Crest of the Stars (星界の紋章)

Jinto... Jinto...

The groups of space-time bubbles

are now within firing range!

The enemy's front-line ships have launched

a large number of smaller space-time bubbles.

They're probably mobile space-time mines.

Launch our mines as a counterattack.

Month of Roswik, Day Seven.

The other day, we added another star system

to the territories of the Empire.

Our fleet has been sweeping away anything in its path,

and now we have apprehended yet another retreating enemy fleet.

But this is hardly a battle.

It's more like a game.

Very appropriate to the name of the Operation.

From the perspective of military action,

one could say that we were on the verge of a great success.

However, we had internal problems to deal with.

Problems with the management of the fleet.

Although we don't like to admit it,

our family has a reputation for "Spectacular Insanity."

My brother, the Chief of Staff, appears to be living up to

that reputation by continually influencing

and infecting the minds of the other Chiefs--

who should be supporting their supreme commander.

Or maybe it's just I,

who am so full of common sense,

who doesn't fit into the family mold.

Hmm... that's too easy an explanation.

So, did you enjoy your bath?

Now I don't really care whether or not you decide

to have a bath in the middle of a battle,

but if you do decide to do that,

at least you could dry your hair properly

before you come up to the bridge.

All right. I'll be more careful.

So, what's the situation?

Foregone conclusion. Our forces were victorious.

We've still got to confirm how many ships we lost,

but the numbers are minimal.

Which of course is the result of having

such a good commander in charge.

If you want to think that, I'm not going to stop you.

Nor will I make any cheap jibes about you having

a relaxing bath in the middle of a battle.

Nor indeed about you sitting there,

feeling smug for no reason.

But what I would like you to tell me, Nereis,

is just how much longer you intend

to advance aggressively like this?

What's wrong with it?

Surely contributing to the territorial expansion

of the Empire should be seen as a great honor.

I suppose the expansion has exceeded expectations.

However, it has its pros and cons.

That's very true.

With so many territories to govern we're starting to run out

of people to act as administrators and ambassadors.

Hm... Oh, the Supreme Commander

has to worry his little head over such matters--

it's enough to make you cry!

You do realize that there are more important things

that need to be taken care of.

Nefee, I take the responsibility

of being Commander in Chief very seriously.

In making my decisions, I always make a point

of taking both the future of the fleet

and the honor of our family into serious consideration.

Believe it or not, it's the honor of the family

that worries me most about you right now.

Just between you and me.

The Fourth Fleet...

Wasn't it led by the man you love?

A certain Admiral Bebaus?

Not really. The Admiral Bebaus that I knew and loved

back then was a different man altogether.

Besides, he hadn't even made it

to the position of Admiral at the time.

At last, after a whole year, the secret is out!

The mystery is solved!

Perhaps your Highness would be so kind

as to let me know exactly what he gains

by delving into my past like this.

Are you sure you know what you're saying,

Chief of Staff? If I wanted to delve into your past,

I have plenty of more reliable methods at my disposal.

[KENESH I should have guessed.

Am I right in assuming that your interest in my private life is

simply a way for you to relieve your boredom, your Highness?

Well, that's quite brutal of you to say that.

By the way, don't you think that his fleet

is advancing too far, too quickly?

Whose fleet? Admiral Bebaus?

The man I don't love?

Yes, his fleet.

[KENESH They do seem to be moving quite far ahead.

But I don't think we need to worry too much.

Even if they get into trouble

and the enemy manages to surround them,

we have enough extra resources to go and rescue them.

And thinking about it, if the enemy were to do that,

it would create an opportunity for us

to destroy them, one that we simply cannot afford to miss.

There's a scary side to you.

You're willing to use the Admiral you once loved as bait?

Please don't put it like that.

You make it sound like I'm the sort of person to think up a

whole battle plan solely to get revenge for a personal grudge!

Of course the advances now being made

by Nereis' fleet weren't in your plans, either.

There are no strategically important planetary systems

in the direction they are heading.

But then surely we should have the same concerns

for the Eighth Fleet.

I have a theory why we should treat

the Eighth Fleet differently.

Their Commander in Chief is an upstanding member

of the Star Forces who is able to make decisions

quickly depending on the situation.

And I assume from your insinuation

you think Nereis isn't?

Please don't forget that when you approved of Admiral Bebaus

becoming Supreme Commander,

I was against the idea

and my feelings haven't changed in the slightest.

No, I haven't forgotten.

But don't you think it would be better for us

to simply stop his advances?

If you're really asking for my opinion,

then I'm afraid I'd advise against it.

The situation isn't serious enough yet.

Not serious enough?

But I got the impression you thought the Admiral

wasn't upstanding enough for you.

I don't understand.

It depends on your point of view.

After all, I am the Chief of Staff

for the entire fleet of Operation Hunter.

I see.

So you've already looked at the possibility.

Yes.

If the forces belonging to his Fourth Fleet

are attacked by say, the remnants of an enemy fleet,

there is an 89% chance

that the losses to Operation Hunter overall will be minimal.

That's the prediction.

So if I understand you correctly,

your suggestion is that the advances

of the Fourth Fleet should be encouraged.

In that case, I won't order them to stop.

However, we should be prepared to rescue them if necessary.

I want you to organize as many spare ships as you can

into squadrons immediately.

We want any rescue operation to run as smoothly as possible.

Understood.

Who do you want to take command?

If there's going to be a battle

over these advancing forces,

then the region will obviously become

the most strategic point of Operation Hunter.

In which case, I...

I think we should let Admiral Trife take command.

Daisiele!

But he'll rush into things headfirst if we use him!

Immediately assign Admiral Trife

to the appropriate star system so that he can start

amassing his forces to undertake this task.

I also want you to issue orders to Beneej,

requesting that her fleet provide a defense backup

to the ships advancing with the Fourth Fleet.

I am so bored.

Roger.

Your name's Diaho, isn't it?

You don't look like you miss

Count Hyde at all, little kitty!

Saying your goodbyes to the cats, Duhiel?

How'd you manage to find me?

How'd you know I was out here in the garden?

Does it matter how I know?

You were here, weren't you, Son?

Don't be so contemptuous of your father.

I'd never do such a thing!

That's okay then. Hm...

Isn't that cat... Isn't that the one Lafiel gave to Count Hyde?

His name's Diaho.

Don't think you can impress me like that.

Even though it was born in our house,

we're only taking care of Diaho for Count Hyde.

I don't want you getting too attached to the cat.

It wouldn't be nice to be accused of stealing

someone else's pet, would it?

There's no way that I'd want to steal him!

It's just... It's just he's been with Lafiel, my older sister...

He was with her? And what does that mean?

Well, I... You see...

You might be clever,

but you still can't think of the words to say.

From what I can see, I'd say you were worrying about something.

You didn't want to talk about it with anyone else,

so you ended up trying to get advice