Discovering the enemy, Sagitta snorted.
“To think this is the place he fled to.”
Would he lose him?
Would he hide in the asteroid belt?
How much anxiety had he endured?
Thinking about it now, it was a needless worry.
“More importantly, what is this?”
Trash was undulating between the asteroids.
Thump!
A pair of underwear stained with yellow marks passed through the shield and struck the camera lens.
He felt extremely disgusted, as if he had been toyed with.
“His actions are petty until the very end.”
“It seems to be an attempt to obstruct our vision.”
The adjutant advised.
Sagitta knew this as well.
Occasionally, there were those who did such things during a chaotic battle.
The effect was negligible.
It was merely a final struggle.
“General. The enemies have taken their positions.”
“Looking at their formation, they intend to be a nuisance.”
The enemies had positioned themselves between narrow asteroids.
Because of this, surrounding them was impossible.
The direction of engagement was also unilaterally forced.
Even so, it didn’t particularly matter.
Whether looking at numbers or the quality of the ships, he held an overwhelming advantage.
“Why do those guys look like they’re making a desperate stand here?”
“Perhaps they are waiting for a great surge.”
Certain asteroid sectors occasionally fluctuate violently.
When that happens, ships are swept away as if caught in a rapid current.
Especially during combat, it could essentially be considered the end of the battle.
“Hmph! Not a chance. I have no intention of giving them time.”
He had already given up on capturing a functional ship.
He had wasted too much time.
He planned to sweep them away with a decisive strike and continue his assigned mission.
Although he had lost a few ships to the previous surprise attack, it wasn’t enough to hinder the mission.
Just in case, he had already ordered several scattered mobile fleets to return.
“Open a communication channel. Since he managed to surprise me, I should at least listen to his final words. If he surrenders, I’m willing to give him a clean death.”
*****
“Captain. A communication is coming in.”
“Connect it.”
Sagitta’s flushed face appeared on the screen.
He must be excited at the thought of getting his revenge.
[Milord. I’m disappointed you left before I could even serve you tea.]
“Ahem~ You’re as sluggish as you look. I thought my neck would snap from waiting so long.”
Was it because of the momentum of our past relationship?
Even though I wasn’t drunk, my old way of speaking came out.
This is why first impressions are so important.
To me, that guy will always be a mere smuggler.
[Hahaha! Seeing how you’re still acting so relaxed, your liver must have grown outside your body.]
The fellow wanted to end the roleplay, but there was no way I’d let him.
“Uh-huh! Calling this elder ‘that guy.’ A frivolous, spotty brat who is lower than a rat has lost his sense of manners for his position.”
[What?! Frivolous spotty brat?]
His face turned red.
If you get to know him, he’s actually a pitiful guy.
He was bullied as a child because of his appearance.
The nickname he earned back then was ‘Frivolous Spotty.’
[You bastard! You knew who I was from the start.]
“I recognized that filthy murderer’s face immediately. Seeing someone who should be in prison roaming around like this, I am truly worried about the future of our Empire. Did you wag that frivolous ass of yours diligently for the man who pulled you out of jail?”
That guy had committed murder after mistaking someone’s identity.
He thought the victim was the ringleader who bullied him as a child.
He couldn’t overcome his rage and killed the person brutally, only to find out it was the wrong person.
Eventually, when he fell into despair while locked in prison, Marshal Imperium appeared like a savior and got him out.
[How… How dare you! Who do you think you’re insulting? You must truly wish for death.]
He seemed incredibly angry.
He bared his fangs so much his gums were showing.
“Ah, ah. My apologies. I forgot for a moment who your master is.”
I smiled broadly while waving my left arm.
The part that should have been above the wrist was gone.
The Marshal Imperium that guy served was the adopted son of a eunuch.
That didn’t mean he was an actual eunuch, though.
Pfft!!!
I heard the sound of people around me stifling their laughter.
[I… I will chew you up and eat you alive.]
“My, my. Your way of speaking is just as frivolous as your face. Today, this elder will personally teach you what true weightiness is. Be sure to take notes diligently. All ships, open gun ports!”
I issued the command while the communication was still active.
“Fire all at once—!!”
At my command, Sagitta flinched.
“Captain! I’m sorry. A problem occurred during the energy charging process.”
The vice-captain answered cautiously.
[Puhahaha! You acted so high and mighty, yet you can’t even command a wing of five ships? What a pathetic individual.]
The guy was laughing so hard he even stood up from his seat.
“You’ll regret standing up while in command.”
[Hmph! If this is a trick to buy time, it’s useless. Open all weapons! Pulverize even the asteroids those bastards are hiding behind.]
I gave him a warning out of concern.
But he went ahead and did it anyway.
I said it out of concern, but the corners of my mouth curled up slightly.
Because all of this was an act.
Pobobobobong!
The enemy ships fired their weapons simultaneously.
However—
Whoooooosh—! Pop!
The lasers and beams aimed at us scattered in all directions.
The missiles also lost their speed and stopped.
