I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary

The next few days were incredibly peaceful. We kept a loose exchange with the Cathedral of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, sending casual messages like, ‘I’m going to rest on the ship today! If the pickup doesn’t come by tomorrow, maybe we can go out and have some fun?’ And just leisurely passed the time… Huh? You’re asking where the blood-pumping battles are, or when are we going to start creating fireworks out of space pirates?

I get what you’re trying to say, but the Neeparc Star System has the highest level of security. In other words, any space pirates who try to enter are immediately spotted by the heavily scheduled patrols of the Gateway Defense Force and swiftly wiped out. The only job a mercenary can do here is escorting trade ships. Basically, there are no jobs for us while we’re waiting for the Holy Vuelzarus Empire to come pick us up.

It’s not like there were absolutely no jobs, but the ones available were shady at best—finding missing persons, recovering stolen cargo, tracking down and eliminating stowaway brokers… These jobs were risky and troublesome, and they only paid a meager 2,000 Ener or so. I had no desire to take them. And even if we did take one, if the Holy Vuelzarus Empire’s fleet arrived in the middle of the job, we’d have to abandon it halfway through. That wouldn’t benefit us at all.

「Quite… extravagant, isn’t it?」

「Wow… this is a luxurious use of space.」

「Oh, it feels so open and spacious here!」

And so, today’s guests were these three: Konoha, Moegi, and Fushin, all reacting with the standard awe that first-time visitors to the Black Lotus tended to show.

Huh? You’re asking why Ranshin did not come as well? Well, it would be unwise for all three Cathedral guards to leave at the same time. But at the same time, it would be bad for the women’s reputation to come alone to a man’s ship. So it was decided that Fushin, the overseer of the Cathedral, would come with the two guards, Konoha and Moegi, as his attendants.

「Welcome. Feel free to take a look around—ouch!」

When I gave a half-hearted welcome, Elma pinched my side sharply. It hurt. A lot.

「Yes, ma’am… But even if you say that, I’m not really sure how to do a proper welcome. How about we start with a drink? Ouch!」

「Take it seriously.」

「Like I said, I don’t know what would make a proper welcome… I can’t take them to the engine room or the cockpit, and inviting them into my private quarters would be inappropriate. They don’t have any business in the medical bay either. Oh, but if you’d like, I could show you the hangar where Krishna is.」

When I made the suggestion, surprisingly, Fushin expressed interest in seeing the hangar.

「Hohoho, as embarrassing as it may be, I must admit I have a fondness for combat ships. I’ve watched all of your documentaries, Hiro-dono.」

「I- I see… I can’t even bear to watch those myself, they’re too embarrassing.」

With a kind, grandfatherly smile, Fushin followed behind me with steady steps as I led him to the hangar. Those documentaries… I guess you could call it clever editing, but they make me look like some stoic, high-minded hero. It’s so embarrassing to watch… I tried sitting through an hour of it once at Mimi’s invitation, but I couldn’t handle it and had to leave halfway.

「Hiro-dono, you truly have a noble heart. I wish to learn from your example.」

「No, no, it’s really not like that… at all. Ah, we’re here.」

Why is this guy praising me so much…? He’s clearly older than me, and he seems to have plenty of dignity and charisma. Being flattered by someone like him just makes me uncomfortable. Please, cut me some slack.

「Oh, hey, Boss… and, uh, Fushin-san, was it?」

「It’s Fushin-dono, sis. Sorry, my sister can be a bit rude.」

「My apologies.」

「Oh no, no, I’m not one for formalities either. Once I step out of the cathedral, I’m just an old man. You don’t need to be so formal with me. In fact, I should be the one apologizing for intruding out of mere curiosity into your workplace.」

As Fushin chatted easily with the mechanic sisters, I glanced over at him while fiddling with my handheld terminal to open up the ramp to Krishna.

「You’re letting me see inside? Surely there must be things that shouldn’t be seen?」

「The shared living space and the cockpit are fine.」

I can’t exactly show him the cockpit of the Black Lotus for security reasons, but Krishna’s cockpit is a model you can find on the market, so there’s no issue if he sees it. The same goes for the shared living space—it’s a commercially available model. Of course, I can’t show him Mimi or Elma’s private quarters, or the cargo block where the melee weapons are stored.

「Oh… oh my… This is exactly what I saw in the documentary…」

Seeing an old man like Fushin so moved and at a loss for words was kind of refreshing. Is he feeling the same as what fans feel when they go visit the real-life location of a movie or a drama?

「And this cockpit is…」

Fushin-dono started to say something, but then suddenly froze. He only froze for a moment, and without warning, he got down on the floor of the cockpit and went completely silent. What is this old man doing?

「Huh? Are you okay old man? Should I take you to the medical pod?」

I was so surprised by his actions that I forgot to use polite language.

