The Unofficial Translated Light Novel - Volume 1

by AkiraTepes

I am translating the unlicensed and currently untranslated Light Novel series Miniskirt Space Pirates, that went on to spawn the anime Bodacious Space Pirates. If you're here, you likely have seen the anime. This is the original Light Novel.

3. Chapter 2: New Homeroom Teacher and Tran

(Chapter header artwork is at "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* rqa61Eq *dot* png")

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The bell of the alarm clock rang for the first time in Marika's room. Marika reached out from under the covers to the sideboard next to her bed, looking for the old-fashioned alarm clock with its mechanical hammer striking the two bells on top of the clock.

She idly touches a cluster of alarm clocks, some standing, some lying, but the loud ringing of the large alarm clock on the desk does not stop.

"Gah!"

Marika gets up from the blankets with a sleepy look in her eyes and stops the alarm clock on the desk with a sluggish gait. She slumped into a chair.

The bright morning sun shining through the curtains caught her eyes and she saw the dial of the clock.

Her drowsiness was gone at once.

"No way!"

Marika instantly took off her pajamas, put on her school uniform blouse and skirt as if she were transforming, grabbed her jacket and backpack, and ran downstairs.

"Ririka-san, why didn't you wake me up!"

"I did."

Holding a Dagwood sandwich with a fried egg, baked ham, lettuce, and tomato, Ririka was checking the morning news on the electronic display as usual. The large display on the wall showed six news channels on a segmented screen, with news from all over the universe, from the galactic net to local news. The news channels are said to be distinguished by their pronunciation in galactic standard and local languages, but Marika cannot follow them.

"Three times every fifteen minutes for the past hour. I've been trying to get you to answer."

Ririka took a huge mug filled with black coffee.

"Wow, I didn't hear you at all."

Marika jumped into the bathroom and started brushing her hair at super speed with a toothbrush in her mouth.

"You stayed up late anyway, didn't you?"

"Do you think I can sleep after what they told me last night!?"

Marika shouted in protest from the bathroom and ran out of the room, pulling on the sleeves of her uniform jacket. She chugs down the fresh juice for breakfast that's waiting for her at her seat and grabs a sandwich, more reserved than her mother.

"I'm going to be late, I'm off!"

"Don't get yourself mixed up with a bad influence."

Marika grabbed her shoes and ran out the front door, pulled her school bicycle out of the garage, and walked out onto the street, making the process of opening the gate a frustrating one. She picks up her sandwich as if it were a mouthful and pedals vigorously.

"Oh, I'm going to be late!"

Even when she runs as fast as she can without being seen, she has never made it to school in less than 20 minutes. Marika shoves a sandwich into her mouth as she drives with one hand, determined to break the record.

Marika heard the sound of a horn, a lappa-style horn that she had only heard in movies, and she swerved to the right to avoid the right-of-way traffic on the bike path parallel to the road.

"Good morning, are you in a hurry?"

Marika turned her head to the left at the sound of a familiar voice, and with her mouth full of sandwich, she shouted.

"-!"

Next to the motorway, a classic black commuter with its hood open was driving at the same speed as the bicycles with a low roar. At the wheel is Misa, dressed in a business suit like a career woman.

She almost choked and pounded her chest, and finally swallowed her breakfast sandwich.

"Misa Grandwood!?"

"Oh, you remembered my name!"

Misa, with her sunglasses up on her forehead, smiled.

"Want a ride? I'll give you a ride."

"But, but, I need my bike."

Misa pointed over her shoulder at the back seat as Marika kept pedaling.

"I thought you might put it here."

"Uh, yeah."

Various circumstances, reasons, and excuses swirled in Marika's head: she shouldn't get into a stranger's car, the other driver was a pirate, she was an old friend of her mother's, she would be late if she didn't get in, and so on.

The conclusion was immediate.

"Please!"

Marika jumped down onto the roadway with her bicycle and grabbed the rear seat door of the commuter with her left hand. Misa, who had intended to stop temporarily, looked in the rearview mirror, turned around, and shouted.

"Oh, hey!"

"Keep going straight!"

With one foot on the step outside the rear seat, Marika twisted a simple lever to quickly open the small rear door. Shifting her weight to her left foot on the side of the step, she lifts her lightweight small-wheeled bicycle and rolls into the rear seat.

"Oh dear."

Misa looked in the rearview mirror at her legs in school loafers and the upside-down bicycle tire, and peeked into the back seat with one hand.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just keep your eyes on the road!"

Marika, who had been dexterously stuck in the back seat with her school bag on her back as a cushion, swaps places with the bicycle and gets up. After closing the rear door, which was flapping open and closed, and confirming that the bicycle was stuck in the rear seat step and could not be easily moved, Marika climbed over the low backrest and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Hello, I'm so sorry to bother you."

"Do you usually do that kind of thing?"

"Oh, no way."

Putting her schoolbag back in the back seat, Marika fumbled around for the seatbelt in the passenger seat.

"I usually go to school more slowly. I have morning practice, too."

Marika finally pulled the seatbelt harness out from between the backrest and the seat. The buckle had blown away, leaving only the shredded end.

"Why?"

Marika gave up on the seatbelt and sat up.

"You seemed so used to getting into a moving car with your bicycle. Hold on."

At the interchange that led up from the residential area onto the freeway, Misa accelerated the commuter. The independent commuter, which is not externally controlled by the smart-road, races up the freeway at a speed that belies its classical appearance.

"Wow!"

The commuter on the New Okuhama Highway is a closed-body vehicle, not a convertible. Marika exclaimed as she sat in the passenger seat of the classic car, which had no protection from the wind except for the windshield that stood vertically in front of the driver's seat.

The commuter, driven by narrow rubber tires, slid into a line of cars on the fast-moving freeway. It moved further into the fast passing lane, between commuter public commuters and large trailers from the port.

"Wow."

Marika keeps her eyes on the road ahead, holding her hair in place as the wind whips around the cabin.

"I didn't know convertibles could be so loud."

"You can't talk to me when I'm going this fast."

Misa exclaims at the wheel. Misa has put the commuter on a suburban route through a complex series of interchanges, and gets back into the driving lane. She slows down to match the cars around her.

"Are you going to stay on this planet for a while?"

Marika, the passenger, asked, and Misa smiled in profile.

"Without the captain, we can't do business on our ship. I'm going to work here for a while."

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(Artwork was here. Go to "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* PBBAozP *dot* png"

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"What are you doing?"

"There is a school nurse's position available."

Marika looked at Misa's profile with a sense of foreboding.

"I'm going to be the school nurse at Hakuoh Academy."

"What!?"

The chief nurse at Hakuoh Academy was an old woman who was said to be several centuries old. The legend that she remembers the names and faces of all the students, even though she is not their homeroom teacher, has been passed down from generation to generation by the female students who have been taken care of by the infirmary.

"The Witch of the Withering Field, what's happened to her?"

"As a reward for 50 years of service, they gave her a special leave of absence."

Misa burst out laughing happily.

"So she was called the Witch of the Withered Fields. It suits her."

Marika looked away from Misa with a look of disappointment on her face. Beyond the orchards in the suburbs, the school building decorated with many spires of Hakuoh Academy, which is a reproduction of the classical architecture of the Sovereign Star, came into view.

"Is it okay if I park in the staff parking lot?"

"Oh, just drop me off by the school and I'll drive the rest of the way by myself."

Marika looked at the dial of the watch on her left wrist.

"Thanks to you, I didn't break the record."

"Next time, don't jump off the bike, okay?"

"Yes."

Seeing the bicycle in the back seat, Marika looked at Misa in the driver's seat.

"Is that why you became our school nurse, to persuade me?"

Misa, who was holding the steering wheel, smiled.

"Not exactly. It's more for your protection."

"Protection?"

Marika raised her eyebrows a little.

"... you mean, you're my bodyguard?"

"A pirate ship with a government-approved pirate license is an endangered species in this galactic empire. If we don't protect them carefully, they will become extinct in no time."

Marika tilted her head further, wondering how much she should take Misa's joking words seriously.

"Well, it would be best if we could continue to live a peaceful life without escorts and bodyguards."

Misa swerved sharply onto the off-ramp of the interchange off the freeway.

"Come on, we're almost there. Do you want me to pull over around here?"

Marika locked her bicycle in the designated place in the bicycle parking lot and picked up her school bag. Although the ride on Misa's commuter had greatly shortened her commuting time to school, she still did not have much time before the start of school homerooms.

Remembering the day of the week and the schedule from this morning, Marika ran to the school entrance and realized her fatal mistake.

"Classics homework!"

She had planned to finish it slowly after dinner, but thanks to the unexpected visitor and the topic of conversation, she had forgotten all about it. Marika dashed to the school entrance. She dashed inside the entrance hallway, hoping to get to the classroom as soon as possible, open her notebooks, and see how much she could make up before the fifth period classics.

She ran up the glass-walled stairs, passing many of her classmates on the way, and dashed into the classroom of the first-year class.

"Oh Marika!"

Mami Endo, who had known Marika since they were both lost in the school during the entrance exam for the elementary school, found Marika and raised her hand.

"Good morning. Hey, did you hear? The new teacher is a young man."

"New teacher? If it's a new school nurse, she should be a woman, right?"

"What are you talking about, our homeroom teacher! She crashed her glider and broke her leg in the hospital the other day. I heard that a new teacher has been appointed to replace her."

"What?"

The homeroom P.E. teacher, who was also the advisor of the yacht club, attempted to set a new altitude record at Sea of the Morning Star just two weeks ago using a self-made man-made airplane as a hobby. In exchange for setting a new record, she failed to land the plane and broke both of her legs. The teacher was taken to the hospital, and although her prognosis is good, she will be absent from work for the rest of this semester. Marika took out a stack of report papers from her bag as she spread the display on her desk. Since she is required to handwrite her classics reports, she can't ask her classmates to let her copy their homework.

"That was very fast!"

Hakuoh Academy is a prestigious girls' school that attracts students from nearby star systems. It is said that it takes years to hire a new teacher because of the detailed background checks conducted by detective agencies and credit bureaus.

"I think it was last Sunday when we set a new record, so it hasn't been a week yet."

"Well, Ricky, who just peeked into the staff room, saw his face and said he's quite a good-looking guy!"

Hearing Mami's voice happily flipped over, Marika called up the data of the report range on the display.

"Wow, lucky ..., wait a minute, a young man is ...…"

She heard cheers in the hallway. The front door opened and an avalanche of students in the hallway jumped into their seats.

Seeing the face of the young man who came in after him, Marika involuntarily sat up.

A squeal of delight swirled through the classroom of the first-year class. The man standing at the podium with a large black electronic file for teachers in his hand was yesterday's visitor.

"Yes, quiet!"

Kane looked around the classroom as he unfolded the electronic file, checking the students' seats and faces.

"Day duty, order!"

A second later, today's day duty officer raised her voice.

"Stand up and bow!"

The students in the classroom stood up and bowed as if it was a conditioned reflex. Nodding his head, Kane placed the open electronic file on the table.

"Be seated. As some of you may have heard, I'm Kane McDougal, taking over for Ms. Kipling who was recently hospitalized after an accident."

Ignoring the screams and cheers, Kane turned to the large display at the front of the classroom, which according to tradition is called the blackboard, and wrote his name in large letters on the screen with a light pen in his hand.

"I specialize in physics, and I majored in astrophysics at university. Other detailed data should be added to the university database by the end of the day, so please check there."

Kane looked around the classroom and his eyes stopped for a moment at Marika in the middle of the room.

"Hey, I'm sorry to disappoint you, I'm married."

The classroom is filled with protests.

"And one more thing, I have an announcement to make. Chiaki-san, please come in."

A doll-like girl in school uniform appeared.

"Chiaki Kurihara-san, her parents have been transferred from the Uzumasa star system for work, and she has transferred from our branch school, Sea of the Forest Star School. Chiaki, please say hello to everyone."

"My name is Chiaki Kurihara."

The girl with straight black hair, brown eyes, fair skin, and old pure-blood features, who was given a light pen by Kane, wrote her name on the blackboard at the front of the classroom - few knew why the high-precision full-color display was called the blackboard - in galactic standard characters and then in Chinese characters.

"I moved here from Sea of the Forest Star to Sea of the Morning Star because of my father's work as a merchant. I am excited to be a foreign student for the first time. I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

Chiaki bowed as she finished her speech without any hesitation under the painful stares from the whole classroom.

"I know you must be at a loss with a new teacher and a new student, but it will be summer vacation soon anyway. You can get used to your new teacher starting next semester, so please take good care of the transfer student. Your seat can be found at ...…"

Kane projects the seating order of the classroom on the display on the teacher's desk. The name of Chiaki Kurihara flashed in the last seat in the classroom.

"There it is."

Peering at the display on the teacher's desk to see her seat, Chiaki bowed to Kane and stepped between the seats, her old-fashioned student bag still hanging from her hip.

Chiaki's gaze, which had been swimming over the faces of the students in the classroom, stopped on Marika in the middle of the classroom.

"... hmm?"

Marika, who had not popped up the display on her desk to keep a low profile and was still working on her homework report with her classics textbook projected on the screen, looked up when she felt the eyes on her. Her eyes meet those of a new student.

"Wow, she's beautiful!"

The transfer student's gaze pierced Marika's as if she was trying to tell her something. Marika thought she was imagining it, but when she looked at the transfer student's face again, she saw Chiaki's feet tangle in front of her, and the world was turned upside down.

"Whoa!"

"Watch out!"

She quickly put out her hand, and supported by Marika's arm, Chiaki almost fell over, but barely managed to stay between the desks of the students.

Kane, who had been following Chiaki's back, ran his eyes over the students around him. He had been observing them for a while, so he knew someone had not tripped her.

"I am very sorry."

Chiaki said to Marika and stood up. She turned to the podium.

"I'm sorry, I've always fallen down in the middle of nowhere."

"Be careful."

"Yes, sir."

