Legend of the Far East Savior Volume 2 Chapter 2 part 4

 
But now, things are completely different. After all, the reason they could obtain the massive corpse—the shield’s raw material—mostly intact was because, during the recent large-scale offensive, Keita (piloting the Mikage-type) landed a perfect headshot on a large monster, taking it down in a single strike without damaging the rest of its body.
 
So if the purpose was to reinforce Keita’s unit, prioritizing him and Mogami Heavy Industries for material allocation wasn’t unreasonable.
 
And as for why the 40mm rounds couldn’t penetrate the large monster’s armor—well, that much was obvious. (Though to be precise, the shield’s armor requires channeling magical energy—something Nana isn’t aware of.)
 
(I thought he was being too lenient with Shoko Isotani when she came at him head-on… but that wasn’t leniency—it was confidence. Huh. He’s got a better personality than I expected.)
 
Indeed, if you already know your opponent’s attacks won’t work, there’s no harm in playing along.
 
He might have been wary of a surprise attack, but when the enemy approaches directly from the front, there’s no room for ambushes.
 
As a result, Shoko fired her 40mm autocannon straight at him—only to be completely shut down.
 
That’s all there was to it.
 
(As for the shield, we’ll just have to wait for mass production. Whether the Kusanagi-type can carry it is up to the tech department… For now, the immediate problems are: how to bypass the shield to land a hit, and how to defend against their attacks.)
 
Keita blocked Shoko’s attack with his shield while counterattacking with a volley from the same 40mm autocannon that Shoko was using. In other words, it was possible to use the same firepower as the Kusanagi-type even in mid-range combat.
 
By the way, the 40mm autocannon was originally the weapon with the greatest firepower among all the weapons the Kusanagi-type could carry.
 
Its power was sufficient to blow apart medium-sized targets with a few shots and small targets with a single hit. However, naturally, its recoil was also strong – in the case of the Kusanagi-type, it was a weapon with such recoil that it wouldn’t hit the target properly unless both hands and the entire body were used to suppress the recoil.
 
(And he’s swinging that around with one hand? Just like Isotani Shoko said, it really is unreasonable.)
 
But Keita – the Mikage-type he operated – did it as if it were natural. He could do it.
 
On one side, the Mikage-type performing volleys while holding up a shield. On the other, the Kusanagi-type that was defenseless because it was holding the weapon with both hands. Which would win was obvious without even checking.
 
Originally, the Mikage-type, designed to handle heavy artillery alone, had a weight that the Kusanagi-type lacked. She knew that this weight helped suppress recoil, but she hadn’t expected it could be done so skillfully.
 
(At this rate, maybe “poor at close combat” also comes with the qualifier “compared to long-range.”)
 
Nana could somewhat see how this would end, but given her position, she couldn’t avoid testing that as well.
 
“Well then~ May I try next?”
 
[……Yes. That’s right. Let me watch from outside for once.]
 
The reason Shoko readily nodded to Nana’s proposal wasn’t because her heart was broken from repeated instant defeats… it wasn’t that.
 
She simply judged that she needed to calm down once.
 
And Shoko knew Nana’s strength in close combat.
 
[I’ll switch with Nana next. I’ll set things up so wait a moment.]
 
[Roger~]
 
“……You seem quite relaxed.”
 
There was certainly a trend that [the arena has no meaning].
 
However, individual skills weren’t completely meaningless.
 
“Well then, shall I strike back?”
 
She understood that Kawakami Keita and his machine were the embodiment of unreasonableness. However, martial arts were originally techniques for fighting such opponents.
 
Moreover, the opponent was an ordinary person who had lived in an ordinary household until half a year ago. He might have learned something after entering military school, but technique wasn’t something that could be mastered overnight.
 
(Let him savor what I’ve built up as a daughter of a martial family.)
 
She couldn’t say she would definitely win. But she would make him struggle.
 
Nana’s first battle, fought with [resolve], was…
 
To conclude, the Mikage-type operated by Kawakami Keita was an unreasonable existence even in arena close-range combat.
 

READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM


[Now. Please savor the wonders of martial arts.]
 
A field with a 50-meter radius. Commonly known as the [Arena].
 
For humans, it was a sufficiently wide field, but for the Kusanagi-type and Mikage-type, which stood 6 meters tall, it wasn’t particularly spacious.
 
It was mainly used when military school students learned close combat techniques, but as mentioned earlier, it was a field that military personnel tended to avoid for the reason that [combat would never begin in such conditions].
 
Of course, since the initial concept of mecha development in Japan was for anti-mecha use, close combat techniques themselves weren’t considered useless.
 
Also, since shooting training and coordination training using mechas couldn’t be easily conducted, families without simulators tended to have their children learn martial arts as basic techniques.
 
