Living a Maiden Game in Hard Mode

Chapter 40 – The Salamander Project

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After the war, the Monarchy of Diete belatedly decided to take countermeasures against electromagnetic pulse cannons and improve the capabilities of its fighter crafts.

In the Monarchy, hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers were sacrificed due to the leakage of the secrets by the traitors, so it was absolutely necessary to implement countermeasures even after the war.

The original fighter craft is 120 meters long, but with a D-Class spirit crystal that grants an additional magic power of 160, it can be increased to 150 meters in length.
Whether it was thickening the coating to prevent electromagnetic pulse cannons or strengthening the armament, there was no problem with the magic power holder and the magic engine.

Official name, Project Salamander.

The Salamander is a fire spirit that was counted among the four great spirits of earth, water, fire, and wind in the “Book of the Fairy” written by the alchemist Paracelsus in 16th century Europe.

The new fighter craft will be named Salamander, because it is a name suitable for a fighter craft that runs around the battle sector powered by spirit crystals and shoots down enemy ships with fierce flames.

The advantages of a fighter craft are that it needs only one operator hence minimizing human casualties, they could be easily recruited among those who wore spirit crystals, it is easy to train the pilot because it is automatically controlled, and it is easy to build because it has a simple structure.

The original fighter craft was a high-speed maneuverable turret that connected a laser cannon with a magic engine, attached thrusters to various parts of the ship hull, and covered with an exterior to shape it.
The Salamander became a flying laser beam cannon with no handle as a result of giving top priority to its performance.

Various functions such as interstellar navigation and habitability, food production and circulation systems, weapons loading capacity and versatility were all discarded, and the construction was as easy as making a laser gun in an automated factory.

The prototype was completed, and all that was left was to issue authorization.

[I will now explain the test results of the new fighter craft, the Salamander.]

The head of the Salamander Project Division of the Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Military Affairs, who held the rank of Colonel, has begun to explain to the nine Major Generals of the three offices who appear on the communication screen.

The director of the Salamander Project Department, the director of the Fighter Craft Department, the director of the Carrier Craft Department, the director of the Fortress Department, the director of the Defense Facilities Department, the director of the Android Department, the director of the Audit Department, the director of the Fighter Craft Education Department… and the director of the Spirit Crystal Department.
These are all Generals who have a reasonable amount of discretionary authority within their jurisdiction.

[The total length of the Salamander is 150 meters.
It will be 1.25 times larger than the conventional craft, but the number accommodated on the carrier crafts will remain the same.
The magic engine has 1.33 times the output by using a dedicated type that matches the additional 160 magic power value of the D-Class Spirit crystal.]

The Directors of Carrier Crafts, Fortress, and Defense Facility, who coordinated to make adjustments, each wore a bitter expression.

Even so, the size had to be increased in order to apply the coating treatment against electromagnetic pulse cannons.

[The Salamander, which has a larger magic engine, has improved offensive power, defensive power, and mobility.
Its anti-ship combat power is 1.6 times more than conventional fighter crafts.
Of course, its fleet strength evaluation has also improved.]

[Combat power increased by 1.6 times!?]

When the head of the Fortress Director raised his voice in amazement, the Project Director had a proud expression.

The head of the Project Division showed the data on the new fighter crafts compared to other ships.

Cruiser, total length 3300 meters, Force Evaluation: 8 New Carrier Craft ★ 100 Salamander vessels, Force Evaluation: 8 Old Carrier Craft ★ 100 old fighter crafts, Force Evaluation: 5 Light Cruiser, total length 2100 meters, Force Evaluation: 3 Destroyer, total length 1200 meters, Force Evaluation: 1

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New fighter craft Salamander, 1 vessel, Force Evaluation: 0.08 Old fighter craft, Conventional fighter craft, 1 vessel, Force Evaluation: 0.05 New Single Fleet Force Evaluation: 3843 Old Single Fleet Force Evaluation: 3693

After repeatedly checking whether the figures were correct, the Fortress Director asked the Project Director.

[If these numbers add up, there will be some debate about the necessity of cruisers.
How many simulations did you run?]

[We had 5,000 pilots with average skills maneuver the ship, collect data, and used computer simulations to perform mock combat in all sorts of environments a total of 10 trillion times.
With 1.2 times the enemy’s rating, the average win rate for all ships is over 80%.]

[Nuu… but what about the cost of construction?]

The Accounting Director, who was asked by the Fortress Director, opened his mouth while holding his temples with his right finger.

[It uses twice as much resources as before, but we have concluded that if mass production of new fighter crafts reduces the damage to warships and military personnel, it will be much cheaper.
During the war, I would have been on the side pushing hard on this.]

