Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 44: Vassal?

Eva’s mother was in a hospital on the surface of Baltheves-402. This meant my little impromptu meteor shower wasn’t just an "oh no, property damage" situation—it could straight-up endanger her life.

’...In my defense, I was trying to avoid being detected and getting shot down. And also, she didn’t warn or remind me before I pulled the trigger!’

But looking back, the sewer explosion might have already damaged the hospital. Grieves City had an interconnected sewer system spanning the entire metropolis, so even if the hospital was far from ground zero, it probably felt the effects.

Half panicking, Eva shoved me aside and stormed back to her seat. Her hands trembled as she opened her terminal, and her expression was a mess of anger and worry as she tried to contact the hospital director.

Meanwhile, I focused on my task—keeping the Range Falcon moving while our lovely distraction did its job.

Finally, the video call connected as a familiar face appeared before us.

"Director!" Eva barked, not even waiting for a greeting. "Is the hospital alright?! How’s my mother?!"

A calm, measured voice responded.

{Ms. Eva, you don’t have to worry.}

His tone alone was enough to take the edge off the situation. {The hospital sustained some damage, but nothing significant. It won’t affect our operations.}

Eva’s face twisted. "No, not that!" She immediately realized he was talking about the earlier sewer explosion, not the more imminent celestial bombardment. "Moon fragments are falling toward the surface right now!"

The director fell silent. Then his voice dropped, all business. {Fragments...?}

I could practically hear his brain kicking into overdrive.

{I don’t know what’s happening, but battleship-grade barriers protect this hospital. Unless a moon-sized fragment crashes into the planet at full speed, we’ll be fine.}

Oh, right. There was also that...

Baltheves-402’s thick, carbon-based atmosphere wasn’t just a visual nightmare—it was a natural defense system. Anything entering at high velocity would have to brute-force its way through, getting shaved down by the abrasive carbon clouds in the process. By the time those fragments hit the surface, they’d either be dust or reduced to less than 10% of their original size.

Eva hesitated, the director’s words slowly sinking in. Then—the video feed flickered. The director staggered slightly, grabbing onto a console to steady himself.

Eva’s panic reignited. "What was that?!"

The director frowned and quickly tapped a few buttons on his console. After a moment, his expression eased, and a slight smile returned.

{It appears our barrier was hit directly by a 50-meter-wide moon fragment.} His voice remained reassuring. {Aside from the initial impact, there’s no damage to the hospital or its personnel.}

Eva collapsed back into her seat. "T-Thank god..."

After a few pleasantries and another round of reassurances, the director ended the call—probably because he had bigger fires to put out. The hospital would be flooded with casualties soon, thanks to the chain reaction of disasters we’d left behind.

I felt a little bad for them. But in the grand scheme of things? It was our lives versus theirs. And I chose the most logical option.

Selfish? Sure. Necessary? Absolutely.

Right then—

"Arthur," Eva’s voice snapped me back to reality. I turned, only to find her glaring daggers at me. "If anything happens to my mother, I’m making you pay."

I felt shivers down my spine, seeing her serious glare—her eyes seemingly lifeless. Yeah, she was definitely holding a grudge over this one. And if I pointed out that this whole mess started because she insisted on saving Cassandra, she’d probably rip my head off. Best to let sleeping lions lie.

I sighed. "I swear this won’t happen again." I made sure to sound as sincere as possible. "But unlike you, I prioritize my survival over everything else. Please consider that, too."

Eva didn’t answer.

She just sat there, arms crossed, lips curled into a deep frown—classic Eva. She understood my logic, but she was too stubborn to admit it.

That was fine. She could stew in it.

Meanwhile, I maneuvered the Range Falcon toward the shadow of another one of Baltheves-402’s moons. There, I disabled the stealth module and initiated a space jump.

For a brief moment, the idea of blowing up another moon—just as an insurance—crossed my mind.

Then I glanced at Eva.

Yeah. Not worth it.

I kept my hands firmly on the controls, watching as the jump drive finished charging—propelling us into hyperspace.

For now, we were safe. But our troubles were only just beginning.

---

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I wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed, but after a while, a green light popped up on the console. I’d seen this same signal not too long ago—when Major Terrence was finally done recovering inside the medical pod.

"So it’s time for her to come out, huh… The Crazy Princess."

Turning to the side, I was about to call Eva—but then I noticed she was face-down on her console, snoring. Loudly.

That was rare. She wasn’t the type to completely let her guard down like this. She must’ve been drained—mentally and physically—after everything we went through today.

Scratching my head, I sighed. "I’d feel bad waking her up…"

With that, I stood up and made my way toward the medical bay, which was located near the tail of the ship—a solid 600-meter walk from the bridge.

