I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary

「Mm… Ah! Yes, right there… Harder, if thou pleasest…」

After our discussion, I found myself tangled up with the nine-tailed beauty.

「A-ah, thou… this is not thy first time, is it? Nngh!? S-so intense…」

「I’m just brushing your tail, so could you stop making those deliberately suggestive sounds?」

「Thou mayst not understand, but when one possesseth as many glorious tails as I, the upkeep is utterly exhausting… There is only so much I can manage on my own. And now, in this form, I cannot even have others tend to them for me… Spiritual Power alone is not enough, thou knowest.」

「I see… It sounds like you’ve got it tough.」

She seems carefree at first glance, but she’s so isolated that she struggles with these mundane tasks. That makes me feel a bit sorry for her. From what I understand, she’s become such an extraordinary being that even the wolf-eared priest of the Great Shrine can’t perceive her presence anymore.

Maybe that’s why she’s so desperate to be with me—to have someone she can walk alongside. That could be why she’s trying so hard to bring me over to ‘her side’. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave Mimi and the others behind to join her.

For the record, even though she claims she hasn’t been able to maintain her tails, they actually smell incredibly nice. It’s not perfume, but there’s this noble fragrance… Maybe like a softened scent of incense? It might be the smell of sandalwood or something similar. Given that she said she couldn’t maintain them, I was expecting they would smell like an unwashed, dog or something, but I was pleasantly surprised.

「Thou art thinking something outrageous right now, art thou not?」

「I was just thinking that your tail smells nice, that’s all.」

「Well, so long as that is all…」

Her intuition is sharp as ever. Honestly, I don’t really dislike the smell of an unwashed dog. I used to have a dog, you know. Dogs, huh… The idea of keeping a pet doesn’t sound too bad. Maybe I could find a dog, a cat, or another suitable alien creature. There has to be some kind of furry alien creature suitable as a pet, although I’d prefer to avoid the kind that multiplies when it gets wet at night, or those that burst out of people’s chests after parasitizing them.

「So, is tail care really all you’re asking in exchange for teaching me how to use the Third Spiritual Form?」

「Hmm, what to do… There is naught else I truly require from thee at present… Ah, wait.」

As I continued brushing her tails, the nine-tailed beauty clapped her hands, seemingly having come up with an idea. I have a bad feeling about this…

「What is it?」

「Thy ship hath been enhanced of late, hast it not? I would have thee use it to help clear out some photon lifeforms and other nuisances that shall soon appear nearby. Those others can likely manage without thee, but ’tis always wise to have backup, just in case.」

「I don’t mind helping, but… how do you know they’ll appear nearby anytime soon?」

「Oh, ’tis simple. The perfect bait for them arrived in this system but a few days ago. Normally, no matter how great thy potential, thou wouldst not draw them across dimensional boundaries. Yet, the boundary around our nation is rather thin. When thy ship was enhanced, and during thy recent rampage, thou didst release a great deal of Spiritual Power, and it seems they sensed it. Now, all spirits and monsters nearby are gathering here.」

「You’re kidding me…」

I hadn’t intended to, but it seems I caused a bit of a mess. Wait, hold on a second.

「So, does that mean the purification and exorcism rituals were pointless?」

「Not at all. Impurities—curses, in essence—are a potent lure for such creatures. Had we not performed the purification and exorcism rites, space monsters the size of buildings might have appeared on the planet itself. That would have been a true catastrophe.」

「‘Catastrophe’ doesn’t even cover it… I’m glad I went through with the rituals.」

There’s no way I could survive going up against enemies that even the Holy Vuelzarus Empire needs space battleships to fight. That would be nothing short of suicide.

「So, to sum up, the tail care and helping the Holy Vuelzarus Empire exterminate space monsters are the agreed-upon price, right?」 「That alone shall not suffice. But I cannot be too greedy either… How about this: whilst thou art here, thou shalt regularly tend to me in this manner. What sayest thou?」

「…As long as you promise not to try to drag me over to your side against my will, I’m fine with it.」

「Alright, alright. I shall not force thee. I promise.」

「Then we have a deal. As long as the contract stands, I swear by my conscience that I won’t betray you. You have to swear not to betray me either.」

「Swear by thy conscience, hmm… Very well, I understand. I, too, so swear.」

She glanced back at me as I continued brushing her tail, giving me a slight, wry smile. Shouldn’t I be worried this vague promise might not hold? No, I’m not worried. What she really wants is someone to walk beside her, so she wouldn’t risk being utterly despised or hated by me.

Besides, if she didn’t have any kind of conscience, I would’ve already been turned into her puppet with her overwhelming psionic powers, standing silently by her side. If my assumption is wrong… well, that’s the end of it. Either way, if she decided to go that route, I wouldn’t have much chance to resist. At best, we’d take each other down together. If it comes to that, I’ll just have to accept it.

☆★☆

「This is going to drive me insane…」

I muttered that under my breath, clutching my head after returning from the other side, where the nine-tailed beauty had instructed me on how to use the Third Spiritual Form. The training had involved sharing her perception of the nature of space-time and fate. If someone were to perceive that constantly, it’s no wonder they’d stop being human.

While my psionic power might be high enough to handle such things, my brain simply can’t process that much information. Or maybe it could, but at least for now, it’s impossible.

「My Lord, what on earth… what happened to you…?」

「Didn’t your form just flicker for a moment?」

As soon as I returned, Kugi looked at me in concern while Konoha gave me a suspicious glare. Inaba, Fuguruma, the white monkey-like old man, and the eyepatch-wearing lady also looked at me with expressions of shock, some even gasping.

「That person took me to the other side to give me some training in the Third spiritual Form… Let me tell you, having sensory input from organs you didn’t even know you had is incredibly exhausting.」

「You say that so casually… How did you even make it back in one piece?」

「She let me come back without any issue. However, I did agree to work for her in return.」

「Work for her? What exactly do you mean by that?」

The eyepatch-wearing lady tilted her head in confusion.

「I agreed to help her take care of her tails regularly while I’m in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.」

「T-Tail care…!」

Kugi’s entire body trembled as she reacted with an expression I’d never seen before. The others had varied responses—some muttered ‘oh’, ‘wow’, or ‘huh’,—but Fuguruma looked frustrated, while Inaba, the monkey-like old man, and the eyepatch-wearing lady all seemed intrigued. Konoha, on the other hand, shot me another suspicious glare. Seriously, what’s with these reactions?

「Oh, and she also asked me to help out the Holy Vuelzarus Empire using the enhanced Krishna.」

「Help out? How, exactly?」

「Apparently, a lot of space monsters are going to start appearing in the Holy Vuelzarus Empire’s territory. It seems that when Krishna was enhanced, and during my recent rampage, my psionic energy waves attracted them. At least, that’s what she said. I’m not entirely sure if that’s the case, though. Your fleet can probably handle it on their own, but she asked me to help just in case.」

As I answered Konoha, her expression grew more serious. As a military officer herself, it was no surprise that my words couldn’t simply be brushed off.

「I will relay this information to the military command immediately. Is it safe to say that you’ll be cooperating with us, Hiro-dono?」

「Yeah, I made a promise.」

「Understood. Excuse me, then.」

With that, Konoha rushed off, likely to pass the message along. As for me… I’m mentally exhausted. I think I’ll take a break before I have to deal with anything else.