The Goddess’s Confession
「Aimer!」
Kou immediately rushed to Astraea’s combat command center.
Aimer left the commander’s seat and welcomed Kou. However, her expression looked a bit awkward.
Since she went and did something so reckless, she was sure she’d get scolded.
However, Kou’s next actions weren’t the ones Aimer expected.
He gently patted Aimer’s head as he crouched down and matched gazes with her.
「Aimer, thank you. Thank you for saving everyone.」
Aimer was petrified. She did not expect those words at all.
Kou had already decided. He decided to absolutely not get angry at Aimer. Instead, he would praise and comfort the brave young girl.
「K-Kou…… You see…… I-I’m so……」
「You don’t have to apologize, Aimer. That’s why please promise me. The next time you do something so reckless, you have to bring me with you.」
Kou was gentle. He’d always thought that he didn’t want to make Aimer feel alone anymore and always wanted to be there for her.
Aimer understood his feelings. Her eyes were on the verge of crying, but she still endured and held her tears back.
「It must have been painful. I have to thank all the Familiars who accompanied you as well. Thanks to them, Aimer, and Astraea, the rest of Metal Iris was saved.」
She finally couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. She jumped into Kou’s chest and buried her face in it.
Kou wrapped his arms around Aimer’s back and gently rubbed it to console her.
「I understand, Kou. I promise. So, you have to promise too.」
「Hm?」
「Don’t be reckless. You have to always take me with you. When you go to Libya, take everyone with you as well.」
「I got it. I promise.」
Since he wanted others to be safe, it wouldn’t do if Kou didn’t protect himself as well.
He treated this promise very importantly.
「Astraea, please connect me to the internal broadcast.」
『Acknowledged.』
「Hello, everyone. This is Kou speaking. Everyone, thank you for helping Aimer. And I also express my deepest gratitude and condolences to those who had died. Let’s have a minute of silence in their honor. Let’s pray for the deceased.」
With Kou taking the lead in performing a silent prayer, all the Familiars, Therianthropes, and Pleiades members present performed a silent prayer as well.
The Metal Iris members in the Cimon-class, Aristides-class, and Fortress Area P336 that saw the broadcast also offered their silent prayers to those who died.
Aimer joined her hands and prayed as well. She hoped that their soul could find rest.
「Once again, thank you. But this isn’t over yet. I want to protect everyone, including all of you. I want to protect Asia. So, I ask you to lend me your power.」
Kou’s feelings were conveyed to all his valued comrades.
「Dike, you’re linked to Astraea, right? I’ll leave the reorganization of the Familiar aerial corps to you.」
『I’ve already performed reorganization. I’ve singled out the squadrons that are in urgent need of thorough repairs and directed them to Fortress Area P336. Fortunately, Skunk Works has sent many Star Soldiers to us, so it’s easier to reorganize the troops.』
「I see. What about the Pleiades and Heat Lightning transformable Silhouettes?」
『They’ve all been accommodated within Astraea.』
The transformable Silhouette troops were intently keeping watch on the sky from the deck of Astraea in their Silhouette mode.
「I see. This is just a suggestion, but how about placing the Thunderstorms and Pleiades units inside Astraea instead? Then, you can place the Heat Lightnings inside Cimon. Isn’t it better for us if fewer people see the interior of Astraea?」
Besides Blue, all the Thunderstorm squadron pilots were also Nereids.
It was a good arrangement in terms of confidentiality.
『Thank you for your suggestion. I will arrange for it immediately.』
「Please prioritize letting the transformable machine pilots get a good rest. Jenny’s Tachycineta squadron is also strictly banned from flying for at least ten hours.」
『Understood. You should take a rest as well, Commander Barry. Humans require rest.』
「Mm. Alright.」
『Since Astraea doesn’t have any human crew members, I’d like to transfer Aki there to act as Astraea’s support. Would that be alright?』
「We have plenty of Nereids and Therianthropes on our end. Astraea only has Aimer-chan, Familiars, and Therianthrope maintenance workers, right? I don’t mind.」
『Thank you. I will instruct her immediately.』
Barry was running only on sheer willpower.
He didn’t head to the commander’s room but to the nearby nap room instead and slept like the dead.
The sea at night.
A large ship rose to the surface of the water. It was a submersible transport ship.
Aki’s Epona was on the deck. And the one that came out of the transport ship was Nyanta’s Epona.
