Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 123: Paperwork and Paranoia

The process itself was relatively simple—hell, in the game it was practically instant. But the materials required were another story.

They were rare, expensive, and difficult to synthesize. It would apparently take one Galactic Week to gather the materials and finish crafting the module.

"Since everything will get easier once we have the Warp Nexus Module, I suppose we should only begin making serious moves in a week." I sighed, gazing up at the ceiling, passing the time in idle thought.

According to the timeline, we should still be in the middle of Chapter 1 of the Main Story.

However, with how chaotic things have been, I'm not even sure we're still in Chapter 1 anymore. Then again, the "egg" hadn't been retrieved yet, so we probably haven't triggered Chapter 2. Probably...

Also, we skipped right over Chapters 9 to 12. Gaining Astoria's powers and even acquiring an item that wasn't supposed to appear until much later were both unexpected developments.

And now I owned a planet—something that shouldn't even be possible until after completing Chapter 6.

Seriously, where did everything start spiraling off from the original plotline?

"God, my head is aching."

"Want a massage then?"

"WOAH?!"

Hearing a sudden voice directly in front of me, I nearly fell out of my chair. The voice was familiar—too familiar. It belonged to Eva, someone I had definitely left behind on Fizzen!

Cold sweat ran down my back as I slowly turned, voice quivering. "W-Why... How did you even find me here?"

"There are plenty of ways to figure out where you'd run off to," Eva said flatly, walking toward me with calm, determined steps. "But really, I should be the one asking. Why did you leave me behind?"

"..."

Right. Why did I abandon her?

With Cassandra, it was clear—I couldn't risk the truth coming to light. If word got out, I'd probably be executed on the spot. I had drawn "first blood," after all. It wasn't unthinkable that the guillotine would be waiting for me.

So, I ran.

But with Eva... there wasn't any real reason to leave her. Why did I do it then? Was it because I didn't want the hassle of asking her to come along? No... that wasn't it.

I... I just felt guilty toward her.

I'm nothing but a selfish bastard, hiding my real feelings while keeping her close. Last night, I lost control—let my emotions bleed through. I needed distance to cool down, to sort myself out.

"...Nothing, really," I answered vaguely. "You were asleep when the call came about the procedures, so I moved ahead without you."

"Really?" Eva raised an eyebrow, arms crossed under her generous chest, making it even more distracting.

Flashes of her bare skin came to mind, and I awkwardly averted my gaze, nodding. "Yeah, really."

"Then why are you looking away? Suspicious," she accused with a frown. "You just found it annoying to deal with me, didn't you? You left me behind for convenience's sake."

"...Definitely not."

Damn. Can she read minds or something? She nailed exactly what I had thought—well, toward Cassandra, not her.

"Anyway," I pivoted the conversation, sensing I'd lose ground fast if we stayed on this topic. "This planet, Mithra, has medical technology dozens of times more advanced than what they had on Baltheves-402. How about transferring your mother to a facility here instead?"

We have little to no control over her fate back at their home planet. Thus, if she—or the hospital itself—were ever to be in danger, there would be no way for us to find out until it's already too late.

"That..." Eva hesitated, clearly not expecting this kind of topic to come up out of nowhere. "...I guess, we can. We do have enough money to afford it now, anyway."

"Perfect!"

I gave a firm nod before slapping the table, causing a virtual monitor and keyboard to materialize in front of me. "Then, I'll go ahead and set things up with the best hospital available on Mithra. Let's see... This, and this... Alright!"

After a quick preliminary inspection, I realized that the cost of cryogenic freezing here was far lower than expected. Given that, I made the decision to upgrade the preservation method to a medical pod stabilizer. It was dozens of times more expensive than the standard freezing option, but it would maintain the integrity of one's body systems far more effectively.

There were fewer side effects, almost none, in fact, which made it the optimal solution for long-term care.

"Now, all that remains is for the Warp Nexus to finish processing, and we'll be able to retrieve your mother." I smiled warmly at Eva. "Why not give the doctor in charge of her a quick heads-up? You might also want to send a [Donation] to the hospital while you're at it, just to smooth things out."

I tossed her a sleek black card—the one I had previously received from Anderson. "Use this. You can send them up to 1 billion. Any more than that, though, and you'll have to do some paperwork."

"...Got it." She nodded curtly, then turned and began walking away.

Eva was surprisingly honest and subdued today.

Could it be the lingering effect of last night's "punishment"? Well, either way, having fewer complications is always a welcome thing.

She exited the office just as quickly as she had entered, allowing the room to fall back into its prior peaceful silence. I reached for the tea I had set aside earlier and took a sip.

"...Yep, it's cold now."

Still tasted fine, but it had definitely lost the warmth that made it stand out.

I placed the cup back into its saucer with a soft clink and released a long, drawn-out sigh. Propping my legs up onto the desk and folding my arms behind my head, I allowed myself to melt into relaxation.

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*Knock!* *Knock!*

But of course, I wasn't destined to rest for long. A firm knock echoed from the door, making me instinctively frown. Who could it be this time? Did Eva come back already?

"Duke Grail, this is Herman, your acting secretary." The calm, collected voice of an old man came from beyond the door. "I have arrived to deliver the paperwork requiring your signature."

"Herman?"

Oh, that's right—he was the old butler who welcomed me when I arrived earlier. Said he'd handle the administrative turnover. That was only an hour ago... Is he really done already?! That's absurd speed!

"Y-Yes, come in." I responded with a bit of a stutter.

The door slid open smoothly, and in walked an old man with slicked-back white hair and an elegant English mustache. From his appearance and attire, one might mistake him for someone named "Sebastian."

In his arms was a thick stack of documents. Not towering, but definitely not light either.

"...All of these?" I asked, my smile faltering into a twitch.

"Yes, Duke." Sebastian—er, I mean Herman—returned my strained smile with grace. "Oh, and please attend to them as soon as you can. The faster the turnover is finalized, the smoother things will run moving forward."

There must be at least a hundred pages in here... Well, goodbye relaxation.

What puzzled me more was why they insisted on doing "actual" paperwork when we clearly had the tech to go fully virtual. Digital contracts could be signed in an instant—this felt so outdated.

It took me 30 whole minutes to complete signing everything manually.

I could've gone faster, of course, if I hadn't taken the time to skim through the contents. But curiosity won over efficiency. The papers detailed the formal surrender of authority from the previous ruling officials of Mithra. Each one was a declaration of returning the governing power to the newly appointed ruler—me.

Another batch contained the opposite: formal transfers of said power, now reissued by me, back to the same individuals.

It was, without a doubt, a convoluted system—but a necessary one, apparently.

This ensured their loyalty would be redirected.

Since their original authority was granted by the previous Duke, their allegiance would remain with him unless it was officially revoked and reassigned. Without this, the risk of disobedience and political instability was too great.

"Done...!" I muttered as I stretched, trying to shake the stiffness from my shoulders.

Herman moved swiftly, collecting the documents and expertly flipping through each one. "...Excellent work, Duke Grail. I've verified that everything has been signed correctly." He bowed with another calm smile. "Then, I'll excuse myself."

"..."

Having a capable subordinate is definitely a plus. But when they're too capable, it just ends up making me feel tired. And to think—I haven't even started doing any real Duke work yet.

"My future seems bleak..."

I sighed again, leaning fully into the chair and shutting my eyes.