Postwar Report

The invasion of the Damura Star Cluster Commonwealth by the Rimulian Galactic Empire, followed by the conflict between the Holy Rimulian Empire and the Rimulian Galactic Empire.

The war ended with military intervention by the Akneria Galactic Federation, resulting in the recovery of Damura Star Cluster Commonwealth territory, and the fall of the Holy Rimulian Empire.

Although both the Damura Star Cluster Commonwealth and the Holy Rimulian Empire still have much work ahead in terms of post-war recovery and aftermath, they have at least regained a temporary stability.

Amidst this, an uninvited guest arrived at the dock of the Kasimura Corporation's central colony, located in orbit around the planet Pelerene in the Salius Stellar Province of the Akneria Galactic Federation.

"...So, Master Shinnosuke and Master Marks are missing, and the military is treating them as having died in battle, is that correct?"

Amidst the gathering of all the merchants except Shinnosuke and Marks, Milena, her expression sharp, addressed Lieutenant Selica Cruze of the Intelligence Division standing before her.

"Yes. Major Kasimura and Lieutenant Marks..."

"Please don't refer to the two of them with such ridiculous ranks! It makes me ill."

The others, including Seira, nodded in agreement with Milena's words.

"...Understood. The Nightmares of Kasimura and Marks completed their final mission and engaged the enemy fast battleship. Although they succeeded in sinking it, the Nightmares themselves sustained critical damage and went out of control. It is believed that an anomaly occurred in the spatial jump control system, causing them to vanish through an irregular maximum-power spatial jump. This is a report from the covert reconnaissance vessel that had been secretly tracking the Nightmares."

"Was the covert tracking just a convenient pretext for surveillance?"

Major Cruise nodded in response to Milena's question.

It wasn't that the major himself was at fault—properly speaking, the blame should have fallen on the Space Force headquarters for cleverly exploiting Shinnosuke and his team.

Yet the major had deliberately taken on the report concerning Shinnosuke's group, shouldering all of Milena's reproach alone.

Milena and the others couldn't directly voice their complaints to the military headquarters; even if they had, their concerns wouldn't have been taken seriously, and any follow-up handling of Shinnosuke's group would likely have been dealt with mechanically within the military ranks.

Thus, a captain in a position of some responsibility voluntarily took on the role of scapegoat.

"Um... but if he performed irregular jumps, there's still a chance he's safe, right? Doesn't the army conduct searches?"

Seyla spoke hesitantly, yet her gaze remained firmly fixed on the major, who shook his head.

Regardless, the military bears responsibility for this. The assault reconnaissance vessel we were tracking attempted to trace its coordinates, but the jump was executed without a quantum leap acceleration at maximum output—something that should not have occurred under normal circumstances—rendering coordinate calculations impossible. Naturally, every possible region where a jump departure might have been expected was checked, but no jump departure was observed. Given the damage sustained by Nightmare prior to the jump, either the vessel failed to escape the jump and disintegrated within hyperspace, or it was propelled to a location beyond observation. This is the conclusion reached by the military in their report.

"Such... a thing..."

The lieutenant spoke calmly about the harsh truth.

Even Seira, despite her usual composure, glared at the lieutenant in indignation, but the lieutenant showed no change in expression.

"I understand. Our views and the military's judgment will never align. Then, let us discuss something practical and constructive. As per the original agreement, will you compensate us for the loss of our escort vessel, Yatagarasu, which was under our company's command?"

Major nodded in response to Milena, who served as both the representative and legal officer of the consortium.

"Of course. We will arrange for a vessel matching or exceeding the capabilities of the Yatagarasu, or provide compensation of equivalent value. Additionally, regarding Mr. Kashimura and his team..."

There's no need for that! That's precisely the difference in our viewpoints. If we accept compensation for the incident involving Master Shinnosuke and the others, it'll be a hassle to return it later. Please just prepare compensation for the injuries sustained by the two individuals.

