Translator: Narane
Editors: MadTix, Foodpenguin
Please enjoy.
____________________
“Lezirth.”
Someone called for my name. A gentle breath and flowy hair
brushed my face. I slowly opened my eyes.
A girl with blue hair was gazing down upon me.
Her eyes glittered with a mysterious light as she looked at
me, standing beside my head. Her blue hair draped on my body as if it were a
curtain.
“Hmm?”
I became curious at the unfamiliar sight to behold. Was I
dreaming? Or was I completely drunk?
The girl raised her arm and pointed to our side.
“Here, Lezirth. I prepared this for you. Look.”
And suddenly, all surroundings disappeared. Gravity was
gone, too, and I was floating about in empty space.
“Wha-?!”
I steadied my posture and looked to my side. The girl was
there, holding my hand. In the cold, vacant space, I could feel nothing but the
warmth from her hand.
What exactly was she?
“Look over there, Lezirth.”
Where she pointed, colourful lights flashed everywhere.There
was a battle happening in open space. Destroyer-class ships fired their cannons
with blinding flames, and quantum energy torpedoes exploded into bright lights.
Many Alter-Armours mingled together into firefights and melee combat, and both
sides were similarly equipped.
“The Federation and the Alliance?” I asked myself.
Suddenly, familiar shapes emerged from the clouds of
Federation fleet. Kishin-class. The King of the North Star, Swan Grace, and
Ladyhawk emerged. They stormed through the battlefield with speed unparalleled
by the Alter-Armours, intending to quickly eradicate their opposition. Every
time, however, one Alter-Armour got in their way.
One Kishin-class Alter-Armour, adorned with the golden light
of dawn itself, was matched evenly against three of the Federation’s Kishins.
“Dawnbringer?!”
I was utterly astonished. It wasn’t possible. Dawnbringer
was destroyed and its parts were handed over to the Alliance, and I had heard
that they hacked it apart to transfer its pieces of the Alter Core to various
Kishins.
Then what was that thing?
---Stand down, or be destroyed!
Kishin Dawnbringer (or something that looked like it) echoed
its voice of power across space. Not only did the fleets become affected by it,
I was able to clearly hear it from extremely afar. That voice… It was like
Dawnbringer’s, yet different at the same time.
“Maybe it isn’t Dawnbringer? But they look the same!”
While I pondered on that question, the Dawnbringer-like
Kishin armed itself with an Alter-Armour-use combat knife. Its shape was mostly
that of a standard military issue knife, but its blade was adorned with a white
painting of a man in the style of a Native painting. That picture, depicting a
man standing at the top of a hill, was definitely familiar.
“Onondaga?!”
If Colorado was the one-in-a-billion blade for human use,
Onondaga was the one-in-a-billion blade for the Alter-Armours. If it needed the
blade… could it be?
And suddenly, Onondaga began changing its form.
Radiating a silver light, the blade transformed into a giant
stream of pure energy. The Sacred Sword… it was Dawnbringer’s signature weapon.
By resynthesizing the blade’s material into nanoscopic scales, it was possible
to use the blade for many purposes. Using electron degeneracy pressure, the
blade could be used to split apart any materials. It could also cut down any
enemies that try to escape into the hyperspace, as if it were doing a quantum
leap. Matter itself could be turned into antimatter to cause a huge blast of
energy. The weapon was a god’s tool, capable of replicating godlike powers.
--Kishin Arts! Lion’s Roar!
Two eyes that sat on its shoulders, much like Dawnbringer,
fired a blast of EMP. The pulse swept over the Federation fleet and its
Alter-Armours.
--Ascend! Anguish of the Lion King!
And again, a dense storm of electromagnetic pulse swirled
over the space previously swept over by Lion’s Roar. That was enough to destroy
most of the fleet, and the Alter-Armours fell apart helplessly in the storm.
But wait, if he brought out the Sacred Sword and chained the
Lion’s Roar into the Anguish of the Lion King…
The machine that was different from Dawnbringer, but could
not be seen as anything else, lifted its left hand to reveal a black storm
while readying the Sacred Sword with its right hand. When the black storm met
with the dense hurricane of electromagnetic pulse, every object within it began
collapsing into the center of the cloud.
--Kishin Arts! Dark Spiral!
Oh, no!
“No! Everyone, run!”
I screamed into the open space. But no one could hear me
speak. I knew that my body was not actually there. I must have been seeing a
vision! But I… definitely knew the things to come next.
--Ascend! Ultimate Kishin Technique!
The Kishin that resembled Dawnbringer swung the Sacred Sword
and cut the black storm. The quantised Sacred Sword slashed through the black
area and transformed all particles in its way. The Kishin danced and repeatedly
slashed.
I became afraid.
“Is he actually considering using Sole Power of Heaven and
Earth on human beings?!”
That Kishin was just about to use Dawnbringer’s Ultimate
Kishin Technique, ‘Sole Power of Heaven and Earth’!
It had an overwhelmingly great power, but it was difficult
to use as it had to be built up using Dawnbringer’s other abilities before
activation. Importantly, not only was it difficult to use, but its power was
complete overkill in most situations. It was powerful enough to destroy an
entire planet from five hundred light years away, so its procedure was well worth
it.
I had believed that I was the only one capable of using it.
Who else could be capable of using it?
The subconscious of the Alter-Armours detested the
destruction of planets. One week ago, back when Tenseron was controlling Diablo
in the Azoran System, Diablo refused to destroy planets despite having gone
berserk from Dawnbringer’s Alter Core. Dawnbringer, and that Dawnbringer-like
Kishin, too, could not have desired to destroy a planet.
