Buzz—
The Eternal Snowfall quietly floated beyond Earth's orbit. From the surface, everything appeared as usual.
After playing around in the living quarters for a while, the little shipgirls drifted back to their dorms in groups of two or three, either staring blankly out the portholes at the stars or falling asleep.
The chefs from Totsuki were still gathered in the kitchen, discussing what dishes they should prepare for the Commander the next day.
Cooking for so many companions from different worlds aboard the Eternal Snowfall was quite a challenge for them.
Every day they tried to understand everyone's preferences, finding ways to satisfy the palates of their otherworldly guests.
To hear the Spirits, shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, and various extraordinary beings say even once, "Delicious!"—that was the chefs' greatest wish.
"Eh? Lady Erina said she was going to deliver a late-night snack. Why hasn't she come back yet?"
Hisako looked confused as she glanced at the time.
"We still need to discuss tomorrow's menu, don't we?"
"C-c-could it be that something went wrong with the food, and the Commander…"
Megumi Tadokoro shrank into the corner, trembling.
"Based on my observation so far, the Commander isn't the kind of tyrant who would execute a chef over unpalatable dishes."
Nene Kinokuni flatly denied the speculation.
"Megumi Tadokoro, you need to correct your perception of the Commander."
"..."
"...Maybe she was eaten as part of the midnight snack?"
Rindou Kobayashi unintentionally hit too close to the truth, and Hinako Inui nodded repeatedly.
"Ah? The Commander eats people? Then aren't we all…"
Megumi became even more terrified, shaking like a leaf.
"Nene, go comfort her."
"As for tomorrow's recipes, I'll take care of them with Hinako and Mizuhara."
Rindou sighed deeply.
...
Inside the captain's quarters on the bridge.
Erina Nakiri's face was flushed crimson with nervousness.
Although she was a proper young lady most of the time, she had never experienced such a situation before.
Under the guidance of Setsuna, Taihou, Kurumi, and Origami, things had somehow escalated into this.
—Bullying the newcomer.
Erina finally understood why the shipgirls loved teasing her so much.
It seemed that everyone newly accompanying the Commander had to go through a round of "senior education."
"Well then… I'll begin."
"Mhm…"
She instinctively gripped Setsuna's back with her hand.
Given his body's current state—an integration of Gundam, starship, and human—his physical resilience was extraordinary. Even a direct strike from an anti-planetary weapon wouldn't leave a mark.
Naturally, this sort of thing didn't affect him at all.
After spending so much time with Taihou, Chen Hai, Mio, Kurumi, and the others, most of them had long become quite skilled.
Even someone like Kanae, who had been shy at first, could now take bold initiative.
But Erina was completely different—like an unripe green apple.
Awkward, flustered, and adorably clumsy.
Occasionally changing things up wasn't bad; Setsuna thought that an extra "midnight snack" suited him just fine.
...
Time slipped by quietly.
"Why are you so skilled at this?"
Watching Setsuna move with practiced ease, Erina frowned slightly.
In front of him, she could only follow his lead—her usual pride and dignity as the Nakiri heiress were shattered to pieces.
"Practice makes perfect."
Setsuna replied succinctly.
"Hey!!! Take this seriously!"
Erina reached out and pinched him hard.
In the past, she would never have dared to be so bold—she'd even be cautious about her tone when speaking to him.
But now… perhaps because their relationship had grown closer, she felt she had earned the right to throw a little tantrum.
Like a favored concubine in ancient times, acting spoiled on occasion was tolerated by the emperor.
"I'm being honest. What, would you believe me if I said I only learned theory from books?"
Setsuna coughed lightly.
"...That actually makes sense."
Given the Eternal Snowfall's circumstances, Erina realized that was indeed the most plausible explanation.
Then, she pulled the blanket over herself and Setsuna, still shy about their intimacy.
"..."
As he looked down at Erina's head resting against his chest, a sudden thought crossed Setsuna's mind.
"Speaking of which, your title at Totsuki was 'God's Tongue,' right?"
"Ah?"
Erina blinked, not understanding why he brought that up, but she nodded.
"Yes, didn't you already know that?"
"My perception and sensitivity toward ingredients and flavors far surpass those of ordinary people. I can even visualize the taste I experience."
She answered with confidence, her tone filled with pride in her gift.
"And don't think my culinary skill relies solely on the God's Tongue. Even without it, I would still be among Totsuki's Elite Ten…"
"..."
Setsuna listened as Erina proudly explained the origin of her God's Tongue, how she used it to crush opponents in countless Shokugeki battles, and how she secured her position among the Elite Ten.
Eventually, the topic drifted further and further, even touching upon the histories of Totsuki's various research societies.