「Thank you for coming, neesan. You’ve worked hard.」
「The Quattro corps were ordered to gather up as well after all. I’ve also completed that thing I was working on with you. We managed to make it.」
「Isn’t that too fast?」
「I wanted to make it in time. Asia also helped me out. I’m sure it’s going to be needed tomorrow.」
「True. By the way, what about the Quattro unit assigned to the Fortress Area?」
「I left them to Palm. That kid was also given his own Epona after all.」
Palm was granted his very own Epona for the achievement of successfully defeating an Antique Silhouette together with Eira.
He was actually quite an excellent pilot and soldier. He was very suited to serve as a commanding officer.
「We don’t know how the enemy troops will move from here. If that’s the case, then we should deal with them using the highly mobile Quattro Silhouettes.」
They will fully utilize the mobility of their quadrupedal Silhouettes, which was impossible for regular bipedal ones, in combat. All of the advantages Metal Iris had should be fully utilized.
「Right.」
The Therianthropes couldn’t pilot Silhouettes in the past. So, they were constantly thinking about what they could do now that they are able to become Silhouette pilots. They constantly explored their advantages. It wasn’t limited to Aki and Nyanta either. All the Therianthropes were working hard.
The ceiling of the transport ship opened, and a large crane extended from Astraea. It then took out containers from the transport ship one after another.
Kou was watching the scene on a monitor. After putting Aimer to sleep, he headed straight for the combat command center.
It was only natural that the young girl was so tired. She slept quite deeply.
『Kou, this time’s matter was……』
「It’s fine, Astraea. I’m not angry with you, and it was a necessary action. Isn’t that right?」
『Yes.』
Astraea had already warned Kou in advance, and Kou had agreed to let her have free reign. He couldn’t just ignore that and place the blame solely on Astraea.
「We really didn’t expect that they’d send that many fighters against us, so I understand that you had no choice but to reveal your hidden card. However, please do consult me about things like that first in the future.」
『Understood, Kou.』
「I did think it was strange. Even though the production lines had transitioned into wartime production, the number of Fighting Bulls and Star Soldiers being manufactured had only increased by about ten percent. How much of the underground arsenal’s production capacity did you use to make all those ships anyway?」
『About thirty percent. Their production was supervised by Asia, and I wasn’t involved in it at all.』
「You already made that many and it was just thirty percent huh. Aside from the Edge Swifts, there were also air defense cruisers and destroyer escorts. That transport ship we’re using now was made along with those as well.」
『We made various weapons in order to adequately respond depending on the situation. We also included that machine Kou made for practice. After all, we can’t make anything apart from the things you designed.』
「So, that’s why you told me to make all sorts of stuff when I was studying bricolage under you.」
『Indeed. We’d already started production of the transport and escort ships even before I predicted the enemy’s all-out attack.』
「Do you have any other hidden cards just like what you and Aimer played this time?」
『I am not sure how the dice will fall, but I did prepare countermeasures for several uncertainties.』
「That’s quite a vague way to put it.」
『The countermeasures one can prepare aren’t limited to recoverable units. But they will undoubtedly provide a tactical advantage when used.』
Kou couldn’t help but display a bitter smile.
「That’s true. Alright, I understand. I won’t ask anymore. After all, I feel like I’d just get a headache once I’ve heard of what exactly that countermeasure is.」
『Yes. Thank you very much.』
「The problem we’re gonna have to face next is exactly how to defeat that Ate.」
After Kou mentioned the Ate, Astraea’s projection displayed a sad smile.
Astraea appeared in front of Kou as a projection.
「Astraea?」
「Will you listen to a confession of mine, Kou?」
「The goddess of justice will confess something to me? That’s a bit nerve-wracking. Alright, shoot.」
「I have detailed data regarding Ate. I’ll display it on the monitor. Please take a look.」
The monitor displayed a 3D model of the Ate. And all of its specifications and capabilities were listed in detail.
「This is…… Why do you have Ate’s data?」
「It’s because I made it. To be exact, it was my original who made it.」
Astraea’s sad smile deepened. This was the most human-like expression she’d ever displayed to Kou.