And yet the pilot of that Kishin wielded that power. Aimed
at humans, no less.
[Disappear, dogs of the Federation! Be grateful that your
useless souls and bodies will be used to shine a light in this galaxy!]
The Kishin’s pilot used the communication link to sentence
death to the Federation fleet. And then…
Dawnbringer’s final ability, Sole Power of Heaven and Earth
activated.
First, a huge blast of energy exploded outward. Objects
caught within boiled up from the electromagnetic pulse. They smashed inward
from the gravitational field created by the Dark Spiral, and finally the Sacred
Sword reversed the spin of their elementary particles. As the spin reversed and
yet their mass was preserved, they became antimatter that annihilates one
another when in contact with other matter. And soon, the reaction of antimatter
and matter caused violent explosions.
At the same time, the sudden increase of gravity toward the
center of the fleet did not let the waves of energy escape. The extreme gravity
from the black hole consumed the explosions. Not even light escaped the grasp
of the collapsing void at the center.
And thus the area became pitch black.
Yet the process so far had only created a black hole. It was
only the beginning of the Sole Power of Heaven and Earth.
The Sacred Sword arced forward, aimed at the black hole.
--Limits of Infinity! Detonate!
Suddenly, the sphere of complete darkness began tearing
apart. Energy that was not yet pulled into the center of the black hole
struggled to break free. It was such a powerful force that the central mass in
the black hole became unstable. Soon, the mass broke apart and released two
lines of gamma-ray burst. It was forming a supernova.
If a nova is an explosion that evenly sprays a star’s energy
and mass into space, a supernova is on a much greater scale that squeezes all
energy out of a star. Rather than simply exploding, the constricting force of a
black hole radiated forces that were several times faster and more powerful.
Consider black powder, which was used to fire old rifles
such as the musket. When burnt in open space, small amounts of black powder
were barely enough to harm a human being. However, when used in a gun to focus
its power to propel a single bullet, its force was enough to pierce and kill a
human.
Dawnbringer’s Ultimate Kishin Technique, Sole Power of
Heaven and Earth was exactly like that.
Even the initial explosion was extremely powerful, as it was
a reaction between antimatter and matter. On top of that, a black hole was
placed within to collapse and focus the exploding energy into an area. Next,
the pressurized energy simultaneously escaped from two points, causing an
effect similar to a gamma-ray burst of a supernova. Any materials caught in the
explosion underwent nuclear fusion and formed elements heavier than iron or
nickel. Plasma iridium, osmium, uranium, and other elements expanded outward in
near-lightspeed, accompanied with a violent electromagnetic storm.
As soon as the Federation fleet touched the aftermath of the
gamma-ray burst, they disappeared without a trace. Humongous cruisers,
carriers, everything melted down instantaneously, and so did any Alter-Armours
that could not escape in time.
The power of the gamma-ray burst was focused enough to effectively
annihilate anything within five hundred light years of range. Planets were no
exception, and naturally there was no human technology that could withstand its
might.
The Kishins of the Federation managed to avoid the blast on
time, but they were nonetheless in awe of the horror that happened before them.
An Alter-Armour that can create an artificial supernova!
There was only one Kishin that fit such a description.
[Kishin Dawnbringer!]
[This cannot be! Aaaaaaaargh!]
One strike, and already forty percent of the fleet melted
into nothingness. The rest of the fleet couldn’t have been safe either, despite
avoiding a direct hit of the gamma-ray burst.
Not even the Letix Spaceloaders, which were several times
hardier than the most powerful human battleships-- due to their composition
being a hundred percent Letix cells, as opposed to partial like human ships--
could withstand the might of the Sole Power of Heaven and Earth.
[W-we must retreat!]
[Not a chance! If that really is Dawnbringer, then it has to
go into a sleep state after using the Ultimate Kishin Technique! Now’s our
chance to defeat it!] The pilot of The King of the North Star led the other
Kishins forward, attacking the Kishin that used the Sole Power of Heaven and
Earth.
--*Gwooo-!*
As expected, the Kishin that resembled Dawnbringer went
offline, having spent all of its energy. The golden light that radiated from
within slowly dimmed, and the armour’s plating faded in colour. Not even Kishin
Dawnbringer could safely wield the power of the Sole Power of Heaven and Earth;
Dawn Corps had to keep a dedicated retrieval team for cases like these.
But there was no response from the Alliance. Other Kishins,
like Diablo and Omerta, merely watched on. Was it because they were not
familiar with Dawnbringer’s operation? No… that was not it. They simply did not
need to defend the Kishin that resembled Dawnbringer.
-*Cra-ack!*
The armour began changing colour. At the same time,
chitinous plating formed on top the armour, and the Kishin that had resembled
Dawnbringer began transforming into something else entirely. It suddenly grew a
black wing. It enveloped around the Kishin with its grey feathers, and its
transformation continued within.
Soon, the Kishin was replaced by the black winged, feminine
Kishin, Tetragrammaton.
[N-no way!]
The Federation communication link was flooded with screams,
sighs, and curses.
“Wh-what?! What is going on?!” I turned to the blue-haired
girl.
She silently watched me as if my reaction had interested
her, while combing down her overly long blue hair with her fingers. Her eyes
were devoid of any emotion other than curiosity-- her eyes were that of a
newborn puppy or duckling, attempting to understand what they were seeing. I
briefly took refuge in them, away from the tragedy that went ahead.
But that was only temporary. How could I ignore it? At that
moment, Dawnbringer--, no, that thing that had looked like Dawnbringer took
away the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
“What’s different this time? Lezirth-- you used that same
ability on the Letix whenever you could. Why are you sad about this?”
