29 The End of the Battle

"Severe losses."

One of those seated around the circular table spoke, voice flat.

The gathering consisted of high-ranking military officials.

Generals filled the space around the table.

"The damage inflicted on the convoy was excessive. The military's losses were catastrophic."

The figures displayed were mere numbers.

Quantities indicating the extent of the destruction.

To invest each one with emotion would require a mind beyond reason.

Thus, military officers—whether consciously or not—treat lives as numerical values.

Even they, hardened by duty, recoiled at the figures presented.

"Damage to the fleet cannot be repaired overnight. Eight cruisers, three battleships. Even Gay Volk must enter dry dock."

"The human toll is the greater concern. How many souls were aboard those ships?"

Replenishing crew members is not something that can be done quickly. Only through annual planning can we achieve full capacity.

In any case, the fleet engaged head-on suffered severe damage.

The assault frame units were reduced by forty percent—completely destroyed.

The remaining sixty percent were in a state of near-total collapse.

Even so, they were a force that had repelled the queen-bearing swarm multiple times.

The humanoid ASID forces that had reduced them to this state—no, the army of them—was terrifying.

"Fortunately, a contingent from the Second Fleet is en route. That should fill the gap."

"If they had arrived just a little earlier, we wouldn’t have been so thoroughly broken."

The timing is slightly late, but without this reinforcement, the Third Fleet will struggle to maintain fleet defense in the near future.

Luxury is not an option.

"Have we identified the target of their overlighting?"

"Appears to have been scattered. Unable to keep pace with three consecutive overlights."

"...They breached our alert perimeter and executed a close-range overlight. Their mobility techniques seem superior."

That also implies a potential for sudden attack at any moment.

Fundamentally, we do not understand why they withdrew.

"Reason for withdrawal unknown?"

"Original attack rationale is unknown. Reason for withdrawal is even less clear."

"Judging from the situation, perhaps the leading figure—no, the entire formation of humanoid units—sustained significant damage."

"The Black Knight, you mean?"

Among the refugee fleets, it is customary to assign names to queens after a combat encounter and subsequent escape.

This time, no individual resembling a queen was present, yet the Black Knight—possessing comparable combat capability—was named as such.

"The reason for the assault is clear from records of the homeworld evacuation: ASID was breeding captured humans to use as biological templates. That is likely what this is as well."

"Going to such lengths for that?"

"Indeed. One individual was taken directly from the shelter. Perhaps they detected a trait unknown to anyone else."

"Hmph... unlucky bastard to be noticed by those monstrosities."

A voice, neither pitying nor mocking, was spoken, and the air rippled with the faint echo of laughter.

"Damage to Ship 5?"

"Urban combat was conducted. Not negligible. Additionally, the breach in the exterior wall caused by ASID... a dogfight entry is appropriate. My head already aches."

Jin, the officer designated to apologize for the repairs, rubbed his temples as if suppressing pain.

A civilian vessel docking means logistical concerns for the refugees in transit.

In a way, it's easier to dock a warship.

"Besides, that Black Knight! If it attacks next, no one else can handle it!"

"...That one was repelled by Lieutenant Tōgō."

"Ah. Alone. As always, beyond human."

"Currently hospitalized due to combat injuries. Hearing that reassures me he's still human."

◆ ◆ ◆

At that time, among the high-ranking officers, whispers circulated.

Jin was drowning in a dream.

Difficult.

A pressure in his chest made breathing hard.

Not the same sensation as fighter maneuver G-forces.

What is this? Jin’s awareness rose slowly.

Eyes opened slowly.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

Turning his gaze, he recognized the room as a hospital ward.

"Is that so, I'm... "

A hoarse voice escaped his throat.

Apparently, he hadn't spoken for quite some time.

The weight in his body—was it the cry of a body near collapse?

As he thought this, his gaze turned to his chest. There, Mio lay asleep, drooling slightly.

Ah, so this was the weight, Jin understood.

Though small, she weighed nearly twenty kilograms. Impossible to ignore.

Carefully lowering her onto the bed without waking her, Jin pushed himself upright.

"This feeling again—regeneration therapy?"

His legs felt unresponsive.

His body had not yet adjusted to the newly regenerated form.

The clock read just before noon.

He pressed the nurse call button and waited for the physician.

"…n, n..."

A stirring beneath the sheets.

Mio shifted and rose within the covers.

"...Jin, you're awake!"

Mio rubbed her dull eyes and her face lit up when she saw Jin rising.

"Jin, Jin. Are you okay? You were wobbling on your feet!"

Drool-drool.

Uh-huh, drool-drool.

Mio nodded seriously, repeating the incomprehensible sound over and over.

A sound difficult to perceive, even the faintest trace of solid matter.

Was Mio unharmed? No injuries?

Is Mio doing well?

Jin exhales, relieved at the way she tilts her head, asking why.

Mio, rejoicing that she had awakened.

Jin recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness, seeing it.

Hey, Mio. I think this’ll bring up something unpleasant.

What is it?

The incident when that ASID abducted her—

Hmm?

Mio nods, her expression one of incomprehension.

No negative emotions were visible in that expression.

An unfathomable thing.

The sequence of events following the Black Knight's abduction.

Mio did not feel even the faintest trace of fear.

Not on the scale of something monumental.

"Did I say anything after I sent him out...?"

By ordinary reasoning, that must have been auditory hallucination.

But Jin did not think so.

And Mio, confronted with that question,

immediately clamped her hand over her mouth, her expression unmistakably strained.

Something had definitely been said.

"N-nothing... I didn't say anything...?"

"Really?"

"Mio doesn't lie."

Even as she said it, her gaze wavered.

Staring steadily, she eventually lowered her head, resigned.

"I'm sorry..."

Why apologize? Jin wanted to ask.

He should have just asked directly.

Asked in a way that allowed a simple yes or no.

"Jin may be wrong... but I wished it were true."

Jin, hesitating after being told otherwise, found clarity in those words.

You called him daddy, didn't you.

…uh-huh.

The confirmation solidifies the truth—what had once seemed mere auditory hallucination was not.

How the sound reached Jin’s ears from such a distance remains a mystery—.

Now, it is the content itself, rather than that.

Can I be a father?

A mathematical talent so exceptional it defies description.

A suitable foster parent may still appear.

A person who takes out frustration from work on others—does that kind of behavior really work?

A fight before deployment.

Recalling the content, Jin speaks.

This will likely happen again and again from now on.

Jin is aware he is far from being a person of principle.

Does it not matter to you, even as you are? Jin asks.

Mio nodded in response to such a question.

Jin is the one who's good.

Jin gave a faint smile in response to that answer.

So it is.

He runs his hand over Mio’s head, stroking her silver hair.

The sensation—similar to that of Rei once, yet still different.

This child is not Rei.

Jin reconfirms what he already knows.

Yet he also thinks:

I wish I could have made Rei this way—so I will make Mio this way.

To make her happy, without regret.

"Then from now on, we are family. Not bound by blood, but family."

"Un. Family!"

Mio says it with joy, then hesitantly asks.

"Can I hug you even if I’m not sparkling anymore?"

Jin understands, then, why Mio wished for the ASID assault.

"Ah, yes. Anytime."

She wraps her arms around him.

Burys her face into his chest.

"Daddy..."

"Ah."

Jin nods, returning the embrace.

"Mio, you're not alone anymore?"

"I won't let you be alone. I promise."

When Jin replies thus, Mio releases her grip on his body.

"Thank goodness..."

Jin remains motionless, offering a faint, flustered smile.

He watches as the nurse arrives, gazing fondly at Mio, who has already slipped into sleep.