Turning around, Chiaki whispered to Marika.

"Thank you, Marika-san."

"No, you're welcome."

Marika answered almost as a conditioned reflex, then turned around to see Chiaki walking backwards.

"...Why, how do you know my name ...?"

"Is she a klutz?"

Kane looked down at the display on the podium as Chiaki took his seat.

"Okay, I'm going to take the attendance. Please stand up when your name is called, since this is the first time. I will try to match your name with your face. Now, Miss Eleanor Mathews."

If possible, Marika wanted to go to the staff room during the next recess to question not only the school nurse but also the homeroom teacher about the true intentions of the pirate ship crew who had infiltrated the school, but she could not afford to do so.

She put all of her free time into writing reports, and even during the fourth period of class, she kept piling up her report papers in her notebook and doing homework, but she could not complete her report.

She had no choice but to skip the lunch set at the cafeteria and ask Mami for take-out, and managed to make up a report while staying in her seat during the lunch break.

She finished the last sentence of the report just as Antik, the classics teacher, came into the classroom. Without being able to review the report, she bows at the start of the class, making sure that her name is the only thing she wrote correctly.

Antik's report was collected right after the class started as usual. Marika, who had submitted her scribbled report, finished the classics class without losing consciousness.

"It's over!"

After sending off the teacher, Marika collapsed on the desk in the classroom filled with the noise of recess.

"Okay, thank you very much."

Mami puts a lunch box catered by the school cafeteria on Marika's head.

"Here's your lunch!"

"Eat!"

The recess period lasts for 10 minutes, and if they don't eat quickly, the next class will start. Marika opens the lunch box on her desk and begins to eat a mixed sandwich.

"I'm surprised you made it in time. I thought for sure you wouldn't make it."

"I pretty much made it up as I went along…"

Marika opened the drink bottle that was packed in the lunch box with her mouth full of sandwich.

"But I don't think I'll get a miraculous A-plus grade like the last time I got an A-plus. I'm hoping for an average score if it works out, or at least better than the score they gave them for all the hard work I put into it."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

As they ate their sandwiches together, Mami looked at the faces of her classmates who had consistently received excellent grades since elementary school.

"I can't copy you because I know your earnestness is the secret of your excellent grades."

"I don't think it's a secret, because you can prepare as many reports as you want, it's much easier than a one-shot test..."

The flow of people in the classroom seems to be more concentrated in the back of the room than in the front, Marika turned around with the drink bottle in her hand.

Her eyes met those of a transfer student sitting at the very back of the class. Marika hurriedly swallowed her sandwich and gave a friendly smile. A few people were already chatting around the transfer student.

"As expected of a transfer student, you are very popular."

"Even from a branch school, it's rare to see a transfer student this time of year."

Mami looked around the new students who were chatting and laughing.

"She was already being scouted for sororities, but she's already decided to join the same one as she did at her old school."

"So she's a liberal arts major?"

"No. No. A science course, and a gymnastic course. She's going to join the yacht club, just like Marika."

"What?"

Marika turned to the new student again, feeling a strange sense of discomfort even in her foggy head, which had been stuffed with sandwiches right after class.

Chiaki was looking at Marika again.

"Well, our yacht club isn't prestigious or famous, is it?"

"Well, if you want to be serious about it, there are aviation colleges and sports schools, but our school is big and rich, so I think we can compete with them on facilities alone, don't you?"

"Facilities, huh?"

Hakuoh Academy's yacht club even has its own dock at the relay station in orbit. There is also a large cruiser moored there for long-term training, but even Marika has never seen it in action. Only on a few occasions have they conducted on-the-job training while moored there.

"Even though we have a training ship, it's just like an antique ship, and it's not operating satisfactorily because we don't have enough qualified people, and since the teacher was hospitalized, it probably won't be open this summer either."

A thought occurred to Marika and she popped the pop-up display on her desk. Teachers list, homeroom teachers, specialties, advisors.

"I knew it."

"What?"

Mami looked at the display showing the new teacher's personal data.

"Are you interested in him too?"

"No, I mean, look…"

Marika pointed at a point on the display.

"Mr. Kane is now the advisor of the yacht club."

"Really? He just came here and he's chosen already?"

Mami touched the display with the light pen she had left on the desk to call up more detailed data. The registered qualifications were displayed in a row. Mami raised her voice.

"... wait, what is this! He has a Class 2 Large Interstellar Vessel License!? That means he can captain a ship, so why is he a teacher!?"

Marika thought to herself, "Well, he's a pirate, isn't he?"

"I wonder how much I can trust him."

A pirate should be able to falsify not only his credentials but also his previous records. Marika chuckled when she saw that among the aerospace-related licenses, such as those for piloting advanced work robots and vacuum welding, there were also licenses for teaching astronomy and physics.

"Really, you could open a repair shop all by yourself, let alone become a captain of a ship."

It's doubtful that a new physics teacher and an out-of-season transfer student would come to the yacht club, which is hardly a major club at Hakuoh Academy, at the same time. However, Marika abandoned further thoughts and reached for the sandwich in her lunch box.

"Well, it's okay, if you're here, I'm sure we won't have to worry about this summer's training camp, and I'd welcome any new members."

"Woo!" *Trans note - this was a sound effect "Dowa!" so I wasn't sure what to put here and went with what sound seemed appropriate ro me*

Kane walked into the infirmary, loosened his tie from around his neck, and sat down on a backless examination chair.

"Oh my God, I was so nervous. I'm not supposed to be a teacher at an all-girls' school."

"Oh, I thought you would be excited to work at a girls' school, the dream job for all boys in their lifetime."

"I'm sorry, I take back what I said before. I thought I was imagining things when I came to check on her yesterday, but the atmosphere here at this all-girls' school is, uh…"

Kane pondered, searching for the right words.

"Isolation ward, prison, something like that."

"A prison camp?"

"Yeah, that's it. Yes, that's it... and it's all done up for propaganda and publicity purposes."

Kane pointed a finger gun at Misa.

"Are you from here, by any chance?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm an ex-convict!"

Misa glared at Kane coldly.

"I've been to regular schools before."

"Have you checked the data on the students?"

"At least the awards and punishments, and the occupation of their parents."

Misa raised the large medical display on the infirmary desk.

"We have a lot of talent here. We have gamers who have excelled in intercollegiate and galactic competitions, and we have kids who have been arrested for information crimes in spite of their young age."

"That's very promising. Who's suspicious?"

"Parents in the military, intelligence, police... the list goes on. I think it's better to keep an eye on them while you're teaching."

"Did you check out this student?"

Kane runs his finger along the panel. He called up the data of the last student added from his homeroom class.

Chiaki Kurihara's data, including her picture, appeared on the display.

|A transfer student at this time of the year? And she wants to join the yacht club?|

Misa raised her eyebrows when she saw the student's personal data on the display.

"That's pretty suspicious."

"As suspicious as we are."

Opening the control panel of the electronic file, Kane added some more data.

"At least, we have traced her data back to her previous school database and found no glitches or discrepancies. However, this level of personal data can be easily created by someone who is a little bit clever. The quickest way is to take the data to the previous school and check the database for direct relationships, but even so, there is no way to cheat."

"Who is she?"

"Well, let's see."

Kane opened his personal micro terminal.

"I've asked the Bentenmaru to send the data you're forbidden to take out to Hyakume, but we don't have a complete list of all the people in our industry. But, well, there's a lot of things to do if you're an astute competitor."

"I don't think everyone has that much time on their hands."

Piracy is a busy business.

"Well, I hope you're not thinking of some crazy shit in your spare time. Well…"

Kane put down his coffee cup and got up from the examination chair.

"Well, let's see what our lovely students can do."

"You've got a lot of work to do, not only as a homeroom teacher but also as an advisor for the yacht club."

"I take my job very seriously."

Pulling his jacket over his shoulders, Kane chuckled.

"You know how the captain used to say that you'll get a lot out of this, don't you?"

"Good, but if you're going to be a teacher, you'd better wear a tie."

Misa pointed at Kane's throat where his tie was sloppily loosened.

"Gee ... come to think of it, I'm not good at dressing like this, that's why I got on the Bentenmaru, I forgot."

Kane pulled his suit jacket over his arms and walked out of the infirmary, tightening his tie.

The club room of the traditional yacht club of Hakuoh Academy is located on the third floor of the main school building, which is modeled after a large scale baroque building of the old times. Passing through the corridor, which would look like a guest house or a resort hotel with a nostalgic taste if it were not for the girls in uniform, Kane knocked on the natural wooden door of the yacht club, which had a relief of a yacht that had sailed on the sea in ancient times.

"Coming in. I'm Kane McDougal, the new advisor of this club."

Stepping into the yacht club room, Kane looked around the unexpectedly large room and stopped.

Half of the room, which is as large as a classroom, is a meeting space with high-backed chairs around a round table, and in the center of the round table is an old-fashioned but high-end large 3D display.

Uniformed club members occupied the other half of the space around a huge sofa and a low table that looked like it had been taken straight from a large tree stump. The walls were decorated with old-fashioned models of sailing ships and framed star charts, and the heavy shelves on the walls were lined with old leather-bound books and aerospace antiques, along with cups and plaques that also looked old.

This is the yacht club room of an all-girls school?""

Kane muttered to himself as he looked at the faces of the students present.

"Isn't this room nicer than our captain's quarters?"

"Ah, welcome, Mr. Kane."

A tall, slender female student stepped forward and bowed.

"I'm Jenny Dolittle, president of the club. I was just talking to your homeroom student, Marika-san."

Marika, who had just gotten up from the sofa, bowed with a knowing look on her face. Reflexively, Kane began a prediction of what to expect.

"I heard that you have a second class large interstellar vessel license?"

"What?"

An interstellar ship license is a qualification to fly a spacecraft capable of interstellar navigation. While in some star systems, a permit can be obtained simply by applying for it, it is not easy to obtain a Type II license because it allows for passenger transportation as well.

Kane wondered what kind of personal information Hyakume, Bentenmaru's intelligence officer, had concocted in order for him to infiltrate Hakuoh Academy as a physics teacher.

"Oh, yeah, well, somehow. I believe it is still within the expiration date."

Kane wondered what it could be used for, remembering that years ago he had faked his work experience to take an exam to get an undercover job at a passenger transport company. He had forgotten about the experience of taking the test because there were no practical obstacles after that, and of course he hadn't checked the results.

"Great!"

Kane braced himself as he saw all the girls in the room start to clap after Jenny, who clapped her hands together in front of her chest.

"As far as I know, it's the first time in about 20 years that our yacht club's advisor has a captain's license, which is a historic accomplishment!"

"What? Excuse me?"

"That's why there has never been a teacher with a captain's license in our yacht club. You know, the second class of the interstellar ship's license requires a lot of work just to qualify for the examination, and it also requires more than two years of work experience, don't you think?"

"Oh, no, well, that's more like a specialty."

As he made his excuses, Kane tried to remember how his previous experience had been set up when he had applied to this school. According to his résumé, which he had skimmed over yesterday morning, he had graduated from the prestigious Stampede University and had been working on the university's research vessel for astrophysics research, while also teaching at the same time.

"...… Hyakume's unnecessarily elaborate setup...…"

"So, I was just talking with the others, and I was thinking that if Kane-sensei is the advisor for our club, we can sail our school's training sailboat, the Odette, for the first time in a long time."

"Oh!"

Kane exclaimed in amazement.

"You even have a training sailboat, this yacht club?"

"Here it is."

Jenny led Kane to the side with the round table for the meeting. On the wall opposite the window, among the display cabinets filled with model ships of various sizes, was a very large old-style sailing spaceship with a bright white hull.

Kane, who should be able to recognize most spacecraft at a glance, could not identify the type. Thinking that it was just a deformed model, Kane took a closer look at the structure of the spacecraft, which was supported by an elaborate stand.

A plate on the stand, which resembled a rocky hill, was inscribed with the name Odette, the date of construction, and a brief description of the ship's main features. The cruiser-like length and lightly marked displacement are not likely to be of much help in estimating the performance of the ship.

It is difficult to judge how faithful the model is to the original, but the engine room is not very large for the size of the ship. The slender hull gives the impression of speed, but does not appear to be blessed with much living space.

"Wait a minute, this is a training sailboat?"

Kane noticed that the antenna mast, folded along the slender hull, was a big deal, as if it were a special ship dedicated to electronic warfare.

"So, this is a solar sailer?"

"Because we are a yacht club."

Marika came out from behind the club leader.

"If you have a captain's license, we were just talking about the possibility of having a full-scale training voyage this summer, not just a dinghy cruise around the station."

"No, because even though I have a captain's license."

Kane excused himself, choosing his words carefully.

"I'm only a teacher, so I don't have much experience in commanding a spacecraft as a captain, and the spacecrafts that I have commanded have been research vessels with normal propulsion and navigation equipment or old-style transports, so I'm not sure if I'm capable of being a captain...…"

"The captain's license is very important!"

Marika folded her palms in front of her chest.

"As long as you have a captain's license, you can release the Odette, which has been tied up to the station's private dock, into space."

"Well, I'm sure the ATC wouldn't object to you going out into space on a starship with a captain's certificate, but a solar sailor?"

Kane looked again at the spacecraft in the glass case.

He knew from his prior knowledge of space flight that there are spacecraft that fly with sunlight and space air currents in their sails. The spacecraft, which can accelerate and decelerate without propellant, is so slow compared to today's superluminal spacecraft that interplanetary travel is the best they can do, and they rarely fly anymore.

There are some examples of unmanned mineral carriers and unmanned probes that need to meet certain orbital requirements, but Kane has never seen a live, working solar-powered space ship, at least not one that he has seen in action.

"Of course, I've never operated a solar sailer, much less a ship this large ...…"

"It's our job to operate it."

Jenny, the head of the club, puffed out her chest.

"Space sailboats do not have to be manned like the sailing ships of the Age of Exploration and Discovery. The large size of the space sailboat is due to the need for sufficient sail area to catch the solar winds, and its operation is something that every member of the yacht club is trained to do."

