560 「What the Hell Are You Doing, Your Majesty?」
Between flirting with Chris, running a VR rehearsal for the wedding, flirting with Serena, doing final checks on our outfits, flirting with Elma, prepping for descent to the imperial capital, and getting dragged into the bedroom by Mimi and Kugi, the wedding day had finally arrived.
The Antlion remained docked at the Grakkius Secundus Colony, while we began descent to the capital, Grakkius, aboard the Black Lotus, with Krishna moored inside it. The descent route had to follow a strictly defined path under the watchful eye of the capital’s Imperial Guard fleet. Naturally, all weapons had to be sealed in the vicinity of the planet.
If you disobey, you could be branded a traitor and blown out of the sky on the spot. Apparently, a few ships every year get blasted for doing something stupid. Scary stuff.
By the way, our descent point was the Imperial Palace itself. More precisely, the dedicated spaceport inside the Imperial Palace used exclusively by the Imperial Guard fleet. Makes sense, considering the Emperor himself is going to be present at our wedding. The ceremony is taking place in one of the Imperial Palace’s halls, after all.
From a security standpoint, dragging His Majesty out to some venue outside the castle would be reckless. And even if it were safe, summoning the Emperor beyond the castle walls would be called disrespectful. And… yeah, I get that.
「So you are marrying ten brides, huh? Quite the feat.」
「Not really your concern, Your Majesty. Also, what the hell are you doing here?」
As I was getting ready for the ceremony—just two hours away—the Emperor suddenly burst into my waiting room, guards in tow. It’s already unheard of for him to attend the wedding of a mere honorary viscount. But showing up to the prep room too? What is he thinking?
「Mm. I thought it best to clear the air. I had my hopes for how the matter with Lady Holz would unfold, but I assure you—there was no conspiracy. Ah, and you may speak freely. I’m not wearing the crown today, as it were.」
「Thanks, I guess. But that sounds like willful negligence to me. You realize my crew and I nearly died, right?」
「And for that, I offer my apologies. I may be Emperor, but omniscient I am not. I did not expect Earl Ixamal to move so boldly, not at that stage. I expected you and Lady Holz would uncover something useful, but you went far beyond my expectations and completely unrooted the issue. Even I was taken aback.」
The Emperor gave a half-hearted shrug as he said it. You ain’t sounding even a little apologetic. Fucking emperor.
「By way of apology, I’ll see that a vessel is provided for Lady Holz’s use. There’s no need to refuse. I will ask only that you submit operational data.」
「Hold on. Back up. I’m not saying no to a free ship, but what do you mean ‘provide’ instead of funding? Are you saying you’re going to funnel me a military vessel?」
「As much as I’d like to hand over the Restalias, that would be impractical—and frankly, you wouldn’t know what to do with it. This isn’t exactly public knowledge, but the Imperial Family does operate several enterprises. Among them… a shipbuilder.」
「So you’re saying you’re not giving us a ship belonging to the military… but one belonging to you personally? The thing is, the ship Serena’s supposed to use is kind of a specialized model.」
「A drone carrier, yes? One of the manufacturers from whom you requested catalogs happens to fall under Imperial control.」
As he raised his hand, one of the knights handed me a tablet. Displayed on the screen was a ship we’d once considered—then discarded as being way too expensive.
The ship was listed as SDC-021 Morrigan by the manufacturer. It boasted two powerful Class III laser cannons, three plasma cannon drones, and six Class II pulse laser drones. All drones could be fired even while docked to the ship. In other words, even before deployment, it packed the firepower of a medium-class combat vessel.
Naturally, being a drone carrier, it could perform multi-vector attacks when the drones were deployed. This made it particularly effective against lightly armored targets like pirate ships. Dumping the Morrigan’s full firepower on one of those would be overkill.
「A fine vessel, isn’t it? The specs are superb. Shame it’s priced itself out of the market.」
「Then it’s a bust! We looked at this one and passed because it was nearly as pricey as Black Lotus.」
「That is the issue. It’s fast, for a mid-sized ship, but not fast enough to outrun smaller vessels—and not armored enough to stand toe-to-toe with larger ones. Excellent for dispatching pirate craft and the like, but costly, and too complex for anyone without advanced physical augmentation—nobles, in other words. It was meant for them, but sales have been… disappointing. No buyers, no record. No record, no buyers. A vicious cycle. For the same price, one could purchase a frigate or small destroyer with better armor and shielding. This one sells itself on maneuverability, but… well.」
The Emperor let out a sigh laced with regret. You’re really talking my ear off, man. Turns out His Majesty’s a bit of a ship nerd too. Once you get him going, he doesn’t stop.
