On the highway, a convoy of seven vehicles could be seen speeding down the road in a single formation.
At the center of the convoy was a white 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, escorted by six white Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles. Three Mercedes stayed ahead of the Charger while the other three followed behind, maintaining a tight formation around it.
Inside the Dodge Charger, Kanda was behind the wheel.
Manami, Aoi, and Eris were seated in the back, while Lawry sat beside him in the passenger seat.
As Kanda drove, he spoke to AL inside his mind.
*AL, are there any blueprints for spaceships that I can use? If there are, show me the list and their prices.*
[Affirmative. Displaying available blueprints.]
---
**Izumo-Class Modular Carrier Space Battleship (Blueprint)** — 1500 SC
**FFMH-Y101 Eternal** — 1550 SC
**LCAM-01XA Archangel (Blueprint)** — 1600 SC
**LCAM-01XB Dominion (Blueprint)** — 1600 SC
**LHM-BB01 Minerva (Blueprint)** — 1650 SC
...
**Space Mothership Godinion (Blueprint)** — 1700 SC
...
**Aldnoah Drive Battleship Deucalion (Blueprint)** — 1800 SC
---
Kanda looked through the displayed list.
*Why are these blueprints so expensive?*
[They are already considered inexpensive. Obtaining these battleships through an Item Coupon would require considerable luck, while purchasing the actual ships directly from the Store would cost significantly more.]
*What do I get if I buy one of these blueprints?*
[You will receive the complete list of materials required to construct the selected ship, along with its complete design specifications. Since you have obtained the creation device from the Catians, you can immediately construct the ship according to the blueprint once you have gathered all the necessary materials.]
*I see.*
Kanda thought about it for a moment.
*AL, show me my remaining SC.*
[Displaying remaining SC.]
---
**SC: 1740**
---
Kanda frowned when he saw the number.
*That's not enough to buy even the cheapest blueprint.*
He thought for a moment.
*Is there anything I can do to obtain more SC, AL?*
[You can claim the rewards from the quest for adding someone to your harem.]
Kanda's eyes widened slightly.
*Oh? I can claim those rewards now? Alright. Claim them.*
[Affirmative. Accessing the information for the repeating quest: **
---
**Quest Name:** Adding Characters Into Your Harem
**Type:** Repeating Quest
**Details:**
Your adventure will become lonely without anyone accompanying you. So, what are you waiting for? Go and find your soulmate on your journey.
Anyway, don't forget to love your harem. We despise those guys who don't appreciate their girls and only want to enjoy their bodies.
**Requirement:** 100% Love Status with the girl.
**Reward:** +100 Free Allocated Points and +250 SC for each girl added to the harem.
**Current Progress:** 4 People
---
[Based on your current progress, Player has received:
+400 Free Allocated Points
+1000 SC
Current SC: **2740**.]
Kanda nodded inwardly.
*Before I buy one of these blueprints, can I modify the ship after I create it?*
[Yes. You can modify the ship after purchasing its blueprint. However, you will not receive information about the additional materials required for modifications. If you require that information, you must purchase the modification data separately from the ship's blueprint.]
[Furthermore, you will require a device with the same creation function as the device you currently possess from the Catians in order to perform the modifications.]
*That's enough for me. As long as I can modify the ship after creating it, I'll figure out the rest later.*
Kanda looked through the list one more time.
*AL, purchase the blueprint for the LCAM-01XA Archangel.*
[Affirmative.]
[Purchasing LCAM-01XA Archangel Blueprint.]
[1600 SC consumed.]
[Transaction successful.]
[Remaining SC: **1140**.]
The moment the transaction was completed—
*POP!*
A yellow document file suddenly appeared inside the car.
Everyone immediately jumped.
"Wh-What just happened, Kanda?!"
Manami stared at the mysterious file.
"Why did a file suddenly appear out of nowhere?"
"I just bought something from the system, Manami."
Kanda glanced at the file.
"But I didn't expect it to appear like this."
Everyone inside the car already knew about Kanda's system, so the appearance of the mysterious file wasn't completely incomprehensible.
"I see..."
Manami looked at the file.
"What did you buy?"
"A blueprint for our ship."
"Ship?"
Aoi immediately became interested.
"What ship, Kanda?"
Before Kanda could answer, Eris interrupted.
"I know. The ship is for our space journey later, right?"
"That's right, Eris."
Kanda nodded.
"This blueprint contains the design and the complete list of materials I'll need to construct the ship. I'll use it as a guide when I create it later."
He looked at the file seriously.
"I don't want to do a half-assed job with something like this. Our lives could depend on this ship during the mission."
Everyone became quiet after hearing that.
Kanda was right.
If they were going to travel into space and confront Jens, their spacecraft couldn't simply be something that looked impressive.
It needed to be reliable.
Their journey continued.
---
Several hours later, the convoy reached a private airport.
Kanda and the others boarded a private jet belonging to Antonia before departing for northern Siberia, Russia.
