To That Place (1)
A full week had passed since Minister Vermouth's words, and yet…
Nothing had really changed.
Of course, we weren't about to go rocketing off into that nano-machine cosmos this very second, so the fact that the Leviathan's repairs still weren't finished wasn't exactly a crisis.
The real problem lay somewhere else entirely.
"Minister, the Ministry of Technology and Science and the Defense Ministry's Strategic Research Institute have finished assessing the situation."
"Mm. Results came back faster than I expected."
Back when I'd first sent the drones—and later even a research battleship—I'd also carefully bagged up some of the nano-machines and shipped them off to those same places, hoping to figure out why communications had gone dead.
Then I'd gotten buried under work and completely forgotten about it… until now, when they finally reported that the results were in.
But the moment I reached for the report Riel had brought, a new event message bloomed across my vision.
The research results you requested on the nano-machines have arrived.
Amazingly, the moment electronic equipment was brought near them, the nano-machines emitted an absurdly powerful anomalous electromagnetic wave—far stronger than anything their size should have been capable of producing.
That wave disrupted the communication systems of the equipment being operated, and before long severed the connection entirely.
This explains why the drones lost contact early in the investigation, and why the research battleship was destroyed without even managing to send an SOS.
Holy Sevelian Empire gains trait: ‘Understanding of Nano-Machines’ (Empire-wide Research Output +5% for 5 years)
What kind of bullshit event is this now?
While I was still lost in that little flashback—
"Minister, a new report for you."
"…Hm."
The instant I looked at the materials Riel held out—
Ding♪
That familiar chime, that familiar automatic pause—and once again a fresh event message unfurled before my eyes.
Through the tears, sacrifices, and hardships of countless graduate students, the true nature of the electromagnetic waves emitted by the nano-machines has at last been revealed.
At first it was believed they served only to jam electronics and disrupt communications.
But under the direct leadership of Minister Vermouth of the Ministry of Technology and Science, it was discovered that these waves also function as operational signals between the nano-machines themselves.
In the process, previously deactivated nano-machines reactivated the moment they were exposed to the waves—resulting in the unfortunate loss of two research bases and one research vessel.
Despite that, Minister Vermouth is confident that by tracking the transmission signals of the nano-machines’ electromagnetic waves, the traces of Ash that you requested can be followed.
Hmm.
I flicked the event message aside. The report itself contained exactly what the message had summarized.
Most of it lined up that way, so I released the pause and pretended to read the report with calm focus while I started thinking about what to do next.
So… how the hell do I use this?
I understood that Ash’s location could be tracked through the nano-machines’ signals. I also understood that the Leviathan could get us there.
But the report contained additional problems the event message had conveniently left out.
As you stated, Minister, searching for Ash will require a vessel capable of self-sufficiency while exploring that vast expanse of space.
Not only food and air, but a ship that can endure the full-scale assaults of the nano-machines while performing its own triangulation to reach Ash’s position.
However, as previously reported, the only vessel that can withstand the nano-machines’ onslaught is the Leviathan-class Super Dreadnought you recovered.
No existing materials can stop them. The operation must be conducted with that ship alone.
Reading that far, I realized what it actually meant: we would have to run the entire operation with that one gigantic ship and nothing else.
What is this, some kind of space battleship Yamato bullshit?
On top of that, the additional sealing work on the Gate had produced so many unreported incidents and accidents that…
There was no way we could reopen the Gate that Ash had sealed, that we had forced open a second time, and that we had then sealed again.
Wait a second. Then how do we even get in?
Only then did the fundamental flaw in the plan I was considering hit me.
A single capital ship diving in alone? No support requests possible because of the nano-machines’ jamming?
Those problems were nothing compared to the real one.
We had no way to reach that space in the first place.
Forcing our way through the Gate we had sealed again wasn’t technically impossible…
P.S.: If the Gate’s seal is breached, there is a high probability that vast quantities of nano-machines will pour through it.
The warning attached to the very end of the report made it painfully clear that the aftermath of such a stunt would be unmanageable.