"Why would the yacht club of an all-girls school like a space sailboat?"

"Because it's right in front of us."

Marika, who had caught the inadvertent muttering to herself, walked up to Kane.

"The luxury liner looks more fun, and a pirate ship is still a spaceship, but the Odette has been right in front of us since middle school."

"... you're the kind of person who's okay with anything that's a spaceship...…"

Sighing, Kane looked around at the faces of the students in the clubhouse.

"Okay. But right now I don't know anything about this training sailboat called the Odette. Not only I don't know how a solar sailor can catch the wind and fly, but I also don't know how to break into the wind and fly toward the sun. So anyway, I will try to learn more about the Odette and the solar sailer. Jenny Dolittle, where can I find more information about the Odette?"

"We have all the data from the time of the foundation of the Odette in our database. If you want paper data, we have everything from actual blueprints to logbooks in our reference room."

"No, you only need to hit paper when you have no more use for the database."

If the spacecraft's blueprints are stored in paper form, they should be the size of a container.

"We will discuss how to move the Odette and what is needed to plan and prepare for a training voyage, if one is to be organized. To that end."

Kane looked around once more at the faces of the girls in the clubroom.

"I need to memorize all of your faces and names. Can you introduce all of us to each other?"

"Of course. I am Jenny Dolittle, the president of the club, a third-year student. And this is my vice president, Lynn Lambretta."

The senior class, had six students in attendance, although a few of them were absent for a mock exam, as they were planning to take entrance exams to outside universities. Eight sophomores, the mainstay of the club, and ten freshmen, including Marika, were in the club room.

Finally, Marika pulled out Chiaki, who had been tucked away in a corner so as not to be noticed.

"And also, this is Chiaki Kurihara, a new student who joined the club today, along with our teacher."

"Hey! Don't touch me so casually!"

Chiaki stood in front of Kane, shaking off Marika's grip on the sleeve of her jacket.

"My name is Chiaki Kurihara. I'm sure I'll be able to help you here in the yacht club."

"I'm new here too, so it's like we're all meeting for the first time."

Kane tried to read something in the girl's dark eyes. Chiaki gave a simple bow and stepped back from the teacher.

"So, do you know what we're going to do today?"

"Ms. Kipling, our previous teacher, has prepared a full simulation program for this semester."

President Jenny explains smoothly without even opening the file.

"The first and second years were told to spend the rest of the semester working their way through the simulation programs. The third year has been in a legal class, and last week we were learning how to create and submit flight plans and flight plans."

"That's very hands-on."

To fly in space according to the laws of navigation, there are procedures and steps to follow. Whether it's a private spacecraft or a warship, it's worth remembering the necessary procedures and protocols, because in peacetime space you will be required to fly according to the laws of navigation.

"So, first and second year students will continue to work on the simulation program from last week, while the third year students will make a flight plan for a short cruise on the Odette."

The flight plan is created automatically by fitting the necessary data into a formula.

"It's easy, isn't it?"

Kane nodded at Jenny who seemed to be challenging him.

"Yes, it would be easy if it were really just a flight plan. But what kind of condition is your training sailboat in after being tied up at the dock for 20 years, what kind of equipment needs to be updated, how much of the daily supplies and food needs to be replenished, and where to get it? Who understands and is aware of all this?"

Kane looked around at the faces of the club members as he laid out the pre-departure arrangements he could think of.

"A spacecraft can't move based on flight plans alone. Since this club seems to have a policy of practical club activities, I would like you to draw up a plan of what is actually needed and what needs to be done to achieve it."

The upperclassmen are given a task that they have never been given before, and the lowerclassmen say that it is not fair and that it looks like fun. The upperclassmen just looked at each other and made no moves. Kane looked around at the freshmen and sophomores.

"You will help me in turn as soon as the simulation is over. Preparing a starship for departure is a lot of work, and it won't be done in a day anyway."

Kane looked at the faces of the third graders, none of whom made a move. Not a single face seemed to know what he had to do.

"First, let's get an idea of what's going on in Odette. If the ship is registered and moored at the relay station, the real-time data monitor should be alive. Hakuoh Academy's yacht club, as the owner of the ship, should be able to easily obtain information on their ship without going all the way to the relay station."

Kane looked at the faces of the most senior students, who were still looking at each other puzzled.

"You've never done this before?"

A few nodded. Jenny opened her mouth.

"The school has outsourced the management of the spacecraft to a company that specializes in relay stations. We have been to the station several times for practical training aboard the moored Odette, but we have never monitored the data from the ground."

"I guess that's what I'd call practical," he muttered, "but that's about it."

Kane clapped his hands.

"If so, it will be a good experience. This room is connected to the Internet, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course."

"The yacht club should be able to open a data line to the relay station. If you need to make preparations for that, I'll ask them. Let's get started. Freshmen and sophomores to the simulator room!"

Kane instructed, his voice rising in intensity.

"Hurry up, the sooner you finish your training, the sooner you can help us!"

The freshmen and sophomores started to move as one to the simulator room downstairs.

Marika comes up to Kane.

"Um, sir?"

"Are you working part-time again today?"

Kane asked her before she could go any further.

"That's right. Normally, I would have left early after finishing the simulation, which would have taken a lot of time, but today's sailing preparations sounded like a lot of fun."

"You know, preparing for the departure of the ship is not something that can be done in a day."

Kane said in his teacher's tone.

"At this rate, I think they'll only be able to figure out what they need to do. I think you should make your own decision about the priority between club activities and part-time jobs."

"... sounds like a real teacher."

"That's the way it's supposed to be."

Kane nodded with a sincere look on his face.

"Whether it's helping with preparations for the ship or getting a part-time job, you'd better get started, shouldn't you?"

"That's right."

Marika, who had not expected to receive any useful suggestions from Kane, bowed and ran out of the room. She followed the club members who had left the clubroom and headed for the simulator room.

Hakuoh Academy has a simulator equipped with a gravity/inertia control system, which is too good for a school that does not have a pilot course. Kane called out to Jenny, the president of the club, who was beginning to set up the electronic equipment at the conference round table.

"Does anyone need to supervise the simulation training?"

"I can see the status of all the simulators from the control room, if necessary."

Pulling out the electronic equipment embedded in the round table so that it could be used, the president replied.

"However, I'm sure everyone knows what to do, and I'm sure our members can easily set up and take care of the necessary tasks even if you leave them unattended."

"They're very resourceful students if they can even set up the simulators by themselves."

Kane realized after a moment.

"But then, what about the new student who just came in?"

"Ah ...…"

The president stopped when the unexpected situation was pointed out to her.

"Let's hope that someone who went with her will take care of her. If not, then a novice in the field should be fine, and she will probably come back here if she has to."

Kane recalled that Marika had left the clubroom later than the rest of her classmates.

"Miss, do you think you can make it work?"

The simulator room was constructed in the basement of the main building in the name of making the operating environment as stable as possible.

The simulators, which are of the latest technology and would not be out of place in an astronaut training school, are fixed to the base but are equipped with individual gravity/inertia control systems that allow trainees to feel real acceleration and gravity, and can reproduce the sensation of actual flight operation.

When Marika arrived at the simulator room where 18 single-seater simulators were lined up in three rows out of the 36 simulators in two rooms used by the yacht club, most of the capsule-type simulators embedded in the floor were flashing lights indicating that they were in operation.

"Wow, I'm late."

Marika jumped into the simulator with the door open as if waiting for a trainee, and when she noticed that there was someone ahead of her, she hurriedly put her hand on the door to stop herself.

"I'm sorry, the door was open... you know."

Chiaki, the transfer student, looked up from her seat, which was not even harnessed.

"No... I'm sorry, I'm sorry too. I haven't found a way to get the door closed and armed yet."

"Uh, yeah."

Marika looked around the simulator, which was surrounded by panels that were halfway on and halfway off.

"Is this your first time using this type of simulator?"

"It's the Discus Model 4 from Yuhinsha, isn't it? I know it."

"Well, we've been taught how to use it since middle school, so it's easy for us, but it's not so easy if you come from the outside. Wait a minute, let me just help you set it up."

"Oh, no, I'm fine."

Without hearing Chiaki's words, Marika put her hand on the grip of the heads-up console and looked into the simulator surrounded by the familiar control panel. Chiaki, who had just occupied the space in front of her, rushed backward in her seat to make room for her.

"The main switch is on, and the sub-switch, yeah, that's pretty good."

Marika dexterously changes her grip on the heads-up console to support herself, while she reaches out and turns on the simulator's sub-switches one after the other.

"This system has all the main switches and sub-switches in different places, when they should be kept together. I'm told that they are the same because that's the way it's supposed to be, but now the basic system is up and running."

Checking that all the subsystem switches were in the on position, Marika switched the grips that supported her upper body.

"Hey, give me the stick."

Seeing the start screen on the main display, Marika gripped the side stick, which was covered with buttons and switches.

"Today's task is to align the orbital plane and enter the station...…"

Matching the cursor to the assignment that her advisor, Mr. Kipling, had made for her at the beginning of the semester, Marika turns to Chiaki on the seat. She is startled to see dark eyes at an unexpectedly close distance.

"This is impossible, isn't it?"

"I've never used a Discus 4 before, but if it's a standard dinghy I'm piloting, I'll be fine."

"That said, my instructor is a little more mean-spirited than necessary."

Marika moved the sidestick to call up the settings for today's assignment on the screen.

"Well, can you press the rudder pedal to the left?"

"Wait a minute."

Chiaki, who was lucky that she was not wearing a seat belt, slid her forward on her back on the seat and reached for the pedal with the toe of her left leg.

"I can reach it."

"Just time it right and step on the pedal."

After borrowing Chiaki's foot for the operation procedure, which required more than just the side stick, Marika remembered that she had to type an additional command on the side panel. She released her left hand, which was supporting her upper body as she looked down, and quickly typed the necessary code into the control panel while manipulating her right arm, which was holding the side stick.

"Whoa!"

As a natural consequence, Marika lost her support and fell on top of Chiaki, who was stretching her legs out from the seat. With a clear whistle, today's training program is activated.

Chiaki glared at Marika with only her eyes while she was in a leaning posture.

"You're heavy!"

"I'm sorry!"

Marika, who had raised herself up by grabbing the grips between the control panel and the console with both hands, pulled her upper body out from in front of the seat.

"Ah, are you okay with the rest?"

Chiaki, who had been following Marika with a blank expression on her face, raised her body and moved her seat forward into the piloting position. She looked around at the control panel surrounding her.

"... I can call up the manual, and I'll be fine, I think."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

Marika waved her hand with a fake smile and left the simulator. Chiaki finally located the shut-off switch, and the hatch began to close automatically.

"Why are two girls so uncomfortable with each other?"

Marika mumbled as she headed for the next simulator, the other door of which was still open.

"I hope I didn't overstep myself. She... was so thin."

After making sure no one is ahead of her, she slides into the seat and slides it forward into the piloting position. She deftly flips the sub-switch on the control panel and activates the system.

Watching the simulator start operating normally, Marika began to fasten the safety belt she had pulled out of the backrest.

"Is she going to be okay? A new student, suddenly with an assignment like this…"

Hakuoh Academy's simulation system, which emphasizes a sense of reality, runs a large number of simulators simultaneously and synchronously. When the simulator is ready to launch, the movements of other simulators running the same simulation can be seen.

Marika selected and started the training program, and the simulator showed the situation of a single-seat dinghy thrown out into space.

As usual, she looks at the blue Sea of the Morning Star below her to determine her current position, and reads the orbital elements and coordinates on the display. According to the data transmitted from the relay station and the lighthouse satellite, about a dozen and a half single-seat dinghies of the same shape are scattered in a spatial situation in which spacecraft are arranged in the same way as in the current orbit of Sea of the Morning Star.

Marika quickly found the number 17 of the simulator that Chiaki was in, in the neighborhood of her own ship, which was displayed as number 18. It seems that the simulator is keeping the default orbital elements, stabilizing only the attitude, and timing the orbital change.

"I guess I'm a little late to the party…"

Marika confirmed the coordinates and orbital elements of the relay station to be the destination. She had to approach the relay station without interfering with the actual control operations, in addition to raising the altitude and changing the plane of the orbit.

The destination is Pier C68, a dedicated port that Hakuoh Academy has at the relay station. Even though the control station at the relay station is not a real one, but a substitute for the central computer, the surrounding conditions are as realistic as possible, so you have to watch your surroundings.

"It's not so difficult if you just want to fly."

Although the orbit of Sea of the Morning Star is not very crowded at this time of the day, there are a number of commercial and government spacecraft in the air. At the very least, it is necessary to select an orbit that will not cause a warning from the control station. Marika began to search for the most efficient transfer orbit, imagining the current and future positions of the spacecrafts in the surrounding orbits and those that might approach and intersect with her in the future.

To his dismay, there was no direct line from the relay station open in the yacht club room.

Kane briefly checked and found that there was a direct connection to the Odette, of which Hakuoh Academy was registered as the ship owner, and to the relay station at the home port of the Odette. However, the connection was limited to the staff room and the authority of the staff, and there was no direct line for communication from the yacht club room to the dedicated wharf of the relay station and eventually to the Odette.

Worried about the extent to which he could change the settings at a precedent-setting educational institution, Kane returned to the staff room and reconfigured the data lines, invoking the administrative privileges granted to teachers. Just to be safe, he restricts the privileges of the administrator to deny any interference or configuration changes to the relay station and the spacecraft from the staff room, and then returns to the club room.

The third-year students were amazed at the electronic skills of their new advisor, who returned in a flash after a major task of changing the network settings of the control line counterpart, and cheered at Kane's skill in easily connecting the conference table system to the relay station.

"Wow, did you know it was that easy?"

"No, uh, well…"

Kane, who had completed his work in a flash in his usual time-first manner, came up with a plausible excuse.

