Prologue

Present Day

Mitsuha headed towards the edge of the capital city towards a relatively cleared section designated the "Proving Range". It was basically a medieval equivalent of a shooting range that had been set up in accordance to her specifications, primarily having a safety backstop at the rear of the property line to prevent any stray bullets from leaving the range, and baffles above any expected line of fire to catch even the worst marksmen's mistakes. Along the firing line, vertical posts had been set up that could mount armor suits so penetration could be tested for, along with basic marksmanship practice. The intent was to allow the Kingdom to start testing both the captured Vanel smoothbore muskets, and eventually what she hoped would be newly created Minié rifles from her designs.

Arriving at the Range, Mitsuha's thoughts briefly went over the itinerary she had planned. The plan was to leave in the morning via her personal carriage. I hope Micchan appreciates just how much more comfortable the wagon is, compared to the local ones*. I had it specially made on Earth, because my butt just couldn't take those bouncy rides for that long. Of course, we'll be making jumps along the way to cut the travel time down. She didn't want to keep Michiko away from Earth any longer than necessary; she was scheduled to return to college in a few weeks to register for her next semester classes. Besides, the medieval living couldn't be easy for someone who was accustomed to living in modern Japan, no matter how pleasant Mitsuha would try to make it. Yeah... the sooner she goes back home, she safer and more comfortable she'll be.

* see Manga Chp67 / LN Chp28

Mitsuha looked around; she didn't see Chancellor Saar anywhere, but there were several guards around. Maybe she was early; she went to one of the guards. "Excuse me, is Minister Saar ..." Mitsuha's next thoughts were immediately interrupted by a sharp thrust of pain from behind. Instinctively, she tried to gather her thoughts to perform a jump, but something felt off. It wasn't just the pain or that she was being grappled on from both sides; it felt like she had been drugged or was extremely drunk. Something else was on that dagger, she suddenly realized. This was really bad...! I'm all alone and I can't... her thoughts began to crumble under the pain of the assault and poison coursing through her veins. Coherency was fading; any kind of focused destination was no longer an option, but at this point, anywhere was better than here as she was thrown to the ground. She could barely make out the eyes of the traitorous... no, she realized in her last moments of lucidity... disguised assassins... that whole message was a trap... and she fell for it...! If she didn't vanish now... anywhere... she was done for... Summoning the last vestiges of her will, she poured herself into her power, not caring where it would take her, leaving a quiet whoosh of air.