The Black Lotus with Krishna stationed inside finally headed for the central system where the imperial capital was located together with Major Serena and her Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet. Of course, I continued my training under Mei in order to ensure I could survive even if I faced an attack by Drawn Sword faction-affiliated nobles.
There were quite a few nights where I coughed up blood before completely passing out whenever I went to bed. And due to the torment I experienced constantly, I don’t even remember a single instance where I was able to get a good night’s sleep these past few days. I even had to continue wearing my VR gear in bed. It ended up messing my sense of time. And before I knew it, ten days had already passed.
“Man, it really is gigantic huh.”
“It’s so big.”
“That sure is amazing. It’s our first time seeing it as well.”
“Un, it’s really huge. I think there’s still room to reduce its size without compromising its functions though.”
Although the last comment from Whisker was a bit off-target, we continued to marvel at the gigantic gateway located in the Neeparc system. We supposedly passed through the Dexer system, which was Chris’s home system, but thanks to me constantly being beaten up by Mei, I didn’t realize it at all. But we just passed through anyway, so it’s not like we could stop over for a visit.
“So we’re gonna warp straight to the imperial capital using the gateway, right?”
“That’s right. Thanks to the gateway network, even the far-away imperial capital feels so near.”
“That’s only if you’re one of the people who can freely use the gateway, right?”
“Well, yes, I guess.”
Elma shrugged her shoulders after I pointed that particular detail out.
A gateway that allows you to jump several tens of thousands of lightyears in an instant truly was convenient, but it wasn’t freely available to everyone. Even nobles would need some particular permits to pass through them, and ordinary citizens such as merchants or mercenaries rarely get the chance to make use of them on their own.
Its use was also heavily restricted in SOL, and I hardly have any memories of using it to travel during my time playing the game. It’s said that you’d be able to gain more opportunities by cozying up to the space empires who manage their respective gateway networks, but I was just your typical solo merc, and I didn’t have any meaningful connections in-game whatsoever.
“In the first place, not a lot of people are able to travel out of the colony they were born into. For them, the imperial capital is certainly a very distant place.”
“That’s right. The people who commonly get to travel outside their home colonies are those working for interstellar companies like us or those in the trade business.”
“There’s also those from the military. I wonder how most people end up becoming mercenaries though?”
“Oh, uh, I think there’s something like a mercenary training school. I’m not really familiar with it though.”
I think I heard something like that when I applied to the Guild. Well, there’s probably not a lot of people who decide to become mercenaries just for the thrills. If I didn’t have Krishna, I would probably just find myself a nice colony to settle on as well.
“How did you end up becoming a mercenary anyway, Boss?”
“……Um, I just sort of went with the flow, I guess.”
When I woke up after my unfortunate ‘accident’, I was already inside Krishna which was floating in outer space. I was then immediately attacked by pirates and killed them in retaliation…… After that, I just said whatever and decided to become a mercenary. That’s the story I told them. This cover story was all thanks to Elma.
“Went with the flow…… Oh, right. Come to think of it, you said you have amnesia, right Boss? I’m sorry.”
“It’s not something to apologize for. I actually think I’m pretty lucky, all things considered.”
After all, I did end up meeting Mimi, Elma, Mei, Chris, Tina, Whisker, and Major Serena– No, not the major. Not the major! Anyway, I ended up meeting everyone when I came here. As for Doc Shouko…… Yeah, just remembering her makes my behind feel weirdly itchy. Ugh.
“Oh, the line’s moving. It looks like it’s our turn.”
“I sure am looking forward to it. I wonder what going through a gateway feels like?”
“It’s really exciting, isn’t it, big sis?”
You might feel excited now, but you’ll feel sorry you did later guys. I glanced at Mimi and found her sending a warm gaze toward the mechanic sisters as well. Hahaha, I remember Mimi was also this excited when we first came through a gate.
The fleet moved forward and plunged into the distorted space that gave off a mysterious glow nestled between the huge metallic structures. The sight of the leading corvettes and destroyers getting engulfed in that mysterious light and disappearing was truly a surreal view.
“O-Ooooh…… Here it comes, Whisker.”
“B-Big sis……”
The mechanic sisters held hands as they watched the distorted space come nearer and nearer through the holo-display.
The cruisers also got engulfed and disappeared.
And then–
“Eh? It’s over?”
“……That was too abrupt.”
Yep. There’s no booming sound you’d hear from activating the FTL Drive. There are no colorful and psychedelic sights like what you’d see when traveling through a hyperspace tunnel. To put it simply, it’s like the image on the holo-display just changed.
“Well, this is what you’d call a true warp.”
“Hee…… That’s kinda cool.”
“I’m not clear on the theory, but it truly is amazing. Un, I can’t afford to lose to just this though.”
Tina kept saying how cool it was, but ain’t Whisker’s thoughts flying off in a completely different direction? Sometimes, I found that I couldn’t really get what goes through Whisker’s head. Whisker goes into full engineer mode from time to time and says some pretty radical stuff.
“Well, in any case, we’ve managed to arrive safely. Welcome to the central system of the Graccan Empire. My home town, the imperial capital Grakkis, is located over there.”
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