Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!

Thanks to Cassandra's efforts, the war was wrapped up neatly.

During the post-war negotiations, the Astoria Conglomerate did not demand immediate profit.

Instead, they requested several trade permissions, tax reductions, and—most importantly—a Royal Purveyor Seal, granting them an edge over all other merchants.

With this, the Astoria Conglomerate effectively monopolized the entire Meyers Star System's market.

Although their influence was limited to one system, when thinking about its scale, the potential profits were astronomical.

The risks and efforts had been well worth it!

Meanwhile, I was in my room back at the Military Hub as the day changed. Lying face-down on the bed, drowning in self-pity.

"Uuuu..."

The problem?

Right. The Eclipse Sovereign. What else?

A ship of immeasurable value, an undeniable symbol of power and prestige. But just as it was priceless, its repair costs alone would set me back over 500 billion Credits.

And that wasn't even the worst part.

Simply operating the Eclipse wasn't cheap either. Even with a minimal crew, I would still need at least 10,000 personnel on board. And these weren't just any crew members—each needed to be an expert in their field.

Which meant the annual operating costs would skyrocket to over 900 trillion Credits.

In short…

"I can't use the fucking ship...!"

Not just that—

I couldn't even afford to repair it!

Even if I did all the labor myself, the raw materials alone would still cost over 400 billion Credits.

Sure, after calculating the bounties we secured from the war, I technically had enough... But only if Eva and Cassandra didn't take their shares.

And I was 100% sure that Eva would never agree to that.

So yeah, that option was already out the window.

With no other choice, I ultimately left the Eclipse Sovereign in Cassandra's—no, in the Meyers Royal Family's—care.

Officially, it was "leased" to her.

But since the ship was registered under my name—(Anderson had been quick to make it official)—it was still technically mine.

Oh, and of course—

Anderson had countered with a proposal of his own, suggesting that I lease the ship to him instead.

But honestly?

I had a gut feeling that if I did... I'd never see my ship again.

Thus, my decision was made.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

Just as I was lost in thought, a series of knocks echoed from the door.

Before I could even answer, it swung open, and a figure burst in, waltzing in as if this was her own room.

"Yo, Mr. Billionaire. What's up?"

The intruder—Eva—grinned, her mood sky-high.

It was no surprise. After all, we had just gotten paid—billions of Credits.

After distributing dividends, penalties, and bonuses, Eva walked away with a grand total of 75 billion Credits.

An amount that, honestly, could last her and her mother for the rest of their lives.

"Nothing's up. Rather, I'm down..."

I grumbled lightly, unwilling to lift my face from the pillow. Still, complaining to her wouldn't help, so I just changed the topic.

"Rather, since you're here—Cassandra's done with her meetings?"

As the new Crowned Ruler of the Meyers Star System, Cassandra had a lot to do.

Ever since we returned, she had been stuck in virtual meetings—for about 70 hours straight—handling discussions with the Kingdom's ministers and other nobles. A tiring ordeal, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally.

"Rather than ending, it was forced to end," Eva sighed, shrugging.

"Cassandra finally couldn't hold out and fell asleep. So, her remaining meetings have been postponed until she wakes up."

"...Well, she was awake for about a day and a half, after all."

"Yeah. I sent her to her room and left someone to guard the doors, so she should be getting some z's right now," Eva added.

"I see..." I sighed.

"And? What do you think?"

"Think? About what?"

"You forgot what I asked you already? About Cassandra... and our Knights of Camelot."

"...Ah."

Right. Cassandra was only a temporary member of our mercenary group.

She wasn't a real member... But after everything we went through together, it was hard to say she wasn't one of us.

Still, she was now the ruler of an entire Star System.

Not only would she be too busy to join us on quests, but with her status, it would also be impossible for her to come along.

Being a mercenary was risky—we lived with one foot inside the grave every single day.

And honestly, even Cassandra wouldn't want to stay under those conditions.

"Regarding that..." Eva frowned, deep in thought—before shaking her head. "Well, I guess you'll learn soon enough. Just wait for her to tell you."

"..."

As expected, she's leaving...

Well, although her ability would be vital in tackling future conflicts, those events wouldn't happen anytime soon.

We could always return to her when the time came.

Still... Back to being a duo with Eva, huh? I guess it would feel lonely for a while.

Just then, I remembered something important.

"Oh, right. The Grand Prix..."

Cassandra was our pilot, after all. But now that she had become Queen, I guess... We had no choice but to switch pilots?

No, that was impossible. It goes against the rules.

