Let's Try Self-Actualization (2)

Having finished a recollection that was short if you called it short and long if you called it long, Mary Ann—no, Marianne—looked at her present circumstances and felt her head shaking of its own accord.

Unlike the captain, who had nothing but a brain rattling around in his skull and a face to match his strangeness—

There was the Commander, who now looked at her with genuine affection and warmth.

There was Belial, who was a straight upgrade in every respect over the first mate who used to grab her backside at the drop of a hat—minus the sexual harassment, of course.

There was Ignis, whose combat power and ruthlessly efficient training methods made the old boatswain look like a joke—the one who, whenever Marianne asked to learn a fighting technique, would refuse to teach her anything and just cling to her, sniffing.

There was Jessica, who walked her through every single duty from the ground up and even threw in practical advice for interstellar navigation—nothing like the slapdash work Marianne used to cobble together from half-heard rumors and deck gossip on the pirate ship.

And then there was Pashtura, who put her through "special training" on the grounds that she would need it someday.

A training regimen with roles so cleanly divided was drilling into her body all sorts of valuable things she could never have learned on a pirate vessel.

On top of that came the luxuries a pirate's life never offered—a warm, comfortable, and above all safe bedroom, and the guarantee of healthy leisure time, fully supported.

Living in clean, well-kept facilities like these…

…This is only because I still haven't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠built up enough skill yet.

Her original plan—stick around for about a month, skim off whatever she could, then bolt and take over the pirates—had been scrapped entirely.

Since things had turned out this way, she decided she would properly square her shoulders and learn everything she could from these excellent teachers (!), then leave stronger than before and crush the pirate scum according to her plan, rising to the top.

Of course, once a full month had actually passed, even she could see that she was already at a level where she could butcher the captain of any ordinary pirate ship in seconds.

But Marianne herself didn't realize it—perhaps because the superhumans standing right beside her were a full three ranks above her own grade. No matter how much she improved, she still felt hopelessly inadequate.

So she kept telling herself, just a little more, just a little stronger, and put off her escape date day after day. The result:

—Munch munch munch.

"Oppa, what kind of training am I doing today?"

"…"

Ah.

By the time Mary Ann finally came to her senses, she realized she had been at this base for over two months.

Unfortunately, she only noticed that fact in the exact moment she was cheerfully munching on the sandwich Jessica had packed for her as usual and casually calling out to Oppa—only to find him looking back at her with an extremely complicated expression. That was when Mary Ann thought, What the hell am I even doing right now?

No, seriously, what am I doing? What happened to my grand ambition?!

Even as that thought ran through her head, another corner of her mind fretted:

But I still feel like I'm not ready… No—if I drag this out any longer, the people I lined up for support inside the pirate dens I prepared will all be gone…

Anxiety over the present situation, mixed with the deepening worry that if she stalled any further her carefully laid plans in the pirate dens would completely unravel, left Mary Ann stewing in a dilemma she couldn't discuss with a single person on the base.

But then—

"Marianne? The Commander is calling for you."

"Oppa is?"

For whatever reason, Oppa was summoning her first thing in the morning—something he never usually did. Mary Ann wondered why he always insisted on calling her by that weird name, nodded, and headed straight for the commander's office.

The moment she stepped inside and sat down—

"Marianne. The time has come."

"Excuse me?"

"Toward your goal of becoming the supreme ruler of the pirates—shouldn't you start advancing in earnest now?"

"…!!!"

Meeting Oppa's—no, the Commander's—gaze, which seemed to see straight through everything she was, Mary Ann felt the frustration that had been building up from all those solitary worries burst out of her all at once.

And while Mary Ann—no, Marianne—was sobbing her heart out, the Icarus sitting across from her was thinking something along the lines of:

Why the hell do I have to be the one triggering this event?

Her reaction had been so much more intense than anything I'd imagined that from the moment Marianne started pouring out her grievances, I was privately terrified the system might screw me with a "5%" bad-end event right then and there.

Fortunately, it turned out not to be a forced bad-end event at all—just a genuine venting of frustration. After wailing through every emotion she had, Marianne finally seemed to have emptied herself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out. She let out a long breath and opened her mouth.

"Haaah… I'm sorry. That was a really pathetic display."

"Nah, it happens."

"By the way… how long have you known?"

The second those words left her mouth, a choice event window popped up in front of my eyes like something out of a dating sim.

The second I saw those event choices floating in front of me, a fluffy little thought bloomed in my head: These bastards are trying to force another affinity-screwing event on me, aren't they?

"Um…?"

"Ah—right."

I'd gone completely silent even though she'd asked me a question, so Marianne tilted her head and spoke up again. After a few seconds of brief deliberation, I picked option one and said the line exactly as written.

"I've known everything from the very beginning."

"…I figured as much. That's why you hesitated before saying it just now."

Thankfully, that seemed to be the correct answer. Our Pirate Empress (True Form) nodded, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apparently satisfied that she now understood my delayed reaction.

…Of course I hadn't done it on purpose, but hey—as long as she got it, great.

No, that is not the important part right now.

I reined in the train of thought that had been about to wander completely off the rails and carefully opened my mouth toward the Marianne sitting in front of me.

"Marianne. In the end, what is your goal?"

"You already know everything, don't you?"

"That's not what I mean. I'm telling you to reaffirm the goal you already have."

"…!"

I quietly swallowed the part about that's how you progress the event back down my throat.

"Be honest with me, Marianne."

"Y-yes…??"

"By your own evaluation right now—don't you think you've become far stronger than what you'd originally planned for?"

Hearing the calm words I'd just dropped, Marianne flinched in the shoulders. Then she turned her head away, whistled, and put on a show of looking completely elsewhere.

"W-what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you talking about? I still can't even come close to Ignis, Belial, or Pashtura."

I took a sip of the tea Jessica had prepared in advance and continued as if I hadn't noticed.

"Ignis, Belial, Pashtura—those three are in a league you couldn't catch up to even if you spent your entire life on it."

"…!"

"If anything, in your current state… their absurd abilities are actively getting in the way of your growth."

"What?!"

—Slurp.

Damn, this tea is incredible.

Marianne's eyes went round with pure astonishment, her eyebrows shooting up—but I just shook my head at her.

"You already know it yourself, don't you? You just want to get a little stronger, and you can't bear to lose this comfortable place. Those feelings are covering it up, that's all."

"Ngh…"

Hit square in the bullseye, Marianne's face twisted for a moment. Of course, the words I'd just said weren't entirely free of my own personal judgment either—