Chapter 28 - Kichou's Growth and Ten Million Enemy Forces
～Further Outside the Outer Edge of the Gialpha Galaxy Betasia Star System Side (Outer Space)～
Following Captain Jin's course instructions, Sangou plunged through a starfield with no established route.
The biological spaceship was hurrying toward a direction where there were numerous reactions of something approaching the Betasia Star System from outside the galaxy.
This situation had come about as a result of believing Rouju-papa's words warning of danger, which had burst forth from Kichou's intuition, and acting upon them.
Of course, considerable time had already passed since the point when Sangou and the others had fought against the two biological spaceships and the group of mineral lifeforms.
Well then, let's trace the flow of events in order, from the time when Futagou was allowed to escape and they returned to the Imperial Capital, up to this situation.
At the Imperial Capital, Jin had received the reward for the original space beast extermination request, and had somehow also gotten through the matter of being lectured for the 'Incident of Taking Kichou Away Without Permission'.
However, no days of a relaxed, settled life in the Imperial Capital were to begin for Jin.
This was because he had accepted Kichou's desire to grow, and had increased the time spent staying inside Sangou.
To some extent, simply living inside Sangou while she floated waiting over the capital planet's sea would have been sufficient for that purpose.
But well, as a side effect of things, starting patrol flights with an attitude of 'might as well, since pocket money comes wandering in on its own' probably reveals that both Jin and Sangou have somewhat miserly tendencies.
Of course, this also included the meaning of having Kichou accumulate combat experience, and was an action taken with consideration for higher effectiveness as well.
A wandering voyage, with no particular destination in particular.
During such a time, the 'Imperial Military's Analysis Results on the Mineral Lifeforms' addressed to Jin arrived at Sangou.
"Ooh. They've established a method for distinguishing those space beasts from before. The Imperial Military sure does work, huh. Even Sangou couldn't tell them apart. Well, it seems the trigger that made it possible to distinguish them was something they noticed by accident while transporting the fragments they picked up."
This was Jin's frank impression as he looked over the data sent via Laura on Sangou's monitor.
"Accident or not, if a useful result has come out, then that is a 'good thing'."
"Yeah, that's right."
"Since the Gialpha Galaxy Empire's technology has solved something that even Sangou could not. Having excellent allies. Isn't that 'a very good thing'? Fufufu."
Sangou's voice held a coldness at the level of absolute zero.
If it were a good thing, some emotion like joy should have reasonably colored her voice.
Yet, the reaction transmitted from the actual biological spaceship to Jin was the exact opposite.
"(Whoa. That's scary. It's been a while since I heard that 'Fufufu'. Did I step on some kind of landmine? Does Sangou have something like 'jealousy' too? Even though she's an AI?)"
In response to Sangou's reply, such thoughts flowed through Jin's mind.
Even if Jin himself was unaware of it, there was no doubt that he had stepped on a landmine in the flow of this conversation.
This is only hindsight, but it would have been better to just give a simpler impression.
"The Imperial Military is amazing."
It would have been sufficient to just end it with a short praise like the one mentioned above.
What was unnecessary was that part about 'even Sangou couldn't.'
Well, this was dealing with the aftermath of having messed up, but even so, the clumsy hero managed to somehow succeed in continuing the conversation to cover up his 'I screwed up' feeling.
"This means 'we now have a way to find those space beasts even if they sneak into the Empire's controlled space and hide'! Those space beasts don't have high individual combat abilities, so if there isn't a disadvantage in numbers, the Imperial Military can handle them well enough. The only times the job will come to us is during large-scale attacks or when Futagou shows up!"
"That is true. It cannot be said that 'there is no possibility that the same type of ship as Sangou in the Deltania Star System was built after Sangou was lost'. There were other development plans as well, to begin with. However, it was strange for that to be in this universe, which has no connection whatsoever to the Deltania Army or the manufacturer."
"Ah. Yeah, that's true (Good! I managed to change the subject)."
While nodding in agreement with Sangou's point, Jin was also secretly pleased at having successfully diverted the topic.
In truth, Sangou had seen through that part of him too, but there are things in this world that are better left unknown, and as far as this particular case goes, it was probably just a 'trivial matter'.