[Is it different now?]

[I only felt a little confused at the timing of the end of the war.
It may be necessary to intimidate the former Coalition people.
The Finance Bureau has already approved the budget required for the directorate.]

[What? If you are in favor of it, why don’t you just say so?]

[It’s part of the job of the Audit Department, which maintains the military’s purse, to be reluctant on spending.]

When the Director of the Accounting and Audit Department replied resignedly, the Fortress Director stood silent with a bored expression.

After the discussion between the two parties, the head of the Project Division resumes the explanation.

[The ship can be easily constructed in the shipyard without the need to procure new resources.
If approved, we will build them and deploy them to the interstellar navigation units first, then to the system defense units.
Are there any questions?]

A few practical questions were raised, none of which were objectionable, and the nine Major Generals quickly gave their approval.
And so the Salamanders were officially deployed to the Monarchy of Diete forces.

The Major General, who was the only one who remained silent until the end of the meeting, cut the communication as soon as it was over and left the communications room.

The Major General walked through the wide corridors with the androids bowing in vain.
Eventually, they arrived at one room and knocked before complaining to the room’s owner.

“Mom, listen!”

The Major General appeared to be in their late teens.

Their brown hair with a slight tinge of black spread out softly and reached the shoulders.

Her eyes, brighter than her hair, are brown and full of life.
Her white, fresh skin reflects her plump, light cherry-colored lips.

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Her face is beautifully sculpted, and she has a charming personality that gives a soft impression to those who meet her.

Her well-balanced body is more toned than the average woman, but still has a feminine roundness.

Her name is Yuna Strani Asteria.

She is a veteran Major General who received five Medals of Honor given only when one defeats a superior enemy, and is one of the protectors of the Monarchy who saved hundreds of millions of people in the Defense Battle of the Capital planet.
Also she is the First Princess of the royal family, who boasts immense popularity and recognition second only to the Sovereign.

“What’s wrong?”

Her mother, who replied to Yuna, seems to maintain her 30-year old looks with age stagnation technology.

Her blackish, flaxen hair is silkier than her daughter’s, lightly wavy and extends to her chest.

Her eyes are a mixture of green peridot and black, with a darker pigment than Yuna’s.
Her eyes are droopy and give a gentle impression, in contrast to the color of the eyes that gives a powerful impression

Unlike her daughter, who was a military officer, she does not train her body and is one of the most common aristocratic ladies.

Her mother’s name is Maina Strani Asteria.

She is the Second Queen of the Monarchy of Diete and is officially known as Her Royal Highness Princess Maina and Her Royal Highness the Second Queen.

When her only daughter, Yuna, had to contend with a young lady of Marquis Carneus over a boy who was her classmate, she had no choice but to become the second wife of Yuna’s father, Valfrete.
And she is a former Lady of a Baron family, who became the Second Queen without receiving any education when her husband became the Sovereign.

She is widely known to the people as the biological mother of the First Princess, Yuna.

Thanks to the achievements of her husband, who ended the war, and her daughter, who saved hundreds of millions of people, the public’s sentiment has exceeded the upper limit from the beginning.
Therefore, the point of being formerly of a Baron household and not receiving the education of a queen did not work against her at all.

While supporting the First Queen, who is considerably younger, she assists with official duties as the Second Queen, and focuses on her own hobbies, such as supporting war orphans.
She lives in a leisurely manner, occasionally asking how her only daughter is doing.
Such are the days of the Second Queen.

“Even if I attend the meetings, I’m completely out of the loop!”

“Oh, really?”

The Second Queen, who enjoys her daughter’s story, urged her to continue with a gentle smile.

“You know.
Once before, my father, His Majesty Sovereign Valfrete Strani Asteria, the Supreme Commander and Fleet Admiral, was listening behind me and came into the meeting in the middle of the conversation.
And since then whenever I attend the meetings, everyone was in favor of everything and the meeting turned into nothing more than a debriefing session!”

“What did he say at the meeting?”

Yuna pouts at Mina, who asks mysteriously.

“‘The Spirit Crystal fleet reinforcement plan was originally my idea.
You should grasp the problems in realizing the plan within the scope of respective areas of jurisdiction and solve them.
If there is a factor that could cause delays, please mention it at the meeting.
Then I will take care of it.’ I’m sure the department heads are reporting to their bosses, the Directors, because they’ve already given their approval before the meeting!”

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“I see, I’m sure they wanted so badly to make it happen.”

Yuna continued to appeal to Maina, who nodded and continued to listen to her.

