Ch.71Ordinary Days (2)

And after fact-checking about the “neutral faction” in the gallery.

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Title: Where did all those neutral faction trolls go?

Author: Jacques Spero

Content: [Archived images of users who claimed they would form a neutral alliance], [Several bases floating in space]

Where the hell did all these bastards go?

They were making a huge fuss about creating a fifth column

But when the actual formation day came, nobody showed up at the neutral faction meeting except me and a few others?

Was this a fucking scam? For real?

Comments

-[What is this?]

-[You actually believed that?]

-[Dude, check the Earth Federation enrollment numbers that were posted earlier]

-˪[Neutral faction or whatever, anyone who hasn’t joined any side by now just got scammed]

-˪[What the fuck?](Author)

-[Newbies get fooled again today ㅠㅠ]

-[Those guys all joined the pirates, why aren’t you living up to your name?]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

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“…Oh.”

Surprisingly learning that most users who had been advocating for a neutral nation had gone to the pirates, I immediately went to find Marian who was probably loitering around the base.

“Marian, do you happen to know approximately how many Commanders have joined the pirates?”

“Hmm… Sorry, Oppa, I don’t keep track of those things.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, Marian wasn’t here as my “subordinate” like Jessica and the others.

She was staying at this base as a sort of “guest,” under the pretext of needing some unidentifiable energy source called “Icarosium” or whatever.

Above all, Marian was the leader of the massive “faction” that Jessica and I had just been evaluating as impressive.

It would actually be stranger if she knew such details.

I was about to apologize for my mistake, but…

“So wait a moment, I have a quick way to find out.”

“Huh?”

Marian snapped her fingers as if it were nothing.

Jessica, who naturally had no idea what that meant, just stared blankly at Marian.

Exactly 15 seconds after Marian performed her finger snap…

“What’s wrong, Empress!!!! Have these wretched people finally laid hands on you?!”

A man dressed in typical pirate attire burst through the door of the reception room where Marian and we were, moving like the wind.

And this was one of the facilities that was “convertible to an emergency bunker” according to the settings.

The door wasn’t made of simple wood or sheet metal, but rather armor material used in cruisers or battleships…

Seeing the man who broke through with his bare body, Jessica maintained her expressionless face, but her large rabbit ears shot straight up, clearly indicating she was extremely surprised inside.

Unlike Jessica, I knew who this pirate was who had destroyed someone else’s door and appeared.

“You stupid idiot! Why are you breaking down my Oppa’s base door?!”

“Kuhuck?!”

Marian delivered a soccer kick to the man’s side.

Watching the man’s waist bend like a bow, I felt something indescribable.

That was because the identity of the man whose waist was now bent at a right angle was none other than one of the most powerful forces among the pirate fleets under the Pirate Empress.

The Pirate Admiral of the Empress’s personal guard fleet known as the Empress’s Hunting Dogs.

And unofficially nicknamed “Golden Sun” by users, one of the top executives of the pirate forces, Admiral “Leonard.”

‘Hmm, is his name Leonard? Or was it Leonid?’

Anyway, since that wasn’t particularly important right now.

Seeing Leonard, who had his waist bent immediately after arriving here for breaking the door, and was now having his head stomped on repeatedly, I thought he might die if this continued.

I shook my head and decided to calm Marian’s anger first.

==========

Anyway, after somehow calming Marian down (though as soon as I hugged her from behind, she went into shock as if electrocuted and stopped functioning), I looked at Leonard.

“Cough, cough.”

With half of his glamorous blonde hair stained red from being stomped on by boots, I asked Marian why she had called him.

In response to my question, Marian nodded as if it were obvious and answered.

“Of course, to get the answer to your question?”

“…”

Couldn’t she just ask her subordinates like I would ask Jessica? I couldn’t understand why she had to summon her own admiral and make him break down the door.

While I was confused by the situation, Marian wiggled her crossed leg and spoke again.

“Leo, how many Commanders have joined our faction?”

“C-Commanders? Well… that’s…”

For Leonard, who was used to having his subordinates handle everything while he only needed to know about combat and important matters, this was like a bolt from the blue.

But the bent spine kept stimulating Leonard’s brain to prevent it from shorting out.

After a moment.

Whether it was a desperate struggle to survive or something he had known all along, Leonard began to answer Marian’s question with an expression like he was wringing his brain.

“Until yesterday, it was about 15,000?”

“Until yesterday?”

“Yes, but I heard this morning that about 2,000 more came in all at once.”

“That’s what he says, Oppa.”

“I see.”

So that was the “neutral faction’s pirate conversion” I saw this morning.

Having confirmed the number of “Commanders” in the pirate faction, I decided to head to the biology research lab to see Griyanar, who would probably be leveling up by now, and to meet Oxianor, the envoy of the space monsters.

Of course, the biggest reason for this hasty movement was the look in Leonard’s eyes from behind Marian, which seemed to say, ‘So you’re the bastard who put me in this state.’

But before I could escape, Marian suddenly blocked my way.

Appearing instantly with her “superhuman” physical abilities, she blocked the exit.

Surprised by Marian’s behavior, Jessica asked with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong, Marian?”

“Well, um… that… hmm…”

After receiving Jessica’s question, Marian showed an attitude of not knowing what to say despite blocking the entrance.

After a moment.

With a deep sigh, she carefully began to speak to me.

“Um, Oppa, I think I need to go back to my lair now…”

“Ah… is it that time already.”

Since Marian had a setting where pirate control weakens if she leaves her post for too long, I nodded at her words and responded that we would meet again soon.

However, to my response, Marian shook her head and continued.

“But this time I’ll have to be away for quite… no, for a very long time.”

Then she suddenly threw herself into my arms.

I involuntarily caught my breath at the sensation of her soft chest pressing against my body, but somehow maintaining my rational mind, I became suspicious of Marian’s unusually clingy behavior.

‘It’s not like we’ve been apart only once or twice… no, this is the third time now.’

Of course, it could just be that she wasn’t used to it yet, so I took Marian’s hand—who still looked like a teenager on the outside—and said:

“Still, Marian, now that you’re an adult and the leader of a faction… shouldn’t you show appropriate responsibility?”

“That’s true, but…”

While acknowledging the point, Marian couldn’t hide her gloomy expression.

Seeing her like this, I decided it was time to find out what the real problem was.

“Is there something else bothering you?”

“Well… you know how a massive number of Commanders like you have joined our faction?”

“Yes, I’ve heard about that.”

“Because of that, I need to manage the headquarters and faction with the executives for a while, so I probably won’t be able to come here for at least a month.”

“I see.”

A month.

For Marian, who had been coming once every 2-3 days to charge “Icarosium,” that was indeed a very long time.

So that’s why she was clinging to me and occasionally burying her nose in my clothes to inhale while explaining.

I was starting to wonder if I should try to stabilize Marian’s unstable state, but that thought didn’t last long.

Whether she had finished inhaling “Icarosium” or not, Marian separated from my body with a regretful expression.

Then she delivered quite a shocking statement.

“And since I can’t come personally, and I can’t just station one pirate crew here…”

“…Right?”

“So I’m taking the existing ones with me, and instead I’m going to station Leonard and his personal guard here.”

“…”

The moment I heard those words, I slowly turned my head and met the eyes of Leonard, who looked as if he was hearing this for the “first time” too.