Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Compilation 1 [Five Years Later]

Chapter Extra Kadokawa Books Anniversary Short Story Compilation 1 [Five Years Later]



TN:This is a short story originally published on Kakuyomu as part of an annual short story compilation organized by Kadokawa to celebrate their anniversary. I’ll resume translating the main story once the author returns from working on the new volume of the light novel. In the meantime, I’ll be translating these mostly unknown short stories. There are only five in total, but I hope they’ll help fill the gap until the author returns.





A notification sound woke me up. Shaking off the grogginess of sleep, I quickly pulled up the radar and information displays on my beloved ship—Krishna’s cockpit. I checked the radar pings and the logs. Because I had minimized the life-support system’s functions, the cockpit was chilly.

「Four small, one medium.」

I muttered, observing the passive radar’s readings.

No one responded to my words. These days, I had to handle everything myself—radar monitoring, information processing, and even managing the subsystems. My hands were constantly busy, but I had grown accustomed to it by now. With Mimi, Elma, and Mei gone, I had no choice but to adapt.

「Space pirates... I’ll kill every last one of them.」

I will never forgive them. I will exterminate them.

☆★☆

The guild hall, bustling with mercenaries, fell silent as I walked through.

「Hey... it’s him.」

「Shh, don’t make eye contact.」

Ignoring the chatter, I strode straight through the hall. As I approached the reception desk, the woman stationed there caught sight of my face and let out a small scream. I paid her no mind and stepped forward.

「I’m Captain Hiro. I’ve completed the mission. Verify it.」

「Y-yes...!」

The receptionist’s voice trembled as if she was on the verge of tears. I don’t blame her. The seething rage radiating from me must be hard to endure for someone like her.

「I’ve confirmed it. With today’s results, the request to exterminate the remnants of the pirate gang has been fulfilled.」

「Good. Pass this on to the guild master: if he sends me another idiotic request like this, I’ll duel him until not a single speck of his stupid face remains.」

「Eek! U-understood!」

「Transfer the payment to my account. That’s all.」

After saying that to the trembling receptionist, I turned on my heel, ready to leave the mercenary guild behind—

「Hold it right there.」

—when some idiot stepped in my way. Great. What’s his problem? Does he have a grudge against me? Let me tell you, I’m not in the mood for this right now. Not even close.

「Move aside. I don’t have time for this.」

「Not happening. I don’t know what’s got you so worked up, but you scared the hell out of Jessica over there. Apologize.」

「...Haaah.」

Oh, come on. My patience is already razor-thin. I wanted to scream, ‘If you don’t know what’s going on, then shut the hell up!’ But I held it back, forcing myself to exhale the storm building inside me. Calm down. Stay cool. Decking this moron won’t do me any favors. Just walk away. Ignore this cheap provocateur and—

「IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON, THEN SHUT UP, YOU THIRD-RATE NOBODY! I’LL KILL YOU!!!」

Yeah, I failed. Forget staying calm. My anger hit its peak. Oh, what’s that? My phrasing is weird? You think I meant ‘my anger knows no bounds’? Shut up and don’t sweat the details.

「In the first place, it’s your fucking fault I had to waste time in this dump! You, the idiots working in this star system, botched your job so badly that I had to clean up after you! Misjudging the pirate’s strength when you attacked their base and letting a whole bunch of them escape with money and resources—are you brain-dead or what?!」

As a result, the pirates that escaped established small bases all across the star system, causing a rapid deterioration in the region’s security. Geographically, the Empire struggled to send significant forces to this sector, and the local lord’s military, already weakened from the recent anti-pirate operations, was barely managing to defend their own headquarters.

And so, to break this stalemate, they turned to me: a recipient of the Gold Star, a Platinum Rank mercenary, and someone renowned for eradicating space pirates. With my mobility, expertise, and strong connections to the Empire (or rather, my entanglement with them), I was the ideal candidate for the job—or in other words, a very convenient pawn for the Empire.

