I Reincarnated as the Captain of a Battleship in a Robot Anime, but at This Rate, I’m Going to Be Assassinated – Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Now, for some peace, time to mourn the dead, rest, anyway, we’ve been working too hard
  The battle had ended. With that, the Mirandora could enter the fortress base without question. And with great fanfare. After all, they had gone from attackers to lifesavers.
  Of course, if anyone pointed out that this wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t attacked in the first place, they would be absolutely right. But whatever the outcome, they had been able to expose the discord within the Earth forces.
  However, more than that, Shougo was frustrated that they had let Phoenix escape.
  
  ‘It p*sses me off that we let that geezer, who’s probably one of the masterminds, escape, and that it seems like we’re dancing in the palm of his hand!’
  
  This was Shougo’s inner thought.
  They entered the dock and it was the first time they had been outside the ship in dozens of hours. It didn’t matter that it was an artificially created fortress. It was just that the constant sitting had been tough on his body, and come to think of it, it had been a continuous series of battles.
  They had had some rest, but it had been under constant tension and it was hard to say they had been able to fully relax.
  
  “You did well, Captain Janet.”
  
  Janet, accompanied by her escort subordinates, came up to greet them.
  When Shougo appeared, she gave him a perfunctory salute. He returned it.
  Come to think of it, this might be the first time he had seen her in person.
  
  “I’m continuing to persuade the remaining soldiers. Not a few suspect that this incident was staged.”
  
  Shougo muttered, “I guess so,” at Janet’s words.
  But there’s such a thing as peer pressure. Now, most of the soldiers in the fortress believed Shougo and his crew. It might still be fragile, but it was enough of a foothold.
  
  “There are a lot of things I want to talk about, things I want to discuss, but…… my crew is tired. I want you to let them rest. It’s been a continuous string of tension and battles…… They’ve been putting up with my whims……”
  “I’ll guarantee your safety. At least within this base…… As for rooms, well, this is a military facility, so there aren’t any decent rooms, but in terms of quality, there’s the commander’s room.”
  “Anywhere is fine. And I’d like you to repair the ship and the Teurugia. Also……”
  
  Shougo glanced at the Trismegistus being carried out of the Mirandora’s hatch.
  The machine, being carried by two Rabi Reivus, looked like a tattered wreck, a far cry from its initial beauty.
  However, even in that state, it was said that it was undergoing self-repair by nanomachines. If the self-repair function of the nanomachines accelerated like a living organism, the Trismegistus could apparently recover from that state in a month or two.
  That was the theory, anyway. There was talk that the nanomachines installed in that machine had no capabilities beyond maintenance assistance…… but it was also unclear how true that was.
  
  “It’s a pain in the a*s, but I want to prioritize the repair of that thing. We have the repair data. That d*mn monkey is keeping his mouth shut about the important confidential parts……”
  
  By the end, he was too tired to maintain his tone.
  
  “Replenishing weapons and ammunition, food for the children, and……”
  “Um, are you alright? There are bathing facilities in this base, and it might be better if you rested……”
  
  Hearing that, Shougo reacted with a twitch.
  
  “Bath?”
  “Yes, well. It’s for the relaxation of the unit members. We’ll prepare it for you, but?”
  “Please do.”
  
  Shougo was a bit eager.
  If anything, the other subordinates who accompanied him were of the same mind.
  
  “We’ve only had showers for dozens of hours, and some of the pilots haven’t even had that. I feel like mourning, but I can’t change that.”
  
  Shougo unconsciously took Janet’s hand.
  
  “Captain Janet. Thank you. I’m very happy that you’ve become our ally. Thank you very much.”
  “Uh, yes, you’re welcome?”
  
  Janet was a little taken aback by Shougo’s eagerness.
  At the same time, she became even more confused about the man in front of her. In her mind, he was a man whose thoughts were unreadable.
  But now, he just looked like a tired salaryman.
  He looked like a pathetic man who wanted to forget his troubles by sleeping.
  He was still a man she couldn’t understand, but the eeriness had faded.
  
  “Tell the whole crew. Captain Janet is going to prepare a bath for us. Those who have free time can go ahead and do whatever they want, take a bath or sleep. But no alcohol. Not yet. Alright?”
  
  Because it was Shougo who made the announcement, a cheer that shook the ship echoed from the Mirandora.
  It had been dozens of hours since they left Byblos.
  They could finally get some real rest.
  There were actually more things they needed to do, but they wanted to prioritize their own desires for now.
  They had been sailing under that much tension, after all.
  And the battle would continue.
  So they deserved a rest.
  
✼✼✼
  
  I think it’s a good thing to be able to take a bath and feel at ease.
  Whether this was an anime world or a super futuristic world, this sensation held an irresistible appeal for humans.
  However, this was a military facility, a fortress base. Even if there was a large communal bath, it was inorganic and lacked any elegance. But on the flip side, it meant that a military facility had such amenities.
  I heard they even had a fitness center, but Shougo wasn’t very interested.
  He just wanted to soak in the hot water. That was all.
  
