目覚めたら最強装備と宇宙船持ちだったので、一戸建て目指して傭兵として自由に生きたい ６

Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! Light Novel #6

by Ryuto, リュート, Tetsuhiro Nabeshima (Illustrator)

ドワーフの整備士姉妹を加えたヒロ一行は輸送の依頼を受け新たな星系へ。だが、帝国軍と結晶生命体との戦闘に偶然遭遇、ヒロは単身突入して戦況を一変させ――その功績から、なんと騎士爵位の貴族扱いとなる勲章を授かることに!!

面倒そうと最初は拒もうとしたヒロもクルーに説得されて受諾するが、軍のお偉方列席の叙勲式にお呼ばれし……？

更に、式後にセレナ少佐が依頼してきたのは、戦艦級サイズの結晶生命体が巣食う星系への殴り込み作戦だった……!!

Genres: Light Novel, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Harem, Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2021

Reviews

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story continues. No space pirates this time, but silica based aliens and large scale battles with our hero Hiro playing a key role on the Empire's side. We do get to meet Serena again, who to our gang's suspicions seems to have lost some of her obsession with recruiting Hiro. Much like earlier volumes, an entertaining albeit simple light hearted story with likeable characters and decent enough world building. If you got this far in the series, the lack of genuine threat to our MC should not come as a surprise. So, a fun read as expected.

[Blake H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoy this series

I think the first book is still the best arc. I enjoy this one and usually when I'm waiting for the next one I look for other space sci-fi to read. The build up and work ethic inspires me in real life to build up my businesses. It's still fascinating seeing more and more of this world being explored. I had a hard time getting into this book but hopefully the next one will explore more with more clever strategies from the main character. still look forward to the next one.

[Daniel St. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sixth book in the series uses the crystalline war to raise the stakes in a satisfying way. These new enemies add variety and give the battles a sense of scale beyond the usual mercenary clashes. The crew remains central, and their presence adds weight and personality to the fast-paced action. In the end, this volume delivers larger conflicts while showing the series can still feel fresh and entertaining.

[slugbiscuit · Rating 4 out of 5]

After taking on a cargo mission to deliver supplies to the frontier’s military, Hiro and crew join the battle against the crystal life-forms. Another great addition to series. Excited for next volume.

[Zack Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

Fantastic book! I loved this book! Such amazing character development. I simply can not wait for the next book to come out!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

If not for the publisher's poor quality assurance and proofing work on this particular volume, REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v6 is another entertaining notch in the vaunted exploits of a mercenary with too much skill, too much power, and too many pretty ladies on his ship. Captain Hiro's much-anticipated (and comically loathed) reunion with Lieutenant Commander Serena Holz crisscrosses with a delivery mission for the Krisha as well as a conflict between the Imperial Fleet and crystal life-forms in a frontier star system.

This is a busy novel, which is a big improvement over the previous installment. REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v6 has lots of dogfighting with an array of clever tactical shenanigans across the Izulux System. The book also dedicates time to additional narrative hooks for future chapters and a few scenes that stabilize the awkward companionship/rivalry between Hiro and Serena. The oscillating nature of combat on the frontiers of space exploration suits this novel series extraordinarily well — fight, rest, fight, retreat, fight, rest — and one feels equally excited and relieved to see the author has discerned as much.

The Krishna earns its cash this time around through combat with crystal life-forms, the semi-sentient, mass-replication entities to which readers were introduced much earlier in the series. Hiro is recruited to help eradicate the crystal foes, and as anticipated, he goes above and beyond expectations to the point when other mercenaries are jealous, Imperial officers quickly turn into fanboys, and Lieutenant Commander Holz' blood pressure rises to a boil. Now, is it sci-fi nonsense for Hiro to navigate a maelstrom of life-forms at breakneck speed, pilot his ship backward and firing his flak cannon at random? Absolutely. But it works. And it's this crazy trick that earns him such high marks that a few spiffy awards are in the offing, too.

Hiro and Serena's awkward allyship takes center stage in this volume, and the author does a much better job exploring precisely how and why these two characters get on each other's nerves. Serena hates that Hiro is talented, reckless, and only exercises his commendable skills during heinous and unforgivably dangerous, glory-hogging exploits. She admires his fortitude, but can't stand that he can't fall in line. Hiro, meanwhile, finds Serena patently "annoying" and codependent. He acknowledges her mastery of her military post and admires her noble beauty, but he can't stand that she can't view the world/universe beyond these two parochial lenses.

Surprisingly (and quite effectively), the author dedicates a whole chapter plus a bonus epilogue to deciphering the friendly rivalry between these two characters. Notably, Hiro earns a pair of piloting awards for his contract work (the silver-winged sword assault badge; the first-magnitude star's cross of brilliance). One wonders whether Hiro's success will nudge him closer to the grasping hands of the nobility, including Marquess Holz, who is, apparently, constantly braying that her daughter should settle down and marry.

REBORN AS A SPACE MERC v6 has a few other highlights as well. Hiro's piloting skills still gives his crewmates the jitters, but only when he plunges his customized starship into the heat of a nigh unwinnable battle, pulls a half-dozen combat stunts, and emerges unscathed (Hiro: "That was a thrill, eh?" page 124). Secondly, readers catch another tiny glimpse into the window of Mimi's possible extended family when Lieutenant Robertson, one of Serena's subordinates, mistakes the young comms officer for someone else (likely her grandmother, rumored to be a notorious mercenary herself). And third, Hiro shows some love for his perfectly imperfect maidroid, Mei, who expresses worry, doubt, and uncertainty at various points in the novel. One can only hope that Mei's role expands further, such that she is more than "the machine intelligence piloting the chunky mothership.")

On the downside, this book clearly lacked the quality assurance and proofreading of other titles in the publisher's library. Errors throughout the novel include duplicated words/phrases or additional words (e.g., "I think you're as an ill-mannered and clingy..." page 83; "...the Imperial Fleet and a portions of the mercenaries continued," page 219), as well as words that are missing entirely (e.g., "It's all so specific that not sure how I'm going to..." page 188; "Unconcerned with collateral damage their comrades, the..." page 210).

One particularly egregious error occurs in a reflective epilogue, when the narrator refers to Serena as a "general" (page 255), despite acknowledging one paragraph earlier that the woman achieves the rank of admiral in the future, but at the time of the Crystal War was, indeed, a mere lieutenant commander. Whether as a result of managerial oversight, the post-pandemic employee time crunch, or lackluster work ethic altogether, the end result is obvious, and it dampens the overall reading experience.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, The main story not that much, but the story keep its pace. Every volume, there would be a rise in the rank.