59: Established Route

"Alright, let's discuss our future plans."

"Sounds good."

"Yes, indeed."

That night, after having eaten Zalrock's meal.

We gathered in a hotel room to talk about our future activities.

We are definitely heading first to Imperial Star Vanilla City. The intelligence headquarters located there is the place in the empire where the most information is gathered, so there's certainly bound to be details about the mastermind behind the creation of that fake space monster.

"Some documents aren't transmitted through communication channels and haven't been digitized. Was that right?"

"Yes, that's correct. These are special documents referred to as Grade Ex+. I don't know exactly what they contain, but one thing is certain—they're extremely rare. There should also be records of cases that even the Empire's intelligence units across the realm couldn't solve, despite their full efforts. So, heading toward them now won't be a complete waste of time."

"I see. Though they're unlikely to ever see the light of day, they still sound intriguing."

For now, heading toward Teisei Vanilla Sid is confirmed, just as we discussed right after resolving the recent rocket cone terrorist attempt.

Teisei Vanilla Sid is the heart of the Empire's politics and economy, and consequently, also the center of information.

Therefore, going there might give us some insight into the space monster-like creature we encountered.

Thus, heading toward Teisei Vanilla Sid is confirmed.

Incidentally, my personal information—more precisely, details about my abilities—is reportedly classified as Grade Ex.

It can only be accessed by imperial officials who submit a formal request, and depending on how it's handled, it could potentially shake the entire empire.

In that case, Grade Ex+ would be even more restricted—accessible only to imperial family members who submit an application, prohibited from being recorded on any other medium, and absolutely forbidden from being uploaded to any network. It's supposedly an absurdly confidential piece of information.

"Satā-sama. Just to confirm, the teleportation ability used during yesterday's incident—was it possible to travel to another star system if the coordinates were known? That's correct, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's right. But the coordinates I use for teleportation are unique to me, so what I really need is something like a mod that can generate or modify coordinates."

"I see. Then, from the perspective of having a reliable escape route and a safe destination, it does seem worth investigating."

"Hmm, I feel like the bigger issue is whether I can be teleported to such an important location as Teisei Vanilla Sid... Ah, right. If we're considering safety, I think it'd be better for me to visit the site in person at least once, and having proper preparations or precautions in place would also be advisable."

"That goes without saying."

With that, the reasons for heading toward Teisei Vanilla Sid have just increased.

If my current transfer destination is considered a safe location, it would be either a place within Seiryō Corporation or the Hiratara Tsugumi star system. However, if we could also reach Teisei Vanilla Sid, the safety of Virijiani La would increase significantly.

Yes, that’s definitely a location worth securing as a protective escort.

At the same time, though, there's a sense that it might not be appropriate to set up a scenario where a cosmic monster suddenly appears at a specific location on the planet Vanilla Sid of the Imperial Star.

So, with those thoughts in mind, I turn my gaze toward Viridiana...

"Sat, let's just go ahead and submit the application. If it gets rejected, well, that's that. There's a chance it might lead to the Emperor making use of Sat's abilities... but I'll do my best to prevent that from happening, as much as possible."

"I understand. If Vee says so, I'll leave it in your hands."

Well, if it goes through, it'll be a win-win situation.

Still, considering Viridiana's relationship with the Emperor, I get the feeling the application might actually be approved.

Even so, the location prepared as the transfer destination will likely be one considered in case of enemy exploitation.

At the very least, that's what I would do.

"Now then, that's the situation, so our destination is confirmed as Imperial Star Vanilla Sid. However, confirming the destination doesn't mean we'll head there directly. Since orders have already been issued to the entire intelligence unit, our mission isn't prioritized over abandoning our duties at each star system."

"Frankly, I think it'd be sufficient to just compile the information gathered by other intelligence units from dangerous locations—no need to send our own people there."

"……"

"Silence is golden."

I see. We'll head toward Imperial Star Vanilla Sid, but we'll continue performing our duties at each star system along the way as usual.

Well, that's to be expected, really.

We don't have information equivalent to Grade Ex+, and claiming we're the only ones who can stand against the mastermind is arrogance.

Considering that, steadily doing our work step by step might actually contribute more to the empire's security in the end.

As for Memox's words, I'll say nothing.

That's essentially saying that losing track of someone counts as information—rather questionable remarks, if you ask me.

Even Vilijaniara was squinting slightly at Memox, as if studying him.

"…….Cough. Then, let us consider which route to take toward Imperial Star Vanilla Sid. Memo."

"Yes, Lord Vee."

Well, in a way, this is where the real discussion begins.

Taking Vilijaniara's words into account, Memox produced a map of the entire empire.