072 Drifter Arc 12 Three?
The number of ratings has finally reached 100. Thank you so much for the bookmarks.
Thanks to you, I’ve secured first place in the daily genre rankings. (John’s completion helped, but….)
Today marks two months since I transferred here. First place daily—truly an honor.
"Lord Akira, it’s a pleasure. I am Jane de Larter, daughter of the junior lord and knight baron of the minor domain’s combined forces.
As your wife, I say, 'Yes. That’s it!'
"I understand the situation. There are already brides arriving from both the feline and canine clans."
Miss Jane’s eyes dart around.
"I told them as much, but we can’t just pick brides from one of the three major factions.
If all factions can get along—especially the feline and canine clans—then I’ll accept all three."
For now, I’m supposed to test living together with potential brides.
I’ll have them join me, but I’d like them to wait until the renovations on the new place are done.”
Sorry, John, but I explained the situation and sent her off right away.
“Wait… is that the Larter? The one from the experiment?”
“Yes. She got her DNA from Earth’s wild animals through a physical enhancement trial—so that’s the Larter.”
“Whoa, Ayame! When did you get there?!”
“Fearless and bold, she fought tooth and claw with the feline and canine clans to the very end—but was ultimately rejected.
Still, some of her kind survived the battlefield and clawed their way up to become barons of minor territories. A self-made breed.”
“Huh. You should have no idea how many people John is, right?”
Ayame’s staring straight at me.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Are you sure about this?”
“About what?”
John, commander of the minor domain's combined forces, is the shadowy mastermind behind uniting the hostile cat and dog tribes, holding Anoi Fortress together.
If Jane performs the same duty, she might mediate between Carrie and Marianna.
"Damn it! The 'let's pretend we're not allies' strategy is falling apart because the two of them can't stand each other!"
I slumped my shoulders down.
After I’d been in a daze for a while, my side gets poked.
Looking over there, Miyou was staring at me, motionless.
"Miyu, what's wrong?"
"Miyu too..."
"Wha—?"
"Spouse..."
"Seriously?"
"Ugh! That's so unfair! I wanted to too!"
Even I was too stunned to react—Saya herself came barreling in.
Hug him tight and don’t let go.
"Even Saya? What are you talking about?"
"We might not be able to go back to Earth... right?"
"Yeah... I’ve been avoiding looking at it... but that fear’s real, isn’t it?"
"So if that’s the case, I can’t keep being an idol anymore. Gotta find a husband from among Earth people, right?"
"Uh... (You could always pick from Empire folk too, you know.)"
"There’s no better match than Akira, honestly."
"But I’ve got so many potential brides already..."
"That’s why. The First Lady should be from Earth."
"No... Miu’s first."
"Just keep it vague. Ayame could slip in too, you know."
"First time hearing Saya be this serious. Wait—Ayame too?"
"Yeah. The only guy who’s a decent match in age and status is Akira, really."
Ah, Naho’s marrying the president, you know?"
"“What are you even saying?!”"
Naho and Ayame simultaneously flush crimson and shout in unison.
Right… I guess I’m the one who has to protect them now.
"Can’t we just go with the ‘can’t take on another wife’ strategy?"
"Ah, so I’m not in it after all—no way! (No way! No way! No way!)"
Naho’s scream echoes through the newly expanded house.
The new residence now has six additional rooms.
Plus, the bath, washroom, toilet, and living area have all been expanded—now it’s practically a manor.
"Wouldn’t a brand-new build have been faster?"
"Well, we’re stuck with the same location."
"Why not just tear through the wall between our rooms?"
"That’d make a pretty long hallway, though."
Wait—is this turning into some kind of newlywed romance consultation?
Anyway, we’ve got the funds.
We’ve got all sorts of cruiser gear from our expedition.
This time it was just rear-echelon sniping, so propulsion units and reaction cores are mostly wrecked.
We stripped it all down and sold it without even bothering to revive it with Nicoichi.
The battleship’s waiting for President Kamizawa to merge with it.
Wait—shouldn’t we just let someone board it directly? That’d boost combat effectiveness, right?
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
President Kamizawa’s Personal Ship has finished merging.
Arms integration took just a few hours, but full reconstruction after heavy damage? That took ten days.
Post-merge specifications:
『KAMIZAWA (kamizawa)』
Ship Class: Pocket Battleship
Hull Length: 520m — Heavy Cruiser Type, Two Arms
Main Reactor: Type E Annihilation Reaction Engine, High-Speed Propulsion Unit E Type
Auxiliary Reactor: Type E Thermonuclear Reactor, High-Speed Propulsion Unit F Type
Armament Main Gun: Single 35cm Long Barrel Railgun, 1 Unit, 1 Barrel — Standard Ammunition: 80 (Remaining) / 80 (Maximum)
Secondary Guns: Twin 20cm Particle Beam Cannon, 3 Units, 6 Barrels
Anti-Space Cannon: Single 10cm Laser, 4 Units, 4 Barrels
Missile Launcher Pod: Standard Type D, 2 Units, 2 Barrels — Max Ammo: 4×2, Missile Remaining: 8
Defense: Beam-Resistant Coating Special Steel Armor Plate + Multi-Layer Special Steel Armor Plate
Beam Canceller (Anti-Beam Barrier)
Beam-Resistant Shield Type D, 1 Unit
Stasis Field (Anti-Projectile Barrier), Type C
Electronic Equipment: Anti-Ship Radar Type B, Communication Device Type B
Empty Energy Slot: 5
Status: Good
The Kanzawa-class ship had successfully repaired its Annihilation Reaction Engine.
Seemed like the only damage was to the energy transmission and control systems—lucky break.
Performance-wise, the high-speed propulsion unit was downgraded, but with two reactors operating in tandem, primary and secondary, they were managing to maintain speed.
Conversely, the excess energy from the secondary unit had increased, opening up extra energy slots—meaning we could now fit more weaponry.
On top of that, the rear armor had been upgraded to multi-layered beam-resistant coating special steel plating, matching battleship-grade Defense.
The secondary unit’s length had increased, but they’d compensated by using extra armor plates.
Considering it was a full repair after a critical hit, not bad at all, really.
“With five slots of surplus energy, we could probably swap out the main gun or secondary guns.”
“Boss, you got the cash for that?”
“Nah, Akira—remember that battleship we captured?”
"Wouldn’t it be smarter to keep it as a combat unit if we’re not using the annihilation reaction core? It runs unmanned, and hell, the president could just ride it herself."
"My Personal Ship—after I spent all that time fixing it—what’s my position now?!"
President Kamizawa slumped, crestfallen.
Played it for laughs—changed Commander John’s name for the gag.