“Th-that’s true, but...”
“Letix and humans are different? Is that what you’re trying
to say?”
“I won’t pretend that I’m a philanthropist for all living
beings. But this is…”
Before I could finish my reply, the girl raised her arms and
caressed my face. The warmth from her hands spread onto my face and restored
energy to my body.
“I’m sorry, Lezirth. I thought you’d like it.”
“What?”
“Sorry. It’s time, now.”
“No, w-wait!”
As I panicked, my consciousness drifted away once more.
My eyes jolted open in surprise.
I saw the ceiling of my hotel room.
W-what? It was a dream? Was it another one of those endings
that go ‘It was all a dream~!’?
But that came to me as a relief. What a terrible nightmare!
The Alliance had a Kishin that was Dawnbringer and then Tetragrammaton, and
it used the Sole Power of Heaven and Earth to destroy forty percent of the
Federation fleet? What a stupid nightmare! But, that was a relief; it was just
a nightmare. Yep. Something like that has to be a nothing but a dream. Thinking
about it in retrospect, nothing about that dream seemed realistic.
I sighed. What did I do to deserve having such a stupid
dream? Did I really get that disappointed at the Federation?
‘Because they erased my history and disbanded the Dawn
Corps? But whoever was responsible for all of that couldn’t still be alive… and
back then, I…”
I wasn’t happy at all.
So… really, I should have forgotten all about it, and I
should have focused on relaxing as much as possible for my vacation.
And with that thought I tried to get up, then felt a gentle
breath blowing on my cheeks. I realized that my arms seemed to be stuck
underneath something.
I turned my head to my side and saw Sergeant Aroha, asleep
right on top of my arm. Well, being ‘on top of my arm’ was a bit of a misnomer.
My arm was wrapped around her thin waist… So, I suppose I was hugging her in my
sleep, in a way.
“Mmh…”
Someone else rustled around and wrapped her arms around my
waist. I turned around to look at my other side… and Ensign Meihowa was there,
hugging me and using my chest as her pillow.
“.....................................”
Okay, I take it back. It was actually a ‘dream-in-a-dream’
ending, huh? Or a beginning of a new nightmare?
* * *
I’d like to say first that I am mostly incapable of being
drunk enough to fall unconscious. My body could withstand more than thirty G in
a centrifuge machine, even without using any of my psionic powers. If my arms
and legs were to be cut off by any means, they could grow back with enough
medical attention and nutritions.
I could not have possibly lost my mind due to alcohol.
Other drugs? Just as unlikely. The reason for my psionic
powers came from my body’s resistance to anaesthetic chemicals in the first
place. After much effort to take away consciousness and pain from my body, I
had stumbled upon my own psionic powers.
Then, the last probable reason was that blue-haired girl,
but… doesn’t that mean I’m going crazy?
I got slightly afraid of that thought.
Honestly, though, the scariest part was this situation where
I had found myself.
… I didn’t do anything bad to this position, I hoped.
I checked that Sergeant Aroha was sleeping once again. She
was wearing nothing but her tank top and lace lingerie, breathing down on my
cheeks with a heavy smell of alcohol. And even that felt nice, combined with
her nice scent. Wasn’t there a study that said liking someone’s scent had to do
with sexual attraction to them?
“Mmh.”
Sergeant Aroha’s breasts rippled as she wriggled around in
her sleep.
Whoa, this bed! How is it so soft? How could they let her
breasts bounce up and down from moving around a little?!
I quickly looked away from her, putting me back in view for
Ensign Meihowa. Her silver hair and black wings drooped down as she slept on my
chest while embracing me tightly. I felt something push up against my body,
which, uh, well..
‘What do you think it is? They’re breasts.’
Right. There was something that definitely couldn’t have
been anything but breasts pushing up against me. O-oh, gee. I felt as if every
one of my cells became a scanner as they scanned through Ensign Meihowa’s body.
Only those parts of my body, of course.
I… I had to get up. I couldn’t figure out how to get up
quietly without waking the girls up. Teleport? No, the casino hotel had psionic
disruptors everywhere. It could cause hyperspace corruption in this area. I was
just about ready to take that risk if needed.
What about Admiral Luise? Where was she? Did she not come
back during nighttime? If she saw us, only tragedies would await me in the
future.
Wait… wouldn’t it end in tragedies if the girls get up now,
too?
First, I tried to pull my arm out from beneath Sergeant
Aroha. Carefully, slowly, I moved my arm cautiously without waking her up.
But..
“Mmgh.”
Sergeant Aroha kicked up and placed her leg right on top of
my arm. Her leg wasn’t fully extended so she hadn’t touched Ensign Meihowa at
all, but… what the hell? Thanks to her leg getting on top of my arm just as I
pulled it away from below her body, my hand… my hand got right between her
thighs. It’s not my fault even if my fingers are stuck touching her thighs!
I-it’s not like I’m perverted or anything!
--Swish.
I heard the sound of skin sliding against silk. I felt my
arm come in contact with something silky.
Hmm… There was a poem in ancient times on Earth that went…
‘Tonight, too, the stars skimmed along the wind.’
I would fix that to read it this way instead:
‘Today, too, lace panties skimmed along my arm.’
Wah! This isn’t the time to plagiarize some old poem! I have
to get up before things get worse!
With that thought, I continued to cautiously pull my arm
away. The process of pulling my arm out from between Sergeant Aroha’s legs made
my heart beat faster than it would if I sprinted as quickly as I could. I began
to sweat. My intent was only to move my arms out, but from another point of
view I was feeling around her thighs by putting my hand in between them. If I
were to turn my wrist around a little, I would have been able to make this into
a case of harassment.
