The crew members catching their first glimpse of Aoi averted their eyes from the gruesome sight.
The veterans were already jaded; they knew about the Fairy’s true body and the situation with Wifey, so they were philosophical about it, thinking, “Humanity really is hopeless.” For the newcomers, however, it was a lot to take in.
Basically, anything beyond my immediate line of sight was a hellish landscape.
I wasn’t joking. I was being dead serious.
Keeping someone alive as nothing but a brain was truly, fundamentally atrocious.
Wifey and the girls from the Officer Academy were the compassionate ones.
They took the lead in the operation to move her to the ship.
They exercised the utmost caution, knowing that even the slightest mishap could result in her death.
The boys were putting in a solid effort as well.
That said, the ones truly giving it their all—regardless of gender—were the graduate students and researchers.
Survival in a state where one's brain merely floated in a tank.
Technically, it was possible, but ethically, it was completely out of bounds.
Consequently, very few people had ever seen the real thing.
They kept telling themselves, “It’s for our new ally!” but they couldn’t quite hide the gleam of academic curiosity in their eyes.
Well, whatever.
It made me realize that Maro, who had pulled off one ethically bankrupt stunt after another, really had a lot of nerve. If he hadn’t been a foolish puppet for the Duke Association, a full-blown Imperial Throne Usurpation RTA would have likely begun right then and there.
We transported Aoi's main body onto the ship and settled her into a room.
We secured the container to ensure it wouldn't shift.
Then we wired the power unit.
An uninterruptible power supply was installed as a backup.
Despite her condition, it seemed Aoi could connect to the Zork Network in a read-only capacity.
What’s more, she claimed she wouldn't be detected by the Zork Mother.
That’s a win.
I smirked to myself.
Still… this room… wasn’t it a bit too cute?
Lace frills, pink-and-white fluff, and a sea of plushies; it was an adorable space.
The vibe of a teenage girl's ideal bedroom was overwhelming.
This was the result of the Officer Academy girls going absolutely all out.
“The moment you crack a joke, you’re dead. Don’t say a word! Got it?!”
The boys, myself included, exchanged silent, meaningful glances.
Incidentally, in this specific moment, Kevin was not being treated as one of the guys.
After all, he’d been at the very front of the girls' group, leading the charge on the interior decorating.
“Well, we’ll leave you to it.”
【Thank you very much♪】
We exited the room.
Judging by the tone of her voice, it seemed Aoi was genuinely happy.
As long as she was pleased, that was all that mattered.
I mean, even among women, there’s a significant faction of minimalists who don't want a single object in their space, rather than those who want everything to be cute.
Then you had the athletic types, like Melissa.
Her room was home to a punching bag and dumbbells.
Visiting her was a health hazard; you were liable to smash your foot against a weight at any moment.
It seemed Aoi was firmly in the 'cute room' camp.
Yeah, I’m glad!
For the record, the Fairy's virtual room was an otaku’s paradise.
A complete victory for manga, games, and anime.
Claire's room back at the Kamishiro Main House was a serious study space.
But if you looked closely, pro-wrestler autographs were tucked in among her specialized texts and study guides, and a paper edition of the Pro-wrestler Yearbook sat on her shelf.
Furthermore, the Shinto altar mounted on her wall held a talisman from the Pro-wrestling Shrine in the Imperial Capital.
When I’d asked her, “Do you like pro-wrestling?”
“Don’t ask,” had been her only reply.
Apparently, she’d made a reconstruction donation out of her own salary, and a letter of appreciation along with autographs from the shrine and a famous wrestler had arrived, so she’d put them on display.
She definitely liked pro-wrestling.
Ren's room and Kevin's were both cute.
Ren had a high-spec electronic piano in hers.
Her bookshelves were packed with musical scores.
That was the sort of thing that reminded me she was a young lady of a Ducal House.
Wifey’s room was the typical lady-in-waiting-attended suite people usually imagined… though most of her personal stuff was actually in my room.
As for Tatiana and One-oh-one, they were currently in the middle of having tidiness drilled into them through communal living, so I’ll refrain from commenting on their situation.
Private rooms are still too early for you two! (Besides, whenever they’re bored, they just loiter in my or Kevin's room anyway.)
And now, for something vital—I want to address something I’ve been avoiding until now.
In the early stages of the original story, Kaori Sudo, one of the heroines, discovers Edge after his home is destroyed, leading to his enlistment in the Imperial Army.
Then, during the tutorial mission—the Planet Defense Operation—the army is wiped out.
The choices after that are left to the player.
You could become a civilian merchant.
You could become a revolutionary and dismantle the Empire.
You could even aim to become the Emperor.
And, of course, you could follow the canon path: joining a military special forces unit to assassinate the Zork Mother.
Yes, in the original work, the Imperial Army is annihilated and the Empire itself falls.
Because the military is powerless, the assassination of the Zork Mother becomes humanity's final hope.
It’s the classic Hero Theory of a lone protagonist going to slay the Demon King.
But what about the present, now that destiny has been altered?
I—the strongest Jester—along with the Officer Academy bunch, who turned out to be a goldmine of talent, weren't successfully purged at the start. The game’s rules had shifted from an RPG to an SLG, and we, being unnaturally strong under those specific rules, were currently pushing back the tide.
From the Zorks' perspective, they must be screaming, “Wh-why?!”
In an RPG world, I was a support class swinging a sword on the front lines—a bizarre creature with vague, incomprehensible effects. But once the rules changed to an SLG, I became a broken unit that strengthened tens of thousands of soldiers just by existing.
It’s like a person with a hardcore science background who somehow ends up working in administration.
…The Massacre Night-chan, Red Hare Theory.
And the biggest deviation from the original was likely the fact that a version of me had been developed on the Zork side.
In the original work, I’d probably be treated as mere trash under RPG rules.
At best, I might be handled like a rare monster worth a lot of experience for late-game leveling… That’s not even funny!
That’s the kind of treatment a Jester gets.
I’d likely be an easy mark to hunt if pitted against a high-firepower Edge.
If the enemy is going to force SLG rules on us, then I’ll force RPG rules on them.
If they go RPG, we go SLG.
I’ve always liked how sticking to this strategist mindset leads to victory, much like in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Anyway, while we were eating in the dining hall, the issue of Aoi’s naked avatar appearing via hallucinations became a topic of debate.
This protein-enhanced tofu hamburg is delicious.
“Is being naked a problem?”
An inquiry via telepathy arrived from Aoi.
“We’ve got a lot of teenage guys here, so it’s a no-go.”
“Then please suggest a clothing design.”
The moment I imagined a string bikini, Claire put me in a Dragon Sleeper from behind.
“Don’t you dare misbehave.”
“Yes… Ma’am…”
In the end, it was decided that the Fairy would send over the necessary data.
And so, a beautiful woman whose wardrobe changed daily was born.
…Claire, please let me go now. I’m tapping out.