I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary-Chapter 543 「Huh? What’s with Those Reactions?」

After some bizarre, hard-to-explain ritual, I ended up forming a bond with a bum of a half-god fox. Maybe she is just a higher being and not a real god, but that doesn’t matter. Then, through a series of chaotic events, that useless fox ended up possessing Kugi. We also found out that Mimi’s outrageous luck is somehow correlated with my fate-manipulating ability. I went on dates with everyone, Elma evolved from a gorilla woman into a super gorilla woman… Isn’t she an elf? No, no, an elf is something different…

Anyway, from small things to big ones, all kinds of stuff happened during our stay in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.

When that stay was finally coming to an end…

「Just five more years! No, three! Please!」

…Or so I thought, until Buubo and the other relic and ‘Visitors’ researchers practically begged me to stay. According to them, the research period had been too short, and they hadn’t gathered enough data.

「I can’t stay that long. If I mess around too much here, a Marquis and an Earl house from the Empire might actually send people after me.」

Once I return to the Grakkan Empire, I’m scheduled to marry into the Earl Dareinwald family, and also take brides from both the Marquis Halls family and the Viscount Willrose family. It’s an unprecedented wedding involving three noble houses—something you almost never see in Grakkan history. If I bail on that, the Dareinwald and Halls houses might seriously send pursuers after me. Hell, it wouldn’t be surprising if Chris and Serena came charging at me together.

「Don’t worry, our security is the best in the galaxy!」

「That might be true, but I don’t want to have several noble houses after my head!」

Sure, maybe the security within the Holy Vuelzarus Empire—a practically closed-off nation swarming with psionic users everywhere—is top-notch. But that’s not the point here!

「Alright, alright… We’ll compromise. Please, stay for another six months!」

「Take them away.」

「AAAAAHHH!?」

At my command, the burly security officers—some with beast ears, others sporting horns like oni—mercilessly dragged Buubo and his colleagues away.

You are wondering where I am and what I am doing now? I’m at the Great Shrine on the main planet of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, Vehl, going through the pre-departure ritual. I don’t really understand what kind of ritual it is, but it’s basically some kind of departure ceremony, I guess. Apparently, in the Vuelzarus Empire, there are all kinds of required ceremonies and formalities you have to go through before you can leave the country. None of my crew—aside from Kugi—really understands why it’s such a big deal, but when they tell you it’s mandatory, there’s not much you can do but comply.

If I think of it as something like a pre-departure immigration process, it’s easy enough to accept. Besides, since we’re using the Gateway to zip straight back to Grakkan Empire territory, taking three days for rituals and paperwork isn’t too bad. If we didn’t use the Gateway and instead had to return via hyperdrive through the hyperlane network, it’d take over a year just to get back. The distance is that insane.

「They really don’t give up, do they?」

The one muttering that beside me, looking rather sullen, was Konoha—the tanuki-eared samurai girl. She was standing by in her role as my bodyguard. Though honestly, unless someone tries to physically rush me, there’s unlikely to be any need for her to act.

「People like that never change—no matter the era, place, or country.」

「When a ‘Visitor’ like you says it, it really has weight.」

「Yeah, maybe so.」

Whether it’s a different country, a different planet, or even a different universe or dimension, it seems people driven by intellectual curiosity are the same everywhere.

「But still, all these rituals and procedures are such a pain.」

「I’m a military officer, so I don’t know the details, but from what I’ve heard, it’s basically a precaution to prevent undesirable things from leaving the country. You wouldn’t want to accidentally bring along a being that can’t be dealt with by anything other than Spiritual Power, right? Even if something is harmless here, it could cause major problems if it proliferates abnormally in the outside world.」

「For example?」

「The Prayer Sakura. If it accidentally takes root and spreads outside, it could end up summoning monsters from other dimensions.」

「That’s terrifying… and it looked so beautiful, too.」

So those pretty trees have such a dangerous side effect? Shouldn’t you just cut them all down?

