[Civilization Overview]
• Civilization Type: Technological Civilization
• Technological Level: Space Age (Sub-light Speed)
• Population: 5.106 million
• Species: Humans, Shipgirls, Spirits, Sirens, Heroic Spirits, Dragons
After settling the young girls completely, Setsuna opened the statistics panel during his free time.
"Oh…"
"We already have over five million people now?"
Leaning back in his chair, he reminisced about the early days of founding the nation, when there had been only thirty shipgirls and just over three hundred Bulin. It felt almost surreal.
The arrival of over three million young girls from the Black Bullet world had triggered a massive population boom.
Fortunately, with resources from multiple worlds and an abundant labor force provided by Bulins and Manjuus, sustaining them all was feasible.
"Now it finally feels like a proper metropolis."
Richelieu chuckled softly beside him.
"Back then, while the Bulins and Siren girls were certainly capable, something always felt missing."
"When the Heroic Spirits and Spirits arrived, didn't they keep complaining about how everyone in the city looked the same? That shouldn't be an issue anymore."
"That's true."
Setsuna nodded. Since Bulins and the Siren girls all looked quite similar, first-time visitors to the capital often mistook them for generic NPCs in a game.
Now, however, the new perplexing question would likely become: "Why is your entire city full of young girls?!"
After all, over 60% of the population consisted of girls under the age of ten.
Just the thought of it was astonishing.
He himself ran the risk of being mistaken for Royal Ark's prison cellmate—but thankfully, these were all superpowered young girls.
Bang—
The office door suddenly burst open.
"Commander, what about me?!"
"You're advancing everyone else through genetic enhancement and leaving me out?! I'm a bona fide beautiful girl too, you know?!"
As expected, Gudako barged in.
"Ritsuka, didn't you just recently become a Spirit?"
"I was literally teaching you magic yesterday."
Mio, standing beside Setsuna, blinked.
"That's different."
Gudako moved closer to Setsuna.
"Look, this technology is practically made for me and those young girls! You're a guy, so you can't use it. Shipgirls and Sirens don't need it, and Heroic Spirits have no use for it either…"
"So can you set me up too?!"
"..."
Setsuna paused for a moment.
"While I do plan to roll out superpower factor technology for the remaining humans at the base, don't you think you've already stacked a few too many buffs on yourself?"
"Hmm? You're saying this to a Chaldea Master who pilots a Gundam?"
"What's the problem?! If I get stronger, I won't hold you back when we go to Singularities!"
Gudako patted her chest with conviction.
"…Alright then."
"Arrange enhancements for the Seitenshi, Kisara Tendo, and the rest of the ordinary humans at the base as well."
After thinking for a moment, Setsuna agreed.
Expanding the use of superpower factors to ordinary humans also had its benefits—it would prevent them from feeling overwhelmed by constantly being surrounded by shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, Spirits, and other powerful beings.
"What kind of superpower factor do you plan to install?"
Richelieu asked curiously.
"Since you're older than those children, your tolerance limit should be higher… Do you also want the dolphin factor?"
"It would make you more intelligent and help you learn magecraft and magic more quickly."
"..."
Gudako pondered for a moment.
"No, that thing takes up too many stat points. Intelligence is fine as long as it's sufficient."
"Of course, I should max out strength, agility, and recovery first. Something like the tiger type, planarian type, or rabbit type would be better…"
"..."
"As expected of you—adorable, but completely brainless."
Setsuna ruffled Gudako's hair.
"I'll notify Purifier later and have her arrange the genetic enhancement for you."
"Yay!"
Gudako gave Setsuna a hug and walked off cheerfully.
"When we get married in the future, Chaldea will be my dowry! I'll give it all to you!"
"..."
"Have you even asked Roman and Da Vinci about this? Also, Chaldea itself is kind of eerie… I don't particularly want it…"
The corner of Setsuna's mouth twitched.
He had heard of girls asking for a dowry before, but this was the first time he had seen someone unilaterally offering an entire Human Order preservation organization as one.
Gudako—humanity's evil, utterly shameless.
…
After sending Gudako off and handling most of his work,
it was already late at night.
"Hah—"
Setsuna let out a long sigh.
With several hundred thousand new people added, his workload had significantly increased lately.
However, the crisis in the Black Bullet world had finally been resolved perfectly, and in the process, a rather peculiar form of genetic ascension technology had been developed.
"Well then, Commander, I shall take my leave to prepare your bedroom."
Belfast gave a gentle curtsy, left a kiss on Setsuna's cheek, and then departed.
Although the head maid claimed she was just preparing the bedroom, she always ended up staying inside after tidying it up.
She was becoming increasingly proficient at "creating opportunities."
"Commander-sama, I'll go put little Taihou to sleep first, then I'll come find you—"
Taihou, holding Taihou-chan's hand, also left.
As the only shipgirl who needed to take care of a child, she often felt an odd sense of contradiction.
On one hand, Taihou-chan was the "proof of love" between her and the Commander. On the other hand, this little girl actually wanted to compete with her own mother for the Commander…
Taihou was both happy and conflicted.
Before long, only Richelieu and Setsuna remained in the office.
"So next… should we visit the Nekopara world to bring back some catgirls, or go to the Girls und Panzer world and recruit the legendary Nishizumi tactician?"
Setsuna casually chatted with Richelieu.
"Hmm… that depends on what you prefer?"
"Rather than that, why don't you work overtime tonight and help me finish the remaining tasks?"
Richelieu responded while standing and organizing documents.
She subtly turned her face to the side, sneaking a glance at Setsuna.
"Finishing all this will take until four or five in the morning, right? It's not that urgent anyway. We can just call in more people tomorrow and get everything done together."
Setsuna glanced at her, unable to understand why Richelieu was asking him to work overtime in the middle of the night.
"No… I was just joking."
Richelieu gazed out at the night sky, let out a soft laugh, and sighed.
"I just feel like it's been a long time since we've been alone like this."
"Things have been lively ever since we got back, which is nice, but sometimes I still want to spend time with you alone—even if it's just working together…"
Among the oath-bound shipgirls, Setsuna often organized nightly gatherings to strengthen their bonds.
But as his secretary ship, Richelieu occasionally had a bit of a selfish desire—to monopolize the Commander for a little while.
"I see…"
Setsuna found Richelieu's little thoughts rather endearing at times.
She appeared cool and serious on the surface, but in reality, she was unexpectedly gentle—and at times, even shy.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, gently poking her cheek.
"I can stay with you a little longer."
The delicate texture of her gold-and-crimson dress, paired with a white skirt trimmed with gold, gave her an air of both elegance and dignity.
"..."
Richelieu leaned into Setsuna's embrace, feeling the warmth of another person.
Not long after, she let out a soft chuckle.
"Commander… you're not behaving yourself, are you?"
"If I weren't your oath-bound shipgirl, I'd be angry with you right now, you know?!"
"..."
"If you're not saying no, I'll take that as silent approval?"
Setsuna pushed his advantage further, hinting with a glance.
"Look, all the shipgirls have returned to the naval base, and Belfast and Taihou have gone back to tidy up their things too…"
"You really are something…"
Richelieu lightly chastised him before leaning forward and placing her hands on the desk.
It was early autumn, and without air conditioning, there was a faint chill in the air.
Fortunately, with the power of magic, neither of them needed to worry about staying warm.
Setsuna couldn't help but think that skirts were truly one of the greatest inventions.
They were easy to wear—and in every sense of the word, very convenient.
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