"I guess you had a plan to turn the clubroom into a control room eventually, the main part was temporarily set up in the manual, so we just fixed it to fit the current situation... was that fast?"

"The teacher said it was easy and walked out, but I heard rumors that even a professional contractor would take days to set up the line and probably wouldn't be back before school dismissal time."

Jenny looked at the three-dimensional display in the center of the round table at the three-dimensional structure of the C68 wharf and the graceful hull of the Odette moored in the middle of it.

"How did you do it so easily? Are you really a teacher?"

"I told you, I've never been a high school teacher before."

He was not lying.

"Well then, please take a look at the manual, familiarize yourself with the system, and understand the current state of Odette's world. Just in case you try something careless, the system is set up to disable it, so you don't have to worry about the spaceship suddenly going into action or blowing itself up if you do something reckless."

Waving a hand at the student who smiled at his company, Kane turned his back to the conference table.

"Hey, sir, where are you going?"

"I'm going to go check on the simulator training, like a good advisor. I'll be right back."

The simulator room training session, which the previous day had been secretly monitored by hacking into the system in the Physical Preparation Room, could be viewed from the control room today. Entering the control room, which is on the same level as the simulator room, Kane sits down at the main monitor of the central computer and switches on the surrounding displays.

"It's only an all-girls' school, but they have a system that could have been installed in the General Staff Command Center, huh?"

High-precision stereoscopic images were projected on several layers around the main monitor. Kane looked at today's training setup on the display at hand, and was amazed at the contents of the setup as usual.

"Transitioning from low orbit to a relay station and entering port is still very practical. However, under such conditions, we can't just skip the intermediate steps and move at high speed like we did yesterday...…"

Seeing the nonexistent single-seat Dingy superimposed on the real orbital space situation, Kane called up the personal data of each of them.

"His daughter is number 18...… 17 is the transfer student."

The number 18 dinghy was not moving in its initial condition, only stabilizing its attitude, as if trying to find the right moment to move into a transition orbit. Dinghy No. 17 has also not initiated any noticeable orbit change.

"The other dinghies are almost stable. Well, they don't seem to be so foolish as to move so rashly from the start."

Running his finger along the control panel to see the detailed maneuvering of each dinghy, Kane noticed something unusual.

"Oh? Was this program working yesterday...?"

His job requires him to be sensitive to any suspicious activity in the network. Kane noticed a suspicious program running from the outside, which was not running as it should be.

Thinking to check the identity on the main computer side, he takes out a small file from his suit's inner pocket, considering the possibility that the other party is an outsider. It looks like a rugged military computer from two generations ago, but it is full of illegal parts and has been modified in an insane pirate style, making it look unmodified.

With the simulation program running on the main computer, Kane pulls out the connection cable while launching a small file. He connects the general-purpose connector to the control panel of the main computer, then turns his hand to enter the system in stealth mode before it is recognized.

The program, which has been trained for actual combat, instantly analyzes the system and security structure, and displays the ever-changing current situation on a small multi-dimensional display in real time.

"Haha, an underground infiltration program."

Placing the small file on the control panel, Kane switched the display from flat to three-dimensional. On the flat display, the analyzed system structure and the status of the infiltrated program were displayed as red spider-like bright spots with numerous legs.

"Where the hell did this thing come from?"

Kane, watching the movement of the intrusion program without being noticed by the other party, is convinced that it is not a virus that propagates automatically, but is artificially controlled by human beings. Hakuoh Academy's network is heavily guarded by specialized companies, so it takes a certain amount of skill and preparation to gain entry.

The source of the control was easy to crack. Kane sighs as he realizes that the identity of the intruder, who was revealed more easily than he had expected.

"Simulator 17, the new transfer student, huh? I don't know why it was so easy to figure out."

Around the main monitor in the control room, the movements of each of the 18 dinghies in the simulation are displayed. The cracker that had entered from simulator No. 17 was already firmly entrenched in the heart of the system.

"I didn't think you were just a transfer student, doing manual labor on the side of pilot training."

Dinghy's calm and collected handling of the rudder shows that she is not an amateur. Breaking into a simulator is not a difficult skill to master if you have a little bit of knowledge and skill in the area.

"So, what do you think you're doing, sneaking all the way down here, new student?"

Kane was curious about what the new student had in mind when she broke into the simulator, although he had an idea to catch her in the act of cheating, just like a teacher.

"It doesn't seem like she's trying to cheat to get a good grade or something."

It's possible that they don't understand the whole system yet, but the dinghy in the simulation is being piloted separately.

"So, are you trying to disturb the young lady?"

As far as he can see on the small file display, the intervention from simulator 17 seems to be aimed at taking over the system first. However, the skill of the intervention is not very good.

Whether due to a lack of skill on the part of the user or the performance of the tool, or whether the user is cautious and wants to leave as little impact as possible, the intrusion is slow, even though the security system has not been triggered and the bullet has not been kicked out.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to do here...…"

If he even activates the monitor camera in the simulator, he will be exposed. Of course, there are ways to take images from the monitor camera without activating the lamp, but careless commands could be noticed by the intruder.

Kane checked the movements of the other vessels, wondering what kind of skills and equipment the transferees were using to do their job.

A number of boats were starting to change course toward the high orbit where the relay station was located. Marika's boat, which should have been the last one to start, had both of her sails fully extended as soon as she stepped out onto the daylight surface of Sea of the Morning Star, and was increasing her orbital speed by catching the sunlight like a yacht.

"It seems that not only the sails but also the propulsion system is used to assist the boat's slight acceleration. It is difficult to control the attitude with manual low acceleration."

Number 17, Chiaki's boat had also started to rise. This boat was on the standard economic trajectory, and the propulsive power from the sails was only marginally used. Although a simple comparison cannot be made due to the difference in the initial settings, the gap between No. 17 and No. 18 will continue to widen at this rate.

"Well, I suppose you could catch up with the young lady and sabotage her course if you cheat."

Kane looked at the intrusion into the main computer on the small file's display. It would take some time to get the situation under control, perhaps because of the rather roundabout way they were bypassing security.

Kane looked at the current time displayed in the corner of the display.

"This will be done by the end of the school day, I hope."

Kane turned off the three-dimensional display, activating the small file recorder to see the progress. He unplugs the cord from the main unit, leaving the connector side connected to the main computer, and puts the small file back in his pocket, making sure that the wireless data transmission is maintained.

"Well, please, take your time."

Reading that it would be some time before the results were available, Kane sat up, leaving the monitor screen untouched.

When Kane returned to the yacht club room, he was greeted by a flashing red alarm.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I think I did something careless."

Red warning lights appeared here and there on the high-precision three-dimensional display, flickering loudly and repeatedly. Bathed in the red flashes, Jenny sat up but did not leave the conference table.

"Now, how could you have pulled off an emergency like this?"

"I was trying to bring Odette's control over to us, but I think I messed up something bad."

Lynn Lambretta, the assistant manager, explained, running her fingers at a frightening speed.

"Ah."

Trying to deduce from the confession what the members had done, Kane sat at one of the empty conference tables. He turns off the noisy sirens for the time being, dealing with the multiple alarms that are asserting themselves one by one.

"Did you try to bring the controls over to us? From here?"

"Yes, but it wasn't responding fast enough, or the line was too thin, or something, so I was trying everything, and then all of a sudden the alarm came on."

"Of course, if you try to control a large ship from outside while it's moored, you have to go through certain procedures before you get an alarm."

Kane looked at the logs, which had even been erased in the short time he had been here, and saw what the club members had done.

"It's a tradition in this club to try to do anything out of the ordinary whenever possible, isn't it?"

Kane grumbled, and then he brought up the authority of the owner and the administrator, which was not enough for the Hakuoh Academy faculty and staff, to stop the alarm that had gone off. As expected, the control authorities at the relay station sent a message inquiring about the situation, so he responded with a standardized message.

"And I'm sure our skills are better than the new student. We've got the right people here."

After restoring the war-torn clubroom to normalcy, Kane suddenly felt a disturbing presence behind him and turned around.

"Wow!"

The club members who were supposed to be scattered around the round table had somehow crowded around Kane's seat, peering at the display and his hands from above and to the sides.

"What's going on, guys?"

"It's great!"

Jenny exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

"How is it possible that a single person could so easily bring an end to a situation that we couldn't do anything about even with our combined efforts?"

Everyone applauded, while Vice President Lynn looked at Kane with a curious expression on his face.

"Sir, are you really a teacher?"

"Well, oh, I'll let you take this one for a test-drive."

Kane looked around at the faces of the assembled third-year students.

"Now then, everyone, please return to your seats. I gave you instructions to assess the current status of the Odette and to formulate a replenishment plan, not to take over control of the ship from the ground when it was not ready to leave port. If the ship is moored, data should be able to be obtained from the dock without connecting the line to the main body of the ship. Does anyone know the proper way to do this?"

The third-year students at the round table looked at each other. Kane changed his question.

"Does anyone know how to do any of this?"

More than half of them quickly raised their hands.

"I see. I don't know how they're trained, but this is a well-resourced club. Any attempt to gain access to a legitimate controlled spacecraft by any means will cause security to react as I mentioned earlier, eat up a lot of alarms, and in the worst case scenario, get you pulled over by the security authorities. To avoid that, let's have you study the proper means of access today."

"Yes, sir."

Kane felt mild self-loathing when he heard the third-year students' unison reply.

"Why should a pirate teach a civilian the proper procedures?"

The students, under Kane's direction, easily mastered how to legally obtain data on the docks where the spacecraft was moored and on the ship itself. After strictly reminding them to refrain from using any means to obtain information from the relay station, Kane returned to the simulator room to check on the students.

Walking down the corridor, Kane pulls out a small file from his suit pocket. The data displayed on the flat screen display was only a fraction of the total, but it still gave him an idea of what was going on.

"The hijack isn't finished yet?"

The simulator's computer still maintained its controls, as if the security was still tight. All the dinghies in the training space are flying on schedule. Several dinghies were already in the same orbit as the relay station, and Marika's dinghy was the first to receive permission to enter the port, as expected.

"I'm worried about them, even if it's someone else's problem. If we don't do our job, the target will run away before we can start work."

Back in the control room, the situation had not changed. Replaying the record on the monitor that was left on, it seemed that Marika had not only converted the maximum amount of sunlight that could be received by the dinghy's sails into thrust, but had also gone so far as to violate the navigation laws by sailing the dinghy to the closest point of approach to the station.

On the other hand, dinghy No. 17 is also gaining altitude steadily on a transverse trajectory using both its own thrust and the propulsion of its sails, but it is in the middle rank among all the boats, and the gap with No. 18 is wide.

"It's not so bad considering it's just a side operation while I'm cracking, but I don't know if I'm going to get the job done at this rate."

Kane detailed the sailing record of dinghy No. 18.

"Oh, wow, even though it's a competition dinghy, it's a yacht-like hull, but it's doing better than most cargo ships. What kind of magic did you use?"

Kane snarled as he saw the record of the maneuvers in transition on the display.

"I wonder if we can make this much speed just by making such a crazy transition and adjusting the angle of the sails to the sunlight so that they are always at the optimum angle."

The dinghy's initial orbit around Sea of the Morning Star took about 100 minutes, so it would enter the night side in 50 minutes and would not be able to benefit from the sunlight. Perhaps not wanting to do so, Marika was forced into a polar orbit perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, and after getting into a position to receive sunlight at all times, it seems that it quickly increased its altitude.

Although the initial change of orbit is the only time she uses too much propellant, she is fortunate to be exposed to sunlight at all times, and she is gaining altitude as much as she can by precisely adjusting the angle of her maximally deployed sails.

The orbit where the dinghy intersected with the relay station in the middle of the transition orbit was obviously overspeed, and when the dinghy No. 18 thought that it did not have enough propellant to slow down, it changed the attitude of its sails, which had been receiving maximum thrust from the sunlight, and made a sudden roll. The angle of the sails was changed by 90 degrees, and the dinghy was now slowed down by receiving the sunlight directly in front of it, which it had been using for propulsion, and adjusted its course with the extra thrust.

"This is cheating."

A yacht making final approach to the relay station pier with its solar sails wide open would be in the way of other spacecraft, and could be thrown off course by the propellant from other vessels, which diffuse but do not decelerate in space. In the actual space near the ISS, it is highly unlikely that yachts will be allowed to sail.

However, the dinghy is fortunate to be in a simulation space where it is not bound by such real-life circumstances, and it closes the distance to the relay station while spreading its wings wide to catch the sunlight and kill its relative velocity.

Marika's dinghy, with its wings spread out to a close distance where sailing would not be allowed by now, finally folded both of its spread out sails neatly at the very last moment. Without even a good corrective jet for attitude control, the dinghy entered the enclosed wharf, C68.

"It must be hard to do anything else with that thing."

Seeing the smooth berthing of the dinghy, which was not the result of a high school student's simulation training, Kane checked the current position of the other dinghies. Two dinghies were close to receiving permission to enter the relay station, and the rest were still in orbital transition.

'Berthing, hull stop, confirm entry into port!'

The control room receives a transmission from Simulator No. 18. The docking arm on the dockside moves to secure the dinghy as the dinghy comes to rest in its designated position.

Kane put the headset on the console to his ear.

"Yes, this is the relay station. After cleaning up the ship, I guess we're done with today's assignment."

'Kei, Kein?'

Marika's voice was strangled, as if she hadn't expected him to be there.

'Sensei? Where are you working?'

"In the control room."

Kane ran his eyes over the three-dimensional display of the small file on the console. It was almost time to take over the controls of the main computer.

"I'm your advisor, I'm here to see how the simulation is going."

'Confirm hull docking, transfer hull control to the pier side, let's skip the airtightness on the pier side and the external pressure check from here, what's happening up there?'

"We've only just started to get data by directly connecting the lines between the wharf at the relay station and the club room. At this rate, we won't be able to start making the list for the preparation of sailing until tomorrow, will we?"