"And since a fatal flaw in Futagou was discovered before Sangou's completion, there should have been no possibility of the second and subsequent ships being manufactured. Nevertheless, Sangou has encountered two Futagou-type units so far. At this rate, it is possible that several more biological spaceships may appear in the not-so-distant future. Well, Captain, even if a hundred or two hundred showed up, you would probably be unfazed."
"That might be true. I mean, I am the 'Hero', after all!"
When actually presented with a hypothetical situation like that, well.
Hero Jin could even imagine himself surrounded by about a thousand ships like the Sangou knockoffs.
Jin was confident that even fighting under those circumstances, he would be the one left standing at the end.
Therefore, his response became affirmative.
Of course, this was only while turning a blind eye to the fact that it was only 'when considering a purely straightforward face-to-face battle'.
Because Jin is only one person.
Therefore, he cannot escape the constraints of place and time.
Depending on how victory conditions are set, even if only the Hero survives in the end, the judgment of victory or defeat itself could very well be 'defeat'.
And even while perceiving such things, well.
Sangou had no choice but to concede that the Captain's capability was such that he could genuinely fight and win against a hundred or two hundred biological spaceships of the same Sangou type.
Why? Because, well.
The enemy has no means of attack that can penetrate the Hero's shield magic, while conversely, the Hero has attacks capable of obliterating a Sangou-type in a single blow.
Also, when facing the Hero as an enemy, while the biological spaceship's energy is finite, the Hero's side's energy is infinite.
The only slim chance for a Sangou-type to win would be to use a Hyperspace Cannon to blast the Hero to a place from which he could not possibly return on his own power.
However, the possibility of that succeeding except as a surprise attack is virtually zero, and even successfully executing that surprise attack itself is despairingly difficult.
"So it appears again. That all-powerful, anything-goes word of invincibility. Honestly, Captain, you really are outrageous."
By the time the conversation had progressed this far, from Sangou's perspective, the finer details had ceased to matter.
"(No matter how many hostile biological spaceships we encounter in the future, hasn't the future already been determined where the Captain will defeat them all?)"
Upon thinking that far, her thinking simply stopped, feeling that considering things further was 'meaningless'.
This was despite the existence of matters that, under normal circumstances, one would want to think through thoroughly.
Things like, 'Why is it in this universe?' or 'Why was it built?' would fall under that category.
In short, Sangou had begun to feel that thinking about the details was a waste of time.
Was her partner's thoughts transmitted to him through some kind of telepathy?
The situation developed into the Hero Jin attempting to argue.
"It's not 'outrageous' at all! Any Hero can do it normally!"
Saying something like this so boldly, Jin really must be an insensitive, clumsy Hero.
This is speculation, but if the Heroes from the world where the Louvre Empire exists were to confirm both 'the things Jin has done' and 'the contents of his statements', what would happen?
"There's absolutely no way we could do that! Please spare us!"
They would undoubtedly completely deny it while prostrating themselves with all their might.
Of course, Sangou had no way of knowing that.
But even so, regarding the 'any Hero can do it' part, she doubted Jin's words.
This doubt came from Kichou's previous words when she deployed shield magic—it was doubt mixed with inference from 'having confirmed the fact that differences exist depending on the user, even with the same magic'.
Since in fact it is impossible for anyone other than Jin, doubting it is correct.
Sangou's judgment, derived from inference, was correct.
As for Jin, through the flow of silent time, he vaguely sensed that Sangou harbored doubts about the 'any Hero can do it normally' part.
Therefore, realizing the unfavorable situation, he proceeded to change the subject further.
"Kichou has grown too, huh. Ah, but somehow I feel like the current state of things might get us scolded by Rouju and the others. When we disembark from Sangou, can you change back to your original size?"
"Yes, Master. If I store up magic power in my body, I can do it~"
Kichou is also capable of using what is essentially transformation magic.
However, magic power is required both to transform and to maintain the transformed form.
Since no magic power other than that originating from Jin currently exists in this world, restrictions are unavoidable.
"I see. Then I'll leave it to you."
"I will do that~. But, I want to grow more, so I want to stay here as much as possible~"
As a racial trait, the dragon race has an extremely strong desire for 'becoming stronger'.
