I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary - Chapter 532

Chapter 532: 「But If We’re Usin’ that Comparison, You’re Definitely a ‘Super Robot’ Protagonist Type, Right?」

Once it was decided to move, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire’s military acted swiftly. By the next morning, the Rapid Response Fleet had already been assembled. Both the Krishna and the Black Lotus were also preparing to launch into space.

My crew understood the urgency, and as soon as we woke up, we quickly got ready and gathered on the Krishna. Once the researchers arrived, we packed everyone in the ship like sardines and took off towards the Black Lotus docked in the spaceport. As we prepared for departure, we also started arranging room assignments for the passengers.

「Sorry about the shared rooms. We don’t have enough rooms for everyone.」

「Don’t worry about it.」

「We’re military officers; we’re used to this sort of thing.」

Moegi and Konoha reassured me, but as for the scholars...

「The interior is quite nice. We can’t underestimate the Grakkan Empire’s shipbuilding capabilities.」

「It feels like a luxury hotel. The rooms are more spacious than I expected.」

Ameno, the ship engineer, seemed very impressed with the Black Lotus’s interior, and Buubo, the relic researcher, didn’t seem to have any complaints either.

「So I’m sharing a room with Inaba-kun, huh...」

「If we leave you alone, you will probably do something untoward, won’t you, Professor?」

Fuguruma seems a bit disgruntled... But if Inaba can stop her from trying anything weird, that’s a relief. That said, no matter what Fuguruma tries, I don’t think she can evade Mei’s surveillance. The Black Lotus is practically Mei’s own body. If Mei wanted to, she could monitor every single move on the ship without fail. No matter how much Fuguruma tries to mask things with her psionic powers, she won’t be able to escape Mei’s watchful eyes. Though, to be honest, I don’t even know if psionic powers can be used for that kind of thing.

Aside from them, there were other passengers—colleagues and assistants of the scholars—but none of them seemed to have any major complaints.

「It probably won’t be a particularly long expedition, but... are we good on supplies?」

「Yes, Hiro-sama. Fortunately, we managed to stock up on retort-pouched food from the Holy Vuelzarus Empire in time, so I don’t think we’ll have any issues like running out of meals or water. The life support system should be able to handle it as well, right?」

「Yes, Mimi-sama. The Black Lotus‘s life support system still has plenty of capacity. As for our food reserves, even if we don’t ration at all, we can operate for four to five days without resupplying.」

The ship’s life support recycling system was highly efficient in terms of water and air, so there didn’t seem to be any major concerns in that area. We can’t go on indefinitely without resupplying though.

「Will the Holy Vuelzarus Empire cover those expenses? I should check on that later...」

「I’ll look into it for you, Master. I’ll also handle tracking our resource consumption.」

「Sorry to trouble you. The Holy Empire’s fleet seems to have already launched into space, so make sure we’re ready to depart as quickly as possible. I’ll go check on the Krishna.」

「Yes, Hiro-sama!」

「Yes, Master.」

「By the way, how did the shield test go?」

「Well, nothin’ changed when ya weren’t onboard. The Maneuverin’ Light Wings only show up when you’re inside too. Seems like none of the new stuff works unless you’re piloting it.」

「I see... Well, I can’t exactly test the combat-grade shields while the ship is parked in the hangar. We’ll need to do that once we’re up in space. Maybe we can fit a test in somewhere...」

「Won’t the fight start before that happens?」

「Yeah, that’s probably more likely... Trial by fire, huh?」

Still, there’s no reason to think Krishna’s performance has decreased, so there shouldn’t be much to worry about.

「And since it’s still docked in the hangar, we can’t check the weapons properly either. Unless you’re onboard, only the Large Caliber Pulse Laser Cannons and the Anti-ship Reactive Torpedoes are active; everything else is grayed out and disabled. Guessin’ the weapons won’t work right unless you’re in the cockpit.」

「Well, that’s fine since I’m basically the only one flying it nowadays. Telekinetic Halo and Telekinetic Impact Cannon... Seriously, from what Super Robot anime did that came from? It was supposed to be a ship more similar to those of Real Robot anime.」

「Super Robot? Real Robot? What’s that?」

「Oh, right. To compare with this universe shows, something like the Wandering Emperor would be Real Robot, and Majestic Baron would be Super Robot.」

The Wandering Emperor was a show based on the real story of an emperor from about ten generations ago who went on a journey blending in with the common folk, and took on corrupt nobles, using both his power and brute force to deliver justice. On the other hand, Majestic Baron was about a baron with superhero-like powers who, similar to the emperor in Wandering Emperor, fights corrupt nobles, but this time in grand, over-the-top battles. In that one, the corrupt nobles themselves also had special abilities, making it feel more like a superhero story.

「Got it. But if we’re usin’ that comparison, you’re definitely a ‘Super Robot’ protagonist type, right?」

「I can’t argue with that...」

I feel like I could even take on one of the super-powered corrupt nobles from Majestic Baron with how strong I’ve become. Maybe I should just think of it as Krishna powering up alongside me.

「Anyway, I get how the Krishna is doing. Just make sure you don’t push yourselves too hard and pass out.」

「Don’t worry, I know my limits. But thanks for lookin’ out for me.」

Tina smiled brightly as she said that. Yeah, she’s adorable. She always jokes around asking, ‘Ain’t Tina-chan just the cutest?’—and she’s not wrong. Tina really is cute.

「Huh? Why’re you starin’ at me all of a sudden?」

「I was just thinking about how cute you are, Tina.」

「Jeez... why’re you praisin’ me outta nowhere?」

Her face flushed red and she started poking my side with her finger, trying to hide her embarrassment while giving me an exasperated look. She’s really cute.I slept alone last night for once... Maybe tonight, I’ll spend some quality time with Tina—if I have the time to sleep, that is.