And sadly, at times like these, I was but a normal man. I
would be lying to say that I felt nothing from finding myself in bed with two
beautiful ladies. At the same time, however, looking at Sergeant Aroha’s
sleeping face did not make me feel like using her to fulfill my desires in any
way.
Spirit away from the material realm! I silenced my inner
desires and managed to pull out my arm!
Phew. Alright.
“Mmh.”
As soon as I pulled my arm away, Sergeant Aroha moved her
legs back in their original position. After all that trouble, she moved away on
her own?!
...What did I waste all my time for…?
‘Tsk. If I knew this would happen, I would have stayed
still. Then I would have been able to enjoy them for a bit longe-...’
No, no, no way, no way! That thought wasn’t my own, but of
some evil child resting in my head.
My next problem was Meihowa.
Though my problem with Sergeant Aroha stopped at an arm,
Ensign Meihowa’s case was that her head was resting on my body. If she moved
away slightly, then she was in the right position to use my arm as her pillow.
Then if she continued to sleep that way… hmm, it’s almost as if we were lovers.
To think that this icy cold Ensign could be using my arm as her pillow… I-I
don’t care about that! My head was being assaulted with strange thoughts from
all around.
The more critical problem was that she was hugging be from
beside, locking my leg down with her own leg. I knew that the situation was
only going to get worse over time. I immediately grabbed the edge of the bed
and lifted my upper body. Ensign Meihowa’s head slid down from my chest, but
that likely wasn’t enough to wake her up.
...But then, by sliding down from my chest, her head landed
directly on top of my femoral arteries, right above the quadriceps femoris
muscles.
Pop quiz: what’s between the quadriceps femoris muscles?
It’s exactly what you think it is.
Ensign Meihowa’s gentle breaths were brushing over… exactly
what you think it is!
No, no one’s usually sensitive enough to feel anything from
gentle breaths, but I, in that moment, I had become the most sensitive thing in
existence. Every time Ensign Meihowa breathed in and out, her breaths slid over
exactly what you think it is, and…
The story ends here.
I immediately got up and showered and changed into a new set
of clothes.
By the time I finished changing, Sergeant Aroha and Ensign
Meihowa woke up.
“Ugh… wah, my head. What happened yesterday?”
“No clue. Hangover?”
Sergeant Aroha looked perfectly fine, but Ensign Meihowa was
frowning as hard as she could. She realized that she was in her underwear and
attempted to hide behind her own hands, but she soon gave up. “Ah, whatever!”
She rolled her body up in the bedsheet and lied down on the bed. It seemed like
her hangover was a bigger problem than her pride or embarrassment as a lady.
“Are you okay like that? Should I fix you up?”
Ensign Meihowa nodded.
I placed a bottle of mineral water on a table beside the
bed. “You might lose about five percent of your body’s water, so hydrate
yourself as soon as I’m done. Got it?”
“Huh? What are you doing?”
“Now.”
I placed my two hands on her body. Combining scanning and
targeted teleportation, I removed the remaining blood alcohol in her system.
Though, that got rid of of a lot of water in the process, too.
Ensign Meihowa became wide-eyed. “Whoa, what did you do? My
body feels so light!”
“Your liver and your ability to regenerate might be slightly
damaged right now, so don’t move around too much. Oh, should I transfer some of
my medical nanomachines to you?
I opened the bottle of water and passed it to her. Ensign
Meihowa took it from me and stared at me in awe.
“You have an ability to stop hangovers? Awesome!” Sergeant
Aroha clapped. “I guess I can start getting piss-drunk every single day without
worries!”
“Uhm, n-no, that’s a little…”
We must have gone too far when we decided to get drunk and
forget about Sergeant Aroha’s sad history with her father. Particularly, I was
very afraid of what might have happened while I was knocked out. I also did not
enjoy the way she put it-- ‘piss-drunk’-- so I preferred to avoid doing that in
the future.
“Hey, what about Luise? She didn’t come back?”
Meihowa and Aroha asked as they changed behind a curtain.
“Y-yeah, I was wondering that.”
What if Admiral Luise had come back while we were knocked
out on bed, and she got so shocked and disappointed in us that she decided to
leave us forever? ‘Lezirth! I’m so disappointed in you!’ My head played out a
soap opera where Admiral Luise said that as she walked away from us.
No… never! That wasn’t possible. If something like that had
happened, then I would have definitely remembered it. Wait, before that, how
did I get drunk when my body doesn’t allow that without my will?
Thinking that, I turned on my PDA. But there were no
messages or anything else from Admiral Luise. I decided to reach her from my
own end instead.
“Luise? Where are you?”
[....Nngh… Lezirth?]
On the screen for a video chat was Admiral Luise-- thick
dark circles underneath her eyes made her look like a panda. She was sipping
coffee from a can.
“W-what in the world? Luise, where are you? What happened?”
[Oh, it’s nothing. I was afraid that our current budget
wouldn’t be enough to purchase Colorado and Rabbitte, so I had been making more
money.]
“What? Then you’ve been gambling all night by yourself?!”
Casinos offered much better risk-return tradeoff than, say,
the lottery, but that still meant that there was a great risk. The winning
chances were skewed just enough such that the casino would be able to profit in
the long run. Thus, by the law of large numbers, casinos were guaranteed to win
more than they lose over long periods of time.
Admiral Luise may have been able to win a huge sum of money
on the first day, but that could have easily been beginner’s luck. She couldn’t
possibly rely on gambling as a stable source of money.
“Y-you’ve done enough. Please come back.”