「They’re important to us. They’re sort of like infrastructure. Explaining it in detail is a hassle, so I won’t.」

「I see…」

Now that she says that, it only makes me more curious… but oh well. It’s not like I’d be able to take a Prayer Sakura out with me even if I knew more. Wait a second… why is a ritual necessary to make sure no one accidentally takes one out? Wouldn’t it be enough just to avoid taking seeds or saplings? Could it be that those things can multiply by some other means? The more I think about it, the more unsettling this gets…

「We’re doooone.」

「Staying completely still like that is actually exhausting.」

「I nearly dozed off there.」

「That’s embarrassing, Oneechan, don’t say that…」

「Ah, my legs… Sitting on the floor really isn’t for me.」

「I think you’re just out of shape, Doctor.」

Just as I was spiraling into ‘the more you understand, the scarier it gets’ territory about the Prayer Sakura, Mimi and the other girls returned. They were all wearing thin, ceremonial white undergarment-like robes for the ritual… Mimi’s and Dr. Shouko’s chests are incredible as always.Normally, those kinds of kimono-like garments are supposed to press everything down and minimize volume, but their chests break all conventions and expectations. Truly impressive. Glorious even.

That said, it’s not like Elma, Tina, Wiska, or Neve are any less wonderful. Elma’s slim and perfectly balanced figure is simply beautiful, and while the mechanic twins are petite, they’re delightfully well-proportioned. As for Neve, she’s just plain lovely and adorable.

「…」

「Is something wrong?」

「Your gaze is way too obvious.」

「Better to look openly than sneak peeks while pretending not to care, right? You’re all stunning. Absolutely top-tier.」

But Kugi is nowhere to be seen. I know she’s on the officiating side of the ritual due to her position, but… could there be some trouble? Now that I think about it, she’s currently being possessed by Tamamo—a revered and practically untouchable being for this country. With just three days left until our departure, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone came forward saying, ‘We can’t allow her to leave with you’. Given my luck, that kind of development wouldn’t be out of the question.

「…If it comes down to it, I guess I’ll just cause a massive ruckus and hold this entire star system hostage.」

「Okay, I definitely just heard something deeply alarming and not okay.」

「Well, Kugi hasn’t arrived yet. I was thinking… what if they tell me I can’t take her with me because she’s got Tamamo inside her? Like, ‘Sorry, we’ll assign you a new girl, so just deal with it.’ If that happens, I might not have any other option.」

「That… It is indeed a complicated political issue, so… I can’t deny the possibility…」

Konoha’s voice came out strained and lifeless, the light fading from her eyes as she responded. So it is possible. I mean, yeah—it wouldn’t be surprising if there were people who thought that way.

「That said, any military officer who actually knows you—including myself—would be vehemently opposed to such an idea.」

「And why’s that?」

「Because we’d rather take the head of whatever idiot suggested such nonsense than go to war with you.」

「I appreciate that. If it comes to that, I’ll have to kill anyone who stands in my way and go get Kugi back myself.」

Even I don’t want to kill people I know. But if it’s necessary, I will.

「Stop with the violent talk already. You’re leaking danger vibes all over the place.」

「It’s important to say these things out loud, y’know? So yeah—I’m counting on you. Things are pretty delicate right now, so don’t go doing anything unnecessary, alright?」

「…I’ll pass that along.」

Konoha let out a deep sigh. Ever since the ritual started, I’ve had my mental defense barrier fully deployed. I’m on high alert for any kind of psionic assault—especially telepathic attacks through the Second Spiritual Form. What scares me the most is the idea of being mentally dominated by that kind of ability.

「Just for the record, we’re the ones most familiar with the damage that can result from going up against a Visitor. I really don’t think it’ll come to that, okay?」

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「Ah…」

「「「……」」」

「…Huh? What’s with those reactions?」

As soon as Konoha said that, we all either looked up at the ceiling or let out exaggerated sighs. The flustered Konoha didn’t understand our reaction, but…

Konoha-kun… you really shouldn’t have said something like that in this situation…