19:00 AT, Day Fourteen | Arce Lunae / Recovery Bay

  I wake up in the respawn tube with a killer headache.

  Guess that's what I get for detonating a fusion bomb at point blank range.

  Oh well, It looked really cool. Everyone knows that it doesn't matter if you win, if you lack style points. That's like, the first rule of war I think.

  I’d say taking out the enemy commanders with a suicidal fusion bomb is pretty stylish. So, I think we got that part covered.

  I exit the tube and Emil and Linda are waiting to greet me. They are both wearing their usual uniforms, foregoing the armor considering they are on the back lines.

  “Welcome back to the world of life, Milord. I trust your death was an enjoyable experience?”

  “Oooh yeah, how does it feel to be the second death, Milord? Now I'm finally not alone in having died, yipee!” Linda says, the joy in her voice evident. Great, I bet Ray is going to tease me about having died.

  “Im glad to be back, has anything interesting happened in my absence?”

  “Not much. The siege ended with a resounding victory, we only lost two exo-mechs due to the great-level that went wild. Other than that, your strategy worked flawlessly and caused a quick retreat.” Emil explains.

  “Good to hear, but are you sure there aren't any like, dragons or anything? No angry little gods wandering about?” I ask, concerned about cosmic disasters appearing during my rest. Such things always seem to happen when someone goes to sleep.

  “Nope, as far as we can tell, all is quiet. Our intelligence reports suggest that the Quartet are currently pulling back and reinforcing their defensive lines. We have still yet to see any signs of movement from the Lone Snowflake faction. It's almost as if they don't exist at all.” Emil says, relieving me of my worries of impending doom.

  “Well, that's mostly good news I suppose. I guess we've got a lot of fort smashing to do in the future.”

  “Sounds about right, milord. And guess what! We have managed to design that special weapon that you requested. Construction has begun, and guess what! Dear Emil has placed me at the head of organization for the project. Isn't that sweet?” Linda says, the excitement in her voice obvious.

  “Oh and Milord, there is one bit of important info.”

  “What could that be, Emil?” I ask, concerned that he is hiding some unknown cosmic horror.

  “Lady Ray will be arriving in about two hours. She sounded quite annoyed over the comms, so I suggest you brace yourself.” He says, great, he was in fact, hiding a horrific problem. Oh well, I'm sure I can handle her, I've got lots of practice in that department. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing though.

  “Thank you for the words of warning, Emil. You're literally a lifesaver, I've got no clue how we would manage this thing without you and Linda.”

  “It is an honor, Milord. Wherever you shall need me, I shall be. It's the least I can do, given what you have done for me.”

  “Ooo same for me, you guys are awesome. It's only natural we want to see your guy’s vision truly succeed.” Linda says she seems far peppier than normal. It seems she is really enjoying this whole manager thing. Perhaps we shouldn't have ever tried to force her onto a battlefield.

  I am absolutely starving, likely as a side effect from the whole dying and respawning thing. So, I decide to head down to the mess hall.

  I decide on some eggs, toast and bacon, a classic breakfast. Before you ask, it may be the early night time. But, as it's my first meal in a while, it is still technically breaking my fast. Thus, it is perfectly reasonable to have a traditional breakfast at this time.

  I managed to assemble the eggs and bacon perfectly. But I misread the toaster knobs and accidentally toast it for far too long, burning my toast.

  For klacks sake, we are on a gigantic alien space station who knows how far from Earth. Is it so hard to have a toaster that always perfectly toasts your toast? That seems like a basic thing.

  Of course, I'm hungry enough that I push through the burnt taste and eat it anyway. It's still perfectly edible, if a bit off tasting. Definitely a far stretch from some of the food during the large feast.

  After I finish my meal, I decide to walk around the castle for a while. Or, should I say compound.

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  I stand on the northern battlements and for several kilometers, all I can see is buildings. Factories, barracks, garages, warehouses. All neatly arranged with military efficiency.

  Unfortunately, in this case, we had to rely on industrial brutalism to carry the style points. But hey, at least the constant convoy of trucks carrying materials and personnel in and out looks quite cool.

  Of course, none of the factories are actual factories. Thankfully, we aren't simulating it quite to that extent. Rather, it's more like they are shops where we can refine materials and buy equipment with said materials. Though, It still takes quite a bit of effort to manage it. It's good though, I don't know that we have many industrial engineers hiding in our military ranks, so we would be screwed if we had to do much actual factory design.

  This way works great, we simply purchase or manufacture buildings and the inventory system conveniently builds them for us wherever we desire.

  I jump down from the walls and walk through the streets a bit. As I pass people, they briefly bow or salute to me and proceed on with their day. Trucks full of who knows what blitz past me at record speed, moving supplies up towards the front lines and out towards the hunting parties.

