🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 07
“Why did things turn out like this?!”
Marshal Hummildas was boiling with rage.
An Imperial Marshal’s son had been killed in his territory.
The perpetrators had escaped.
The local governor in charge had also fled.
“Lord Marshal! The governorship of Lucifer Sacred Province is vacant! We must appoint a replacement immediately.”
That region was close to Imperium territory.
A supervisor was needed just to maintain surveillance.
“Who would take it?”
“….”
Given the situation, no one would willingly accept the post.
Then—
“Lord Marshal! The head of House Pak has requested an audience.”
“Why?”
“He is asking to relieve his son, who is serving as a patrol fleet squadron captain.”
“Oh! That troublemaker?”
He remembered now.
That man had volunteered himself for service.
Because of that, he had been politically useful—praised as a “model noble” and “self-sacrificing example,” forcing other noble houses to contribute more private troops.
“He must be trying to pull him out because war is brewing.”
“Doesn’t seem like it. He hasn’t heard the news yet. It looks like he’s too busy cleaning up his son’s mess.”
“Ho ho. Bring him in.”
“I greet the Marshal.”
“Ah, House Pak. Perfect timing. I hear you’ve come to remove your son from the patrol fleet. But if I suddenly remove him now, it would damage my honor…”
The Marshal looked troubled.
“We will do our best to manage the situation on our end.”
“There’s actually another problem.”
The head of House Pak frowned.
His son must have caused trouble again.
It would have been strange if he hadn’t.
“Very well! In that case, take your son and go to Lucifer Sacred Province.”
“Pardon?”
“The governor there has resigned.”
The head of House Pak sighed internally.
No one would want that position.
“I will temporarily take the post.”
In the end, he accepted the governorship.
If he couldn’t control his son, the entire house would collapse.
“No pursuing enemies detected.”
The scout finished scanning the surroundings.
The tension in the command room finally loosened.
“Captain, we’ve created enough distance. Should we let the crew rest?”
After two life-or-death battles, everyone was mentally exhausted.
But—
“Those guys still have a maneuvering ship. Repairs first, then rest.”
“Ah—!”
The fleet we had left consisted of only three ships: a maneuvering ship, a escort ship, and a patrol ship.
And we had exhausted all missiles.
If we encountered that enemy maneuvering ship now, it would be hell.
“Understood. I’ll relay the order.”
A full inspection began.
Communications: no issues.
Medical: treating 5 lightly injured.
Cooking: no problems.
Engineering: reactor efficiency 90%, engine 87%, no other issues.
We hadn’t been directly hit by explosions, but damage was still significant.
Weapons report came next.
Main guns: 42% efficiency.
Support beam systems damaged.
2 of 4 auxiliary lasers inoperable.
Likely damaged during asteroid impact.
“Can they be repaired?”
“Requires docking at a maintenance yard. We also lack repair kits.”
“Supply status?”
“Critical shortage. We also need more mana stones for long-range warp.”
I tilted my head.
“Who’s our navigator?”
A navigator acts as a guide in wormhole travel—like a space GPS.
Their skill determines available routes and mana consumption.
“You fired them because they were too expensive.”
“…Then what about the other ships?”
“There are none.”
Patrol fleets only hire a navigator for the flagship.
Within a single star system, they usually don’t need one.
So veteran helmsmen often filled the role instead.
“Helmsman.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“How far can we warp with the remaining mana stones?”
“Well… the gunnery ship helmsman used to guide us, so I’m not sure… I’ll check the standard navigation manual…”
He pulled out a physical booklet.
A booklet.
Unbelievable.
“Forget it.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
By the way, that “navigator” had died fighting despite ignoring retreat orders.
A total disaster.
“So… can we at least leave this star system?”
“That… I can’t guarantee it with our current mana reserves.”
“Then we need resupply here. Who governs this colony?”
To explain—colonies are inhabited, managed planets.
Most are located in the Goldilocks zone, where conditions are suitable for life.
“In this region, it’s not a governor but a steward.”
Governors are appointed by the Marshal.
Stewards are chosen from local influential figures.
Basically like a village chief in a fantasy game.
“Helmsman.”
“Yes!”
“You can take us to the colony, right?”
The helmsman finally looked confident.
“Yes. I’ve been there often. I know the route.”
Space had routes just like the sea.
And acceleration drives required those routes.
“We are entering the route now.”
I silently prayed.
Please don’t run into that enemy maneuvering ship.
Meanwhile, the medic wrapped a bandage around Saggita’s eye.
“Clean it and administer regeneration activator.”
“I’m sorry. Due to contamination damage, regeneration is not possible.”
Dark energy damage affected not only machines but living organisms.
“There’s not much we can do onboard. You need hospital treatment immediately.”
Other injuries could be handled by amputation and regeneration.
But the eye was the problem.
Saggita gritted his teeth.
He had lost ships—and now an eye.
“Cough! Cough!”
He spat blood.
“Poisoning seems severe. You need antidote and a recovery capsule.”
“Before that… what happened to them?”
The maneuvering ships hadn’t participated in battle.
They had been sent toward a warp-capable planet.
“They’re… not visible!”
“What?! So they noticed?”
Saggita didn’t realize they had simply gone to a colony due to lack of skill.
“As expected… not ordinary. Retreat.”
“And the ship sent to the colony?”
“Destroy it.”
I didn’t go to the dining hall.
I ate only combat rations.
“Young master, we’ve run out of combat rations.”
“What…!”
“I still don’t understand why anyone eats that tasteless stuff.”
They just didn’t know.
Combat rations were perfectly fine.
Better than my usual convenience store meals.
After skipping two meals, I finally gave in and headed to the dining hall.
Ssssss.
Several cockroach tribe members were moving quickly inside.
Despite their appearance, they were extremely clean.
Their bodily fluids were even used as antibiotics.
“There she is. The cook chief, Maxpos. She’s actually quite pretty.”
Pretty?
My head hurt.
Then again, the previous owner of this body was already questionable.
Trying to date a cockroach tribe member…
“Captain. What would you like to eat?”
“A simple meal.”
Let’s stay positive.
In some movies, people survived on worse and even escaped prisons.
A machine handled the cooking while the cooks adjusted recipes.
Taste depended heavily on ingredient quality.
Pico brought my food.
A steak set.
The aroma alone was incredible.
I regretted surviving on rations until now.
Just as I was about to take a bite—
“Captain?!”
Maxpos suddenly appeared beside me.
Startled, I reflexively kicked sideways.
Thud!
It hit perfectly.
My strength was ridiculous.
“You said you liked it earlier!!”
The cook chief glared at me and stormed out.
“I didn’t mean it like that…”
Then—
Grrr…
My stomach growled.
Eat first. Think later.
I took a bite of steak.
“…What the hell?!”
It was the best steak I had ever eaten.
So good it made my body tremble.
Ah… my senses.
This world’s sensations were far richer.
Maybe this world was real, and my old life was the dream.
Just like Zhuangzi’s butterfly dream.
Beep. Beep.
A call came from the command room.
“Captain! The colony is under attack!”
The place we were supposed to resupply…
was in danger.
“Damn it!”