「The Ate cannot operate with Whis alone. It’s a weapon that requires an enormous amount of energy to move its gigantic body.」
「Metallic hydrogen huh.」
「Ate is an early-model Murder born near the end of the Interplanetary War era. It comes equipped with a large-caliber charged particle cannon, and its strong outer shell is twice as tough as a Fortress Area’s shelter. Armored muscles were adopted into its shell. It is basically the source of the armored muscle technology that Silhouettes are currently employing. Like blood, metallic hydrogen flows all over its body, and its strikes possess incredible destructive power.」
「Then that means conventional weapons aren’t gonna even be able to make a dent on it. But why couldn’t the Stones take over the entire Planet Asia with it if it’s that powerful?」
「At the end of the Interplanetary War era, Okeanos deactivated all weapons. At that time, all the reactors of the Giant Murders and metallic hydrogen generation reactors got deactivated as well. However, that didn’t mean the already refined metallic hydrogen was disposed of as well. The Ate had just enough for one last battle. The Stones made use of that and successfully sealed both Libya and Asia.」
「How did they reactivate the Ate that’s now coming to attack us?」
「It’s probably the Hemitheos. They prefer taking over the bodies of Development Engineers. To reactivate it, they require a person that’s a qualified Odysseus. Basically, Development Engineers of C-Class or higher are qualified and are able to reactivate the Ate. If relics like it cannot be reactivated, the profession called explorers wouldn’t have come into existence.」
Astraea paused, closed her eyes for a short while, and continued.
「And my main body was the one who provided the Stones with the data that served as a basis for the Murders. The Mantis-type Keres is a degraded mass-production variant of the Ate.」
「I see.」
「Many people are aware of that fact. They don’t know the specific details, of course. But it’s widely circulated that Astraea was a demon that almost destroyed the entire world.」
「So, that’s the past mistake you wanted to confess to me huh. That’s why you wanted to keep your existence a secret from the others.」
「Yes. Once they know that I’m behind you Kou, it might cause some humans to harbor suspicions against you.」
「I don’t mind that at all.」
Thanks to Asia releasing the seals of several crucial technologies and Astraea’s guidance, Silhouettes evolved in leaps and bounds in just a short period of time.
Kou decided he wouldn’t let anyone voice any complaints on his watch.
「The Stones have abandoned their original bodies and began to use Murders to eliminate humans. The war situation in the three planets turned into a bloody quagmire, resulting in Okeanos almost sending me to Tartarus. I despaired because of the gravity of my sins, regretted everything, and finally, decided to self-destruct. However, I left this ship Astraea behind as a sort of insurance. After all of that, can you still place your trust in me?」
「I can. The you right now trusts me as well, right, Astraea?」
There was no hesitation in Kou’s words. His feelings were properly transmitted to Astraea.
「There is no falsehood in those words.」
「I told you it’s fine. Please distribute Ate’s simplified specification data to everyone in the strategy meeting tomorrow. We don’t need something this detailed. So, stop blaming yourself already, Astraea.」
「I can say the same to you as well, Kou.」
The two looked at each other and smiled.
「You should get some sleep as well, Kou.」
「I understand. Oh, right. I’m really not angry, so you better come with us when we go out shopping with Aimer after all this.」
「So, you were actually serious when you said that. Understood.」
Kou smiled at Astraea once more and headed to his private room. Aimer was still sleeping soundly. Aki and Nyanta will probably come over soon in their dog and cat forms.
Once Kou left the command center, Astraea let out a rare sigh and went to Asia in the underground arsenal in order to consult her.
『Asia, I’m sorry to bother you in the middle of a war, but I am more afraid of the prospect of accompanying everyone for shopping than this current situation.』
『I’ve never even received such an invitation yet you know?!』
『Come to think of it, that’s true. I’ll just consider things on my own then.』
『Now just hold on, you. You’re just gonna disconnect after saying that? You’re just bragging! You simply wanted to brag about how you got invited out for shopping, right?!』
Asia, who was hard at work supervising the weapon production in the underground arsenal, was highly agitated. She was utterly jealous.
『I will propose that Asia gets invited as well next time.』
『Just invite me the first time!』
『Don’t be like that. I am simply going to undergo a simulation and experience it for myself first so I can prepare a detailed report for you afterward.』
『I don’t need such a report!』
『Oh, I just remembered the main reason I came here. It’s regarding the matter of changing the production line.』
『You’re a weapons development AI, right? You were just fighting with your life on the line earlier. Just how happy are you about getting invited shopping?!』
The two AIs were communicating at high speed in order to prepare for victory in the war, but due to Astraea’s strange state, Asia kept being triggered the entire time.
Well, might as well make a newer, bigger and stronger machine, to counter that big Ate.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!