The Land of the Rising Sun Transfers to Another World

Chapter 145: Invasion of Sahenantis (2)

I am very sorry that so much has happened that my posting has stalled.

- ワイアード

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Sea south of the Great Valkian Empire

The large-scale invasion by the Covenant and the Lemurian Empire forced the residents of areas near Baroc to begin evacuating en masse. Among them, young women and children were prioritized and directed toward an archipelago in the southern seas designated as a refuge.

The primary mode of transportation was civilian transport ships. While a few warships accompanied the convoy as escorts, most of them had been deployed to the intense battlegrounds near Baroc, leaving a limited number of escorts—insufficient to adequately protect the 30 transport vessels.

"Wow! It's the sea!"

"Look, Mom! It's the sea!"

"H-hey, sit down and be careful!"

"There's a warship right there! So cool!"

While parents harbored deep anxieties about the future of their nation, the children remained carefree, thrilled by the unfamiliar sight of the horizon and the awe-inspiring flying warships, a spectacle boys especially admired.

"Such inadequate protection. This ship does have AA guns, but how much good would they do against a Lemurian warship... Ugh, thinking about it is so depressing," muttered a soldier sitting at an anti-aircraft gun hastily installed on a civilian ship. He gazed up at the sky as he spoke.

Another soldier tasked with reloading ammunition nearby responded. "It can't be helped. Even warships are a precious resource these days. Five is already a lot."

"Is that so? Take a look around—most of the soldiers and parents here look like they're about to faint."

The archipelago designated as the evacuation site had been discovered by chance shortly after the nation's arrival in this otherworld. Since then, the government has constructed numerous large-scale underground facilities there, stockpiling vast quantities of water, food, and essential supplies. Despite opposition from many high-ranking officials, who argued that their homeland, surrounded by towering mountain ranges, was impregnable, the Emperor pushed the initiative forward.

Thirty years have passed since the nation's arrival in this otherworld, and this is the first time the evacuation archipelago has been put to use.

"Everyone's nervous. Never before has an enemy encroached this far into the mainland. And to make matters worse, the invaders are none other than the mighty Lemuria, whose relentless conquests in the previous world devastated countless nations and habitable zones. Just when we thought we'd escaped their clutches, we discover they arrived in this world 500 years ago and have grown even stronger."

"Hmph..."

"Hey, aren't you scared?"

"Not at all. I was an orphan to begin with—there's nothing for me to fear."

"I see..."

The ship's interior was heavy with a somber atmosphere, distinct from the tension that gripped the escort vessels.

Under the surface of the sea, however, lay a different kind of vigilance.

"Any signs of change?"

"No, the underwater detection systems show nothing unusual."

"There don't appear to be any sea monsters, either."

"Good. Stay alert. If a poorly armed convoy like this were to encounter sea monsters, it'd be catastrophic."