574 「Do You Even Need Us Anymore?」
「Do you even need us anymore?」
「When we calculated combat power based on things like your annihilation speed, it came out that the Krishna alone is equal to—or even stronger than—a standard Imperial fleet. A single fleet is, like, one battleship, four cruisers, twelve destroyers, thirty-six corvettes, plus a whole bunch of fighters. What do you think?」
After hauling Lucia back, I returned to the Black Lotus’s lounge area—only for Elma and Serena to start complaining about that fight earlier.
Don’t ask me. I’m the one who wants to complain.
And if you ask me whether that was truly full power… honestly, not really.
Sure, I just flew the Telekinetic Halo the ‘normal’ way—guided by thought-wave targeting—but I can actually warp the rings themselves directly onto a target. I can also launch them without splitting them up, just hurl one massive ring as-is.
The Telekinetic Impact Cannon has a Scatter Impact mode for wider-area suppression.
The graviton cannons can fire all four in a synchronized salvo, turning into a ship-killing, absurdly thick beam.
And as for the transfer torpedo tubes… I hadn’t even used them.
「I might be touting my own tune. But that combat evaluation is probably still a gross underestimation.」
「I mean, I tried not to overestimate, but… huh? You still have hidden tricks?」
「I only used the most basic applications of every weapon, so yeah. Anyway—Lucia, sit on your knees. Right there. Seiza. Even if your legs go numb. Even if you need to go to the bathroom. Do not move. Two hours, starting now.」
「W-wait… um, what if I really have to go…?」
「Hold it. If you can’t, then pee right there.」
As I said that, I hung a board around Lucia’s neck that read:
‘I’m trash who prioritizes my own fun without caring about the trouble I cause others.’
「Y-Your Highness! YOOOOUR HIGHNESS!? You—! YOUUUU—AAAAAGH!?」
The Four Incompetents came charging into the lounge, screeching at me for making Lucia sit in seiza—and they tried to rush me.
So I knocked all four flat with psychokinesis, then pressed down from above and pinned them.
Careful pressure—just enough that nothing ‘internal’ pops out. They probably can’t move a finger.
「You useless scarecrow motherfuckers… You’re supposed to manage this runaway garbage princess even if you have to put a leash around her neck, you absolute wastes of oxygen. The one you should be mad at isn’t me—it’s yourselves, for failing to protect your charge. Don’t you dare line up as a bunch of worthless clowns and take it out on me.」
I dropped into a full-on squat right in front of Isolde—who looked like a crushed frog—and proceeded to lay into her at point-blank range.
Yeah, the worst offender here is Lucia, who slipped her escort and forced her way onto the ship with Mimi and the others.
But these four lost sight of her in the first place. They failed their mission.
In their world, this is the kind of failure you’re supposed to apologize for with your life.
And yet they had the nerve to come at me—the guy who, however unwillingly, ended up protecting Lucia in the end?
Give me a break.
「Alright. You four—sit on your knees next to Lucia. Move it. Stand up. If you can’t stand, crawl over there. If you can’t crawl, I’ll roll you.」
They were too messed up from being pinned to stand right away, so I lifted them a bit with psychokinesis, then kicked them into position beside Lucia.
Then I hung boards around their necks too:
‘I’m a slow-witted idiot who lost sight of the person I was assigned to protect and failed my duty.’
And yes—Lucia’s board included—all of them were made by Tina and Wiska in the hangar.
When you’ve got a duplicator that can output ship parts, something like this takes seconds.
「You’re really ruthless…」
「Couldn’t you show a little mercy, at least…?」
Nope. Out of stock.
「Uh… is this actually okay? I’m doing this without thinking too hard, but…」
I tilted my head, lightly patting Lucia’s head while she knelt in seiza.
Well, if anyone starts yelling ‘disrespect’ or ‘execution,’ then fine—the Krishna will wage a one-ship war.
After trying out the newly evolved Krishna, I’m pretty sure the Imperial Navy can’t stop it. If I don’t get careless, I could probably shut out even a Gateway defense fleet cleanly.
Seriously.
「Inside a ship, the captain is the law. That doesn’t change even if the other party is Imperial royalty. That’s why, ordinarily, when an Imperial family member boards, ownership of the ship is transferred to them, but…」
「Huh?」
So what—without my permission, ownership of the Black Lotus and the Krishna can just be transferred to the Imperial family?
The hell it can. I’ll fly back to the capital and raid the imperial palace myself.