And even if we did go that way, who the hell would we send?
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my subordinates.
"Come on, you blue-skinned Prosnak bastard! Bring it!"
"You little shit… die!"
They spent their free time beating the crap out of each other in the basement of the Foreign Executive Ministry, or—
"Who’s our boss again?"
"The great prophet who will lead us to salvation!"
"Correct."
…when I gave them leave, they spent it proselytizing about me all over the Empire.
They had their… unique quirks. But I couldn’t deny their skills were terrifying.
And if I really didn’t want to use the Purge Squad, I could always call in a favor from Admiral Zeidler of the Third Fleet and have him send some useful people my way.
The problem wasn’t my subordinates. It was the reliability of that ancient relic of a ship.
We’ve been sucking up to this oversized boat for how long, and now I’m suddenly supposed to get cold feet?
I could almost hear someone saying that, but the lack of trust was completely natural.
I’d had Ash for years at this point—long enough to grow a little attached. The Leviathan, on the other hand, had only been in my possession for maybe a year.
Sure, its biological core—the “Administrator”—had manufactured human speech patterns, mannerisms, and even a personality, so I’d gotten used to it…
But even so, I couldn’t just throw subordinates who would receive zero support into the care of something that unreliable.
And if I sent civilians? They’d probably flail around like the investigation captain during the Gate survey and hand a perfectly good Leviathan over to the nano-machines on a silver platter.
So I kept turning the problem over and over until I finally reached a single conclusion.
Looks like I’m going to have to go myself.
Given the situation, trusting the Administrator and dumping it on my subordinates simply wasn’t an option. For the first time in a long while, I decided to handle the job personally.
Of course, the moment I announced I would go myself, our most exalted Empress spoke without the slightest filter.
"Arto? Already itching to ditch me for a night out?"
"Artraia, I don’t think we were living together from the very beginning."
No—filter wasn’t even the issue anymore.
"And Artraia, maintaining imperial dignity at all times is important… didn’t you say that yourself?"
"Who cares? It’s just you, me, and Riel here."
"Please count me as not present. I have zero interest in getting stuck between you two’s lovey-dovey act."
In the past she had at least pretended to draw a line for the sake of dignity. But ever since she had squeezed me dry like a fresh fruit juicer, she had thrown all dignity out the window the moment we were in private quarters—and now she was clinging to my arm without the slightest restraint.
Nuzzle-nuzzle.
"Arto, are you seriously planning to drag that thing there alone?"
She stuffed my arm between her maternal cushions and looked up at me with a face full of worry.
…!
The resolve I had hardened like steel melted into molten iron in an instant. If I stayed like this I was going to abandon every decision I’d just made and end up roughhousing with Artraia again until—
Oh no. If this keeps up I’m getting juiced again!
I barely managed to snap out of it. I tried to pull my hand free of Artraia’s embrace (impossible—she was stronger than me) and instead settled for calmly reasoning with her.
"Artraia, this time there’s truly no other way."
"But…"
"There’s no one else I can send."
At that, Artraia puffed out her cheeks like a child, age be damned, and voiced her discontent.
"You said there isn’t even an entrance to get there. So why the rush?"
"…A hunch."
If I said “because of an event,” I’d be written off as a lunatic on the spot. So I gave a suitably vague answer. Artraia let out a long sigh.
"Haa… If you’re reacting this strongly, then this must be something extremely important."
"It is."
I agreed at once. She fell silent for a moment, thinking…
Then:
"Fine. If that’s how it is, I can’t stop you… Is there anything I can do to help?"
Unable to prevent her husband(?) from doing something dangerous, she had pivoted to offering every possible form of support. I felt a quiet surge of gratitude.
I was just about to list everything I needed from her when—
Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!
An emergency alert blared. I immediately opened my terminal to check what was going on.
"What is it?"
The voice that answered made me doubt my own ears for a second.
—"M-Minister Arto! Just now… a-an envoy from the Pioneer Empire has arrived!!!"
"…What?"