Mysterious beastman soldiers

He appeared to be gentle and kind-hearted…
There stands the leader who commands the elves.

“Ente, let’s go!”

“…O-Okay!”

After her father, who quickly picked up the bow he had by his side and ran ahead, Ente also took a bow and left their cloth-covered dwelling.
As they stepped out and looked up at the sky…

“What… What’s that!?!”

Even though she inadvertently let out a surprisingly loud voice, it was likely the collective realization of the elves coming out to observe the anomaly.
The only one who remained calm was,

“Hmm…”

While only her father Forusha, squinting as he looked up at the sky, seemed to notice it, Ente couldn’t afford the mental capacity to look closer.

Not only those who were standing by in the rear but even those who were constructing a magical barrier looked up…
Hovering in the sky under numerous gazes was a terrifyingly huge - gigantic structure.

The overall silhouette almost resembled a stylized bird…
Yet, how did it become so enormous…?
Quickly estimating its size, it must have been over 250 meters in length.
Covered entirely in a glossy metal from the tip to the tail, strange light emanated from the bottom… seemingly, this light was what enabled such a massive body to float in the air.

It was not an unknown magical creature…
Even the most powerful of magical creatures like dragons don’t grow to such colossal sizes, and moreover, being completely covered in metal - it’s an extremely ridiculous thought, but - it could only be a man-made entity.
Then this is, what on earth…?

Taken aback by this spectacle, Ente was astonished, and one of the elves who had been looking up at the sky pointed and exclaimed.

“Look! Something is coming out of there!”

Indeed… as those words suggested, something emerged from the gigantic structure.
However, it wasn’t in an ordinary way…
Around the structure, about seven circular lights were being produced…
Each one was large enough to envelop a cavalry soldier…
As she watched, strangely enough, soldiers started to emerge as if oozing out from there.

Strange… They were truly strange soldiers in their attire.
Their entire bodies were covered in what seemed like full-body armor worn by human knights in battles.
Nevertheless, its gloss was something beyond being simply called metal, and it differed from leather and wood.
Moreover, it seemed that despite their appearance, they were quite lightweight… The floating soldiers all moved swiftly.

Yes… they were floating in the air.
They weren’t using magic to levitate by themselves.
It was as if they were standing on a mysterious platform turned upside down…
She had no choice but to call it a mysterious foothold floating in midair.
From the bottom of the foothold - a shell-like form, swirling light similar to that of the gigantic structure was emitted, seemingly providing levitation.

Relying on such a thing in the air seems quite unstable… but they stood as solidly as they would on solid ground.

Their race was also a problem.

“They are…”

“Those are beastmen.”

“I know! I know it!”

Rebelling against Forusha’s explanation with a tone that was as if teaching a child - which was indeed accurate - Ente squinted further.

Yes, the mysterious soldiers were all… beastmen.
From the beast-like ears sprouting from their heads to the tail protruding from their rear ends, there was no mistaking their animalistic features.

“What I don’t understand is why the beastmen who were said to have lost their own country are here… and moreover, why did they appear in such a nonsensical way!”

Yes…
The Latora Beastman Country to which the beastmen belong is said to be in a far-off land across the Land of Death and rumored to have been destroyed…
So, why are they here?

“And, they have a katana hanging from their waist…
What about the strange tube they’re carrying?”

What made the beastmen peculiar was not just their armor or mounts…
Their weapons were also similar.
The two swords, large and small, hanging from their waists were probably katanas passed down as a unique weapon of the beastmen country.
However, what could that tube they were holding with both hands possibly be…?

I say tube, but it wasn’t as simple in shape as the word implies.
In comparison to the beastmen, it was about 80 centimeters long.
The tip that was poised was elongated, while the rear end widened like a fan and was designed to rest against the shoulder.
A small part resembling a scope was attached at the top, and a handle was provided at the bottom to hold the entire tube.

“Could it be - is that a weapon!?”

A sudden intuition that crossed Ente’s mind came out of her mouth.
The keen intuition of a child prodigy inheriting the blood of the great Elves…
Ente sensed the foreboding from the hole at the tip of the tube acutely.

Was that intuition correct in the end…?
The beastmen began to aim the tubes at the surrounding monsters one by one.
Moreover - how on earth were they doing so - the platforms they were on moved through the air in a linear and three-dimensional trajectory that even bees couldn’t match, ensuring a clear line of fire.
Then, the true nature of the tube was…?

“Is it a bow…?”

Though it seemed impossible, her rationality denied it…
However, Ente voiced the conclusion her intuition led her to.

Ente was merely a thirteen-year-old young girl, considered a child by Elven standards.
However, it was because of that age that she could come up with flexible ideas… and it seemed, once again, they were correct.

Upon closer inspection, a part of the handle attached to the bottom of the tube seemed to be for hooking a finger, but its purpose was unknown.
It seemed operable, as the beastmen all at once… that’s right… when they pulled it.

An unseen beam of light shot out from the tip of the tube.
It was too quick to be captured by the eye… but…
It was probably a beam of light a few centimeters in length.

Not an arrow…
Nor fire or ice projectiles created by magic…
Truly just a beam of light…

Yet, its killing power was… remarkable.

The monsters that are stationed at the forefront of the defensive wall…
Large lizards covered in robust stone were hit by it…

No death throes…
Not even a spray of blood…

Just small holes appeared on their backs as they stood on the ground…
Whether burnt or emitting a sizzling smoke, the lizards pierced in vital spots immediately rolled their eyes and collapsed.

Even the strength of mineral armor superior to metal couldn’t withstand it…
It was a formidable projectile weapon.

“Amazing…!”

Accompanying her father, who dashed off without a word, Ente climbed atop the defensive wall and murmured in astonishment.