ground.

"Are you hurt?"

"...Y-yes."

The girl answered, looking a little frightened. She is trembling for a moment, perhaps wary of the foreign group wearing unfamiliar clothing, when a man comes out of the back of the truck and approaches her.

"We are a delegation sent from Japan. We found you being chased by bandits, so we have come to your rescue."

Nitta, the leader of the delegation, stated their identity. The girl looked up at Nitta with a calm expression on her face, perhaps a little less nervous after hearing his words.

"You just had a tough time... You must have been thirsty, right?"

Nitta then handed her a water bottle. The girl vigorously took the canteen held out in front of her into her mouth. Then, after drinking the water, the girl calmed down and slowly spoke.

"...Thank you... for saving me..."

The girl bowed her head to the delegation members. She then explained her identity and how she came to be chased by the bandits. Her name is Nina Epicondile. Originally, she was on her way to Seve as a member of a caravan from a nearby town, but when the caravan was attacked by bandits on the way, she was left behind and captured, and she escaped just before she was about to be sold off. At that time, he ran into the forest and managed to shake off the bandits who were chasing her on horseback by hiding in the trees, but after leaving the forest, she was found again and had to flee all the way here.

"That was a disaster..."

The medic who was treating Nina's wounds, Petty Officer Third Class Koharu Mizusawa, was sympathetic to what had happened to her.

"Speaking of Seve, if I remember correctly..."

"Yes, the name of the capital of the Johan Republic, our first destination."

Nitta recognized the name of the place the girl mentioned. Nomura nodded in response to his question.

"...She had been left behind by the merchantmen, and it would be dangerous for her to go to Seve by herself. If, by chance, we are going to the same place, why don't we give her a ride there?"

Crown Prince Sareed suggested that Nina be carried in the Type 73 truck. Hearing his words, Nina's face brightened. The three members of the foreign affairs delegation did not object to his words, but looked at each other and nodded. Nitta waved his gaze at Nina and spoke to her.

"Nina-san, we are going to Seve now too. If it is all right with you, we can take you there with us."

"...Yes! By all means, please!"

Nina replied joyfully and bowed again. The delegation then set out again for Seve, with a new member.