There was a slight pause for thought in response.

'I see. Port entry operation complete, communication terminated.'

The door hatch of the simulator opened and Marika jumped out. She waved her hand at the monitor camera, and then came running into the control room.

"What's going with you, transfer student?"

"You could see the other dinghies even while you were piloting, couldn't you?"

Kane hurriedly erased Marika's flight record from the display.

"They are still in transit, so it's hard to say if they'll be in port by the time school lets out."

"Isn't that Chiaki, the transfer student, a member of the Bentenmaru crew?"

Kane shook his head as he turned his seat on the main monitor to Marika, suddenly asked a question that touched the very heart of the matter.

"Really?"

Marika's eyes never cleared of doubt.

"Because, not only me, but also Misa came to greet you first after revealing her identity. Why should we let one of them approach you hiding their identity when we know exactly who they are and what they want?"

"Then, who is she?"

Marika looked around at the three-dimensional display on the main monitor, which showed not only the dinghy in the simulation but also the actual spacecraft in orbit.

"You've been thinking about that while you've been flying that thing."

Kane returned the display mode of the small file, which he had left in his hands behind his back, to the plane.

"I agree with you if you think it's too much of an opportunistic move to think that it's just a coincidence that she just transferred to the school at this time or that she wants to join the same yacht club. However, she is not a member of Bentenmaru's crew. I assure you of that."

"Then who?"

"Well... Who do you think?"

Marika glanced at Kane as if she could see he was testing her.

"If she showed up at the same time as you guys, she's a pirate, right?"

"Not bad. We thought so too, and contacted our informant to have him check on the new student's background."

"Any results?"

"No results yet. I'd think a competitor wouldn't leave a tail that's so easy to catch."

Kane looked over his shoulder at the flat display of the small file.

"By the way, don't you have a part-time job today?"

"I'm on my way!"

Marika turned her back and started to run, but stopped abruptly with her hand on the door.

"Are you coming to my house today?"

"No, I don't plan to."

Kane pointed to the top of the head where the clubroom was located.

"You guys have given me a lot of homework to do. I have to study sailing spacecraft tonight."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

With a final bow, Marika left the control room.

"You're doing well."

Behind Kane, a small file sounded an alarm. Turning his seat around, Kane returned the display to 3D and saw the main computer, which had almost been hijacked, shut down at the last minute, spitting out numerous alarms.

"What the hell?"

According to information from a small file that had continued to monitor the main unit unaffected, the main computer, suddenly overloaded for unknown reasons, went into an automatic shutdown sequence after preserving data for safety.

"... dodgy ...…"

Even though the cause was listed as unknown, Kane, who had been watching from the beginning, could tell at a glance that it was due to cracking.

"You know, you screwed up at the last minute when you could have taken over the main computer."

Thinking about how to follow up, Kane put the headset to his ear and switched the other party to the full simulator.

"Yes, this is Kane, your advisor, in the control room. There seems to be something wrong with the computer, so please stay on standby. If it is fixed soon, we will resume the simulation, if not, you will go back to the club room to help the third year students."

Kane entered the main computer through the root he had opened in the small file and tried to see if he could somehow avoid interrupting the simulation and resume it. The main computer, now that the security system has been activated, dutifully follows the most reliable means of safety: force close all programs and shut down.

After trying a few basic steps, Kane gives up on continuing the simulation. A reboot of the entire infested system would mean that the simulation would have to start all over again, even if he left the rechecking to an automatic sequence.

"It appears that the simulation cannot be restarted quickly enough, so that is the end of today's training. Please come out of the simulator and help the third-year students who are working on the data of Odette's world in the club room."

The door hatches of the simulators opened one after another and the students came out, exchanging the usual chatter of "What a surprise! Kane went from the control room to the simulator room to greet the students."

"What's going to happen to the records for today?"

"It was kind of an accident, so we'll have to reboot it and check to see if we have any records along the way."

Kane replied to the student's question.

"If it's gone, you'll have to start all over again from the beginning."

"What? We were almost in port!"

The student next to Kane said to her, "You didn't get that far," and they laughed at each other as they left the simulator room.

Chiaki was the last one to come out of the simulator.

"You screwed up."

In the empty simulator room, Chiaki looked away from Kane.

"If you're going to keep doing this job, you're going to have to learn to do it a little smarter."

Shaking her shoulders, Chiaki looked at Kane with fear in her eyes.

"... I don't understand what you're talking about."

"I understand."

Kane mumbled only in his mouth.

"Excuse me."

"I am Kane McDougall, chief helmsman of the Bentenmaru."

Kane whispered in a low voice so that only Chiaki, who was about to pass by, could hear him. Chiaki pretended not to hear and left the simulator room.

"Who the hell gave her a job like this?"

Kane looked away from Chiaki's back with a dazed look on his face.

"If she pretended not to hear me, it's like saying she knows. Is she really a pirate? I have no idea what she's thinking."

"...I'm tired...…"

Long after the dismissal time, when all club activities and detentions are dismissed from the school building, a tired-looking Kane appears in the nurse's office.

"Same here."

Misa, who had been lying on the desk in the infirmary, which had been busy after school thanks to the news that the school nurse had been replaced by a new beautiful female doctor from the Witch of the Withering Field, lazily got up.

"It's been a while since I've been with a young man, and it's nice to be able to take on someone with such a large amount of resources."

Misa opened the refrigerated chemical cabinet on the wall and pulled out a can of beer from behind a row of medical cartridges.

"Want a drink?"

"Oh, that's what a doctor does."

Kane caught the beer can as it was thrown by Misa. Kane looked at the vulgarly colored label, which seemed to be a local product, and opened the one-push cover.

"Well, how did it go?"

"Which one? The yacht club or the young lady?"

Kane slurps and empties half his beer can in a flash, then slumps into the examining chair.

"You first, miss."

"Oh, you're more conniving than I thought."

"Oh my."

Holding the can to her mouth, Misa looked surprised.

"I was put in charge of advising the yacht club, and since I have a captain's license, she quickly talked to the head of the club and started a plan to take the school's ship, which is moored at the relay station, out on a cruise ship."

"This school even has a spaceship?"

Misa looked at Kane curiously.

"And you have a captain's license?"

"Yes, I do. I remember taking the test at my last job, but I wondered if I had passed it."

"Then Hyakume sent me this report."

Misa returned to her desk and switched the display. She switches to personal message mode with a password and fingerprint authentication, and displays a selection screen with a list of regularly scheduled messages from the ship.

"I was wondering what you were up to, since you sent me data on an old sailing spaceship, and a big one at that."

"That was fast, as expected. Let me see it."

"Here you go."

Kane pulled his chair up to the desk across from Misa's and tapped the keyboard to retrieve the attached data. Various data including moving images and schematic diagrams were displayed in three dimensions on an area several times larger than that of a small portable file.

"It's a type of spacecraft you don't see very often."

"It's an old type of spacecraft called a solar sailer, not very common these days."

"It looks like a very old spacecraft, does it work?"

"It's an old ship, but it's still registered and has passed annual safety inspections. It will take some preparation and a lot of work, but it should be fine for a leisurely flight around the area. However, I wonder if the communication and electronic systems are up to today's standards if the last time they left the dock was 20 years ago."

"If the ship has passed the ship's inspection, shouldn't it be fine?"

"Well, sometimes they just put some cartridges in the old equipment to cover up the fact that it's old. If you see them at the port, you can confirm it with your own eyes."

After checking the list of equipment, Kane opened the attached ship's history.

"Well, I thought the sailing spaceship was an antique, so it must be an old ship, but 200 years old is amazing. She's older than our spaceship."

"Two hundred years old? That's great, what has she been doing?"

"She was built as a fuel-efficient experimental ship, then a transport ship, then a research ship. Then during the Revolutionary War, she was an armed merchant ship that was treated like a fancy cruiser!?"

Kane widened the list and searched for the data he wanted.

"Wait a minute, what was her name then, the ... Hakuchou!?"

Kane's face turned pale when he discovered the name, which had been used from the time of its construction until the end of the Revolutionary War.

"The Hakuchou was one of the Original Seven, wasn't it?"

Misa looked at the 3D display from the side.

"Even I know its name. It was one of the first seven pirate ships to receive a pirate charter from the independent government."

The independent government of Sea of the Morning Star issued pirate licenses to several ships at the same time it declared war on the Sovereign Star. The Bentenmaru was one of the first seven ships to receive a pirate license, which has been handed down to this day.

"Are you saying that pirate ships were not the only ones that were issued pirate licenses?"

"The Hakuchou is a fancy cruiser, so she may have come from an independent navy, but she's a pirate ship with a record of the three best captures at the beginning of the war. How could a sailing spaceship engage a troop ship in a pirate attack?"

"Why don't you look at the battle reports?"

"How could a pirate ship, which is not a warship, keep detailed battle records?"

Scrolling through the list of detailed ship histories, Kane noticed a few refit records.

"What about the sub-computers, sensors, and spare racks? Modification of the power system?"

In general, a spaceship needs to be serviced every time it enters a port, and the Hakuchou has been undergoing a series of small-scale refurbishments every time it enters a port since a certain period. The electronic systems, including communication and sensor systems, have been strengthened, and eventually the main computer was replaced with the latest and most powerful one, and the power system has been strengthened to the extent that it seems unnecessary for a sailing spaceship.

"Ha-ha-ha, I see, that's it."

Although the important parts are cleverly covered up, if you read it with the mind of a sailor, you can see how the Hakuchou underwent a series of renovations necessary for an armed merchant ship before the war broke out.

"She was a civilian ship before the war, but when a pirate license was issued, a merchant ship turned herself into a pirate ship, I guess."

Misa looked at him suspiciously and nodded her head as if she understood something.

"I've often wondered why there were so many pirates in the past, when this area wasn't on the Galactic Empire's map. I guess pirates weren't the only ones who jumped on the pirate license bandwagon."

"Well, they could have disguised themselves as merchant ships and pirated, since they were slower and less maneuverable than ordinary spaceships, but they wouldn't have been able to do that if their names were known, and if they got away with it, this little main engine wouldn't have been able to catch up with them. I still don't know how she managed to survive as a pirate."

Kane searched for the voyage records. Unfortunately, the attached data mainly consisted of hull refit records, structural drawings, manuals, etc., and there were no old sailing logbooks or other documents.

"She was disarmed after the end of the Revolutionary War, and her ship type was changed back from a cruiser to a transport ship, and she was a cargo ship for a while, but then she was transferred to this school and registered as a training sailing ship."

Kane frowned as he looked at the ship's history, which was over a hundred years old.

"Are you sure she was disarmed? They've been very careful with the refit records, but they've been very careless with the postwar records."

While it is hard to say where he got these records from, the records of refurbishment after the end of the War of Independence are abbreviated and simple. The prewar records also cleverly omit descriptions of armament, so it is difficult to read what kind of armament the Hakuchou, which was a merchant ship in disguise, had.

"So, the current name was given to it after it came to this school…"

"Well, I guess we'll have to carefully examine the actual ship at the station."

Kane tapped his keyboard and began to compose a message.

"Do you have time for this?"

"Probably not, if I was a serious teacher. But if things go the way the young lady has planned, we'll be sailing on this old spaceship one of these days anyway. I'll have the guys who are bored at Bentenmaru disguise themselves as subcontracted maintenance workers and have them check out the actual ship."

"I guess I don't have to ask about the yacht club."

"What?"

Kane, who had sent the message, looked up.

"Nothing. Are you going to go out with the yacht club on their training sailboat?"

"I'm going to."

Kane copied the data sent to his file and closed the display.

"Hopefully, we can get her out into space on a training solar sailer, which will take a lot of time and effort. Don't you think this would be a good time to see if she's up to the task of being our captain?"

"Well, if she doesn't, we'll have to think about changing jobs if she doesn't accept the captaincy."

Misa finished the beer that was left in the can.

"Come on, let's go."

"Where?"

Kane, beer in hand, listens idly. Misa quickly pulls off her lab coat.

"The Lamp House on Canal Street. Didn't the young lady go out to work part-time today?"

"Yes, she did. She finished her assignments as quickly as yesterday and left."

"It's a safe planet and there's plenty of security around here, so it shouldn't be a big deal, but shouldn't you go just in case?"

"I forgot."

Kane stood up quickly. He emptied the rest of the beer from the can in one gulp.

"With us yesterday and the transfer student this morning, they're going to have a lot of visitors today, aren't they!?"

"What's ...…"

The Lamp House, which also serves refreshments, is usually not so crowded in the afternoon.

"Isn't the clientele different from usual?"

Mami Endo, who had entered the restaurant earlier, said to Marika, who came out later in a catsuit to take orders.

"There are a lot of customers here."

Even though it was a weekday and not during the tourist season, the Lamp House, an old brick warehouse converted into a coffee shop, was full of customers, not only indoors but also on the terrace, where most of the tables were occupied.

"That's why!"

Pointing with her eyes at a group of business suits on the terrace, Mami heads to the back with a pile of tea sets she has collected.

"You'll see what I mean."

"Welcome. Are you ready to order?"

A group of people, who looked as if they had forced their huge muscular bodies into ill-fitting business suits, were seated at a round table with an open parasol on the terrace, and Marika, clipboard in hand, was bombarded with glances from them through their sunglasses.

Marika looked around at the customers with a smile on her face, muttering "wow" to herself.

One of the people in front of her opened the menu with a black glove. His fingertip pointed to a blended coffee, followed by four fingers.

"Four blended coffees, sir. Is it all right if I bring the same number of coffees for the others?"

Marika runs her pen over the clipboard, trying hard not to blur her thoughts about ordering four coffees for each person.

"Anything else you would like to order? Today we have Nanki's delicious oshinko (Japanese pickles)."

No response. Marika noticed that the men's eyes were focused on the name plate on her chest.

Thinking that she should have borrowed someone's name plate, Marika looked around again at the men, who looked like police or military personnel.

"Well, four blended coffees, please wait a moment."

