Chapter 85: A Bouquet of Roses (4)

Everyone was shooting me complicated gazes. Yesterday, the crew members looked at me with gazes full of respect and gratitude, but today, their eyes were full of all kinds of emotions besides that.

"Ughhh, how the hell did you... My Queen..."

"This is so bitter… I'm going to get back at you for this…"

"But he's our saviour though?"

"That's right. Otherwise, he would've already died by my hands…"

The dark energy creeping up in the air evoked a tingling sensation on my skin. To be honest, I saw this coming. However, I broke out in a cold sweat after having gone through this personally.

'Tch. This is why I wanted to eat inside the dormitory.'

However, more than forty percent of the ship's body was destroyed and it was difficult to even cruise properly right after the battle ended. Hence, Albatross prioritized repairing its flight functions and Astral Drive function while a majority of its less important functions were restricted. Unlike in the past when food provisions were sent directly to our living quarters, now we had to personally go to the cafeteria located in the residential areas.

'Of course, if I was really afraid of their gazes, I could just ask Dong-min or Bo-ram to make the trip and it would be resolved, but…'

However, there was no reason to go so far when I hadn't done anything wrong. Above all, since the moment I decided to get married with Celestia, the public's eyes would become a norm that I had to bear with, so it would be good to treat this as a kind of rehearsal.

'Besides, the gazes directed at me aren't all filled with killing intent.'

Indeed, my thoughts were right and a man walked towards me and saluted me respectfully.

"Salute."

"…Not

'loyalty'

, or

'allegiance to the Emperor'

, nor

'for the glory of the Emperor'

, but

'Salute'

? Why

'Salute'

?"

Lieutenant Alex, a handsome man with crimson hair, did not raise an eyebrow even at my dumbfounded reaction.

"I'm just expressing my respect for you. Kyaaah, I didn't know it would be possible to capture the heart of the Starlight that shines brightly in the universe. I thought I was pretty talented and good looking, but I guess there's always someone better. You are the dream and hope of us pilots."

"That's right. Those lame bastards are talking behind your back because they're jealous of you, but please remember that there are also fans of Specter-nim just like us."

"You're much better than those idiots who only know how to flaunt their money and power, Specter-nim!"

"I've been looking back at the combat information records every day. You're a universal genius!"

"Say, may I ask for your signature?"

Several pilots came over and created a hubbub, including Lieutenant Alex, the pilot of Thunder Dragon which was especially powerful among the Beast-rank Gigas. I was a war hero who saved Albatross from the brink of total annihilation by the demi-humans, so there were many people who admired me too.

Of course, most of the information about me was confidential.

At my request, Major General Chun Hyun-il designated many of my achievements as confidential information and prevented it from leaking out. In particular, the existence of the God-rank Gigas, Ares, was completely kept under wraps and those who directly witnessed it had to swear by a security oath. That was how tremendous of a matter they viewed this as.

However, even if we disregarded my achievements that were kept confidential… My performance surpassed that of an ordinary pilot. In particular, the achievements and combat records I racked up while piloting as Specter were extremely shocking. Hence, even if it wasn't for the issue with Celestia, the headquarters would've contacted me.

"You're popular huh."

"Shut it, you brat. Just go get some galbi-tang[1]."

"I'll have ramen."

After giving the rambling Dong-min the honor of being a food shuttle[2] I briefly looked around. Lieutenant Alex and other pilots left the cafeteria, but the many gazes that were directed at me had no intention of ceasing.

"Their gaze is going to pierce through alright. By the way, how does it feel to receive a confession from the Space Idol?"

"It's disturbing."

"Haha, I guess it's because of their gazes. But, it can't be helped, so just bear with it and overlook it. Though honestly, I didn't expect that the both of you had a thing going on, sunbae... You really never know what'll happen everyday huh."

Bo-ram knew I didn't like a ruckus, nor did I care too much about appearances. However, even so, she didn't find it very strange that I was dating Celestia.

'But then again, that's a given.'

That's right, there was enough justification(?) for me and Celestia to fall in love with each other. We were kidnapped together by the demi-humans who were renowned for not keeping human prisoners. Then, after all the hardships and sufferings we faced, we worked together and succeeded in escaping. The Exa-class Space Carrier, Great Sky, was partially destroyed in the process. It was a spectacular escape which was akin to a great Hollywood movie scene.

It was a popular belief among people that after going through suffering and hardships together, it wouldn't be weird to depend and rely on each other… The romance between me and Celestia was a hot issue among the crew members. This was because all I had was excellent piloting skills and I had neither wealth nor status, on the other hand, Celestia was the Imperial Princess of the Leonhardt Empire as well as an idol with universal fame.

"Ahh! Hey Dae-ha!"

Just then, the female lead who was part of the romance appeared.

Ploof!

Celestia ran towards me and hugged my arm as if it was the natural course of action, and I couldn't shake her off. She put on a stiff expression before pulling me close to her face and whispered in my ear, "What's with that face, you idiot? Are you really not going to cooperate properly?"

At her snarling, I complained, "I'm like this because you lunged towards me without warning! You surprised me!"

"Did you just liken me to a truck crashing into you?"

As we were bickering and shouting, the men watching us sat down and clutched their hearts. To my surprise, some of them even vomited blood.

"Keucckkkk! My Queen… Our charismatic Queen..."

