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535 – 「I Can’t Make Any Promises…」

「The sixteenth wave has appeared! Spatial tremors continue, the seventeenth wave is expected soon!」

「I’m just about full here…」

「I feel the same…」

「That said, we can’t exactly ignore it…」

After receiving the report of enemy reinforcements from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet, both Mimi and I couldn’t help but show our exhaustion. Even Kugi was wearing a wry smile, probably feeling much the same as we did.

The Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet’s A-class escort ships—fast-moving corvettes and destroyers—had decreased in number considerably. None of them had been destroyed outright, but after facing fifteen waves of enemy assaults, there were more and more ships with moderate to severe damage that were forced to withdraw from the front line. The larger, B and C-class ships were still intact, though.

「Isn’t the Holy Vuelzarus Empire sending any more reinforcements?」

「If they were coming, they’d be here by now… Only the A-class ships are taking damage, so they probably think there’s no need. Also, it looks like the sixteenth wave consists of photon lifeforms.」

「Seven photon lifeforms, huh… Well, Krishna can handle them on its own. Mimi, inform the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet that Krishna will take on the sixteenth wave. Kugi, prepare for combat.」

「Understood!」

「Yes, my Lord.」

As Kugi responded, I pushed Krishna’s thrusters to maximum, propelling us toward the photon lifeforms that had appeared far in the distance. Under normal circumstances, the distance would make me consider using the FTL drive. It was far enough that, at regular speeds, the seventeenth wave would arrive well before we reached our target. But for the new Krishna, that kind of distance was practically irrelevant.

「Jumping now.」

The world lost its color, and the photon lifeforms ahead zoomed in as if viewed through a high-powered scope. We instantaneously moved a distance that would normally take over five minutes to even the fastest ship. It feels like the time and space got compressed.

As color returned to the world, Krishna passed through the corridor where the fabric of time and space were compressed and arrived at our destination in less than a second.

「Eeek… Th-this is terrifying, isn’t it?!」

「We changed places instantaneously after all, it’s hard for humans to adapt to this kind of unnatural movement …combat preparations are complete, my Lord.」

「Mimi, are you good? Let’s go.」

「Yes!」

With no reason to hold back, we unleashed everything except for Anti-ship Reactive Torpedoes, swiftly eliminating the photon lifeforms. A massive halo cleaved one of the largest photon lifeforms, nearly as large as the Black Lotus, slicing it in half before it scattered into particles. The four Graviton Cannons simultaneously pierced four smaller photon lifeforms, while the two Telekinetic Impact Cannons obliterated a medium-sized one.

The surviving photon lifeform fired something akin to a beam at us, but the beam missed Krishna’s shield entirely, bending away as if deliberately avoiding us and flying off in another direction. Then, the Telekinetic Halo, which had cleaved the larger photon lifeform, returned and sliced the last remaining photon lifeform—the one that had attacked us—cleanly in half.

「Alright, that should do it. I’m getting the hang of this.」

After confirming all seven photon lifeforms had been destroyed without a trace, I turned my attention to the coordinates of the seventeenth wave. This time, two large energy-based lifeforms that resembled either squids or octopuses appeared. However, as soon as they materialized, they were obliterated by the concentrated fire from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire Fleet.

「Is this the end? Even that last wave of photon lifeforms was small in number.」

「Yes. It seems the eleventh wave was the peak; the numbers have been steadily decreasing since then… Still, Krishna has really grown stronger.」

「Indeed… At this point, it feels like we could take on Serena’s Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet head-on.」

「…You’re not actually planning to, right?」

「Of course not… Well, that also means we can take on a small fleet by ourselves, like a local noble’s private fleet, a system’s patrol fleet, or even a larger domain fleet. If any of the Empire’s nobles try to pick a fight with us, we can take them on head-to-head without hesitation now.」

「…You’re not actually planning to, right!?」

「I can’t make any promises… But, in any case, there’s no harm in having as much power as possible. It all depends on how you use it.」

Having the power to wield force, even if I don’t actually use it, is a good thing. In the future, when I marry Chris and Serena and take on the role of consort of an Imperial noble, there’s no downside to having ample power at my disposal. At the end of the day, whether it is nobility or a state, the root of their power is force. No matter how refined the laws may be, enforcing order ultimately requires strength. But that’s just my own take on things, a bit of a jaded view, perhaps, but not too far from the truth.

「Mimi-san, If my Lord were the kind of person that’s easily corrupted by power, I believe he would have fallen a long time ago.」

「W-well, that’s true… But once Hiro-sama decides to use force, he doesn’t hesitate…」

「Half-measures aren’t good. If you’re going to act, do it thoroughly.」

If I do take action, it’ll be absolute, to the point where there’s no chance of recovery. I don’t want to get complacent and end up suffering retaliation later on or be ambushed by revenge from someone I’d forgotten about.

「No signs of further spatial tremors. All ships, remain on alert and await further orders. Any damaged ships should prioritize repairs and report their status!」

It seems the battle came to an end while we were talking. Although the prolonged combat has been exhausting, it was an easy victory.

☆★☆

「Marvelous! We got a mountain of observational data! Hahaha!」

Upon returning to the hangar of the Black Lotus, I was greeted by Buubo’s enthusiastic celebration. It seems he’d managed to collect a wealth of valuable data from this battle. There is no sign of Ameno, the ship technology expert though.

「Welcome back, Boss. Glad to see Mimi and Kugi made it back safe too. It’s a relief everyone’s alright.」

「Yeah, thanks. I’ll leave the maintenance to you.」

「Leave it to me. Though, we’ve got a ton of data processing to tackle first.」

Tina shot an exasperated look at Buubo, who was practically dancing with a datapad in hand. Is he actually reviewing the data while spinning around like that…?

「Welcome back, Big Brother, Mimi-san, Kugi-chan.」

「Thanks, Wiska. Where’s Ameno?」

「Ameno-san went to check out the Antlion’s Gravity Jammer. He seems interested in its ability to slow down the movements of space monsters over a wide area.」

「…That’s Ideal’s secret tech, or rather, Imperial secret tech, isn’t it?」

「Yes, technically… However, there shouldn’t be any issues, we’re under contract not to sell it, but there’s nothing saying we can’t show it to others.」

「I see. Well, if they really want one, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire would have to request it directly from the Grakkan Empire.」

I doubt they’d try reverse engineering or stealing secret technology from one of our ships. After all, they know it’s Grakkan Empire tech.

「I’ll leave maintenance to you two. There’s still a chance more enemies will show up, so please handle it quickly.」

「You are a slave driver Boss… We’ll do our best though.」

「Sorry. 」

I pressed my hands together and apologized to Tina, who was scowling a bit. I’ll make it up to you two later, I’ll spoil you as much as you want, so please forgive me.