Chapter 1:
The Planet Eater
“IT SEEMS THAT WE caused you worry. My sincerest apologies, my lord,” said the girl with shining silver fox ears and three tails. She lowered her head.
“You don’t have to apologize…”
I had gone to Kugi’s room and been let in immediately. No problems yet. Kugi seemed fine—not as if she was sick or anything. Something was off about her room, though.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, tilting my head. Mock tatami mats littered the entrance to the room, some sort of pure-white sheet or mat layered atop them. The sheet was quite large, roughly a meter and a half across. Some kind of complicated symbols were drawn on it in red pigment, and it had what looked like jewels in its four corners. A naked sword had also been placed on top of it. Is this some sort of ritual?
“We were attempting long-distance telepathy, but even combining both our magic was insufficient. We’re currently testing the various magic tools we have on hand to see whether any can assist us,” said a woman with rounded, light-brown animal ears atop her head. The ears twitched when she shrugged.
Her name was Konoha. Like Kugi, she hailed from the Holy Verthalz Empire; she was an official temple guardian. The tanuki samurai girl was the brute-force type, capable of using nothing but her katana to singlehandedly dispatch monsters that an entire platoon of power-armored soldiers would’ve struggled to deal with. I couldn’t help feeling that Konoha—like Kugi, a subservient silver-haired fox miko gal—had too much going on. Am I the only one who feels that way?
“I…see,” I said dubiously. “Why’re you trying long-distance telepathy?”
“I’ll explain, my lord,” Kugi said. “The artifact you discovered on Riche III—the one you refer to as Mr. Tetrahedron—is likely a shikigami—um, autonomous AI?—an ancient civilization left behind to seal something.” As she explained this, her drooping tails and ears perked up.
That’s more like it. Back to the normal Kugi. “Continue.”
“Well, if that sealed being were released by mistake, I don’t think the Dauntless’s fighting forces and the Pirate-Hunting Unit Serena leads would be equipped to handle it…”
Kugi phrased that in a roundabout manner, but presumably what she meant was that normal weapons, at least those the Grakkan Empire used, weren’t likely to suffice against the potential threat.
“This being you’re referring to… Is it really that dangerous?” I asked.
“It may not necessarily be dangerous. Considering the type of artifact used to contain it, though… Well, it’s not likely to be an aggressive higher-level existence, but it’s still probably some form of dangerous space monster,” Konoha said with a concerned expression. As a military officer, she likely had solid reasoning to back up her conclusion.
“I can more or less imagine what a space monster would be like,” I responded, “but when you talk about an aggressive higher-level existence, what’re you referring to? Actually, never mind. I don’t think I want to know. In any case, you two were trying to contact Verthalz, anticipating the worst-case scenario, but you lacked sufficient magic even if you combined both your powers. So couldn’t you just use my power instead? Wouldn’t that work?”
Hearing my suggestion, Kugi and Konoha looked at each other. According to the Holy Verthalz Empire, an overwhelming quantity of psionic energy resided within me. If all they needed was more psionic energy, then using mine should theoretically resolve the issue.
“If you aided us, Sir Hiro, that would naturally solve the problem… But are you sure about this?” asked Konoha.
I tilted my head in confusion at her question, “I don’t really mind. What’s the problem?” I didn’t see how contacting Verthalz could be problematic for me in any way.
“Well…the Grakkan Empire plans to colonize the Riche System, but by helping us, you’d essentially invite a fleet from our country here. We were concerned that the Grakkan Empire might accuse you of high treason,” Kugi explained, her ears drooping.
I see… They’re being considerate of my position here. “That’s not impossible, but the Grakkan Empire hasn’t officially claimed this star system yet. So it would probably be tough for them to convict me on those grounds, even if I did invite Verthalz’s fleet here. Besides…”
“Besides…?” Kugi pressed, wearing an uneasy look.
That’s a rare expression for her. “If we kept quiet, it’s not like they’d have any evidence.” As long as the fleet that showed up from Verthalz didn’t go around running their mouths about how we’d called them in, anyway. After all, it wasn’t as if the Grakkan Empire—or, in this case, Colonel Serena—had any way of knowing whether we conducted long-distance telepathy.
“Thank you for clarifying your position, my lord,” Kugi said. “In that case, would you mind sitting in the center of the formation?”
“Okay.”
I followed her instructions, sitting in the middle of the mat and crossing my legs. I was curious about why Konoha’s katana rested in front of me, but I decided against touching it. I didn’t want to repeat what’d happened in the Leafil System when my touch had shattered that spirit-silver hunting knife. While I was lost in thought, Kugi walked behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders, near my neck. Then she touched my neck, or more precisely, my carotid artery.
“I’m getting a tingly feeling,” I said. “This won’t hurt, will it?”
“Not to worry, my lord. This won’t hurt—at least, it shouldn’t.”
“Shouldn’t…? Well, okay, I guess.” Even if it hurts a little, I’ll just endure it, I thought, calming myself.
Psionic power came from the mind, which meant it should be easier for Kugi to use my power if I kept my mind stable and actively focused on wanting to help her. At some point, I lost sight of Konoha, but after I sought her with my sixth sense, she appeared to be standing behind Kugi.
The jewellike things at the mat’s corners began to glow, releasing purple light. I could only see the two gems placed in front of me, but the ones behind me were likely glowing too. Ahead of me, Konoha’s katana began to tremble as well. Is this the start of a horror movie?
“My lord, are you in any pain or discomfort? Do you feel lethargic?”
“Nope. I’m perfectly fine.”
I didn’t feel any different. I was a little restless, since Kugi’s fingers were touching my neck muscles—if she’d wanted to, she could easily have choked me unconscious. But that was about it.
“In that case…just hold on for a little longer.”
Kugi seemed to be struggling, but I remained perfectly fine. The jewels in my peripheral vision began to levitate, rapidly rotating. How are they doing that? Telekinesis?
As I indulged in idle thought, the jewels suddenly stopped glowing, and Kugi leaned against me from behind, exhausted. The sound of her panting tickled my ears.
“Are you okay? Did it work?”
“We managed to succeed… Thank you, my lord.”
“Good. Feel free to keep leaning on me until you’re ready to move again.”
Upon receiving permission, Kugi pressed herself firmly against me. Nice. I can feel her softness pushing directly against my back. The size of her “frontal armor” was no match for Mimi’s, but it was vastly beyond Elma’s. On top of that, Kugi’s shrine-maiden garments were quite thin. That is to say, I’d found happiness and was very much enjoying myself.
“I’ll carry you to the futon,” Konoha offered.
“No, no. I’m fine,” Kugi said.
Then my happiness left me. How sad. Regardless, this wasn’t the right time for something like that. I proceeded to check Kugi’s condition, since—depending on how seriously exhausted she was—taking her to one of the medical bay pods might be a good idea.