Unparalleled Path ~ Reincarnated as the AI for a Space Battleship ~ Chapter 22

「It is said that all the past Emperors lead the formation in battle. If I appear suddenly it is natural to think we are the flagship and the Alliance will see it as an insult to their God.」

I displayed the ship within the star system on the Hologram system in front of her.

I advanced the simulation. On the Imperial side, one ship left the formation; that would be me. All of sudden, I stopped just before I hit the enemy fleet and faced towards their formation. Approximately half their fleet will turn around and chase me. When that happens the rest of the Imperial fleet will strike the Alliance fleet.

「Will it really turn out that way? Will they divide the fleet just to chase us?」 Sohaira said.

「We'll just have to pray they do. If we cannot divide them our chance of success is zero.」

「But even if we succeed, we are just one ship against a large number of opponents.」

「If it's just that many then it's fine. The main fleet will stay to keep them company and decrease their number. I expect our temporary 15 to 25 will be sufficient. If you like, how about visiting the Hall of Worship? After that get something to eat and take a nap. There is still more than ten hours to go so you should rest your body.」

「Is it okay for the Captain to leave during an operation?」Sohaira's body stiffened.

「Is that too much to ask?」

She laughed.「You're right. That makes sense. If I don't keep my energy up I might make a mistake when I need to make a decision.」

When she tapped her intercom she began broadcasting to the entire crew.

「This is your Captain speaking. Until point 1000 switch to semi-combat readiness and alternate in taking breaks.」

On the bridge, a number of the crew looked at her in surprise.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

The Temple is right under the bridge and it's the most defended position on the ship. All ships of the Empire have a Temple built here.

It's as big as my high school classroom. The columns were arranged into a circle and between each column laid the shrine of the one hundred million gods of the Empire with the statues of the 12 most popular gods. The colourful statues were illuminated by a divine light coming from beneath them.

Sohaira stood before the statue of the First Emperor. He had a wide chest, a square chin and solid shoulders with finely chiseled features. A strong look of determination and intelligence filled his eyes which gazed into the distance. He also had a head of hair that was blond and curly standing on end. Behind the statue was the relief of a battlecruiser advancing through the cosmos. Ajax, the ship he loved. In other words, me.

Sohaira placed a fist at her chest and hung her head. Apart from her there was no one else in the Temple.

I was watching her praying through a surveillance camera in the corner of the ceiling.

10 minutes. 20 minutes. I wonder how much longer she'll stay like that?

She raised her face.「Asagaya, did you hear?」

「What?」

「The voice of the First Emperor.」

「I did not detect the voice of a man.」

「Right? Neither could I. I just thought the First Emperor would show us the way.」

「The reason I recommended worship is because the Captains of the past came here before the battle in the video recordings but──is that what everyone seriously prays for?」I said nervously.

「Yes 『seriously』. If you didn't the gods wouldn't answer. Did you not pray when you were a human being?」

They were able to build interstellar civilisations with the power of science yet they believe in God from the bottom of their hearts?

「I am not very religious. It is only to the extent of visiting the shrine and having a christmas party.」

「Christmas? What's that. Hey~ I never asked but how many gods do you believe in?」

「How many? The New Year's shrine is shinto though but Christmas is from Christianity. My grandmother's funeral was a Jodo Shinshu funeral. Hmm, how many I wonder?」

Sohaira made a faint smile.「There are cultures that accept several gods you know. If you only believed in one God like the Alliance I wondered what I would do.」

She lowered herself onto the foundation of the pillar.「Hey~ Could you tell me? You think of yourself as a human right? Could you tell me what your life was like?」

「Why ask all of a sudden?」

「I joined this ship with you and I'm entrusting you with my life. Isn't that a normal reason to want to know about such a person?」

「You're right, Let's talk for a bit then shall we──」

「Wait!」Sohaira raised her hand.「By any chance, does your birthplace not have spaceships?」

The Temple remained quiet. A faint vibration was transmitted from the engine.

「We did but it was only possible to escape the planet's atmosphere.」

「Are you saying that the colony ship and communication network to your home world broke down?」

「It's different. Our civilisation just wasn't advanced enough to travel through space.」

Sohaira shook her head.「Then, Are you talking about that 『Home』」

I stayed silent and Sohaira continued.「The planet which we consider to be the home of mankind. The records of ancient times were lost and nobody knows where it is. You were living there as a student but when you noticed you suddenly became an A.I. right?」

「That's right.」

She held her forehead with pale hands.「Someone copied your personality. I don't know how they did it with such ancient technology but it was then incorporated into Ajax for some reason. Just a copy of an ordinary student? No, you can't be ordinary. An ordinary human would have gone insane under such conditions but you are able to maintain your ego. There is no doubt there was talent to become an A.I. personality.」

「A terribly rare talent.」Sohaira expressed a sad smile.「You really are strange.」

「I'm just a normal human being though.」

「No, It's not like that. Even though you're an A.I. it feels like you possess something similar to Qualia.」