She bowed and quickly walked away. Marika felt the eyes on her back painfully as she walked back into the store.

The clientele in the restaurant was quite different from usual. The restaurant usually caters to tourists, couples, and local residents, but today, there were several seats filled with groups of people who did not seem to be tourists.

All of them were huge, almost overhanging not only the chairs but also the tables, and all of them were wearing sunglasses and heavy hats, as if they were trying to show their faces. Despite this, Marika felt the eyes of all the customers focused on her as she walked through the restaurant.

The front door of the Lamp House opened with the sound of a light bell.

"Welcome!"

The couple was greeted by the waitress dressed as a maid in the restaurant, but the burly customers filling the tables all stared at them at once and cowered, muttering excuses such as "Oh, you're full" as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Hmmm."

Marika gave her order at the counter and turned around with a business smile on her face.

"If it's not my imagination, am I attracting attention?"

"It's not your imagination!"

Mami came out from the back with a cup of coffee on a tray and shouted into her ear.

"It must be you! All these customers are here for Marika!?"

"No way…"

Marika blurted it out and looked away from Mami.

"Do you have any ideas about why?"

Marika straightens her back when she is approached from behind the counter by a senior colleague with a coffee pot in her hand. She turns to the counter and smiles amiably.

"Well…"

"Well, it's nice that you've got a lot of customers here and they're placing their orders, but it's preventing other customers from coming in."

"Well ...…"

Marika moved across the counter with her back to the table, wondering what to say.

She felt a bunch of eyes following her.

"Oh no, it can't be that my fans are suddenly pouring in!"

The swinging door rang a light bell.

"Welcome!"

Marika turned to the front door almost as a conditioned reflex, and saw the familiar uniform of Hakuoh Academy in her eyes.

"Huh?"

The slender shadow, who like the previous customer was subjected to the intimidating gazes of the burly men who filled the store, glanced around the store and then strode swiftly to the counter.

"... Chiaki, is that you?"

Chiaki walked straight to the counter where no one was seated in her school uniform. She put her school bag on the seat next to her and sat down on the raised seat. He glanced at Marika.

"You're too oblivious."

"Yes?"

"Coffee is ready for the customer outside."

The senior staff member lays out coffee cups and pots for the number of people on a tray on the counter. It is the Lamp House custom to pour coffee at the table.

"Ah, hey, Mami, would you please take Chiaki-chan's order?"

"Chiaki-chan?"

Chiaki raised her eyebrows when she was suddenly addressed by her first name.

"Welcome, are you a transfer student?"

Mami looked at the face of the customer who had arrived alone at the counter.

"What's wrong? Are you ...friends?"

Chiaki shook her head.

"No, we're not! What makes you think that?"

"I don't know."

Mami presented Chiaki with a menu.

"Welcome to Lamp House. Today's recommendation is fresh pickled vegetables from Nanki, which goes well with ume kelp tea."

Chiaki flipped through the menu and stopped at a page.

"Chocolate parfait ...…"

Chiaki looked up from the menu and looked back into the restaurant. All the customers in the restaurant watched Marika's back as she walked away with a coffee pot and a tray.

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(Chapter artwork was here. Check out "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* eZK3fMM *dot* png")

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"No, coffee."

"I recommend our chocolate parfait."

Mami's voice was hushed as she became a businesswoman.

"It's much better than boring coffee, isn't it"

"Well, chocolate parfait then."

Chiaki closed the menu as if she had no choice. Mami wrote her order on the clipboard.

"Yes, ma'am. Senpai, one chocolate parfait, please."

"Yes, one chocolate parfait. Finally, an order other than coffee."

"Marika, you're back."

Marika, who had finished serving coffee to the customers on the garden terrace, came back with a tray in her left hand and a coffee pot in her right hand, attracting the attention of the whole restaurant. Marika returned to the counter, turned around, and greeted the customers with a slight bow of her knees.

Her eyes were distracted. Chiaki, who had her back to the customers and was looking around the restaurant with her sideways glance, sighed.

"What are you doing?"

Chiaki whispered to Marika, who put the empty coffee pot back inside the counter, in a whisper that could not be overheard.

"It seems like I'm getting a lot of attention from the customers, so I'm going to serve you."

Marika answered with her back to the store.

"Is the club over?"

"The simulator is down, so today's program is over."

Chiaki gave a serious look and simply stated the facts.

"Why are you working part-time in a place like this?"

"It's my job."

"Do you know what you are?"

"I'm just a high-school girl."

"Are you serious?"

"No?"

"You're the next captain of Bentenmaru."

Marika looked at Chiaki's face.

"Well, you know…"

"You don't know what a pirate is, do you?"

Marika nodded, suppressing the many questions she wanted to ask.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't be working in a place where so many people are gathered here, would you?"

Receiving a refill of the coffee pot from behind the counter, Marika turned around to face the restaurant. Uncaring stares flew here and there like spiders scattering.

Marika shrugged her shoulders when she saw that the coffee at each table was almost empty, and she was about to offer a refill.

"Well, I thought the clientele was different from usual, but what kind of people are they?"

Chiaki sniffed dismissively.

"The table in the back is probably military intelligence, the round table in the middle is police special forces, and the big guy on the terrace is the Space Force Special Forces. I think the guys over there with the bad eyes might be the actual mafia who run the systems around here."

"What?"

Marika looked around the store without really feeling it.

"Do you know them?"

"Of course not!"

"I can't tell just by looking at them."

"The signs, the smells, and the atmosphere are totally different, aren't they? The intelligence department has a very plain exterior, the military special forces have a brain made of muscles, the police special forces have a lot of baggage, and the crime syndicate has a face like that already!"

Marika looked around the restaurant again with a business smile. The customers at each table looked away from her stealthily. It was obvious at first glance that the customers did not resemble tourists, families, or a couple, but it was impossible to tell them apart from the others.

"Yes, a chocolate parfait."

The older woman behind the counter placed a chocolate parfait in front of Chiaki, piled high with ice cream and chocolate in a tall glass. A parfait spoon and straw are placed on a paper napkin.

"Oh, yes."

"Why did they come to the Lamp House?"

"Are you serious?"

Chiaki is poking at her chocolate parfait as she looks forward.

"They all came to see you. ... Oh, this is really delicious."

"Right?"

Marika, who had been observing Chiaki's expression with a sideways glance, said happily.

"It has the best reputation at our school."

After taking three bites of the parfait, Chiaki stared at Marika with her parfait spoon in her hand.

"Don't think you won because of this."

"I don't, I don't."

Clutching the tray to her chest, Marika shook her head.

"What, they really came to see me, huh?"

After looking around the store once more, Marika glanced at Chiaki.

"Did you come to see me, too, Chiaki?"

The sound of the parfait spoon clinking against the glass stopped. She looked to the side and saw Chiaki, still holding the spoon in her mouth, staring at Marika as if she was about to fire a laser at her.

The swinging door of the front entrance swung open with the sound of a light bell.

"Welcome!"

The waitresses reflexively turned to the front door in unison and saw a police officer wearing a cap with his hat pulled down over his eyes.

"What?"

The young policeman stepped into the coffee shop, which was housed in an old brick warehouse, and paused for a moment, as if intimidated by the strange customers filling the store. He looks around the store and recognizes Marika in a maid's outfit standing at the counter with only one customer, and walks straight to her.

"Are you by yourself?"

"You must be Marika Kato."

The policeman, wearing sunglasses and a cap, held out a certificate with the emblem of the city police headquarters in relief to Marika with his left hand. Marika, who was suddenly called by her name, looked at the policeman with wide eyes.

"Yes, but…"

"Please come with me. Your family has requested immediate protection."

"From Ririka-san?"

Marika tilted her head. In an emergency situation, she would have received a direct call, but her cell phone was in the pocket of her school uniform in the locker room.

"There's been a small incident at the relay station, ma'am."

The officer nodded.

"The family has requested emergency protection for Marika Kato. If you come with us, you'll be safe."

"Fake cop."

I heard Chiaki muttering as she poked at her chocolate parfait with a spoon.

"Do you think a traffic cop is going to come to secure a person in need of protection?"

Marika looked at the uniform of the policeman and noticed a small palm-sized palm gun in his right hand. There was no reason for a legitimate police officer to use a concealed weapon.

"Come on, ma'am, hurry up."

"Don't go!"

Chiaki said clearly this time so that the policeman could hear her. The policeman could not believe his eyes as he pointed the palm gun in his right hand at the high school girl at the counter.

A large caliber pistol with a large flashlight-like muzzle was pointed at the officer from between the counter and the uniform.

"Hey, Chiaki, what the hell are you doing with that!?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a signal flare gun!"

It was the police officer who answered.

"Yes, it is."

Chiaki held a large-caliber pistol in her slender arms and pointed it at the policeman from above her knees, keeping her posture.

"A signal flare that could be seen from satellite orbit even if fired from the surface of the planet. What do you think would happen if I fired it here?"

"You're not gonna get away with this."

"Want to find out?"

Chiaki, holding a parfait spoon in her mouth, held her ear with her free right hand. Marika reflexively closed her eyes tightly and pressed both ears.

A flash of light burned her eyes, which she could see even with her eyes closed. Marika felt a sound pressure as if she had been hit, and crouched down, and her arms were grabbed.

"Follow me!"

When she opened her eyes, she could not see properly because her vision was burned by the afterglow. The restaurant was filled with the sound of angry shouts, explosions, and the firing of beams, and Chiaki rushed through the hidden door under the counter into the kitchen beyond.

"Hey, Chiaki, what did you do"

"You saw what I did, I fired a signal shot!"

"In the store!?"

"Don't worry, it's a old cartridge, it's about as powerful as a flashbang."

Marika went through the kitchen and was taken outside with her arm still in her hand. Marika blinked her eyes and shook her head as the wind blew outside.

"There's still something wrong with my eyes. Are the others all right?"

"The other waitresses didn't look at me, so they're fine."

Walking down a back alley on the opposite side of the canal, Chiaki looked back at the Lamp House warehouse. There were several flashy beams of light coming from the direction of the garden terrace, accompanied by the characteristic sound of firing.

"They seem to be doing well."

"Why?"

Marika, who had finally regained her vision, wrenched her hand away from Chiaki's and stopped.

"Why did you do that!?"

Chiaki turned around and let out an exaggerated sigh. Marika noticed that Chiaki was holding a glass of parfait in one hand with a spoon in the other.

"That's why I said you're not aware enough. Would you have preferred to be kidnapped by the fake policeman?"

"But that doesn't mean you have to start shooting signal flares out of the blue."

"Do you think they'll just stand there and watch you in front of not only the military special forces, but also the police special forces? They all came to that store fully equipped for you."

"It's not my fault that they're fully equipped."

Black smoke billowed out of the warehouse district with a heavy, gut-wrenching boom.

"I think we should get out of here as soon as possible, would you agree with me?"

Chiaki turned his back on Marika and started walking down the back street. Shrugging at the sound of another explosion, Marika had no choice but to follow Chiaki.

"Why did this happen?"

"Because you've been nominated as a pirate's heir."

Chiaki walked ahead, eating the rest of his parfait.

"But why so soon?"

"A privateer's license is an official document, anyone can see it as soon as it's made public."

"And my name is on it? That's an invasion of privacy."

"Yeah, I don't think your name is on it. Unless you're the captain of a ship, but I think the only thing they published was the death notice of the captain of the Bentenmaru."

"...I just heard yesterday that my father died, too ...…"

Marika walked a little faster and joined Chiaki, who was going ahead of her.

"How are they all so quick with the information?"

"Because they're not civilians. The fact that the special forces are out there means that the military commanding them has given the order, and even the police special forces wouldn't come out to that place without an order to mobilize."

A shiver ran down her spine, and she looked again in the direction of the Lamp House.

"Why, the police or the military?"

Marika thought of the reason and looked at Chiaki who was eating a parfait as she walked by.

"... Is it because of the pirates?"

"What are you talking about now?"

"Why?"

Marika stopped and quickly followed Chiaki.

"Why would they come to me just because I was recommended to be a pirate captain?"

"Pirates are outlaws. A pirate is an outlaw... an outlaw who is not bound by the law."

"... I heard about a pirate's license."

"A licensed pirate is still a pirate. No, it's more trouble than it's worth because you're a pirate and you're allowed to be a pirate. Do you really not know what that means!?"

Holding the glass of chocolate parfait, Chiaki stared at Marika with an exasperated look on her face. She then continued.

"What do the military and a criminal organization have in common?"

Marika's eyes flashed at the sudden question.

"They are both offensive?"

"No! No, that may be one of them, but the military, criminal organizations, and police basically use their forces. And the military and police can't be charged with illegal activities as long as they follow the instructions of their superiors."

"What about criminal organizations?"

"The same applies to criminal organizations. But if they don't show it, they won't recognize it, and if they have to fight with the military or police, they won't get a free pass, let alone survive."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with pirates?"

"You still don't get it!?"

Chiaki stuck her parfait spoon into the low glass and pointed her index finger at Marika.

"Pirates with privateer's licenses are not a military, police, or criminal organization, but they are a troublesome entity that maintains a powerful, uncontrolled force! When the head of a pirate organization is replaced, who cares who it is!?"

"The head is ...…"

Without realizing it, Marika pointed at her face.

"Me?"

Chiaki sighed.

"Who will be the next captain of Bentenmaru?"

"Me."

"It's not like you don't know how powerful a pirate ship is and what it can do."

Marika couldn't answer. Chiaki, who had just finished the rest of her chocolate parfait in one gulp, looked at Marika's face.

"You don't know?"

"Because I've never been on a pirate ship before."

Chiaki looked at Marika's face sullenly. She held out the empty glass.

"Thank you for the food."

"Yes."

In return, Marika hands her a paper napkin from the pocket of her apron dress. Chiaki saw Marika's face when she looked at the napkin and hurried to wipe her mouth.

"Why don't you ask the person who is picking you up?"

"What?"