「They knew you’d push back if they tried that. So this time they didn’t do any of those procedures. Officially, Princess Luciada should still be in the imperial castle.」
「Okay, then fine. But isn’t that a problem in its own way? You know—that custom.」
The ‘custom’ where if a woman boards a ship owned by a man, she gets treated like his mistress.
Luciada, hiding her status and pretending to be ‘Lucia,’ might be able to squeak past that, technically.
In theory.
But Isolde and the others? They’re absolutely not getting out of it.
Edeltrude too, for that matter.
「Fu… fufu…」
Isolde, still on her knees with her head bowed, let out a dark little laugh.
What the hell? That’s creepy.
「Even if we’re called Imperial Guard Knights, we’re just women who missed our chance to marry. Being treated as your mistress doesn’t change anything anymore… All the male Guard Knights are married without exception, and even if they weren’t, they say things like, ‘I don’t want a ferocious beast as strong as me,’ so… they avoid us. The men in the castle avoid us for the same reason. When we return from this assignment, the married women will say, ‘Oh my, good for you. You became the famous mercenary’s used goods, didn’t you?’ I’ll literally fold them in half, of course. Though with this failure, we’ll probably be relieved of duty anyway.」
Isolde vented while practically pouring out a cloud of black aura.
So the women of the Imperial Guard have it like that, huh…? From the outside they look like glittering elite career women, but reality’s a lot rougher.
「Heh… ‘female Guard Knight’ is just a label. In practice, we’re a dumping ground for noblewomen who can’t marry for various reasons—but at least we’re strong. Hehehe…」
Maybe her mental state had snapped harder than I expected, because she started gloomily chuckling and drawing little circles on the floor with her fingertip.
Different world, different language—same universal gesture for sulking, huh. But I’m in the middle of making them reflect, so it’s not like I can comfort her.
Not that I have any idea how, anyway.
As I stood there with a complicated expression, looking down at these people who looked like they were about to sprout mushrooms from their heads, Mei came briskly in from the cockpit.
Around her neck hung a tag that read:
‘I allowed outsiders onto the Krishna on my own authority without obtaining my master’s permission.’
And then she calmly sat in seiza in front of Lucia and Isolde’s group.
Voluntary. Nice.
「Master, everything that happened is my responsibility. Please forgive Luciada-sama and Isolde-sama and the others.」
「Everything… So Lucia slipping past her escort was only possible because you helped her somehow. Tell me why.」
「Yes. I judged that, overall, the safest option was for her to board the Krishna with you.」
「Mei… you… really?」
I almost blurted out, The ship that charges headfirst into the enemy is the safest?—
…but when Mei says it, part of me starts thinking, Maybe she’s right.
First of all: is there even a ship that can catch the current Krishna?
In the past, Krishna was outpaced by the Imperial Navy’s ridiculous ‘suppression ship’—a monster that literally rams an enemy vessel to start a boarding action and seize it in close combat.
But now? If I go all-out, Krishna can blow past a suppression ship with room to spare.
And with six maneuvering light wings manifested, Krishna should theoretically be able to perform long-range psionic jumps if I want it to.
I’ve never tested it, but on paper, I should be able to jump from this region—past the Gateway—to the imperial capital in one shot.
Combat-wise, it goes without saying.
Whether the enemy is space pirates, crystalline lifeforms, some noble’s private army, or even a rogue Imperial fleet—Krishna has the highest survival odds.
The Black Lotus and the Donner might look bigger, thicker-armored, tougher by structure…
…but Krishna’s shield has gained the ability to distort and deflect optical weapons.
In space combat, where optical weapons are the main threat, that means Krishna is arguably even harder than those two.
If Lucia were on the Black Lotus or the Donner and the situation turned bad, those big, slow ships can’t outrun the danger.
The Donner is a high-speed cruiser, so it’s faster than the Black Lotus—fast enough that it can even beat a standard destroyer.
But if small craft latch onto it, it can’t spin up its FTL drive.
Meaning the Donner can’t escape either.
In that situation, it’s checkmate.
「Alright. I get it—I’m convinced. But a surprise like that, out of nowhere, is still not okay…」
「I sincerely apologize. It was a failure of communication. There is no excuse. I believed an attack like this would not occur en route. Statistically, I estimated the probability at under 0.01%.」
「That’s honestly true.」
「Normally, no pirate would attack a large transport that’s being escorted by an obvious heavy combat ship.」
「Even without interdicting, anyone can tell the Donner is a cruiser. With three destroyer-class craft, plus multiple small and mid-sized combat craft… if they swarm you, there might be a chance, but…」
They’re right: if you don’t interdict and take a closer look, you wouldn’t realize the Black Lotus is a carrier disguised as a transport.
