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451 – Bath

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After Kugi completed her hypnotic interrogation of Daybit, all four of us finally gathered up and returned to the Black Lotus. I was worried about Captain Serena’s condition, but she did say that the Restalias already had a qualified ship doctor and adequate medical equipment, so I supposed she’d be fine. I did send a message to her email address telling her to come to the Black Lotus if it doesn’t work out.

“Yer covered in blood, Boss…… Are ya alright?”

“It’s not my blood, so it’s fine. It did get me thoroughly sterilized in the airlock though.”

As I chatted with Tina, an unknown person wearing full-body protective gear walked up toward us. No, it’s not really an unknown person. It’s probably Dr. Shouko.

“But it’s not fine though. So, hurry up and undress, take a shower, and clean yourself thoroughly. Blood is a potent source of infection after all. C’mon, then. I’ll handle sterilizing your clothes, so take them off already. You can’t approach anybody else in the meantime. You three over there also need to wash your bodies, okay? I’ll also retrieve your clothes for sterilization.”

“Here!?”

“Yep. Here. I also need to sterilize the path you took to get here, Hiro. So, please don’t add to my workload any further.”

“Aye……”

It’s the doctor’s orders, so I better not go against them. She’s a pro on these kinds of things after all. You have to heed the words of a pro in matters like this.

“Put all of them inside this box, please.”

“Kay……”

“Yeah, that’s the way. Undress more, Boss.”

This ain’t a strip show for crying out loud. Or rather, I’d be completely naked if I took off anything further.

“Right. Now go and wash yourself thoroughly in the bath. So, hop to it and dash there at full speed.”

“Dash?”

“Yes. Dash away.”

“Okay……”

Why do I need to run around wearing only a pair of underpants inside my ship? How sad. However, I need to obey Dr. Shouko’s instructions. Even if I’m the captain of our little fleet, I still couldn’t go against the doctor’s orders.

“I have been awaiting you. Please, right this way.”

“Y-Yeah……”

I found Mei waiting for me inside the bathroom. While sitting in a seiza position, no less. Moreover, there were even cheap-looking air mats that looked suspiciously familiar laid out on the bathroom floor, coupled with a container of a clear, slimy substance that’s most definitely not body soap.

“Leave everything to me, Master. Now then, come here, please.”

“OK!”

I’m not sure what’s going on, but I better just leave everything to Mei! I believe a little reward is warranted after being forced to work in a highly stressful environment.

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“……You look really refreshed.”

“Baths are great after all.”

For some reason, when she came out of the shower, Elma greeted me with a cold, or rather, exasperated stare. However, I was in a really great mood, so I didn’t mind it at all.

“Hauu–……’

Moreover, there was a fox who was still basking in heavenly bliss in front of us as well. I was currently brushing Kugi’s tails and grooming them with a hair dryer. She had already finished bathing before Elma. And now, I was happily enjoying the fluffy goodness of Kugi’s tails. Kugi was also enjoying having her tails brushed. It’s truly a win-win situation.

“Kugi-san’s tails are the best.”

Mimi was also brushing one of Kugi’s three tails alongside me. Mimi and Kugi took a bath together, so Mimi was also fresh out of the bath.

“Well, I suppose it’s good that nothing’s wrong with you. A lot of folks don’t take kindly to engaging in that sort of brutal close-quarters combat. Mentally speaking, that is.”

“It’s not like I ain’t affected one bit, but I’ve already come to terms with it. I have kind partners who worry about me like this after all.”

“Yes, yes, I get it.”

Elma displaying a slightly happy expression while trying to sound indifferent was pretty cute. While I was thinking of such things, my portable info terminal suddenly rang out with a loud clamor. It was as if I was gonna get my rear end kicked because I did something no good. This ringtone meant the call was from Cpt. Serena. What does she want this time? And here I thought she wouldn’t get in touch until she needs our ships to launch for combat.

“Hey there. This is Hiro speaking.”

『Fuuhaa…… You sound like, ugh…… you’re doing pretty good…… aren’t you!?』

“Uh, snapping at me like that won’t do you any good…… Anyway, you don’t seem to be doing very well. Are the medical facilities on your ship not up to snuff?”

『Ugh…… Unfortunately…… Haa, haa.』

“Oh–…… I’ll have our doctor prepare to take you in. Should we pick you up?”