  “Everyone is happy. Especially the female officers, they were excited for the first time in a while.”
  
  Mark, sitting next to him, said as he submerged his massive frame in the hot water and exhaled.
  The sight of men lined up in the bathtub was not something you would expect to see in a futuristic world that had advanced into space.
  Shougo was in the middle, flanked by Mark and Kes, and then the rest of the Mirandora’s male crew lined up in order. Yuuki was next to Mark.
  
  “We’re taking over a fortress, it’s like an anime that we’ve come this far in just a few days from a single rebellion.”
  
  Mark laughed and slapped Yuuki on the back, who was shrinking back and looking reserved.
  
  “It’s all thanks to you and that super machine. I can’t believe you can operate such a weird thing.”
  “I, I was desperate. Besides, that guy is a handful. It’s a machine, but it’s secretive and doesn’t get motivated unless it’s cornered. And it’s also quite spoiled, or rather……”
  “It’s impossible to completely control such a cryptic thing in the first place. Even kids have times when they don’t listen to their parents. I was like that.”
  “It’s too unruly for a child.”
  
  Thoth, the subject of their conversation, refused to leave the Trismegistus, which was undergoing repairs, and seemed to be calculating something.
  It was unclear what it was thinking about right now, but everyone left it alone, thinking it was best not to provoke it unnecessarily.
  Or rather, Shougo forbade them from doing so. If they tried to stop it by force, it would teleport them somewhere, like it did with Percy-kun.
  Shougo had received a report from Lopes and the others that Percy-kun had been transferred to Dr. Phoenix. After that, Janet and the others captured him, and those two were taken to a different location.
  And the result was the eccentric Percy-kun they saw now.
  
  “But…… is it really alright to leave it alone?”
  
  Kes muttered worriedly.
  
  “It seems to be trying to build something, not just repairing the machine.”
  
  Apparently, Thoth was not only calculating but also occasionally outputting some kind of blueprint and attaching it to the fortress base’s computer. The blueprints were quite detailed, to the point that if you didn’t care about quality, you could just process them as they were.
  Moreover, this was a base facility. They had materials.
  
  “It might be dangerous to leave it unchecked, but it’s also true that we’re short on combat power.”
  
  If asked whether it was dangerous, Shougo would naturally answer that it was.
  However, they couldn’t afford to let go of that overpowered machine. In that case, it was safer to give it some direction and let it do what it wanted.
  
  “As you all know, that machine can even manipulate gravity. It did it once at the beginning, but for some reason it hasn’t been motivated to do it since then, but that monkey must have its reasons. And if we can expand our options with weapons and modifications, it will make it easier to fight.”
  “That’s true, but……”
  
  They had to compromise somewhere.
  
  “Kes-kun. Let’s not think about difficult things now and rest. To be honest, I feel like giving up on thinking about that monkey. I’m even starting to think that it’s better to let it do what it wants as long as it doesn’t get in our way. I don’t know what the result will be, but it seems to recognize us as allies for now. Otherwise, we would have been teleported to some other part of space by now.”
  
  In the end, it would come down to appeasing Thoth, but if they could do that, it would undoubtedly become a valuable asset.
  
  “Besides, things are going to get busy from here on out. We’re taking a bath now, but we don’t know when we’ll be able to do this again. After all, this incident is a major blunder for the military.”
  
  Losing a fortress to enemy forces would be a complete loss of face.
  They couldn’t rule out the possibility that they would come back to retake it in a frenzy. Of course, Shougo had no intention of fighting them head-on. Rather, he hoped that this would be a starting point for an uprising within the military.
  Thanks to Franny, they were gaining some justification for this, and the Anferu incident was a major weapon.
  It was by no means a wasted effort.
  
  “We can expect even fiercer attacks in the future. In that case, the more options we have, the better.”
  “That’s true……”
  
  In the end, even though they said they were going to rest in the bath, they ended up talking about work.
  
  “……By the way, kid. Which one of those girls are you going to make a move on?”
  “Huh, what?”
  
  Mark started teasing Yuuki, breaking the mood.
  Yuuki was so surprised that he almost sank into the bath.
  
  “Why are you suddenly changing the subject?!”
  “Because I’m tired of all the serious talk. I’d rather have a fun and cheerful conversation. And you were there. It’s only natural.”
  “That’s harassment!”
  “You idiot, there’s no such thing in the military. So, what’s the deal? Our dear Captain had a lady in his room.”
  
  This was a stray bullet.
  
  “Don’t say things that make me sound bad.”
  “No, that was the face of a man in love!”
  “With all due respect, I agree.”
  
  Kes unexpectedly backed up Mark.
  Well, that got the male crew all riled up. And in the end, Yuuki became the main target.
  
  “……Can’t you guys just take a bath in peace and quiet?”
  
  However, the atmosphere wasn’t bad at all.
  Once this was over, they would once again be facing life-threatening danger.
  They still had to mourn those who died in this battle.
  They needed time to mourn their deaths.
  But before that, they wanted to prioritize the living. That was Shougo’s way of coming to terms with things.