63: Flaretanbo System Guide Colony

"I'm asking you—please, let this be the last time, including any future ships you board. I know it's odd for the one who was saved to be saying this, but it's simply too much for my heart."

"I—I will certainly take care of it."

"I'm really asking you... please..."

Fortunately, the explanation to the captain of the *Dipsauce* was quickly concluded.

The admirable position and rhetorical skills of Viridianiya, the fact that she was the one who saved them, the repair costs disguised as compensation fees, and the wise captain’s mind—these were all remarkable.

“For now, I’ve called in the Imperial military’s patrol unit. Once they arrive, we’ll head together toward the Flaretanbo system. I don’t think having military forces around will make much difference against that monster, though.”

“I understand. I’ll follow your lead.”

Incidentally, right now I'm lying on my bed with a damp towel placed on my head.

My main body is also completely relaxed and stretched out throughout the Ether Space.

After facing that monstrous creature and bearing the fate of everyone, I'm understandably utterly exhausted.

"Phew... Sata, how are you doing?"

"Physically, I'm fine. But mentally, it's tough... I could really use a nap."

"Understood. Then please rest for a bit. Since both I and Memo will remain in this room, it should be safe even if Sata falls asleep."

"Then I'll take a short nap..."

And so I completely lost consciousness, something quite rare for me, and fell into a deep sleep.

----------

"Ugh... I'm awake..."

"Master Vee. It seems Sata has woken up."

"Thank you, Memo. How are you feeling?"

I fell asleep without dreaming at all, and then woke up.

"Feeling... I'm okay for now. What's the situation?"

"About fifteen hours have passed since we were attacked by the giant cosmic monster. We'll soon arrive at the guide colony on the Flaretanbo system, being escorted by the Imperial military patrol force."

"I see..."

My head... feels clear.

My body... feels good.

Still, neither is quite at full strength.

Well, as long as I keep going about things as usual, I should eventually get back to full strength.

"Um..."

"Sat? What's wrong?"

Just then, I seem to have entered the range of Sw in the Flaretanbo star system.

A faint, sweet scent begins to emanate from my body, accompanied by mild spacetime distortion.

And due to the influence of the Flaretanbo star system's Sw, my body feels slightly stiff—kind of unpleasant, really.

It was nothing more than an interesting observation if you only looked at the surface-level phenomena... but this is how it turns out.

"Wait a moment. I need to adjust my body."

"Yes. I can already sense it."

"Yet the Vee group isn't affected... I see..."

"What do you mean, Master Sata?"

"Well, I'll explain my perspective on the Flaretanbo star system's Sw when we're calmer."

I重新构建了自己，使身体适应格罗格罗贝塔星系的Sw。

现在改为适应フラレタンボ星系的Sw规格。

外表没什么变化……不过，感觉比平时稍微有点干燥。

"不过，你不是更需要关于那头宇宙怪兽的情报吗？"

"Yes. It is required. I've already passed the information I and Memo obtained to the Patrol Unit. Oh, no need to hand over details about Satā himself. I've already arranged it so that, since he's a kaiju I'm currently under orders to follow, further inquiry is unnecessary."

"I understand. Thanks, Vee."

"Not at all. That's precisely why we have our agreement."

Now, shifting the topic, about that enormous space kaiju.

Hmm... That one... Well...

"So, Vee. What do you think about that enormous space kaiju?"

"Hmm... Well, honestly, since current humans can't possibly handle it, we can only pray we never run into one."

"I'm saying this with absolute certainty."

"Absolutely. The opponent's OS is so vastly superior to 'Vanilla OS' that it's incomparable—its structure is almost certainly designed entirely in favor of the enemy. By that point, it'll already be too late to do anything."

After receiving the data terminal from Memoqsi, I began drawing, with illustrations, the giant cosmic monster as seen from my main body.

Incidentally, from Vilijianira and Memoqsi's perspective, it apparently looked almost entirely like a massive rainbow-colored light descending from above.

"Moreover, it's over a hundred times the size of my main body—essentially the scale of a small planet—and can swim freely through hyperspace. If we could handle something like this, the empire wouldn't be plagued by cosmic monsters."

"That's true, certainly..."

And thus, the illustration and text were completed.

As for the illustration... it might resemble a whale shark.

It was so large and moved so quickly that the finer details were completely invisible.

"Call it fortunate, or perhaps paradoxical—but if that thing had actively swarmed around and swallowed the spaceship, the empire would likely have already been destroyed by now. Therefore, the chance of being swallowed by it should be low enough to be treated as an unexplained accident. So, there's probably no need to actively hunt it down."

"I see. That sounds like a hopeful prospect."

"Still, the memo warns that even that remote possibility is frightening."

The upside is that the opponent is so large it probably doesn't even notice us.

The downside is that it's so large that only someone with Vi's eyesight and my teleportation ability could possibly avoid it.

Yeah, it's truly a natural disaster, truly a cosmic monster.

Compared to that, I'm still far from enough, and creatures like crabs or seaweed people are just imitations, yeah.

"By the way, about Satā becoming that size..."

"Hmm, even if it happens soonest, it's probably thousands of years away? Honestly, I'm not even sure if I have the potential to grow that big."

"I see."

Anyway, we survived.

Let's savor that luck for now.