[Yeah… I’m so tired. I’ll be back soon. Phew, I managed to
win five hundred million credits, but any more is too much effort.]
“............What?”
[Can you believe this? That dealer kept on asking me to join
something called ‘Universal Poker Championship’, and the hotel people kept
asking if I wanted a suite room instead… what do I do?]
“...........................”
When I looked behind me, I noticed that Ensign Meihowa and
Sergeant Aroha, now in exercise jerseys, were staring at me blankly.
She’d been winning five hundred million credits while we
were getting drunk and getting knocked out? And she managed to win an entry
into Universal Poker Championship, the holy haven of professional gamblers in
the universe?
Admiral Luise was truly the scariest woman.
* * *
Thanks to Admiral Luise, we upgraded our room to a hotel
suite.
After the hotel workers transferred us to the suite room,
they wished us to continue having an enjoyable time at the casino. It was a silent
challenge by the hotel to recoup their losses by encouraging the winners to
stay around longer. Though we were planning on staying here for our full
vacation regardless. It was an obvious trap, just like the free margaritas
given out during the day, just like the cheap entry into circuses and musicals
around the casino. But it wasn’t a bad feeling; it was the true face of this
industry, practiced and practiced since its conception to achieve perfection.
The suite room was much larger than our family-use room, and
the beds were separated into three different bedrooms. And each of them had an
automated massage chair.
Admiral Luise finished showering and sat down on a massage
chair, still in her bathrobe, and fell asleep in seconds. She seemed peaceful
in her sleep.
“I never understood when Admiral Luise Maynard was hailed as
a legendary hero. At least Lezirth Dawnbringer had personally displayed his
prowess in the battlefield, a leader among warriors… But what’s so great about
a commander at the back doing nothing but giving orders away from the fight?…
And so I thought, some time ago.” Ensign Meihowa softly spoke as she inspected
Admiral Luise, pointing at her as if she were a mythical being not to behold
lightly. “I have no words. Isn’t she just too amazing?”
“Y-yeah. Maybe Luise is the most dangerous lady in the
galaxy?” Sergeant Aroha agreed.
I shrugged and proposed our next move. “Let’s leave Admiral
Luise to rest by herself. As for us, let’s go out and do a little exercise and
get all the alcohol out of our system!”
“Sounds good.”
We quietly left the room. We went to the hotel’s fitness
club to play tennis. I played against both Aroha and Meihowa at the same time,
but I was still winning by a significant margin.
“Stop using psionics!” Ensign Meihowa grumbled, wiping sweat
off of her face.
I grinned. “Not using any!”
“Oh you~ Are you seriously trying your best to win against
girls?” Sergeant Aroha complained just as much.
They were in their training jerseys, but they could not hide
their womanly curves; other guys around the tennis court were frequently giving
them a glance. I didn’t feel too bad about it. The girls weren’t wearing
revealing clothes, and I somehow felt happy that I was the one enjoying a game
of tennis with them at the moment.
“Aren’t you gonna be just as angry if I lost on purpose?”
“Not at all! Lose on purpose! Go, fail right now!”
“Heh. Hey, hey, let’s not over do it. After drinking so much
yesterday… even if I got rid of the hangover for you, your body’s still not
fully recovered. You should exercise just enough to get your blood flowing.”
And suddenly, my PDA rang. Mayer had requested a video chat
with me.
“Excuse me.”
I excused myself from the ladies and answered the call
outside of the tennis court.
“What happened?”
[Ah, uh, you see… our friend insisted that Rabbitte and
Colorado are very much real. He said that the prices were his own assumptions
and could give me up to thirty percent off, and he was completely unwilling to
sell it for two and a half million.] Mayer almost seemed to be in the grip of a
nervous breakdown.
Strangely, I could see a line of people behind him. What in
the world? Was he actually talking to us from a telephone booth? Did he not
have his personal computer to call me with? I was once again reminded of the
huge economic disparity between Federation planets and autonomous planets.
“Thirty percent off of one and a half billion is… one
billion and five hundred thousand? That’s really isn’t enough, considering that
we hired you to do better.”
We would have been able to negotiate that much on our own.
Mayer agreed to my complaints and nodded. [Damn it, I know
that! But two and a half million is just not enough! Can’t you raise the offer
a little more?]
We did have enough to raise the offer. Admiral Luise had
foreseen this issue and raised our budget to five hundred million credits. But
the entire sum of money was owned by Admiral Luise, and I had no right to to
negotiate for a new price using her money.
And if I raised the offer, the commission was sure to raise
with it. Federation standards took effect, so even if we used the standard
commission percentage, the fee would be way over two and a half million. I
suddenly became aware that the man might have been attempting to pull a scam on
me. Still, the final decision was up to Admiral Luise. I had no reason to
decide on the spot.
“She’s asleep for the moment, but I’ll make sure that she
knows.”
[Oh, okay. I’ll contact you later, then.] Mayer ended our
call.
Hm. It seemed that Rabbitte and Colorado weren’t going to
return to our hands very easily. Of course, if Admiral Luise continued her
winning streak, paying for the full billion and a half would be trivial, but…
even if she hadn’t been using her psionic powers, was it right to keep earning
money that way? Earning a lot of money without hard work is great, yes, but it
wasn’t something to be blindly happy for.
We finished our exercise and returned to our room. Admiral
Luise was still sitting in the massage chair, sleeping comfortably.
What a great spot that was. Everything about our room got a
lot better after the upgrade, but that specific spot was the best in this room.
If this were a plane, it would have been the first class seat.
“Luise looks pretty comfortable, there.”
“She looks so cute while asleep. Like a little angel!”