“So, I try not to bring anything up as much as possible, but when they do, they use polite language, and they bring in a Colonel or someone of a lower rank to explain things, who would then ask if their use of honorifics were fine.
They ask.
If I make a comment, the Colonel would start to panic and the mood in the meeting would freeze.”

“Oh my, how troubling.”

“Sheesh, I’m really stumped.”

As Maina continued to listen, Yuna gradually regained her composure.

“Yuna, why don’t you try the royal family’s work for a change of pace?”

“…… Eh, what’s that?”

“The Royal Family is short-staffed.”

In a leisurely tone, Maina spoke of the lack of human resources in the royal family.

The royal family has various official duties, including honorary president and vice president of a public interest corporation, and attendance at various ceremonies.
However, the current Sovereign has only six immediate family members, the First Queen, the Second Queen, and four children.

The former Sovereign, who abdicated on retirement, is unable to take up official duties, and the former Queen is receiving the same treatment as her husband.

The former Sovereign had children moderately, including by concubines, but the men who remained without starting a branch family were demoted to vassals at the time of enthronement of the new Sovereign, and the women were all grown up and mostly married off.

Some of her half-sisters remain, but royalty and aristocracy have obligations… namely defeating enemies and bearing magic powered children, not just sitting in the royal family without contributing to the nation, basically what can they do as they are looked on unfavorably, their every action scrutinized, it’s not as if they are expected to substitute the Queen.

In the Monarchy of Diete, the royal aristocrats are great because they fulfill their obligations, not because they are royalty.

The former Crown Prince was killed in battle, the former Crown Princess was expelled, and the former Sovereign’s grandson was executed.

The children of the former Crown Prince, including the children of the concubine, are in moderation.

However, their father was a fool who killed 1 billion people on the Capital planet as a consequence of his invasion of the Solar System.
Their brother is a traitor who leaked military secrets to the enemy.
If it is a child of the royal family, their mother raised her eldest son to be a traitor, and their uncle was a traitor who killed hundreds of thousands of royal citizens as the perpetrator who leaked military secrets to the enemy.

The children are innocent, but considering their “origin”, it is impossible for them to take office.

Maina, who also holds many honorary positions, was reaching the limit of her concurrent duties.
And right in front of her is the First Princess, who is most popular with the people, and doesn’t hold any honorary positions.

The First Princess not only defeated many enemies, but also saved hundreds of millions of lives during the Battle of the Capital planet, and then went on to work on rescue and reconstruction efforts, as well as procuring the resources that were consumed for reconstruction in the Solar System.

For the First Princess, the billions on the Capital planet who were saved by Fortress Kerviel and their relatives and friends are strong supporters.
No matter how much work she concurrently has, whether she attends ceremonies less often or only contributes once a year, no one would complain.

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Rather, the public interest corporations would be grateful to have been lent such a wonderful name.

“It would save your mother if you could put in some royal duties.”

“Well, I’m getting married, so I can’t.”

After being instantly rejected, Maina stared upwards at Yuna.

“You can’t look at me like that.
And if I put in work during my days off, I won’t have time to see Hart.
So what if another girl gets to him?”

“That is also true.”

Maina reluctantly gave up on sharing the honorary positions.

If her only daughter’s marriage is at stake, there is no choice.

Yuna is working in the military because her fiancé, Hart, is in the military, and because she manages the spirit crystals of Second System, a company in which the Marquis of Amakawa has a monopoly on all shares.
These are the two main reasons.

Maina, however, stuck a nail in her daughter.

“But Yuna, you will be the only adult among His Majesty’s children.
If anything were to happen to His Majesty right now, you will be Queen Regent until the next in line can ascend to the throne as Sovereign.”

“Eh?”

Yuna, who did not understand the meaning of the unexpected words, asked back loudly.

“I don’t have the necessary magic power value to succeed to the throne, do I?”

“Oh, what is your magic power value when combined with your special spirit crystal?”

At those words, Yuna sensed a very unpleasant situation.

Yuna’s magic power value is 26,138, and with the addition from her B-class spirit crystals it becomes 28,698.

The magic power value required to succeed to the throne is 27,440.

The Sovereign is required to have the magic power to operate a mobile fortress, and there is no rule that the magic power of the spirits could not be added to operate the mobile fortress.

The question of whether it actually works and is useful is answered by the Order of Sirius, 3rd Class Merit, which shines on her chest.
In fact, there are only a handful of people in the entire Monarchy who have been more useful than the First Princess.

And there are billions of supporters on the Capital planet.

“Absolutely not.
I’m not interested in that! Father, live a long life!”

From the bottom of her heart, Yuna prayed for her father’s health.