Ch.365Problem: But he is a Casanova.

After learning about the assault ships, looking at Bendalov’s fleet again was, well…

“Jessica, Jessica, about the Lemmings Assault Squad.”

“Yes?”

“At first I thought they were just using mass patrol ships for ramming, but it turns out the entire fleet is basically a spear.”

“Is that so.”

That’s right.

The role of the “Lemmings Assault Squad” led by Bendalov wasn’t about evasion tanking with hundreds of patrol ship-like small vessels.

Under the command of the flagship electronic warfare cruiser, while I’m engaged in battle with an enemy fleet…

They meticulously calculate the dive angle, and when the moment comes…

KIYOOOOOOOH!!! They charge straight in, inflicting irreversible damage on the opponent—essentially the entire fleet functioning as one giant spear.

Looking at such a fleet, I momentarily wondered why only these bizarre characters seem to gather around me.

But that thought didn’t last long.

“By the way, with this addition, we basically have mercenary fleets covering everything from large to small ships, right?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you think? Commander Lephan’s Rhodos Mercenary Group exclusively has large ships, while Aquarias’s Avalonia Security Fleet has everything from battleships to destroyers.”

“That’s true.”

“And now with Bendalov’s Lemmings Assault Squad added, isn’t our fleet practically complete?”

“That’s an interesting observation.”

Hearing Jessica’s comment, I judged it to be quite reasonable.

I nodded, expressing satisfaction with the existence of this newly acquired fleet.

Of course, once we enter actual combat, the fleet might get completely destroyed contrary to expectations.

Or they might not find the right dive angle and end up doing nothing before the battle ends…

Well, in that case, I could just use them as actual patrol ships for evasion tanking or spare lives.

‘Either way, it’s a win for me!’

———-

But about three days after hiring the Lemmings Assault Squad.

At this point, I realized that with Bendalov, fleet operation or composition wasn’t the issue at all.

“Miss Ignis over there? Would you care to join me for a cup of tea?”

“Nope.”

“Oh my, quite the iron wall, aren’t you?”

“Noooope.”

Unfortunately, while our Bendalov was a handsome man like Leonard…

Unlike Leonard who just does his job regardless of what others say, Bendalov displayed typical Casanova behavior by constantly flirting with other Superhumans around him.

Of course, when I checked Bendalov’s status window earlier and saw “Casanova” clearly displayed there…

In a way, this was to be expected.

However, despite his flirtatious advances, most of our Superhumans responded like Ignis, showing little interest.

Even in Partia’s case…

“Do you want to do something together, Brother Bendalov?”

“Ahem, of course!”

*CRACK!*

“Huh?”

“Excellent idea. After all, muscle training with sweat is more beneficial when done together.”

“Uhhhh.”

Proving her pure-mindedness in an unexpected way.

When Bendalov’s “let’s spend time together” was interpreted as “let’s (work out) together”…

Our Bendalov seemed to be having quite painful days in many ways.

Of course, with Marian, who showed me uninhibited affection, he wasn’t flirting but rather…

“Pirate Empress, this is how you should seduce a man.”

“Ohhh…”

“And while your appearance is already sufficient, how about dressing up a bit more?”

“Dress up my appearance?”

“Yes, to be honest, your current look is just ‘cool,’ rather distant from the word ‘beautiful,’ don’t you think?”

“Oh.”

“That’s probably why the Commander sees you as a comrade rather than a woman.”

“…That’s quite a plausible theory. Care to elaborate?”

‘What are you two doing?’

Using his knowledge and experience as a Casanova, he was seriously fulfilling his role as a proper advisor.

At this rate, it seemed very clear that most Superhumans would come to accept him as “somewhat annoying but generally decent person who knows boundaries.”

So after seeing just that much, I decided to trust that Bendalov and his followers would adapt well to the base and stopped paying attention to them.

———-

But 3 days and 4 hours later…

“Sip, yummy.”

“I’m glad you like it, Commander. I made Luwak coffee with Smeragi’s help.”

“PFFFT!”

“N-no such thing!”

“I’m joking! I just ground the coffee beans myself, so don’t make that face.”

Just as I was sipping my morning coffee while patting Smeragi’s head who was there as my escort, Jessica made a “Luwak coffee” joke.

Which caused me to accidentally spit coffee onto Smeragi’s white hair, and I was busy wiping it off with tissues when…

*BEEP BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP BEEP!*

“Sigh, are unaffiliated pirates trying to sneak in again this early in the morning?”

“Just a moment, I’ll check… oh?”

“What is it, Jessica?”

“…Commander, apparently members of the Lemmings Assault Squad are attacking us, demanding we release their commander?”

“What?”

What on earth are you talking about, Jessi-Jessica?

As I stood there with a blank expression after hearing such an unexpected statement, Jessica began to explain the situation in more detail…

After hearing various details of the story, perhaps anticipating I might not understand, an “Event Message” popped up before my eyes with a cheerful jingle, explaining how the situation was unfolding.

—————————————-

<Event>

<Finding the Captured Commander>

<Details>

<The commander of the Lemmings Assault Squad, “Bendalov,” who normally flirts and makes passes at other Superhumans.>

<After making advances toward Griyanar three days ago, he disappeared without a trace.>

<Other members of the Lemmings Assault Squad have concluded that Bendalov is being detained at the Commander’s base.>

<They are attempting to invade the “Nest of Life” to rescue their leader.>

<Option 1: I’ll investigate this myself, so keep those Lemmings guys out. (Linked event progression)>

<Option 2: That’s understandable, tell them to sort it out among themselves. (Linked event progression)>

<Warning!>

<If you don’t choose within 5 minutes, the Lemmings Assault Squad will clash with the “Nest of Life”.>

—————————————-

‘Wow, a binary choice!’

The fact that this was a choice event I hadn’t seen in a very long time would normally fill me with emotion.

But given the warning in the message, I needed to make a quick decision.

After a brief consideration, noting that Option 2 would lead to the same result as the warning…

‘Option 1 must be the right choice.’

<Option 1: I’ll investigate this myself, so keep those Lemmings guys out. (Linked event progression)><Selected>

I immediately chose Option 1 and decided to head straight to the “Nest of Life” to assess the situation.

“Just looking at this, it seems like Griyanar and Bendalov had some kind of conflict, doesn’t it?”

“It’s hard to be certain, but… that’s probably it, right?”

“I hate to say it, but I think so too.”

As evident from what I, Jessica, and Smeragi were saying on our way to the Nest of Life…

We were all assuming that the culprit behind this incident was most likely Griyanar, who had done “something” to Bendalov and then imprisoned him.

And indeed, when we entered the Nest of Life and stepped onto the damp, squishy flesh floor that I hadn’t walked on in a long time…

“Oh my, Commander, it’s been a while since you came here in person?”

“…”

“Griyanar, that girl over there is…?”

“That Bendalov or whatever? He was so annoying that I just modified him.”

I felt indescribable emotions seeing the once 180cm tall, handsome black-haired demon man transformed into a 130cm small black-haired demon girl.

And right after that…

*CRASH!!!*

“Where’s our captain?!”

“Captain! We’ve come to rescue you!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.”

Despite clearly telling them to wait, the Lemmings Assault Squad members ignored me and broke through the outer wall of the Nest of Life.

Faced with this chaotic situation, I immediately grabbed the back of my neck and chose to collapse into Jessica’s arms.