Meihowa and Aroha blankly stared at Admiral Luise as she
continued to sleep. And rightfully so-- with all signs of sleepiness and
fatigue gone from her face, only a content smile was left on her face. She
looked like she belonged on the cover of some furniture advertisement.
Being able to fall asleep so glamorously without intending
to do so was simply cheating. What if she knew that we were coming back, and
she set up the lighting, practiced her expression, and coordinated the rest of
the room so we’d be amazed at her? I almost seriously considered that for a
moment.
“Alright, we’ll nap for a bit too. When Admiral Luise wakes
up, we can start moving as one again.”
Purchasing Rabbitte and Colorado was our highest priority,
but we were all on vacation. I wanted to enjoy our time together whenever
possible. I wrote my thoughts down on a small note on a table next to Admiral
Luise, and then I went into my new bedroom.
Now that my room was separated from the ladies’ rooms and
had a bathroom and a shower room all to myself, I was delighted… my ass! It’s
not delightful in the slightest! I’m perfectly happy waking up and finding
myself between two girls! I’m honestly glad about it! And now there’s no chance
of it ever happening again…
...Whoa, what was I thinking? No, no way! I can’t let that
same thing happen ever again!
I stopped this train of thought and turned off the lights
before jumping on the bed. Perhaps from all the alcohol left over from last
night, I fell asleep very soon after laying down.
And…
“Sweet dreams, Lezirth.”
Someone gave a kiss on my forehead.
No, that wasn’t possible. That must have been my
imagination.
...I hoped so.
* * *
Suddenly, the lights in my room turned back on.
“Erk…”
I snapped out of my dreams from the glaring light.
“Hi, Lezirth. Did you sleep well?”
A girl with short brown hair gazed down at me from above.
Hmm… I felt as if I had a similar experience like this
before. The girl back then was a mysterious girl with blue hair, but it was
Admiral Luise this time.
“Luise? Are you okay? How are you feeling?”
“Yep, I’m fine. That massage chair is amazing! I don’t feel
tired at all anymore. Should we buy one?”
“Even if we buy one, we’re back to being soldiers after the
vacation. It’s not like we can put one in our barracks.”
“Y-yeah. It still doesn’t feel real to me.” Admiral Luise
offered a hand to pull me out of my bed. Her face turned red. “Hey, is it okay
if I hold your hand?”
“You’re holding my hand right now.”
“No, I mean… I can feel how real everything is this way.
We’ve been in cold sleep for a hundred and twenty years, and now we’re here.”
“Yes, uh, if you read the note… should we contact Mayer
right now?”
“Hmm? No, not now. If we respond that quickly to someone who
messes up a simple negotiation like that, we’re going to look like we
desperately need Rabbitte and Colorado. If we increase our budget on the fly,
there won’t be an end to it later.” Admiral Luise made a wry, evil grin.
S-scary! Maybe a little cool, but scary!
I got up and prepared to leave. Meihowa and Aroha were
waiting for us outside.
“How are we going to have fun today?”
“How about we go surfing at the beach?”
We chatted cheerily as the elevator descended. We were well
off thanks to Admiral Luise’s amazing ability to play cards, and our vacation
was far from over. We had a lot of time to have fun in the upcoming days.
But when we returned to the hotel lobby, we were faced with
something that inevitably put a frown on our faces.
It was that group of protesters.
As expected, standing in the center of the group was William
Mayer, shouting with a loudspeaker in his hand. At that moment, I really,
really wanted to run up to him, take away his loudspeaker, slap him in the
face, and yell ‘Get back to negotiating, you lazy bum!’
I wasn’t crazy enough to do that in front of the protesters,
however. Moreover, their words caught my attention.
“Take a look! The Federation is already a sinking ship!”
They were holding up an old and battered LCD panel
television (don’t get fooled by old science fiction movies where they use
holograms instead of physical monitors. No one likes their screens being
see-through).
On the screen was a video of an unnatural stream of light in
space, filmed from a planetary observatory.
I felt my body get drained of all colours.
It was a gamma-ray burst.
The television screen now displayed a news broadcast.In the
screen was a slightly obese, bald man and a professional-looking lady with
square glasses sitting behind a table.
[Hello everyone, I am Erwin of Critik News Report, your most
accurate source of news.]
[And I am the analyst, Alesana.]
[A gamma-ray burst has been observed in the Torad System.
Our experts have analyzed its trajectory and concluded that it originated from
the Oden System. What do you think?]
[Size, power, and composition, all point to Dawnbringer. It
appears to be from Dawnbringer’s Ultimate Kishin Technique as within our
records.]
The analyst concluded as such.
[Are you sure that this is a gamma-ray burst?]
[When space expands naturally, there usually is nothing but
lighter elements like hydrogen. Lighter elements like hydrogen undergo nuclear
fusion to elements such as iron and nickel and stop, as they are stable at that
point. Meanwhile, elements that are heavier than iron and nickel go through
nuclear fission and become lighter elements, eventually stabilizing at iron
just like others. You’ll only find heavier elements at the cores of planets,
where there’s enough pressure and heat energy to form and maintain them, which
then supernovas distribute them around the galaxy.]
[If that is true, and if that observation was a gamma-ray
burst, are you saying that we’ll find newly formed heavier elements?]
[That’s right. We’re observing massive quantities of heavier
elements such as iridium and osmium in the gamma-ray burst. The composition
matches the records we have for Dawnbringer’s ‘Sole Power of Heaven and Earth’
at about fifty percent accuracy.]