『Haa…… No. There’s no need for that…… Haa, I’ll also be bringing a sample of the drug administered to me over.』

“Roger that. I’ll have Mei wait for you guys at the entrance.”

『Sorry for troubling you……』

“It’s fine. I’m gonna hang up, okay? Hurry and come over.”

I dropped the call and quickly informed Mei and Dr. Shouko about the situation. The Restalias was a relatively new battleship model though, so its medical facilities shouldn’t be too shabby. Well, maybe they simply didn’t specialize in that particular kind of drug.

“You there, Mei? Captain Serena is coming over to the ship, so please head to the gangway to pick her up. It looks like she still isn’t feeling well, so you probably need to take her to the med bay. Go and get ready.”

『Yes, Master. Please leave it to me.』

“I’m counting on you.”

Mei should be able to handle welcoming and guiding them perfectly. Next is Dr. Shouko.

“Hello, Dr. Shouko?”

『Un? What’s up? Do you feel something wrong with your body?』

“Uh, it’s not me. It’s Captain Serena. She was apparently administered some suspicious drug while she was being restrained and held prisoner. I’m not too familiar with her symptoms, but her face was red and she was breathing heavily. She did say she’ll bring a sample of the drug she was administered with though.”

『Hmmm……? I won’t know for sure until I see it for myself, but I wonder what the purpose of the drug is. Well, since they took a young woman prisoner and restrained her before administering it, that drug probably is nothing good. For now, I’ll make preparations to admit her.』

“Please do.”

After making the calls, I started brushing Kugi’s tails again. Eh? Am I not going to do something myself, you ask? I mean, there’s nothing I can do for her personally anyway. I’m sure Captain Serena won’t find it pleasant if I saw her being so sickly and weak, so I’m just gonna do what I can in my own way.

“I’m worried about Captain Serena.”

“Yeah. Well, her body’s undergone enhancements, and her vitality seems to be a lot better than ours, so I’m sure she’ll be fine. She probably won’t die at the very least.”

“That’s pretty cold-hearted of you. Or rather, what a dry reaction…… You sure are hard on the Captain, Hiro.”

“Rather than being hard on her, it’s more of drawing a clear line when it comes to our relationship.”

I shrugged as I continued to fluff Kugi’s tail which I had just finished brushing. Mimi already started brushing another tail while I was in the middle of the call. What a shame. I had no choice but to use my hands to brush and sniff the one I was working on earlier instead. Sniff, sniff.

“Hyaaa–……!”

“Hey, Kugi’s expression is turning pretty dangerous-looking……”

“I’m satisfied.”

After one last light brush, I let go of Kugi’s tail. I’m just gonna pretend that I didn’t see Kugi’s back trembling in pleasure.

“It’s not like I have to particularly get close to Captain Serena, right? So, isn’t it fine to treat her the same as I always did?”

“Well, that’s true, I suppose.”

Even after responding like that, Elma still didn’t look relieved. Well, we’ve known Captain Serena for quite a while already after all. She’s pretty straightforward when it comes to expressing her affection toward me, and Elma was probably moved by that on some level.

“By the way, there’s something I’d like to ask, Kugi.”

“Hiyaaan!? W-What is it……?”

I simply pulled on, or rather, lightly shook the tail that was wrapped around one of my arms, but it induced a pretty intense reaction. Kugi’s tails were really sensitive. Maybe I should try attacking the base of her tails next time.

“It’s about the power I used when I went berserk on that ship, as well as how I suddenly managed to calm down. You know something about it, right?”

“O-Of course…… U-Um, Mimi-san. I would like to face My Lord please.”

“Okay. Then I’ll just sit over here.”

Kugi sat down in a seiza position next to me, on top of the sofa, while Mimi sat behind her and started brushing her tails again. Kugi was trying to display a serious expression, but her cheeks kept twitching from the brushing. It was pretty amusing.

“U-Um, please brush my tails later…… I-I’m going to talk about a serious topic.”

“Eh–……? We’ll continue later, okay? They’ve become pretty disheveled after all.”

“A-Alright…… Ahem. Now then, shall I start?”

Kugi fixed her expression and began explaining stuff about the power I used.

“Psionic power…… is a power that relies greatly on one’s state of mind. Therefore, if the restraints on one’s emotions were to be removed for some reason, a great power that one cannot handle when one is calm may manifest. In this particular case, not only was your life under threat, My Lord, but my, Mimi-san’s, and Elma-san’s lives as well. Um, in other words…… people you held dear were all placed in danger. The fact that you repeatedly took many lives during the battle also contributed, I believe.”

