71: Exploring the Ship and the Star System

"Seriously, the more I check, the more unbelievable this ship is..."

Belonging to the apparel manufacturing company 'Eniwear Two', the 'Walk-in' type spaceship custom model, 'Pumpkin Witch'.

After leaving the dressing room, I used the ship's main body to patrol around the vessel while it was traveling at sublight speed, double-checking the performance of the 'Pumpkin Witch' once again.

As Captain Joharis said regarding defense, ordinary space pirates wouldn't stand a chance, and even against the latest battleships, it should be possible to evade as long as the goal is just to run away.

Although thrust is currently being deliberately restricted, its top speed exceeds three times that of a typical cargo-passenger vessel, and it manages to combine the speed of a specialized medium-sized ship with the maneuverability of a fighter craft for both sublight and near-light-speed travel.

As for offensive capabilities... although it's disguised so it can't be seen from the outside, it seems to be equipped not only with ship-mounted blasters but also with solid-fuel cannons and a retractable ramming spike for boarding combat.

Plus, it has a color-changing mod that allows its surface paint to be altered at will, various radar countermeasures, a duplicator capable of producing weapons, ample storage space to carry sufficient supplies, and a full suite of information systems suitable for briefings.

Yeah, no matter how many times I look at it, it's a special mission vessel disguised as a noble escort ship.

If loaded with enhanced humans equipped with various physical augmentation mods or powered suits, it could probably overrun even a moderately sized base single-handedly.

Then again, in the empire, people with sufficient equipment are often nobles themselves, so calling it a noble escort vessel isn't exactly a lie, huh.

Anyway, I can't possibly write about this in the article!

"So, a ship like that being in the Flaretanbo system... well, it's probably no coincidence—it's almost certainly under the Emperor's orders. If he's Vee's father, it's not surprising he'd have abilities similar to Vee's foresight. And given the Emperor's status and power, it's not strange that there'd be others around him with comparable abilities either."

That aside.

Hmm, depending on the circumstances, could it be possible that the 'Pumpkin Witch' might be granted to Vilijania as a vessel for interstellar and intra-stellar travel in the future?

Not impossible.

We've already seen major incidents during the two transfers—from the Hira Tatsu Kumi system to the Grogro Beta system, and then from Grogro Beta to the Flaretanbo system. And even if I'm unaware of them, there could easily be similar cases elsewhere.

It's about time that a merchant ship, hesitant even when faced with a noble like Viridianiya pouring in money, might reasonably appear.

Considering that, the Emperor took the initiative.

Hmm, that could easily be the case.

"Well, we can wait until there's more movement. But rather than that..."

I recall the request made to me by Mequoshi.

It's undoubtedly a difficult task, but whether it can be done or not... it can be done.

It can be done... yet...

"No, this isn't something I should be handling. It's a core matter. Well, I'd already started working on it anyway, so I'll keep chipping away at it little by little going forward. I've already got the reference materials, after all."

Yeah, now that I think about it, there was no need for me—here in the real space—to take care of this.

I could've just confirmed everything from the ether space.

"Hmm..."

As for what's left to do... I've already confirmed the tourist destinations I want to visit, and where to actually go will be decided after discussing with Virijanira and the others.

As for meals, I can't think of anything specific I really want to eat right now.

Prioritizing information gathering means I should focus on the requests from Memokushi.

For the attire I'll wear at Lord Flaretanbo's tea party, a regular suit will do—I've already made it.

"Surprisingly, there's not much left to do."

I don't even need to rest... me.

"Well, then, I might as well just observe the planet from outside using the main body."

With that, since I'm already here, I decide to shut off the main body's FTL synchronization and take a look at a randomly visible planet.

Among the Flaretanbo system, only Planet Flaretanbo 1 is inhabited by people.

But even though people can't live there, other planets still exist.

For example, Planet Flaretanbo P4.

It is the fourth planet from the star in the Flaretanbo system, among the planets that are uninhabited (prohibited) due to inhabitation (prohibition), hence its name.

This planet is a massive gas giant too far from its star.

Still, its core is likely rocky, with substances liquefied by temperature and gravity conditions covering its surface.

And those liquefied materials—due to the influence of Sw in the Flaretanbo system—would be spherical and constantly shifting.

If we manage to colonize it, we'll be able to access various substances and energy sources... but that's probably still decades, maybe even centuries away.

For example, Planet Flaretanbo P2.

It's the closest planet to Flaretanbo 1, a rocky planet.

Even now, it's still undergoing terraforming—so much so that typhoons large enough to be visible from space have been observed.

When I looked closer, I saw a water sphere about the same size as those in the guide colony, violently tossed by fierce winds, floating and bouncing like a sphere, smashing into the ground and shattering it.

Hmm, this definitely isn't a habitable environment for humans.

"Seriously, why is it that planets like this can just exist smoothly within the Sw...? It's gotten so complex, it's completely incomprehensible."

Eventually, the planet Flaretanbo 1 comes into view.

It is a planet with a proper ocean, yet the sea appears to be covered in a dense layer of water spheres due to the influence of the Sw. Since these spheres do not collapse, gaps remain between them.

This condition likely extends not just to the surface, but also inward through the crust and mantle.

Although the water spheres seem to shift slowly... it's astonishing how such a configuration manages to sustain essential circulation within the planet.

"Aaah, Sat-chan. Could you come back to the dressing room? They want to discuss the planet descent situation."

"Then, I'll head back."

Now that Vilijanira's costume has been decided, I'll return.

Oct 27: Typo corrected

Oct 28: Revised text