<h4>Chapter 201 - Interacting with the Media</h4>


    Trantor: SFBaka


    “Um, this……”


    “What’s up? It ain’t like what you imagined?”


    “Well, yes, it’s certainly not.”


    Allen, who works for Section II of the Moebius Ring Media Department, (the elf guy) nodded to my question.


    We were currently chatting around inside the break room next to the dining hall of ck Lotus. It was spacious and equipped with severalfortable-looking sofas, a well-lit terrarium with a lush assortment of nts, and arge holo-disy that not only serves as am device but also a multimedia yer for holo-movies and the like. Anyway, it’s a room specially designed to help you rx and unwind after a hard day’s work.


    “It’s not like mercenaries like us spend all our time battling pirates and stuff you know. Actually, a lot of our time is spent idling away while traveling around in search of our next paycheck. Furthermore, we’re now acting as a part of Earl Dareinwald’s escort fleet. I don’t think we’ll get to encounter any battles at this point.”


    Only idiots would try to attack the escort fleet of an imperial noble after all. They’re more heavily armed than your average escort fleet, and even if they do somehow manage to seed in taking the fleet down, what awaits them will be a hellish retaliation from the noble in question.


    “Or rather, imperial troops are patrolling around imposingly near the gateway, and the lord of this star system has already been informed that Earl Dareinwald’s fleet will be passing through as well. It would greatly shame the lord if the earl was attacked by pirates while traveling through his territory after all.”


    “In other words, nothing serious will happen to us as long as we are with Earl Dareinwald’s forces, right?”


    “That’s how it is. Well, maybe that’s not the only reason you’re thinking the actual experience is different from what you imagined. After all, you guys are living a much morefy life than you expected, right?”


    “Hahaha……”


    Allen smiled shiftily in an attempt to dodge the subject. Some of the other media folks were rxing in the break room together with me and Allen, and Mei was standing right next to me. Mimi and Elma seem to be enjoying some tea in the dining hall with the female staff, and Tina and Whisker were showing the other staff around the hangars.


    “It’s the same for our Elma as well. Oh, and Tina and Whisker too. They all have this image of mercenaries living roughly and without any care or something. I’m not sure about the others, but I don’t really like the idea of that. We spend a lot of time onboard our ships, so I believe it’s better to have afortable and rxing living environment so our daily performance stays in top form.”


    “So this can be said to be your conviction, correct, Captain Hiro?”


    “That’s right. I’m not one to uselessly pretend to be a tough guy you know.”


    It’s better to put up nice-looking wallpapers… err, wall materials and shiny floors instead of a bare and boring interior, and since you’re buying food cartridges, it’s better to select the tastiest ones. There’s no point in buying unptable stuff just because. And it’s way better to sleep on a nice andfy bed instead of a hard and ufortable one. Better sleep quality leads to better work performance after all.


    “And that’s why Hiro-sama insisted on this kind of living environment inside the ship.”


    “I see. So the fact that the interior of the ship rivals that of the fanciest luxury liners is mostly due to the presence of Mimi-san, correct?”


    “Un, I wonder? Krishna’s interior has always been pretty fancy after all. But I think the biggest reason why Lotus’s interior has be like this is due to his experience with Krishna.”


    “I was also really surprised the first time I got on board the Krishna…… It was a small-ssbat ship, but the interior was shockingly grand.”


    Elma-san shared her thoughts and shook her head. Elma-san was very particr about ‘general mercenary conventions’ back then after all. I also knew of what a mercenary is supposed to be like ording to the norm, but Hiro-sama kept on insisting and saying things like『If it’sfy then it’s good, right?』and transformed Krishna’s interior to its current luxurious state. I truly think Hiro-sama is special in that regard.


    “Forgive me for abruptly changing the topic, but is it alright for me to ask a somewhat more personal question?”


    Nia-san’s orange-colored pupils that were burning brilliantly with curiosity gazed straight at me. I wonder what it is? Was she going to ask something private?


    “Mimi-san, are you actually the imperial family’s- No, are you actually Princess Luciada’s long-lost sister? Please tell us the real deal between the two of you.”


    “Oh…… So it’s about that, huh.”


    I and Princess Luciada looked really simr. Maybe we’d even be indistinguishable from each other if we wore the same clothes and didn’t talk. I’m sure Hiro-sama would notice who’s who straight away though.


    “I’m not Princess Luciada’s sister, and I’m not at all rted with His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the Crown Prince. We’ve done a genome test in front of witnesses before so there’s no doubt about that. It’s really just an unexpected coincidence.”


    “Really?”


    “It’s true. The ones who came to perform the test were members of the imperial guards and the imperial physician. I was really surprised silly when they suddenly paid a visit you know?”


