Chapter 29

Only 3 days until the release!!

【I Am the Wicked Lord of an Interstellar Nation! Volume 7】 will be released on [May 25th]!!

After repelling the attack by space pirates.

In the reception room prepared on the battleship, the cityscape at night was displayed on the monitor.

It was nighttime on the ship.

The lights in the room were dimmed.

There were two women in the reception room.

One was a woman with red hair and brown skin—Patrice.

She was wearing a suit with an open chest, hugging her voluptuous figure.

She was a young woman exuding charm, but she was also a senior executive of the Newlands Chamber of Commerce.

Patrice, standing in front of the monitor, spoke to the female knight who was gazing at the cityscape at night.

"I didn't expect to be attacked suddenly in the territory controlled by the Unified Government. The three super-large transport ships are precious to me. Please make sure to protect them."

Among the transport ships Patrice owned, only three were super-large.

They were not just large; they used spatial magic.

The actual amount of cargo they could carry was several times more than their appearance suggested.

Losing even one would be a significant loss for Patrice now.

Losing two would be a fatal blow.

Patrice, whose expression was troubled with worry, turned to a woman with purple hair and eyes.

Her silky hair spread out as she turned, and her well-toned body was appropriately muscular.

She looked fragile at first glance, but she was a knight.

Her bone and muscle density were different from ordinary people.

She possessed strength that was unimaginable from her slender frame.

She was a powerhouse, on par with Christiana, a knight who supported the Banfield family.

She was a woman who had surpassed the realm of elite knights and entered the domain of the supernatural—[Marie Marian].

Her eyes, which turned to Patrice, seemed to glow in the dark room.

"Didn't we repel them properly? Don't worry, this Marie Marian will protect your precious transport ships."

Marie, placing her hand on her chest and smiling, made Patrice look uneasy.

"I do have high hopes, but the Unified Government is different from the Empire. The quality of the space pirates is also different. —From what I saw, the escort fleet was struggling."

A different interstellar nation.

While the situation was different from the Empire, the same applied to the space pirates.

Operating under the Unified Government meant that the methods used by the Empire's space pirates wouldn't work.

This difference affected the nature of the space pirates.

Many space pirates operated without regard for interstellar nations, but most had their territories.

The escort fleet had struggled against the space pirates who had fought against the Unified Government, as Patrice had observed.

However, Marie smiled at this comment.

Her previous smile had vanished, and her face now gave the impression of a fierce predator.

"Despite the differences, their essence is the same. There's no problem in hunting them. Besides, my subordinates have adapted to the battle here."

While Marie was said to be on par with Christiana, Patrice saw a fundamental difference between the two.

Christiana resembled the ideal knight, while Marie gave the impression of a rough warrior.

No matter how she tried to hide it, the violence that seeped through her words couldn't be concealed.

Patrice, breaking out in a cold sweat, also felt a sense of reliability and smiled.

"Please don't disappoint my expectations."

◇

After finishing her meeting with Patrice, Marie left the room and walked down the corridor.

It was nighttime on the ship, so the corridor was dimly lit.

Behind Marie, a male knight was walking diagonally.

The man with messy hair and a scruffy beard was named [Heidi].

He was Marie's deputy.

"How was the reception with the client, Marie?"

Despite being her deputy, he called her by her first name.

He had no discipline or manners, but Marie didn't reprimand him.

"If it weren't for her orders, I would have left it to someone else. Heidi, you should handle it from now on."

Heidi, who was told to deal with Patrice, scratched his head.

"Stop joking. I can't act as refined as you."

"Shut up."

Marie, changing her tone and smiling, gradually lost her expression, and her eyes became sharp.

"By the way, how is the escort fleet doing?"

It was a vague question, but Heidi sighed and answered.

Heidi, who was rude in both words and attitude, never slacked off in his work.

That's why Marie tolerated his rudeness.

If he were just a rude man, she wouldn't have chosen him as her deputy.

"Their quality and training are fine. Except for a few, their morale is high, and I can proudly say they are the Banfield family's fleet. —But, they lack experience."

At first, Heidi spoke loudly as if making a joke, but by the end, he had a serious expression, which Marie seemed to notice.

"Thanks to their poor performance, that woman is causing a fuss."

She had promised to protect them, but there was a problem with the fleet she was leading.

It was a matter of experience.

Heidi shrugged.

"They're all chicks with only a few combat experiences. If they had at least a hundred—no, even ten battles under their belt, I wouldn't have to worry so much."

A few combat experiences were not enough.

For Marie and Heidi, that level of combat experience was unreliable.

Heidi then pointed out the most problematic unit.

"By the way, the biggest troublemakers are the ones Marie handpicked. They were shaking in the back."

Hearing that they had retreated to the rear during the battle, Marie's expression changed.

