It goes without saying, but the Entente Alliance didn’t stand a chance facing the Empire head-on. Everyone was certain one nation or another would step in to arbitrate, and then the politicians and diplomats from the two opposing nations would hash something out.

But the scenario that had been inconceivable to all—except for the Entente Alliance, apparently—became reality and astonished every human alive in this day and age.

“Disarm and surrender to the advancing Entente Alliance Army or leave immediately.”

From a commonsense perspective, the Entente Alliance’s demands could only be described as “shocking”; yet even then, the Empire continued to monitor the situation, incredulous. While reports that the Entente Alliance had crossed the border were not entirely unexpected, it was difficult for the Empire to see how such a thing could have actually come to pass.

It seemed so preposterous that Lergen, an officer in the Imperial Army General Staff, would much later voice his suspicion: “…We were so unable to determine what the Entente Alliance was hoping to achieve that it made more sense to suspect our own military leaders of scheming and acting behind closed doors.”

Doubts and ambiguities aside, the pragmatic Imperial Army responded soberly by ordering an immediate response to the Entente Alliance’s major cross-border operation. While there was hesitation and confusion over the Entente Alliance’s agenda, once signs indicated that a potential conflict was brewing, the military began amassing supplies in preparation. All of the Great Army divisions that formed the core of the Empire’s military power then assembled by rail from Central. The Imperial Army was so efficient that it pulled all this off without incident. In fact, everything went so smoothly that it was internally regarded as an “organizational victory.”

But although the Empire had procured an abundance of supplies and even gone so far as to mobilize troops, it was continually troubled by partial skepticism. Really? They’d never!

The Empire was known for its superior armaments, even among the great world powers. During times of peace, it would deploy a corps-sized garrison to the border under the pretext of routine patrolling. The additional corps mustered to meet the minimum number of reserves, just in case, included Tanya’s unit. With information warfare in mind, the Empire even extended invitations to mass media from various countries. So as usual, the military was completely prepared, but the “usual” was precisely what made everyone wonder, Is the Entente Alliance really going to invade?

Tanya never dreamed the Entente Alliance would, without any semblance of justification, launch their inferior forces across the border in an offensive against a military titan, right in front of the media.

But truth is stranger than fiction. Tanya naturally found the turn of events utterly bewildering. If she could have spoken freely, she probably would have described it as witnessing the moment a death wish took concrete form.

“It’s war! Everyone, I repeat, it’s war! A war has just begun! The Empire has declared war on the Regadonia Entente Alliance for violating the border! Moments ago, the Entente Alliance Army began crossing over at multiple locations! Imperial Army troops are rushing to the border one after the next to respond! We’ve received reports that fighting has already broken out in some areas!”

But there was no denying the sight of friendly armored forces and other troops rapidly deploying below her. At the same time, the war correspondents raised their voices to transmit the latest news to the whole world over the airwaves.

…Surely the Empire would only pull this publicity stunt with complete confidence in victory. Well, given its vastly superior national might, level of technology, and armaments, it was an obvious choice to make the next move with an eye on victory.

If journalists were reporting the developments at the border right up to the declaration of war, it meant the brass was relaxed enough about the situation to think about publicity; spreading propaganda about the fair, mighty Empire couldn’t hurt the political situation, either. Furthermore, the Entente Alliance crossing the border first provided legitimate justification. And by admitting the mass media, they were essentially announcing this was a war they would win. Even in this alternate world, national leaders who would consider allowing journalists to freely cover losing battles only existed in fantasy. The fact that imperial officials had nothing to hide, or at least very little, was proof that everything was going smoothly.

All of these factors help ease Tanya’s nerves. Honestly, when she first heard that she was getting sent to the north for field training, she wanted to yell, “I hope you rot!” to the military state that was planning to work a young girl to the bone out in the borderlands. She wanted to curse Being X for getting a good, decent person mixed up with this world to begin with.

But Tanya is completely fine with the Empire presenting her with an opportunity to climb the ranks in a one-sided conflict like the Gulf War. This war is winnable, and the soldiers are the winners. Her mission is simply to take out enemies from the safety of the sky and get promoted. While extraordinarily unexpected, it isn’t a bad deal. In fact, it’s better than “not bad”—Tanya’s been presented with a one-in-a-million chance. Border patrol missions are simple but dangerous, and even if you get results, there is a tendency for the brass to claim your achievements don’t officially exist thanks to some “political consideration” ridiculousness. As a result, patrol duty in the disputed Norden Territory has a reputation within the Imperial Army as an “all pain and no gain” endeavor.

It isn’t easy to rack up achievements there, and to make unfavorable conditions worse, like it or not, Tanya Degurechaff has the physique of a fair-skinned, blue-eyed, blond-haired little girl. On top of that, a glance at her records shows that she’s a military academy graduate on track to become an elite mage. If she’s selected for an assignment and fails, there would be no way around the bad PR saying the army had ruined a young person with a promising future. Setting her capabilities aside and going strictly by outward appearance, even Tanya feels put off by her doll-like face. If I weren’t Tanya, I wouldn’t want anything to do with her outside of the call of duty.

