Wifey sent me a message.
[Wuss]
Give me a break!
How was I supposed to say stuff like "I love you, baby" when I barely even realized it myself?!
If I actually said that, it’d come off as nothing but a bad joke!
[I am in favor of Claire joining the harem.]
Seriously!
It was too much trouble, so I decided to just stop responding.
"I have good news for the wuss Leo-kun."
Even the Fairy was getting aggressive.
The girls were being so harsh with me.
Pien!
"So, what is it?"
"A lifeform tripped the infrared sensors. This is a 3D model the AI generated from the infrared camera footage."
"I see."
It looked like a bear with a face of pure malice.
Its mouth was abnormally large.
Its face sat somewhere between a wolf and a bear.
Its hands were massive.
Rather than a bear, it looked like a beast-type monster.
Wait, it looked completely different from the one I killed before!
Following the usual clich) for these things, it noticed the camera and broke—huh?
"Can it see infrared?"
"It might be the smell. The autopsy results apparently didn't clarify that point."
Well, there was no way they'd figure it out that quickly.
We’d be lucky to have a decent guess by the end of the year.
After all, even the Zork's exoskeleton hadn't been fully deciphered yet.
"What about the traps?"
The base and the police had set traps, but I wondered what had become of them.
And these weren't just any traps; they weren't intended for capture at all.
They were the kind of landmines used against tanks and humanoid fighters.
Apparently, they'd also deployed sensor bombs.
It was clear evidence that they were willing to burn down the entire forest if necessary.
"It looks like it didn't trip any of them."
"It's smart."
It really did seem like it could see infrared.
I figured its visible light spectrum was likely broader than a human's.
"The base commander proposed a napalm strike on the forest, but the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Environment are fighting it tooth and nail."
"Why?"
"Apparently, there are uninvestigated Imperial Family's historical sites there. The Ministry of the Environment is basically screaming, 'Don't destroy nature any more!'"
"Maybe Wifey’s Colony Drop left a bad taste in their mouths..."
Half the cities on the Imperial Capital Planet had been obliterated by that move.
Since the evacuation had been completed, human casualties were low.
It was estimated that most of the victims had been killed by the Zork earlier.
Fortunately, the soil components kicked into the atmosphere were removed by drones.
We managed to avoid an ice age caused by the lack of sunlight.
Still, the rest of the damage was no laughing matter.
Historical sites and the natural environment had simply vanished.
Restoring the nature we'd destroyed was a century-long project that would require the labor of hundreds of millions.
I doubted I'd see it restored in my lifetime.
Using that weapon had been a necessity, but it would be hard to justify doing it again.
The next time would be when we were ready to abandon the Imperial Capital Planet entirely.
The government agencies would naturally object to further destruction of historical sites or the environment.
As long as there were no human casualties yet, they had the moral high ground.
Napalm bombing likely wouldn't be authorized.
Which meant we had no choice but to take it down ourselves.
"Oh, Claire-chan is back."
"Roger."
We all went out to greet her.
Claire was in good spirits.
The diagnosis was a nasty bump and a case of ESP overexertion.
Since she'd hit her head, she'd been kept for overnight observation.
When we reached the entrance, Claire stepped out of a military vehicle.
It seemed Prince Thomas's Personal Guard had finally hit their limit with the base's pathetic civilian vehicles.
"Sorry for making you all worry!"
"Don't sweat it. Nearly dying is practically your signature move."
"Hey, Captain. Go on! Get over there, you ladies' man!"
I moved forward, spurred on by the boys kicking me in the rear.
"Welcome back."
"Yeah... thank you."
It was a little embarrassing.
"Want me to carry your bags?"
"It's just clothes."
Since this was a military facility, she couldn't exactly wear civilian clothes.
She was in uniform.
The original one had been covered in blood and cut open by the medics, so it was discarded.
The one Claire was wearing now was brand new.
Mine got trashed so often that I had plenty of new ones too.
We were comrades in that, at least.
Claire was carrying an Imperial Officer Academy sports bag.
Since the contents were likely underwear, I refrained from offering to take it.
We escorted Claire back to the communal sleeping room, and that was that.
The girls had partitioned off their personal spaces with curtains.
They were geniuses!
The guys, meanwhile, were sticking to a No-Guard Strategy.
"See ya~"
I parted ways with them there and headed for the dining hall.
I had to write my report.
Second Lieutenant Claire discharged from hospital.
Everyone was officially treated as a Second Lieutenant in the system now.
Reporter: Captain Leo Kamishiro.
Yeah, yeah. Might as well apply for the injury compensation while I was at it.
Secret Technique: Same-Format Submission to the Mutual Aid Association!
Alright, that was the end of the paperwork immediately in front of me.
Just as I finished submitting the reports, Melissa and Ren showed up.
"Hey! Captain! Did you hear? Claire was apparently running the simulator the Fairy made the whole time!"
"Heh."
"I want it too! Give it!"
"Fairy, Melissa wants in."
"That's fine. However, this is ace pilot grade from five hundred years ago, so it's extremely draining."
"Oooooh! I love that kind of stuff!"
"Do you want it too, Ren?"
Ren wasn't a pilot, but just in case.
Besides, Ren should have a humanoid fighter license too.
"Is there a version for snipers?"
"There is. Here."
"Thank you very much."
"Wait, what the hell is this?!"
Melissa let out a scream.
Ah, she'd launched it through Augmented Reality.
"I'm suddenly surrounded! W-Whoa! I'm getting pummeled without being able to do a thing!"
"Of course you are. It's the Response Speed Training Program."
"Wait, this isn't humanly possible!"
"The ace class from five hundred years ago could handle it."
"Fairy, can you build this with physical devices?"
"I can, but... they'll be expensive."
"I'll ask Wifey. 'I want the simulator from five hundred years ago. Please!'... and sent."
"You're going to get seriously punched by Veronica-chan one of these days."
But Wifey understood. That was the thing.
[If it's necessary for training, fine. Don't worry about the budget.]
So she said.
"Then, should I build five units?"
"Maybe three is enough? We're short on space."
We could just put them in an empty room.
Even so, three units was probably the limit.
"Okay. Ordering three units... they'll arrive tomorrow."
"Thanks."
At the time, we just saw it as something to do when we were bored.
After all, the Zork appeared, but they didn't attack every single night.
So, we figured we might as well train while we were stuck here.
We thought that if it was something that couldn't be cleared easily—something at an "impossible game" level—it would be a great way to kill time.
We would later learn that we couldn't have been more wrong.