After approximately eight hours of flight, the aircraft finally began its descent.
The plane landed on the runway of a medium-sized military base situated near a mountainous region.
The moment they stepped outside, a powerful cold wind swept across the runway.
"Whoa..."
Aoi immediately shivered.
"It's freezing!"
Everyone quickly put on their thick coats to protect themselves from the cold.
They followed Maya toward the military base.
As they approached the entrance, twenty fully equipped soldiers could be seen standing in formation. Each of them was armed and appeared to be waiting for their arrival.
Standing in front of the soldiers was a woman.
She had long silver hair that reached down to her back and striking blue eyes.
A long, thick black fur coat covered her body, while a black fur trapper hat rested on her head.
Maya walked toward the woman.
"Thank you for having us here, Anne."
The silver-haired woman smiled.
"No problem, Maya. It's my pleasure to help you."
She then looked beyond Maya.
"Is that man coming here with you as well?"
"That man?"
Kanda stepped forward.
"She's talking about me, right?"
The silver-haired woman's eyes immediately brightened.
"Ichijou! You're here!"
Anne walked toward him without hesitation.
She wrapped her arms around Kanda in a warm embrace.
"How many times have I told you to call me Anne, Ichijou?"
She pulled away slightly while smiling.
"It's almost as if we're strangers to each other."
Kanda smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry, Anne. Old habits die hard."
Manami, Aoi, and Eris stared at the two of them.
Their expressions gradually became suspicious.
Manami narrowed her eyes.
"Who is she, Kanda?"
She looked between Kanda and Anne.
"You two seem pretty close."
The other girls also looked at Kanda with questioning expressions.
Kanda immediately sensed trouble.
"She is..."
Before he could finish introducing her, the silver-haired woman stepped forward.
"I'm Anastashia Mikhail."
She smiled politely.
"But you can call me Anne."
She then glanced toward Kanda.
"You can consider my relationship with Ichijou as that of someone he helped in the past."
Manami continued staring at her.
"Someone he helped...?"
Anne's smile remained unchanged.
"That's right."
Kanda could already feel the atmosphere around him becoming increasingly dangerous.
*Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being interrogated...?*
The twenty soldiers behind Anne remained completely silent as they watched the unusual reunion between their commander and the man she clearly seemed to know very well.
"What do you mean by that, Anne-san?" Aoi asked.
Anne smiled faintly before beginning her explanation after they entered meeting room.
"First of all, Ichijou once helped me escape from an attack by a group of terrorists. You might find this difficult to believe, but I hold a fairly high rank in the military. My current rank is Brigadier General."
Everyone became slightly surprised by her revelation.
"At that time, I and several of my subordinates had been assigned to transport a newly developed nuclear rocket to one of our secret military bases. However, during our journey, our convoy was ambushed by a group of terrorists. They must have obtained information about our route and destination somehow."
Anne's expression became more serious as she continued.
"An intense gunfight broke out between us and them. Despite our efforts, my subordinates were gradually killed one after another until, eventually, I was the only one left alive."
Everyone listened silently as Anne recounted the incident.
"One of the terrorists eventually aimed his weapon directly at me. At that moment, I had already accepted my fate."
Anne briefly closed her eyes, remembering the scene.
"I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the gunshot. However…"
She opened her eyes again.
"I didn't hear any gunfire."
Aoi, Eris, Manami, and the others listened intently.
"Instead, what I heard were the screams of the terrorists."
Anne paused.
"When I opened my eyes, I witnessed something that I will never forget for the rest of my life."
She looked around the large round table.
"Do you know what I saw?"
Nobody answered.
Anne continued.
"It was a one-sided massacre."
Everyone's attention immediately focused on her.
"There was a teenager standing in front of me. He had black hair and was wearing tight-fitting black clothes. In front of him were approximately fifty fully armed terrorists."
Anne slowly pointed toward Kanda.
"And that teenager was Ichijou."
Everyone immediately turned toward Kanda.
"He fought all fifty of them using nothing but his fists. Every punch he threw either knocked his opponent unconscious or killed them instantly."
Kanda sighed.
"Don't make me sound like some kind of monster in your story, Anastashia."
Anne chuckled softly.
"But that's what happened."
She then continued.
"After defeating every single terrorist, he simply walked toward me and asked whether I was alright."
Anne's expression became somewhat amused.
"What surprised me the most wasn't even his strength. It was his expression."
She looked at Kanda.
"If all of you had seen his face at that moment, you would have thought he had just finished taking a casual walk."
The girls stared at Kanda.
"He looked completely bored. His fight against fifty armed terrorists didn't seem to trouble him at all."
Everyone around the table wore shocked expressions.
Kanda rubbed his forehead.
"Again, please stop making me sound like a monster."
Aoi immediately turned toward him.
"When did that happen, Kanda?"
"Well…"
Kanda thought for a moment.