"This isn't real…"

It was a miserable atmosphere as if they were watching the end of the world before their eyes. However, Celestia didn't even give them a glimpse and treated them like they were a telephone pole on the street. Then, she continued pulling me close to her face.

"Anyways, follow me quickly. We've got a mountain of things to do."

"Hmm? But I was about to start eating..."

"I'll get you something to eat privately later. Just come with me!"

Just like that, I was dragged along with her. Needless to say, resistance was impossible. How could a human withstand being dragged away by an elephant?

'Tch, I have a lot of soul energy now, but I can't believe I'm not able to do anything against her.'

I clicked my tongue inwardly, but nothing could be done. Napoleon's soul energy in my heart was so enormous that even a high-ranking Ability user would pale in comparison, but I didn't have any ability that would put the enormous amount of energy to good use.

'At first, I thought I could just learn, but... It has a completely different nature from ordinary soul energy. I wasn't able to handle it with any Soul Energy Art at all.'

I wasn't able to bring out my soul powers like the other ability users. This was because the Iron Heart in my heart was throbbing on its own and surging throughout my whole body. It wasn't something that could be controlled by a particular Aura Skill or Meditation Art.

The only way to use Napoleon's soul energy was to invoke the Ability written in the book. However, there was a problem about that, too.

'There's no useful Ability at all.'

These three were the current Abilities I had. Among them, was an amplification skill so it was meaningless. allowed me to move at a high speed towards an Iron Heart within a certain distance, but it was useless too. If we were in the universe, the Iron Heart could be some kind of indicator, but if I used this skill inside the battleship with my body, I would only fly towards the wall and crash into it.

In the end, the only Ability I could use was , a skill that regenerated my body. Or I could also use to amplify and use super-regeneration.

'Ultimately, no matter what I try to do, the only thing I can become is a meat shield.'

Even so, if I get killed by a single blow, it would all be useless. So, I shouldn't even think about fighting with my ability. I should just be content at the fact that I had a recovery skill, and that it could keep me alive.

"…Why don't you stop thinking about other things and walk on your own two legs?"

"But why? I'm comfortable with this right now."

"I'll really toss you at this rate."

Celestia's voice was turning aggressive for some reason, so I straightened up and walked on my own while following behind her. As I looked back, I could see Bo-ram and Dong-min walking along behind us too. After several months of guarding me, they got pretty used to this.

"By the way, what's the matter all of a sudden? What do you mean we have a mountain of things to do? I thought there would be nothing much going on until we reached the headquarters or something?"

"That was the case originally, but not anymore. Aghh, that old man is really..."

"...??"

I followed her even though I was puzzled by her words that didn't make sense. After taking a long ride down the elevator with her, we stopped on a floor that had no letters on the signage.

"Hmm. Wait a bit, Dae-ha."

"Sunbae, something's wrong, it's dangerous."

Dong-min and Bo-ram stopped me in my tracks at almost the same time. As I saw them looking ahead nervously, something or someone dangerous seemed to be in front of us.

"Ahh, don't worry. It's not an enemy."

"It's not an enemy? But this feeling..." Dong-min asked in return as he couldn't understand what Celestia meant. Just then, an old man with goat horns appeared in front of us.

"Oooohhh! You're here, Queen. This old man can't go in person so I'm really sorry for making you come personally."

Overall speaking, he was an old man with a virtuous expression. Even if he stayed still with his gentle eyes, he had small squinty eyes that looked like he was smiling. He had a radiant look as if something happy happened.

However, the moment Dong-min and Boram set their eyes on him, they groaned almost simultaneously.

"Demon tribe…"

"This is insane. A Duke-rank demon?"

I could feel the mood stiffen. They were powerful Ability users who couldn't be described by human standards, but there wasn't much they could do against transcendents anyways. Despite so, perhaps because my guards had no intention to give up, they stood in front of me and assumed a combat-ready stance.

"Wait. Calm down, both of you. He's not an enemy. Neither is he a demon."

"But this Aura..."

"My my my. I guess you're both sensitive kids."

The old man with a goat head stepped forward with a gentle look. He seemed to care little about the two's hostility towards him.

"You don't have to be that wary. And calling me a Duke-rank is going overboard. I don't have that much power, and I'm not a pure demon, I'm a half-blood."

"A half-blood between a demon and human..."

"That's right. Anyway, that's not what's important… Are you the man they call Specter?"

"Yes." I nodded my head meekly as I had nothing to hide.

"Oooohhh, I knew it. I thought so," The old man with goat horns nodded and smiled brightly.

Then, he opened his eyes wide.

Flash!

He opened his squinty eyes wide, and I could see both his eyes. His left eye had a hexagram branded, and his right eye had a black flame pattern imprinted.

His virtuous expression grimly distorted and a terrifying Magi [3] rose from his body. He had a heinous appearance which made me forget his gentle look a moment ago.

Then, he shouted, "Then die, you greenhorn!!!! Hiyaaahh----Ackkk?!"

However, with a

'Baaam!',

I heard the sound of a shot splattering through his fur. The old man who was releasing a terrifying Aura collapsed on the floor.

Celestia apologized while holding a gold pistol covered with blood.

"Ahh! Sorry, sorry. This old man is a bit of a nutcase."

1. Galbi-tang is a Korean dish and it's basically a beef short rib soup

2. Shuttle is a term for school kids who are bullied, and usually they are referred to as water shuttle or bread shuttle and their job in school would be to get water/food from the cafeteria everyday for the bully in class

3. This basically means magical energy