Several days had passed since then.
My duties as a Major had finally reached a stopping point.
We had launched the coordinate satellites, and our food and supply levels were looking good. The Shaping Printer could churn out materials just by pulverizing random space rocks, and since we had things like Zork shells to work with, material shortages weren't an issue. We had enough energy to last two or three years. In a pinch, we could just cozy up to a fixed star and soak up the heat and light to recharge, though I’d heard the power generation efficiency was pretty poor.
If we diverted our raw materials into energy production, we’d have enough to last for years. The waste treatment facility and sewage treatment facility were both operating without a hitch. The organic fertilizer facility was doing fine, too. The vegetable plant, which ran on the fertilizer produced by said facility, was operating smoothly.
Since this was a state-of-the-art giant warship—not some old trainee vessel—there was no need for us to manually clean the processing facilities. We could keep fighting for years if we had to. With a ship this big, you didn't have to worry about the little things. It wasn't like we were drifting through space with nothing but mouthwash left.
A cutting-edge ship stocked with abundant supplies provides a certain sense of mental leeway. We had massive amounts of frozen food and instant meals. No matter how much we ate, it wouldn't be a problem.
It was a victory—a complete and total victory.
Hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!
"Instant food is banned."
"Say what!?"
Kevin, acting as our server, dropped the bombshell. Ancient proverbs basically say that food that’s bad for your health is the definition of justice, and yet...
"W-Why!?"
"Overproduction at the cultivation facility. Here, eat your potatoes and vegetables."
And just like that, I was staring at a mountain of greens. It wasn't just a side salad; it was a vegetable-only feast. There was even a massive pile of young corn thinned out from the cornfields. Actually, young corn goes surprisingly well in vegetable curry...
"P-Princess, are you able to eat vegetables!?"
"I have no particular dislikes, sir."
"How... how noble..."
The Old Man Steward began to sob as he watched One-oh-one dig into a large serving of vegetable curry. I decided to pretend I didn't see that.
Compared to her, however...
"One-oh-one, do you want some eggplant?"
"I would be most grateful, Tatiana, sir!"
"How about some baby corn?"
"I would be most grateful, Tatiana, sir!"
"Eat your green peas..."
"Tatiana-chan, no being picky."
Zugogogogogogogogo.
Nina-san radiated an intense, crushing aura.
"Hyah! Vegetables are great, ssu! Big Sister Nina!!!"
Tatiana scrambled to shovel the vegetables into her mouth. She really did hate her greens, didn't she? Back in the colonies, Kevin’s district was close to the capital, so the culture of eating fresh produce hadn't died out. But out where Tatiana lived, the culture of home cooking was completely dead; most people grew up on nothing but frozen food, instant meals, and portable rations. As a result, they grew up with the palate of a child.
Tatiana had started with learning how to use chopsticks, and now she was in the middle of her battle against vegetables. It wasn't that she couldn't eat them, mind you—it was just a prejudice. She didn't have the habit of eating them.
That said, Tatiana would eat potatoes. She loved steamed potatoes with a slab of butter on top. Potatoes are absolute justice.
Meanwhile, Wifey was eating elegantly in the seat across from me. Claire, Melissa, and Ren were all eating neatly as well. Ren, a confirmed meat-lover, was currently enduring the vegetable lifestyle for the sake of Tatiana’s education. I quietly slipped a fish sausage from my personal stash to her under the table.
"Here, a bribe."
"Lord Groom... I love you..."
I was glad I’d stocked up. Still, if this vegetable-only life continued, it was going to tank morale. I didn't hate vegetables, but eating them for every meal gets old fast. Of course, being from a planet of nothing but farmers, I had no problem. Bring on the veggies!
Oh, dessert was strawberries. We’d been seeing a lot of those lately. I wondered if the stock was okay.
Come to think of it... wasn't Wifey being a bit quiet?
"The Groom Problem has..."
When we returned to our room, Wifey locked the door behind us. She looked dead serious.
"What happened?"
"Come to the lower levels. Claire and Kevin will accompany us."
This was ominous. She guided me down to the production facilities on the lower levels of the battleship. I saw stacks and stacks of strawberry boxes. That seemed fine, didn't it?
"Leo... don't be shocked,"
Claire looked just as grave. We approached the hydroponic cultivation facility. I figured everything was fine until I stepped inside and the abnormality became blindingly obvious.
"Why is it nothing but strawberries?"
Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries!
I wasn't joking—an overflowing sea of red occupied the entire sector. Since they could be grown similarly to vegetables, strawberries were a staple of battleship cultivation. But having a whole hydroponic sector taken over by them was insane. Besides, didn't strawberries take something like two hundred days to harvest?
"I didn't know they grew like this..."
"They aren't supposed to."
"Leo, it hasn't been two hundred days."
"Excuse me?"
"Lord Groom, it's a new variety specialized for battleship cultivation... but it's gone too far."
"I see... well, we can just freeze them. They’re still good frozen, right?"
"Leo... listen. We’ve already filled the freezers. This disaster happened in just three days. We even put them in today's curry, and the pile didn't get any smaller..."
They were in the curry!?
"Why didn't you stop production halfway through?"
"They grew too fast! By the time we could react, they were already finished!"
"For now, can't we just incinerate this sector?"
"The regulations forbid it! Since we're technically 'stranded,' the emergency manual has a clause that strictly prohibits disposing of food or seedlings. Apparently, there were several accidents in the past where crews starved to death after throwing away food they thought they didn't need."
"Then just change the rules."
"That would take months to get through parliament."
She wasn't a dictator, so things were never simple.
"What about brewing alcohol?"
"We're already doing that."
"...Wait. So you're saying we have to eat them?"
"That is exactly what I am saying."
A Strawberry Crisis!
"E-Every meal?"
"Yes. Every meal."
"For how long?"
"We estimate several months. It'll be shorter if we’re rescued, but..."
"Uh, have you told Kevin and Nina-san yet?"
"We planned to tell you, the Lord Groom, first."
What a nightmare. It wasn't a food crisis by any stretch, but the Space Marines' No-Leftovers Rule had created a monster. Strawberries... was it going to be strawberry jam every single day?
"Just assume that there will be strawberries in everything from now on."
I wouldn't be surprised if they started pickling them. And so, dark clouds began to loom over our voyage for the most ridiculous of reasons.
I have received the Silver Award in the "10th Overlap Web Novel Award."
The series will be published in book format!
Thank you all for your support!!!