LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 36: But I Was Here First!
"Wow—"
After a brief moment of dizziness, Setsuna once again stood on familiar ground.
The sky was clear, the sea blue, and the air refreshing.
Compared to when he had left, the city now seemed to be bustling with more activity.
Some of the newcomers were ship girls who had migrated from the port area, while others were the ever-diligent Bulin.
"Commander!"
Upon seeing Setsuna, several small ship girls who had been sunbathing on the beach immediately ran over.
"You were gone for so long this time! Was the other world fun?"
"Eh? Who are these new big sisters I don't recognize?"
"We were so bored while you were away!"
The ship girls curiously observed Gudako, Mash, and the three Heroic Spirits.
"So cute! Is that a catgirl?!"
"Are those ears real or fake?"
It was Gudako's first time seeing a ship girl with animal-like features, and she immediately grabbed Yukikaze's head, petting her furiously.
"Whoa, who are you?!"
"Stop that! Or I'll hit you with a torpedo!!!"
The small ship girl, overwhelmed by the petting, retaliated by slamming Gudako onto the sand with a loud thump.
"..."
"Are all your catgirls this strong?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru lay dazed on the ground, stars spinning in her vision.
"You're the catgirl! Your whole family's catgirls! Touch my ears again and I'll feed you torpedoes!"
Yukikaze pouted and darted into Setsuna's arms, snuggling against him with a playful whine.
"Commander, we've been really busy while you were away."
"Not only has the city expanded a lot, but Akashi said we're almost ready to build a spaceship!"
"What?"
Following Yukikaze's pointing finger, Setsuna saw the beginnings of a space exploration base on the outskirts of the city.
A tower, hangars, repair stations…
The scale was impressive, with thousands of Bulin hard at work within.
"You've been quite efficient, haven't you?"
"Of course! With more Bulins around, everything gets done faster. Even the port is in full swing producing more Bulins."
Setsuna opened the resource management panel to take a quick look.
Over 60,000 Bulins.
Well, it seemed the base had been conducting an endless cycle of Bulin "fusion" while he was away.
At this rate, an army of a million Bulins was just around the corner.
Several minutes later.
Most of the ship girls from the port had gathered at the naval base to welcome the expedition team back.
As part of the customary post-expedition celebration, the returning team shared their experiences in the other world.
This served two purposes: to review combat strategies for potential improvements, and to entertain the ship girls who were often bored with nothing to do.
"Ahem, let me start from when we arrived at Chaldea…"
Setsuna was about to begin when Taihou cut him off.
"Commander, you've worked so hard. How about I tell the story instead?"
Her voice was soft and alluring.
"Oh? Sure."
Setsuna was slightly puzzled but appreciated Taihou's thoughtfulness.
Starting from their arrival at Chaldea, Taihou recounted their discovery of the Singularity, their journey to 15th-century France, the summoning of Artoria with the relic, and their battles with Vlad and the other Heroic Spirits.
The strange magecraft and Noble Phantasms of the Type-Moon world captivated the ship girls, who listened intently.
"Manipulating pivotal points in history to destroy the world? That's quite ambitious. But wouldn't it be easier with a planet-killer weapon?"
"Summoning Heroic Spirits sounds kind of similar to summoning ship girls. Except they use relics, while we use ship hulls and Wisdom Cubes, right?"
"If Heroic Spirits return to the Throne of Heroes after death, then where do we go if we sink? Anyone want to try it?"
"If you're so curious, go ahead and test it yourself. Just fire a torpedo into the ammo depot and see what happens. Just don't blame me when you sink…"
With that, the conversation moved on.
After recounting the team's arrival at Orléans and their battle against Jeanne Alter, Taihou suddenly shifted the topic.
"On the night after the battle, we were sailing along the Atlantic coast."
"I was on the top deck of the bridge, stargazing with the Commander. Then, he held me in his arms and said…"
"???"
Setsuna spat out the water he had just sipped.
"What are you even saying?! How is this related to the mission?!"
"There are destroyers here, for crying out loud!"
"Commander-sama, I just wanted to declare our relationship to everyone…"
Taihou puffed out her chest proudly.
"From now on, I am officially the Commander's first oath-bound ship. Well, technically, I don't have a ring yet, but still."
"..."
The ship girls in the audience had mixed reactions.
They had been engrossed in the thrilling tales of the expedition's adventures in another world, only for Taihou to interject with a bombshell announcement.