To him, the everyday rivalries of academy chefs weren't particularly interesting—but since he wanted to keep Erina happy, he patiently listened until the end.
"Well, actually… I wanted to test another use for your God's Tongue…"
As if guided by mischief itself, Setsuna gently pressed his hand on top of Erina's head.
"???"
The next second, Erina felt something poke against her cheek.
"You—?!"
Erina swore this was not how her ability was supposed to be used.
Setsuna was teaching her a kind of "knowledge" she had never studied before.
...
Aboard the Eternal Snowfall, pleasant days passed in a flash.
When Setsuna returned to the capital, Erina followed quietly beside him.
To the others, the look in the young girl's eyes could practically spin threads—it was exactly the kind of gaze manga heroines wore when walking next to their lovers.
"From now on, Nakiri Erina will serve as my Head Chef," Setsuna announced to everyone. "She'll work with the Totsuki chefs to handle all culinary logistics."
"Do your best."
He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the cheek, making his appointment official.
"Thank you. I'll do my utmost to create the finest dishes for you," Erina said softly, lowering her gaze, her expression tender and full of emotion.
"Hiss…"
The other Totsuki chefs exchanged astonished looks.
"As expected of Lady Erina, huh? She actually managed to win over the Commander that fast?…"
One long-haired chef, exuding a faintly gloomy aura, had stars in her eyes—Nao Sadatsuka, Erina's most devoted admirer.
"I think it's more like Lady Erina was the one who got captured by the Commander…" Mizuhara sighed.
Beside her, Hinako Inui looked utterly defeated.
"Eh… Erina's already found herself a boyfriend at such a young age. I wonder how long someone like me will have to wait…"
"If you want, you don't have to wait," Setsuna teased casually, making Hinako blush crimson.
"..."
After sending the chefs off, he returned to his seat at the Commander's desk.
"Well then, party time's over. Let's get back to business, shall we?"
Setsuna glanced over the various base reports.
All departments were running at full capacity.
The Engineering Division was modifying the Strelitzia, the Physics Department continued researching law-based weapons, and the Honkai-1 Base was reallocating personnel for Honkai Energy-related studies.
At the Starbase, massive numbers of Bulins and Angeloids were being produced for interstellar development…
Everything was operating smoothly.
Shua—
He opened the Hyperdimenstional Star Map and examined the few remaining worlds.
"So, anyone up for visiting a god?"
"Which god?" several companions asked curiously, even Fu Hua leaning in. "You mean the kind that can create universes or rewrite the laws of reality with a single thought?"
"No, no, not that kind," Setsuna replied, waving a hand.
"This one's more like… a dumb god."
...
"We currently have four and a half uncharted worlds remaining."
On the Hyperdimenstional Star Map, Setsuna marked several worlds surrounding the Starsea Empire.
Strictly speaking, they could no longer be considered neighbors—the distances between them were quite vast.
"KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World, Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Neon Genesis Evangelion."
"The remaining half is the Honkai world. We've already handled everything that could be done in the Saga of the Shattered Swords era, but both the Previous Era and Current Era arcs remain unconquered."
Considering that a few little girls aboard the Honkai-1 Space Station were still using the Cosmic Juggernaut to observe the Tree and Sea, searching for ways to navigate through it—
The Honkai world's progress was technically only half complete.
"Oh… so that means we'll have to go back there later?" Gudako asked, scratching her head.
"Of course. But we'll have to wait until the research division makes deeper breakthroughs on Honkai Energy first. To travel back to the past, we'll need to construct a massive Spiritron Transfer Device."
"As for traveling to the future… that's a little trickier. We'll see what the researchers come up with later," Setsuna replied.
Fu Hua and little Griseo, who knew nothing about the Current Era, were both eager for Setsuna to travel to the Previous Era and help them confront the Finality.
"As for the remaining four worlds… we'll leave Madoka Magica for later. I need to think about that one carefully," Setsuna continued.
"The last world we visited—DARLING in the FRANXX—was a technological civilization. So this time, let's switch things up and visit a magical world instead. Evangelion can wait."
Normally, most of the shipgirls preferred visiting technological worlds—they were curious to see what new technologies they could acquire to strengthen themselves.
If they could wage interstellar battles against alien races, all the better. They'd greatly enjoyed their campaigns in the Three-Body Problem and DARLING in the FRANXX universes.
Meanwhile, Spirits, Heroic Spirits, and dragon girls favored magical worlds, where they could learn new spells and acquire magical artifacts.
When selecting expedition targets, Setsuna alternated between the two types—ensuring no one in the base grew bored.
Otherwise, every few days, someone would start complaining about the Commander's favoritism.
"Yay~!"
"Commander, when are we leaving?!"
Tohru threw herself at Setsuna in a gleeful hug.
Her generous chest pressed warmly against his back, soft and comforting.