Therefore, Kichou's opinion coming out is only natural.
Rather, regarding this matter, she might even deserve praise like 'you've endured well until now'.
"Is that so, is that so. Eventually you'll become a Dragon, right? You get super strong, right? I've only ever fought up to Elder Dragons."
"I will become strong, and my body will become tough too~"
Due to the magic power continuously supplied abundantly by Jin, the interior of Sangou was a space overflowing with dense magic power.
In short, Kichou was able to grow at a speed that would normally be impossible.
It was only natural for Kichou, aware of this, to cling to a situation where her demands were easily accepted.
Also, she instinctively felt a strong need to increase her power as much as possible at this stage.
Because Kichou had a premonition that battles where her own power would be seriously needed, or dangerous situations, would occur someday.
Well, Jin, who neither knew nor deeply thought about such things, was being characteristically carefree.
"Is that so. That's a good thing."
"Even if I get stronger, from Master's perspective, it might be a difference like an error though~"
Kichou's statement was not modesty in the slightest; it was a fact, unique to the dragon race who can perceive differences in ability through instinct.
At the very least, just from evolving a few more stages and becoming a 'Dragon', she certainly wouldn't even come close to Jin's power.
Kichou properly understood her own current strength and future form.
"No, no, I have high hopes. Someday in the future—well, it's about a very distant future—after my lifespan runs out, please become the guardian dragon for my descendants. I'm counting on you."
"Yes, Master. Someday I want to become a Divine Dragon!"
Hero Jin, who possesses immense magic power in his body due to the fusion of the Origin of Dragon Vein.
Due to the influence of this immense magic power, his aging is extremely slow, and in truth, Jin's lifespan has become tremendously extended.
That fact became apparent from the above statement, revealing he still hasn't noticed it.
Despite considerable time having already passed since he came to the Gialpha Galaxy with Sangou, Jin's appearance has shown absolutely no change in the sense of 'aging'.
At this stage, the only one who has clearly noticed the abnormality in that aspect is Sangou.
But that crucial Sangou recognizes the 'Captain as a being that has transcended the bounds of humanity'.
Therefore, she does not think to specifically point that out or confirm it.
Well, even Jin, with such absent-minded parts, does properly have a doting parent side that thinks about his children's future.
Now then, such was the conversation during the patrol voyage that also served as pocket money earning.
This was carried out intermittently over a period of years.
Kichou's desired growth and evolution.
While that was progressing smoothly, naturally, there was also movement on the side of the mineral lifeforms of the Umyu Galaxy.
Now then, let's also take a brief look at the situation over there.
In the Umyu Galaxy, preparations to annihilate the incompatible organic lifeforms inhabiting the Gialpha Galaxy were being quietly advanced.
The knockoff Unit No. 4, produced from the original Futagou, was playing a pivotal role in this.
This biological spaceship, possessing a hull far more massive than Sangou, made the most of its characteristic as a 'Mother Ship type'.
In short, based on the plan for invading the Gialpha Galaxy, it was piston-transporting a vast number of mineral lifeforms.
The speed and direction of the continuous inertial navigation were also carefully calculated so that they could attack the Gialpha Galaxy at an opportune timing five years from now.
A plan to set eight invasion routes and attack the Gialpha Galaxy Empire with eight armies.
Incidentally, each of the seven armies other than the main force among these eight armies was scheduled to have one biological spaceship accompanying them.
The main force, excluded here, was to have a two-ship formation—one biological spaceship plus the knockoff Unit No. 4—and ten million mineral lifeforms would proceed along each invasion route.
Truly a massive offensive through overwhelming numbers.
On the Umyu Galaxy side's camp, the situation was progressing in this manner.
The army of mineral lifeforms was silently approaching.
Nearly five years passed without the Gialpha Galaxy Empire unfortunately becoming aware of this fact.
At present, if they remain on the defensive, they have only about three months until the first battle begins.
Because once those three months have passed, they will reach the current controlled space of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire.
In terms of sequence, one army, serving as an advance force and also playing the role of a diversion, would go around the outer periphery of the Gialpha Galaxy's nebula on a large arc, and be the first to arrive at the Betasia Star System side, which is directly opposite the main invasion route.
