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450 – Aftermath

Captain Serena took full advantage of the fact that Daybit was already under our custody and proceeded to take control of the Imperial Space Force Creon Star System Supply Depot. Man, that name’s such a mouthful.

To quote:

“Earl Daybit Ixamal tried to hatch a nefarious plot to rebel against His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, and as part of that plot, he had captured and imprisoned me through despicable means. However, I was able to foil his plans in the end. The rebel has already been taken into custody, and we have obtained both physical evidence of his treachery and his personal admission of guilt. Thus, there is no point in remaining loyal to the traitor Daybit. Surrender, and prove your loyalty to His Imperial Majesty.”

Captain Serena, who had taken control of House Ixamal’s flagship the Majestic’s bridge, addressed the entire supply depot with a speech despite her current poor health. As a result, many of the soldiers at the supply depot, including a good number of the remaining members of House Ixamal’s private force, fell under her.

Of course, there were still some who refused to obey. Those soldiers were now in the middle of being suppressed by the Marines under Captain Serena.

“Haa…… Though in hindsight, you killing Vincent off wasn’t entirely a good thing. Potential heirs to the earlship still remain. However…… Ugh. None of them are present in this base. It is rather difficult to unite soldiers who have lost their leader…… Uuh.”

Captain Serena returned to the bridge of Restalias and plopped down on the captain’s seat while occasionally groaning in pain…… or rather, annoyance as she analyzed our current situation.

“You really aren’t looking so good.”

“Haa…… Honestly, it’s quite tough. Just what did that man inject into me……? I need to undergo a medical check, or else…… Ugh.”

She was still capable of responding, but her complexion was quite pale, appeared like she had a fever, and was sweating profusely. It also seemed like her body was constantly trembling. No matter how you looked at it, the drug that was used on her seemed like bad news. However, it was probably non-lethal, at least. If Daybit had intended to kill her, he would have done so with a sword instead of such a roundabout method.

“By the way, how long will Daybit’s condition stay like this?”

Daybit was lying on the floor of the Restalias’ bridge, with his body firmly bound by the same special restraints he used to secure us before, and was staring blankly at empty space with an expression of ecstasy on his face. Captain Serena ordered her marines to move him here.

“I believe it will not last another hour if we leave him alone.”

“Well then, let us have him tell us everything he knows. Would you please help with that?”

Kugi, who was asked by Captain Serena to cooperate, turned toward me for confirmation, so I nodded in response.

“Yes, gladly.”

“Haa…… Thank you. Emma.”

“Yes, Captain. Please follow me, Kugi-san.”

Captain Serena’s female adjutant accepted her order and, along with some marines, brought Daybit away and exited the bridge with Kugi. She was also incapacitated and imprisoned within the Majestic. But she was freed by the marines of the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet when they went in and took control of the Majestic’s bridge.

“Haa…… Well then…… I have several things…… that I want to ask……”

“No, you really need to rest first. No matter how you slice it, your condition ain’t normal. I’ll tell you everything you wanna know when we have time later.”

“Is that a promise……?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s a promise. Is the medical facility on your ship good enough? What about the ship doctor? Ours has both first-class equipment and a first-class doctor y’know?”

“Don’t worry about that…… My crew members are also quite excellent……”

After saying so, Captain Serena called some of her crew members over, and two of them supported her as they accompanied her to the ship’s medical bay.

Now then…… We can’t exactly go back right now. Kugi was still helping out with Daybit’s interrogation after all. It can’t be helped. I suppose I’ll just wait here.

“Jiii–……”

“……”

As soon as fewer people were inside the bridge, Mimi and Elma started staring at me hard. Mei returned to the Black Lotus first along with the combat bots, so the only ones left inside the Restalias’ bridge were me, Mimi, Elma, and a few bridge personnel.

“You’ve really pushed yourself this time, haven’t you?”

“I was desperate.”

That was the simple truth. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get Mimi and the others back after all, so I couldn’t afford to hold back at all. Looking back at what happened, I couldn’t help but think that I could have done better at fully utilizing my psionic powers, but that’s only in hindsight.

“It looks like you didn’t get hurt, so that’s good. But…… How should I put it? You were like those dark, brooding anti-heroes in comics.”

“Please don’t describe it like that.”

I pleaded to Mimi, folded my arms in front of my chest, and looked up to the ceiling. This time, I used my psionic power to create telekinetic ‘hands’, then went on a wild rampage. I also used my ability to enter ‘bullet time’ liberally, as well as used swords to kill a considerable number of soldiers. Finally, possibly due to being mired in bloodlust, I was able to discover new methods of using my telekinesis. At this point, I seemed more like a S*th lord instead of a J*di knight. Maybe I’d even be capable of shooting electricity from my hands one day.

“So, are you really okay? Kugi said you were in a pretty dangerous state.”

“I don’t know what exactly she meant by ‘dangerous’, but I think I’m in a pretty normal state right now. But I don’t have the confidence to claim that I was even close to normal when I was engrossed in swinging swords and creating a sea of blood. After all, that was pretty different from piloting Krishna and turning pirates into space debris.”

Now that I’ve had time to look back at what happened, I really don’t think I was acting normally back then. Once things have settled down, maybe it would be good for me to engage in some Zen meditation to soothe my mind.

“Come to think of it, I did kill a lot of soldiers…… Will I get arrested?”

“Umm…… Will you?”

Mimi looked at Elma with a worried expression. Elma, who received both my and Mimi’s worried gazes, made a rather bitter expression.

“I think there’s room to maneuver due to extenuating circumstances, and since Hiro is an honorary noble, there’s a high possibility that the ruling will be in his favor if it’s just against the commoner soldiers. But I’m not so sure when it comes to the killing of nobles like Vincent…… If the legitimacy of Captain Serena’s actions gets established, then Hiro’s actions will probably get justified too. But we might need to be prepared for the possibility of things not going that well.”

“……At worst, we’ll just run away.”

“You always say that, but you haven’t actually followed through with it until now…… Just leave that as a last resort. Anyway, just use whatever connections we have, including the Mercenary Guild and the nobles we know, to get through this.”

“If push comes to shove, I’ll just ask the emperor to bail me out. He was the one who sent us here anyway……”

That might end up bringing even more trouble, but it can’t be helped. In the worst-case scenario, we have the option of completely leaving the Graccan Empire. But if we did that, we’d lose all the connections we’ve made within the empire, and the Mercenary Guild wouldn’t look at me kindly either. Maybe the Guild might even send someone after us.

“Whatever happens, happens…… Anyway, I really wanna take a shower and rest up.”

“Same……”

“I think all of us could use a break……”

However, considering the current situation we’re in, I don’t think we have time to relax…… It seemed that the Vereverem Federation was about to launch a full offensive, and I was worried about the situation on the closest gateway.

Dammit, that f**king emperor. He sure threw us into such a troublesome mess. If I ever get to meet him again, I won’t be satisfied until I air out all of my complaints.