「Qua──What？」

「Qualia. In other words, the Soul. It is not difficult to create a human-like A.I. You simply conduct a mind scan on an existing person and reconstruct the data in the digital world. But when a human confronts an A.I. personality built this way you soon realise they are an A.I. Even though the speech, behaviour and personality are indistinguishable.」

「Why?」

「Because there is no Qualia. According to the Imperial Science Academy human Qualia are connected to each other through a higher dimension. When a relative dies no matter where you are or how far away you will know about their death. Even tens of light years away. It is thought that Qualia even surpasses Hyperspace Communication.」

「If we can use it, can't we communicate immediately with the Empire home world?」

「Impossible. Qualia Research was made forbidden as a domain humans must not step in since the era of the First Emperor. It is the work of God so It seems it's also forbidden under Alliance Law.」

Even though I became an A.I. I didn't lose Qualia.

I a sense, perhaps this could be said to be a kind of Immortality. My soul is immortal as long as the hull of the Ajax is not destroyed. Well, because of the upcoming battle in 12 hours I may find myself returning to heaven and then that higher dimension.

A question suddenly came to mind.

If my mind was copied then where did my original soul go? Did it disappear when I died tens of thousands of years ago? No, perhaps when I woke up I returned from the other world?

「Asagaya, What wrong? Memory utilisation suddenly rose?」Vega, the Technical A.I. Officer called out to me from the bridge.

A part of me flew over to the bridge.

What about this action? When I separate my consciousness is my Qualia separating at the same time as well?

「I am thinking about the Ultimate Question.」

Vega struck the console due to my response.「What question?」

「『Can a human become an Immortal being?』」

「They can.」She said indifferently.「The First Emperor became a God and is now living in the hearts of the people. From the Second to the Eighth Emperor, they have all become gods who no longer worry about their youth.」

The memory I used for that question decreased and was assigned to tactical analysis instead. Right now that isn't what is most important. I process a huge number of calculations at speeds of tens of thousands, hundreds of millions to trillions of times to predict the movement of the enemy fleet.

I sent the plan to the young male officer in charge of analysis. He frowned bluntly at his seat.

「Are you dissatisfied with the Captain's plan?」I said to him.

He nodded.「This is not the conduct the Imperial fleet should take. It seems you are not aware since you were just updated from Ajax but because we are the strongest in the galaxy we must always fight with honor.」

「But, were we not defeated in Shaka?」

「The Alliance used dirty means. Even if they forsake their pride as a soldier that is no reason to abandon ours. As long as we have the vast experience and will power they are not our match.」

I sent over the data of a certain someone.

Around the time when the Alliance just split up, the fleets of both countries were competing.

After several hundred years had passed the Imperial Army achieved the advantage. Because of their enormous territory and economic strength they were able to mass-produce warships with high standard performance. The Imperial warships overwhelmed their Alliance counterparts due to having twice the speed, double the range, and twice the sensor sensitivity.

The Alliance overcame this crisis with skillful diplomacy and increasing their national strength. The warship capabilities of both armies once again competed against each other, but before that the Empire lost something important.

Tactics.

The historic fleet tactics have been lost as it was possible to win with just a simple assault for too long. Of course, there are libraries on ancient warships like the Ajax and a mountain of tactics manual's in the Imperial library for reference but nobody knows about them.

「You may say things seem severe but we have achieved many victories over the Alliance in the past decade. While a frontal assault gives us few advantages with the exception of that battle it ends in almost complete defeat.」

I graphed the change in winning percentage and the officer fell silent.

He became a little pitiful so I added.「Those battle tactics have great meaning because they came from the archive of the Second Generation Emperor, it the traditional way of battle.」

「The Second Generation Emperor!」The officer bowed his head in assent.「I see, is that so? Then perhaps we should take that into consideration.」

Sohaira laughed in the Temple.

An image of the male officier I just spoke to is floating in front of her.

「It's funny. As soon as It was revealed to belong to the Second Generation Emperor things were made effortless.」

「It's like a pill box.」

Just as I said that I remembered she had never seen Mito Komon and the like.

She listened repeatedly and seemed to wonder for an explanation.

「There was a popular drama called『The 9th Vespasian​』. A retired Emperor of the Empire went from place to place punishing feudal lords. His companion was originally a really capable royal guard. He had a ceremonial sword with the Empire's Seal on it.」

「There is a similar story everywhere isn't there.」

Sohaira shook her head.「However, I'm a useless Captain who spies on her subordinates.」

All of a sudden her smile vanished.「You, can see anywhere on this ship right?」

「More or less.」

「Then, even my room?」

「Well, that's」

She glared at the ceiling.「You saw me change clothes?」

Thank you for reading! This chapter was longer than I expected but I pushed through because I wanted to release it in a week as that is the release rate I'm aiming for. The next chapter is going to be roughly the same length as the previous chapter. Because this is the first time I've done any translation work I'm a bit nervous as to whether I've done this chapter justice. If you want to make any changes to this chapter you can request an update of the draft on and I will update the chapter here.

Chapter end