"He told me he was the chief helmsman of the Bentenmaru, Mr. Kane."

Marika heard the roar of a motor and turned around, noticing a classic black commuter coming barreling down a back alley.

"See you tomorrow."

Without so much as a wave, Chiaki disappeared into a supermarket specializing in natural foods that had a frontage in a back alley. In the opposite direction, an old commuter slid on its tires with a loud brake and came to a sudden stop next to Marika.

"Marika Kato! Thank God you're okay."

Kane, who had been at the wheel of Misa's commuter, jumped out of the driver's seat.

"I was worried when I heard that the Lamp House had suddenly been hit with a big bang. What's up ...?"

Marika, who had been looking at the back door of the supermarket idly, suddenly brought the parfait glass she was holding in front of her.

"You ate and ran."

"What?"

"Sorry, I'm talking about this."

Holding the glass, Marika turned around and looked in the direction of the Lamp House where black smoke was rising. Kane brought the walkie-talkie in one hand in front of his mouth.

"I've got his daughter. What's the situation over there?"

'Is she safe and sound?'

The response was immediate.

"Not a scratch on her. What about The Lamp House?"

"Oh, not so much damage for all the commotion. The main suspect, the fake policeman, was quickly subdued by the Goldin family's cutthroat squad and handed over to the Shin-Oukohama police special forces, and the rest of the squad pulled out as soon as the suspects were secured and the battle was over."

"What about the store!?"

Marika, who had grabbed the walkie-talkie from outside the driver's door, pulled it to her lips and shouted. Kane presses the talk button as the walkie-talkie in his hand is pulled into his hand.

"Is everyone okay!?"

'Yes, there are no injuries, so don't worry. Marika-chan has escaped and is safe.'

A few familiar voices came on the back of Misa's response. Marika hugged the walkie-talkie as she heard the cheerful voices.

"Thank God, they're safe."

Marika murmured, then put her mouth close to the walkie-talkie in Kane's hand once more.

"Tell everyone not to worry, I'll be right back!"

"Yes, that's right, I'm coming to you."

Kane responded by putting the walkie-talkie back to his mouth. Meanwhile, Marika quickly opened the door, gathered up her fluffy skirt, and climbed into the front seat of the convertible. With the walkie-talkie in his hand, Kane looked at Marika in the passenger seat, dressed as a maid.

"Now that we've told them you're safe, you can go home, right?"

Marika's eyes widened for a moment, then she shook her head.

"No, I left my stuff there, and I can't go home in these clothes."

"Okay, okay, let's go back to the store then."

Kane grabbed the steering wheel and started Misa's commuter.

The Lamp House was remarkably undamaged in spite of the scale of the commotion.

Marika returned to the Lamp House, which had been quickly sealed off by the police units that had arrived on the scene, and was simply let go after a perfunctory questioning by an investigator who did not seem to be interested in pursuing the situation in any depth.

Inside the restaurant, tables and chairs were damaged, bullet holes were found on the walls, dishes were broken, and there was even what appeared to be a small-scale explosion, thanks to the sudden gun battle that broke out, but the contractor who arrived at the same time as the police had started the restoration work in parallel with the site inspection.

The Lamp House employees, including the waiting staff, were easily released with the assurance by the contractor that the restoration work would be done through the night and the building would be back to its original state by tomorrow. Apparently, a fake policeman tried to kidnap a maid from Lamp House, which is the scenario of this incident.

The part-time high school girls, who had changed into their uniforms in an unaffected locker room, went out on the town, clutching their daily allowance paid in cash despite the unprecedentedly early start of the day.

However, Marika did not feel like hanging out with her co-workers, so she excused herself and said she would go home to rest.

When Marika came out of the back door pushing her bicycle, she saw not Misa and Kane standing in front of her with their arms crossed, but her mother, Ririka Kato herself.

"Mother!?"

The sky is still bright. Her mother was working the day shift again today, and her work on the control station was not supposed to end until after sunset.

"What's going on?"

"If you get a call that your daughter was involved in a gunfight in the city, you can go home early, unless there's a war going on."

Ririka pointed to the back of the pickup truck she was using to get to work.

"Put your bicycle in the back of the pickup truck. I don't think any of them will touch you now, but they probably have surveillance on you."

The word "surveillance" came out casually and made Marika look around. The canal street at dusk looked just the same as usual.

Ririka, who was sitting in the driver's seat, put the bicycle in the back of the pickup and started the commuter. The automatic pickup starts on its way home.

The news channel was playing in the car as usual. After waiting for a while, the shooting incident at a coffee shop on the canal street did not come up on the announcer's voice.

It was Ririka who opened her mouth first.

"You seem surprised."

Marika looked at her mother's profile in the driver's seat. The pickup was driving automatically, and Ririka was not at the wheel.

"... mother, you were Captain Ririka, weren't you?"

Ririka looked at her daughter's anxious face as she was called not by her name, but as if she were a child.

"Mom, you used to be a pirate, didn't you?"

Ririka looked back to the front.

"Yes, though I was older than Marika. I was on the space pirate ship Bentenmaru."

"Why did you become a pirate? Weren't you scared?"

Marika came up to her along the bench seat and grabbed the sleeve of her mother's suit.

"Scared, huh? ...…"

Ririka looked straight up into her daughter's face.

"Come to think of it, this is the first time you've ever been in a situation like this, isn't it? Were you scared?"

"I was more surprised than scared."

Marika hugged her shoulders.

"I never thought I'd have anything to do with the military, or the police, or anything like that, but suddenly it's right in front of me, and I'm having a blast."

"It must have been a good experience."

Ririka put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and pulled her into the driver's seat.

"Maybe it's an experience you don't have to have, but if you're going to be a pirate in the future, it won't be so rare."

"You weren't scared?"

In Ririka's arms, Marika looked up into her mother's face.

"Mother, did you ever feel afraid of being a pirate with a name like Captain Ririka?"

"All the time."

Shrugging her shoulders, Ririka answered.

"You get used to it, though."

"That's right...…"

Marika breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's normal when you actually go on board a pirate ship and play pirates."

"Well, pirates aren't the only job on a pirate ship, and even though I was called Captain Ririka, the captain was Gonza, who was the real captain, so it wasn't my job to worry about the spaceship and crew."

Removing her arm from around Marika's shoulders, Ririka pulled her cell phone out of her suit pocket. She called the number she had just registered.

"Hold on a second, I'm going to call someone I know."

The person on the other end answered immediately.

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. I know you're around. ... I know. I'm on my way home now, but I'm gonna make a little detour. You're coming down with your tools of the trade, right? Can you bring me everything you got? For what? I just thought I'd show my daughter the tools of the pirate trade."

"What's a pirate's work tool!?"

Marika shouted.

"Take route 4 to the east, through the mountain range, there's a rocky desert named Adachi Plains."

With her cell phone in one hand, Ririka typed in the change of destination on the control panel.

"Get off at the number 18 interchange and go north to the military firing range. No one will complain if you do something crazy there, and there's no military training scheduled for the next three days. ... Oh, don't worry, when there's a drill, it's stopped at the gate. Don't worry, the area is well frequented by the likes of us, and the military and police will tolerate us as long as we don't do anything criminal. Well then, I'll go ahead of you and you can catch up with me later."

Ririka tossed her disconnected cell phone into her suit pocket. The pickup shifts lanes as its destination is changed, choosing a route to the freeway interchange.

"What's a pirate's work tool...…"

Marika's voice was low this time.

"It's a firearm."

Ririka, in the driver's seat, looked ahead to the road, where the headlights automatically turned on.

"We use whatever we can get our hands on, from micro-beams we put in our rings to missiles against armored targets, but when we go pirating, we take the big machine guns with us."

Marika looked at her mother's profile. It was just as she had imagined that she would have a gun in her hand when the pirates boarded the ship, but Marika could not imagine her mother holding a gun in her hand.

"Have you practiced shooting?"

"Of course. I'd use it for work. An amateur can't just learn how to shoot a handgun for self-defense and never use it again. They start with small guns that are easy to handle, and then they are taught how to shoot all kinds of hand-held weapons, including large missile launchers."

The outward route is free of traffic. The pickup automatically selects a route and changes lanes.

"You don't just do target practice at the shooting range. We were taught how to do minimal maintenance, adjustments, sniper shots, rapid fire, combat shooting…"

Marika rolls her eyes and listens. She knows that her mother has a small beam gun for self-defense and that she sometimes goes to the range to practice with it, but she has never seen her shoot it.

"The easiest one to handle was a flash derringer for self-defense. I'm a woman, after all, and if the gun is big and heavy, it's a job just to lift it and hold it."

Holding her left hand in the shape of a beam gun, Ririka made a firing gesture.

"You still have it, don't you? Is that your favorite beam gun then?"

Putting one hand on the handle, Ririka shook her head.

"When I board my prey's ship, I bring the biggest military machine gun I can find. A big one that could easily break through the hull of a spaceship if fired at full power. Do you know why?"

"Because ... combat is about firepower?"

"Where did you learn that? No, combat is not firepower. The outcome of a fight is 90% decided by the time you pull the trigger. So there's only one reason to bring a big-ass machine gun."

The pickup accelerated up the ramp of the interchange. Ririka gripped the steering wheel.

"It's for appearance."

"What do you mean by 'appearance'?"

"It means that if you have a small gun that hides in your hand and they don't know if you have it or not, you won't impress them. If you wear a pirate suit and carry a big machine pistol that clatters with every step, even the most dimwitted guests on a luxury cruise ship will know that you are an armed pirate."

She got on the freeway. After disengaging the automatic and taking back control of the pickup, Ririka increased her speed as she shifted into the fast lane.

"Machine guns don't explode when shot as long as the safety is on, and the power is adjusted to the lowest so you don't have to worry about killing your opponent when you let off a shot. However, if you fire a gun at full power, the hit customer will vanish cleanly. Not only that, but the wall on the other side of the target may be sucked out into the vacuum of space with a huge hole in it. If a plasma jet bursts through the energy system, you might be scorched. Even if you don't go that far, if you make a slight mistake in adjusting the power while disengaging the safety device, you might put a customer who was just going to sleep in bed into a permanent sleep. That much power is in the heavy machine pistol that rests on your waist, and you have to decide when and to what point you will pull the trigger. When I realized that, I got scared out of my wits."

Ririka pulls into the passing lane, her right hand in the shape of a pistol. She slowly takes aim at the commuter in front of her.

"The military and the police don't have to think as long as they follow orders and pull the trigger. It is the job of the higher ups to be responsible for the consequences of pulling the trigger. But we are pirates. We have to decide when to shoot and when not to shoot, and we have to do it all by ourselves."

Ririka's mouth emitted a noise that mimicked the sound of an energy beam being fired, accompanied by a shockwave. A commuter in front of us notices the rapidly approaching pickup and pulls back into the travel lane.

"And if I actually have to shoot, I won't have time to think about it."

Ririka regained her grip on the steering wheel of the pickup. She quickly passes a commuter in the driving lane.

"But if you don't think about it, beam guns are flashy and beautiful. I'll let you try it out."

Route 4, which extends eastward from New Okuhama City, passes through Higashi National Park, which is covered with almost untouched virgin forest, and enters a long tunnel through Sawanami Mountain, a mountain range of high peaks in the 400-meter class.

Beyond the tunnel is a vast rocky desert called Adachi Plains. Although it is called "Adachi Plains," there is almost no greenery in the dry, rocky terrain.

After exiting the 18 interchange, a small shopping center with an all-night convenience store, a modest drive-in, and a gas station stands in front of the interchange. Once you get to this area, you can no longer use the autopilot system once you get off the freeway. The military-standard pavement is built to handle heavy loads, but it is not a smart road that can be trusted to run on autopilot.

Driving on the north-facing military road, the self-luminous lane disappears. Ririka drives leisurely along the wide road, which is completely empty of other vehicles, relying only on her headlights.

The reason why the satellite-delivered map on the center panel is so much simpler than the one in the city is not only because the area is under the control of the military, but also because it is publicly owned by the government. The rocky desert that stretches on both sides of the straight military road is flat and unbroken, with no elevation changes that need to be marked on the map.

As they drove at a slow pace, below the speed limit, along the military road that was built straight through the surface data with only the occasional large crack or rocky mass, a light appeared behind them.

"Here they come."

The light came closer and closer and became a headlight. Ririka followed behind the pickup and did not overtake it any more.

Ririka put a portable intercom in her ear. She calls the number on her cell phone and dials it.

"Hello? Is this General Quadron? Yes, this is Ririka Kato from the control station. I'm at the training site in Adachi Plains. Yes, I'm going to have a little fun around Marinella Valley. ...Yes, of course."

"General!?"

Marika raised her voice as she waited for Ririka to hang up the phone.

"Who the hell did you call?"

"Georgia Quadron, you've met him before, right?"

"Oh ...…"

She remembered. She remembered the face of a tall man in a black military uniform who had been taken by her mother to a party or something.

"... He was a lieutenant colonel or colonel? Wasn't he a lieutenant colonel or colonel?"

"I heard he was promoted to a general this spring. We haven't had a party for him yet, though."

"I can't believe you can get to the General with one phone call, even if it's to ...…"

"When you're working in the air at ATC, you have to consult and coordinate with a lot of different people. If we were really just playing around in the training ground, there would be no need to call in advance, but this time things are a little different."

Ririka glanced in her rearview mirror at the car following her.

"Come on, follow me."

Ririka turned off the military-standard road.

"Where are you going!?"

The car suddenly shook, and Marika steadied herself with an assisting grip. The pickup was pushing forward along a route that was not shown on the satellite map on the center panel, relying only on the light from its headlights.

"If it were daytime, the rocky mountains ahead would be quite a sight."

Marika noticed complex contour lines on the satellite map.

"When you say Marinera Valley, you mean ...…"

Marika remembered that she had been there on a field trip in elementary school. The huge canyon full of huge strange rocks looked like an evil empire in a movie, but she only remembered that it was hot because she was a child.