Therefore, nowadays, students who couldn’t perform close combat were labeled as [lazy].
 
The reason Muto Saori, who entered as valedictorian, could handle close combat at a high level – by student standards – despite being from a staff officer’s family, was related to this trend.
 
Among the students competing in their skills, the person who boasted such ability that even Muto Saori, the valedictorian, said [I can’t win in close combat, even if I might have a chance in overall ability] was none other than Taguchi Nana herself.
 
Her figure carrying a naginata proved by itself that she possessed skills that could be called first-rate without exaggeration.
 
What about Keita in comparison? He held something like a glaive, but no matter how you looked at it, his amateur nature was undeniable.
 
“No, for an amateur, he looks quite proper. Probably learned from a textbook or something. But the fact remains that he’s overwhelmingly lacking in combat experience. That won’t be enough to beat Nana.”
 
The shorter the distance, the more skill differences showed.
 
Considering that, the difference between Keita and Nana was clear.
 
What remained was the difference between the Mikage-type and Kusanagi-type. Comparing the Mikage-type, specialized for long-range sniping, with the Kusanagi-type, built for close-to-mid-range combat and designed to easily reflect the pilot’s combat techniques – at least within the limited space of the arena – it was self-evident that the Kusanagi-type had the advantage in concept.
 
Of course, this time, firing incendiary shells with suicidal resolve was prohibited, so mutual destruction was impossible.
 
“Nana wins.”
 
Shoko, comparing both from outside, came to that conclusion.
 
Honestly speaking, it wasn’t amusing that Keita, who had defeated her consecutively – and one-sidedly at that – would lose.
 
But staying defeated wasn’t amusing either.
 
“……Next time, I’ll try the [Arena] too.”
 
While she felt somewhat guilty about exploiting weaknesses, battle was all about exploiting the opponent’s weaknesses.
 
However, the complex part was wondering what there was to be proud of if she won against a long-range sniping mecha in close combat.
 
“Ah, no. Let’s watch first. That machine performance differences aren’t the decisive factor in combat strength.”
 
Shoko shook her head and decided to focus on the scene before her. From the conclusion, her action was correct.
 

【Situation Start】
 
[Kick!]
 
[Kyaa!]
 
【Situation End】
 

 
Fifth battle, concluded.
 
Time required: 1.6 seconds.
 
Taguchi machine, heavily damaged.
 
Pilot, deceased.
 

 
[……Huh?]
 
“……Ah, I see. This is how it looks from outside.”
 
It was unexpected.
 
Shoko hadn’t thought it would end so one-sidedly either.
 
However, perhaps it could be called “onlookers see most of the game” – watching from the side, she could understand that this was actually a quite reasonable result.
 
[Sh-Shoko-san!?]
 
“Yes. I understand. I understand.”
 
The confusion Nana was feeling now was what she herself had experienced just moments ago.
 
Therefore, Shoko understood what Nana wanted to say and what she wanted to ask.
 
And Shoko had no intention of teasing a confused classmate who didn’t understand the situation, nor did she have a hobby of provoking others.
 
“Shield bash.”
 
[Excuse me?]
 
“That’s why, shield bash. What you got hit with was a shield bash.”
 
[Um. That’s, you know, what shield-bearing soldiers do, right?]
 
“Yes.”
 
For some reason the battle cry was “kick” – more precisely “kickuu” – but what he did was definitely a shield bash.
 
(Was he trying to mislead? Well, battle cry aside, it’s actually obvious when you think about it.)
 
The opponent was more than three times heavier than them – actually more than five times heavier, but the latest information wasn’t public – yet possessed mobility surpassing theirs thanks to having twice as many legs (four legs), and carried a sturdy shield that couldn’t be scratched even by 40mm autocannon fire.
 
On top of that, it could boost its mobility by releasing magical power.
 
With all these conditions met, there was only one thing to do.
 
Yes. That was charging.
 
A primal strike embodying “I don’t know martial arts!”
 
Its power was as just witnessed. Its appearance was truly like a traffic accident.
 
Nana’s machine, which took it head-on, was crushed with a sickening sound like a light car that had collided head-on with a high-speed truck.
 
(The reason Nana’s machine didn’t get blown away was probably because the other side was faster than the speed at which it would be blown away. Well, in any case, this shows what happens when a Kusanagi-type takes 100% of the impact from a machine collision. I’ve gained another piece of valuable information… though I don’t know if it’s usable.)
 
Incidentally, Keita’s machine didn’t have a single scratch. There was no sign that the arm joints were destroyed by the impact, and of course the shield was intact too. If he wanted to, he could continue fighting consecutive battles. It was annoyingly undamaged.

TLNOTE:

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