It was Kichou, exerting her species-specific abilities, who detected this development in advance through sheer intuition.
Incidentally, even before Kichou sensed Rouju-papa's crisis, Sangou had been feeling doubts.
It's only natural to feel some suspicion when the biological spaceships, which had appeared twice, showed no signs of themselves even after five years had passed.
The biological spaceships had completely ceased to show themselves after Sangou let Futagou escape.
Sangou's true feeling was that this state was unsettling, and she wanted to find and obliterate the escaped Futagou as soon as possible.
However, even if she wanted to go searching, she had no idea which space region to search.
Therefore, she could only go on patrol voyages to the outer edges of the Gialpha Galaxy along with Captain Jin and Kichou, who desired growth.
Kichou ended up virtually living inside Sangou, and having spent the 'five years', she finally achieved evolution into a Divine Dragon.
She evolved from a mere magical beast dragon and reached 'Divine Dragon', a divine beast possessing the characteristics of both living creatures and spirits.
As a result, Kichou gained physical toughness that allowed her to be active in outer space without shield magic, in her bare form.
Having become a Divine Dragon, her intelligence was naturally enhanced, and her combat ability had also increased dramatically.
Depending on the conditions, Kichou's current power level was such that she could sometimes—though rarely—win a one-on-one simulated battle against Sangou in outer space.
Incidentally, the reason Kichou loses more often in simulated battles is not due to a simple lack of power.
The cause lies in the complete lack of natural magic power recovery, so her defeat is decided the moment she uses up her magic power.
However, having evolved from the dragon race to the dragon clan, her basic ability of 'intuition' has been further strengthened.
As a result, Kichou sensed the crisis of the distant Betasia Star System.
This led to her statement from the previous chapter: "Master. Master's father-in-law's planet is in danger~".
"Hmm? An emergency situation is going to occur in the Betasia Star System?"
"Yes yes. It's dangerous. It's bad. If we don't go right away, it'll be too late~"
Jin had ample experience fighting dragons in the past, so he had no choice but to believe Kichou's intuition.
This was because back when he was a Hero in the Louvre Empire, subjugating dragons was quite a troublesome affair.
However, that doesn't mean 'fighting them face-to-face was a tough struggle'.
The dragon race senses danger beforehand through their intuition, and the trouble was precisely because they would flee before a battle could even commence.
"I understand. Let's head there right away. Sangou. Please send an application to the Imperial Capital stating we're heading to the Betasia Star System. Any reason is fine."
"Yes. I have submitted it as taking leave. Now then, we will depart. Shifting to full speed navigation."
"Roger that. Now then, is this gonna be a big show for the first time in a while? There's no way Kichou's intuition would be wrong, so battle is certain."
"My intuition whispers that 'if Master handles it properly, there won't be any problems', and if we continue like this, we'll be in time~"
"I see. 'Properly', huh. Sangou. When we arrive at the Betasia Star System—no, a little before that, turn your detection to maximum. I'll do the same. Also, I'm going to use the Sub-unit Armor equipment. Get it ready."
At this stage, Jin gave instructions for preparing even the Sub-unit equipment, which he doesn't use every time.
In short, he must be sensing 'this is seriously bad' even as a Hero.
"Yes. It can be used anytime. I will transport it from the hangar bay to here."
This was the chain of events leading Jin and the others to head toward the Betasia Star System.
What happened when they approached the scene and Jin was the first to detect the scale of the enemy they would eventually engage?
The three of them, each in their own way, were astonished by the result.
At any rate, the situation at the beginning connects back through this flow.
As a trivial matter, despite having spent the five years flirting and doing this and that with his wives, headed by Rouju, in the intervals between expeditions, Jin did not father any new children.
Jin and Sangou had been conducting wide-area searches since a little before arriving at the Betasia Star System.
Then, narrowing the range to the direction in which Kichou's intuition was working, Jin extended his detection through Map Magic and Search Magic even further into the distance.
As a result of investigating with that combination, they finally detected a large number of objects approaching at ultra-high speed.
Jin immediately sent an emergency contact to Orega.
He informed him of the enemy's approach and its scale, and that he himself would go to intercept them.