On the way, I couldn’t help but notice that the ship’s damage… wasn’t fully repaired yet.

Sections of the hull looked rough, unfinished, and completely unpainted. Did Eva rush those stubborn guys to finish early? They must’ve cut corners to meet her deadline because most of these patches stood out like a sore thumb.

At least the ship was fully operational. Couldn’t complain too much.

"But as expected, leaving the repair of Brionac to them was a mistake," I muttered.

Fixing a weapon like Brionac wasn’t just a matter of replacing busted parts—it required understanding the damn thing. And considering it was a lost weapon with no existing blueprints, the engineers had no choice but to work off whatever manual scraps they could find.

The result? Technically functional… but barely. I’d only fired the thing once, and half its newly furbished internal components had already melted. A one-shot wonder. Brionac wasn’t supposed to be disposable—it was meant to be a symbol of ultimate, indiscriminate destruction!

"I’ll have to fix it myself later…" I grumbled, pulling up my personal terminal and jotting down a list of spare parts I’d need.

Lost in thought, I finally arrived at the medical bay. As the doors slid open, I was greeted by the sight of—a pair of piercing blue eyes staring straight at me. Her wavy hair of gold floated mysteriously in the water, making for an ethereal sight.

The Crazy Princess was already awake… and of course, completely naked. My eyes almost inevitably drifted downward, as if pulled by the fundamental laws of the universe. Her skin—flawless. Her curves—generous and dangerous. And further below…

"Oh, it’s smooth—"

"—!"

Before I could finish my very scientific observation, the Crazy Princess snapped back to reality. Her arms shot up, legs clamping together like a steel trap as she shielded her "precious assets" from view. But rather than rage, her expression was a mix of confusion and embarrassment.

Right. First things first.

I raised both hands in surrender as I stepped toward the control panel beside the medical pod. "Relax. I’m releasing you now."

Even up close, she was the epitome of angelic beauty. If I ignored her troublesome personality, I could almost convince myself that spending a night with her would be worth selling my soul.

I mean, all men should be the same, unless you had… unique tastes, or swung the other way.

Under my watchful gaze, she instinctively tightened her arms around herself—but instead of covering up, it only accentuated her figure even more. Is she doing this on purpose? Trying to lower my guard, maybe?

Well, enjoying the sight and falling for it were two very different things. And unfortunately for her, I already knew her tricks like an open book.

With a quiet hiss, the medical pod opened as the last of the green healing liquid drained away. I immediately tossed her a towel, which she snatched and wrapped around herself without hesitation.

"You are Gerard Astoria." Her voice was sharp, suspicious. "Are you the one who kidnapped me? What do you want?"

She’d been unconscious this entire time, only to wake up inside a medical pod—naked. Obviously, she’d be on edge. But this was typical Crazy Princess behavior, and I won’t fall for her tricks.

I can’t let her gain control of the conversation. If I responded "even once" to her questions like a subordinate, I’d be doomed.

I leaned back, smirking. "Quite the mouth you’ve got, considering we saved you."

"Saved me?" She narrowed her eyes. The earlier embarrassment was already nowhere in sight—so that had been fake, huh? As expected.

I took half a step back as I shrugged. "We got into a lot of trouble, you know? We just happened to stop a kidnapping in progress—a simple act of heroism. We didn’t realize it’d turn into a giant mess involving the entire military. You pissed off some bigshot or something?"

Rule one: When asked a question, ask another question. Keep the ball in her court. That way, she had no choice but to answer me instead.

This isn’t a game where I only have preset dialogue options. If I slip up, I’ll end up under her "control" instantly. However—

"So it was you who saved me…"

Instead of getting irritated that I dodged her question, the Crazy Princess’s expression softened. That… wasn’t in the script.

"Not only do I owe you my life," she continued, "but you even saw my body… That leaves me with only one choice."

Before I could react, she suddenly stepped forward—then, without hesitation, she dropped to one knee. Her right hand pressed firmly over her chest, just above her heart. And then, in a solemn, almost holy voice, she spoke words I never expected to hear, as if reciting an ancient vow.

"I, Princess Cassandra Meyers of the Meyers Royal Family, hereby swear my allegiance to you—Gerard Astoria."

Hearing her words, my stomach dropped.

"From this day on, I swear before all my predecessors that I will serve you by your side until the day this life runs out."

A cold sweat ran down my back.

This line… These words… I knew them. They were spoken by knights swearing fealty to their lords. Or by nobles marrying into a family of higher standing. It was included in the game’s settings.

And one thing is that they wouldn’t joke about this—as that would be equivalent to disgracing their ancestors—she was dead serious.

I stared at the Crazy Princess, frozen in horror.

This can’t be happening… Right?