Ch.134Princess, Our Princess. (1)

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<Quest>

<VIP Escort Mission-2, Protection.>

<Details>

<When the Commander’s fleet arrived at the monster headquarters, a biological ship carrying a ‘VIP’ joined as if it had been waiting.>

<Surprisingly, the VIP turned out to be one of the ‘Princesses’ – a successor born to the Queen who currently rules the monster forces.>

<And to avoid the situation where the ship might be sniped and damaged later,>

<The Princess has decided to board your ship, while her dedicated vessel will be incorporated into your fleet.>

<Objective>

<Safely escort the ‘Princess’ and her ‘Ship’ to the base>

<Clear Reward>

<Random gift of one ship with monster biotechnology>

<While the VIP stays at the base, trust with monster forces permanently maintained at +10 or higher>

<Increased probability of ‘positive’ events related to monsters>

<Warning!>

<If the ‘Ship’ is destroyed, rewards will be reduced.>

<If the ‘Princess’ dies, trust with monster forces will immediately and permanently be set to -100.>

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‘….’

Son of a bitch.

I thought the rewards seemed too generous just for sending a fleet, and something felt off.

When the quest naturally updated and changed the objective, I felt somewhat cheated…

But realistically, it was obvious they wouldn’t give such rewards just for sending a fleet.

I suppressed my momentary irritation and decided to greet the ‘Princess’ who appeared on the screen.

“Nice to meet you, so…”

-“Oh! I realize you haven’t been told about me yet!”

Maybe it was because Berial was standing next to me, similar to or taller than my height.

The little princess, who barely reached half of Berial’s height, touched the hem of her dress as she continued her introduction.

-“Pardon my late introduction! By the Queen’s command, I shall be staying at your base. You may call me ‘Luca’!”

The girl who identified herself as ‘Luca’ had an appearance that, at first glance, looked like something straight out of a typical medieval fantasy.

Radiant, nearly platinum blonde hair crowned with a large tiara.

Elaborate attire that appropriately covered her small frame, a perfect blend of armor and dress.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that anyone who saw her would immediately think “princess.”

Of course, since the princess on the screen was ultimately a member of the ‘monsters,’

Her seemingly splendid armor-dress was, like Oxianor’s “formal wear,”

Made of living biological carapace, scales, and membranes—literally a living garment.

Unlike Oxianor, who was merely an envoy and whose “formal wear” was actually covered in tentacles, eyeballs, and other strange wriggling things,

The princess’s outfit had an exquisite harmony of carapace and scales, with jellyfish-like membranes flowing like dress frills to substitute for the “fabric” parts.

Someone who didn’t know better would never realize that Luca’s outfit was actually a living organism.

But I could tell, partly because I knew the “settings” about monsters,

And partly because one side of Luca’s dress suddenly transformed, with flesh sprouting out like a parasitic organism.

The sprouting flesh gathered and morphed, gradually taking on a humanoid shape.

Eventually, the upper body of a stern-looking woman, completely naked, emerged from the left side of the princess while still connected to the dress and addressed me.

-“So you’re the Commander, the male anglerfish of the Pirate Empress I’ve heard so much about. Pleased to meet you.”

Anyone would clearly think, “Ah, that thing is alive!”

Moreover, though it wasn’t visible on the communication screen,

I had the community gallery’s wiki tab open right beside me.

So I naturally made a puzzled expression at this person who suddenly appeared and casually spoke to me informally.

“…Who are you?”

-“I am a guard created by the Queen herself through genetic combination to protect the Princess.”

-“Mel, you’re startling the Commander by appearing so suddenly.”

-“I apologize, Princess.”

And just like that, after being scolded by the princess, she dissolved her form and reintegrated with the dress.

‘…What was that?’

She was so self-centered that I didn’t even get to ask her name.

Fortunately, from her self-introduction, she seemed to be just an ordinary guard.

I calmed my momentarily confused mind, greeted the seemingly very energetic princess again,

And then decided to order Berial, who was standing beside me with a complicated expression, to escort the princess here safely.

==========

However, unlike the friendly atmosphere when we first met,

Once we officially started the escort mission, we encountered all sorts of bizarre enemies…

-“Wild monster swarm detected ahead.”

“Don’t bother reporting every little thing. Just tell Pashtra to wipe them out.”

-“Understood, Commander.”

Small fleets of so-called “wild monsters” that lived independently because they weren’t connected to the neural network’s synapses for some reason.

-“Haha! Hand over everything you’ve got!”

-BWOOOOOONG!!!

-“Oh.”

Despite clearly knowing that a ‘large monster fleet’ was lurking nearby,

They fearlessly charged at our fleet,

Only to meet their fate along with their ships under Pashtra’s giant beam cannon.

-“For our savior!!!”

“Oh.”

Or they’d have scripture-shaped marks newly imprinted on their heads after being judged as blasphemers by Partia, who immediately infiltrated for boarding combat.

Or independent space pirates who, under Berial’s capable fleet command, found themselves being plundered instead.

Those “normal” encounters were just the beginning.

-“C-Commander! A massive life form detected ahead!”

-“My, even at maximum output, I don’t think my shots would do anything to that♡”

“Can’t be helped. Let’s take a detour.”

-“Understood.”

We had to suddenly change our return route because of “giant monsters” that appeared out of nowhere.

-“Fleet of the Commander, halt immediately!”

“…What’s this about?”

-“Commander, an Earth Federation small fleet is ordering us to stop.”

“Of course we’d get caught.”

And as we traveled along the changed route, we’d trespass into other factions’ territories, get caught, and have to escape.

In some cases…

-“Commander, a Xenovia Empire fleet is pursuing us from behind.”

“Can’t we shake them off?”

-“They’re faster than us, so it’s impossible.”

“Tsk… No choice but to intercept them directly.”

-“Yes, Commander.”

For whatever reason, some pursuers were so determined that they chased us relentlessly.

With such an eventful return journey, there were countless things requiring my attention,

Which was enough to put my nerves on edge.

Of course, if I could focus solely on that, I wouldn’t have needed to be so tense, but…

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<Large Ship Dedicated Shipyard Construction in Progress…>

<Time Remaining Until Completion: 9 days 4 hours 37 minutes 55 seconds>

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I had to keep the base upgrades running while also dealing with:

“Commander, I’ve heard that Earth Federation fleets are being reinforced in nearby space.”

“…What?”

“The information comes from Marian, so it’s reliable.”

The constant pressure from various factions, plus:

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Title: Post for Reporting Community Posts

Author: Icarus

Content: [Image]

Only add report details in comments

15-day suspension for false reports

Comments:

-[WAAAAAANG!!!!! (link)<-This is a crappy meme!]

-[(link)<-This one has pedo snuff content, please remove ASAP]

-[(link)<-Someone keeps disrespecting the deceased here, please block]

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‘Argghhhhh.’

…And community reports coming in just when I thought I could rest.

With such busy days continuing, my mental state was starting to burn up without me even realizing it.