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

Chapter 185 - Damn… Kill it!

Translator: SFBaka

“So that’s what happened.”

“Yep! And then, Hiro-sama was-”

Two girls with practically identical faces were having a spirited discussion while sitting behind the same table inside the guest room we were assigned to. Yep. The two girls were, of course, Mimi and Her Imperial Highness, Princess Luciada.

“They splendidly hit it off huh.”

It was the morning after our first night staying within the imperial castle. When an attendant brought our breakfast, Princess Luciada arrived for a visit as well. It looks like she was quite interested in Mimi, who had almost the same appearance as her.

At first, Mimi was quite nervous and stiff, but due to the princess’ gift of the gab or her innate charisma, or perhaps it was simply because they were of the same wavelength, Mimi soon cozied up to Princess Luciada and was now having an enjoyable conversation with her.

“You’re right…… It’s a really nice sight, isn’t it?”

Elma replied as she calmly brought a teacup to her lips.

“Uhuh. It sure is.”

I watched over Princess Luciada, who had a gentle and elegant smile on her face, and Mimi, who had a cute and innocent smile on hers and nodded in agreement. They truly resembled each other a lot. They were practically mirror images of each other. Their voices sounded similar as well. If they both wore the same clothes and sported the same hairstyle, won’t other people have difficulty telling them apart?

Me? I won’t have any trouble though. That’s because their breast sizes were different.

“Ouch.”

“Don’t be rude.”

Perhaps she sensed where I was looking at. Elma, who was sitting alongside me on the sofa, tightly pinched my flank. The ladies-in-waiting and female imperial guards assigned to Princess Luciada were also giving me icy cold looks. My position as the only male in the room was utterly weak.

“……Mei, come with me for a bit. I wanna work up a sweat for a bit.”

“Yes. Understood, Master.”

When they heard my exchange with Mei, the ladies-in-waiting and female imperial guards all narrowed their eyes in scorn. It was like they were looking at me as if I were mere garbage. They were all really beautiful girls comparable to Mimi and Elma, so the destructive power was immense. Any more and I’d be awakening to a dangerous fetish…

By the way, I already have an idea about what they were imagining I wanted to do, but that’s not it, okay?

“Excuse me, esteemed ladies from the imperial guards, can you guide us to the place where you usually practice swordsmanship? I would like to borrow the place for a while to do some swordsmanship training.”

“……I see. That maidroid has combat functions installed, correct?”

“It’s as you say, milady. If she isn’t held down by limiters, she could rival professional soldiers equipped with power armors.”

“Hou…… I see, I see. In other words, she serves as your bodyguard, doesn’t she?”

The lady knight nodded as if she was convinced and glanced toward Mimi. It looks like she’s noticed Mimi’s lack of combat skills as well. That’s just how it is. The most Mimi could do was to shoot her laser gun with her eyes closed while hoping to at least hit something. And that’s when she’s shooting at practice targets. She probably won’t be able to shoot at live targets at all.

“So would it be possible to borrow your training grounds for a while?”

“Very well. I shall guide you there. Richelle, Aina, I’ll leave this place to both of you.”

“”Yes!””

Out of the three female imperial guards, two remained in the guest room while one accompanied Mei and me. She did call the names of the other two without honorifics and had the attitude and bearing down pat, so this lady knight was probably one of the imperial guards’ commanding officers.

“Follow me.”

“Yes.”

Mei and I obediently followed the lady knight’s words and left the guest room together with her. We then began walking around the majestic-looking corridors of the palace. After walking around for a while, the lady knight suddenly opened her mouth to speak.

“That person…… Mimi-sama has a very cheerful and innocent disposition, doesn’t she? It warms my heart to see her and Her Imperial Highness chatting happily like that.”

“Mimi is a good girl after all.”

“That she is. I wonder if that’s why she’s attracted to a frivolous man like you?”

“Whoah. How harsh.”

I shrugged nonchalantly at the lady knight who was now giving me a nasty glare.

“I personally don’t think I’m that much of a ‘bad boy’ type though.”

“Did you not only extended your poisonous claws to Mimi-sama, but even the youngest daughter of Viscount Willrose? And you are even keeping two more women back in your ship, correct?”

“That’s scary, milady. How’d you find that out anyway? But I haven’t laid my hands on those two at all, okay? I do think both of them are pretty cute, but laying my hands on them kinda seems like I’m committing a crime you know.”

“But didn’t you already lay your hands on Mimi-sama?”

“Uh, well, it’s kinda complicated between Mimi and me.”

Back on Earth, it would have been an out. But in this dimension, it was safe. Mimi was already treated as an adult in this dimension after all. And, well, there were also the circumstances back then. Her state of mind back when we first met was very fragile after all.

“And what exactly do you mean by ‘complicated’?”

“I don’t really have any reason to tell you that much y’know…… Oh, right. Are you going to participate in the sword duels tomorrow as well, milady?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Okay then. Accompany me in my swordsmanship training. I’ll tell you about our circumstances if you win against me.”