The entire merchant guild nodded in agreement with Milina's judgment.

After reporting and hearing Milina's requests, the lieutenant left the dock. Then Milina spoke, her voice quiet yet firm.

"Come now, we're in for a busy time! Let's contact Sai Kou Ji Industry right away. We absolutely need the highest-performance ship available!"

At the same moment that Milena and the others received a report from Commander Cruze about Shinnosuke and Marks, a message arrived at the Salius Stellar District Free Merchant Fleet from the Space Military Command.

"Special vessel Nightmare, under Space Military service, has gone missing. Commander Shinnosuke Kasimura and Lieutenant Marks, both aboard, are presumed dead."

Upon reading the report, Lina remained remarkably calm.

"Absurd. Do you have any idea how many times I've watched over those two as their supervisor? ShinnoSuke and Marks aren't the kind to die so easily. They always attract strange bad luck, yet somehow always come back unharmed. I know that better than anyone—after all, I'm ShinnoSuke's closest confidant."

Saying this, Lina restored the suspended merchant registrations for ShinnoSuke and Marks.

Regardless, he made sure to upgrade ShinnoSuke's various operational qualifications, once the guildmaster's approval was secured.

Time rewinds by just a moment.

ShinnoSuke wakes up on the Nightmare Bridge, where alarms are blaring.

"Damn! Can't see anything. Did they crush my right eye...?"

In the pitch-black darkness, ShinnoSuke pulls out a spare cybernetic eye from his pocket, turns it on, and swaps it with his damaged left eye.

Recovering his vision and assessing the situation is his top priority.

The bridge's alarm has reverted from the emergency jump alert to standard alert status.

It seems an abnormal jump caused by a system malfunction occurred, but they’ve managed to return to normal space.

However, he has no idea where he is right now.

Inside the severely damaged bridge, few monitors or instruments remained functional, and the ship itself was in a state where it could explode at any moment.

"There's no choice—we have to abandon the ship. Marks, hey, are you alright?"

"..."

Looking at Marks's central operator station, the seat had been violently torn apart, and most of his right side was gone.

"Hey, Marks!"

Shin nosuke, though severely injured himself, approached Marks without regard for his own pain.

"...."

"Markus, wake up! We're escaping!"

As Shin nosuke touched Markus's body, the dual cameras on his head flickered weakly to life.

"...Restarting... Severe damage to all body parts. Self-diagnosis... Judgment: non-functional, total loss condition."

Unlike usual, Markus's voice was cold and mechanical.

"Stop dawdling. Escape now! Come on, grab me!"

Shinonsuke tries to lift Markus, but he won't move at all.

"Negative, refusal. Damage has rendered lower limbs immobile. The main body weight of support-type doll S-21 is 282 kilograms. Current weight, 186 kilograms, due to detachment and damage. Moving you manually is impossible. I propose my disposal."

"An S-21 model, huh? Haven't heard that name in ages. But who cares about that! Dispose of me? You think I'd abandon my partner like this? That's outright refusal!"

Markus's remaining left arm rests on Shinnosuke's shoulder.

"Master... please run away. I'm beyond help now. I can't drag you down with me! I beg you, escape alone—just you, Master!"

Markus suddenly reverts to his usual tone.

"Quiet down, will you! Can't you just be silent for a moment?"

"This is unreasonable, Master."

"Fine, drag you along. I told you, if worst comes to worst, I'll drag your memories with me to the very depths of the underworld!"

"I... I don't think I can go to the depths of the underworld..."

Shinonsuke opened the panel at the back of Markus's neck and turned off Markus's main switch.

"Quiet! Just stay silent and come with me!"

Shinonsuke, ignoring the silent Markus, removed the main memory from his back and carried it out from the bridge.

This series, which has been serialized since May 2023, will conclude with next week's installment.

To everyone who has read this far, please stay until the very end.