「You’re really good at publicity, aren’t you? Since that documentary depicting your mercenary life aired, I’ve heard Space Dwerg’s Skidbladnir–class has seen improved sales. I’m told some mercs even started redoing their ship interiors, much to the delight of interior design firms.」
「What? I didn’t know that… Creepy. Well, if you’re giving it to us, I’ll gratefully accept.」
「Please do. I’ll see that one of my people contacts you after the ceremony.」
With that, the Emperor gave me a satisfied smile and left. Maybe he’s just really easygoing when inside the palace?
「Well… guess it’s fine.」
I was planning to give him a piece of my mind, but after a personal apology and getting gifted a ship worth several million Enel, I can’t really complain. Yeah, I’m easy like that. Still, if I tell Serena the ship was a gift from the Emperor, she might get all stiff and formal… Maybe I should keep quiet?
No, she’s definitely going to ask. I guess she’ll just have to deal with it. She’ll get used to it eventually.
My opinion on a possible Morrigan spec sheet
SDC-021 MORRIGAN
Class: Medium Combat Ship
Design: Sleek, sleek, aerodynamic
Manufacturer: Classified / Anonymous on request
Overview:
The SDC-021 Morrigan is a state-of-the-art medium combat ship, designed with a sleek and streamlined profile to maximize speed, maneuverability, and firepower. Its angular, dark fuselage is coated with composite materials for electromagnetic stealth, allowing it to combine stealth and aggression into a single formidable package.
Primary Armament:
2 Class III laser cannons in mobile turrets
Capable of full rotation on their mounted axes, these weapons are designed for head-on engagements and wide-angle coverage. They generate energy beams capable of piercing medium and heavy shields at short to medium range.
Integrated Drones:
3 Attack Drones with Plasma Cannons:
Autonomous or semi-autonomous units designed for interception and targeted damage. Each features high-temperature plasma weapons, ideal for flanking or swarm operations.
6 Class II Pulse Laser Drones:
These lightweight drones remain docked in special hull compartments and can fire directly from their ports, allowing for open fire without the need to physically deploy them. This feature makes the Morrigan a continuous fire platform, even during evasive or close-in maneuvers.
Additional Technical Features:
Rapid Drone Deployment System
Allows the entire squadron to be deployed in less than 5 seconds, coordinating synchronized attacks from multiple vectors.
Reflective Composite Armor and Internal Heat Sink
Provides energy resistance and reduces the ship’s thermal signature.
Integrated Tactical Combat AI (codename: MORRIGAN)
It performs trajectory calculations, pilot assistance, and drone command, learning enemy tactics in real time.
User Profile:
The Morrigan is ideal for quick-hit operations, skirmishes in contested systems, and tactical defense of key points. Thanks to its initial offensive power, even without deploying drones, it is particularly effective in ambushes or breaking enemy formations.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!
Thanks for the chapter
Okay, this is fantastic: world building. I was wondering how much of an impact Hiro was having on the mercenary culture, and if some mercenaries are staring to pay for better interiors, that goes a way to making it feel like Hiro is part of the world due to his supposed fame actually having an impact on more than just himself.
Personally, I’m hoping to see more things like this, where we get windows into how Hiro is having an affect on the world around him; the girls, too. Certainly, I’m not expecting random encounters where mercenaries go gaga over them or they get swarmed by fans, but maybe they get some thank-yous over the comms with a brief “you convinced me…and it’s been great (or it didn’t work and is a complaint)” or something.
Just saying, it helps the world feel alive when their actions change the world around them (in adequately proportional ways).
Still think a “Drone Carrier” is just nonesense. There for the single purpose of “doing something different”.
Also I don’t think Hiro needs a “fleet” that big (and growing) for what he says likes to do most: hunting pirates. I mean the chapter says it itself basically: its already overkill.
Getting a bigger Mothership for more docking- and looting- and crewspace? Yes.
Getting some state-of.the-art failed ship designs that acually have nothing talking for them? … …
You can multi-vector attack with your “fleet” already and Krishna alone is utter overkill for anything thats not a space-border-military-protection fleet or whatever.
…
But what do I know *sigh*
The federation and neves backstory… sooner or later he might go up against them. then he might need more than just his 2 ships and a Drone Carrier to harass a fleet.
