Chapter 116

Chapter 116. True Education ON. (1)

After seeing the peace negotiation proposal from that person (or that thing, who knows), I took a moment to ponder. But honestly, because that guy was completely incompatible with my fleet, the damage had already gotten way out of hand. So, I decided to cut the nonsense and agreed to their peace negotiation request. And through that, I discovered three shocking facts.

First, the identity of the opponent I was fighting. It wasn’t just some random clan with a few dozen or hundred users…

—————————————-

<Loki Clan>

<Members: 11,098>

<Affiliated Factions: Pirate Alliance, Space Monsters, Earth Federation, Xenobia Empire>

<Alignment: Neutral>

—————————————-

“Holy mother of…”

They accept users regardless of faction or alignment, boasting over 10,000 members. At this point, they’re considered the largest single clan, no questions asked. And not just any clan, but the infamous ‘Loki Clan,’ whose leader is so reclusive that even seeing them is a rare event. That was the first revelation.

The second was…

“Wait, what did you just say?”

“Commander, the opposing commander is on their way here.”

“Hold up, the Clan Leader is coming personally?”

“Yep.”

Given the nature of the Loki Clan, most of its members are just trolls causing chaos for their own factions. Other large clans trash-talk the Loki Clan, saying their sense of belonging is trash and their cooperation level is idiotic. But that’s only something clans of similar size can say. For someone like me, who’s just an individual, dealing with them is a whole different level of stress.

And yet, this Clan Leader wasn’t safely holed up in their headquarters. No, they were out here, leading an expedition fleet across this vast distance. That was the second thing I learned.

I was itching to cancel the peace treaty and shout, “Go, Leonard!” But unfortunately, the game system locks all user conflicts for a month once a peace treaty is signed. And to mobilize Leonard, I absolutely needed Marian’s help.

“Jessica, where’s Marian?”

“No idea. She’s been gone since earlier.”

For some reason, Marian had disappeared without a word. So, while grumbling, I decided to meet this Clan Leader at our docking facility with Belial, who had just returned from battle, to sign the peace treaty.

Of course, if this Loki Clan Leader started spouting nonsense, I was ready to make them pay dearly once the month was up. But when the Clan Leader finally arrived and revealed themselves…

“Hey, you must be Icarus! I can tell just by looking!”

“…???”

“Oh, I should introduce myself first. Nice to meet you! I’m Betelgeuse, the Clan Leader of the Loki Clan!”

“…”

The third and final revelation was that the Loki Clan Leader was a petite girl with long, curly pink hair.

==========

While I was still processing this unexpected appearance, Betelgeuse—no, Pink Hair—started showering me with compliments.

“Seriously, you’re amazing! How did you manage to hold out with just regular ships, aside from the ones from the event shop and the Overseer?”

“Ahem.”

“I’ve faced off against others, including clan leaders with hundreds of members, but you fought the best among them!”

At first glance, she seemed like a little devil similar to Gryanarr, but her words were nothing but pure praise. It made me wonder if this was one of those cases where the character’s appearance got twisted during the possession process, which is common in this world.

But just as I was thinking that…

“Even with such a trash fleet, you managed to resist my fleet… You’re really something!”

“…”

“That’s why you’re ranked 3rd!”

Her compliments were laced with subtle jabs, so I shook my head and responded modestly.

“That was just luck. I managed to get the Pirate Empress to surrender, as you know.”

“Luck is part of skill, that’s my philosophy.”

Sitting casually on a nearby crate, swinging her legs in the air, Betelgeuse continued with her mix of compliments and jabs. Then, with a curious expression, she asked me a serious question.

“Hmm, by the way, I’m genuinely curious about something.”

“What?”

“You got the Pirate Empress to surrender, so why didn’t you use her in this battle?”

“…”

“If the Pirate Empress joined you, you’d get an additional pirate fleet that doesn’t cost you any points, right?”

“…Hmm.”

“I thought that was your ‘trump card,’ but I don’t see her or her fleet here?”