"That happened during the first three months before Eris arrived here, Aoi. At that time, I occasionally accepted requests from Uncle Yuuichi's clients because I wanted to experience what working as a mercenary was like."
He shrugged.
"I gained quite a lot of experience from those missions."
Eris then turned toward Anne.
"What happened afterward, Anne-san? Between you and Kanda?"
"Well, we simply kept in contact like normal acquaintances," Anne replied. "There were even times when I gave Ichijou some missions."
She glanced at Maya.
"Although I had no idea that Ichijou would eventually fight Maya."
Anne smiled wryly.
"I was quite shocked when I heard that my best friend had ended up confronting the person who once saved my life."
Maya nodded.
"I also never knew that you had such a close relationship with Kanda-sama, Anne. That's why I found it difficult to ask for your assistance in the past. Whenever I contacted you, you always said that you were busy."
"I'm sorry about that, my friend."
Anne gave Maya an apologetic smile.
"I simply couldn't ignore my savior whenever he needed my help. That's why I made things a little difficult for you, especially when your requests were related to him."
"It's fine, Anne. I don't mind."
Maya smiled.
"I also became acquainted with him after my master became his friend. And I already knew that I couldn't defeat him after our contest. He easily dealt with all of my attacks."
"Thank you, Maya."
Anne smiled at her friend before turning her attention back toward Kanda.
"So, Ichijou…"
Her expression became serious.
"What exactly is your request? Maya mentioned during her call that you wanted to create a ship. Is that true?"
Kanda reached into the file he was carrying and pulled out a sheet of paper.
"Yes. It's true that I want to create a ship."
He handed the paper to Anne.
"This is the list of materials I need. I hope you can obtain all of them as soon as possible."
Anne accepted the paper and began reading the list.
Her eyes gradually widened.
"Holy…"
She stared at the paper in disbelief.
"Ichijou, this is an insane amount of materials!"
She looked up at him.
"Why do you need this much material?"
Then another question immediately followed.
"What kind of ship are you trying to create?"
Anne's eyes narrowed.
"Don't tell me…"
Kanda nodded.
"Yes. I want to create a spaceship."
Anne stared at him for several seconds.
"A spaceship…"
She looked back down at the enormous list of materials.
"Alright. Can you get all of these materials, Anne?" Kanda asked.
Anne's expression immediately became serious.
"When do you need them?"
"Two days."
Kanda's answer came without hesitation.
"I don't have much time. This is an urgent mission."
Anne remained silent for a moment as she studied the list again.
Finally, she sighed.
"Then I'll need additional funds on top of my original payment. That way, I can order my subordinates to acquire all of these materials as quickly as possible."
Kanda nodded before turning toward Antonia.
"Antonia-chan, how much money do you have available that you can use without affecting your regular income?"
Antonia thought for a moment.
"I can immediately provide ten billion from my bank account. I can provide another ten billion two days later."
She smiled awkwardly.
"Although, if you had asked me about this a week ago, I could have given you one hundred billion, Kanda-niisan."
"..."
Manami and Aoi froze.
Their eyes widened in disbelief.
*Ten billion?*
*One hundred billion?!*
Both of them looked at Antonia as if they had just discovered that she was secretly the owner of an entire country.
Kanda, however, remained surprisingly calm.
"Then ten billion from Antonia-chan and five billion from me."
He looked toward Anne.
"That makes fifteen billion in total. We'll transfer the money to your account. Do you think you can obtain everything with that amount?"
Anne's expression became serious.
"Of course."
She folded the list carefully.
"Leave it to me, Ichijou. I'll make sure everything is gathered within two days."
"Thanks, Anne."
With the arrangements settled, the meeting finally came to an end.
Anne immediately began issuing orders to her subordinates regarding Kanda's request. Her soldiers quickly started working on locating and purchasing the enormous quantity of materials he needed.
After giving her orders, Anne returned to Kanda.
"There. Everything has been arranged."
Kanda nodded.
"Good."
Anne then smiled.
"Now, about my original payment…"
Kanda suddenly remembered what she had requested earlier.
"A date, right?"
"Exactly."
Anne smiled brightly.
"I want you to spend a date with me while you're in my country."
The moment she said that, several pairs of eyes immediately turned toward Kanda.
Manami, Aoi, and Eris clearly wanted to follow them.
Kanda quickly raised both hands.
"Wait, wait. It's just a date."
Manami narrowed her eyes.
"Just a date?"
"Yes."
Kanda sighed.
"I'll spend some time with Anne, then I'll come back and meet all of you afterward."
The girls reluctantly accepted his explanation, although Manami's suspicious expression remained.
Anne, meanwhile, simply smiled.
"Then shall we go, Ichijou?"
Kanda nodded.
"Alright. Let's go."
And so, after arranging everything for the construction of their future spaceship, Kanda left the military base with Anne.
This time, however, he wasn't going on a mission.
He was going on a date.
END OF THE CHAPTER