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Shadow of the Mastermind part 1

「That bastard Kou. Telling us to follow him now? He’s late!」

「Well, we’ll tighten the screws on him thoroughly once this is all over.」

Barry and Kelly smirked at each other. There was no doubt Jenny and Blue had given Kou a stern talking-to. Barry couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of Kou for calling out to them in his own words, even if it came late.

「It’s no surprise, but most of the members have already changed alliance to Trireme. I expected some would be swayed by the money but they were less than I thought.」

Barry sighed in relief, conveniently ignoring he was the first one to do it. The ones who hadn’t moved to the Trireme were people he didn’t know—mostly newcomers, likely fresh recruits to the mercenary trade.

Fuyuki, Robert, and Rick responded to Barry’s words without hesitation:

「Some things are more important than money.」

「Of course. Do they know how many times the Familias have saved our skins? And now they’re even treating Asia like she’s just an object.」

「We didn’t need to think about it for even a second, it’s only natural for us to stand with Kou. Well, it’s time to get ready to lead the Familias.」

With a cheerful demeanor, Rick headed off to make preparations.

「It seems the Cimon, the Aristeides, and the Pericles will remain under their current crew.」

「I’m slightly worried about my original getting overly excited, but there shouldn’t be any issues. We’ll proceed with the operation as planned.」

Dike responded while coordinating with Astraea. Dike’s personality was a bit more easygoing than Astraea’s, making Astraea’s exhilaration all the more noticeable.

「‘Asia and Astraea are my women!’ Kou’s really did it this time. Is something like that possible in the first place?」

「Why wouldn’t it be? We are, after all, beings who admire humanity. I believe it’s entirely possible.」

「Oh… uh, I see.」

「However, I must admit concern over Astraea’s reaction. After all, it’s my original we’re talking about.」

「There’s no way Astraea would get carried away.」

「She would.」

Dike declared it with absolute certainty regarding her original.

「She would…?」

Barry was left baffled. The super AIs occasionally revealed surprisingly human-like emotions. In moments like these, they truly resembled the gods of Greek mythology.

「Well, whatever. The real operation starts after the deadline to declare allegiance. We’ll need to evaluate how much strength we can muster by then.」

Barry decided to stop worrying about the topic. The intricacies of relationships between men and women—whether they were human or not weren’t something he should meddle with. Still, he couldn’t help but think, that if the goddess of fairness herself was part of the harem, it would probably work out fine for the women involved.

「At present, we’ve gathered a sufficient number of troops.」

「Well, I expected that much.」

Barry focused on the nautical charts.

「The enemy’s objective is to seize the P336 Fortress Area and the Silhouette Base using their space fleet. Their attack force will probably be mainly composed of antique Silhouettes and higher-end units.」

「It’s unclear where they’ve been hiding all this time, but most likely in an underwater Defense Dome. General Arms did the same.」

「They’ve got a larger fleet of space vessels than us. The Aubade Force is primarily a naval fleet, while theirs is an aerial fleet. How the hell does Kou plan to win this?」

「He likely anticipated gathering a certain level of Familias support. In that case, the three Hora-class ships and the various defensive facilities alone should be enough.」

「Even you think so, Dike?」

「Yes. The amount of strength we’ve amassed makes such concerns unnecessary. If the enemy doesn’t receive reinforcements from the Stones or support from other planets, we should be able to win without issue. Simply put, the enemy has made a major miscalculation.」

「Oh? Tell me—what exactly did they screw up?」

Dike answered succinctly, in a single phrase.

When he heard it, Barry nodded in agreement.

「No doubt about it—they are really done for.」

Kou hadn’t probably thought about this when he picked a fight with the Mercenary Association Headquarters, but if Dike was confident, Barry felt certain of their win.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

The Familias within the Astraea and the Therianthropes were eagerly rushing to change their affiliation to Trireme.

「What should we do?」

A young Nereid man timidly asked Jamie, one of the oldest Nereids alive. Changing their alliance to Trireme seemed like the obvious choice, yet Jamie’s behavior was unusual—if anything, he appeared distracted.

