“...An arrow was stuck?”

“Yes, ma’am. A solar-powered Swift reconnaissance drone experienced a malfunction and was recalled. Upon inspection, we found an arrow embedded in the right wing.”

“...”

The report was nothing short of shocking. A Swift drone, flying over the forested region east of the Afurasia United Kingdom, where Telek Harbor was located, had been attacked.

“...Ringo. Just to confirm, what was the Swift’s altitude?”

“The altitude was approximately 20,000 meters, ma’am.”

“An arrow hit the wing of a Swift flying at 20 kilometers?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She was dumbfounded. Twenty kilometers in the air. For perspective, the Swift’s wingspan was about 40 meters, making it appear as a tiny dot from the ground.

Of course, Ringo’s computational capabilities allowed her to hit targets 20 kilometers away with artillery, but that required immense computational resources. Moreover, this was not horizontal fire—it was aimed at the sky.

Gravity’s influence would make this vastly different from shooting a target 20 kilometers away in a straight line.

To make matters more complicated, while the Swift wasn’t particularly fast for an aircraft, it cruised at around 200 to 300 km/h.

Assuming the arrow traveled at an average speed of 200 km/h, it would take six minutes to reach an altitude of 20 kilometers. In that time, the Swift, traveling at 200 km/h, would have moved approximately 20 kilometers from its original position. Predicting its location at that future moment with such precision would be nearly impossible.

“By the way, if there had been a barrage of arrows, we would have detected it. It seems likely that no more than five shots were fired—possibly just one.”

“...Do we have video analysis?”

“The Swift’s footage relied on relay communication, so the resolution was acceptable, but the frame rate was low. If the camera had been oriented towards the arrow’s origin, it might have captured something. Unfortunately, it did not.”

Of course not.

At a loss for what to do, she sank into her chair, frowning.

“There’s one more thing. A note was attached to the arrow’s shaft.”

“...What?”

This meant the arrow wasn’t intended as an attack but as a means of communication—a message. It indicated the sender assumed their target would understand written language and identified the Swift as an artificial construct, not a natural phenomenon.

“The letter’s contents are under analysis, but it appears to be written in a language used in the Afurasia United Kingdom, among others. It’s likely the same message repeated in multiple languages.”

“So, they’re a civilized society. If the message was written in multiple languages and wasn’t an outright attack, they see us as potential negotiating partners?”

“Yes, ma’am. Here is the content.”

Ringo displayed the letter on the screen, accompanied by a translated version. Simultaneously, Ringo read it aloud:

“Warning. You are trespassing in our territory. We request you leave immediately. If you wish to negotiate, contact our ambassador in East Gate City. Repeated violations will be considered hostile acts and met with force. Forest Nation Rebresta Border Guard.”

“...Hmm, the message is quite reasonable.”

“Yes, ma’am. Shall we initiate negotiations?”

Ringo’s question made her pause. Having a negotiation channel wasn’t a bad thing, but sending someone was the problem.

East Gate City was within the Afurasia United Kingdom, reportedly developed through trade with the Forest Nation Rebresta. The presence of a Rebresta ambassador there made sense.

However, East Gate City was estimated to be over 500 kilometers inland from Telek Harbor.

“So, I’d need to send an automaton communicator? Sending it unprotected isn’t an option.”

“Yes, ma’am. Without securing safe passage, deploying an automaton communicator is not advisable.”

That left two choices: ignore the issue or use something other than The Tree’s units.

“It’s possible to request Telek Harbor’s merchants to send a messenger, but there’s no guarantee they’d reach their destination safely.”

“...True. The area isn’t exactly secure.”

She weighed her options. Ignoring the matter was one possibility, but that would mean ceasing reconnaissance over the eastern forest region, assuming the letter was truthful about it being Rebresta’s territory.

Currently, reconnaissance relied on either the Swift drones or the SR-1 Albatross. However, both were too vulnerable to an opponent capable of striking a target at 20 kilometers with pinpoint accuracy. A hit to the engine could easily down a Swift, and even the Albatross, designed for reconnaissance, lacked armor to withstand metal-tipped arrows.

“Ma’am, if negotiations proceed, we can send a delegation, allowing us to continue limited reconnaissance. Establishing trade alone could yield valuable resources.”

“Well… as much as I dislike withdrawing, invading someone else’s territory isn’t appealing either.”

“Yes, ma’am. If you wish to pursue invasion, I can draft plans.”

“That’s a last resort. I’m not interested in conquest.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Thus, the world was spared from a technologically superior invasion.

“Hmm, but that means sending some sort of delegation. Even with an automaton communicator, it’d be unwise to send it unprotected…”

Using an automaton communicator as a disposable option wasn’t entirely out of the question, but their construction required time and rare materials. Moreover, maintaining communication with The Tree would require keeping a Swift drone in range. Based on maps acquired from Telek Harbor, East Gate City was over 1,500 kilometers from The Tree. Relaying through multiple Swifts would introduce significant communication delays. If overflight was prohibited, satellite communication might be necessary.

“For now, we should monitor the situation and inform the Telek merchants to send someone.”

“Agreed. We’ll halt reconnaissance over the eastern forest. Losing another Swift isn’t an option.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll redirect the replacement Swift to another region. It’s also clear that even Swifts can be detected, so we’ll need to use them more cautiously moving forward.”

The possibility of a Swift being detected by a faction had always been considered. However, the ability to attack it had not been anticipated. Observing from a range beyond their effective reach had seemed sufficient, but if they could strike back, avoiding conflict was the best course of action.

“First it was the giant monster Rain Croix, and now this… This world really is a land of absurd fantasy. Using arrows as a weapon is practically magical. What kind of technique did they use?”

“While this was a personal arrow, if something like a ballista with similar range exists, even a combat aircraft could be downed in one shot. More proactive information gathering is necessary.”

“You’re right. Leave that to you. For now, we’ll focus on Afurasia. At least we have a grasp of their technological level.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll expand the scan range northward.”