「No, it’s not that… I apologize, but just a little more…」

I crouched down beside Fushin to check his face, but he didn’t seem to be sick… or wait, no. His face has suddenly gone pale, and beads of sweat are starting to roll down his face. Is this man really okay?

「This… could it be… No, there’s no mistake… but then again… I remember a report…」

Fushin, now drenched in cold sweat, slowly turned his face toward me. His movements were so stiff It was almost as if you could hear his neck creaking with the sound of grinding metal as he moved.

「Hiro-dono, did the priestess Seijou-dono, ever say anything about this ship?」

「Uh? No, I don’t remember her saying anything in particular… Is there something wrong?」

I’ve flown countless missions with Krishna together with Kugi, but I’ve never seen her react as shaken as Fushin was right now.

「This ship… This ship is not of this world.」

「Huh? Well, yeah, I guess that’s true.」

Since it was likely generated or created when I got pulled into this world, that statement checks out. Krishna is a unique ship I obtained through a sudden event in SOL Stella Online. The process by which a fictional ship from a game materialized in the real world is still a complete mystery. But judging from Fushin’s reaction, he seems to think this ship is far from ordinary.

「Wait, are you saying this ship is, like, super special from a psionic perspective or something?」

「More than special—I would say it’s extremely intense. It’s super duper intense.」

Fushin said that with a completely straight face. Hearing an old man like him use the phrase ‘super duper intense’ is kind of funny, actually. He’s got more of a sense of humor than I expected.

「Could you explain in what way it’s ‘intense’?」

「Well, to put it simply, this ship is something akin to a relic or a sacred artifact… a tool to amplify your power and help you achieve great feats, Hiro-dono. Or to simplify even further, this is best described as a superweapon built exclusively for you.」

「A superweapon…? No, Krishna isn’t anything as crazy as that.」

I know Krishna’s specs inside and out—its armaments, shield capacity, generator output, thruster power, and everything else. Sure, compared to a standard small combat ship, Krishna’s specs are monstrous, but if it went head-to-head with something like Serena’s flagship, the Restalias, one of the most modern Battleships of the Grakkan Empire, Krishna would be reduced to ash in a heartbeat.

「That’s because in your mind you think Krishna only has its current specs, Hiro-dono. You are subconsciously limiting yourself. Have you never experienced anything unusual while piloting this ship? Like suddenly warping through space, or firing an attack with unexpected power?」

「No, nothing like that has ever… Ah.」

There was one time. Just once, something strange did happen. I managed to nullify a direct laser strike by somehow bending the beam out of its path. When was that…? Oh, right, it happened when we attacked the space pirate base on the Refill Star System—the home system of the Elves—during the operation to destroy the Red Flags led by Serena.

Back then, we thought it was some kind of hidden function located in Krishna’s black box that activated under the intense laser barrage from the pirate base. Tina and Wiska weren’t able to find any such system afterward, though.

「It happened once, yes. So, does that mean Krishna could potentially evolve into something more powerful, depending on my imagination or how I define it?」

「To be honest, this is the first time I’ve ever encountered a relic of a ‘visitor’ in the form of a combat ship. I’m not even sure if the records back home cover something like this…」

Fushin-dono frowned deeply, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.

「Will the Holy Vuelzarus Empire be able to find out more about Krishna?」

「Most likely. We have a department dedicated to researching relics and artifacts of ‘visitors’. They might be able to analyze this ship as a form of psionic technology. I’m sure it will cause quite an uproar.」

「How big of an uproar are we talking about? Also, I still don’t really get why this ship is ‘intense’.」

Sure, bending a laser beam is incredibly strong. It nullifies the main weaponry of other combat ships after all. And if it can warp through space or fire ridiculously powerful blasts like Fushin mentioned, Krishna’s combat capabilities would skyrocket. But still, I find it hard to believe that just that alone would make it ‘super duper intense’ as he described.

「It’s hard to imagine. But if Krishna is able to fully harness your latent potential, Hiro-dono, it’s possible… maybe even likely, that it could single-handedly defeat an entire fleet of regular military ships.」

「…What am I, a protagonist in a bullet-hell shooting game?」

Taking down countless enemies by yourself or infiltrating and destroying the enemy’s core base? At that point, it sounds less like a space combat simulator and more like a bullet-hell shooter or some kind of hack-and-slash game. Actually, in single-player games without online elements, that kind of thing is pretty common, right? Like those legendary ace pilots or demon kings of the battlefield in flight shooter games. Not quite the same as space combat sims, but similar.

「By the way, if I were to break down while piloting Krishna, would the resulting psionic explosion get augmented as well?」

「…Would it be alright if I borrowed your medical pod?」

Paling even further, Fushin clutched his stomach and asked to use the medical pod without answering my question.

There is no need to answer, though. His attitude tells me everything.