Chapter 5
Chapter 5
A one-month grace period.
Before that, the operation to activate the Stellar Fusion Melter of Zenith-VI.
I called Grandmaster Quereg and gave him additional explanation about the current situation.
“First you managed to talk the chief secretary into giving you a month… impressive.”
“Hm?”
“There’s a rumor. That chief secretary woman—she’s a pure demon spinster, they say.”
“…Is, is that so?”
“Yes. She’s in her late twenties now… past the age of marriage and overflowing with it. A spinster who’s never even had a relationship, and she abuses her position as secretary to bully people. That rumor is already widespread across the capital star system.”
“…What kind of awful rumor is that?”
So rumors spread across star systems now?
Vera’s sharp reputation really was cosmic-class.
“But when I spoke with her, she didn’t seem like that. She did seem quite angry, but she was someone I could communicate with.”
“That’s a relief. As expected, even that witch can’t do anything in front of a noble rank.”
Statements like that—if she heard them, she’d probably turn Quereg into a crispy electric rotisserie chicken.
Good thing she can’t hear them.
Still… I was curious.
If those two fought, who would win?
Vera was officially just a chief secretary, but as I’d seen before, she was an overwhelmingly powerful esper…
Anyway, personal curiosity aside.
“So, is the grace period enough?”
“…Honestly, one month might be difficult.”
I froze for a moment.
“…Why?”
“The plan I had in mind was to deploy a unit made up of newly conscripted knight trainees who had just recovered after taking stimulants, and use them to conduct reconnaissance on Zenith-VI first.”
Unlike his earlier, almost marine-brained behavior, his judgment as a commander was quite serious now.
Hot honor, fighting spirit, cold intelligence, and strategy.
A Grandmaster was a position that required all of those.
“Reconnaissance and information gathering first. Plus combat experience for the trainees… that’s a textbook operational plan. So what’s the issue?”
“If we proceed with the orthodox method… one month may not be enough.”
Time in the military never flowed leisurely.
Operational plans had to be drawn, and training had to be conducted for expected threats.
And now, even recruitment resources had completely dried up.
But then an idea came to me.
“What if we skip reconnaissance?”
If reconnaissance was skipped, then the trainee deployment and training could also be skipped.
With reconnaissance included, it was essentially two separate operations.
But if the reconnaissance itself yielded usable intel, then one of them could be omitted.
However, Quereg shook his head.
“…That is dangerous. Entering without even knowing the state of the enemy territory is no different from sending carefully trained knights into hell.”
He was right.
Knights do not fear death.
But they do fear meaningless deaths with no chance of victory.
Especially in a place with no honor and no victory—there, even a child would become more cowardly than a coward.
But I didn’t give up.
Because something had just clicked in my mind.
Strictly speaking, I was not supposed to know Zenith-VI’s secrets.
Ryan’s storyline ended as a third-rate villain.
If I stayed strictly within his narrative, I shouldn’t even know Zenith-VI exists.
But I did know.
I even knew about the Stellar Fusion Melter.
Why?
When I asked myself, I got the answer.
It wasn’t Ryan’s storyline—it was his younger brother, the real northern duke sub-male lead, Kaneil.
In his storyline, detailed information about Amiratess was revealed.
And if I recalled that part carefully—
There was a tremendous amount of useful information.
“What if I can give accurate intelligence without reconnaissance?”
“…!”
In the original work, My Space Crown Prince, there was a detailed description of Zenith-VI’s Stellar Fusion Melter.
It didn’t describe its massive and aesthetically suggestive exterior…
But it did describe the alien lifeforms inhabiting its interior in some detail.
That was because it was used to elevate the sub-male lead—my younger brother Kaneil, the true northern duke.
Kaneil was even stronger than Ryan, who was said to be excellent in combat.
He led a few knights and successfully cleared the interior of the Stellar Fusion Melter.
Bringing warmth back to the north.
Well, in romance-fantasy novels, boosting the male lead’s combat power like that was common.
Thanks to that, I now had accurate knowledge of the situation inside the Stellar Fusion Melter.
“Information from a reliable source. If Grandmaster Quereg trusts my words—”
“Your Highness has all decision-making authority. Whether I believe it or not, if you are certain, we will follow.”
Wow, he really knows how to talk.
He didn’t reach Grandmaster rank by eating dirt, that’s for sure.
“…Then I will explain.”
I activated the table map once again.
Zenith-VI. Its landmark structure—the Stellar Fusion Melter.
A translucent projection of its interior unfolded before my eyes.
“This Stellar Fusion Melter has a vast interior space, and its temperature is significantly higher than outside. If alien lifeforms were surviving, they would all have been pushed into here. Just as you predicted yesterday.”
While fiddling with the system’s galactic map, I found a function.
It was a search function for alien species information.
“The reliable intelligence I contacted says the species that once ruled this planet is called the Krig.”
As I spoke, I pulled up the Krig data.
The lowest-ranking Krig combat unit—Riggling.
Aside from having shells and spikes, they basically looked like dogs.
“Fortunately, most of the remaining Krig forces on Zenith-VI are Riggling. A knight can take down a thousand of them.”
“Hm…”
“There are also higher-tier units like Firerisk still remaining, but not in numbers significant enough to matter militarily.”
I displayed the Firerisk model next to the Riggling.
A creature resembling a boa constrictor with insect legs.
It didn’t look particularly strong.
And in reality, it wasn’t.
“Why are only such weak units left?”
“The Krig are controlled by a hive mind.”
A classic space opera trope.
Insect-like species.
Controlled by a hive mind.
The Krig were no different.