He also sent video data addressed to the Emperor and the Imperial Military, and ordered it to be transmitted.
Upon receiving the notification from his son-in-law, who had become a Marquis ranking higher than himself, Orega ordered the Betasia Star System's territorial military to construct a defense line.
Furthermore, assuming that Jin would have some targets leak through or that there would be stray shots to deal with, he also ordered the territorial military to handle those.
Of course, the video data entrusted to him by his son-in-law was being transmitted to the Imperial Capital.
This was the progression of the situation in the pre-preparatory stage before the start of the battle.
"Now then, how should we fight? Sangou, do you have any good ideas?"
"The Captain charges in alone and—"
"Hold it! I don't need that kind of joke right now!"
Jin immediately cut off Sangou, who was about to speak.
From Jin's perspective, unnecessary flags absolutely had to be broken, and it was important to never let her finish the sentence.
But then, the flow inevitably shifted to Sangou presenting the next best plan.
"As a realistic second-best method, there is the so-called 'kiting'—approach to the very edge of effective range, then continue firing while retreating. Something like 'adding the Captain's and Kichou's magic attacks to Sangou's bombardment'."
"Hmm. This is an amateur idea, but... If Sangou fires physical projectiles at maximum speed, including the projectile generation time, the rate of fire would be higher than the Energy Convergence Cannon, right? And also, I think that in this region of space, 'there is nothing that would significantly affect the trajectory of fired projectiles, like gravity, between us and the target'. What do you think?"
"Yes. Regarding rate of fire, if materials are available, comparing the energy convergence time for standard output and the generation speed of a projectile of a size expected to have equivalent power, using physical projectiles is faster, just as the Captain imagines. In other words, if you are particular about rate of fire, that is correct. However, the hit rate will be considerably lower than the Energy Convergence Cannon. Therefore, I do not consider it a worthwhile method in terms of resource consumption and energy efficiency. That aside, regarding the effect on trajectory, the Captain's thinking is correct."
Mass-produced physical projectiles prioritizing production speed, requiring no particular shaping, just an appropriate size.
With Sangou's capabilities, as long as materials are abundant, creating such projectiles is easy.
Still, there is too much difference in the time it takes for energy beams versus physical projectiles to reach the target after being fired.
Even if the number of shots can be increased by raising the muzzle velocity, what meaning is there in attacks that don't hit?
Sangou's efficiency-focused opinion can be said to be 'correct under certain conditions'.
Well, overturning Sangou's 'commonsensical views' might be the typical flow for Jin as the Hero.
"Then, what about this: 'I take out the asteroids I have stored in my Storage Space, Sangou tows them while processing them into projectiles, and we keep firing them one after another'? This way, we can attack from outside the range of the Energy Convergence Cannon, so it'd be a preemptive strike and also increase the rate of attack. Is something like that not possible?"
From the time of the previous planet reconstruction work, Jin had secretly kept the leftover asteroids stored in his Storage Space.
Incidentally, it probably goes without saying by now that Heroes other than Jin 'do not possess a Storage Space large enough to put something like that'.
"Captain? You currently have asteroids? Since when? Well, that is fine. You really are outrageous. Now then, if we have projectile materials, that plan is feasible. With that method, even with a low hit rate, there is a great advantage in being able to attack from considerably before the originally planned attack start point. Also, regarding the energy required to execute the plan, there is no problem as long as we have the Captain's supply (Though I do not know what will happen to the stray shots that miss)."
A somewhat dangerous thought, not put into words, occurred to Sangou at this time.
However, she simply dismissed it with 'originally, space is full of such things anyway'.
What will be the fate of the stray shots that continue flying through outer space?
Perhaps that is something only God knows.
"Alright. Then let's go with that. 'The Operation to Chop Up Asteroids and Scatter Cannonballs'! What does 'hit rate this or that' matter anyway? If you shoot enough, it'll hit. War is about numbers. And we have the materials!"
Recalling a famous line from a military officer in some anime, Jin declared this.
Well, the 'numbers' that military officer spoke of probably referred to troop numbers or force strength, certainly not the number of shots fired, but such things are trivial details.
Thus, the plan was decided, and after completing preparations, battle commenced.
