As the carrier was destroyed, the battleship that had lost its weapon warped away. After seeing them off, Clan let out a heavy sigh and leaned back on her seat. Silence returned to the Hazy Moon's bridge, and her sigh could be heard anywhere on the bridge.
“...Geez, what a terrible risk to take...”
While the end result was a victory, the battle was nothing but crises from start to finish. Clan had been compelled to go help the others several times. Fortunately, nothing had gotten far too serious, so she hadn't been needed to provide backup, but Clan couldn't help but feel stressed as she watched the battle. To Clan, she would have felt a lot better if she had been with the others and fought alongside them.
“...Since you'll eventually become my vassal, you have to win more elegantly and overwhelmingly...”
Clan felt like giving Koutarou a few mean remarks out of spite for making her worry so much. So she contacted Koutarou using a direct line.
“Hm? Clan? What's wrong?”
Koutarou appeared on the monitor up front.
“I don't want to hear what's wrong!”
Seeing Koutarou safe and sound, Clan was overcome with an even more intense sense of relief. He looked tired and had dirt all over his face, but he didn't seem to have any serious injuries, and there was power behind his voice. The sense of relief from being able to see the normal Koutarou like this again was anything but small. It was difficult for even Clan herself to figure out if she wanted to confirm that Koutarou was alright or if she wanted to complain.
“Please win in a more elegant fashion next time. I felt like I was the one who was going to die as I watched you.”
“Sorry. I'll try that next time.”
“As long as you understand. Fufu, good work, Bertorion.”
“What, you're awfully kind to―”
Bertorion.
The moment Clan spoke that name, loud roars of joy filled the bridge that had fallen silent.
“W-What?!”