A Sudden Chill

At the same time, Arcadia — guild master of this massive allied "guild" — lifted her head, cleared her throat with a delicate little cough, and drew every eye with a gentle smile.

Their chatter died away at once, and all gazes turned toward her.

"Ahem, ahem… First of all, thank you for coming, everyone. Have you all been well?"

"Well, it's not like there's much to do."

"And we're all living right next to each other anyway, so nothing major's really come up."

"For real. Can confirm."

They nodded along in agreement with Arcadia's words — then, one by one, began to wonder why exactly they'd been summoned.

"So, Guild Master, why'd you call us all here?"

"Right. The truth is… do any of you know why the gallery went down this time?"

"Huh? Wasn't that obviously because of that Melon dweeb or whatever his name is?"

At the retort from a commander sporting pure white hair and an equally long white beard, Arcadia raised a single finger, wagged it side to side, and slowly shook her head.

"A nobody like that is completely irrelevant. What matters is the one who defeated him."

"Ah… that veteran!"

At Arcadia's words, every commander gathered in the command post recalled the same post — the one where a certain user had uploaded a verification screenshot of a captured cruiser.

"But why're you even asking about that guy?"

"Sure, taking down a fleet that included an SSS-grade cruiser without any high-end ships of his own is impressive, but… isn't that something anyone with a decent amount of experience could pull off to some degree?"

"Yeah, I think so too."

Had Icarus overheard that they knew all this, he would have spent a solid few minutes thrashing around in a panic, convinced someone had planted a bug in his base. Unfortunately for him, the man himself was nowhere near this room.

Besides, they had only learned the details while lurking and spectating in the gallery — piecing things together from the whiny rant Melon had posted right before his deranged spam flood began.

"The idiot shoved a bombardment cruiser forward and got it stolen when the SSS-grade characters hit him with a boarding action, right?"

"Still, he wasn't a complete idiot. Just a fool."

"…?"

And as the conversation started drifting off into the weeds the moment she left them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alone for a second, Arcadia set down the command console she'd been holding and spoke in the calmest, most measured tone she could manage.

"Everyone, would you please listen to what I have to say first?"

She was still smiling — but a cross-shaped vein was visibly throbbing at the edge of that lovely face. The commanders who had been chattering among themselves went dead silent in an instant, as if none of it had ever happened.

Arcadia nodded at the sight, let out a long sigh, and quietly placed a console on the table where the commanders sat before opening her mouth again.

"I have only one thing to tell you. Going forward, if we want to hold our own against the so-called 'Villain Alliance' — and survive the Pirate Empress event — we need to expand our forces even further."

At that, every commander present nodded in agreement.

Of course, it was agreement only in the most abstract, theoretical sense.

"So you're saying you want to invite that guy into the guild and make him part of our new fighting strength, Guild Master?"

"Yes. The more people we have, the better."

"But all we know about him is that he crushed a newbie who picked a fight with him."

"That guy's right. And according to that blackened newbie, he hasn't even pulled a cruiser yet, has he?"

"Honestly, as memorable as he is, I don't think he's worth this much discussion."

They all shook their heads, reacting coolly to Arcadia's proposal.

It wasn't as if there was zero positive sentiment —

"How about we just keep an eye on him for now? Like the others said, it's a bit early to decide."

"For real."

— but even that was more of a "let's wait and see" than genuine support. Arcadia sighed inwardly at the commanders' response, yet nodded and accepted their opinion.

"Is that so? Then for now, we'll simply observe this user called Icarus…"

"Yeah."

"Oh, by the way, since we're all here — those Villain Alliance bastards were throwing a fit about raiding one of our resource zones again."

"What?"

"They're at it again? Then let's just go swarm them and tear them to—"

But while the other commanders immediately plunged into the next agenda item, a small ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠resolve was beginning to take root in the heart of Arcadia — the woman who had been half-forcibly installed as guild master.

If it's Icarus… then he's definitely the one who helped me before.

He still hadn't contacted her even once. But judging by that post from Melon — or whatever that idiot's name was — he was clearly living a very busy life right now.

And so, even as Arcadia responded appropriately to the commanders' chatter, her mind was already turning over how she might help Icarus… or how she might reel him into the guild she had built and raise him in a nice, secure pen.

Just wait for me, Icarus… I'll help you. I swear I will.

And at that very same moment—

—Brrr!

"Hwaaagh?"

"What's wrong, Commander?"

"Ah, no… I just suddenly got a chill down my back."

A sudden wave of cold washed over me, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sending a shiver racing down my spine.

Naturally, Jessica regarded me with open concern.

"Commander, no matter how all-purpose the nanomachines in the base medical bay are… you still need to take proper care of your condition."

"Mmm…"

I nodded at Jessica's words and asked her to brew me a cup of herbal tea, just in case. It might have been the early signs of a cold, and there was no harm in being prepared — though at the same time, I couldn't help wondering whether colds even existed inside a game.

Maintenance is essential for operations.

The next morning.

"Good morning, Commander!"

"Mm, yeah."

Jessica bowed in greeting, her rabbit ears bobbing left and right atop her head. I gave a light nod in return and operated the console to check the base status window.

"Hmm…"

Looking at how absurdly long the list had grown, I let out a small hum.

Wait — when did all of this even get built?

But thinking about it, every single base upgrade had been dumping new facilities on me left and right. Maybe it was only natural for the list to look like this.

With that thought, I decided that as long as I was looking, I might as well go through them one by one.

This place had always been framed as the kind of "player-exclusive space" you see in every gacha game — essentially a decoration room.