This objective perspective has been consistent since she was commissioned in the Imperial Army. Before, Tanya didn’t have a bad reputation among the instructors, but the fact that her work contributions matched her pay grade simply couldn’t wipe out the stains of rumors about the “little girl mage.” The only way around it was to produce even greater results, but as much as she wanted to do just that, the opportunity had never arisen—until now.

In other words, even though Tanya is a mage, no one recognizes her as one. She’s treated like a baby getting in everyone’s way. In a sense, they’re claiming that she’s defective. It’s insulting how they barely pay attention to her career. Ironically, the Empire wound up giving her active combat duty in a situation where its army handily dominated the battlefield—an unexpected stroke of good fortune for her first battle.

It seems the war will continue for a while under favorable conditions. If Tanya hopes to keep surviving, she needs to use that time to gain status and influence. I also want her to secure some connections. To that end, it’s imperative for her to play a proper role in this predictable war and rack up honors and commendations.

Having thought that far, Tanya unconsciously curls her rosy lips into a grin as she reassesses the situation. This might not be so bad after all.

“Actually, couldn’t this work out wonderfully for my career…? I should consider this a pretty sweet deal.” No one is around to overhear her egocentric whisper. Even if someone were flying nearby, the howling of the imperial artillery gunnery below would have drowned out her voice, not to mention the endless echo of shells making landfall and exploding. If I think of the cacophony as a VIP view of the Fuji Firepower Review but with several times the roaring artillery, it isn’t so bad.

“Fairy 08, this is Goliath 07. Requesting firing results.”

“Goliath 07, this is Fairy 08. Good effect on target. I say again, good effect.”

Tanya’s job is simple. She only needs to calmly observe and report to the artillery batteries. Flying around with the radio set weighing her down while maintaining the flight formula isn’t easy, but the Imperial Army’s computation orb is up to the task. Due to the disputed nature of the Norden Territory, many of the troops spread across the north are temporary transfers from Central Command. On paper, Tanya is only on loan from Central after she completed her field-training program.

If she takes her duties to heart, she could definitely return to the garrison in Central eventually. A position in the rear echelon isn’t just a pipe dream. Once she’s chosen as an officer magician in the rear, there’s a distinct possibility Tanya could spend the rest of the war on standby under orders to defend the capital. Depending on how she looks at it, Personnel might have actually given her a golden ticket for developing a promising career in the long run.

Tanya was bitter when she first learned of the decision for her to train in the boring yet perilous north, but it just goes to show that there’s no telling in life what could be a blessing in disguise. It’s a bit late, but I should probably mail thank-you letters to my instructors with my latest updates as soon as possible. I have to build up my connections.

I can already foresee a rosy career. Even in the midst of battle, Tanya is in visibly high spirits as she spots for artillery on the battlefield.

“Fairy 08 to Norden Control. Please respond.”

“This is Norden Control. Loud and clear.”

The exploding shells below are satisfactorily laying waste to the Entente Alliance infantry who have crossed the national boundary. No matter how rugged the mountainous Norden terrain, once artillery is fully deployed, the soldiers casually advancing on the border become nothing more than targets. All the more so if the lay of the land leaves them exposed.

“Fairy 08, roger. Enemy currently under suppressive fire. I believe we’ve neutralized them. Enemy infantry is breaking ranks.”

Maintaining a suitable distance, the exceptional artillery batteries fire at unarmored targets under the guidance of an observer in an area where ballistics data was precalculated beforehand. It’s impossible that the barrage can fail to wipe them out. Down below, the swarms of once orderly infantry fall prey to the howitzers all too easily once they begin fleeing in all directions. As Tanya confirms the situation through a pair of binoculars, it becomes clear that any more will just be a waste of ammo.

“Norden Control, roger. Advance to patrol line two and guide suppressive fire against the enemy’s primary infantry.”

“Fairy 08, roger. Will advance and continue observation mission.”

Her dispassionate exchange with Control is so free of noise that Tanya quietly thinks to herself, I didn’t expect radios to work so well in actual combat conditions. The sky is overcast as far as her blue eyes can see, so it isn’t as though weather will hinder enemy signal jamming. Yet the noise level can be termed the barely perceptible “clear.” The signal is so clean it’s almost ridiculous that she’s carrying the massive airman radio set, which she was issued in anticipation of poor reception due to magnetic abnormalities caused by Norden mineral deposits. Tanya passes over the Entente Alliance’s scrambling troops and feels genuinely puzzled as she advances in order to set her sights on the persevering remnants of the enemy army.

Seriously, what is the Entente Alliance trying to do? If they want to be targets for live-ammunition exercises, they should have said so. I would have volunteered to strafe instead of observe if I knew we were going to be hunting for dodoes instead of turkeys. The ones on bombing duty in this fight have escorts and control of the air, and if that isn’t enough, they get dibs on the juiciest targets. I’m so jealous, I can hardly stand it.

“Fairy 08 to Norden Control. I’ve advanced to the designated position.”

“Norden Control, roger. We see that. Relaying the situation to the artillery now. Continue to observe points of impact.”

“Fairy 08, roger. Remaining on artillery observation until ordered otherwise. Over.”

“Norden Control, roger.”