  I meet a hunting party that is walking back to the castle to deposit some of their trophies. Apparently they were hunting just to the north of here, and managed to score 10 bisoclo trophies. Not bad at all.

  Hunting is our primary source of Ti. Though, now that we can manufacture equipment, a lot of it just gets converted into Ri for more soldiers. After all, we are going to need a much larger army. A few thousand is just the beginning, if I am getting the vibe of this trial right. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up fielding around 100,000 active personnel by the end of this.

  I stop in a few of the barracks buildings, talking with some of the low-level soldiers. It seems everyone has been getting by fairly nicely. No one is being overworked and everything is flowing nicely. The only complaint I got was the pillows and mattresses being not that comfy.

  Naturally, the next night the soldiers would find that their beds and pillows would become far more comfortable. Almost as if by some miracle.

  I stop in one of the mess halls near the edge of the compound and grab two mugs of coffee. Then, I hop on top of the small outer wall and rest my back against a post.

  I sat there for quite a while, staring out at the endless ocean of grass under the endless ocean of fake night sky. Watching as trucks and parties come and go. People were laughing, cheering and excited at the prospect of the next day.

  I even manage to spot a few constellations from Earth. Or at least, I think they are. I never got to see the stars back on Earth. Very few places allowed that anymore, too much light pollution from all the cities.

  Perhaps we will redesign Earth a bit, and make some spots where the light pollution is faint enough to see a proper night sky again. That'd be nice, to sit in a nice field on Earth next to Ray, looking up at a nice starry sky. The moon is shining its wonderful light down upon us.

  After a while, I notice a strong presence approaching my location, but I don't move, and simply continue to sip at my coffee. Which is kept perfectly warm with some fancy technology.

  A few seconds later, a particularly cute girl climbs up the wall next to me. She then firmly plants herself in my arms, and demands my attention relentlessly.

  “You're a real big jerk, you know.” She says, picking up the second mug of coffee I brought.

  “I guess I am. Am I at least a cool jerk?” I ask.

  “Hmm, you're definitely cute. I don't know about the cool part, perhaps I'll know after a few headrubs.”

  “Well then, I guess I must give said headrubs then, I am super cool after all.” I say. I set my coffee down and wrap one arm around her and give her a half-hug. I run my other hand through her hair, much to her delight.

  She takes a tip of coffee, a nice smile on her face. “I admit, you might be just a little bit cool. Just a bit though, you're still a worthless NEET after all.”

  “Well, that's fine with me. I've got ages to convince you of my coolness after all. Though, I’ll always still be that worthless NEEt at heart I think.”

  “Well, perhaps that can be my mission then, darling. I'll convince you that you're not some worthless NEET. Perhaps I can whip you into some super boyfriend that does everything I ask.”

  “Darling, you do know that I will already do whatever you wish, right?” I say, giving her a particularly tight squeeze to make my point clear.

  “Aww, that's somehow sweet, but also sad at the same time.”

  “How can my overwhelming love for my super cute girlfriend be sad?” I ask.

  “Well, it's kinda tragic how easily you can be charmed.”

  “Dont worry, the only person who has charms that work on me is you, darling.”

  “Okay, that was a slick line.” she says, nuzzling into me, demanding more headrubs. I pick up my pace, I wouldn't want my super cute girlfriend to be sad, after all.

  “Does that mean I'm cool now?”

  “Not quite, it's gonna take a lot more than a single cool line to change your status to cool.”

  “Well, then I better come up with a lot more cool lines. What if I said something like ‘boooyah’ after a big explosion?”

  “That's just cringey. I think that'd lower your coolness value.” She says, stifling a laugh.

  “Well, then maybe I'll just stick to holding my super cute girlfriend under a starry sky. That should do it, right?”

  “Only if you give headrubs, then it'd be super cool.”

  “Headrubs it shall be then.” I proclaim, and then settle in for an intense round of headrubs. After all, it's essential that when a super cute girl asks for something, you give it to them, without hesitation. It's the natural way of the world, and trying to resist it would be foolish.

  It might also result in a pouty girlfriend come morning.

  No one wants a pouty girlfriend, even if it can be quite cute at times. Smiles and happiness are always a way better look.

  Sitting upon this wall, super cute girlfriend in arms, delicious coffee warmed by sci-fi technology. I feel at peace. A stark contrast to the battlefield just hours ago.

  Sometimes it's about the little moments, you know. The small moments of relaxation before the big stuff, like our push further east.

  But enough of that depressing stuff, it is time for more headrubs, as the girl demands.

  No matter what comes next, be it a massive dragon, some obstacle to our push eastwards, or even a blunder that causes a certain girl to get mad. Ray and I shall overcome it together. So, bring it on.

  End of Chapter 101

  Next: Chapter 102 | Burning Rampage