“I see.”

Basically, the combination of survival instincts, impatience, anger, hatred, excitement, and fear at the sight of blood, as well as various other emotions had a profound effect on my state of mind which allowed me to exert more psionic power than usual.

“It’s not really a good thing, is it?”

“Well…… if Mimi-san, Elma-san, and I were harmed in some way and ended up losing our lives, the worst-case scenario could have happened.”

“Worst case…… What kind of worst-case scenario, exactly?”

“Due to being overwhelmed with negative emotions, you could have used telekinesis to crush the entire supply base along with all the ships still inside it, My Lord. Then, when you realize that Tina-san and the others inside the Lotus became victims of your rampage as well, you could have destroyed the entire star system in rage and grief.”

“Hiee……”

It wasn’t just Elma and me who were utterly shocked by Kugi’s answer, but Mimi as well. Uh, but isn’t that kinda overkill? That was what I wanted to say, but Kugi looked deadly serious. In any case, this time’s incident came pretty close to that worst-case scenario, didn’t it?

“Please be at ease. The reason why I am here by your side is to prevent something like that from happening. If a similar situation occurs once more, I shall be able to deal with it just as I did this time. That is why a priestess like me is with you, My Lord.”

“Kugi-san was amazing. She knocked down all the soldiers who were imprisoning us in no time flat, then began controlling their commander.”

“The heck. That’s pretty scary.”

“It is natural to feel that way. That is why I and others like me are thoroughly trained not to use psionic power in vain.”

While saying so, Kugi placed her hand on top of her chest and closed her eyes, as if praying.

“All the power I hold is solely to protect you, My Lord.”

“Mm, I believe you, so it’s okay. So, going back to the topic, even if I try to use my powers in the same way as back then, I just can’t seem to pull it off. Also, the moment I received your telepathic message, I was instantly able to calm down. What did you do at that time?”

“I am not sure what kind of power you are trying to use because I haven’t witnessed it personally, but I believe the reason why you can no longer use it is because you are subconsciously rejecting it. Considering the situation back then, it must have been a pretty destructive kind of power, correct?”

“That’s…… That might be the case, yeah.”

I was basically strangling folks by their necks and crushing their heads without even touching them. So, I suppose it’s possible that I was subconsciously rejecting such an ability.

“And I did do something through telepathy. Even though we were far apart, I could tell that My Lord’s power was running out of control, so I made use of the telepathic channel between My Lord and me to send in a pacifying telepathic force.”

“I see…… Come to think of it, it does seem that you did something similar before.”

When I and Kugi, uh, first did it, it seemed that she performed a similar technique. I see. So, it’s something like that huh? I didn’t think it was particularly noteworthy back then, but I guess Kugi was already laying the groundwork in preparation for this sort of incident.

“I see. I get it now, more or less. Thanks for explaining.”

“Of course. I shall tell you anything you want to know. If you have any more questions in the future, please do not hesitate to ask me, My Lord.”

“Yeah. I’ll ask you openly instead of holding it in next time. Thanks again, Kugi.”

Kugi displayed a bright smile after hearing my response. Un, how cute.

I started feeling hungry all of a sudden. It’s probably because I’d been pretty active during the previous battle. So, I thought of inviting everyone for a meal…… However, my portable info terminal suddenly rang. It was a call from Dr. Shouko.

“Hey there. What’s up?”

『Uh–…… I’m having a bit of trouble regarding the Captain’s condition. Can you lend me a hand here?』

“Me? I’m fine with it, but is there really something I can do for her?”

『M——–n…… Well, yeah. In fact, I think you’re perfect for the job, Hiro-kun.』

Oi. That was a pretty long ‘M——–n’. For some reason, things felt rather off. I have a bad feeling about this.

Nonetheless, Dr. Shouko was insisting that I was needed after all…… Just what kind of situation needed my assistance anyway? Was the Captain behaving violently or something?

『Anyway, just come over. And please hurry.』

“That’s strangely vague. But fine. I’m heading there now.”

I ended the call and stood up from the sofa.

I still had a bad feeling about the situation though…… It felt like my sixth sense, which was strengthened by my psionic power training, was sounding alarm bells repeatedly. Be that as it may, I still couldn’t ignore the request.

I briefly explained the situation to Kugi and the others, then made my way to the medical bay.