「Do as you like. We’re mercenaries. No one has the right to complain if we move for money.」

Jamie said with a hearty laugh, his rare good mood evident.

「What’s got you in such high spirits?」

A young girl couldn’t help but ask Jamie. He was a seasoned and highly respected mercenary among the Nereids, but his strange behavior right now had caught everyone’s attention.

It was true—Outis’ declaration had left an impression on them. Outis’ willingness to protect their rights had greatly moved them. However, Jamie’s reaction was clearly not the sort that came from mere admiration.

「I’ve spent my life wandering through this battlefield called the Nemesis System, but now, for the first time, I’m fighting for myself—and for all the Nereids. There’s nothing more exciting than that. Do whatever you want. I’ll do as I please.」

Jamie’s laughter didn’t stop. It wouldn’t be wrong to say he was outright giddy.

「Ah, I never thought I’d feel this good. Even if it costs me my life, I’ll fight alongside Outis. He’s the first human to really care for the Nereids as a whole, and even ask Okeanos to protect our rights. Thanks to him our freedom and dignity have a tangible form. But don’t get me wrong—I’m not fighting for his sake. I’m fighting to protect my freedom and dignity.」

He stretched his arms wide, his stance brimming with confidence.

「I’m an old man, you see. I’ve found my place to die—or rather, my place to live. I’ve decided to fight together with Big Boss to the end, not for money—though I’ll need it, of course, to keep fighting. Just thinking about it thrills me. To find a new purpose at my age… what a gift.」

With a quick flourish, Jamie completed his transfer process on his terminal and headed for his machine.

The younger Nereids exchanged glances, nodded, and began the same procedures, one by one.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

「Later, Kou. Good luck. I’m off to fine-tune Unit 5.」

「Oh, I’ll come with you!」

「You’ve got a mountain of things to handle here, don’t you? Besides, I’m not great with messy situations. Live strong, okay?」

With those parting words, whispered almost inaudibly, Voy shuffled off without a hint of hesitation, leaving Kou behind.

The combat command center now lacked any male presence.

「Metal Iris and Ulysses have both disbanded, so the weight of responsibility falls heavy, doesn’t it?」

「Wait, hold on. Why?」

「To transfer to the Trireme, of course. Asia, we’re reestablishing Metal Iris under Trireme .」

「I figured you’d say that, so I’ve already made some progress. There. Registration complete. Everyone from Ulysses is transferring over too.」

One by one, everyone updated their registrations through their terminals—Jenny and Blue included.

「Think Barry or Kelly will get mad later?」

「Not for what you did, I imagine. The problem is that you didn’t consult or invite them beforehand! They were also hurt, although in a different way from us. You should treat your friends better.」

「…Got it.」

For once, Kou gave an honest response, clearly aware of his oversight.

What he didn’t realize, however, was that in the coming days, Barry, Kelly, and Hyoue would vent their frustrations through long, drunken tirades, leaving Kou emotionally drained for hours. It would later be a memory he recalled with a deep wince, as one of the most exhausting experiences of his life.

「Your actions were too much this time. You also rushed too much. What made you do this?」

Jenny and Blue’s concern was clear.

「I honestly don’t know.」

「I wouldn’t say it was unexpected, if anything, this feels very much like Kou. In the battle with the Enyo, when the Familias were being torn apart, Kou immediately rushed to help them.」

「Master!」

Master’s consciousness inside Aimer resurfaced to defend him.

「However, even I was surprised by your idea to create a new organization capable of opposing the Mercenary Association’s near-dictatorial authority. Creating a new persona— Outis—, introducing the concept of Artifact Consciousness, and using the pretense of having ownership rights to give them rights… Did Prometheus give you the idea?」

「That’s the thing. It’s clear someone influenced me, but I have no idea who. I even asked Okeanos, and he denied it. It wasn’t Prometheus either. It’s also not Asia or Astraea.」