I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary Chapter 507: 「It’s Super Duper Intense.」

The next few days were incredibly peaceful. We kept a loose exchange with the Cathedral of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, sending casual ssages like, ‘I’m going to rest on the ship today! If the pickup doesn’t co by tomorrow, maybe we can go out and have so fun?’ And just leisurely passed the ti… 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 imdiately spotted by the heavily scheduled patrols of the Gateway Defense Force and swiftly wiped out. The only job a rcenary can do here is escorting trade ships. Basically, there are no jobs for us while we’re waiting for the Holy Vuelzarus Empire to co 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 troubleso, and they only paid a ager 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-ti visitors to the Black Lotus tended to show.

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

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

「At least try to be a proper host.」

When I gave a half-hearted welco, 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 welco. How about we start with a drink? Ouch!」

「Take it seriously.」

「Like I said, I don’t know what would make a proper welco… 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 dical 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 docuntaries, 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 with steady steps as I led him to the hangar. Those docuntaries… I guess you could call it clever editing, but they make look like so 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 so much…? He’s clearly older than , and he seems to have plenty of dignity and charisma. Being flattered by soone like him just makes uncomfortable. Please, cut so 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 . In fact, I should be the one apologizing for intruding out of re curiosity into your workplace.」

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

「You’re letting 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 sa goes for the shared living space—it’s a comrcially available model. Of course, I can’t show him Mimi or Elma’s private quarters, or the cargo block where the lee weapons are stored.

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

Seeing an old man like Fushin so moved and at a loss for words was kind of refreshing. Is he feeling the sa 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 sothing, but then suddenly froze. He only froze for a mont, 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 dical 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 rember a report…」

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

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

「Uh? No, I don’t rember her saying anything in particular… Is there sothing 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 statent 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 ga 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 sothing?」

「More than special—I would say it’s extrely 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 sothing 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 armants, 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 sothing 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 ti. Just once, sothing strange did happen. I managed to nullify a direct laser strike by sohow 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 ho system of the Elves—during the operation to destroy the Red Flags led by Serena.

Back then, we thought it was so 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 an Krishna could potentially evolve into sothing more powerful, depending on my imagination or how I define it?」

「To be honest, this is the first ti 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 ho cover sothing 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 departnt 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 ntioned, 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 ga?」

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 so kind of hack-and-slash ga. Actually, in single-player gas without online elents, that kind of thing is pretty common, right? Like those legendary ace pilots or demon kings of the battlefield in flight shooter gas. Not quite the sa as space combat sims, but similar.

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

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

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

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