But with the Donner alongside it, even an idiot should understand the risk is huge.
So yeah—normally, pirates wouldn’t attack. Mei’s ‘under 0.01%’ doesn’t sound crazy.
「A sudden attack. Three destroyer-class pirate ships and lots of other forces. In that situation, there was no time to debate or convince me. Lucia herself was eager to slip onto my ship, so you interfered with Isolde’s pursuit and prioritized getting Lucia onto Krishna as fast as possible—without explaining the details. That’s how we got here. That about right?」
「Yes. Exactly as you said, Master. I will accept any punishment. Please, calm your anger toward Luciada-sama and Isolde-sama and the others.」
Mei stared up at me—shielding Lucia and the others behind her.
Could Isolde and the others have chased Lucia through the Black Lotus while Mei actively obstructed them?
No. Not a chance.
I probably could’ve done it, sure—but they couldn’t.
If Mei was seriously interfering, she could drop physical bulkheads wherever she wanted, activate hidden defense turrets, lock them in a corridor section and drain the oxygen—
If Isolde’s team got sealed behind a bulkhead, they’re basically done.
And they can’t damage the ship’s facilities, because they know I’d explode.
「…Fine. I retract what I said to Isolde and the others. I’m sorry. If punching me will make you feel better, hit me once or twice. I did something that warrants it. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.」
「No… being called incompetent is simply the truth. We lost sight of the princess and failed our duty…」
Isolde averted her eyes, wearing a self-mocking, dark smile.
「Mei, I understand your situation too. Given the circumstances, you won’t be punished. If anything, I should’ve taken the lead in aligning our emergency responses and assumptions beforehand.」
「…Master.」
Mei looked up at me.
Her face was as expressionless as ever, but somehow… she looked a little brighter.
「But Lucia—you’re not getting off. You just happened to match Mei’s intentions, and it just happened to be the optimal move for protecting yourself. At the core, you still forced your way onto the Krishna without caring how much trouble you caused. I’m not forgiving you. Reflect on it. Two full hours on your knees.」
「…Huh?」
Did you think the flow of the conversation meant you’d be forgiven too?
Yeah—no. Not happening.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!
Hiro’s home for Wayward Nobles
Thanks for the chapter
The original author just posted another chapter. The ride continues!
Thanks for the treat.
Thank you so much for the new chapter!
Have we reached the next 3-5 month wait!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!
I kinda have the idea that a “child” of Mei and Hiro would just be a new android with a blending of Mei and Hiro’s personalities. I mean Mei is only around a year old. There would be no reason for it to be like a human child.
It was stated earlier that Maidroids could conceive and give birth though via some fancy and supposedly expansive procedure on Mei’s part
The way I understood it, the “complicated” process to get biological baby if android is they would create DNA that could create biological copy of mei, at least in terms of looks, then using it to create ovum which will be implanted with Hiro’s seed and then a vat grown baby will happen. Whether it will be in glass tube from start to finish or “incubator” attachment to mei’s body
Daitai Lucia no sei basically? I mean she and Mimi can also influence fate, probably their fault this time.
After all Hiro wouldn’t have fate do this attack, no real trouble or gain this time. Except for bedding the four guards i guess.
Anyway, no mention about Lucia needing diaper here? She’s tough
Upgrading the mothership sounds nice and all.But when will hiro or author give Mei her Final upgrade???The 1 she lacks to even the odds with the other wives.(“Yes. Independent AIs are also recognized as official citizens after all. It is even possible for me to have children with you if you so wish, Master.”)Volume 6 ,chapter 175.Seems this been forgoten somehow
Why would that even remotely matter BEFORE they decide that they want kids?
Well,they kinda going back to Sierra system(Mei homeworld ,so why not?).also pretty obvious they all want kids(Chris for an heir and earl dareinwald expect result for that).upgrade doesnt mean have kids right there now.just an upgrade,like the mothership.Mei fans surely wont mind right??
The artificial womb might already be installed but is in a dormant state due to hiro not being ready to settle down yet
None of the wives are in a position to have children (I do believe it was stated that they were all in birth control). I am sure Mei will get the upgrade when it is relevant.
Make sense, I hope they get the best mothership so black Lotus or Mei doesn’t get behind/getting destroyed…. Mei best girl…
maybe legendary craftsman make it for him with prisonic power in (so allowing space expansion inside) but I guess that probably won’t happen but I do hope…
Thanks for the chapter