For a moment, many of them were at a loss.
"An oath-bound ship… So Taihou was the first? I always thought it would be Richelieu…"
Several cruisers whispered among themselves.
"..."
Richelieu suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
She couldn't help but think, I was here first—
Whether it was contacting the Commander, becoming his secretary ship, or anything else.
So how did things turn out like this?
In her mind, a peculiar background music began to play.
"Who's playing Unreachable Love?!"
Whack!
A small ship girl holding a radio received a swift flick on the forehead.
"What happens next?!"
"What did he say after confessing he liked you? I need the full details!"
Gudako rubbed her hands together in excitement.
"That's enough!"
"Let's stick to the mission report!!!"
Setsuna did his best to steer the meeting back on track before it spiraled further into chaos.
"Now then, we gained quite a bit from our trip to Chaldea."
After the commotion subsided, Setsuna began introducing the spoils of their expedition.
"First of all, we've gained several new companions—four Heroic Spirits and one Master."
Gudako and the Heroic Spirits nodded in greeting to the gathered ship girls.
"Ooooh—"
"Welcome! Let's spar sometime if you're free!"
"You're probably stronger than that so-called 'Demon King,' right?"
Prinz Eugen eyed the Heroic Spirits with curiosity. She still felt unsatisfied from their previous expedition to the Demon Slayer world.
Those Upper Rank demons, for all their numbers, had been reduced to ash with a single bombing run from her carrier planes.
"Oh? Is that a challenge? Interesting."
Jeanne Alter crossed her arms and swept her gaze across the ship girls before her.
She was quite curious about their strength. The earlier eight-against-one gang-up left her feeling particularly disgruntled.
"Who's the strongest among you?"
"..."
None of the ship girls responded.
"Enterprise? Richelieu? Bismarck? Uh, the flagships of the major fleets are all pretty strong…" Formidable replied uncertainly.
"Uh, I suggest starting with a light cruiser for your first challenge. Don't provoke the carriers or battleships…"
"And no using Anti-City Noble Phantasms near the base!"
Setsuna quickly noticed Jeanne Alter's penchant for courting disaster was on par with Gudako's.
Still, a duel between Heroic Spirits and ship girls…
To be honest, he was quite intrigued. Watching his "wives" spar sounded like a pretty good time.
Besides, the Vanguard Fleet had been growing restless with their endless routine of farming resources and tending to the Bulin. A little excitement wouldn't hurt.
Once the introductions of the new companions were complete, it was time to review the spoils of the expedition.
There were no formal rewards from the Singularity, so most of the gains were items Setsuna had borrowed—or outright looted—from Chaldea.
"We brought back some materials from Chaldea, and during the battle with Fafnir, I also managed to grab some dragon blood and scales."
He pulled out several thick stacks of books and handed them to Yat Sen.
"These are magic-related materials from the Type-Moon world. Add them to our library collection."
"Ritsuka Fujimaru, you and I should find some time to study these together."
Setsuna was already imagining the future construction of a "Great Library," a world wonder to store and preserve the knowledge, technologies, and magic of various worlds.
"Me? I came here to pilot a Gundam, not study magecraft. Why do I need to learn this?"
Gudako tilted her head in confusion.
"Don't you realize you're the weakest person in the entire base?!"
"Besides, with your 100% adaptability, wouldn't it be a waste not to learn some Type-Moon-style skills?"
Setsuna lightly knocked on her forehead.
As the protagonist of Fate/Grand Order, Gudako had completely abandoned her original role since meeting him. Now she was focused entirely on piloting Gundams, which simply wouldn't do.
"Also, these are the design schematics for the Spiritron Transfer Device. Akashi, take a look and see if you can create a prototype."
"This thing is crucial. Once it's operational, we'll be able to freely choose the time points we want to enter in different worlds."
He handed the manuscripts from Dr. Roman to Akashi.
"Meow?"
The repair ship squinted at the blueprints for a while.
"Commander, this thing looks ridiculously complicated! And it's from another world?!"
"Why do you always give me such impossible tasks?!"
The machine's description—converting a person into spiritrons and projecting them into any historical timeline—sounded as magical as a time machine. The complexity was naturally overwhelming.
"Just do your best. I trust in your abilities. Let me know if you need any resources or help."
Setsuna patted Akashi on the head encouragingly.
"I don't even trust myself to build this thing, meow!!!"
"Why don't you try asking the Sirens for help?!"