10 I’m Invited Onto a Carrier

Author: Bishamon Mine
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0664js/12/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

While I’m watching happy Pollux and Castor, a comm comes in from the group being attacked by Grand Harpies.

“This is Knights of the Stars (Stellar Ritter) carrier Last Answer. Thanks for the assist. Please reveal your affiliation.”

Eh, my affiliation? ……What would that be——…… I’m a loner, am I affiliated with something?
While I’m facing the philosophical problem of what I belong to when I’ve been a loner the whole time.

“Maika, everyone, are you okay!?”

Yachimata-san checked on her sister and friends.

“……O-Onee-chan!?”
“Ah, that filtered voice is Alice-san! Everyone, we’re okay now! Alice-san came to save us!!”
“Uooooooooh!!”

At the people on the carrier welling with joy, Yachimata-san starts to panic.

“No——Maika, everyone! I didn’t save you——that’s not——……!”

❝Eh? Alice?❞
❝Alice from Knights of the Stars?❞
❝Then that’s Crimson Flash Alice, right?❞
❝Come to think of it, that red pilot suit——❞

Eh, Yachimata-san was Crimson Flash Alice!?
No, more than that.

I send Yachimata-san a secret comm.

“Yachimata-san. Is it okay if it comes out you’re Crimson Flash Alice? Your agency and all.”
“Thank you for worrying. But it’s fine. The agency doesn’t know I’m a player.”
“Thank goodness———”
“Or rather, Suzusaki-san saved everyone and I let them think I did it. I’ll tell them later.”
“Eh!? Th-that kind of thing, you don’t have to worry……?”

❝Then when she said earlier ‘even Crimson Flash Alice can’t do superhuman technique like this’❞
❝It was her!!❞
❝If she says it herself, fair❞
❝If she says it herself, fair❞
❝Wait, Suu and Crimson Flash Alice being real-life best friends is insane, no?❞
❝I want to see a collab!❞
❝Suu-tan, Alice-tan. Find a combining mecha and combine.——True-Brave Combination Aliceuu❞

No no, Yachimata-san and I being best friends——even saying friends is rude……
When I’m smiling “I’m happy, but this is a problem,”

“P-please stop with the shin’yu combination!”

Yachimata-san goes bright red and, unusually, gets a little angry.
See, she got mad.

I turn the comm toward the people of carrier Last Answer.

“Then, everyone of Knights of the Stars. After this it’s just mopping up the small fry!”

“There’s someone else in Alice-san’s frame?”
“Alice-san’s copilot, please!”
“Even with the mothership gone, Grand Harpies are still rough for us.”

I answer everyone.

“Leave it to us! Then we’ll draw the enemies, so annihilate them with max wide-area firepower!”

“Okay! Photodisintegration engines to max output!!”
“Understood, photodisintegration engines to max output!”
“Charge start!” “Charge start!”
“Alice-san, please hold the enemies for three minutes!”
“‘‘‘Please!!’’’”
“O-Onee-chan……”

Maybe because they fought, Maika-chan’s voice is awkward…… hard to talk to her?

Yachimata-san reacts to the voices from the carrier and bows her head to me.

“Suu-san is the one flying——ah, I’ll tell them later.”
“No, you really don’t have to worry……”

And so I fight while drawing the enemies.

But I opened the engine all the way a bit, and used blackbody-type at full too much, so I can’t use 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 for a while.

Too many enemies; there was no time to cut the engine.

I could fire it if I forced it, but it wouldn’t have much power and the photodisintegration engine would stop.
The normal 〈Excitation Wings〉 are fine, though.

While I’m thinking that, drawing enemies and shooting them down, a small humanoid frame takes a hit in the distance.
I think it’s someone from Yachimata-san’s clan.
The cockpit is stripped open.
——Inside, a girl still about middle-school age.

Yachimata-san screams.

“Maika——!!”

Ah, that kid is Maika-chan!? ——Yachimata-san’s sister!? ——Bad!!

A Grand Harpy stands in front of Maika-chan, the pilot in the cockpit.
The girl’s face dyes with fear.

If she takes an attack like that, Maika-chan will vanish completely.

The word fax floats in my mind.

(Maika-chan——I have to save her!)

But I used blackbody-type weapons too much, so 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 still isn’t available.
Or rather 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 is a small gamma-ray burst.

If that kid’s pilot suit is a cheap one, I’m scared of the radiation from the gamma rays.

Drill drones?? Live rounds!?

——No, this is faster than bullets!!
I put the throttle lever to max.

I blow a sharp breath through closed teeth and put spirit in.

“——Ssh.”

I slam my feet on the cockpit floor and shout.
———“Enter the zone”!

“——Uoooooooooh!!”

I deploy 〈Excitation Wings〉, smash the transparent cover on the left side, pull the lever, and release the acceleration limiter. I accelerate further with triad boost.

