Chapter 692 - 692: If a Setting Helps You Throw a Party, Believe It!

"Ah, there are so many people."

After Albedo's train crew came over to rendezvous as well, the Astral Express fleet expanded to four trains.

The various crews gathered in Crew One's lounge car and discovered that, compared with when they had first set out, quite a few unfamiliar faces had appeared.

"Commander, what are the arrangements from here?"

Himeko and Albedo asked.

"Uh... looks like we somehow ended up gathering together again. Are we going to act as one group next, or split up and explore different worlds?"

When they first departed, every crew had headed in a different direction. But Setsuna had taken an interest in certain worlds, and with the enthusiastic invitations from the others, they had somehow all reunited in the same universe without even realizing it.

Whoosh—

Setsuna thought for a moment, opened the communications interface, and connected to Crews Two and Three.

"Let's check on the others first."

"Reporting, Commander! The Kabaneri world has been completely conquered. We can return at any time or keep moving forward!"

Megumin's energetic face popped out of the holographic display.

"We also captured a few people. They're called... Mumei, and Ayame Yomogawa, and who else was there again..."

She counted on her fingers.

"Anyway, we didn't miss a single one! Yunyun counted them. If there's a problem, Commander, you can go spank her!"

"...As long as Aqua wasn't the one who counted them."

Setsuna looked toward Jingwei.

"What about you?"

"Commander, next time I hope we can find a world where we'll actually have a chance to temper ourselves."

Jingwei turned her head. Behind her, a group of chattering girls were lining up to board the train.

Judging by the emblems on their clothes, they came from all sorts of schools, including Otonokizaka Academy, Uranohoshi Girls' High School, and Nijigasaki High School.

"Sushang and the others originally wanted to come exterminate demons and monsters. In the end... they didn't find any monsters, but they did learn a bit about singing and dancing."

"Commander, we need to return to the Starsea Empire first and get those girls properly settled before setting out again. I can't bring them along to explore other worlds."

"Pfft—"

Setsuna nearly burst out laughing.

"Fine. Once you've finished dealing with matters on that Earth, return home first."

School idols were ordinary high-school girls who loved singing and dancing. Having them perform songs, dances, rap, and similar routines was one thing, but taking them into other worlds to conduct exploration missions would be asking far too much.

It was the same logic as with the Totsuki chefs. Even after receiving superhuman modifications and genetic ascension, giving them combat power far beyond ordinary people, they still were not specialized combat personnel.

With Jingwei's crew composition, bringing dozens of ordinary girls along would mean constantly worrying about how to care for them. It would be better to send them back to the Imperial homeland first.

They were idols, after all. Let them sing, dance, and, when there was nothing else going on, exploit their position a little and drag them into some parties.

"In that case, Himeko, we'll head back to rest and resupply first as well, then set out again afterward."

Setsuna looked over the train's current situation and cleared his throat.

"We've gone through four worlds on this trip. There are already enough people aboard the Astral Express."

"The immediate priority is bringing those Leprechauns back and settling them in the capital. We also need to let the new members familiarize themselves with the Imperial homeland first."

Jingwei's train was packed with school idols, while Setsuna's side had several cars full of Leprechauns.

There were both older and younger ones. The smallest fairies had only been born recently, not to mention Vampy from Kumoko's world and a whole group of juvenile little girls.

After returning, all of them would need to receive the Starsea Empire's standardized education.

Of course, another reason was that Setsuna himself wanted to go back and meet the girls brought home from the other worlds.

"Yay!"

Little Haruhi raised her arm and cheered.

"I want to go see where the Commander lives! I've been listening to Ritsuka Fujimaru tell stories every day, but I've never been there myself... It has to be really interesting, right?!"

"I'm going back with the Commander too. Otherwise, you might throw a party at home without inviting me."

Humanity's Evil declared this with perfect righteousness.

