Well now, I decided to keep my eyes averted from the heartwarming extinction of humanity for the moment.
Right now, I was on my way to offer some sweets I'd made to Zashiki-warashi...
"Kinako-chan?"
"What?"
Riding on Kinako-chan's back were Zashiki-warashi and Amada's daughter.
It looked like they had come to play again.
Apparently, they were arriving via the Zork network.
I say "apparently" because I didn't actually understand a single thing about how it worked.
It seemed they had repaired the Zork network of the Female Zork Spies like Kevin—which was supposed to have been disconnected—and were projecting a sort of consciousness-body through it. Again, I was completely in the dark on the mechanics.
Kevin and the others' network was supposed to be cut off, so was it really okay to just fix it?
...It seemed that since One-O-One was the Zork Mother now, there wasn't a problem.
Ever since One-O-One became the Zork Mother, the system had shifted away from being a centralized, dominant network. Instead, it had seemingly changed into a decentralized, spiderweb-like structure where each Zork functioned on an independent network.
One-O-One held the final authority, but she didn't seem to exercise it for the sake of control.
The Zorks currently active, mainly the Female Zork Spies, didn't even use the network.
They had no need for it.
The person who had come along using that idle network was Amada's daughter.
Her name was Mio-chan.
Initially, that idiot couple tried to give her one of those "sparkly names." They wanted to name her "Doremi-chan"!
They were talked out of it by the collective consensus of the House Amada family (minus the idiots), the Inner Palace's "Okan" squad, Wifey, my military academy classmates and their families, and Mio-chan herself.
In the end, Wifey consulted with the gaming priest and the Shrine.
While she was at it discussing ESP, she had them provide some name suggestions.
Wifey chose the name as the godmother, completely shutting down the idiot couple's "But, but, but...♪" whining.
Don't go putting a burden on my pregnant Wifey, you morons!
Mio-chan herself looked relieved.
It seemed "Doremi-chan" was the one thing she wanted to avoid at all costs.
"Father-in-law."
"You can just call me 'big brother'..."
"I'm Mio. I'm so glad it wasn't Doremi-chan..."
"Ah, yeah. You'll be fine since you have a Wet Nurse—or rather, a monitor—with you."
It wasn't that she particularly wanted someone else's breast milk.
Formula could serve as a perfect substitute.
In Mio-chan's case, she just wanted an environment where she could be raised properly.
Indeed... her parents weren't just idiots who tried to give her a sparkly name; they were the kind of fools who would teach their newborn daughter how to hack into the Zork network the moment she was born.
She was someone who possessed a certain amount of common sense.
If Mio-chan ever turned into a delinquent, all of humanity would be in deep trouble.
That was why, rather than just finding a lactating woman, we prioritized trustworthy people and political power balance.
I didn't want too much information leaking out, either.
We were intentionally releasing info about ESPers and Zork Hybrids, but we were desperately trying to keep it a secret that she was a powerful ESPer on a level that could potentially wipe out humanity if she felt like it.
In that regard, Saijo-kun's Older Sister, Reika-san, was trustworthy.
As for my old hag, she was working with great enthusiasm.
Since she was originally a yokai-adjacent creature who had run House Kamishiro, her administrative processing abilities were top-notch.
I had my doubts about her practical childcare skills, but once she was put in a position of authority, oh, what a wonder.
She was working like a machine.
"I'm sorry about my old hag," I muttered.
"Grandma is kind," Mio-chan replied.
Kind?
That demon hag?
That demon hag?
The same demon hag who would hunt you down to the ends of the universe if you did something wrong?
My head was spinning.
Kinako patted me on the head.
"O-Oh, right. You're telling me not to worry."
I'd stop thinking about it.
Zashiki-warashi was here, too.
Having them come over to play once in a while was fine.
"Whatever happens, happens~♪"
As I was spinning around while waving a nice-looking branch I'd picked up nearby, Saijo-kun and the others arrived.
The Imperial Guard Knights must have reported my strange behavior.
"Ojitan!"
For some reason, Mio-chan was really attached to him.
To Saijo-kun.
I guess pretty boys really are strong.
Us people of muscle are so pathetic...
"There, there, Mio-chan."
"You know, you know, Reika-chan said..."
"Mio-chan went back home after she was satisfied with our chat."
"...Saijo-kun. The fate of humanity rests upon your shoulders."
"Your Majesty... I'm seriously going to punch you."
Hahaha!
I had no choice but to laugh.
I handed the sweets to Zashiki-warashi and prepared to head back.
"Thank you."
Yeah, I felt like things would be okay.
Zashiki-warashi was here, after all.
"Naaan~♪"
Kinako was here, too.
Here, have some jelly.
"Naaan~♪"
Now then, had things been going smoothly so far?
Probably.
And in the midst of all this, the completion and testing of Unit 03 and Unit 04—which I had completely forgotten about—began.
From Unit 03 onward, the unstable control system had been revamped.
We had Momo-chan and Kinako talk to each other, had One-O-One translate it, and built a control system out of those nonsensical hearsay conversations.
I went into it with the mindset that it was okay even if it failed.
Therefore, the test was conducted with an unmanned unit.
This time, the goal was just "as long as it moves, it's fine."
As for the ship, the control software couldn't be finished, so that was pushed to a later date.
There was a proposal to build Himorogi-chan into it, but we put that on hold for now after what happened last time.
We wouldn't know until we tried controlling just the main body.
For Zashiki-warashi, we stayed with just the traditional Shrine inside the ship.
Since we couldn't even measure her power in the first place, I thought shelving the idea was the right call.
Decisions are always difficult.
The rest was dumped onto Kyoko and the engineers.
I don't understand this stuff at all!
At the same time, I had Berger-san decode the technology from the ruins.
I had Kyoko decode it from the technical side.
I have an Advanced Combat Engineer Qualification, but once it gets to this level, I'm lost.
The units that the engineers had worked on through hellish all-nighters were loaded onto the battleship.
The engineers didn't have the faces of people subjected to black company labor.
It was pure bliss.
Their faces were filled with the happiness of having reconstructed ancient technology.
I mean, even though I told them not to work overtime, they went ahead and worked through the night anyway.
While drinking energy drinks, Berger-san and Kachiya gave me an explanation.
Both of them had bloodshot eyes. Please, get some rest. I'm begging you.
"Trying to modify existing technology was a mistake."
"Well, I suppose so."
I knew that much.
At the point where the power of Himorogi-chan and Zashiki-warashi was providing so much feedback, it was obvious there was a problem with the control system.
"It is correct to incorporate the World Tree. And for the spirit, to borrow the power of the divine beast Fenrir."
"Wait, some crazy info just got mixed in there like it was nothing. My Pome is Fenrir!?"
Momo-chan was chewing on some jerky between the legs of Helga, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
...Fenrir?
"Woof!"
She confirmed it. Apparently, she was Fenrir.
But she's a Pome, right?
Shouldn't she have a bit more of a "wolf" feel?
She's supposed to be the wolf that swallows the world!
My Momo-chan won't even eat her treats unless I cut them into tiny pieces!