Her eyes widened.

"What did you say?"

Heidi, who had enraged Marie, didn't change his attitude.

In fact, he told her something that would make her even angrier.

"The special units developed under that person's initiative didn't perform well either. The number of downed enemies was a shocking zero. Zero! —Well, the light carriers were in the rear, and their sortie was delayed, so that might have affected it."

Heidi then talked about the Russell squad.

"The elite you pushed onto Melea didn't perform well either. They didn't live up to expectations. —So, what are you going to do, Marie?"

Marie, who used an odd ladylike speech, showed her true self here.

She didn't try to hide it at all.

It was a sign that she was losing her temper.

"Call them to this ship. I'll retrain them myself."

Heidi, watching Marie walk ahead, shrugged.

"Don't break the promising new recruits."

Marie, who was warned, responded coldly.

"If they break that easily, they're not worth expecting."

◇

(Oh no!! This is terrible!!)

Emma, trying to hold back her scream, was called to the flagship of the escort fleet.

The third squad members were gathered, but only Emma was present.

And the three members of the Russell squad.

The four of them were facing Marie, who was sitting in a chair with her back to them, looking dissatisfied.

"Staying on the battlefield just enough to make excuses, and then participating passively—do you have anything to say?"

They were being reprimanded for being passive during the battle with the space pirates.

It was a normal situation, but the person questioning them was the problem.

Marie Marian—her rank in the Banfield family's private army was Major General.

She also held the rank of Brigadier General in the Imperial Regular Army.

And her knight rank was "AAA."

She was even higher than Claudia, who had been Emma's instructor.

She was also one of the representative knights of the Banfield family.

Even though she only had a dissatisfied look, Emma felt intimidated by her presence and achievements.

The same went for Russell and the others.

Even Shar, who was usually arrogant, had toned down her attitude.

When Emma couldn't answer, Russell stepped forward.

"The flagship showed a passive movement, but our squad fought valiantly!"

Marie sighed at this.

"Yes, it was a decent performance given the situation. If you were ordinary knights, I would have applauded and recommended you for a better position. —But, you're not ordinary knights, are you?"

When Marie glared at everyone, the atmosphere became heavy.

"!"

Russell was sweating and couldn't respond.

Marie stood up and approached Emma and the others.

"Do you really think that, being treated better than other knights, you can get away with just ordinary achievements and say you did your best? —If you have such a ridiculous idea, I'll kill you right here."

Marie, who used an odd ladylike speech, didn't make anyone laugh.

They all had the intuition that laughing would get them killed.

Marie turned her gaze to Emma, who was silent.

"Atlante's pilot."

"Y-Yes!?"

Emma, straightening her back, had Marie's face close to hers.

"Why didn't you participate in the battle?"

Emma, staring into Marie's purple eyes, couldn't look away. She had the intuition that looking away would be bad.

"Because my orders were to support."

"Ah, so you thought you could say, 'There was nothing I could do' with a smile!"

Marie, who seemed to accept it with a smile, suddenly made a terrifying face and denied Emma.

Emma, who was so shocked her hair stood on end, was then asked a serious question by Marie.

"What is a knight?"

"Huh?"

"Answer me. What is a knight?"

"Um, a knight is someone who has been enhanced since childhood—"

"That's not the answer I'm looking for."

Confused by Marie's unreasonable demands, Emma closed her eyes and thought.

But not finding a good answer, she decided to speak her mind.

(Whatever happens, happens!)

"A hero! A knight is—someone who protects the weak!"

Hearing this, Russell was stunned.

"Are you this stupid?"

But Marie's reaction was different.

She placed her hands on her hips and laughed happily.

"Good. Good, Atlante's pilot! The stubbornness that doesn't yield to anyone is the essence of a knight."

"Wh-What?"

Claiming to be a hero didn't get her scolded but amused Marie instead.

Confused, Emma listened to Marie's pseudo-ladylike speech.

"In the Unified Army, they call beings like knights 'enhanced soldiers.' Unlike us knights, they are treated as ordinary soldiers."

In the Empire, they were called knights, but in the Unified Government, they were treated as "enhanced soldiers."

They didn't receive the same privileges and treatment as knights.

The Unified Government could be said to use knights—enhanced soldiers—more efficiently than the Empire.

Marie changed her expression in front of the four.

"If you want to be like enhanced soldiers, just follow orders. But if you want to be knights—have the power to assert your will."

As the four considered her words, Marie smiled broadly.

"For that reason, all of you will accompany me in my training from now on."

Bryan (´;ω;｀): "I'm happy to hear the voices of those who miss this Bryan. That's why I've temporarily come back."

Bryan (｀・ω・´): "The release date for Volume 7 of [I Am the Wicked Lord of an Interstellar Nation!], where Liam shines, is approaching. Please support it!"