088 Wandering Arc 28: Aftermath of the Final Battle

The prince who fled remained unaccounted for.

I’d been worried he might be out hunting Earthlings recklessly upon returning to the station, but it seemed he hadn’t come back at all.

The reason I knew this was because I’d received a message from Meina, who’d stayed behind at the station.

Sure, we’d considered the possibility it was misinformation—but the fact that the station’s control key had been handed over to Akira cleared all doubt.

The information from this battle reached the imperial capital, and it was retroactively approved as a duel between princes.

They couldn’t possibly announce that the 13th prince had gone mad and attacked the 6th prince.

As a result, the prince was disowned—stripped of his princely title.

And officially, all territories under the prince’s control were transferred to Akira.

Apparently, I was instructed to hand over the station’s control keys as part of the reassignment process.

Seems like the empire’s logic—survival of the strongest—was in play. In this empire, sibling rivalries among princes are seen as a way to sharpen one another, and open, honorable duels are even encouraged.

That mindset is kind of unsettling.

Given how likely it is that future forces aligned with a prince will turn hostile, standing out here was definitely not what I wanted.

The surviving fleet of the prince who attacked Anoi Fortress surrendered.

I was discussing future troop allocations and territorial management with an advisor, now commanding the Anoi Third Army.

Around 4,900 unmanned vessels had their control rights rewritten. Each of the Anoi Third Army’s divisions received 1,500 ships, and the Earth Fleet got roughly 400.

About a hundred remaining ships were manned—divided between those who obeyed the Prince out of duty to their domain, loyal retainers who served him from the heart, and nobles bound by shared interests and their subordinates.

"I’m no good at punishing people..."

I couldn’t do anything.

The Prince could fire only because he felt threatened—his own life at stake.

But deciding what to do with people tied by obligation or calculation, especially those who’d already surrendered—something like that was too heavy for a high school kid like me.

"Knights of a conquered domain follow their new lord. That’s how one survives."

Hunter, commander of the Graul territory—once a vassal under the former Prince—spoke with the weight of someone who’d lived it.

His words carried an unspoken suggestion: *The knights of the conquered domain should be spared.*

"Yeah. They had no choice but to do it. So now, they’ll choose to follow me."

"Seems reasonable."

Noah, leading the Caprice forces, and John, commander of the minor lord’s combined troops, both nodded in agreement.

"The real problem is something else. Someone like Lord Gilbert, full of grudges, might stir up trouble just for spite."

"Collaborators who latch onto power can be managed if you promise them a cut—though they’ll betray you the moment it suits them."

"Yes."

"This battle’s treated as a duel between princes, right? What’s the legal standing of someone who lends aid in such a case?"

"Depends entirely on the victor’s whim."

"Hmm. Honestly, I have no idea how to handle this."

They could be executed. Or spared.

Execute if you fear betrayal. Spare if you believe in redemption.

How the hell am I supposed to judge someone I don’t even know?

“Put their Personal Ship under my control—remote access from outside. Blow it up with them if they betray me. Spare their life after that.”

“That’s a good idea… but the real problem is the direct threat to Princess Akira.”

“Personal security is my job, Lartel. It’s the prince’s responsibility to handle traitors.”

Lartel’s close-combat skill? Just thinking about it gives me chills.

For now, I’ll start with the least dangerous ones in the interview. After that, it’s just keep them locked up—can’t do much else.

“Now it’s just managing the territory I’ve taken… honestly, this looks like a disaster waiting to happen!”

“Just summon the nobles or local governors from the territory. If they’re loyal to the Prince, replace them. If they’re willing to submit, give them a grace period—let them prove themselves.”

“Those who aren’t willing to comply won’t answer the call. That’s the same as rebellion. Which is war.”

Hunter’s more of a statesman than a general. Gives precise advice.

John was as calm as ever.

“Let the stray capital ships be my personal force.

And since it’s pitiful to leave them wandering forever, I’ll call them factory carriers.

After training, I plan to assign them one by one to each regional fleet.”

“Stray ships are more autonomous than unmanned vessels. So they’ll need training that leverages that independence.”

“I agree. They’ve got personalities and avatars—so they should be treated as individual lifeforms.”

“Then maybe it’d be better to keep them independent rather than assigning them directly to regional fleets.”

“True. We can just dispatch them to the regional fleets as needed.”

I nodded along with Hunter’s words.

Now, we just need to keep boosting our combat strength using the factory mothership’s manufacturing capacity.

That means supplying the factory mothership with mineral resources—raw materials.

We should gather those from newly acquired territories.

I’m a little worried, though… the factory mothership suddenly declared, “Since I’ve got your DNA, I can spawn lots of offspring! ♡” — why did it go all soft all of a sudden?

No idea.

Then there’s Earth to deal with.

Anyone among the Earthlings holed up at Anoi Fortress who wants to go home… we’ll let them go.

Those who want to stay and fight at the station… we’ll recruit them.

And what about the station? Or SFO, for that matter? How should we handle them going forward?

Closing and locking down Earth’s Dimensional Jump Gate is one option.

“Ah, too much to do!”

But I can’t just drop it all.

Reading your thoughts. Thanks.

Replying to feedback is currently on hold—story comes first.

Definitely this coming weekend!