Behind me I felt Yachimata-san preparing a skill.

❝What’s going on❞
❝The humanoid ahead is bad❞
❝But even if they die they come back, right?❞
❝Somehow the light in Suu-san’s eyes went out and it’s scary❞
❝When this kid gets serious she sinks even deeper into shadow❞

“Title activate———〖Legend〗!! Gooooooooooo——!!”

❝Title?❞
❝What’s a title?❞

“I can’t catch Mother!!”
“Mama, too fast!!”

Sorry, I’m leaving the 〈drill drones〉 behind.

From the sudden acceleration, fierce G slams us.
But what’s really scary is the G when we curve.

My seat and Yachimata-san’s recline into a lying posture.

I could tell Swallow-san’s color changed from black to silver-white.

Eyes peeled, I dive at full speed in special-ized Swallow-san at the Grand Harpy aiming at the girl. I accelerate at the last line before I black out.
But another Grand Harpy tries to stand in front of us.

“Out of the way,——move!!”

I shoot the Grand Harpy with 〈Multipurpose Vulcan〉 and knock it away in space.
The Grand Harpy that rolled through zero-drag space can’t stop well and flies off.

When I control Swallow-san to change direction and fly like lightning, tremendous G bares its fangs and tries to reap my consciousness.
It’s rough. I might pass out.
But I can’t lose now!

I won’t let Maika-chan be killed——!!

The pilot suit contracts so hard it might break bone, trying to send oxygen to the brain.

Then,

“〖Gravity Control〗!”

Yachimata-san used a skill on me.
The G on me gets a lot easier.
Even though Yachimata-san should be hurting too!

Maika-chan has put on a space helmet at some point, and is locked to the seat.

She’s pulling the side lever on the seat with the escape transfer unit, but no transfer happens.

The transfer unit is broken——at this rate Maika-chan will die.

From a SOUND ONLY comm, Maika-chan’s voice, like she’s made some resolve, comes through.

“Onee-chan, I’m sorry——”

Wait, Maika-chan…… that voice is like a last apology at a this-life parting.

“——I didn’t know that dress was Onee-chan’s precious memory……”

Yachimata-san leans forward and speaks in a panicked voice.

“Maika! ———It’s fine, I’m not angry anymore! Don’t give up!!”

Beyond our line of sight——far-off Maika-chan’s teary smile looks toward Swallow-san.

“Onee-chan——I love you. Always, always……”

“Maika…… that’s the same for me! ———So survive!!”

The comm from Maika-chan cuts.

“Suu-san, save Maika——!!”

Maika-chan turns to face forward and quietly shuts her eyes.

“It’s okay, leave it to me!!”

Like hell I’ll let her die…… like hell I’ll let her die.

Like hell I’ll let her diiiiiie——!!

“I’ll maaaaake iiiiiit——!!”

The Grand Harpy aiming at Maika-chan opens something like a mouth.
——The inside is glowing.

Maika-chan’s body goes stiff as if trying to bear pain.

I rapid-fire 〈Multipurpose Vulcan〉.
Swallow-san’s speed rides it, and the rounds I fire get even faster.

They hit the Grand Harpy without fail.——But I can’t finish the Harpy.
The knocked-away Harpy is still aimed at Maika-chan.

“You’re persistent——disappear! ——Like I’ll let you kill that kid——!!”

I fly so as to graze the Grand Harpy.

With 〈Excitation Wings〉 I knock the sunflower-seed-like frame away from Maika-chan——I ram it to send it farther and mow it.

From the shock, Swallow-san rolls through space too.

Bad, at this rate I’ll black out.
I hurry and drop the throttle lever.
While controlling the frame, I ease the speed down.

I shake my head, cough, and breathe out, and exploding light is visible overhead.
On the telephoto footage too, a vanishing Grand Harpy was visible.
Because it’s space, the light stayed for a while.

To send oxygen to my head I take a deep breath, settle my breathing, and comm.

“M-Maika-chan,——go back to the carrier right now!”
“Eh, who——I’m save——? Ah,——y-yes!!”

Watching Maika-chan head for the carrier, I let out a breath.

❝Fast. Grand Harpy in two❞
❝Glad Maika-chan made it❞
❝Did Waro’s color change for a second?❞
❝What’s a title?❞
❝Skill holders are already few, title holders even fewer. The other 〈Insanity〉 Death Road clearer apparently got 〖Legend〗 too. It special-izes a Versus Frame or something❞
❝Reward for clearing 〈Insanity〉 Death Road, huh❞
❝But the other one was in a special model to begin with, right? ——Pointless then❞
❝Even so that was an outrageous speed, to graze a tiny small craft at that speed is divine work……❞

The drill drones are talking too.

“Is our Mother really human?”
“I’ve been doubting it since I woke up.”