“Fortunately, after landing on this planet, they failed to adapt to the climate and froze.”
“Indeed. Without the spirit of Amiratess, even monsters cannot endure here.”
It sounded like nonsense, but his expression was serious.
I suppressed a sigh and moved the models of the Riggling and Firerisk.
As I placed them near the Stellar Fusion Melter, the interior map became more detailed.
I recreated the swarm of monsters inside based on the novel’s description.
Seeing that, Quereg tilted his head.
“With this level of numbers, we may not need many knights.”
“No. We will need at least one hundred knights.”
“Why?”
Instead of answering, I rotated and zoomed the Zenith-VI model.
Inside, frozen Krig monsters were densely packed.
“…If we activate the Stellar Fusion Melter, Zenith-VI’s climate will warm. And as a result, the frozen Krig units—and the hive mind controlling them—will awaken.”
“So those are the real enemies?”
I nodded.
“First, the knights will eliminate the remaining Krig, including the Riggling. Then I will lead an escort unit into the engine core and activate the Melter.”
“Yes.”
“Once it activates, an enemy assault will come. When their attack subsides, we’ll use teleportation devices to retreat.”
“So we won’t fight them head-on?”
“Not in our current weakened state.”
Quereg clicked his tongue but nodded.
“Understandable.”
“The priority is stabilizing civilian life in the star system. Only then can we secure more resources and continue the fight.”
“I understand.”
Then I had one more request.
“For now, that’s the operational plan… Quereg. I have a request.”
“Speak, Your Grace.”
“Teach me how to use a sword.”
For the first time, Quereg—the man who had remained calm no matter what I said—widened his eyes.
“…I beg your pardon?”
After one month of isolation.
The duke had changed.
Grandmaster Arius Quereg of the Winterwolf Knight Order thought so.
But he had changed too much.
Or perhaps… this was his true self all along.
A duke who once raised an army just because he was tempted by a woman.
A man born into a warrior bloodline who had never once trained with a sword.
A drunk who had lived his daily life submerged in alcohol—and for the past month, had practically drowned in it.
A textbook wastrel.
If his parents had not passed away early, this man would never have become duke.
But after returning from war and spending a month in isolation, all of that had vanished.
Had he gained enlightenment from drinking?
Quereg seriously considered adopting a training method of drinking instead of meals for a month.
But he had work to do.
He had to teach the duke swordsmanship.
“…I will begin instruction tomorrow.”
Even though he knew the duke had changed, he didn’t expect this level of transformation.
It wasn’t simple laziness before.
It was arrogance.
The arrogance of Fenrir’s bloodline was one of the reasons he avoided training.
So asking for instruction meant he had abandoned that arrogance.
Quereg lost sleep over a situation he had never even imagined.
The next morning.
The Winterwolf barracks training ground.
Quereg arrived with dark circles under his eyes.
Surprisingly, the duke was already there, training.
“Hah… hah…”
His steady breathing.
A body strengthened beyond reason through stimulant drugs and monstrous genetics.
Even knights enhanced with stimulants didn’t reach that level.
But more importantly…
“You… you came early to train.”
The duke’s changed demeanor was something new every day.
And the knights noticed too.
“Th-the Duke…”
“What wind blew through him…?”
As the knights stirred, Quereg cleared his throat.
“Cough.”
“Ah! G-Grandmaster! What brings you here?”
A captain-level knight saluted.
“His Grace requested sword instruction. Do not stand around watching. You have duties.”
“Uh… Grandmaster, today is our rest day.”
“….”
Quereg’s head hurt.
‘What do I do now.’
Sparring was essential for instruction.
That was the Winterwolf way.
But that meant he would inevitably have to beat the duke up.
If the knights saw that humiliation…
If the duke got offended…
Grandmaster Quereg.
Fifty years of military service.
This was the worst crisis of his life.
‘Screw it.’
He decided to just go for it.
Even if he got fired, he had retirement pay and pension from enhanced lifespan stimulants.
“Your Grace!”
“Ah, Quereg.”
The duke, Ryan, smiled while wiping sweat from his brow.
Quereg inhaled deeply and picked up a practice Force Sword from the side.
“Your Grace. I teach by hitting first.”
“Hm…”
The duke didn’t look pleased.
Which would’ve been a problem if he had looked happy about being hit anyway.
“Come in.”
He raised his sword.
An awkward stance.
But he was Fenrir’s descendant. A natural-born fighter.
Quereg studied the opening.
And—
“Ha!”
He charged in instantly.
BOOM!
A non-lethal barrier burst from the Force Sword.
And the duke’s body was launched into the air.
‘That’s not it…?’
Quereg stared blankly at the duke flying through the sky.
Thud.
The duke crashed to the ground, dust rising everywhere.
Knights watching began whispering.
“We’re doomed.”
“Grandmaster’s done for.”
“Isn’t our military life over?”
“Are we screwed too…?”
As the dust settled, the duke stood up, covered in dirt and wounds.
“Your Grace, I’m sorry. Let’s stop for today—”
“No.”
He brushed off the dirt calmly.
“This isn’t enough to stop me. It would be a waste of all the stimulants I’ve taken.”
Stimulants.
Naturally, they also strengthened endurance to an inhuman level.
Pain remained—but as long as you could endure it, you wouldn’t die.
“Come at me again. I’ll break it down this time.”
And he raised his stance again.
No anger.
No broken pride.
Only will.
Only the desire to overcome.
Quereg smiled for the first time.
So.
The duke was still a wolf after all.
“Then—!”
He gripped his Force Sword once more and took stance.