"Me too. I want to meet those idols who sing and dance. Maybe Eden will have something to talk about with them~"

Ely became interested as well. Crews Five and Six both clung to Setsuna, planning to return together.

"...Fine."

"What about you?"

Setsuna looked toward Albedo.

"Mm..."

Albedo thought for a moment.

"Commander, in the first world we encountered earlier, our abilities were insufficient, so we were unable to participate in its conquest."

"But this world was also somewhat too easy. Mm... we would like to continue exploring new universes in the name of the Starsea Empire and the Supreme One."

Aside from the vampires, the world of Bishoujo Mangekyou 1 was just an ordinary human civilization. Conquering it had felt utterly unremarkable to the train crew. It had been boringly weak.

Kirie could give Setsuna the kind of satisfying "battle" he enjoyed, but it was not the kind of battle Shalltear and the Pleiades had been hoping for.

"Sure. Conquering only one world does sound a little dull. Keep moving forward."

Setsuna selected a direction on the transdimensional star map.

"Come to think of it, the Bishoujo Mangekyou world should be part of a series. There are several more entries after the first one... Those universes probably aren't too far apart, or they may simply be parallel worlds."

"If you have the chance, bring all of them back for me."

"Yes—"

Albedo nodded in agreement.

...

Somewhat later.

After finishing the remaining arrangements for the train crews...

That evening, with some free time on his hands, Setsuna began disciplining the captured Kirie Kagarino.

"Come here."

Inside his private car, he called over the girl dressed in a Gothic gown.

"Mm..."

Kirie stared at him warily.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

She normally paid no attention whatsoever to ordinary humans, but this group of aliens from another world seemed stranger no matter how she looked at them.

Shalltear in particular, the one who had fought her earlier, had been terrifyingly powerful. Kirie could not afford to act rashly here.

"Don't be so tense. Didn't I introduce myself during the day?"

Setsuna smiled and pointed toward the seat beside him, signaling for Kirie to sit down.

"Tch..."

The girl lifted the hem of her dress and elegantly sat in front of him, carrying with her a faint, indistinct fragrance.

"I told you already. We merely happened to conquer that world along the way. We don't harbor any ill will toward you."

"If you want to know more, you can study it yourself and learn the rules of the Starsea Empire."

Setsuna brought up a holographic screen in front of Kirie.

"Oh..."

For a vampire who had lived for more than three hundred years, this kind of space-age technology was quite novel.

Kirie looked it over. With Albedo having explained things earlier, she had barely managed to understand the situation.

"Huh? Aliens conquering the world?..."

Faced with such an absurd turn of events, she felt a headache coming on.

"But... why did you bring me here?"

Kirie propped up her head with one hand and studied Setsuna with interest.

"Mr. Alien, among your subordinates, I shouldn't count as particularly strong, should I? You dragged me away from my home just so I could kneel to you a few times?"

"Mm... If possible, I only want to live there quietly by myself. Whether you conquer worlds or go adventuring through other dimensions has nothing to do with me, does it?"

Back when she had barely escaped France with her life, Kirie had already resolved to cut herself off from all emotion.

She had no interest in humans or anything else in the outside world. A vampire ought to live quietly among the mountains and forests, leading an aloof and noble existence.

"Ha."

Setsuna gave a short laugh.

What was the point of conquering an adult visual novel world? Obviously, it was for the heroine.

Otherwise, what was he supposed to bring them aboard for? Send them to the Research Department, or make them work alongside the Bulins?

"I seem to remember you're rather particular about how you feed?"

He leaned back in his chair, took a sip of wine, and asked with a smile.

"Heh."

Kirie did not understand what he meant and stared at Setsuna.

"I don't need ordinary food. Don't tell me you have that kind of hobby too? No, you're not a vampire, are you?..."

"Of course I'm not. But I can provide something you might be interested in."

As he spoke, Setsuna lightly pricked his fingertip and beckoned Kirie closer.

"Want a taste?"

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