Let's head out to find the A884.

Mireena and the others hurry to prepare for departure in search of the missing Ira.

Five people board the Fukubuki: Mireena, Seira, Andi, Elen, and Madelia.

As preparations continue, Shinosuke calls over Mireena and Seira.

"Understand this—this time, the ship is being launched on the whim of two people. Officially, Andi is captain, but in reality, you two will be making decisions based on your own responsibilities. Especially you, Mireena—you'll be acting as first officer, taking on the captain's duties and gaining the experience needed to earn your qualifications."

"Understood."

"And above all, I insist on this: absolutely no reckless actions that endanger the other crew members. Whether or not we find Aila, search operations at the site will end after two weeks and we will return. I expect you to strictly adhere to this rule."

"YES, SIR!"

After giving instructions to the two, Shinosuke walked over to Andy, who stood at the corner of the dock.

"Andy, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but please supervise the two of them. Leave the main decisions to Milena, but remember—this time, you're the captain of the Fubuki. They're both capable, but overly kind-hearted and prone to acting on emotion, so if things get out of hand, I expect you to stop them by force if necessary."

"Yes, sir. I'm not confident I can do it, but..."

Shinosuke chuckled and patted Andy on the shoulder.

"This is part of your experience as a ship's captain."

"I understand."

Thus, Andy, Milena, and Seira, now entrusted with Fubuki, set off on their independent search mission aboard A884.

Shinosuke and Marks watching Fubuki depart.

"Master is either overly kind or stubbornly cruel..."

"Kind? Not at all. I hardened my heart and sent those two off myself."

"It's pitiful how Andy's been dragged along as collateral. Do you think Andy can stop those two from running wild?"

"It's also Andy's trial. Leaving it to him is for Andy's sake. I'm certainly not pushing those two troublesome ones onto Andy just because I'm tired of dealing with them."

"..."

"Stop laughing, Marks."

"It's your fault for saying something so amusing, Master."

Fubuki's figure had already disappeared from view through the colony's outer wall window.

"Anyway, let's finish our own business quickly."

"Yes. We received word from the other side a moment ago—they’ve confirmed everything is ready."

Shin nosuke and Marks set off walking.

Fubuki, having departed from the Salius Stellar Province, arrived at the region where A884 is believed to have lost contact.

"We’ve established communication with the coast guard already conducting search operations. We’ve received data covering the areas they’ve already completed searching."

Seyra reported, simultaneously displaying the received information on the monitor.

"Really, there's hardly been any progress at all."

Milena sighed, seated in the captain's chair.

Just as Shinosuke had said, the sector in question was far too vast for only five patrol ships to make any meaningful headway in the search.

Although Andy was officially the captain this time, Milena served as captain's aide and effectively carried out the captain's duties, which is why she was seated in the captain's chair.

Andi sat in the co-pilot's seat, Maderia in the integrated operator's seat, and Seira in the communications operator's seat, with Elen seated in a supplementary chair beside Seira to assist her.

"The coast guard's search operation is scheduled to last another five days."

"Even with a broad, shallow search pattern, we can only cover this much area."

Milena compared the area where the coast guard had concluded their search with the area scheduled for future search operations.

Based on this, she considered which region their team should search.

Let's search from the opposite side of where the coast guard is searching—specifically, from the direction of the marker station that A884 passed last. We only have a two-week window for our operations. First, we'll proceed to the designated marker station using normal navigation, then begin the search upon arrival. If we can't find anything within two weeks, there's nothing we can do—we'll return by taking a different route.

(Sharp! If you don't count the time spent moving to the search sector, we're adding ten days to the two-week search period...!)

According to Miliena's plan, they would first travel for about five days from their current sector toward the navigation beacon station where A884 last passed through.

This travel time is interpreted as separate from the two-week search window.

After spending two weeks searching without finding A884, they would return by taking a different route than the outbound path.

Regardless, during the approximately 10-day round trip required for movement, they would navigate while maximizing surrounding surveillance, so there's a chance—perhaps even by pure luck—they might spot A884 along the way.

Andy, seated in the co-pilot's position, was taken aback by Milena's strategy, which turned Shinnosuke's instructions against him (though Shinnosuke might have anticipated this), but he remained silent since, for now, he hadn't actually violated Shinnosuke's orders.

(…Mr. Shinnosuke, Miss Milliena is too capable and cunning—I don’t think I can stop her on my own.)

Andy felt a slight ache in his stomach.