From beyond the back of my head, a sniffing voice comes.

“———Maika…… Maika……! ……Thank goodness!! ———Suu-san, thank you…… thank you so much———”

I look back at Yachimata-san.

“Are you okay!? Camera person! ——Sorry, I flew in an outrageous way! The G——is your body all right!?”

Yachimata-san stands and comes to hug me.

“———More than that, thank you for saving my sister! G is no problem!”
“I-I see, good, sorry. After saving Maika-chan, if something happened to Yachimata-san…… I…… good.”
“No! Please don’t apologize!! More than that, thank you so much for saving Maika……!!”
“……Yeah. I’m really glad Yachimata-san’s sister made it.”

Yachimata-san looks up like she remembered something.

“Ah!——From behind, the Grand Harpy we knocked away and dodged is coming!”

When I look too, a Grand Harpy closing on us.

“——Crap!”

I hurriedly resume decoy duty.
Several hours later, we finished holding off the Grand Harpy threat.

“By clearing Wandering Event ‘The Great Queen’ and destroying the Grand Harpy mothership and 3,000 child units. 200,000 Galactic credits and 400,000 merit points obtained.”

And so I was able to save Maika-chan.

While Pollux the drill drone goes “Mama” and rubs—or rather grinds—on Swallowtail, we get called to carrier Last Answer and land.

After that Yachimata-san and I are called to a place that’s Last Answer’s briefing room and movie theater.
And then we get somehow apologized to.

“It wasn’t Alice-san, the other person saved us!”
“T-that there was someone stronger than Onee-chan……”

At the man bowing his head, and Maika-chan clinging to me, Yachimata-san gets a little angry.

“That’s why I said Suu-san was the one saving you, any number of times!”

I hurriedly soothe Yachimata-san.

“It’s fine! Everyone, please don’t worry! Yachi——camera person, what if you fight with Maika-chan again.”

Yachimata-san hurriedly covers her mouth.
The players who’d had the wrong idea and Maika-chan come bowing and scraping.
Especially the captain, who seems to be a salesman in real life, is bowing with such a splendid posture you can even see an aura.

“Suu-san, thank you so much! Sorry for the misunderstanding!”

Anyway I have to get them to lift their faces.

“Having someone teacher-age bow to me is painful! M-more than that, the inside of the carrier is amazing.”

I tried to change the flow of the conversation.
But actually, the inside of carrier Last Answer is amazing.
This movie theater too, and not just a lot of living space, there’s even a recreation space.
There’s even a cafeteria.

When I watch movies in Swallow-san I do it in VR, though.

Can I have a carrier someday too?

The captain lifts his head and laughs.

“We took everyone’s opinions.”

Good, the flow changed.
But there’s one more problem.

Maika-chan, who’s clinging to me.

When I look at Maika-chan with a troubled face, Maika-chan was looking at my face like she was examining it.
Eh, is something weird…… did I put the fukuwarai parts in the wrong places?

“Hey, Suu-oneechan…… Onee-chan’s phone——”

When Maika-chan starts to say something, Yachimata-san covers Maika-chan’s mouth.

“Mmgh.”
“Shhh!!”

When Yachimata-san takes her hand off struggling Maika-chan, Maika-chan nods while looking at my eyes.

“……No mistake after all.”

Eh, what…… apparently the part placement isn’t wrong, though.

Maika-chan, who went, buried her face in my chest.

“Suu-oneechan…… I was really scared, thank you……”

No, sorry, no problem.
Having a younger girl cling to me is warm, it makes my heart squeeze. I want to live here.
And she’s Yachimata-san’s sister.

Her looks, is she half? ——A beauty you get by adding cute and beautiful and not dividing.

Anyone whose blood doesn’t go red when a kid like this clings to them surely doesn’t have red blood.

“Was heaven here?”

❝Don’t ascend❞
❝What are you thinking, Waro lmao❞

Yachimata-san gently pulls Maika-chan off me and puts distance. I’m teary.
Well, more than that, I have to ask Maika-chan.

“Did the merit points come in?”
“Yeah! From clearing this Wandering Event I got 100,000 Galactic credits and 100,000 merit points!”
“Good. If anything happens again, tell me?”
“Is that okay!? Th-thank you so much——! I was wondering if I should quit being a player. If Suu-oneechan says that, I think I can keep going.”
“Ah…… but don’t do anything too dangerous, okay.”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful about safety!”
“And you made up with Alice-san too, right.”
“……Yeah.”

Maika-chan turns to Yachimata-san.

“Sorry, Onee-chan.”

Yachimata-san shakes her head.

“As long as Maika is safe.”

Maika-chan hugs Yachimata-san.

Really, thank goodness.——Sisters, huh.

After this I obtained a middle-school girl’s chat-app ID.