299: 'Shake Border'

"Hyperlight-speed travel has commenced. There's no deviation from the instructions. If this doesn't work... it's someone else's responsibility who gave the orders. Also, the ship name change has been completed. As instructed, we've renamed it to 'Shake Border'."

"Thank you, Johalis."

The modified 'Carnival Viper,' now renamed 'Shake Border,' moves to a midpoint between the Imperial Planet Vanilla Sid and a certain guide colony, then enters hyperspace.

Then it began faster-than-light travel.

As Joharis had said, this was in accordance with the message sent from the Emperor, delivered beneath Memokshi.

"But even if we've followed every instruction—location, angle, speed, timing, and all the rest—undertaking faster-than-light travel without a guide... Even saying it again, this isn't exactly ordinary... or rather, it's not a rational order from a normal mind."

Under normal circumstances, faster-than-light travel shouldn't have been possible in the current Vanilla Sid system.

Yet, for some reason, faster-than-light travel became possible—only at the location and time specified in the message.

The only entity capable of something like this… well, probably only the one who originally prevented faster-than-light travel in the first place—the creator, Chirarizumu = Konporekusu.

In other words, the sender of the message delivered to Memokushi is likely the creator themselves, with the Emperor serving merely as an intermediary.

That’s what I believe….

"That's true. It's just that an extremely complex calculation and operation is required, so I believe His Majesty the Emperor and Great Mother could certainly issue such an order."

"Eh?"

"It's possible. Creating a hole in a region where faster-than-light travel is impossible—only the Creator Himself could do something like that, after all."

"S-so that's how it is..."

At least it's within the realm of human capability.

Considering the nature of faster-than-light travel and the vastness of the universe, one would almost certainly end up somewhere completely off-target... yet it seems to work out somehow.

"Ahem. That aside, let's take a moment to reassess the situation."

With that, Vilijaniira cleared her throat once before continuing the conversation.

We escaped the Vanilla Sid system following the message's instructions. This should keep us clear of trouble on Imperial Planet Vanilla Sid. Since only a very few people know of this escape route, we should have evaded most tracking and surveillance. If anyone can still follow us... it would probably only be Funaka and the Creator themselves.

First, the current situation.

There's no way anyone other than Funaka and Chirarizumu could track us.

"If the message is to be believed, we'll rendezvous with the Imperial fleet heading toward the Siltoririchi star system within hyperspace, one week from now."

"I just hope it goes smoothly... Ah, our side's handled everything perfectly. There's not even a detectable margin of error."

Moving on to what comes next.

If they're progressing according to schedule, it seems we'll be able to rendezvous with the Imperial fleet heading toward the Siltrilich system— a large fleet consisting of dozens of ships— without exiting hyperspace in a week's time.

But rendezvousing in hyperspace...

It's well known how ships traveling through hyperspace can be ambushed—by space pirates or cosmic monsters like the Black Fols Shark, for example.

The former lie in wait at locations where large numbers of ships are known to pass, while the latter are creatures so expert in hyperspace navigation that they could be called masters of it.

Just meeting up in space between regular ships, coordinating only through prearranged messages... that would be even more difficult than navigating to a destination at faster-than-light speeds without guidance from a guide colony.

Yeah, it's tough enough that even I can tell.

"If we safely rendezvous, we'll proceed directly to the Siltrilich system. Our objectives are to eliminate Funaka, investigate the Siltrilich system—and, if necessary, occupy and govern it. Although the goals after rendezvous have been outlined, there are no further specifics, so how we act will be decided on a case-by-case basis at the scene."

"I see. Involving Vee in this job isn't just about handling Funaka, but also because having royal family members present would be more convenient when it comes to suppression and governance—something like that?"

"Yes, I think that's part of the reasoning."

So the actual work doesn't begin until after the rendezvous—rather, the rendezvous itself is just the starting point.

If Funaka is the opponent... well, we won't be able to manage with just the mods we've already built. We'll have to quickly develop additional necessary mods.

"So, Satu. You were instructed to move your main body through the Aether Space as well, but how about you?"

"Yeah, that one. The movement's already done. I think we're positioned close to the Siltrilich system. There are additional orders too... probably planning to launch a preemptive strike."

"I see. Then please prepare accordingly."

"Got it."

Though, of course, we won't mention this to make Vilijanira and the others anxious.

I don’t recall ever telling anyone the secrets of manipulating Ether Space.

It’s something intuitive, and it’s a matter of life and death for me.

Given that, I can’t help but suspect the involvement of a creator—there’s no other explanation for how precise the instructions are.

Honestly, I can’t imagine any other being capable of writing them.

There are other messages arriving as well.

Anyway, that’s beside the point.

"Let's spend the week until the rendezvous preparing and regaining our strength, and another week after the rendezvous for the journey—two weeks in total."

"Understood."

"Got it."

"Yes, sir."

For the time being, it seems we'll be focusing solely on mod development.