"Guess we'll just give up," I sighed. "So much for getting both remaining Warp Nexus Fragments at once..."

"Oh, right. About that."

Eva's sudden words cut off my negatively spiraling emotions.

"She said she'll finish the Grand Prix with us, so don't worry."

"...Really?"

If that was true, then—

Wait.

This was no time to feel relieved.

"With how tight her schedule is, I doubt we'll have enough time to practice. Getting first place would be hard..."

"Bastard."

Eva finally snapped, her grin turning upside down.

"Stop bitching like a loser!"

"Cassandra finished first place in the preliminaries—with zero prior experience—after just one day of training. The main race? With over a day's worth of practice? Piece of cake!"

Yeah, that was true.

She should be able to memorize the track easily. But that wasn't the problem. It was her stamina.

"From our practice, she could only last 150 minutes of the 500-minute average race. Even if we resorted to drugs, we could only push it up to about 300 minutes at most," I sighed, shaking my head.

"Hah! What a negative way of looking at things!"

Eva, as if she were Cassandra's mother, stubbornly defended her.

"If she can only last 150 minutes, then we just need to finish all 50 laps within that time!"

"That's imp—"

I paused mid-sentence, before frowning.

"Wait... That's actually possible."

The track's average lap time is roughly 10 minutes, but during an actual race, it drops to about 8 minutes.

From my experience, the fastest lap—both actual and theoretical—was around 2 minutes 45 seconds.

In short, it was entirely possible—as long as Cassandra could pilot the ship near perfectly. A glimmer of hope shined upon us, making me smile.

"Eva, you're a genius!" I grinned brightly, finally lifting my face from the pillow at long last. "If that's how we'll do it, then I don't have time to waste!"

Standing up, I pumped both fists. "I gotta adjust the training program and upgrade your Hunter Frigate to the limit!"

"...Oh. Alright."

Eva seemed taken aback by my sudden enthusiasm, but who cares?

I'm getting fired up!

"Warp Nexus Fragments, here I come!!!"

---

After that, days went by in a blur.

I finished adjusting the training program, limiting it to 150 minutes—but perfectly programming how the traps and obstacles would behave during that time.

Rather than just a race, it was now a time attack map!

To add, I fully upgraded Eva's Hunter Frigate using my newly earned fortune. I didn't hold back—maxing out its theoretical performance, leaving nothing to chance.

But Cassandra was the one who worked the hardest out of all of us.

Every single day, she met with important figures from the Meyers Star System, spent 10 hours resting, and then used every remaining moment for training.

Her lap time was improving rapidly, now reaching sub-10 minutes per lap. Her pilot skills were advancing in leaps and bounds, almost reaching Eva's level.

However... we were still far from our goal.

Now, there were only two days left before the Finals of the Aegis Grand Prix. Just a bit more, and we'd be set to claim the championship.

But then—it happened.

"Cassandra... Are you alright?"

As we were midway through practice, I noticed something was off.

"I'm fine," she replied, brushing it off with a small smile.

Her control was still perfect, but... I felt something was wrong.

And then, just when we least expected it—

It happened.

"Casey!"

A short lapse in judgment—but at our speed, it was no joking matter. Eva's frigate was just seconds away from colliding with an actual asteroid ahead.

Cassandra didn't move to right our trajectory, however.

"...!"

My body moved on instinct.

I unstrapped my seatbelt, jumped forward, and reached for the control stick. At that moment, my world slowed down.

Within that frozen instant, I saw Cassandra's eyes—shut tightly, with thick bags beneath them.

A clear sign of exhaustion. She was pushing herself too hard.

Acting as both Queen and Grand Prix pilot was taking a massive toll on her.

At that moment, I noticed something strange—the key on her chest was glowing. But I had no time to think about it.

I grabbed the lever, jerking it to the right—

The entire frigate rolled clockwise, dodging the asteroid just in time. But, as expected—With my body unstrapped... I was flung around the cockpit.

"UGH!"

I slammed against the ceiling, then crashed onto the floor—a sharp pain shooting through my body.

It felt like I had just broken several bones.

Still, I instinctively reached out, desperate to grab onto something—

*CLICK!*

But instead—

I accidentally unfastened the seatbelts of both Cassandra and Eva. The three of us, like lottery balls, were sent tumbling around the cockpit.

It was only when the automatic balancing system reactivated that the chaos came to an abrupt stop—Though, perhaps a little too abruptly.

*BAM!*

The three of us were thrown back, smacking into each other.

And then... Just before losing consciousness—I felt confused.

'Why... is my face right before my eyes?'