「Because of your incompetence, I had to come to this star system alone! Don’t you know that hyperdrives and faster-than-light travel aren’t good for the development of babies and fetuses? Do you have any idea how it feels to leave behind your wife and kids for a solo mission, huh?!」

「Like I care!」

「’Like I care?’ I’ll kill you, you idiot! Do you know what it’s like to spend every single day ambushing pirates, taking them down, interrogating them, and then shoving anti-ship torpedoes into their bases? Try living my life for once!」

Leaving my adorable daughters and pregnant wives behind was an agonizing decision. But when a direct request comes from an Imperial Space Force admiral, who also happens to be my father-in-law, refusing wasn’t an option. I owed him a lot, after all.

「Anyway! I’m going back to my wife and daughters! Get in my way, and I’ll make you cry. I mean it—I’ll make you bawl.」

I placed my hand on the hilt of one of the two swords hanging from my waist. As an honorary viscount of the Empire, I had a certain amount of leeway. Killing a common mercenary in self-defense would be within my rights—though I don’t actually intend to go that far.

「A-alright, I won’t get in your way.」

The man stammered, raising his hands and stepping aside, his face pale.

「Good.」

「Uh, Tenta-chan? You’re the one who’s going to birth the kids, right?」

Mimi asked, tilting her head.

But Tenta, smiling brightly, shook her head.

「Nope! I’ll have Hiro birth my kids too! It’s fine, really! You’ll be able to do it!」

With that, she extended one of her tentacles toward us—this one shaped in a way that was... how should I put it? Explicit? Inappropriate? I see, I see, so I’ll be giving birth too...

「Like hell I will!!!」

☆★☆

「Hyah!? What the—!?」

「Whoa! Hot! That’s hot! What are you doing!?」

Mimi, sitting across from me, let out a startled yelp, while Elma fumbled with her cup, spilling her drink in the process. Mei moved swiftly to clean up the mess, calmly tending to the flustered Elma. Huh? What just happened?

「That was surprising. Did you have a nightmare, Hiro-sama?」 Mimi asked, blinking at me with a mix of concern and curiosity.

I glanced around, my head still muddled, and realized I was in Krishna’s dining area. Judging by the position of my arms and the stiffness in my neck, I must have fallen asleep at the table.

「A dream, huh...」

What a horrifying dream. To think it would end with a tentacled alien girl trying to steal my chastity... That’s not a conclusion anyone wants. Seriously, who’s the target audience for that scenario?

「I thought I was going to get burned... Don’t scare me like that!」

「Sorry, it was just such a shocking dream.」

「Oh? And what kind of dream was that?」

「Is there anything more pointless than hearing about someone else’s dream?」

「Just tell us already.」

「I’d like to hear it.」

「I am interested as well.」

Even Mei wants to hear it? Alright, if you insist... I scratched my head and tried to piece together the fading fragments of my dream. Then, I recounted the bizarre tale.

「A dream set five years in the future, huh?」

「H-huh. So we had kids with you, Hiro...」

「And not just us, but Chris-chan and Lieutenant Commander Serena too.」

「...Are you sexually frustrated?」

「I don’t think that’s the case...」

I have Mimi, Elma, and even Mei, how could I be frustrated? Besides, weren’t there other girls in the dream? Maybe it’s just my imagination.

「But having that kind of dream does make you wonder.」

Elma persisted, giving me a pointed look. Hmm... I see, I see. I understand completely.

「You’re right. Maybe it’s true. So...」

I stood up, took Mimi and Elma by the hands, and started heading for the bathroom.

「W-wait, what do you mean so—!?」

「Isn’t it a bit cramped for three people to enter together?」

「Mimi! That’s not the point here!」

Elma is protesting but she’s not trying to pull her hand away so she’s just embarrassed. If I point that out, she’ll probably get defensive, so I better keep my thoughts to myself.

「I’ll go prepare the bed.」

「Thank you, Mei-san.」

「Don’t thank her for that! Listen to me!」

「Yes, yes, let’s all bathe together~」

「Don’t just brush me off!」

As I led the flustered Elma toward the bath, I couldn’t help but reflect on the dream. Who knows if such a future will come to pass? But, thinking about it, a future like that... doesn’t sound so bad.