"Ahem—"
"My skill's still on cooldown for a few days, don't rush," Setsuna said with a cough.
"Let's pick our target and get familiar with it first. That'll give you all some time to prepare."
"Oh~"
Everyone nodded.
Even Fu Hua leaned closer, clearly intrigued.
Since arriving in the Starsea Empire, she had spent most of her time on Mount Taixuan, teaching ordinary citizens the way of the Taixuan Eminence.
But occasionally, even an immortal wanted to go out and explore.
"Our next target will tentatively be the world of KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World. You can simply call it the KonoSuba world."
"Hm… this world's a bit unique—it has more than one plane of existence. So we'll have to spend some extra effort to handle it properly."
Setsuna gestured for everyone to look.
Richelieu, his secretary ship, had already compiled the relevant files and distributed them to everyone in the command hall.
God's Blessing on This Wonderful World—
Like most isekai worlds, its elements were familiar: swords and sorcery, adventurers, guilds, and gods.
A normal boy dies in an accident and is reincarnated in a fantasy world of magic and adventure.
There, adventurer guilds, warriors, archers, thieves, and priests all existed.
The world's technology level roughly matched the medieval era—though, on occasion, strange high-tech artifacts appeared.
Each adventurer had their own status panel, listing stats like class, rank, strength, agility, and attack power. They could even learn corresponding skills.
It was practically a real-life RPG.
The goals of adventurers—or reincarnated heroes—were clear: train in the beginner village, grow stronger through divine blessings or lucky encounters, and ultimately defeat the Demon King.
"A standard sword-and-magic world? Hm, I remember seeing one like this back during the Previous Era's games…" Fu Hua murmured thoughtfully.
"When you look at its world structure alone, it's fairly standard," Setsuna said, almost laughing. "But the people in it? Not so much."
"This world has a Heaven, populated by various goddesses and angels. Each goddess governs a different isekai world and has her own divine authority."
"Some goddesses are also in charge of handling reincarnation from Earth. For instance, when someone from a certain country dies, the corresponding goddess from Heaven greets them and sends them to an isekai world to become a hero and defeat the Demon King."
"If the hero completes the mission, they get one wish—like returning to Earth, gaining wealth, or something else of their choosing."
"..."
"So basically, the KonoSuba world actually contains multiple isekai realms, and Heaven acts as an intermediary hub?"
Everyone quickly caught on.
"Exactly."
Setsuna nodded and projected a holographic diagram:
Earth → Heaven → Isekai Worlds
On Earth, when people died due to various accidents, they were received by the appropriate regional goddess in Heaven.
For example, Aqua managed the reincarnation system for a specific island nation; other regions' administrators remained unknown.
The goddess would grant the deceased a blessing or a cheat skill, then send them to an isekai world to fight the Demon King.
Each isekai world also had its own local goddess. In the original story, for instance, Kazuma's world was managed by Eris.
As a result, most heroes met different goddesses than the ones who had reincarnated them.
If you met a capable goddess, she might grant you an overpowered cheat—allowing you to dominate a relatively weak Demon King's world.
But if you were unlucky enough to meet a useless one…
Well, good luck—you might end up becoming her cheat instead.
"Heaven, goddesses… wait, there's also a Hell, right?"
The Spirits and Heroic Spirits grew more intrigued the more they read the intel.
"Commander, if we take control of Heaven, wouldn't that mean we'd have access to countless isekai worlds to explore?"
Gudako was the first to unleash her innate talent for human evil, raising her hand enthusiastically.
"First, we turn that Earth into a vassal state and establish a sustainable tributary system—make it pay us tribute."
"Then, we take over Heaven. That way, we can travel freely between worlds, go adventuring, farm monsters, and collect loot at will!"
"And if possible, we can subjugate the isekai worlds themselves. Oh, and there's a Hell too, right? I say Hell should pay us tribute as well… preferably in succubi."
"Now that's my student."
Setsuna ruffled Gudako's hair, smiling proudly.
"You've truly inherited my spirit."
"???"
The others stared in disbelief at the exchange between the Paradox war criminal and the embodiment of Human Evil.
Especially Jeanne d'Arc, the Butterfly Sisters, and the other lawful-good members—they were still worrying about whether their strength would be enough to keep up in another world, while Gudako was already plotting divine annexation and infernal tributes.
"W-we're… going to fight gods?" Shinobu asked timidly.
"Who said anything about fighting? Wouldn't it be better to recruit those goddesses?" Setsuna replied, knocking her gently on the head.
"Some of them are so bored in Heaven they're practically begging for an excuse to descend to the mortal world and have fun…"
He smirked.
"Soon, you'll all have another playground to explore—complete with monsters to hunt and adventures to enjoy."
—
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