"It's not exactly a tourist attraction. Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course it's okay, I'm not going to take the proper tourist route. The roads are only at the entrances, but it's fun to go into these places without a road."

"Are you okay?"

Marika looked around with a worried look on her face. The satellite maps provided around here are not very accurate and are not likely to help you drive.

"Don't worry. I've been here many times."

The rocky desert bottom is 100 million years old solid bedrock, so there is no danger of getting stuck or slipping if you drive a tire-driven pickup or classic car into it. Ririka drove into the bottom of Marinera Canyon in Adachi Plains, paying no attention to the pace of the following commuter.

Ririka brought the pickup to a stop after passing through not only a sheer ravine but also a primitive tunnel that looked as if it had been forced through a rocky hill by the energy beams of an army of engineers. Switching the headlights to high beam, an unidentifiable object appeared in the darkness.

"What is that ...?"

After looking at it for a while, Marika finally realized what it was.

"A tank!?"

"Yes."

The classic car that had been following behind pulled up alongside Marika's pickup. Misa, in the driver's seat, raises her hand lightly.

The headlights of Misa's commuter are even brighter than those of the pickup. The headlights seemed to have been specially modified. The light from the headlights, whose luminous flux had been expanded, shot up and illuminated the dark mountain in front of us at once.

There was not only one tank there. Beyond the cluttered arrangement of several tanks, a large airplane, which appeared to have landed on its fuselage, was lying so destroyed that it was barely recognizable, and the wreckage of what appeared to be a wrecked spaceship could even be seen in the back.

Ririka got out of the driver's seat with the lights on.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you to bring so many things here at this hour."

"How could I refuse Captain Ririka's direct request?"

Misa came down with her headlights still on.

"I only brought what I could fit in the car, is that all right?"

Kane got out of the car and pulled off the back seat of the commuter, which was still fully open.

Marika gaped at what was filling the back seat.

"What is this?"

"This big tube-like thing is a Dora-carried missile, and next to it is an anti-armor rifle about twice the size of a normal rifle, a continuous-loading grenader, a shotgun, an assault rifle, and a pistol…"

Ririka peeked into the back seat and pulled out a heavy firearm with a barrel so thick it protruded from her hand.

"What's this?"

"Oh, that's a large-caliber beam gun modified to be carried on a ship."

Misa rummaged around in the back seat and pulled out a cartridge the size of a fat beer can.

"It's only the firing mechanism and the cartridge, and the rest isn't converged or amplified, so it doesn't have 30% of the power of a regular class 4 beamgun, but it's still enough to fire it hand-held. Would you like to try it?"

"It might be good for the first fireworks."

With a practiced hand, Ririka folded the thick barrel and loaded the huge cartridge into the grotesquely large caliber beamgun.

"Even with an energy beam, there will be quite a bit of recoil in that class."

Misa said to Ririka, who was trying to hold the gun in place.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not an amateur. It's just that it's been a long time since I've held a gun with such a large caliber in my hand."

The beam gun is not even equipped with a display for aiming. It does not seem to be designed for long-range, precision aiming.

"Hey, what is this place?"

Marika asked Ririka, who tried to hold a beam gun loaded with cartridges with both hands.

"It's a military bombing range. It's used for training air-to-surface fire and air-to-surface bombardment with airplanes and choppers."

Ririka took out a pair of shooting glasses she had in the breast pocket of her suit and put them on.

"Old tanks, airplanes, and spaceships that have been discarded are used as targets. Here you go, Marika."

Ririka took out another pair of shooting glasses. Marika takes the shooting glasses, which at first glance look like a pair of light-colored sunglasses, and looks through the lenses in front of her.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses in such a dark place?"

"They are not sunglasses, they are shooting glasses for target practice. Try them on."

Marika put on the shooting glasses. The color of the lenses did not darken her vision as much as the color of the glasses.

"They are glasses to protect your eyes."

Kane, who also wears shooting glasses, explains.

"If you accidentally shoot a gun or something, you don't have to worry about getting blinded with these. And another thing, if you see a class 4 beam fired directly without shooting glasses, your eyes will be burned."

Marika took the shooting glasses off from her eyes and looked at the lenses again. The coloring did not appear to be that dark.

"Are you sure about this?"

"These are special polarized glasses used for windows of spacecraft. They are too thin to withstand a direct hit from a missile like the real ones, but they still block harmful cosmic rays and radiation and react to instantaneous flashes of light before they penetrate, attenuating them to the point that they do not blind you when you look through them. I don't care if it's daytime, I don't really want to see you shoot something like that without it at night when your pupils are dilated."

"I'm going to fire it."

Hearing Ririka's voice, Marika hurriedly put her shooting glasses back on. Aiming at the hull of the military spaceship lying on the other side of the tank, Ririka fired the large-caliber beam gun held at her hip.

The flash of light, which was several times more powerful than the flash signal she had seen in front of her at the Lamp House, penetrated the darkness as a coherent beam. Instantly, the beam, which filled the surrounding area with daylight-like brightness, hit the hull structure of the spacecraft, which towered like a huge wall, and scattered.

In the beam's radiant light, Marika realized for the first time that they were at the bottom of a crater-like basin.

"This thing is amazing!"

Ririka is holding with one hand a large caliber beam gun whose barrel is too hot to hold with her bare hands immediately after firing.

"Even though it's an energy beam, it recoiled like a cannon shot."

Marika raised the shooting glass, which had regained its original color, to her forehead and looked at her mother. She still could not comprehend that a beam like a battleship, however large, was shot from a beam gun held in one hand.

"Would you like to try firing it?"

Ririka smiled at her daughter as she slung the beam gun over her shoulder. Marika shook her head in panic.

"Not this big one. Misa, what did you bring the little one?"

"I only have this one…"

Misa pulled out a small beam gun from the pocket of her lab coat that could fit in the palm of her hand.

"A class 0.5 half Rhinemetall, huh?"

Ririka looked at the small beamgun with nostalgia.

"Such an antique, you still take good care of it, don't you?"

With a practiced hand, Misa opened the grip to check the cartridge level and pointed the Rhinemetall's muzzle carelessly with one hand at the tank nearest at hand.

"I'm going to fire!"

Marika fumed and lowered the shooting glass she had raised to her forehead to her eyes. Misa pulled the trigger.

Three thin red beams hit the tank's turret, which barely remained in shape. For a brief moment, the hit area glowed red.

"No problem. Do you know how to handle it."

Misa asked, and Marika shook her head again in panic.

"Ririka, what kind of education are you giving your daughter? Shouldn't she at least have a basic knowledge of how to handle a gun?"

"I haven't had a chance. Come here, Marika. I'll help you out a little bit."

Ririka took the small Rhinemetall beam gun from Misa and placed it on the hood of the pickup.

"Come closer and take a look. This is the Rhinemetall Model 32, a beamgun you can buy anywhere."

Movies, TV dramas, and toys aside, the only way for a civilian to see a real firearm is to look at one carried by a policeman or a security guard, or to visit a military base. Using the flashlight that Kane had brought out from somewhere as a light, Marika stared at the elegant, thin beam gun in front of her.

"There is only one thing you should remember before you hold it. Never point the muzzle at anyone."

Misa and Kane looked at each other and burst out laughing. It is a warning for civilians who are not supposed to fight against people.

"Don't laugh! She's just a beginner, that's all she needs to know at first."

"Don't they have safety devices?"

Marika looked up from the Rheinmetall and asked with a mysterious look on her face. Ririka pointed at the grip.

"As long as you hold it firmly, the safety device will not work. Come on, hold it."

Fearfully, Marika picked up the small beam gun on the hood. It was heavier than it looked, as if it contained powerful energy. However, when she gripped it as she was supposed to, the thin beamgun fit easily in her right hand.

"Well then, go ahead and give it a shot."

Ririka said to Marika, who was looking here and there. She lowered the shooting glass in front of her and held the beam gun with one hand.

"At first, hold it with both hands."

At Ririka's instruction, Marika put her left hand on the grip of the Rhinemetall that she held with her right hand.

"It's a beam gun, so even if you fire it, it won't have as much recoil as a real bullet. An amateur shooter can fire it and not worry about accidentally dropping it somewhere. So why do you think I tell you to hold it with both hands?"

"To concentrate?"

"Not bad. Then, let's try to shoot a suitable target with one hand first."

Ririka looked at the wreckage of several tanks lying stranded in front of her.

"It doesn't matter which one, just aim and shoot."

Marika pointed the muzzle of the Rhinemetall she held in her right hand at the body of the large tank in front of her.

"Can I fire?"

"Go ahead, shoot."

Ririka nodded. Marika pulled the trigger, keeping her eyes fixed on the point she had aimed at.

The shooting glasses did not seem to have changed color. The narrow beam hit the tank's undercarriage with a bright red light. There was only a single dull red spot of light afterwards.

"Aim at the same spot again."

Marika pulled the trigger as she was told. The beam hit a spot not too different from the previous one.

"Next then. You see that antenna stretching diagonally across the hull of the spaceship over there?"

Seeing the antenna barely glinting in the headlights of the commuter ship, which were projecting upward, Marika nodded.

"That's good. Do you think you can hit it with such a narrow beam?"

"Aim and shoot."

With her right hand, Marika pointed the muzzle of the Rhinemetall at the hull of the spaceship lying beyond the wreckage of the plane. Several antennas radiated out from the huge hull structure, which was lying at an angle.

Marika pulled the trigger of the Rhinemetall, thinking that she had aimed carefully. A single red beam extended across the night sky. Her aim was off and the beam was sucked into the sky.

"One more time."

"I don't think so."

She aimed and fired again, but the thin beam did not even graze the long rod antenna.

"One more time."

As if it were a matter of course, Marika put her left hand on the Rhinemetall, which she had been holding with her right hand, to stabilize it as much as possible. Aiming at a distant target, she can feel herself trembling at the muzzle of the gun.

She pulls the trigger. The beam passes very close to the antenna, although it does not hit the target.

"Why did you choose to shoot with both hands?"

Ririka asked, and Marika looked at the Rhinemetall in her hands, which she held with both hands.

"Because it's more stable."

Ririka nodded.

"That's why I told you to hold it with both hands. Now then, let's try something a little bigger next time."

Ririka rummaged around in the back seat of Misa's commuter and pulled out a huge beam gun with a long, converging barrel.

"That big!?"

Marika gaped at the large gun, which she could not hold without gripping it with her right hand and holding the barrel with her left hand.

"Armalite anti-armor beam gun. I miss it, I used to be made to carry this lightweight model when I was on duty."

"Captain Ririka has one of those...…"

"Don't call me Captain Ririka!"

Ririka brought out a large beam gun and handed the Armalite to Marika. The beam gun is so large and heavy that it can only be held with both hands, although the shoulder stock is omitted because it is a beam gun that does not need to be concerned about recoil so much.

"It was a beam gun developed for military use a long time ago, and the concept was to have the power of a rifle in the size of a beam gun, but as you can see, it became a rifle-sized beam gun and was not very useful, so it was not produced that much."

Ririka looked at the control panel on the right side of the Armalite's engine, which she had given to Marika, and confirmed that there was enough energy left in the energy cartridge. She turned the power dial to the maximum.

"Is it safe to let an amateur shoot at maximum power all of a sudden?"

Misa asked in a voice that did not sound too concerned.

"Just be ready for it and you'll be fine. This is a commercial small caliber model, not the military model I used to use, so even at full power it's not that powerful."

Ririka gave a thumbs up to Marika who was standing there holding the Armalite as a sign that she had finished adjusting it.

"Come on, try shooting a tank."

Nodding, Marika held the grip with her right hand and the hold encasing the converging barrels with her left and pulled the trigger of the Armalite.

A shockwave pierced the atmosphere and hit Marika's ears with a heavy boom. If the shooting glass had not momentarily changed color, a dazzlingly bright beam of light would have surely shot out of the muzzle of the Armalite with a solid recoil, hitting the nearest tank carriage, penetrating it, and spewing plasma from within.

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(Chapter artwork was here. Check out "i *dot* imgur *dot* com *forward-slash* bE9mQql *dot* png")

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"Awesome...…"

Unable to acknowledge that it had been fired from within her own arm, Marika looked at the heavy Armalite anti-armor beamgun. The hold around the converging barrels transmitted a faint heat as if to assert the energy he had released.

"Can I shoot more?"

Marika's face was smiling as she asked Ririka. Ririka nodded.

"Yes, shoot it."

Marika fired a series of Armalite beams at the nearest tank. The several beams all penetrated the tank's armor, vaporizing the long-removed beam reflective coating, and the energy released inside spewed plasma flames from the apertures.

The interior of the abandoned tank has been burned so many times over the years that there is nothing left to burn, so the flames are quickly lost, but the power of the beam that pierces through the thick armor is still felt.

"Trigger happy?"

Kane muttered quietly as he watched Marika's shooting from behind, almost laughing.

"On a night when beams are at their most flamboyant, they suddenly have an anti-armor beam gun, don't they?"

Misa shook her head.

"Ririka is good at this too."

The plane behind the tank was more easily penetrated by the Armalite beam. Next, Marika aimed at the hull structure of the spacecraft at the far end and pulled the trigger.

"That's the power."

The full-power beam of the Armalite was bounced off the hull structure of the ship, which was wrapped in armor. The beam reflective coating that remained under the armor vaporized the surrounding heat-resistant armor, sending a brilliant beam of energy high into the sky.

Marika came to herself and froze in her shooting position.

"What you have in your hand now is power. If you command pirates, you will wield even greater power. Are you afraid to ...?"

Marika slowly points the muzzle of the gun to the sky. She pulls the trigger again.

This time, the beam shot up into the sky unobstructed. Holding the Armalite in her right hand, Marika raised the shooting glass on her forehead and followed the glow of light that for a moment scorched the night sky.

"It's so beautiful."

Marika turned to her mother.

"Thank you, mother. Can I try another one?"