The reporter named Erwin burst out in a hysteric laughter in
the middle of the analyst’s speech. Doesn’t a fifty percent match also mean a
fifty percent mismatch? Not only that, I recalled being able to control the
elemental composition of Sole Power of Heaven and Earth. If iridium was lacking
I added more of that, and I sometimes used pure gold for giggles.
But wait… Sole Power of Heaven and Earth?
I returned my attention to the news report. The reporter was
still laughing, despite it being a live broadcast. Perhaps it was just because
the station wasn’t as professional as the Federation’s official stations; the
equipment was lacking, and even the reporters seemed very strange. How could he
laugh in a situation like this?
[Then couldn’t it be a natural supernova? Dawnbringer has
been lost for over a hundred and twenty years. How could its Ultimate Kishin
Technique…]
[There are no observations or predictions in the Oden System
for a supernova in that area. Most of all, the gamma-ray burst is too small in
scale to call it off as an actual supernova. This is undoubtedly Kishin
Dawnbringer’s Ultimate Kishin Technique, Sole Power of Heaven and Earth.]
[The Federation is vehemently denying that notion.]
[That’s…]
Just as she tried to reply, one of the assistant directors
jumped into view. In the midst of panic, the screen abruptly changed into a
different perspective.
On the new screen, there was a young man likely in his
twenties, sporting a long coat and tidy black hair. Beside him was a blonde
girl much younger, possibly a teenager, who looked like she had never had a
haircut in her entire life. And there were translucent, sparkling objects poking
out from her extremely long hair that connected to various computer ports
beneath her.
On the bottom of the screen, a subtitle popped up.
--Breaking news! A speech from the chief military commander
of the Alliance!
...Huh? That boy and the girl? But the guy looks barely in
his late twenties and the girl is just a little kid!
I had an uncomfortable deja vu as I thought that to myself.
Looking younger than the job title suggests, boy, girl… that setting matched
the past of Admiral Luise and I. Although, the guy was too old to be the past
me, and the girl was too young to be the past Luise.
The man in the screen began speaking.
[Greetings, free people of the universe. I am the Admiral of
the Transhuman Alliance Combined Fleet, Lezirth Dawnbringer.]
[And I am the chief of the Alliance, Luise Maynard!]
When I heard the man and the girl, I couldn’t help but
chuckle.
I felt like I had become insane.
Not only that, they were both one rank higher than their
originals!
[This may be confusing, but we are the Children of Letix,
thus the first generation of the Replicants. We have the ability to regenerate
our genes in order to resist against aging.]
[We may look very young, but don’t ever forget that we’re a
lot older than we look.]
The girl held the tips of her white dress and glamorously
curtseyed toward the camera.
The man that called himself Lezirth continued. [The
Federation was not too pleased with the fact that we were Replicants. They had
planned to bury us with the Letix fleet, should another massive fleet come to
our doorsteps.]
[This is the story from a hundred and twenty years ago.]
[That day, we survived a brutal battle and went into cold
sleep to recover from the effects of hyperspace corruption.]
[Overuse of psionic powers leads to hyperspace corruption,
so the Federation rules of engagement enforced going into cold sleep after
extended use of psionic abilities.]
[But the Federation’s plan was to remove us from power while
we were helpless in our cold sleep. However, the Dawn Corps, also called the
Lezirth’s Guards, discovered their plans and fought with the Federation’s army
to rescue Admiral Luise-- as she had been before becoming Chief Luise-- and I. We
were ejected into space while we were still in our cold sleep. By the time we
had woken up, the Dawn Corps had already perished from their battle to save us
from the Federation.] The man tightly gripped onto the podium in front of him.
[Everyone, you are all being played for fools by the Federation. They are
causing needless wars against aliens, the Elcro and the Asa, to fuel their
military production and use wars as an excuse to destroy democracy. Wake up,
friends! Do not play into the Federation’s dirty hands!]
[Well, even if you don’t bother, the Federation is already
over. We just destroyed most of the Federation’s fleet by ourselves. We have
Kishin… no, we have a Hyper-Kishin that surpasses any other Kishins in the
world. If you want to die, then stay in the Federation. We’ll destroy each of
your planets, one by one. Want to know my motto? Dictators aren’t sinners. The
real sinners are the ones who bow to the dictators, the weak civilians that do
nothing. They’re worse than a trillion dictators.]
[The Federation’s fleet has been destroyed in the Oden
System by Kishin Dawnbringer--, no, now the Hyper-Kishin Duskbringer. In
addition, we have taken over Kishin Swan Grace. Remember, the Federation is not
worth risking your life to protect it. Stand up and fight!]
[And you won’t be able to protect it anyway!]
The transmission ended with the last bickerings of the
little girl named Luise Maynard.
That speech was in no way a proper announcement from
seasoned chiefs of a military. At least that man who called himself Lezirth
tried to choose his words carefully, but that little girl really went all out
with her emotions.
But that seemed effective nonetheless. If they calmly talked
and treated it like a political speech, then it would have been difficult to
strike fear into its viewers.
Still…
They’re Lezirth Dawnbringer and Luise Maynard? Then who the
hell were we?
I thought about that blue-haired girl.
That vision was neither a simple dream nor a hallucination.
Then, who was that girl? How was any of it possible?
I was at a loss for words. I looked at Admiral Luise in
silence. She was also wide-eyed, staring at the LCD screen intently.
Our short vacation had come to an end.
And now… a battle was coming to us.
Ok, i didnt see that coming... They are fakes?, they are the real ones? or both are real? if so then who is the clone? or maybe both are fakes? O.o!!??!?.