“…”

Hearing that, I cursed the system internally.

‘Damn system, it said the Empress isn’t part of our faction and didn’t give us the fleet.’

Of course, if I reveal this, the other person might give me a big middle finger later.

There’s nothing dumber than blabbing your weaknesses all over the place.

Marian isn’t here right now, so I’ll just play it cool.

I decided to gloss over that part.

“Is that important? The way you’re talking, it feels like you’re pretending to compliment me while trying to extract every bit of information I have.”

“Haha, no way.”

“Besides, this meeting only happened because you proposed a peace agreement first.”

“Hmm… So you want to clarify the responsibilities and all that?”

At Betelgeuse’s words, I nodded and responded again.

“Yeah, and next time, I hope you don’t pull a preemptive attack followed by a preemptive peace negotiation.”

“Haha, does that bother you that much?”

“If it didn’t, I’d be a total pushover.”

“Wow.”

As I spoke bluntly with my arms crossed, Betelgeuse laughed it off with an easygoing attitude.

Annoyed by her demeanor, I decided to leave one last remark.

“If you pull something like this again, I won’t let it slide as easily as this time.”

“Oh, of course, of course. But since I messed up this time, take this and let’s move on~”

—————————————-

<Betelgeuse has requested a trade with you!>

<50,000 Minerals, 10,000 Rare Resources ⇒ Icarus>

<Y/N>

—————————————-

Of course, while the other party apologized and offered a reasonable compensation.

I shook my head at her carefree attitude and decided to sprinkle some salt.

“Get out, or let me say it politely, scram.”

“Oh my, so scary. Don’t be like that. I promise it won’t happen again.”

…Of course, regardless of that, I quickly gobbled up the compensation she offered.

I could see a momentary look of disbelief on Betelgeuse’s face as she walked away laughing.

‘This is the timing.’

==========

A short while later.

Betelgeuse, who had been chased away (?) by Icarus after a salt shower, was happily chatting with her adjutant while navigating through space in her ship.

“Hey, did you see what Icarus did earlier, Aran?”

-“…Yes, I saw it.”

“Impressive, right? Even though we had the handicap of being the expeditionary force, they only brought out regular ships.”

-“It was indeed surprising. They didn’t even use a pirate fleet.”

“Turns out the rumors weren’t entirely false. Ranking 3rd with just regular ships, excluding a few gacha ships… That’s something.”

-“You seem to like them, Commander.”

“Of course! I think Icarus might even rank high in this event.”

As Betelgeuse chuckled, her adjutant on the comms screen looked very concerned.

-“Commander, please return to the base now.”

“Huh?”

-“Your fleet’s loss rate has exceeded 40%. It’s dangerous to continue like this.”

“Yeah, I did play around with Icarus a bit too much.”

The adjutant’s words were very valid.

Betelgeuse twirled a strand of her long, pink curly hair and said,

“Alright then, let’s warp back to the base. Prepare a welcome for me, okay?”

-“I’ll make the best preparations, Commander.”

As she stood up, Betelgeuse watched her entire fleet, including her flagship, prepare to warp and smiled mischievously.

‘Icarus is definitely worth keeping an eye on for a while.’

Additionally, thinking it might be necessary to monitor Icarus closely.

She thought about picking someone to keep an eye on Icarus once she got back.

But just as her fleet was about to warp.

-BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!

“Huh?”

-“Commander! The fleet’s warp has been forcibly canceled!”

-“C-Commander! A large fleet has been detected in all directions!”

-“Warp disruptor confirmed! Fleet warp is impossible!”

“Uh-oh.”

Immediately after the warp was forcibly canceled.

Around Betelgeuse’s fleet, which had less than 100 ships left, a massive pirate fleet of over 50,000 ships appeared.

Right in front of Betelgeuse’s Hamburg-class light cruiser flagship, a cruiser battleship from the pirate alliance revealed itself.

“…This doesn’t feel good.”

Betelgeuse instinctively realized she was screwed… well, not literally, but close enough.

She knew she was in deep trouble.