“Takemikazuchi? What are you talking about?”

“Huh!? Oh, sorry! It’s nothing.”

Tanaka eyed Kenya suspiciously, but Kenya hurriedly corrected himself.

He’d accidentally let the name from his old world slip out. Was it the same name in this world too?

“…Well, whatever. This machine doesn’t have a name yet anyway. Actually, we haven’t even done the basic checks. That’s why I was looking for an ace-level pilot, but it’s not easy to snag one of those.”

“At the very least, it needs someone Holy Knight class, on par with Reina, to handle this special unit’s specs.”

From what Tanaka and Zeke said, they’d poured every cutting-edge technology into building a high-spec special machine.

The result was a machine so responsive it was peaky—even just standing up was a challenge.

Like a character in a fighting game whose win rate scales directly with the player’s skill.

Useless if you couldn’t handle it, but it grew stronger than standard machines the better you got.

In his old world, it was so finicky it was either carry or feed by default—dragging the team down most of the time.

The biggest reason was the total lack of ranged weapons.

It fought solely with dual swords—a hyper-masculine design that was another factor.

“It’s not fully tuned yet today, but want to take it for a quick spin? I’m not even sure if it’ll stand.”

“You sure!?”

“Of course.”

And so Kenya climbed into the white KOG.

“The cockpit… hasn’t changed.”

The controls were basically the same.

“Alright, let’s try standing and walking! No need to push it!”

(If he can stand, that’ll be a miracle. Even Zeke struggled a bit.)

“Got it!”

(Man, this feels great. Riding you again…)

Kenya powered it up.

A mechanical startup hum filled the air, and the white giant rose to its feet.

(Yep, as expected of Takemikazuchi. The response time is insane.)

The KOG sat in a seiza-like position.

Standing was effortless for a human without thinking, but not for a KOG.

Picture rising from seiza.

First, slide one foot—right or left—forward.

Shift your weight onto it while supporting yourself with your hands.

There were even more minute steps if you broke it down.

KOGs had high freedom of control.

No single button to stand—you had to execute the full sequence properly.

That’s why skill gaps showed: a massive divide between aces and rookies.

And this Takemikazuchi had abnormally sharp stick response.

Like gaming with a mouse at max sensitivity.

Perfect control meant lightning-fast moves, but the difficulty spiked accordingly.

Even basic actions were tough.

“It stood…? On the first try? No way…”

“Hmm, I figured it’d give you trouble at first…”

Their stunned voices came through the open channel.

“Mind if I take a few steps?”

“…Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Go ahead…”

Before Tanaka stood the white giant, taking its first step.

Smooth as a human.

(Not just standing… it can walk. That easily?)

“Zeke… what the hell is this guy?”

“Beats me. But I told you—he’s stronger than me.”

…

“Well, I’ll be counting on you from here on, Kenya.”

“You got it! Call me anytime—I wanna pilot it more!”

That day, they only tested basic maneuvers before wrapping up the pilot eval.

Seemed like he’d passed muster with Tanaka and got hired as the test pilot.

Afterward, Kenya headed back to the dorm.

“Takemikazuchi… if only I could make you mine.”

For now, he was just the test pilot—no way he’d get the machine itself.

After all, he was only a 2nd Class Earthguard citizen, low-tier by imperial standards.

“Still, what now…? Infiltrate the Empire? Haha, I’d get killed in seconds.”

Lounging on the sofa, Kenya pondered his next moves.

He wanted to stop the world invasion, but he didn’t even know the cause—right now, the emperor’s illness had stalled things.

Once the next emperor was chosen, it’d probably kick off.

And for Kaguya’s sake, if possible, he wanted to reclaim Japan.

But he was just a skilled KOG pilot.

His options were limited.

“Still… I wanna help.”

At first, it was just about protecting Kaguya.

Now, he wanted to save Isshin and all the oppressed Japanese too.

Self-righteous hypocrisy? Maybe.

He wasn’t from this world—Japanese or not, he had no ties, no war experience.

Yet he still remembered the feel of that girl’s hand gripping his back then.

The tears of the girl who’d lost her parents.

“All I can do is pilot KOGs anyway.”

He had no political pull, no strategic genius.

His old world’s knowledge was useless here.

Kenya was just an ordinary guy.

In this world, he had one thing going for him.

He’s strong in a KOG. That was it.

“What can I even do?”

He reached for the ceiling like grasping the sky.

No clue how to face an unseen tomorrow.

With those thoughts, he turned in for the night.

But Kenya still didn’t truly grasp it.

This world. What real combat meant.

From then on, at school he test-piloted Takemikazuchi.

After classes, he trained with Kaguya and the others.

Evenings at Amaterasu HQ, practicing on real KOGs—a KOG-saturated routine.

All while playing happy family with Azusa and the kids.

“It’s here…”

Zeke’s phone rang.

A notice of an important arrival—and he knew who.

…

“Resistance still hanging on, huh. Should just wipe ’em out or enslave the lot.”

As the sun rose, a woman stepped from the airship.

Golden hair gleaming beautifully—fit for a princess.

“Lady Yumir… we’ve been expecting you.”

Zeke bowed in welcome.

Earthguard imperial troops around him bowed too.

Plenty of KOG escorts.

“Now that I’m here, you can relax. I’ll handle the rebels in this sector.”

“You’re deploying, Your Highness!?”

“Yep—even those 2nd Class pigs, let alone 3rd Class, aren’t worth it.”

She smiled at Zeke.

But not a shred of nobility in it.

Beautiful face, yet glimpses of ugliness beneath.

“Exterminate ’em, right? Oh, but spare a few young males. For fun.”

The princess licked her lips.

Her beauty twisted into grotesquery—like squashing bugs.

The Torture Princess, they called her.

Captured by her? Better off dead. A certified psychopath.

Yumir Earthguard.

One of this world’s rulers.