ReplyDeleteBUT there is a BIG problem here, in this part says Dawnbringer was destroyed and its parts were handed over to the Alliance. Then it says that dawnbringer was in the federation but attacked the federation?? O.o?? BUT in volume 1, dawnbringer had 5% inside diablo and the remaining 95% is with the federation... isnt this a contradiction?
My guess is that there is a translation mistake.
I don't have the means to confirm what was in the book right now, but the Alliance should have the Dawnbringer's Alter Core. They couldn't have been using Diablo and Duskbringer without it.
Delete5% in Diablo, 95% elsewhere in Alliance.
DeleteThe 50% record on the news might be that Duskbringer is actually 50% Dawnbringer and 50% Tetagrammaton.
Alternatively:
It might be that back then Lezirth/Luise were becoming too famous and the Federatoin wanted a...more manageable heroes. So they planned to clone the two with either somewhat weaker stats compare to the original or with some sort of control factor added in.
But just in case, they put Lezirth/Luise into that storage after the initial cloning just in case the clones have problems.
Then Dawn Corps caught news of this and saved the clones without knowing, which then lead to current situation.
Or with the place in panic, they thought the real one got saved and the ones in cold sleep are the clones then they decided to just hide the evidence somewhere.
Which means the two are technically Lezirth/Luise if they weren't in cold sleep all these years and seeing how corrupted the Federation has become/feeling the betrayal first hand (plus whatever modification those old Federations did to them)
@Treyon the characters we have been introduced to from the beginning is most likely the real ones. They have the abilities and the personalities described in the stories. However, these new characters that showed up on the tv (in the chapter), are probably impersonating the real ones because the one pretending to be Luise is being way to emotional. However, there is a chance that they are both fakes or clones of the original Lezirth Dawnbringer and Luise Maynard. It is too early to tell now.
ReplyDeleteThe fake on the tv Luise Maynard must go up against the young and real Luise Maynard in a gambling match.
DeleteCant wait for more what a twist to the story... who are the real ones who are the fake?! I believe the MC's are the real the ones on the tv are pretenders... well who knows need more
ReplyDeleteAnd we also have what appears to be a letix girl
ReplyDeletebesides Luise, that is ;p
DeleteWhile blowing up a star and causing armageddon Lezirth would make pure gold just for the giggles?
ReplyDeleteWow... didn`t expect that twist. And I also agree with Treyon that both can be fake and both can be real as well. And as for the blue haired girl, I think it might be core of Dawnbringer, who didn`t like it when Lezirth hurt the letix.. well that`s just my speculation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Girl being the core of the Dawnbringer, that what came into my mind immediately. However I haven't seen her display any negative emotion against Lerzith, more like she just wanted to make him happy, so I guess her point of view is: As long as Lerzith is happy I'm willing to blow up anything hahaha. That's my personal opinion of course.
DeleteDang quick update, thanks for the translation xD
ReplyDeleteI definitely did not see this coming.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update.
Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteI am struggling to hold in the desire to find out what happens next so please release as fast as you are able.
So much foreshadowing!
ReplyDeleteThink the MC is the real one as Dawnbringer gives him status reports.
I can forsee development like
"You think you're the real Admiral Maynard? Let us find out in the Universal Poker Championship!" :)
Maynard vs Maynard poker. Can the universe survive?
The Alliance is no good, the Federation is corrupt, screw it, Lezirth for Emperor!
Empire of the New Dawn!
That would make the name foreshadowing as well.
Lerzith for Emperor!!!!
Delete*Crowd of artificial supporters emerged!*
[ "You think you're the real Admiral Maynard? Let us find out in the Universal Poker Championship!"
ReplyDelete:)
Maynard vs Maynard poker. Can the universe survive? ]
Best comment. Imagining it, I can't stop laughing. It could actually happen too...
[ I am struggling to hold in the desire to find out what happens next ]
Same. Ooh.. its hard...
Thank you greatly for the translation of volume 1 and this part of vol 2. It was really enjoyable to read, and I'll be rereading it for sure. Also, whoever put it in PDF format, thanks.
I had an uncomfortable deja vu as I thought that to myself. Looking younger than the job title suggests, boy, girl… that setting matched the past of Admiral Luise and I. Although, the guy was too old to be the past me, and the girl was too young to be the past Luise.
ReplyDeletethe man is too old the girl too young ,it's political propaganda since teseron(diablo pilot) know that the protag is still alive
I want the next part out. Damn wish I knew Japanese.
ReplyDeleteAnnnnd you are out of here!
Delete>Japanese
DeleteI'm dying.
"The Federation had a Kishin that was Dawnbringer and then Tetragrammaton, and it used the Sole Power of Heaven and Earth to destroy forty percent of the Federation fleet?"
ReplyDeleteYou'r saying the Federation's kishin destroyed the federation.
It should be "THE ALLIANCE had a Kishin that was Dawnbringer and then Tetragrammaton, and it used the Sole Power of Heaven and Earth to destroy forty percent of the Federation fleet?"
Aw, shucks.
DeleteIt's fixed now.
I think the blue haired girl is or was the old one.
ReplyDeleteThe cells in dawnbringer's body are still alive, since they come from the uber letix, it must mean that a part of his consciousness is still here. Seeing that the MC is the alpha subject, it must be why the girl only appears to him.
As to the others dawnbringer and luise, it's obviously a political plot, they'r probably clones, not based on the dawnbringer's cells, but on the records they have of him.
The mastermind behind the production of the new kishins, probably used the rest of the cells of the uberlord to make others children of letix. Leading to beings similar to the MC and Luise.
I also doubt the people who put Dawnbringer and Luise into cold sleep are humans. For now most of the story was about humans-asa-necro, but letix is most likely more involved in the MC life than he thinks since he's more letix than human.