Second we got a half Goddess in the little fox… there is sure that will stir up some crap too.
Hiros spiritual Krishna could take on any fleet completely alone. He can teleport, he can shredd, he can nuke. He’d be even more effective doing so alone because no friendly-fire problems.
And what does Tamano play in there? I don’t get it.
Well, it is true that with Hiro’s fleet grown to such size, small jobs can no longer be profitable, please remember that whenever Hiro went pirate hunt with the anti-piracy fleet, they are doing it among with a lot more free-lance mercs with their own vessels.
So as Serena and Elma got their own ship, they actually generate extra income as they were registered merc, their extra kills mean extra rewards (although, not as much as Hiro as they are just silver/bronze ranked).
And that’s where the value of Serena’s drown ship or Elma’s gravity trap come from: they increase the number of kill, which mean more profit.
Of coz, if your aim is to stage a coup, start a revolution or fight a galactic way, this setup is a suicide…….
You confuse “Pirate hunting” with “Pirate base destroying”.
The only time other freelancers were with Hiro were when they destroyed their Asteriod bases. (Exept that one time Granny needed to be shit).
For normal Pirate hunting they go against, like, 10~ ships. You don’t need drones for that. And in a melee against a base, where enemy numbers are high anyway, those drones will be eaten if Hiro and co. are alone or get in the way of the other mercs are there *shrug*
I can understand were your coming from, but the drone carrier used as a combat support dose have a role. Drones are fast and can provide support fire in combat, most opponents will not target drones when they’re bigger targets meaning that most will target the ships over drones so drones will take less damage as long as there are other around. don’t underestimate the power of numbers. The fact that it’s not fast enough to runaway is essentially a none issue, as a drone carrier is usually a back line that stay out of most direct fighting, as for Hiro and group they will probably put it next to the Black Lotos during fights, and the Black Lotos also not suited for running away. the drone may also act as a scout in asteroid fields or other areas that radar may not be effective. with being in the back line Serena may also use her ship as a command post to direct the actions of Hiro and Elma to be more effective in battle. in short there might be a better ship Serena then a drone carrier but the is a reasonable case to have one.
I agree that a bigger mothership would be the most practical thing to have received, especially since a drone carrier would probably cost about the same amount. I also think the drone carrier is a gimmick to some degree, since Serena’s strength is fleet management and that position is already filled. Quite frankly, I don’t know what to think besides those things, because it feels like the author wants to give Hiro a large fleet but doesn’t want to allow Hiro to hire enough people to make that happen.
With all that said, if a drone carrier operates like the AI drone wingmen that the USAF and USN are beginning to equip, there’s a lot of merit in having one. It really is a force multiplier. Perhaps, since Mei will always manage the fleet, you could say a drone carrier is the least wrong ship type if the author insists on making Serena a pilot?
rare moment my login worked again, time to comment!
Pretty much what I’d expected. I even suspect Ixamal rebelling at that time, outside of the emperor’s expectations, is directly because of the emperor’s interference. If he hadn’t sent Serena and Hiro, nothing would’ve likely happened. And it’s not Hiro’s fate manipulation, but just basic maths – the 2 were the perfect gifts for the federation. I’m willing to believe the situation was outside of the empire’s predictions. But also the fate manipulation didn’t help.
And that brings me to the second thing I was wondering/suspicious about. Other characters in the novel weirdly perceive the emperor as possibly seeing the future or knowing everything in the empire. But it’s been obvious since the first meeting that the empire simply has a very powerful internal surveillance apparatus. Possibly working with AI. It’s why they can know so much of what’s happening, and the emperor gets briefed on the important stuff. There’s also the issue of scale to boot.
This loops back to the previous chapter about how AIs manage the empire in the shadows. Some people rightfully complained – how could all the bad stuff happen with AI oversight, but we know AI have their limits, like Mei with Luciada. So be it a noble rebelling or a poor girl suffering the consequences of colony mismanagement, they can’t cover and predict everything. Not to mention the AIs clearly not taking front stage in things, being more of a benevolent observer. So, whether it’s them only interfering when absolutely needed, not knowing everything, or just not concerning themselves with the woes of individuals, it makes sense within context.
