Mission Complete — Time for the Reward (2)

Heh.

In short, everything that had until now been vaguely papered over with empty words had, on this occasion, been properly committed to writing.

And as the terms themselves made clear, the Kaiju side hadn't demanded a single additional concession from Marianne. Faced with that full-throated willingness to deal — and with no games being played — Marianne had, in her own way, matched their sincerity and come to the table in good faith.

That said, I still found myself growing more and more curious about exactly what Marianne had added to the agreement…

Fortunately — or unfortunately — I never had to ask. Before I could so much as let the suspicion show on my face, Marianne turned to me with a look of pure self-satisfaction and proudly announced what she'd tacked on.

"Oh, and the thing I added in the negotiations? That Princess Luka girl gets to stay here permanently!"

"…Well, I suppose that does make sense."

After all, Princess Luka had been dispatched precisely as someone of sufficient standing to negotiate with Marianne. If Marianne ever needed to discuss something with the Kaiju again, having Princess Luka on hand would be necessary whether anyone liked it or not. They could hardly ferry half a fleet all the way from the distant Kaiju homeworld every single time they wanted a conversation.

As if to confirm that my reasoning was sound, Princess Luka nodded and offered a smile of pure, uncomplicated agreement.

"The Empress speaks truly. This lady can hardly be expected to shuttle back and forth between here and Mother's nest for the sake of a single conversation!"

Behind her, Oxianor likewise signaled her assent. Perfectly reasonable, all of it.

But while I was entertaining these wholesome, innocent thoughts, Marianne took advantage of the moment — while Princess Luka and Oxianor had turned their heads to chat among themselves — to pivot toward me and lean in close, whispering something absolutely catastrophic into my ear.

"Oppa… just so you know, that's what I said on the surface."

"…?"

"But the real reason is, well… everyone around you is kind of the same type, you know?"

She coiled her arm around mine, a faint flush coloring her cheeks, and made a peculiar little gesture with both hands as she delivered the rest of her pitch — as though this were something I'd find interesting.

"Even Ignis is on the smaller side, but her build is still pretty similar to the others, so…"

"What."

"I thought Oppa might need a slightly more… exotic taste in his collection…♡"

The instant those words hit me, I carefully extracted my arm from Marianne's grip, accepted the copy of Partia's Scripture that Jessica helpfully handed over from beside me, and — without a moment's hesitation — brought that holy text down squarely on the head of the woman who had just attempted not merely to socially assassinate me, but to end the world itself.

"You blasphemous wretch!!!!"

Naturally, our Kaiju guests — mid-conversation among themselves — whipped around in startled alarm at my sudden act of violence.

"It's nothing. Please don't concern yourselves."

"Ugh… I was only doing it for Oppa's sake…"

"That wasn't for my sake. That was a political assassination attempt."

Even so, for a good while afterward, we were forced to sit there and watch Marianne's hat slowly swell into a rather plump little lump.

Having successfully suppressed the woman who had just expressed her determination to induct a girl of unmistakably childlike appearance into the harem — and having thereby thwarted Marianne's casual assassination attempt — I figured the conversation was over and we could all go about our respective business…

"Ah! This lady nearly forgot and left without saying a word!"

Princess Luka, who had been chatting cheerfully with Oxianor and was about to take her leave, suddenly seemed to remember something. And what she proceeded to tell me was, from my perspective, extremely exciting news.

"Icarus! You see that thing we brought with us this time, do you not?"

"Ah — yes."

"That vessel is a gift from Her Majesty the Queen, bestowed upon you! You rendered great service in forging the alliance with the Pirate Union, and such aid demands a fitting reward!"

"Oh…"

As she spoke, Princess Luka pointed through the command center's window at the enormous biological warship visible beyond. I could barely contain the thrill rising in my chest — but beside me, Jessica posed a question in a voice thick with suspicion.

"Um… without that, where exactly do Your Highness and your entourage plan to stay?"

"Entourage? What on earth are you talking about?"

Jessica, if you bring that up, what happens to my free ship?

At Jessica's words, I felt the color drain from my face in a slow, sickening wash. But on Princess Luka's face, genuine bewilderment was blooming instead.

"Your Highness, what Commander Icarus's adjutant is referring to are the separate 'retinues' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that representatives of other factions typically travel with — the ones we have observed."

"Ah… those throngs of hangers-on they drag about everywhere?"

Oxianor's razor-sharp interpretation from behind her made it clear that Princess Luka — whether because her actual age matched her youthful appearance, or simply from a lack of experience — was a little out of her depth. But our supreme and most exalted Princess Luka quickly grasped the situation, shook her head firmly, and assured us that such concerns were entirely unnecessary.

"I understand what you mean. But you need not worry about that in the slightest!"

"Pardon?"

"Unlike those stuffed-shirt fools of the Zenobia Empire or the Earth Federation, we place absolute priority on practical results!"

She thumped her meager chest — or rather, the carapace of her dress — and pressed on.

"This lady's entourage consists of herself and this loyal guardian alone. That is more than sufficient!"

"Ah… I see."

"Besides, that ship-chrysalis was brought purely as a gift. There is no living space of any kind inside it."

"Her Highness is correct."

Hearing that, I finally understood what the quest reward — One randomly selected vessel incorporating Kaiju biological technology — had actually meant.

In any case, once that exchange was finished:

"This lady and her guardian shall henceforth reside in the sector of this base that houses the neural link network!"

"You'll be staying with Oxianor, then?"

"Indeed! That way the connection to Mother is maintained, and energy consumption remains low!"

I offered a crisp salute to Princess Luka, who had just handed us a ship that was random in type but guaranteed in delivery. The moment she and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Oxianor departed, I turned my full attention to the giant chrysalis docked near the neural-link sector and sank into thought.

Judging by size alone, it dwarfed not only our own cruisers but even the battleship once commanded by the former Pirate King — now reduced to a human pig and Marianne's personal slave. As a man, the romance of big ships and big guns stirred in me the hope that something magnificent might be growing inside: a Super Dreadnought, perhaps, or something equally glorious.

Of course, if they were genuinely handing out free "ultra-class Kaiju" of that caliber, the quest difficulty would have skyrocketed by orders of magnitude. So I tempered my dreams with a healthy dose of realism and decided to at least check the status of that cosmic Big Chrysalis…

What kind of lore dump is this?

I'd never seen anything like it during my own time playing the game, for one thing. And for another, all I'd wanted was to find out what was inside the thing — so why was a lore window popping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up instead?

As a sci-fi nerd, I had to admit it was genuinely fascinating. Which was the only reason I was still standing there reading it.