Sangou began her scattered bombardment of physical projectiles.
The biological spaceship, with no concerns about energy or the materials for the projectiles it fires, shot, shot, and shot.
From Jin's perspective, it was like 'the area suppression by machine guns seen on Earth's battlefields'.
As if suppressing a wide area of space, a vast quantity of projectiles were fired relentlessly.
Naturally, this was an ultra-long-range attack from outside the detection range of any biological spaceships that might be on the enemy's side.
Jin's detection range, backed by his immense magical power, far surpassed the product of super-science.
However, since Sangou possesses mythril inside her hull, in truth, Jin and the others' approach itself had been detected by the mineral lifeforms.
"Hey, Sangou. About how many of these are we firing?"
"Yes. Each gun port fires six hundred rounds per minute. There are eighty-four gun ports. We are firing at full operation. That is eight hundred and forty rounds per second. If we continue kiting at this pace for three days, we will easily exceed two hundred million rounds. Approximately three out of every hundred will probably hit the enemy."
"Hmm, hmm. Well, the poor hit rate is within expectations, so that's fine."
"However, it is estimated that 'destroying one with a single hit is quite difficult'. Therefore, the number that will be fully destroyed is a minimum of one million, maximum two million. As a preliminary prediction, that is the range."
The number of enemies had been determined to be about ten million at this stage through Jin's Search Magic.
Hence, this conversation between Jin and Sangou was established.
Incidentally, Kichou was silent, staying closely attached to Jin.
From Sangou's perspective, the Divine Dragon was simply directing her gaze toward where the enemy was.
"Hmm. So more than six million will hit, but the number destroyed drops drastically. The total number of enemies is roughly about ten million, so with this method we can reduce them by at least ten percent."
As long as there is sufficient time, distance, and leeway in attack methods and supplies, being able to reduce the enemy's total number by ten percent through outrange attacks is a considerable enough achievement.
For Jin, who saw it as pest extermination, this was a safety-first line of thought.
"Yes. That's about the number range. If the enemy's speed remains constant, in three days they will reach a position ten days' travel from the distance at which they can attack the Betasia Star System. Also, Captain, it seems there is one knockoff unit among the enemy group. I cannot detect it clearly, but I have a feeling it is there."
"Oh, so there still is one, huh. By the way, 'attacking it from outside its range and crushing it' is impossible, right?"
"That is correct. Even if a physical projectile somehow scored a lucky hit, it would not penetrate the knockoff's defense field, and hitting it from outside the knockoff's range with an Energy Convergence Cannon that could penetrate it would be difficult. To begin with, even within range, hitting it is not easy."
"(Well, a one-punch kill against the same ship type in a one-sided battle 'would be stranger if possible'.")
Jin found himself accepting Sangou's answer.
That aside, Jin was not just idly watching Sangou's kiting attack without doing anything.
The same applied to Kichou as well.
Even if, from Sangou's perspective, it appeared that 'the Captain and Kichou were just watching the battle situation from the bridge', that was not the reality.
"Now then, the first one should be catching the enemy around now. Well, well, what kind of result will come out, I wonder?"
"Captain? What exactly have you been doing this time?"
It was the moment when Sangou's statement, laden with ample amounts of exasperation and surprise, echoed through the bridge.
Thus, in the approximately five years following the mineral lifeform repulsion operation they had successfully carried out in the previous chapter, Hero Jin and Sangou succeeded in hunting bandits within the Empire's territory through activities primarily aimed at Kichou's growth, thereby contributing to the improvement of public order.
Through this, Kichou achieved evolution into a Divine Dragon, raising her ability and existence rank as a living being.
Sensing the danger approaching the Betasia Star System through her dragon race intuition, what awaited her at the battlefield she headed to?
What was the little trick Jin had secretly been working on?
And what would the result be?
No one knows the future, of course.
Despite having traveled an ultra-long distance from one end of the Gialpha Galaxy to the other following Kichou's words, the Hero-sama, who encountered only the great army of mineral lifeforms and the likely flagship biological spaceship, could only be astonished.
Finding it boring to just watch Sangou's attacks, which unilaterally kept firing from outside range after discovering the enemy force, Jin had been slyly doing things he could do even from the bridge.