Anyway, Hiro is too easy lol. The emperor just dropped off a failed product on Hiro to have him test it out in practical use. Tho complaining that a bigger ship is slower than a smaller once, but not as tough than an even bigger one is pretty dumb. Ok, so if it’s a fast large ship, then it’s not fast enough to outrun a medium ship, and can’t go toe to toe with a battleship… No shit, as a ship gets bigger it gains more mass and slows down, but becomes tougher. That’s why different sizes exist and you pick what you need. Like wtf was that all about. The problem is it’s hard to handle and expensive! Just like Elma’s Swan!
yeah that whole talk about the ship was … weird to say the least.
its like he forgot that his ship aint the standard and you cant have fast, tough, powerful you gotta pick what kind of ship you want.
Well, the way I see it, may be the ship is not fast enough to outrun other medium ship, but the DRONES can. With someone like Serena, she can group the drones in several group and attack multiple targets at the same time.
What even better is, as the main weapon are the drones, the drone carrier can keep a distance or hide behind an asteroid and make it an one-sided battle.
All is good as long as you are not stupid enough to pit the drone career against a cruiser or battleship….
Thanks for the chapter
Yup, the Emperor’s scheming again… This time he gave our MC a free ship so he could get a free data & advertisement 😅
Thanks for the treat.
Thanks for the translation and speed up.
What the heck? That ship is mid. Sure, the drone sound like good buy, 3 plasma cannon drones and 6 class II pulse cannon drones, make it 9 drones totally, but all other spec are mid as hell. Can’t outrun and can’t tank shot. Even you get one for free, choose something that can carry your team better. And the manufacturer even sell it 10-20 mil? What a failure.
Sounds like Hiro got another antlion, but drones instead of jammer. Don’t know about speed, but it shouldn’t be able to run after small combat ship, not mentioned Krishna, so it will work with antlion to sweep small fry? Not sure the team needs that. Not worth the upkeep.
This is how emperor work, he make Hiro changed his mind by distracting him with something that benefit to Hiro lmao, so emperor get escaped earful from Hiro
Like the tournament arc, Hiro is very weak to getting slapped with money. 50m and he forgives the big e for that.
Thanks for the chapter
I knew he’d give them a Ship though I was expecting a Mothership, not Serena’s new Drone Carrier, still cool though…
Now they can focus on getting that larger Mothership to house everybody’s ships.
Thanks for the continued fast turnaround with the Translations of these Chapters.
To be frank, I was expecting a ship as Serena’s dowry befitting to her status such as a dreadnought or at least a heavy cruiser class vessel, something similar to the flagship of lxamal. A medium class warship seems like a downgrade, for someone who was a fleet commander and will be call-up if needed.
For the mother ship, a strategic supply ship similar to the Dauntless on Vol. 12 would be cool (either as a gift from the holy empire or from the fxxking Emperor). Yes, Hiro only has a small fleet, but the storage space can be utilize for more cargo, for mining, or some supply run for helping Chris. Too bad Hiro turned down the offer from the Holy Empire or he would riding a mobile colony (with crew full of hot chicks) by now.
Serena isn’t going to be inheriting the “Marquee Title” so her status is no better than a “Knight” according to how nobility normally works (This seems to fit here as well). Earlier in the series the story mentioned that most “Knights” fly “Small Combat Ships”, I suspect that “The Fuxxing Emperor” upgraded her ship to a “Medium Drone Carrier” in an attempt to apologize to “Hiro”. So all in all, I think the ship matches her perfectly.
Well Serena’s Dad might fork over a “Gently Used” Ship from the fleet still too (since they were in the process of changing out many back when Hiro first helped Serena make up the Pirate Hunting Fleet). Elma’s Dad has still yet to be shown as having done anything specific (unless i missed it) in this recent chapters post return from Verholz so I’m sure he might provide something as well, Chris’ Grandad will probably foot the bill for that Base in Cormatt as his contribution.
Who is gonna pay for the upkeep? Everything above a frigate class as crews on board… a flagship like Ixamal might have a 1000+ people. He can’t kill enough pirates to keep such a monstrosity. same for Dauntless (if i remember correctly that’s the base at the frontier), that’s a Military Fleet base in movement we are now talking about multiple 1000’s of people.
They can ever only get smaller crafts what can be manned by 1 person and be fully functional and additional personal would make it “better”
If I take it as the emperor had spies listening in on them at the guild… or the AI recommended it to him, and that’s why Serena got the drone carrier, it makes sense. Because otherwise, as a decorated fleet commander (with the number of VIPs expected to live on it) I would have expected Serena receiving something they could use as a mothership.