    “Yes, we were certainly taken by surprise back then. I hadn’te back to the imperial capital for quite some time and I wasn’t able to witness Princess Luciada’sing-of-age debut as a result, so you can just imagine my shock when I learned that our Mimi here and Princess Luciada actually looked identical to each other.”


    Elma-san was following up with my story.


    Un, it’s not like we’re lying. My paternal grandmother, whom I’ve never even met, had a very high probability of being Celestia-sama. So it’s true that I’m not directly rted to His Majesty and the Crown Prince.


    To be precise, I’m actually a part of their extended family. I’m Princess Luciada’s second cousin and His Majesty’s grandniece.


    Even so, Celestia-sama had long parted ways with the imperial family. ording to the results of the genome test, It was almost certain that I was the granddaughter of Celestia-sama, but there is no proof of that apart from the results of the test. His Majesty and Princess Luciada said it was possible for me to be weed to the imperial family, but I don’t want to be separated from Hiro-sama and everyone, and I certainly don’t want to tie Hiro-sama down and be his shackle. That’s why I now have nothing to do with the imperial family and aren’t rted to Princess Luciada at all. I’m just someone who coincidentally looks a lot like her.


    “It really was quite a surprise, wasn’t it? I’m just a simplemoner born and raised on an out-of-the-way colony after all.”


    “It’s really just some bad luck huh. No, you can also take it as a stroke of fortune, perhaps?”


    “I wonder? All I can say is that I’m very happy with my current life.”


    “We’re also quite interested in your personal history, Mimi-san. Could you tell us a little more about it?”


    Nia-san shifted the topic to my personal history and upbringing. Great. It looks like I managed to shift her interest. Okay then. I’ll tell them about how I first met Hiro-sama.


    “Man…… It’s huge.”


    “It sure is.”


    We spent an entire week living a carefree lifestyle with the media folks. And now, we finally managed to arrive at the trading colony located in the Comatt system and saw an immigration ship anchored before us. The ship was quite huge. Its overall size was probablyparable to an imperial military battleship, or perhaps evenrger. As for its shape…… err, it kinda looks like a mushroom? Uh, maybe being shaped simr to a short bullet would be a more proper description.


    “It’s Geogate Company’s heavy double-type colony ship. It would plunge into the atmosphere as is, and once it’s entered the’s atmosphere, it would roll into position andnd on the surface. The immigration ship will then serve as the main colonial base and would begin deploying itself on the ground. Its various sections will serve as the essential facilities needed to run aary colony.”


    “Afternding, the lower section of the ship will serve as the main loading and unloading port for supplies and goods, and the upper section will serve as a starship port foring and going to and from the colonial base.”


    “Hee…… And there are five of these massive ships huh. So these five willnd and deploy on the surface of the as colonial bases simultaneously, right?”


    “Right. And our job is to guard and support them.”


    “I understand that we’re supposed to guard them, but how are we going to support them though?”


    Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement. Well, I have no idea either.


    “Pioneer work on a colonial is often apanied by certain hazards. Sometimes, colonial bases get attacked by harmful local lifeforms. They must be hoping for us to provide close air support for times like those.”


    “Air support……?”


    “In other words, they might ask us to shoot Krishna’s pulsesers to get rid of those dangerous local lifeforms that live on the surface of the. Also, they might ask us to shoot rock formations and other obstacles that are in the way of the colony’s expansion. Something like that’s a bit rarer though.”


    The pioneers should have been supplied with enough equipment to deal with the terrain without relying on abat starship’s cannons. I’m guessing they’ll only look to us for help with things that would put nonbatants at risk. For example, they might end up discovering a nest of dangerous local lifeforms, or terrain that’s covered in poisonous gases or highly toxic nt life.


    “Wah…… There’s a lot of things to take note of.”


    “That’s right. Butpared to those, I think the risk of pirate attacks is the most pressing concern though.”


    The weaponry equipped on colony ships were pretty weak after all. They would have no problem dealing with mere harmful lifeforms but would stand no chance against pirate attacks. And to pirates, the supply stockpile brought over by colony ships for the colonization efforts as well as the research data forary resources that could be procured near the colonial base are very enticing bait. For those guys, the pioneers are just sitting ducks waiting to be exploited.


    “Once we’ve finished resupplying from the trading colony, the colonization project will begin in earnest. We’re certainly gonna get pretty busy guys. Just like usual.”


    “You’ve already given up, haven’t you, Hiro?”


    “It can’t be helped. No matter what we do, troublesome stuff will stille to us anyway. Come on then. Let’s start preparations for docking on the colony.”


    I made my way to the hangar while sighing in resignation.