After she heard my offer, the eyes of Ms. lady knight widened in surprise and then narrowed in delight soon after.

“That sounds good. Deciding things by way of the sword is a great suggestion. I may have underestimated you a bit much.”

Ah, she’s one of ‘those’ types huh. This lady was pretty and had an elegant way of speaking, but she’s a muscle-head to the core.

“Kuh, kiiiill!”

After roughly over thirty minutes, the female imperial guard, Isolde-san, showed an expression that seemed really inappropriate for a lady.

“No killing please.”

I brandished a pair of blunt training swords and retorted in bafflement.

Well, y’see, I successfully borrowed the training grounds of the imperial guards and engaged Isolde-san in a practice match, but I ended up winning quite easily. I was also surprised, of course, but Isolde-san and the other imperial guards present at the grounds were even more surprised.

“O-One more match!”

“Oka?y.”

The lady imperial guard Isolde-san picked up her training sword that was blown away by me and challenged me again. As a qualified professional imperial guard, Isolde-san’s movements were quite agile and powerful. Her swordsmanship was also very sharp.

“Haaa!”

With tremendous momentum, Isolde-san wielded the training sword made of a tough and heavy plastic-like material and slashed it at me. But her move seemed pretty slow in my eyes. I wasn’t even holding my breath and activating my ability. I was just used to Mei’s attacks that were way more fast and powerful.

“Yo.”

“Nuuh!?”

There’s no doubt that Isolde-san was fast. She was fast, but Mei was just that much faster and stronger. Furthermore, her strikes were less accurate compared to Mei’s and she displayed far too many openings.

“Ah!?”

I hit her sword-wielding hand and made her drop her weapon. I didn’t give her the chance to recover the sword and immediately unleashed a slash to finish Isolde-san off.

A buzzer rang out within the training grounds, and Isolde-san once again lost the match. With this, I already had a four-match winning streak.

“Kuh…… Kill me!”

“Uh, the training system already judged that you’ve been cut in half and killed though.”

The training facility had advanced training equipment and systems that would allow you to simulate a real sword fight while wielding blunt training swords. If you wore specialized headgear and slashed at each other with the training swords, the system would automatically measure the damage dealt and impose appropriate penalties to the body.

For example, if the right arm got slashed, it would be paralyzed for the duration of the match. If a leg got slashed, it would become immobile and you’d most likely trip on the ground. If your fingers got slashed, they’d lose their gripping power and would no longer be able to hold the training sword. And if you get dealt a fatal blow, a buzzer will ring out, and you’d be judged as dead. I don’t know how exactly the whole system works though. Did they install sensors on the walls, ceiling, and ground, perhaps?

“He’s handling that Isolde-san like it’s child’s play.”

“You’re right…… But is something like that really possible?”

“There’s no need to hold back, Isolde. Use your full strength.”

“Barring the first match, I’ve been giving my all from the second match onward!”

Isolde-san got up, retrieved her sword, and got into a fighting stance again. It looks like she still wants to continue.

“Let’s go!”

“Come on then.”

Isolde-san was pretty enthusiastic and attacked again. She unleashed a simple but powerful diagonal slash. Her step-in and swing speed were practically perfect. Fumu. I guess I have no choice but to receive her sword attack.

I dropped my waist and decided to concentrate on parrying Isolde-san’s slash. It seems that Isolde-san was one of the most prominent and skilled imperial guards, and this was a good opportunity for me to observe the imperial guard’s swordplay as well.

“Haa! Yaa! Sei!”

I dodged and parried Isolde-san’s storm-like series of attacks. All her attacks were heavy, sharp, and probably meant to end the fight in one hit. If we were seriously fighting with real swords, sparks would have been flying by now.

“You’re slow.”

“What!?”

But she was still quite slow for me. Her attacks were light. They were lightyears away from Mei’s attacks. If I tried to parry Mei’s attack like what I’m doing now, my defense would probably get blown away instantly. And even if I did manage to parry her attacks somehow, my arms would be too numb to move after just one or two attacks and would then be rendered useless. Compared to those, Isolde-san’s attacks were akin to a gentle breeze.

“Yaaa!”

I parried the piercing thrust Isolde-san unleashed together with a sharp battle cry with the sword on my left hand, pulled my left foot outward, and unleashed a counterattack with the sword on my right hand. I aimed my attack on Isolde-san’s chest. Isolde-san managed to twist her body and narrowly avoided my attack, but I then sharply stepped forward with my left foot that I just pulled back earlier, and cut Isolde-san’s neck with the sword I used to parry her thrust, ending the match.

“Gunununu……!”

The buzzer rang out once more and Isolde-san was given the death penalty. If we were using real swords, Isolde-san’s head would have been separated from her neck already.

“Just what style of swordsmanship is he practicing……?”

“It’s similar to the Geos style, I think. But the footwork and defense techniques are quite different.”

“Can I ask for a match as well?”

“I will avenge Isolde’s loss.”

The imperial guards who were watching the matches between me and Isolde-san began clamoring for a match with me one after another. It looks like I won’t have trouble finding training partners after all.

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