Chapter 40

Chapter 40. Raising the Empress (3)

Anyway, now that it’s clear that the quest-based curriculum is meaningless.

I was stuck in a dilemma for a long time, wondering how I should respond.

But after a while.

‘Wait, isn’t it enough to just treat her normally? While letting her gain experience through training and real battles.’

I threw away any unnecessary tricks and decided to wholeheartedly cherish Marian in the “Icarus style.”

After all, the “escape” of the Pirate Empress, as far as I know, happens at most within a month.

So, I decided to match that timeline, engaging in appropriate battles for a month.

And considering her body, which, despite the appearance users are familiar with, is incredibly frail except for her hips and thighs.

I decided to take all the friendly actions I could to help her, who seems to be suffering from severe malnutrition (?).

—

“Whoa?! You’re saying I can eat all of this?”

“Of course.”

—

Eat a lot and grow up strong, so you can keep countless Commanders awake at night in the future.

Of course, since I made this decision.

—

[Quest]

[Deploy into Battle!]

[After sufficient training, immediately deploy “Mary Ann” into battle and observe her performance!]

[Objective: Include “Mary Ann” in any kind of “battle.”]

—

‘Seriously, guys, Marian hasn’t even reached level 5 yet.’

Looking at the quest curriculum, which goes beyond hardcore as mentioned in the community gallery.

I once again realized that everything the veterans in the gallery said was true.

So, I ignored most of the “Pirate Empress Raising” quests that popped up over the next month.

Of course, according to the gallery, it’s good to progress some quests, but…

—

– Omnomnomnom

“Oppa, this is really delicious!”

“…Yeah, sure.”

‘Well, a 5% discount is nothing.’

—

Watching her eat everything gratefully and train diligently, I felt like saying, “Screw the battles.”

And thinking about it, I didn’t need to do everything for Marian myself.

—

“Today, you’ll gain experience in handling tasks from Jessica.”

“Huh, me?”

“Yep.”

“Please take care of me today, Marian.”

“Ugh, my name is Mary Ann.”

—

Through non-combat experience, I had her learn administrative tasks from Jessica.

—

“Today, you’ll be deployed into close combat training with Ignis.”

“Yes, Oppa!”

“Just follow my lead.”

“Yes… Eek!!”

—

Training in close combat with Ignis, who has the highest physical ability in our fleet, fighting all kinds of races and organic-mechanical beings.

—

“Today, you’ll gain experience in command and crowd control with Belial.”

“Huh? Me, commanding…?”

“For today, Belial will act as your superior, thoroughly drilling knowledge and practical skills into you.”

“Ahhh, Oppa! Wait, this is a bit…!”

—

For the future “Pirate Empress,” I had her grow her “command” abilities with Belial, who has a similar style.

And finally…

—

“Today… Pashtira will personally teach you various things.”

“Pashtira…? Alright.”

—

I have no idea what they’re doing, but Pashtira always trains her in secret, refusing to tell me anything.

Filling in the gaps I can’t cover, while ensuring none of the superhumans grow jealous of Marian.

It’s a delicate balance, but it’s working.

Still, since they’re experts in their fields, I didn’t plan to interfere.

But I couldn’t help but feel suspicious about Pashtira, who always hides her training with Marian.

So, out of curiosity, I asked Marian, who seemed a bit off when talking about Pashtira’s training.

—

“Is there something you don’t like about training with Pashtira?”

“Ah, no! Oppa, you don’t need to worry about it!”

—

Marian was startled by my question and desperately denied it.

—

“Actually, I really like that training!”

“…Huh?”

“I feel like I want to do it every single day, you know? Seriously!”

“Yeah, right.”

What kind of training could make someone react so intensely?

Or maybe, I wondered if she was worried that if she refused, she’d be kicked out.

‘Nah, that seems too extreme.’

Thinking about it, someone who’s planning to escape soon wouldn’t care about that stuff anyway.

So instead of asking Marian about the training, I decided to ask Pashtira directly the day after the training ended.

“That training with her? You must be really curious about her growth rate, Commander♡”

“Well, it seems like she’s avoiding talking about the training she does with you directly.”

“In that case, I’m sorry, but I can’t really tell you about that part either♡”

“…Is that so?”

“Or maybe you’d like to join me in bed… Hehe♡”

“Let’s end this conversation here.”

Seeing Pashtira say this while barely covering herself with her nun outfit, I shook my head and decided not to ask any more questions.

Anyway, the important thing is that while we’re strictly managing the ‘training’ and its schedule for our superhumans…

“Is it good?”

“Yep.”

“Good, you’ve worked hard in this training too.”

-Swish swish-

“Eek?! Ah… Ugh…”

At the same time, I made sure to treat Marian’s mental state, which was being worn down by the tough training, with fluffy things, delicious food, and plenty of rewards.

Using the so-called good cop-bad cop strategy, I felt confident that at least a bad ending wouldn’t happen.

If things kept going like this, I figured that by the time she escaped after a month, we’d have built up a decent level of goodwill.

==========

But after thinking that, a month passed.

And then another month.

-Nom nom nom

“Oppa, what kind of training should I do today?”

“…”

For some reason, even though it was way past the time she should’ve escaped, our Pirate Empress (real) was still at our base, happily emptying her rice bowl.

‘What’s going on?’

Why hasn’t she stolen a shuttle and escaped to the pirate territory, beating everyone up and becoming the true Pirate Empress?

Instead, she’s been staying here for over two months now.

And despite eating so much, she’s not gaining weight because she’s moving around a lot, burning calories.

Yet, her chest keeps growing, showing the strange mystery of the human body.

Of course, it’s only grown to about AAA or AA cup size so far.

But every time I see her, Ignis, who calls herself slender, looks at Marian and then at her own chest, relieved that she’s still bigger.

At this point, it’s starting to look a bit pitiful.

Anyway, the important thing is that the Pirate Empress (real) still hasn’t set out on her journey to become the Pirate Empress (true).

I was genuinely confused and told Jessica how baffled I was.

But in response, Jessica opened her mouth with a tone that seemed to ask if this was really the time to bring that up…

“Commander, it’s simple.”

“…Huh?”

“You took a girl who was dragged around by pirates and lived a miserable life, and gave her warm meals, a place to sleep, and even leisure time.”

“…”

“And for a girl who never wants to go through that again, you gave her the best training and real combat experience, making sure she never dies.”

“…”

“You even keep the training varied so she doesn’t get bored, and you praise and reward her appropriately.”

“…”

“If I were her, I’d give up on going back to the pirates and just stay here too.”

“So… you’re saying I’ve been too good to her?”

At my words, Jessica nodded vigorously, her big rabbit ears flopping around.

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