[W-Wh… What?]
Sagitta wore a bewildered expression.
“How was this elder’s acting? If it weren’t for this era, I would have been a professional actor. Unlike someone, I have true weight.”
I dangled and waved my handless left arm again.
Sagitta’s face turned beet red.
“Now! Here comes the ‘weight’ I promised.”
[What nonsense are you…]
Creeeak—!
His fleet began to tilt and slide.
The other ships also started sliding in every direction like cars on an icy road.
It was an absolute mess.
Kwoooooong!
They collided with each other.
They moved rapidly back and forth.
They suddenly slammed into asteroids.
[Just… what on earth did you do?]
He wore a panicked expression.
Without a word, I showed my teeth and grinned.
[C-Could it be! The dung?]
It seemed he had finally noticed.
The trash I had scattered was fluttering about as if it had met a tornado.
The gravity of an asteroid would be contained within a single piece of fist-sized trash, or the gravity of a massive ship would vanish in an instant.
[Ugh!]
Inside the screen, Sagitta’s body floated into the air.
The ship’s gravity control device had completely lost its function.
“I advised you to wear your seatbelt while in command. Tsk, tsk.”
His body stopped floating and was slammed into the floor.
Objects around him flew about as if possessed by ghosts.
Then—
Thwack!!!
Something lodged itself into his left eye.
[Aaaaaargh! You bastard! I won’t forgive you.]
“Whether you forgive me or not is only possible if you stay alive, don’t you think?”
There was a high probability that the guy would die.
Bang!
One piece of trash flying through space couldn’t withstand the pressure and collapsed.
Starting with that—
Kwaaaaang! Bang! Bang!!
A chain reaction of explosions began, like a dust explosion.
Chizizizic—!
The communication was cut off due to the massive energy wave.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The explosions gradually intensified.
At first, it was small things, but later, even the large ones started blowing up.
Then, the massive dark energy began to connect with each other.
“Shit!”
I grabbed the armrests of the captain’s chair.
I was wearing a belt, but I was still uneasy.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
It was an explosion so large it was blinding.
The shockwave rapidly swept toward us.
Creeeeak!
The ship twisted from the impact.
“We cannot maintain our current position!”
The helmsman shouted in panic.
Unless one was an A-class helmsman, holding a position in this situation was not easy.
“Hold on as much as you can!”
“Our ship is going to hit an asteroid. Brace for impact…”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I felt a gravitational pull that couldn’t even be compared to an amusement park ride.
Since I was synchronized with the ship, I could see the surrounding situation at a glance.
The asteroid drew closer and closer.
No—
We were nose-diving toward the surface.
But—
Thump!
Fortunately, the shield made contact first, cushioning the impact.
Kwooooong!
The hull hit the surface, delivering a massive shock.
It felt like my internal organs were being twisted.
“Investigating hull damage! Sections 12, 14, and 17 are half-destroyed!”
“Send the maintenance crew to repair them.”
“Understood!”
The damage wasn’t as bad as I thought.
This much was minor.
“What about the enemies?”
“Still silent. Report from Corvette 2. Confirmed that 8 enemy ships are still intact.”
Corvette 2 sent footage taken from its angle.
“Wow. They survived that?”
Is this why rich people drive expensive cars?
The surviving ships looked quite expensive.
And—
“It seems the enemy escorts timed it well.”
As expected of the subordinates of the named Sagitta.
I want an escort captain like that too.
“It seems the missiles inside didn’t explode either.”
“This luck-based piece of shit game.”
I struck the armrest in regret.
Still, seeing how they weren’t moving, it seemed the engine damage was significant.
“Captain! Your orders. Do we annihilate them?”
“No. We withdraw.”
The enemy still had more numbers.
The performance of their ships was overwhelmingly better.
The difference in crew proficiency was a given.
There was no reason to fight them.
“Captain! Corvette 1 and the gunboat have refused the withdrawal order! They are charging toward the enemy ships.”
“Those crazy bastards.”
They seemed blinded by the prospect of merit.
There was always someone like that everywhere.
“Engagement has begun! Do we join them?”
Noticing the abnormality in the engine systems, they moved here and there while attacking.
At a glance, it seemed effective, but—
“No. Leave them be and withdraw immediately.”
“Understood.”
At my command, the remaining one escort and one corvette followed our fleet.
Kwaaaaang! Bang!!!
While we were withdrawing, a fierce battle broke out.
The result was, predictably, the defeat of our allies.
The eight remaining enemy ships had broken engines, but their weapon systems were perfectly fine.
“Vice-captain. Make sure to write a report about them refusing orders. I’ll have to lodge a formal protest with the families they belong to.”
“Understood, Captain.”
“Don’t forget to notify the communication relay station of the current situation.”
The interstellar communication system is very complex.
It will take quite a while for this news to reach the Marshal’s office.
More than that, I had a worry.
If I become too famous, won’t it be hard to settle my assets and flee in the middle of the night?
I ended up winning too big, unintentionally.